Brenda Novak

by Home to Whiskey Creek

  His phone rang just after dawn. Noah didn’t feel like rousing himself, but when he saw that it was his father, he answered. “What are you doing up this early?” he asked.

  “Checking on you,” came the reply. “We might have a rough day ahead. I’m pretty sure Adelaide Davies has called Chief Stacy.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “He’s already tried to reach me twice.”

  “You haven’t called him back?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “I wanted to talk to you first.”

  Noah massaged his temples. He could feel the beginning of a headache. “About...”

  “About what’s going on, of course. I’d like to know where you stand on this. We have to be united. There’s no way I’ll let Adelaide Davies ruin Cody’s memory.”

  “How do you know she’s lying, Dad?”

  “Because Kevin, Tom...all of them agree.”

  Noah stared down at his feet. “They have good reason to agree! Do you think they’d admit to a gang rape? A couple of them are married, have families. They all could go to prison.”

  “Nothing will happen to them.”

  “How do you know?”

  “She can’t prove a thing, Noah.”

  “Prove.” Noah didn’t like that word. It didn’t say anything about true culpability. As a matter of fact, it smacked of ducking responsibility. “Are you only interested in what she can prove? Or what really happened?”

  His father took a second to respond. “Cody was a member of the family. Unless she has some way to convince me, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that he acted so...reprehensibly, I’m going to maintain my faith in him. I won’t let some...whore destroy my respect for him.”

  If it was anyone but Adelaide, Noah knew he’d probably feel the same—family first. Cody was his brother, his twin brother. He didn’t want to learn that Cody was capable of being so selfish and callous.

  But Adelaide wasn’t a whore and no one knew that better than he did.

  “Wouldn’t you want the same level of commitment from me if it was you?” his father asked.

  Noah pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ve got to go.”

  “Where? The bike shop doesn’t open until ten.”

  Standing, Noah pulled his keys from his pocket. “To Davis.”

  “What’s in Davis?”

  “I’m not quite sure, but I’m going to find out.”

  “You’re not making any sense,” his father said, but Noah didn’t try to explain. He hit the end button and went to brush his teeth.

  * * *

  Adelaide was actually glad her mother was in town. With Darlene no longer working at Just Like Mom’s, someone had to help manage the restaurant. She simply wasn’t up to it today. She’d told Noah the truth last night. She’d gone home and told her mother and her grandmother the same, and they’d called Chief Stacy. Gran had put him off when he wanted to come over, but Addy had an appointment with him this morning.

  She wasn’t all that keen on having him press charges against those who’d attacked her. She knew how ugly it would get if others didn’t believe her. And why would they believe her when they knew the men she was accusing so much better than they knew her?

  Still, she was relieved that the truth was out. She hadn’t realized just how difficult it had been to harbor such a terrible secret. No matter what happened to her from here on, at least she didn’t have to live with the threat of someone learning about that damn party anymore.

  Fifteen years was a long time to fear discovery.

  “Addy, would you like a cup of coffee?” Gran stood in her doorway.

  “No, thanks.”

  “Chief Stacy is on his way.”

  “I guessed as much. The alarm on my phone went off a few minutes ago. I’m about to take a shower.”

  “Do you think—do you think we should have an attorney present?”

  “No.”

  Gran didn’t seem convinced. “It might be smart.”

  “Maybe we’ll need one later, if he decides to press charges against me. But my story won’t change, Gran. Not one tiny bit. Because I’m telling the truth.” She was reconciled to facing the consequences, whatever they might be. Nothing could be worse than knowing she’d never get to be with Noah again, anyway. She’d understood all along that they didn’t have a future, but those few stolen moments were precious, and now there’d be no more of them.

  Gran nodded. “I’m so sorry, honey. What they did to you...it was a dreadful thing—”

  “I shouldn’t have disobeyed you and gone out,” she said.

  “You were sixteen years old! Do you realize how young that is?”

  Too young to go through what she had. But she’d survived.

  “Which one of them came here with Aaron’s knife and threatened you, Addy? Which one took you back to the mine?”

  Addy shook her head. “Whoever it was had a white truck.”

  “How do you know it was white?”

  After she explained in detail what had really taken place the night she was abducted, Gran said, “We’ll have to remember to tell Chief Stacy about that.”

  Addy smiled for the first time since Noah walked into the restaurant last evening. “Yes, we will.”

  * * *

  Tsunami was an upscale restaurant that served lunch and dinner and didn’t open until eleven. Noah had been banking on Clyde Kingsdale having to get to the restaurant early to prepare for the lunch rush. Clyde was the manager, after all. But Addy’s ex strolled in right at eleven, looking a little rough around the edges.

  Thanks to the hostess, a girl wearing a name tag that said Becka, Noah had been allowed to wait inside. When Clyde walked past the register, she pointed and mouthed, “That’s him,” but she didn’t stop her manager or introduce them. Noah got the feeling she knew Clyde wouldn’t want to be interrupted regardless of his reason for coming. Since Clyde’s parents owned the restaurant, maybe he didn’t have to worry about being fired so he was just putting in time.

  Noah followed him halfway across the dining area before Clyde noticed he had company.

  “Whoa, who are you?” he said, looking over his shoulder when he heard Noah behind him.

  “Noah Rackham.”

  Addy’s ex halted in his tracks and they sized each other up. Clyde wasn’t quite as tall as Noah, but Noah could see that he was handsome.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked. “I don’t have anything to say to you.”

  “How do you even know who I am?” Noah replied.

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “I’m not kidding. You told Addy I’d tried to call you, but I have no idea how you realized I was from Whiskey Creek. To my knowledge, we’ve never met.”

  Glancing toward the kitchen as if it offered refuge, he sighed. They could hear voices calling out about getting this item or that item ready. The restaurant was open but there were, as yet, no customers. “I’d heard your name before, okay?”

  “From where?” Noah asked.

  When someone rushed out of the kitchen and nearly collided with them, Clyde pulled him off to one side. “From Addy, of course.”

  “Because she once had a crush on me? That was years and years ago. We never even dated, so it seems unlikely that she would’ve talked about me very much.”

  “Let’s just say you left an impression. And your twin left an even greater one.” He checked his watch. “That’s all you’ll get from me.”

  Addy’s ex knew the whole story; Noah could tell. That made the rape, and what happened afterward, all too real.

  “She told you she caused my brother’s death.”

  Clyde’s eyes widened. He started to say something, then, smoothing his goatee with a thumb and one finger, changed his mind. “If you already know, why are you here?”

  Because he’d needed some kind of confirmation. He didn’t want to think his brother could hurt any woman in that way, especially an innoce
nt sixteen-year-old. Especially Addy. And he certainly didn’t want to believe she’d caused the cave-in that took Cody’s life.

  But Clyde, someone who wasn’t remotely connected to Whiskey Creek and all the loyalties and prejudices that existed there, obviously had a clear understanding of Addy’s past.

  His brother had helped gang-rape a girl on the night of his death.... “I guess I’m having a hard time coming to terms with it. She told me quite a story.”

  “Yeah, well, whatever she told you, you can bet it was that bad and worse, because she probably modified the truth to protect your feelings. What those bastards did to her messed her up for years. It cost thousands of dollars in therapy, and it ruined our marriage.”

  Noah dropped his head in his hand. “I was hoping you were going to say something else.”

  “You’d rather believe she’s lying?” he challenged.

  That was a good question, but there wasn’t a good answer. He couldn’t win either way. “Cody wasn’t just my brother...”

  “I know. He was your twin. Why do you think she gave him the time of day to begin with?”

  “Because he reminded her of me?”

  “That’s the version I’ve always heard.”

  “God.” He still wanted to see Adelaide, to touch her. That hadn’t changed, even now. She seemed so...good, so down to earth. He couldn’t really believe she’d lie about something that could destroy so many lives.

  But taking her side would pit him against his family, several of his old friends and those in the community who supported them. And he’d only known her, in any significant way, for a couple of weeks.

  “Did she tell you someone kidnapped her from her bed and dragged her back to the mine after she returned home? That he threatened her with a knife?”

  Clyde shook his head. “Is that why she finally decided to tell the truth?”

  Noah remembered the look on her face when he’d confronted her at Just Like Mom’s last night. “I think after everything that’s happened since she’s been home, she just reached her breaking point.”

  “I begged her to come forward years ago,” he said, “but she wouldn’t listen to me.”

  “Why not?”

  “She had a lot of reasons. But part of it was that she didn’t want you and your family to have to know what your brother did and what she’d done as a result.”

  “She was worried about us?”

  “She once told me you were the only man she ever wanted with her whole heart.” He laughed but there was no humor in it. “You asked me a second ago why I remembered your name. Now you know.”

  29

  When Noah returned to town, he told himself to drive right by Milly’s. He had no business siding with Addy, a woman he’d known for such a short amount of time. He owed his family more loyalty, especially because Adelaide could’ve lied to her ex-husband. Kevin, Derek—they were all denying what she said. And his parents were supporting them wholeheartedly. He’d received several calls on his way home, enough to know where everyone stood. He’d even received a call from Shania Carpenter.

  But it didn’t matter. He couldn’t escape the fact that he believed Addy, couldn’t add to what she’d been through by calling her a liar. Now he understood why she wouldn’t say exactly what had happened the night she was abducted, why she’d told him they couldn’t see each other, why she got threatening notes while dating him, even why she’d reacted to Kevin Colbert as she had at Black Gold Coffee.

  Maybe his family would hate him for it, but he was going to stand by her.

  When Milly answered the door, she didn’t seem to know what to say. Instead of being her usual cheerful self, she was somewhat subdued, and he could tell she’d been crying.

  “Is Addy okay?” he asked.

  “Chief Stacy just left. It was...rough on her to...to have to recount everything in such detail. Those details weren’t easy to hear, either.”

  He was grateful he hadn’t been around for that part. He was afraid of what he’d do to Kevin and the others, despite the fact that his brother seemed to have instigated the attack.

  “Can I see her?”

  “She doesn’t want to put you in the middle, Noah. She told me to tell you, if you came by, to go on about your business. She—she wishes you well and wants you to be happy.”

  She started to shut the door but he stopped it. “Nice try, but no thanks,” he said, and squeezed through the opening despite Milly’s walker. “Addy?” he called.

  Helen came out of her bedroom. “I just gave her a sleeping pill,” she said. “She’ll be fine after she gets some rest.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, but I’m not leaving.” Circumventing Helen, too, he let himself into Addy’s room.

  She lifted her head when she heard him come in. “Noah, you need to leave before someone sees your truck.”

  He didn’t respond. He scooted her over to make room in the bed. Then, even though it was only midafternoon, he got in, wrapped his arms around her and drew her up against him.

  “Go to sleep, Addy,” he murmured. “We’ll figure it all out when you wake up.”

  * * *

  “Addy? Chief Stacy needs to talk to you again.”

  Noah had drifted off. When he heard Milly trying to wake Adelaide, he raised his head. “She’s finally resting. Can’t she talk to him later?”

  “He asked me to wake her. He says word that the coach of the football team and other respected members of the community might’ve been involved in a gang rape is spreading all over town. Everyone’s riled up. He wants to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible, which means he needs her full cooperation.”

  “Might’ve been involved?” Helen stood in the doorway behind Milly. “Tell him they were involved, those sons of bitches. My baby wouldn’t lie about that.”

  The police chief’s wording worried Noah, too. Didn’t Stacy believe her? And, if not, was it because of the pressure his father was bringing to bear? Brent was, after all, the mayor.

  The mere idea that his father might be actively working against Addy made Noah angry.

  “Who’s at the restaurant?” Addy was coming around but sounded groggy.

  “Relax, everything’s fine there,” Helen replied. “I’m going back now. I just came home to check on you.”

  “I’m okay,” Adelaide insisted, but Noah was worried for her. His father would be a formidable foe.

  Milly inched closer, hampered by carrying the phone while trying to use her walker. “Honey, Chief Stacy says that none of the men you’ve accused of raping you owns a white truck or a white SUV, except Stephen. And his hasn’t been in an accident. Stephen is saying you came by and saw that for yourself.”

  “If they don’t own one, it has to belong to a friend or neighbor. Someone here in Whiskey Creek is driving a white vehicle that’s banged up on the front right panel.”

  Noah stiffened when a vision of his father’s Range Rover popped into his mind. It was white, and it was damaged exactly where Addy said it would be.

  But none of his old baseball buddies would’ve had access to his father’s car.

  “What’s this about a white vehicle?” he asked.

  Addy curled in on herself. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I am worried. How can you be sure the person who abducted you was driving a white truck or SUV? Weren’t you blindfolded?”

  “I was, but I could tell it wasn’t a car. And we hit the retaining wall down the street between Lovett’s Bridal and the lawnmower shop. Stacy can check that wall himself. It has white paint all over it.”

  Milly relayed this message to Stacy, who was still on the line. A moment later, she covered the phone. “Chief Stacy’s wondering if maybe your abductor hit something else and the damage to that wall happened another time, to a different car.”

  “No.” Addy remained adamant. “It was only a minute, if that, after we left the driveway. I remember hearing the scrape. He freaked out when I grabbed the wheel and he slugged me.
” She touched the eye that had been so swollen.

  Milly repeated this to Chief Stacy, as well. But Noah had stopped listening. His mind was stuck on what he’d seen in his parents’ garage. Had his father really hit a tree? Surely, Brent wouldn’t do anything to hurt Addy unless...unless he truly believed Addy was to blame for what went on at that party.

  A sense of foreboding set in as Noah slipped out of bed. “I’ve got to go take care of a few things,” he said.

  Adelaide grasped his arm. “Noah?”

  He smoothed the hair out of her face. “What?”

  “Don’t come back.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It’s not too late. We’ve been seeing each other for what...two weeks? You don’t owe me anything.”

  Helen had left, presumably to return to the restaurant; Milly was talking to Chief Stacy. “You don’t think what we’ve had, what we could have, is worth fighting for?”

  She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I think this is the beginning of something that could tear your family apart. I don’t want to be responsible for that. And...how will we ever get beyond it?” She paused. “You’ll meet someone else.”

  But that was it. He didn’t want anyone else. He never really had.

  He remembered Joe’s daughter, Josephine, telling him at Just Like Mom’s what it took to find a wife. You have to fall in love with someone and prove you won’t ever stop loving them.

  “You’re not just another woman to me,” he said.

  * * *

  His father’s receptionist seemed relieved when he showed up at city hall. “Noah’s here!” she said into the intercom.

  His father appeared almost immediately and ushered him into his office. “Why haven’t you been answering your phone?” he asked as he closed the heavy wooden door.

  “Because I turned it off.”

  “Chief Stacy said you’ve been at Adelaide’s all day. He saw your truck.”

  “That wasn’t meant to be a secret.”

  “I don’t want you seeing her anymore, Noah. If she’ll say what she’s saying about Cody, there’s no telling what she might accuse you of doing.”