Deadly as the Driven Snow

by Agnes Alexander

  “I’ve been thinking of continuing the process of getting my license, Jason. What do you think?”

  “What does it entail?”

  “I have to work for 3,000 hours with a licensed investigator. I had almost completed my apprenticeship with the firm in Greensboro.”

  “You know I’m not going to tell you what to do. I learned better than to try to do that when we were in school. But I hope you can finish your training with a company in the area. I don’t want my wife running off to Greensboro.” His green eyes twinkled as he looked at me.

  “No way. I’m not going anywhere where I can’t sleep in your arms at night.” I smiled at him. “Besides, who would look after you with me gone?”

  “I’m glad you feel that way. It wouldn’t be the same without you here to greet me every night.”

  “I intend to be here for you, but I need to do something, Jason. I have a lot of time on my hands which could be put to some productive use.”

  “Then, why don’t you check into it. See if you can find a firm in the area, or go back to school and study something you’ve always wanted to do. You know I’ll support you in whatever you decide.”

  “I know you will, Jason. That’s what makes you so special.” I stood and kissed the top of his head. “Want some more coffee?”

  “Just a smidgen, then I’d better get to work and see what’s going on today.” He took a deep breath. “Since nobody has called, maybe it’s going to be a quiet day.”

  Chapter Eleven

  After I finished my morning chores, I decided to call Mom.

  “I thought I might pop by and see you and Dad for a bit today, if you don’t have anything planned,” I said when she answered.

  “Your dad is going to the feed and seed store with John Middleton this afternoon, but I have nothing planned. Why don’t you come and have lunch with us?”

  “I’d like that,” I said. “I’ll be there about noon.”

  “It’ll be ready.”

  When I walked into my parents’ big old farm house at quarter-to-twelve, a multitude of food aromas greeted me. “Something smells wonderful,” I said.

  Dad turned from his recliner and folded his paper. “I’m sure your mom is stirring up something good.” He smiled as I bent down and kissed his cheek.

  “Anything interesting in the paper?”

  “Same old stuff with the planning board. The town wants to add another police officer. The board says nope. Can’t afford it. J.T. Goodman and his partner are trying to get some land over near Sandstone Creek rezoned so they can develop it into some of these cheap apartments they build, and the board is split down the middle. Red Goddard wants to have a satellite hospital built here, which I think might be a good thing. That’s about it for Edison’s news flashes today.”

  I laughed as I tossed my coat on the back of the sofa. “Has Edison’s planning board ever agreed on anything?”

  “Not much.” He changed the subject. “I did read something about the three bodies being found in fields around the area. You know anything about that?”

  “Not much.” I wondered if he knew one of the bodies turned up on our property. I didn’t get a chance to ask, because Mom came through the door and said lunch was ready.

  She hugged me and said, “You’re looking good, June. I believe marriage is agreeing with my daughter.”

  I chuckled. “It is, Mom. It really is.” I spied the table. “My goodness, who else is coming? It looks like you’ve cooked for an army.”

  “I guess I did get carried away a little, but I decided to go ahead and cook supper while I was at it. April and kids are coming tonight.”

  “I’m assuming Jason is okay,” Dad said as we took our chairs.

  “He’s fine,” I muttered. I knew I probably should tell them what happened last night, but they worried too much already.

  “Why don’t you give him a call and see if he can stop by to eat with us?” Mom suggested.

  I started to answer, but my cell phone rang. It was Jason.

  “Hi, honey,” I said. “I’m at Mom and Dad’s and believe it or not, we were talking about you.”

  “I hope it was good,” Jason said.

  “Nope. My dad said if you didn’t treat me better, he was coming to get you with his double-barreled shotgun.”

  Jason laughed. “I bet he said that very thing.”

  “Actually, we were getting ready to eat lunch. Mom said I should call you and ask if you could come by to eat. Lord knows, she has plenty.”

  “I’m in the area so there’s no way I can turn down an offer like that. Tell Celia I’ll be there in less than ten minutes.”

  “I’ll tell her. See you shortly.” I clicked off my phone and turned to Mom. “Jason says he can’t turn down your cooking. He’ll be here in a few minutes.”

  “Oh, I’m glad. We really like that boy, don’t we, Brad?”

  “We sure do. Best son-in-law we have.”

  “You’d better not let May hear you say that,” I said.

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong,” Dad said. “We like Bert, too. He’s made May a wonderful husband, and they seem to be happy. I guess it’s because we get to see Jason more.”

  “And compared to May and April’s first husbands, Jason is such a sweetheart.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” I decided I’d better tell them about the bandage on Jason’s head. I was finishing the story when he came to the back door.

  Of course, Mom hovered and petted and waited on him like a baby. He ate it up. I couldn’t help saying, “Now, don’t expect that kind of treatment at home.” I pointed my finger at him.

  “Don’t pay any attention to her, Celia,” Jason said. “She’s a lot nicer than she wants people to know.”

  I just shook my head and let them talk.

  When we finished eating, Jason said, “I sure would like to stay and talk all afternoon, but I guess I’d better get back to work. We’re having a busy day”

  “I wish you could stay, son,” Dad said. “We’re pretty peaceful folk.”

  Jason stood. “I wish everyone was.” He kissed Mom on the cheek. “Thanks, Celia. It was wonderful, as always.”

  “You’re welcome and you be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

  “I promise to watch it.” He reached out and shook Dad’s hand. “See you, Brad.”

  I walked to the porch with him. “Thanks for coming by. Mom and Dad are always glad to see you.”

  “I love your parents, June. They’ve made me a part of the family and in such a short time.” He smiled down at me. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  “Wait.” I took hold of his arm. “You’re not usually out this time of day. What’s going on?”

  “Doing a little investigating. We may have identified one of the bodies and we’re going over all the scenes where they were dumped. I’m going to walk the field at home.”

  “Want me to come home?”

  “No. You stay and visit with your parents. I won’t be there long, because I don’t expect to find anything.”

  “Okay. Then, I’ll see you this evening.”

  He put his arm around me and I looked up at him. Neither of us spoke. We didn’t have to. We were saying ‘I love you’ with our eyes. He leaned down and kissed me. I closed my eyes and kissed him back.

  Mom finished placing the dishes in the dishwasher and Dad stood by the back door putting on his coat as I came in. “June,” he said. “I hope you don’t mind, but I promised John I’d pick him up at two to go to the feed and seed store.”

  “I don’t mind at all, Dad.” I leaned up and kissed his cheek. “I’ll see you later.”

  Mom and I headed to the living room, took seats and chatted about several things. She told me my youngest brother, Toby, had written them earlier in the week to tell them how much he liked his classes at NC State. She said they hadn’t heard from Jan this week, but last week she’d said she had some hard tests coming up. May had called and said she had some exciting news. She hop
ed the family could get together this weekend, so she could share it.

  “I bet she’s pregnant.” I grinned at Mom. “I know that would make you and Dad happy.”

  “I’m hoping that’s what it is. It would be nice to have a baby nearby again.” She grinned at me. “I guess you and Jason aren’t planning a family yet.”

  “Mom! We’ve only been married three months. We want to have some time together before we think about a family.”

  “You do want kids, don’t you, June?”

  “Of course. Just not for a year or so.”

  “I think you and Jason will make wonderful parents.”

  “I hope we will, when the time comes.”

  She showed me some pictures August and Teresa had sent from Atlanta. They were mostly of seven-month-old Bradley and his seven-year-old brother, Freddie. “I’m glad to know you’ll add some grandchildren someday, June,” She said.

  “As I said, Jason and I want to have some time to ourselves before we start our family.” I smiled at her. “You know I have a lot to make up to him. I was really pretty cruel to him in school.”

  “I know you were, dear, but I bet Jason never throws it up to you.”

  “He does kid me about it occasionally.”

  “That’s fair, I guess.” She looked at me. “You’re really happy, aren’t you, honey?”

  “Happier than I ever thought I’d be, Mom. I don’t know what I thought my life would be like, but settling down here in Edison County with Jason Striker wasn’t at all the plan I had envisioned for my future. Now, I realize being with Jason is the only thing that will ever be important to me.”

  She didn’t say anything for a minute. Then she stood and reached her hand to me. “Come with me, June. I want to show you something.”

  I wrinkled my forehead. “Where are we going?”

  “Just come with me.” She tugged my hand. “I think you’ll appreciate seeing this.”

  I stood and followed her. We went upstairs to the room she shared with Dad. She moved to the closet where I knew she stored her linens and opened it. There were six twelve-inch square plastic boxes stacked on the top shelf. Each one had the name of one of her children. She took down the one with JUNE written on it with a magic marker.

  “What in the world is this, Mom?”

  “Have a seat and I’ll show you.”

  We sat on the side of her bed. She said, “Years ago I realized I’d never be able to keep all the drawings, papers and cards you children made for your Dad and me. I decided I’d make a special box for each of you and limit the souvenirs I kept. Sometimes it was hard to get rid of something, but I knew how much space I had, and I was determined to keep to this rule for all of you.” She laughed. “Of course, you were the hardest, because so much of your stuff was unique.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment,” I said with a laugh.

  “Believe me, it is.” She looked at me. “Do you remember your last English assignment in your senior year of high school?”

  I thought a minute, but nothing came to mind. I shook my head and she went on, “Well, I do. You had a very insightful English teacher. She said for the last class assignment she wanted each student to write down ten goals using a sheet of paper for each one. She wanted you to start with the person you wanted to marry and if you didn’t know who it was at the time to write what type person you wanted to end up with. Number two was to be what type of job you wanted or what profession you wanted to enter. The third thing was to write down the number of children you’d like to have and their sexes. The next seven goals were to be whatever you wanted then to be.”

  “I do kind of remember doing that. I don’t remember what I wrote, though.”

  “I didn’t think you would, but I do. I have those papers in this box.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “No. I thought it gave me a clue to the way you thought and how you wanted to live your life.” She opened the box. “I would’ve never looked at the papers if it had been something you wanted to keep private, but you didn’t. You came home and showed it to me. When you said you were going to throw it away, I asked if I could keep it. You said you didn’t care, so here it is.”

  She unfolded the sheets of notebook paper and handed the top one to me. Though the paper had yellowed some, I recognized my handwriting. I stated to read the first goal.

  I have no idea of who the man is I’ll someday marry, if I ever do get married. But if I do, I want him to be at least six-foot-three and have a body women can get excited about when they look at him. I want him to be strong, yet gentle. I want him to accept me for what I am, and I want him to support me in all my goals. If he does, then I’ll do the same for him. He doesn’t have to be the most handsome man in the world, but I do want him to look decent and have regular features, not two noses or anything like that. His hair can be either brown or black. I don’t much want him to be blond because I am. I wouldn’t mind if he wore a uniform. I could be happy with a military general or a chief of police. And I guess a fireman would be okay, too. The one thing he must have is green eyes. I love green eyes for a man. That’s about it. Now I have to go out into the world and find this Mr. Right, if he exists.

  I looked up at my mother’s smiling face. “Mom, I described Jason.”

  “Yes, I know,” she said. “The day Jason brought you home from the hospital last summer, I remembered this and took it out and read it. He’d already told us he was going to give you his mother’s ring. As soon as I read this, I knew you were going to be a happy wife because you were getting the man you asked for when you were a teenager. I also knew Jason Striker was, and always had been, the right man for you.”

  I folded the paper and handed it back to her. “I wonder who Jason wrote about in his paper.”

  “I don’t know, but I bet I could make a guess and be right about it. If he didn’t actually put your name down, he put somebody just like you.”

  My eyes misted as I looked at her. “I really love him, Mom. He’s so good to me, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.”

  “I know, honey. We all knew Jason was crazy about you for years. I guess it just took you a little longer to realize you were crazy about him.” She put the paper back in the box and stood.

  “Aren’t you going to let me read the rest of my goals?”

  “Not today. I want you to absorb what you read.” She went to the closet and we didn’t talk for a few minutes.

  I was thinking about what I’d written and wondering what Jason did write. A noise downstairs cut into my thoughts. Something wasn’t right. I got up and eased to the door. I peered out and heard whispers. Those whispers didn’t come from any voices I recognized. There were some people in Mom’s house and I knew they didn’t belong there.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Mom,” I whispered. “Don’t be frightened, but I think there might be intruders in the house.”

  Her eyes grew big, but she didn’t say anything. I went on, “Does Dad have a gun in here?”

  She pointed to my father’s closet. I went to it and saw one of his rifles. I got the thirty-thirty and mouthed, “Bullets?” to her, and she pointed to the shelf.

  I loaded the rifle and whispered to her to call nine-one-one.

  She nodded, and I eased out the door. I crept down the steps and the whispers grew louder. Then someone laughed.

  “Shhh,” someone warned.

  “Why do we have to be quiet? You said you saw the car leave. There’s nobody here.”

  “There could be somebody upstairs taking a nap.”

  “I’ll go see.”

  I was halfway down the stairs. In a firm voice I said, “I’m not asleep, and I’m armed. I suggest you put your hands up and get out of here.”

  Two young men whirled around and glared at me with disbelief on their faces. The third one at the bottom of the steps grinned.

  “Well, well,” he said. “We’ve interrupted your beauty rest, I guess.”

  “
I said put your hands up, and move out onto the porch.”

  “Oh, pretty lady, you ain’t gonna shoot me. You probably don’t even know how to shoot that gun.”

  “Yes, she does,” the guy who looked as if he was the youngest of the three said. “She’s the sheriff’s wife. She shot Gus in the hand. Remember?”

  The boy at the foot of the steps cursed and bit his lip. “Okay, okay. We’ll go. Just don’t shoot.”

  I waved the gun toward the boys in the living room. “Put everything you have in your hands down carefully. Don’t break anything.”

  They set their bags down, and I could tell they were using care.

  Sirens ripped through the peaceful day. I heard tires screech as cars turned into the driveway. “On the porch,” I commanded.

  The three boys opened the door and went outside. Allen came toward the house with his gun drawn. Charles headed to the back of the house.

  “Keep your hands up until the deputy gets on the porch,” I said.

  Jason, with his siren and blue lights on, pulled in as Allen cuffed the first guy. He ran to the porch. “What’s going on?”

  Allen laughed. “Looks like your wife is playing police again. She caught these guys breaking in to rob the place.”

  The front door opened, and Mom came out. “Are you all right, honey?”

  “I’m fine, Mom.” I un-cocked the rifle and put my arm around her shoulder. “They’ve got it all under control now. I didn’t have to shoot anybody this time.”

  Charles came around the house leading another handcuffed youth. “This one was trying to sneak out across the back yard.”

  Jason finished cuffing the third man on the porch.

  The young man looked at me with fear in his eyes. “Thanks for not killing us.”

  “You were just lucky,” Jason said to him. “You caught her on a good day, or right now you might be missing an ear—or something more important to you.”

  “She does like to shoot off body parts, doesn’t she?” Allen added, with a straight face. “Is this everyone?” He looked at one of the young men.