by Gen Griffin
“Katie, I'm sorry. I just want to be alone right now.”
“I slept at the hospital last night.”
“Because of the contractions?” Ian almost sounded remorseful.
“I went to the hospital because of the contractions. The doctors told me that I wasn't in labor so I went to visit with Addy.”
“Oh.”
“He asked me to stay the night with him. I did. I was so miserably lonely that I spent the night sleeping with my head on his chest. It was the best I've slept in a month.”
“Am I supposed to be jealous?” Ian asked. “Because I'm not. If you want to be with Addison then I wouldn't blame you. He's-”
“No. I don't want you to be jealous. I want my husband to come home at night. I hate living out in the middle of nowhere. I hate being alone in that house. I don't mind so much when you're on duty because I know you're only a phone call away but when you're off duty, I know I'm completely alone. I know that even if I try to call you, there's only a 50/50 chance that you'll even answer your phone.”
“I've been doing a lot of soul searching these last couple of weeks, Katie.”
“Its too late for soul searching, Ian. We're married. I'm going to be giving birth to our daughter any day now. You have a good job with the Sheriff's Department.”
“Tate found Casey's body.”
“No. He didn't. He found David's mother's body. Your Aunt Maureen. Ricky killed her, I guess.”
“What?” Ian sounded stunned.
“Why do you think I've been trying to call you all day?” Katie wondered if she sounded as exhausted as she felt. “Loretta Walker came into the Sheriff's Department mid-morning to talk to Frank. She said that David figured out that the body was his biological mother's. Trish's mom saw the bracelet that Tate found with the corpse and she recognized it. Your mom came into the office right after Loretta left. She gave a DNA sample. The lab is putting a rush on it, but the corpse is the right age and right approximate height to match Maureen Breedlove. Just waiting on the DNA confirmation.”
“Its Aunt Maureen.” Ian let out a deep breath, making the phone crackle even harder. “It doesn't matter, Katie. Casey's still out there. Her body is still somewhere in the woods outside Possum Creek.”
“Casey's been dead for a long time, Ian.”
“Kerry is still looking for her. He won't stop searching until he finds her.”
“He's never going to find her.”
“What if he does?” Ian asked. “I can't do this anymore, Katie.”
“You can't do what?”
“How am I supposed to be a father and a police officer with Casey's murder hanging over my head like a black shadow?” Ian asked.
“Casey's death was an accident.”
“Kerry wants to convict David of murdering Casey.”
“We've talked about this a thousand times, Ian. Kerry will never find Casey's body. David says you don't have anything to worry about. Why do you keep letting this tear you up inside? You didn't mean to kill that girl, Ian. It was an accident.” Katie clenched the steering wheel of the Chevy tightly in her hands as another contraction hit her. “Please Ian, come home. I can't do this alone. Casey has been dead since high school. I need you now.”
“I killed Casey.”
“Your truck flipped over on top of her. It was an accident.”
“We hid her body.”
“I don't understand why that matters now?” Katie asked. “Please Ian. I'm scared. We're going to be parents in a matter of days. How are you going to be a Daddy to our daughter when you won't even come home?”
“I don't think I can be a Daddy, Katie.”
“What?” She couldn't believe what she was hearing.
“I killed someone's little girl, Katie. How can I have a little girl of my own?”
“Why is all this coming back up now?” Katie asked. “Casey died more than eight years ago. You've been fine for a long time. We moved on. It was hard but we got through what happened to Casey. We got through it together. We moved on.”
“Maybe I can't move on. I thought I had moved on but then Kerry came to town. He started investigating Casey's case again. He brought up all those old rumors about David. He accused David of murdering Casey. He arrested David.”
“And David handled it,” Katie pointed out. “Nothing ever came from Kerry's accusations.”
“Just because nothing has come from Kerry's accusations yet doesn't mean that nothing ever will,” Ian whispered miserably. “I spend all day, every day, wondering whether the next call that comes through dispatch will be the call that Casey's body has been found.”
“Ian please. I can't deal with this right now. I need you to be here for me. I need you to be here for our daughter.”
“Katie, I'm sorry.” Ian hesitated for a long moment. “I need to do some more thinking. On my own.”
“What about me? What about our little girl?”
“I'll bring the truck home tomorrow. I know you don't like being alone at the house without a vehicle. You'll be okay tonight, won't you?”
“I have Cal's truck.”
“What?”
“I have Cal's truck,” Katie repeated.
“The blue truck?”
“No. The new one. The gold one.”
“Why do you have Cal's truck?”
“David forgot it at the hospital when he and Cal were helping Addison escape. They didn't want to go back for it because they didn't want to face Jane May. Gracie asked me to go with her to pick it up after Frank told me to go home early. I drove the Chevy back to Possum Creek because I didn't feel like trying to explain to your friends that I have no earthly idea where you are.”
“What did you tell them?”
“I told them that I was going to go visit with my mom for a few hours, which was the truth. I went and ate dinner with Mom and Jaylee.”
“What did you say about me?”
“I said you went fishing.”
“Did they believe you?”
“Why wouldn't they, Ian?” Katie took a deep breath as the tears streamed down her cheeks. “Everyone thinks we're happy together. They all think you love me.”
“I do love you, Katie.”
“If you loved me, you would come home.”
“I love you with my whole heart and soul,” Ian said. “But I have some really hard decisions to make, Katie.”
“You've already made your decisions,” Katie whispered. “You made them before you married me. It's too late for you to change your mind.”
“I'm sorry, Katie. I need to let you go. Have a safe night, okay?”
“Come home.”
“I love you.”
“Come home. Please.”
“Good night.” Ian's end of the conversation clicked off. Katie was left crying behind the steering wheel of the truck as she drove down the highway.
She was just past the Callahan County line when the police cruiser pulled out behind her with its lights and sirens blaring.
Chapter 32
“What the heck?” Katie took her foot off of the accelerator and pressed down hard on the brake. Cal's big truck shuddered as it crossed the gap between the pavement and the grassy shoulder of the road.
The cruiser pulled up directly on her bumper. She glanced in the side mirror to see a familiar, short and slightly lumpy figure getting out of the driver's seat. There was no question in her mind that the vehicle which had just pulled her over belonged to Deputy Kerry Longwood.
She glanced down at the speedometer of the truck. It read 0 mph. She'd been going 50 miles per hour in a 65 mile an hour zone. The truck itself was barely six months old, so there was no question that speedometer was accurate. The tag was in date. She highly doubted that any of the headlights or taillights were burned out.
Katie looked into the side-view mirror for a second time. Kerry had his hand on his gun as he walked up to the driver's side window of the Chevy. Her stomach did a nervous flip that had nothing to do with the co
ntractions she'd been feeling for the last three days.
Why the hell was Kerry holding his gun? He knew this was Cal's truck. Everyone in town knew that this was Cal's truck.
She pressed the button to roll the window down but only allowed it to go part of the way down.
“Get out of the truck,” Kerry ordered.
Katie hesitated. Something didn't feel right. She looked towards the treeline in the distance. The moon had risen high above the trees.
“Get out of the truck!” Kerry yelled. “Put your hands above your head where I can see them!”
Katie's hand was shaking as she started to reach for the door handle and then stopped herself. Every instinct and bit of intuition she had was screaming at her that something was wrong. She didn't want to get out of the Chevy. She called out the open window. “What are you doing?”
“Get out of the-.”
“What are you doing, Kerry?” Katie forced herself to yell the words back at him. She twisted in the driver's seat, her hands still on the steering wheel.
“Katie?” He looked startled.
“What are you doing?” She repeated the words a third time. “Why did you pull me over?”
“Why...Why are you driving this truck?” Kerry stammered.
Katie hesitated and then rolled the window down the rest of the way so that she could see Kerry more clearly. He was still holding his gun. She was glad that the truck had doors which automatically locked.
“I borrowed it,” she said.
“You borrowed it?” Kerry's voice was thick with disbelief. “From David Breedlove?”
Katie tensed. If Kerry thought that the truck was David's then she might actually be in real trouble. Kerry hated David and he still had one hand on his service revolver. Katie tried to make her voice sound as calm, reasonable and friendly as possible. “No. This isn't David's truck. It's Cal Walker's truck. Gracie let me borrow it for the night because Ian took our truck fishing. I didn't want to be left alone at the house with no car.”
“Cal Walker's truck,” Kerry repeated the words. He didn't sound at all happy. “There any weapons in this truck, Katie?”
Katie felt an unexpected chill run down her spine. “Weapons?”
“Knives. Guns. Weapons,” Kerry replied.
“Probably. It's Cal's truck.” Katie took a deep breath. “Why did you pull me over, Kerry?”
He was silent for a minute before he spoke. “You were speeding.”
“No I wasn't. I was going fifteen under.” Katie adjusted her grip on the steering wheel as Kerry stepped up to the driver's side window of the car. He looked paler than usual. He had sweat beading across his upper lip and forehead despite the relatively mild temperature. He peered past her into the cab of the truck, visibly searching the vehicle for additional occupants.
“Why did you pull me over, Kerry?” Katie pressed the question. “You're not even supposed to be on duty.”
“A good officer is always on duty. I thought you were speeding. I must have made a mistake.” He was lying and she knew it.
Another contraction hit Katie hard and she cringed, closing her eyes tightly and gripping the steering wheel with both hands.
“Are you okay?” Kerry asked her.
“I think I might be going into labor,” she whispered the words that she hadn't wanted to admit to herself all afternoon. The words she hadn't wanted to be true when she knew that Ian wasn't going to be there for her.
“Oh.” Kerry took a step back from the truck's window. “Maybe you should drive yourself to the hospital.”
“My hospital bag is at my house. I was going to go get it when you pulled me over. I already called Ian. He's supposed to be leaving the fish camp and coming home. He'll be waiting for me at the house.” Katie let the lies roll off her tongue. She waited for him to offer to call her an ambulance or volunteer to drive her back to the hospital himself. Kerry stayed silent. His beady eyes were focused on her as yet another contraction nearly brought her to tears.
“I need to go,” Katie told him.
Kerry glanced into the cab of the truck again, as if his first inspection of the truck's cab hadn't quite convinced him that Katie was alone.
“Really, Kerry. Ian's waiting for me.” Katie didn't know why she felt so nervous. She worked with Kerry almost every day. He didn't scare her, but there was something creepy about the way he was standing outside the window of the truck and just watching her. “I need to go.”
“I guess you can go,” Kerry said. “Just watch your speed next time.”
It was on the tip of Katie's tongue to remind him that she hadn't been speeding, but she thought better of it. She put the big truck back into gear and did a tight u-turn in the middle of the highway.
As she completed the turn, her headlights illuminated Kerry's cruiser and for just the briefest moment, she saw a second figure standing between the cruiser and the shoulder of the road. The shadow outline of a big man.
Katie nearly hit her brakes, but another contraction hit her hard. She closed her eyes for a split second and when she reopened them, her headlights were no longer pointed towards the cruiser. She glanced back to try to see the shadow man again but Kerry's cruiser had gone completely dark. He'd shut off all the lights so that the car was nearly invisible on the side of the road. If the second man was still standing next to the cruiser, Katie couldn't see him.
She started to hit her brakes and then stopped herself. If Kerry had a friend hanging out with him on an unauthorized ride-along, it really wasn't any of her business. Ian and Addison did it regularly. Nothing unusual about having a civilian in the cruiser. Except that Kerry didn't have any friends that Katie knew of.
She shuddered as she drove back across the Baker County line. She didn't know why, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd just dodged a bullet.
She picked up her cell phone and dialed Ian's number.
It rang four times but he didn't answer. Another contraction hit as Katie left her husband a voicemail telling him he needed to get off the river and meet her at the hospital.
She seriously doubted that he was going to show.
Chapter 33
“What the hell was that?” Curtis demanded as Kerry sat back down in the driver's seat of his squad car and shut off the light bar.
“Katie was driving it.”
“Who the fuck is Katie?”
“The pregnant wife of one of the other Callahan Sheriff's Department Deputies. She's one of our dispatchers.” Kerry wiped sweat away from his forehead.
“I thought you said David was driving that truck?” Curtis said.
“David was driving that truck.” Kerry threw his hands up. “You saw him driving it yesterday, same as I did.”
“But today some chick had it?”
“Yes.”
“You wouldn't lie to me, would you?” Curtis leered at Kerry from the backseat. “You sure you didn't chicken out on our plan?”
“David wasn't in the truck,” Kerry repeated. “Katie was driving it and she was alone. She said she borrowed it because Ian took their truck fishing. Ian and Katie only have one car.”
“You swear on your life?”
“I was going to follow through with our plan,” Kerry insisted. “I already had my gun free from its holster. If David Breedlove had been sitting in the driver's seat of that truck, his brains would be all over the windshield right now. I swear.”
“Did she tell you where David was?”
“I didn't ask,” Kerry said. “She was already suspicious of me. She knew that she hadn't been speeding. She knew I wasn't on duty. She kept questioning me about why I pulled her over. I didn't want to give her any more reasons to question my motives.”
“You better be telling the truth.”
“Why would I lie?” Kerry asked. “I want David dead.”
“You would lie because you're a coward.” Curtis shifted position in the backseat, making the entire cruiser shake. “If we can't get David tonight, we're goi
ng to have to take both him and Trish out tomorrow.”
“Why tomorrow?” Kerry asked.
“Because Nellie is bringing Trish to me tomorrow,” Curtis replied with a broad smile. “I don't want David getting in my way.”
Chapter 34
“Holy shit.”
Trish had to stop short on the porch of her own house because Addison and David had stopped dead in their tracks when they had reached the front door.
“What's wrong?” Trish asked the question even though she really didn't think she wanted to know the answer.
“Stay here,” David said.
“Y'all alright?” Cal and Gracie had been sitting in the SUV, but Cal had cut the engine and walked up to the porch.
David turned back around to face the rest of them. “Trish. Gracie. Y'all go back to the car, get in it and lock the doors. Addy go with them.”
“What's wrong?” Trish struggled to look past him but she was too short.
“Hey!” Addison narrowed his eyes at David. “You can't just banish me.”
“Yeah. I can. You're hurt and therefore, you're a liability.” David made a dismissive gesture at his best friend. “Take the girls back to the Caddy. I'm going to check the house out. I highly doubt that the burglar hung around after he pooped in the hallway, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.”
“Someone pooped in the hallway?” Trish shoved past Addison and stared into her house. Someone had definitely taken a dump in the middle of the hallway. They had also smashed all the picture frames that had hung along the walls for more than thirty years. Bits and pieces of glass covered the stained carpeting. There was a hole in the drywall just above the buffet. The buffet itself appeared to have survived its encounter with the vandals. It had probably been too heavy to vandalize. The lamps, statues and other curios that had been on top were smashed. There was only one item left sitting on the buffet. It was the ring Curtis had given her to wear on their wedding day.
Her fake 5-carat wedding ring.
Trish unexpectedly felt her knees buckle. David grabbed for her but Cal was standing directly behind her. He caught her and eased her gently down to the ground.
