Unlocking Fear

by Kennedy Layne

  “Did he also let you know that he’s been diagnosed with kidney failure?” Whitney was never one to beat around the bush. Noah leaned down and gave her a hug, patting her on the back in sympathy while purposefully not inhaling her overpowering layer of cheap knockoff perfume. There were times when silence was the best answer. “He shouldn’t be drinking.”

  Noah stepped back and nodded in commiseration. Jeremy Bell wasn’t known to take anyone’s advice, especially from his nagging daughter.

  “I heard he’s been through a lot this past year.” Noah shifted his weight as he chose his words carefully. “Between losing his factory job, early retirement, and his declining physical health, it can’t be easy. Have you consulted with his doctor about—”

  “About the fact that my dad’s a habitual alcoholic?” Whitney worded the question for him with a tilt of her head. The ringing of her cell phone didn’t stop her from answering. “He refuses to go into the city to see the specialist. Doc Finley is the only one he’ll see. I expect that will end up killing Dad.”

  Noah wasn’t sure what to say regarding the fact that Dr. Walter Finley was still practicing medicine. The man had to be at least eighty years old by now. He also doubled for the town’s vet in a pinch. There was actually a much younger guy with a professional veterinarian’s practice in town now, but a lot of the old timers still used Finley.

  “I’ve got to take this,” Whitney said with a sigh of mild annoyance. She was already walking down the street as she tossed a goodbye over her shoulder. “I’m sure I’ll see you around now that you’re back in town.”

  “Take care, Whitney.”

  Noah palmed the keys to his truck as he stepped off the curb, thinking he’d just been saved by the bell. He made his way across the street with a quick grin. He couldn’t help but look back to make sure that Whitney made it to her car safely, but it appeared she’d walked to the bank from her father’s place. The Bells lived on Third Street in a rundown two-story house that could use a fresh coat of paint and had seen much better days by the general look of things.

  Whitney seemed on edge, but so would he if his father had been diagnosed with kidney failure all the while refusing to give up the bottle. It was only a matter of time before the man drank himself into an early grave.

  Noah sighed with relief upon seeing the neon Open sign lit up in the window of Calvin’s shop. Blyth Lake Hardware was the name it had opened under more than eighty years ago, and it was highly doubtful that moniker would ever change.

  A loud bell overhead clanged to signify a customer had arrived on his doorstep. Calvin was probably getting ready to close, seeing as it was a few minutes after six o’clock. Everyone was well-acquainted with his love of fishing and that he kept different hours than most during fishing season. In this case, it worked out for Noah just fine.

  “Calvin? You around?”

  “In the back here,” Calvin called out, most likely drinking his coffee while restringing one of his various fishing poles.

  Noah was starting to feel like a kid in a candy store as he walked down the main aisle to the back room where Calvin still maintained a small black and white television set that he refused to upgrade. He used it mostly for the sound, according to his story. Spending money for a better picture was senseless in his mind, and he’d stated that very fact to anyone who would listen. Some of the businesses in Blyth Lake might have been affected by the arrival of new technology, but that didn’t mean that all the residents would succumb to its charms.

  “I’m glad you’re still here,” Noah said before turning the corner. “I was hoping to grab some—”

  Noah broke off when he saw that Calvin wasn’t alone.

  Reese Woodward was curled up with a glass of lemonade in Calvin’s favorite leather chair that had seen better days. A couple strands had fallen from her hair clip and were framing her face. The light chestnut color brought out the flecks of gold in her eyes.

  “Noah, congratulations on the new property.” Calvin greeted him from his roost on an old wooden stool. He shifted his coffee cup to his left hand before extending his other arm. “I would have stuck around the diner to see what tools or supplies you might need, but I didn’t want to be the one to spill the beans to your Uncle Jimmy, if you know what I mean.”

  Noah didn’t want to talk about his uncle. He was more curious as to why Reese Woodward was sitting in the back of a hardware store enjoying a glass of lemonade as if she owned the place. She raised a hand and wiggled her fingers in greeting, much like she had when she’d taken the shortcut on his property.

  He smiled and leaned against the doorframe after shaking Calvin’s hand.

  This ought to be good.

  “I don’t believe we’ve formally met.” Noah wasn’t going to wait for Calvin to get around to making introductions. “I’m Noah Kendall, your next-door neighbor of sorts.”

  “I’m Reese…Reese Woodward. I hope you don’t mind I used the shortcut next to your place when I was heading into town,” Reese said an infectious smile. Was that a dimple on her right cheek? “I hear a thank you is in order.”

  For a moment, Noah wasn’t quite sure what she was talking about. He was still focused on the little fascinating indentation. He’d always been partial to dimples.

  “I’m sorry. For what?”

  “For your service,” Reese clarified with appreciation, lowering her legs and sitting forward on the edge of the cushion. “Mr. Arlo has been telling me about your family’s legacy of service. I think it’s very honorable that you and your siblings chose to carry on the tradition.”

  Noah was never one to take praise for doing what he considered his duty. He welcomed Calvin’s interruption.

  “Is Gus in front?”

  “No, I left him at Tiny’s to finish his beer.” Noah caught Reese looking at her watch. Seeing as she walked here, it didn’t surprise him that she would want to make it back to her house before dark. He’d taken the shortcut she’d used several times back in his day, but he always made sure to have a flashlight. “Chester and Stella’s anniversary is coming up. He wanted Dad to make one of those fancy standing jewelry boxes for her. I figured you’d be closing soon, so I wanted to grab some boards so I can cover up some of those broken windows I inherited.”

  “I have some AC lumber in the ready bins out back that would do just fine.” Calvin set down his mug and unhooked what had to be around fifteen keys from his keyring attached to his belt. “Let me bring some up for you.”

  “Mr. Arlo, I really should be—”

  “Call me Calvin, dear.” Noah hid a smile when Calvin tipped his cap, proving that his manners hadn’t faded with age. “Call me Calvin. And if you have any other questions regarding Emma Irwin, you know where to find me most days except Sunday.”

  “I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. Thank you.”

  Noah had to have heard wrong. Emma Irwin? He hadn’t thought of her in years, and this was the second time she’d been brought up in one day.

  “Emma Irwin?” Noah asked, confused as to why Reese had questions about Emma. An unsettling feeling hit the pit of his stomach. “Why would you be asking questions about Emma?”

  “I’ll let Reese explain while I go back and sort out your plywood and some two-by-fours.” Calvin waited for Noah to back up out of the way before he slid past and started walking to the locked door no more than twenty feet away. “How many do you figure you’ll need?”

  “Enough to cover four regular-sized windows. Say…two sheets of plywood and four two-by-fours,” Noah replied distractedly, not taking his eyes off Reese. She appeared a bit uncomfortable that Calvin had left her to her own devices. She set down her glass, still half full of lemonade, next to Calvin’s coffee cup. “Did you know Emma?”

  “Not exactly,” Reese hedged, slipping her hands in the back pockets of her denim shorts. It dawned on him that she never had the chance to answer Molly’s question he’d overheard at the diner. “At least, not personally. My cousin we
nt to summer camp with Emma a few months before she went missing that fall.”

  Noah waited to see if Reese would continue her story, but she fell silent and stared at him expectantly. She was waiting for him to move out of her way, but he was too curious now to let her go without answering a few more of his questions.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize your family was close to the Irwins.” Noah tried to recall someone with the last name of Woodward, but the surname wasn’t familiar. “Did your cousin go to Blyth Lake High School?”

  “No, actually. Sophia and I grew up in Heartland.” Reese’s gaze shifted past his shoulder, alerting him that Calvin had grabbed the order of lumber. She relaxed somewhat, almost as if she were grateful for the interruption. “I really should be heading back before it gets dark.”

  “I can give you a lift,” Noah offered, the words escaping his mouth before he could catch them. Hadn’t he said to himself not four hours ago that it wasn’t any of his business why she was in town? Then again, he hadn’t known it involved Emma. “I’m driving right past your rental. I’m heading back to board up those windows for the night.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I think Molly gave me a bigger piece of apple pie than she did anyone else today,” Reese said, declining his offer as she rested a hand over her stomach. “The walk will do me some good.”

  “Noah, can you grab these while I lock up back here?”

  “Sure,” Noah replied, reluctant to end his conversation with Reese. She certainly had his interest piqued. “I was just offering Reese a ride home. She took the shortcut through the woods next to Yoder’s property.”

  “When are you going to stop referring to the farmhouse as someone else’s place?” Calvin gave a hearty laugh as he secured the lock on the storage door. “She’s all yours now, Kendall.”

  “That she is,” Noah replied with a smile, a deep sense of pride filling his chest at the gift his parents had seen to give him. Gus might say it was all Mary’s doing, but Noah had never seen either one of them do something without the other’s consent. They had been partners in every sense of the word. “As I was saying, Reese, I’m heading that way. You’re more than welcome to ride over there with me.”

  “I think you missed her,” Calvin said just as the bell above the door chimed Reese’s departure. He started walking toward the front of the store where the old-fashioned register was still in place from when his grandfather used to run the store. “She’s a real sweetheart, that one.”

  “She seems nice enough.” Noah was very careful with his words, not wanting Calvin to take his interest the wrong way. Blyth Lake had a reputation of having the fastest gossip grapevine in the state of Ohio. He didn’t want to be feeding the spread of stories just as he got back into town. “What’s her interest in Emma Irwin?”

  “Oh, that,” Calvin brushed it off as if that topic of conversation came up a lot. Maybe it did. Nothing ever happened around here, so things of that nature tended to hover over the area. Noah had been gone for twelve years, only visiting when he got leave between deployments or when holidays had allowed. “She’s barking up the wrong tree.”

  “What’s that mean?” Noah asked, shifting the boards in his hands so that he could lean them against the counter, using his knees as leverage. He reached into his back pocket for his wallet. “What is it that she’s got wrong?”

  “The young lady seems to think there’s a connection between her cousin and Emma Irwin disappearing.”

  “Is there?” Noah asked, handing over twenty-five dollars in cash. Calvin never liked the idea of credit card machines. It was all pay by cash or go without. “A connection, I mean?”

  “I doubt it.” Calvin rang up the purchase before writing it down on the receipt pad. He tore the top sheet off and handed it to Noah. “She didn’t seem all that happy with what I had to say. In all honesty, it sounded to me like her cousin ran away from home. The young lady refuses to accept that as the truth, and her hunch isn’t paying off. I wouldn’t be surprised if Reese Woodward heads out of town by tomorrow morning.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Reese paused the porch swing with her flip-flop as a third truck came rambling down the narrow lane. She’d first heard the engine of Noah Kendall’s F150 around six o’clock this morning through her bedroom screened window. A second vehicle had followed an hour or so later.

  Now? It was going on eight o’clock in the morning as dust wafted in the driver’s wake of yet another individual who was joining Noah in whatever renovations he’d begun today.

  She couldn’t hide her surprise as a red Dodge Ram pulled in behind her small Honda Fit on the far side of the house. No one had ever visited her here besides Rose Phifer. The older lady was African American and the wife of Tiny…who happened to be six feet and six inches tall. Together, they owned a few properties in and around Blyth Lake, along with Tiny’s Cavern.

  Word from the gossip mill yesterday had it that Tiny and Rose had sold off the Cavern to Brynn Mercer. Of course, the topic had changed on a dime the moment Noah Kendall had walked through the diner’s door.

  “May I help you?” Reese called out after she’d walked to the edge of the porch steps. It certainly wasn’t Rose who had come calling. “If you’re looking for Noah Kendall, he’s at the neighboring property.”

  “Mornin’.” A man around her age, give or take a couple years, stepped out of his vehicle after shutting off his engine. He was tall, lean, and had a charming smile that could sweep most women off their feet. She wasn’t immune, but she wasn’t interested either. “I’m headed to Noah’s place after I take care of that leak in your kitchen faucet.”

  “How did you know…” Reese let her voice trail off after she answered her own question. She’d mentioned a few things to Calvin last night during their conversation about Emma and Sophia regarding the house. The leak hadn’t warranted a call to Rose, but apparently, Calvin had mentioned it to the woman at some point last night after Reese had left him or sometime earlier this morning.

  “You’ve been here a week, right?” The man walked to the bed of his truck and pulled down the tailgate. She was surprised the planks of wood and other material sticking out the back didn’t tumble to the ground. “You should know that word travels fast. Calvin spoke to Rose around five o’clock this morning on his way fishing. He mentioned it to her then, along with the fact that he’s not so sure you’ll be around much longer. Shame. It’s always good for business to have tourists other than what the lake draws. Keeps us family shop owners from selling off the homestead.”

  There were so many things Reese wanted to address in his little speech, but all she could focus on was that Calvin Arlo thought she’d leave after speaking with him last night.

  Where on earth did he get that idea?

  Calvin had spent a good hour reminiscing about those days when the town would host a summer camp out at the lake with camping and all the other activities that went along with it to give the locals along with the folks from the surrounding areas a place for their kids to spend a week to enjoy themselves during the summer. The program had gone defunct around eight years ago when there weren’t enough sponsors to finance the amount of staff required to run the place. The cost for attending the camp had never been enough to pay the overhead. The businesses in town had provided the majority of the support for the camp from the very beginning.

  To the best of his collections, Sophia had been outgoing and made friends with everyone, even going so far as to teach Emma how to swim. It was the reason the two of them had become friends. He didn’t recall anything unusual that summer.

  She didn’t have any reason to believe he lied, so why would he think she would leave town? Maybe he figured she’d run out of questions to ask or leads to follow.

  “Name’s Chad Schaeffer.”

  Reese moved on autopilot and held out her arm, having already switched hands in order to maintain her hold on the coffee cup. Chad Schaeffer’s name was on her list.

  “I’m so
rry, my mind wandered there for a moment,” Reese replied sheepishly, stepping to the side to allow Chad a direct path to the screen door. “My name is Reese, though it sounds as if you already know quite a bit about me and why I’m here.”

  “Other than you’re thirty-one years old, a teacher from Springfield, Illinois who was born in Heartland, Ohio, and renting out this cottage for the summer to find out if Emma’s disappearance is linked to your cousin’s disappearance eleven years ago?” The laugh lines around Chad’s eyes became even more visible as he shot her a look before entering the house. “Nope. Don’t know a darn thing.”

  Reese sighed and followed behind him, wondering what else Calvin had seen fit to share during his run-in with Rose this morning. Although from the sound of it, Chad might have known about her reason for being here long before today. After all, Calvin certainly had.

  “It’s really not like that,” Reese hedged, trailing Chad as he made his way to the kitchen sink. It was apparent he’d been here many times before. “My cousin was Sophia Morton. She and Emma became friends at camp the same year Emma disappeared. Sophia supposedly ran away exactly a year later, but I never believed that. She wouldn’t have done that to her family…to me. I thought maybe…”

  Chad set his red toolbox down on the faded tile, though he made no move to look at the faucet. There was sorrow and maybe a bit of regret written across his features.

  “Okay,” Reese conceded, setting her cup down on the table as she took a seat in one of the four chairs. “Maybe it is like that, but I don’t want anyone to think I’m dredging up the past to hurt someone or accuse someone of a crime.”

  “The Irwins no longer live in Blyth Lake, but we were all affected when Emma went missing. It was a bad time for the whole town.” Chad gestured toward the coffee maker, causing Reese to feel even worse. She certainly didn’t make the best hostess. He grabbed a mug out of the cupboard, not even having to guess as to where the glasses and cups were stored. “Did you know that I was the one who bought the keg and threw that last party at the old Yoder place the night Emma went missing? My dad had delivered some supplies to Pete Anderson earlier that week, so I knew the Anderson family wouldn’t be moved in there by that weekend. We weren’t going to do any damage or leave a mess, so we thought we could get away with having one more bash before the place was renovated and a family took possession of the property. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t play the what-if game. What if I hadn’t given her the booze?”