"Her name is Andy something."
Polly sat back, a bemused look on her face. "Andy Specek?"
"Yeah. That's her. She came into the convenience store, so I got to know her. One day she saw me at the grocery store. I didn't have enough money and she paid for our food, then she asked me some questions and I ended up telling her everything. She's so nice. Did you know she was a teacher? She was the first person to even care that I was here."
"She is a wonderful person," Polly said. "She's one of my best friends and her husband works for Henry."
"That's right," Stephanie said. "I remember her telling me that."
Ken stood up. "I'm very sorry to have had to tell you this today, Stephanie." She nodded and he walked to the door. "I'll be in touch if we need anything else. Otherwise, you're in good hands here. Polly and Jeff are good people." He grinned at Polly and left.
"Is this too weird?" Stephanie asked. "Are you sure you want me to stay here now?"
Jeff finally spoke up. "What do you mean?"
"Are you sure you want me around?"
He took a deep breath and let it out in something that sounded like a growl. "Stephanie. All I can do is be thankful that you were here today and not anywhere else when you found out about this. When you come to work at Sycamore House, you become part of a big family. We watch out for each other and when things like this come up, we have a tendency to step in and make sure you're safe while you deal with it."
"How are you going to tell Kayla?" Polly asked.
"She's coming here after school with Rebecca. Is that okay? I know that we didn't talk about it first."
"Of course it's okay."
"I can't believe Mom is dead," Stephanie said. "It's my fault."
Jeff took her hand. "It's not your fault. It's your father's fault."
"She made us leave. We talked about it the last night he raped me. When he was done, he went in to her room and beat her up. He told her that she was worthless and he would rather be dead than have sex with her and that it was a good thing she'd had two girls. We were the only reason he stayed."
Polly and Jeff looked at each other. Neither of them had any idea what to say, so they just held on to Stephanie while she talked.
"When he went to work the next morning, I told her that we were all leaving. I had a car because I worked on the other side of town. I'd already picked out Bellingwood. I loved the name of the town and I remember watching old episodes of MASH. Radar loved his family in Iowa so much, I thought it had to be a good place.
"Mom said she couldn't leave, but I had to. She called the school and told them that Kayla had a family emergency and I was picking her up."
Stephanie sobbed into Polly's shoulder again, then straightened up. "I really did beg her to come with us. I didn't want to leave the house. I knew he'd hurt her, but she told me that if she left with us, he'd never stop looking. And if he tried to file a missing person's report on me and Kayla, she'd call the police and cancel it. When I tried to tell her where we were going, she shushed me. She didn't want to know, just in case the beating got so bad she blurted it out. We cried a long time, but she told me that it was the only courageous thing she would ever be able to do. She hadn't been able to protect me, but the two of us could protect Kayla."
Polly didn't know why these people kept coming into her life, but she was glad she had resources to help when they did. She took a breath and asked, "Do you want anyone with you when you talk to Kayla or would you like to be alone with her?"
"I can't believe I told you so much," Stephanie said and turned to Jeff. "I'm so sorry. I'm really a good employee. I don't like dragging my personal life into things."
"Please don't," he said. "No one is exempt from bad things in their lives. You shouldn't have to apologize when they show up in your face. This doesn't change my opinion of you at all." He thought about what he'd just said. "I take that back. It has changed my opinion of you. You're amazing. You are the courage that your mother wanted to have. You've not only made a safe home for your sister, but you also kept her in school and held down a job."
"I'm glad to be here. We were at the end," Stephanie said. "If it weren't cold out, they'd have turned our heat off by now. Hopefully with the extra money I'm making, we'll finally catch up."
Polly realized that was an easy fix. She wondered how many others were in the same situation. Jeff didn't want her offering to take away Stephanie's independence, but she could at least do something about their desperate financial situation.
She heard noise in the main foyer and poked her head out of the conference room door. Rebecca, Kayla and Andrew were coming into the office.
"Hi kids," she said, closing the door behind her. "How was school today?"
"Is Stephanie here?" Kayla asked. "She said I could come over because she started working here today. I drew a picture at school to congratulate her."
"That's wonderful. She's in the other room right now and I think she wants to talk to you. Andrew and Rebecca, would you go upstairs and take the animals outside? Henry did a while ago, but I'm sure they're waiting for you to show up. You know how much they love you."
"Did you see Jerry Smith's black eye today?" Andrew asked Rebecca as they left the main office.
"Yeah. What happened?" she asked.
Polly missed the rest of the conversation when they got too far away. She wondered what happened, too.
She knocked on the conference room door and opened it slightly, enough to peek in. "Kayla's here. Do you want us in there or not?"
"Can Jeff stay?"
"Absolutely. I'll be in my office if you need me." Polly pushed the door open and Kayla started through it.
When she saw her sister's red face and puffy eyes, she stopped. "What happened?" she asked. "Are you fired or do we have to move? What?"
Stephanie patted the chair beside her. "No. I'm fine and we can stay. Come here and sit beside me. I need to talk to you."
Kayla looked up at Polly and hesitantly entered the room. Polly pulled the door shut and went into her own office and sat down. Those girls had a lot to deal with right now and she was thrilled that Stephanie preferred Jeff's presence to hers. Those two would be working together every day and the sooner she trusted him, the better.
There was still enough time to call the local electric company. The only information they would give Polly was how much Stephanie was behind. It was less than two hundred dollars. Polly asked about others who were in that much trouble and after the representative gave her recommendations, she took care of those and asked that it all remain anonymous. At least it was a start.
The next call was to Henry. He answered on the first ring. "Is everything okay?"
"I love you, Henry."
"I love you too. What's going on?"
"Everything is okay. At least it's all okay here in Bellingwood. Stephanie and Kayla's father killed their mother last night. He's an abuser and he raped Stephanie. She ran away with Kayla before he could start on her sister."
"No," he gasped. "Those poor girls."
"I know. But do you want to know the best part?"
"There's a best part?"
"Okay. It is for me. I was in there as a soft shoulder to cry on when she talked about it, but she wanted Jeff with her when she talked to Kayla. He's doing the rescue, not me. He knows that I'll do whatever he needs me to do, but he's got this."
"You're a funny girl."
"What do you mean?"
"Most people would have to be involved because they couldn't let a rescue like this happen without their input. Not you. You are just as happy to have someone else take care of it and back them up when they need it. You're an amazing woman, Polly Giller."
"You're a crazy man. I want to help her, but she wants him and I'm perfectly happy to let him. I have enough other things to deal with."
"Like I said, you're amazing."
She was embarrassed. "Stop it. Anyway, I wanted you to know what was going on and I especially wanted you to know
how much I love you. I appreciate that you are honorable and have integrity and would never consider hurting another human being, much less your daughter or your wife."
"The thought of that makes me shudder," he said. "I am always amazed at humanity's capacity for harm. We can come up with the most horrendous things to do to each other."
Polly interrupted. "But then I think of you and realize that we have an even greater capacity for love. You teach me that every day."
"So... ice cream sandwiches tonight?"
She laughed. "Stephanie isn't working up there anymore. You're going to have to... oh, and that's the other crazy thing."
"What?"
"Andy knows all about her. When she started telling me about this lady in town who had helped her with groceries and got her going, I just figured it was Lydia. No! It was Andy."
"Hmm," Henry said. "I didn't put that all together. Len said something last summer about a young girl that Andy was helping. He was building a set of steps. That must have been the steps that went up into the trailer."
"We have the best people in our lives, don't we," Polly said, her throat clenching as she tried to hold back tears.
"We really do. Okay. I'm going back to work and I'll be home with plenty of ice cream bars. It sounds like we might have to pass them around."
"I love you, Henry."
"Love you too, sweetums."
"Goofball."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
"Taking a break from your regular job?"
Polly was surprised to see Stu Decker walk into her office.
"Hey Stu," she said as she stood and shook his hand. "What are you doing here? And no, I haven't found any more bodies."
"For which we're grateful. We have enough going on right now."
"How can I help you?"
"Jeff said he would make a copy of the information he was given by Albert Cook, the guy who was killed last week."
"When did you ask him for it?"
"This morning."
"Okay," she said with a chuckle. "That just tells me where I need to look for it. He's in the conference room right now."
"I'm sorry. I should have let him know for sure when I was coming."
"It's no big deal. Let's look out on Stephanie's desk first."
"I should have just had him email it to us, but I knew I'd be in town this afternoon."
"Really, not a problem. Let me check."
Polly went out to the main office and found a neat stack of folders on one corner of the desk. She flipped through them until she pulled out a manila envelope tagged with Stu's name.
"I think this is it," she said, handing him the envelope.
He opened it and pulled out two sheets of paper. "Thanks. That's it. How are you doing after everything that happened last weekend? I know you've found bodies before, but this was intense."
Polly sat back down at her desk. "Honestly, I haven't had time to think about it much this week. I was a mess Saturday night, but then, just like it always does, life took over and I lost control of everything."
He smiled at her. "You do tend to run on the edge up here."
"Hey!" It was only a weak protest, but Polly didn't think it was fair to let that one go. She leaned forward. "I have a question."
"Shoot."
"How's Aaron doing?"
Stu peered at her, trying to uncover her motives. "This case really has him worked up. He knew the guy, you know. They were supposed to get together this week."
"Okay, but where does he know this guy from?"
"Sorry, I figured you already knew that. It was when he was living in Atlanta. This guy was on the force with Aaron."
"Aaron was on the police force in Atlanta? I had no idea."
"Yeah. That's where he grew up."
"And he moved to Iowa? I wonder why?"
"I don't know. He never talks about it. Something happened with a case, I think."
"And you don't think it's all connected?"
"It's not." Stu sounded really certain of that.
"So, Aaron's been acting like a jerk for a month or so, one of his old co-workers comes to Bellingwood and is killed by a sniper, you tell me that he left that place because of a case, and you aren't asking questions as to how these things might be related?"
Stu shook his head and smiled patronizingly at her. "We've asked all the questions. There's nothing there."
"Really. Nothing there. And who says that there's nothing there? Aaron?"
"Yes, but the Iowa DCI has been involved in the investigation too and they aren't finding any connections."
"Who's the lead? Aaron's buddy, Digger? Those two go way back."
Stu sat up straight, his jaw grew stiff. "I don't know what you are insinuating, but I don't like it. Aaron Merritt is not involved in this murder. I thought you were his friend."
"Don't get all defensive," Polly said. "I'm not the only person who is going to ask questions. Have you come any closer to finding out who the shooter is?"
Stu didn't relax and Polly knew she'd crossed a line. "Look, Stu," she said. "Aaron and Lydia are my friends and you know that as well as anyone, but something is going on. If it were anyone else, you'd be all over it."
"But it's not anyone else. It's Aaron. He has more integrity and honor than anyone I've ever met in my life. He's not involved in this man's death."
"And that's all you're investigating - this Albert Cook's death?"
"What do you mean?"
"What if he was killed because of something that happened when they were both in Atlanta? What if there's some connection?"
"If anything comes up while we're investigating the shooting, we'll make sure there aren't any loose ends, but right now, there's nothing else."
"Every good crime show would have you checking into the cases those two men worked together when they were in Atlanta."
"But we aren't a crime show and Polly, we're in Iowa. How exactly would you want us to go through those records?"
"They aren't digital?"
"Who knows? It was thirty years ago. I don't know if they've gotten scanned into the system. And I'm not going to start bringing things up that don't have any bearing on this case."
"I think you're being stubborn. How could they not have something to do with this case?"
"You don't think that Albert Cook could have just been in town to visit Aaron. Maybe to spend time with an old friend?"
"Well, no." she said.
"If you must know, we have emails going back about six months between those two men, setting up a time for them to get together. Albert's wife died last summer, his kids are all across the country, he was retired and he reached out to Aaron. I guess he was like Aaron's mentor. Polly, we've asked all these questions."
"Okay, but still, there's something odd going on with Aaron. And it just can't be this random."
"Yes it can. Spend time in my shoes and you'd be surprised at how random things can really be sometimes."
"And I'm guessing you don't want to admit how often random circumstances usually end up being connected."
He grinned. "You've got me there. Some of your cases have been really out there."
"That's what I mean."
"Don't try to make more out of this for Aaron than it already is. He's pretty upset that his old friend came into town and was killed."
"So, I'm asking again. You've got nothing on who did it?"
"It's probably someone from out of state."
"Well, duh. It's not like we have a state filled with highly trained snipers. I don't know anyone who is."
Stu took a breath and looked at her. "Aaron is."
"The one man in town who is a sniper and it's my friend," she said. "You really aren't making this easy on me."
"That's not my job," Stu said, glaring at her, "My job is to follow an investigation and that's what I've been doing all week long. But it wasn't Aaron. Don't ask me to explain how we know, but we do."
"I don't mean to sound like I'm accusing him
of the murder."
Stu looked at her skeptically.
"That's not it at all," she said. "Aaron wouldn't kill someone like that. Especially not in his home town. He's not that stupid. But I just can't believe that this whole thing doesn't have some connecting point."
"Anything's possible, but there's nothing there." Stu stood up. "Don't bother Aaron with this. He's got enough on his plate. If you start doing your investigating thing..."
"What, it might make him even more distant and morose?" she asked.
"Just leave it alone. We're handling it."
"Aaron's bad mood is rubbing off on you."
"Let us do our job, Polly. This one time. Just let us do our job." He spun and walked away before she could say anything else.
Polly smacked her fist down on her desk. This was the second time she'd gotten frustrated with these men.
Rebecca and Andrew came running into her office and jumped into the chairs in front of her desk. They both started talking at once.
Andrew: "Eliseo asked us..."
Rebecca: "Can I..."
The two kids looked at each other and giggled. "You go," Rebecca said.
"No, you go," Andrew repeated.
"One of you, go," Polly said.
Rebecca put her hand over her mouth and pointed at Andrew.
"I'm going," he said. "Eliseo said that since it was such a warm day, we could go for a wagon ride. Can we? We're going to take hot dogs and chips and stuff for s'mores and make a fire. Can we?"
"Of course you can," Polly responded. "That sounds like a blast. Who's going?"
"Me and Rebecca and Jason for sure. He said that if Kayla was here, she could go and there was room for Stephanie and Jessie too, but she's probably working."
"I don't know how much she'd like climbing in and out of that wagon," Polly said. "She's pretty pregnant."
"Do you and Henry want to come?" Rebecca asked.
A flash of something went across Andrew's face.
When Polly said, "No. I think it would be more fun if it was just you kids with Eliseo," his face brightened up again. That was it. He just wanted to play without much adult intervention tonight. That made sense. And she was thrilled that he wanted to do something with the horses and with Eliseo. Any opportunity to get both of the kids playing outside was one she'd grab.
Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9) Page 13
