She twisted, eyes darting in every direction. “I have to get out of here. Now.”
Mike took her shoulders. “Look at me. Calm down and tell me what’s going on. I’ll help you.”
She sighed and her chest rose and fell as she breathed in the car’s cool air. “I came here to hide. Dan took a loan for our company from a guy with ties in every direction to illegal activities. I owe him three quarters of a million dollars and now he’ll know where I am. The newspaper article named my location.” She looked at Mike’s lined, handsome face and his eyes that mirrored the hazy, late summer sky outside the car’s window. “I’m dead if he finds me and it’s only a matter of hours.”
Mike stared at her. “Holy Christ. You came here to hide. Tommy was right.” He shook his head. “Tommy called yesterday to tell me what happened between you. He also told me what Zac’s been up to. Said it was time I knew the truth.”
“He told you?”
He gazed at his dry, chapped hands. “I’m an idiot but I had no idea. After I talked to Tommy I went out to Zac’s place and there were these rough-looking guys.” His voice choked and he gazed out the window. “These rough men hanging out in his living room, guns on the coffee table.” He paused and rubbed his eyes. There was stubble on his usual clean-shaven face, and bags of skin pooled under his eyes. “I confronted him and he went insane. Started babbling about leaving town and the beach or some other nonsense I didn’t understand. Then he sped off in the car.”
She glanced at the windshield, and the squashed bugs on the glass appeared in the pattern of a quarter moon. She blinked her eyes and pushed her fingers into her forehead. “This is about a lot of money.”
“Something I can’t figure is where all the money’s gone. Zac sure never acts like he has any extra.”
“He’s been hiding it behind the desk at Riversong. It’s over 770,000 dollars.”
He took in a deep breath and splayed his hands over the steering wheel. “I see.” He paused and looked at her. “Why didn’t you take it? Pay this guy off?”
“Mike, I’m sorry to say this, but it’s because I’m as afraid of Zac as I am of this DeAngelo.” She watched a jackrabbit hop to the middle of the road and look around, sniffing the air, and suddenly a log truck was upon him. Lee shut her eyes, hearing the truck whiz by. When she opened them the rabbit was on the other side of the highway, hopping away, almost blending into the beige colored, sun scorched brush and grasses. “Mike, I have to get out of here.”
He shook his head, no, and took her soft hands in his big rough ones. “Listen to me, young lady. We’re gonna sit right here and work this through until we come up with the answer to your problem. You cannot run away. That’s not how we do things here. You understand?”
“I can’t stay here. I bet he’s in town right now.”
He went on as if he didn’t hear her. “Why did you keep this a secret from me? I could’ve helped you.”
“It’s my problem.”
“Now see, that’s where you’re wrong. Part of being a friend is asking for help from the people who care about you.”
“Why would you help me?”
“That’s a complicated answer, but let me try to get it through your thick head. The first thing is, I knew your grandparents. My daddy called them friends and that meant they were friends to me, too. And that means you’re my friend. You’re one of our kids and it’s our job to take care of you. That’s how I do things, how we did things around here, until the drugs started taking over.” He seemed like he wanted to say more but stared at the steering wheel instead.
“Mike, these guys, they’re serious. They will kill me if I don’t get out of here and I don’t want any of you in danger.”
“Listen, I’ve made no secret that I’m on a mission to save this town. I see it real simple, like God wants it, and part of that plan includes you.”
“But it’s not safe for you to even be here with me.”
He held up a hand, shaking his head. “Just let me tell you something now. One night last year I had a dream I was swimming in the river on my property with my eyes open. A trout swam in front of my face, opened his mouth, and said the word ‘flies.’ Damnest thing, a talking fish. Anyway, the next night I dreamt I walked the length of Main Street with three people. I couldn’t see their faces but as we walked, the street transformed into real fancy shops, restaurants, a bookstore, a bed and breakfast, that kind of thing. At the end of the street was a fly fishing store.”
“Flies.”
“That’s right. Flies. I believe the three people with me were you, Tommy, and Linus. This is your destiny.”
“My destiny?”
“If you need that money, you should take it because we need you here.”
“It’s impossible. He’ll know it’s me. You saw for yourself the thugs he hangs out with.”
“I’ll tell him I took it.”
Lee’s eyes filled with tears. “I can’t let you do it.”
Mike tapped her on the forehead. “Young lady, you’ve got to learn how to accept help when it’s offered.” He shifted in his seat. “It makes me sick, thinking what he’s been doing. I don’t know what I did wrong.”
“That’s what I always thought about my mother. If I could just be good, please her, maybe she wouldn’t need to drink. But it never worked.” She looked at him for a long moment, thinking of Zac’s face the day she confronted him, an idea clicking in her mind. “The money gets me out of my mess, but what about Zac? I think he wants to get out but these thugs he’s involved with have scared him. He needs a fresh start somewhere and he needs to get sober. But neither one of us wants him to go to jail. Right?”
“If you’re talking rehab, he’ll never go.”
“Rehab’s better than jail.”
They locked eyes and Mike nodded. “Tell me your idea.”
“It’ll require a little help from our friends.”
* * *
After agreeing to the plan, Mike pulled onto the highway and raced towards town. “We should have everybody meet at my house so I can lay out my plan,” Lee said. “I just hope no one in town tells him where I live.”
Mike reached in his pocket for his cell phone. “I’ll call Ray and tell him to spread the word not to talk to any strangers about you.”
“Tell him Von has a limp and always wears hats.”
Mike called Ray and gave him the cautionary instruction. After he hung up, he glanced at her. “Tommy figured you were hiding from something. Why didn’t you tell him the truth?”
“Because I didn’t want him to die trying to save me.”
“That’s your problem, right there. You don’t know anything about love. That boy couldn’t be more in love with you if he tried and that makes it his job to die trying to take care of you. This is the burden of love.”
“It’s a lot to ask.”
“You bet your ass it is.”
She stared out the window as they crossed the bridge over the river, thinking about the risk she would ask her friends and Tommy to make. Would it be too much, she wondered?
She dialed Ellen and Tommy from her cell phone but there was no answer at either house. “Mike, I can’t get Tommy or Ellen.”
Mike took his eyes from the road and she saw fear in his face. “It’s gonna be fine. Call the others.”
She reached Annie, Cindi, and Billy one after the other, asking them to meet at her house with their guns and not to speak to any strangers. To her surprise, they all agreed without question.
Mike’s car sped past the gas station. They were almost to Riversong when she saw him, lurking under the blue awnings. “That’s him.” She pulled on Mike’s shirt. “That’s him, right there.”
“You were right, he didn’t waste any time getting down here.” He handed her his sunglasses. “Put these on and get down.”
Lee slid as far down in the seat as she could, her stomach higher than her head and her neck scrunched. “Do you think he saw me?”
Mike looked in his rearview
mirror. “No, he’s trying to see inside Riversong. He’s got his grimy hands on our clean windows.” He pushed the gas pedal harder and the car lurched forward. “You stuck down there?”
“I’m alright. Just get me home.”
* * *
Mike’s car tumbled down her dirt driveway. Neither of them spoke, the danger of their situation like another passenger. She thought to ask, “Why were you following me?”
“Divine intervention.”
“You know that kind of stuff just makes you sound crazy?”
For the first time that day she heard his belly-laugh. “I was on my way to the mill and saw you driving so fast I thought you were having the baby. So I followed you.”
They pulled up to the house. Tommy’s truck was parked in the driveway. Her stomach lurched at the sight of him pacing the front porch. Ellen sat in the rocking chair, phone in her hand. They parked, dust so thick in the air she couldn’t see for a moment. As it cleared, she saw Ellen run down the steps towards the car, grabbing her in a tight hug. Then she held her away with stiff arms. “I’ve called everyone from here to Kingdom Come. What happened to you? Are you hurt? You’re bleeding. Get in this house right this instant.”
Lee rested her head on Ellen’s shoulder. “Thank God you’re both alright. I’ll explain everything.” She headed towards Tommy, who stayed where he was on the porch.
His eyes, bloodshot, were cold. “What happened?”
“Had a little accident.”
“Are you alright?”
“My car’s a mess, but I’m fine.”
His face betrayed no emotion. “I’m glad you’re safe. Ellen was worried sick.” He started down the porch steps. “I’ve got to go.” As he moved past her she grabbed his arm and he stopped.
“Please, don’t go. Give me a chance to explain.”
He stepped past her like he was going to his truck but stopped, shook his head, and murmured to himself, “I should just walk away.” But he started back up the steps, following Ellen into the house.
She turned back to Mike. “Can you keep watch out here while I talk to them?”
Mike reached under the seat of his car and pulled out a handgun. “I’ll be on the porch.”
* * *
She told them all of it, sparing no details and ending by saying, “The good news is I’ve come up with a plan.”
Tommy said nothing for a long moment. “This was your secret.”
Ellen’s mouth was open and she shook her head back and forth in disbelief. “Why did you keep this to yourself?”
Tommy jerked from the couch and went to stand by the window. “Because she didn’t trust us.”
“No, that’s not it,” said Lee. “I didn’t want to put either of you in danger. This guy hurt Linus so badly he was in the hospital for a week. I was terrified that one of you would get hurt too. This is not about me trusting either of you. This is about me protecting you.”
Ellen stood, took Lee’s hands. “This must’ve been a big weight on you.”
“Ellen, I want you to go home and lock your door, keep your gun close,” said Lee. “I don’t want you in jeopardy.”
Ellen brushed her hands aside. “Push aside the old lady, is that the idea? I don’t think so. I’ll get my gun and meet you back here. Whatever the plan is, I’m included. Got it?”
Lee thought of protesting but knew it was no use. “Go. Keep your eyes open when you come back. Make sure we’re alone before you come into the yard.”
“Tommy, don’t leave her side,” said Ellen.
Tommy stared at Lee, eyes unblinking, like he didn’t know her. “I won’t.”
Ellen glanced between them like she was going to say something further but seemed to think better of it and left out the front door.
They were alone. Her blouse was damp from sweat, despite the cool temperature of her living room.
“Where were you going?” he said.
“I don’t know. Just south. I panicked.” She took a large breath and steadied herself on the back of a chair. “I know I don’t deserve your help.”
He paced by the window before he turned to her, his voice loud. “Lee, that has nothing to do with it. When you love someone and are intimate like we have been you tell them the damn truth. You trust them to help you out of messes. That’s what people do.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“I did get hurt. By you, not some criminal, Lee. By you.” He looked like he wanted to go to her but instead lifted the shade an inch and peered into the yard. He said, quietly, “I begged you to tell me the truth.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered again.
“You’re asking me for help?”
She took a deep breath. “Yes. I’m asking you for help. I don’t think I can do it without you.”
“Lee, you remember that song we heard the night we came back from the coast? Boulder to Birmingham?”
Lee’s eyes filled with tears and she moved towards him. “Tommy, I’m—”
He held up a hand. “Don’t.”
She nodded and stayed, vulnerable, in the middle of the room.
He looked at the floor, his voice tight. “What do you want me to do?”
She wiped her eyes and tried to control the shaking in her voice. “I called the Riversong gang. They’ll be here in a few minutes. If you’ll stay on watch, I’ll take a shower before they get here.”
He turned, pulled the curtain back and peered into the yard, his back like a wall.
* * *
Thirty minutes later, Tommy, Ellen, Billy, Cindi, Mike, and Annie were all gathered in Lee’s living room, sitting in the vinyl chairs from the kitchen, except for Tommy, who stood at the window with his back to the group, and Mike, who was propped in a corner, his face rigid from worry. Lee stood before them and told them all the details about Dan’s bad business deal, the debt it caused and the subsequent threat it caused to her safety. “After I buried my husband, this house and property was all I had left. I came here to repair it and sell it to pay the debt. And then an amazing thing happened. I found all of you. You took me in, rescued me—whatever you want to call it. I know Tommy and Mike would call it divine intervention and I’m starting to believe they’re right. I fell in love with this town, with our restaurant, and most of all with you—my friends. Yet always in the back of my mind I thought, when will DeAngelo’s people find me? When will I have to say goodbye? So I’ve held myself back a little, always with the idea that I might have to leave at a moment’s notice.” Tommy turned from the window and looked at her, swiping his hand under his nose. “This morning when I saw the article I knew without a doubt that my worst fears had come true. I knew they would find me within a matter of hours.” Her words strangled but she continued, determined to tell them everything. “All I could think to do was run—to save myself and my baby.” She smiled, her voice shaking, as she told them about driving out of town, crashing and being rescued by Mike. “Mike convinced me that all of you are both the reason to stay and the way to freedom.” She told them of the money she and Linus found hidden in her office that night months ago. “It’s drug money, tainted with the residue of destroyed lives. That I understand. But it’s the only answer to my problem.”
Cindi shook her head back and forth, lips pursed. “Lee, Zac will never give you that money.” She darted a look at Mike. “No offense, Mike, but Zac and these people he’s involved with—they’re as dangerous as this DeAngelo character. Lee, trust me, you can’t take that money.”
“No offense taken. I know you’re right.” Mike came forward, hands in his pockets. “I didn’t know the truth about Zac until Tommy had the guts to tell me last night. I’ve been kidding myself that he’s alright. I know you’ve all seen it for yourselves and have probably asked yourself what was wrong with me, giving him the restaurant to run in the first place.” He shrugged his shoulders. “He’s my kid, and I was trying to do the right thing. I’m not saying Zac deserves any of your help, but mayb
e I do. And maybe Lee does.”
Annie sat forward on the couch. “What can we do?”
Lee, hand on her stomach, directed her gaze at Tommy. “I thought of a way to get Zac to give us the money willingly. But it requires help from all of you and a little bluffing.” Feeling like she needed a flipchart, Lee told them her idea in detail, including what parts they would all play. Cindi stared at her, mouth open. Annie looked like she might cry. Billy’s cheeks were flushed and he rocked back and forth on the edge of his chair. Ellen glanced from face to face. Tommy looked at the floor. No one spoke for what felt like minutes, and Lee, cringing inside, thought it was too much to ask; she shouldn’t have burdened them. After a moment Billy stood. “Lee, we don’t want this man to hurt you.”
Annie put her arms around Lee. “We would do anything for you. We love you.”
“But, this could be dangerous, and you have Alder,” said Lee.
“We’ll be fine,” said Annie. “And, I, for one, would love to see Zac get the help he needs, even if what he’s been doing was wrong. I was given a second chance at the life I dreamt of when Lee found me and I believe everyone deserves the same. Mike and Lee, you’ve both given everyone in this room a gift with your vision and intelligence and we’re not going to walk away when you need us. That’s not what friends do.”
Cindi leapt to her feet. “Oh, hell yeah. Anyway, this is a good plan.”
“We can pull this off, no problem.” Ellen got to her feet, gun in hand. “Let’s do it.”
“Oh, hell yeah,” said Cindi.
* * *
After they left, Ellen watched the driveway while Lee called Linus. He answered on the first ring. “I’ve been trying to get you all day,” he said. “I saw the article.”
“I have a plan. Can you get down here by tonight?”
“I’m already at the airport.”
She hung up and called Zac’s cell phone. His voice was hoarse, like she’d awakened him from a hangover. “What do you want?”
“Somebody left something for you in a big envelope. Thought you might want to come by and pick it up.”
The River Valley Series Page 27
