by Danni Roan
“The best,” Susan’s bright grin and shining eyes did more to convince him of the truth than her words.
“I don’t know if I said it earlier or not, but thanks.” David watched the familiar landscape zoom by. “I’m not sure how this whole thing is going to go, but something tells me that we are getting closer to the answers we have both been seeking than we ever have been before.”
“I only hope that is a good thing,” Susan pulled into a parking spot in front of the old Alexander and shoved the Jeep into park. “I’m starting to think that someone doesn’t want us to know the truth about what happened to your grandfather.”
“Do you still have your little friend?” David asked nodding toward her waistband.
“Always.”
“You must be David,” a tall man with a round face and round belly called, striding down the hall toward the pair as they entered the old building. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“I’ve been away,” David hedged, cutting his eyes toward Susan. “I was in an accident.”
“You aren’t injured are you,” the older man asked, a look of concern skidding across his face. “Perhaps we should talk later.”
“Who are you?” Susan stepped up next to David, her elbow all but brushing his as she stared at the large older man. “Why do you want to see Mr. Watkins?”
A warm chuckle rolled off the big man’s chest, like honey from the comb. “I’m Andrew Coatins, I was the detective assigned to Mr. Watkins’ case all those years ago.”
“Oh,” Susan felt herself relax at the man’s smile. He had a way of setting a body at ease. “What do you want with David then?”
“I heard you were poking around into your grandfather’s disappearance,” again the bright smile appeared as rich hazel eyes sparkled. “I’m afraid my curiosity got the better of me. I’m retired now, but having to leave that case unsolved always rankled.”
“I can understand that,” David agreed, fidgeting with the keys in his pocket. “It seems someone else has been curious as well,” he nodded toward the door of his apartment. “Last night when we came back here to get my things, we discovered someone had broken in and ransacked the place.”
“Really,” the old man’s hand twitches as if reaching for a revolver. “Was anything taken? Have you reported it to the police?”
Susan felt her cheeks burn as together she and David shook their heads. “I’m afraid with everything that happened we just moved past it.”
“Would you like me to have a look around?” the man’s warm eyes and cheerful face put them both at ease and David nodded, slipping the key in the lock and opening the door to the mess they had abandoned the day before.
“Someone really made a mess,” the older man said, his eyes flicking across the room as he searched out every corner. “Did they find what they were looking for?”
“I don’t know what they were looking for,” David admitted. His head was starting to pound again and he wanted nothing more than to grab a coffee and sit on his over turned couch.
“Was there something else you wanted,” David finally asked. “I’m afraid my headache is returning,” he pointed to the bruise on the side of his face, “and all I want to do is put this place back together.”
“No, no,” the old man’s eyes roamed the room once more. “Just let me know if you find anything interesting.” His fingers slipped into the back pocket of his dress pants and he handed David a card. “I sure would like to see this case put to rest. Nothing ever quite stacked up if you ask me.”
“I know,” David sighed, taking the card that Mr. Coatins offered. “I’ll keep you posted if we discover anything new?”
“What was your take on the whole thing?” Susan spoke, her voice coming from the tiny kitchen where she was busy picking up a chair. “Did you suspect foul play?” Her comment was directed at the old officer, and he turned meeting her steady gaze.
“Not necessarily,” the former officer spoke. “It wasn’t uncommon for men to up and disappear even back then. They grew tired of family responsibilities, or found a new woman.”
“Pap-pap would not have left my grandmother!” David all but shouted. “I know it.”
“I’m not saying he did,” Mr. Coatins raised his hands in a soothing motion. “All I’m saying is that things like that happened. I interviewed his whole family, and I was surprised that they were completely divided by your grandfather’s disappearance. Half were convinced he would never leave, and the other half believed he was a no good bootlegger.”
David walked to the table dropping into the now upright chair. He looked exhausted, with dark circles under his light brown eyes. “I don’t think we’ll ever find the truth,” he groaned placing his arms on the table top and buried his head on them.
“Buck up son,” the retired officer grinned. “Maybe this is just the break you have been looking for. Someone doesn’t like what you’re doing or this wouldn’t have happened.” He turned slowly in a circle amidst the mess stopping to pin Susan with intelligent eyes. “Just be careful you don’t bite off more than you can chew.”
Susan studied the older man for a moment, then turned toward David slumped at the table. Her new found friend had been through the mill in the past forty-eight-hours. He had nearly been killed in a car accident, his home had been turned over, and his journal with all the years of hard work was missing.
“Thank you,” Susan said walking toward the table. “I promise we won’t. If this gets too dangerous, we’ll back away.” Impulsively she rested a hand on David’s shoulder. “Even a mystery like this isn’t worth someone getting hurt.”
“Right you are!” Mr. Coatins nodded. “You’re a sensible young woman, and Mr. Watkins is lucky to have you in his life.” He laid a finger along his nose, giving Susan a wink. “Just keep me in the loop if anything juicy turns up. It would be a win to know what really happened all those years ago.”
Susan watched as the man showed himself to the door closing it quietly behind him as she looked down at her deflated companion.
“I’ll make us some coffee,” she said turning to look at the rifled room. “You just sit.”
David’s rye chuckle caught Susan by surprise. “Who would have believed that a Holmes would be serving a Watkins coffee in the old Alexander apartments?” His short bark of laugher made Susan grin and in moments all the tension and angst of the last few days seemed to whisk away on the wind, leaving in its place a staid friendship full of hope, promise, and a hint of danger.
“Would you mind taking me to the impound yard?” David asked as he walked into the kitchen of the beautiful Victorian home the next morning. “I’d like to look at the damage to the truck and make arrangements.”
Susan was sure he wanted to look one more time for his journal as well, but she didn’t mention it. “Sure, anything else you need to do? We can drop by your place if you need anything there.”
David struggled to repress the shimmy that rolled over him when he thought of someone else rifling through his belongings. He and Susan Holmes had put the place back together the day before, but the feeling of vulnerability was hitting him hard on this cloudy day. He was even more grateful for Susan and her grandmother for letting him stay with them.
It was still early as the pair sat down to French toast and bacon, prepared by Susan, at the small breakfast nook. The informal setting seemed to fit their mood, and soon they were chatting about their childhood and life as a whole.
“So you have always wanted to know why those two horses were left up on the mountain?” David asked as he pushed his breakfast plate away.
“Yes,” Susan smiled. “I was always pestering Gram to tell me the story. I had a hard time believing she and Gary hadn’t walked off with someone’s prized ponies, but no one ever claimed them.”
“As far as I know my family never had any horses like those. An old uncle had a brown pony he used to plow his summer garden, but the rest of us had cars.” The man’s bright grin was con
tagious and soon Susan was laughing.
“And here I thought all you Watkins were still riding mules to town.”
David grinned, surprising himself. He had come from nothing and felt it for most of his life. His family had worked for every little thing they had. “No, we have been driving since the Model T arrived in them thar hills.” His eyes sparkled as he realized that though Susan had been born to wealth, she was very much like him underneath it all.
Susan spluttered on her coffee at the man’s dry wit. “You could kill a body that way,” she grumbled her blue eyes bright. “Does your family still own the old homestead?” she added suddenly curious about David Watkins and his life outside what she knew.
“Yes, my father actually has the place, and we still put in a garden each year. Pop is retired and is visiting some old friends up in Tennessee right now.” For a moment David’s shoulders sagged. He shook his head dreading the fight with the insurance company this week. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about the truck,” he finally spoke. “I have one more semester of college to complete before I’m done, and I was planning on keeping that old clunker on the road until I had a good job.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Susan’s smile turned into a frown. “Are you missing classes with all of this now?”
“No, I have a couple of weeks off until the next round start. I’m doing as many online classes as I can, and I already called my boss at the steak house from the hospital. He understands that I’ll be out until the doctor clears me.”
“You know you’re welcome here as long as you need to stay, right?” Susan reached across the table covering David’s hand with hers. “And don’t worry about the truck too much. I’m sure it will work out.”
David looked up, offering a soft smile. Of course a Holmes would think that everything would turn out right. All you had to do was throw a little money at a problem and poof it was gone.
A subtle silence filled the space between them as Susan withdrew her hand. Somewhere between the moments he walked through her grandmother’s door, and when she carried him a creamy coffee at the hospital, she had started to like David Watkins. The wild Watkins had a reputation for some shady business in the past, but this man was a straight arrow all the way through.
“Should we go?” she asked standing and taking the dishes to the dishwasher. “Maybe you can find something I missed at the impound lot.”
David felt his lips twitch at Susan’s words, apparently she had seen through his suggestion to have a look at the truck. Still, he was grateful to have someone willing to help him, not only get around town, but to solve the mystery that had for so long plagued his family. Perhaps at first he had resented the nosey woman butting in on his case, but now he was thinking that two heads truly could be better than one.
Chapter 7
Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?
Proverbs 20:6
The bright blue Jeep trundled from the driveway of the big old house, an easy target to trace as it sped down the dirt drive and onto the main road.
So far the two armature sleuths didn’t seem to have any real inkling of what had happened in the mountains all those years ago, but careful watching was needed to insure they never did.
One insignificant man’s disappearance, long ago was only the tip of the iceberg in this tale and two meddling kids wouldn’t prove an obstacle for someone who had come so far.
Aiming one large hand in the direction of the speeding Jeep, the watcher cocked a thumb, pulling an imaginary trigger. Only time would tell if the young people in the blue Jeep would become a problem that needed to be dealt with. In the mean time, watching them chase their own tails was rather amusing.
“You look terrible,” Susan said an hour later as she and David walked back to the Jeep. The man beside her looked completely dejected as he slouched toward her ride. “I know what will cheer you up,” Susan tried to fill her voice with joy she didn’t feel. “Lunch at my favorite restaurant.”
David flicked his eyes toward the young woman at his side, catching the strained smile on her face. “You don’t need to take me to lunch,” he drawled.
“No, but I do have to feed my face,” Susan’s giggle was real this time as she beeped the Jeep engine to life. “Come on, you might even like it.”
David slipped into the Wrangler pulling his seatbelt into place and sighed. He couldn’t imagine where Susan Holmes would want to go for lunch. There weren’t that many places in town to dine and nothing high end enough to warrant the label favorite.
“I know you’re disappointed about not finding the journal,” Susan spoke as she sped toward Big A street, zipping through every green light as they beckoned her toward the middle of town. “I was half hoping you would find the journal, even though I would have had to throw a fit for not finding it myself.”
David felt his lips twitch and a light chuckle break from his chest.
Susan pulled the Jeep to the right, bumping over the entrance of the drive and pulled to a stop. “Come on, if you’re nice I might even buy you ice-cream.”
“This is your favorite restaurant?”
“Yes. Do you have a problem with it?”
“No,” David spluttered climbing out of the Jeep. “I’m just surprised.”
Susan shook her head giving the man a dirty look. “Well if you don’t like DQ you can wait here.”
David hurried to catch up still chuckling. “Can I have a peanut buster parfait?” his spirits lifted as he teased.
“Only if you eat all of your lunch,” Susan shot him a harsh look, then fell into peals of laughter. At least she had managed to lift his spirits after the demolition of his truck and the confirmation that his journal of evidence was nowhere to be seen.
“I still can’t believe that of all the places in town you chose lunch here.” David smiled looking down at his empty burger wrapper as he dug into the towering pillar of ice-cream, peanuts, and hot chocolate topped with an extra portion of whipped cream.
Susan rolled her baby blues but smiled. “Just because my family has been here forever, and just because we made out well with my great granddaddy’s peach farm doesn’t mean we are snobs. I like burgers and fries as much as anyone else, and you’ve been at the house long enough to know we are perfectly normal people.”
“I’m not sure about the normal part of that.” David’s grin was wicked as he studied the pretty young woman’s face.
Susan grabbed her rolled up straw paper flicking it at the man and laughing as it pinged off his nose. “I am normal,” she grinned.
David laughed the feeling of despair evaporating in the brightening sun. “Thank you,” he whispered his dark eyes serious. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come to see me at the hospital. I can’t even get myself home right now.”
Susan shook her head, sticking her bright red spoon upright in her peanut butter cup blizzard. “I’m sure you would have figured out something,” she replied. “You seem to be a rather resourceful person.”
David shook his head feeling his face flush. “No, I’m not, really. I’m not afraid of hard work, but I’ve never been good at making connections and keeping up with friends. I think my obsession with grandpa Watkins’ disappearance put people off.”
“It doesn’t put me off.” Susan looked up meeting his light brown gaze. “You have already helped me find more clues in the past two days than I have in two years. We are very close to real answers.” She leaned across the table, her expression intense. “I can feel it.”
David didn’t know what to say, so remained quiet waiting to see what else Susan might say.
“Look, tomorrow is Sunday. Why don’t you come to church with me and Gram and then we’ll hike up to the little falls in the afternoon. We’ll just relax and let all the information and facts percolate into our brains. Maybe by Monday, we’ll have some idea what to do next.”
David felt himself nodding his head, wondering what
he was agreeing to. A warm rush of emotion seemed to flood him as Susan spoke and a feeling he was completely unprepared for washed over him. Was he starting to like the spoiled little rich girl, he had never really known? Could a few days in Ms. Holmes presence have this odd effect on him? Somewhere between an oversized ice-cream and an over turned truck, something had happened to him to change his attitude toward the whole Holmes family.
Instead of a nosey, overbearing brat, he was discovering a hard working, determined woman with a good head on her shoulders, and the courage to press forward on a case that might never come to an end.
Susan felt the eyes of the congregation on her as she stood next to David Watkins. He looked handsome in a dark blue suit, and red striped tie, with his sandy hair neatly brushed into a side part.
