by Danni Roan
David’s warm chuckle rolled over Susan sending a shiver down her spine. She was getting tired and sappy and needed to say goodnight before she did something stupid.
“I’m glad you have changed your mind.” David pushed himself out of his chair leaning forward and placing a sweet kiss on Susan’s forehead. “I’m headed home now. You need to get some sleep.”
“I’ll give you a lift,” Susan stood hurrying around the table.
“No, I texted for a driver a few minutes ago and their outside now.” He studied Susan longing to pull her in for a goodnight kiss. “I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”
Susan followed David to the front door, waving him down the stairs to the waiting car that shimmered in the soft glow of the porch light. For several seconds she stood there, outlined in the door as the car pulled away feeling cheated that she hadn’t been kissed in the dim golden glow.
Shaking her head, Susan pushed the door closed, turning the deadbolt and flicking off the light. She had to be even more exhausted than she had though to think such a crazy thing. Dragging herself up the stairs to her room, she couldn’t help but smile though. She liked David Watkins and she knew that together they would solve the mystery of the painted ponies and the missing grandpa.
Chapter 10
The mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:26-27
Most of the week had gone by before David was able to contact Susan again. Every hour he had been away from the young woman, he had wanted to see her face, touch her hand, and talk to her. She was so much more than he would have expected, and being with her was so wonderful that he feared he was falling in love.
“David?” Susan’s voice was animated as it zinged through the other end of the line. “I was starting to get worried. I tried your phone a couple of times, but you don’t have voice mail set up.”
“I’ve been really busy at work,” David explained, thrilled that she had missed him. “One of our other servers is out sick, so we have all had to take on extra hours. My new classes have started as well, and I had to get things set up.” He paused wanting to say so much more, but still fearful of the reception. “I’ve missed talking to you,” he finally blurted.
“I’ve missed you too,” Susan’s reply made him smile. “So what’s up?”
“Any luck on the auto records?” David asked. He was starting to think that was a long shot at best and that their first real clue was leading to nothing.
“No, I can’t find anything substantial. There were loads of cars that used that glass. I’m afraid I’m not finding anything.”
“Would you be willing to go back up to the cabin with me?” David held his breath worried Susan would say no.
“Yes, of course! What have you discovered?”
“Nothing, but I have an idea, and I think I’ll need your help to test it.”
“I’ll be right over.” Susan hung up the phone so fast that David stared at it in his hand for several seconds. Shoving the device back into his pocket he raced to his room to change into his best shirt and get his backpack ready. He didn’t know if he was more excited about putting his idea to the test or seeing Susan, either way it was a win-win situation.
Double checking his pack, David caught himself humming and then began to laugh. He liked Susan Holmes and no matter what the past differences and reputations of their families, he was determined to pursue the new relationship and see where it led.
He would tell Susan he liked her and that he wanted to start dating. He had never understood this hedging around ones’ feelings. If you were going to go out with someone, wasn’t the idea to find out if you were compatible? The idea of dating was to determine if there was a future, so he would tell her how he felt and go from there. If she didn’t feel the same way, he would know sooner rather than later and could put an end to the whole thing.
The sound of the Jeep pulling into a spot at the front of the apartment building had David racing down the stairs, his eyes dazzled by the bright sun and the radiant smile on Susan’s face.
“You look a lot more ready for a hike today,” Susan grinned. “Did you bring water proof gear this time?”
David chuckled tossing his bag into the back of the Jeep, and feeling the Georgia heat already baking his face. “That depends do you intend to toss me into the creek?”
Susan revved the engine pulling into traffic and making the quick loop around the block before heading back the way she had come.
“Only if you get hot headed and do something stupid.”
The smile on the lovely young woman’s face took any bite from her words as she flipped the thick pony tail over her shoulder and away from her face.
“I’ll try not to,” David’s voice was whisked away on the wind, but he was sure he had been heard.
“So what are we headed to the cabin for?” Susan asked. “We didn’t find anything there last time.”
“I was thinking over this theory you had on kick back and someone putting pressure on the moonshiners to share profits. “What if grandpa had been working for the sheriff to identify who was doing that? I think if he was trying to ferret out corruption in the police force or something like that, he could have been a target of that person’s rage.”
Susan shook her head concentrating on the winding road up the mountain, as her pony tail of soft brown hair swished. “That would be dangerous work.”
“It makes sense,” David turned half way toward her. “Grandma Watkins was certain that her husband would never make and sell moonshine, even though the family had a long history of such things. It wasn’t until a year or two before Harcourt disappeared that he even went into the woods. Maybe the picture of my grandfather with the police commissioner was taken because they were friends and Pap-pap was working for him.”
A cloud of dust kicked up behind the electric blue Jeep as they made their way over the side road into the forest, aiming for the small tributary that led to the larger stream.
“That fits,” Susan agreed, slowing as she made the final turn, “but what do you think you can find at the cabin? You’ve been here dozens of times.”
“I started thinking about it,” David said as they rolled to a stop under a grove of thick pines. “If Pap-pap was collecting evidence, he wouldn’t have wanted it to be readily available or obvious to anyone who might show up at the cabin. We know Coatins arrested him once on suspicion of moonshining. If I were Harcourt, I would have kept my evidence hidden, he couldn’t trust anyone involved in the clean up operation other than the sheriff. The cabin is too simple to have anywhere much to hide things. You’ve seen it, just a collection of old logs, a dirt floor, and a sod roof.”
“So where do you think he could have hidden something?” Susan hopped out of the driver’s seat, reaching behind her to grab her back pack and gear.
“That’s why I brought you along. I figured two of us might be able to figure it out. You have only been to the cabin once and fresh eyes might make all the difference.”
Susan smiled, filled with delight at the confidence David had in her. “I’ll do my best.”
The hike to the cabin was uneventful and soon the duo was searching every part of the cabin for a hiding place. The floor, hard packed over years of use and neglected, offered little hope so Susan, and David examining each log with bright flashlights from their bags.
Starting at the door way Susan worked left while David moved to the right, both squinting, poking, and prodding the age darkened logs.
“It wasn’t much of a cabin, was it?” Susan asked as she passed the corner. So far every log was as solid and dense as the other. There were no signs of any form of alteration to the wood and not even the joined corners offered any hint of a place for safe keeping.
“I think it had been in the family for a long time,” David called bac
k. He had reached the single window in the dark little hut and was peering under the faded wooden sill. “If I remember correctly the original Watkins started right here in this little house.”
“Do you think you could ever live in a cabin like this?” Susan turned meeting his eyes across the room. Even with modern conveniences it is tiny.”
“I’d like to think I could,” David grinned looking around him. “My apartment isn’t that much bigger anyway.”
Susan’s laughter seemed to make the dank cabin brighter and for a moment David suspected he could live anywhere if she was by his side. A hot flush raced up his neck, and he quickly turned back to the window. Now was not the time to tell her how he felt. They were hunting for a clue, not making goo-goo eyes at each other.
Silence settled into the space once more as they both resumed the search. Hoping to finally find the one thing that could lead them to the answers they both sought.
Susan’s eyes were focused on every chink, knot, and scratch of the logs she examined, but her mind and heart were focused on the man behind her. She liked David Watkins as far more than a friend, but would the man, so touchy about his heritage, be willing to consider going out with a Holmes. For too long people had looked at each other across fences where the grass was not always greener, hard work, honesty, and devotion meant so much more than a fancy house or a fat bank account.
David was hard working, determined, and devoted to truth. She respected that about him, and could no longer deny the attraction she felt each time she looked into his handsome face. A smile played around Susan’s lips as she thought of their adventures so far and suddenly the revelation of where Gram’s lost horses had come from didn’t seem as important as it had a few short weeks ago. The fact that this mystery had brought her the friendship of David Watkins was so much more. Pausing in her search, she thanked God for His mysterious ways.
Making her way along the back wall, Susan’s concentration returned, fully, to the task. This, the longest uninterrupted wall in the cabin, was full of spots where logs had been expertly joined to form a seamless run.
Slowly moving the light over each imperfection of the wall, Susan was soon engrossed in her search, completely unaware of anything else in her surrounding area as deft fingers, poked and prodded ever minute flaw.
Susan yelped as her back collided with something solid, and she spun on the spot only to come face to face with David who had been making his way toward her. His bright smile washed over her making her heart thump as their eyes met.
Reaching out a steadying hand as David dipped his head toward her, Susan closed her eyes in expectation of the kiss. A soft click and gentle hiss made both of them pull back, turning to where Susan’s left hand rested on a small chink in the wall.
“You found it,” David’s voice was a whisper.
“Something is in there,” Susan agreed turning her light on the tiny crack that had suddenly been revealed. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, partly in anticipation, partly in disappointment.
David pulled his pack from his shoulders rummaging in its depths until he pulled out a long tightly sheathed knife. “I’ll see if I can pry it open.”
Inch by inch, Susan watched as the tiny compartment opened a little more with each crank of the knife. Even now she wasn’t sure if she would have seen the seams of the hidden compartment, so well joined were the hiding place.
“I think there are papers in there,” David gently pushed the knife in prying against the log above. “See if you can reach them?”
Susan didn’t hesitate, her fingers wiggling into the tight spot and grasping the edge of a tightly bound book. “I don’t have enough room to pull it out. Can you open the front a little more?”
“Watch your fingers,” David agreed wedging the knife a little deeper and giving a tug. The little door popped open in a shower of dust, and Susan pulled the journal from its ancient resting place.
“What is it?” David asked flicking his light toward the bundle.
“I think it’s a journal.” Susan opened the faded book carefully, trying to keep the old pages from crumbling. “Look, there’s a name.”
David squinted looking down at the little book. “Harcourt Watkins.” The words were etched out in a fine script.
“I think we found what we were looking for.”
The loud, metallic click of a revolver’s hammer made both of them freeze as their blood ran cold.
“Hand that over real easy,” a craggy voice said. “No need to turn around. Give me the book and you can go on your way.”
David’s eyes flickered to Susan’s and he could read the fear in their blue depths. Ever so slightly he nodded indicating that she should hand the journal to the unseen man behind them. He could see the play of emotion on the young woman’s face, doubt, fear, regret, but she was more important than a long forgotten mystery.
Slowly, her eyes still fixed on David, Susan extended the hand holding the faded journal. It was so wrong to have to do this, to let the man behind them win again.
The book was jerked from her hand and Susan staggered as in the blink of an eye David turned lunging for their invisible assailant. The gun fired, Susan screamed, the world spun and everything went black.
The first thing that registered in Susan’s brain was pain, not a stabbing sear, but a slow dull thud. Slowly, muffled voices drifted her way, and she opened her eyes into twilight.
“David?” she called pushing herself upright as memory came flooding back. “David!”
“I’m here,” the man dashed through the door of the old cabin, kneeling at her side. “You’re alright,” he smiled. “You just bumped your head on the log wall when I pushed you out of the way.”
“What happened?” Susan shimmied back until her shoulders touched the wall, looking around her until her eyes fell on the heavy rain coat covering her.
“You’re awake,” Mr. Coatins called walking into the cabin, a wide grin on his face. “Doesn’t look like anyone is going to need an ambulance today.”
“You?” Susan’s eyes went wide. “It was you.”
“No, no,” the old man waved his hands in front of him brushing aside Susan’s accusation.
“It wasn’t Coatins,” David affirmed. “He showed up after I knocked our gunman to the ground.”
“As a matter of fact,” the former detective said, “I’ve been keeping an eye on you two ever since David here had his accident. I told you this whole thing never sat well with me. Something was missing, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.”
“So you followed us up here?” Susan’s brain felt fuzzy, but she tried to focus.
“I’m sorry it took me so long to get down the trail, my old knees aren’t what they used to be. If I had gotten here a few minutes sooner, I might have caught that miscreant before he accosted either of you.”
Susan grasped David’s hand pushing the coat from her knees and letting him help her stand.
“Tell me what happened,” she demanded. “I seem to have missed all of the most exciting parts.” She paused, turning to look into a darkened corner where another man sat tied and gagged, his dark eyes glinting with malice.
“It’s all in the journal,” David began. “This man was a revenuer, but he was taking a cut of the moonshiner’s profits in exchange for not bringing them in.” The young man paused listening as new voices echoed down the darkening path.
“Sounds like we have company,” Coatins said. “It’ll be the welcome committee,” he added turning and heading back outside.
Susan shrank in close to David, wondering who else was arriving, and if they had more to fear.
“Our benevolent bodyguard seems to have called the police already. They’ll be arriving any moment. I’m sure they’ll want statements.”
“Not before you explain this to me.” Susan glared at the man, even while wanting to fall into his arms.
“This man’s name is Clark. He worked for the revenue agency back in the day, but instead of
turning moonshiners in, he shook them down for half of their profits. The sheriff for the county had his suspicions, so he approached my grandfather to help him find out who was on the take. With my family’s reputation in town, they figured he was the perfect fit for the job.”
“How long have I been out?” Susan gaped. “Did you read the whole journal while I was senseless?” She ran a hand over the bump on the back of her head, scowling at David.
David wrapped an arm around Susan pulling her into his side. “No, we, Coatins and I, just scanned the later entries. Clark there started to suspect that someone was hunting him, so he in turn became the hunter.”
“You mean.” Susan swallowed hard. “He killed your grandfather.” She swayed into David’s warm embrace, sorrow, fear, and anger mingling in her chest.
