Lin felt a pulsing fear creep up her spine—this must be one of the Hinson boys, one of Eustace’s sons—she saw his fingers slip to the edge of the glass and hit the window button hard. This time the window closed, but not before pinching his fingers. He cried out and jerked back from the window. Lin took advantage of that moment to slam the car into reverse, backing away from Hinson. She focused on the entrance sign to mark her position and pulled back into the driveway and out on the road as quickly as she dared.
Knowing it would take him at least a minute or so to return to his truck and follow her, she drove as quickly as she dared in these conditions. Finally she reached the edge of Boone, where lights from the surrounding homes and businesses made visibility a bit better. Within fifteen minutes she was pulling into the safety of the garage at the house. She parked the car and then just sat there, unable to move. Thank God, she’d managed not to panic. She’d been able to act. Now her thoughts turned to another question. What was one of the Hinsons doing out in that area on a night like this? Of course, it was just now getting really dark, but the fog had made evening come early. Hadn’t Dave Winkler told them that the Hinson’s didn’t live in that area? Lin knew that Parkway School was close to the place where Ellie had been shot, where her friend Pete had been killed, and she couldn’t forget that the place where she and Sue had encountered Eustace in the woods was only a few miles further north. There had to be a reason why the Hinsons were frequenting this area that apparently was not close to where they lived.
Lin realized that Sue had come to the door to see why she was still sitting in the car. “What’s wrong?” her friend asked. “Come on in. I’ve got coffee ready.”
Lin smiled as she got out of her vehicle, “I just had to collect my thoughts now that I’m finally here. You won’t believe who was driving that truck I almost hit.” Lin gathered her things and headed for the house.
The tantalizing aroma of fresh coffee drew Lin toward the welcoming light of the kitchen. She noted that Sue hadn’t neglected the “sugar” part of the equation for stress relief. There was a plate of warm, fresh brownies on the kitchen table.
Lin had finished relating the story of her encounter with the Hinson man and was into her second brownie when her cell phone rang. She saw that it was Neal; she’d promised to call him and had completely forgotten. She answered apologetically, “I’m sorry I forgot to call, Neal. It was rainy and foggy on the way back so it took a lot longer than usual for the trip. I just got here. How was the shuttle from Phoenix?” She diverted the conversation back to him, not really wanting to tell him about her encounter just yet.
“It was slow, as usual—too much time at the stop in Camp Verde. I can’t figure out why a rest stop and food break is needed for a two hour trip anyway.”
Lin quickly brought the conversation to a close. She was eager to talk more with Sue about her experience. She promised to call Neal again the following night after she returned from work.
“This hits the spot,” Lin said as Sue refilled her coffee mug. “I can’t believe I encountered another Hinson. They seem to keep popping up, especially in that area.”
“So it seems,” Sue replied. “I remember though, that Deputy Winkler told us their home was nowhere near there; old Eustace wasn’t ordering us off his property.”
“Yes, but there has to be some reason he was there, some reason the man I encountered tonight was there.”
“Would you recognize him if you saw him again?” Sue asked. “Do you think he could’ve been our intruder?”
“He certainly was big enough, tall and broad-shouldered,” Lin responded, “but I really didn’t get a good look at the person who was on our porch. He was wearing a hood of some sort. The man I met tonight was dressed differently. His jacket collar was turned up, and he had a broad-brimmed hat, but I do think I’d recognize him. He scared me, especially the way he held on to the window glass, almost like he was trying to make sure I couldn’t close it easily.”
“But, from what you said, he really didn’t threaten you, even though he wasn’t happy about us or our involvement with Ellie. He couldn’t have known who you were when he first stopped, maybe his intentions were good, at least initially” Sue opined.
“Maybe,” Lin conceded, “but I still found him frightening. I almost went into another of those panic attacks, but my yoga breathing rescued me again.” Lin sat back sipping her coffee, reflecting on what had happened, trying to figure out why she felt something was amiss in this story. She thought back over the Hinson man’s words. Suddenly, it hit her. This man had spoken with someone at the sheriff’s office about her, about Ellie staying with her and Sue. He’d connected them to his father’s hearing, but she and Sue hadn’t been present at the hearing. To the best of her knowledge she hadn’t ever seen this man before—not at the courthouse, nor any of the times they’d been to the sheriff’s office. Of course, he might’ve seen them there, but Lin was sure they’d never actually met—so, how did he recognize her, how did he know who she was? She sat quietly, thinking about all the possibilities. Finally, it dawned on her. There were only a couple of ways this could happen. The Hinson man could’ve possibly seen her, and maybe Sue, sometime when they weren’t aware of it, or—he could’ve seen her when he was tampering with the steps on their back porch. There was only one possible way he could’ve learned their names, where they lived, or about the fact Ellie had been staying with them. The only connection was Dave Winkler or one of the other deputies they’d met with.
Chapter 17
More than an hour later Lin and Sue were still sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and discussing various theories about how the Hinson man had recognized Lin and what his connection might be to Winkler or one of the other deputies. They still couldn’t be sure about when he might’ve actually seen them, but they’d been in the courthouse and the sheriff’s offices several times and he could’ve seen them on any one of those occasions. They wouldn’t have recognized him, so they could’ve been totally unaware of his presence. Dave Winkler had spoken about the family’s circumstances and the difficulties they might face in caring for Eustace. Apparently, the Hinsons were known to him.
“I’ve wondered for some time how anyone could learn where we were staying. Other than the park service folks and Ellie herself, only the sheriff’s men have knowledge like this. Someone in that office must’ve told the Hinsons where we were living. Of course, some of Ellie’s friends knew when she was here, but those friends wouldn’t have had any contact with the Hinsons. They were probably responsible for Stefan Kovich knowing where Ellie was, however.”
Sue reflected on their newly drawn conclusions. “I really think that Dave Winkler might’ve given the Hinson’s our address and pointed us out on some occasion. I don’t trust that man, and I know he wants me to quit gathering information about those unsolved murders.”
“Well, you’re always telling me to be cautious and not jump to conclusions without evidence. I guess I should offer the same advice. He may not like what’s happening, but that doesn’t mean he would want to put us at risk.” Lin felt it was important that they exercise caution, but she had come to the same conclusion Sue held.
“That may be true,” Sue agreed, “but, whether he identified us intentionally or not, he’s the only person I can think of who would’ve had contact both with us and the Hinson family, and I still believe the authorities haven’t really tried to find our intruder. I think it’s pretty obvious that they just want us to go away.”
“Perhaps we should confront Deputy Winkler about this. Find out if he did talk to the Hinsons. Insist that he investigate the possibility one of them was our intruder,” Lin suggested.
“I don’t think he’d take us seriously,” Sue replied. “I believe he’d say we were imagining things. After all, the man you encountered tonight didn’t really threaten you. He was mad about his father, but that was all. We can’t make accusations based on feelings. I’m not suggesting we drop the matter, bu
t I think we need to find more evidence more we confront anyone.”
“You mean look into things on our own?” Lin asked.
“Who else is going to do it?” Sue was determined.
By this time they’d finished all the coffee. Sue put away the rest of the brownies. “We both have to work tomorrow; we really should try to get some rest. If this fog remains, and I think it probably will, we’ll have to leave early to be on time.”
“By the way, in all the excitement about your encounter with Hinson, I forgot to mention that you might be getting a change of assignment after tomorrow,” Sue said. “One of the seasonal rangers at Moses Cone has just gotten a permanent position at Great Smokey Mountains. They needed him right away, so he left yesterday. The parkway folks won’t be able to get a replacement for at least a month or two, and they want another volunteer to help take up the slack. I think they plan to talk to Rachel about sending you up there. We have a lot more visitors than Linn Cove does, and we are really understaffed, especially with the craft shop and the extensive grounds and carriage roads to cover.”
“That will be fine,” Lin said. “We could return to riding to work together, at least on some days. It’s up to Rachel, but I’d be happy to work there. I’ll have to leave my credit card at home though; the craft shop is just too tempting.”
On that note, they both went upstairs to shower and get ready for bed. Lin suddenly realized how tired she really was. She’d had a very busy day and her fogbound ride up the mountain, not to mention the encounter with the Hinson fellow, had been quite stressful. She did a few yoga exercises before hitting the shower, and by the time she got into bed and turned out the light, she was almost asleep already.
***
The fog had largely lifted by the time Lin arrived at Linn Cove the following morning. A few banks of wispy clouds clung to the top reaches of Grandfather Mountain and swirled just above the viaduct, but they soon burned off as the sun rose above the tree level.
Rachel had evidently already talked with someone about Lin’s switch in assignment and asked her if she felt ok about doing that.
“I’ll miss being here, of course,” Lin replied, “I’ve really enjoyed working with you and hope to get back here before my volunteer stint ends, but I do understand the need they have at Moses Cone, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy being there as well.”
“Since this is your last day, I’d really like to finish up that collection of educational materials we’ve been working on,” Rachel said. “It’s almost completed, indexed, and filed; I think it will only take a couple of hours to finish up.”
“I’ll get right on it,” Lin said, as she headed back to the office area. By lunch time the task was complete. The day had grown warmer; Lin took her sandwich outside and sat on the rocks under the viaduct. One more private picnic, she thought. She wondered if there were places at Moses Cone where one could really get away from visitors, even for a short while. She caught herself almost immediately. Of course, there were. She and Neal had enjoyed a walk entirely alone the day they’d stopped to see Sue. The park there was really quite large, and Cone had built more than twenty-five miles of carriage roads when he owned the estate. Today, visitors enjoyed walking and riding on many of these paths.
When she returned to the visitor center, Rachel was on the telephone. She finished talking and called Lin into her office. “That was Pat Dane, she’s the head ranger at the Moses Cone location. She asked if I could let you leave a little early so you could stop by and talk to her. That way she can fix your schedule, and you’ll be ready to start first thing tomorrow morning.
Lin agreed that was a good idea. She gathered her belongings and headed up to the Cone park area. The parking lot was full when she got there, but she managed to find a spot down at the end near the stables. When she went inside she found herself surrounded by visitors. The porch was crowded with folks watching two older women demonstrate their quilting skills while other guests milled through the rooms of the craft center choosing merchandise to purchase and standing in line to check out. Lin caught a glimpse of Sue in the park bookstore. She was busy ringing up purchases for a customer who had selected several books. Others waited patiently in line to pay for their selections. Pat Dane was talking with a group of visitors gathered on the front steps, telling them about the Cone family and life in the mansion when it was their summer home. She caught Lin’s eye and signaled for her to wait for a few minutes.
While she waited for Pat to complete her presentation, Lin went back inside to the bookstore. There was only one register, so she couldn’t help Sue ring up purchases, but she tried to make herself useful by answering questions and assisting customers in finding what they were looking for. Soon Pat appeared and asked that she follow her to the office area in back.
“I can see why you need more help here,” Lin remarked as she took the seat Pat offered.
“Believe me, we need all the help we can get. Because of the crafts, the horses, and the miles of roads to walk, we have an almost endless stream of visitors. At the moment, the only things we can really cover are the house and the stables. That means no one outside to monitor and assist visitors. How do you feel about walking?” Pat eyed Lin carefully, perhaps assessing her overall fitness level.
“I think I can handle walking pretty well,” Lin replied. “In fact, I’d welcome the opportunity to get out and have more exercise. Sue and I have been trying to get to the Wellness Center in Boone on a regular basis, but sometimes we just can’t seem to get there. Getting some exercise out here would be perfect.”
“I know that Sue would like to get out more also,” Pat said. “We’ve talked about having the two of you rotate—taking turns outside and in the bookstore. The Blue Ridge Association has the craft shop pretty well taken care of. If we could have someone in the bookstore and someone out on the walking trails that would be a big help. We need to make sure our visitors stay on the designated paths and that they can get help in case of any mishaps.”
Pat pulled out a calendar and together she and Lin prepared a schedule. Lin and Sue would share responsibilities for the bookstore and the walking paths. “We won’t have full coverage because you ladies can’t work all day every day, but this will be a big improvement and will help us compensate for the loss of our seasonal.”
By the time Lin had finished talking with Pat, Sue was ready to leave as well. It was almost five and they both felt the need to unwind for a bit. Neither of them wanted to cook so Sue suggested that they plan to eat out.
“Tell you what,” Lin suggested. “Let’s go home and change, grab our swimsuits and head for the Wellness Center. We can swim for a while and then go out for something to eat.”
“Sounds great,” Sue said as she got into her car. “See you at home.”
Swimming laps in the heated pool proved to be the perfect solution to the need to just unwind and relax. “That felt great,” Lin said as she headed for the locker room to shower and change.
“Ditto to that,” Sue replied. “Now I’m starving so be thinking about where we could go for dinner.”
The night was pleasantly warm and clear, quite a contrast to the foggy night of the previous day. Lin was in the mood for Mexican food so they stopped at Los Arcoiris just down the street from the Wellness Center for enchiladas and burritos.
“What is your schedule tomorrow?” Sue asked. She knew that Pat had planned for them to rotate between the bookstore and outside but didn’t know the details.
“I’m working half a day tomorrow from eight until noon,” Lin replied. “I’m scheduled to be outside walking some of the trails until about eleven, then I think Pat wants you to show me the ropes in the bookstore so I can rotate there and you can have some outside time too.”
“I’m looking forward to that,” Sue remarked. “I love the bookstore and the people are so interested. I enjoy talking to them, but I miss being outdoors too. I’m off at noon also. We could ride to work together, and I have something in mind for the
afternoon, if you don’t have any plans.”
“What plans would I have? Neal’s back in Arizona. What did you have in mind?” Lin replied.
“I want to look up Luke Taylor, Eustace Hinson’s grandson, Sara Fletcher’s boyfriend. I’d really like to know his take on her murder. He was a prime suspect at the time but was never charged, of course.”
“Do you know how to find him?”
“Only if he’s still living with his grandfather,” Sue replied. “Mildred Fletcher gave me that address. Hopefully, Luke is still there.”
“It’s possible Eustace isn’t there any more, maybe he’s moved in with other family so they can care for him.”
“That may be,” Sue continued. “But, if that’s the case, I still think we can find Luke. I’ll bet the whole family lives in the same general area, even if they don’t all live in the same house. Someone can probably help us find him.”
“Count me in,” Lin said. “I certainly don’t want you to go out to see anyone in that family alone, and I would also like to know more about them. I’m tired of having things happen to us but not getting any answers as to what’s really going on. Besides, detective work is interesting and fun,” Lin smiled.
“OK, Sherlock, you’re on the team,” Sue grinned. “Let’s see what we can turn up about the old unsolved cases—one of them anyway. Maybe we’ll figure out what’s going on right now.”
***
The next afternoon found them heading out Hwy 194 toward the small community of Todd. Following Mildred Fletcher’s directions, they turned down a smaller side road and then onto another even smaller byway going deeper into the rural backcountry. It was actually a beautiful drive. There were thick woods and verdant pastures dotted with wildflowers. They saw only a few small houses tucked back away from the road. Soon they spotted the road they were looking for. There was no road name or house number, but a small wooden sign beside a rickety mailbox said Hinson. This road was dirt. They crossed a one lane wooden bridge that spanned the South Fork of the New River, an unusual stream that was actually one of the oldest rivers in the country. It flowed north toward the Ohio River basin, eventually emptying its waters into the Gulf of Mexico rather than the nearby Atlantic. Protected as a Wild and Scenic River, it was a popular canoeing and tubing spot, but today, in this location, it was empty of visitors.
Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery Page 20
