The River Rolls On (Bellingwood Book 10)

by Muir, Diane Greenwood

  "You don't know what's happened to him in the last two years," Jon said, reaching out to touch her arm. "We don't know how long this Marcus guy has been talking to him, enticing him. Until we speak with someone at the hospital where Joey was held, we don't know much of anything about what's been going on since he was admitted."

  "But this doesn't sound like him at all. He's brilliant and thoughtful. He loves history and beautiful artwork. He's just not a murderer." Polly knew her protests were weak, but this was nearly impossible to accept.

  "Sheriff?" Will Kellar stood in the doorway. "I hate to bother you, but Investigator Douglas is here with someone to see you."

  "Okay. Send 'em in."

  Aaron stood to greet his friend, Darrell "Digger" Douglas, and introduced him to Jon and Ray. In turn, Digger introduced the woman with him. She was medium height with short brown hair. Dressed in a blue pant suit with a tailored white blouse, Polly thought she looked like the epitome of an FBI officer.

  "This is Marla Lane of the FBI," he said. "She's been in the Omaha office and drove over after we sent the sketch you had made."

  "Who's this?" Lane asked, pointing at Polly.

  Polly stood and said, "I'm Polly Giller. It's nice to meet you."

  "I see," she said dismissively. "You're the victim. We should take this into another room."

  Polly looked at Aaron, her eyes creased in concern. "Don't. Please. This guy is after me. They have my truck and are putting girls into my clothes. He's with my old boyfriend who is obsessed with me. You have to tell me what's happening and let me try to help."

  "I'm sorry," the woman said. "This is unacceptable." She turned to walk out, stopped in the doorway and said, "I'm sorry for what you've been through, but this needs to be contained to law enforcement."

  Digger gave a quick look of apology to Aaron and followed Marla Lane out of the office.

  "Aaron," Polly pleaded. "I've done everything you've told me to do and now I can't know what's going on?"

  "I've just lost all jurisdiction," he said. "I'm fine with that as long as they keep you safe. But think about it, Polly. If you hadn't been sitting in my office when she walked in the door, you wouldn't have even known anything was happening."

  "But I am sitting here and I know that you all know who this guy is. You know what he's done in the past and..." Polly knew that it was useless. Aaron was right. Marla Lane was all business and she had all the power she needed. Slumping back into her chair, Polly shook her head, completely defeated. For the first time this week, she'd felt like she'd actually done something to help find Joey and Marcus Allendar. And now, it was all washed away.

  "Jon," Ray said. "Take Polly home. Sheriff, can you find a way for me to get back to Bellingwood this evening?"

  "Of course." Aaron looked up from his desk. "What are you thinking?"

  "All it will take is one phone call and I’ll be on the task force looking for Marcus Allendar. Ms. Lane can run it, but she won't shut us all out."

  "I'll take you back to Sycamore House myself," Aaron said, a grin creasing his lips. "Is that okay with you, Polly?"

  She jumped up and hugged her friend. "Thank you."

  "There are going to be things we don't tell you, Polly," Ray warned her.

  "I know, but at least I won't feel like it's all happening over my head. That's all that matters."

  Ray beckoned to his brother and the two left the office. They were in the hallway for just a minute before Jon came back in and said, "Looks like we're out of here, Polly. Ready to roll?"

  "Go straight home," Aaron said. "And text me when you're there, okay?"

  Polly desperately wanted to hug him, but he was standing behind his desk all stiff and stern. "Aye Aye, Captain," she said.

  "Go away, crazy girl and be careful."

  She winked at him and walked with Jon to the Jeep.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  "Shall I take your dogs out for you?" Jon asked, opening the door at the bottom of the steps.

  "Just a second," Polly said, and then called up the steps. "Henry? Are you up there?"

  The two dogs came running to the top of the stairs, wagging their whole bodies with joy. Polly trudged up to meet them and sat down on the top landing, burying her face in Obiwan's neck. "I guess it's you and me again this week," she said. "I'm never leaving Sycamore House again. I can tell."

  "You're home early," Henry said, stopping to stand over her.

  "Yeah. I am. And you can bet that no one is letting me go outside again."

  "What's up?" he asked, looking down.

  "I'll let her tell you. Should I walk the dogs?"

  Henry shrugged. "They haven't been out since you left this morning. We were about to go, but here you are."

  Obiwan gave Polly a sloppy lick on her face and then ran down to meet Jon, who had patted his leg and rattled the leashes together. Han was close on his heels.

  After Jon and the dogs left, Polly held her hand out and Henry pulled her up to stand beside him.

  "What happened?"

  "They know who's with Joey. It's some horrible serial killer and now there's a woman from the FBI involved and she won't tell me anything. She called me a victim. I'm not a victim, damn it."

  "Andrew and Kayla are in the media room," he said quietly.

  She looked at him and mouthed the word, "Shit." Out loud, she asked. "Have you seen Rebecca today?"

  "The kids went down to see her in her mother's room, but she hasn't been up here."

  "Okay." Polly took a deep breath and said, "I just want to lie down and take a nap. I don't want to see anyone or be nice to anyone or do anything. I'm trapped again."

  He squeezed her again and then took her hand as they walked into the media room.

  "Hi Polly," Andrew said, jumping up with a notepad. "Look what we've been doing."

  "What's that?" she asked. Polly knew that she should put more energy into her voice, but she didn't care.

  Andrew caught the inflection immediately and withdrew, stepping back toward the sofa. "It's nothing."

  Henry squeezed her hand and she looked up at him. He didn't scold her or even pity her, all she saw was love.

  She dropped down onto the sofa beside Andrew and said, "I'm sorry. It's been a bad day, but that's not your fault. I want to see. Show me what you've been doing."

  "We're turning Sycamore House into a castle. I'm not as good a draw-er as Rebecca, but Kayla and I have been looking at pictures and we've drawn a big wall around the whole town. It would have been called a village back then. Nobody could get in unless King Henry's guards let them. That way the Queen would always be safe."

  Tears sprang to her eyes. When would she ever get over being emotional at every sweet thing this kid did? Polly put her arms around him and smiled over at Kayla. "You two are fabulous. Wouldn't this be great?" She took up the notebook and trailed her fingers across the drawing, noting the turrets and covered walkway to the stables.

  "Who took Obiwan and Han outside?" Kayla asked.

  Polly realized they hadn't met Jon and Ray yet. "You could call him one of the king's guards. His name is Jon Renaldi and he's an old friend of mine from Boston. He and his brother, Ray, came to Bellingwood yesterday to help keep me safe."

  Andrew's eyes lit up. "Are they bodyguards?"

  "You could say that," she replied. "Do you remember my friend, Drea? She was here at my wedding last summer."

  The boy nodded slowly, trying to remember. "I think so."

  "They're her brothers and are very good at making sure people are safe."

  "Jason's worried about you," Andrew said. "I told him that Henry wouldn't let anything happen, but he said that sometimes you get yourself into danger. He asked Mom if he could skip school so he could be here to keep an eye on things."

  Polly smiled. "That's sweet. Hopefully he'll feel comfortable knowing Jon and Ray will keep an eye on me."

  "He still talks about your old boyfriend. Is that who kidnapped you? That's what he said. But I told h
im there were two people. That's what everybody in town is talking about."

  Polly realized that even though he and Kayla had been here nearly every day, she hadn't spent time explaining things to them. "There were two people and yes, we think one of them is Joey. He escaped from the hospital in Massachusetts."

  "Are you scared?" Kayla asked.

  "A little. But I know that everybody is working hard to catch them and keep me safe."

  Andrew reached over and touched Polly's wrist. The redness was still there, though it didn't hurt any longer. "Did they do anything bad to you?"

  "No. I managed to get out of there before anything bad happened."

  "Mom said she couldn't believe you escaped."

  "They weren't very smart," Polly said. "They only had my wrists and ankles bound. I was able to scooch around and unbuckle them."

  Kayla was wide-eyed. "I wouldn't have been able to do that. I'd've been too scared."

  "That's the thing, Kayla," Polly said. "You can't ever let fear control you." She stopped and thought about what she was saying. "No, I take that back. Sometimes you get scared and there's nothing you can do about it. But, you can't let it take over. You have to think and see what else you can do. And if you can do it, no matter how hard it might be, you have to try."

  "Stephanie said that's why we came to Bellingwood." Kayla nodded her head in understanding. "We had to stop being scared all the time. It was hard, too. I miss my mom."

  "Of course you do, honey. You two faced some hard times, but you were both pretty brave. Starting over in a new town is very scary."

  Kayla didn't talk about her family very often. Jeff had taken Stephanie back to Ohio to press charges against her father for rape after he killed their mother, but Kayla hadn't needed to face that. Her older sister was doing her best to keep her away from the ugliness and give her a good start in life.

  The two dogs dashed into the media room and headed straight for Polly. Obiwan threw himself at her feet, rolling over to expose his belly while Han stood in front of her, his tongue hanging out and his bottom wiggling with joy.

  "You two are pretty wonderful," Polly said, putting a hand on each of them. "I'm glad you're here."

  Jon strode in and grinned at the scene in front of him. "Who do we have here?" he asked.

  Polly stood. "Jon Renaldi, I'd like you to meet Andrew Donovan and Kayla Armstrong."

  He reached across the table to shake Andrew's hand and then Kayla's. "Nice to meet you both. Donovan," he mused. "Did I meet your brother at the barn yesterday?"

  "Yes, that's Jason," Andrew said.

  "And was that your sister I met in the office? I think her name was Stephanie," he said to Kayla."

  "Yes," she said and ducked her head shyly.

  "Are you Polly's bodyguard?" Andrew asked. He put the notebook down on the table and glanced at an empty chair.

  Jon took the hint and sat down. "I'm here to help make sure that she's safe."

  "Is it really Joey Delancy?" Andrew asked.

  "We believe so."

  Andrew was not finished with his questions. "Who's the other guy? Does he know Polly, too?"

  Jon looked at her as if asking how much to tell.

  "We don't know much about the other guy," Polly said. "At least not yet."

  Polly hated not being honest with Andrew, but she was more worried about Kayla. She had discovered that the kids made good decisions when they were given the right information, but Kayla didn't have a great foundation and was easily frightened. Andrew, on the other hand, was fascinated with everything and didn't understand fear.

  Andrew picked the notebook back up and thrust it at Jon. "Wouldn't it be cool if we built a wall around Bellingwood so no one bad could get in?"

  Jon looked down and pointed. "Is this Sycamore House?"

  "It's the castle where King Henry and Queen Polly live," Andrew said. "We're writing a story about it. There are dragons and everything."

  "Queen Polly, huh." Jon looked up at her and grinned. "Is she a good queen?"

  "She's the best. She takes care of everybody in town. Even this old guy who lost a leg because he fought in a war for her."

  "Interesting," Jon said. "It sounds like you're quite a story teller."

  "I almost won a contest one year," Andrew said. Polly watched him, waiting to see him puff up with pride, but he didn't have it in him. He was simply stating a fact. "Someday I'll write enough stories that we can make a book. Polly and Mrs. Mikkels help me with spelling and stuff. Polly likes words. She's always telling me about cool words."

  "That makes sense." Jon handed back the notebook and stood up, looking at the bookshelves. "You know she used to work in a library." He pulled a book off a shelf, thumbed through it and put it back. "I think she has enough books here to have her own library. Do you two read any of these?"

  Kayla nodded and Andrew walked over to the bookshelves on the other side of the room. "I have this set at home," he said, pulling out a book from a TimeLife series on ancient civilizations. "Polly gave it to me when we cleaned out a dead guy's house. She takes us to the bookstore in Boone all the time. There are good used books down there. I buy those, but sometimes I like to buy a new book when it comes out." He walked into Henry's office and turned around. "Come on. I want to show you my office under the steps. Henry made it for me when he rebuilt the stairs for Polly."

  Jon looked at Polly helplessly and she just smiled, so he followed Andrew back downstairs.

  "You can go too, Kayla," Polly said.

  "That's okay. I've seen it lots of times." Kayla looked down at the floor again.

  Polly sat down beside her. "Are you okay? I know it's strange being here with just Andrew. Do you miss Rebecca?"

  "I'm fine. I know Rebecca needs to be with her mom."

  "Yes she does. And you're a good friend to understand that. Especially with all you've been through this last year. Do you miss your mom?"

  Kayla shrugged, "I guess. She wasn't very happy, though. It's probably better this way."

  "Oh honey, I don't know that it's better. We can't change it, but it's okay to feel bad about what she went through."

  "At least Rebecca knows her mother loves her."

  "Your mother loved you."

  "Stephanie says that, too, but why did she just let us leave and why didn't she make Dad stop hurting Stephanie?"

  Polly desperately wanted to reach out and pull Kayla close, but knew from past experience that the girl would react poorly. "Sometimes people make choices we don't understand because we don't have all the information. Your mom let you leave so that you would be safe from your dad. She stayed so that he wouldn't come find you and hurt you even more."

  "Why didn't she stop him?"

  "I don't have those answers, sweetie. But sometimes it's just too hard. He probably scared her. And when you're scared, you make decisions based on fear, rather than on what makes sense to other people who aren't involved."

  "She was scared all the time." Kayla had yet to look up at Polly, but instinctively leaned in toward her.

  Polly moved in, allowing Kayla to make the final move if she wanted physical contact.

  "I'm sorry you had to go through that," Polly said. "Do you talk to Stephanie about this?"

  "Sometimes. But she had it worse and sometimes I hear her crying in her room at night."

  "You can always talk to me." Polly held her breath as Kayla's hand brushed her thigh. "Can I give you a hug?" she asked quietly.

  Henry quietly walked into his office and she heard him go down the back steps. If there was one thing in her life she could count on, it was that he would take care of the world around her.

  Kayla didn't move any closer and didn't say anything, so Polly waited.

  "Is Rebecca going to get to live with you when her mom dies?" Kayla asked, looking at Polly for the first time.

  "She sure is." Polly sat back, startled at the unexpected turn of conversation. "She'll live in her room across the hall full-time."

/>   "Stephanie bought me a real bookshelf. We went to a store in Ames where they have a lot of cheap things. We bought some clothes and we're going to see if they have a table for the dining room. But we don't have a truck to bring it back."

  "Maybe Henry could help you with that when you're ready."

  "That's what I told Steph, but she said that you already do too much for us, so we can't ask for anything more."

  Polly put her arm up on the back of the sofa. "Kayla, you are part of our family now. There's no such thing as too much. When you find the table you want, we'll be glad to help bring it back."

  "I told her that, but she said no."

  "Your sister is doing her best to take care of you. She'll figure it out. Don't worry."

  "Can I tell you something else she's worried about?" Kayla scooted closer to Polly as her voice dropped to a whisper.

  "What's that?"

  "She's worried about when school is over. I don't want to stay in the trailer alone all day. There aren't any nice kids my age there. Steph said I could sleep late in the morning and then she'd come for lunch. She said she'd find things for me to do in the afternoon until she came home after work, but that sounds boring."

  Kayla came to Sycamore House every day after school and when Stephanie helped with a weekend wedding reception, she came to spend time with Rebecca. Polly was proud of her young charge when she discovered that Rebecca had just made it happen. There hadn't been any question of where Kayla would be. She would be with her friend and Stephanie hadn't protested.

  "Do you want me to talk to your sister about spending days here with Andrew and Rebecca? There are things the three of you can do. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Eliseo, Sylvie and I might find jobs so you can earn money."

  "Really?" Kayla scooted the last few inches in and tucked herself under Polly's arm. "What kinds of things? Can I work in the barn and help with the donkeys and horses?"

  "Yes you can. And Obiwan and Han will need to be walked several times during the day. Eliseo would like more help in the garden out back and Sylvie will need help while she's putting the bakery together."

  "You'll ask Steph if it's okay?"