The River Rolls On (Bellingwood Book 10)

by Muir, Diane Greenwood

  Nodding, Stu handed the glasses back to Aaron, who passed them to Tonya. Stu gave Polly a weak grin and went back to his vehicle.

  "I should have known," Aaron said.

  "You should have known what?" Polly asked.

  "I needed you out and about. I don't know why I even thought I could do this without you. The universe has spoken."

  "Do you actually believe that?" Gerry asked the Sheriff.

  "I've been around long enough to recognize when things are beyond my control," Aaron said. "Our Polly is so far beyond my control that I just hope for the best and pray she lives through it. I don't know why the good Lord decided to plant her in Bellingwood. Whether it was to make my life easier or more difficult ... I don't know, but I've given up trying to second guess it. It is what it is and I answer the phone when she calls."

  Gerry grinned at Polly and asked, "What does your husband think about this?"

  "He's as pragmatic as anyone," Polly said. "He worries, but at least he hasn't started drinking."

  Aaron smiled at her. "Why don't you three get out of here. You don't want to be caught up in the traffic that's about to arrive. Tell me that none of you left the parking lot."

  Tonya shook her head. "No sir. Just our cars and now here."

  "Okay. Take off. Polly, you should drive them through Dairy Queen and get ice cream. Isn't that your usual fix for stress?"

  "You're a rat," she said. "But I'm not stressed. I guess I'm relieved that she's been found. That was breaking my heart. I feel sad and guilty that she was killed, though. No one should have had to go through that. I feel like it's my fault."

  Aaron started to speak and she held up her hand. "I know. In my head I know that it's Joey and this Allendar guy, but my heart aches knowing that it's Joey's obsession with me that caused this."

  He pulled her into a hug. "This is why we love you, Polly. Now go treat your friends to ice cream and we'll take care of this."

  She nodded. "Thanks for trusting me, Aaron."

  "Always, honey."

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Polly was certain that she'd pushed Tonya over the edge. The ride back to Bellingwood was silent. Every once in a while, the girl would sneak a quick glance at her, but Polly figured Tonya was just checking to make sure there wasn't a third eye coming out of Polly's forehead or maybe wings sprouting from her shoulders.

  What she wanted to do was yell, "Boo," but the fear that Tonya would drive into a ditch stopped her. Just as they turned east on the Bellingwood road, Polly finally gave up.

  "I really am normal," she said.

  "What?" Tonya asked, surprised.

  "I'm normal. Everything else about me is as normal as can be."

  "Except that you find dead bodies. Doesn't that creep you out?"

  Polly shrugged. "It should, but they need to be found and if anyone has to, it might as well be me. Keep the scary, icky stuff all contained to one small package."

  "You're really pragmatic about it," Tonya said. She still wasn't smiling, but at least she was engaged again.

  "What else am I supposed to do?" Polly asked and pointed to the driveway leading to her garage.

  Tonya turned in and pulled into a parking space. "I think I'd be more freaked out every time it happened."

  "But each time, it's just what has happened. Until today, I didn't go looking for someone."

  Tonya turned the car off and then looked straight at Polly. "Did you set me up? Did you know you were going to find her?"

  "No, that's not it," Polly said, pursing her lips in thought. "It's not that I knew I'd find her, but that I had to find her. There wasn't any plan. I promise."

  Tonya didn't look convinced.

  Polly put her hand on Tonya's arm. "I promise. I did want to see where the old school in Luther had been. It's been a while since I've driven past there and I know they've been working on that space. Remember, though, you're the one who asked about The Ledges."

  "I guess I did." Tonya shook her head. "Now I'm confused."

  "You know, I've lived in Bellingwood for nearly three years now and all this time everyone is surprised when I find another body. I don't much like it, but I was never surprised by the whole thing. And maybe now, I've just come to accept that this is part of the deal."

  "The deal?"

  "You know. The tradeoff for me living in paradise. If I'm going to be this crazy happy, I need to pay my dues. They aren't bad dues ... it's just what I need to do." She giggled. "Do, do, do, do, do. Whatever."

  "The middle of Iowa. Paradise. Who'd have thought it," Tonya said. She pointed to Polly's window. "Heads up."

  Polly looked and saw Gerry standing there. "She snuck up on me."

  "She's just checking to make sure it's safe for you to get out of the car."

  "This is crazy. I feel like the President with his Secret Service agents."

  "We're better," Tonya said with a smile. "They'd like to be as good as we are."

  Gerry opened the door for Polly. "We're polite too," she said.

  "You heard all that?"

  She tapped her ear.

  "You are like the Secret Service," Polly said. She walked toward the back door. "Now, here comes the dicey part."

  "What's that?" Gerry asked, opening the door.

  "Telling Henry what I just did. He tries hard to understand that this is part of me, but it still bothers him."

  She opened the door to the stairway and saw both dogs standing there. "Henry?" she called out.

  "What!" he yelled back from the depths of the apartment.

  "Have you taken the dogs out?"

  "Not yet." His voice grew closer as he came to the top of the stairs. "I just got home."

  "Do you guys mind?" Polly asked, turning to Gerry.

  Tonya stepped in. "That's fine. It's what we're here for. So you can be as normal as possible."

  Polly couldn't help herself and giggled. "Yeah. Normal. You don't know how to handle the fact that I find bodies and yet, you call bodyguards with ear wigs in the middle of Iowa - normal."

  She looked up at the two dogs and said, "Come on, boys. Let's go outside." The dogs' trigger word was 'outside' and they came bounding down the steps.

  "Wait a minute," Henry said, following them down. "Body? Don't tell me."

  "See?" she said, speaking to Tonya. Polly turned back to her husband. "I'll be back in a few minutes and tell you all about it. First, I'm going to enjoy being outside with my furry boys."

  "But..." he started.

  "No buts," she said with a laugh. "I'll be back. I promise. I have protection." Polly shut the door and laughed, then followed the dogs out through the garage and into the back yard.

  "You're hard on him," Tonya said.

  "I know. I drive him crazy on purpose sometimes. I never want him to think that it's going to be easy with me. He'd get complacent. And we don't want that."

  The dogs took off for the tree line, a favorite spot for them, and wandered in and out, smelling and sniffing. Obiwan looked up at her as he started walking south toward the horse pasture and she nodded and pointed.

  "Where did Gerry go?" Polly asked.

  "Here and there. I'm not going to point her out, but she's close."

  "Wow, you are good. Do you care if we go down to the barn? Do you like horses?"

  "I haven't ridden in years. I think Gerry's family raised horses. Ray said yours are pretty big, though."

  "They're Percherons. Big just about describes them. I'd never ridden a horse before I had these four in my life, so I didn't know any better. But you'll know you've ridden after you climb off the back of one of them."

  Han barked as he approached the pasture and soon, his two siblings came running out of the barn. It had taken time, but the dogs were finally used to being around the horses, due in no small part to Eliseo's training. When he asked Polly to let him train Han, she acquiesced. Obiwan had taken to the four Percherons instinctively. Sometimes Polly wondered if he'd done that for her because she'd been so overw
helmed when the horses arrived at Sycamore House.

  He bumped against her leg as she reached to open the gate. "You're my best friend," she said to him, reaching down to scratch his neck. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

  Eliseo was standing at the inside gate and opened it for them.

  "Eliseo," Polly said. "This is Tonya. She and a couple of others are keeping an eye on me so I have freedom."

  "Nice to meet you," he said. "You are welcome to come down and ride any time, if you've an interest. I think the young woman with you is showing definite signs of interest in these horses."

  Tonya glanced around. "What do you mean?"

  "I'm not going to give anything away," Eliseo said, "but she can't keep her eyes off those four beauties. She should probably be paying better attention to Polly, don't you think?" He said it all with a grin, and Polly laughed.

  "He doesn't miss much," she said.

  Tonya shook her head. "Gerry says to tell you she doesn't see why we're necessary if you have people like this around you."

  "It's nothing, ma'am," Eliseo said. "I just know my land and those woods behind the pasture are as familiar to me as the back of my hand." He turned his hand over and traced a finger across the scar.

  "Middle East?" Tonya asked. "Gerry says Desert Storm."

  He huffed a laugh. "I'm surprised you don't have dossiers on all of us. But tell your friend that she's right."

  Tom and Huck, the two donkeys, came trotting into the barn through Demi's open stall door. Tom nudged Tonya's hip while Huck sniffed Polly's hand.

  "They're terrible beggars," Eliseo said.

  "Then I wish I had something," Tonya replied. "And as for your dossiers, I'm certain Ray has everything he needs. He cleared everyone here. That's all we needed to know."

  "He what?" Polly exclaimed. "He investigated my staff?"

  Eliseo laughed out loud. "She's a little over protective of us."

  "Ray should have spoken to me before doing anything like that," Polly said. "This is ridiculous. No one here is involved with Joey. He had no right."

  "He wanted to know who we'd be dealing with," Tonya said.

  "No!" Polly knew her voice was strident, but she was incensed. The people who worked with her had a right to their privacy. Just because some idiot was threatening her life didn't mean they should be subject to investigation.

  She strode out of the barn and whistled for her dogs. Obiwan and Han came running and followed her up to Sycamore House. Polly knew Tonya was behind her, but didn't want to speak to anyone right now. Once inside, she turned into the addition, hit the elevator button for the second floor and caught herself breathing heavily. She tried to calm down, but found that she couldn't.

  "Polly," Tonya said quietly.

  "No," she responded. "He's going to answer to me. I've had it with everybody treating me like I'm some type of damned victim. He can get all patronizing with someone else."

  The elevator door opened and she stepped in, waiting for the dogs to join her. When Tonya attempted to enter, Polly put her hand up. "This is between me and Ray."

  Tonya shook her head and stepped back.

  Polly stepped off the elevator and held the door for her dogs. They'd never done that before. She smiled down at Obiwan. He would follow her anywhere and fortunately, Han would follow him just as far. When she arrived at Ray's door, it opened and he stood there with a grim look on his face.

  "Come on in," he said, holding the door.

  "I'm mad as hell, Ray," she said.

  "So I hear. Tonya let me know."

  "You should have told me." She ground her teeth. "It shouldn't have even happened. My people don't deserve to have their privacy invaded. They've been through enough in their lives and this is not how I treat them."

  He opened his mouth and she put her hand in his face. "No. You don't get to speak. This is unconscionable. I know that you live your life not trusting people, but you do not get to come into my world and treat me or my family like that. If you've created files that can be tracked or traced or exposed or found by anyone, I want them destroyed. And I mean fully destroyed. I want them off every server you own and all paper copies shredded. I want them gone."

  "Can I speak now?" he asked when she took a breath.

  "I don't think so. I am so disappointed in you and I'm angry and I'm..." she took a breath and put her hand on the doorknob. "I'm disappointed. I can't tell you to get out of here because what you're doing for me is an incredible gift, but I don't think I've ever been this angry at you. You crossed a line and just because you are doing something nice for me did not give you the right."

  Polly slammed the door open and waited for Obiwan and Han to follow her out into the hallway. Ray put his hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off.

  "Don't talk to me," she said. "No explanation will placate me right now. You don't understand who I am or what I've created here. You came in here, treated me like a child and took it upon yourself to do things I would never have asked."

  She left and rather than wait for the elevator, took the back stairway down to the main level. Walking past Sarah Heater's room, she stopped to take a breath. What was happening in there right now was so much greater than anything in her own life. She knew she needed perspective. But then it occurred to her that he'd probably investigated Sarah and she spun up again. Damn him. He had no right.

  "Come on, boys. Let's go home." Tears spurted from her eyes as she crossed the main floor of Sycamore House to the stairway leading up to her apartment. She didn't see any of her bodyguards, which was probably a good thing. Polly took another breath before opening the door and then walked in.

  Henry met her with treats in his hand for the dogs. He sent them on their way and gathered her into his arms where she sobbed in anger. He pushed the door shut and tripped the lock.

  "I don't want to see anyone tonight," Polly said.

  "I get that," he replied.

  Then she looked at him. "How did you know?"

  He held his phone out to show her a text from Ray. "I pissed Polly off. She's mad as hell and hurting. Sorry."

  Henry led her to the sofa and asked, "What did he do to you?"

  "That son of a bitch has a file on every single person that works for me. He dug into their past. I'm sure he's looked at their finances and checked out their friends and family. He took away their privacy with no thought."

  He nodded. "That makes sense."

  "Makes sense?" she said. "Like hell. He had no right."

  "Honey," Henry said. "He did what he knows how to do."

  "Exactly! He treated my family like criminals. Did he even consider talking to me about this before it happened? Hell no. He just waded in like he knows better than anyone and made decisions. I'm so damned tired of everything."

  Henry pulled away from her and scooted back on the couch so he could look her in the face. "Tell me what you're tired of."

  "Everything," she said, throwing her arms up in the air. "I'm tired of every damned thing. I can't go out of town without a bodyguard. I can't even walk my damned dogs. And when I do leave town, I find a body. Then I find out that Eliseo's life has been exposed to someone he doesn't even know ... because of me! I can't see my friends without strangers sitting at the freakin' lunch table and I feel like this is the first time in forever I've been home alone with you." She took a breath. "And to top it off, I'm terrified that if I don't have those damned bodyguards around, Joey and that Allendar guy will kidnap me again and do something horrible to me."

  She felt her face screw up as she tried to fight tears, but finally gave in and melted down. Henry moved back in and held her as she cried.

  "I'm so scared, Henry. Why is this happening to me? Why is this happening to everyone around me?"

  Obiwan sat up and put his face in her lap, nudging her hand until she rubbed the top of his head. When she continued to cry, he eased himself up between her and the arm of the sofa. She smiled at him and moved closer to Henry so the dog
could have room. As soon as Obiwan was high enough, he reached out and licked her cheek.

  Henry chuckled. "I won't clean up your tears that way," he said, reaching out for the box of tissues.

  Polly put her arm around Obiwan and hugged him, letting her angry tears flow into his fur. She finally took a deep, hitching breath and then picked a handful of tissues out of the box. She blew her nose and smiled at Henry. "Sexy. I know."

  "I should probably tell you that everything you do is sexy, but you'd know I was lying. Do you want to talk?"

  "Not really," she said. "I'm so mad at him."

  "Do you understand at all why he did it?"

  Polly glared at him. "I understand why he thought he needed to do it, but I will not accept the fact that he did something so invasive without talking to me. I had to hear about it from one of his employees. He would never have said anything and that's so offensive. I'm tired of being treated like a silly delicate flower that might wilt at the first sign of stress."

  "No one believes that about you."

  "Really?" she asked. "As much as I appreciate what Jon and Ray are doing here, did they ask if I needed help? No. They assumed and flew out. I had no warning. They were just here. Sure, it's sweet and wonderful, but don't you see? If I were a man, they would have talked to me first." She huffed. "Oh, I don't know. It's hard to explain. I get of tired having a 'Fragile' sign painted on my forehead."

  Henry smiled and sat back. "I know that!" he exclaimed. "That was one of the first lessons you taught me."

  "You still have trouble applying it," she said quietly.

  He nodded. "You're right. I should know better, too. It's not like that wasn't a painful lesson the first time."

  That made Polly laugh. "What am I going to do?" she asked.

  "About Ray?"

  "Yeah."

  "What do you want to do?"

  "I told him that he had to get rid of the files, both paper and digital. I don't want anyone here thinking that they could ever be compromised because he got over protective."