by Hope Ramsay
“Right. That’s what they all say.”
He reached for her hand, and she pulled it away. “My wife is mentally ill. I have tried for a long time to get her help, but she refuses my efforts. I’ve set up a trust fund for her, with a large chunk of the money I inherited from my grandfather. It’s hers no matter what, to take care of her for the rest of her life. I have filed for divorce on the grounds that we’ve been separated for more than a year, but she won’t sign the papers, and the more I insist, the more unstable she becomes. I was pretty sure the minute I saw that dead chicken in your kitchen that it was her doing. She’s committed countless similar acts of vandalism.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I did. I told the sheriff right away. But you were off in Charleston, and that seemed like a good, safe place for you while the sheriff tried to figure out if Delilah was lurking about somewhere. And while I missed you when you were gone, I was glad that Sabina kept you away for a week. I knew that I would have to leave after the library fund-raiser. And if you remember, we weren’t involved when you left. I tried so hard not to make that mistake. But last night…”
“You think it was a mistake?”
He closed his eyes and hauled in a huge breath. His heart was breaking. “Yeah, I do. Not for the reasons you think. I don’t want to remain Delilah’s husband. But by allowing myself to become your lover, I put you in danger. I’m willing to bet she’s been watching us for days. She knew we came home together last night. Heck, she probably watched us kissing through the kitchen windows. And if I’d been in my right mind last night, none of this would have happened.
“I can’t do this anymore. I’m responsible for the death of one person I loved, and won’t be responsible for another. As it is, Bear is badly hurt, and I don’t know if I can forgive myself for not keeping him safe. And it’s all my fault. I was selfish last night. And I was selfish the day I picked up Luke’s gun.”
Jenny pressed her lips together. She was fighting tears, and that made him feel like total crap, but a little part of him needed her to understand. Last night she’d said she’d meet him in his darkest place. Well, here it was.
“Do you know how hard it is for a man to deal with a crazy female stalker?” he asked. “Probably not. But take my word on it, until Sheriff Rhodes, no one in authority has taken me seriously. Everyone thinks a man should be able to control his wife. But if his wife is mentally ill, it’s not so easy. What the hell am I supposed to do when Delilah starts screaming obscenities at me or trying to attack me in the middle of a public place? You think it would be okay for me to hit her back?”
“No,” Jenny whispered.
“Right. So I’m stuck. And she is relentless. A couple of months ago, it got so bad that I couldn’t write. I couldn’t think. She was disrupting my life on a daily basis. So I came here to escape. And I fooled her for a while, until the Library Committee advertised the fund-raiser on Facebook and Twitter. And then all my troubles followed me.”
He leaned down and kissed Jenny on the temple, even though she had her arms folded and a scowl on her face. He was glad that she was angry. It would help her move on. And he thanked the Lord that he hadn’t paid too high a price for his momentary lapse of judgment. As it was, Bear was not likely to survive. And the thought of losing the dog was almost more than he could endure.
He needed to go. He’d brought nothing but conflict and misery to the one place and the one person who had brought him happiness.
He was not fit to live here in Last Chance, South Carolina. He was not worthy of Jennifer Carpenter.
Gabe left Jenny and headed south on Palmetto Avenue, half a mile past the Peach Blossom Motor Court to the Creature Comforts Animal Hospital. He pulled his Lexus into the almost deserted parking lot.
It was ten o’clock on a Sunday morning. Everyone was in church, except for Dr. David Underhill, the chief veterinary surgeon in the area, and his associate doctor, Charlene Polk.
He parked his car and entered the building. The docs, who both looked way too young to inspire confidence, were waiting for him. He sat in Dr. Underhill’s office and listened as Bear’s injuries were cataloged. He got the feeling that Dr. Dave, as he wanted to be called, was not entirely convinced that it was worth trying to save Bear.
The doc’s attitude infuriated the ghost, who had attached himself to Gabe’s backside like a shadow no one could see. It infuriated Gabe, too.
“It’s possible he might not have the use of his back legs,” Dr. Dave said. “So you do have to consider the dog’s quality of life.”
“Then we’ll build him a goddamn wheelchair. I’m not putting him down. You understand.” Gabe’s voice broke.
Dr. Polk, who’d been quiet up to that point, stood up and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “We’ll do everything we can for him.”
“Thank you. I’ll be hanging out in the waiting room.” He took a deep cleansing breath. He needed to get a grip on his emotions.
“Uh, Mr. Raintree, the surgery is going to take hours, and then there may be days of recovery time. You need to go home, and we’ll call you, okay?” Dr. Polk’s voice was kind.
There was just one problem: He didn’t have a home to go back to.
The adrenaline of the last few hours was wearing off. He felt heavy and exhausted. The omnipresent weight of the ghost was more than he could endure. And adding to that, his face was a little clammy, like he might be experiencing low blood sugar, which wasn’t surprising seeing as he’d been running around like a crazy person and had yet to eat breakfast.
The prospect of getting in his car and driving to Columbia or Atlanta or Charlotte suddenly seemed more than he could manage. Besides, he didn’t think the ghost would let him go until Bear was out of danger.
“Okay, you have my cell number. Call me when you know something. I’ll be spending the night at the Peach Blossom Motor Court.”
An hour later, he had a key to a room at the seedy motel, and he was almost finished scarfing down the Kountry Kitchen’s two-egg breakfast. His blood sugar was back in check. The churches of Last Chance were letting out, creating a traffic jam on Palmetto Avenue. Pretty soon the Kountry Kitchen was going to be crowded with a bunch of holier-than-thou people giving him dirty looks.
He gulped down the last of his coffee, intent on making a quick getaway, when Zeph and Nita came walking into the diner. Zeph was still wearing his dress slacks and shirt from the night before, only without the tie. The old guy had a smile on his face and a light in his eyes.
There was no escape. A moment later Zeph sat down in the chair next to Gabe, while Nita continued on to a booth at the back of the diner.
“What you doing here, boy?” Zeph said, “I thought sure you’d be back at the house letting Miz Jenny cook your breakfast.”
“That didn’t work out,” he said, taking a ten-dollar bill out of his wallet and slapping it on the counter. He had no desire to rehash the events of the morning with Zeph. He wanted to be left alone. “I gotta go.”
“Wait. Son, you need to know something.”
“Yeah?” He finally looked up into Zeph’s face.
“The safety was on.”
“What?”
“The gun. When I looked at that gun afterward, the safety was on. And I showed that to old Sheriff Bennett, and he had the county ballistics experts examine that gun. It was defective. Sooner or later, someone was going to get hurt with that thing. It could just have easily been you, or me, or Simon, or your granddaddy. But I knew your granddaddy would blame you if he knew the truth. That man was hardhearted when it came to you boys. He wanted you both to be extensions of himself. And I guess he figured Luke was more likely to succeed than you. He just couldn’t get past the fact that you were a little overweight as a child.”
“That was the diabetes.”
“Yeah, I heard about that last night. Why’d you keep it a secret from Miz Jenny, making her bake all those sweet things for you and you turning them down? Didn’t you know
that was breaking her heart?”
“No.”
“Then you’re a fool.”
“Look, Zeph, I gotta go.” He pushed up from the table, but the old man grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.
“Listen, you need to know something, seeing as the ghost has decided to haunt you and not me. I guess he was just waiting on you to come home. And I’m sorry about that. But to be honest, I’m glad my penance is done.”
Gabe blinked at him in surprise. “Penance?”
“Yeah, that’s what it is. And you need to prepare yourself. Every stray animal in all of creation is going to darken your door. And the ghost is going to help you find homes for them.”
“What? Animals hate ghosts.”
“I don’t know about that. In my experience that hasn’t been the case. You got experience with ghosts?”
Gave shook his head. “No, I just mean that in every ghost story—”
“Right, like those authors know anything about ghosts the way we do.”
“You have a point.”
“Look, son, I been thinking on this for a while. And I’m thinking that taking care of critters is the reason Luke stays here instead of going where he needs to go. You remember how he loved critters.”
“I do.”
“Well, he still does. And if he haunts you like he haunted me, then you’re going to be busy finding homes for the strays that come your way. And you’ll have to do it, or he makes you cold. But if you take care of the animals, the ghost stays happy and you can live, sort of.”
“Thanks. That’s encouraging.” His voice was laced with sarcasm.
“Course, Nita says that we should try to find some way to send Luke on to wherever he needs to go. But I don’t have a clue how to do that.”
“Nita knows about the ghost?”
“Uh-huh. And she doesn’t think I’m crazy. It’s kind of a relief if you want to know. There were times when I thought maybe I was crazy.”
“You’re not. Trust me. I do have experience in dealing with crazy people. I think that’s why all of my stories have wackos in them.”
“In that case, you might want to think about figuring out how to send Luke on to Heaven or whatever.”
“Jenny suggested that we find a ghost exterminator.”
“Exterminator? I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Now that I’ve gotten to know the ghost, neither do I.”
“Maybe we should talk to that preacher man.”
Gabe gnashed his teeth. No way was he inviting Timothy Lake to send the ghost on to the next world. That had disaster written all over it.
“Thanks for the advice, but I gotta go,” Gabe said, breaking Zeph’s hold on his forearm.
This time the old man let him leave. Ten minutes later, Gabe pulled into the parking lot of the Creature Comforts Animal Hospital. The door was locked, so he camped out in his car, listening to Bach cantatas and praying for the docs and the dog and the ghost and himself.
Jenny moved into the apartment above the Cut ’n Curl that afternoon. Well, it was more accurate to say that Maryanne went out to The Jonquil House, packed a suitcase, and hauled it over to her apartment. Doc Cooper kept Jenny under observation until Maryanne came and got her and forced her up the fire stairs into the tiny apartment.
With Jenny, Maryanne, and the baby all occupying space in the little flat above the beauty shop, there was absolutely no privacy. But it was sweet of Maryanne to make dinner. And Jenny’s cousin had the good sense not to pry too deeply into what had happened.
At least until the baby was put to bed. Then Maryanne flopped down on the daybed and said, “So, are you going to talk about it?”
“About what?”
“You know good and well what I’m talking about. Gabe Raintree.”
“No.”
“For the record, I think he’s a lying sack of you-know-what. Annie told me that she heard Sheriff Rhodes tell you that he’s already married. It’s exactly like the way that Rochester guy treated Jane in that book you lent me. Sometimes men can be total bastards. So if you want to cry and scream and gnash your teeth, I’m here. And I even have some wine up in the cabinet if you want to drown your sorrows, although Doc Cooper said you probably shouldn’t touch any alcohol.”
“Thanks for the support,” Jenny said with a halfhearted smile. Still, as hard as she tried, she couldn’t wrap her concussed brain around the idea that Gabe had lied to her in the same way Jamie Kendrick had.
Of course, Jamie had taken her to any number of no-tell motels for afternoon trysts with absolutely no intentions of leaving his wife. Her one-night fling with Gabe had been entirely different.
And now that her headache had subsided and the shock of what had almost happened to her was fading, she could clearly and rationally see the difference. For one thing, she had seduced Gabe, not the other way around. And she had gone further than that. She’d made all kinds of bold statements last night about being strong enough to love him come hell or high water.
Yes, she had. And then the minute the going got tough, she got squirrelly, and fell right back into that inflexible mold of the upright Christian woman. The mold her mother had tried to jam her into all her life.
What the heck happened to the liberated woman she had proclaimed herself to be?
That question made her head hurt worse. So she pulled out her cell phone and changed the subject. “I’m calling Charlene,” she said as she dialed the emergency number for Creature Comforts.
“Hello,” Charlene’s voice came over the line.
“Hi, it’s Jenny Carpenter, I’m checking up on Bear.”
“Oh, hi. How are you? It’s all over town about what happened to you. People are kind of freaking out about the possibility that we have a real stalker-slash-murderer here in town. And Mandy told me that the phones at WLST are ringing off the hook with people who want the radio station to broadcast hourly updates from the sheriff. And I heard from Arlene Whitaker that there’s been a run on dead bolts at the hardware store. She’s all sold out.”
Jenny wanted to talk about her brush with death about as much as she wanted to talk about her feelings for Gabe Raintree. “How’s Bear?” she asked, sticking to the main point of her call.
“I’m afraid that Bear is in bad shape. Dr. Dave operated on his spine, and we’ll have to see how he comes through. There are likely to be profound implications for him, like the loss of bladder control. I can’t even promise that he’ll be able to walk again. And he’s got months of recovery ahead of him. Honestly, hon, you have to ask yourself about his quality of life. And I’m afraid Mr. Raintree isn’t listening to reason about this.”
“Mr. Raintree is still here?”
“Oh, yes, he’s been in a couple of times. I think he’s staying at the Peach Blossom Motor Court, but I swear he sat in his car outside the clinic for hours this afternoon waiting on word that the surgery was finished. He’s devoted to the dog. But I’m worried about him because I don’t think Bear is going to survive the night. And I know you don’t want to hear this, but I kind of think it might be better if he didn’t.”
Gabe startled awake. He lay in the dark on the hard mattress and watched the faint pink from the Peach Blossom’s neon sign leak through the thin curtains at the window. The clock on the bedside table said it was only eight o’clock.
He must have dozed off while he’d been reclining here on the bed, brooding about Bear and Jenny and Luke and Zeph.
He let go of a sigh. He should get up and eat. But he stayed put, watching the blinking pink light.
Until the light cast a silhouette on his curtains.
He sat up. Someone was trying to look through his windows. The spying lasted for about half a minute before the shadow moved away.
He got up and went to the bathroom, where he pulled out his cell and called Sheriff Rhodes. “It’s Gabe. I’ve got a prowler by my room. Number Twenty-Seven at the motor court.” He kept his voice low, almost a whisper just in case it was
Delilah out there listening in.
“I’ll be out there in two minutes.”
You had to like Sheriff Rhodes. He hadn’t laughed once about Gabe’s predicament. It was like he totally understood that a man had few options when he was being stalked by a crazy woman.
Gabe returned to the bedroom, but he didn’t turn on the lights. He continued to watch the front window. So he was almost prepared when it suddenly shattered into a hail of flying glass.
He ducked, and the next minute his worst nightmare propelled herself through the jagged remnants of the window.
“You thought you could leave me?” she screamed at him as he straightened up. “You thought you could cheat on me? You fornicator.”
He said nothing. Nothing he could say would stop her ranting about how he was evil incarnate. So he stayed still and waited for the sheriff to arrive. Maybe the two of them could subdue her and get her into custody before any more private property was destroyed.
She advanced toward him. “There’s only one place for you. With the other sinners.”
He backed up. It was probably a cowardly reaction, but what was he supposed to do? She had something in her hand that looked like one of those hiker’s canteens made out of aluminum.
She raised the can with clear intent. She was planning to throw the contents of that canister right at him. What the hell? Was it acid?
He ducked as she threw, and the liquid landed on the bed, except for a splash that soaked through his shirtsleeve. The liquid felt cold on his skin.
Not acid.
The acrid odor of lighter fluid or some other kind of petrochemical filled the room.
Oh shit. He scrambled away from the bed just as she threw a match or a lighter at him.
The sheets, blanket, and bedspread went up in a whoosh that heated the side of Gabe’s face as he tried to get away. But he wasn’t fast enough. His sleeve was on fire.
Oh shit, shit, shit. Panic hit.
He wanted to run, to tear the shirt from his body. But something stopped him and pushed him down on the carpet. And then he heard his brother’s voice telling him to stop, drop, roll.
