Crossroads (Chance City Series Book Three)

by Robin Deeter

  Crossroads

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2016 by Robin Deeter

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, or incidences are all a product of the writer’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual locales or events, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to all of my lovelies who give me unconditional love and support. I’m blessed to have people in my life like all of you, who enjoy the creations that come out of the creative door in my head. Thank you for allowing me to tell my stories and for taking the characters into your hearts the way you do. They, and I, appreciate it more than you’ll ever know. Thanks for coming along on yet another part of the journey.

  A special thank you to Mr. Tony Stetson, who was gracious enough to put in a lot of hard work on designing the beautiful cover for this book. It is much appreciated, sir.

  Another special thank you to Mr. Pete Moss for sharing all of his invaluable knowledge of Capuchin monkeys with me. His pal, Monkey Boo, is the real life inspiration for Ollie, Wheels Ellis’ beloved buddy. Check out Pete and Monkey Boo’s YouTube videos and subscribe to their channel for tons of adorable entertainment and to learn more about these amazing animals. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf4VNiylVdKz_4b8uEoYXBA

  Crossroads

  Robin Deeter

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chance City Series

  Crossroads

  Chapter One

  It took two men to hold back the irate man, who wasn’t done with his foe, even though the guy lay moaning on the floor of the Chowhound Saloon. The fight had been incredible, the victor comporting himself with courage and cunning, made all the more spectacular because he sat in a wheelchair and fought using a cane.

  His dark eyes blazing with fury, Carter “Wheels” Ellis, yelled, “Get up! Get up so I can bash your head in some more!”

  Two of his best friends, Brock and Aaron Guthrie, hauled him farther away from the object of Wheels’ rage.

  Aaron said, “Wheels, I don’t think he’s getting back up. They’ll have to carry him out. Leave him be.”

  Wheels calmed down a little. “Fine. You can let me go. Where’s Ollie? Is he ok?”

  Brock said, “He’s behind the bar with Sandy.”

  Wheels shrugged out of their grasps and spun around, heading for the bar before he went after his fallen enemy again. Rolling over to the bar, he whistled for his beloved Capuchin monkey, whom Sandy held.

  “Is he hurt?” he asked her, worry replacing the rage in his dark eyes.

  Sandy shook her head. “I went over him real well. Of course, he might have some bruises that we can’t see under his fur, but there’s no blood on him. It’s a good thing he has such good reflexes so Luther’s punch mainly glanced off him.”

  Wheels’ hands tightened around the cane he held across his lap. He forced the anger back, instead focusing on Ollie. He hung the cane on the back of his chair and patted his lap. The cane was useful for getting down things that were too high or low for him to reach from his chair. It was also a good weapon that helped even his fighting odds.

  “C’mere, buddy. It’s ok,” he said, quietly. “C’mon.”

  Reassured by Wheels’ soft tone, Ollie jumped from Sandy’s arms onto the bar and dropped onto Wheels’ lap. When he wrapped his arms around Wheels’ neck, Wheels hugged him back, soothing him with words and gentle petting.

  “It’s all right. I took care of him. He won’t hurt you anymore.”

  Sandy leaned over the bar. “If you hadn’t beat the shit out of him, I woulda shot him. But, I’m glad you got to him first.”

  Wheels’ smiled at the bar owner’s feisty statement, but he knew that Sandy meant it. “Thanks for taking care of Ollie for me.”

  “Always my pleasure. Luther was just mad because Ollie beat him at poker. It takes a toll on a man’s pride when he’s beaten by a monkey.” Humor filled her voice.

  Wheels laughed. “Ollie made fifty bucks tonight, too. That’ll buy him a lot of fruit.”

  Wheels never used Ollie’s money for himself. He banked Ollie’s money and used it on the things he knew Ollie enjoyed. He figured that since Ollie earned it that he should keep it.

  Aaron came over. “He’s gone. How’s Ollie?”

  “Scared. He’s shaking like a leaf.” Wheels pulled out Ollie’s blanket, which he kept wedged between his back and the wheelchair. “Time for all good monkeys to go home to bed.”

  Aaron and Sandy smiled as Wheels wrapped Ollie up as tenderly as he would have a baby. There was no doubt that Ollie was spoiled, but Ollie spoiled Wheels, too. They were a matched pair in that respect.

  He handed Ollie to Aaron. “Will you hold him for me while I put my coat on?”

  “Sure.”

  Aaron cradled Ollie, talking to him while Wheels shrugged into his coat and buttoned it.

  “Sorry about your floor, Sandy,” he said concerning the small amount of blood near the table where they’d been sitting.

  “Don’t worry about it, Wheels. You and Ollie take care.”

  “Will do.”

  He took Ollie back from Aaron and started for the door. The noise level, which had gradually risen, died down a little again as Wheels rolled through the barroom. He stopped right by the door and spun around.

  “If anyone ever touches Ollie like that again, you won’t be as lucky as Luther. I’ll put you in the ground.”

  His gaze roamed around the barroom meeting a lot of eyes, some of which shifted away from him. Satisfied, he turned back around and followed Aaron out the door.

  *****

  The next morning, Wheels woke up to find Ollie sitting on his chest, staring down at him.

  “Time to go potty?”

  Ollie bobbed his head and chirruped quietly. Wheels’ wind-up alarm clock told him that it was six-thirty, their usual time to get up. Ollie was as dependable as any clock and a lot cuter.

  “Ok. Watch out.”

  Ollie hopped down in the bed, pulling the covers with him. Wheels was perfectly capable of doing it himself, but there had been a time when he hadn’t been. Ollie remembered those times and still did things for Wheels that he’d done shortly after Wheels’ injury. Pulling covers down was just one of them.

  “Thanks, buddy.”

  Wheels never discouraged Ollie from doing the tasks he’d been trained to do because it would have confused his pal. Sitting up, Wheels lifted his legs out over the bed one at a time, sitting them on the floor. He did the same thing every morning. Got out of bed, went to the bathroom, showered, dressed, and went over to his family’s house to eat.

/>   To most people, doing these things were easy, but they were a little more difficult for Wheels. Still, he never complained, grateful to be alive and able to do as much as he could. Ollie was a big help to him, fetching things and even helping to pull his shoes off.

  Shifting over to his chair, he went into the bathroom, thankful that his father and his brother, Carl, had installed a flush commode. It had been embarrassing to him for his mother to have to empty the bedside one. Wheels had long ago accepted that there were some private things he needed help with, but that one had never ceased to bother him.

  Vern Ellis’ brilliant engineer’s mind had gone to work right away after Wheels’ accident, which had ended his military career. Even before they’d known how much Wheels would be able to function, he’d begun thinking about how to make things easier for Wheels. Once they’d moved to Chance City, Vern had begun converting the carriage house into a place where his son could be as independent as possible.

  The man was ahead of his time with many of his inventions, which was why most of them were never manufactured. Companies had no faith in the things he came up with, believing that, although they looked good on paper, his ideas wouldn’t work in reality. That didn’t stop Vern from making them, however.

  Vern had lowered the sink in the bathroom and installed a shower for Wheels to use instead of a tub, which would have been impossible for Wheels to use on his own. He shifted over onto the metal chair that sat in the oversized shower stall and pulled the chain that released the water from the pipes.

  Bracing himself for the initially cold water, Wheels watched Ollie jump up in the chair he’d just vacated. The chilly water woke him the rest of the way, but it didn’t take long for the warm water to kick in. When he was done washing himself, he had Ollie jump in with him since it was Sunday.

  Wheels bathed Ollie every Sunday, which the monkey enjoyed. Their shower complete, Wheels dried them off and got dressed.

  “Ready? Get the door, buddy.”

  Ollie knew how to open doors, especially those with lever-like knobs. Opening the carriage house door, Ollie waited until Wheels had gone outside before closing it again. He ran ahead of Wheels, opening the kitchen door of the main Ellis house. Wheels pushed easily up the ramp and entered the big kitchen.

  Wheels greeted his mother, Susan, who was busy frying bacon.

  “Morning, Mama.”

  “Good morning, honey. Did you sleep well?”

  “Like a rock,” he said.

  The sound of many little feet on the stairs of the huge farm house made Wheels smile.

  “Looks like Ollie was already upstairs,” Susan said.

  “Of course he was. You know that he always goes to see the kids right away.”

  Four children, three boys and a girl, ran into the kitchen. They ranged from ten to three, with the youngest being Clyde, a dark haired little fellow with Wheels’ brother Carl’s blue eyes. Clyde climbed up on Wheels’ lap.

  “Hi, Uncle Weel.”

  “Hi, yourself. And the rest of you ragamuffins.”

  Ginny, a six-year-old blonde, said, “Are you gonna take us to school?”

  “No. It’s Sunday. I will tomorrow,” Wheels said as they moved into the dining room.

  Ginny groaned. “That means church is today.”

  “I told you that already,” Butch, the oldest, said.

  “I know, but I was hoping you were wrong,” Ginny said.

  Their father, Carl, came into the room. “Ginny, quit your complaining. It’s one morning a week.”

  “But it’s boring.”

  Carl said, “You’ll survive. Now go get the silverware and you and Stevie set the table. You know that’s your job.”

  Eight-year-old Stevie took Ginny’s hand. “C’mon. Let’s get it done.”

  This was Stevie’s mantra. He might not like doing something, but he figured that the sooner he got it over with, the sooner he could do something more pleasant. In this case, it was eating.

  Carl’s wife, Rena, joined them. Ginny was the spitting image of her. She wore a pretty blue dress and had done her blonde hair up in an intricate chignon. “Morning, Wheels. I heard that there was some excitement at the Chowhound last night.”

  Wheels frowned and glanced at Butch. “Not anything I care to comment on.”

  Carl and Rena didn’t ask any more, taking heed of his signal that the story wasn’t suitable for little ears. They dropped the subject and prepared for breakfast.

  Chapter Two

  Wheels was not a church goer, so after breakfast, he went to the machine shop he co-owned with Vern and Carl to catch up on some work. He’d no sooner begun repairing a grandfather clock assembly when Brock showed up.

  “Morning,” he said.

  Brock returned the greeting. “I came to check on you after last night.”

  Wheels smiled. “I’m not the one who wound up on the floor. I’m fine.”

  “Yeah. About that. Luther’s gonna sue for damages.”

  Wheels put down his tools. “You gotta be kidding me. What damages?”

  Brock grimaced. “A broken ankle and wrist. He’s gonna be out of work for almost two months.”

  Wheels sat back in his chair, absorbing the information. “So he’s really serious. I didn’t know that I hurt him that bad. I just thought he’d have a headache for a couple of days.”

  “Turns out it’s worse than that.”

  “Damn.”

  Brock nodded. “Yeah.”

  Wheels scratched his jaw. “It wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t attacked Ollie. Luther could’ve seriously hurt him if Ollie wasn’t so fast. Even so, it was a pretty hard hit.”

  Brock said, “I know. He hasn’t hired a lawyer yet, but I wouldn’t put it past him to get one. Even if he doesn’t, I, uh—crap. I have to arrest you.”

  Wheels laughed, but Brock remained perfectly sober, his blue eyes reflecting the gravity of the situation.

  Wheels’ heart beat erratically as his smile disappeared. “I can’t go to jail, Brock. For how long? I mean, I might be able to get along for a couple of days, but there are things that I need that aren’t at the jail. Why didn’t you arrest me last night?”

  “Because I didn’t know that Luther had been hurt that bad and I had no idea he’d press charges. I thought that he’d be too embarrassed by being beaten at poker by a monkey and then beaten up by a guy in a wheelchair to draw more attention to himself,” Brock replied. “I don’t know how long you’ll have to stay there. I’ll get ahold of Walt for you. I’m sure he can talk Reese into being lenient and letting you come home.”

  Wheels said, “Reese doesn’t work on the weekends.”

  Brock grinned. “No, but he does go to church. If I can get Walt to the church by the time it’s over, we can waylay Reese there. But I have to lock you up in the meantime. Ollie can come with you.”

  Wheels fell back on his sense of humor, which he used to cope with stressful situations.

  “You’re not gonna handcuff me, are you? You’ll have to push me if you do and I’ve gained a little weight lately.”

  Brock chuckled. “No, I won’t handcuff you since you’ll come peacefully.”

  “Thanks.”

  He put on his coat and followed Brock from the building with Ollie perched on his shoulder.

  *****

  Walt Gaines arrived at the jail a brief fifteen minutes after receiving Brock’s phone call. It was too bad that Ellie wasn’t working that day, but he put that out of his mind. He was there to see a client, one whom he liked very much.

  Wheezer said, “I’ll bring him into the visiting room.”

  “Thanks,” Walt said, smiling.

  Soon Wheezer opened the door and Wheels rolled over to the table where Walt sat.

  “Well, it looks like yer better off than the other guy,” Walt said, his hazel eyes shining and a warm smile on his lips.

  Wheels returned it. “Yeah. Who knew I was so lethal?”

  Walt laughed as he took out a ta
blet. “Not to be short, but tell me quickly what happened so I can get to church before it lets out.”

  “Well, Luther lost at poker to Ollie and got mad. He jumped across the table and punched Ollie. I saw red and hit Luther. He came at me and that’s when we got in it.”

  “Ah, so if Luther had let it go at the one punch, would you have?”

  Wheels nodded. “Yeah. I’d have still been angry, but I wouldn’t have gone after him again.”

  “And can anyone corroborate this?”

  “Yeah. It was a public fight and Aaron and Brock saw the whole thing. Not to mention Sandy,” Wheels said.

  “Good, good. Well, don’t worry, lad. I’ll get ya out of here. Reese will release ya and I’ll threaten to countersue if Luther decides to bring civil charges,” Walt said.

  “Thanks, Walt. Let me know what I owe you,” Wheels said.

  “Nothin’. I always give a free consultation to people I like. If I have to do more than talk to Reese, then we’ll discuss it, but as of now, there’s no charge,” Walt said. “See ya soon.”

  *****

  “Is this a joke?”

  Reese Burton grinned as he stood with Walt, Brock, and Wheels’ parents.

  Brock said, “I wish it was, but it’s real.”

  Reese grew serious. “So Wheels wiped up the floor with Luther Kingsly for punching his monkey?” He couldn’t keep a straight face as he said it. “You have to admit that it sounds funny.”

  “Aye, he did,” Walt said, smiling. “Now, look, Wheels can’t stay in jail, ya know that. Besides, he was defendin’ Ollie and if Luther had let things go after Wheels punched him that one time, Wheels wouldn’t have kept fightin’. But, as it was, Luther attacked him, so he fought back.”

  Reese turned to Brock. “Is that what happened? You saw the whole thing?”

  Brock nodded. “Yeah. Luther came back at Wheels and things escalated from there. Wheels warned him to leave him alone. Luther should’ve listened, but he didn’t and Luther paid for it.”