The Hewey Spader Mystery Series (The Complete Trilogy * Books 1 -3 )

by Tanya R. Taylor

  I must admit I was a bit disappointed that Jeffreys could not be of help even though I hadn’t arrived with my hopes up.

  “I’m sorry,” he added.

  “Thanks, anyway,” I replied.

  Jeffreys reached for his cane, then slowly stood up. “If that’s all, I must get back to reading the newspaper and pouring my second cup of coffee for the day. I tend to do things in a timely fashion, if you know what I mean.”

  “We completely understand.” Sam stood as well; Rob and I followed her lead. “It was good seeing you again.”

  “Likewise,” he said, as he led us to the door.

  It was sort of an awkward moment for us, despite being accustomed to Jeffreys’ behavior.

  “See you around,” Rob said as we stepped onto the porch.

  Jeffreys replied with a single nod.

  “Well, that was a complete waste of time,” Rob muttered after we got in the car. “I can tell nothing much has changed with that man.”

  “I have to agree,” Sam said. “Didn’t seem glad to see us at all and to think after we were on the same team for survival all those years ago, I thought we’d broken the ice once and for all.

  “Guess that ice is impossible to crack.” Rob started the car, then pulled away.

  6

  _________________

  The guys and I knew that if Hartley Mays, our town’s former police chief, hadn’t mellowed over the years it was highly unlikely he’d entertain us even for a minute. None of us were any of his favorite people and he certainly wasn’t a fave of ours. Yet, he was instrumental back then in carrying out the wishes of the canines and so was every member of his police force. I realized they didn’t have any choice in the matter, but the least they could’ve done over the years was to do whatever was in their power to find out what happened to two of our own.

  The canines had sorely criticized us not only for failing to treat their kind with better care, but also for us not being our brother’s keeper. I was wondering if anything had sunken into Chief Mays’ heart concerning the latter. Rob had found out that he was retired now and living out the rest of his days in a nursing home after having suffered two heart attacks. His late wife’s poodle, Dolly-Ann, just like Hugo, had long since passed and Mays was now on his own, sharing a similar fate to that of Mark Jeffreys. The difference between the men was that Jeffreys loved his dog and Mays didn’t. Mays certainly respected her, if only that, after the traumatic events of 1995. Only a fool would’ve risked another visit from outer space.

  “What if we can’t get anything out of the guy?” Rob asked as we headed for Green Pastures Nursing Home.

  “Have some faith, bro.” I said.

  Sam sighed. “We’d just have to cross that bridge when we get there, huh?”

  “Hey. What about your dad’s friend, Joe, who’s a cop?” Rob asked me.

  “Joe and his family left Eppington years ago right after everything returned to normal. His wife, Sandy, was so traumatized, she persuaded him to quit his job and leave town for good. Dad rarely heard from him ever since.”

  “Can’t blame them for getting outta here,” Sam remarked. “I can never understand why anyone stayed.”

  “Imagine an entire town picking up and leaving,” I replied. “That’ll make international news, for sure. It just couldn’t happen. Besides, most people find it hard to uproot their lives and start all over again in a strange place.”

  “I did and it wasn’t hard for me,” she said.

  “Everyone’s not like you, Sam,” Rob reminded her.

  We arrived at the nursing home and it was agreed that I would go in and speak with Chief Mays alone instead of all of us crowding his space, even if more than one person was allowed to visit. The guys decided they’d wait in the lobby instead of outside running the car’s A/C.

  Chief Mays and Jeffreys were close in age, but Mays, being five years younger, looked nothing like I’d remembered; I hardly recognized the man. He used to be heavyset, around five feet eleven. Now, the person who sat in a chair looking out the window of his private room at the beautiful landscape was barely a hundred and twenty pounds and had lost a few inches in height as well.

  “Is that really you, Spader?” He asked in a feeble voice, looking at me intently.

  “It’s me, sir.” I sat next to him and tried to conceal my utter shock.

  “I knew you’d come, sooner or later. ‘Course, was no telling whether it’d be while I was alive or dead. You’ve made it.”

  I forced a smile. “How have you been?”

  I quickly deemed it a stupid question.

  “Not so good. This old body seemed to go downhill ever since…”

  He started coughing.

  “Are you all right? Should I get a nurse?”

  He slowly raised a hand. “No. I’m fine.”

  He didn’t look fine at all. In fact, he looked terrible. I was kind of feeling guilty for even being there bothering the guy.

  “I know why you’re here, Spader. No need to explain,” he said. “You wanna know what happened to your friend and his mother.”

  “That’s right.” I felt my heart rate slowly increasing, now certain that Mays knew something all these years that he was finally ready to share.

  “I’m sorry about what happened.” He started coughing again. And again, I was concerned. This time, it lasted a little longer than the first bout. He reached up and wiped the corner of his mouth with a tattered handkerchief, then cleared his throat.

  “One of my officers who was working at the compound said after you, Mark Jeffreys and his dog had spoken to the mastiff, he overheard a conversation between a couple of canines and apparently it…”

  His voice started to drag.

  “…it was agreed that…”

  Suddenly, he held the left side of his chest and his face distorted in pain. He tried to get more words out, perhaps, a cry for help, but he obviously couldn’t. I hurried out of the room, hollering for assistance when some nurses and a doctor rushed into the room and one of them ordered me out. As I was leaving, I noticed Mays was no longer struggling; the hand once holding his chest had fallen limp onto his leg.

  I knew…he was dead.

  * * * *

  “What did you do to the guy?” Rob whispered loudly on the way to the car after a nurse had informed me of Mays’ passing.

  “I didn’t do anything, Rob!” I answered defensively. “The guy died of a heart attack.”

  “Oh. I thought you’d held him at gunpoint to extract intel.”

  “Very funny.” I shook my head. “He was on the verge of telling me…”

  “Telling you what?” Sam held my arm, stopping me in my tracks. She had that look in her eyes I hadn’t seen since we were kids—the look that said she knew I was on to something and she was dying to know what it was.

  “He was about to tell me what happened. Started giving me a story about a conversation one of his officers who worked at the compound had overheard pertaining to some agreement.”

  “Agreement? Between who?” Sam grimaced.

  I shook my head, hopelessly. “I don’t know. That’s when he had the attack.”

  “Bummer!” Rob exclaimed. “We were so bloody close!”

  “Yeah.” I nodded.

  “Can you deduce anything from what he said,” Sam pressed. “I mean…”

  “I know what you mean and I thought about it over and over again as they were in there trying to save his life, but the answer is no. I have no idea what he was about to tell me—not even if Jase and his mom are dead or alive. Why did Mays have to drop dead right then?”

  I knew that didn’t sound very kind, but I was frustrated. Mays clearly had the answers we needed and had concealed them for decades. In the years I’d kept in touch with him to find out if they’d come across any clues pertaining to Jase’s disappearance, not once did he let on that he knew anything. Now, when he was just a shell of the man he used to be, he was ready to unburden himself and I was angry
about that. Why couldn’t he find it within himself to do so sooner? Why did he keep what he knew under wraps for so long? How could that possibly have benefitted him—if it did at all?

  “At least you tried,” Sam said. “The question now is who is the officer Mays was referring to and do any of the other officers who were employed at the time share Mays’ secret?”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” I replied as we continued toward the car.

  7

  _________________

  Sam had an engagement with her folks that she couldn’t break, so we decided to call it a day and resume our investigations the next day.

  When I arrived home, Carl was in the living room watching TV with his feet crossed on the center table. He was eating a super-sized club sandwich.

  “You know Mom would’ve killed you if you ever parked your feet up there,” I said, shutting the new screen door he’d installed that day.

  “Mom’s not here anymore,” he answered, dryly.

  “I know.” Sitting on the sofa, I looked his way. “Still working out there or you’re done for the day?”

  “Not done.” He kept his eyes on the TV.

  “I meant to ask how your lunch date went yesterday.”

  “Same as usual.” He took another bite of his sandwich.

  “I see.”

  “Uncle Charlie called earlier. I didn’t tell him you were here ‘cause he would’ve wondered why he hasn’t seen you yet.”

  “Thanks for that. I intend to walk over there this afternoon.”

  A wrestling match was on television and Carl was a huge fan. Yet, that day, he didn’t seem as enthusiastic about it as he usually was.

  “Hey, Carl…tell me—did I do something to upset you or…”

  That’s the first time he looked my way since I’d arrived.

  “Upset me? You can’t upset me, bro.”

  “Okay!” I threw my hands up. “If you wanna act like a spoiled child instead of talking it over like an adult, have it your way. I’ll be out of your hair soon enough since it’s looking like my trip was in vain anyway!”

  I got up to leave.

  “Wait!” He put the remnant of his sandwich on the table and muted the television.

  As I slowly assumed my previous position, I noticed he was gathering his thoughts. He then turned to me.

  “You want me to tell you what’s on my mind, big brother? Well, I’ll tell you. It was bad enough that you moved away and left us here after you know what Mom, Dad and I had gone through.”

  “Hold up!” I interjected. “What you guys went through? What about me and what I went through to rescue you—all of you—everyone in this blasted town? You think it was easy for me? It was horrifying knowing what had happened to you guys, wondering if I’d ever get you back and at the same time fighting to rescue you without being caught.”

  “I’m not saying you didn’t go through anything, Hewey. I’m trying to say after it was over, you were a visitor popping in here and there. Mom missed you a lot and even though she never said she wanted you to come back home, I knew she did.”

  I shook my head. “You know Mom and Dad heard from me every other day and I saw them as often as I could. For goodness’ sake, I’m a grown man! Mom knew I had to live my own life wherever I felt I needed to be. She never would’ve been selfish to lay a guilt trip on me about coming back home.”

  Looking at my brother, I knew he hadn’t yet gotten to the crux of the matter.

  “All those years of seeing me, Carl, you never once acted the way you’ve been acting since Mom and Dad died. We were always close, despite the distance between us. You used to call me all the time, then the calls got fewer and fewer and then stopped altogether. If I don’t call you, you won’t call. Something must’ve happened to change the relationship we had.”

  He was silent for a while, just sitting there shaking his head. Then the tears started streaming down his face.

  “After Mom and Dad died, you abandoned me, Hewey.”

  “How?” I asked, completely stunned by his assertion.

  “I had to be here handling their loss by myself in this house with all the memories. I didn’t have anyone; no friends I could confide in about my true feelings—no one. I was all alone with my thoughts, crying my eyes out every single day for close to a year. For months, I kept Mom and Dad’s bedroom door shut to prevent myself from going further into depression.” He looked at me with a mixture of sadness and anger in his eyes. “When we were younger, you were the one with all the friends. In my mind, you, Mom and Dad were not just my family—you were my friends. So, when they were gone and you were so far away, I had nobody. And what’s worse—you never came back after the funeral. After a year went by and you hadn’t returned, I made up my mind that I had to find a way to cope on my own without you as a brother because you obviously didn’t care about me enough to come back. And look—you’re only here now because of your friend, Jase—and I’m your brother.”

  His words cut me to the core. I knew he was right about everything, but I’d never seen it that way before. “I had no idea you felt that way, Carl,” I replied. “I knew losing Mom and Dad was really hard on you, especially since you were always here with them, but I guess I wasn’t thinking straight. I was so wrapped up in my own grief that I couldn’t bear to come back to this house because the reality that they were gone would’ve hit me way too hard. That’s why I stayed away; not because I didn’t want to see you or for us to be together like before. It was how I grieved and I was selfish about it, Carl, and I’m sorry. As your big brother, I was supposed to be here for you and maybe if I was, I would’ve been able to handle my grief a lot better.”

  I got up, went over to him and just stood there. Tears were still streaming down his face. “I’m sorry. I know I can’t take anything back, but will you forgive me?” I asked. “I promise to be here for you even more than ever before.” If he decided he’d rather not have anything more to do with me, I’d understand, but in my heart, I meant every word of what I said.

  Moments later, he stood up and gave me the biggest hug ever and we were both in tears.

  * * * *

  I was relieved that Carl and I had finally broken the ice. Other than Uncle Charlie, he was the only family I had that was worth the definition of one.

  That evening, Carl walked with me to Uncle Charlie’s house where we ate a big bowl of peas soup only Uncle Charlie could make so perfectly.

  Uncle Charlie was our mom’s brother. He’d taught most of us in the neighborhood how to fish and often rented his canoes out. Nothing much had changed with him, except, like many of our neighbors, he’d also aged quite a bit. Uncle Charlie was hitting seventy-three and still going strong. He’d never married, but had a daughter who lived in New Jersey, whom he hardly ever saw. I don’t think she and I had ever met and I wasn’t sure if we ever would. Uncle Charlie was convinced her mother had filled her head with nonsense when it came to him, failing to tell his daughter how he’d fought for custody of her when she was a year old and lost because the judge thought he was bum since he was out of work at the time. Uncle Charlie only had so much fight in him. He thought the system was against him and that he was fighting a losing battle, so when his ex-girlfriend picked up and left with their child— moving to a whole new state—and made it close to impossible for him to see his baby by threatening to have her jailbird brothers beat him up, he figured he’d keep his distance and hoped his daughter would one day look for him. So far, that day never came.

  “I thought you’d never come back here, boy!” He told me at dinner. “Three years is a long time to stay gone.”

  “Yeah. I was wrong for that.” I glanced at Carl.

  “I don’t need you gettin’ in your head that you’re high society since you own that company in New Mexico,” Uncle Charlie added. “No matter how far you climb up the ladder of success, you’re still a small-town boy who used to piss his pants up to the age of twelve.”

  I was shocked
he said that last part.

  Carl was laughing.

  “Well—you know where I got the information from. Your mother—of course! She told me everything about you boys.”

  “I’m sure she did,” I mumbled. “You don’t have to worry about my head getting all swollen, Uncle Charlie. Although I like to make money, I’m not controlled by it.”

  “Well, send some of it this way!” He swallowed a spoonful of soup.

  “Haven’t I always sent you money when you said you needed it?”

  “Sure, you did. I’ll always be grateful for the new canoes you bought to replace the old ones, but my bank account could always use a li’l boost every so often.” He smiled.

  “You’re a piece a work, Uncle,” Carl said.

  “Am I, boy? Your brother knows I’m pullin’ his leg.”

  I picked up my soda and took a gulp. “Uncle Charlie knows whenever he needs me I’m just a phone call away.”

  “I know that.” He nodded. “Just like your folks knew. You’re a good boy. Both of you are. Carl here took good care of them, especially when they were gettin’ up in age. Never left their side and tended to their every need, And you, Hewey, did what you could from where you were at, and by all accounts, that was a lot. I told ya I know everything that went on. Your folks loved you two more than words could say and they were so proud of both of you.”

  He started to get a bit choked up, then quickly abandoned the topic.

  “How about we go fishing on the lake?” I suggested.

  “Today?” Uncle Charlie grimaced.

  “Yeah. Right now. Carl, are you in?”

  “I’m in.” He rested his napkin next to his empty bowl.

  “Well, I’m out!” Uncle Charlie said, dropping his spoon. “I’m full, I’m tired and I’m going to bed very early tonight.”

  “Well, have it your way,” I said. “Olivia, here we come.”