Precarious Summer

by Lyn Cote

  Suddenly a lot of people were on their feet and each one was trying to be heard.

  With his shoulder, Brent rammed his father and then pulled free. He turned and collided with Carter. “Let me by!”

  Carter gripped Brent by the shoulders. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

  “Let me go!” Brent yelled.

  “What’s wrong?” Carter demanded. “What’s so important?”

  Hal grabbed Brent again, trying to pull him from Carter’s grip. “Leave my son alone!”

  Carter released Brent. “What’s the matter? Something’s not right.”

  Brent tried to start down the aisle. Hal hung on to him.

  “What’s wrong with you, Brent?” Audra jumped up, fear suddenly expanding, pressing down on her lungs.

  “Let me by!” Brent roared with frustration, fighting to free himself. “I’ve got to get to Audra’s in time!”

  “What?” Carter asked.

  “I set a clock firebomb there,” Brent shouted wildly. “I didn’t know Evie would be there! I didn’t know anyone would be there! Let me go! The timer will go off in a little under ten minutes! Let me go!”

  Total shocked silence.

  “Evie!” Audra shrieked. She pushed past Brent. “Evie!”

  And then Carter and Brent were plunging out the door. Audra rushed after them. The town hall emptied behind them. They were all racing down the street and then to the alley. Voices shouting and footsteps hitting the pavement.

  Breathless, heart racing, Audra ran right behind Brent and Carter. They charged through her Dutch door into the bright kitchen. Chad and Evie were at the far end. Brent shoved past him and dropped to his knees by the counter.

  “Chad!” Carter ordered. “Get out! Now!”

  Working at the counter in an apron, Chad froze.

  Evie sat beside him on a high stool. “Sheriff, what’s wrong—”

  Carter and Audra lunged toward her child. Carter lifted Evie and thrust her into Audra’s arms. “Get out, Audra!” He grabbed Chad’s arm, yanking him, shoving him toward the door. “Out!”

  Chad stumbled outside and halted beside Audra and Evie. “What’s happening?”

  Audra clutched Evie to her, barely able to breathe around the lump in her throat. Dear Lord, help. “Brent says he set a clock firebomb—”

  “What!” Chad started back toward the door.

  “Get back from the doorway!” Carter ordered. “Get back! Everyone back!”

  Chad halted. Drawing him with her, Audra edged backward and sensed the crowd behind her move back toward safety. She kissed Evie’s dark hair and hung on to Chad’s sleeve.

  CARTER DROPPED TO HIS knees beside Brent. “Can you disarm it in time?”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Brent was fumbling in his pocket and pulled out a screwdriver. Leaning over, he cautiously slid something from beneath the counter where Chad had just been working.

  Carter glanced up through the open door and saw Ramsdel standing next to Audra in the crowd across the alley. He looked ashen. Stunned.

  Brent continued working, unwrapping what looked like cotton batting. “It’s not very complex,” he went on, but his voice quavered. “I have to be careful and disconnect the fuses from the clock. I just need to clip them in time.”

  Brent’s words washed like ice water over Carter. Audra’s own cousin had set a bomb at her business.

  Carter thought that he should take over, send Brent outside, but the kid looked as if he knew what he was doing. And time was too short to take chances. And if he did the wrong thing, it would mean disaster.

  “I thought everyone would be at the meeting,” Brent sniveled, sounding as though he was nearly crying. “I didn’t know Chad would be here or Evie. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody. Not even Chad. You’ve got to believe me.”

  “Just concentrate on what you’re doing,” Carter urged, trying to sound calm. His hands became fists to keep him from interfering with the dismantling of the explosive device. Come on. Come on.

  Brent was unwrapping a lot of duct tape from around what looked like a cheap clock and some kind of tubed fuse connected to three large pipe bombs. With the cotton batting and duct tape removed, the cheap clock ticked louder now.

  Beside them was a handful of pennies. Everything clicked into place. This wasn’t one lone act. Brent was the arsonist.

  Moving carefully, Carter lifted his cell phone from his belt and punched a number in. “Dispatch, there may be a fire at Audra’s Place. Can’t explain. Just get the engines here.” He snapped his phone shut. He sucked in air. Pressure tightened even his scalp. He tempered his voice again, trying not to spook the kid. “How’re you doing, Brent?”

  “Almost there,” the kid muttered, sweat slipping down the side of his face. “Here it is.”

  Silence pressed in on them. Carter was aware of each shallow breath he was inhaling and then exhaling. And everything—every movement that Brent made, every color and every shape—appeared intensely clear to Carter.

  Brent clipped one wire.

  Carter stilled completely.

  Then a second wire. Then Brent laid the mechanism gently down on the floor. “That’s it. I defused it.”

  Drenched in a sudden cold sweat, Carter looked at the clock time. It had stopped ticking with less than a minute left. Carter shut his eyes, suddenly limp with relief. Thank God.

  Brent folded in on himself and choked with sobs. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. You’ve got to believe me! I’d never hurt Evie! I didn’t know she was going to be here.”

  Carter pulled Brent to his feet and out the door. Time to read him his rights.

  “Why, Brent?” Audra staggered forward.

  Carter let go of Brent and hurried to her. He reached over and supported Audra, who was holding Evie.

  “Why would you do this to me? You’re my cousin. I’ve tried to be your friend, stand up for you.” Horror colored Audra’s every word. “Dear God, Evie was sitting right over it. She—Chad—could have been killed!”

  Tears coursing down his cheeks, Brent surged forward, pointing to his dad. “It’s his fault! He wouldn’t let me go with Mom on Saturday! He said I couldn’t quit working for you until the tourist season slowed down.”

  Carter was incredulous. “So you thought you’d put Audra out of commission and then you’d get to go to your mother?”

  “And you set the other fires, didn’t you?” Audra accused.

  “I hate this creepy little town!” Brent exploded, white to the lips with fury. “I hate Chad. Every fire was supposed to get Chad in trouble. He lives with Shirley, and Shirley’s good to him. I want to be with my mom! Not with him!” As Brent motioned toward his silent father, he inflected the final word so it sounded like a curse.

  Carter couldn’t stop himself from asking the question that had snagged him all summer. “And why the pennies?”

  Brent visibly shook, tears still washing his face. “I left the pennies because I’m sick of his drivel—every time I asked for money, it was ‘If wishes were horses then beggars would ride,’ and ‘A penny saved is a penny earned.’ Garbage! We wouldn’t be nearly broke and living here if he’d been better to my mother!”

  Recalling his duty, Carter gripped Brent’s shoulder and shook it. “Stop, Brent. You don’t have a lawyer present. I have to warn you that you’re speaking in front of witnesses.” Sickened over Brent’s naked malice, Carter began reciting him his Miranda rights.

  Ignoring his rights, Brent went on as soon as Carter finished. “Ollie’s was just for practice. I threw the Molotov cocktail at Shirley’s back porch ’cause Chad had dissed me the night before at Audra’s. And at Tom’s place, I thought Chad would be the one who opened Tom’s gate, not Tom. I thought Chad would be blamed for Aunt Lois’s shed, and when he”—Brent glared at Hal again—“told me that I couldn’t go to my mother, I pipe bombed his place. But he still wouldn’t let me go. So I had to—”

  Carter squeezed Brent’s shoulder harder. “Stop.”

&n
bsp; This time Brent obeyed him.

  “Come along. I have to take you in to be questioned and charged.” Carter touched Audra’s shoulder. “Please lock your door. It is a crime scene. Everyone”—he raised his voice—“show’s over! You can go back to the meeting now!” Carter turned to Ramsdel, hating to look at the man, so shattered, his failings exposed to all. “You better come with me, too.”

  AUDRA FELT AS THOUGH she’d aged a decade this evening. Would the shock of watching Brent dismantle an explosive in her kitchen ever dim or leave her?

  She paced the small area of worn avocado-green linoleum in the reception area of the County Sheriff’s Department Office. The reception desk was empty because of the late hour. The 911 dispatcher sat behind a glass window to Audra’s left. A half door blocked Audra from the hallway that led to the offices, the interrogation room, and two cells at the back. Audra glanced at the large white wall clock.

  It was well after ten. Shirley had taken a tearful Evie home with her. I should be home with her. But she knew she’d never be able to sleep until she found out how bad things looked for Brent. And she had to make things right with Carter.

  Down the hall, a door opened. Carter, Trish, Hal, and Brent stepped out of what must be the interrogation room. Trish led Brent, whose head was bowed, away toward the cell area. Audra swallowed a lump in her throat. Brent had a lot of nasty consequences to face. But he loved Evie. Oh, Lord, this is hard, but help this work for his good.

  Carter and Hal faced one another in the silent hallway. Audra held her breath. Please, Lord, no more fighting.

  “I still can’t believe it.”

  The voice was her uncle’s. She’d never heard him sound this way—broken, defeated, completely without swagger or bluster.

  “It’s been a rough night for us all,” Carter said.

  “What...will happen to my son?”

  “He’ll be formally charged, and he’ll have to face the consequences of what he’s done.”

  Uncle Hal covered his face with his hands. “This is all my fault, isn’t it? And what you said this morning about Sarah was true, wasn’t it?”

  Dark filmy sadness draped over, around her. Audra pressed her hands together against her lips.

  “I wish I could take back those harsh words,” Carter replied. “But yes, Sarah’s sins didn’t start with me.”

  “I’ve made a mess out of my life, and my children have suffered for it,” Hal admitted in a hollow voice.

  Audra prayed silently for her uncle. Open his eyes, Lord. He’s broken and open to hearing the truth. Finally.

  “That’s how it works. Unfortunately.” Carter laid a hand on her uncle’s shoulder. “The sins of the father harm the children. But a father can also make a real difference in a son’s life. Tom made the difference in mine. My own father didn’t know how to love. He died a bitter, lonely alcoholic. And because he’d rejected me, I was headed down the same path as Sarah and now Brent.”

  “What turned you around?” her uncle asked, looking up at Carter.

  Feeling like an intruder yet unable to leave, Audra held her breath.

  “I was seventeen and facing a judge who would decide whether to try me as a juvenile or an adult. I almost killed that kid, remember? I didn’t expect Tom or anyone to come to face the judge with me. But Tom hired a lawyer and he was there in the courtroom. I was cold inside, trying hard to look like I didn’t care. But I was terrified. Then I heard something. I’ll never forget that sound. Tom was crying.”

  “Crying?”

  Audra felt privileged to be a witness to Carter’s loving words. She bowed her head and continued praying.

  Carter nodded. “That’s what got to me. I’d been disrespectful to him, broken every rule he’d tried to guide me with. And here he was weeping over me. I wasn’t even his own son. And in that moment, his love broke through the hard shell around my heart. I turned around right then. It was his undeserved love that showed me the way God’s love works.”

  “I’ve never had much time for God stuff,” her uncle muttered.

  I didn’t either until Shirley showed me the way, Audra admitted.

  Carter squeezed his shoulder. “God can forgive any wrong we’ve done and he can turn our tears into joy. He did that for me. He can do it for you.”

  The door behind Audra opened and her mother entered. “I just heard and I came right away,” she said in a subdued voice. “Where’s Brent? Is it all true?”

  Audra turned and hurried into her mother’s arms. “Oh, Mom, it’s been awful.”

  Her mother hesitated and then she hugged Audra close. “I can barely believe it. Did Brent really try to blow up your kitchen with Evie there?”

  Audra nodded against her. “Uncle Hal wouldn’t let him quit Saturday and go with his mother early so he thought if he wrecked my kitchen, he’d be able to go to Illinois.”

  “Where is that brother of mine?” Lois’s voice was suddenly charged with anger.

  Audra drew back and lowered her voice. “Mom, go easy with him. He’s really broken up—”

  “Lois.” It was her uncle’s voice. “It’s all my fault.”

  Audra turned and her uncle pushed through the half door. Then he and her mother were embracing.

  “Oh, Hal,” her mother said, her voice laced with sudden sympathy. “We’ll get through this somehow. But you’ve got to stop fighting with Mary. You’ve got to think of Brent. He loves his mother.”

  “I know. You’re right. I know.” Uncle Hal choked up and hung his head. “Audra, I don’t know if you can forgive me. I’ve made such a mess of everything. The things I’ve said to you—”

  Audra ached with sympathy for her uncle, for Brent. “All is forgiven.” Her throat was so clogged with feeling, she could barely murmur the words aloud.

  “Does Brent have to stay here?” Lois asked, looking to Carter.

  Standing behind Hal, Carter nodded solemnly. “He’ll probably go before a judge tomorrow or the next day at the latest.”

  “Come on then, Hal,” Lois coaxed. “You’re going home with me. You shouldn’t be alone.”

  Her uncle allowed Lois to shepherd him from the office.

  Audra and Carter faced one another. Without hesitation, she closed the distance between them and put her arms around him. “Oh, Carter, what an awful day.”

  He paused and then folded his arms around her. “Audra, Audra,” he murmured. Then he drew her down the hall and into his office. “I want to apologize—”

  Audra went to him again, stopping his words by pressing her hand against his warm lips. This was no time for coyness. “You have nothing to apologize to me for. This morning just made us doubt ourselves. But I’m sure now. I love you. And if you love me, nothing else matters.”

  Carter pulled her against him. “I love you. Always.” His mouth dipped to hers.

  She stood on tiptoe, wanting to be as close to him as was possible. She prolonged the kiss, letting her lips tell him how much he meant to her, how glad she was that he’d come into her life.

  “God answered my prayer tonight,” she confided, sighing.

  “What prayer?”

  “I asked Him to bless our love and protect us from the evil around us.”

  “A good prayer.” He tucked her closer.

  “The past is dead and can’t touch us, and I’ll never let you go,” she murmured against his lips.

  “Good. I’m not going to let you go.”

  “No more doubts.”

  “No more doubts,” he agreed.

  “God is good,” she whispered.

  “Amen.”

  AUDRA DIDN’T OPEN HER café the next morning. She stored the risen dough that Chad had measured into the dough machines in the refrigerator and would use it tomorrow. Later, she’d work the pizza trade, but she had a mission this morning, a mission more important than making money. Last night just before turning in at about one, she’d realized that Uncle Hal had faced his sins, Carter had faced his past. She needed to face her
past, too.

  So instead of brewing coffee near the bustling wharf, she hung a Closed sign on her front gate. Then she drove out to her mother’s summer place. She walked into the silent house without ringing the bell. That was something she hadn’t done since she’d moved to Shirley’s. After Evie’s birth, Audra had always felt disowned, like a guest in her mother’s home, not a true member of the family. But no more.

  Audra walked through the empty-feeling house and found her mother in a pale yellow lounging gown sitting on the deck overlooking the lake. Her mother put down the coffee cup on the glass-topped patio table. “Audra.” Then she stood and opened her arms.

  Audra embraced her mother and asked, “Can we talk?”

  Her mother nodded. “Would you like coffee?”

  “No.” Audra sat down on the padded chair under the patio umbrella. She gripped her resolve and lifted her chin. “Mother, we’ve never talked, really talked since...I told you I was pregnant with Evie.”

  Her mother visibly tensed, cradling her mug with both hands. “You’re right, of course.”

  “I want to talk now.”

  “You want to tell me off?” Her mother lifted one eyebrow.

  Audra pursed her lips. “No, I just want, need to speak the truth in love. I needed you, Mother, and you failed me.” Audra had to look away. A deep empty cavern had opened up in her heart. The barren place that was left when she’d lost her mother’s love. Or thought she had. Audra drew in air and looked back up.

  Tears had leaped into her mother’s eyes. She wiped them with the back of her hand. “That’s very true. But did it ever occur to you that I needed you, too? And you failed me?”

  Audra cocked her head to one side as she tried to understand what her mother had just said. Fear like thunder just overhead vibrated through her. “I don’t understand.”

  Her mother set down her mug and passed a hand over her forehead. “Audra, do you know how old your father was when he died?”

  Audra pursed her lips. “He was forty-four. Why?”

  “And I was forty-three. You’re only in your twenties, so maybe you don’t realize how young that is to become a widow.”