Deception in the Truth

by A. B. Medley

  “Ivie, pull yourself together and lift your chin up. You’re Rhett Davis’s daughter, and no one makes you feel this way.” I walk into the bathroom, take a quick shower, and braid my wet hair. I crawl into my old bed, which smells exactly like home. Just as I close my eyes, I hear my phone ding.

  “Not tonight, you creep. Not tonight.”

  I open my fridge and pop the top of a cold beer. “What in the hell is Ivie hiding?” I mutter to myself as I glance once at the pictures and weird, old-school threatening letter. Once I’ve downed the beer, I put the pictures and note back in the envelope then slap off the kitchen lights.

  I head into the bedroom and kick off my boots and jeans, then pull off my T-shirt and flop down on the bed. “Ivie has a secret…” Ivie seems to be the center of whatever’s going on. That fact is bone-chilling to me.

  I’m a fool over her. Always have been, and apparently always will be. I can feel my blood heat just thinking about her. She was sexy before, but somehow she’s even sexier now. She’s filled out some, more curves in all the right places.

  I hear my phone vibrate in my jeans on the floor. I get it off the holster on my pants and look at the screen. Another message from a blocked number.

  The secret Ivie’s hiding will change your life.

  Just what is this person getting at? Speaking in rhymes and riddles. My mind races with theories, but it’s just that, theories. One way or another, I’ll have to find out what she’s keeping from me, and why she feels she can’t trust me.

  I get up, walking through the house and making sure the doors are secure before I turn in for the night. Tate gave me the rundown on the ranch when I returned. He left a little after eight o’clock to go to his cabin, which is on this property as well.

  Satisfied, I slide under the covers and try to stop my mind from racing. I’ll give Ivie a day or two to settle in with her parents, and then I’ll have to get down to business. The sooner I nail this psycho, the better for us all.

  Sterling Brigg. Forever the good guy. Too good for Ivie. After I help you find out what Ivie’s hiding from you, there’s no way you’ll want anything to do with her. I smile at myself for knowing this little secret. For knowing the whole story, really.

  I watch as Sterling turns out the lights. He’s probably dreaming about that stupid bitch. I walk across the gravel of his driveway and up to Sterling’s front door with his little “present.”

  We’ll see how he feels about Ivie in the morning when he sees this. I place the package on his front porch, just in sight of the front door. I jog back down the driveway and down the road a bit to my SUV. I fire it up and take off, feeling the electricity of the storm that’s brewing. It makes me feel even more powerful. Tomorrow is the beginning of Ivie’s end.

  The thunder and lightning wake me up. It’s barely four in the morning. I get up and use the bathroom, and I can hear the wind kicking up. It sounds like another storm’s coming through. I walk to the front door and open it and step out, smelling the rain in the air. Lightning strikes again and illuminates the porch.

  There’s a package sitting there, addressed to me. I run to the kitchen and put on some gloves before I step back out and grab it while scanning the surrounding land for anything unusual. Frustrated, I head back in and lock the door.

  I check the weather quickly and confirm that this is the beginning of a storm. Looks like we’ll be hit for a few more hours. I walk over to the table where the package is and open a tiny envelope that’s attached— it has a key in it—a key that has a picture of Ivie glued on it. My eyebrows furrow as I unwrap the package, still wearing my gloves. It’s a small chest with a lock on it. I put the key in and turn it.

  Inside there are two teddy bears, one pink, one blue. “What is this?” They are each wearing a shirt that says Baby Brigg. I sit the bears back down into the package they came in, taking off my gloves and put them in the trash. Slowly, anger and shock rise from deep within my chest, followed by pain.

  So, this was Ivie’s secret—if this freak is to be believed. I got her pregnant, and she never told me. Panic surges through me. She ran. Where’s my child? Is that why she disappeared? I walk to the bathroom and open the medicine cabinet and down a couple of ibuprofen as a headache starts to pound. I shut the cabinet and look at myself in the mirror.

  Screw giving Ivie time. We’ll be talking as soon as I get myself together enough to talk. I turn out the lights in the bathroom and get back under the covers just as thunder claps again.

  I set my alarm for seven. Just calm down, Brigg. You don’t know the whole story and whether that’s true. But if it is, I have every right to know the truth. And Ivie better feel up to talking, because if there’s truth to this, I need to know what happened.

  I close my eyes and try to clear my mind. I need to rest so I can have a clear head when I talk to her, and for figuring out who’s behind this. I drift back off and start to dream of Ivie and a baby…

  You’ve got to love this time of year, with the rainy, gloomy weather. I dash up to Sterling’s front porch and knock, juggling two cups of coffee and a box of donuts from Valley Café. I hear footsteps coming toward the door as I look around his ranch. It really is beautiful here—the rolling hills in the background, the horses and cattle grazing the pastures. The air is cool and clean from the storms.

  A disheveled looking Sterling opens the door and lets me in. “What’s all this?” I follow him and place the coffee and donuts on his kitchen counter.

  “I wanted to talk, but I thought I’d be nice and let you wake up first.” He drinks some of the hot coffee.

  “Trust me, I’ve been awake for a while.” He seems distant, almost angry. He looks back up at me with brown eyes snapping fire again. “Is this a bad time?” I ask, quickly losing a little bit of the courage I thought I rustled up on the way over.

  “No, Ivie. This is the perfect time for you to answer some questions. I want the truth. No more games, no more lies. No more running.” He stares at me for a few seconds before turning around and walking down the hallway. He comes back carrying a box, which he tosses down on the counter in front of me.

  “Go ahead, Ivie. Open it and tell me all about what that means.” Gingerly I pull open the flaps and my heart sinks at the pink and blue teddy bears and what their shirts say. I’m sure the look on my face is a dead giveaway. Still, I try to contain myself and keep my tears at bay.

  I look back up at Sterling and ask, “What is this?” He snaps back, “That’s exactly what I was hoping you could tell me. I’m just going to cut to the chase. Did I get you pregnant all those years ago, Ivie? It’s not like we used protection in the heat of the moment, and the pull-out method is hardly birth control.”

  I’m scrambling for answers, not knowing what to say or do. Do I tell him? Or do I try to lie? He deserves to know, I suppose; I just never wanted to cause him pain. What I don’t want is to put him in danger. After all, the creep that caused me to lose our baby is apparently back and ready to play the game again.

  “Choose carefully, Ivie, because I’m not going to be lied to about my child.” He’s still staring at me, anger and pain competing for dominance in his eyes.

  “Yes, Sterling, I was pregnant. And yes, it was yours.” The color drains from his face, and he looks as though I sucker-punched him. He glares at me, and I can’t read what he’s feeling. He runs a hand through his dark blonde hair.

  “Are you sure it was mine and not Dean’s?”

  I’m about to lose any composure I have left. “Yes, Sterling, I’m sure, because Dean hadn’t touched me for two months prior to us being together that night. So, yes, I’m sure!”

  He hangs his head and when he looks back up his eyes glisten. “Damn it all to hell, Ivie! How could you keep something like this from me? If I’m the father, I deserve to know—” I raise my hand to stop him from talking.

  “Look, Sterling, there’s no baby. I said I was pregnant. Emphasis on was. This lunatic, whoever he or she may be, followed me t
o the outlook that day and attacked me. I’m sure you remember, since you found me beaten and stabbed. I never saw their face, and there were no leads on who did it. I sustained injuries that caused a miscarriage. I lost the baby. I had called you that day to tell you that someone had threatened me into staying away from you, but weeks went by without another threatening message, and then I learned I was pregnant. I was meeting you that day to tell you all about it. I wanted to have that conversation in person, not on the phone.” Sterling just kept staring at me, so I keep going.

  “When I found out I lost the baby, I was devastated. I didn’t want to cause you the same pain, so I didn’t tell you. I guess I just figured there was no sense in making you mourn over something you didn’t know existed in the first place. The person who attacked me told me to stay away from you or there would be consequences. They murdered my unborn child, so I shut the hell up and left, to make sure no one else would get hurt. Everything went quiet until you came knocking on my door a couple of days ago. That’s the truth.” I sagged back in the chair, tears rolling down my face.

  Sterling glares at me as if he could spit fire or nails—possibly both. “I don’t care who threatened you, Ivie, you should’ve told me. I deserved to know. I could’ve protected you. You threw us away! All because you didn’t trust me! And damn, girl, you shouldn’t have gone through that alone—who do you think I am?”

  I get up and start walking to the front door. “Where do you think you’re going, Ivie?” I turn around and look at Sterling, cheeks shiny with tears.

  “I’m leaving. I’m not going to be made out to be some criminal just because you’re mad at me. You weren’t in my shoes. You weren’t threatened; you weren’t almost killed. So, if making me the bad guy makes you feel better, that’s fine, but I’m not sticking around to listen to you do it.” With that, I shove the front door open with both hands and stomp down the steps to my Jeep.

  Just as I reach my car door, I hear footsteps crunch in the gravel, and I feel his fingers circle my arm.

  “Let go, Sterling.” He drops his hand.

  “You can’t just run away again, Ivie. You can’t run from the truth. You can’t always run from your problems, and you can’t run from me.” I turn to look at him, and his eyes are soft now, pleading with me.

  “I’m not running. I’ve told you everything I know. Now I’m the bad guy. So, unless you have further official questions, I’m leaving.” I hold his gaze for a few beats. “Goodbye, Sterling.” I slip into the driver’s seat, slam my door shut and tear down the driveway. In my rearview I can see him staring after me, looking as broken as I feel.

  “Judge, you asked for this meeting. What’s going on?” In his office, Rhett waves me into the chair across from him. Silently, he hands me a piece of paper from a manila envelope, much like the one I received. Cut-out block letters read: YOU SENTENCED ME, BUT DON’T KNOW ME. NOW I’M YOUR JUDGE & JURY, AND WILL DELIVER YOUR SENTENCE.

  “This looks like the same perp who sent me the letter and pictures the other day. Who have you pissed off, Judge?” Rhett seems to mull that over but stays silent.

  “Look, Rhett, I can’t help you unless you level with me and give me something to work with. I’m going to need you to put a list together of anyone who may hold a grudge against you, and let’s face it—in your line of work and all the years you’ve been doing it, that’s probably going to be a pretty long list.”

  Rhett unlocks a drawer in his desk and pulls out his briefcase. He opens it and pulls out another envelope. “Here, Brigg, I already put together as much of a list as I could come up with. You’re right, it’s long. It could even be friends or family of someone I’ve put away. So, I’ll be watching my back while you try to figure this out for me. Trudeau says you’re the best, and you’re apparently already involved, so I trust this to you. I expect you to make this your priority, Brigg.”

  I stand and look him in the eye. “I’ll take care of it, but if I come across questions that I need answered to help nail this asshole, you’d better shoot me straight, I’m not doing this half-cocked. I’ll find out the truth.” He eyes me back but doesn’t speak.

  I walk out of his office and pass his receptionist’s desk. She waves goodbye and tells me to have a good evening as I pass. Ella is her name, I think. I caught the hint in her eyes, but I’m not interested. All I can think about is Ivie and the baby and this case.

  I head out the door into the still gloomy weather and quickly walk toward my cruiser. I guess the rest of this Monday evening will be spent researching these files from Rhett.

  I start heading in the direction of Valley B with my work laptop in tow. Driving to the ranch, all sorts of things are running through my mind. Is this a criminal wanting revenge? Is this someone close to the Judge, with a personal vendetta? Where does Ivie fit into this madness?

  As I turn into the driveway, I wonder if Ivie will ever even talk to me again. I can’t really think about that now. I have to work on this list and see if I can come up with any leads. I park my rig and get my work laptop and the files out of the car, juggling everything to get a hand free to wave at Tate, who is busy as ever keeping Valley B running.

  As I reach the front porch, I unlock the door and stride into the kitchen, putting everything on the kitchen table. This’ll be my desk for the rest of the night. I grab a pack of peanut butter crackers and a Coke and settle in, firing up the laptop. I hope this proves to be a productive night.

  When I finally turned in, I’d worked through most of the list from Rhett. I ruled out a lot, although the list was long enough to still leave me plenty to work with. I kept coming back to Steve McCree, who was Lucy’s dad. That Ivie’s dad put her best friend’s father in jail seemed a significant issue—especially a best friend she mentioned she’s barely seen since leaving Greendale in her rearview mirror.

  I think it’s about time to see what Lucy’s been up to all these years. Maybe she can answer some questions for me. If I remember correctly, when Lucy was about fourteen, her dad got into some trouble and just up and left. Looking over the records from Rhett, good ole’ Steve had, in fact, been arrested on DUI and domestic charges, and Rhett’s the judge who sentenced him to six months in lockup followed by a year or two of probation. He stayed in Greendale until his probation was up and then disappeared from here.

  I look at my alarm clock and realize it’s almost eight. Ugh. I groan a little, knowing I’ve overslept from staying up late doing research. I grab my cell off the bedside table and punch out Trudeau’s number.

  “Trudeau.” He sounds like he’s already in the office, judging from the background noise. “Hey, Chief, just letting you know I overslept this morning; may be a little bit before I get to the office. I was up late working on the Judge’s case.”

  I can hear him taking a sip of coffee. “Listen, don’t sweat it. In fact, since Rhett Davis personally asked for you, I expect you to give this case your full attention until you get it solved. And if that means working from home where there are fewer distractions, that’s fine. You have your work laptop. I want this wrapped up neatly before he retires. Just pop in the office when you need to until this is taken care of. My orders.”

  I groan a little. “Well, sir, I appreciate that, but I have other cases too...” There’s a slight pause before he responds. “Of course you do, Brigg, when I said you’re the best I meant it. But for now, your focus is Rhett Davis and yes, even his daughter. We can handle the other cases until this one’s complete. And Brigg—think with your head, not anything else, okay?”

  I roll my eyes. “Yes sir. You can count on me.” I hang up the phone. Great.

  “Well, Brigg, get to it. Don’t keep them waiting,” I say to myself as I walk to the bathroom and turn on the hot spray of the shower. After, when I’m rubbing my hair dry with the towel, my thoughts turn to Ivie.

  It’s about time to call her and see if she’s still mad. I’ve officially been ordered to stick to her, at least until this is over. She’s not going
to like it. Not one bit.

  “Yeah, Mom, I think he’d be impressed by a formal retirement party. It’ll be fun. Have an official dinner and get someone to speak about all the things he’s done for the community over the years, his passion for his job and his family. And then end the night with a little music to dance to.”

  We both laugh, because Dad used to love to take Mom dancing. And every now and then, it’s nice to dress up and have fun. This is the perfect excuse to do just that—to celebrate my father. He’ll be surprised.

  We’re finishing breakfast in the dining room while Mom’s jotting down all the plans. “I’ve already reserved Paris Hall at Greendale Community College. That room’s pretty much the likes of a ballroom, even in this little town.”

  She beams at me, and I know she’s very proud of her plans for dad. I put my hand over hers and smile back. “It’s going to be great, Mom. He’ll love it.” My phone dings, and I see a call from a local cell number. I assume it’s Sterling.

  “Excuse me, Mom, I have to take this.” I get up and walk toward my bedroom as I answer.

  “Hello?” I’m rewarded with being right, and I feel my stomach tighten at the sound of his voice. Fool woman that I am.

  “Hey, Ivie. Look, I know you’re still ticked from our last conversation, and trust me, so am I. But right now, I think we need to put our heads together. Can you come by the ranch sometime today? I’m working from home—Chief’s orders—until I get this case solved.”

  I pause for a minute. “Yeah sure, anything to help Dad.” He waits for a second, and I hear him sigh into the phone.

  “This case isn’t just about your dad, Ivie, and you know it. It’s also about you.” And with that he hangs up. I pocket my phone and grab my keys and purse, then walk back down the hall and tell Mom I have to run a few errands. We pretty much put the finishing touches in motion this morning, anyway. Mom just needs to make some calls to confirm some things.