“I thought you grew braver and overcame how shy you used to be.”
“No.” He shook his head. “That’s all fake as hell. I’m fucking scared to death every fucking day. When is the next attack? Who will it be? How many?” He gave a bitter laugh. “I have no fucking idea. You don’t know. You don’t know what it’s like to be overpowered…”
“I think I do. Not in the way you were, but I never won a fight with Pa.”
“I don’t know why you talk to him. He’s never going to approve of you. He’s using you or trying to use you for something.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“He beat you so badly, he really hurt you…”
“I know.” I poured a cup of coffee and set it in front of him.
“Don’t you get angry?”
“Every day.”
“You never wanted to do anything about it?” he asked.
“I can’t. Pa is a no win situation. If I fight back, I will have to kill him or he’d kill me. There is something wrong with my father. Whatever it is, Casey has a touch of it, too. Their minds aren’t right. Old Tom made me see that. That’s how I know that whatever happened to you wasn’t your fault. I know you, the real you. None of it was your fault, Steve.”
He sniffed and nodded. “When I was in seventh grade, I went over there to see the cat. I know that sounds stupid, but I wanted a kitten, like forever. My mother is allergic to them, and she said the hair would be everywhere. It was out of the question. Reynolds showed me a picture of Loki…”
“Loki?”
“The cat he had before this one. This is Valentino.”
“So you’ve been to his house...recently?”
“No. He’s a client. He came to my salon. I couldn’t refuse him. Well, I could but everyone would ask why. Some would know, but they’d never say anything. Besides, it happened when I was a kid. I told myself I moved on. I was better now. Right? If I knew he was doing that to other boys, I’d have said something. He made me think I was the only one. He didn’t do anything the first few times I went over there. We talked. I played with the cat, and I thought he was a nice man. I...I didn’t know how evil he was...and when I found out...he threatened me. He said something terrible would happen to my parents...if I told anyone. I hated him for what he did, but I didn’t kill him.”
“Someone did.”
“When I saw...it was him…I don’t know how much help I’ll be, Seth. I don’t know if I can do this.”
“We can back out. We’ll let Bobby handle it. It was probably one of the victims, someone who hated him enough to kill him.”
“Yeah, but who? Who is walking around in that much pain? I wished Reynolds car would stall on the train tracks or something, but to actually stab him twenty-eight times?”
“I don’t know. All I know is, he’s dead and he deserved it.”
“We have to solve it. We have to find the person who did it,” Steve said.
“Why?”
“Because, the person who did this is suffering. There’s no telling what they might do next. They could kill themselves or hurt someone else. We have to find him.”
Chapter 6
I stayed with Steve through the night. He finally drifted off into an exhausted sleep around three o’clock in the morning. I didn’t want to leave him, but I had to get to the diner. I was still stunned. I couldn’t believe it was happening. There was a pedophile in our town, and he’d been there for years. Steve. Every time I thought of what happened to him, I was devastated. I thought he had a comfortable, easy life. I was wrong.
I opened the diner no matter what was happening in my life. I’d learned to live through pain and struggle. Never got a break and I never expected one. My life on the mountain and in town was all about hard times. I had no choice but to roll with it, wondering how much could a man take? Plenty. It seemed.
I showered, put my jeans and plaid flannel shirt back on and I got into my truck. I’d go upstairs and get a clean shirt when I got there. The drive through town was quiet. I didn’t want the radio on. Any sound would be too much. I had enough rolling around in my head as it was.
I went through the routine of getting the diner ready, brewing the coffee and unlocking the door. People came in the way they usually did, but they seemed quieter, too. By now, the news had gotten around about Mr. Reynolds. Moms were keeping their sons closer. They were kinder and had more patience.
I cooked and served. Moving from table to table, I poured coffee, picked up dishes and took them to the sink. It was a lot of work, but I liked being busy. I liked it when all I had in my brain was, table two – Eggs over easy, white toast and hashbrowns. Table four – Oatmeal and hot tea. All morning long it was order after order and that was okay with me.
Around nine o’clock I saw the turquoise mini-cooper pull into the parking space in front of Steve’s salon. He was coming to work. He stepped out dressed well, as usual, but he was wearing dark sunglasses. He walked slow as if each step caused the slam of hammer hangover pain to echo in his head. I stopped writing an order on my notepad to watch him. When I realized I’d stopped, I looked at Dale’s mom and apologized, asking her to repeat what she’d said. I took her order, forced a smile and asked how Dale was doing in college?
“He’s doing great. He’s playing football and keeping his grades up. He managed to get Ian as a room mate in the dorm, so they’re fine. They still miss Jimmy…”
“Yeah I miss him, too. The place isn’t the same without those boys taking up the end of my counter down there…” Again I stopped, staring at the police cruisers and the SWAT truck pulling up in front of the diner. “What the hell?”
A nervousness raced through the room. Everyone looked around at each other. Lights were flashing as the SWAT Team went into Steve’s Salon, followed by Bobby Ryker and his six officers.
I moved to the door. “What the hell?” My voice got louder. I left the diner. I was on the sidewalk. They were bringing Steve out in handcuffs. His head was down, his chin touching his chest. I took a step, and a SWAT Team guy had a gun pointed at my head. “FUCK! I yelled. “What the fuck are you doing? He didn’t do anything!”
“He’s being arrested for the murder of Joseph Reynolds,” Bobby informed me. “Step back or you’ll be in the cell next to him, Keegan.”
“This isn’t right!” I was on the street in my apron, losing my mind, “He was with me! He’s innocent! He didn’t do this!”
“Get back!” SWAT Team guy bellowed. “Get Back, Sir!”
“Christ Bobby! Don’t do this!”
It was too late. They were putting Steve in the car. They didn’t allow him to lock up his salon. His clients, some of them, were sitting under dryers. One was in a chair with foil in her hair. The rest came out, gaping in horror, talking about what he’d done. And the cat...Valentino was sitting in the window, watching the entire scene in silence.
Steve looked up at me before they drove away. His hazel eyes, full of tears, pleaded with me to do something. I felt utterly helpless. Defeated. Devastated. What could I do? I went up to the salon and apologized to the ladies. I told them he hadn’t done anything wrong. I don’t know if they believed me or not, but Ryker and the SWAT Team gave them something to talk about for weeks, maybe longer. I walked around the salon unplugging things and turning off lights. I was about to lock the door when I saw the cat staring at me, blinking. “Aw damn it,” I muttered. Who was going to feed the thing now? I picked it up and carried it over to the diner.
“You’re bringing a cat in here?” a lady asked.
“You have a cat at home, don’t you? It walks around on your floor while you eat supper, doesn’t it? Eat or leave,” I said. I put the cat down. I don’t know if she walked out or not. I went into the kitchen and sat in a chair I had in the corner. I saw the smoke coming from the grill and billowing into the dining area. but I couldn’t move. Steve was going to jail. They think he killed Reynolds and there was a ton of evidence to convince a jury. Footprints near the body. F
ingerprints all over the computer. Mine were on the window of the house. How did they miss that?
The smoke detectors were blaring an ear piercing screech.
“Fuck Seth! You going to burn the place to the ground or what?” Ava Hayward waved a towel at the smoke and opened the back door. She jumped around the kitchen like someone who had done way too many party drugs. She moved to the grill. She turned on fans and all the while; she was cussing and yelling at me. “Snap out of it!”
But I sat there. I sat there as she calmed everyone down and filled the rest of the orders. She talked to me as she moved around the kitchen, but I didn’t hear half of what she said. I saw her as a blur of pink and purple hair. A nose ring. Thick black eyeliner and heavily lined red lips, yapping. She never shut up, but she saved the diner. Ava even fed the cat.
The people in the diner calmed down and I began to realize what had happened. Ava continued working. She took orders, cooked and brought the dishes back. She waved a hand in front of my face. “You still among the livin’, Keegan?”
Speechless, I watched her. She was a mountain girl. I’d seen her in town getting her drugs and drinking pints with the boys in the park. I’d never seen her doing anything else.
“You all right? I know what you need.” She reached into the pocket of her plaid flannel shirt and took out a joint. She lit it, puffed and passed it to me.
“Are you crazy?” I asked.
She laughed, turned and went back to the grill.
I brought that joint to my lips and I inhaled, deep, closing my eyes.
“KEEGAN!” Bobby Ryker roared.
I stood up. “What do you want? Are you here to arrest me too? Are you?” I walked toward him. He backed up.
“I need you for questioning.”
“Do you have a warrant? Are you going to arrest me, right now?” I went out to the dining area. He moved to the door.
“Come to the station at your earliest convenience,” he requested.
“Get the hell out of my diner!” I yelled at him. “Now!”
He stumbled backward, out the door and down the steps. “I mean it, Seth. We need to talk to you.”
“You can go if you want,” Ava said. She stood beside me with a dish towel over her shoulder. “I got this.”
“Fuck that weasel,” I grumbled.
“Maybe you can get Stevie out,” she suggested.
“His fingerprints are everywhere. We were trying to investigate another case. They got it all wrong.”
“You done real good with Jimmy’s case,” she said. “I heard what you and Steve done.”
“What we’ve done is get ourselves in trouble.” I gave her the joint. She took a puff and put it out.
Everyone in the diner, except the hardcore gossip hounds, left.
Ava went back to the kitchen and I followed after her. She came from a big family. There were fourteen kids in her house. One of them was hers. The daddy could have been anybody. Rumor had it; she didn’t know who it was. Obviously, she didn’t care about what people thought of her. Ava did whatever she wanted to do. At seventeen, she ruled the town and her world.
“Hey,” I said.
“What?”
“You want a job?”
“I think I just got me one,” she said, grinning.
“I think you did, too. I’m going to go see if I can help Steve. I’ll be back.”
“Good idea. Where’s my apron?”
“The clean ones are over there.” I still felt like I should warn her. “If you work here, people are going to talk about you. You know that, right?”
“Hell Keegan, I’ve been talked about ever since the town found out my daddy was Phillip Harris.”
I stared. “You serious?”
“He denied it, though. Never took a paternity test. He didn’t give Momma so much as a dime of child support. She already had Billy Joe, Bobby Sue, Rayanne and JD. He figured what’s one more? She tried to fight him on it, but you know how much money his family has. I heard they got three times more than Stevie’s grandparents and they’re filthy rich New Yorkers.”
My jaw lowered.
“My momma says Stevie’s going to get it all in a few years, whenever the old folks kick over.” She locked onto my gaze with her big blue eyes. “What? You didn’t know all that? I bet if you go talk to him, you can have him out on bail tonight. He’s a rich boy. He don’t have to do any time.”
“How do you know all this?”
“They talk. I listen. And,” she added, “the boys tell me everything their momma’s are talking about, but I get most of my information from that town online group. You know, the shady one. Everybody talks shit on there.”
“What group?”
She found it on her phone and brought it to me, grinning. “You’re top news today.”
There was a pic of me chasing Bobby out of the diner with a caption that said, Eat your heart out ladies, he’s gay. “Holy fu...who put this on here?”
She looked. “Gemma Watson. You know her. She’s in loooove with you.” She laughed.
“Take care of the diner,” I said, untying my apron.
“There’s more on here. This says you and Steve are doing the nasty.”
“We’re not…” I sighed. “Never mind. Watch the diner. Don’t let that cat get out.”
“Yes, Sir.” She saluted me.
I nodded and started toward the back door.
“Hey, Seth?”
“Yeah?” I was surprised to hear her use my first name.
“I’m glad Reynolds is dead.”
I wanted to question her. I didn’t have to.
“No, I didn’t kill him. I wanted to. He got my brother, JD. JD told me everything Reynolds done to him. I was planning ways to kill that man. I wanted him to suffer. Wouldn’t you know, somebody beat me to it? Poor JD hasn’t said anything since that night. I’m the last person he talked to, but he might talk to you. You bein’ a Keegan and all.”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“Nobody says no to a Keegan. Besides, JD looks up to you.”
“Why?”
“Because you made yourself a place here. Got yourself a seat at their table, right here in town. That’s not an easy thing to do. JD knows that, and he admires you for it.”
“They don’t want me here, Ava. Old Tom put me here, but I think they’re always trying to get rid of me.”
“Well now there’s two mountain folk down here. We aren’t going to let them push us out. If you need anything, you come to me. I know ways to get stuff.”
“I appreciate that. Thank you.” I opened the door and closed it behind me when I left. I wanted to talk to JD, but I had to see if I could get Steve out of jail. He didn’t belong in there.
Chapter 7
When I got to the police station and the jail, Steve was coming out the door and walking down the steps. I met him on the sidewalk. “Are you okay? How..?””
“Far from okay, but I’ll survive. Were you coming to get me?”
“Yeah.”
“My hero.” He kissed my cheek.
I wrapped my arms around him and held on for a few minutes. “We’ll get through this. How did you get out? Did they drop the charges?”
“God no. They think I killed him. I called my grandfather in New York. He’s sending a lawyer to help me. Why are you here? Did you close the diner?”
“No. I hired someone. Ava Hayward.”
“Oh my God.”
“She’s fine.”
“She’ll rob you blind. Is she in my salon?”
“No, just the diner and if she robs me, I’ll get it back,” I told him. “I know where she lives.” I paused. “Bobby wants to talk to me.”
“When?”
“Now.”
“I’m going with you.”
“Are you sure? You just got out.”
“They can’t touch me.” The breeze blew his hair. Wisps of it went across his face. He moved it aside. “We have to find the killer, S
eth. You’re still with me on this, aren’t you?”
“I have a lead.”
“Who?”
“Listen, you go back to your shop and take care of things. Go over to the diner and have Ava make you something to eat. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“All right. I can’t believe this. I never thought I’d be accused of murder.”
“What did you tell them?”
“Not much. I gave a statement. I’m out on a million-dollar bail and I can’t leave town, but at least I can sleep in my own bed, at home.”
“A million dollars?”
“Yes. I’m accused of murder.”
“Right. Okay.”
“Just tell them the truth. It’ll explain why my fingerprints were on the computer.”
“Do they have it here?”
“Yes. There are videos. Hundreds. I’m in quite a few of them.”
My heart ached for him. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. It sucks. Okay, do what you have to. I’ll be at the diner. I seriously doubt I’ll have any clients left. Who’s going to come near me while I have sharp scissors in my hand?”
I rubbed his shoulder. “Take some time off. You need to rest. This won’t take long.” He gave me a quick hug and went down the street. I went up the steps and into the police station. The desk officer, Duncan, was actually at his desk. “I’m here to see Bobby. He wanted to talk to me.”
“I’ll call him.”
I waited for the officer to tell me to go back to Bobby’s office. When I went back there, he wasn’t playing with his phone. He had a stack of papers in front of him. “My God. Are you working?”
“I wouldn’t make jokes if I were you.”
“What did I do?”
“You tell me.”
“What? Okay listen. We started an investigation on the Reynolds case. Like I told you before, my father told me where to find the body. He thinks you killed Reynolds.”
Harvest Moon (Buck Valley Mysteries Book 2) Page 3
