DON'T TELL (Jack Ryder Book 7)

by Willow Rose

Mrs. Rutherford nodded. She remained frozen in place, her hands shaking slightly while more people came running down from the house. Her husband put a coat on Mrs. Rutherford's shoulders, while a girl stopped next to her, an air of complete shock on her face. The girl clasped her mouth with a light gasping sound while her shoulders dropped. She was fighting to breathe. Pastor Rutherford told them all to stay back, then approached Shannon, his steps slowing down as he came closer to the body. He knelt next to it, then removed a lock of wet hair from Benjamin’s face.

  It was like the air went out of him and he dropped down, his hand touching the face gently. Behind him, Mrs. Rutherford had to be held up by her daughter.

  "My boy,” the pastor said. “My beautiful, beautiful boy."

  27

  I drove up the driveway; then I spotted the crowd that had gathered by the dock. I saw Shannon standing among them, talking to the pastor. It wasn't until I killed the engine that I spotted the body.

  I opened the door and rushed toward them. As Shannon saw me, I could see the immediate relief on her face.

  "Jack, my husband, is a detective," she said and urged me to come closer. I couldn't get my eyes off the dead body. I approached it and knelt next to it, studying it closely. I tried to keep my poor beating heart calm as I recognized his face from the pictures I had seen.

  "We found him in the creek," Shannon said. I could tell she was fighting to keep it together. "He was floating by…right out there."

  "I am so sorry for your loss," I said addressed to the Pastor and Mrs. Rutherford. Their youngest, who had to be Penelope, was clinging to her mother's shoulder, crying, while the oldest, Charles Jr. had wheeled his chair onto the porch behind us where he stayed, unable to get into the yard because of the thick snow. He looked to be in his mid-twenties.

  "I'll call the sheriff and have them come out here."

  I put the phone to my ear, then walked away, despair welling in my throat. No matter how often I had seen it, I could never get used to looking into the eyes of a parent who had just lost their child. I couldn't help myself; I kept thinking about my own children and how I would feel if it had been one of them. I took a deep breath to calm myself down and focus on my conversation when Sheriff Franklin came to the phone.

  "Detective Ryder? What's up?"

  "We found him," I said, almost losing the fight with my tears. "We found your boy in the creek."

  A silence occurred before he said, "We'll be right there."

  I hung up, pressing back the tears burning my eyes, then locked eyes with Shannon. She approached me.

  "They're on their way," I said in a low voice. "Shouldn't be long. How are you coping? How are the kids?"

  "Kids are fine. Austin was the one who saw it, though. He started to scream, and that's how I saw it too. Then I ran out here. I told them all to stay inside. I can see them all in the window, though. They're watching us."

  I sighed tiredly. "They’re just curious. But they shouldn't be dealing with any of this. This is our vacation, for crying out loud. They're supposed to be worrying about falling on their skis or snowboard or what to eat for lunch. Not dead bodies floating by outside their windows."

  "I’m sure they'll be okay. We'll talk to them when we get back."

  I touched Shannon's cheek. "You didn't answer my other question. How are you holding up?"

  She lifted both eyebrows for a brief second. "I'm shocked, to be honest. But I guess that I'll be all right. I’m the lucky one, remember? I still have all my children. I am not the one who has lost her child."

  Shannon glanced at Mrs. Rutherford as she spoke the last word. In the distance, we could hear sirens approaching, and seconds later, the driveway was packed with police cruisers. I watched the sheriff get out of his and approach us, walking with heavy steps in his boots.

  He shook my hand.

  "They found him drifting down the creek," I said and walked with him toward Benjamin Rutherford's body. "My wife spotted him from the window and ran down here. The family must have seen it too because they came down soon after."

  Sheriff Franklin exhaled and took off his hat, then approached Benjamin. He knelt next to him for a few seconds, then nodded and went over to the Rutherfords, still holding his hat between his hands.

  "I am so sorry for your loss. This was not the ending I wanted. You have my deepest sympathies."

  Mrs. Rutherford wept in her daughter's embrace, while Pastor Rutherford stared at the sheriff, shifting on his feet, his nostrils flaring lightly, his eyes on fire.

  "She did it," he said.

  "Charles!" his wife exclaimed. "Our son's body is barely cold, and already you're throwing mud at his girlfriend. I will not have you stoop so low; do you hear me? That is not how we do things in our family."

  Pastor Rutherford turned to face his wife, shaking his head. "Don't call her that. She is not his girlfriend; she's a murderer. She killed him, and you know it as well as I do. She smelled like trouble from the moment I saw her. I knew she would end up destroying him."

  "That doesn’t mean she hurt him. Besides, your son was no saint, and you know it."

  "Why are you protecting her?" Pastor Rutherford asked. "You never liked her either. You always said she was wrong for our boy, so why are you so busy defending her?"

  "I’m not defending anyone. I’m merely saying that there is no reason for us to go around blaming anyone either. And just because I didn't like her, that doesn’t mean it's okay to blame her for something she had no hand in. We can't blame her for our son's suicide."

  Pastor Rutherford pointed his finger at his wife. "He did not kill himself. I will not have you say such a thing. No son of mine would kill himself. Especially not him, not my Benjamin."

  His father’s words sparked a reaction from the older brother, who turned around and rolled back inside the house.

  "Just stop it, both of you, will you?" Penny yelled. "Benjamin is dead. He's gone. The police are here. They'll find out whether he killed himself or he was murdered."

  "He was murdered," Pastor Rutherford said, speaking through tears. His torso was now trembling in spasms. "And she did this. Mark my words. She did this to him."

  I glanced at Shannon and signaled her. She understood my intention.

  "Let me take you all back to the house," she said. "The police are going to take over now. Let's let them do their job."

  28

  Shannon helped Mrs. Rutherford sit down in a chair by the window inside their living room. She said she wanted to sit where she could keep an eye on what went on outside. Her daughter sat next to her, holding her hand. Pastor Rutherford kept pacing back and forth, grumbling to himself, sounding almost like he was arguing with someone.

  "Will you stop that, Charles?" Beatrice Rutherford said. "You're making us all nervous."

  He walked to the window and peeked out. A crowd had gathered as some of the locals were arriving to see, and the police had set up a perimeter to make sure no one came too close and ruined evidence. Shannon could see Jack as he knelt next to the body with Sheriff Franklin. They were pointing and talking vividly. An ambulance had arrived, and a guy Shannon guessed was the coroner was now rushing across the snow, a bag in his hand. Shannon didn't know much about crime scene investigation, but Jack had told her a few details.

  "Why are they not arresting her?" Pastor Rutherford said. "Why are they still here?"

  "Will you let it go, Charles?" his wife said. "This is a time for grief, nothing else. Our son is dead; do you hear me? He's dead; he's gone. He'll never come back through that door and smile at us all again. He'll never hug me; he'll never…never tell me…" Beatrice Rutherford stopped herself and sank back into the chair, head bent.

  Penny Rutherford pulled her into a deep hug, and the mother wept in her embrace. Meanwhile, the pastor couldn't find peace. He tried to sit down for a few seconds, but then got back up again and continued pacing.

  "He broke up with her right before it happened," Pastor Rutherford said between tears. "Penny
heard them fighting. "

  Shannon wondered what to do with herself. She was worried about the children and wanted to get back to them, but at the same time, she wasn't sure these people would be all right or whether it was appropriate to leave them like this. They seemed to be falling apart. Even Penny, who hugged her mother, was sobbing loudly and her was body trembling. Shannon felt out of place and helpless, and she got herself ready to leave. The kids needed her, and at some point, the police would want to talk to her about how she found the body for their report. Jack had told her so.

  "I have to…I should be getting back to my children. Again, I am so very sorry for your loss."

  They didn't even notice her. The pastor was the only one who gave her a look and nodded. Shannon then hurried to the door and went outside on the porch. She breathed a few times, trying to get rid of the tight sensation in her chest. As she took a second to herself, someone else appeared on the porch. The sound of the wheels rolling across the wood made her turn and look.

  It was Charles Junior.

  "You scared me," she said.

  "I’m sorry," he said. "I didn’t mean to. I just needed a little air. You know it was right here, where you're standing, that I saw him last?"

  She tilted her head. "On the porch?"

  Charles Junior nodded with a sniffle. It was hard to tell because he was sitting down, but he seemed to be a short guy like his brother and father. He had dark hair like his father, not blond like the rest of the family.

  "You were with him on the night he disappeared?" Shannon asked.

  "I wasn't with him. I was watching him…and her. From over there. I like to come out here sometimes and just watch the stars, and they didn't know I was there. They were busy arguing."

  "And what were they arguing about?" Shannon asked.

  Charles Junior shook his head. "Usual stuff. She said she didn't want to date him anymore."

  "She didn't want to date him anymore?" Shannon asked, puzzled since the father had just said it was the other way around. Shannon decided the brother had to know better since he had actually been out there with them.

  Charles nodded. "She seemed so angry at him and kept yelling. Anyway, I didn't feel comfortable being there and listening in on their conversation, so I rolled out into the light toward the door. Savannah saw me and started to yell at me for eavesdropping. She pushed my shoulder and told me I was a helpless idiot; I always had been, ever since…"

  "That sounds awful. So, what did you say?" Shannon asked, baffled.

  "I knew she never liked me much, so I tried to ignore her. She never liked anyone in our family. I just told her to take care of her own problems and went inside. Once I was inside, they continued their argument, and I went to bed. But now I get so angry at myself for not having told Benjamin to get back inside. She was so aggressive. I should have protected him. I just never thought she could…I mean you don't think she'd hurt him, right? They were just arguing. The thing is, she was right. I was weak. I didn't do anything while I had the chance. Why couldn't I act more like a big brother? I should have told him it was too cold out there or told him it was too late, something. Instead, I just left them there, and now he's…gone. I hate this stupid chair."

  Shannon bit her lip and nodded. She wondered why he was telling her all this. Was it because his heart was heavy with guilt? Was there more to what he was saying? It seemed like he was holding something back—like he was carrying some weight heavier than what he was letting out.

  "Do you know what he and his girlfriend were fighting about?" Shannon asked.

  Charles shook his head. "Probably just the usual stuff. They fought often. Savannah found it hard to deal with the fact that Benjamin was very close to his sister. It was an issue she often brought up, and I guess she finally had enough and broke it off with him."

  "So, you're telling me she broke up with him because he was too close with his sister?"

  Charles nodded. “She wasn’t the first one with these types of issues. Benjamin’s other girlfriends often had the same problem.” He glanced toward the creek and the many people gathered by the dock.

  "Anyway, I think you might want to get back now," he said and nodded toward their cabin, where Shannon at this moment spotted Abigail rushing out, barefoot in the snow, sprinting toward the crowd, probably eyeing a chance to satisfy her curiosity.

  Shannon wanted to thank Charles Junior before she left, but as she turned to look, he was gone. Puzzled at this, she walked into the snow and rushed toward Abigail, calling her name. The girl stopped as she heard her and turned to look.

  "Where do you think you're going, young lady?" Shannon asked. "I thought I told you all to stay put inside the house. The police don’t need all you kids running around out here destroying important evidence."

  Abigail smiled like Shannon had caught her stealing cookies. "Ah, there you are, Shannon. I was just…I was just going to find you. We're all starving; could you come back and make us something to eat?"

  29

  I stayed with the sheriff for a few hours, helping him and his deputies out in any way I could before I finally went back to the cabin where Shannon and the kids waited for me. Shannon greeted me with a big kiss and Tyler clung to my leg, while the girls seemed too busy even to notice I was home. Betsy Sue was doing Abigail’s and Angela's hair and dressing them up. It was a game they played a lot since she came to live with us and one of the few she would participate in.

  "You're freezing, Jack," Shannon said and felt my cheeks. "Come. Let me make you some hot chocolate. The rest of us had some earlier."

  "You're a lifesaver, thank you,” I said and took the cup between my fingers. As soon as I had emptied it, I put wood in the fireplace and lit it. I sat on a couch in front of it, Shannon sitting down next to me.

  "So, what happened out there?" she asked. "Did he drown?"

  "They don't know for sure yet, but the initial examination doesn’t point in that direction. Just by looking at his body, I could see that he hadn't been in the water for the entire three weeks."

  Shannon sipped her cup. A little whipped cream remained on her upper lip, and I couldn't help smiling when seeing it. I kissed it away.

  "How could you tell that?" she said afterward. "How could you tell that he hadn't been in the water that long?"

  "He was in too perfect a condition," I said. "There was no decomposition at all. Three weeks is a long time."

  She shrugged. "It's cold out. The water must be freezing; couldn't that have served to preserve him?"

  "It could, but there are other factors…like animals. His skin was too smooth. If he had been in the water for this long, there'd have been animals feeding on him, but there was no scavenging at all. Plus, they searched the creek for two entire weeks after his disappearance. They had divers in and everything. They would have found him then."

  "So, what are you saying? That someone put him in the water for us to find now? Three weeks later?"

  I sighed and looked into the crackling fire. Abigail whined because Betsy Sue was braiding her hair too tightly. Betsy Sue told her it would be a lot easier if she would only sit still like Angela.

  "That's what I’m afraid of."

  "But who? And does that mean that…he was killed?"

  I nodded and looked into her eyes. "There was another thing. He had a bruise on the back of his head. A pretty big one."

  Shannon opened her eyes wide. "A bruise? But…but…couldn't he have hurt his head when falling in the creek? On a rock perhaps?"

  "It's a possibility, yes. He could have slipped and hurt his head, then drowned, or he could have jumped in intending to kill himself, then hurt his head on a rock underwater. But that doesn’t explain why he wasn't found till now. The creek isn't very deep. There's a constant flow to it; his body would have been washed out sooner even if it did go to the bottom first. Plus, fish and other animals would have fed on him, and they hadn't. It just doesn’t make any sense if you ask me."

  "So, what happens
next?"

  "They'll investigate and hopefully find the truth. But it might take a while. How's he doing?" I said and looked toward the stairs. "How's Austin?"

  Shannon shook her head. "Not too well. He's just sitting up there. He doesn’t even talk to Abigail."

  "He hasn't been down all day? Has he had anything to eat at all?" I asked.

  She shook her head. "I've asked him, but he just shakes his head."

  I got up. "I'll make him a sandwich and take it to him."

  30

  Austin was playing on his phone when I entered carrying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He didn't look up, so I went to him and sat down. I held up the plate with the sandwich. Austin gave it a quick glance, then continued playing.

  "Ah, come on," I said. "You’ve got to be a little hungry, right? You haven’t eaten all day."

  He continued playing, completely ignoring me.

  "Austin," I said. "I need you to put that thing down and eat. Now."

  Austin continued playing, and I grabbed his phone then pulled it out of his hand. He made an annoyed sound, and I pushed the sandwich at him.

  "Eat first, then play later."

  Austin sighed, then grabbed the sandwich and took a bite. I watched him chew, wondering what was going on inside that little mind of his. What he had seen the day before was terrible, no doubt about it; I just wondered if there was more to it than what we knew. Was he harboring something inside of him that he needed to tell us?

  "So…I was thinking that maybe we should talk a little? About what happened yesterday?" I said, trying to sound easygoing and not pushy. It was hard since I really wanted to push him to tell me what he saw, what really happened. I couldn't fathom why the boy wouldn't just tell me.

  "It must have been scary, right? Were you scared?" I asked.

  Austin stopped chewing for a second. His eyes met mine, and I could tell he was still frightened.