CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“It’s been a little over a week,” Gus pointed out from his location in the kitchen. He had been measuring the dimensions of the far wall for the upper cabinets, as well as the walk-in pantry door he was designing to match. It had to open into the room, but he had enough clearance to design a storage system on the reverse side for a broom, a dustpan with a brush, and a three-step lightweight stepstool. He shifted his worn leather tool belt hanging loosely around his waist as he took a small break and drank some of the sweet iced tea Reese had brought them earlier. “No word from that detective on the DNA results at all? On television, they get the results in a half an hour. What’s with the state’s lab guys?”
A lot had happened in the eight days since Noah and Reese had discovered Deputy Wallace’s body at the turnaround near the DNR wetlands at the edge of Noah’s property. The man’s funeral had been a couple of days ago, delayed due to the required autopsy by the state investigators. He’d been shot in the chest with a 9mm firearm.
The governor had sent a special assistant prosecutor from his office to facilitate anything the state’s forensics team needed, considering a county sheriff’s deputy had been murdered. They were moving heaven and earth to see justice done. After all that, the only thing they could say for certain was that Deputy Wallace was dead before he ever hit the ground.
“I spoke to Detective Kendrick yesterday.” Noah decided he could use a break, as well. He leaned down and used the wall as leverage, taking a seat on the floor. The two additional walls, the carpet, and pretty much the entire kitchen had been gutted. There was nothing left but studs and the wiring for the existing sockets which he would have to change to GFCI due to code changes after they were originally installed. It gave him something to do while waiting for some much-needed answers. “The DNA results aren’t back from the lab. As for Deputy Wallace’s murder, there are no leads at this time. The sheriff had yet to install the dashboard cams that were provided by the state for all marked squad cars last quarter. They sure as hell would have come in handy in this case. I’m telling you, Dad, Sheriff Percy’s job performance leaves a lot to be desired. He’s just plain neglectful.”
“You aren’t telling me anything I don’t already know.” Gus set his glass on the counter, the leftover ice cubes clinking against the sides. “The entire town is up in arms and calling for his immediate resignation.”
Reese’s laughter drifted through the open door. Rose and Tiny had stopped by with an invitation to the Cavern. They were having a celebration and handing the keys for the place over to Brynn Mercer. The symbolic event had been scheduled a while ago, but they’d postponed it due to the recent funeral, which had the entire town in attendance.
“She fits in nicely.”
Noah didn’t have to ask who his dad was referring to in his random declaration to no one in particular.
“It’s not like that, Dad.” Noah couldn’t stop his thoughts from drifting back to the first moment he’d caught sight of Reese. He’d told himself as she walked through the woods and away from his property that he should keep his distance. He hadn’t realized just how much of a significance those words held until now. “She’s got a life back in Springfield. We’re enjoying each other’s company while she’s here, and we both have an understanding. That’s all.”
“Has there been any other attempts to warn her to leave town?”
“I know where you’re going with that topic, and you can stop. You already know the answer to your question.” Noah ran a hand over his face in frustration. It was his mother who used to interfere with his personal life. Not his dad. “I still come home from time to time to get clothes.”
The past week had passed as if it were any other summer in Blyth Lake. No one had made an attempt to threaten Reese or harm her in any other way. There was still a foreboding air hanging around town ever since Deputy Wallace’s murder, which was the town’s current top subject matter.
“Look, it’s not like you’re seventeen years old,” Gus pointed out with a bit of humor only he was benefiting from. “You’re a grown man, and she is certainly grown, too. You can sleep with whomever you want, son.”
Reese mentioned she’d drive over to the diner to pick up some sandwiches, but maybe they were better off cleaning up and going together. Then again, his father might continue this conversation later today as if it had never ended. It was better to take care of this now.
“I like her, Dad. I like her a lot.” Well, those words weren’t what he’d wanted to say. Noah shot a glance toward the open doorway. “It’s only been around two weeks since I met her. I can’t be asking her opinion on curtains, flooring, or furniture. This is my house. She won’t even be around to see the finished product, though I wish she would be.”
“Did I ever tell you about the time I met your mother?” Gus folded his arms over his chest and settled in with a smile of remembrance on his rugged face. “Birdie would host these movie nights at the lake once a week back when your mother and I were in high school. I was painting the plywood projection screen to make some money on the side, and up walked the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. And there I was, covered in white paint. I looked like an idiot.”
Noah had heard this story before, but it had always been in his mother’s point of view. He didn’t know that his dad had been working that day for Birdie. His mom made it sound as if they’d shown up with separate groups of friends when she approached him on a dare.
“My Mary rested her hands on my shoulders and planted a kiss on my right cheek, which was the only spot I hadn’t gotten paint on me. She told me I was taking her to the ice cream parlor after the movie that night.” Gus shook his head in wonderment, his thoughts lost back in time. “I knew better than to argue with a girl as pretty as her, so I spent my whole paycheck I’d earned that day buying both of us a root beer float that very night. She looked me straight in the eyes over that checkered tablecloth and told me that her bridesmaid dresses were going to be the same color blue as my eyes.”
Noah could still picture his mother laughing as she told that very same story every year on their anniversary. She would fan herself with her hand, as if she couldn’t believe she’d been so bold as to make such a declaration.
“What I’m saying, son, is that time doesn’t matter as much as you might think. One day, one month, or one year doesn’t change when two people are meant to be with one another.” Gus cleared his throat, almost as if he realized how sentimental he sounded about love. There was also a sadness that the years hadn’t erased at losing the woman he loved more than life itself. “All I’m saying is don’t let something this good slip between your fingers because of how it may look to anyone other than you two.”
“Hey,” Reese called out a little breathlessly as she leaned around the doorway with a smile on her face. “I’m heading into town to pick up lunch. Is there anything else you two need?”
“Maybe I should head into town with you,” Noah suggested, not so much to get away from the conversation with his dad anymore, but because of the reminder that the man who’d threatened her was still out there somewhere.
“Don’t be silly. I can always take my scatter gun.” Reese tossed another smile over her shoulder when the purr of an engine came to life. Her gaze softened in understanding when she turned back around. “I’m following Tiny and Rose into town. Besides, nothing else has happened recently.”
That was the problem. A predator would sometimes allow its prey to have a sense of false security right before it dealt its final blow. Were they being lulled into a false sense of security or had the perpetrator left town?
Noah’s cell phone chimed, giving Reese a chance to wiggle her fingers and disappear before he could stop her.
“Detective, what can I do for you?” Noah stood as he took the call, brushing off the dust that had accumulated on his jeans. “Have the DNA results come in?”
“We’re still waiting on the lab, but I thought you and Ms. Woodward should know that I did a little digging into Sophia Morton’s disappearance.”
“Can you hold on a moment?” Noah quickly crossed the bare floor in an effort to stop Reese. She should hear whatever was about to be revealed. Unfortunately, she’d already hopped into the cab of his truck and was pulling out of the driveway. “Um, sorry. What were you saying?”
“I took the information Reese gave me in regards to Sophia and did a little asking around.” The background noise of ringing phones and low murmurs of conversation became somewhat louder as Detective Kendrick must have put Noah on speakerphone. “Give me a minute. I had the folder right here. Steve, did you take those files off my desk?”
Noah gestured for his father to come closer, lowering his phone so that he could also put the call on speakerphone. It was easier than having to explain this call more than once, which is what he would have to do with Reese.
“Okay. This is what I’ve found so far, but I wanted verification before I called Ms. Woodward.”
“Verification of what?” Noah asked, confused as to why his opinion would matter in anything related to Sophia seeing as he hadn’t known her.
“Well, seeing as I can’t get ahold of your brother, you’re going to have to do for now,” Detective Kendrick shared before getting to the heart of the matter. “I’ve come to find out that Sophia Morton had a crush on your younger brother. The two of them were pretty close by the time camp ended.”
Noah and his father stared at each other in confusion.
“Detective Kendrick, you must be mistaken.” Noah shifted his weight and switched the cell phone into his left hand as he ran his fingers through his hair in bewilderment. “Lance was never involved with Sophia Morton. He would have said something to me or one of our other brothers at the time.”
“You’re right,” Detective Kendrick agreed, though it was obvious there was a but somewhere in that concord. “He would have said something to you had he wanted you to know, but he didn’t because Sophia asked him to keep their relationship under wraps. It had something to do with the fact that her brother was there, and she didn’t want him saying anything to their father.”
“If no one knew of this so-called relationship my brother had with Sophia Morton, then how do you know all of this?”
“Because your brother, Lance Kendall, was the one who drove Sophia into town to talk to Anastasia Osburn.” The pause over the line signified Kendrick wasn’t done dropping bombshells. “Not only did he sneak Sophia out of camp, but Emma Irwin tagged along to the meeting that night in your brother’s car.”