All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) (31 page)

Lucy came over with their food and announced that
the old man
came
into the diner every Wednesday at
ten
thirty
after the place cleared out from
morning coffee time. He always ordered the same thing: two slices of bacon,
extra crispy, one egg over hard on a piece of white toast. She said Joe worried
he wasn't getting enough food, so he always put something extra on the plate,
but Mr. Leon paid with a five dollar bill each week and told her the extra was
her tip. He'd done that every week since she could remember.

From there the conversation turned to the deaths of
Kellie and Jill Stevens. Polly could tell that many of the people sitting
around talking were about the same age and some had gone to school with
the girls
.

From the booth behind Doug, she heard, "I always
thought it was that boyfriend of hers, what was his name, Buddy something."

"Buddy Landers," said someone else.

"But, they didn't have enough to pin anything on
him. He stuck around and everyone thought the girls had left town. He looked so
sad that his girlfriend had left him. Everyone felt terrible for him."

"What if he killed them, though? He would have
looked sad about that, especially if he felt guilty. Why didn't they push him
any harder on it?"

"I heard he had a good alibi for the night they
went missing."

"Her parents never accused him of doing anything
wrong. They always said he was a good boy and had been nice to both of the
girls."

"I heard someone say that Jill didn't like him
very much," Polly interjected quietly.

"You're right!" said a woman sitting at one
of the other tables. "But we never knew whether she was jealous because
Kellie was dating someone or if she really didn't like him. And then when they
went missing, no one thought about that anymore. The two girls kind of became a
single unit."

"Do you remember all the talk about white slavery?"
someone asked.

"Yeah, we were all supposed to keep an eye out
for the
girls in town
because if the slavers came in and took Kellie and
Jill, they might come back and take anyone. We all knew those girls were
probably in some country far away in a harem or something having to put up with
unspeakable things. It was hell on their family."

Aaron Merritt
entered
the
diner and everyone turned to look at
him.

"Well, Polly," he said. "It looks like
you've gathered a conclave!" He laughed and moved through the people to
set his hand on her shoulder.

"I didn't do it!" she protested. "It
was Henry. He's the one who knows everyone here."

"So, Sheriff," one of the men asked,
"Is the thief and the murderer the same person?"

"We don't know anything yet, Jake. We're still
working out all the details. You know we'll tell you what we can when we can."

"Lucy?" he called over the sea of people.

She made her way through the cluster of people and
handed him a full cup of coffee.
"Your regular, Sheriff?"

"Sure," he said, "Why not."

He gestured to one of the men who passed a chair over
the heads of a few people to him. Grabbing the chair, he set it down between
Doug and Polly. "Do
you guys mind if
I join you?" H
e laughed,
then
looked around the room, "So have you all got it
figured out yet?"

"We're pretty sure you need to talk to old Doug
Leon about those crates," one of the men said. "He had keys to
everything and was always there before anyone else and stayed after everyone
left. He was the one who spent most of the time in the basement messing with
those boilers."

"You're right," Aaron said, "We are
planning to talk to him. We just haven't been able to track him down."

"Lucy?" he called out. "Was Doug Leon
in this week for breakfast?"

"He sure was, Sheriff," she said as she
brought another pot of coffee to their table. Polly watched her weave through
the people like a pro. She seemed to notice how they were moving and slipped in
and out of the open spaces until she got to the
ir table
. That was impressive.

"Well, he's still in town, then." Aaron
said. "I suppose it is probably time to get a little more forceful at his
front door. I had kind of hoped he would come out and talk to us. Oh
well," he shrugged. "It will all come together when it does."

He turned to Polly. "Is this your first time
here?" She nodded, with her mouth full. "How do you like the food?"

Polly smiled at him and swallowed. "It's
terrific. Even better than that pork tenderloin I ate last night."

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that,
Polly. Can you come over for supper tonight? Lydia asked me to grill steaks."

"Okay." Polly said and glanced up to see
that Henry was watching their conversation intently. "Sure, steaks sound
great. What time?"

"Why don't you make it around
6:30.
Can you get to our house on your own?"

"I think so. If I get lost in this big town, I'll
just call."

The conversation had resumed around them and people
moved their chairs back a bit to allow them to eat. It didn't take long, though
before another question arose.

"What's going to happen to old Mr. Leon if he did
steal all that stuff?" someone asked.

"I don't know for sure, Dan. I guess that's for
the lawyers to decide. My job is simply to figure who did it and prove it so
the suits can deal with it. A lot of it depends on whether he stopped taking
things after the school closed down or whether he's still up to his old
tricks." Aaron stopped. "We haven't got any idea if he's the one who
stole that stuff, so let's not gossip, okay?"

Polly laughed. It seemed like this place was rife with
gossip, and while none of it was terribly spiteful, it also seemed like it was
a grand place to get in on all of the news from around the community. She
remembered her Dad talking about a local coffee shop. He went there every
Saturday morning while Mary took her to piano lessons. She'd forgotten all
about that. But now, here she was stuck in the middle of a Saturday morning
session at a diner. My goodness she loved being back in Iowa.

Lucy brought four checks to their table and passed
them out. Just as she handed Polly's to her, Doug snatched
it
and said
"We've got this, remember?"

Aaron looked at him and laughed, "Are you trying
to date Polly, Doug? You see her panties once and now you're trying to do
something about it?"

Doug's eyes got huge and his entire body seemed to
stop in mid-motion.
"Absolutely not, sir!
I mean, not that you wouldn't be a great girl to
date, but, but …” He slumped and looked at Henry. "Help me," he
pleaded.

Henry shook his head and said, "I didn't see her
panties. You're in this alone!"

Doug turned back to Aaron. "No sir. Billy and I
are treating Polly to breakfast. She let our friends come over last night and
play video games and she fed everyone. We're only saying thank you."

Aaron patted him on the back. "That's nice, boys."

Polly creased her forehead in thought. "Aaron,
tonight's Halloween. I was going to watch for any trick-or-treaters. Darn. I
didn't want them to come to the school for the first time in years and not find
anyone."

Aaron asked Doug, "Would you guys mind tending
the home front tonight or were you planning to go out?"

"Well, we had kind of thought we'd head down to
Boone to see a movie, but it's no big deal," Billy interjected.

Polly put her hands on the table, "Guys, I'm
sorry to be taking up so much of your lives right now." She glanced at
Aaron, "I wish I didn't have to make you guys stay with me."

Aaron stopped her, "As long as you are staying in
that building, with all that's going on around you right now, you're keeping
them. Got it?"

The boys grinned when Polly said, "Okay.
Got it.
A girl can't
get a break
around here.

"Well, guys. You get to choose whatever you want
to do tonight. I'll pay for it. If you want to rent movies and order pizza,
that's cool. If you want to have Davey's bring you food, I'll pay for it.
Whatever you want."

"We'll figure something out
, Polly. Don't worry about it,” Doug assured her.

She laughed. "I'm not sure what I'd do without
you. You're kind of my own Luke and Han."

"Star Wars!
That's what we should do tonight. We should do all
six of the movies! Billy, you have those at home, don't you?"

"Yes! I do! And remember those robes our moms
made us wear for the church pageant? We should totally dress up like Obi-Wan
and Luke. We can paint some light sabers this afternoon!
So
cool!"

"We're on it, Polly."

Aaron sat back and said, "Handled. We'll see you
at 6:30."

Henry, Doug, Billy and Polly
waited while Aaron finished his breakfast, then when
he got up to wander around and chat with other patrons, they left the diner.

Before getting to Doug’s car,
Henry took Po
lly's
arm and pulled her aside.
"What
happened last night, Polly?"

"Henry." her voice took on a warning tone. "I'm
fine. Nothing happened. Joey and I had a conversation that didn't go well and
Aaron and the Musketeers were there to watch it happen. Now, don't do this
again."

He released her and said, "
Fine
. But, would
you tell me if there was something I needed to worry about?"

Polly looked up at him in confusion. "I'm not
sure what to say to you. You've gotten protective of me and it doesn't make any
sense. I know we work together and I know we're friends, but Henry, this is too
much. Just let me work this out, alright?"

He put his hands up in surrender. "I guess I'm a
worrier. But, do you not understand there are people here who care about you
now?"

"Oh, I understand perfectly. I'm not used to it
and I really am trying, but some of these things I have to work out on my own."

"I don't think you're going to be able to do this
alone, Polly. As I understand it, this guy is stalking you and he
came
here even
after you made an attempt to hide your location from him."

"Wow. You have all the details, don't you?"
she sneered.

"It's a small town, Polly,” Henry said patiently.
“
There are no secrets around here. And if
I hear something about someone I like, then I'm going to pay attention. Did he
follow you out here after tracking you down?"

"Yes, Henry, he did. There's a stupid little girl
back in Boston that is going to get her head taken off her shoulders if I have
anything to say about it."

"Well, keep yourself safe. This isn't going to go
away easily."

Then, he glanced over at Doug and Billy
standing in
front of the hardware store
, peering in
the window
trying not to look obvious
about waiting
.
"Your
knights await you. Have a good rest of the weekend and I'll see you Monday
morning."

"Thanks Henry," Polly said.
"You
,
too."

"Alright
boys,
are we heading
back to the barn?" she asked as she approached them and
slipped
her
hands into their arms. They got in the car and Doug said, "Did you have
something else you wanted to do this morning?
Because we've
got time.
Mr. Allen said we didn't
have any work this weekend, so we're free as birds!"

"Well," she drew the word out, "What
about driving me around town and showing me the sights?"