Coming Home (Norris Lake Series) (18 page)

Where’s the man in charge here? The stranger asked brusquely looking around at the otherwise empty trailer

“Who are you looking for? Caitlyn said in a measured tone.

“Obviously I am looking for the general manager,” he said in a somewhat impatient tone.

“You’re looking at him,” she answered as she stood up and turned to face him her right hand flat on the desk to keep her anchored.

He was obviously taken aback and she could see him recalculate his approach. “I am Stephen Kane.  I am looking for the owner Robert Tarlington”.

“What do you want with the owner?” she inquired sitting on the edge of the desk and crossing her arms.

“That’s for him and I to discuss, honey.  I don’t discuss business with his secretary, or girlfriend.  Why don’t you just point me in his direction and I will let you get back to your paperwork?

“We’ll I’ll tell you what, honey.  You tell me what you want and I will make sure the general manager gives you a prompt answer,”  she demanded with a sweet sarcastic smile.

He stopped for a moment thinking and then walked right up in front of her and leaning in close, stated,  “Looks like we got off on the wrong foot.  You’ve got some fire in you.  Why don’t you show me where the owner or general manager is and I will treat you to an intimate lunch, sweetie.”

She put both feet on the floor and side stepped moving back around next to the desk.  “No thank you.  You’re not my type.  Now what is it you want?  I am losing my patience and have work to do.

Losing his smile, he looked at her sternly.  “Okay, tell Mr. Tarlington that I have a purchase offer for this condo project.  If he will give me a call, we can talk in more detail.

“Well Mr. Kane.  Perhaps you don’t remember me.  I mean it’s been what twenty years since our last run in and I mean that literally.  I am Caitlyn Lawson, the general manager of this project and also the owner’s daughter.  My maiden name is Tarlington.”  

He paused and stared at her for a moment as if trying to decide if she was telling the truth.  “Why, yes, now I remember.  You ambushed me one evening and tried to rape me when I was but an innocent young man.  As I remember, you just couldn’t keep your hands off me.” He said with a slow knowing smile.

“You’re crazy.  I never did anything of the kind and you are not my type!”

“Oh, I think I am.  You give me one night and I’ll provide it to you.  But enough of your continued flirting with me.  I have a deal for your father, honey.  If you will have him give me a call, he and I can talk about it man-to-man.  I don’t deal with women on business matters.”

“Mr. Tarlington. It’s Dr. Lawson and I have no intention of seeing if you are my type or not and I wasn’t flirting with you.  You are obviously a few bricks short of a load.  I wasn’t referring to that evening in the bar but rather the night you accused my brother, Michael, of killing your sister, Beth.  I won’t ever forget that night and the threats you made against my family.  I know my father won’t want to sell to your or to even speak to you long enough to hear any type of offer you have to make.  This condo project is on time, on target and on budget.  I am going to finish it for him and we’ll make a profit from our existing contract,” she said breathlessly barely able to hold her temper.  “Now if you will get the hell out of my trailer, I have a lot of work to do.”

He lost his smile and an angry squint furrowed his brow.  A hardness filled his dark eyes and she could see the angry words explode like firecrackers beneath the surface ready to erupt, but he held his temper.  He took a step forward, his fingers clenched and the veins in his neck distended.

At that moment the trailer door swung open, and in stepped Bubba Wells, the construction foreman.  “Are you all right Miss Caitlyn?” he said looking from one to the other.

With a short nod of his head Stephen growled, “You’ll be hearing from me again and the next time I’ll make you eat those words.”

“Don’t let the door hit you in the ass,” Caitlyn promised once more in full charge of herself.

“If it’s the last thing I do, I will make sure you and your family pay for the pain my family felt.”  With that he turned, stepped around Bubba, and slammed the trailer door on his way out.

“Be careful of that one, Miss Caitlyn.  He’s a bad sort.  I remember when Sheriff Kane took the boy in.  He was always strange.  Even if he was able to change his appearance to look more normal, that don’t mean he is.  He’s a shape shifter for sure and the dark sort.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they find out he was the one behind the disappearances of those young women.  Seems I remember whenever he is around something bad happens.”

“Thanks Bubba.  I will be careful, but I think you are giving him and those old wives tales about witches and curses too much credence.  He’s just a man like any other and an irritating one at that.”  She looked out the window for a moment watching the red truck pull out of the construction driveway as she sat down once again behind the desk.  “We’ve still got a lot of work to do to get this place up and running by the deadline.  We’d better get at it.”

“Yes, mam,” he said stepping back out of the trailer.

“Let’s go Patty.” The toy Pomeranian stood and stretched her aching back.  Cat picked up the dog, locked the trailer and walked out to her truck.  Most of her crew was long gone off drinking a beer at the Hitching Post, a local pub.  She’d turned down their invitation earlier at the thought of the amount of work still left on her desk and waved them on.  She drove to the lake house, heated up a can of clam chowder and sat down at her computer.  Caitlyn took the time to put a can of dog food down for Patty, then logged into her yahoo mail and started to read through items in her in box. 

The Norton Utilities indicated that her fraud monitoring was still on.  She clicked on an email which opened into a short video.  A picture of her appeared on the screen.  She recognized it as one that she’d used on the back jacket of her last book.  The face had been altered to show her smiling a toothy grin. 

A few moments later her face faded into that of a skull and cross bones.  The death march began playing as the background went black and the whole picture faded into the word DEATH dripping blood.  In the span of 20 seconds the entire macromedia flash was over.  A replay button remained on the screen. She pressed it for the replay and in a snap the picture disappeared replaced by an advertisement for a low cost mortgage.  Stunned she sat in front of the screen, then went back to check her email. Now the original email was also gone.  She sat for a moment, thinking. 

You don’t think I can find you or you would never have sent this email to me. She said to herself.  Well, we’ll just see about that.  Tapping a number of keys furiously, she delved into the inner workings of the computer system and then out onto the network.  “I’ll find you.” She commented and smiled.  Then Caitlyn bit her lower lip unconsciously and began her counterattack.  She could not resist a challenge.  Ever since she was small, her sister always had commented, Cat was a tenacious fighter.  Whomever had started this cyberattack certainly had picked on the wrong person.  Cat wouldn’t back down and Cat wouldn’t lose either.  Had this been a game of chess, her opponent had just made a bad move.

Chapter 16

Caitlyn pulled her truck up in front of the Kroger grocery store.  She locked the door and walked toward the sliding doors marking the front entrance.  To the left of the doors was a card table stacked with yellow, pink and blue boxes full of Tagalongs, Lemon Drops, Peanut Butter sandwiches, Thin Mints, Shortbreads, Cartwheels, Samoas and Do-Si-Dos. Two eight-year old girls stood at each side of the table.  They were dressed in jade green pull-on style skorts, green tights, white short-sleeve polo shirts, matching jade green berets and sashes.  The front of each sash was full of colorful embroidered badges. 

An expertly coiffed soccer mom sat behind the table with a metal money box making change for passing customers. She gave Caitlyn a weary smile.

“You want to buy some girl scout cookies, ma’am?”

“I will get some on my way out.  Don’t you worry.  I couldn’t pass them up if I tried.”  She eyed the Thin Mints knowing that she’d have to buy at least one box of those and a box of Tagalongs. 

On the way in the store, she grabbed a shopping cart and walked toward the produce.  She chose six large navel oranges for her basket and then walked toward the frozen aisle.  Grabbing a couple of frozen pizzas and jalapeno cheese poppers, and a jar of kosher dill pickles, she turned toward the soft drinks.  Adding to her cart with five diet cokes in 2 liter bottles and a twelve pack of diet coke cans, last of all she snatched up a bag of tortilla chips and hot salsa.  In addition to the people food, she picked up a dozen cans of Kibbles’n Bits dog food, a small bag of rawhide chews and a small pink stuffed cat squeaky toy. 

She couldn’t go into a Wal-Mart or grocery store without buying some kind of present for Pattycake.  She was dedicated to her work, her animals and junk food.  No sugar. No sweets, but lots of salty junk food and diet coke.  She could eat pizza every day without fail.  It was a weakness on her part.  It was probably some kind of genetic anomaly.   Caitlyn and spicy, hot food didn’t mix, but that didn’t keep her from eating it.  She eyed the pizza thinking how good it would taste but knowing she was sure to have heartburn.

Caitlyn put all of her groceries on the conveyor belt and pulled out a copy of Star Magazine reading in detail about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s impending pregnancy and then flipping the pages to investigate Brittney Spears latest divorce scandal. 

She could read that kind of trash only when she was standing in line at the grocery store but only there.  In her mind it was her own cardinal rule not to purchase one and would be sacrilege to actually buy a Star Magazine and take it home.  She smiled to herself.  Dominic had ordered her a year’s subscription to Star Magazine so she could read them at her leisure without breaking her rule.  As she flipped through the pages waiting her turn at the register, she felt a tapping on her shoulder. 

“Caitlyn is that you?”

“Sarah,” she said as they grasped in the tight hug.

“”It’s so good to see you again.  It’s been a long time, at least a year or so,” Sarah said.

“Yes and I am glad to see you too.  So what are you doing in town?” Caitlyn asked.

“I could ask you the same thing.  You don’t normally spend a lot of time in Norris,” Sarah inquired.

“Yes, well, it’s a long story.  Basically, I am here helping my father finish his latest project and to take a break between semesters.”

“Yes, I remember.  You are a professor at UTK now aren’t you?  That’s great. I am so envious of you.  I would love to live down off Cumberland Avenue in the faculty section.  It’s beautiful there on the river,”  Sarah crooned.

“You’re doing well in Nashville I hear,” Caitlyn asked moving conversation away from her personal situation.

“Yes, well. It’s a rat race.  I am working my way up.  I will be a partner this year.  Like everything else, it takes hard work, time and knowing the right people.  I am on a break too with a long weekend ahead.  Hey, I have a great idea.  Why don’t you join me?  I have my father’s houseboat this weekend and am going to go out and grab some of the final rays of the year.  We could spend the day, share some of my family’s wine and reminisce about the good old days.” 

Caitlyn paused thinking.  “Hang on a minute Sarah while I cash out these items.”  Caitlyn emptied her cart’s contents on the conveyor and paid her tab.  Pushing her cart a few feet from the aisle she waited for Sarah.  Sarah did the same paying for her goods. Turning she waited for her friend.  They pushed their carts out of the store.  Caitlyn stopped and handed five dollars to the nearest girl scout pointing towards the thin mints. 

“I bought mine on the way in,” Sarah admitted, “Tagalongs and Thin Mints.”

“Yes, I have to get some too,” Caitlyn agreed. She selected two boxes of Thin Mints from the table and paid the mother who gave her a weak smile.  “Thank you,” the woman smiled tiredly, “only fifty more boxes to go.”

Sarah and Caitlyn walked to the parking lot, their cars coincidentally parked next to one another.

“So it’s still warm enough for a picnic and a swim, Caitlyn.  Do you want to spend part of Saturday on the houseboat with me?” Sarah asked.

“I would love to spend some time on the house boat.  We can talk about old times and soak up the sun.  That would be great.  Is it just us girls or do you want to invite, say, maybe Rodney?”  Caitlyn inquired smiling.

“Let’s just make it us girls.  I haven’t talked to Rodney in a while though we’re still friends.  Not since Curtis’ funeral. I am sorry about bringing that up.  I know you and he were close.” Sarah squeezed Caitlyn’s hand. 

“Now that Rodney and I are both divorced, though, we’ve decided to take some time and get reacquainted.  I am hopeful.  He was my first love. I had always hoped we’d get together eventually.  He and I are going to meet Sunday for lunch and see where it goes from there,” Sarah shared.

“I am happy for you.  It would be wonderful if you and Rodney found one another again.  Did they ever find out who killed Curtis?” Caitlyn inquired hesitantly.  

“No.  They never found out if it was an accident or a hit and run.” Sarah whispered sadly.  “I miss him every day.  I am sure you do too.”

They stood out in the parking lot behind Caitlyn’s truck; quietly remembering. 

“Do you ever think about that night and what our lives might have been like if Beth hadn’t died?” Caitlyn posed. 

“Yes.  At times I wonder if it would have made all of our lives different.  Rodney and I might have been married.  Beth would have married Michael. You would have been with Curtis.  We might have all been couples and each had 2.3 children with both a dog and a cat.  We might have remained close friends. I think Beth’s death broke us up or at least it was the beginning of the end. We all went different directions like we were running away,” Sarah thought out loud.

“I often have wondered too.  Maybe if Beth hadn’t died, Michael and my father might have been closer.  It was a tragedy all the way around and now it seems to be coming back to life”.  Caitlyn confessed.

“How so?” Sarah asked.

“It’s just a feeling I have that the past is intruding on the present”.

They stood quietly for another moment looking at the crowd exiting the store. 

“Let’s meet Saturday about 10:00 a.m. at the Andersonville Boat Dock.  It’s the Sweet Sue.  You know the one,” Sarah said.  

“I’ll be there with bells on.  Hey, she called out as Sarah climbed into her car, You bring the munchies and I’ll bring the beer.” Caitlyn smiled.

“You got it. See you then.” Sarah waved good-bye.

At home, Caitlyn put away her groceries making sure that she unwrapped a soup bone for Pattycake.  She had been thinking about doing something that she had not done in a long time.  For some reason coming to the lake, returning to where she’d grown up had set her to thinking that she could begin a new, but there was something holding her back. 

She went to the closet and pulled out one of the boxes that she had brought with her.  On top of the box sat an old photo album that she couldn’t bear to part with.  She had kept the album hidden so that she would always be able to keep a part of herself for only herself.  As she pulled out the album, Caitlyn looked at the cover and wished that she had the willpower to set it aside, to forget it.  Something pulled at her, the memories from the past, forcing her to open its cover and look inside. 

She opened the book and saw the picture of a man and woman smiling.  The woman held a bouquet of flowers and wore a white veil.  Her eyes held a promise of the years to come; a promise of a home, a career and a house full of children.  Tears filled her eyes as she thought back to all the promises that were never fulfilled and tears fell for all the dreams that she once had, but could never be.  There were many things that she had lost, that now seemed out of her grasp. 

The years had flown by and the chances of her ever trusting someone enough to marry and have children now were gone.  She knew that she would never love anyone else ever again and couldn’t picture being with another man other than Dominic.  She had loved him so much.  Once she had believed in him and would have followed him to the ends of the earth.  When had it all changed? 

She felt Dominic didn’t love her and she had finally accepted after many years that he never would, but that didn’t stop her from still loving him.  After all the fights and all the horrible things that had happened, she still loved him.  Looking through the album, her mind wandered back over the good times that they had had.  They were all that she had to hold on to for the time being. 

Further back in album she came across pictures of Ben.  There he was with her at her father’s apartment.  In the photo, Ben and she together held up a big orange pumpkin that had just been carved for Halloween.  It’s scary tooth filled smile mimicked hers.  They looked so happy in that picture.  Through the tears she smiled as she remembered that day they spent cutting pumpkins, as they had every year throughout college.  It was the silly things that they had done together like painting Easter eggs and having snowball fights that had made them as close as brother and sister. 

She smiled again and shook her head.  No matter how much she wished and wanted and dreamed.  Those times were gone and couldn’t be recaptured.  Those were the days when she naively believed that there was good in the world and people could be trusted.  Now she knew that you can only trust yourself.  Wiping her nose with the sleeve of her shirt, she closed the album and put it aside. 

Digging further into the box, she found what she was originally looking for, an easel, a canvas and a set of oil paints.  It had been a long time since she had painted.   All her life she had felt she was an artist.  She had even taken a turn at throwing pottery at one point and loved it, but oils were her passion. 

Watching Bob Ross on Saturday morning create an exquisitely beautiful landscape from white nothingness initially inspired her to try painting.  She wasn’t great but then again she thought that her work was beautiful.  She carried the items outside and set the easel against the railing for extra support.  She put her canvas on the easel and took a long look at the lake surrounded by mountains.  She pulled a patio chair over to where her easel stood and set her paints down on the nearby table.  After watching the mountains for a few moments, she smiled and picked up her brush.   

Later that evening, Caitlyn pulled the navy blue bronco she’d borrowed from her father up
alongside Jesse’s red jeep Cherokee.  As she stepped out of her truck Jesse opened the door and walked out on to her wide wooden porch. 

"I have been watching for you, young’ un"." Jesse called leaning over the railing.  "I am so glad to see you again."  A cream colored Labrador followed Jesse out of the house and bounded up to Caitlyn tail wagging frantically. 

"He’s glad to see you again, too. Say hello, Ranger."  Caitlyn kneeled down to pet the dog and hugged him, getting a face full of licking. 

"Hi big boy.  Aren’t you a handsome man today?" she said to Ranger patting him on the head.  She turned and waved at the approaching figure. 

"Hi, Jesse. It sure is a beautiful setting.  Do you ever worry about being out here all alone?" Caitlyn asked as she followed Jesse up the stairs into her house.  "Oh, no.  I like it.  It is so remote and quiet.  It’s the perfect situation for writing.  I have the phone and internet access, so I can talk to people whenever I start feeling lonely.  The book tours give me enough exposure to other people that I really appreciate the quiet when I come home," Jesse continued. "There are a few old fogies like myself who come visit and that young deputy stops by and checks on me every now and then just to make sure that I am okay."