Ever Present Danger (27 page)

Ivy came over to the table. “You two want your usual?”

“Sure,” Brandon said.

Kelsey smiled. “We are so boring.”

Ivy scribbled something on her green pad. “I’ll be right back with another pot of coffee.”

Montana reached over and patted Kelsey’s back. “You’re not boring. You’re fun. When are you gonna come over and play checkers with me? You said you would.”

“I did, didn’t I?” Kelsey put her finger to her mouth. “Well, let’s see…Brandon’s going rafting tomorrow. If you’re not busy, maybe we could play checkers after church.”

Montana folded his arms across his chest. “I don’t go to church.”

“Well, starting tomorrow, you do,” Carolyn said. “If your mother’s working, you’ll need to be with me and your grandfather.”

“We’ll be home all afternoon,” Elam said. “Feel free to stop in any time. Carolyn just made some cherry cobbler that’ll knock your socks off.”

Ivy walked out the back door of Jewel’s at five after two, surprised and pleased to see Bill Ziwicki leaning against his van, his arms folded, his face aglow.

“Hi, beautiful.” He went over and kissed her on the cheek. “I know I said I’d call, but I could hardly wait to see you again.”

“My dad’s picking me up in a minute,” Ivy said. “He wants to show me a Jeep Liberty he’s thinking of buying me.”

“That’s cool. So he’s changed his mind about you going out alone?”

“No, but he doesn’t think it’s going to take long to solve this case.” Ivy rolled her eyes. “The sheriff will never in a million years suspect Mr. Hadley. They’re never going to solve it.”

“You’re probably right.”

“I wish I could convince my dad that I’m not at risk. But I don’t know how to do that without revealing too much.”

Bill nodded. “Maybe you just need to play along for now. If it would help, I could pick you up from work and take you home. That would save your folks one trip into town four days a week.”

“But that’d cut into your workday.”

“I can pack a sandwich and not take a lunch hour. That’d give me time—unless, of course, you’d rather ride home with your mother.”

Ivy smiled without meaning to. “Hardly.”

“I was wonderin’…you wanna go out again tonight?”

“Sure, but I have to be at work at six in the morning. I’m not sure I can handle two late nights in a row. What’d you have in mind?”

“I was thinkin’ we could drive over to Mt. Bryon and hang out at the Blue Moon. It’s a quaint old tavern that has an exceptional jazz band on Saturday night.”

“Sounds like fun, but I don’t drink. I stay away from everything that could be addictive.”

He smiled and pulled her into his arms. “What about me? Could I be addictive?”

Ivy giggled. “Yes, but that’s different.”

“Well, the bartender makes some pretty fancy booze-free specialty drinks. The band’s really worth hearin’, and I’d love to dance with you. If we go early, I can have you home by ten.”

“Okay. I’ll have to check with my mom first and see if she’s open to watching Montana again. I’ve been out a lot lately.”

“What if we do somethin’ with him tomorrow—take him to the park or let him play video games down at Clicker’s?”

“Uh, I don’t let him play video games. I’m putting that off as long as I possibly can. And remember, I don’t get off till two, so it’ll be a short afternoon.”

“We could hike up to Tanner Falls. It only takes forty minutes, and it’s not a hard climb. Phantom Creek is bustin’ at the seams, and it oughta be pretty spectacular. The weather’s supposed to be nice.”

“I think he’d like that. We can always bribe him with the promise of a Happy Meal for dinner.”

“Or you could come over to my place and I’ll cook us hamburgers.”

Ivy leaned back, her arms around Bill’s neck, and looked into his eyes. “That’s really sweet of you. But for now, I’d be more comfortable if we met in public.”

“Okay, then. MacDonald’s it is. We can talk about what time when we’re out tonight. How about I pick you up at five o’clock, and we’ll eat somethin’ when we get to the Blue Moon? Their food’s good.”

“All right. If there’s a problem with my mom watching Montana, I’ll call you. Otherwise, I’ll see you then.”

IVY GRIFFITH WENT UP the front steps, the afternoon sun warm on her shoulders, and followed her father into the house and flopped on the couch next to her mother.

“I
love
it! It’s perfect!” Ivy felt a grin stretch her cheeks. “I can’t believe you and dad bought me a car.”

Carolyn Griffith laughed. “So tell me what you
really
think of the little white Jeep?”

“I’ll go nuts not being able to drive it till the sheriff solves the case. What if it goes on for months? Or years?”

“It won’t,” Elam said. “Flint’s going to get this guy.”

“Ivy has a point.” Carolyn set her magazine on the coffee table. “It could be a long time before Flint makes an arrest. From what I’m hearing on the news, they aren’t even close.”

“Law enforcement isn’t going to release every bit of information they have.” Elam handed the mail to Carolyn. “I went ahead and wrote a check for the car. I’ll get on the computer tonight and transfer the funds from savings to checking. Ivy liked the deluxe floor mats and snazzier hubcaps, so they’re getting those from another dealership. Car’ll be ready Monday at noon.”

Ivy rarely thought of her parents as wealthy people, though she knew they must be worth millions. They never flaunted what they had and rarely even spoke of it. After all the years she had struggled just to keep food on the table, it was hard to fathom that they could
just write out a check and pay cash for a car. Then again, her parents had probably forked over even more than the price of the car to pay for her drug rehab and the lawyer they hired to keep her out of jail. It occurred to her that she had never sincerely thanked them.

“Maybe I could break in the car out here on the property,” Ivy said. “There are some really neat off-road trails. Montana and I could have a ball using the four-wheel drive.”

Elam nodded. “There you go.”

“By the way, Bill offered to bring me home the days I work, which would save Mom four trips into town every week.”

“Wasn’t that nice of him?” Carolyn said. “But he’s working. I couldn’t ask him to do that.”

“He says he can pack a sandwich and use that time as his lunch hour.”

Carolyn smiled. “I imagine you’d love it if I’d take him up on his offer.”

“I’m enjoying his company a lot more than I ever thought I would,” Ivy said. “He wants me to go out again tonight, and tomorrow wants to take Montana and me hiking up to Tanner Falls.”

“Moving a little fast, aren’t you?” Elam said.

“I don’t think so.” Ivy hated that she sounded defensive. “We went to a movie and out to dinner. What’s so fast about that?”

“Where’s he want to take you tonight?”

Ivy bit her lip.
I’m not a teenager, Dad!
“To the Blue Moon over in Mt. Byron to hear a jazz band he thinks is exceptional. And since I have work tomorrow, he promised to have me home by ten. Assuming, of course, I can leave Montana with Mom. I don’t want to take advantage of your generosity.”

“I don’t mind watching Montana,” Carolyn said. “But you haven’t seen much of him lately.”

Ivy nodded. “I know. That’s why we want to take him hiking tomorrow afternoon.”

“Well, you should’ve asked first, honey. Montana invited Kelsey Jones to come over and play checkers with him tomorrow after church. Brandon’s going rafting, and she said she’d love to come.”

“Okay. I’ll stay home with him.”

“Well, only two can play checkers,” Carolyn said. “Why don’t you and Bill go ahead and do something together and plan an outing with Montana next weekend?”

Ivy left the dance floor, her hand holding Bill’s, and went back to their table at the Blue Moon Tavern.

“That was nice,” Bill said. “I love the bluesy quality of this band, especially the saxophone.”

“Tell me their name again.”

“Blowhards.”

Ivy smiled. “Clever. Great sound.”

“How’s that chocolate whatever-it’s-called?”

“Really good.” Ivy took a sip through the straw. “I don’t miss the rum.”

The band started to play again, and Ivy just listened and enjoyed the great music while she studied the audience. All of a sudden her eyes stopped on a familiar face. What was he doing here?

“What are you staring at?” Bill whispered.

“I know that guy in the red shirt. His name’s Buzz Easton. He and his wife come in for breakfast on Saturdays.”

“Why do you look mad?”

“Because the lady with him isn’t his wife.”

“Maybe she’s a relative.”

“I doubt it. Look at the way their arms are touching. And his eyes keep wandering down to her cleavage. It’s really disgusting. I just saw him with his wife this morning. What a creep.”

Bill turned and fixed his eyes on Buzz. “If I were married, I’d never cheat on my wife, and I sure as shootin’ wouldn’t put up with her cheatin’ on me. I’m not into sharing.”

“Neither am I.” Ivy took a sip of her drink and wondered if Bill’s ex-wife had been unfaithful. “Well, there’s no point in letting his indiscretion infringe on our evening.”

Bill put his hand on hers. “As far as I’m concerned, nothin’
could spoil this evening. So what time tomorrow should I pick up you and Montana?”

“Oh, sorry. I forgot to tell you he sweet-talked Brandon’s wife Kelsey into coming over to play checkers with him tomorrow afternoon. Mom thinks he has some sort of little-boy crush on her and that you and I should go ahead and do whatever we want and make plans to take Montana some place next weekend.”

“Okay. You still wanna take that hike? Or is there somethin’ else you’d rather do?”

“I’d love to hike up to Tanner Falls. I haven’t been there since I was in high school.”

Ivy glanced over at Buzz and noticed he was nuzzling his companion’s neck, and she was belly laughing as if she were drunk. How angry and humiliated would Maggie be if she knew what he was up to?

Ivy’s mind flashed back to an incident from her own past when she had agreed to have sex with a guy for drug money and remembered seeing a gold band on his left hand.

“Are you there?” Bill said. “You seem miles away all of a sudden.”

“Sorry. I was just thinking about Buzz and wondering why people do such awful things.”
And what you’d think of the dark secrets in my past
.

Bill shrugged. “I suppose people have different ideas of what’s awful.”

“Anyone can deceive himself, but it’s pretty hard to misinterpret ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’”

“Yeah, if you accept moral absolutes.”

“And you don’t?” Ivy asked.

“Not really. I believe we should all decide for ourselves.”

“Well, if you don’t believe committing adultery is a sin, then why would you even care if your wife cheated on you?”

“Because I don’t
wanna
share. It’s a personal preference, not a moral issue.”

“I see. So, if her preference was to sleep around, which of you would be right?”

Bill took a gulp of beer. “I’ll never allow myself to be in that position. Whoever I marry will have to agree with me on stuff like that before I’ll ever tie the knot.”

“Isn’t that what wedding vows are for?”

“Yeah, but instead of payin’ lip service to a bunch of do’s and don’ts, we’d decide ahead of time what
we
think is right, and that’s what we’d promise to do.”

“You’d custom-make your marriage parameters?”

“Yeah, that’s a good way to put it.”

“Do you do that with everything?” Ivy said.

“Pretty much. I think right and wrong is relative to circumstances. No one has the right to decide for someone else what they should do.”

Ivy sat for a moment, her eyes focused on her hands, trying to process the implications of what Bill had just said. Finally she lifted her eyes and leaned closer to him and spoke just loud enough for him to hear. “If you think right and wrong is relative, then you think Mr. Hadley was justified in shooting Pete, Reg, and Denny, right?”

“Well…look at what the guys put him through all those years.”

“So everyone who gets wronged is free to exact revenge outside the law?”

“I didn’t say that. But we both know that the sheriff’s never gonna solve that case, and it wasn’t fair for those guys to get away with it.”

“Then why was it fair for me to get away with it?”

Bill’s face softened. “You didn’t do anything.”

“Let’s just change the subject. You’re never going to understand.”

“Come on, don’t shut down.”

Ivy made a tent with her fingers. “I’ve never doubted the Bible is true and moral absolutes are nonnegotiable, though I certainly haven’t lived it. That’s why I have so much guilt. I
know
I’ve sinned
and haven’t repented. I just haven’t been ready to face God with it.”

“You’re not some terrible sinner. You were the victim of circumstances.”

Ivy put her fingers to her temples as if that would stop the throbbing. “How can you say that? It was my choice to get high and do nothing while the guys beat Joe till he couldn’t fight back. And it was my choice to conspire with them to cover up the murder and let the Hadleys live with it all those years.”

“Even if you’d told the sheriff what happened, Joe would still be dead. And the Hadleys would still be devastated. And Pete, Reg, and Denny would still be guilty. So tell me how your decidin’ to keep quiet made
you
the bad guy?”

“I don’t know! I can’t think anymore.” Ivy sat back in her chair, Bill’s words seeming like missiles intercepting her own thoughts.

“What’s it gonna take for me to convince you to ditch this pointless guilt and stop beatin’ yourself up over the notion that you’ve committed some horrible sin?”