Ever Present Danger (8 page)

“Good.” Ivy went over and sat on the side of the bed, her hands folded in her lap. “Montana, I know you’re hurting, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to treat Mom and Grandmother Griffith rudely.”

Montana sniffled and wouldn’t look at her.

“Tomorrow will be a better day,” Lu said. “I think maybe Montana and I will just sit here together for a while.”

Ivy observed the calming effect Lu had on Montana and felt as if the wounds of her own inadequacies had been reopened. She had no one but herself to blame that Montana would allow Lu and not his own mother to comfort him. Wasn’t it Lu who had cared for him when Ivy was too high even to realize that she was neglecting him? Wasn’t it Lu who had picked him up from school? Fixed his meals? Held him when he was sick? Tucked him in at night?

Lu began to hum softly, and seconds later she and Montana seemed to be lost in a world of their own. Ivy got up and left the room, wondering if her hurting little boy would ever accept Lu’s death—or the fact that no one, not even his own mother, could take her place.

Ivy went downstairs to the living room and saw her mother sitting on the couch, soaking in the afternoon sun streaming in through the windows.

“How is he?” Carolyn said.

“He’ll be okay now. Lu always knows what to do.”

“You sound like you resent it.”

Ivy shook her head. “I just wish I were more like her, that’s all.”

“The two of them have been very close, haven’t they?” Carolyn said.

Ivy was distracted by the sound of the kitchen door opening from the garage. Seconds later, Elam walked in the living room, kissed Carolyn’s cheek, then sat next to her on the couch.

“How’d it go down at Jewel’s?” he said to Ivy.

“Good. Nothing much to tell, other than Sheriff Carter was my first customer.”

“Yeah, that’s what he said.”

“So you did talk to him,” Carolyn said. “Has he heard any more about the bones they found?”

“They’re definitely Joe Hadley’s. Not only did the dental records match, but also the DNA. There’s absolutely no doubt. The investigation’s been reopened.”

“Wow,” Ivy said, trying to act surprised. “What exactly are they investigating?”

“Right now, they’re walking around my construction site with metal detectors, looking for a weapon.”

“They really think someone murdered Joe?” Ivy said.

“Flint won’t say what he thinks, but that’s what I think. He’s not commenting till he gets the preliminary autopsy report.”

Ivy breathed in slowly and let it out, wondering if Pete Barton had heard the news.

Brandon Jones pushed open the front door of his home and was hit with the delicious aroma of something spicy.

“Good timing.” Kelsey Jones met him at the door and put her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I hope you’re hungry. I
made enough Cajun meatloaf to feed a family of six.”

Brandon grinned. “Sounds about right.”

“So what’d you think of Buzz’s white-water operation?”

Brandon followed her out to the kitchen and sat at the table. “It’s so slick. If I could actually make a living at it, I’d be tempted to work for him. I can’t imagine shooting the rapids every day and getting paid to boot.”

“That’s what you said about working at the camp.”

“I know, honey. I love what I’m doing. But it’s fun thinking about the adventure aspect of that kind of operation. I can see why Buzz is excited about it.”

“Too bad he’s not as nuts about Maggie.”

“Oh, they’re okay. Not everyone is as in love as we are. So how’d your afternoon go?”

Kelsey opened the oven door and removed a loaf-size Pyrex pan of meatloaf. “Suzanne Compton stopped by for tea. She told me that the bones they found yesterday at Elam’s building site for sure belong to a boy that went missing ten years ago—a classmate of Ivy’s.”

“Really? I didn’t hear that. Do they know how he died?”

“No, but the bones had been buried. That’s not a good sign.”

Brandon ran his finger along the rim of his dinner plate. “This is really not Elam’s week. He had breakfast this morning with Jake and me and told us that the lady friend Ivy brought home with her has acute leukemia and is dying—like anytime. They’re going to get hospice involved and see if she can stay there at the house.”

Kelsey put a lid on the pan of rice and turned around. “Ivy didn’t tell her parents before she came?”

“No. She’s just full of surprises.”

IVY GRIFFITH WENT OUT to the garage and put Wednesday’s edition of the
Tri-County Courier
on the stack of newspapers to be recycled, painfully aware of Joe Hadley’s high school yearbook picture on the front page.

She heard the phone ring and rushed back inside, hoping hospice was calling back. “Hello.”

“Ivy, it’s Pete.”

“I guess you heard the bones were Joe’s.”

“Yeah, I did. So…we’re all on the same page with this, right? I called Reg and Denny, and they agreed we need to stick with the pact.”

“I already told you I would.” Ivy glanced in the living room and didn’t see anyone within earshot.

“I have another reason for calling. Did you get the reminder in the mail about our ten-year class reunion?”

“No, the school lost track of me a long time ago. When is it?”

“The twenty-second of this month. In the Aspen Room at the Phantom Hollow Lodge.”

“Well, have fun. I’m not going.”

“Not so fast. This isn’t just about you. The four of us are in this together, and I think it’s important we all show up and give the impression that everything’s normal with us. You know the sheriff’s going to shift his focus now and look at everyone who
knew Joe as a potential suspect. If you aren’t at the reunion, he may ask himself why. I don’t think you want that.”

“But I’ve never been to any of the class reunions. Why would anyone give it a second thought if I miss another one?”

“Because you’re back in town. Look, everyone in our class is under a microscope. If we show up at the reunion and act completely natural, we won’t end up on the suspect list. That’s my point.”

“And just how am I supposed to act natural when everyone starts asking me what I’ve been doing since graduation? It’s not like I’m proud of it.”

There was a long moment of dead air and she could hear Pete breathing.

Finally he said, “You can hang out with me, just like old times, and I’ll control the conversation. All you have to do is smile and act like things are normal. Come on, Ivy, this is important. I’ll even RSVP for you.”

“I’m sure it’s not free, and I don’t have any money right now.”

“It’s sixty-five bucks a head, and I’ll pay for it.”

Don’t let him manipulate you. Stand up to him!
“I…I’d like to think about it.”

“Okay, I’ll go ahead and put your name in. You can always back out.”

“Pete, I don’t—”

“Someone just walked in. I’ve gotta go. Talk to you soon.”
Click
.

Ivy hung up the phone, her heart pounding, and let out a loud sigh. She walked over to the mirror in the hallway and stared at her reflection. Her face was thin and bony, her gray eyes hollow and void of life. Even her hair had lost its luster.

Could her classmates find even the slightest resemblance to the bubbly, high-spirited beauty that had once worn Pete Barton’s ring? Was she willing to turn her conspiracy with Pete, Reg, and Denny into an entire evening of public playacting? Did she really have a choice?

Ivy looked into her eyes staring back at her, pierced by the sadness she saw there. As ready as she was to clear her conscience and tell the sheriff the truth about Joe Hadley’s death, her need to be
there for Lu and Montana took precedence. She couldn’t leave either of them right now.

Lu Ramirez’s reflection appeared next to hers in the mirror, the circles under her eyes deep purple. “You look lost, Ivy girl.”

Ivy linked arms with Lu and led her to the kitchen table. “Sit. I don’t want you wearing yourself out.”

“It’s good for me to get up sometimes. I’ve been reading stories to Montana.”

“Where is he now?”

“Upstairs playing checkers with your mother.”

“He’s not handling your illness well.”

“I doubt if he will till he has to. But it’s good we have time to prepare him.” Lu folded her arms on the table and looked almost too weak to sit up. “I’m just as worried about you.”

“I’m fine.”

Lu’s thick eyebrows seemed to settle on her eyelids. “Is that so?”

“I can’t think about me right now.”

“Why not? Sit down and tell me what you’re thinking.”

Ivy sat at the table and looked into Lu’s probing eyes and lowered her voice. “Pete called. Our ten-year high school reunion is in a few weeks, and he thinks the four of us who made the pact should go so the sheriff won’t get suspicious.”

“And what do
you
think?”

“Well, I’m certainly not ready to go to the sheriff with what I know, and I don’t want him getting suspicious before I’m ready to talk. I guess it can’t hurt just to be seen there. It’s not like I’m going to tell any more lies.”

“You’re not letting Pete talk you out of confessing, are you?”

“No, absolutely not. But I need to be sure Montana…” Ivy’s voice cracked. “He needs to be able to live without both of us, Lu. I just don’t know if he’s strong enough. It seems so overwhelming for a seven-year-old.”

Lu reached across the table and patted Ivy’s hand. “Trust God with it. He will help you figure it out.”

“I’m sure God gave up on me a long time ago.”

“You know better than that.”

Do I?
“I wish you hadn’t told Montana to ask me about Jesus.”

“If not you, then who? You know what you believe, whether you’ll admit it to yourself or not.”

Ivy got up and poured herself a glass of water. “I called hospice this morning, and I’m waiting for a call back. I got the impression that with the letter from your doctor explaining your condition, they can get you set up here.”

“Your parents are generous to allow a stranger to die in their home.”

Lu’s words seemed to squeeze her heart like a vice. In a matter of weeks or perhaps days, Lu—her anchor, her best friend, her one constant source of love and security—would be gone. And there wasn’t a thing she could do to stop it.

Sheriff Flint Carter sat at his desk looking through the preliminary autopsy report, aware that Lieutenant Bobby Knolls had walked into his office, set a can of Pepsi on the coaster, then flopped in a chair.

Flint took off his reading glasses. “Here, take a look at this. We got a bigger break than we thought.”

Bobby perused the report, then turned the page. “Well, whaddya know, a broken hyoid bone. I guess we can stop lookin’ for a murder weapon and start lookin’ for whoever had his hands around the kid’s throat—beginning with the good ol’ boys that were workin’ at Collier Ranch at the time.”

“I want you to go over the crime scene with a fine-tooth comb.”

“Don’t worry,” Bobby said. “If there’re any clues within a hundred yards of that scene, we’ll find them. I’m guessin’ the shovel used to bury him is out there somewhere.”

“It’s really weird. I’d pretty much come to the conclusion someone had abducted him and taken him somewhere else. I never expected him to be found right here in Jacob’s Ear.”

“It could still be a serial killin’, Sheriff.”

“I know. We need to find out as much as we can so his parents can find closure.”

Bobby pursed his lips. “Closure might not be all that comforting.”

“It can’t be any harder than what they’ve already imagined. Listen, I’ve requested assistance from a couple other sheriff’s departments. I promised Elam we wouldn’t tie up his building site any longer than we had to. Think you can wrap this up in ten days?”

“Oh, yeah. No problem. If we can’t find anything in ten days, it’s not out there. You gonna bring the feds back in on this?”

“I don’t see the point in complicating the investigation. They didn’t find out anything last time. And since Joe’s body was found in our backyard, I’m thinking maybe the killer will be, too.”

Carolyn Griffith stood at the front door with Ivy and Sonya Roe from hospice.

“The medication I left should get Lu through the next twenty-four hours,” Sonya said. “I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon around three, right after Ivy gets off work, and we can go over what to expect and what options we can implement in the days ahead. Our primary objective is to keep Lu as comfortable and pain-free as possible, and as I explained, we’ve been given a great deal of leeway to do precisely that. I don’t want you to worry about a thing.” Sonya put her hand on Ivy’s arm. “I’ve been working with hospice for a very long time, and it’s one of the most compassionate, effective organizations you’ll ever find. You did the right thing by calling.”

“Thanks,” Ivy said. “I really want to be with Lu till the very end, and I know she wants that, too.”

Sonya gave a nod. “Then that’s our goal.”

“We really appreciate your responding so quickly.” Carolyn held open the door.

“You’re very welcome.” Sonya squeezed past her and went down the steps and out to a red SUV.

“Is that lady gone?”

Carolyn turned and saw Montana sitting at the bottom of the staircase. “Yes, she just left.”

“Why do strangers have to be here?” Montana folded his arms across his chest, a scowl on his face.

Carolyn went over and sat on the step beside him. “I’d like to think of them as new friends and not strangers. She’s a very nice hospice nurse that will be coming here often to make Lu as comfortable as she can be.”

“I hate leukemia!”

Carolyn put her arm around Montana and felt him stiffen. “We all do, sweetie. But hospice is going to help us to help Lu. So we need to be glad when the nurse comes.”