Gingerbread Man (25 page)

She kept on walking, right past Holly, back
to the table where she picked up the doll, and held it to her
chest.

"Vince?"

"Jesus, Holly, what the hell is going on
there?"

"Nothing. Mom's ... I'll just give her
another Valium. She'll be all right. What happened?"

"Nothing. Research. I just wanted to check on
you."

"We're fine."

"You don't sound fine. Maybe you should've
come with me after all."

"No." She glanced at her mother, going
through yet another box of her sister's things. "She shouldn't be
alone right now."

He was silent for a moment. Then, "Is Bill
still outside?"

Holly glanced toward the window. "Yes. We're
fine. Safe and fine. Do your job, Vince. The faster we end this,
the better."

There was a pause. "Are you sure you're all
right?"

“Yes."

“Okay. Okay. I'll talk to you later.”

***

VlNCE HUNG UP the phone and tried to shake
the feeling that something wasn't right, but he couldn't seem to
get rid of it. Holly had sounded strange. He didn't like it.

Goddamn it, what if he'd been wrong in
thinking she could get through this? What if she couldn't? She'd
been alone for hours with her mother, who'd sounded completely
spaced out on the phone.

Hell. He had to get over there and find out
for himself. Right or wrong, he had to.

Vince put in a call to Marty Cantrell,
Holly's uncle. But it was his wife, Jen, who answered the phone.
He'd met her, briefly, at the bonfire. "I'm sorry, Vince. Marty's
working today."

"Oh. I didn't realize he had an outside
job."

"It's not much. Not even full time anymore.
But when they need him, he still makes deliveries for Strofman's
Bakery. They had several orders to go out today, and one of their
regulars called in sick, so..."

"That's all right. Really. Maybe you can
help."

"Well, sure, if I can. What is it? Is Holly
all right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure about your sister.
Doris isn't doing too well. I think she could use your help."

The woman listened as he told her the very
essentials. A half hour later, he was pulling up to Holly's place.
Jen Cantrell and Ernie Graycloud arrived immediately behind him. He
thanked them for coming and went to the house. He knocked once,
then walked in when there was no answer, using the key Holly had
given him earlier.

"Hell," he muttered, standing there, taking
in the scene. It was worse than he'd thought

Doris sat at the small kitchen table,
surrounded by toys, photos, little-girl clothes. She was smiling
weakly, but there was a faraway look in her eyes. She glanced up as
they entered, met his gaze. "Oh, Vince, it's you. Did you find him
yet?"

Vince sighed, glanced at the Doc.

"I've got her," he said. "Go find Holly."

Vince nodded and strode through the house,
into the hall, to Holly's room. She wasn't inside, but her bathroom
door was open. The bedroom was dark, but the light in the bathroom
was on, and it spilled out. Something quaked just a little in
Vince's chest.

He moved closer, tried to make himself hurry,
but found his feet unwilling to move. It was as if he was slogging
through muck. Closer, he could see bottles of pills on the sides of
the sink. Some standing upright, some tipped on their sides. The
medicine cabinet was open.

"Jesus. Holly?"

He moved still closer, hand on the door,
pushing it wider, and he glimpsed the water in the tub. It was
full.

"No." He slammed the door open all the way,
and lunged into the bathroom.

No one was in the tub. The water inside was
clear, with a few suds floating on its surface. A damp towel was
slung over the side. His entire body uncoiled, but his stomach was
still clenched and churning.

He turned, glancing at the pills. The
assortment would have made an addict happy.

A soft sound reached him, laughter. A child's
laughter. He turned, and followed the sound out through the living
room. That's when he finally saw Holly. She was outside on the back
deck, beyond the glass doors. That little girl from next door was
with her, and they had mounds of fabric on the table between them,
along with scissors and pincushions and various other implements of
stitchery.

He looked at Holly's face, her eyes. She was
clear-eyed, alert. She was okay.

For just a second, he felt the power of his
relief. Much greater than it should have been. He didn't want to
spend time trying to probe into why that was—not now.

She looked up as if she felt his eyes on her,
and met them. He saw relief there, too. Some kind of tension just
vanished. She was glad to see him. More than glad. She had said she
didn't need to be with him. She'd been lying.

She stood up, and he strode up to her,
wrapped her in his arms, and hugged her hard. He didn't even think
about it until the awkwardness set in. Then he let go, stepped
back.

She shuffled her feet. "So, what are you
doing here?"

"I didn't like the way you sounded on the
phone," he said.

"Hi, Detective O'Mally!"

He turned and pasted an "everything's just
fine" smile on his face. "Hello, there, Bethany."

She nodded. "Wait till you see what Holly and
I have been doing." As she spoke, she gathered up the mounds of
fabric from the table. The girl stuffed the fabric into a shopping
bag, from which the very tip of a pointy black hat stuck up.

"Well, show me!" he said. "I'm dying to see
it."

"No way." She picked the bag up by its twin
handles. "This costume is top secret until the party at Mr.
D'Voe's, tomorrow night." She tossed her blonde curls dramatically.
"You'll just have to wait." Then she grinned, ran to Holly, hugged
her waist. "Thank you, Holly. This is the best costume
ever!"
Then she let go. "I can't wait to show Mom." She ran
off the back deck, and across the lawns toward her own house.
Halfway there she shouted back, "I hope your mom feels better,
Holly!"

"Me, too," Holly whispered, but not loud
enough for the child to hear. She watched until the kid was inside
her own place, then sighing, turned to the table, and began picking
up sewing items and returning them to the basket

"I brought your aunt and the doc," Vince
said. He joined her in picking up. There were countless scraps of
fabric to be tossed into a nearby wastebasket. “Thought your mom
could use the help."

"I know, I saw them come in. Thanks. I don't
know if it'll help but—"

"Holly, I looked for you in your room
first."

"I thought I'd sit out here. I had a clear
view of Mom, and I couldn't very well take Bethany in there when
she came over. Not with Mom in this state." She shrugged. "It's not
like I was reaching her anyway. She's withdrawn into herself."

"Yeah. Listen, I have to ask. What's up with
all the pills?"

She looked up at him, frowned. "God. did I
leave them out?"

"There's a goddamn pharmacy in there."

She sighed. "I haven't needed chemical help
in a long time. But I keep them. I guess it's a security issue.
Just knowing they're there, you know? I was looking for something
for Mom. Gave her a Valium, but it didn't touch her. To be honest,
I damn near took something myself." Her lips twisted.

"But you didn't."

She lifted her eyes. "No, I didn't need
them." She smiled a little weakly, but, still, it was something. "I
guess I learned something about myself today. I mean, it can't get
much worse than this, can it?"

It could, and he was afraid it would, but he
wasn't going to tell her that.

"And I didn't need them. Maybe I can throw
them out at last."

"Maybe that would be a good idea."

She tilted her head. "You were worried about
me, weren't you?"

He averted his eyes.

She frowned. "You walked in and saw the pills
and— Vince, did you really think I'd swallowed a bunch of them, or
something?"

He shrugged. "I don't know what I
thought."

Moving closer, Holly grabbed his arm, studied
his face. "Even at my worst, I never contemplated suicide." She
paused. He knew there was more, and he just waited. She eased her
grip on his arm. "That's a lie. I... I did think about it. But I
couldn't do it. I was the only daughter my mother had left. I
couldn't take that away from her."

“For the record, Red, I'm damned glad to hear
it." He looked past her, back inside the house. Doc had Doris on
the couch now, had his stethoscope out. "Let's go see how your
mother is doing, huh?"

"I'm going to survive this."

"I know you are, Red. Most people would be in
a rubber room, drooling, at this point. But you're out here in the
sunshine, sewing Halloween costumes for a little girl." He ran a
hand through her hair. “You're incredibly strong. And I know it.
Now, can we go check on your mother?"

She nodded. "All right"

He opened the glass doors, stepped through
them. Doc looked at him, and his face was stern. "What did you give
her, Holly?"

She sighed, turned, walked down the hall,
vanishing into her bedroom. A few moments later she came out with a
pill bottle, and put it on the coffee table. "One of these," she
said. "She slept for maybe an hour."

Graycloud looked at the label, then his brows
raised in question, he looked at Holly again.

"No, I didn't take any. You can take it—and
the rest of them—away with you. I don't need them anymore."

He smiled just a little, nodded once. "And
about time. Good girl."

"What about Mom?"

Graycloud stepped away from the sofa, and
Holly's aunt Jen took his place there, leaning over, holding
Doris's hand, speaking softly to her. Doc huddled with Vince and
Holly on the far side of the living room. "Her blood pressure is
up, and her heartbeats are irregular. I don't like it. I could
probably stabilize her here at home, but I think it's a bad idea.
She's around all these things, and if anything more happens, I'm
just not sure how she might react."

Holly bit her lip. "Are you saying you want
to put her in the hospital?"

“Yeah. Just for a day or two. Let me get her
on some meds, get her stable, monitor her heart."

"She'll be out of harm's way, Holly," Vince
said. "We can have a police guard on her door." He didn't say it
aloud, but he thought it was the best answer for Holly as well. She
wouldn't need to be in constant fear for her mother's safety, much
less subjected to this kind of morbid behavior. "I think it's for
the best, really."

"I'll go too," Jen offered. "I'll stay with
her the whole time."

"Oh, Aunt Jen, that's too much to ask."

"I don't mind. Marty's away; what else do I
have to do?" She smiled, patted Doris's hand. "I'll bring my
knitting, some books. We'll spend some quality time. We're past
due, you know."

Sighing, Holly went to her mother, looked at
her, and knew she was not really there. She was lost in a sea of
emotions she didn't know how to deal with. Holly knew because she'd
spent a lot of time in the same place. "Mom, you're gonna go with
Dr. Graycloud now, okay?"

Her mother smiled, and nodded.

"And I'm coming, too," Jen told her. "I'll be
along just a few minutes behind you." She glanced over her shoulder
at Holly. "I'll pick up this mess, and throw a few things in a bag
for her before I go."

"Aunt Jen, I can—"

"You shouldn't even be here, Holly. This is
..." She looked around, shook her head sadly. She was battling
tears herself, Holly realized. She had loved Ivy, too. They all
had. "This is too much," Jen said softly. "Go, go with Vince."

Doc was easing Doris to her feet, leading her
to the door.

"Have Bill go with you, Dr. Graycloud. He can
watch Doris's room until we get him a replacement," Vince said.

"All right. I'll speak to him before we
leave." The doctor led Doris to the door, opened it, and they
walked together out to his car.

"Go on, Holly. Go with Vince," Jen ordered.
"I've got no problem taking care of things here." Aunt Jen moved
closer, ran a hand through Holly's hair. "Besides, it gives me a
chance to take care of somebody. I haven't been able to do that
since—well, since Kelly and Tara moved to San Francisco."

Holly hugged the woman. "Okay. Thank you,
Aunt Jen."

"You're a good girl, Holly. Don't you worry
about anything."

"If you need me for anything—" Holly
began.

Aunt Jen held up a hand, stopping her, and
dipped into her purse to pull out her cell phone. Then she frowned
at it. "Oh, damn. I left it in the car overnight and the battery's
down again. I am always doing that!" She sighed. "No matter, I'll
plug it in and charge it up at the hospital, so I won't be out of
touch at all. Okay?"

"You need a car adapter for that thing,"
Holly muttered. She kissed her aunt warmly. "Thank you. You don't
know how much you're helping me right now, just by being here."

"That's what family's for, hon."

Vince took Holly's arm. "Lock up behind us,
Mrs. Cantrell."

She nodded, tucked her cell phone into her
purse, and waved them off.

HOLLY KEPT HER spine very rigid and her chin
very level on the ride back to Vince's rented cabin. She wasn't
going to cry, not in front of him. She had to clench her hands into
fists in her lap to keep them from trembling, and she couldn't
really speak because her throat was too tight and that would give
her away.

He pulled into the drive, got out, took a
pile of stuff from the back seat. She opened her door the minute
the Jeep stopped, and she got out, too, walked around the car, and
nearly collided with him at the bottom of the steps.

"Your mother's going to be fine," he
said.

"Of course she is."