Special Delivery (Mountain Meadow Homecoming 1) (24 page)

“Do we have any cases in court today?” he asked.

“No, sir,” Wanda Sue answered.

He handed her the card. “You and Bill, go get Christmas decorations and let’s make this place look festive. Get some snacks, too. We’ll have a party…on me. Now, I gotta talk to Sam about something. I’ll see you later.”

Bill looked at everyone with a puzzled expression. “Does anyone else feel like they’ve just awakened in London on the day after Ebenezer Scrooge was visited by the ghosts?”

After just a short silence, Wanda Sue snickered and soon everyone was laughing again.

Evan rolled his eyes.

“Whatever,” he said, and left.

* * * *

Sam Barnes sat back in his plush leather chair. He was about Evan’s height, but broader and brawnier, closer to forty than thirty. He’d played football for Tech for a couple of years before an injury sidelined him, and he was already in his second term as county sheriff. He’d been running for reelection when Evan had run for commonwealth’s attorney.

He gave Sam a couple of minutes to bask in the glory of being right about him and Jake before he launched into the real reason he’d sought him out.

“That’s one hell of a story, Evan,” Sam said, rubbing his chin, “but it sounds like you have enough evidence to go after the rapists and your father. The key is that video if Jenny doesn’t remember what happened. You need to consider a few things before we go ahead with this, Evan.”

“Sam, I don’t have a choice. I have to proceed. I’m an officer of the court and I know about it. Besides the fact I would be in violation of the oath I took to uphold my office, it’s the right thing to do.”

“Even if it puts your father behind bars?”

Hearing it put so bluntly made him want to cringe in denial, but he had a job to do.

Evan clenched his jaw. “Yes. I’ll have to recuse myself from the case and request a special prosecutor. Any suggestions? I’d like to make sure it’s someone competent who’s also not been touched by my father’s rather long political reach.”

“Let me think about it.”

“One other thing, Sam.” Evan sighed. “If my father gets wind of this, you can bet your bottom dollar he’ll destroy any evidence he can.”

“Then we’ll have to get all our ducks in a row, quietly and quickly. Let’s keep this just between you and me until we ready to make the arrests. When we do, we’ll need some additional help. I’ll have to bring Ernie and Jake in to assist with any arrests inside the town limits.”

“No problem. Listen. My parents are holding their annual holiday party this Saturday. I’ve been trying to avoid them, but I could go.”

“You can’t take the evidence, Evan.”

“I know,” Evan mused, “but I might be able to get him to give it to me.”

“How?”

Evan’s smile wasn’t pleasant. “I would need Jenny’s help, but I have the feeling that won’t be a problem, not after what he’s put her—us—through.”

* * * *

Jake took off his ball cap and scratched his head as he stood next to Pastor Joe, staring at the nativity. Someone had swiped Melchior, one of the three Wise Men. Jake had just come from the Presbyterian church where both Balthazar and Gaspar, the other two Wise Men, were also missing. This was just getting stranger and stranger, but there did seem to be a pattern.

“I’m beginning to think Holly’s right,” Jake admitted.

“In what way?” Pastor Joe asked.

Jake chuckled. “We were talking about it Saturday. Evan and I maintain it’s just thieves, but Holly has a different theory.”

“What’s that?” The young minister dug his hands in the pockets of his down vest as he stared at his denuded nativity.

“You have to understand, Holly has come to believe in the goodness of man since she came here. She thinks the thieves are trying to bring the feuding between the Baptists and the Presbyterians to an end. Somehow, she believes all of this has a larger purpose that will be revealed.”

Joe laughed. “Well, we can only hope she’s right. But I must tell you, there’s been a lot of bad blood between the two congregations over the years. It was one of the first things I heard about when I came to town.”

Jake eyed his fellow poker player. He looked more like he’d come straight from the farm than the pulpit, but both worked well for him at the card table. “I take it you don’t subscribe to that, though.”

Joe tilted his head and smiled. “You were in the congregation Sunday. You heard my sermon.”

“Point taken.”

“Holly seems to have found another fan,” Joe added as he dug his toe at the metal spike that had anchored his missing wise man to the ground.

“Who’s that?” Jake studied the blank spot where Melchior had stood between the other two wise men.

“Betty Gatewood.”

Jake’s head jerked back to Pastor Joe’s face. “I’m sorry. Did you just say
Betty Gatewood
was saying nice things about Holly?”

“Indeed. She was the one who discovered the theft this morning. When I mentioned I would contact you, she said she’d spoken with Holly yesterday, and how lucky someone with your volatile temperament was to have found a woman as sweet and kind as Holly Morgan.”

Jake blinked. Well it appeared even if she hadn’t softened toward him, Betty Gatewood had changed her mind about Holly. He grinned and snapped his cap back on his head.

“Well. That’s pleasant news indeed, Joe. I’ll have my men keep an eye out for the Three Wise Men, as well as Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. But to be honest, I’m beginning to think we might have to wait a while to see where Bethlehem turns out to be.”

The young minister arched a brow. “You thinking they’re all going to turn up there in a stable?”

Jake grinned. “Seems likely at this point. You want me to beef up patrols?”

Joe rubbed his cheek. “I suppose. My congregation will expect that, though I must say it would be nice to subscribe to Holly’s theory.”

Jake laughed. “This time of year is special for her. Noelle’s original due date was the twenty-fourth, which happens to be Holly’s birthday.”

“Holly and Noelle. Christmas angels.”

Jake smiled. “That’s how I think of them.”

Thursday evening, the Mountain Meadow Town Council was slated to accept Ernie Jones’s resignation and appoint a temporary chief until council members could complete official hiring procedures to fill the vacancy. Ernie attended along with Jake, and most of the small police force. Sam had also shown, and despite Jake’s protests, Holly was there with Tyler and Noelle.

The council read Ernie’s resignation letter and voted to accept it with a note added into the minutes thanking Chief Jones for his years of service. At that point the motion was made and seconded to appoint Lieutenant Jacob Allred as temporary police chief until such time as applicants could be reviewed and a new chief hired. When the mayor asked if there was any discussion on the motion, Betty Gatewood’s husband John cleared his throat.

“I’m not sure Lieutenant Allred is the right man for the job. We need someone in the position of chief who is an excellent police officer and can also relate to the public in a positive way.” Gatewood paused.

“Are you telling me,” Councilman Les Gardner interjected, “you believe the man who delivered Holly Morgan’s baby all by himself by candlelight in the middle of an ice storm is not capable of projecting a positive image for the town and the department?”

“He had two flashlights, too!” Tyler jumped up to add before Jake could haul him back into his seat. A nervous chuckle went through the crowd, which Jake now noticed had ballooned to standing room only. He spotted Evan and Jenny in the back and nodded at them.

“He threatened to punch my wife in the nose,” Gatewood exploded.

One of the church ladies who had accompanied her whispered into the silence following Gatewood’s outburst, “I thought Jake said if she were a
man
he would have punched her in the nose.”

“The fact remains,” Gardner spoke, “he did not punch Mrs. Gatewood in the nose.”

“He should have,” someone else in the crowd whispered. “I heard she said unkind things about Jake’s Holly.”

Every eye glared at Betty Gatewood, who blushed furiously. Jake rested his gaze on the painting of the courthouse hanging over the mayor’s head and struggled to keep a straight face. This was turning into a farce. Just when it seemed it could get no worse, the door burst open and the ministers from both the Baptist church and the Presbyterian church entered looking breathless and flushed.

“The thieves have struck again!” Pastor Joe exclaimed.

“They’ve taken Mary’s donkey,” the Presbyterian minister informed them.

“And Melchior’s camel,” Joe added.

The mayor banged his gavel as everyone in the chambers spoke at once. Jake rose to his feet and let out an earsplitting whistle that immediately silenced the room and made Noelle begin to squirm.

“Let’s table the matter of our temporary chief until our next meeting on the twenty-ninth,” the mayor said. “We can settle it then.”

The motion was quickly amended, seconded, and voted on unanimously. Jake leaned down and kissed Holly and Noelle.

“Sorry, honey. I’d better take a look. Evan and Jenny can run you home. Stay at their place until I get there. I don’t want you at the house alone at night.” Although he was beginning to believe they had nothing to fear from her ex-fiancé, Jake didn’t want to take chances. It simply wasn’t worth it.

“You have a job to do.” Holly smiled and her eyes twinkled. “I wonder where they’ll set their ecumenical nativity?”

Jake laughed. “Still stuck on the thieves with a grand-plan theory, huh?”

Holly grinned. “You’ll see. You just need to have faith.”

Getting everyone in Jenny’s BMW was a tight squeeze, especially with the infant carrier. After Evan strapped it in, he unfolded from the car, looked at Jenny archly and said, “Definitely an SUV. One of those big ones with the additional backseat so we won’t have to move all the child seats.”

Jenny blushed and Holly giggled as she inquired, “How many child seats are you planning on needing?”

Evan grinned at her. “Three or four. We can always do hand-me-downs for the younger ones.”

Jenny made choking noises and Tyler thumped her on the back. “You okay, Doc?”

She nodded, narrowing her eyes on Evan, “Very funny, Evan. It’s not nice to antagonize your doctor, especially right before she takes your stitches out.”

“Cool,” Tyler said. “Can I watch?”

* * * *

Spence Dilby sat in his rental car a few houses down. The cop returned home a few minutes later and headed for the house next to his. With nimble fingers, Spence twisted the cap on the hip flask he carried and swallowed another mouthful of scotch. Good. They were beginning to relax. The first couple of days, they had been cautious and watchful, especially the big cop. Jake somebody. Spence couldn’t recall his name offhand, but who cared? He did wonder why they seemed to be on the alert. Then he realized it must be Holly’s kid brother. Spence had followed him after school the second day, when he realized the kid didn’t come straight home, and discovered he hung out at the hick store on the square. Tyler must’ve seen him. That was the only reason they would have cause to be so careful.

By now, Spence was getting comfortable with their routine. Every morning, the cop and the tall guy next door ran a pretty predictable route. This morning was the first day a marked car hadn’t patrolled the street while they were out. A good sign they were letting their guard drop. If that continued, it might be the best time to snatch the kid. With the older kid working in the afternoons, Holly and the baby would be alone.

He’d already stocked the car with an infant seat, diapers, bottles, and formula. From what he’d seen the couple of times he’d snuck close to the house, Holly was breast-feeding. The whole idea revolted him. After all, who wanted to go to bed with a cow? But it should be easy enough to switch the kid over to a bottle.

Spence sat back. Yeah, this would work out great. He could take the baby. After all, she was a Dilby, and he and Seely would have a family without the inconvenience of pregnancy to interfere with getting sex from Seely whenever he wanted. Her not being able to have kids made her the perfect partner from his point of view. He could screw his eyeballs out whenever he wanted and not have to worry she’d get knocked up.

Just thinking about it made him hard. Spence started the car and drove to the truck stop by the interstate. He’d already found a couple of hookers who worked the parking lot there. They’d blow him for a twenty.

* * * *

Evan’s cell phone rang early Friday afternoon while he was handing a list to Wanda Sue of the six men he would have Sam and Jake arrest, along with his father. Jenny might not remember the actual events, but she did remember who she’d seen in the tape, and Evan certainly remembered.

“Run criminal checks on each of these guys, and see if you can start the ball rolling to access bank records for them from about twelve years ago. And, Wanda, it goes without saying. No matter whose names you see there, not a word to anyone.” She nodded and Evan punched his phone. “What’s wrong, Holly? Everything okay?”

“Yes. I just wanted to invite you and Jenny over to our house for dinner.”

“What did Jenny say?”

“She was in with a patient so I haven’t been able to reach her.”

“I’m sure she’d be delighted,” Evan said smoothly. “What time do you want us to come over?”

“Six would be good. I have a roast cooking.”

“Mmm. With potatoes and carrots?”

“Of course.”

“We’ll be there. How’s my very best surrogate niece?”

“Growing like a weed, Evan. Thanks for asking.”

“Do I get to play with her when we come over?”

“Of course.”

“You know, darling, next to Jenny, you are the woman of my dreams.”

Holly laughed. “Sorry, big guy. I am very taken with a certain dark-haired cop.”

He replaced the handset to find Wanda Sue staring at him. “What?” he barked.

“Are you on happy drugs?”

“Of course not.”

Wanda Sue just nodded and went back to work.

* * * *