Savannah closed her eyes and allowed the sun streaming through the windshield to wash over her lovely face. She stayed in this position of repose until Cooper exited off I-95 and headed for the country roads of Hanover County. Traffic dwindled and the foliage bordering the roads grew thick and verdant.
"Eliza says there's been no word of Jed at all." Savannah finally broke the silence. "Poor thing. I hope she's doing all right. She must have imagined all kinds of awful scenarios by this point. And the police have had no luck tracking Jed down."
"It must be taking every ounce of strength she's got to hold herself together," Cooper replied. As she steered Cherry-O down the Weekses' gravel drive, she immediately noticed that someone had tidied up the property.
"The grass has been trimmed," she informed Savannah. "And those planters out front have been repotted and filled with daylilies and purple verbena." She parked the car and turned off the engine. "Walk's been swept and it looks like the windows have been washed. Eliza's sister has certainly been busy."
Placing Savannah's hand on her forearm, Cooper led her friend up the walk. A woman with liberal curves, the same pale hair as Eliza, and a generous smile opened the front door.
"I'm Ellie, Eliza's sister." She hugged them both. "It is so nice of y'all to visit," she said with the accent of one who has lived her entire life in the Deep South. "Eliza's in a real tizzy today, so I'm hopin' y'all can distract her. She keeps declarin' that someone's been sneakin' things outta the house, and this Alabama gal can't talk her out of believin' her wild notions."
Eliza was ensconced on her favorite sofa, the tele vision turned to HGTV. A home make over show played on the screen while Eliza flipped listlessly through a
Good Housekeeping
magazine.
"I heard that, Ellie." Eliza pouted and turned to her visitors in appeal. "Some of Jed's clothes are missing from his closet. And there's food gone from the pantry and a whole package of toilet paper from the bathroom in the hall!"
"I keep tellin' her that they must've been taken...before," Ellie argued gently. "We've had lots of things to distract us lately, what with gettin' the house and the yard in order. And we've been cookin' like two tornadoes in the kitchen, so it's no wonder she's gettin' mixed up."
Eliza gave her sister a fond look. "It's Ellie that's been workin' like a slave. I just point to where the ingredients are and she comes up with dishes that are near divine." She crossed her arms over her chest. "But I know what I know. Things are disappearing."
Cooper led Savannah to a chair and seated herself opposite Eliza. "Have you both been out of the house recently?"
Eliza flushed. "Ellie, bless her heart and her powerful arms, has driven me to Wal-Mart twice over the last week. Got me right up to the front door and into one of those automatic carts, just like Jed used to do." Her lip trembled and she began to weep soundlessly.
"Hush, now," Ellie stroked her sister's hair and Cooper's heart swelled at the sight of such tenderness. She thought of Ashley and was ashamed that she couldn't remember the last time she had made an attempt to spend time alone with her sister. Ashley was constantly trying to help her; albeit her aid was often in the form of beauty advice. Perhaps it was the only way she knew how to reach out. Cooper resolved to call Ashley and plan a girl's night as soon as she got back home. Until then, she was determined to discover the answer to Eliza's riddle.
"Does your property border on other houses?" she asked Eliza.
Eliza nodded. "We've got ten acres and the closest house is miles away back in the woods. It's a big farm. They'll be startin' up their strawberry pickin' days before long."
"There are no buildings around here?" Cooper thought of all the dilapidated barns and old outbuildings that were scattered throughout every part of the Virginia countryside. She had seen several such structures on the roads that led them to Eliza's house. "Not even a tree house?" she partially joked.
Ellie sat down next to her sister and took Eliza's hand.
"You thinkin' there's someone out there?" Her eyes grew wide.
Eliza jerked, her flesh shifting as she moved. She leaned toward Cooper. "There's a tobacco-drying shed on the far side of our property. It used to belong to the farm, back when their family owned all the land round here. Lord, I've never set eyes on the thing, but Jed told me about it. Said it's right near the blind curve in the road you take to get to the farm. Jed said you could see it clear as day from the road in wintertime. He always thought it made a pretty picture with the snow on its roof and the icicles drippin' off it."
Cooper grew excited. "Do you have any binoculars? Maybe I can see it from the road."
Eliza pointed to a cabinet across the room. "Ellie? Would you, dear?"
Ellie jumped up and sifted through all three drawers. "There's nothin' here."
"Then that's another thing gone." Eliza shivered. "Do you think someone's watching us? Using the binoculars?" Her voice was tiny and frightened.
"I'm going to check out that shed," Cooper said, standing. "If there's no one there, then its less likely someone's been spying on you."
Savannah frowned. "By yourself? Is that a good idea?"
"I'll go with her," Ellie offered. "I'll carry my cell phone and if she doesn't come out of the woods in fifteen minutes, I'll holler for Johnny Law quick as you can blink."
Eliza twisted her hands with worry. "Oh, be careful, you two."
Cooper turned right from the end of the Weekses' gravel drive. Cherry-O bounced so roughly on the uneven dirt road as they headed west on Happy Hanover Farm Road that Cooper felt as though her teeth were in danger of becoming separated from her gums.
"Have you been to the farm before?" Cooper inquired of Ellie, her voice wobbly as they rounded a particularly jarring bend.
Ellie grinned and steadied herself against the dashboard. "If you're worried 'bout missin' that blind curve, don't be. You practically gotta come to a full stop to get around it."
After a few more minutes of jostling, they followed a gentle curve and immediately afterward, the road turned so sharply to the left that all Cooper could see were tree trunks. She slowed down dramatically and whistled. "Wow. You could really get clobbered here."
"Funny enough." Ellie shrugged. "They bus school kids out here all the time for pumpkin and strawberry pickin' and hay rides. Nobody's ever been hurt. I don't how a bus driver could finagle one of those big school buses over this road, but they do. Jed says the kids love being bounced about like pinballs. The ride to the farm is practically like bein' on a roller coaster to them." She grasped her generous bosom. "But it makes me wish I was wearin' two bras!"
Laughing, Cooper looked for a break in the woods once she maneuvered around the curve and pulled Cherry-O gently off to the side. She left the engine running and glanced at her watch. "Fifteen minutes?" she confirmed with Ellie, swallowing hard. Trying to appear as brave as possible, she waved and then turned toward the woods.
She walked straight in for a few moments and then looked back over her shoulder. She could see the red glint of her beloved truck through a break in the trees. Casting her eyes left and right, Cooper kept walking.
Only a minute or two passed by the time she spied the old tobacco-drying shed. She hesitated, bending her fingers one by one and wondering if there really was someone inside. If there was a person in there, were they a killer? She imagined a dark shape huddled within the shed, holding a gleaming chopping knife and waiting? very, very patiently for her to become the next victim.
Shoving such thoughts aside, Cooper plodded forward through a thick blanket of leaves. She stepped on sticks and pine cones as she progressed and if someone was indeed hiding within the shed, that person would certainly be aware that an intruder was approaching.
Pausing once more, Cooper stooped to retrieve a heavy stick. She snapped off the end so that it formed a point and held her makeshift spear in her right hand, poised to strike, and pressed her body against the back of the shed. Her heart was thundering in her chest, making it difficult to listen for sounds coming from inside the building.
Cooper took her time examining the condition of the old structure from the outside, noting that new pieces of plywood had been nailed over the larger holes in the weathered brown boards. Steeling herself, she eased back the crooked door to the shed and peered inside. Without entering, she was able to see a sleeping bag, a Coleman camping stove, two kerosene lanterns, and a group of Hefty bags stuffed with what appeared to be clothes, unopened food packages, and garbage. Next to the sleeping bag, a milk crate, which served as a nightstand, held a stack of paperbacks. Cooper thought that the book titles might reveal something about the shed's occupant, but she was too afraid to set foot inside the lair of the person who had blatantly pilfered items from Eliza's house.
Behind her, a twig snapped and Cooper drew in a sharp breath. She raised her pointed stick and prepared to swivel around and meet her attacker face-on, but before she had a chance to flex a single muscle, the metal mouth of a gun barrel was pressed harshly into the small of her back.
"Don't move," a man's voice growled.
Wincing, Cooper began to pray that her fifteen minutes were up.
16
He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
John 12:6 (NIV)
Cooper's assailant tried to get a glimpse of her face without removing the gun barrel from the middle of her back. She could sense him angling his body forward in order to look at her and she tried not to grimace at the pungent smell emanating from his body.
"Why don't you tell me why you're trespassing on private property," the man demanded.
Could this be Jed? Feeling a glimmer of hope, Cooper spoke as calmly as she could. "Is this your property...sir?" Her voice trembled as every fiber of her being focused on the feel of the metal pressed against her thin shirt. She could sense the cold hardness of the weapon--its powerful and indifferent ability to end her life within a matter of seconds. She closed her eyes and prayed desperately as she waited for the gunman to answer her question, knock her out with a blow to head, or squeeze the trigger. She braced herself, too fearful of the possibility of pain to do anything else.
The force of the gun barrel eased a fraction. "I'm asking the questions," the man grumbled, but the malice in his tone had lessened. "Who are you and what's your business in these woods?"
Cooper swallowed, "I'm a friend of Eliza's," she answered. "A recent friend, but I suspect you know that already."
The man uttered an unintelligible sound and slung the gun over his shoulder. Cooper cautiously turned around and faced him. She saw a man in his mid-sixties, with unruly gray hair and a wild beard, both peppered with bits of leaves. His blue eyes were puffy and looked bruised from lack of sleep and his frame was rather gaunt. He had the ripe odor of someone who was no longer maintaining a regular hygiene routine. Cooper noted his long and ragged fingernails, the assortment of stains on his jeans, and the sweat marks on his shirt.
He narrowed his eyes and appraised her in turn. "What do you mean by that remark?"
"You've been watching Eliza," Cooper said very gently, concerned about the man's state of mental health. If she voiced her suspicions, would she be in greater danger than before?
As she tried to decide how to explain her statement, the man shifted the gun from his shoulder into his hands and she quickly held out her own in supplication.
"It's okay!" she said quickly, stepping back a pace. "I know you're just looking out for her. I'm concerned about her safety too...and for yours." She let her hands fall slowly to her side. "You're Jed Weeks, aren't you?"
The man's shoulders sagged. He let the gun slip from his fingers and fall softly onto the bed of leaves, but immediately, he squatted down and picked it up again, his face filled with distrust.
"I go to Hope Street, Mr. Weeks," Cooper hastily assured the frazzled man. "Savannah Knapp sent us to check in on Eliza. I was here once before, a week or so after you first disappeared. At that time, your wife thought you were having an affair." She spoke softly, as though coaxing a skittish animal to take food from her hand. "Now she's concerned about your safety, Mr. Weeks. More than concerned. She's terribly upset."
Jed looked stricken. He held out his dirt-encrusted hands and touched the gold wedding band on his ring finger.
"I guess you never left for that fishing trip at all," Cooper continued. "This is all tied to the murder of Brooke Hughes, isn't it?"
Jed nodded. He removed two shells from the shotgun and met Cooper's stare. "Yes," he whispered, as though it was an effort to form words. He spoke again, his voice slowly gaining strength. "Brooke hired me to investigate a case of fraud against her own company. My findings were confidential and meant for her eyes alone. When I heard she'd been killed, I knew it was because of what I'd discovered."
His eyes darted around the woods. "I knew the murderer would come after me next. Only Brooke and I knew the truth, so I wanted to get away from Eliza so she'd be safe." His eyes darted around the woods. "I figured it was only a matter of time before the killer came to the house. I figured I could stop them and that it would be best if Eliza genuinely believed I had run off."
"You've been hiding in these woods this whole time?" Cooper asked in astonishment. Then, without waiting for his reply, she glanced at her watch. "Shoot!" She glanced at the shotgun, berating herself for her choice of words. "Mr. Weeks! Please! We've got to get back to my truck before Ellie calls the police! She was going to call if I didn't return in fifteen minutes. Come on!"
