THE FROWN LEANN shot him didn’t deter him. Didn’t matter that she was police and he was now a civilian, his instincts to serve and protect had kicked in, just like hers.
It appeared she didn’t agree. Leann came alongside him and said, “I checked the back. No sign of anyone. If there were tire tracks, I just drove over them.”
The thought of her out there alone with no backup made him clench his teeth. Flashbacks of his days in the service flooded his mind... It would take just one shot from someone hidden in the woods.
He couldn’t protect everyone.
Not even himself.
But, she was a good cop, he reminded himself as she gave him another dagger-like glare and marched out to her cruiser. A moment later, she escorted Russell into the cabin.
Gary’s breathing didn’t return to normal right away. That Russell had stayed put in the back of her cruiser while they came in told Gary just how vulnerable the old man felt. And, when Russell walked no more than three steps into the room before stopping, looking as if he didn’t know whether to move right or left, forward or backward.
“Anything missing?”
Gary followed Russell’s gaze as it went from the coffee table, strewn with magazines, to the floor, where shoes were atop a sheepskin rug and firewood leaned against the wall. The walls had framed pencil portraits and landscapes as well as the large window, its view of the forest breathtaking.
“Maybe.” Russell slowly shuffled to the fireplace, nudged a lose brick and stared at the open area. Gary and Leann watched him, unmoving, until he sank into his recliner. “About a hundred dollars,” he whispered.
Gary whistled.
Leann frowned and said, “Did Jace know you hid money there?”
“Yes.”
“Anyone else?”
“My daughter, my granddaughter, Lydia, and now you two.”
“Then, it’s probably fair to assume that Jace has returned,” Gary said.
Leann opened her mouth, probably to argue, but Russell wasn’t finished. “It wasn’t Jace. He wouldn’t steal from me. Never has, never will. He sends me money, not that I need it. I put it in a savings account to go back to him someday.”
Gary helped Russell up and then led him to the couch. Leann, all business, looked at Russell’s shoes and then headed to the fireplace, studying something at the edge of the logs. Abruptly, she headed out to the cruiser and soon returned with a black bag. Silently Gary and Russell watched her take photos of the hole in the fireplace as well as of the one clear footprint in the ash. She then took a sheet of rubber from the bag and got busy lifting the print.
“It’s definitely a man’s shoe,” Leann added. “I probably should have asked if anybody male has been by to visit you and gone near the fireplace.”
“Just me and Gary,” Russell said. “And, yes, he’s been near the fireplace. No way he could have known about the brick, though. I didn’t tell him.”
“I’ll give you my shoes if you want,” Gary offered.
Leann looked from the print she was lifting to the foot Gary was lifting. “You’re about a thirteen?”
“Spot on.”
“This is more a ten, on the small side, and a tennis shoe. You wear tennis shoes?”
“I own a pair. We can drive back to my place and I’ll dig them out so you can eliminate me. I’ve only worn the boots since I started working on the cabin.”
“You know what size shoe Jace wore?” Leann asked Russell.
“Same as me. Size eleven.”
“If Jace is in town, we’ll find him and sort this all out,” she promised. She looked ready to say more but her phone sounded.
“Not if you’re standing in my cabin taking pictures and playing in the dirt,” Russell grumped. “Besides, if it were Jace who needed the money, he’d have asked, not stolen. So, go ahead and take the prints. They’ll just prove my grandson innocent.”
Gary checked his watch. Only ten o’clock. He admired her focus. As far as he could tell, she’d had a pretty full day already with Peeve, the girl, Jace and now this.
Russell’s fingers twined and untwined. His face was a shade of red Gary hadn’t seen before.
“You all right?”
“No,” Russell said. “I’m mad. Somebody broke into my house, took my money, and it ain’t right.”
“You have money anywhere else? Because if you do, it might be time to take it to the bank.”
Gary expected Russell to say, “I don’t trust banks” or “I know what I’m doing.” Instead Russell said, “Most of it is in the bank. I just keep a bit here.”
Gary let out his breath.
Then, Russell added, “and there.”
“Presumably Jace knows all the other theres?” Gary asked.
Russell shrugged. Leann finally got off the phone. “I picked up a young girl, possibly a runaway, earlier. We identified her as Trudy Gilmore. She’s now in the hospital, pretty sick. There doesn’t seem to be a connection between her and Jace Blackgoat.”
“Why would there be?” Russell asked.
Going to her bag, Leann pulled out the tablet she’d used to take pictures and started asking Russell questions.
“Russell, do you have any idea where Jace is right now?”
“He’s in Nebraska driving a mail truck.”
“Can you call him, please? So we can eliminate him as a possible suspect.”
Russell pulled out his phone, tapped a button and waited. He had to leave Jace a message.
“Does he call you back?” she asked.
“Yes, but sometimes it takes him a day or two. He sleeps days and drives nights.”
Leann and Gary exchanged looks.
“Why do you think Jace left Sarasota Falls and never returned?” Leann probed.
“I’ve asked him a million times, and he won’t answer. It’s like he’s scared of someone. Which makes no sense,” Russell blustered. “Who is there to be scared of?”
“Why don’t you come back to my place?” Gary suggested.
“No, I want to stick around here. If Jace is in the area and looking for me, I want to be home when he shows up.”
“Russell,” Leann said gently, “just to be safe. Please come to Gary’s. You don’t know—”
“Jace would never steal from me or hurt me.”
“You don’t know that,” Gary said.
“I do know that.” Russell escorted them to the door. “I half raised that boy.”
Gary wished he could believe it. Wished that he hadn’t seen evil so profound that he knew there were people with not one shred of good in them. For Russell’s sake, he hoped the old man was right.
Leann didn’t herd as well as Gary. She pivoted and moved next to the wall to stare at a group of pencil drawings. She pointed to a young man and woman standing in front of a tree. “I recognize Jace, but I don’t remember his sister so much?”
“Jace was about seventeen in that one. Lydia’s a year older. She’d just graduated and gone off to college.”
Russell prodded them out the door. Gary watched Leann leave. She clearly wanted to stay longer if her dragging feet and constant looks were any indication.
He glanced back at Russell’s cabin, but the old man had closed the door.
Ignoring his instincts, Gary got in his truck and drove home. In truth, he didn’t think Russell was in any true danger. Jace, it seemed, had gotten in a bar fight. Heck, Gary’d had his share of those when he was younger. Stupider. Stealing cookies, while a crime, wasn’t huge. Stealing money from his grandfather. Now that didn’t make a whole lot of sense, especially since Russell would had both fed and given Jace money had he asked.
Gary couldn’t get a handle on the whys and what fors. He mulled the situation over for a while. He played catch with the dogs for a half hour and then went to work on the cabin, managing to tighten every hinge before he couldn’t take it anymore. He was heading for his truck to check on Russell when his phone pinged.
Leann said, “Anything happening?”
“I left soon after you did,” Gary responded. “I did note one other thing, though, while we were inside.”
“What?”
“Those drawings on the wall. They’re signed. Most are by Angela Blackgoat, but two are by Jace.”
“Interesting, but not sure if they figure into anything.”
“I thought I’d mention it. I’m heading up there now.”
“Good. I’ve called twice, no answer.”
“Any news on Jace?” Gary asked.
“No, but call me after you check on Russell.”
She hung up before he could bark back a “Yes, ma’am.” He’d gotten used to taking orders over the years. He rather liked taking them from her.
A few minutes later, Gary knocked on Russell’s front door.
Russell didn’t answer, and Gary didn’t blame him. No one could wound as deeply as someone you loved. And, it had been there in Russell’s eyes. No matter if an unknown situation had sent Jace running years ago, Russell still cared.
Still worried.
Still hoped.
Scenarios that no longer lingered when it came to Gary and his father. The difference being that Russell and Jace were still in contact, even if they didn’t see each other often.
“I’m still out here!” Gary called. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Finally, he heard footsteps and the door opened a crack. Russell looked a decade older. “I’m fine. You don’t have to check up on me.”
“I got the feeling that if I didn’t check up on you, Leann would drive out here again. I thought I’d save her the trip.”
“Fool woman.”
Gary could tell Russell didn’t mean it. “She’s worried about you.”
“And I’m worried about Jace. I’ve been sitting here thinking about the boy. I’ve tried and tried to get him to tell me what happened right before his graduation.” Russell’s face grew even more creased, and tears filled his eyes.
“You don’t have a single idea?” Gary asked.
“Only thing out of the ordinary was the visit from Leann’s brother Clark. He’d never been here before that I know of. But, he was polite and left when I said Jace wasn’t home.”
“What did her brother want?”
“I don’t know. He just asked me if Jace was here.”
“You need to tell Leann.”
“I never really thought much of it. Something funny, though,” Russell said. “Wasn’t but a few weeks later, Clark left, and he’s not ever returned either.”