How I convinced Santiago that Mika and I would be completely safe on a little expedition up the hollow to Farrow’s house, I’m not sure, especially given how Landon had asked no one to come visit. But when I told my boyfriend I felt like I needed to talk to Landon further and why, he didn’t try too hard to stop me.
He did insist, however, that I not go alone, that I keep an open line with Savannah the entire time, and that she wait at the gas station at the bottom of the mountain just in case we needed her. I didn’t mind any of these options because, despite the previous success Mika and I had in sleuthing, we both knew how quickly a situation could go sideways.
When I said that to Santiago, he laughed. “I think you just like to use the expression go sideways.” He wasn’t wrong.
So Santiago and Sawyer headed toward the playground in the county park as soon as Mika and Savannah arrived at my house. The three of us caravanned in two cars over the mountain and down to the hollow opening, and when Savannah asked us to wait just a minute before going up so that she could get a coffee and a sweet roll inside the new market at the bottom of the mountain, Mika and I decided Savannah was brilliant and followed her in.
This place was what many rural gas stations had become now, convenience stores that sold food, basic groceries, camping supplies, and fuel. Thus, it wasn’t surprising to find the store and the few tables by the deli counter occupied.
What was surprising was that Landon Farrow was sitting at one of those tables and trying to avoid eye contact with me. I was a bit flustered when I saw him, but I decided to go on about my business while also frantically texting Mika and Savannah to let them know he was here without anyone hearing me tell them.
Apparently, Landon had told the older man he was with who I was, too, because when I turned back toward the store from the counter, the man was standing off to the side and waiting for me. “Ms. Sutton,” he said.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mika and Savannah head to the only open table in the space and then quietly shift their chairs so they could both see me. “Yes?” I answered with as big a smile as I could muster, careful to keep my eyes from drifting toward Landon who was still seated a few feet behind him.
“I’m Luke Farrow,” the man said as he extended a hand. “I understand you found my father’s body.”
I swallowed hard and pushed all thoughts of solving a murder – two murders, really – out of my mind and focused, instead, on a vision of this man as a teenage boy whose father had been killed. “I did,” I said softly. “We did, actually.” I gestured generally toward Mika behind him. “I’m so sorry for whatever pain that discovery might have caused you.” I meant what I said. I couldn’t imagine in any way what that must have felt like for him.
“Thank you,” he said. “Landon here tells me that you have a little boy.”
I smiled reflexively. “I do. He’s three and the most amazing person in the whole world.”
Luke smiled. “That’s exactly how parents are supposed to feel about their children.” He looked back at Landon. “Care to join us?”
A quick glance at my friends confirmed that they were still close by, and I could see Savannah on the phone, probably with Santiago. I was as safe as I was going to get, and probably far safer than I would have been at the Farrow house. “Sure,” I said, “as long as you won’t be offended if I eat this sweet roll before it gets cold.”
“I’d be offended if you didn’t,” Luke said and then held out his elbow so I could take his arm for the five short steps to the table. I wasn’t sure if he was being gentlemanly or if he needed my help to steady him as he walked, but either way, we supported each other as we approached the table where Landon had added another chair.
He still wasn’t meeting my eyes, but he did smile toward the table when I sat down. “Paisley,” he said.
“Landon, it’s good to see you again and to meet your grandfather.” I smiled over at the old man, who still looked quite nervous but was smiling.
“I’m sorry about yesterday. I lost my temper.” He looked up and met my gaze. “I behaved poorly.”
“Apology accepted,” I said as I noted the slight creases around his eyes and the way his blonde hair was thinning just a little. He looked to be about my age, maybe a little younger, and I had to keep myself from trying to do genealogical math while we talked. “What had you so upset, though, if I may ask?”
The two men looked at each other, and then, Luke turned back to me. “Landon was simply trying to protect the memory of his great-grandmother.”
I moved my eyes from Luke to Landon in confusion. “Your great-grandmother? Eleanor? I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
Luke sighed. “My mother killed my father, Ms. Sutton.”
I puffed up my cheeks as I tried to get my footing at that revelation. I didn’t quite know what to say, so I simply nodded.
“He hit her all the time, hit me, too. She was defending herself.” Luke said as he looked at his hands.
My mind was spinning with all the implications this revelation had for the past few days, but I forced myself to stay focused on this moment. “Do you want to tell me what happened?” I flicked my eyes from Luke to Landon, who gave me a small nod.
“First,” Luke said as he put a grizzled hand on mine, “let me apologize to you and the sheriff for not sharing this information earlier. I’ve been keeping this secret for eight decades, and once something has been sealed up tight for that long, it’s hard to let it out. That’s not an excuse, but simply the truth.”
I nodded. I had no idea what it was to need to protect my mother, especially in that day and age, from a murder charge that was actually a case of self-defense, and I certainly wasn’t going to judge Eleanor Farrow now, a lifetime later. “Of course. It would help, I think, if I knew the story. Then, either you can tell the sheriff or I can, but he’ll want to talk to you, I’m sure.”
“We were on our way there when you came in,” Landon said, “but it seemed like maybe we were supposed to tell you first, since you were here and all.”
I smiled. “I was actually on my way to your house to talk to you about yesterday.” I was still very curious about why Landon had backed off so quickly when Sawyer was upset, but I thought maybe I could start to see the beginning of why. “But I’m glad we met here. I didn’t want you to feel ambushed.”
Luke laughed. “Never you worry about that, Ms. Sutton. It’s the neighbors further up the hollow that have the ‘shoot on sight’ signs.”
I’d seen those signs, and despite Luke’s light tone, he and I both knew his neighbors would shoot first and ask questions later if they felt it necessary. “That is much appreciated.”
“It was bad that night, really bad,” Luke began without further prompting. “Daddy had been drinking and railing about how the government was trying to destroy him and his family by sending him away. He kept talking about how the Confederates and the Union soldiers had done the same thing to his grandfather, and they’d lost all of the farm but the land we lived on.” Luke sighed. “He was so angry.”
I nodded and thought about all the stories I’d read of Confederate soldiers who were conscripted into a war they didn’t want to fight, about how they didn’t care about the “Southern Cause” because they had never been wealthy enough to enslave anyone. I had always thought that ironic, given how many of the people who proudly sported Confederate flags nowadays wouldn’t have been getting any of the “benefits” of slavery back then anyway. It was a weird thing.
“So he just kept dodging. Refusing to show up to draft days. Missing his appointments for his physical over and over again. And when the police came, he’d make Mama lie for him and say he was in town, when really he was just up in the hayloft hiding.” Luke shook his head.
“I’m not a supporter of most wars myself. Saw what that kind of battle can do to a person, but Daddy was putting all of us into trouble. Add to that his drinking and his fists. . . and well, life was right miserable about then.”
“Sounds awful,” I said with conviction, because it did. I glanced over at Landon, who had both hands wrapped around his coffee mug and was staring into it like it was a wishing well. “Do you want to tell me about the day he died?”
Landon looked up at his grandfather, and I could see the anxiety in his eyes. I quickly added, “You don’t have to, not at all. Sheriff Shifflett needs to know far more than I do if it’s too painful to share twice or if you’d rather not talk with me about it. I completely understand.”
Luke reached over and took his grandson’s hand and then he looked at me. “I want you to know, so that you understand why Landon came to see you yesterday.” He sighed. “And because I understand your father and his friends have made the ultimate choice to protect my mother.”
I swallowed hard as tears burned my eyes. I had been trying not to think about Dad, trying not to put all this together, but now, there it was. My dad’s lack of memory – intentional or not – had been about keeping someone safe, someone who didn’t deserve to be charged with murder or even to have her name maligned after the fact. And Homer had been doing the same without knowing it. But both Ace and Melvin were willing to risk their freedom to protect this woman.
They were willing to risk their freedom . I couldn’t think about it too much, though, or I’d be sobbing into my sweet roll. So I took a bite instead and just nodded.
“My father was very angry that night, still seething from some encounter at the bar a few days before, and Mom was tired. That’s all I can think because if she wasn’t tired, she would have realized Dad was on edge. Instead, she asked him to help her lift the couch so she could sweep under it.” Luke’s face got a far-off look, and I saw his hands clench the table.
Landon sighed just as I groaned.
“He went after her with the knife, claimed she didn’t realize how hard he worked, that it was her job to keep the house clean, not his, and what did she do all day, anyway?” Luke’s voice was kind of monotone.
I tried to imagine the scene – a small farmstead with a garden and probably chickens, maybe a cow. A child to take care of, meals to cook, and a violent husband. Eleanor’s days must have been frantic. But I’d heard other women talk about how their husbands said something similar, as if being at home didn’t require the same kind of effort or work that a job elsewhere did.
“Fortunately, Dad had been drinking,” Luke continued, “and he stumbled. Mom grabbed the knife when he dropped it, and when he lunged at her, she held it out.” Luke looked at Landon. “She wasn’t angry. She wasn’t even scared, I don’t think. She was just so very tired.”
A silence settled around us for a few moments, and I sat with the scene. A woman simply defending herself, almost passively so, but then the ramifications for that simple act becoming huge if something wasn’t done. I was anxious just thinking about it.
“I called one of the men from church, told him what had happened, and he walked me through what I needed to do,” Luke said. “They’d always been trying to help Mom and me out, but Dad was so prideful. That night, though, I needed him.”
I thought I knew where the story went from here. “And the next day they came and helped you get rid of the body?”
Luke met my eyes. “Exactly. So you see, they had nothing to do with it. If anything, I should be charged.”
I shook my head. “You were a child. Santiago will sort this out, and you’re doing the right thing to talk to him.” I leaned forward. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”
Landon stood up. “So when your son got upset yesterday . . .” He didn’t finish.
“I completely get it, and I completely get you wanting to protect your family,” I said as I stood up beside him. “Maybe next time, though, just try talking to me instead of threatening me, okay?”
Landon sighed. “I’m sorry.”
I nodded and helped Luke to his feet. “Would you like me to let Santiago know you’re on your way? He’s not at the office, but he can meet you there.”
“That would be great, and if it’s not too much to ask,” Landon said, “I’d love to meet your son sometime. Apologize to him for getting him upset, even indirectly.”
“No apology is needed, but he’ll be with the sheriff. Maybe we can all go that way, and then you can meet him.” I wasn’t sure how Sawyer would react to seeing Landon again, but I knew that it was better for him to confront his fear in a safe way than to randomly see Landon out and about and not really know what to do. We lived in a small place, after all.
The men got into Landon’s car, and Savannah, Mika, and I made our way back to town, too, with Savannah on speaker so I could fill her and Mika in on what had happened while we drove. “I’m so angry,” I said after I told them about Leo Farrow’s death. “He terrorized his wife and child, and his abuse has lingered in this family for generations.”
Mika sighed. “And we brought it all out into the light.”
“But light is what heals. Always. Secrets never heal.” Savannah’s voice was firm and clear, and I knew she was right.
When we arrived at the station, Santiago and Sawyer were out front walking across the planters by the sidewalk like they were balance beams. Santiago had headed right over as soon as I’d texted him, and while I knew that he had a lot more on his mind than entertaining my son, I appreciated that he was keeping Saw busy until I got there. I also admired his balancing ability. It was almost as impressive as Sawyer’s.
When the Farrows walked over, Sawyer hid behind my legs but smiled. Landon bent down and said, “Sawyer, I owe your mommy an apology for getting loud with her before, and I wanted to say I’m sorry to you, too. I’m so sorry I scared you.”
Sawyer, with the resilience of a child, reached up, took my hand, and said, clear as day, “It’s okay,” and went right back to walking the wall behind us.
Santiago stepped down and walked with the Farrows inside, leaving the rest of us to stand on the sidewalk and wonder what to do. Fortunately, Sawyer, when around people he knew, was never short of words or ideas, so he babbled on a bit about how he climbed the firefighter’s pole at the playground and then said he was hungry for tacos.
“Ooh, there’s a new food truck here, heard it’s a spinoff of one over on the shore in Maryland. Their mole is supposed to be amazing,” Savannah said. “My treat.”
Sawyer jumped up and down and then took Savannah’s hand as they walked up and around the corner toward the courthouse, where a black truck with the words “Lu Two” on the side was parked. If the scents coming from the vent at the top of the truck were any indication, these were going to be some amazing tacos.
And they were. So amazing, in fact, that Sawyer ate two chicken tacos himself, which, for the boy who regularly hates everything from lollipops to chicken nuggets, was an amazing feat. I ate three myself, so I also know of which I speak.
We had scarfed down our food at the picnic table tucked beside the police station, and now, we were a bit aimless again, not sure whether to head out or wait until Santiago came to tell us what was next for Luke Farrow and for my dad and his friends. I was just about to suggest that we head to Mika’s shop so that Savannah could get back to work when Dad walked over.
“Santiago asked me to come down,” he said when I stood up in surprise. “Asked us all to come down.”
I looked over Dad’s shoulder and saw Ace, Melvin, and Homer walking toward us. “Oh, okay. Did he tell you why?” I didn’t want to give anything away if Santiago had some plan for how the conversation would go with the men.
“Said Luke and Landon are inside, that Luke told them about Eleanor, and he just needed our corroborating statements so that this could all be put to bed.” Dad smiled, but I could tell his heart wasn’t in it. This whole situation had put a strain on him, and I knew that it would take a while for him to recover fully. Stress gets harder to bear as we age – at least it seemed so for me.
“Well, that’s good,” I said. “Want some moral support?”
“I’d love that,” Dad said as he scooped Sawyer up into a big bear hug. “Keep me company, Saw-guy?”
“Sure . . . but first, I need another taco,” Sawyer said as he squirmed out of Dad’s arms and sprinted up the street toward the taco truck.
Dad started after him, but I put an arm on Dad’s and took off after my kid. Neither of us was going to catch the boy, but I had a better chance than Dad at this point. Sawyer turned the corner toward the courthouse, and just as he did, a car jumped up onto the sidewalk and gunned its engine.
Something supernatural kicked in, and I leaped forward just in time to push Sawyer into a doorway alcove. I pressed him against the door and put my body in front of him. But I didn’t feel an impact or even a breeze. When I looked out, the car was speeding up the block with Savannah staring after it, her phone to her mouth. Someone had tried to kill my son.
Fortunately, Sawyer was oblivious to the intention behind the car and thought someone had just been “tracted” by their phone or something, but I had seen how the car’s wheels had veered up and onto that curb just in front of where Sawyer was running. Whoever had been driving that car had aimed for my little boy, and now, I was gunning for them.
As Sawyer ate another taco and I tried to keep mine in my stomach, Santiago rushed over to where we were sitting on the grass, far back from the road, in front of the station. “Savannah got the plate. Are you two okay?” He was a bit breathless, but I could tell he was controlling his response so as not to scare Sawyer.
I nodded. “We’re fine. Sawyer is, apparently, great,” I said as I stared at him eating the last bite of his third taco.
“And you?” Santiago whispered as he helped me up from the grass.
“I may need to get a heart rate monitor if this kind of thing keeps happening, but yeah, I’m okay,” I said as I buried my face in his neck for a second. “They were aiming for Sawyer, Santi.” I choked back a sob.
“I know. We’re going to get them, Pais.” He pulled away from me and looked into my face. “But for now, let’s get you inside.” He turned toward Sawyer. “Savannah has set up an obstacle course through the building, Saw. Think you’re up to the challenge?”
As Sawyer stood and prepared to bolt toward the building, Santi grabbed him around the waist and threw him over his shoulder. “Oh no you don’t. The first obstacle is for you to manage to hold on while I run you like a sack of potatoes.”
The two of them took off toward the building, and only then did I realize that Mika, my dad, Ace, Homer, and Melvin were standing nearby. “Care for an entourage?” Mika asked as she slipped her arm around my waist.
I leaned against her and said, “I couldn’t imagine a better gaggle of groupies than you guys.” I smiled, and the men all nodded and followed us into the building.