One Chance: A Thrilling Christian Fiction Mystery Romance (7 page)

"Okay, Doug," she said, turning away from the phone. "Where were we?"

Doug's head hung back limply on the back of the couch. He snored softly.

Penelope shook her head. Of course. Well, whatever information Doug had would wait until tomorrow, she supposed. Her friend had earned some sleep. If Penelope's past few days had been rough, Doug's had been ten times worse. Penelope wasn't the one accused of trying to run down a friend with a very distinctive truck.

But, why? How did any of this make any sense? Where was the motive? It wasn't simply a matter of intoxication. Everything she'd learned so far told her that Doug probably wasn't drunk before he got to The Last Chance Tavern, where Penelope had found him after the attack. He hadn't drank enough. Not for an accomplished drunk like Doug. It took him a lot to get to the point where the alcohol clouded his memory.

She settled Doug on the couch with his head on one arm and his feet resting up on the other. She even took Doug's shoes off. Her friend slept through it all, never waking once.

Penelope slipped outside the house quietly with her cell phone into the cool evening dusk. She dialed the number of the one person she thought she could talk to.

"Hello, Deputy Beautiful," Jacob said to her in a slightly tired voice.

"Hi Sweetheart," she said, a smile slipping onto her face. "I know we just saw each other a little while ago, but I needed to hear a friendly voice."

"And you thought of me? Oh, how sweet."

"Yeah, well. I don't know what I'd do without you some days. This is one of those days."

"This whole mess is really weighing you down, isn't it?" he asked her.

"I just feel like I'm failing him. Doug, I mean. I feel like there should be something more I'm doing, something I should be seeing that I'm missing."

Jacob was quiet for a long time before he said anything else. "Penny, I'm going to suggest something to you, but I don't want you to get upset with me," he said.

"Why would I do that?" she asked, her smile slipping. She knew what he was about to say. And she knew she didn't want to hear it.

He sighed deeply through the phone. "Has it occurred to you that maybe Doug has finally learned how to make you believe him even though he's not telling the truth? That maybe, just maybe, he's learned to lie to you?"

She pulled the phone away from her ear as if it would help her unhear what he had just said. She took a deep breath, pacing, before she brought the phone back up.

"No," was her simple response. There had been a little more heat in it than she had intended.

He sounded apologetic as he said, "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry, Penny, really. Now you're upset with me."

"No, no, honey I'm sorry. I'm not upset with you for saying it," she said, even though thinking that he could feel that way still stung her. "It had to be said, I guess. I mean, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't at least consider it."

"I'm sorry, Penny," he said. "I know how close you two are."

"Do you?" she asked.

"Of course. I know how hard it was for you, growing up."

"Other than you," Penelope said, her emotions threatening to overtake her, "he's all I have. He's the closest I've ever had to a real brother. After what happened, you know, before..." A tear escaped the corner of her eye and spilled down her cheek. "I can't give up on him. I have to believe in him."

Jacob couldn't help but feel sorry for Penelope. She was the woman he loved. The woman God had brought to him to complete his life. If she was in pain, so was he. "I don't want this to be true, Penny. But if it is, then we need to find out. I'll help you. I promise."

She thanked God silently for his strength as she ran a hand through her hair. Then, defiantly, she said, "I don't have to believe it until it's the only thing left. Until then, I'm going to do my best to get this mess figured out."

"And if it comes down to Doug lying to you as the only thing left, what then?"

"I'll deal with it if and when it gets to that point," Penelope replied. "Dear God, I hope it doesn't come to that."

"Amen," Jacob said.

"I love you," she said to him.

"I love you back," he answered. It was their own special little code.

After the call ended, Penelope decided to go to bed. It had been a long day and tomorrow would probably be another long one.

Dear Lord
, she prayed,
please help me to handle all the work You've set before me. I can only do this with You at my side. Amen.

It wasn't long before she was sound asleep, dreaming nightmares of another time, of another wound that wouldn't heal, of a two-story house that used to stand in what was now an empty lot on the corner intersection of a County road not far from The Last Chance Tavern.

CHAPTER 13

Early sunday morning, way too early, Penelope awoke to the bouncing of a small body on her bed and Trevor's high-pitched young voice.

"Auntie Penny waked up!" Trevor shouted in her face. She must have been crazy to hope for kids early in her marriage with Jacob.

Then Trevor hugged her around her neck. And she knew she'd be willing to lose any amount of sleep to have this every morning.

"Good morning, little buddy," Penelope said cheerfully as she grabbed the boy in a bear hug.

Trevor squirmed in Penelope's grip, squealing and laughing. Penelope kissed the top of the boy's light blonde head and released him. Trevor had his mother's hair and his father's piercing blue eyes, a combination that Penelope thought was stunning, especially for a boy.

Watching Trevor run around her bedroom, Penelope said, "Why don't you go wake up your dad so I can get dressed and get ready? Then, after we eat some breakfast, we'll play horsey ride for a little while."

As long as work doesn't call me again, she thought.

Trevor stopped and looked at Penelope with his head tilted to one side, regarding Penelope with as much seriousness as a four year old could manage.

"Auntie Penny, when is mama coming?"

Penelope cleared whatever cobwebs had been left in her mind to give Trevor her full attention. "I don't know, buddy. We tried calling her last night but she must have been real busy. What did she say to you when she dropped you off here?"

Trevor looked at her as if the question didn't make any sense. "I was asleep," he said, finally. "I'm worried about mama, Auntie Penny."

And before Penelope could say anything else Trevor ran off shouting to his dad that it was time to wake up, Auntie Penny said so.

That was odd, Penelope thought. And even as the part of her that was Doug's best friend tried to set it aside, the part of her that was a police officer knew that she couldn't.

Penelope rolled out of bed, feeling like she'd been pushing a Mack truck uphill all weekend as it was, and began pulling on her jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt. A quick trip to the bathroom allowed her to use the toilet, then wash her hands and scrub her face, and run a brush through her hair until she could find the time for another shower. Afterward she made her way to the kitchen to get some cereal and coffee.

She found Doug already there, munching Fruity Bits cereal right next to his little boy. "Morning Doug," Penelope said. "How'd you sleep?"

"About as well as you could expect on a couch, I guess. It's a comfy couch and all, Penny, but I'm looking forward to getting back to my own bed soon." Not that he'd tell Penelope this, but he hadn't felt this good in a long time. And he knew it had a lot to do with not being on the drink for a change. If he could clear away certain dark clouds that hung over his head, life would be as close to perfect as it had been for him, ever.

"We need to finish our talk from last night," Penelope started to say.

"Later, Penelope, okay? When Trevor goes down for his nap. Okay?" His voice pleaded with his friend.

And Penelope relented. "Okay. But then we talk, right?"

With a fresh cup of coffee in hand, Penelope took out the box of instant oatmeal just in time to have the phone ring again. Sheriff's Office flashed on the caller display.

Of course, Penelope thought.

Answering, she said, "Deputy Chance."

It was Jim Saunders on the other end of the phone. He'd located Missy and Tommy, or rather, where they had been. Penelope's idea had paid off. They had been at a low-rent motel right off one of the interstates near Disney, in a little town called Celebration. But they had already signed out of the motel and were most likely on their way home.

"Accordin' to the time the clerk says they left," Jim told him, "if'n they're comin' straight back this way, they should be back here in just about an hour."

"That will be a relief for the parents," Penelope said. "Missy's, anyway. I'm starting to get the idea that maybe Tommy's don't pay much attention to what he does."

Jim chuckled. "I think Mrs. Clark probably done would've kissed me if I'd told her in person about her daughter. She was real worried about her little girl."

"Yeah," Penelope agreed. "Missy and her folks have always been a tight-knit kind of family. I just assumed Tommy's was the same. Guess I was wrong."

After a moment of silence, Jim said, "So should I try interceptin' the kids before they get home to their parents?"

"That might be a good idea." Penelope nodded to herself even though Jim wouldn't see it. "There's only the two ways into Franklin. Not hard to watch both."

"Well, maybe so Penelope, but I can't be at both ends of Main Street at the same time. We done need to keep someone here at the station. Sheriff's out of town. Davidson caught a domestic call. So, I was wonderin' if maybe..."

Penelope sighed heavily through her nose. She had hoped to have at least one day off this weekend. It was Sunday, after all. She had planned on taking Doug and Trevor to church with her and Jacob. She'd missed services last weekend as it was. She knew God understood missing church when the cause was important, but still. She could really do with a recharge to her batteries right now.

Just wasn't going to happen today.

After a moment she said, "Okay, let's do it like this. You take the east end of Main and I'll head out to the west end. When one of us sees them, we'll radio the other. We'll bring them back to the station so we can have a talk with them."

"Sounds like a great plan," Jim said. Penelope could hear the gratitude in his voice. "Thanks Penelope."

"Yeah, sure," she said. "You really owe me lunch now. But, I'd like to know what got into those two's heads to make them do something like this."

"The folly of youth?" Jim suggested.

"Maybe. I'd still like to know."

"Well, if'n they'd tell anyone, it's gonna be you."

They spent the next couple of minutes hammering out the details on their plan to nab the teenagers when they got back into town.

"Oh, by the way," Jim said just as Penelope was about to hang up.

"You're kidding, right? What now?" Penelope asked him.

Jim laughed at him. "Nothin' like hat, Penelope. Good news for a change. Got a call from the Gainesville PD earlier thanking us for the tip on your stolen car cases. They nabbed the entire frat house out there. Turns out...get this...it was a front for a chop shop."

"Oh, wow," Penelope replied. "Guess it always pays to go that extra step."

"Yup. They also found the two Buicks that were taken from here, right where them kids said they'd be. They promised to return them to us right after they're processed."

"Great," Penelope said. "Thanks for letting me know, Jim. You're right. Good news for a change."

"Sure thing," Jim replied. "Figured you could use some. Uh. How is the thing with Doug going?"

Penelope chose her words carefully, walking down the hallway nearer to the bedrooms, further from the kitchen and where Doug and Trevor sat, before she answered. "I'm not sure anymore. There's something else going on here, Jim. Doug has something to tell me about his ex-wife. I know it's something important but he doesn't want to talk in front of his kid."

"Smart," Jim said. "Too many parents put this stuff on their kids. It's a lot to recover from for minds that young."

"Yeah. I'm sure that's all it is. Still, there's way too many puzzle pieces that fit outside the borders on this one, you know what I mean?"

"Sure do. I'll meet you down here in a few."

She walked back with the portable and returned it to its cradle to charge. The way things were going there'd be another phone call any minute now.

"Doug—" she called to her friend, headed back to her bedroom to change into her uniform once more.

"I know, Penny," Doug said before Penelope could even finish. "Duty calls. It's all right. We'll be here when you get back."

CHAPTER 14

Deputy chance drove her cruiser to the west end of Main Street, just inside the town limits. She turned around and parked facing back into town. This way she could keep her eye on the rearview mirror in case Tommy and Missy came home this way. Jim was on the other end of town. Either way, they'd find them soon.

She had been watching her mirror for less than ten minutes when she saw a car in the distance. It was hard to tell, but it looked like it could be Tommy's light blue Honda. A little more than a minute later she was sure. They were approaching quickly, so she turned on the emergency lights and pulled the cruiser onto the road to block them. She radioed Jim quickly to say she'd found the two errant teenagers.

Tommy was driving the car. He slowed and eventually stopped about ten feet from Penelope's police car. Going up to the driver's side to speak with the young man, Penelope leaned down and was relieved to see that Missy was with him.

"Deputy Chance," Tommy said, nervously gripping the steering wheel, knowing they'd been caught. "What did I do, ma'am?"

"That's what I was hoping to find out," Penelope said.

"I'm not sure I understand, ma'am," Tommy said, not able to look Penelope in the face.

"You put a scare into Missy's parents, for starters," Penelope replied. "They reported her as missing yesterday afternoon."