Runs Deep (22 page)

CHAPTER 59

S
teve sat in his grandfather’s chair, every bone in his body aching. He was glad Jack was here to help with his grandmother. He hated seeing her face when she caught sight of him. It was like she aged a little more each time.

The picture of Mel lying on the diner floor flashed through his mind. He gripped the arms of the chair, the grief and anger pouring through him. Mel hadn’t deserved that. He was a good man. And as of right now, there were no leads. Jack had said that Declan didn’t have any evidence besides the time of death. And Keith, of course, was next to useless.

Steve shifted in his chair and forced himself to think of something else. Julie’s face floated through his mind. He felt he ghost of Julie’s hand on his skin. Her touch had been feather light, and more sensual than anything he’d ever felt. At one point during the afternoon, he’d woken up to find her sleeping in the chair next to him. He’d stayed quiet and just watched her. She’d looked so peaceful, so young. Her skin was flawless. She was stunning. And for some reason, she had stayed to make sure he was okay.

Stupid. She was just helping you out. There was nothing more to it than her being a good person.
He knew that was true, but a part of him couldn’t help but wish there had been a little more to it.

She had left only after Jack had returned. The house felt a little emptier without her presence.

Steve’s gaze drifted to the stairs. Jack had looked so tired, so worn down when he’d come in. Steve might have been the one locked up, but each of the people touched by Simone’s death had done their own time in their own way, even Jack. Always having to be the good brother, always having people whisper about who Steve was and what he had done. Even though it wasn’t fair and there was nothing Steve could have done to prevent it, he still couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Steve let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes.
I can’t believe I’m still tired
. He knew he’d been asleep for hours, but apparently his body still wanted more. He’d slept most of the day.

Steve closed his eyes and let sleep take him. He worried that the image of Mel would haunt his dreams. But he shouldn’t have. He dreamed of Julie.

CHAPTER 60

D
eclan leaned forward, his chest all but pressed up against the steering wheel. The windshield wipers beat furiously but still he could barely make out the road.

“This is stupid,” he muttered.

He had barely gone faster than fifteen miles per hour the whole ride. Two of the roads he’d planned on taking were completely washed out. He’d had to backtrack, making his way through the rain-filled streets. A couple of times he’d held his breath going through a puddle the depth of which he wasn’t sure about.

Finally, though, he was heading uphill on Franklin Street. He spotted Dee’s small brick ranch on the right. Dee and her husband, Bud, had lived there for thirty years and raised three girls together. But Dee lived alone now; Bud had passed away just last fall from lung cancer after being on disability for years, and all the girls were grown and had moved away for better opportunities. Declan wondered why Dee stayed on. She didn’t have many friends. In fact, he couldn’t think of one. Her life had been Bud and her girls. Now she kept to herself, only socializing at church.

Declan pulled into the drive and turned off the headlights. The lights were on in the front living room. Declan knew Dee had a generator—most people on the island did. The clock on the dash read 9:18. He listened to the rain pound on his roof. He wanted to wait until the rain eased a little bit, but as that didn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon, and he hadn’t brought a sleeping bag or food, he probably should just suck it up.

Steeling himself, he pushed open the door.

The wind pushed back. He wrestled his way out of the car, wondering yet again why the hell he was doing this, tonight of all nights. Simone Granger had been gone for ten years. Steve was finally out of prison. Certainly this could wait a few more days, at least until the storm blew over. But something inside was pushing him to find the answers as soon as possible. With the recent murders, the town had turned into a powder keg. And Declan couldn’t help but feel that these new murders were tied to Simone’s.

Running as fast as the weather would allow, he ducked into the carport next to Dee’s house. Shaking himself like a dog, he blew out a breath.

The light next to the carport entrance came on and the door opened. “Declan Reed, what the hell are you doing?”

A bead of water rolled from his hair, down the middle of his forehead, and off the end of his nose. “Hey, Dee. Uh, I just had a couple of questions for you.”

Dee looked pointedly outside. “And you thought tonight was the best night to ask them?”

He shrugged. “I’m like a dog with a bone.”

She held open the door. “Well, leave your jacket out there and come on in.”

Declan shrugged off his jacket and hung it on an exposed nail next to the door. He slipped off his shoes in the small mud room and then followed Dee into the kitchen. The kitchen was circa 1960, with a white-gray linoleum floor, dark wood cabinets, and a Corian countertop. It might not be fancy, but it was neat.

Dee gestured to the old wooden table tucked under the windows in the corner. “I just made some tea. Take a seat.”

Declan did and watched while Dee poured from a teapot into two mugs. She placed one in front of Declan before sitting across from him. He reached down and took a sip. “Chamomile?” he asked, surprised.

Dee nodded. “My daughter Lorraine got it for me and Bud. It helped him sleep. Helps me sleep too.”

“I’m sorry about his passing.”

She waved away his words. “It was his time. He was on borrowed time ever since the mill.”

Declan nodded, knowing what she meant. Bud had been in an accident at the lumber mill about twelve years ago. A stack of logs had come loose from their holdings, and Bud had been crushed. The bones in his legs were broken, but more critically, his spine had been damaged. He’d been confined to a wheelchair from that point on.

“So, Declan, what can I do for you?” Dee asked.

“I wanted to talk to you about the Granger case. About the evidence that went missing.”

Dee raised her eyebrows. “Why on earth do you want to ask about that now?”

“The night the clothes went missing, you were on the desk. And there was only one deputy on duty.”

Dee kept her eyes focused on her tea. “Yes. That’s right.”

“Did anyone else stop by the station that night? Anyone have access to the evidence room?”

Dee shifted her eyes away to the window. “It’s all in the report.”

Declan clenched his hands around his mug and studied her. “Dee, a kid went to prison. If someone took those clothes, we need to know.”

Dee shook her head, but she wouldn’t meet Declan’s gaze. “Why would someone take evidence? And even if they had, how would that help anyone now? Steve’s out. It’s over. Just let it go.”

“Dee, those clothes were supposed to have been sent out for DNA testing the next day. They might have proven Steve didn’t do it.”

“You can’t know that.”

“No—I can’t. And neither can you, or anyone else, because someone took that evidence. Someone stole our best chance of either proving or disproving Steve’s innocence. So I’m asking you again: Did anyone else visit the station that night?”

Dee looked away. Declan didn’t say anything, letting the quiet and Dee’s conscience put the pressure on her to respond.

Finally Dee spoke. Her voice was quiet. “You have to understand—Bud had just gotten hurt. The mill refused Bud’s workman’s comp claim. They said it was his fault. I was the only source of income and the one with the insurance. I needed to keep my job.”

A tingle of excitement ran across Declan’s skin. He knew there was more. He struggled to keep his tone even. “I understand.”

Dee nodded. “He never threatened me or my job directly. But the next morning, when the chief announced the evidence was gone, he had this hard look in his eyes. I swear he stared right through me. And I knew the threat was there.”

Declan stilled. “Dee, what are you saying? Who else was at the station that night?”

Dee looked up, her eyes filled with guilt. “Keith. Keith was there.”

DAY 5

“Well, it’s over, folks. The meteorologists have officially declared the storm done. But now we’ve got the cleanup. The towns closer to Lake Ontario got the worst of it, but pretty much every town north of Poughkeepsie has been hit hard. Flooding is rampant. So for those of you stuck, I hope you have the board games and puzzles ready, because it’s going to be a long haul.

And if you’re wondering what’s happening over in Millners Kill, well, so are the rest of us. With the cell towers down and many of the landlines, there’s been no information coming out of there. So let’s just hope they’re all keeping safe and that the authorities can get over there sooner rather than later.”

CHAPTER 61

T
he storm had finally passed. It was drizzling, but at least the torrential downpour had ended. Trees were down all over the place, and Bess’s house had lost power sometime during the night. Without the bridge to the mainland, Steve wasn’t sure when the repair guys would get the power up and running again, but he had stocked up enough wood to keep the stove going, and that would keep the house warm at least for a few days.

Luckily, Steve’s grandmother still had a landline. It was an old rotary phone that had been in the house as long as he could remember, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. Although, seeing as how everyone now relied almost entirely on digital phones and cell phones, Steve wasn’t sure there was anyone they could call.

He grabbed his jacket after breakfast and headed for the back door.

“Where are you going, honey?” his grandmother asked.

He kissed her cheek. “Just going to see if the storm did any damage.”

He let himself out the back. A few more branches were down, and a tree had come down across part of the driveway. It had just missed his brother’s car. But all in all, it could have been far worse. He made his way around the side of the house, his spirits lifting.
Looks like we escaped the worst of it.

But when he turned the corner at the front of the house, he went still.
Oh my God.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

He forced himself to walk up the front steps, his emotions warring between anger and fear. He let himself in the front door just as his brother was coming down the stairs. Jack had stayed the night and was planning on staying until the power was restored.

“Hey, is that bacon I smell?” Jack called out.

“You know it is,” Bess called back from the kitchen.

Jack smiled and looked at Steve. “That woman is trying to make me fat.”

“Yeah. You seem to really resent the cooking,” Steve said, trying to keep his tone light.

Jack rubbed his stomach. “Hey, I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

Keeping his voice down, Steve said, “Before you eat… I want to show you something outside.”

Jack raised his eyebrows. “Now?”

Steve nodded, and something in his expression must have gotten through to Jack.

“Gran, keep that breakfast warm,” Jack called. “I’ll be right in.” He grabbed his jacket and followed Steve out the front door.

"What’s going on?” he asked.

“Turn around,” Steve said, his voice heavy.

Jack did—and went still. “Jesus.”

The word “MURDERER” had been sprayed across the boarded up windows in black paint.

Steve turned to Jack. “Help me take these boards down before Gran sees them?”

It only took about ten minutes to get the boards off and into the garage. But even then, Steve couldn’t get them out of his mind. His chest tightened at the thought of someone being out here while they’d all slept. Was it the same person who’d thrown the brick the other day? What if they came back when his grandmother was home alone? He couldn’t let that happen.

He grabbed Jack’s arm before they went in through the back door. “We don’t tell her, right?”

Jack nodded, his face grim. “Right.”

Taking a breath, Steve opened the door.

Their grandmother looked up from the kitchen table. “Everything all right?”

“Yeah. Just a few trees came down. But we’ll take care of it,” Jack said.

“It’s going to be one hell of a cleanup,” Steve added quickly, not giving his grandmother a chance to ask more questions. “Any idea when they’ll get the bridge up and running?”

Jack grabbed his covered plate off the stove and took a seat across from their grandmother. “I managed to get through to the state last night,” he said. “They think a couple of days at least, and more likely two weeks. But they’ll be able to air drop necessary supplies in. And there’s a medevac available, although it’s busy running rescue missions all over the county. We’re not the only ones hit hard. People are missing, and there’ve been reports of mudslides. It’s a disaster pretty much everywhere.”

“How about Millners?” Steve asked.

Jack shook his head. “Nothing that bad—besides the bridge of course. The flooding was bad, but nothing we can’t handle. Keith is going to hold a meeting at noon today at the elementary school. In fact, I need to get moving. I want to touch base with some people beforehand.”

Their grandmother stood up, picking up her plate. Steve took it from her. She looked a little pale this morning. Steve worried for a moment that she’d seen the graffiti, but he discarded that thought as soon as he had it. If she’d seen it, she would have tried to remove the boards to keep
him
from seeing it.

“Why don’t you go relax?” Steve said. “You still have that scarf to finish for Jack.”

Gran smiled, but her eyes looked tired. “Maybe I will. Thank you, honey.” She walked slowly out of the room.

Steve took the plate to the sink and washed it. He glanced out the window above the sink before taking a seat at the table.

“You looking for something in particular out there?”

“Just making sure no one’s looking at us.”

Jack frowned. “It’ll blow over.”

Steve gave a bitter laugh. “Someone vandalized our home last night. And two people have been murdered. Most people are going to think it’s me.”

“But you’re alibied for both killings. And the abduction.”

“Don’t think too many people are going to be looking closely at the details. Besides, everyone still thinks I killed Simone.”

“So I take it you’re not going to be coming to the town meeting?”

“Well, I’m guessing one goal of the meeting is to calm the town down, so… no, I don’t think my presence is going to help with that.”

Jack clapped Steve on the shoulder on his way out of the room. “You’re probably right. But when all this craziness is past us, we’ll make sure that changes.”

“Seriously, you are
way
too much of an optimist to be a politician.” Steve called out to him. “Hey, Jack.”

Jack glanced over his shoulder.

“Be careful when you go into town.”

Jack grinned. “You got it, little brother.”