The Grove (8 page)

THURSDAY

When I got to town, I drove past the Riverside Café but didn’t stop. The lights were off, and there were no cars in the parking lot. I took it as a sign. Jessica might think it was all in my head, but I knew it would look suspicious if I kept showing up every day and asking questions. I’d decided to give it a couple days to cool down.

Then again, if Jacob Tolliver called the police, looking suspicious wouldn’t matter anymore.

But I wasn’t ready to think about that.

With the café closed, I drove to the grocery store and went inside. Liz had always done the shopping, and I had no idea where to start. In the end, I went for what was easy: frozen dinners, macaroni and cheese, bologna, bread, and so on. I also picked up two bottles of wine and a bottle opener.

When I’d finished, I pushed the cart up to the register and started unloading everything onto the conveyor belt.

The kid behind the register didn’t look much older than sixteen or seventeen, and when he saw the wine he shook his head and said, “I’ll have to call a manager. I can’t sell alcohol.”

While he picked up a phone and called for a manager, I reached for one of the gossip papers in the rack by the register and pretended to read about some stranger’s affair and impending divorce.

When the manager showed up, the kid stepped aside. The manager ran my wine bottles over the scanner then stared at me for a moment and said, “Dex?”

At first he didn’t look familiar, then it came to me.

“Hey. Eddie Sears.”

Eddie shook his head. “Goddamn, you’ve gotten old. How’ve you been?”

“Been worse,” I said.

Eddie laughed. “Haven’t we all.”

At one time Eddie had been married to a girl named Mindy. She’d been a close friend of Liz’s from college, and they’d even come over to our house for dinner a few times when Clara was a baby. Nice couple.

Eddie watched me for a moment then stepped aside and let the kid scan the rest of my groceries. “How’s Liz? You two holding up?”

“By a string,” I said. “You and Mindy?”

He shook his head. “Afraid not. I managed to drive that marriage into the dirt a long time ago. I take it Liz didn’t tell you.”

“She might’ve. I don’t keep up.”

Maybe Liz had said something about him losing their savings on the craps tables in the casinos across the river, but I wasn’t sure and didn’t want to say anything in case I was wrong.

We were both quiet for a while, then Eddie said, “Listen, it was good seeing you.” He motioned toward the back of the store. “Have to get to work.”

“Take care, Ed.”

“Tell Liz I said hello, will ya?”

I told him I would, and he disappeared between the aisles. I was never good at small talk, and the entire meeting gave me a sick feeling in the center of my chest.

I wanted to leave.

I thought about Jessica and about the Tolliver kid and wondered if he’d told anyone about her yet. It was a big secret, probably too big for him to keep to himself, and I was sure it would only be a matter of time before it came out.

I felt helpless, knowing there was nothing I could do.

Well, almost nothing.

“That’s a lot of macaroni and cheese.” The kid finished bagging my groceries and smiled. “You must really like it.”

I grunted at him and handed over my credit card. He took it and ran it through.

“I’m the same way.” He returned my card. “I’d live off the stuff if I could.”

I picked up my bags and muttered, “You’re a fucking liar.”

I didn’t think I’d said it loud enough for him to hear, but I didn’t really care. I’d had enough. I wanted to get home.

I walked out the front doors to the parking lot.

When I got to my truck, I set the bags in the front seat and went around to the driver’s side. Someone had stuck one of Jessica’s flyers under my windshield wiper. I pulled it out and folded it in half. When I got in, I set it on the seat by the groceries and started the engine.

I wasn’t surprised when I turned up my driveway and saw Greg’s cruiser parked next to the house.

I’d been expecting this.

I stopped halfway, and for a moment the idea of turning around and going back was almost overpowering. If I’d wanted, I could’ve gone by the bank and cleaned out my savings account. There wasn’t much in there, but it would have been enough to get me a long way down the road.

I glanced out toward the grove and wondered if he was out there right now and what I’d say to him when he came back.

It wouldn’t matter. He wouldn’t believe me.

Again, the desire to turn around and disappear hit me in the center of the chest. I felt myself reach for the gearshift and move the lever to reverse.

I stopped.

I wasn’t going to leave her.

I pulled the rest of the way up the driveway and parked next to the cruiser. I opened the door, then reached for the grocery bags next to me. As I got out, I heard Greg’s voice.

“Thought you were going to sit there all morning.” He was standing on the porch, leaning against the railing, smoking a cigarette. “You surprised to see me?”

“Nope,” I said. “Not at all.”

He tossed the butt into the driveway and said, “You need some help with those?”

“I got ’em,” I said, walking up the steps to the porch. “But you can get the door.”

Greg pushed it open and I walked past him into the house.

“You’ll be happy to know I didn’t go inside.”

I set the bags on the kitchen table and said, “Why would I care about that?”

“You mentioned it last time.”

I nodded. “Right. When you stole my clip.”

“Temporarily confiscated,” he said. “Protecting you and the community.”

“It’s a .22, Greg. How much damage did you think I’d do?”

“You don’t think a .22 can do damage?”

I had a feeling I knew where this was going, and the last thing I needed was a lecture on gun safety.

What I wanted was to get this over with.

“Did you come by to return my clip?”

“No, I told you to pick it up at dinner on Saturday, and that still stands. Have you decided if you’re coming?”

“You’re here to ask me about Saturday?”

“That’s right.”

For a moment I didn’t know what to say.

“You drove out here for that?”

“And to see how you were holding up, yeah.”

I started unpacking the groceries onto the table.

“What the hell’s so funny?”

“What?”

“Why are you smiling like that?”

I hadn’t realized I was, and forced myself to stop.

Greg came up next to me and pawed through the boxes of macaroni and the frozen dinners. He stopped at a bigger box and held it up.

“Fly paper?” He looked around the room. “You got a fly problem?”

I took the box. “You know how it goes.”

“That’s a big box. Could’ve just bought a swatter.”

I ignored him and kept unpacking.

Greg paced around behind me. “Should I tell Julie to expect you then?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’ll be good for you. Might be nice to be around people for a change.”

“I don’t know if I’m up for it right now.”

Greg was quiet for a moment. When I turned I saw him standing at the sink, staring out the window at the field and the grove in the distance.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why didn’t you tell me, Dex?”

I felt my stomach lurch back against my spine.

Right then, I almost told him everything. That I’d been afraid he would’ve thought I killed her, gone crazy that night, when I knew I had nothing to do with her death. About Megan and Jessica’s boyfriend and how I was convinced they had something to do with what had happened out there.

But I didn’t.

Instead I said, “Tell you what?”

Greg held up a small amber bottle. At first I didn’t know what it was.

“You’re back on your pills?”

I managed to pull a chair away from the table and sit before my legs gave out on their own.

“Were you embarrassed to tell me?”

I nodded, not sure why.

Greg put the bottle back on the windowsill then sat at the table with me. “You made the right choice. No shame in that.”

I nodded again, and both of us were silent for a while. Even if I had been taking those pills, I wouldn’t have been embarrassed to tell Greg. We didn’t say anything else about it.

Greg looked at his watch and stood. “Got to head out,” he said. “I’m going to tell Julie to expect you on Saturday.”

“I didn’t say I was—”

“Just show up,” he said. “It’s been too long since you’ve been over.” He paused. “I want you to come.”

I looked up at him and nodded. “OK,” I said. “I’ll be there.”

“Good,” he said. “It won’t be bad, I promise.”

I followed him out to the porch.

“Have you tried to get your tractor out of there yet?”

“I’m working on it.”

“My offer still stands. If I bring that winch by we’ll have it out in a couple minutes.”

“Thanks, but I’ll manage.”

Greg shrugged and walked down the steps toward his cruiser. He stopped halfway and looked out toward the grove.

“What’s all that about?”

I followed his gaze but I didn’t see anything unusual. “What do you mean?”

“All those crows.”

I looked again, and at first I still didn’t see anything. Then there they were, hundreds of them, black shapes lifting into the air then dropping down again like ash.

How had I not seen them before?

“I wonder what they’ve found.”

I bit down on the insides of my cheeks. “I don’t know,” I said. “I haven’t been out in while. Sort of lost interest.”

Greg looked back at me and nodded. “I guess I can understand that. You’ve had a rough one.”

I glanced over at the grove and the crows.

“Those pills helping?” he asked.

I made myself look away. “It takes a while for them to kick in.”

“Well, it’s a start, right?”

I raised a hand in the air. “I’ll see you on Saturday.”

Greg waved back, then got in his cruiser and backed down the driveway to the road.

I waited on the porch until he was gone, then hurried inside, grabbed the broom from the kitchen closet, and ran out the back door and through the field to the grove.

Halfway there, I heard Jessica screaming.

The crows covered the ground around Jessica’s body like a fire. I ran in, swinging the broom and shouting.

They scattered.

I watched as they settled in the field and among the branches of the cottonwoods, encircling us, then looked down at the body. I felt something twinge inside.

She looked the same.

They’d been all over her, but there was no damage.

It didn’t make sense.

When I was a kid, I’d once come across a flock of crows tearing apart a small deer that’d been killed on the road beside my farm. I remembered seeing them come away with long red slivers of flesh hanging from their black beaks, one after the other.

They’d eaten through the deer in an afternoon.

But here, no damage at all?

I felt the twinge again, and this time I pushed it out of my mind. We were lucky, that was all.

I heard Jessica come up behind me.

“It could’ve been a lot worse,” I said.

She didn’t speak. She moved up slow, and when she saw the body she turned away, hysterical.

I tried to calm her, but nothing I said did any good. In the end, I stood behind her and let her cry. After a while I put my hand against her back.

“They’re gone. It’s OK now.”

She didn’t answer.

I looked up and saw the dark shapes in the trees, black eyes staring back. I’d never seen so many birds in one place.

No damage at all?

I turned back to Jessica and said, “What can I do?”

“There’s nothing you can do.” She spoke through tears. “They’ll just come back once you leave.”

She was right. Now that they knew she was here, they wouldn’t leave. I was surprised they hadn’t arrived sooner. Maybe they had.

I looked up at the trees and said, “Then I won’t leave. I’ll stay out here with you. I’ll even sleep out here if you want.” I motioned toward the house. “I’ll have to go get a few things, but then I’ll come back and I’ll stay.”

She came closer until she was right in front of me, then looked up and said, “You’d stay out here?”

“I would.”

“What if someone comes to the house? What if—”

I stopped her. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” I said. “I’ll protect you. I promise.”

Jessica stood for a moment, staring into my eyes; then she wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her lips against mine.

Her skin felt as warm and smooth as I’d imagined.

I didn’t want to let go.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s morbid.” Jessica shook her head. “And I don’t want it looking down at me all the time.”

I laughed.

“It’s not funny,” Jessica said. “It’s sick.”

I held the skull in front of me, turning it over in my hands. I’d picked it up at a garage sale a few years ago. At the time, Liz had called it an impulse buy, but it wasn’t. I’d bought it for Clara. I’d thought she might like it once Halloween rolled around.

I still think she would have, too.

“He has to have a head,” I said. “Otherwise it won’t look right.”

“OK, but not that.”

“What else are we going to use?” I held up the skull, dancing it in front of me. “It’s perfect.”

“No, Dexter, I’m serious.”

I looked back at the skull and frowned. It wasn’t even real. I didn’t know why she was so upset about a piece of plastic, but I could tell by the tone of her voice that there was no point in arguing.

I dropped the skull on the ground and went back to nailing the crossbeams together.

“So, what else did he say?”

I sighed. I’d gone over my entire conversation with Greg three times so far, and Jessica still didn’t believe he didn’t know.

I went over it again.

“You don’t think he’s protecting you, do you?”

“Protecting me?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. You guys are friends. Maybe he’s watching out for you.”

“Greg’s first priority isn’t to me, no matter how good of friends we are.” I’d brought a few old clothes from the house, and I picked up a faded flannel shirt and slid it over the horizontal beam. “If he knew you were out here, he wouldn’t give me, or anyone else, a second thought.”

“So, what’s he doing?”

“He’s not doing anything. He doesn’t know.”

She looked up at me, and I could tell that possibility wasn’t getting through. I thought she was going to say something else, but instead she just turned away and stared out into the field.

I grabbed a pair of blue jeans and wrapped them around the base pole. I had an old brown belt, and used it to bind them up. When I’d finished, I carried the scarecrow to the edge of the grove and leaned it up against one of the trees. I took a step back.

“Just doesn’t look right without a head,” I said.

Jessica walked over.

“You know, just because that kid hasn’t told anyone yet doesn’t mean he’s not going to.”

She was right, but I wasn’t ready to think about that so I kept quiet.

“You’d think you’d be smart enough to know that.”

The tone of her voice was rough, and at first I wasn’t sure I’d heard her right. “Smart enough?”

Jessica put both her hands over her mouth and turned away. “That was terrible,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

“That’s OK.”

“I just—”

She didn’t finish and I didn’t press.

A moment later she said, “I really think that kid is going to say something.”

“Maybe not.”

“Yesterday you said you thought he would.”

“I might’ve been wrong. He hasn’t told anyone yet, so there’s a chance—”

“A chance isn’t good enough. We can’t have this hanging out there. Why don’t you see that?”

“We don’t have a choice.”

She opened her mouth to speak and I held up a hand, stopping her. I knew what she was going to say.

“I told you, no.”

She nodded slow, then said, “You might have to consider the idea that it’s our only option.”

I shook my head.

Jessica stared at me for a moment then made a dismissive sound in the back of her throat and walked away.

As she left, I called after her. “What are we going to use for a head?”

She didn’t answer, just kept walking.

After she was gone I turned back to the scarecrow and frowned. I took the cowboy hat I’d pulled from my closet and set it on top, but it didn’t look right so I took it off again.

I went back to the skull, picked it up, and brushed the dirt off. I walked over to the scarecrow and wedged the skull on the post, then put the cowboy hat on top.

Perfect.

I dug a hole a few feet from the body then carried the scarecrow over and slid the base into the ground. I filled the hole and took a few steps back.

The scarecrow rose above the corn, a shadow against the red sky.

I smiled.