These Sheltering Walls: A Cane River Romance (40 page)

            “There.
Just relax,” a gruff voice said above his head. It was probably the owner of
the knee still buried in his back. “We’re just gonna ask you some questions but
first I gotta say you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and
will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right―”

            Alice
rushed forward and hugged Henry hard. Tom started to follow, then looked back
at Gideon.

            “Go,”
he tried to say through the mouthful of dirt. Tom seemed to understand and ran
to Henry, looking her over for injuries. The other officers stepped closer,
finally grasping that this was the woman who was missing.

            “Don’t
let him up,” someone said above him.

            “Nope,”
the kneeler agreed. “Looks like your lady friend wasn’t as missing as you’d
hoped. Maybe you were a little sloppy this time, huh?”

            All
the rage that had been coursing through him was gone and Gideon didn’t bother
to answer. Henry was here. She was okay. Nothing else mattered.

“With a secret like that, at some
point the secret itself becomes irrelevant.

The fact that you kept it does
not.”

― Sara Gruen

            Henry
tried to give as much information as she could but either the officers were
asking her the same questions, or she was repeating herself. After a few
minutes, someone gave her a phone to call Kimberly. Her mother’s sobs echoed in
her ears, cries of relief and gratitude.  She promised she’d see her tomorrow,
and that everything was fine. Henry couldn’t tell whether she was fine, but she
knew she was alive and that was enough.

            An
officer helped Gideon up off the ground and removed the cuffs. She knew Alice
and Tom were there, and a kind woman who offered her a bottle of water, but through
all the chaos, she only had eyes for Gideon. She walked into his arms without
saying a word. He kissed her hair, her face and murmured things she didn’t
quite hear. She had another chance to tell him how she really felt. It was as
if her life were starting over.

            “I
didn’t expect to see you again,” she said into his shirt.

            “I’m
here.” His voice was rough. “How― what happened?”

            “I
did what you taught me.” She looked up. “The pins. I took out the pins.”

            An
officer was still standing near. “Miss, could you lead us back to where you
were being held?”

            She
nodded, hating to leave Gideon’s arms. “It’s right on the corner, the place
that’s up for sale. Yellow three story house.”

            “I
know that place. We’ve had squatters in there before.” The officer made a note
and turned away.

            “Let
me go upstairs and get some shoes for you,” he said, looking down at her bare
feet.

            “I’ll
go,” Alice said and rushed away.

            “Here,”
Tom said and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. “I keep this in the trunk
for emergencies. I shook it to make sure there weren’t any spiders. Just in
case.”

            Henry
managed a smile. Tom looked as shocked as she was and probably needed a blanket
of his own. “How did you two know?”

            “You
didn’t call,” Gideon said.

            She
felt something under her fingers and looked at his hands, seeing the scrapes
for the first time. “What did they do to you?”

            “You
said you’d call.” He wasn’t making any sense.

            “We
came to check on you and he saw your shoe in the bushes,” Tom offered.

            “Did
they follow you back from Oakland?”

            Henry
shook her head. “No, it was just an accident, I think. I heard them when I got
out of the car.”

            “Accident?”

            “They
didn’t know I was there. But I heard them talking about Barney Sandoz. Well,
not exactly his name, but I knew what they meant, and they mentioned you, so I
snuck up on them and ―”

            Gideon
put a hand to his eyes. “You what?”

            “I
crept up to the hedge, trying to hear what they were saying.” Now, in the
flashing lights of the patrol cars, she could see how stupid she’d been. “I was
trying to get information. I knew that if I could hear who killed Barney, it
would prove your innocence.”

            The
look on his face chilled her to the bone and she clutched the blanket tighter.

            “You
risked your life for that?”

            She’d
risked her life for
him.
“They couldn’t see me. I was right behind the―”

            “But
they did see you, obviously.” His face was tight with anger. He stepped back
from her. “You asked me to take care of myself and I agreed. You said when I
went into the fire to get those boxes, that it was like I carried your heart.
How do you think I feel? You could have gotten yourself killed.”

            Tom
put a hand on his arm. “Everyone’s had a really hard evening. Let’s not talk
about this right now.”

            Henry
felt her eyes burn with tears and part of her was surprised she had any left to
cry. She had gone through every emotion possible in only a few hours and now,
she felt Gideon’s utter disappointment in her. He was right. She’d asked him to
not act like a hero, then she’d gone and tried to be one herself.

            “Here
you go,” Alice said, coming up beside her. “I grabbed the tennis shoes near the
door, I hope that’s okay.”

            She
nodded and tried to slip her foot into one, but lost her balance and fell
against Alice. “Sorry. I’m just…”

            “Miss,
maybe you should come and sit down.” An ambulance had arrived sometimes while
they were talking and a young woman in a blue uniform gently took her hand.
“We’ll check out that cut on your hand.”

            “It’s
not a cut.” She held up her hand and her right thumbnail was mostly missing. “But
I guess I should get a band aid.”

            “I’ll
help you,” Alice said, and bending down, she got Henry’s feet into her shoes
and then propelled her toward the ambulance.

            She
looked back, hoping to see Gideon following but he was still facing the hedge.
Tom seemed to be talking to him.

            The
ambulance technician chattered pleasantly while she swabbed Henry’s arm with
disinfectant and Henry was glad of the distraction. After a few minutes she
asked, “Are you almost done? I forgot there was something I needed to ask my
friend.”

            “Sure
am.” She offered Henry several packets of gauze and gave her directions on
keeping the wound clean, then helped her down from the ambulance.

            Alice
looked pale and there were dark rings around her eyes. “I can’t believe this
happened. I didn’t hear a thing. I sleep so deeply now.”

            Henry
nodded. Alice hadn’t heard anything because Henry had been careful not to wake
her. “You don’t have to stay. I think we’re almost done. I’m going to get a hot
shower and go straight to bed.”

            Her
eyes widened. “Alone? You can’t stay alone. You need to stay with me tonight.
The guest room is made up and―”

            “I’m
okay. And I’ll sleep better in my own bed.”

            Alice
turned to Gideon and Tom, then back Henry. “Okay. Do you want me to go with you
to the basement, or wherever, the place they were holding you?”

            Henry
shook her head. “I’ll be fine. It’s that old yellow house on the corner. Not
far.”

            Something
in her tone must have told Alice she was serious because she reached out and
gave her a long hug. “I want to insist you let me stay,” she said.

            “I
feel awful that everybody is up at three in the morning.” Henry looked around.
“In fact, I’m going to ask if I can go down to the station tomorrow.”

            “Good
plan,” Alice said. She gave her one last squeeze and walked toward the back
door.

            Henry
watched her for a moment then headed across the parking lot toward Gideon. He
had his back to her, so Tom saw her first.

            “Can
I talk to Gideon alone?” Her voice sounded odd to her own ears.

            Tom
didn’t look like he was going to be as compliant as Alice but after a second or
two he nodded and stepped away. Gideon turned to her, his face lined with utter
grief.

            “I’m
so sorry, Henry. I just…”

            “I
know. And you’re right. I shouldn’t have tried to be a hero.” She squared her
shoulders and gripped the blanket a little tighter.

            He
stepped forward and held her face in his hands. “You’re my everything. I don’t
know what I would do if something happened to you.”

            The
parking lot was still illuminated with flashing police lights and officers
walked in groups around them, but Henry felt as if they were all alone for a
moment. Gideon had always made her feel that way. Gideon and Henry, against the
world. Or maybe it was Gideon against Henry. She hesitated, wishing she didn’t
have to ask the question that was beating against her heart.

            She
gently tugged his hands from her face. “There was something the bigger man said.
You know, the guy with the tattoos and―”

            “Rick
LaRule,” Gideon supplied. “I’ve met him before.”

            Henry
felt her stomach drop. “Well, he said that he told you something and you were
going to take the bait. He said you couldn’t pass up a chance at revenge.”

            There
it was. The slight widening of the eyes, the fraction of a second blank
expression before he found one that was appropriate. “I’m not sure what he
meant.”

           
Lie.

            Henry
closed her eyes for a moment. It was physically painful for her to watch the
progression of emotions cross his face. Fear, panic, embarrassment. There was a
long silence where all she heard was the squawk of police walkie talkies and
the crunch of gravel as people walked around them.

            “Gideon,
don’t.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

            He
had never looked so trapped and it tore at her heart. “He told me Duane Banner
had plans to kill someone as soon as he was released.”

            “But
how does that―?” Her sentence broke off as the pieces fell into place.
“You were going to go stop him.”

            He
nodded.

            “How?”

            He
looked back at her and she saw the struggle in his eyes. He didn’t want to tell
her the truth, but she would know if he lied.

            “Oh.”
Then answer hit her harder than LaRule’s open-handed slap. He had been planning
to murder Duane Banner. “But what did you think I would say about that?”

            He
gave the barest shake of his head.

            “You
didn’t expect to see me again,” she said.

            Henry
pressed her fingers to her eyes for a moment. Her worst fears had come true. 
He’d been planning to leave her. Her stomach rolled.

            It
would be so much easier to step into his arms and let him kiss her until she
couldn’t remember what they were fighting about. Everything would be fine. They
would pick up where they left off. But if she did, the real betrayal would
haunt her forever. It was more than his slide into darkness and more than thinking
this murder would have been justified.

            “Did
something keep you from going?”

             “Tom.
He helped me understand. I was in a bad place, Henry. I was confused. It seemed
like the right thing to do at the time. It would solve so many problems. And
then I realized after a day or so that I wasn’t thinking straight.”

            “When
did Tom convince you?”

            “The
day you came to see me with Blue. The same day I bought the tickets. But, see,
I couldn’t return them. Giving them to Bix and Ruby was the best solution.”

            As
soon as he was done explaining, Henry watched realization dawn in his eyes. She
hadn’t really been asking about Tom or how the tickets were transferred.

            “Were
you ever going to tell me?”

            There
was no more struggle, no more fight left in him. Henry looked into his eyes and
knew his answer before he spoke.

            “No.”

            Of
all the ways she imagined how it would end, Henry never thought it would be in
a lie. Stupid not to have seen it coming, really. Her whole life was filled
with them. Every friendship, every memory was polluted with nuances and shades
of gray. But Gideon had been different.  He had been the first, the only one,
to speak plainly to her without pretense. And she’d loved him for it.

            “All
I ever wanted was the truth,” she whispered, and was surprised to taste tears
on her lips.

            “I
know,” he said.

            There
was nothing left to say. She turned on walked blindly toward the back door, not
caring if she was leaving officers waiting or where she was supposed to go
next. She wished she could simply accept the lie and move forward. If it was Gideon
who fed her fairytales from his hand, surely she would be happy. She loved
everything about him, even the way he lied.

            But
Henry knew that was madness. Even more than when she first met him, she needed
honesty, and it seemed the one thing she truly needed, he couldn’t give her
after all.

                                                            ***

            Gideon
stood completely still, except for the movement of his chest rising and
falling. Henry walked away and didn’t look back.