A Promise to Protect (Logan Point Book #2): A Novel (18 page)

“You could start with the young man who came to pick you up,” Sarah said.

“Ian Maxwell—you met him at the funeral. He’s offered us a
house in town. White picket fence, gated community, guard . . . Ben should approve it, but who knows. He seems to want us to stay right here under his thumb.”

“What do
you
want to do?”

She ran her hand over the rough fabric covering the arm of the rocker. “Go back ten years and make some different choices.”

“You don’t have to do that. You can tell them now. The Logans would understand.”

A tremor shivered through Leigh’s body, flipping her stomach. Marisa might and Emily, but not Ben. “I can’t do it.” Her voice quivered in her throat from her too-fast heartbeat.

“Leigh—”

“No. Can you imagine how TJ would feel if he discovered his mother has kept the truth from him for the past nine years . . . I just can’t do it. We’re moving to Baltimore, anyway.”

“What?”

“I received a call from my mentor, and there’s an opening at their free clinic—”

“But you’ve promised Emily to work in Dr. Hazelit’s place.”

“I don’t go until the middle of September. Emily’s clinic is just for a month, and this is
Johns Hopkins
. It’s been my dream to practice there since I decided to become a doctor.”

“Is this your dream, or someone else’s?”

She splayed her hand across her chest. “Mine.”

“Are you sure?”

“You don’t understand. If I can practice at Johns Hopkins, it’s proof I’m good enough. I’ll make a difference there.”

“You don’t have to prove anything, Leigh. And you’re already making a difference here. Marisa told me how lucky Logan Point is to have you. What if you hadn’t been there for that little friend of TJ’s tonight?”

“There would have been another doctor on duty.”

“You belong here, in Logan Point.” Sarah’s lips pressed into a
thin line. “No need in wasting any more of my breath, ’cause I might need it someday. Would you at least pray about it?”

It was too late to pray. She’d already taken the job. But Leigh nodded. “It’s a really good opportunity.”

After Sarah left, Leigh sat quietly gliding back and forth. She had to leave Logan Point. And she wanted to. She really did.

Ben wiped sweat from his face. Even though the temperature had dropped into what felt like the low eighties, the walk back had been as arduous as the trek in. It was almost 4:00 a.m. when they finally reached Wade’s truck. “What time do you think the dogfight will break up?”

Wade slapped at a mosquito on his neck. “Hard to tell. Probably go until just before daylight.”

“Sure would like to get some of those license plate numbers. You know the lay of the land. Is there anywhere we can set up?”

“Some may go out on the Tennessee side—nothing we can do about those cars, and on the Mississippi side, the field road is too exposed. I think I know a place where we can park and catch what we can.”

Half an hour later, by the time Ben had positioned himself behind a gum tree near where the road exited from the woods, faint wisps of fog curled through the trees. Within twenty minutes, a dense August fog covered the area. There’d be no seeing any license plates today. He cocked his head as a vehicle rumbled his way, then signaled Wade with a whistle, and his chief deputy signaled back.

Maybe he could at least see the driver. The truck crept by, a shadowy ghost in the heavy mist with its lights barely cutting a swath down the lane. As more vehicles passed, Ben could barely tell a truck from an SUV.

He counted ten vehicles in all. Wade was right. This wasn’t
a big-time fight. “How many did you count?” he asked when he rejoined Wade.

“Ten. Some of them probably took the Tennessee road. Couldn’t make out any of the plates.”

“That’s what I counted too. Let’s talk about a plan on the way back to town.” Once in the pickup, they crept along the two-lane highway.

“Okay,” Wade said, his eyes glued to the road. “I say I try to get in with those boys I know.”

Ben shook his head. “Too dangerous. These people play for keeps. If they discovered—”

“Not going to find out.” He slowed for a curve. “Well, what do we have here?”

Ben peered through the fog. The bulky form of a truck materialized on the side of the road.

“Duck down, in case it’s somebody from the dogfight. Might be an opportunity here.” Wade pulled behind the vehicle and cracked the windows. He slipped his gun from its holster as he stepped out of the truck. “Having problems?” he called.

Ben drew his gun as he slumped in the front seat and kept his ear tuned to what was said.

“Jest a flat,” came the reply. “That you, Wade?”

“Yeah. What’re you doing out this time of the morning, Lester?”

Lester Cummings, from the dogfight.

“Oh, my coon dog got to chasing something and didn’t come back, been looking for her. What’re you doing out here?”

“Doing my job, patrolling the county.”

“Ain’t never knowed you to be that conscientious.”

“Let me help you get that tire changed,” Wade said.

Ben listened as Wade worked and the conversation turned to dogs.

“You know about dogs, don’t you, Lester?”

“Some dogs.”

“How about pit bulls. Been thinking about gettin’ myself one. Maybe training it a little.”

Ben tightened the grip on his gun. Wade was pushing it.

“‘Training’ it for what?” Suspicion crept into the man’s voice.

“Be a guard dog. Saw a video once of one attacking a man. Got ahold of his arm and wouldn’t let go. It’d be nice to have a dog like that to protect my house.”

“You got something in that trailer of yours worth stealing?”

“You never know, Lester. Just be thinking about it.” Wade grunted then asked, “You got the other lug nut?”

A few minutes later, Ben heard what sounded like Wade throwing the tire in the bed of the truck.

“Thanks, deputy. I always thought they should’ve appointed you sheriff until the election.”

Ben cringed. Lester probably wasn’t the only one who thought that.

“Yeah, well, Lester, them’s the breaks.”

“You run, and I’ll vote for you.”

“I appreciate that. I’ll just stand here until you pull out. Hope you find your dog.”

Cummings’s motor revved to life, and Ben raised his head as gravel crunched and the truck pulled out onto the highway. Seconds later, Wade hopped into the truck. “Put the bait out,” he said with a grin.

Ben hoped Wade didn’t end up being caught in the trap.

As the truck pulled out onto the road, Wade glanced at Ben. “You mind if we stop at Rest Haven?”

Ben gave him a sidelong glance. “It’s just 5:45. Can you get in this early?”

“Sure, the nurses all know me, and Ma will be awake. She gets up every morning at five. You can come in with me if you want.”

He didn’t have the heart to say no. He hadn’t seen Wade’s mother in years. From past conversations with his own mother, he knew
Mrs. Hatcher had floated in and out of Wade’s life, wrecking whatever stability he found in the foster homes he’d been placed in, until finally she’d been committed to the state mental institution in Whitfield.

Somehow, a few years ago, Wade had brought her back to Logan Point and to Rest Haven, but Ben knew it took more money than he made as a chief deputy to keep her there. Had to be eating up whatever retirement he had. “Yeah, I’ll go in with you. But first let me call someone to escort Leigh to work.”

A mile or two down the road they left the bottomland, and the fog lifted. Too bad they hadn’t set up on the hill. When they turned into the parking lot of the nursing home, a comment that Lester made popped into Ben’s mind. “Why does Cummings think you’re not conscientious?”

Wade parked the truck and killed the engine before he answered. “It’s that good-ole-boy image I cultivate. You’d be surprised at the stuff I learn.”

“I bet.” Ben nodded toward the building. “Nice place.”

“Yeah.” His deputy tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and stared at the nursing home. “Costs a fortune, though.”

“I heard the state facility has improved a lot,” Ben said.

“Too far away, and Ma would get lost in the shuffle, like the last time.” He opened his door and stepped out, not waiting to see if Ben was coming. He strode toward the door and pressed the buzzer. After a brief wait, an orderly appeared and let them in.

“She’s in the solarium,” the orderly said.

Wade hesitated inside the door. “Look, Ben, you don’t have to come.”

“No, I’d like to see your mom. I always liked her.”

“Yeah, when she wasn’t off her meds.”

At the solarium door, Ben waited while Wade approached his mother as she sat facing east. Dorsey Hatcher didn’t look at all like Ben imagined she would. Thin, she sat ramrod straight, her
ash-blonde hair framing her face. Wade spoke to her for a few minutes, and then she looked toward him, smiling while Wade motioned him in.

“Mrs. Hatcher, Ben Logan.” He walked closer.

“I know who you are, Ben.” Her smile was soft, gentle. “Wade talks about you often. Now what are you two boys doing out this time of the morning?”

This woman didn’t sound at all unbalanced. He masked his confusion and smiled back at her. “Just doing our job.”

“Well, you two sit here beside me and watch that window. The sun will be peeking through in about five minutes. I love to start my day off with the sunrise.”

“That gives me time to get you a cup of coffee,” Wade said. “French vanilla creamer, like always?”

“You’re a good boy, Wade. Yes, but hurry so you can see the sunrise.”

“Ma, I’ve seen plenty of sunrises.”

“Wade . . .”

“I’ll hurry.”

While Wade went for coffee, Ben studied Mrs. Hatcher. She seemed perfectly able to function in the real world. Almost as though she read his mind, she chuckled.

“I’m here at Rest Haven because I forget to take my medicine, and the doctors and Wade want me to stay.”

“Ah, I didn’t—”

“Questions are written all over your face. Don’t play cards with my son. He will beat you.”

Ben could keep a poker face when necessary. He just hadn’t thought he needed to. Wade returned with coffee for them all. “Yours is black and unflavored.” He handed his mother the one swirling with cream. “And I think this is the way you like it.”

Ben sipped his coffee, enjoying the rush of caffeine as the sun peaked over the horizon through the pink and blue clouds streaking
the sky. He wished he had a camera, or that he could paint something as grand as what he beheld. God’s handiwork, his mom would say. Mrs. Hatcher had the right idea about starting the day off with the sunrise.

Wade was quiet as they walked back to his truck. As they fastened their seat belts, he cleared his throat. “Thanks. It meant a lot to my mom that you came in with me. Not many people go see her. They all remember the way she was.”

Ben was certain his mom didn’t know about Mrs. Hatcher. He’d have to tell her. “Does she have to stay at Rest Haven?”

“The last time she lived on her own, she didn’t take her medicine right and ended up back in the hospital. I don’t want to take that chance again, not as long as I can afford for her to stay here.”

“I don’t think you should pursue the dog thing with Lester.”

“What? I have to. That fight last night was peanuts. I’ve heard rumors there’s an all-star fight coming up. If I can find out when and where, we can raid it and maybe get the organizer.”

“Where are you getting your information?”

“I have sources.”

Dogs attacking one another while men cheered and cursed replayed in his mind, sickening him. “Then use those sources to find out when the next fight is. I’ll contact the U.S. Marshal Service, FBI, and Mississippi Highway Patrol. But you . . .” Ben pointed at Wade. “Don’t go through with this scheme to infiltrate the ring.”

“Whatever you say, boss.”

His gut told him Wade wouldn’t listen. Ben rode silently in the passenger seat. Wade was a complex man. If anything happened to him . . . “Think about your mother and what would happen to her if you were hurt or killed.”

In the driver’s seat, Wade grunted.

The sun had risen over the tree line by the time they reached the jail. Andre and another deputy had pulled water-soaked furniture
into the parking lot. Ben walked through the lobby and down the hall to his office. Everything seemed intact. Andre stuck his head in the door.

“Electrician will be here by eight. Then we can get the power turned back on.”

Ben turned around. “How’s Martin?”

“Going to be okay.” Andre stepped inside the office. “You think the snakes happened naturally? Or did someone set them loose?”

Ben ran his hand through his hair. “I think they were set loose to send a message. Just like this fire.”

“But who would do something like that? Don’t they know those snakes could’ve killed one of the boys?”

“Whoever turned them loose doesn’t care.” He chewed his bottom lip. “Is Taylor Martin still in town?”

“I saw her yesterday with her mama at the grocery.”

Good. Taylor was one of the top victim profilers in the country. If someone was committing these crimes to show him that he couldn’t protect his county, she could figure out who it was.