Coming Home (Norris Lake Series) (15 page)

Chapter 13

It was about 10:00 p.m.  Darkness enveloped the river house.  There were no street lights.  The moon and stars were covered by low hanging clouds.

“Ring. Ring.”  Caitlyn pushed herself up off the couch and walked a couple of steps to pick the cordless phone up off its cradle which sat perched on top of the large screen TV.  It wasn’t one of those new fancy plasma deals but was still a 65 inch monster obviously purchased by a male football fan for use during game days.  On the screen an old Lifetime movie played out the mystery of a kidnapped child and wounded mother searching for the truth.  Caitlyn wasn’t watching the television.  It was simply comforting noise of other voices to break of the silence in the borrowed river house. 

“Hello? Nothing.  Hello?” She could hear breathing on the other end, but still nothing. She clicked the phone off and sat back down in the corner of the couch re-opening her book from the Nora Roberts Circle Trilogy. 

“Ring. Ring.”  She paused a moment and then picked the phone up a second time.

“Hello?” Again, she could hear nothing.  “What do you want?” she said now becoming frustrated.  “If you want something, say so”.  She heard nothing so hung up the receiver again with the push of a button.

Turning back to her book, she patted the black dog at her side, then took a drink of her bourbon and coke and went back to her book.

Ring. Ring.  “Jeez.  This has got to stop.  Hello?”

“Stop the project or you and your family is dead,” a deep male muffled voice threatened. Then there was a click.

As her mind registered the meaning of the call, she stared at the phone, her heart beating hard in her chest.  She threw the phone to the far end of the couch as if it had been a rattlesnake.

“Oh my God!” She stared at the phone no longer feeling safe alone within the house.

On edge, she got up and walked through the house, closing blinds, pulling drapes shut and locking all of the doors.  Walking back to the couch, she picked up her little dog and walked to the front door to set the alarm. Leaving all of the lights burning downstairs, she climbed the steps to her bedroom, feeling somewhat safer on the second story behind a locked bedroom door. 

Checking her bedside table, Caitlyn pulled out the black nine millimeter Smith and Wesson pistol loaded with nine live rounds of ammunition and felt better as she set it by her side. As she changed into a pair of gray sweat pants, white v-necked t-shirt, and thick white tube socks. The phone rang again. 

Ring. Ring.  “I’m not going to answer that Pattycake.”  Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.  The phone continued a stringent noise.  Moments later it stopped.

Thirty minutes later, Caitlyn snoozed sitting upright in bed with her book on her lap, the little dog for company and a gun by her side for protection.  A loud pounding at the front door, woke her from the stupor.  It took a moment for her to register the sound and at once her body tensed with anticipation.  Seizing the gun at her side, she folded back the blankets and shuffled her feet into two fluffy pink slippers on the floor.  Grabbing her pink terry cloth robe, she wrapped it around her and slid back the lock on the bedroom door.  The pounding sound was persistent. Then she heard the crash of breaking glass, then the roar of a motor and tires in the driveway spitting gravel as a vehicle pulled away from the house.  Pattycake barked furiously at the intrusion.  Caitlyn trembling ran to the bedroom end table and dialed 911.

“Ring. Ring. I need help.  There’s been an intruder.  1440 Riverside Road.  Send a deputy.” Caitlyn cried grasping the pistol in one hand and the little dog in the other sat on the bed waiting for help.

At the same time, miles away Dominic held his head in his hands. 

“I hate her and I wish she were dead.  I am going to make her pay for this.  It’s her fault that I have lost everything.  God, I can’t stand it.  She’s got to pay.” 

“Good riddance to her.  You’re better off without the bitch.  She’s a whore.  All women are.  You can’t trust any of them. They’ll all take advantage of you and then take everything you have,”  his father’s angry voice snarled.

“Don’t tell him that.  It’s not true.” Dom’s step-mother interjected. “You just feel this way because you love her so much and she’s left you.  It’s not that you want her to come to harm.  Really dear, look into your heart and you know that it would break your own heart if something happened to her.  You’re just angry.  It’s okay to be angry but then you need to let it go. You need to forgive her and take responsibility for some of what has happened.  You weren’t the perfect husband and your behavior led to these consequences.  You know this to be true.  You know this; in your heart.  You just can’t see it right now because your intellect is clouded with anger.  Don’t listen to your father. He’s angry because he was left by his first wife and he has never been able to let go of the anger.  Don’t become what he is.  Don’t wallow in the pain.  Look forward to forgiveness and the future.  Decide how you want your change your and then make it so.” His mother consoled him as much as she could.  “Marriage is a compromise, don’t give up negotiations.  You have to keep trying to sell Cat on your intentions.  Women respect a man that knows what he wants, Dom.  It’s one of the reasons Cat was always sure about you two as a couple. She knew at the beginning you were sure you wanted her in your life.”

“I know you’re right but I am so angry that I can’t feel it,” Dominic whispered.  

I’ll tell you what.  It’s time for dinner.  Let’s go to KFC and get us something to eat.  The drive will calm you down.  By the time you get back, you will feel better and you can log on and write her an email telling her how you will make her life better if she comes back.  I’ve never seen you so much in love.  I didn’t think you were capable of this, but know that this is the woman for you.  You need to take the chance, baby and tell her how you feel, no matter what she says.  You need to try your hardest so you don’t ever look back and say “ I wish I had….”. his mother continued.

“I know, Mom.  You’re right.  Let me get my keys.  I’ll drive.”

Later that night sated with comfort food, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and warm buttered rolls, he sat down at his computer and emailed Cat a fifth time.

A drink in one hand, Dominic climbed into an old red pickup truck that he kept at the house to haul mulch and trash.  He’d go over there to Norris and find her and make her come back.  His mind was numb and a pounding began behind his temples.  That father of hers, he thought to himself.  That damn old man had always hated him.  No matter how hard he tried to make good and provide Cat with the same kind of life she came from, he was never good enough for that old bastard.  He took another drink and turned the keys. 

On the outskirts of Norris, the Turlington condo project was at risk; a location picturesque in the day time turned in to a nightmare.  Heavy black smoke filled the air as russet flames licked the unpainted plywood of the first set of condos.  The fully-framed buildings provided a rich tinderbox fueling the newly raging fire.  He stepped back tossing the empty gasoline can on to a pile of scrap lumber his job finished as the flames moved on to a neighboring unit.  Turning, he jogged off through the nearby woods to his truck which he’d hidden parked on the far side of the knoll.  In the dark, his black clothed form was undistinguishable from the surrounding woods and he disappeared as silently as he had appeared. 

Moments later when the first unit was well beyond help, a patrolling deputy saw the flames and pulled his vehicle through the construction entrance.  Stepping out of the car he sighed and reached into the cruiser to complete two calls, the local fire department and the construction company owner.

Skidding through the gravel, Cat literally slid in to the condo construction parking lot.  She immediately spotted a half dozen fire vehicles surrounding the complex already pouring water on the flames as they graspingly continued to paint yellow fingers on the night sky.  In a way it was beautiful as the red, yellow and blue lights flashed in rotating patterns; as beautiful as a painted asp. Pulling her black work dually on through the construction entrance where she parked next to the sheriff’s car and quickly climbed out assessing the damage as she sprinted over to stand next to the deputy.

“Hey George. What happened?”

“Can’t tell as of yet but my guess right off would be arson.  I found a couple of empty gasoline cans on the pile over there.”

“So what did my dad have to say about it?”

“Your dad?  I don’t know.  I haven’t talked to him yet.  I was assuming he would come with you.”

“No.  He’s supposed to be here filling out some paperwork for permits and the weekly payroll.  Did you check the trailer?”

“I didn’t have any reason to think anyone was here. There were no lights on when I got here and all of the commotion would have gotten anyone’s attention.  There’d be no way to ignore it.”

“No I am certain he’s here.  I spoke to him about an hour ago and he was still working.  He was going to call me before he left so we could meet in town for dinner.  I didn’t get a call and assumed he was still working.”  George, masking his fears, conversationally pronounced, “The trailer’s off to the side any way and wasn’t touched by the fire.  You stay here, Cat.  I will go have a look to see if he’s in there.”

“Are you kidding?  Cat spat out, “Wait here? I am going with you.  I am not staying here.”

“Chief Lewis,” he called to a nearby individual, “we potentially have a problem.  Caitlyn here says her dad’s on the premises somewhere.  Did you find anyone?”

“Not yet, but some of those condos in the first building are a lost cause.  If you hadn’t called it in so quickly, we wouldn’t have been able to save the rest of the units.  It’s about a 10% loss as I see it now.  I will get the men to check the area. 

“John, Harry, David, Lee over here,” he called walking towards the place where most of the firemen stood still spraying water on both the dying flames and the untouched buildings.  “You boys look through the buildings.  Robert Tarlington may be on the premises.”  The men spread out and started looking through both burned out buildings and those that had recently been touched by flames.”

“George, I am going to go check the trailer now!  He’s got to be here somewhere.”  Caitlyn started towards the trailer.

“I’ll go with you.”  His great strides caught up with her quickly. 

They jogged to the trailer and pulled open the door leaping up the steps into the 50 x 30 office.  It was an open area with no other divisions except for a bathroom at one far end.  There at the farthest part of the trailer in front of the lavatory door lay Robert Tarlington still as death.

“Caitlyn, he’s here,” George said to the woman who stood just inches behind him.  He moved swiftly to the prostrate form and kneeling he placed a hand on the side of the neck of the victim.

“He’s still breathing, Caitlyn.  Call 911.”

“Daddy!  I need to see him,” she cried pushing her way in.

“No,” he stood and put his large worn hands on the upper part of each shoulder. “Go call 911 now.  Get an ambulance here quickly.”

Tears welled in her eyes and she nodded running out of the trailer taking all the steps in one jump as she ran towards her truck.  Picking up her cell phone from the front of her purse, she called for help.

Later at the hospital, she hovered outside her father’s room waiting for the doctor’s appearance. 

Michael rushed towards her, pulling a blue Stuckey’s baseball cap from his head.  “How is he?  What happened?” He spilled in a rush not waiting for answers. 

“I don’t know how he is yet.  I am waiting for the doctor right now.  He’s still alive though, but looks like he was hit in the head pretty hard, then someone beat him pretty badly. Someone torched the condos. The police are saying it was undeniably arson. If the sheriff hadn’t been driving by and noticed the fire, it would have been much worse and Dad might have been dead by the time we found him. Oh Michael,” she said, a catch in her voice, the tears welling up in her eyes again for the hundredth time.  “Who would do a thing like this and why? Why?”

“I don’t know anything about it…” Michael began as the doctor appeared. 

Caitlyn turned and inquired.  “Doctor.  Tell me his condition” she demanded. “How is my father doing?  Will he be okay?”

The doctor took Caitlyn’s hand in his own and patted the back of it.  His gray head nodded and a concerned look filled his wrinkled brow.  A pair of light blue eyes peered through silver wire rimmed round spectacles wise with 50+ years of medicine.  His hunched shoulders inside the traditional white lab coat of doctors throughout the world bent as if he bore the weight of the world on his back.  In reality he did for this family.  He’d delivered both Caitlyn and her brother years ago and had been the family’s doctor for longer than that.  Bob Tarlington had been playing golf with him since Cat was in preschool and they were next door neighbors.