Coming Home (Norris Lake Series) (26 page)

About five years ago, John had a stroke while on the job and was put into a nursing home. Some say it was the pressure from the job, but others say it was the booze.  He started drinking when his first child died of pneumonia at a young age.  Then when the incident with Beth happened, it got progressively worse.  He really stepped it up right after his wife died.  It wasn’t noticeable on the job but long term it took its toll. I’ve been many times to see John and I have tried to find Jeremy for him over the years. But, I’ve had no luck on finding Jeremy and John is now un-responsive.  He’s still alive but it would be hard to prove.  I am still hopeful that Jeremy will either come home someday or at least come see his father before he dies. It would give John some peace of mind.” 

“So what happened to the other son, Stephen?”

“Stephen was more than hospitalized.  He was committed to an asylum after Beth’s disappearance.  Beth and Stephen were similar in age and very close.  What with the accusations that he’d killed his sister and the shame he’d brought on his family, what boy could handle that type of pressure? 

Stephen couldn’t handle it and as a result became unmanageable.  He turned to drugs and was severely depressed eventually he became suicidal.  It wasn’t unexpected given his history.  John always felt badly about committing the boy, but it was for the best and the boy’s own protection. After about two years, Stephen was released. I don’t know what happened to him after that.  He and his father weren’t close after all the trouble.”

“What was Beth like?” Jesse said as she continued to write.

“She was a bright light.  People were drawn to her like moths to a flame.  Everyone was her friend and whenever you saw her you had to smile.  She was a positive, trusting soul.  If she was murdered, she didn’t deserve it.”

“Was she murdered?”

“I honestly don’t know.  In the end, the townsfolk said her brother killed her.  I don’t believe that to be true.  I knew the boy.  He idolized her and was so broken hearted when she disappeared that he couldn’t live with it.  It was too much for him to bear, I suppose.”

“Did you know Michael Tarlington?”

“Not well.  He was a popular school jock. The captain of the football team.  Well-liked but arrogant and didn’t do well with responsibility, as with many rich kids. I remember the time he wrecked his new Camaro but wouldn’t admit it was his fault. We all knew he did it but I guarantee he would have stuck to that lie like gum on the bottom of your shoe before he confessed to any type of wrongdoing in front of his father. 

Robert Tarlington pushed the kid hard.  Michael had to be the best at everything, but the kid had a hard time measuring up.  I
overheard a couple of conversations between them a time or two.  The kid was a handful and the only law the old man knew was his own strong hand, if you know what I mean.”

“Yes unfortunately I do.  That’s hard on a young man.” 

“Well, while the townsfolk directed the blame at Stephen Kane, there were some that felt Michael was the one responsible.  He was, after all, Beth’s boyfriend and the last to see her.” 

“Can you tell me about Caitlyn, Rodney, Sarah and Curtis ?”

“They were a clique back in those days.  You didn’t see Caitlyn without Sarah and Beth.  Michael, Rodney and Curtis were all in separable.  After that night on the houseboat, the group literally broke up. There was something they shared but didn’t want to talk to each other about.”

“What do you suspect?”

“Oh, I don’t know.  Don’t listen to the ramblings of an old fart like me.  I have forgotten more than I ever knew.”

Jesse sighed. “Seems like Beth’s disappearance was a tragedy all the way around.”

“I would agree with you on that.”

“So tell me some more about Stephen.  I heard from Sheriff O’Donnell that he was adopted by Sheriff Kane.”

“Ah, yes;  Stephen.  He was a unique individual.  He was exceptionally brilliant.  John had the boy tested.  His I.Q. was far in excess of genius; off the charts.  The boy was extraordinary.  Of course, genius walks a fine line between brilliance and insanity.  We’ll never know which side he chose.” 

“I have heard that his looks were peculiar.  What does that mean?”

“Think about the world thirty years ago.  You had four channels available on TV.  There were no cell phones.  Gasoline cost less than a quarter a gallon. There was no such thing as a computer.  Airline travel was infrequent. There were no malls.  A college degree was a rarity.  Polio and influenza killed thousands.  Crosses were burned in the yards of blacks and purported witches.  The times were much different than they are today.  Stephen had almost white blonde hair, pale skin and light eyes.  He was also almost totally deaf.” 

“So he was extremely different.  So what?”

“He wasn’t just light.  He was albino and was almost ethereal like a ghost.  His mannerisms were a little strange almost as if he were from another time.  It wouldn’t be an issue these days, but remember the times.  Most people are suspicious and cruel to anyone who isn’t like them.  It’s a reflection of pack mentality and he wasn’t part of the pack.”

“Ok, tell me more about the Tarlington family.”

“The Tarlington’s are one of the founding families for the town; very well-known, well-connected and rich.  Rumor is that Robert’s grandfather knew about the TVA plan to flood the valley and took advantage of the knowledge.  He squashed the existing owners’ ability to purchase new farms on the outskirts of Norris.  Once he made sure he didn’t have any competition, he bought up as much of the land around the lake.  As possible, those who wouldn’t sell, he forced them out.  I hear that Robert’s father followed suit and was also a land developer, but even more heartless. 

The Tarlington’s own several of the lake houses and uses them as rentals. They also own much of downtown area and have an interest in several large farms nearby.  You know Caitlyn, but not Robert.  He’s one mean son-of-a-bitch if you get on his bad side.  He’s nice to your face while he’s preparing to stab you in the back.  I have seen him give a little old lady a loan on her house and then when she defaults, force her out on to the street without a second thought.”

“Sounds like a nice guy.  I’ve met Caitlyn and she seems untouched.”

“She takes after her mother and didn’t face the same pressures as her brother to be perfect.  Her father treated her like a china doll; beautiful but incapable.  He only expected her to find a husband at college; not actually pursue a degree. She took it on her own to become both educated and successful.  Her father respects her now but it was because of  her own hard work and determination.”

“And Beth’s mother?”

“Kathy and Robert divorced after the kids graduated from high school. Michael stayed with Robert and Caitlyn moved away with Kathy.  I think the stress of dealing with Robert’s temper and the town’s condemnation was too much for Kathy’s side of the marriage.  Then she remarried a high powered divorce attorney in Memphis.  We don’t see her much around here
anymore.”

“What about the night of Beth’s disappearance? What can you tell me about it?”

“Not much.  The kids were out on a houseboat and Beth went ashore.  There was a massive hunt for her but she was never seen again after that night. Nobody was ever found but it was assumed that she met with foul play primarily because she was up for home coming queen and would have graduated the following spring with a full scholarship to Duke.  There would have been no reason for her to run away.”

“This has been very helpful,” Jesse said putting away her notebook and pen.

“Is that all?  No more questions?” George stubbed out his cigar.

“That’s all I have for now, but I hope I can come back and speak with you again if I have more questions.”

“I would adore it.  I have enjoyed spending a few moments with such a beautiful woman.  Can I interest you in a six pack and a chair outside on the dock?  We could watch the water and talk about my brilliant career as a lawman.”

“Tell me, George.  What would it take for you to ask me to go fishing?”

“Be still my heart.  It’s the big one coming…It would be an honor to have you share my dock.  Would you also stay for dinner?  I make a mean Domino’s pizza.”

“I would love to.”  Jesse smiled genuinely pleased.

Chapter 25

The campus police found the body of a young woman wrapped in a green carpet in her car parked in one of the student commuter lots. 

“How long has she been here?” the campus police officer asked the Medical Examiner. 

“She’s been here at least a week.”

“How long has she been dead?”

“I can’t be sure until I get her on an examination table, but the same I would be my guess.  I can tell you that she wasn’t killed in the car.  She was murdered elsewhere, rolled up in the carpet and driven here.”

“They probably left her in the student lot because the majority of the kids park their cars here at the beginning of the semester and then don’t move them until it’s time to go home for break.”

“Cause of death?”

“A sharp knife.  Her throat was cut.  I can also tell you she’d recently had intercourse and was covered with oil.  What ever happened looks like a ritual killing,” the Medical Examiner continued.  “I’ve seen this sort of thing before in Los Angeles when we were investigating murders by a religious cult.”

A Knoxville Metro officer pulled up and got out his car.  “Hey Charlie,” he said to the Medical Examiner. 

“Same to you Kurt.” Charlie pulled the latex gloves from his hands.  “Third body today.  The moon must be full.”

“What do you know, Captain,” Kurt smiled patting the campus police officer on the back.

“She was killed elsewhere, wrapped in a carpet and dumped in this lot in her own car.  She has been dead about a week; throat cut.  Charlie thinks it may have been ritual murder,” the Captain explained.

“Any identification?” Kurt asked.

“Not yet.  There was a purse in the car but nothing of importance in it.  No
driver’s license, no credit cards, no money.  We did find a couple of pieces of men’s clothing, a pair of tennis shoes and a watch,” Charlie offered.

“Well, let’s get the crime scene investigators out here and some prints so we can find out where she came from,” Kurt said pulling the
mike off his shoulder.

Chapter 26

As Caitlyn put her keys in the door to the lake house, she could hear a staccato pitch of frantic barks from inside.  Opening the door with one hip, her arms full of groceries, she dropped a two liter diet coke that rolled across the hardwood floor stopping against the leg of a well-worn rocking chair.  Shaking her head, she scolded herself for trying to carry all the bags in at the same time.  Though it was still early, her day had been a full one and she sighed as she set the groceries and her keys on the kitchen counter. 

"Hi Pattydog.  How’s my baby?” She stooped over to pet the wriggling bundle of fur which spun around in circles barking with excitement at her master’s return.  Just as she started putting the groceries away the phone rang. 

"Hello," she said picking the mobile phone from its cradle.  There was a silence on the other end of the phone. 

"Hello," she repeated listening intently for any type of sound. In the background on the other end of the line she could hear the sound of passing cars as if someone were there but not saying anything. 

"Is anyone there?" she said again agitated and then hung up the phone with a sharp motion. 

"I wonder who that was?  Maybe it was someone calling for Mr. Hill.  Who knows?” She turned back to the groceries. 

"Brrrrringg.  Brrrringgg."  The phone rang again.  She hesitated for a moment and then picking it up said, "Hello". 

"Caitlyn? This is Jesse."  Unconsciously she released the breath she had been holding as she recognized the voice. 

"Jesse, hi how are you?" Surprised to hear from her friend so soon after their lunch. 

“Honey, I am going over to the crafts festival at the John Rice Irwin museum and I was wondering if you wanted to go?” 

Caitlyn had been to the crafts festival many times when she was young.  The museum was started to preserve the way that the local folk lived before electricity and modern conveniences.  Crafts people wove cane chairs, carved cedar buckets, sewed quilts and ground grain into flour along with many other skills representing the old ways.  They joined together to celebrate a way of life that was long gone but not forgotten. 

A wave of nostalgia came over her.  “I’d love to go”. 

“Wonderful, I will meet you at the front entrance.  Does an hour give you enough time?”

“Yes.” 

“Bring your appetite.  I plan on eating some of that deep fried corn on the cob and have to have some
homemade ice cream.”

“I will see you there, Jesse,” smiling as she hung of the phone.  She was looking forward to the afternoon.  An old-time festival and crafts fair was a perfect way to spend the day. “You want to go Pattycake?  You can come with me.”  She rifled through the drawer next to the phone and pulled out a bright orange UT collar and matching leash.  The little dog started turning circles and barking excitedly, a little black whirling tornado, as she recognized the tools for a walk.  Caitlyn stooped down and fastened the collar around the puppy’s neck.   Grabbing her keys, she picked up the little dog in her arms.  “Let’s go.”

She stepped on to the grounds of the Museum of Appalachia’s Annual Fall Homecoming.  The museum had been lovingly assembled over 45 years by John Rice Irwin, a former country schoolteacher credited with saving a piece of endangered Appalachian culture from extinction.

She could remember meeting John Rice Irwin.  He was a stately southern gentleman with a mane of snow-white hair who looked a little like Mark Twain. The museum was 65 acres of a working farm with 40+ rustic buildings including barns, outbuildings and livestock pens, homesteads, corn cribs, smoke houses, schools, churches and a blacksmith shop all with authentic furnishings of the time.  The woodsy smell of a soup beans and charcoal from cooking in iron kettles over an open flame mixed with the sweet aroma of sassafras tea being simmered over a fire.  A low wooden hewn table was set with colorful plates boasting
homemade apple pies, country ham biscuits, tall chocolate cakes and homemade candies.  The warm smell of baked goods floated by on the sharp stench of boiling lye soap and hot brown molasses.  Behind the chaos of aroma was the twang of a bluegrass banjo, the lilt of a fiddle and the wailing voices for traditional mountain songs.  There is also the clop of draft horses pulling against a heavy leather collar as it went round and round to drive a grist mill.  There was the whistle chop of an axe cutting cedar logs and a cadence of the water falling from a turning wheel into a shallow stream.

Caitlyn wandered through the potters and painters selling their wares and exhibiting artist techniques out in front of the entrance to the museum.  Pausing to watch a young painter hard at work, she marveled the way he was able to make the mountains and lakes come alive beneath his brush.  As she watched, he had repeatedly glanced her way.  As the crowd around him thinned she walked forward to introduce herself.  As they talked she had told him about her own painting, asking him for advice about how to develop depth when creating objects in the foreground. 

As she was speaking, there was a tap on her shoulder. 

“Hello, Caitlyn Lawson.”  Stephen stood there with his dark dangerous eyes laughing at her.  A shock of equally dark hair fanned his forehead as he mimicked a gentleman’s southern drawl and bowed low sweeping off his hat.

“To what do I owe this honor,” she said the words dripping with sarcasm.  I thought you’d be out dashing some old woman’s dreams as you forced her into bankruptcy and out on the street or maybe you had more fun planning a foreclosing on an orphanage so you could gleefully throw its occupants out of their homes.  Isn’t that what you do as an investment banker, take people’s lifelong dreams and break them up and resell them for a profit?”

“Wow.  You sure are able to put together a string of words without taking a breath.  I’ll bet you’d make one hell of an underwater swimmer with a set of lungs like that,” he said teasingly.

Caitlyn flushed with anger.  “Do you want something specific or are you just here to make my day a living hell?”

“I can live with that if you can. So what wouldn’t you consider a living hell?” he asked.

She thought for a moment; “How about a day laying out in the sun on a houseboat with a couple bags of Cheetos and a six pack of ice cold beer?”

“Well that sounds pretty good.  You want me to make it happen?  Could we rub oil on one another?”

“You don’t have to make any effort on my part.  I can make my own dreams come true. A friend and I have a day scheduled this week already.  We’re taking advantage of one of the last sunny, warm days of the summer and taking her father’s houseboat out to Point 19 tomorrow to drink beer, lay in the sun and eat Cheetos.  My dream come true.” 

“Well just don’t drink too much. I hope you have fun. I really do.”

She turned to walk off pulling Patty’s leash so the little dog followed behind her. Stephen hurried his footsteps catching up with her in a couple of long strides.  “I’ll just walk with you to keep you company.”

“I don’t need your company.  I am meeting someone.”

“Oh, a man perhaps?  Maybe a lover that your husband doesn’t know about?”

She turned red.  “That’s none of your business.”

“Oh, so you have a lover,” he said stepping out and picking up the little dog holding it close to his chest under one arm.

“Don’t pick up my dog.  Here, let me have her before you crush her.”  They stopped and he handed the little black puffball back to her.  She frowned at him not knowing what else to say.  Why wouldn’t this insufferable man go away and leave her alone.  Didn’t he have anyone else to torment?  He walked away for a moment ducking behind a vendor.  With his back to her he spoke to a small man with a vending tray pulled out his wallet then turned back to stand in front of her.

“Let’s start over,” he said.  “It’s obvious that we got off to a bad start that day in the trailer.  I didn’t mean to be abrupt.  I am just used to making things happen one way or another.  I understand your position on the condo project and admire you for standing your ground.  How about we call a truce just for this afternoon?  Then we can get back to fighting first thing Monday morning.”  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sandcasting of a black Pomeranian about half the size of a computer mouse.  It’s paws were down on all fours and it’s head looked back over one shoulder.  A suction cup was firmly affixed to the stomach.  “It’s a computer pet.  See you put the suction cup on your monitor.  It’s yours,” he said holding it out to her in the middle of one large palm.

She looked at the small statute and closed her eyes in frustration.  She didn’t want to be friends with this person and she didn’t want to call a truce.  He was trying to destroy her father’s livelihood.  Hell, there was a good chance that he was the person who had not only set fire to the condos but also hired someone to run her off the road. She paused.  Or was she just being too judgmental because of who he was.  He was the person who had been accused of murdering his sister so many years ago.  He was still that freak that the other kids had teased unmercifully. She had strong feelings about underdogs and strays.  For some reason she couldn’t resist picking up an abandoned dog, sticking up for someone who was being bullied or standing strong beside someone who was experiencing discrimination. She called it her Joan of Arc complex, a martyr to the very end.  She looked at his crooked smile and decided she couldn’t let this ruin her day. 

“Oh, okay.  We’ll call it a truce, but just for this one day.  It’s not because I am on your side or believe you are innocent in the events over the past few week.  I am calling a truce for selfish reasons.  I don’t want to ruin my day.”  Her hand reached out and took the black dog from his palm.  “You can’t bribe me you know.  I am taking the present because it looks so much like Pattycake.”

“Yes I know I can’t bribe you.  Call it payment for putting up with me.  Now let’s go see who you are meeting?”  He put his arm around her shoulders and they walked towards the park entrance. 

“You being seen with me doesn’t mean touching,” she said shrugging out from under his arm. 

“Force of habit.  All the women I know hunger for my touch.” 

She stopped again to look at him squarely.  “I know you are teasing me now.”

“Yes.  So who are you meeting?”

In the distance, Caitlyn saw Jesse standing next to a colorful tent examining hand-blown stained ornaments. “ Here I will introduce you to my lover.” 

One arm through his, she led him over to where Jesse stood and tapped her on the shoulder.  “Hey.  It’s me.  I want to introduce you to someone.  Jesse, this is Stephen Kane.  Stephen, meet Jesse James.”  

Jesse turned quickly smiling at the sound of her new friend. She looked at the young man with the dark hair and piercing brown eyes.  She reached out to shake his hand.  As their skin touched something turned over in her chest, but she wasn’t sure why. He was certainly an attractive young man but at least 30 years her junior, but young men weren’t to her taste.

“Nice to meet you, young man.   Hi, Pattycake.  Here, Caitlyn let me hold her for a minute.  You know how I love little dogs. Especially this little one.”

“Just one moment,” Stephen said pulling Caitlyn around.  “Jesse? She’s your lover?”  He whispered frantically in her ear trying to keep his voice low.

“Sure,” Caitlyn said managing to keep a straight face just long enough to see the surprise in his eyes and then turn quickly to once more face Jesse, who was holding the dog up to her face nuzzling the black fur.

“Jesse, you ready to go in?” Caitlyn asked.

“You going to join us, young man?”  Jesse said handing Pattycake back to Caitlyn.

“Yes, ma’am.” Stephen replied giving Caitlyn a quizzical eye.

They meandered through the crafts people looking through handmade candles that looked like golden honeycombs and examining cedar birdhouses of all sizes with hand carved fronts that looked like wizened old gnomes. Stephen followed the women as they giggled and discussed the various crafts picking through items having to touch everything they passed. As the two parted moving in two different directions, he paused next to Caitlyn.

“ I know you were kidding about her being your lover. It caught me off balance though. I met your husband the other day. He thinks you ran off with your lover.  I just never thought of another woman. Did you know that?”

“I didn’t run off to be with anyone.  I was just joking about Jesse.  We’re just friends.”