Ever Present Danger (12 page)

Ivy walked across the churchyard of Woodlands Community Church and past the wrought-iron gate. Only a few patches of snow remained, and the cemetery looked exactly as she had remembered it. She spotted the angel monument that marked baby Amy’s grave. She walked over and stood next to it, flooded with the memory of Rusty holding her hand, their mother weeping, and their father steely silent as Pastor Myers prayed for God to receive the spirit of this stillborn child.

Ivy reached up and traced the smooth features of the marble angel and wondered what her sister would have been like and if she knew she had a family—and that Ivy had disgraced it.

She turned and trudged toward the back of the cemetery, her heart heavy with the grim reality that soon she would have to leave Lu there.

When she’d gone beyond the reddish headstone marked “Weaver” to the open area just inside the fence, she turned around
and looked out at the snowcapped mountains in the distance. The words of Isaiah came to her almost audibly.
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken.”

Where had that come from? She hadn’t opened a Bible since the day Joe died. Not that she believed it anymore.

Ivy moved her eyes slowly across the quaint old cemetery and the breathtaking landscape beyond and tried to imagine a simple wooden cross on the spot where she stood. It seemed perfect, better than she had envisioned. A shadow crossed over her, and she looked up and saw a bald eagle—the first in a very long time—and wondered if it was a sign.

Pastor Rick Myers came out the back door of the church, his graying hair tossed about by the April breeze, and met her halfway across the churchyard. “What’d you think?”

“It’s a pretty spot. I’m sure Lu will be pleased.” Ivy studied his face and sensed in him no condemnation of her past. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“All right.”

“Did my parents pay you for this?”

Pastor Myers smiled with his eyes. “Ivy, your parents donated this land to the church when you were a baby. We’re happy to accommodate them and you any way we can.” The pastor put his hand on her shoulder and walked her to her mother’s Jeep. “Is someone going with you to pick out a casket? If not, I’d be glad to go with you.”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll be okay now.”

CAROLYN GRIFFITH POURED Elam a cup of coffee and then sat at the kitchen table. She looked out the window just as a doe and her fawn ambled into view just this side of the split rail fence.

“I’ll bet you’re glad investigators are through at the construction site,” Carolyn said. “Now you can get back to the condominium project.”

Elam Griffith nodded. “Yeah, but we’ll be lucky to get the model ready in time for the Getaway Home Show. And after tying up my building site for ten days, all Flint found was a set of keys that belonged to Joe Hadley.”

“You wouldn’t think much of Flint if he hadn’t done a thorough job.”

“Let’s just hope he solves the case.” Elam took a sip of coffee. “Is Ivy at work?”

“No, she’s not scheduled on Wednesdays. She drove Lu out to the church to take a look at the cemetery plot.”

“What’s Ivy thinking? The poor thing is so weak she can hardly walk.”

“Lu insisted,” Carolyn said. “They took the wheelchair with them. Truthfully, I think it’s good for them to face this together. It might help Ivy get through the grief later.”

“It’s obvious she’s real fond of Lu.”

“I think it goes beyond
fond
. Lu’s a mother figure—for both Ivy and Montana. We owe a lot to that woman. Who knows what would’ve happened to Ivy and Montana if it hadn’t been for her?”

Elam added a little more cream to his coffee and stirred. “Don’t you think it’s odd Lu doesn’t have any family? Seventy’s not that old.”

“I didn’t ask questions.”

“What’re we going to do about a headstone? We can’t just stick a wooden cross in the ground. Doesn’t the cemetery have some kind of rule about that?”

“Yes, but Lu doesn’t know that. It might help her hold on to her dignity if we let her think she’s got her own expenses covered.”

“What kind of casket did Ivy pick out for her?”

“The least expensive, but I think it wiped out Lu’s account. I’d like to talk to Ivy about our buying a vault, but we don’t need to say anything to Lu about it.”

Elam shook his head. “What would they have done if they’d stayed in Denver?”

“Lu planned to be cremated, but Ivy wouldn’t hear of it.”

“Well, at least it’s settled now. We just need to get Ivy and the boy past this so they can start living like normal people. Ivy needs to learn how to be the mother. She can’t spend the rest of her life depending on someone else to do it for her.”

Flint Carter sat at his desk, perusing the list of names and addresses of the kids who were in Joe Hadley’s graduating class at Tanner County High School—one hundred sixteen in all.

“It’s amazing how many of these kids don’t live in the area anymore.” Flint handed the list back to Bobby Knolls. “Any idea how many aren’t coming to the class reunion?”

“Nineteen that we know of.”

“Is there anybody who’s been absent from all previous reunions?”

“Yeah, four guys and two gals. But all of them are registered to come this time except Adam Mills.”

“Know anything about him?”

Bobby nodded. “Yeah, artsy type. Well liked. Travels with some highfalutin dance company in London. He played the lead role in the school play junior and senior years. If there was bad blood between him and Joe Hadley, nobody’s alluded to it.”

“What about the basketball teammates?”

“We’ve already questioned the ones who still live in the state. Their alibis checked out, and they were more than happy to cooperate. I’ll wait to approach the others till they’re in town for the reunion and I can eyeball them. But none of the players we’ve talked to had a beef with Joe or could remember anyone who did. Coach confirmed it. I think this is a dead end.”

“I never suspected his teammates anyway. What about teachers?”

“The kid was an honor student. Never gave anybody trouble. As far as we can tell, he didn’t smoke, drink, or drug. Didn’t even have a steady girlfriend.”

“Any chance he was involved with a lady teacher—maybe someone whose husband got jealous?”

“Nothing leads me to think that.”

“What about the ranch hands?”

Bobby blew a bubble with his gum. “We grilled every person who was workin’ on Collier Ranch at the time. No red flags there.”

“Have you gone back and talked to Joe’s family?”

“Yeah, the ones who were livin’ in Jacob’s Ear at the time he disappeared: parents, maternal grandparents, and two sisters. They were extremely cooperative. The father’s the only one who would’ve had the strength to break the hyoid bone, and I’d bet my firstborn that he didn’t do it.”

“I agree. So we’re back to square one.”

“Yeah, it looks that way.”

Ivy Griffith pulled into the parking lot at Woodlands Community Church just as the bells chimed ten. She parked the car and looked over at Lu, who seemed too drained even to open the door.

“I brought Mom’s digital camera,” Ivy said. “Why don’t I go take some pictures of the grave site so you don’t have to get out?”

“No, I want to see it for myself,” Lu said. “Just help me get in the wheelchair.”

Ivy opened the back door of her mother’s Jeep and unloaded the lightweight wheelchair that hospice had brought to the house. She rolled it around to the passenger door and helped Lu get into it, wondering if she’d be able to push her stocky frame through the dried grass in the cemetery.

“Okay, I’m ready,” Lu said.

Ivy pushed the wheelchair across the parking lot, then out into the churchyard and beyond the wrought-iron gate, surprised and pleased that the wheels were moving.

“Sorry it’s so bumpy, Lu.”

Ivy pushed Lu past Amy’s grave to the empty plot behind the reddish headstone marked “Weaver,” and turned the chair around. “Here were are.”

Lu didn’t say anything for the longest time, her eyes seeming to take it all in. Finally she said, “Thank You, Jesus.”

“Does that mean you like it?”

“It’s wonderful. Just wonderful.” Lu reached back for Ivy’s hand. “Thanks for bringing me here. I really wanted to see it.”

“Don’t you think this is just a little morbid?”

“Not at all. It’s peaceful.”

“If you say so. At least it’s pretty.” Ivy put her hands on Lu’s thick shoulders and gently massaged. “Aren’t you even a little scared?”

“Not of death. I’d like to skip the
dying
part, but I try to think about heaven and seeing my Jesus for the first time.”

Ivy exhaled. “I wish I had your faith. All I think about is how much Montana and I will miss you, and how unfair it is that you have to die this way. I can’t believe you’re not even angry.”

“I don’t want to spend what little time I have left being angry. Come around here where I can see your face.”

Ivy went around to the front of the wheelchair and squatted facing Lu.

“God brought us together for a reason.” Lu tilted Ivy’s chin and seemed to look deep into her eyes. “And He’s allowing us to part ways for a reason. You mustn’t let anger eat you up.”

Ivy felt the emotion tighten her throat, and she forced out the words. “I’m more scared than angry! I know you’re going to heaven, and I’m not. I turned my back on God when I chose to cover up Joe Hadley’s death, and I made it worse by snorting blow and turning tricks to pay for my habit. I’ve been a rotten mother and an even worse daughter. I lie. I steal. I can’t even support myself, let alone my son. There’s no way I’m going to heaven. And I’m terrified that once you’re gone, I won’t ever see you again.”

Lu took her thumb and wiped the tears off Ivy’s cheeks. “I don’t know why you won’t ask God to forgive you. He wants to.”

“I know you believe that, Lu. I wish I did.”

Brandon Jones sat at his computer finishing up the last of the changes to the camp website when he heard a knock on his open door.

“Okay if I empty your trash?” Bill Ziwicki said.

“Sure. I’ll be out of your way in just a second.”

“I can clean another office and come back.”

“No, I’m done.” Brandon shut down his computer and waited for it to go off as Bill picked up the trash can and dumped the contents into his rolling trash receptacle.

“I’m surprised to see you here this late,” Bill said.

“I just wanted the satisfaction of finishing this project. Feels good to have closure on something.”

Bill laughed. “I can’t imagine what that’d be like. I no sooner get done cleanin’ than I’m back doin’ the same thing all over again. Gotta look at it as job security.”

“Do you own this cleaning service?”

“Yeah, three years now. I’m doin’ real well, too. I like bein’ my own boss. The guy I was workin’ for treated me like a moron—till I became his competitor.” Bill grinned. “I’m smarter than I look.”

“Well, I appreciate your keeping the offices clean. Without
you, this place would look like a junk heap.”

“Thanks. People pretty much take me for granted.”

“Not me. Maybe it’s because I remember what a slob I was when I was a bachelor.”

“How long’ve you been married?”

“Just since Thanksgiving.”

Bill gave a slight nod. “Hope it works out. I was married once. Lasted eighteen months, and then my wife left me. Said I’d never amount to a hill o’ beans. Guess I showed her when I started my own business.”

“Any chance you’ll get back together?”

“Nah, she’s remarried and has three kids.”

“Well, I hope you meet the right woman someday.” Brandon locked the drawer on his desk and walked toward the door. “Good night, Bill. Have a good one.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Brandon walked out of the administration building and down the street toward his living quarters, amazed that all the snow had disappeared. Out to the west, the jagged peaks of the San Juans were silhouetted against the orangey sky and looked surprisingly like the phony-looking velvet paintings he had seen in tourist shops.

He waved at Suzanne Compton as she passed him in her SUV, then walked up the front steps of his log house. He pushed open the door and was hit by the aroma of corned beef and cabbage, and suddenly realized he was famished.

Seconds later, Kelsey came into the living room and put her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Did you get the website updates finished?”

“Finally. Hope you didn’t mind me working late, but it feels great having it behind me. So how was your day?”

“Busy. I did the banking, ran some errands, got caught up on the laundry.
And
I got a call from the shop in Silverton. They sold one of my quilts to a cross-country skier from Nebraska.”

“That’s great, honey. Looks like you’ve found a money-making outlet for your creativity.”

“Yes, but what if they sell the other three before I can get replacements made?”

Brandon smiled. “Then you can take special orders.”

Kelsey took his hand and led him out to the kitchen where the table was set for dinner. “I’ve got bad news. Lu’s worse. Carolyn just called and said Ivy drove her out to the church this morning to look at a cemetery plot. By the time they got home, Lu was so weak they almost couldn’t get her up the stairs. Carolyn said the bottoms of Lu’s feet are starting to turn bluish, and the hospice nurse thinks maybe her organs are starting to shut down. The end may be really close.”

“Sorry to hear that. But I guess it’s a blessing, all things considered.”

Kelsey pulled a pan of corn muffins out of the oven. “Well, no one wants Lu to live like this.”

“I wonder how Montana’s handling it? It was good seeing him totally relaxed when we took him home Saturday night.”