Far Country (42 page)

           
Pete and Chuck looked at Steve with growing surprise as they realized what he
had said.

           
“So someone did try to kill you!” Pete exclaimed.

           
“Dude! Who’d randomly cut your rope and leave you to die?” Chuck asked
indignantly.

           
Steve gritted his teeth and let out a long sigh.  “Chuck, there was
nothing random about it. I know who did it. I’ve always known.  He made
sure of it before he cut the rope.”

           
Pete gave Steve a long look.  “So this wasn’t a surprise to you at all,
was it? You remember what happened. You’ve known all along.”

           
“It was David Bolton,” Steve admitted quietly.  “I don’t think he planned
it in advance. I just crossed his path at the wrong moment.  Anyway, I
believe he followed me up the trail, and after I dropped over the side, he
started yelling down at me – called me a murderer and telling me I deserved to
die. When I realized what he was doing, I started descending as fast as I
could, but he cut through the rope before I could reach the bottom. Everything
after that is pretty confused.”

           
“I don’t get it,” Chuck said with a frown. “If you knew it was David, why
didn’t you say something?”

           
Steve shrugged. “Lots of reasons. He’s Sarah’s twin brother. He was once my
best friend. I still half believed he was right and that I deserved to die for
causing Sarah's death. And I couldn’t do that to his parents so soon after
burying their daughter.  It was my fault Sarah died, I couldn’t turn
around just a couple weeks later and tell them their only son had attempted
murder!”

           
Chuck nodded. “That would be kind of cold,” he agreed.

           
Pete shifted, considering Steve’s tale. “Do you think he just did it out of
grief?” He asked hesitantly. “Maybe it was a
one time
act, and he won’t be tempted a second time?”

           
Steve shrugged. “Who knows?  My finding out about Gracie and getting his
parents’ legal support in taking over my responsibilities as her father has
complicated things for him, I think. He had always planned to settle down and
raise her himself, eventually. I can guarantee he’s none too happy with me at
the moment, but he’s too far away to do anything for now.”

           
“What do you mean? You’ve seen him since he did this?” Pete asked sharply,
still holding the cut rope.

           
Steve nodded. “Once. I went out for one last dive with my friend, Beth.
Remember, you met her at the beach this spring?"

           
 Both Pete and Chuck rolled their eyes. "Like we'd forget that
chick?" Chuck asked.

Steve looked uncomfortable
for a moment. "Yeah, well, it turns out that Deborah was right, and that
she was still his girlfriend. Worse, he found out that we had gone out alone,
and followed us to the dive sight. When we surfaced, David was there waiting
for us.”

Steve made a face at his
friends’ incredulous expressions. “It could have been a lot worse. He left me
stranded at sea, but he didn’t actually try to kill me.”

           
Steve paused and took another sip of tea, his face growing hard with anger. “He
didn’t try to kill me, but he did beat the crap out of Beth later that day,
though. It was a pretty close call for her.”

           
“Dude, what is this fascination you’ve got with this guy’s ladies?” Chuck asked
in exasperation. “Wasn’t Deborah one of his chicks, too?”  He glanced at
Pete. “Sorry amigo. No offense.”

           
“It's not like I went out looking for them, Chuck,” Steve said in irritation.
“I mean, what are the odds of meeting two of his former girlfriends in one
year?”

           
“So,” Pete said loudly, trying to refocus the conversation. “David is in jail
for a domestic violence charge? Is that what’s going on?”

           
Steve’s eyes grew somber at the memory of finding Beth, bruised and bleeding
among the shards of glass. “I wish,” he growled, “but she refused to press
charges.  Pastor Graham knows his C.O, though, and arranged to have him
reassigned out of the area for most of the next year. He also has to take anger
management courses and spend time with a psychiatrist.”

           
“Man, you are playing with fire! This David’s not
gonna
be happy until you are  nothing but blip on the history channel!” Chuck
warned him seriously.

           
Steve looked at him. “What do you propose that I do, Chuck? I know it was David
who cut the rope, but I don’t have any proof that it was him. It would just be
my word against his at this point. Plus, he’s Gracie’s Uncle, and she loves
him. He’s been a big part of her world!  I am
not
going to be the
one that puts her Uncle David in jail.”

           
Chuck rolled his eyes. “That’s all noble, but what’s it
gonna
do to her world when she finds out that her Uncle David killed her daddy? Will
that be better?”

           
“I don’t know what’s better!” Steve shrugged in helpless frustration. He looked
at Pete. “I’ve prayed. A lot! But for some reason I can’t bring myself to
accuse him.  At least, not now.”

           
Pete sat back in the chair considering. “Okay,” he said at last.  “We’ll
do it your way for now.” He gave Steve his familiar lopsided grin. “Maybe he’ll
be happy with almost killing you.”

           
He got up to leave. “I just hope” he added, the warning in his voice plain,
“that no one else gets hurt. This guy is a loose cannon.”

           
“Uh, Pete?” Steve said hesitantly. “I’d appreciate it if you don’t tell Deborah
about this whole thing with David. It will upset her and there’s nothing she
can do about it.”

           
Pete nodded. “I agree. She’s
gonna
have enough to
concentrate on for the next few months without worrying about you and David.
Did she tell you
we’ve
almost set the date? We want
to get married this spring.”

           
“That’s great!” Steve replied. “I’m looking forward to it.”

           
Pete grinned at both Chuck and Steve. “So you’d better stay alive, because I
need you to be my best man!”

           
Steve hardly slept that night. His mind worried on the problem of David, and he
missed Gracie.  More than that, he was – lonely. Steve felt that at long
last, he was letting go of Sarah, but where she had lived in his dreams there
was now a deep void. He thought about Pete and Deborah and how bright their
future looked.  His on the other hand…despite all the changes he’d gone
through in the past year, he still had no idea what his future would be. Every
time he tried to pray, he envisioned himself standing at the top of a cliff.
There was no going forward.

           
“Lord, he prayed again. “What next? I feel so alone. I need you to set a new
path for me. I need for you to guide me.”

           
The hours ticked by slowly and still Steve felt out of sorts and at a loss as
to what to do with his life now. Unable to form any other thoughts clearly in
his head, Steve sat on the couch and let his heart and mind reach out to his
Heavenly Father. Slowly, his body relaxed, and as the stars began to fade from
the sky, he slept.

           
Steve woke up abruptly.  Disoriented for a moment, he realized that he was
on the couch, his nose buried in the back of the sofa. His neck was kinked into
an odd angle, and he grimaced in pain as he sat up and attempted to re-align
his neck and spinal column.

           
Steve stumbled to the bathroom and glanced blearily at the wall clock in the
kitchen.  A groan of disbelief escaped his lips. Two-thirty already! He
had to be at work at three o’clock!

           
Foregoing the shower and barely brushing his teeth, Steve threw on a noticeably
wrinkled uniform that he’d already worn once and he had intended to wash that
morning. He gave his sleep matted hair a half hearted rake with the comb,
ignored the dark stubble on his face and headed out the door.  Out of
sorts and hungry, he gunned the truck out of the compound and just managed to
clock in precisely at 3:00.

           
Deborah was just coming off duty, her hair and complexion looking as fresh and
groomed as if she had just spent the last hour in a beauty salon.

           
Deborah surveyed his rumpled uniform and sour expression with surprise and some
amusement. “Looks like you had a rough night,” she remarked, her eyes dancing.

           
“I don’t want to talk about it, thanks,” he grumbled, self consciously raking
his fingers through his rumpled hair. Quickly he returned his arm to his side –
his arm pits were definitely on the ripe side.

           
“Well, it should be a light evening, at least,” she reassured him. Only about
20 sites are filled so far.”  She handed him the clipboard and the cash
box.  “It’s going to be chilly tonight.  If you’d like, I’ll help you
load up some extra firewood bundles to take around,” she offered.

           
Steve frowned at the schedule. “Where’s Davis? We’re supposed to work together
this shift.”

           
“Sick,” Deborah informed Steve. “You must have just missed him.  He tried
to clock in but threw up - off the back deck fortunately! He barely made it
outside.  Anyway, he’s running a fever of 102 degrees. I sent him home.”

           
Steve looked around, taking an inventory of the staff in his head, but pulled a
blank as to who might be available to work.  “Then who’s going to fill in
for him?” He asked her at last.

           
“Well, at the moment, nobody,” she told him unhappily.  “Chuck’s in
Winston Salem, Jill’s on vacation, and Pete took his truck to town to get the
brakes fixed. I called him but it's already up on the lift and they won’t be
done with it for a while yet.

           
“What about Wallis?”

           
Deborah shook her head.  “He had a hot date and was gone before anyone
could corner him.”

           
“Great,” Steve muttered unenthusiastically. “This day is getting better and
better.”

           
Deborah got a guilty pained expression on her face. “I’ll stay on with you
until someone gets back,” she offered.  “You don’t look as if you’re
feeling too good, either.”

           
“No,” Steve replied, feeling slightly ashamed of his grouchy attitude. “I’m
fine, really. I just couldn’t get to sleep last night, then I fell asleep on
the couch this morning and didn’t wake up until half an hour ago. My clothes
are dirty and I didn’t even have time to eat, so I’m starving too.  He
attempted a reassuring smile.  “Go on home. I’ll be all right once I get
started. I’m just out of sorts right now."

           
“Tell you what,” Deb said sympathetically. “I’ll fix you some dinner and bring
it back over.  You can eat it between circuits.”

           
Steve smiled in pleasure.  “I’ll take you up on that offer,” he told her
appreciatively.  “Thanks, Deb.”

           
She smiled. “No problem.”

           
He hesitated. “I hear that you and Pete have finally decided on a spring
wedding.  Congratulations, Deb.”

           
Deborah’s face wreathed in a huge smile. “Yes, finally!” She sighed.  “We
just have to figure out what date is best for everyone to come up here.”

           
“Here?” Steve asked in surprise. “I figured you would have convinced Pete that
you wanted to be married in your father’s church!”

           
“Well, I
do
want dad to perform the ceremony,” Deborah agreed. “But Pete
and I have pretty much agreed on an outdoor wedding. Possibly here, even, if we
get the Park’s permission. It’s going to be different from the average wedding,
though. Something fun.”

           
“Huh,” Steve said, noncommittally, afraid to ask what she meant by 'different'.

           
“Nothing’s final yet, of course.  It’s just an idea.” She said quickly.

           
“I’m sure you’ll get it worked out,” Steve replied. His stomach growled loudly,
and Steve flushed in embarrassment. “You sure you don’t mind bringing me some
dinner?”

           
“I’ll get right on it,” she assured him, grinning at his discomfiture. “I’ll
meet you  back here with it in about an hour.”

           
“Great, see you then!” Steve said, hoping he could last the whole hour. He left
the Center and strode out to the truck, determined to get busy and get his mind
off his empty belly.  As he drove to the firewood dump pile and started to
load the bundles into the bed of the truck, he tried to imagine just what
Deborah meant by an outdoor wedding. When she had said ‘here’, did she mean at
the Visitor’s Center? He had a hard time picturing how that would work,
although the back deck had a great view of Moore’s knob, and it was an
excellent spot to watch the sun set. Still, unless it was a very small wedding,
the deck would be really crowded!