Forget Me Not: A Novel (Crossroads Crisis Center) (35 page)

“I called Jeff,” Mark said. “He’s going over and will meet you there.”

Kelly risked a glance at Ben. Something had died in his eyes. Seeing that, and knowing what it was and that she’d put it there, shattered her fractured heart. She stiffened against the pain. “Doris and I will leave right now.”

“No.” Ben shoved back his chair and stood. “Doris can stay here. You and I will go right now.”

Kelly didn’t argue. It would be pointless. But neither would she be foolish enough to think this had anything to do with her. Ben was on a mission for only one woman, and she was his dead wife.

And his son
.

Kelly stood, then started walking out.

Peggy stepped into her path, stopping her at the door. “The caller also said for you to expect a special delivery at three o’clock sharp this afternoon.”

“Where?” Ben asked.

“Here at the center.” Peggy touched Kelly’s arm and dropped her voice. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Kelly forced a shaky smile, doubting she’d ever feel fine again, though she knew better. God has His ways of fixing the unfixable. His wonders often surpassed human understanding, but somehow He’d glue her back together.

Never had she been able to depend on the men in her life. Not since her father had died—or even before then. He’d left her with Samuel Johnson, after all. But she had always trusted God, and He’d always provided for her. Not always in the way she wanted or expected, but in hindsight, always in the perfect way she needed.

Thank You for that
.

“You ready?” Ben asked from beside her.

“Ready.”

Doris stayed at the center, and Ben drove Kelly over to the beach house in his SUV.

They made the entire trip in dead silence.

The driveway was empty. Kelly searched the street, but it was empty. Jeff Meyers hadn’t yet arrived.

“No key.” Ben grabbed a crowbar from the trunk. “I’ll break a window.”

She spotted a rock in a flower bed just off the edge of the porch. “No, wait.” She lifted the rock, then pulled the key out of its hollow bottom.

“I should have thought of that.” He set down the crowbar, then took the key from her.

“No problem.” Stiff. Uncomfortable. Unfamiliar between them. That nearly had her weeping again. She buried her emotions and waited for him to open the door. He didn’t look as if he hated her, but he looked so sad it cracked her heart right down the middle. And she couldn’t do anything to help him. She was the reason he was mourning his wife and son, and patient or not, that was too huge an obstacle to overcome. The relationship building between them couldn’t survive this.

Her memory loss had created a bond between them.

Its return had crushed it.

What is,
is
. She had to accept it.

And she would. Her chest squeezed tight. But it was going to take a while. She’d dated, she’d been serious about a guy once, but never had she felt the hand of God in a relationship as she had with Ben. And now it was gone, and for the rest of her life, she’d mourn.

The door creaked open.

Kelly followed Ben inside. The air was dank and stale. Crumpled newspapers curled on the floor in the corner, and someone had put out cigarettes on the hardwood floor. Butts and black smears marred every corner. It felt strange being in Aunt Beth’s beach house empty of furniture, her eclectic collections, or her flamboyant art littering the walls.

They searched room by room and found more of the same. “Let’s split up, check the bedrooms,” Ben said.

Kelly took the first room off the hallway and spotted the staircase. Her heart thumped hard. “Ben! Ben, come here!”

Ben rushed in and Kelly pointed. “This was my bedroom. When I left three years ago, these stairs were not here.”

“I remember. Stay behind me.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Jeff?”

“Mark texted me a minute ago. Jeff’s tied up. He’ll be here as soon as possible.”

Kelly raked her teeth over her lower lip. “The caller said to look now. We’d better not wait.”

“I agree.” Ben headed down the stairs. At the bottom, he made a turn, stepping out of sight. “It’s empty.”

Kelly rushed down and spotted a door under the staircase. “What’s this?”

“Stand back.” Ben stood away from the door, opened it, and let it swing wide.

Kelly pulled a miniflashlight from the purse Peg had given her. “Here.”

He grabbed it without looking back. A little click, and a beam of light spread down a hollow opening. Nothing was inside. “What is this?”

“A tunnel.” Kelly stated the obvious, then frowned. “But where can
it go?” Outside, there was sand and beach, and frankly she was shocked the concrete walls weren’t damp, being this close to the water.

Ben closed the door and steered Kelly back to the stairs. “We’ll find out, but I’d feel better with some backup. No idea what we’re walking into—or have you remembered something about this too?”

“Nothing. None of this was here.”

“It looks new.” Ben pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

Kelly sat on the second to last step. “Aunt Beth was half-crazy, I’ll admit, but she’d never do anything illegal, and there’d be no need for a tunnel for anything that wasn’t.”

“Sure about that?”

She started to respond by rote, then decided against it. “No.” That hurt, but truth was truth.

Ben sent her a look too tender to bear. She looked away.

“Mark, Ben. You tied up?” He paused. “I need you over at the beach house. We found something.”

Kelly couldn’t reason through it, and she hated being suspicious of her aunt. It wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t life be fair, just once in a while?

“A tunnel.” He sighed. “Yeah, on the beach. Actually”—Ben swiveled and walked two steps—“under it.” Another pause, and then, “Great. See you in ten.” He flipped his phone closed, then put it in its holster at his belt. “He’ll be right over.”

Kelly propped her hands on her knees. “Good.”

Ben studied her a long moment, then sat beside her on the step. Their knees brushed, and though she knew she should move away, she didn’t. “Can we talk?”

Fear gripped her hard. He was going to tell her he was sorry, but under the circumstances, he didn’t want to see her anymore. He was going
to say they had moved too fast; he couldn’t feel the same about her. He was going to walk away. And because she couldn’t blame him if he felt half the pain she felt on looking at him, she tried to agree, but her voice just wouldn’t work. She settled for a nod.

“I care about you, Kelly. A lot.” He clasped her hand and pressed their palms together. “I know you think this is about you, but it’s not. You didn’t do anything to Susan and Christopher, okay? They were victims, just like you.”

Gracious, but not true.

“So what I’m about to say, it’s not about you, it’s about me.”

She didn’t understand, but she waited, giving him time to say what he had to say in his own time and in his own way.

“You’re the first woman I’ve cared about since Susan.” He glanced away, then back at her. “I feel guilty.”

“Because I’m the reason she’s dead.”

“Maybe. In part. But also just because I didn’t protect them. I should have protected them.”

“Oh, Ben, no.” She sighed. “I saw those two that night, and that NINA guy was even worse. No one could protect them. I heard it in their voices. I really did. They would have done anything.”

“It doesn’t seem right.” He lowered his gaze to the stair, between his knees. “My being happy, maybe falling in love again, while she’s in the ground.” His shoulders heaved. “I-I—”

“You don’t have to explain. I understand.” So he had been falling in love with her too. Crushed, robbed of this precious treasure, she briefly looked heavenward.

Oh, why? Why must I lose him too? I’ve lost everyone I’ve loved my whole life
.

“Some obstacles are just too much to overcome, Ben.”

“Maybe. Or maybe we just need some time to see how things work out.”

Hope sparked to life inside her. She jerked her head up, met his gaze. “God brought us together to resolve this mystery, Ben. I’m crazy about you, but I can’t say I know God brought us together for
us
, too. I thought He had. But now I’m not so sure.”

“Do we have to be sure right now?”

She blinked, stunned. He didn’t hate her. He might not love her, but he didn’t hate her.

Be patient with him
.

“No, we don’t.”

“I’m being selfish, Kelly.” He squeezed her hand in both of his. “You get me like no one else, and I get you. This bond between us is special and rare. And I don’t want to lose it.”

“Me neither.”

“But I’m not sure I’m ready for it, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

She summoned her courage and cupped his beloved face in her hand. “Ben, don’t you see that I’ll hurt anyway? Losing you … ” She swallowed hard, bent close so their lips brushed. “If we work past this, we’ll have something good.” A gift straight from God. “If not … well, I’ll take the risk.”

She had money. She had power in her world. It meant nothing. Just once in her life, she wanted to be loved.

“I don’t know if I can get back to God. I really don’t. And you’d never be content with me if I fail.”

Be patient with him
.

Kelly might not trust herself, but she trusted God. “It’ll work out exactly as it’s supposed to work out. I believe that—enough for both of us.” She kissed him again.

At noon, Paul parked the Lexus half a block down from the crisis center and walked into the Shipping Store, then on toward the long brown counter.

A young man in uniform greeted him. “Yes sir. May I help you?”

Paul laid a large white envelope on the counter. “I need this delivered promptly at three o’clock today.”

The clerk twisted the envelope around and looked at the address. “You can walk this over. Crossroads Crisis Center is just a few doors down at the end of the block.”

Paul dropped a twenty onto the counter. “That’s why I’m having you deliver it. You won’t be late.”

Carl, according to his name badge, shot Paul a suspicious look. “What’s in here?”

“Nothing you need to worry about. A legal notice and some photographs. That’s all.”

“So why won’t you take it over yourself?”

“You ever been married, Carl?”

“Divorced.”

Paul mentally maneuvered. He could run with that—it could make the man slower to identify him—but another way was better. “My boss is Gregory Chessman. You know him?”

“Who doesn’t? He sent my son all the way to Atlanta for eye surgery and paid every bit of it.”

Paul smiled. “He’s a very good man, and very private.” He tapped the envelope. “You know then that he supports a lot of charities around here.”

“All of ’em.” Carl nodded enthusiastically. “Like you say, a good man. Self-made too. And he isn’t one to forget where he came from.”

Paul had no idea where Chessman had come from and neither did anyone else, though apparently many thought they knew. “He likes to donate as much as he can anonymously. That’s what this is all about.”

“No problem. I’ll take care of it. You want it dropped to anyone there, or just to this”—he paused to double-check the name—“Kelly Walker?”

“Anyone there is fine.” Paul lifted a finger. “Three o’clock.”

“I won’t be late. You give Mr. Chessman my best.”

“I will, Carl.” Paul resisted the urge to chuckle. He already had given the best of exactly what Chessman deserved. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, sir.”

Sir
. Paul liked that. He liked that very much.