Killing the Secret (2 page)

Tye strapped Seth into the space beside him. “What do you think, Seth?”

“I like the airplane,” he replied in a firm voice that belied his five years.

The plane soared upward as if trying to reach the clouds. It swooped up and down, thanks to Red’s maneuvers.

“Whee!” Lexie sang out with each downward shift. Soon the men were calling out with Lexie. Laughter came from Gabriel in quick spurts with each downward motion. Seth sat quietly, his eyes locked on the airplane’s front panel and wheel.

Tye attempted to engage the only silent member of the group. “Seth, what do you think of being in the sky?”

“I think it’s the best thing ever. Someday I’m going to have an airplane.”

Red entered into the conversation, “Someday, Seth Langley, I’ll teach you how to fly.”

“You will?” the child responded in disbelief.

“I’m going to need me a helper in about fifteen years and you look like the guy for me.”

Seth stared out the window. His mouth turned up gently. The darkness in his eyes lightened.

Back at the field, which Diffee called an airport, the group exited the plane. Seth was somber as he trailed behind Tye.

The sudden crunch of running feet on dead grass provoked Lexie to turn around just in time to see Seth run into Red’s arms for a giant swing.

“Will you really teach me how to fly an airplane when I’m big?”

“If I’m alive and well, we’ve got a deal. Let’s shake on it.” Red stretched out his arm.

The boy grasped the big hand. “It’s a deal.”

Chapter Three

Lexie drove the patrol car to the side of the old child welfare building. The caseworker, Myrna Easton, came out to meet the boys. Myrna explained that she’d been the caseworker a few months before when the parents were threatened with losing custody of the brothers. Gabriel immediately clung to her outreached hand. Seth stood back as if appraising the situation.

Myrna held her free hand out to him. “Don’t you remember me, Seth? I know your mom and dad.”

Slowly, he moved toward her.

“I’m hungry. How about you guys?” Myrna asked.

“Hunry,” Gabriel repeated.

“We’re off to lunch,” Myrna answered. “Thanks for bringing me these sweet boys.”

Lexie watched as the trio went through the double doors.

“I’ll never understand how someone can just leave their children,” Clay’s words echoed a common sentiment. Lexie nodded her head in agreement.

“Druggies aren’t known for their good sense,” Tye’s voice was filled with disgust.

Lexie went into boss mode. “Clay, take the patrol car. Tye and I will walk to the office from here.”

Five minutes later, the pair was back in the Sheriff’s office. When Lexie first saw her workplace, she’d said that an interior decorator would have a coronary if she viewed the place. Since then, Lexie became used to the visual atrocities in her office.

Four gray metal desks were dispersed throughout the room. Ten, unmatched, four-drawer file cabinets were lined in a row against a wall. All the furniture pieces were rejects from the city hall renovation. A flowered chair, a striped chair, and two leather chairs were in the last stages of deterioration.

Delia sat at a three-legged table in the corner using the computer. The electronic machine was the only thing in the room less than two years old. The two jail cells looked like Mayberry revisited, without the charm.

A vase of yellow daffodils on Delia’s desk was the only cheerful color in the room otherwise filled with brown and gray hues.

“Tye, go on to lunch,” Lexie instructed, “and take Delia with you.”

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Delia fussed. “With the shape I’m in I can go three months without eating and still be over two hundred pounds. Anyway, I need to finish typing these reports.”

“Come on, Beautiful,” Tye teased. “You know you want a lunch date with me.”

“I might consider it if I were twenty-five years younger.”

“Just one more woman giving me the brush off,” Tye’s bottom lip protruded.

Lexie flicked her hand in dismissal. “I’m ordering you people to get out of here. I need to write up this report.”

“Okay! Okay!” Tye headed for the door. “I’m going to tell everyone at the restaurant how much easier it is to have a leg blown off than to have a little sister for a boss.”

Alone, Lexie wondered where Wilbur went and how long he would have left his stepchildren alone. He’d been hiding his meth business in the woods for years and always avoided getting arrested. His friends and customers covered for him but he couldn’t avoid her forever. Now she had proof of his guilt, not to mention the child neglect charges. The ringing phone interrupted her thoughts.

“Sheriff Wolfe here.”

“This is Detective Johnson from Lasell, Washington. I’m calling about a body we’re transporting for burial in your town. Woman’s name is Terri Womack.” His words came out rapid fire in a low masculine voice.

Lexie stammered momentarily then went silent as she processed the shock. Tears surfaced at the awful words the voice spoke.

“Are you still there?” Johnson questioned.

“I know Terri. How did she die?”

“Murdered, by her husband, which is why I need your help. Some softhearted judge decided that the accused murderer should be allowed to attend his wife’s funeral. You know, just in case he killed her out of love and not loathing.” The sarcasm in his voice twisted Lexie’s stomach into a knot.

“I know her husband. They were high school sweethearts.”

“Well, there’s nothing sweet about them anymore—one dead and one in jail,” Johnson scoffed. “He was a fool to kill her. She was almost dead from cancer and he injected her with curare to finish her off fast.”

“You think it was a mercy killing?”

“Looks like it. But regardless, it’s still murder.” Johnson continued, “Anyway, I called to see if I can keep him in your jail for a couple of nights so I can escort him to the funeral.”

“Sure,” Lexie agreed. “When can I expect you?”

“Day after tomorrow”

“See you then.” Lexie hung up.

She dreaded telling Tye and Delia. Ronald and Terri graduated with Tye. Delia considered every kid born in Diffee a family member.

Lexie’s worry time ended abruptly when the rattle of the office door signaled their return.

“Tye, I just got a call from Washington. A Detective Johnson wants us to house his prisoner, Ronald Womack.”

A look of disbelief came over Tye’s face. He moved to the window and stared into the distance.

Lexie’s words followed him, “He’s being accused of murdering Terri. Likely, it’s a mercy killing.”

“Ronald’s no murderer,” Tye’s voice cracked. “Maybe a heartbroken husband trying to help his dying wife, but not a killer.”

“That’s right,” Delia’s voice squeezed out the words. “I’ll never forget watching him at the County Fair showing his goats. He stood proud beside his spiffed up goats waitin’ to see if he’d get a blue ribbon.”

“Why’s Johnson bringing him here?” Tye’s words shot out with a spray of saliva.

“So he can attend Terri’s funeral.”

Tye turned from the window. “He’ll feel humiliated locked in jail in his home town.”

“Better that,” Delia disagreed, “than to miss his wife’s funeral. I’ll bring a good quilt and pillow from home for the cell cot, and cook chicken and dumplings for him.”

“I’m going to clear up this mess!” Tye’s conviction was evident in his voice tone.

Lexie wondered how Johnson would react to all this TLC for his accused murderer.

Chapter Four

“Hallelujah, praise the Lord!” The preacher shouted. His voice bounced off the rafters of the converted barn and soaked into the sinners below.

“Hallelujah,” echoed the preacher’s wife, Tina, and the rest of the congregation. They called out to her husband from hard wooden benches that faced him and an eight-foot metal cross.

Gavin’s shirtsleeves were rolled up. A circle of sweat under each arm gave evidence that the man was putting much energy into his work. He brushed back a lock of brown hair from his forehead, raising an arm in praise of his maker.

“I’m not here as Gavin Smith, the man. I’m here as Gavin Smith, God’s servant. He called me to preach as He’s calling each of you to join his army of believers. LISTEN, not to your own voice, not to the voices of your boss, or your friends, or to the sinners of the world, but to God’s voice. Rise up and come forward to seek His joy, His glory, and His love.” Gavin’s words seemed to pull people from their seats and they walked down the aisle toward him.

It was easy for Tina to slip out the back door. She knew she had at least a couple of hours while her husband prayed with the newly saved. She’d meet with Bud and be in bed before Gavin got back to the motel.

“Come if you haven’t come before. Come if you need to start over again.”

I’ve already started over, Tina thought, as she walked toward her car.
I don’t want to do it again
.

“COME FOLLOW JESUS! He will lead you on this earth and when your life is done HE WILL LEAD YOU STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN! Come to me and let me introduce you to my Jesus.”

Gavin’s words followed her to the car. Rolling up the window finally shut out the call to sinners. She was one sinner who had no desire to confess to Gavin Smith. Driving toward the park, her only purpose was to get Bud out of her life forever. His phone call yesterday brought back old memories.

“I need to talk to you,” the voice said.

“Who’s this?” Tina asked.

“Surely you haven’t forgotten an old friend from Diffee.”

“Bud, is that you?”

“It is and I’ve come a long way to see you. Let’s meet tonight at Bluebird Park. It won’t be the same as Diffee Park, but it’ll still bring back memories.”

“I’d love to, but I can’t. This is the first night of my husband’s revival and I’ve got to be there.”

“I know you can miss one sermon for an old friend,” Bud pleaded.

“No, I can’t. I’m a different person now. I’ve been saved. I can’t look back at my past without remembering the sins I committed.”

“You will meet me,” he ordered.

“I told you, I can’t.”

“Here’s the deal, my dear friend. Either you meet me or I’ll tell your preacher husband that he married a whore. I’ll enlighten him as to why you were voted friendliest girl in your senior class.”

“Why would you do that? I thought we were friends.”

“Give me a few minutes then I’ll never bother you again.”

Tina yielded to the bully, “I’ll be there around nine.”

Bud hung up without reply.

Better here than at home
. Being away because of the revival was an advantage. She didn’t know anyone who might identify her as being at the park. After pulling in near the picnic area she checked the locks on her car doors for the third time. She visually examined the wooded area that surrounded the park. A lone light cast shadows on the children’s play equipment.

She was impatient for Bud to arrive even though she knew she was early. Part of Tina wanted to see him, but over the last few hours her anger grew due to his bossiness over the phone. She resolved to tell him what she thought of his attitude. After all, she wasn’t the only one who had dirty secrets to tell.

A March night, twenty years ago, was forever imbedded in Tina’s memory. There were eight senior girls sitting around a campfire. They were eating, laughing, talking, drinking beer, and celebrating the best day of their lives. The night before they’d won the Oklahoma Girls Basketball Championship.

The Diffee newspaper dubbed them the “Extraordinary Eight” after they won their first six games of the season. They were the darlings of Diffee, Oklahoma, a small town that never had anything to cheer for before, or since, that year. The town locked up on Friday nights so everyone could watch their darlings play basketball. A Tulsa television station did a segment on the Friday night basketball ghost town. A national station picked up the story and the girls became small time celebrities. Little kids asked for their autographs and old people patted their backs and told them how proud they were. Team parents basked in the glory of having daughters who were local heroines.

Tina thought that the eight were really not that extraordinary. This included Loretta, Abbey, Heather, Beth, Jamie, Terri, Mariah Rose, and even herself.

Loretta, a bottle blonde, was a blooming bitch at seventeen. Sharp tongued and conceited, her only positive attributes were her tall lean body and free throw shooting.

Abbey was the peacekeeper. She was always trying to mediate the arguments. Her bobbed brunette curls topped a five-foot-three-inch frame that moved around the court so fast that six footers fell over her.

Heather was redheaded and gorgeous. She was homecoming queen, class president, and any other title that was worth having. Not to mention her uncanny ability to get spectators at the ball games so hyped up that the opposing teams felt they were up against a few hundred people.

Beth was the kind and gentle one. Her hair was white-blonde and her skin pale. She never was allowed to play defense because she didn’t have enough fight in her, but she could hit long shots.

Jamie was the one with the fight. She was almost six feet tall, lean, and muscular. The only child of the team coach, she’d been raised to be tough and aggressive. They called Terri the thief, because she could slip her hand between the ball and the opposition on a dribble and leave the player angry and frustrated behind her.

Tina saw herself as the weak link on the team. She was good at defense, but a poor shot, so if she ever needed to shoot the ball it generally didn’t end well.

Mariah Rose joined the team senior year when her father, Sean, moved back to his deceased parents’ house in Diffee. Mariah was shy, or snobbish, depending on who was doing the judging. Sean told Tina his daughter was still in grieving over her mother’s sudden death from a heart attack a year prior to her brother Michael drowning. The grief didn’t keep her from tossing the ball in the net. She was the second best scorer after Jamie.

Tina’s mind returned to the present when an approaching car spotlighted her location.