Road to Nowhere (21 page)

“Sue Ann, I just don’t know.” And he didn’t. He just couldn’t stop thinking about it. “One day Wade is right there and going along and doing his business. The next day he’s gone. And there is nothing to do about it. No matter how much any person might want him back, there’s not money or anything that could do it.”

“Cornelia must be wanting him back so bad,” Sue Ann said. That started her sniffing again.

“I know she is.” Randy gave her a tissue and then held her hand. “Everybody’s wanting him back.”

And he was sure they were. It wasn’t imaginable to think that they weren’t. But he was still imagining it.

He picked up the newspaper, although most often it did not help his peace of mind, and in fact the front page article was no help at all.

Is Gold River Highway Dead?
the headline asked, and the paragraphs underneath pointed out much too soon after Wade’s accident, in Randy’s opinion, how that accident might affect the highway. He turned the page, and that wasn’t much better, just the whole long list of unpaid taxes he and Patsy had spent those hours putting together.

Then the front door opened and Kyle and Kelly both were getting home from their after-school football and cheerleading practices, and were passing by toward their rooms.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Let me ask you two a question,” Randy said, and they stopped in the living room. “Do either of you ever see anything of Lauren Harris there at school?”

“Not really,” Kyle said.

“She’s a senior, I think,” Kelly said, being just a sophomore herself.

“Well, if you do,” Randy said, “you might be extra kind.”

May 8, Monday

“Joe? Sorry you had to come all the way into town.”

“Doesn’t take long to get in.” It was more that he hadn’t wanted to. He knew Roger Gallaudet wouldn’t have anything good to say. But he had to hear what it was.

“Well.” Roger was looking like he had worse to say than Joe was even expecting. “I won’t mince words. I think you’re making a mistake, and I shouldn’t be saying this to you, since you’ll take it wrong. And I don’t see it’s your business anyway.”

“I’ve got enough to tend to that is and I don’t much want more. But I’m thinking it might be my business.”

“Then I’ll say it. And if you know something I don’t, don’t tell me what it is.”

“I won’t.”

That made Roger look even more gloomy. “You asked about Mort Walker, and since then I’ve kept thinking about him. I was thinking about him while I was taking care of Wade Harris.”

“I see.”

“When they brought him to me, he’d been cleaned up, but I still had all the usual work to do. That included making him presentable for viewing.”

It was sickening, the thought of it.

“What did you find, Roger?”

It was plain he was feeling the same that Joe was.

“A lot of trauma to the body. It was a real bad wreck. I suggested a closed casket, but the family wanted a final viewing. His face wasn’t as injured, so I could oblige them.” It took a sympathetic man to be a funeral director, but also a hard man. “Joe. I’d say he might have had a bullet. Right through here.” Roger tapped his chest, right over his heart. “That’s just
might have had.
I can’t say for certain at all. I haven’t seen many bullet wounds, but I have seen a few. That was where the steering wheel impact was, so I wouldn’t have had anything to see at all, but there was an exit from his back. That’s harder to notice than the entry. But when I saw it, I looked until I found where it might have entered.” He pointed his finger. “And I’m not sure at all that’s what it was. It might have been anything else, too, from how bad that wreck was. Do you understand?”

“I understand. And that’s two board members dead in six months.”

“I can count that high myself,” Roger said.

“Did you talk to Gordon Hite about it?”

“I made that mistake.”

“What did he say?”

“He got plenty angry. He told me they had a cause of death as accidental, automobile accident, and he wasn’t going to have anybody raising questions about that.”

“Gordon said that.”

“We’ve had these run-ins, Gordon and I, where I just ask. I’m not accusing him, I just ask, and he tells me not to stir up trouble. So if you’re going to start pushing Gordon, tell me now so I’ll know.”

Joe shook his head. “I won’t talk to Gordon yet.”

Roger had to think about that. “Now, I’m not saying anything about Gordon except that he doesn’t like trouble, and that’s all that was on his mind when he said that. It’s not that he’s trying to hide anything.”

“That’s likely.”

“It wouldn’t be him hiding anything. Joe, here’s what I’m really worried about. Everett Colony is so dead set against that Gold River Highway. Now, I’m saying it again, I’m not accusing anybody, and I don’t know anything for certain anyway. But it wouldn’t do him any good for people to think that someone killed Wade Harris.”

“Would he hide it?”

“I don’t know.”

Joe was still sick from it all. Easy to kill a man in this county. The sheriff didn’t want to see anything, the doctor would just as soon have the man dead anymore. “I’ll thank you for your time, Roger, but not for what you’ve told me.”

“I wouldn’t want thanks for it.” Roger stood up. “It’s a hard world we’re in.”

“It is that.”

Randy put his hand on the door. He couldn’t believe he was doing this, and he didn’t even know what he was doing anyway. But he made himself push the door open.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Good morning.” Everett Colony’s receptionist looked up at him from her window. He didn’t know her, which was probably a good thing. “Can I help you? Dr. Colony isn’t in this morning. He’s in Asheville at the hospital.”

“That’s fine.” He still didn’t know what he was doing, but the fact that Everett was out was a great relief.

“What can I do for you?”

He wasn’t sure. “I wasn’t here to see him. I just had a little question.” What would he say? “I was remembering this morning I had an appointment scheduled with him last Monday afternoon and I missed it.”

“Monday?”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“He takes Monday afternoons off after he gets back from the hospital. I can look up your appointment if you’d like.”

“No, that’s fine. My arm hasn’t been hurting at all, and that’s why I didn’t even think to come.” He had his hand on the door and now he was real anxious to be out of that room. “Whenever the appointment was, I’m sure it’s past by now. Thank you, good-bye.”

“That’s been a day,” Byron said. He dropped into his television chair like he’d never get back out.

“Is something else wrong now?” Louise said. She had the table set and the chicken and cheese casserole warm in the oven. Whatever Byron wanted, to eat or wait, she’d be ready.

“Wrong? Something must be. And I wouldn’t know what it was, but Mr. Coates was about fit to be tied.”

“How could you tell?”

“How could you not tell?” Byron shook his head. “Storming and yelling and throwing fits. We all know the man has a temper, but I’ve never seen him like today.”

“I wonder what he was mad about. Anyone there in the factory?”

“Anyone crossed his path was like to get an earful. Poor Grady, he got the worst of it. He was having trouble with the crane, and he said to Doris that he might need her to order some parts, and she said, ‘Which parts?’ and Grady said, ‘That same hydraulic pump that Jeremy ordered a couple years ago.’ And he hadn’t noticed, but Mr. Coates was right behind him, and when he mentioned Jeremy, Mr. Coates hit the roof. ‘Don’t you ever say that name in here again!’ he said. ‘You understand? I don’t want to hear it again!’ Everybody in the factory heard him.”

“Has he been that angry at Jeremy before?”

“Not like that. Not ever like that. He was just wild.”

“Jeremy must have done something new.”

“I’ll tell you, that boy must have done something criminal for Mr. Coates to be as angry as he was today.”

“I’ve just been to Everett Colony’s office,” Randy said to Sue Ann.

She was concerned. “Aren’t you feeling well?”

“I know it’s complete foolishness on my part, but I can’t get the thought out of my head.”

Sue Ann looked at him as if it were his head that wasn’t right. “What are you saying, dear? Aren’t you feeling well?”

“Well, it’s just that I keep thinking how much Everett is worked up about this whole road business.”

“He’s just being himself.”

“I know that. And it’s not a worthy thought, I know that, but I can’t get it out of my head how he was late to the board meeting that night that Wade had his accident. Even
while
Wade was having his accident.”

“He probably had a patient.”

“That’s what I thought. That’s what I was hoping, in fact.”

“I still don’t know what you mean, Randy.”

“Then just don’t think about it. Never you mind.” He didn’t want to mind, either, and he looked for something to take his mind somewhere else. The last few newspapers were still in the rack and he pulled one out. It was still open to the list of people who hadn’t paid their taxes, and he just stared at it with his mind still stuck on Everett.

“Well, look at that,” he said out loud.

“What, dear?”

“I didn’t even notice when we were making this up, Patsy and I. Trinkle farm isn’t on it.”

“It isn’t?” Sue Ann sounded even more confused.

“They must have paid their taxes. I would have just gone past that page when I saw the zero balance on it and never noticed.”

“Joe?” Rose was at the barn door. “Marty Brannin called.”

“What’d he say?”

“He said he’d just read about Wade Harris, and he was offering his sympathy. He asked that you call him back.”

Anything else Marty had to say, it would be about the road. And Joe didn’t want to hear anything about it. He didn’t want to hear anything.

“I don’t think I’ll call.”

“When you decide to, the telephone number’s written down,” Rose said.

May 11, Thursday

“Howdy, Louise.”

“Hi, Gordon.” Louise was up to her elbows in a perm, and this was not the moment to be distracted.

“The wife said I should drop these off and say thank you.”

Louise looked around to see, even though she knew what it was. Gordon had the two big baking pans that Artis had borrowed for the last church potluck.

“Thank you, Gordon. You could just set them on my desk back there if you don’t mind.”

She squeezed the tube of Lifelike onto the next curler and clipped it into place. Gordon clumped past behind her, the pans clank-clank-clanking against each other.

“Russell to Gordon. Hey, Gordon, are you there?”

Louise almost dropped her curler from the popping and snapping sounds and the loud voice.

“Russell, this is Gordon. Go ahead.”

“There’s a call from the furniture factory,” the voice said.

“What is it?”

Louise could hear her desk creaking with Gordon sitting down on it. Here she was trying to concentrate, and he was yakking into that radio of his.

“Mr. Coates just said he wants a policeman over there right away.”

“Well, did he say why?”

“No.”

“Now, Russell, you’re supposed to find out what people want when they call. How am I supposed to know what to do?”

“But it was Mr. Coates, Gordon. He just said to send someone over right away.”

“He’s not your boss, Russell, I am. Oh, for heaven’s sake, I’ll go over there.”

“Okay.”

Gordon went grumbling by, talking to himself. “Okay. Okay. Mr. Coates says so, and so that’s what we do.”

“Gordon, tell Artis she can have them again any time,” Louise said.

“What? Oh, sure, Louise. See you later.”

“Patsy, would you do something for me?”

“Sure, Randy.” She looked buried behind her desk.

“Find the page in the tax ledger for Trinkle farm.”

“Do you know the parcel number?”

He smiled at her. “No, I don’t.”

She gave him a smile right back. “Then you know how long it’s going to take me.”

“Nothing urgent. Just when you have time. I noticed that they weren’t in the ad last week.”

“They weren’t?” Now she was curious, too. “I don’t remember them paying. Maybe Lyle deposited the checks that day.”

“Does he do that often?” The thought of Lyle writing in the tax ledger made Randy kind of nervous.

“Sometimes. But I don’t think he’s ever made a mistake. And we have to deposit the checks right away, so if I’m not here, he has to do it.”

“Well, see if you can find them in the book. It’s somewhere near the front, I seem to recall. In fact, why don’t I just start myself.”

“Letter for you, Joe.”

He washed his hands. Handling pesticides all morning.

Handwritten, no return address. “What’s that mean?” he said.

“I don’t recognize it.”

Asheville postmark. He opened it.

“What are those?” Rose asked.

Two pages printed. “It’s state laws.” A paragraph was highlighted yellow. “Code of North Carolina.” He read the paragraph.

And he threw the papers down on the table. Blazing angry.

“Joe?”

“Wicked evil thing,” he said.

“Look at that.” Randy just stared at the big zero at the bottom of the column.

“They really did pay,” Patsy said.

“Sure looks like it. You don’t think Lyle put someone else’s payment on the wrong page, do you?”

“It’s for the exact amount. And see how it’s fifteen different payments all on the same day? It must have been an envelope full of checks.”

“That sounds like the Trinkles, to pay that way. But it doesn’t sound like them at all to agree on such a thing. And that was a good-sized deposit. And see the date? September last year.”

“I was gone that week of Labor Day,” Patsy said. “So Lyle would have been depositing checks.”

He smiled. “Well, good. It’s nice to know that’s taken care of. I really should find out what all those lawyer letters are about. There’s five of them on my desk. I tried reading them a few weeks ago, and

I’ve seen enough contracts and legal papers, but those I just could not figure out.”

“Maybe that lawyer in Gold Valley could help you.”