The Puzzle (10 page)

I wasn’t quite sure where this was leading either. I wasn’t sure about a lot of things these days. I only knew that I had come this far and was not about to give up. Where did I fit into all this? The more I delved into Stephen’s past, the more confused I became. Where do I go next? Who do I see? I had one answer, but not one I eagerly wanted to pursue. I really didn’t want to go there, but I had to.

Ben…

I drove to the market and walked in, and sure enough, there he was. It was as though he had a sixth sense when I arrived and swung around to face me with a leering smile. Resentment rose in my throat, but I suppressed it. Like before, I mentally repeated to myself over and over,
I
can
do this.
I had to, for Stephen and myself.

“Hello Ben. I was wondering if I could have a word with you in private.”

“Sure, we can talk in my office. Right this way.” He gestured for me to follow him.

I was reluctant, but didn’t have much choice. I didn’t want anything we said to become common knowledge. In this town, it was a high probability it would be anyway.

I followed him inside his office and sat as he closed his door. His eyes swept over me, then reflected skepticism and maybe something else. I longed to know what was going through his mind.

Well, maybe I didn’t.

“What’s up?” he asked, as he swung around toward his chair and sat down.

“I know this seems unusual, being here like this, but I need to ask you some questions to clear something up that has been bothering me.”

“Go ahead.”

“It’s about Stephen.” Was it my imagination or did he lean in closer? I was suddenly having second thoughts
.

Maybe, this wasn’t such a good idea.

His eyes bore into mine. “What about him?” he asked.

“I wondered when and how you two met. He never talked much about his past and I need to know.”

“Why?”

“Just out of personal curiosity. I’ve been thinking a lot about him lately, and I wanted to know more about him. Sometimes I feel I didn’t even know him. I want to know why he did what he did.”

Ben seemed intrigued. “What exactly did he do?”

“He left me with a lot of unanswered questions about his life. That is, the life he had before I met him. I think if I knew the whole picture of Stephen and who he really was I could finally move on with my own life. For some crazy reason, I just can’t seem to let it go, and was hoping you could help.”

I sat there, waiting.

Was he buying any of this?

Fortunately, Ben seemed to accept this explanation.

Was that an audible sigh of relief I detected? What did he actually know?

He leaned back in his chair, appearing relaxed. He eyed me and once again I felt I was back under his microscope. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, to begin with, when did you meet Stephen? I’m afraid I don’t know much. I’d be grateful if you gave me a better understanding of your friendship. It also might make it easier for me to place everything in perspective.”

He looked at me then, as though he was looking for some hidden agenda on my part. I stared innocently back at him. He must have come to some sort of personal decision I guess, because he started talking.

“Let’s see, Stephen and I met at Jack’s construction firm. Oh, I suppose it was about fifteen or more years ago. I was in my late teens. My grandparents always brought me with them for the summers to spend some time up here on my vacations. They owned a cottage on Mirror Lake.”

Coincidence?
This was unexpected and intriguing.

“At that age, like every other teen, eventually I got bored to death hanging by the lake. So my grandmother suggested working at Jack’s, telling me she had heard at the market that he occasionally hired high school kids for the summers. I jumped at the chance and got to know Stephen, who was already working there. And to think he was staying at the same lake! I couldn’t believe my luck!”

“Interesting,” was all that came out of my mouth.

“Well, it was hard to work side by side, day in and day out without talking and eventually, we started hanging out together on the weekends. I must say, he was an incredibly smart kid and I just couldn’t understand why he was working at a construction company, but I was young and relieved to have someone my age to hang around with.”

He had my complete and undivided attention.

“We didn’t always see eye to eye on a lot of things, but we still had a good time together. I can tell you, I wasn’t crazy about his foster parents though. The Blackburns were an odd pair.”

I leaned in, not wanting to miss one single word.

“Like how?”

“I’m not sure. It was as though they didn’t know what to do with him, acting awkward; like he was a foreign object handed to them from out of nowhere. I mean, what did they take in a foster kid for? It couldn’t have been for the money because they were comfortable. At the time, it seemed like a strange set-up, but then again, I was just a teen and wrapped up in my own life. Maybe, I saw it all wrong.” He paused and seemed to be chewing on that thought, recalling a past that had been long forgotten.

“Were you there when their accident happened?” I asked, hoping he was.

He recoiled ever so slightly. “Yeah, I was. It was awful. Word of it spread all over town like wildfire. I ran over to his place as soon as I heard. Stephen was very upset and packing his suitcase. I tried to talk some sense into him, but he just wanted out and didn’t care where. He was eighteen and taking off, saying he didn’t need anyone. I could see he was in bad shape and knew, even as young as I was back then, he couldn’t go like that; just take off in that emotional state.”

I was speechless as Ben blinked back tears. This guy had a conscience? It threw a wrench in my opinion of him. Maybe I had Ben all wrong.

“What happened then?”

“Thank God, Jack came and talked some sense into him. He calmed Stephen down and made him an offer that even he couldn’t refuse. I mean, how would he ever get a chance like that again? I told him he was crazy if he didn’t accept such a deal. It was a win, win situation. After five, he could walk away. Why not? He would still be young enough to do whatever he wanted and would have an education to boot. I guess between the two of us, Stephen came to his senses and finally accepted Jack’s offer. I can honestly say I was really happy for him when he did.”

“What about you, Ben. What did you do?”

“Me? I hung around some. Went to community college, got bored and went into my grandfather’s business, you know, this market that he eventually bought.” Ben gestured with a sweep of his hand. He glanced around his office then, as though seeing it for the first time and shook his head ever so slightly. Was that regret?

He seemed to mentally brush it off and then turned back to me, smiling. “I did okay. My grandparents are retired now, living in Florida, and the market is completely mine. It could be worse. I could still be working at the construction firm digging ditches. I have no complaints. Anything else?” He glanced at his watch. “I really should be getting back to work.”

I got the hint and stood. “Sure, I understand, and I really appreciate the time you gave me.”

“I hope I was able to help in some way,” he offered, extending his hand.

“It cleared up a lot of things I didn’t understand about Stephen. Thanks,” I shook his hand. I felt more mystified than repulsed by his touch this time. Who were these people I had prejudged? Where was this heading? Stephen was more of a puzzle to me now than before.

I left the market, trying to piece together what everyone had told me so far. It was very interesting, but still didn’t get me any closer to the reason for Stephen’s death or who might be responsible. I had been wrong about so much.

What else might I be wrong about and wasn’t aware of?

Chapter 19

Back To Square One

I was back on my laptop, glaring at the screen for what felt like an eternity. The cursor was blinking at me; daring me, mocking me, I could just feel it. I slammed the laptop shut, packed up, and took off toward town for my shop. Cleaning and organizing always seemed to help me center my thoughts. I had already sanitized my house beyond clean, and now I needed a different setting to chew on what I knew so far.

Minutes later, I approached my antique shop and unlocked the door. It was not open Monday so all was quiet. The weather was bitter cold and although bundled up, I still felt chilled. I hung up my coat and placed my laptop, which now went everywhere with me, on the counter. Then I plugged in my charger and booted up, just in case I felt inclined to jot down some notes. After all, that was why I was there, wasn’t I?

The phone rang. I reached for it. “Hello.”

“I’m getting tired of waiting,” a voice whispered.

Male?
Female?

The phone, suddenly burning my fingertips, fell from my hand. And just as quickly, after realizing what I had done, I retrieved it.

“Who is this?” I demanded.

“Did you think no one would notice you snooping around, asking a lot of questions?” a raspy voice asked. “Time is running out! Just give me what I want.”

“What the hell
do
you want?” I replied angrily. “And if you think threatening me…”

Too late.
Whoever it was had hung up.
They
were watching me, but
who
was it? I nervously glanced over to the door to see if it was locked. It was. Apparently, I had disturbed the pool and was making waves, but for who? I hadn’t gotten far in making inquiries, but did learn some personal information about Stephen and what may have affected some of his emotional decisions over the years, but that was history as far as I was concerned, interesting, and in some ways very surprising, but still history. I also learned some unexpected information about two individuals, information that I was unaware of before. It was remarkable, but still, it didn’t send up any red flags yet. What was I missing? What was I not seeing?

Then I leapt in horror to my feet: the door handle to the shop turned back and forth.

Who was that?

I stared at it, mentally willing it not to open. I left Sneakers at home and didn’t have his unusual verbal sense of forewarning. It seemed he was always anticipating something or someone’s presence. The handle slowly turned once more. I remained silent, afraid to move and make a sound, thankful I had locked it when I first arrived.

Please go away.

Then there was a loud thumping on the door. I held my breath.

“Samantha? Are you in there?” It was Clay.

My shoulders slumped in relief as I walked over and opened the door. “You know, you almost gave me a heart attack. Don’t you knock like normal people do?”

“Let me in - it’s damn cold out there.” He firmly pushed me aside and entered, rubbing his hands together, still mumbling something about the cold.

I stood at the open door, my relief turning to annoyance. “Oh, hi Clay! It’s nice to see you too! Why don’t you come on in?” I slammed the door shut behind him. “You know, I thought I might have a change of heart about you and your intentions, but now, I have major reservations.”

He turned to me, smirking. “Oh, yeah? Well, that’s very nice to hear.”

“Look, just because you saved my life, don’t get any ideas. What do you want? Why the pounding on my door? You knew the store was closed today.”

“I was in town and saw your car parked on the side street and came on over. I turned the handle and….” He had an awkward look on his face, as it tinged slightly pink. “It… It was locked and I guess, I sort of panicked, okay?”

“How charming.” I walked right up to him. “You just about scared me to death.”

“I was going to ask you to join me for a cup of coffee at the diner. Sorry.”

I had jumped the gun, yelling at him. “No, wait a minute. I’m sorry. I’m just jumpy that’s all and not myself lately. Sure, I’ll grab a cup at the diner, but hot chocolate if you don’t mind.”

Relief flashed briefly, as he smiled. “Great. Let’s go.”

And so, that’s how I found myself sitting across from another mystery man at the diner with my laptop secure at my side. I patted it gently just to be sure. Maybe, it was time I found out a little more about my new neighbor. I had his undivided attention. We were in a booth and no one was sitting near us, and I also had a clear view of the front door. The hot chocolate tasted wonderful, and I was beginning to relax from my earlier threatening phone call. Clay ordered the hot chocolate too.

I looked down at his mug. “Marshmallows? Why, I never would have guessed.”

“What? Don’t I look like the marshmallow type?” he asked defensively, but then smiled.

“Definitely not. You’re not sappy and predictably sweet. No, definitely not.”

“You haven’t given me a chance yet,” he implored, still smiling.