Under Currents (26 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Julie tugged the canoe upon the bank, then trekked up the grassy hill to her office. Rain blew against her. Being drenched, she shivered. Near the top, she came to an abrupt stop. Her father stood before her with his arms folded across his chest and an angry scowl on his face. He knew.

“Dad, what are you doing here?”

“It’s two O’clock. You didn’t pick up the kids. Your Mom has been looking for you. They’re at your house now.”

“I took out one of the canoes early this morning.”

“Dana said you left yesterday and hadn’t returned today.”Anger flickered in his eyes. “Where have you been?”

“I think you know.”

“You’d been with that ex-con. God, Julie. How could you?”

“I love him.”

“Love him? He’ll always be considered dirt in this town.”

“Not if I can clear his name.”

“You’ve got children to think of. I never thought you’d be so selfish that you’d put your desire above them.”

Silence lingered between them. How could she explain the deep sense of belonging to Caleb she felt? It wouldn’t matter. No one could look past the label of ex-con and see what a wonderful man he was.

“Does mother know what Dana told you?”

“Not yet, but I’m sure she realizes by now that something’s wrong. I’m not going to lie.”

“I don’t want you to. I was waiting for the right moment to tell you that my relationship with Caleb has turned into more than friendship.” Julie walked past him, unlocked the gate, and headed toward her office. He followed.

Inside, she disappeared to the bathroom and changed into dry clothes she kept under the counter. She gathered her wet belongings and walked toward the door. “I’ll see you at home.”

“Julie, I warned him to stay away from you.”

She stopped and stared at her father. “If you want to hit someone, hit me. I’m the one who made the decision to see him. He gave me every opportunity to back out, but I didn’t.” Despite her effort, she couldn’t hold back the tears. “I really love him, Daddy.”

“But does he love you?”

"He cares. You even said so yourself."

“I was wrong. Because if he did, he’d stay away from you.” He left the building and slammed the door.

Julie couldn’t return home. Not yet. Facing her father’s fury and disappointment had taken her to an all time low. Before leaving, she turned on the computer and checked her emails, hoping the background check on Frank might be back. But it wasn’t. She tried to read her emails but lacked the concentration. Her thoughts kept returning to Caleb. The sooner she proved him innocent, the sooner her parents might accept him.

Julie left her shop and drove to Noreen’s house. She knocked on the front door and nervously waited. Her aunt opened the door and stepped back, silently inviting Julie inside.

"I came to return Amy's diary."

Noreen took the diary from Julie and stared down at it in deep thought. She glanced back at Julie with tearful eyes. “You might want to call your mom. She’s been looking for you.”

“Dad found me at the office. He’ll tell her I’m all right.”

Julie dreaded facing her mother even more than her father. Hopefully, her parents wouldn’t discuss matters in front of Scott and Ally. She wanted to be the one to talk to them and explain about Caleb.

“Find what you were looking for?”

“Yes and no. Connie had been seeing Devin Vincent. But when Amy talked about Connie being pregnant she failed to call the father by name. But I’m more than sure it was Devin. Which gave him a motive. From what Amy said, Connie had planned to tell her parents who the father was.”

“Run it by me again why he’d care.”

“Devin Vincent was married shortly after Connie died. If his fiancée had known about him fathering Connie’s child, she probably would’ve called off their engagement.”

“You’re only speculating. So, basically you didn’t get enough from the diary to clear Caleb.”

Julie shook her head. “No, I didn’t. But the proof does exist. I’m just not sure how to get my hands on it. Connie also kept a diary.”

“It’s just like Amy’s. The girls talked me into buying them while we were shopping in Jefferson City.”

“From what Amy said, Connie wrote in hers as well.” Julie explained what Amy had written. “I think Connie’s diary can clear Caleb.”

“You'd have to steal it.”

“I thought I’d ask to see it. That’s why I was hoping you’d go with me.”

“Those people hate Caleb McGregor more than we do. Why Henry is still swearing he'll kill him.”

A wave of dizziness spiraled through Julie. “He'd be killing the wrong man.”

Her aunt’s expression grew serious. “You were with him today when they couldn’t find you. Weren’t you?”

Julie didn’t lie. “Yes, and Dad’s angrier than I’ve ever seen him.”

“Julie, think about what you’re doing? About your children. Don’t throw it away on the likes of him.”

“Did you turn away from Reece Stanford?”

Her aunt paled. “No, I didn’t. Trust me, I paid a heavy price. I’m still paying for my sin.”

“You still love him, don’t you?”

“I love Bob…” She sighed. “But I loved Reece more. My daddy hated him. Claimed he was worthless and would never amount to anything.”

“Did he really kill his ex-wife?”

“No, he was with me that night. I was supposed to be spending the night with Martha and your dad. My dad would’ve beaten me within an inch of my life and had Reece arrested since I was underage. Reece made me swear I wouldn’t tell. He kept promising me they’d find him innocent not to worry. I was devastated when he was sentenced to life.”

“I’m sorry.”

She nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. “A month later, I learned I was pregnant. I should’ve told my dad and gone to the police. But I was young and stupid. Then I married Bob and didn’t want him to know about Reece.”

Julie placed an arm around her aunt and kissed the side of her face. “Amy isn’t Bob’s daughter?”

“Yes, she is. I gave birth to a child before her. I did some housekeeping for a wealthy family nearby. The wife couldn’t have children, so I let her adopt my baby. In exchange for my child and my silence, they arranged an extensive stay in Europe for the summer and talked my parents into letting me go with them. She returned with a baby and claimed they adopted him in Europe. No one, not even Martha and your dad knew about the baby.”

“Reece didn’t know?”

“No, I figured it’d just make him feel worse than he already did.”

“I won’t mention it. Do you get to see your child?”

“Yes, I do. He doesn’t know about me, and it makes this all the more difficult.”

Confusion spun in Julie’s head. “I don’t understand. After seeing Reece falsely accused, wouldn’t you want to help Caleb? I know he’s innocent.”

“You don’t have any real proof that Devin Vincent murdered Amy and Connie. I gave you the diary, and if it doesn’t clear Caleb, I’m sorry. That’s as much as I’m willing to help.”

Julie swallowed hard forcing back the tears. “Please help me prove Caleb is innocent.”

“You have no idea what you’re asking me to do.”

“I’m asking you to do the right thing this time.”

Noreen hesitated. “Let me grab my purse.”

On the drive over, Julie talked about what Frank had told her that morning about the man who took Ally.

At the Peel home, Mrs. Peel opened the door and smiled until she spotted Julie. Her smile changed to a cool glare. “Come in.”

No doubt she's heard the rumors.

Mrs. Peel led them into the living room. “What can I fix you to drink?”

Both she and Noreen answered water, then sat on the sofa.

Once Mrs. Peel returned with the drinks and sat down, she studied them. “So what’s this visit about?”

Julie spoke before Noreen. “About Connie’s diary.”

“She didn’t have one.”

Noreen frowned. “Now that’s a lie, Beverly. I bought them. They were blue with yellow daisies.”

“There was a diary. How do you know I still have it?”

Again Noreen intervened. “You wouldn’t let go of something that was such a part of Connie no more than I could part with Amy’s. Though, I never could bring myself to read it. Have you read Connie’s since her death?”

Mrs. Peel’s eyes grew misty, and she shook her head. “It took us a while to find it. She had it well hidden. Once we discovered it, I never could read it.” She shifted her gaze to Julie. “So why do you want it?”

Julie set her glass on a coaster before glancing back at Mrs. Peel. “Amy mentioned Connie was dating Devin Vincent but failed to name him as the father of Connie’s baby. I believe your daughter’s diary will reveal he was the father. He had a motive for wanting your daughter out of his way. Caleb didn’t kill them.”

Mrs. Peel gasped. “There were only the two of them in the boat. That’d mean Devin murdered our girls. But he testified Caleb did it.”

Noreen paled and her eyes grew watery. Julie assumed she was remembering Reece and how he’d been wrongly accused.

“He took advantage of Caleb’s condition after the accident,” Julie stated. “Connie had been secretly meeting Devin on the river. But I need to be able to prove he was the one who got her pregnant. Did she ever tell you?”

“No. Our oldest daughter Kim told us that Connie had purchased a pregnancy test. Connie admitted she was pregnant but wouldn't tell who the father was.”

“Devin realized she was about to tell. He had to stop her. He probably knew about their rafting trip.” Again Julie explained about Devin’s engagement to the governor’s daughter.

“This is too much. I don’t know what to think.”

“Caleb McGregor has paid for something he didn’t do.”

“Like hell. That son-of-a-bitch killed my daughter,” Mr. Peel declared as he entered the room. “So the rumors are true. Get out.” He shifted his attention to Noreen. “How can you let her defend that murderer?”

“Because after really giving it some thought, I think she might be right.” Noreen held firm, not flinching under Mr. Peel’s intense stare.

Mr. Peel blew out a breath that reeked of alcohol, then rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know.” He paused in thought for a moment before looking at his wife.“So what do they want from us?”

“Connie’s diary.” His wife explained why. “It could mean that Devin’s intention had been to murder our daughter to keep her quiet.”

“Go get the diary,” he said.

Mrs. Peel left and returned with the tattered book. She handed it to her.

Julie breathed in a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I’ll return—”

“No, read it now. Look for Devin’s name,” Mr. Peel insisted. “That book doesn't leave this house."

Julie skimmed through the pages until she caught a glimpse of Devin’s name. Then she stopped and read aloud. “May tenth. Devin wants me to get an abortion, but I told him it was too late. I begged him to marry me, and he spit on me. He said if I told anyone, he'd kill me.”

Tears rolled down Noreen’s face. “It’s true. Caleb didn’t kill the girls. Devin did. I can’t believe Devin would do such a thing. He always seemed so perfect, always excelled at everything he did.”

Mrs. Peel sighed. “All these years we’ve hated the wrong man.”

“Caleb will try to get a new trial. May I keep the diary?”

Mrs. Peel stared up at her husband. When he gave her a nod, she glanced back at Julie. “Yes, put it in a safe place. I think Connie would’ve wanted the truth to come out.”

Henry Peel appeared troubled.

“What’s wrong, Henry?”

“I think it’s too late to stop them.”

“Stop who?” his wife asked.

“Frank and his friends,” Mr. Peel said. He turned and left the room.

♦♦♦

While driving Aunt Noreen home, Julie thought of the guilt on Mr. Peel’s face. Something was about to happen. Something involving Caleb. Something
bad.
Julie glanced at Noreen. “Mind if we run by Caleb’s first?”

“No, go ahead. I’m afraid Henry knows something.”

“I need to warn Caleb to stay clear of Frank.”

Her heart rate steadily increased, causing her to drive faster around the curves of the country road.

Please let me find him in time.

She pulled up to his house, and after she got out, she walked around back.

Noreen caught up with her. “Think he’s home?”

“I’m not sure.” Julie saw Caleb’s boat. Then she checked the shed. His bike was gone. “He’s not here. I’ll leave a note.”

Julie's heart sank. Where was he? She wrote a short note and pushed it beneath his backdoor. She hoped he’d find it in time. But his male pride would probably stop him from doing the smart thing, which would be to leave town.

After dropping Noreen off, she decided to drive around town to find Caleb. What if he was with Casey? No, she didn’t really think so. She drove past the Burger Barn before pulling up to the hardware store and parking.

Mr. Higgins stood at the cash register. “Ms. Ross, good to see you.”

“I’m looking for Caleb. It’s urgent.”

“He rode to Poplar Bluff to see his parole officer.”

She told Mr. Higgins what had transpired at the Peel’s house.

“If I see him, I’ll warn him.”

“Thank you, Mr. Higgins.”

She left his store. Hopefully, Caleb would speak with Mr. Higgins or see her note once he returned home.

Julie entered her parents’ house without knocking. They sat at the dinner table with Scott and Ally. She poured a cup of coffee and joined them. “I returned Amy’s diary to Aunt Noreen. She rode with me to the Peel's house.”

“You’re embarrassing us in front of the entire town.”

Julie cut her gaze to Ally and Scott. “You’re finished eating. Scott, take Ally in the den and put on a movie.”

Scott stood without protest and led Ally from the room.

Julie stared at her parents. She was a woman not a teenager. They’d have to accept her decision. “First of all, I love Caleb, and I can’t pretend I don’t. As far as what people think, I don’t care. He is innocent and was framed. Devin Vincent killed Connie and Amy. Even Mr. Peel believes it was Devin instead of Caleb.”

Tears rolled down her mother's face. "That still doesn't change where Caleb's been for ten years, doesn't change the fact that the town will always see him as trash."