Every Deadly Suspicion

Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

T HE WAITING ROOM STAYED QUIET AND EMPTY. Hanna forced Jared from her mind and strove to concentrate on her job. She loved her hometown. Dry Oaks was safe, comfortable, and charming, and she loved being chief. Because she was bullied as a child and she’d been rescued by friends, people who were stronger than she was, she’d grown up with the desire to be the rescuer. That’s what police officers did: they rescued people, kept them safe. Being elected as chief was her lifelong dream, and she vowed to do it to the best of her ability. Hanna wanted her force to be the best. Crime here was the lowest in the county, and she credited her proactive people with that statistic.

While she waited for Everett, her thoughts stuck on the letter and her “father’s” predicament. It reminded her how hard Everett tried to be a good father, to Scott and Chase, to Devon, and now to Braden.

Chase came to town occasionally. She couldn’t say that she knew him. The few times she’d been around him, he hadn’t said much. He was a tragic figure, really—half of one leg gone, one eye gone, permanently disfigured. All she really knew about him was what she’d heard from her mother. That Chase was the black sheep of the family, a scary man, violent and unpredictable.

Was Joe Keyes also violent and unpredictable? There was a time when she’d wondered about him, a lot, but her attitude toward him had evolved over the years.

In the quiet, her thoughts wandered back to the first time she remembered seeing a photo of Joe. Paula had no photos in the house.

Hanna had been around nine and on a field trip to the library. Back then she read anything and everything. A lot of the books were way above her age level, but she slogged through them.

She made her way to the adult section of books—where she saw the book Marcus Marshall wrote. It was a bit scary. Her mother would not want Hanna to see this book, so she hid it under her arm and found a quiet, uncrowded area of the library to look through it.

A clump of pictures were in the middle. The book opened naturally to the first picture, and there stood Mom with Joe Keyes. She froze, almost in a kind of shock as she looked at him. He didn’t look like Satan; there were no horns. In fact, he was a handsome man, with a square jaw, brown hair with a bit of a wave in it, a pleasant half smile on his face.

It was their wedding picture. Mom and Dad had eloped to Las Vegas. Hanna almost didn’t recognize Mom because she was smiling and looked so happy. Dad was taller than Mom. His hair was long. It touched his collar, and he had a bushy mustache.

She remembered she had even smelled the page and thought, What did my father smell like? All the picture smelled of was book. She looked at the photos over and over. She even tore one out and took it home with her.

Remembering that day so many years ago still made Hanna blush. She’d held on to that photo for years. By high school, the taunts and jeers she’d endured about her father had destroyed any romantic fantasies about him. She came across the photo one day as she cleaned her room, and in an uncharacteristic fit of rage, she tore it into pieces.

What did Joe look like now?

Hard as she tried, she could not bring herself to think of Joe as her father. None of the men her mother dated ever fit the bill either. Most especially not Marcus Marshall.

In retrospect, Hanna thought perhaps her intuition started early. Marshall was a user. He called himself a professional writer, but he was no Stephen King. He’d told her mother that his book Murders at Beecher’s Mine Cabin would be a national bestseller and he’d make millions. It hadn’t worked out that way.

Was he working on a book about the Buckleys? Marcus usually crowed about his work, yet he’d said nothing. Scott and Marcus were arguing about something.

The double doors whooshed open, stopping Hanna’s woolgathering, and out stepped a relieved-looking Everett Buckley and a tired, bandaged-up little boy. The only expression on Everett’s face now was calm.

“He’s gonna be okay,” Everett said. “He’s got the Buckley hard head, that’s for sure.”

“Glad to hear it.” She knelt to look into Braden’s eyes. “You be more careful when you’re hiking, you hear?”

“Yeah, thanks for coming down to get me. Where’s Pancho?”

“At home waiting for you,” Everett said before Hanna could answer. “I called Grover and asked him to get the dog from Asa.”

Standing, she shook Everett’s hand. “You two have a good night, a restful night.”

Everett cocked his head and sighed. “We sure will try, Chief. Remember, keep me informed.”

They parted ways in the parking lot. It was dark now, and when Hanna relaxed and tried to unwind, she realized she was starving. She’d never gotten lunch and wasn’t sure where Nathan was at this time of day. Court ended a couple of hours ago. She sat in her car, intending to text him, when she saw that her personal phone was completely dead. The department-issued phone was still charged, but Hanna never liked to use that for personal matters. She started the car, deciding she’d call Nathan from home, and made her way there.

To her surprise, Nathan’s car was in her driveway and Hanna smiled, thanking the Lord for such a thoughtful man. A bag of takeout sat on the hood of his car. Of course, they’d missed lunch. She’d forgotten, but it was so like Nathan to remember and remedy the situation.

He leaned against the front fender. She got out of her car and hurried toward him, smelling the delicious food as she got closer. “Oh my goodness. You went to Faye’s.”

He picked the bag up. “I did. We missed lunch, and I wanted dinner to make up for that. I just got here. I tried to call you...”

“My phone died.”

Holding the bag in one hand, he gave Hanna a side hug and a peck on the cheek. “I heard the boy was banged up but fine. I spoke to Asa.”

“Yeah, a broken arm was the worst of it.” She smiled and pulled out her house key. He followed her up the front steps to the door. “He’d been unconscious for so long, I feared he would have a head injury, but he didn’t.”

She turned back toward him as she pushed the door open. “How’d court go?”

“Jury has it now. You know how that goes.”

“Hmm.” She flipped on the light. “I’ll grab some plates and drinks.” They both walked to the dining table. “What would you like?”

“Sparkling water is fine.”

“You got it. I’m starved.”

“Let’s eat, my dear.” He set the bag on the table and took out the containers. When Hanna returned with plates and drinks, it only took a minute to dish out wonderful comfort food. Faye’s was a local institution in Dry Oaks. People came from all over the county to dine there. Old-fashioned comfort food. Hanna’s favorite was the pot roast, which Nathan had gotten her. He preferred meat loaf.

Over dinner they talked about their days: Nathan in court and Hanna rescuing Braden. And they discussed the Jude Carver lawsuit.

“I’m amazed he had the gall to sue. He was worthless. How many times did you find him sleeping on the job?”

She held up four fingers. “And he had four warnings. I honestly don’t believe he thinks he’ll get his job back. He just has an axe to grind with me. He was cordial when we were peers, even professional. As soon as I was sworn in as chief, everything changed.”

He’d grown up in Dry Oaks, left after high school, and was a cop in San Francisco for a time. He came back to Dry Oaks and was hired on by Chief Barnes about three years ago. She guessed Carver’s change in behavior happened because they had history. He’d been the leader of the boys who had teased her when she was a kid and didn’t care for her being his boss.

It wasn’t until dessert that Joe came up. With a large piece of lemon meringue pie between them, Hanna said, “I told Everett about the request from the state.”

“What did he say?”

“That it was my decision, but it obviously upset him.”

“I’m sure. With Scott gone, he’s only got Chase, a vivid reminder of what happened.”

“True. I guess in a way I’m lucky. Joe’s never been in my life, so it’s easy to shut him out of my mind. Everett can’t do that with Chase. He’ll always see Joe’s handiwork.”

“Have you met Chase?”

Her mouth full, Hanna held up her index finger in a “just a moment” signal. She thought about the time she and Jared had hiked up to Beecher’s Mine cabin. An old memory but strong, of Chase sobbing and cursing the wind. She would not tell that story to Nathan. He’d been very tight-lipped when she explained to him about Jared.

“He’s out and about every so often. When I was still in uniform, I handled a call where he was present. Traffic accident. His brother was driving and got rear-ended by another car. I’d always heard that Chase was generally confined to a wheelchair, but that night he was on crutches, and he got around pretty good. The scars make him look a little scary.”

“Scary?”

“Yeah, the scars on his face. It almost looks as if he were made up for a horror movie. But he didn’t say anything off. Just shook his head when I asked if he’d been hurt in the collision.” She remembered that day and added, “Hmmm. I don’t know how it would work, having Joe here. I can’t imagine it would make Chase happy.”

Nathan had just put a big bite of pie in his mouth, and she watched as he chewed.

He swallowed. “Okay, how about I list all the ‘yes, it cans,’ and you list all the—”

His phone buzzed. She knew that he was on call. He answered a couple of questions, then said, “I’ll be there in twenty,” then he hung up.

“A body?” Hanna asked, already knowing the answer.

Nathan nodded. “It looks like another one.”