Chapter Sixty-Eight
Jake
One Hour Later
Even though my head hurts from lack of sleep, too much caffeine, and the adrenaline drop from the chase and arrest of Chad, I drive from the police station parking lot to the ambulance lot.
The ambulance is in the lot along with Emily and Dale’s vehicles. The gravel crunches under my feet as the sun crests over the rooftops of the houses across from the lot.
Karen Claypool rocks in her porch swing, using her foot to shove off the porch railing. “Heard you had a busy night last night.”
“I did. That’s for sure.” I walk toward the sidewalk across from her house, so we don’t have to yell back and forth. Not that anyone else is out this early in the morning. “I didn’t realize you lived this close to the station.”
When I was in high school, she and her husband lived in a big, two-story Victorian house, two streets and three blocks down the road. When she called the morning Grace was found, I assumed she still lived in her old place.
“I moved here after my husband passed about five years ago. Now that it’s just me, I needed a smaller house to keep up with.” Her leg straightens as the swing slides backward with a loud creaking sound. The faint line of her knobby knee shows under the thin fabric of her white robe.
“I’m sure you see a lot of movement from both the station and the ambulance lot from your house.” She had to have seen the boy that dropped Grace off in front of the station.
She clutches the edges of the housecoat with her spindly fingers. The bumps make it appear that arthritis has hit, making it difficult for her to grip with any dexterity.
“Yes.” She nods with a sage expression on her face. “What else is an old lady with no family to do? After Don passed, I’ve been stuck living life through other people. No kids. My friends are all living with family, in a home, or passed.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I thought it was smart not to have children because my mother died young. I didn’t want to saddle a child with the possibility of losing their mother early, but look at me now,” she says without acknowledging my comment, “All alone with my shows, my living room window, my porch swing, and a cordless phone.”
She lifts the white rectangle off the swing. Who knew people even kept landlines outside of office buildings?
I shove my hands into my pockets. “I imagine it’s rough being out on your own.”
She shrugs. “It’s not so bad when people start coming outside. I’ve made friends with the neighbors and check in with the girls that’re still living around here and those that’ve moved away, so it’s not a horrible existence. I keep busy.”
“Mrs. Claypool, can I ask you a question?”
Her eyes narrow as the swing comes to a halt. “I’m assuming it’s not out on a date since I’ve seen and heard that you’re smitten with Miss Emily.” Her eyes twinkle as some of the melancholy eases from her features.
“You’re right.” I chuckle at her attempt at humor. Or at least, I hope it’s an attempt at humor. “I am smitten with Emily.”
“Good. She’s a sweet girl. I heard she’s taking care of the baby that was dropped off.”
“Yes, she is. Actually, that’s what I wanted to ask you about. I believe it was that morning when you called. Right before I found Grace. You thought you saw something, right?”
“I thought I saw someone sneaking around, but I wasn’t sure. My eyes play tricks on me when it’s dark out. I need that cataract surgery.” She frowns. “If I would’ve known it was someone dropping off a baby…. I wish….”
“That’s fine, Mrs. Claypool. You had no idea.”
“I did see a vehicle parked in the ambulance lot that morning. I’m pretty sure it belongs to that kid that drives Mackenzie Whitlock around sometimes. I don’t know his name, but he’s been hanging around here for the last several months.”
My heart skips a beat. We were right. It was Lucas. Does the baby belong to him and Mackenzie? Or to a girlfriend in the city?
I arch an eyebrow. “Nine months?”
“No.” She glances toward the police station as if she’s thinking back.
She frowns and pushes her foot off the railing again.
“It was only a few months ago the first time I saw him with her. He drove an old Charger with no muffler at the time, but he stood out. Tall, too thin, freckles with blond hair. Two months ago, he changed cars.”
I really need to talk to Mrs. Claypool more. She’s like the underground network. “Do you think it’s his kid?”
“Does the baby have blond hair?”
“No.”
“Freckles?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Dark brownish, black hair and no freckles.”
“I don’t know my biology as well as my friend, Angela, but Mackenzie also has blonde hair, and both her parents have lighter colored hair.”
Angela Tennison was my middle school science teacher.
And while I don’t know as much as my biology teacher did, and I don’t know Lucas’s entire family tree, I’m doubtful that they all had a recessive trait for black hair.
And Grace’s skin tone is darker than either of them.
Which means that Grace’s biological father is likely not Lucas.
“Thanks, Mrs. Claypool. You’ve been a big help this morning.”
Color stains her cheeks. “Thank you. I’ve missed being out in the community.
When I was the postmaster, I had a good pulse on everything that went on in town.
” She winks. “Along with things that people didn’t want anyone else to know.
Like what they get in the mail from certain stores that they wouldn’t want everyone to know about. ”
“Right.” I chuckle at the thought of different items people have delivered and wouldn’t want anyone else to know about. “You should get out more.”
“I would, but my car broke down last month, and I haven’t had the money to get it fixed.”
“Consider it done. I’ll get a couple of my friends and take a look at it this weekend. Between us, we should be able to figure it out.”
“That’s so kind of you.”
“I have to go. Thanks for talking to me this morning.” I wave at her and return to my original destination. The morning rays lighten the gravel in between the shadows.
Shit. I’ve taken too long. What if Xavier is texting a girl and lets Grace fall off the sofa? Or Kaleb drops her when he’s busy checking his phone? My stomach cramps as visions of all the horrible things that can happen to an infant fill my vision.
I yank open the door of the ambulance station, finding Emily standing in the middle of the room. “Hey, Em.”
She surveys me from head to toe. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, everything’s good.” I drum my fingertips on the door’s edge. “I was going to stop by to see you.” I wave at Dale who popped his head into the room from the office. He’s wearing their standard uniform with his ballcap turned backward. “Hey, Dale.”
“Jake.” He nods in return.
“I need to go.” My attention shifts back to Emily. “I’ll call you as soon as I get to your place. I was talking with Mrs. Claypool and didn’t realize how long it took.”
“Are you sure everything is okay?”
“I’m just worried about Grace. I didn’t intend to get sidetracked for so long.”
“Right.” She swipes her hands on her black pants.
“I’ll call you in ten minutes. Five minutes.” I close the distance between us, grab her face, and kiss her soundly on the lips before stepping back.
“Okay.” Her face is pale as she bites her bottom lip. “They’d call if something was wrong, wouldn’t they?”
“I’ll call in five minutes.” I spin on my heel and snap the door shut behind me.