Chapter 7 Time For A Change
TIME FOR A CHANGE
“Morning, Rory,” his mother said when she answered his call.
“Hi, Mom. How are you doing?”
“I’m good. How about you? Are you okay being back there?”
As much as his mother wanted him to come, she also didn’t want him to have any kind of a breakdown.
They’d lost his father; they couldn’t lose each other.
But as Gale said, it was time to get answers. Too many people had waited long enough.
“I don’t feel as if I’ve got to jump out of my skin if that is what you’re asking. I’ve been walking around some. Past where her body was found, that was hard, and I just kept going.”
He wanted to look it over more closely but couldn’t. Not yet.
The bush was still there but bigger. It was close to the road and off to the side. Probably the property of the house next to it, but not maintained, mowed, or even touched. More like some wooded area that was forgotten.
Only it would never be completely forgotten.
“I don’t know how I’d feel about it,” his mother said. “I want you there and looking just as much as me, but not at the cost of your sanity.”
“Mom, I might have lost my sanity years ago right along with you.”
And his father. It was unspoken though.
His father thought he and his mother were the odd ones and he thought his father was cold.
How do you just forget your daughter ever existed? Refuse to talk about her.
For months he felt his father blamed him. He still had moments where he believed it, but then told himself that it was nothing more than the guilt he put on his own shoulders.
He should have been watching her. He should have gone after Rene or even walked with her.
Instead, he sat on the dock drowning a worm, eating a sub, and texting with his friends about stupid, meaningless teenage shit.
“Tell me what you’ve been doing this week. I haven’t wanted to bother you too much.”
“I should get the court records on Monday. Been walking around. The rundown cabin that Rene was taking pictures of is gone and condos are in its place. Lots of them.”
“It was rundown back then,” his mother said. “I’m not surprised. The police checked the place out. There were no clues or anything, or so they said.”
“I might have some help this time around,” he said. He might as well tell his mother what was going on. He tried not to keep secrets from her.
“Really? From who?”
“There is this local attorney who was in the courthouse with me the other day. She actually made it easier for me to get the files. We got talking and her parents were close with Cooper Stevens.”
“Oh,” his mother said. “That had to be hard to hear, maybe for both of you.”
“I think so. I didn’t tell her who I was, but she gave me her card and said if I wanted to talk to someone who lived here and knew what was said around town, she’d make herself available. Her brother is the sheriff now.”
“Ridgeway, right?” his mother said. “A young guy?”
“Yes. Ford Ridgeway. Their family is a staple here. Ridgeway Orchards, but now it’s Ridgeway Hard Cider and some other things.”
“I know you’ve done your research on them. Fill me in.”
He got comfortable in the chair, glad to have someone to bounce things off of.
For years, he’d been terrified of upsetting her, and she felt the same about him. But slowly, they’d learned to lean on each other, becoming the support they both needed to survive. Maybe even the strength they’d need to finally get the answers they craved.
“Five kids. The oldest is Clay and runs the property now and it’s his cider company. Next is Ford, the sheriff. Blaze is an ER doctor, then Gale an attorney and last, Ash, a fireman.”
He didn’t tell his mother what else he’d found out.
That Ford’s fiancée was kidnapped last year for a crime she was unaware she’d been witness to in Florida.
That Clay and Ford rescued her, a few killed.
Or that Clay’s now fiancée had a neighbor stalking her, then kidnapped her when he finally snapped.
Clay, ex-Navy SEAL rescued her with Ford on the scene.
Seemed to him this family had a way of getting themselves in the midst of problems.
Did it make him want to keep Gale out of this?
Kind of.
But it was crazy for him to think his search would hurt her. She’d offered to help and he needed all he could get.
He could handle anything that came his way and he was positive she could too.
“Sounds like they’ve got everything covered in their household,” his mother said, the humor in her voice that he was happy to know she hadn’t lost.
Life didn’t end for everyone the night Rene was murdered.
It might have felt it for years, but slowly his mother and he started to live again.
Rene played a huge part in it. Those visits she’d made in his dreams kicked his butt in gear to follow his visions. He later found out Rene was telling their mother to do the same.
He often wondered if Rene visited their father, but knew he’d never ask. He wouldn’t believe it if his father said no anyway.
“Gale came to dinner last night and we talked.”
“Now it’s getting interesting. Tell me about her first.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. Describe her to me.”
“She’s twenty-nine. A year younger than Rene would be. She told me her age when it happened and how life was in the area after.”
“I’m sure not an easy thing for the residents.”
“Not any harder than for us.”
“True. What else?”
“She’s an attorney, has her own practice and a small office. I’m not certain how big her staff is, but I’m guessing just a few. I’m sure she could have gone in a lot of directions, but I get the impression she enjoys being the boss.”
His mother laughed. “With four brothers, I don’t blame her.”
“She’s tough. Smart. Picks up on things fast. I didn’t give her my name, but she knew who I was.”
“Because she looked into you as you had her?”
“Oh yeah. And she let me know she knew who I was without saying it. Almost baiting me to confess.”
“You do the same thing.”
He hadn’t realized that. “I watched her in the courtroom yesterday. I needed to see her in action. She had the jury eating out of her hand. To the point, precise and almost taunting them to agree with her.”
“Did she win?”
“She did. The verdict came back quickly. I’m not used to letting other people in for this, but I don’t think it will hurt. Maybe it’s time for a change. I’m here and she’s willing when she can swing it.”
“You’ve got the time.”
“She lives in the condos that were built where the rundown cabin was. Saw me walking the grounds but didn’t know it was me until last night.”
He liked that she put it together so quickly and that she was aware enough to know what was going on.
Probably something her brothers had drilled into her head to stay alert.
“What’s the next step other than getting the court records?”
“I’ll get them Monday, with any luck. They will call when they’re ready. It will take me time to go through it all and crosscheck everything. Gale wants to go through them and it will help to have an attorney viewing it for things I might miss, but I understand she’s got a job too.”
“What about your job?”
“I’m hoping to start my next series too. I can’t spend every waking moment focused on this. Sometimes when I take a break is when things come to me.”
He had to remind himself that when he put the pressure on his shoulders to do more. It just didn’t always work that way.
Which was why the fifteen-year anniversary was coming up this summer, only four months away, and they still didn’t seem to be any closer than they were before.
“I’m glad to hear that. Anything else on the ankle bracelet?”
“I told Gale about it, and she seemed excited, as if it means something, but I know better than to get my hopes up. She said she can talk to her brother to get me stuff faster than the detective. I declined for now.”
“Why would you do that?”
The confusion in his mother’s voice wasn’t lost on him.
“Because making a nuisance of myself doesn’t get anyone to play nice. This is more about not ruffling the wrong feathers.”
“What I know is that you don’t want to get your hopes up,” his mother said. “Any more than me. This feels different though.”
“It does, but I still won’t put more thought into it than anything else. I’ll let you know if I find more out.”
“I know you will. I love you, Rory. I’m proud of everything you’ve done and what you’ve made of your life. Your sister would be so proud of you.”
The slow smile filled his face. It was almost as if he could hear his sister giving him shit for sucking up.
“Thanks, Mom. She’d be proud of you too for the way you’ve handled this.”
“One of us has to keep our head on straight.”
“He can’t change who he is,” he said.
“I still grieve the loss of the man I married. I never thought he’d act like it never happened, then want me to do the same.”
“He’s handling it his way, we are ours. No one is right or wrong.”
“Bullshit, Rory. His way is wrong. You know it, and I know it. Call a spade a spade.”
Which was why he always loved his mother. That she was vocal and not afraid to put you in your place.
Did he remember her always being that way? He wasn’t sure.
But as an adult, he wouldn’t have her be anyone she wasn’t.
“How about an asshole is an asshole?”
“There you go. Let it out. If your father wants to live in a frozen bubble, so be it, but you and I, we’re doing what Rene would want.”
“I hope so,” he said quietly, but he just wished he didn’t have to be in this position.