Chapter Fourteen
Waking a few hours later in darkness, Raven heard movements in the distance, most likely the women making coffee. Not wanting to move, she soon discovered why. In her sleep, she must have inched her way toward Cane who’d snuggled her close, his hand holding hers, his face inches away.
Eyelids refusing to lift because it would force the end of the lovely break from reality, she just let herself soak in the warmth of being secure. If asked, she would have said there had been nothing between her and this man other than a shared experience she wouldn’t wish on anyone.
Unwilling to lie to herself, she acknowledged that they’d shared intimacies but accepted that both times had been spontaneous and regretted by Cane.
Not sure how she knew that to be true, she’d stake her life on it.
There had been a spark between them – a living, breathing bond.
In truth, he’d seemed to be as drawn to her as she’d been to him.
Her stomach suddenly clenched, and she admitted that her innate wisdom never lied.
If Cane’s following moodiness was anything to go by, those moments had been regretted.
Therefore, they had to stop. No way did she want a man who regretted being with her. Not going to happen. After all these years of saving her heart from being trampled by the wrong man, at thirty-four years old, being picky and stubborn worked in her favor.
When nature could no longer be ignored, she opened her eyes to find Cane staring at her.
His husky voice murmured, “Good morning.”
Unwilling to move, she answered him in the same low timbre. “Hi. Have you been awake for long?”
“No. I didn’t want to move and disturb you after the hardships you dealt with yesterday.”
“Hey, it’s not all about me. It was difficult for both if us.”
Her answer seemed to unnerve him. Had he been used to different comebacks in the past. Raven waited for an answer, but all he said was, “You look rested.”
Raven chuckled. “I know exactly how I look in the mornings and rested is a nice description.”
“Right. Another female seeking a compliment. Why am I not surprised?” His teasing voice spoken low and holding a strange condemnation drifted over her body making every cell want to respond yet not willing to be put down.
“I am not.” Indignant, Raven pulled at her hand for him to let it go. And after a few long seconds of him staring into her eyes, he did release her. “I was kidding.”
“Were you?” She’d heard the weird note in his tone… a man putting up with a woman demanding unearned compliments. No way would she let him stick her in that category of stupid, false neediness.
Cane held her there, by his words as much as his hands. “I’m sorry. You’re different from other beautiful women I’ve known. I’m not sure how to deal with it.”
She let him hold her in place long enough to say, “Treat me like a person who just happens to be a woman. That’s all I ask.
” She withdrew her hand and got to her feet, leaving him alone.
His sigh of vexation followed her, but she didn’t stop.
He had to know she wouldn’t be put down by anyone, even a man who’d earned her admiration.
By the time she’d returned from the washroom, wonderful breakfast smells were beginning to float around, and folks were drifting out from the classrooms to join each other.
Cane approached, holding a cup of coffee toward her, which she took thankfully.
Her eyes lifted to see his were soft with a friendliness that she gladly exchanged.
Before they could decide where best to lend a hand, the doors at the end of the room burst open and a man barged inside. He stumbled against a table and dropped to his knees.
Quickly, Raven passed her cup to Cane and got there first. “Steve, it’s me, Raven. What happened?”
Voice almost incoherent and obviously shocked, the whiskered old man peered up into her face. “Help, Raven. We need help. We found a dead guy.”
“Sorry about that. Were you able to rescue his body?”
“No. Couldn’t move him. Know better.”
Not understanding his meaning, she pressed, “What do you mean, you know better?” Glad to have Cane’s help lifting Steve into a chair, she aided the old guy in taking off his damp raincoat and then said, “Now tell me what you’re getting at.”
“The dead guy’s been shot.”
“Lord Jesus, what next?”
She heard Cane’s expletive and felt the same way. Why the hell would anyone shoot a man during this kind of tragedy? Wasn’t there enough trauma to deal with already?
Steve took her hand in his gnarled ones and patted it. “I’ll show you where the body is honey but let me have a few minutes to recover. With these winds, it took my motorboat half the night to get here. I need to relieve myself and eat some hot food.”
Cane whispered in her ear. “I’ll help him to the bathroom if you want to fill a plate for the poor guy.” She nodded and did as he asked, getting breakfast for both her and Cane as well. She didn’t have to be told, it was going to be another long, hard day ahead.
While Cane and Steve were gone, Raven took a moment to speak with Henry and the others. “Sorry, Raven. We’ve just been called out to a house fire. Seems a tree got blown over and fell on the place, opening a gas line, which started a blaze.”
“Jesus, I hate to say when it rains, it pours, but I mean it both literally and figuratively. Good luck. See you later.”
Their dire situation soon settled in Raven’s mind. With Henry busy, the sheriff missing and probably dead, and Palmer sick, the town didn’t have any real emergency system in place for a disaster such as a murder.
This would be the time for Cane to step up. And though it had been years since she’d been active in homicide, she had taken training and could act as his partner. At least, until they could get the state to reassign proper officials to take over.
Once Steve had finished his meal, Cane began peppering him with questions. He had a small writing pad he used to take notes, making Raven glad he used the old ways of maintaining information.
“Steve, take your time and tell us what happened, where and when.”
“Okay… So, my wife and I were heading to her sister’s place upriver from us yesterday about four p.m., and we saw a car smashed up on the bank.
” He faced Raven and added, “You know how stubborn Aggie can be, Raven. No way she’d let me go past without checking to make sure there wasn’t someone stuck inside.
We pulled in close and called out but didn’t hear anything.
I wanted to leave but then Aggie noticed a hand hanging from the open door. ”
“I had to go and look, or she’d never have let me forget about it.
I ended up in the water and waded to the vehicle to see a younger fellow sprawled across the front seat, a bullet wound in his forehead.
Of course, he was deader’n a doornail.” Steve stared up at Cane.
“Gotta admit I lost my lunch there and then. But I never touched nothing. Just got the hell outta there as fast as I could.”
“Did you recognize him?”
“Nope. Been around these parts all my life, and I’m almost eighty years old.”
“What did you do then?”
“I took Aggie to be with her sister’s family and then headed here to tell the authorities.
Only there was no one at the station. When I saw all the vehicles outside the schoolhouse, I came here.
Grisliest thing I ever did see, man. Can’t wipe that kind of shit from my mind now, can I?
Thought I’d left all that killin’ crap behind in Vietnam. ”
Cane asked a few more questions, and Steve gave thoughtful answers to each one.
Finally, he made an observation they all had to agree with and yet would lead to more investigation.
“Guess things could have been worse. At least he wasn’t in the water which would have washed away any evidence that might be around. And there was lots.”
As if his statement prodded further inquiries, Cane continued to stare at Steve. “Okay, tell us what you mean by that.”
“I mean that the car appeared to be full of blood and one man shot in the head doesn’t give off that much splatter.”
“Then you’re saying there were more victims?”
“Looks that way to me. It’s why I came as fast as I could. Don’t know who they could be, and if they’re dead or not.”
Cane continued to watch the old man’s demeanor.
“And…”
“And there was a stuffed bear in the back seat, covered in the gory mess.”