Chapter 12 #2
“Yes, sir. My daughter’s friend who’s in a wheelchair stopped it.
One of the men was caught, and he admitted to the officers that a woman gave them money to do it.
I think they’re having trouble proving it’s her because she didn’t give him a name, just a place to meet her and a time.
Of course, when the police got there, she was nowhere to be found, and the guy conveniently didn’t see her—the driver of the car did, and they’re still looking for him. ”
“I see. Do you have somewhere you can stay for a while during the investigation?”
“I do.” Boy, Kyle would be riled up when he found out what was going on, but at least they’d be safe out there with him.
“I’d suggest you do that. I don’t know what she’s capable of, but if she’d do something like that, I’d say she’s capable of just about anything. Apparently her son was convincing enough that the warden believed him, and I’m inclined to believe him too.”
“I bet she went to see him and he tried to talk to her. He called me and warned me last week.”
“Then I would definitely take his warning to heart. If you need me, or you can think of anything else that will help us keep an eye on this woman, please give me a call. And seriously, find somewhere to stay. She sounds unstable.”
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate you coming by to talk to me.”
“Yes, ma’am. Have a good afternoon.” He touched the brim of his hat and turned to leave.
“And you too. Thanks again.” Gina watched the door close behind him and sighed.
Margie was going to be a pain in her ass forever unless something drastic happened.
She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t just take the kids out of school, but Kyle lived in Madisonville, and he couldn’t come there and stay.
He had to be at home to work the farm. They’d just have to go to him.
But it was an open-ended situation, and that was going to make everything worse for her.
She supposed she’d just get up in the mornings, drive them to school, go to work, pick them up afterward, and drive to Kyle’s.
They’d have to come to the store after school too.
Going to McCaskill’s was no longer an option, not after what had happened.
Gina told Miles what was going on, and he agreed with her plan.
After watching the clock all afternoon, she stepped out the back door of the store ten minutes before school ended and started the truck.
But when she pulled around the building to the street, a familiar gray car sat in the parking lot of the convenience store across the street.
“You’ve fucking got to be kidding me,” she grumbled under her breath.
It was tempting to pull in and give her what for, but there really wasn’t time. Instead, she drove on to the school.
“What are you doing here?” Briley asked, obviously confused judging by the way he almost glared at her.
“Find your sister and get in the truck. We’ve got to go.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’ll explain. Just find Hadley!”
By the time they got back to the store, Gina was furious.
The idea that she’d have to run and hide wasn’t something she’d usually even entertain, but if a KSP trooper was concerned enough to show up, she supposed she’d have to do it.
They sat down in the break room and Gina began to explain to them what was going on.
It hurt her heart to finish with, “And for now, school is remote. You can’t be there without somebody to watch you, because she might try something crazy again. ”
It took Briley a nanosecond to get worked up. “But I can’t do that, Mom. I’ve got debate team!”
“At this point, that’s not a consideration.”
“What do you mean? I’m depending on stuff like that to help me get a scholarship if I decide I want to go to college!”
“And what about Spanish club? I’m the president,” Hadley pointed out.
“Doesn’t matter. This is something the state police think we need to do, and I’m inclined to agree. When I left to pick you up at school, she was sitting in her car across the street, staring at the building.”
“Tell her to leave us alone!” Briley shouted.
“We’ve tried. Even Nate tried.”
“What?” Hadley’s eyes went wide. “You talked to him?”
“He called me last week and warned me. Apparently she came to see him and she was so weird that he asked the warden to call the state police. He thinks she could be dangerous.”
Briley squinted one eye and scowled. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. They think she’s unstable.”
Hadley snickered. “Well, ya think?”
“Look, guys, I don’t like this either, but until they can positively link her to what happened at McCaskill’s, there’s nothing they can do.”
A sadness crept over Hadley’s face. “Where are we going to go?”
What would he say when she asked? He said he loved her. Was it just something he said, or would he mean it? “I’m going to ask Kyle if we can come there.”
“And we could stay in the RV again?” Hadley asked, brightening.
“No. That wouldn’t be safe either. We’ll all have to stay in the house.”
Briley shook his head. “How are we going to do that? The house isn’t that big.”
“We’ll figure out something. But I haven’t asked him yet. He could say no.”
There was that scowl again on Briley’s face. “You really think he’d do that?”
“I don’t know. But we’re going to find out. Now, you guys get your homework done. I’ll … I’m not sure what I’m going to do about your schoolwork, but we’ll figure out something.”
As soon as they were settled, she pulled out her phone and hid in the stockroom. It rang twice on her end before he answered. “Hello, beautiful!”
“Hi. I’ve got something I need to ask you.”
There was silence for a few seconds before he asked, “Gina, what’s wrong?”
“Uh, we need somewhere to stay.”
“Pack your stuff.”
She felt everything inside her relax a little. “You’re sure?”
“Babe, nothing would make me happier than having all three of you under my roof with me and Myla. Nothing. So come. Please. I’ll order a set of bunk beds from one of the stores here in town and have my brother pick them up, bring them out, and help me put them together. We can do this.”
Oh, god. I can’t expect him to do all of this. “Honey, please, I don’t want us to be a burden or—”
“Girl!” She stopped immediately. “Never say that to me again! You hear me? You are not a burden! None of you! I want you here! So stop it. I’ll take care of that and we’ll figure it out.
But don’t you ever think you’re a burden.
Never.” She could hear it in his voice—he meant every word he was saying.
She felt hot tears rolling down her cheeks. “Thank you. I … Oh, god, Kyle, I’m so tired of this shit. A trooper came to see me today, and—”
“A trooper?”
“Yeah. Nate insisted that the warden should call them so he could warn us about Margie. I guess she got there even after what you did and she was on a tear. He’s worried about us.
That bitch … When I went to pick up the kids at school, she was sitting in her damn car across the street, watching me! She just won’t stop.”
“Babe, it’s gonna be okay. When you get off work, I’ll be at your house. I’ll help you guys pack stuff up and bring it out here.”
“Look, I don’t want you having to put up with this. I’ll just—”
“Gina, hush. It’s fine. You’ll see. Now, I’ll meet you at the house and we’ll take it from there, okay? Please?”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I know it’s a shack compared to yours, but having the three of you there with us will make me very happy.”
“It’s not a shack. I love your house. And it’s not the house that makes the home,” Gina said, repeating something her mother had said all her life.
“That’s exactly right. So I’ll see you in a couple of hours. And Gina?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you, baby. I really do.”
Another tear escaped the corner of her eye. “I love you too.”
“Bye, babe.”
Gina stood there and clutched the phone to her chest. Kyle loved her. He loved her so much that she could feel it even over the phone. No man except her dad had ever cared that much for her. It made her feel hopeful.
And then she thought about Margie, and all that hope drained out. I swear, if I knew nobody would catch me, I’d shoot the old bitch, she told herself. She’d never been a person who could commit a violent act. At least she’d never imagined she was.
But when it came to Margie Ivitts, maybe she was wrong.
Briley brought two backpacks. Gina brought two suitcases and a tote of shoes.
Hadley brought a backpack, two suitcases, a makeup tote, a jewelry tote, and two totes of shoes. Kyle had no idea where they were going to put it all, but he’d figure it out.
Keith was still there, putting the beds together, when they got there. “You have no idea how much I appreciate this,” Kyle told him as he packed up his tools.
“That’s what big brothers are for, little brother. I put the racks in your office.”
“Great. Thanks.” The clothing racks he’d bought would have to act as their closets for the time being.
He’d also managed to fit a long dresser in there that he’d had in the garage, and they could use that for underclothes and socks.
At least it was something. With the twin beds added to Myla’s room, there wasn’t a spare inch of space anywhere in the house except in the living room, and he felt like that and the dining area needed to be kept as they were so they’d at least have a couple of rooms with some elbow room in them.
What made him smile was how Myla reacted.
Every time Hadley or Briley complained about not having space for something, Myla would say, “I can get a box and move my stuff. I don’t mind.
You can have my space.” At least once he’d turned to catch Gina crying when she heard the little girl say it.
They spent their first night in his house with Gina crying herself to sleep in his arms. He wished there was something he could do to make her believe it would all be okay eventually, but he wasn’t sure that would ever be true.