Ever Present Danger (5 page)

A few seconds later Elam appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Brandon and Kelsey are here. They already met Montana outside and wondered if they could say hello to Ivy. They can only stay a minute.”

ON MONDAY MORNING, Ivy Griffith sat at the breakfast table with Montana, Lu, and her parents. Her father had hardly spoken to her, and his indifference hurt almost as much as the reason for it.

“Would anybody like another waffle?” Carolyn Griffith said.

“Yes, please.” Montana held up his plate and flashed a charming grin. “Do you have more strawberries?”

“Just waiting for you. I love a young man with a hearty appetite.” Carolyn got up and walked over to the griddle.

“So, Ivy…where are you planning to apply for a job?” Elam said.

Ivy tried not to squirm, determined not to let the intensity of her father’s gaze bore a hole in her defenses. “I think I’ll start by asking Jewel Sadler if she needs a waitress.”

“Pays minimum wage plus tips. Is that enough?”

“I can work two jobs.” Ivy took a sip of orange juice.

“That’ll leave you time to sleep. What about the boy?”

If you call him “the boy” one more time I’m going to scream!
“Montana will be fine. I’ve always found time for him.” Ivy stole a glance at Lu, sobered by the reality that Lu would not be there to help her this time. She fluttered her eyelashes until she could focus clearly. “I’ll go talk to Jewel after the breakfast rush dies down.”

The phone rang.

Elam reached behind him and snatched the receiver off the wall phone. “Hello…You’re kidding…Are you absolutely sure it’s human? All right, don’t touch anything and call the sheriff. I’m on my way.” He hung up the phone and looked at Carolyn. “That was the construction foreman on the time-share project. They’re out there with the bulldozers clearing trees and uncovered a human skull, of all things—and some bones.”

“How awful,” Carolyn said. “Where?”

“At the south end of the old Collier ranch. Probably been out there since the gold rush days.”

Ivy started to choke on her food and picked up her glass of orange juice and took a few gulps.

“You okay, Ivy girl?” Lu said, giving her a couple whacks on the back.

Ivy nodded. “Went down…the…wrong pipe.”

Elam drank the last of his coffee, wiped his mustache with a napkin, and stood. “I’ll call and let you know what’s going on. I hope this doesn’t delay construction. It’s already a push getting the model finished by July for the Getaway Homes Show.”

Ivy watched her father leave the kitchen and avoided making eye contact with her mother.

“Goodness,” Carolyn said. “I wonder who the person is and how they died?”

Montana cut off a big piece of waffle and stuffed it into his mouth. “On
CSI
they could tell from a guy’s skull that he died ‘cause someone hit him in the head.”

“Where did you see
CSI
?” Ivy said.

Montana smiled sheepishly. “At Josh’s sleepover. Are you mad?”

“Well, I’m not thrilled. You don’t need to be filling your head with that stuff.”

Carolyn got up and started clearing dishes off the table. “How about if I drive you into town? And while you’re talking to Jewel, Lu and I can take Montana over to the ice rink. Should be a lot of kids there since it’s spring break.”

Ivy walked into Jewel’s Café at ten o’clock and smiled when she saw the dreadful moose head hanging on the wall opposite the windows. She noticed only a few customers, none that she recognized, and was aware that someone had come out of the kitchen.

“Well, will you look at this: Ivy Griffith in the flesh.” Jewel Sadler put her arms around Ivy before she could protest, then stood back and seemed to study her. “You’ve grown up.”

“Can you believe I’ll be twenty-nine next month?”

“That’s nothing, doll. I’ve got dust bunnies older than that.” Jewel Sadler threw back her head and laughed. “Sit down over here and have a cup of coffee with me. Or would you like something else?”

“No, coffee’s fine.” Ivy sat at the table closest to the kitchen and waited while Jewel set two mugs on the table and filled them with coffee.

“Cream and sugar are there on the table,” Jewel said. “So what do I have to do to get you to come to work for me?”

Ivy suppressed a smile, tickled all over again at how funny Jewel looked wearing a hairnet. “Which of my parents bribed you?”

“They just gave me a heads-up that you might come in looking for a job. And with tourist season just around the corner, I just happen to have a position for someone reliable.”

“I’m reliable,” Ivy said. “I have a seven-year-old son to support.”

“Right. Montana. Carolyn told me. Says he’s the spitting image of your brother.”

Ivy nodded. “Right down to the auburn hair.”

“Have you ever waited tables?”

“Lots of times,” Ivy said. “I’m good at it, too.”

Jewel looked at her hands and lowered her voice. “Carolyn also mentioned you got into some trouble. What was that all about?”

Ivy felt the color heat her face. “I was messed up on drugs a
long time ago, but I’m clean now. I work hard and I’m honest. I’ve got references if you need them.”
Please don’t make me tell you I was arrested for soliciting and ended up in drug rehab
.

“I can pay six dollars an hour and let you keep your own tips. Doesn’t seem like enough for a single mom.”

“I’m surprisingly frugal.”

Jewel’s eyes narrowed. “Tell you what, doll. I can give you thirty-two hours to start: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Then when tourist season hits, I’ll give you as many hours as you want. How’s that sound?”

Ivy nodded and forced back the emotion. “When can I start?”

“Be here at six tomorrow morning and plan to work till two.”

“Will my hours vary?”

“Not that I can see. I need someone to cover breakfast and lunch.”

“This is so great. With those hours, I’ll even be able to pick up Montana from school.”

Jewel reached over and patted Ivy’s hand. “Good. Let me go get the papers you’ll need to fill out tonight and bring back in the morning.”

Jewel left the dining area through the swinging doors.

Ivy took a sip of lukewarm coffee, aware of the front door opening and closing. She turned and looked up into a pair of clear blue eyes she would have recognized anywhere.

“Hello, Pete.”

Pete Barton stared at her blankly for a few seconds, and then a look of recognition lit his face. “Ivy!” He came over and stood next to the table, decidedly older but handsome as ever. “I wasn’t expecting to see you. I saw your mother’s Jeep parked outside and came in to ask her if you’d arrived okay. So are you moving back?”

“I already have.” Ivy was thinking Pete did a lousy job of masking his shock at how much she’d changed. “I start working for Jewel tomorrow.”

“You’re going to be a
waitress?
”

“You know of anything in this town that pays better?”

“I guess not. Well, how are you?”

“Fine. I have a son now. Montana. He’s seven.”

“I hadn’t heard that. So you’re divorced?”

“More or less.” Ivy glanced around the room and lowered her voice. “Listen, something came up this morning. We need to talk…but not here.”

Pete’s gaze was probing. “Okay. When you’re done here, walk over to the deli. We can talk in my office. Is something wrong?”

“I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Pete left the café, and Ivy watched him through the window, thinking he still looked great and she was more likely to pass for his mother than his former girlfriend.

“Here you go.” Jewel handed Ivy some papers. “Be sure to bring them back with you in the morning.”

“Thanks. I’m excited to get started.”

Ivy gave Jewel a hug and then left the café and put the papers in the Jeep.

She walked across the street to the deli, questioning the wisdom of her being seen with Pete right now. On the other hand, it would be less risky if things appeared normal. And certainly her seeing Pete Barton was something most people here would anticipate.

Ivy followed Pete into his office and pulled the door shut behind her. She sat in a blue vinyl chair facing him, thinking how ghastly she must look under the fluorescent lights.

“Okay, what’s up?” Pete said.

“My dad got a call this morning from a construction foreman bulldozing trees on the south end of Collier Ranch.” Ivy looked into his eyes and saw her own fear staring back at her. “They discovered a human skull and some bones.”

The color left Pete’s face. “It was bound to happen sooner or later. Not to worry. We just stick to the pact, right?” Pete cocked his head and looked at her questioningly. “
Right?
”

Ivy felt herself nod. “Is Flint Carter still sheriff?”

“Yeah, and you can bet he’s already jumped on it. He’s been trying for ten years to figure out what happened to Joe. You
know your dad and Flint are good friends now?”

“No, I didn’t. But you know he’s going to want to talk to us again.”

“That’s why we
have
to stick together on this, Ivy. It was a stupid mistake, but we were kids. Our going to jail won’t bring Joe back. And it’s not as though we’re a threat to society.”

“Are Reg and Denny living here?”

“No. Reg owns a ski shop in Telluride, and Denny’s an architect in Durango.”

“Are you in touch with them?”

“Every now and then. They’re both committed to keeping the pact. They’ve never breathed a word of it to anyone, not even their wives.”

“What if the autopsy reveals something incriminating?”

Pete rolled his eyes. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. It seems like medical examiners find evidence in incredible ways these days.”

“On TV, maybe. But after all this time, Joe’s clothes have rotted. His flesh is gone. There’s no DNA and no way anyone can ever trace this to us. We sure didn’t touch his bones.”

“
I
never touched Joe at all.”

“You were there.” Pete’s voice spiked with irritation. “You’re just as guilty as we are.”

“You don’t have to remind me. I spent a huge chunk of the past decade snorting cocaine, hoping I
could
forget. It didn’t work.”

“Yeah, I heard. I’m sorry about that. I forced myself to stay away from drugs.”

“Don’t you ever struggle with guilt?” Ivy said.

Pete shrugged. “Not anymore. It’s not like we set out to kill Joe. Things just got out of hand. And don’t forget he was going to rat us out.”

“Maybe we’d be better off if he had. At least it would be over.”

“Not for me. I would’ve been thrown off the basketball team, and Dad would’ve disowned me. It would’ve ruined my life.”

“And killing Joe didn’t?”

“I don’t think about it, okay?” Pete sighed. “I wouldn’t even have left Alaska if Dad hadn’t died. Mom couldn’t handle the deli by herself. She needs me. That’s the only reason I’m living here.”

“What were you doing in Alaska?”

“Running a tour agency in Anchorage. I forgot all about Joe Hadley while I was there.”

“Lucky you. I never could.”

Pete looked her up and down. “I can see you’ve had it bad. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have recognized you at Jewel’s if you hadn’t spoken first.”

Ivy rose to her feet, crushed that this man who had talked her out of her virginity now found her repulsive. “I should go find Montana. He’s at the ice rink with Mom.”

“So you’re keeping the pact, right?”

“I don’t have any other choice.”
Yet
.

Ivy found a parking space at Spruce Park and put a dime in the meter. She walked past the bandstand toward the ice rink, glad that the snow was quickly evaporating and patches of ground were already visible.

She stopped for a moment and looked out at the colorful collage of skaters on the ice, and was flooded with memories of her childhood that suddenly didn’t seem all that long ago. She spotted her mother and Lu sitting on a bench and went over to them.

“Hi, honey,” Carolyn said. “How’d your interview go with Jewel?”

“Great. She hired me to work four days a week, starting tomorrow.”

“Mom!”

Ivy turned toward her son’s voice and spotted him skating next to a boy in a green stocking cap who was about his size. She waved.

“Montana’s having a ball,” Carolyn said. “He and Ian Carter seem to have hit it off. Ian is Flint Carter’s son. You do remember Sheriff Carter?”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t have thought he’d have a kid that young. Doesn’t he have some that are practically grown?”

Carolyn smiled. “Two in college. I’m guessing Ian was a big surprise. Flint is still sheriff, by the way. He and your dad have become good friends.”