Eye of the Beholder (24 page)

He got out of the car, his hands on his lower back, and stretched. The soft blue canvas of evening sky looked as though someone had streaked it with a fireball. He wondered if Ellen was admiring it.

He grabbed his weekend bag in one hand and his hang up bag in the other, then went up the walk to the front door of a two-story white-brick mansion. Through the beveled glass, he saw a man and a woman in the entry hall.

Brent opened the door and held it. “You look wiped out.”

“It was no picnic having to tell the police about Kinsey. I’ve hardly had time to assimilate it myself.”

“Donna made you some herb tea to settle your stomach.”

“Thanks,” Guy said. “Sounds good.”

“Here, let me put your things in the guest bedroom, and I’ll be right out. I’m anxious to hear the whole story.”

Guy followed Donna out to the kitchen, wishing Ellen were there.

Donna poured hot tea into a cup, then placed it on a saucer and sat it in front of him. The pleasant aroma compelled him to take a sip.

“Thanks, Donna, this is good.”

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry about Kinsey. It was a shock to all of us.”

“Okay.” Brent breezed through the doorway. “Tell me everything.”

Guy put his weariness aside and recounted every detail he could remember from the night of the victory dinner when he let Kinsey sleep on his couch until earlier tonight when he watched her run off into the woods. He also told about giving his statement to Investigator Zack Hamlin.

“I feel like a real sap,” Guy said. “I should have seen
something
.”

Brent shrugged. “Why? No one else did. It’s pretty hard to identify a drug dealer who isn’t using.”

“It breaks my heart to know what may happen to her, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

“She made her choice, Guy. She’s not a kid.”

“But she’s somebody’s kid.”

“Well, her mother’s got Alzheimer’s so she’ll never know.”

Guy blew on his tea and took a sip.
God knows
.

“I’m disappointed and shocked at Kinsey, and angry that she put you in jeopardy.” Brent took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “I don’t want you talking to the media. Let me do it.”

“Be my guest.”

“Why don’t you drive back to Seaport tomorrow and relax over the weekend. In fact, take all next week off.”

“I’d rather stay busy. And it would leave you short-handed.”

Brent put his hand on Guy’s shoulder. “You need a break from this. Plus you need to be close to Ellen right now.”

Guy was thinking that he had never felt more estranged from her.

“Thought any more about a bodyguard?”

“I talked to Investigator Hamlin about it. He seemed to know the going rate, and it sounds cost prohibitive. Plus, there’s the problem of having to move back and forth between two locations. He thinks if they get Rob Blakely, that’ll be the end of the threat.”

“And what if they don’t—or they can’t find enough to hold him?”

Guy got undressed and put on his pajama bottoms. He picked up his cell phone and lay on the bed in Brent’s guestroom, letting the ceiling fan dry his perspiration.

Lord, I don’t want to worry Ellen. And I don’t want to lie to her. I’m too exhausted to articulate my thoughts. I need Your help
.

Guy rested for a moment and let his heart get quiet, then pushed the auto dial.

“Hello,
Guy
?”

“I’m glad you had your cell phone on. I wasn’t sure you would.”

“I’ve been worried sick about you. I thought you’d call back after you looked into hiring a bodyguard. So did you get one?”

“Actually, I didn’t. The going rate is fifteen hundred dollars a day, ten thousand a week, or twenty-five thousand a month. Seemed a little steep.”

“Good heavens, I had no idea!”

“Me either. We really need to talk about it. But don’t worry, I’m staying with Brent and Donna tonight and driving home in the morning. I’ll see you before lunch.”

“I thought you were too busy to come home.”

“I have a lot to discuss with you. But I don’t want Owen and Hailey in on it. We need to think of someplace private where we can talk.”

“Guy, are you okay? You sound funny.”

“Actually, I’m not. I found out some disturbing things about Kinsey that I’d like to discuss with you privately—but not over the phone.”

“Can’t you give me a little hint?”

“She’s done something criminal and is in big trouble.”

“Oh, no. I hate to hear that. You two worked so well together.”

“I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. Right now, I’m so tired I can hardly think.”
I wish you were here so I could hold you
. “I love you, Ellen. We haven’t been on good terms lately, but I love you so much. I really need us to be okay.”

“Guy, you’re scaring me. Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine. Just feeling very in touch with what’s important to me.”

“I love you, too,” she said softly. “I’m eager to hear what you have to tell me. Try to get some rest.”

“I will. Goodnight, honey.”

“Goodnight.”

Guy disconnected the call, thinking the conversation had gone much better than he would’ve ever thought.
Thank you, Lord
.

He was tempted to turn on the news but decided he didn’t want to hear anything else upsetting, especially about the unrest in Seaport. He just wanted to go home with a renewed sense of how blessed he was to be grounded in something solid and decent. As fond as he was of Kinsey, her making him privy to the things she’d been involved in made him feel dirty—and profoundly sad that she would now have to face the dire consequences of her choices.

Where was her moral compass? She had repeatedly shut down his attempts to talk about anything spiritual, especially his personal decision to believe in and trust a God he couldn’t see or touch—or prove the existence of in a court of law.

But there was one time several months ago when he had taken Kinsey to lunch at The Lobster Pot, and she had given him a small window of opportunity …

“Thanks for an extraordinary job of pulling the research together,” Guy had said. “With that off my mind, I can take the weekend to help Ellen get our church’s VBS ready to roll.”

“What’s VBS?” Kinsey said.

“Vacation Bible School.”

“Oh. That. I went once when I was a kid. A friend dragged me there.”

“You didn’t like it?”

“It was all right. What kid doesn’t like doing crafts and singing songs? The difficult part was seeing all the perfect mothers picking up their perfect kids and taking them to their perfect homes. My father was a drunk and my mother griped incessantly about how awful her life was. I always wished I belonged to one of those families. It’s still a big void. My divorce didn’t help any.”

Guy held her gaze and searched her eyes. “Kinsey, a lot of us had disappointing families, but we don’t have to carry that pain the rest of our lives.”

“Sure, I can spend a fortune for therapy and relive it all again. No thanks.”

“Or you can enter into a relationship with a Father who
does
love you and will never leave you. Jesus already paid—”

“Guy, don’t try to get me saved. I’ve heard it all before.”

“Then why do you run from Him when He’s the only One who understands and can heal your wounds?”

“Are you kidding? All I need is another father telling me how I can’t do anything right. Thou shalt. Thou shalt not. I’m an adult now. If I mess up, the only one I have to be accountable to is me …”

Guy blinked the stinging from his eyes and turned on his side. He couldn’t shake the emptiness he had seen in her eyes then—or today in the car. Her parting words had been replaying in his mind all evening.

Then I’ll take my sorry self out of your life. I sure wouldn’t want to put a strain on your storybook family!

Guy slid out of the bed and got down on his knees.
Father, Kinsey’s so alone. Put someone in her path that will make her understand how much she needs Your Son in her life. Please don’t let her die without You
.

 24
 

B
efore the sun came up on Saturday morning, Ellen Jones was already up and dressed in jogging clothes, feeling as though she would scream if she didn’t get out of the house. She went out to the kitchen, tore a sheet off the notepad, and grabbed a pencil.

Owen and Hailey,

I woke up early and decided to drive down to the beach and watch the sunrise. Don’t worry, I’ll stay in the car with my doors locked until I’m sure no one has followed me. I’ll probably be home before you finish your morning coffee.

Guy called last night and said he’d be here before lunch today. The two of us are going to spend the afternoon tying up some loose ends, so please don’t let us get in the way of any plans you have for the weekend.

Love, Mom

Ellen put the note on the kitchen table and set Hailey’s mug on top of it, then grabbed her purse and went out the front door.

“Good morning, Mrs. Jones,” the security guard said.

“Good morning, Sid. Are you about to die of boredom out here?”

“Oh, no, ma’am. I enjoy time to think.”

“Me, too. But I’m used to having my quiet time watching the sunrise. I’ve missed it so.”

“Kind of hard to see the sky with all these trees, eh?”

Ellen smiled. “I love the trees, too. I just need some wide-open space to let my heart run free. It’s been a difficult week.”

“Yeah, I guess it has. Well, everything’s quiet here. I haven’t even seen a car go by in hours—just the newspaper van.”

“I’ll see you later.”

“You be careful, ma’am.”

“I will.”

Ellen got in her car, backed out of the driveway, and headed for the beach. She drove through a maze of residential streets, then turned on Main and drove toward downtown Port Smyth. Hardly anyone was on the road and no one was behind her. She spotted a bakery up ahead and the Open sign lit up.

She pulled up to the drive-through window and ordered a couple of fresh cinnamon rolls and a cup of coffee, thinking she could hardly wait till she was back in her own house and Guy was spoiling her with their long-time Saturday tradition of breakfast in bed.

Ellen paid for the rolls and coffee and then got back on Main Street and drove a few blocks and turned on Beachfront Drive. The road came to a dead end at a public parking lot. She pulled into a parking space, the gulf only about fifty yards in front of her, delighted to see she had the entire place to herself.

Off to the east, a chain of clouds that looked to her like enormous wads of cotton balls covered the horizon. She opened the sack, pulled out a warm cinnamon roll and took a big bite, then licked her fingers and almost giggled at how girlish she felt.

Ellen savored several more bites, then blew on her coffee and took a sip, wondering if Guy had left Tallahassee yet, and what awful thing Kinsey had done. It crossed her mind that Guy might be coming home to confess having an affair with Kinsey, but she quickly dismissed it. In spite of their recent estrangement, Ellen felt sure she would’ve known intuitively had he been unfaithful. That couldn’t be it. Guy told her Kinsey had done something
criminal.
Criminal?
No wonder she wanted time off.

Ellen saw the pink color begin to deepen and spread slowly across the expanse. She took several gulps of coffee and put the cup in the holder and closed the sack. She looked in her rearview mirror, then to her right and left and saw no one. She stepped out of the car and slowly filled her lungs with damp, salty air.

Good morning, Lord!

Suddenly invigorated, she trudged across the beach toward the water and began to jog on the wet sand along the surf, her eyes on the horizon, her heart soaring in a different realm. She began to praise God and thank Him for all His blessings.

Ellen ran a considerable distance, then slowed, and finally stopped. The sky had turned the color of hot lava and was streaked with fiery pinks and bluish purples. A billowy cloud shrouded the sun, its rim glowing and seeming to pulsate. The first ray of dawn broke through and then another, and another, until white rays fanned out across the vastness. She breathed in and, for a moment, forgot to exhale.