Simple Choices (31 page)

“Thanks, Ida. I appreciate it. I’ll tell you one of these days why I did this. But for now, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not.”

“I trust you, Gracie. In fact, I knew you were someone I could trust from the first moment I met you. Nothing has changed. Nothing ever will.”

And that was it. I glanced over at the elderly Mennonite woman, dressed in her Old Order clothes, and was surprised to realize that Ida Turnbauer was one of the best friends I’d ever had. As much as I loved Sarah, I wasn’t as close to her as I was to Ida. I started to get a little emotional, so I tried to turn my thoughts back to C.J. Bradley before I burst out into a chorus of “Wind Beneath My Wings.” A song Ida had probably never heard in her entire life.

The fear of offending C.J. and the real possibility that my actions could cause Pat to consider using his gun to stop me from causing any more trouble played against my overwhelming desire to find Hannah. By the time we reached Ida’s, I’d made my decision.

I helped Ida up the stairs with her basket. “If you’ll give me that muddy towel, I’ll wash it and return it,” I said when we reached the porch.

“No, liebling,” she said. “I am happy to wash the towel. It is no trouble at all.”

I knew arguing with her would be useless so I didn’t. “Thank you, Ida. I had a wonderful day. Spending time with you is a joy.”

“Why, my precious girl,” she said, patting my cheek with her hand. “That means more to me than you could possibly know. You are such a dear friend.”

“As are you.” I kissed her cheek and waited while she opened her front door. Then I set the wicker basket inside. “I’d be happy to carry this to the kitchen.”

“Thank you, Gracie. But that is not necessary. It will be fine here until I am ready to clean it out.”

I said good-bye and left, still basking in the glow of treasured friendship. On the way home, I looked at the clock on my dashboard. Nine o’clock. I had one last thing to do before bed. I had no plan to tell Pat I’d asked Susan to follow up on C.J. It would make more sense to hang myself now and get it over with. But if I voiced my suspicions about C.J. and he contacted the KBI himself, there was a chance he would never know about Susan’s involvement. It was a chance I was willing to take. So when I got home I called Pat.

One more time.

L
et’s just say that the phone call didn’t go well. At all. The first time, he just hung up on me. After letting the phone ring and ring the second time around, he finally picked up. I launched into a lengthy explanation as to
why
I felt he needed to follow this lead. Then I promised profusely that this would absolutely be the last time I bothered him with a possible suspect. That seemed to finally get his attention, although I had to listen to several minutes of ranting and raving, including the use of some words I’d actually have to look up to understand. I had the distinct feeling these pearls of “wordom” would not be found in my handy Funk and Wagnalls. When he finally calmed down a little, I tried again.

“Look,” I said firmly, “we can’t leave any stone unturned. If it makes you feel any better, I think this is the last red truck in Harmony you’ll need to worry about. I’ve probably checked out all the rest. I just didn’t see this particular truck until today.”

“Well thank goodness for that,” Pat replied, although it sounded more like, “Well. Thank. Goodness. For. That.” I had no idea why his words were spoken with so much emphasis and definition. Perhaps getting them out coherently took extra effort.

“C.J. isn’t from around here,” I explained. “He’s from California, and he probably lived there when some of those murders took place. And you said there were others in Arizona and New Mexico, right? Obviously, your killer lived somewhere in that part of the country. C.J. fits the bill.”

The silence from the other end of the phone line wasn’t very reassuring. Finally a long, drawn-out sigh came through the receiver. I wondered if he had any air left. “All right, Gracie. One last time. But I mean it. This is the end. My deputies are beginning to think I’ve lost my mind. Spending all this time on a runaway.”

I bit my lip and didn’t utter what had become my mantra the past few days.
Hannah is not a runaway
. I didn’t have the nerve to say it again or to tell him that thanks to Susan, the KBI might get more involved in his case even without his help. I wasn’t sorry I’d contacted Susan. I couldn’t take the chance that Pat would drop the ball or refuse to follow up on C.J. At least now I had two people pushing for an investigation of C. J. Bradley. Hopefully, this plan wouldn’t blow up in my face. After all, Pat was about to become my father-in-law. Holiday dinners could be tense.

“Changing the subject for a moment,” he said. “Sam called and invited me to the wedding rehearsal. And the dinner.”

“Oh Pat. That’s great news.” And I meant it.

“I’m assuming that means I’m also invited to the wedding?”

“You haven’t gotten an invitation?”

“Not yet.”

Mom told me the invitations were mailed out several days ago. Pat obviously hadn’t gotten one because he wasn’t on Sweetie’s list. She’d handled most of the local invitations while my mother worked mainly on the relatives that lived out of state. I was determined Pat would get an invitation if I had to mail it myself. “I’ll follow up on that,” I said. “But you’re definitely invited.”

“Good. I think Sam and I are starting to make progress. For the first time I’m beginning to feel like a real father.”

“Just remember that you’re also a real father-in-law. No matter how much I irritate you.”

He snorted. “I keep trying to remind myself of that. Frankly, it’s getting harder and harder.”

“Thanks.” I heard Mom and Dad getting ready to head upstairs for bed. “Hey, gotta go. Will you let me know what you find out?”

“Yes, Gracie.
If
I find out anything.”

I said good-bye and hung up the phone feeling a little better. Suddenly Ida’s dream popped back into my mind.
Eyes to see and ears to hear
. Maybe noticing C.J.’s bumper was what I was supposed to
see
. Perhaps we were finally getting close to finding Hannah. After hearing about Ida’s dream, I felt even more certain that Hannah wasn’t dead. My hope was high, and I had no intention of backing off the search for her.

“We’re going upstairs,” Mom said. “Will you be okay down here?”

“I’m fine. Might raid the fridge though. I’m a little hungry.”

“We gave Papa a pill about an hour ago,” my father said. “I think he’ll be quiet for a while. If he wakes up during the night again, don’t hesitate to give him another one.”

“Okay,” I said. “By the way, how’s your knee?”

“Dr. Keystone stopped by this morning on his way to Topeka,” Mom said. “He looked at your father’s leg and told him what I’ve been saying for months. He hasn’t been allowing his injury to heal properly. John wrapped it up and handed Daniel his cane with a warning that if he doesn’t start using it all the time, he’ll put your father back in a cast.”

“I just saw John in Topeka earlier today. When was he here?”

“About thirty minutes after you left,” Mom said. “He had a couple of emergencies earlier today. Then he stopped by to see Daniel. He told us he was on his way back to Topeka. He must have passed you.”

“He sure is putting miles on that SUV of his,” I said. “With what people around here pay him, I hope he doesn’t go broke.”

“I think his mind is on love,” Mom said smiling. “Not money.”

I laughed. “I’m sure you’re right about that.”

After they went upstairs, I checked on Papa. Sure enough, he was sound asleep and snoring. Smelling something good coming from the kitchen, I investigated and found that my mother had made peanut butter cookies. I grabbed several, made some hot chocolate, and went into the living room. It seemed silly to try to be quiet when talking to my parents hadn’t roused Papa, but I tiptoed to the rocking chair, put my food on a nearby table, picked up the phone, and called Sam. I kept my voice as low as I could but loud enough so Sam could hear me while I gave him a rundown of my day. As I’d expected, he scolded me for going back to Abigail’s.

“You might as well save your breath,” I said. “I’m glad I did it. We have to know if C.J.
is
involved. There’s no way I can simply ignore the situation. He’s probably innocent, but if that’s true, he has nothing to worry about.”

“Well, here’s something you might not have thought of, Grace,” Sam said, his tone a couple of notches higher than normal. “What if C.J.
is
the serial killer, and he saw you sneaking onto his property and spying on him? What do you think he would do?”

His words brought me up short. “I—I hadn’t thought of that.” And I hadn’t. I’d been so focused on Hannah that the whole idea of my own safety never occurred to me.

Sam exhaled loudly. First Pat and now Sam. I seemed to be making the men in my life breathless. “Did he see you?”

I shook my head before realizing Sam couldn’t actually pick that up through the phone. “No, I’m sure he didn’t. I was careful, and no one followed me when I left.”

“Did you leave anything behind that might tell him you were snooping around?”

“No. Nothing.”
Except big, muddy footprints all around the area where his truck was parked
. While Sam continued to reproach me, I tuned him out and thought about those footprints. But with relief I realized the ground had been really wet. It wouldn’t take long for mud to ooze back into my tracks. There shouldn’t be any sign of my visit by morning. I started to relax a bit.

“Did you hear me?” Sam said.

“Certainly. I agree completely.” It was the only thing I could come up with. Hopefully it fit.

“Thank goodness. I thought I’d have to fight with you about it.”

Uh-oh
. “Um, could you just repeat that one more time for clarification?”

Silence. After a long pause, he said, “You weren’t listening, were you?”

“I’m sorry, Sam. My mind drifted. It’s been a long day. Tell me again?”

“Forget it. It wasn’t important.” His tone softened. “I know it’s been rough. We’ll talk more tomorrow. Any family plans?”

“Not yet. Problem is, Papa can’t go anywhere right now. Unless you guys come over here, there’s no way we can all get away together.”

“Maybe it’s better that way. I don’t think your father wants much to do with me.”

“I
am
going to talk to him, Sam. I just haven’t had much time. Trust me, everything will be all right.”

“And just how do you know that?”

“I know that because God put us together, and I’m fully confident He’ll take care of this situation. Besides, my father is a just man. Something’s bothering him, and it has nothing to do with you. Dad’s pretty introspective so I know he’s trying to figure out why he’s so upset. As soon as he deals with whatever’s on his mind, he’ll make things right with you. I guarantee it.”

“I hope you’re right. We need to get this straightened out before the wedding.”

I heard a noise behind me. Papa Joe was sitting up on the couch, staring at me. “Hey, Papa’s awake. I gotta go. Don’t worry, I mean it.”

“I love you, Grace.”

“I love you, too, Sam. Good night.”

I put the phone down, quickly downed the last of my chocolate, and went over to check on Papa.

“Why, Gracie girl,” he said when he saw me. “Has everyone else gone to bed?”

“Yes, Papa. It’s after ten.”

He swung his legs around and sat facing me. “All this sleeping during the day has made it hard to get any shut-eye at night. I’ve got to get on a better schedule.”

His shifts from normalcy to confusion were emotionally draining. How long would he be with me before retreating into that other world again? Although the good times made me happy at first, I’d actually begun to hate them. It was like being teased. First you soar and then you crash.

“I think I missed dinner, Gracie. How about a meat loaf sandwich?” he said with a smile.

“Sounds great, Papa.” I got up to go into the kitchen. Papa rose shakily to his feet, obviously intending to follow me.

“You wait here,” I said. “I’ll bring it to you.”

“I’ve been rotting on this couch all day. If you don’t mind, I’d love to sit in the kitchen with you for a while.”

I offered him my arm, and we made our way slowly to the kitchen.

“Are you still sore?” I asked.

“Just a smidgen. But those goofy pills they give me take away most of the pain. I feel pretty good right now.”

“I’m glad, Papa.” I helped him into a chair, and he watched me while I got the meat loaf out of the refrigerator.

“Gracie, when was tennis mentioned in the Bible?”

I turned to stare at him, wondering if he was drifting away again. But his quick smile and the twinkle in his eye told me he was still there.

“I don’t know, Papa. When was tennis mentioned in the Bible?”

He winked at me. “When Moses served in Pharaoh’s court.”

I laughed. “Oh Papa. That’s awful.”

“I know.” He fell silent while I got out the mayonnaise and bread from the bread box.

“Gracie, it’s time for us to get your wedding present.”

The jar of mayonnaise almost slipped from my hand. “Oh Papa.” I set it down on the counter. I couldn’t stop my tears even though I knew I wasn’t supposed to let Papa see my pain.

He got up slowly and came over to me. Taking my hand, he led me to a chair. “Gracie,” he said, sitting across from me, “I know there’s something wrong with me, but this isn’t part of that. You need to trust me.”

I couldn’t speak, so I just looked at him.

“Your grandmother made a wedding present for you right after you were born. She loved you so much, and she wanted to create something special for the day you became a bride. When we left Harmony, it was left behind. It’s my fault, I took the wrong trunk. Your uncle Benjamin was given the task of protecting it. He knew it was to be yours, and he swore to get it to you someday. Of course he died before he could honor his word. Your grandmother never forgot that gift, and before she died, she made me promise I would get it to you. That’s the main reason I wanted to come with Daniel and Beverly. Of course, I wanted to see Harmony again, and more than anything else, my beloved granddaughter. But I also knew I had to fulfill that promise to Essie.” He shook his head slowly. “Sometimes I forget exactly where it is or how to find it. But tonight, my mind is clear.” He reached out and grabbed my hands. “We must retrieve it now, Gracie. I can’t trust my mind past my next thought. Do you understand?”