Three Sides of the Tracks Read online

  Danny caressed her back and stroked her hair. “Me too. Stay cool, okay. Don’t let your dad get to you too much.”

  “I passed that point a long time ago,” Caroline said and pushed away. “If you’re not going to kiss me, I might as well leave.”

  From long-practiced habit, Danny’s hand rose toward his lip.

  “Oh, stop it.” Caroline clasped his hand and pulled it around her back then kissed him long and hard. “Get over it, will ya?” she said and grinned mischievously. “Bye. I’ll call you.”

  Danny watched her get in the car with Holcomb and waited as they drove away.

  Caroline turned and waved one final time before they left the parking lot.

  Reverend Holcomb’s first attempts at conversation were his condolences for Caroline’s ordeal.

  Caroline thanked him but didn’t offer any details, so Holcomb was left with small talk the remainder of the trip home, which took half as long as the trip from Macon to the Waffle House. As soon as they reached the end of the driveway, Caroline opened the door and thanked the reverend as she backed out of the car, not inviting him inside because she hoped to avoid her father if at all possible, for as long as possible.

  Holcomb’s face showed his disappointment, but he didn’t push it beyond asking her to give her parents his regards.

  Caroline’s hopes for avoiding Jessie were raised upon seeing Deadhead’s car parked in front of Jessie’s. That meant he was likely to be in his room talking with them and his door would be shut.

  She opened the front door quietly and looked to her right. His door was closed. Caroline rolled her eyes skyward in silent thanks and climbed the stairs to her bedroom.

  As she passed her mother’s bedroom door, she peeked inside and saw her lying across the bed reading her Bible. Caroline walked inside with a finger to her lips.

  Tears welled in Marie’s eyes when she saw Caroline. “Oh, my dear, my dear child,” she said as she leaped off the bed and threw her arms around Caroline, squeezing her tight.

  Caroline used her remaining energy to return her mother’s embrace with equal enthusiasm, unwilling to hurt her feelings.

  “I don’t want Daddy to know I’m home. Not until I’ve had a long bath and rested anyway.”

  Her mother pushed back to arm’s length and looked Caroline up and down. “But you’re all right, dear? Unharmed?” she asked, the implied question apparent.

  Caroline smiled. “Yes, Mother, I’m unharmed. A little tired, but basically I’m fine. I just want a hot bath and long nap.”

  “Would you like lunch?”

  “No. After I wake up, I’ll scrounge something, but right now I’m too tired to eat. We ate a little something on the way.”

  “We who, dear? How did you—”

  “Can we go into it later, Mom? I’m very tired.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “And please don’t tell Daddy I’m home. I need to talk to you about some things, but not now.”

  Marie nodded, worry and apprehension in her eyes.

  Caroline noticed and almost assuaged her mother’s feelings but, instead, turned and walked down the hall to her bedroom and closed the door, locking it behind her. She turned on the water in her private bath, adding bath salts and skin softener, then stripped and threw the clothes she’d worn for days in a heap, thinking about burning them in a symbolic gesture later in the day.

  When the bath was full, she laid her head against the rim and closed her eyes.

  41

  Telling Danny

  Danny drove past the front of his house, turned right at the side street and into his driveway. He parked in the back yard beside his mother’s car. As soon as he shut the engine off, the back door opened and Belinda rushed out.

  “Now, Mom, before you chew me out, I—”

  “I’m not mad at you, Danny,” she said and reached into the car and hugged him around the neck. “Just relieved you came back in one piece.”

  Danny grinned. “So am I.”

  “You keep that attitude and you might get that chewing out.”

  The grin faded.

  “Are you getting out, or are you going to sit in the car all day?”

  Danny was staring at Bernard’s house. He could see Bernard watching them through the screen door of his back porch.

  “Mom, is that a bandage wrapped around Bernard’s head?”

  Belinda turned her head and saw Bernard. “Come on in the house. A lot has happened.”

  Danny stepped from the car and waved at Bernard. “I’ll bring the car over afterwhile,” he shouted.

  Bernard didn’t respond and didn’t wave back. He just disappeared from view.

  The same sick feeling in the pit of his stomach he’d had right before knocking on the beach house door returned as he followed his mother across the yard and inside.

  “Do you want something to eat?”

  “No, ma’am. Just a glass of tea. You want one too?” Danny opened the refrigerator and poured himself a glass then turned to see whether Belinda wanted one, but she was standing at the other end of the table with tears in her eyes.

  He set the glass down and hugged her. “I’m sorry, Mom. I had to find Caroline and was afraid to tell you my plans.”

  She squeezed him tighter, and, with a choking voice said, “Your father’s dead, Danny. Martin’s dead.”

  Danny froze. It wasn’t possible. They’d just eaten together at the diner, what was it, three nights ago. He’d just been told Martin was his real father and now, now, he was dead. No. Danny saw his face, how timid the strong handsome face had looked when he told Danny he was his real father and how deeply in love he and his mother had been . . . still were. Danny snapped back to the present.

  “Gosh, Mom. Me gone was bad enough. And then this happens. Please forgive me for worrying you. I’m soooo sorry.”

  Danny’s sweetness in being concerned for her instead of himself broke her last restraint. Belinda’s shoulders shook with grief as she released her pain, now that she didn’t have to worry about Danny too.

  Still clutching each other, they settled onto the kitchen table chairs.

  Belinda waited until she cried herself out before telling the rest of the story. She had to muster at least a semblance of composure to tell that.

  “That was a bandage you saw on Bernard’s head. Someone broke into his house and shot him.”

  Danny jumped up. “Looking for me? He shot Bernard looking for me, didn’t he? Oh crap. Is Bernard okay? He didn’t wave or say anything. He must be blaming me. What the heck was I thinking?”

  Belinda clutched his arm and pulled him back to his seat. “No, Bernard doesn’t blame you in the least. He blames himself for helping you. And now probably for Martin’s death as well. I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him since Martin was shot.”

  Danny jumped up again. This time almost turning the table over. “Dad was shot? He was shot? Who shot him? I thought they were just after me?”

  “What do you mean they were after you? Who was after you?”

  Danny hesitated for a second, but this was no time to be keeping secrets. “Caroline thinks her dad hired some guy to kill me.”

  Belinda’s eyes widened and her mouth opened in shock. “Kill you? He must be completely insane.”

  “Pretty much, yeah. But . . . now I know you’re not going to like this, Mom, but I shot him instead.”

  Belinda flopped against the chair’s back. “You . . . you shot someone?” Who? Caroline’s father or the man he hired?”

  “The man he hired. Mom, if I hadn’t, he would’ve killed me. He shot at me first then Caroline jumped on him and knocked him off balance, and I was able to pull out a gun Bernard gave me and then . . . then I just shot him. He was fixin’ to shoot at me again and I didn’t have any choice.”

  A stupor seemed to settle in Belinda’s eyes as she struggled to accept what she was hearing. “I’m glad you did, Danny. If you had to.

  “That must have been what Mar
tin wouldn’t tell me. He thought it would worry me too much. You have no idea how angry he was. I mean, he was almost like a different person when he found out . . . when we went to see Bernard, and Bernard told us about helping you and then he told us you left a note when you ran off and the man found the note and came to his house. So I suppose, from what you say, Martin figured out Caroline’s father hired the man and that’s why he went to see him.”

  “I’m confused, Mom. Who went to see who exactly?”

  “Caroline’s father killed Martin, Danny. Your father found out about the man who tried to kill you and went to Jessie Whitaker’s house to beat him up, but Jessie had a gun and shot Martin.”

  Danny stared at Belinda for a long moment as the enormity of all Jessie had done sank in. Sadness filled his eyes. “I don’t think there’s any punishment bad enough to cover all the lives he’s ruined. Do you?”

  Belinda covered his hands with hers. “Not on this earth.”

  42

  A Plan

  Caroline dried off and sat in front of her vanity mirror rubbing moisturizer into her face. She’d never used makeup.

  She heard a faint tap on her door and knew it was her mother. Jessie had never knocked that softly in his life.

  “Can I come in?” Marie asked when Caroline opened the door a crack.

  Her mother had such a needy expression on her face that Caroline couldn’t say no, although she didn’t really feel like talking.

  “Sit down, and I’ll brush your hair. Remember how you loved for me to do that when you were a child, little more than a baby really?”

  Caroline nodded and smiled and sat back down in front of the mirror.

  “I loved doing it too. Something we had in common.”

  “Mom, how have you stayed with him all these years? I can’t. I have to find some way of getting out of this house.”

  “I believe your father has finally gone over the edge, dear daughter, and I might have reached my limits too.”

  Caroline spun in the chair. “You, Mother? You’re going to leave him? I can’t believe it.”

  “I stayed this long only because of you. That, and the fact that the last time I told him I wanted a divorce, he said that, if I did and took you with me, he would have us both killed. I believed him too. At least for my part. I wasn’t so sure about you. You’re the only person he’s ever really cared about. “But now that you’re old enough to do as you please, there’s really no legal way he can stop you. And with all he has on his plate right now, he’s not likely to resort to violence. Right now, he needs me more than I need him.”

  Caroline’s eyebrows raised as her brow wrinkled in confusion and surprise.

  “This is going to upset you terribly, but, if we intend to get away from him, we must not be rash, so don’t storm out of here and confront him with one of your tirades when I say what I’m about to say. Promise me that.”

  “Mom, if you’re going to tell me about daddy hiring a man to kill Danny, you’re too late; I already know.”

  It was Marie’s turn to be stunned. She raised a hand to her mouth as if that would shield her shock. “So that was the cause of . . . No, I didn’t know about that. Are you sure?”

  “I was standing right there when he tried to do it, and, if I hadn’t knocked him off balance, he would have succeeded. And caused what? What else happened?”

  Marie took Caroline’s hand and led her to the bed, where they sat facing each other, Marie clutching both of Caroline’s hands, both for support and understanding.

  “A man came here last night just as your father—”

  “Don’t call him that anymore.”

  “. . . Jessie came home. I heard a crash then shouting and, when I went outside, the man had Jessie on the ground beating his head against the concrete.”

  “I thought I saw blood stains on the driveway when I came home.”

  “No, dear. Those weren’t from that. I didn’t know what was happening or why, just that the man . . . I thought he was going to kill Jessie he was beating him so and Jessie had blood all over his face. Anyway, I grabbed the table lamp by the door and hit the man on the head to make him stop. Just to stop. I didn’t want to hurt him. But then . . . then Jessie crawled to his car and the next thing I knew he’d shot the man. Several times. He killed him. I was horrified. There was an awful lot of confusion but I think I heard the man saying something about his son, and, now, what you just said makes sense.”

  Caroline’s eyes flared. She clutched Marie’s arm “Who was the man, Mother? Please don’t say it was Martin Townsend.”

  Marie’s mouth gaped open. All she could do was nod.

  “He’s Danny’s real father, Mom. Danny told me all about it on the way home. Oh, my gosh. Danny. To get home and find out his father’s been killed after he just found out . . . And his poor mother. The story Danny told me about how his mother had married someone else just to protect Danny and his real father’s good name was . . . was . . . tragic. Tragic and noble.

  “I guess our friendship or love affair or whatever it could be called is over now. He must hate me after this. Having someone’s father try to kill you is bad enough but to kill your own father . . . I don’t see how he could forgive that.”

  Marie cupped her daughter’s drooping chin and raised it. “My dear, I gather from what you said earlier that Danny must have tried to rescue you. I would say his mother’s nobility passed to her son. Don’t sell the young man short.”

  Tears dripped from Caroline’s eyelashes. “I want to call and tell him how sorry I am, but I’m afraid of what he might say.”

  “No. Not yet. Give him some time. He and his mother have enough on their plate right now. If you called, he would be worried about your feelings. Just let him grieve for his father. Then you and he can talk things out. Do you understand?”

  Caroline nodded, hearing her mother’s wisdom through a curtain of shock and grief.

  They sat silently for a few moments, hand in hand, then Caroline asked, “What did you mean when you said ‘he needs you more than you need him’ a moment ago?”

  “Oh, he called his big shot lawyer from Atlanta right after the shooting, and, right on cue, both of them think I’m dumber than a doorknob, so they tried schmoozing me because I’m the only witness. Of course, I could also be a party to the shooting since I did hit Mr. Townsend with the lamp. But I’m not stupid. I know what the years of abuse have done to my appearance. They won’t be charging me with anything. Jessie needs me to back him up when he says he feared for his life, which was supposedly the reason he shot Mr. Townsend. Until you told me about the man who tried to kill Danny, I thought that might be partially true, but, now, the bits and pieces I heard make sense to me, and I think Jessie killed him because Mr. Townsend knew about the man you mentioned.”

  “I have to get away from here, Mom. I can’t stand another day under the same roof as him.”

  “I know, dear. I know. And I’ll go with you. But not today. Give me a few days to think of a way we can leave without a big uproar or him getting violent. Will you wait that long?”

  “If you promise to come with me, yes. I’ll do it for you. But you have to promise me you won’t back out.”

  Marie squeezed Caroline’s hands and smiled, and this time it wasn’t the customary timid smile. “I promise, dear.”

  Caroline nodded. For once, she believed her mother would actually do it.

  43

  Surprise

  Jessie’s feet slipped off the desk and he snapped awake. He relit his cigar and rubbed his eyes then looked at the newspaper again.

  Iggy and Deadhead had arrived early morning carrying several editions in their hands as if they were trophies, thinking their boss would be delighted that his daughter had been found and rescued. Little did they know that the news of Lenny would be the utmost of Jessie’s concerns.

  Next came the FBI and GBI men with their damn questions. He’d told so many half-truths and outright lies he hoped he could keep th
em straight.

  Jessie stood up and stretched then opened the small refrigerator for some ice, only to find he hadn’t filled the trays and there wasn’t any. He took the three trays to the kitchen along with his ice bucket, filled the trays with water and the bucket with ice and returned to his room. Before fixing his drink, he opened the top right-hand desk drawer and cautiously withdrew the mirror with several lines of cocaine already laid out.

  He lowered his head to the mirror and sniffed one line deep into each nostril then tossed his head back and sniffed again until he felt the cold numbness of the powder in his throat. A few seconds later, his head began to clear. He put three cubes of ice in his glass and poured a generous amount of Crown Royal.

  The papers hadn’t made the connection between a local man being shot and the shootings in Florida, so Jessie’s concern was whether Lenny had ditched the phones and whether he was the kind of man who picked up his shell casings after shooting someone.

  “Screw it,” he muttered and smacked his lips. Lenny hadn’t survived this long by being careless. “I ain’t worrying about it.”

  “Now what?” he said when he heard the tap on his door. He stuck the mirror back in the drawer just as his door opened.

  “Jessie, can I talk to you a moment?” Marie asked in a soft voice.

  Jessie held his temper. “Yeah, come on in.”

  Marie came inside but left the door open.

  “I thought you’d like to know Caroline’s home.”

  “She is? She couldn’t take time to let me know herself?”

  “Your, um, friends were here when she arrived. She took a bath and went straight to bed. She was exhausted.”

  “Yeah, yeah, okay. I guess that’s okay then. Would’ve thought she’d be a little more considerate than that.”

  It was Marie’s turn to hold her temper. She contained her disgust and turned to leave.

  “Tell her I want to see her when she wakes up. You hear me?”