One Chance: A Thrilling Christian Fiction Mystery Romance, page 5
Several other couples and groups and single people were in Spanky's. And a lot of those people cast a lot of glances their way, all directed at Doug. Whispered conversations followed those looks. Penelope was reminded that no matter how good this moment felt, there was still a cloud of suspicion hanging over her friend's head.
Jacob saw it too, and squeezed her hand. "You'll figure it out," he said to her. "I have faith in you."
"Me too, Penny," Doug said, ruffling his son's hair. "I know you'll make everyone see I didn't do this."
"Do what?" Trevor asked in an innocent little-boy's voice.
"Steal all the french fries in town," Doug told him, picking one up off his son's plate and popping it into his mouth.
"Hey!" Trevor cried out, grabbing for the fry too late. "Daddy!"
Doug winked at Penelope, feeling better than he had in the last twenty-four hours or so. His friend had never let him down before.
Penelope saw the confidence that Jacob and Doug had in her. She hoped she lived up to their expectations. Because she was starting to get the feeling there was something obvious she was missing. Something right under her nose.
The rest of their meal went quickly and they were soon headed back to Penelope's place. Jacob had said goodbye to her with a hug and a kiss, and Penelope couldn't wait until this was an everyday thing for them, not just a whenever-we-can-find-the-time thing.
Back in her own home, Penelope turned the television on for Trevor and set it to one of the cartoon channels. The boy sat down happily on the floor with his trucks and his stuffed dog and stared at a big, goofy looking bear trying to eat a bag of pretzels. He'd be happy for hours.
"Doug, I'm going to take a shower. Why don't you try to call Camille?" she said over her shoulder as she headed for her room and a change of clothes.
She took longer in the shower than she had intended. The hot water just felt so good on her tired muscles. When she stepped out she put on jeans and a comfortable t-shirt, making sure to hang her uniform up. The gunbelt went into her small safe in her bedroom. No sense taking chances with a little boy in the house.
When she came back out she found Doug in the living room with Trevor, on the floor playing an elaborate game of racecars involving a track built out of books from Penelope's bookshelf. She smiled and hoped she and Jacob would be doing something just like that with their own son one day.
"Did you get ahold of Camille?" she asked Doug.
Her friend shook his head, racing his car next to Trevor's and not looking up. "Tried. Still no answer. Beep beep!" he said to Trevor, passing his car.
"Hey!" Trevor said, and sped his own car up to pass his dad's again.
Penelope couldn't help but smile. Doug was a great dad to his son. There had to be something more to this attempted murder case that Doug was caught up in.
There had to be. She just wasn't seeing it.
CHAPTER 12
Not long after Doug put his son to sleep in the same spare bed that he'd been using in Penelope's house. Penelope waited for him to come back out into the living room. While she waited she sipped at a cup of coffee and tried to fit together mis-matched puzzle pieces. She turned every piece of information she knew every way she could think to turn it. Nothing seemed to fit.
Doug came out of the bedroom and flopped down on the couch. "I can't believe Trevor's back, you know, Penny? I'd almost given up hope. That's why I keep hitting the drink so hard. I mean, losing Camille was bad enough, but losing Trevor was the hardest. The worst."
"God never gives us more than we can handle," Penelope said to him. "I honestly believe that, Doug."
Her friend nodded. He wasn't convinced. "So, was I just too weak? I mean, God threw all this at me and all I could do was drink myself into oblivion every night." He looked at Penelope hopefully, as if he were waiting for Penelope to say something that would make it all right.
"I'm not going to judge you, Doug. I never have before. God knows I had enough opportunities to do that while we were growing up. But I didn't. And I'm not going to start now. You dealt with things in your own way. If you think it wasn't the right way, then you're free to do something about that, right?"
"Yeah," was all Doug said. "What if...I mean, I can't change what I've done, right? Things that are done, they can't be undone."
Penelope heard something in her friend's words, something he was trying to say without really saying it. "Doug, is there something you need to tell me?"
To her surprise, Doug nodded. He put his head down into his hands, raked his fingers through his short hair. "I didn't tell you the whole reason that Camille was here."
Not what Penelope had expected him to say. But it was better than the confession she had braced herself for.
Able to breathe again, she said, "I was wondering about that, buddy. I was happy to hear she came back and all, it just didn't seem like I was getting the whole story."
"You weren't, Penny, you weren't, but I couldn't talk about it in front of Trevor, you know?"
Penelope waited. When Doug didn't say anything more for more than a minute, she prompted, "You can tell me, Doug. I've always been here for you, right?"
Doug managed a small smile. "Yeah, you have. You've been like a sister to me, Penny. All this time after Camille left me, you've been here for me. Everyone else in town wrote me off. Just ignored me. Or worse. But you've always been there for me."
"So let me be there for you now. What did Camille tell you?"
Doug took a deep breath, let it out slowly. "She told me something about her new boyfriend. The...uh...guy she took up with after she left me. The one she's been living with, with my Trevor."
The heat in his voice was hard to miss.
"Anyway," he went on. "She said that she started to think, maybe this guy isn't who he said he was. Maybe this guy's something way worse."
"Like...what?"
Just then the phone rang.
They both jumped, then looked at each other and laughed. They had been so intent on what Doug was saying that they'd both lost track of the world around them. Now, the phone continued to ring, insisting on being answered.
The caller ID showed her it was, once again, the Sheriff's Office. "Deputy Chance," she answered.
"Penelope, it's Saunders," she heard Jim's voice. "I wanted to tell you what we got with Missy and Tommy. I'm real unsure where to go with this."
"Okay, what kind of help do you need?" Penelope asked.
"Well, I called over to her mother and told her just what you said," Jim explained. "You were right, she didn't want to hear it, but it made her feel a mite better to know her daughter hadn't been kidnapped or somethin'."
"What about Tommy's parents? Did you call them?"
"Well, yeah, I did," he said, and Penelope could hear in Jim's voice his opinion of that. "They still wasn't too worried about him, though."
"Really?" Penelope asked. "Did they say why?"
Penelope could almost hear Jim shrug. "Well, accordin' to them, Tommy's a big boy. Whatever he does with his time is on his own head."
"So we're up against it as far as where these two might have gone?"
"Yeah, that's about the size of it right there."
Penelope thought for a moment, a memory tickling her brain and then coming to the surface. "I think I remember hearing Tommy and Missy talking about going to Orlando sometime last week," she said. "Yeah, Tommy said something about staying in a motel in Orlando, but as soon as they saw me, he changed the subject. Didn't really pay much attention to it at the time. But, considering where this is going."
"That about all you remember?" Jim asked her.
"Well, that's all I heard," Penelope replied. "You might want to start checking the motels down there. Give them a description of Tommy's car and you just might find them."
"Thanks Penelope. Knew you'd be able to help with this," Jim said.
"You're welcome," Penelope said. "Don't know how much help I've been to you, but if it works out you can buy me lunch tomorrow."
"This helps me find these kids, you got it."
Penelope hung the phone up and rubbed her temples. Hard to believe just a day or so ago she was complaining to God that his little town of Franklin was too quiet. Sure didn't feel that way now.
I'm sorry, God, for wanting more than You give. I should have heeded the wisdom to be careful what you ask for. I asked, and I received. Help me take the same advice that I gave Doug, that You never give more than a person can handle. Amen.
"Okay, Doug," she said, turning away from the phone. "Where were we?"
Doug's head hung back limply on the back of the couch. He snored softly.
Penelope shook her head. Of course. Well, whatever information Doug had would wait until tomorrow, she supposed. Her friend had earned some sleep. If Penelope's past few days had been rough, Doug's had been ten times worse. Penelope wasn't the one accused of trying to run down a friend with a very distinctive truck.
But, why? How did any of this make any sense? Where was the motive? It wasn't simply a matter of intoxication. Everything she'd learned so far told her that Doug probably wasn't drunk before he got to The Last Chance Tavern, where Penelope had found him after the attack. He hadn't drank enough. Not for an accomplished drunk like Doug. It took him a lot to get to the point where the alcohol clouded his memory.
She settled Doug on the couch with his head on one arm and his feet resting up on the other. She even took Doug's shoes off. Her friend slept through it all, never waking once.
Penelope slipped outside the house quietly with her cell phone into the cool evening dusk. She dialed the number of the one person she thought she could talk to.
"Hello, Deputy Beautiful," Jacob said to her in a slightly tired voice.
"Hi Sweetheart," she said, a smile slipping onto her face. "I know we just saw each other a little while ago, but I needed to hear a friendly voice."
"And you thought of me? Oh, how sweet."
"Yeah, well. I don't know what I'd do without you some days. This is one of those days."
"This whole mess is really weighing you down, isn't it?" he asked her.
"I just feel like I'm failing him. Doug, I mean. I feel like there should be something more I'm doing, something I should be seeing that I'm missing."
Jacob was quiet for a long time before he said anything else. "Penny, I'm going to suggest something to you, but I don't want you to get upset with me," he said.
"Why would I do that?" she asked, her smile slipping. She knew what he was about to say. And she knew she didn't want to hear it.
He sighed deeply through the phone. "Has it occurred to you that maybe Doug has finally learned how to make you believe him even though he's not telling the truth? That maybe, just maybe, he's learned to lie to you?"
She pulled the phone away from her ear as if it would help her unhear what he had just said. She took a deep breath, pacing, before she brought the phone back up.
"No," was her simple response. There had been a little more heat in it than she had intended.
He sounded apologetic as he said, "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry, Penny, really. Now you're upset with me."
"No, no, honey I'm sorry. I'm not upset with you for saying it," she said, even though thinking that he could feel that way still stung her. "It had to be said, I guess. I mean, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't at least consider it."
"I'm sorry, Penny," he said. "I know how close you two are."
"Do you?" she asked.
"Of course. I know how hard it was for you, growing up."
"Other than you," Penelope said, her emotions threatening to overtake her, "he's all I have. He's the closest I've ever had to a real brother. After what happened, you know, before..." A tear escaped the corner of her eye and spilled down her cheek. "I can't give up on him. I have to believe in him."
Jacob couldn't help but feel sorry for Penelope. She was the woman he loved. The woman God had brought to him to complete his life. If she was in pain, so was he. "I don't want this to be true, Penny. But if it is, then we need to find out. I'll help you. I promise."
She thanked God silently for his strength as she ran a hand through her hair. Then, defiantly, she said, "I don't have to believe it until it's the only thing left. Until then, I'm going to do my best to get this mess figured out."
"And if it comes down to Doug lying to you as the only thing left, what then?"
"I'll deal with it if and when it gets to that point," Penelope replied. "Dear God, I hope it doesn't come to that."
"Amen," Jacob said.
"I love you," she said to him.
"I love you back," he answered. It was their own special little code.
After the call ended, Penelope decided to go to bed. It had been a long day and tomorrow would probably be another long one.
Dear Lord, she prayed, please help me to handle all the work You've set before me. I can only do this with You at my side. Amen.
It wasn't long before she was sound asleep, dreaming nightmares of another time, of another wound that wouldn't heal, of a two-story house that used to stand in what was now an empty lot on the corner intersection of a County road not far from The Last Chance Tavern.
CHAPTER 13
Early sunday morning, way too early, Penelope awoke to the bouncing of a small body on her bed and Trevor's high-pitched young voice.
"Auntie Penny waked up!" Trevor shouted in her face. She must have been crazy to hope for kids early in her marriage with Jacob.
Then Trevor hugged her around her neck. And she knew she'd be willing to lose any amount of sleep to have this every morning.
"Good morning, little buddy," Penelope said cheerfully as she grabbed the boy in a bear hug.
Trevor squirmed in Penelope's grip, squealing and laughing. Penelope kissed the top of the boy's light blonde head and released him. Trevor had his mother's hair and his father's piercing blue eyes, a combination that Penelope thought was stunning, especially for a boy.
Watching Trevor run around her bedroom, Penelope said, "Why don't you go wake up your dad so I can get dressed and get ready? Then, after we eat some breakfast, we'll play horsey ride for a little while."
As long as work doesn't call me again, she thought.
Trevor stopped and looked at Penelope with his head tilted to one side, regarding Penelope with as much seriousness as a four year old could manage.
"Auntie Penny, when is mama coming?"
Penelope cleared whatever cobwebs had been left in her mind to give Trevor her full attention. "I don't know, buddy. We tried calling her last night but she must have been real busy. What did she say to you when she dropped you off here?"
Trevor looked at her as if the question didn't make any sense. "I was asleep," he said, finally. "I'm worried about mama, Auntie Penny."
And before Penelope could say anything else Trevor ran off shouting to his dad that it was time to wake up, Auntie Penny said so.
That was odd, Penelope thought. And even as the part of her that was Doug's best friend tried to set it aside, the part of her that was a police officer knew that she couldn't.
Penelope rolled out of bed, feeling like she'd been pushing a Mack truck uphill all weekend as it was, and began pulling on her jeans, sneakers and a t-shirt. A quick trip to the bathroom allowed her to use the toilet, then wash her hands and scrub her face, and run a brush through her hair until she could find the time for another shower. Afterward she made her way to the kitchen to get some cereal and coffee.
She found Doug already there, munching Fruity Bits cereal right next to his little boy. "Morning Doug," Penelope said. "How'd you sleep?"
"About as well as you could expect on a couch, I guess. It's a comfy couch and all, Penny, but I'm looking forward to getting back to my own bed soon." Not that he'd tell Penelope this, but he hadn't felt this good in a long time. And he knew it had a lot to do with not being on the drink for a change. If he could clear away certain dark clouds that hung over his head, life would be as close to perfect as it had been for him, ever.
"We need to finish our talk from last night," Penelope started to say.
"Later, Penelope, okay? When Trevor goes down for his nap. Okay?" His voice pleaded with his friend.
And Penelope relented. "Okay. But then we talk, right?"
With a fresh cup of coffee in hand, Penelope took out the box of instant oatmeal just in time to have the phone ring again. Sheriff's Office flashed on the caller display.
Of course, Penelope thought.
Answering, she said, "Deputy Chance."
It was Jim Saunders on the other end of the phone. He'd located Missy and Tommy, or rather, where they had been. Penelope's idea had paid off. They had been at a low-rent motel right off one of the interstates near Disney, in a little town called Celebration. But they had already signed out of the motel and were most likely on their way home.
"Accordin' to the time the clerk says they left," Jim told him, "if'n they're comin' straight back this way, they should be back here in just about an hour."
"That will be a relief for the parents," Penelope said. "Missy's, anyway. I'm starting to get the idea that maybe Tommy's don't pay much attention to what he does."
Jim chuckled. "I think Mrs. Clark probably done would've kissed me if I'd told her in person about her daughter. She was real worried about her little girl."
"Yeah," Penelope agreed. "Missy and her folks have always been a tight-knit kind of family. I just assumed Tommy's was the same. Guess I was wrong."
After a moment of silence, Jim said, "So should I try interceptin' the kids before they get home to their parents?"
"That might be a good idea." Penelope nodded to herself even though Jim wouldn't see it. "There's only the two ways into Franklin. Not hard to watch both."
"Well, maybe so Penelope, but I can't be at both ends of Main Street at the same time. We done need to keep someone here at the station. Sheriff's out of town. Davidson caught a domestic call. So, I was wonderin' if maybe..."
