Micah (14 page)

Chapter 8

Nessie was getting nervous. His
brother hadn’t returned since he’d gone to the farm to see that
things were taken care of there. It wasn’t like he’d left the house
on or anything, but the kiln and his lack of use with it made
Nessie nervous. Then there was the cop.

He’d made him feel as if he’d done
something wrong. As far as Nessie was concerned, he’d been a model
person since he’d gotten out of prison five years ago. But every
time something happened, someone was murdered or a bank was robbed,
they’d come knocking at his door. Not that he’d done any of those
things. He’d been bad, of course, but not with the things they’d
come there to ask him about.

He’d been in prison for murder, yes,
but it wasn’t as if he’d done anything bad. The man had come into
his home. Wasn’t there a law that said you could defend your home?
Apparently not for him. When the man had entered, catching him in
the middle of taking care of another issue, he’d killed him. Had
the police or anyone else been there when it happened, Nessie was
sure that he’d have been locked away for a longer time. As it was,
he’d only served five years.

As he made his way to the lower level
of the house, he took a careful look around to make sure that
nothing was out of order. When his brother returned, they were
going to go and bring home his true love. It did bother him just a
little that Keith had wanted to live here with him and his love,
but he’d convinced him, just for now, that they would need to get
to know each other a little more before they entertained. Keith
thought it a splendid idea and had agreed to help him.

She’d been at the diner yesterday,
working hard to make the food for those ungrateful people. But he’d
not been able to go in, of course. Keith had told him that the
security on the place was different than it had been. Now there
were cameras all over the place, even in the parking lot…though
they had a plan for those. A little black spray paint and they’d be
home free.

The basement and the cell were just
the way he’d left them. The cage was a ten-by-ten affair. He’d
never had one so big before, but wanted her to have the best of
comfort. The chains on the bars were for her protection, not to
keep her there. He didn’t want her hurt any more than he did
himself.

The bed was bolted to the floor. He
had hated to make all the noise down here when he’d been putting it
in, but it couldn’t be helped. There was not going to be a repeat
of the last issue he’d had. Blankets were sparse, but she had them
should she need them. And he checked on the small shower he’d hung
just for her. She could not touch it from the cage. There had to be
trust between them, but she would be able to be clean should the
need arise. Then there were the pictures.

Nessie had worked hard to replicate
the ones he’d seen in her rooms. He’d taken pictures of everything
she owned, and he’d nearly thrown the ones of the crippled man
away. But later he’d figured out that he was important to her and
for a time, he would allow that as well. There would be no need for
him in her life once she adjusted to Nessie.

As he made his way back up the stairs
he saw something that had not been there before. Moving almost at a
snail’s pace, he leaned over to pick up the smallish card and
flipped it over. Nessie dropped it, staggering back enough that he
hit his head on the stair. Terror like he’d never experienced
before washed over him.

“
Detective Micah Bentley,
Homicide,” it had said. That cop from the other day, he’d bet on
it. And he’d been here…in his home, uninvited.

Nessie looked to see if he’d touched
anything else. The pictures were all straight, the blanket on the
bed just right. He even went to the hose that served as her shower
to see that nothing had been tampered with on it. Nothing. Just the
card.

Pacing, he tried to think. Had the man
given him the card that day? Not that he could remember. But then,
he’d been so afraid, he might have handed him a box of guns and he
wouldn’t have noticed. But a card was there and he’d been very good
about locking doors. Going to one of the lower windows that he’d
blocked off, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary with those,
even going so far as to stand on a rickety box to check. Nothing.
But he was nervous. Very much so.

“
It’s just his card that
he handed me.” Nessie tore it in half and put it into the trash
that he’d burn. “I must have dropped it when I was down
here.”

Going up the stairs, he turned off the
lights. All was well with him. He had no idea why the big man had
frightened him so much, or, for that matter, had made him feel like
he needed to run, but that was that. He’d been interviewed before
about things, many times over the years. This time should not have
been any different than before.

He made himself a sandwich for dinner.
He nearly made one for Keith, thinking that he’d be home by then,
but in the end only made one for himself. Friday was going to be a
big day. His truest love was coming home.

Nessie wished he’d taken the time to
know her name. When he’d looked in the paper after the fire, there
had been five names, two of them women. One of the men had been
killed by the shooter, but that still hadn’t helped him in learning
more about her. It was only by chance that Keith had figured out
where she worked. He’d been following her since his own issue had
been taken care of.

“
The place is a dive. But
the food is wonderful. I had a bacon sandwich with extra tomatoes
on it and loved every bite. Had I the funds I might have gotten a
second one to bring back to you, but I have been short of late.”
Nessie had understood. He himself had been a little light in the
wallet lately. He supposed that he’d have to go out and pull
someone’s money from them, but that took time from his projects.
But with his love coming soon, the money might be nice for a pizza
or something as a treat.

“
Perhaps when she is
settled, we can have her cook for us. Of course, she will no longer
need to work. Her job will be to care for me. But she can make me a
nice home here.” Keith had agreed with him. “You’ll find you
someone, brother dear. I know it.”

“
I hope so.” The
conversation had not improved his brother’s mood, so Nessie had
changed it.

“
I have visited mother’s
grave site.” Keith looked at him sharply. “No one knows where she
is. And I find myself going there to make sure she is still within
her place. But I did take her the news about my love. And at the
time, I had told her about your love. I shall have to remedy that
when I go the next time.”

“
She will not care.” Keith
huffed. “I’m sure that once she hears about how happy you are, then
nothing I do or say would matter. You were her
favorite.”

“
No. You were. How she
doted on you when you were having those spells.” Keith nodded. “She
would have given you the world had you but asked. I’m glad you
didn’t, but had you asked, she would have given it to
you.”

“
I sometimes wish that we
had not killed her.” Nessie nodded. He didn’t wish that, not ever,
but his brother needed cheering up. “There are times when I find
myself thinking of what she would think of us now. How we have come
into our own. How, like you, we have been working to find love. She
would not have approved of us bringing women into our
lives.”

“
No, she would not have.
It was her belief that we were family and that we stuck together,
pushing the world away with all its issues.” Nessie thought of
something. “Remember the time that the woman from the school came
to her home? She demanded that we be put in school? Mother told her
that we were homeschooled and were better children for
it.”

“
Yes. The idiot woman
should have not made her mad. Mother is not nice when she’s mad.”
Nessie watched his brother shiver. “Do you suppose when we are to
die, will anyone care what is buried in our mother’s back yard? Or
will they know that she was dead as well?”

“
No one would care.” He
was pretty sure that no one would care that their mother was dead
as well, but the checks that came each month helped Keith out a
great deal. Not for Nessie. He’d been told it wasn’t for him as the
youngest child.

Nessie washed up his dish and glass
and looked out the window. He saw the man moving down the street
almost at the same time that someone rang the bell. It was Keith.
Thankful for his safe return, he lost sight of the other person to
go and let him in.

“
Where have you been? I
have been sick with worry.” Keith sat down, his clothing disheveled
and dirty. “What has happened?”

“
They were there. The
police. I didn’t see them until I was nearly atop them. Then the
car broke down temporarily. What was I do to? I had to hide in the
tall grass until it was dark enough for me to leave. Lucky for me,
I was able to get the car deep into the fields before they saw me.
Oh, Nessie, they were at the farm.” Nessie sat down as his brother
continued. His mind was too busy to listen to him…all he could
think of was the card he’d found.

He had to think. Lifting his hand up
to silence his brother, he sat there. The first thing he thought of
was that Keith had been followed. But he had said, several times
when asked, that no one had seen him.

“
You are sure?” Keith had
said he was positive. “The farm is not in our name but of that man
from prison. When we go there, we are careful to clean up after
ourselves. The kiln had been run, so there was no chance for them
to find anything that would connect it to us.”

“
I would say not. They
were walking around, but I don’t think they looked in the shed. Not
the entire time I was there. And if they did, what they would find
is as you said.” Keith was beginning to look less worried. “I was
careful, too, in not driving back here straight away. I left the
car in the part of town we use, the keys in it and the engine
running.”

“
Good, good.” It was
beginning to look less and less like it was about them and more
about stumbling onto an abandoned farm house. “We should go and get
my love in the morning instead of Friday. I would like to have her
here so that I can know that she’s safe.”

Keith decided to stay the night. It
would be easier on them, Nessie supposed, to get a good night’s
sleep, then leave first thing. His love would be here by lunch time
and no one would be able to harm her once she was in his care.
Nessie went to bed feeling like things were going to work
out.

~~~

Reggie was surprised to see Mrs.
Gracie sitting at the kitchen table sipping tea with the cook…she
didn’t remember her name when she’d come into the big room. She was
more surprised that Mrs. Gracie said she was going with her into
town. Apparently she was meeting Mrs. Bentley at the diner when it
opened.

“
We have some shopping to
do. Christmas is in a month and for the first time in a year, I
feel like I want to celebrate.” Reggie just nodded. She couldn’t
remember the last time she’d had a Christmas celebration. Not since
her parents had died anyway.

She looked up at the house…another
huge monstrosity that had more rooms than a mall did. Each of them
was filled with the nicest furniture she’d ever seen, including the
big bed in what she’d figured out later was Micah’s
room.

“
I have to leave here
soon. The waitress I have that’s supposed to come in and help is
always late, so I have to go and do both our jobs. And Nile doesn’t
have a key.” He’d worked out a great deal better than she’d
thought. Even Joey, who had done a background check on him, had
said the man had been in no trouble. Plus he made her job a good
deal easier. Her boss, Waylon Pierson, had even liked the fact that
she’d hired someone.

“
Not that I think it
should matter, but what does Micah think about you working there?”
He’d been furious with her for wanting to work, but when he’d had
to leave her for a call in the middle of the night, he’d told her
he was sorry. But to be extra careful. “He’s not happy, I take
it.”

“
Not really, but he did
realize I was going in anyway, and since his job calls him away at
such odd hours, he said I had to be careful.” She tucked her gun
into her ankle holster. “I told him I would. He said that he’s
quitting soon. I don’t think he’s going to miss it.”

“
I don’t think so either.
Things had been…hard, I would guess you could call it, when my
husband worked there. He’d been talking about opening his own
investigative firm for years, and just when he and Micah had
decided to open up, he was killed. It’s been hard on
us.”

They were going out the door when the
phone rang. Reggie didn’t answer it. She didn’t know anyone that
would be calling her and fewer that would know she was there. If it
rang, then it had to be for Micah. Mrs. Gracie paused at the door
before going out, then just let her lock the door behind
her.

“
You’ll have to learn that
this is your home as well.” Reggie nodded. Micah had said pretty
much the same thing to her yesterday when they’d moved in. “He
would want you to be happy here.”

“
I’m sure I will be. But
it’s just too new right now.” He’d told her to use his truck
because his partner was picking him up. She looked at the monster,
then at Mrs. Gracie. “Can you drive this thing?”