Out of the Depths (6 page)

The energy Cody had to put into his efforts was tremendous. Sweat beaded on his forehead and trickled into his eyes, making them sting. Although the brace kept his knee from buckling, he still had to keep as much weight off it as possible, meaning his balance was poor.

He staggered. Tripped. Recovered. Pressed on. There she was! He could see her, silhouetted by moonlight. It looked as though she was alone. “Trudy!”

“Over here,” she called back.

By the time Cody hobbled up to her she was sitting on the bare ground trying to catch her breath. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. That was scary.”

“Tell me about it.”

She glanced up. “Hey! You walked.”

“Correction. I hobbled.” He gritted his teeth. “What the…What did you think you were doing?”

“Chasing off the bad guys.” She rolled onto her knees and got up cautiously, wearily. “I could ask you the same thing. How come you followed me? Isn’t that hard on you?”

“Not nearly as hard as sitting back there and listening to you scream,” Cody said. He saw her start to sway and put out a steadying hand.

“I’m okay. Really,” Trudy Lynn insisted. “The guy took off running the minute he saw me.”

“What was he using on the canoes?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t had time to look.” Taking a few steps closer to the dock she hesitated, then bent and picked up a metal object. “Probably this. I don’t think it’s one of Will’s.”

Cody stared, first at her, then at the crowbar in her hand. He blanched. “What if he’d turned it on you?”

“I never thought of that.” Leaning slightly toward Cody, she dropped the crowbar. “Pretty dumb, huh?”

“Yeah.” There was a catch in his voice that betrayed his emotional involvement. He didn’t try to hide it. All he wanted to do at that moment was take this foolish, brave, outspoken woman in his arms and hold her tight, as much for his own consoling as for hers. Only his sense of propriety held him back.

When she put her hand to her forehead and began to
act woozy, however, he set aside his reservations, gave in to the urge and reached for her.

Trudy Lynn stepped into his waiting embrace as if she expected it. Needed it. She slipped her arms around his waist, laid her cheek on his chest and shivered. “I won’t be stupid like that again, I promise.”

His hold tightened briefly. “Good. I don’t think my heart can take much more excitement.”

“Mine, either.”

He heard a stifled sob and began to soothe her the way he would a frightened child. “It’s okay. Nothing bad happened. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”

She leaned back slightly to look at him through teary eyes and said simply, “I know.”

T
he taller man clenched his fists and glared at his companion. “I don’t believe it!”

“She surprised me, that’s all.”

“And you turned tail like a cur.”

“What was I supposed to do? She came out of nowhere, yellin’ and swingin’ that paddle. She could have killed me.”

“You had the crowbar, you idiot. Why didn’t you stand your ground?”

“I told you. I wasn’t expectin’ anybody to get down there till I was long gone. She must have been waitin’ for me. How do you suppose she knew I was comin’?”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing. Who did you tell?”

“Nobody. I never said a word about what we were up to.”

“Not
we
. You,” the first man said flatly. “I’m in the clear and I plan to keep it that way. Don’t make me change my mind or get somebody else to take your place.”

“I told you I’d handle Trudy Lynn, and I will.”

“Like you did this time?” He spat into the dirt at their feet. “I should have known better than to include you in my plans. You’re the one weak link.”

“No, I’m not. I just had a little trouble, that’s all. Next time, I’ll finish the job, even if a whole posse comes chargin’ after me.”

His eyes narrowed menacingly. “Suppose you’re arrested? What then?”

“They can’t prove I was doing anything wrong.”

“What if she chases you again? What will you do?”

“Do?”

“Yes, do. If she comes after you, I expect you to defend yourself. Understand? I want you to hit her. Hard. Got that?”

“But…what if I hurt her bad or…kill her?”

The taller man snorted cynically before he answered, “Then I’ll go to her funeral and shed a few tears before I buy the place at auction and close it down.” He smiled. “The more I think about it, the better that plan sounds.”

“No way!”

“I was afraid you’d chicken out,” he said with a thoughtful nod. “Okay. I’ll give you one more week.”

“Then what?”

Turning away he said, “You don’t want to know.”

The beam from a flashlight was bouncing down the hill, signaling the arrival of help from the main camp. Trudy Lynn stepped away from Cody, feeling like a teenager caught kissing her boyfriend good-night on her parents’ front porch.

“I hope that’s Will,” Cody said. “I’m not looking forward to heading back to my cabin without my crutches.”

“You did okay just now.”

“Only because I was afraid for you,” he said. “I imagine I’ll pay for it later.”

“I’m so sorry. I only brought you the hot chocolate to be neighborly.”

“I know.” He pointed to the place where she’d dropped the vandal’s weapon. “Better not touch that again. We’ll let the sheriff handle it. There may be fingerprints.”

“Uh-oh. I never thought of that when I picked it up.”

“That’s because you’re an upstanding citizen, not a crook.” He cleared his throat noisily. “Speaking of your sterling reputation, I’m sorry about what just happened.”

“What?”

“You know.”

She certainly did. And a wonderful hug it was, too. Good thing it was dark enough that Cody couldn’t see her face very well because there was an unusual warmth to her cheeks.

“Oh, that,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. “Don’t worry. Around here, everybody hugs everybody. It’s practically a given, especially among friends. No one thinks a thing about it.”

“Really?”

“Really. You were just making sure I was okay, not making a pass at me, right?”

“Right.”

“Well then, no problem.”

Although Trudy Lynn was being totally honest with him, a hidden part of her heart wanted the circumstances to be otherwise. She’d thought she’d permanently cast aside all romantic notions long ago, yet Cody’s nearness kept urging her to reconsider. Given his physical and emotional scarring, not to mention his hardheadedness, that was not a good idea. Not good at all. Then again, as long as she kept her wandering thoughts to herself and merely befriended him, what harm could it do? Even cynics like Cody needed faithful friends and compassionate comrades.

Speaking of which…a furry black blur the size of a pony galloped up and started to circle their legs with panting, drooling enthusiasm.

Will joined them a few seconds later. “Sorry ’bout the dog, Miz Brown. He must’a heard the ruckus and busted out of the cabin. I know I shut him in.”

Cody sighed. “I don’t doubt it. Sailor’s strong enough to break the links in chains made to tether normal dogs. There isn’t much that stops him when he makes up his mind to go somewhere.”

Trudy Lynn patted the dog’s broad head. “That’s okay, Will. Mr. Keringhoven needs his crutches. Would you mind fetching them?”

“Glad to. You folks all right? I heard an awful commotion a few minutes ago.”

“We’re fine. Did you call the sheriff?”

“Yes, ma’am. Was that okay?”

“Perfect.” She smiled at him. “We think we finally have a clue.”

“Well, well. About time.”

“That’s for sure.” Trudy Lynn noticed that Sailor had wandered away. She frowned at his master. “Where’s your dog? He wouldn’t have tried to track the vandal, would he?”

“I doubt it. He’s no bloodhound.” Cody cupped his hands around his mouth and broadcast a firm, “Sailor! Come.”

Silence followed his call.

“Where could he be?”

“Best guess?” Cody sounded disgusted. “Swimming. It takes his coat forever to dry, too. That’s why I keep him inside at night. The last thing I want sleeping in the cabin with me is a soggy dog.”

“Can’t argue with that. For your sake, I hope he’s just sniffing a tree or something.”

“Me, too. Sailor! Sailor, get over here.” The words were barely out when Cody followed them with, “Here he comes.”

Trudy Lynn looked around in time to see the Newf bound over an upside-down canoe and head straight for them. She didn’t realize what he was going to do next until he stopped between her and Cody and started to shake himself. Repeatedly.

She gave a little screech and turned away in time to keep the flying drops off her face. The rest of her, however, was well showered. So was Cody.

“I told you,” he said. “I should have known any dog with webbed feet would behave like a duck.”

“No wonder he loves swimming.”

“The mud he tracks in is the worst.” Cody’s eyes widened. “Oh, no.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The crowbar,” he said, pointing. “Sailor’s been stepping all over it. If there were any good fingerprints, after you handled it, they’re smeared, now.”

The sheriff arrived shortly, visited the scene of the crime with Will and took brief statements from Trudy Lynn and Cody before leaving. They remained seated on the porch of Cody’s cabin, talking and unwinding, until long after the rest of the camp had quieted down.

“Later in the summer we’ll need bug repellant to sit outside like this,” she warned. “Mosquitoes can be deadly around here.”

“They’re deadly everywhere these days,” he said. “Might as well be cautious.”

“Right.”

Cody was studying her profile in the reflected light from the cabin window. “What’s wrong? You’re awfully quiet.”

“Maybe I ran out of things to say.”

“That’s never stopped you before.”

She took a playful swing at him. “I’m not that bad.”

“Could have fooled me.” His smile faded. Now that they’d discussed recent events and he’d gone over her list of employees, there was a suggestion he wanted to make. He just wasn’t sure how to broach the subject without putting her on the defensive.

“Listen, I know you like to handle things yourself,
and I commend you for it,” he said, “but after what happened tonight, don’t you think it’s time to call in some professional help?”

“Like what?”

“Well, how about we start by asking Logan to do some background checks for us?”

“We? Us?” Her eyebrows arched.

“I just thought, since he’s my brother-in-law, it would be best if I did the asking. You’re welcome to approach him yourself if you’d prefer.”

Trudy Lynn shook her head. “Becky already suggested it. The main reason I haven’t is because I don’t want to interfere with his pastoral duties. I can’t believe how busy that poor man is, day and night.”

“He won’t be too busy to make a few inquiries for us, will he? After all, you do go to his church.”

“I suppose it won’t be so bad if we make sure he understands we don’t expect him to drop everything and go back to being a private investigator.”

“Then it’s settled. We’ll give him a call tomorrow and put him on the trail.” Cody saw her make a comical face that was half frown, half smile. “What?”

She pointed to a sliver of sky visible through the oaks. “I think we’d better call Logan today. That sure looks like the glow before sunrise.” She yawned. “No wonder I’m so tired.”

“We’ve both been running on adrenaline. Now that its effect is wearing off, we’re bound to feel exhausted.”

“How’s your knee?” Trudy Lynn asked.

“Not as bad as I’d thought it would be by now,” he
confessed, eyeing his propped-up foot. “Ask me again in the morning.”

“I just did. It
is
morning, remember?” Stifling another yawn, she stood and stretched. “Get some rest. As soon as I finish my chores I’ll call Becky and see if she knows what Brother Logan has scheduled for today. If he’s not too busy, I’ll ask for his opinion. Okay?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Cody purposely waited until she’d left before he tried to move. The calf muscles in his injured leg were tied in knots, but at least his knee wasn’t throbbing. He used his hands to support and cautiously lower it. So far, so good. At least he hadn’t had to stifle a shout of pain.

He pulled himself upright by tugging on the porch railing, then tucked a crutch under each arm before starting for the door.

Tail wagging, Sailor was already waiting there, ready to go in.

When Cody turned the knob, it came off in his hand! Disgusted, he looked at his dog. “So, that’s how you got out. What’d you do, eat the inside handle?”

The Newfoundland wagged his tail and panted, his sad, brown eyes giving him a totally innocent expression.

Cody pushed open the door. Expecting the worst, he was relieved to note that the only thing Sailor had done to escape was chew at the knob and make a series of scratches below the lock.

Correction
, Cody thought.
Not below the lock. Below where the lock would have been if the interior knob was still attached
.

He picked up the pieces and reassembled them as best he could, mostly to make sure Sailor hadn’t ingested anything dangerous. When he was satisfied his dog had merely chewed the lock set apart and spit out the mechanism, he hobbled wearily to the bed, lay across it and closed his eyes.

In the morning, he’d use his cell phone to call the local hardware store and have them send out a replacement. That thought brought a quiet chuckle. Make that later
this
morning. Much later. Right now, he didn’t care if the sun was rising or not. He had to get some sleep.

Although Trudy Lynn had made the initial request for Logan’s professional advice, Cody had followed it up with a friendly call of his own, and the pastor had used that ready-made opportunity to pass along the results of his brief investigation.

Cody suggested Trudy Lynn drop by his cabin to discuss Logan’s findings. She found him sitting on the porch in his favorite position, foot elevated, and paused at the base of the wooden steps. “Okay. I’m here. What was so bad that Logan couldn’t tell
me
about it?”

“Like you said, he’s a busy guy. We happened to be talking and he asked me to pass along some data, that’s all. There’s no conspiracy to leave you out of the loop, honest.”

“I’ll reserve judgment on that. Go ahead. What did Logan say?”

“Sure you don’t want to sit down?”

“No thanks. I can’t stay.”

“Have it your way.” Cody unfolded a slip of paper and began reading. “William Garfield Wilson, age sixty-seven, paroled after serving three years of an eight-year sentence in…”

“Whoa! You’re telling me Will,
my
Will, has a prison record? Are you sure?”

Cody nodded. “The information came straight from the state police Web site. Logan was surprised, too.”

She sank onto the porch step, shoulders slumping, and laced her fingers together around her bent knees. “What was Will arrested for?”

“Maiming a man in a brawl. It happened when he was in the Merchant Marines.”

“That was ages ago.”

“I know. There’s more.”

“I can hardly wait.”

“Hey, I’m just the messenger. Don’t grumble at me. I didn’t make this stuff up.”