Pages of the Past (Bellingwood Book 9) (22 page)

"You are so spoiled. Yes, I have treats. Let's find them."

At the word, they ran for the kitchen, stopping in front of the cupboard that held their food and treats. Polly walked in and realized that Lydia would be here any minute. She hadn't taken the chili out of the freezer, she hadn't found sandwiches. Nothing. This was turning into an interesting day.

Polly handed each dog a treat and took her phone out again, dialing Lydia.

"Hello dear. I'm just ready to pull out of the garage. Do you need me to pick something up?"

"We have a problem."

"What's that?"

"Somebody just tried to run Helen down in my driveway."

"What? Is she hurt?"

"She's got some scrapes and cuts. Evelyn Morrow is looking at her right now."

"Who was it?"

"I have no idea. Eliseo was walking with her.  Lydia, I've never seen anything like it. He saw the car coming and tossed her like she was light as a feather. Her injuries are more from him getting her out of the way than anything else. He got hit with the gravel the car spun up at him."

"We have to talk to Aaron. Don't you think it's all connected?"

"Of course I do, but no one will listen to me."

"I will. And I think Aaron will now, too. We had a long talk last night. Well, I talked and he listened. But he came to bed with me for the first time in weeks."

"Does he know Helen is in town? She wouldn't let me call him so I had to call Ken." Polly looked out the kitchen window and saw Ken's car pull in. "In fact, he's driving in right now. I should go downstairs."

"I'll be right there. After we speak with Helen, we'll make the call to Aaron. Thank you for taking care of her."

"I don't have anything made for lunch, I'm sorry."

"That's the last thing we need to worry about. We'll be fine. Go talk to Ken. I'll be there soon."

Polly pushed her way past the dogs, who were wagging in front of her, hoping for another treat. "You know better," she said. "Stop begging." She bent down and scratched both of their heads, then planted a kiss on Obiwan's nose. "I need to go, but I love you."

She ran back down the steps and saw Ken step into the office.

"Ken," she called out. He stepped back out.

"Hi Polly. I understand you've had some trouble here today. I'm not sure if you hate me or what."

"What do you mean?"

"Mindy said someone tried to run down Aaron Merritt's sister and you called my office?"

"It was what she preferred."

He shook his head. "It's never easy with you, is it? Tell me what happened."

"We were outside. I was taking the dogs for a walk and she was returning from one. Eliseo had come out and the two of them were coming up the driveway to the house. I was going to walk around the barn on the sidewalk. All of a sudden, a red car came barreling into the driveway, aiming straight for them. Eliseo tossed her out of the way and avoided the car, then it went on through, turned south on the highway and sped off. It happened so fast."

"What kind of car was it?"

She gave him a sideways glance. "You're asking me?"

"It was a shot in the dark. How many people were in the car?"

"Just the driver. But I did see that it had Polk County plates."

Ken took out a notebook and wrote that down. "Anything else?"

"Nothing. Now it feels like I was watching a movie. I didn't move. I didn't do anything. But I don't think there was really time. It happened and then in a split second it was over."

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah. That's about right. Where is Eliseo?"

Polly gestured to the addition. "They're in Evelyn Morrow's room. She's doing first-aid. Eliseo got cut up by flying gravel and I think Helen landed pretty hard when he tossed her out of the way."

"Tossed her?"

"That's the only description I have. That man is strong."

"Let's hear what they have to say." He waved her forward. "After you."

Polly knocked on Evelyn's door again and Eliseo answered. "Hello Chief," he said.

"Polly says you've had some excitement. Can you tell me about it?"

"I don't know if I can tell you very much. I didn't see anything other than a car ripping down the driveway coming right at us."

"You don't know what type of car it was either?"

"Sure," Eliseo said. "It was a Toyota Avalon. Probably only a year old or so."

"The first two letters of the license plate were X and K," Helen said. She stood up from the chair at Evelyn's desk and walked across the room. She was much more sure of herself. "Hello. You must be the local police. I'm Helen Oswald."

Ken put his hand out to shake hers. "Ken Wallers. You're Aaron Merritt's sister?"

"I am. We aren't involving him in this yet. Can you live with that?"

"Not really. He and I have a strong relationship. I'm not comfortable with holding this back from him."

"Just for today. That's all I ask."

"Why?"

"Because he and I need to spend time working through things before he has to worry about a hired gun."

"Hired gun?" Ken looked at Polly and then Eliseo. "What do you mean hired gun?"

"More than likely it is coming from the same person who hired the sniper to kill Aaron's friend. I thought maybe I'd gotten out of Atlanta without... well... let's just say that eyes and ears are everywhere."

She sat back down at the desk and put her arm out. Evelyn had barely begun to clean the dirt and gravel out of the abrasion.

"I'm at a loss," Ken said. "That's not my favorite place to be. Would you mind explaining yourself?"

"I'm sorry, sir," Helen replied. "I can't speak to this until I talk to my brother. That's why I asked Polly not to involve anyone in law enforcement."

"Helen?" Lydia's voice came from the doorway. "Helen, how badly are you hurt? Polly called. I was already on my way."

"I'm bruised and battered, but I'll live. Eliseo is my new hero."

Lydia turned to him. "You wonderful man. You're like an angel sent to Sycamore House, aren't you."

He chuckled. "Something like that. Seeing as how there is a lot happening here that I don't need to know about, I'm going to go back to work." He put his hand out. "Ken, if you need anything more from me, you know where I'll be."

Ken Wallers just nodded and continued to nod after Eliseo left the room. Finally he spoke. "Ladies, I need answers."

Lydia took his arm. "They'll come. I promise. But Helen can't speak about any of this right now. Will you please trust me?"

"Lydia." Ken scowled at her. "You know I can't..."

"Yes you can. Pretend you didn't come over here today. Aaron will reach out to you in just a couple of days and tell you everything."

"But..."

"Please. I know it's a lot to ask. But you know that I wouldn't unless it were desperately important."

He took a deep breath. "I don't like this."

"Trust me," she said. "I don't either. It needs to be over, but not right now. Please?"

"If I don't hear from Aaron by Friday, I'm calling him. One way or other this will all come out."

"That's fair," Lydia said. "Will we see you at the dance Saturday night?"

Ken looked at her and smiled. "You're not an easy woman to push around, are you?"

"Why, Chief Wallers, I have no idea what you mean." Lydia batted her eyes and smiled back at him. "Will you be there?"

"We will." He touched her arm and then brushed past Polly. "It's always going to be something over here, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called."

"You should always call. You did the right thing. Now we wait for the rest of it to come together."

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

"Ain't nothing all that wrong," Helen Oswald protested when Lydia offered her arm as they were heading up to Polly's apartment. "I'm not broken, just battered."

"I know dear, but you must understand what a shock it was to me."

"Let this old woman keep her dignity." Helen looked terrible. She had bandages on her hands and forearms, her left cheek and another on her forehead. She limped slightly due to the battering her leg had taken when she landed on the gravel.

Polly held the door open at the top of the steps. "Aaron is going to be horrified when he sees you."

"We mustn't speak of such things. Lunch first."

Polly had no idea what she was serving today.             

"I know that look," Lydia said. "You're worried about feeding us.

"I'll figure it out. Both of you have a seat out here." Polly shut the front door. "I know you aren't an invalid, but you've had a wild day between riding that big horse and being attacked by a crazed driver."

Helen dropped onto the sofa and moaned. "That's better. I must admit I'm fearful of tomorrow morning. If you don't hear from me, send gorgeous firefighters to help me out of bed, will you?"

"That sounds good," Polly said. "You two stay here and I'll forage. Iced tea to drink?"

"Sweet tea?" Helen asked.

"Ummm, I have sugar."

"You northerners don't know how to brew a good ole pot of sweet tea. How did Aaron ever survive up here?"

"He drinks coffee now," Lydia replied. "I'll get your tea. Don't you dare move."

Obiwan had planted himself in front of Helen, waiting for attention while Han followed Lydia to the kitchen. Leia rubbed her face against Helen's leg. Polly smiled. Her animals were friendly, no matter what.

"What are you going to tell Aaron?" she asked Lydia when they got into the kitchen.

Lydia shuddered. "I don't want to think about it. He'll be furious. He was already angry that I called her. We managed to get through that, but this is going to tip him over the edge. I didn't put it all together until last night, but he's carrying guilt about her. I wish they would just tell me what happened all those years ago. It's kept them apart for too long."

She poured out three glasses of tea and Polly handed her a tray. "You go on ahead. Give me a few minutes to make up sandwiches. I'll be right out."

Lydia started for the door and then turned. "I've lost my mind. There is a basket of food in the back of my Jeep. I sliced beef from a roast and have salads and dessert."

"Just hanging around your kitchen?"

"Leftovers. I still can't manage to cook for only two people. I'll be right back."

Polly heard the front door open and shut and stood in front of the refrigerator. She took out bread and cheese, mayonnaise and mustard and put them on the peninsula, then opened a cupboard and pulled out potato chips and crackers. That was about as far as she could go.

Her front door opened again and she heard Obiwan let out a bark. Han ran out to see who had come in and then Polly heard a male voice.

She got to the living room in time to see Aaron on one knee in front of his sister, pulling her into a hug. Lydia came over to stand beside Polly. "He heard it on the scanner and thought maybe he should check it out. Mindy from the police station gave us up. At least Ken's off the hook now."

"I bet we're not," Polly whispered. "Let me take that." She put her hand out for the basket.

Before she could get out of the room, Aaron stood back up and turned on them. "You weren't going to tell me about this?"

"Now Bubby," Helen said, reaching out to touch his arm. "It's not their fault. I made everybody stay quiet. Polly wanted to call you and by the time Lydia arrived, I'd already made the decision."

"Bubby?" Polly asked.

"Don't change the subject." Aaron's tear-filled eyes flashed with anger. She'd never seen him like this.

"Aaron Burr Merritt, you stop it right now." Helen rose up from the sofa and grabbed his arm, pulling him back to her. "You have no right stalking in here like a bear with a sore paw. Especially after everything is said and done. You certainly don't need to make it worse than it already is. Miss Giller has been gracious and helpful. Behave yourself."

He wrenched his arm away from her and stepped forward.

"I'm not going to tell you again," she said, in a tone of voice that Polly never wanted to have turned on her. Fire and fury filled the woman's words and Aaron relaxed his posture.

"He hurt you," he said.

"Polly's man hurt me. He's the one who tossed me like I was light as air. And yes, I could have been killed, but just because you are upset doesn't mean you can take it out on your wife and Miss Polly, here. Do you understand me? I want a response from you, young man."

"Yes ma'am," he said meekly.

"What did he say?" Polly mouthed to Lydia.

Lydia motioned to the kitchen with her head. "Let's make sandwiches while these two talk."

Aaron turned and sat down across from his sister. He leaned forward, his face a mixture of fear and pain.

"Is he going to be okay?" Polly asked once they were back in the kitchen.

Lydia shook her head and opened the basket. "I don't know. He finally told me last night that some things had happened before he came to Iowa. He couldn't tell me about them back then and he didn't think that he dared tell anyone about them now. Whatever it is, he thought he'd left it behind him and now it's come into his territory and it scares him."

"I would never have thought anything could scare Aaron."

"This has." Lydia reached across and took Polly's hand. "But last night I felt like we were heading back to normal. Even if this is hanging between us, at least he was talking to me again."

"I'm glad. Does he have any idea how much he's hurt you?"

"That's not important."

"Yes it is. He shouldn't get away with that."

Lydia stopped assembling the sandwiches in front of her and caught Polly's attention. "You know as well as anyone that sometimes people need to get through the things that are in front of them. His actions weren't intentional, they happened and spun out of control. I can't punish him for that. You wouldn't either."

"You're a good woman, Lydia Merritt."

"We do what we have to do. At least I didn't have to string him up and hang him out to dry."

"No punishment?"

"I'd have punished him if he kept this up or if it happened regularly, but not this. He has enough to deal with."

"Still... you're a good woman."

Lydia grinned. "He and I will find an interesting way to get through the apologies and recrimination. He'll do it to himself. Who knows, there might be a trip to sunny Florida before the winter is over."

"I love you," Polly said with a chuckle. "Aaron will hate that."

"Exactly."

They carried food into the living room to find Leia curled up in Aaron's lap and Luke doing his best to look inconspicuous on the back of Aaron's chair. The two dogs were pressed against either side of Helen.

"It looks like my animals have found their warm bodies for the day," Polly said. She picked Leia up and put her on the ground, knowing Aaron wouldn't move and disrupt the cat. Luke bounded down to join his sister and see what she might be getting. Polly snapped a finger and Obiwan jumped to the floor. Fortunately Han was just as curious as Luke and followed suit.

"Are you going to tell us what's going on yet?" Polly asked, passing around plates and napkins.

Aaron shook his head. "I can't. I just can't."

"But it's all connected, right? The murder of your friend, your bad attitude the last couple of months and now the attack on Helen?"

He leaned forward and took a sandwich from the platter, sat back and looked at the expectant faces. "I really can't talk about it."

"We should probably give up," Lydia says. "He's the interrogator in the group and doesn't bow to pressure very easily."

"Unless there's fried chicken involved," Polly said.

Helen asked, "Fried chicken?"

"It has to be Lydia's fried chicken and there has to be a very good reason for me to spill my guts," Aaron said. "No regular fried chicken will do."

"Do we have anything more to worry about here? Is Helen's life still in danger?" Polly continued to press.

Helen patted Polly's arm. "I can find another place to stay. I would hate to put anyone else in danger. Especially with these sweet children you have here."

"No, that's not what I meant at all," Polly said. "Worse things have happened to me here. We just manage our way through it. I'm worried about you. What can we do to keep you safe?"

Aaron took a deep breath. "They know where I live or I'd ask her to stay with us."

Lydia's eyes flew open and she gasped. "Are we in danger?"

"I'm sure we aren't, but if you wanted to spend time with Marilyn in Dayton, I wouldn't protest."

"And leave you alone in that house? Absolutely not." Lydia frowned. "I'm not going to Dayton. I won't put anyone else in my family at risk." Then she had a thought. "Have we been at risk all these years?"

"Oh no," he assured her. "Not at all."

"Then how long? Since your friend was killed?"

He gave a slight shrug. "More so since then, but I can't believe they would take it that far. You're innocent and know nothing about any of this."

"But whoever this 'they' is, they don't know that. For all they know, you've told me everything."

Aaron put the plate with his sandwich back down on the coffee table. "No, that isn't true. Your life has never been in danger." He turned to Helen. "Who did you tell that you were coming to Bellingwood?"

"No one!" she exclaimed. "There wasn't time. I spoke with Lydia the other day, made my reservations online, called Julie at the shelter to tell her I had a family emergency, asked Bob and Bonnie next door to take care of the animals and left."

Polly jumped up. "The cameras. We still have those cameras hooked up. I never think about them, but they would show that car. Maybe you could get the license plate number and figure out who was driving."

Aaron nodded. "Since you got Ken involved, you should probably contact him to take possession of the video."

"Really?"

"Just call him, Polly."

She went into the other room and made the call.

"Hi Polly," Mindy said. "Is everything okay?"

"Can you patch me through to Ken Wallers? I think I might have video from this morning and I need to tell him that Aaron knows everything and is here at Sycamore House."

"Sure. Just a second."

Polly waited and soon enough, Ken came onto the call. "What's up?" he asked.

"First of all. I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have put you in that position."

"If you recall, you weren't the one who did, but thank you. That can't be the only reason you're calling me."

"No, Aaron is here. He knows everything now. While we were talking, I remembered I have video. He says you should have it."

"Is he sure?"

"I guess. He told me to call you."

"If this is linked to his case, it should be his."

"Do you want to fight with him? Because I sure don't."

Ken chuckled. "I suppose not. I wonder what he's trying to do here, though."

"Are you available? I can download video for you."

"How about I meet you in your office in a half hour. I have a few things to take care of first."

"Thank you."

After all of the arguing Polly had done regarding the installation of cameras at Sycamore House, she was now glad they were there. She still hated the idea of surveillance, but when it came to the safety of her friends, she'd get over it."

"He's coming in a half hour," she said, going back into the living room. "But he didn't understand why you want him to take it."

Aaron nodded. "This is all much too close to me. I want to keep things as aboveboard as possible. It's already too convoluted for my taste."