Stolen Secrets (13 page)

Chapter 48

“Come straight home on the bus,”
Mom said the next morning.

Ashley bristled.

“But Ash has more houses to take her catalog to,” I said. “And we left one at this lady’s place. I bet she’ll buy a whole page.”

Mom sighed. “Sam and I agree it’s not a good idea for you guys to be out alone. Dylan has a doctor’s appointment later or I’d take you.”

“Can we walk?” Ashley said.

Mom shook her head. “It’ll have to wait until I get home.”

“But, Mom—,” Ashley started.

“Bus!” Dylan shouted.

At school I saw Cammy and Tracy talking to a group. When Cammy saw us she whispered something. Ashley walked past without a word.

Back home that afternoon I looked for the Ingrams’ phone number on the Internet and in the phone book. No luck. Then I went into the database of
The
Gazette
from Colorado Springs and searched for any story with Danny Ingram in it. I came up empty.

By the time Mom got back, she had to get dinner started. She said we could go candle selling later, but after a few phone calls and word that Sam would be late, it was almost dark. Ashley brooded like a wounded animal, but it didn’t do any good.

Tuesday afternoon Mom drove us into town. We didn’t want her to know we had gone as far as the Ingram house, but there was no denying it. “If I’d have known you were coming this far,” she said, “I’d never have agreed.”

She waited in the car while Ashley and I walked to the gate. The catalog was sticking out of the newspaper box. Ashley opened it quickly and looked at the order form. It was partially filled out with their name and phone number, but nothing was checked to order.

I pushed the Intercom button, but there was no answer.

A police cruiser drove by, kicking up dust.

Chapter 49

After pestering Sam and Mom
for another whole day, Bryce and I got them to let us ride our ATVs to school Thursday morning. I heard the beep of Bryce’s digital watch, and we had our cereal and were out the door before Mom could ask why we were leaving so early.

We rode as fast as we dared and cut across the grassland between us and the dirt road that leads to the Ingrams’. The rock formation loomed behind us like a red ghost. Bryce kept checking his watch.

When we rounded the corner and came near the Ingrams’ driveway, the gate stood wide open. We stopped and took off our helmets. “What do you think?” I said.

“It’ll take us 10 minutes to get to Mrs. Watson’s and another five to make it into school. We have only about 10 minutes to spare.”

“Good, let’s go.”

Bryce shrugged and followed me up the driveway. A black-and-brown dog with only three legs met us. The thing didn’t bark. It just wagged its tail and hopped close enough to sniff us.

We parked by the garage and waited. When no one came out, I walked the gravel path around to the front door and knocked.

“Mom will be ticked if she finds out,” Bryce said.

Before I could answer, the door opened and an older woman stared at us. She had puffy eyes and shiny skin and looked like one of those people you see in ads for retirement homes—the people with a golf club in one hand and a glass of tea in the other—except she wasn’t smiling. “How did you get in?”

“The gate was open,” I said.

She ran a hand through her hair. “Walter is meeting with a reporter. He must have forgotten to close it.”

I explained who we were and pulled the catalog out of my backpack. “I don’t know if your husband showed you this.”

She looked at Bryce, then back at me. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“That’s where we’re headed. We only have a minute. May we come in?”

The house was full of furniture, yet it looked empty. An old wedding picture hung on the living-room wall. Another picture showed a young man with a football on his knee and a helmet under his arm. “Who’s that?”

“That’s our Danny,” she said, sighing. “I suppose you’ve heard about him.”

We walked to the kitchen, and I pulled out a chair. Bryce stood in the hall looking at his watch.

“The police haven’t found him yet?” I said.

She took the catalog and flipped through the pages. “I wish they would. I’m scared of what might happen if they don’t. Danny has done some bad things, but he’d never hurt anyone.”

Were these people blind, or could that be true?

Chapter 50

The big clock in the hallway
ticked like a time bomb, and I knew we’d be in trouble if we were late. The school would call home and we’d have to explain. I was about to signal to Ashley that we had to go when Mrs. Ingram closed the catalog.

“You don’t have to buy anything,” Ashley said. “We know how hard this must be.”

“The police think we’re hiding Danny, but I haven’t seen him in two weeks.”

“Why did he leave?” Ashley said.

“We tried to get him to come back, but he wouldn’t. I don’t think he could forgive himself.”

“For what?”

“There was an accident.”

“Ashley, we should go,” I said.

She looked at me like I had just taken another leg off the dog. “What accident? Around here?”

She shook her head. “Before we moved. It was early one morning when Danny was still in college. He had gotten a summer job at a golf course near our home. He saw a dog by the road.”

“The one outside?”

She nodded. “Danny felt sorry for the poor thing. He was going to give it something to eat at the clubhouse and bring it home that night. But something happened. It was awful.”

I looked at my watch again, but there was no way I was leaving now.

“Rex, the dog, got up on the front seat and got sick. Danny tried to move him onto the floor, but he wouldn’t budge. Then it happened. Danny hit something on the side of the road. He thought it was an animal, but when he stopped and walked back, he found a man in the weeds.”

“Oh no,” Ashley said.

“We knew him and his family. He was a great father. Three little children. Danny ran to the nearest house and called an ambulance, but the man died on the way to the hospital.”

“How awful.”

“Danny felt terrible. The police talked about charges, but everybody knew it was an accident. Everybody but Danny. He dropped out of school and never went back to the golf course. Fell in with a bad crowd and started drinking. We moved here to make a fresh start, but Danny just couldn’t get over it. He left the house about a year ago and started living on the street. Every now and then we’d hear he was back in Red Rock, and we’d try to get him to come home.”

“Mr. Crumpus says nice things about him,” Ashley said.

“Bob Crumpus is one of the bright spots in our lives. I’ve always thought the Lord could change my son, but I don’t think he hears my prayers anymore.”

Ashley put a hand on the woman’s arm. “Where do you think Danny might have gone? Bryce and I would like to help.”

She stared at Ashley with red eyes. “I’d love to have Danny back, but even if you did find him, it’s too late. Our son is gone for good.”

Chapter 51

We made it inside the school doors
just as the first bell rang. I could see the relief on Bryce’s face as we hurried to our lockers.

I thought about Danny the rest of the day. He must have felt so guilty. I remembered seeing him at the Toot Toot Café and thinking he was just a bum. I was ashamed I had judged him without knowing anything about him.

At lunch I took my tray across the cafeteria and sat near some of the eighth graders. Cammy and Tracy had their usual crowd of giggling girls. I caught only bits of the conversation.

“. . . won’t mess with us anymore . . .”

“. . . lucky we took care of him when we did . . .”

“. . . everybody knew he was dangerous . . .”

“. . . catch him and bring him back here for the trial . . .”

“. . . hope he stays gone for good.”

Cammy looked at me, and I focused on my lunch. She kept staring until I looked up. “Hey, Timberline, what do
you
think they should do with the guy who attacked us?”

The other girls were suddenly quiet.

“Get his side of the story, for starters,” I said.

“We know what happened,” Cammy said. “We were there.”

I nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

“So answer the question.”

“Justice,” I said.

I didn’t look back, but from their silence, I assumed Cammy and Tracy weren’t happy.