The Shadow's Edge (19 page)

             
                                                                                   
38

Six months later …

              After Jessup’s magnanimous gesture our lives eventually assumed a measure of normalcy and our minds turned to the minutiae of everyday life. I met with the investment company that had quietly handled our affairs throughout my absence. It turned out to be a pleasantly surprising meeting. We weren’t rich by most standards but we had enough money to buy the Stiller farm, complete all the improvements to the house and barn we deemed necessary, and acquire a couple new vehicles. There was enough left over that we will never want for anything within reason.

             
We see the Wilsons on a regular basis. My relationship with Miles, however, was never going to be what it once was if I left the official version of events unclarified. One evening after a momentous meal and way too much whiskey I took him for a walk and told him every detail about what had really happened with Fordham. He admitted he already knew, or at least highly suspected, what had taken place but he, nonetheless, very much appreciated my confiding in him. He promised never to tell Betty about Fordham. She had enough trouble trying to come to grips with what I had done to Reuben Henderson. Telling her about Fordham would have ended any possibility of her tolerating me again.

             
Charlene Lamont has never been found. Yuri Kristov, the suspected ring leader in the smuggling and prostitution operation, believed responsible for her disappearance and many others, escaped prosecution by fleeing the country. Authorities believe he’s hiding in Russia.

             
Kat Stedman and Kyle Jessup began dating about three months after the Fordham/Croop case was resolved. We were told the last time we saw Kat that she and Jessup are planning to get married this summer. I see Jessup every now and again when I’m in town. He’s quiet around me. I think he’s a little ashamed of himself for letting his emotions overrule his sworn duty to uphold the law. He has a new deputy, a young guy from Lewiston who works hard to try and earn Jessup’s respect and trust. Given Jessup’s experience with Fordham and Croop, I think the guy’s got a tough job ahead of him.

             
I watch Callie sometimes as she’s working in the garden or cooking up something special in her kitchen or struggling through a crossword puzzle. She takes a great deal of satisfaction from the simple pleasures of life and I have come to the conclusion that she is, at last, truly happy. She’s not the woman she once was but I don’t think of that as a bad thing. She’s a little more dependent on me than she used to be and, if I’m perfectly honest, it probably strokes my male ego a bit, making for a little less tension in our relationship. She rarely ever displays any undue temper. Whatever demons that plagued her for the years following our daughter’s death and my seven year absence from her life seem to have moved on.

             
In my own case I know the demons are unlikely to ever completely vanish. I’m often reminded of the terrible things I have not only done but, of equal concern,
almost
done. Whenever these thoughts bring on a particularly virulent strain of gloominess I take Bix for a long walk, conscious not to let my struggle with the past infect Callie. The beauty and serenity of the rolling green hills that surround us usually has the effect of settling my restive soul, at least for awhile.

             
My hope is that the troubling images imbedded in my brain will fade as the years pass. I’m even more hopeful that the love Callie and I share will
never
fade.