Exousia (Karass Chronicles Book 4) Read online

  Melvin was very grateful for everything that people were doing for him, but the solitude of the country was calling him. Hank understood completely. As much as he loved Ava and her family and all her friends, he too was a loner like Melvin, and Ava’s house was filled with people. It was too much.

  So he begged off from helping with the bags explaining that he needed to be out with his crew on the hill. At this rate, they wouldn’t get any structures done at all by summer. Besides, a construction crew without a foreman was dangerous. He had put his best man in charge, but it wasn’t the same thing. Hank needed to get back to building things where things were easier to understand.

  Well, he thought, on the other hand, it was the construction that started this whole thing. But Emily had a beautiful idea in mind, and he was anxious to help her see it come to fruition.

  Then Tom said that he had to go out of town again to take care of some business with his group. He shared with Ava that every time he left town, he wondered if this was what he wanted to be doing with his life. His friends were doing something important too just by staying in Doveland. Besides he missed Mandy. He made her promise to keep him up to date with what they discovered. Ava hugged him and told him that she was sure he would choose to do the right thing.

  The crew at Ava’s became even smaller when Craig said he couldn’t help. He had to take care of patients. He had been neglecting his practice and needed to catch up.

  Sam couldn’t help either. He needed to stay at the hospital in case Harold woke up. He didn’t want the police asking Harold questions without him being there.

  Mandy wanted to help out with the bags, so Grace said she would run the coffee shop.

  Although Emily wanted to be out on the hill with the construction crew, she knew she had to help with the bags because she might recognize her aunt when no one else would. So she canceled her classes for another day and gave up the idea that she could spend time with the trees on the hill watching her dream be built, and prepared herself for digging through the bags at Ava’s.

  Knowing that Grace would be at the coffee shop, Emily decided to stop at Your Second Home on her way to Ava’s. She wanted to bring coffee and pastries to share with everyone as they worked. Emily had another reason for stopping in, though. She wanted to thank Grace for all her help.

  When Emily walked into the coffee shop, she found Tina sitting at a little table in front of the window staring at the gas station. Emily sat down for a minute to talk with her, but instead, the two of them just stared out the window.

  After a few minutes, Tina said, “I feel as if I have lost something important.”

  “Is it something you can describe?” Emily asked.

  “Me. I think it’s me that I have lost. I married Frank. Lost myself there. Then I came to Doveland to run the gas station since it was all that he left for me. But why? This isn’t me either. I didn’t grow up wanting to run a gas station.”

  “What did you grow up wanting, Tina?”

  “And that’s the thing. I don’t remember. But I know it wasn’t that,” Tina said pointing across the street.

  “Or even this. The town. Did I want to live in a small town? I don’t think so. I like people. Lots of people. Things to do. Places to see by just walking out my door.

  “Here I see the town square, some houses, and pretty countryside. Nice. But I don’t think it’s me.”

  Emily put her hand on Tina’s arm. “If it’s not you, give it back. Or give it away. What makes up Doveland is what I have been looking for, but I understand the pull of what you are describing.”

  Emily paused in thought and then asked, “Can you sell the station?”

  Tina jerked back in surprise. “I don’t know. How come I didn’t think of that? Do you think I could?”

  Emily smiled at her. “Yes, I think you could. And I think we could find someone to help you do that. Plus, the women’s group is skilled at helping people find what they really want to do. Why don’t we ask them?”

  This time Tina’s eyes filled with tears. “They would help me?”

  Emily felt like crying too. She had the same reaction when Sarah and her council said they would help her. “Yes. I know they would.”

  Grace had come to stand beside the table while they were talking. Neither of them had seen her, so they were both startled when she said, “Yes, Tina, dear. It would be an honor to help you.”

  Tina looked at Grace and Emily and said, “Well then. I better get my butt in gear and get over there and get that station looking like a place someone would want to buy. Maybe I could hire Hank to help me?”

  “Great idea,” Grace and Emily said together. Tina hugged Grace and thanked her for the restful evening at her house, and then headed across the town square with a lightness to her step neither of them had seen in her before.

  “She’s going to need more help than she thinks,” Grace said.

  “What do you mean?” Emily asked.

  “Sam called earlier. The police have decided that Harold was poisoned and they are going to be looking closer at Valerie and Tina. Valerie of course because they were having problems and she had access to many ways to accomplish it. Tina because Harold was bothering her and she served him drinks every day.”

  “What? Neither one of them could have done such a thing. Could they?” Emily added, thinking that she was much too naive of the ways of the world. Perhaps she had missed something.

  “No. I don’t think either of them could or would,” Grace answered. “And yet. Poison. They look at women first. If not them, then who?”

  ******

  Emily arrived at Ava’s house feeling as if her skin was being pricked by hundreds of tiny pins. First, there were the bodies on the hill, her hill. And now, they think that either Valerie or Tina might have hurt Harold. No, she wasn’t buying it. Maybe she was young and naive, but she thought she could feel the hearts of those two women. They weren’t killers.

  After sharing what she learned at Grace’s to the small group of people gathered in Ava’s living room, she added, “And, I think Harold’s illness is tied up with the bodies on the hill.”

  “I agree,” Mandy said. “So let’s dig into these bags and see what we can find. It would be best if we could get done with them before the kids come home from school.”

  “Amen to that,” Mira said. “Ava, how can you handle all those kids at once anyway? Makes me kinda glad I don’t have any.”

  “Well, first, Lynn and Manny will be going home to their mom’s. Only Lex will be here because Johnny is helping at the Diner after school. So just three kids. Not so many at all. Easy.”

  Ben took that moment to start running through the sea of bags grabbing papers and throwing them about the room.

  “Okay, I take it back. Not all that easy. But I love it anyway.”

  “Sam is glad he doesn’t have kids either?” Ava asked.

  “I think so,” Mira answered. ”So far he seems okay not having any. But then he hasn’t asked me to marry him either.”

  All the women and even Evan and Melvin started laughing.

  “Geez, what’s so funny?” Mira demanded.

  Everyone just kept laughing so Mira dismissed them all with a wave of her hand and started on the nearest bag.

  “Fine, then,” she said, but her red cheeks gave her away. She knew why they laughed. Of course, they would marry. She loved Sam. He loved her. Nothing could get in the way of that.

  “Okay, Aunt Jean,” Emily said as she opened the closest bag to her. “I know you are in these bags somewhere. Let’s find your picture.”

  Evan wasn’t going through bags. He was going through the files they had brought home from Pittsburgh the day before. He was confident that between the bags and the files they would find something that would help them discover what happened
to the women on the hill.

  He felt someone looking at him and glanced up to see Eric and Leif winking at him from the corner of the room. No one else had noticed them, not even Sarah. They were gone in the blink of an eye, but he knew what they were telling him. He was right. There were answers here, and he intended to find them.

  Thirty-Five

  They gathered around the table, bumping each other trying to look over Evan’s shoulder at what he was holding. Huffing in frustration, Evan closed the file with a bang. “Sit. You’re making me crazy,” he said. “I promise to share all of this with you. But we’re waiting for Sam and Hank. I want to talk about this together.”

  Ava, Mandy, Mira, Sarah, and Emily reluctantly obeyed. They were the only ones paying attention. Melvin was snoozing on the couch, Ben was napping in his room, and Hannah and Lex had not returned from school. Valerie was at the hospital with Craig, watching over Harold.

  Evan had said, “Wow,” about fifteen minutes before and the women had stopped working to find out what he had found. They had been annoying him with questions ever since.

  They were growing even more impatient and were ready to do whatever it took to get Evan to talk when they heard the beep of cars coming up the driveway. Evan sighed, thinking it was the perfect example of being saved by the bell. Being the lone man trying to hold back determined women was not a comfortable place to be.

  “Okay,” Hank said, coming in the door, almost forgetting to take off his muddy boots until he saw Ava frowning at him. Sam took his shoes off too. They weren’t dirty, but everyone knew the rule at Ava’s was to remove shoes before coming into the house. She provided a closet where everyone could hang their coats and a shoe rack that was packed with family and guest shoes. Wearing good socks was something to remember if there was a possibility of going to Ava’s.

  Sam saw Mira waiting for him at the table and almost had to put a hand out to steady himself. She still did that to him. He was sure she would his entire life. No shoes was a rule in her house too. Now that he thought about it, it was a rule in all the women’s homes.

  It both pleased and worried him to realize that he was a man trained to be in charge and he really wasn’t. Apparently, none of these men were either. They all had stocking feet.

  Hank tried again, “Okay, what’s so all-fired important that we both had to leave what we were doing?”

  “Sit down, Hank. And you too, Sam. Evan is about to tell us. There’s coffee in the kitchen if you want it, and since we’ve been waiting for you already, a minute longer won’t make any difference,” Ava said.

  Hank sheepishly filled his coffee cup and got one for Sam before finding a seat at the table. The women had already scooted down so Sam could sit beside Mira. That meant Hank found himself beside Evan at the head of the table.

  What Emily hadn’t told anyone yet was at the same time Evan had said, “Wow,” she had pulled out a picture that looked like her Aunt Jean with three other women. She was waiting to hear what Evan had to say first. Then she would share her news.

  *******

  Both Craig and Valerie got up when Dr. Joe came into the room, to shake his hand and thank him for coming. Craig had finished with his patients for the day and had arrived an hour before to keep Valerie company. Harold had shown some signs of recovering, and they both wanted to be in the room if he woke up.

  Craig and Valerie had barely spoken during the hour. Neither knew what to say. Craig felt as if he should comfort Valerie, but he had no words of encouragement other than the standard statement that sometimes patients naturally recovered with no physical explanation. He didn’t see any reason this couldn’t happen in this case.

  Valerie smiled a wan smile at him when he said that. She knew it didn’t mean much. For the past day, as she sat with Harold holding his hand, Valerie had been contemplating what married life had been like with him. She hadn’t fully admitted to anyone how difficult it had been at times. But then something would happen, and he would be sweet and loving again, only to turn back into someone else for no reason that she could see.

  She hated seeing him lying there, and at the same time she felt the most peaceful she had in many years. Craig sitting in the room with her felt strangely comfortable. Neither of them had words to say. But it didn’t feel as if they needed to fill the gaps.

  Valerie was grateful that Dr. Joe was taking such a keen interest in Harold’s case. He had stopped by the night before and stayed with Harold while she went home to shower and change clothes.

  The house had been peaceful too. No children. They were safe at Ava’s. And there was no Harold to be displeased with her. Guilt washed over her for feeling that way, and as if he sensed her mood change, Craig reached over and squeezed her hand. Once again, no words had been exchanged, but she felt as if she had been told to let that guilt go.

  So when Dr. Joe walked into the room, she was once again happy to see him visit Harold. Valerie knew that at one time in his life Harold had been mentored by Dr. Joe. He never talked about it, she just heard it through the small town grapevine. She had tried to ask Harold why they weren’t friends anymore, and he said that they were.

  Valerie supposed that was true. After all, Harold had not resisted when she had chosen Joe as their doctor rather than going to the clinic in Concourse. When Dr. Joe delivered Lex, he was kind and gentle. He always had the right words to say to make her feel better.

  She thought that it was lovely that Dr. Joe was still there for her and Harold. She knew Dr. Joe would say the right things to her again, and do whatever he could to help Harold.

  “So let’s see what’s going on,” Joe said checking Harold’s chart at the foot of the bed. He wasn’t Harold’s official physician, but everyone at the hospital knew him and listened to what he had to say.

  “It looks as if he is stable. Why don’t the two of you get something to eat, and I will watch over him. I’ll text you if there are any changes.”

  “I could eat. I’m sure you could too, Valerie. Besides, getting up and moving will feel good.”

  “You promise to let us know?” Valerie asked as they started out the door.

  “Absolutely,” Joe answered.

  He waited for a beat to make sure that Valerie and Craig were gone. Then Joe sat down in the chair vacated by Valerie and leaned over to the bed, taking Harold’s hand. “Okay, my old friend. Let’s have another chat.”

  Thirty-Six

  Melvin breathed a sigh of relief. He was home. Hank had dropped him off and then headed back to Emily’s hill. He said he would stay and keep him company, but Melvin shooed him away. He needed some time to himself.

  The first thing he wanted to do was work in the vegetable garden. It was warm enough to work the ground, and get it ready for planting. On the way upstairs to change his clothes, Melvin stopped in his living room. Last Friday it had been filled with black plastic bags, and now there was a small, neat pile of see-through file boxes, each one labeled with what they contained. He imagined he would be spending some tearful and happy times going through the boxes on his own and remembering the past.

  “Thank you, Sally, for taking pictures of those girls,” he whispered. “Even when you’re not here, you are saving the day.” Melvin glanced at his watch and saw that he had a few hours until the lawyer man came out to see him. Melvin hadn’t told anyone about this appointment. He had hinted at what he was going to do, but he wanted to have it down in writing and filed away before telling Hank. Melvin didn’t plan to tell his son. Instead, he would write a letter and have it included in the file the lawyer kept. No point in having angry words with him now. Melvin wanted to have pleasant, if only surface, talks with his son. That hadn’t happened lately, but it was possible.

  After listening to what Evan had found in the files, Melvin realized that he might know more than he had thought about what had happened. It
was a long time ago, but pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together. However, when he tried to remember, it would slip away from him. He was hoping that now that he was home more pieces would come together for him. Once his memories were clearer, he was going to tell someone. But not before. If what he was remembering was right, it would be dangerous to tell the wrong person.

  Melvin also realized that even if he told the right person, he would probably still be in danger. That’s why he was going to be prepared. Just in case.

  As Melvin headed upstairs to change his clothes, he whistled a song he and Sally used to sing together. He was sure he heard her whistling along with him. The edges of this world and the next were beginning to blur for him. He couldn’t wait too long to remember. No matter what way he looked at it, there was only so much time left.

  *******

  It’s hard leaving Melvin alone, Hank thought to himself as he drove down a back road to Emily’s hill. He had discovered the back way a few weeks before. It meant he didn’t have to go all the way to Doveland and then out to the hill. Instead, the road jutted to the north and came out on the road that led out of Doveland a mile from Emily’s hill.

  It was a dirt road full of bumps, but Hank loved knowing alternative ways to get places. Old habits of being invisible still were part of his being.

  Hank promised Melvin he would be back in time for a late dinner. In fact, he told him that he would bring dinner with him. Maybe fried chicken from the Diner. Pete and Alex had finally come up with a recipe that they loved, and it had become an instant hit.