Scene Of The Crime: The Deputy's Proof

“That’s the deal, Savannah. I go with you next Friday night, or tomorrow I tell Trey about the tunnels.”

She could tell by his firm tone that he meant it. She should be grateful that he had given her as much as he had. “All right,” she said. “I appreciate you giving me one last walk. I go down into the tunnel about eleven thirty or so. If you aren’t by the bush at that time next Friday, I won’t wait for you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there,” he assured her and stood. She got up as well and followed him back to the door. “So, we have a date next Friday night,” he said, the charming amusement back in his eyes.

“A date under duress,” she replied coyly.

He pushed open the door to leave but turned back to look at her. “You know, you might try walking in the sunshine sometime. It’s so much better than walking in the shadows.”

He didn’t wait for a reply but turned and walked away. She locked the door after him and returned to the chair behind the desk.

She didn’t even want to contemplate his parting words. He knew nothing about her, nothing about her life...her loss. All she had to do was see him one last time, next Friday night, and then she wouldn’t have to see Deputy Josh Griffin again.

The night passed uneventfully, and by seven, when owner Donnie Albright showed up to relieve her, she was exhausted. She’d spent most of the quiet night as she usually did, sitting and trying not to think, not to feel.

Once at home, she changed out of the tailored blouse and black slacks she wore to work and into a sleeveless cotton nightgown and then fell into bed. The dark shades at her bedroom window kept out the sunlight, and she didn’t have to worry about phone calls or unexpected guests interrupting her sleep.

Since Mac had moved out, the only person who ever came by the house was Chad Wilson, who delivered groceries to her once a week on Thursday afternoons.

Because she was off Thursdays and Fridays, she always got special items to cook on those days, meals she might have served customers in her own restaurant if her world hadn’t fallen apart.

She finally fell asleep and dreamed of days gone by, when Shelly and Bo were a couple and she often spent time with them. Bo often teased that he was the luckiest guy in the world, with two beautiful women on his arms. He’d been like a brother to her, and she’d grieved the loss of his friendship almost as deeply as she did Shelly.

Her dream transformed, and a vision of Josh filled her mind. He held her in his arms, his body fitting close against her own as his lips covered hers in a kiss that seared fire through her.

She awakened irritated that the sexy lawman had held any place at all in her dreams.

For the next four days, she went to work each night and came home each morning and slept. In the late afternoons, when she was awake, she vegged out in front of the television, trying not to think about the fact that Friday night would be her final tribute to her sister.

She was almost grateful on Thursday afternoon when Chad showed up with the bags of groceries she’d ordered the day before from the grocery store.

Although she’d always found the thirtysomething deliveryman a bit odd, he brought her not only the things she wanted to cook but also a wealth of gossip.

If Josh hadn’t held up his end of their bargain, she would know about it from Chad. He’d tell her all about the discovery of the tunnels and the exploration that was taking place.

She answered his knock on the back door and allowed him and his grocery bags inside the kitchen. “How are you doing today, Savannah?” he asked with his usual good cheer. As always, his dark brown hair stood up in spikes, and his caramel-colored eyes danced around the room as if unable to focus on any one spot.

“Good. How about you?” she asked. He placed the bags on the table, and she began to unload them.

“I’ve been busy today. Old Ethel Rogers fell and broke her hip last week, so I made a delivery to her earlier. You look pretty in that sundress. You should get out of this house more often.”

“Thank you for the compliment,” she replied. “What else is going on around town?”

He sat at the table as she continued to unpack and put away the food. “Mayor Jim Burns is pressuring all the businesses on Main Street to update and renovate their shops, and some people aren’t happy about it. Former mayor Frank Kean is buzzing around between town and the construction site for the new park, and Claire Silver and Bo McBride got engaged.”

He slapped his hand over his mouth, his eyes wide. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that last part.”

Savannah smiled. “No, it’s okay. I hope he and Claire will be very happy together.” She wasn’t surprised they had found love together, and she wanted love for Bo. He would always hold a special place in her heart as the man who had once loved Shelly.

“You know, maybe we could go out some time,” Chad said. “Maybe have dinner at the café. You know, just casual-like.” His gaze moved from her to the stove and then back to her.

“I’m sorry, Chad. It’s nothing personal, but I don’t go out.”

He frowned. “Are you sure it’s nothing personal? I know I don’t have a great job, and I’m not as smart as a lot of people.”

“It has nothing to do with that, and I think you’re very smart,” she quickly replied. “I think you’re very nice. It has nothing to do with you, Chad. I just don’t go out with anyone.”

Chad appeared satisfied with her answer. He stayed until the last food item had been put away, and then he left. She’d had a feeling that he had a crush on her, but she never played to it.

All she really knew about him was that he worked for his mother, Sharon, at the grocery store and lived in a small apartment in the back of the store. He was a pleasant-looking man, but he was a bit slow.

Today had been the first time he’d actually asked her out. She hoped she hadn’t hurt his feelings by turning him down.

Dismissing those thoughts, she focused all her attention on pulling out the ingredients she needed to make Cajun skillet fillets. There was nothing better than beef fillets and shrimp paired with a special blend of blackening spices and lobster stock. She decided to cook a side of fresh asparagus in garlic and butter.

The only time she allowed any happiness to fill her heart, to seep into her soul, was when she cooked. All of her thoughts, all of her energy went into the food.

There were many times Sharon special-ordered items for her because the local store didn’t carry much in the way of specialty foods.

It didn’t take long for the kitchen to fill with a variety of wonderful scents. It brought back the times that Savannah’s mother had cooked delicious meals for the family. She was always experimenting and tweaking recipes and was responsible for Savannah’s love of cooking.

She cooked two steaks and a dozen shrimp, deciding that she’d eat the second portion the next night...the night she walked for the last time as Shelly’s ghost.

It was six o’clock and everything was ready for plating when the doorbell rang. She nearly jumped out of her skin. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard the chime indicating somebody was at the front door.

She looked out the peephole to see Josh on the front porch. Had he changed his mind about giving her tomorrow night? She opened the door, and he greeted her with the sexy smile that twisted her heart in an uncomfortable way.

“What a surprise,” she said as she opened the door to allow him inside.

“Since it was one of my nights off, I just thought I’d stop by and check in before tomorrow night,” he said. “Hmm, something smells terrific.”

“It’s dinner. I was just about to put it on a plate.”

“Smells like a lucky plate,” he replied.

She thought of the two steaks and the dozen shrimp. “Are you hungry? I have plenty if you’d like to join me.”

His eyes lit with pleasure. “I’d love to join you.”

As he followed her into the kitchen, she wondered what in the world had possessed her to invite him to dinner. She told herself the reason was that she had to play nice with him until after tomorrow night, and then she wouldn’t have to play with him at all.

She gestured him to a seat at the table as she moved to the cabinet to get down another plate. She didn’t know what to say. She’d forgotten how to make small talk. It was a surprising revelation.

“I assume you’ve had a quiet week,” he finally said, breaking what had grown into an awkward silence.

“I always have quiet weeks.” She filled two glasses with iced tea and added them and silverware to the table, then returned to the stove to put the food on the plates. “What about you?”

He leaned back in the chair, looking relaxed, as if he belonged there. “Let’s see. On Monday night I got a call of an intruder in the attic of Mildred Samps’s house. It turned out to be a raccoon that had gotten in through a hole in the eaves. I called out Chase Marshall from Fish and Game, and he managed to get the creature out.”

“Tell me more,” she said as she focused on plating the food in a visually pleasing way. She’d much rather listen to him talk than have to talk herself.

“On Tuesday night I was called out to Jimmy’s Place to break up a fight between two drunks.”

She glanced at him in surprise. “Jimmy doesn’t usually let things get out of control like that, and I still think of it as Bo’s Place.”

“Bo definitely had a flair for bringing in a crowd when he owned it. Jimmy doesn’t have Bo’s natural charisma. Anyway, that brings us to last night, when there were no calls and I just drove up and down the streets for hours. Working the night shift in this town isn’t all that challenging.”

“I’m sure there are times when a good deputy is necessary after dark. Isn’t that when bad things happen?” She delivered the plates to the table.

“Jeez, it all looks too pretty to eat. Do you cook like this every night?”

She sat at the table across from him and shook her head. “Usually just on my nights off.”

“That’s right. I just remembered that you went to culinary school in Jackson. Didn’t I hear somewhere that you were going to open a restaurant at one time?”

“That was another lifetime,” she replied. “Dig in while it’s warm.”

He cut into the steak and took a bite. “This is amazingly delicious. You should put opening that restaurant in this lifetime.”

She felt the warmth of a blush creep into her cheeks, along with a flush of pleasure that swept over her at his words, but it lasted only a moment. “I don’t have the passion I once had for cooking for other people.”

He popped a shrimp in his mouth and chased it with a drink of tea. He gazed at her curiously. “So, what do you have a passion for these days?”

“Keeping Shelly’s memory alive.” The one thing he was taking away from her. “Besides, as far as I’m concerned, passion is vastly overrated,” she added. “What about you? What do you feel passionate about?”

“My job, this town and the people I serve,” he answered easily.

“What about a girlfriend?” She was just curious. She certainly didn’t care one way or the other whether he had a girlfriend or not.

“Nobody special. Although I’m ready to find the woman who will be by my side for the rest of my life, the woman who will give me some kids, and we’ll all live happily ever after.” He laughed. “I sound like a woman whose biological clock is ticking.”

His words brought a smile to Savannah’s lips. “You sound like a man ready to move into a new phase of life.”

He stared at her. “You should do that more often. I’d forgotten how you look when you smile.”

“Eat your dinner,” she replied as a new warmth filled her. She was ready for him to leave. He confused her. He made her feel uncomfortable. He had no place at her table, and she had been impulsive in inviting him in.

He seemed attuned to her discomfort. He ate quickly and didn’t ask her any more questions but rather kept up an easy monologue about his work, the new amusement park and the changes that were already happening in the town.

When they’d finished eating, she insisted he not help with the cleanup but instead hurried him toward the front door. “Thanks for the unexpected meal,” he said. His eyes had gone dark blue like deep, unfathomable waters.

“No problem,” she replied. Away from the kitchen with all its cooking scents, she could smell his cologne and remembered the brief moment of being held in his arms while she wept in the tunnel.

“Then we’re still on for tomorrow night?” he asked.

“Definitely. We’ll meet at the bush in the backyard at around eleven thirty or so tomorrow night.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

She breathed a sigh of relief as she closed and locked the door behind him. She sank into a nearby chair, the scent of him still filling her head.

There had been a time when she’d been certain he was going to ask her out, and there had been a time when she’d desperately hoped he would. He’d been the one man in town who had managed to quicken her heartbeat at the mere sight of him.

They had flirted outrageously with each other whenever they were together in a group. Shelly had teased her unmercifully about her crush on Josh.

But that had been before life had kicked her so hard she didn’t want to play anymore. She’d picked up her marbles and crawled into a cave where she felt safe and secure, a place where no more hurt could touch her again.

She got up from the chair and went back into the kitchen to clear the dishes from the table and clean up the rest of her cooking mess, dismissing any more thoughts of Josh.

She slept late the next morning, as was her custom with her night job, and spent most of the afternoon and evening restlessly pacing the floor, cleaning things that were already clean, both anticipating and dreading the night to come.

By eleven o’clock she was in the bathroom, using powder to whiten her face and already clad in her “ghost” costume for the last time.

Tonight she would hear Shelly’s name shouted, and after tonight she didn’t know if she would ever hear anyone speak of her sister again. It was as if Shelly was dying a second time, and this time it would be final.

By eleven thirty, she was at the bush, waiting for Josh to arrive. She couldn’t ignore the aching sadness in her heart and yet also knew that these Shelly walks were a part of her that wasn’t quite rational.

She waited impatiently, expecting Josh to show up any moment. But minutes passed, and when she’d waited fifteen minutes, she had to move. She’d warned him that if he wasn’t here on time, she’d go it alone, as she had so many times in the past year.

With a final glance around the backyard and no sign of Josh in sight, she slipped down the rabbit hole and turned on her penlight.

Everyone knew that Shelly’s “ghost” usually showed up on Friday nights around midnight. She couldn’t let down her “fans” by being late. She’d even heard from Chad one time that young teenagers planned slumber parties and included coming to watch for Shelly’s ghost as part of the night’s activities.

She moved through the tunnel more quickly than usual, all the while listening for the sound of Josh coming down to join her.

Tomorrow this place would probably be crawling with people. Experts of one sort or another would explore all the passageways, try to date the network, and eventually there might even be tours set up by the town, eager to make money off the unexpected find.

She reached the planks that would take her up, surprised that she’d heard nothing to indicate that Josh was somewhere behind her. He’d obviously been held up by something.

She went up the steps and crouched by the trunk of the tree. For a moment the only things she heard were the croak of frogs and the splash of water from the nearby lagoon.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if there was nobody hiding behind the bushes tonight, nobody to witness this final tribute to her dead sister? Then she heard them...the giggling and whispering of her audience. Thank goodness she wouldn’t make this last walk without anyone to watch.

When she thought it was just around midnight, she turned on the flashlight that gave her the otherworldly glow. She made her walk as cries of her sister’s name filled the air.

Shelly. Savannah missed her so badly. Without these walks, Shelly would eventually become completely irrelevant and forgotten. The fact ached in Savannah’s heart.

When she reached the other side, she turned off the light and hurried to the opening of the cave. She disappeared inside and leaned weakly against the earthen wall of the tunnel.

It was done. It was over. Now the memory of Shelly would remain only in her mind. Perhaps for several weeks, maybe even a month or so, teenagers would gather behind the bushes to see her “ghost,” but when no more appearances occurred, eventually they’d find something else to do on their Friday nights.

Turning on her penlight, she then began the trek back to where she’d begun. Weary sadness moved her feet slowly. Her parents rarely spoke to her. She had no relationship with Mac. Now her last link to Shelly had been broken.

She’d been alone for the past two years, but now she felt an emptiness, a depth of loneliness she’d never felt before. You’ll be fine, a little voice whispered in her head. And she would be okay. She still had her work at the inn and her nights of cooking, and that was all she really needed.

She had three more dark offshoot passageways to go by, and then she’d be home. As she started past the first one, a hand reached out and grabbed her by the arm.

She shrieked in shock and yanked backward. She crashed to the ground, the penlight falling just out of her reach. Panic and terror shot through her as somebody or something grabbed her by the foot and began to drag her into the dark tunnel.

She kicked and clawed the ground in an effort to get away, but whoever had her was strong, and she felt herself being slowly pulled into the blackness of the unknown corridor.

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