Catherine Coulter - Blindside

“Yes,” he said, breaking in at last, “everything is okay now. I’m okay. Sam is okay. There’s lots to tell you, Cracker, but you’re going to have to wait for the unabridged version. Hey, do you know anyone in Jessborough, Tennessee?”

“Me? I’ve never even heard of Jessborough, Tennessee. What’s going on, Miles?”

“That’s another reason I called. I thought we’d be coming right back, but not just yet. Sam’s seeing a local shrink, and I think she’s really good. She came over last night after there was more violence.”

Cracker nearly lost it. “Violence? What damned violence? Are you nuts, Miles? Bring him home!”

When he could talk over her, and assure her again that they were safe, Miles said, “I’ll keep you posted. Please, Cracker, don’t worry. Now, I need you to work closely with the FBI-Agent Butch Ashburn was here but he wanted to get back, to get to the bottom of this.”

“This sheriff… what’s her name?”

“Katie Benedict. She’s good, Cracker, really good. She’s quick, has a solid center, and she’s got guts. She’s probably got lots more, but that’s a good start. Like I told you, she saved Sam.”

“Is she like the woman sheriff in Mel Gibson’s movie Signs ?”

“Well, maybe, only younger. She’s really together, like that sheriff was.”

“Okay, that’s great, but Miles, I want you to bring Sam home. I miss him, you know?”

“I know. Sam is seeing a shrink this morning, so that’s one thing keeping us here. Plus the sheriff has a little girl, Keely. She and Sam are really tight. Dr. Raines believes Keely is very important to Sam right now. I’m not about to risk Sam’s progress by separating them. And the thing is, Sam’s probably just as safe here as he would be back home. So, for the next couple of days, I’m keeping him here in Jessborough. Have you thought of anything that could help?”

“No, but the FBI are checking out all your employees, which takes a good long time. They’ve spoken to everyone-all the neighbors, all Sam’s teachers, even the postman. Give Sam a big kiss for me, Miles, and tell him I miss him like mad.”

“I will. Take care. I’ll call if something happens. Hold down the fort. I’ll call Conrad at the office, make sure everything’s running smooth, so don’t worry about the business.”

He got Conrad’s voice mail. When he slipped his cell back into his pocket, he looked up to see Katie standing in the kitchen doorway. She had socks on her feet and a loose shirt over jeans. She’d pulled her long hair back into a ponytail. She looked fresh and scrubbed. He himself wore socks to protect his Band-Aided feet, jeans from yesterday, and his shirt with two buttons buttoned. He smiled. It felt good.

“Cracker?”

“Yeah. She’s my sister-in-law-Alicia’s sister. She’s lived with us ever since Alicia died. She’s really Sam’s surrogate mother.”

“Where’d she get the name Cracker?”

“She nearly blew off my foot on the Fourth of July a couple of years back, got called Firecracker, and that came down to Cracker. She’s a brick. I trust her even though she’s a lawyer, only part-time since Alicia died. The kids still asleep?”

“Yeah. I woke up, saw that Keely wasn’t with me in bed, and nearly had heart failure. I found them both in the living room sleeping. They must have been watching cartoons with almost no sound. I checked you, got some blankets, then went back to the living room. What would you like for breakfast, Miles?”

“You checked me?”

She nodded. “I knew if you woke up and Sam wasn’t there, you’d be scared, but you were sleeping so deeply I decided not to wake you. Now, what about food?”

He remembered pushing the covers down, and he’d awakened with the covers down, which meant she’d probably seen him sprawled on his back, wearing only his boxer shorts. He hoped he hadn’t had a hard-on. Then he found himself wondering what she’d thought. No, that was nuts.

“Food, Miles,” she said.

He blinked. “You know, I haven’t thought about food for what is it, three days now, ever since Sam was taken. I’m starving.”

“Good, then bacon and eggs it is. Crispy and scrambled?”

A fter Sam’s meeting with Dr. Raines, Miles still wasn’t sure what the best place was for Sam. What made it easier was that Sam didn’t want Keely out of his sight.

Miles knew that Katie was as flummoxed as he was. He couldn’t move to Jessborough and he couldn’t very well take Keely back with him to Colfax, Virginia.

Because Miles wasn’t about to let Sam out of his sight, that meant he also kept Keely with him, and that meant she was out of kindergarten for the moment, cleared by Katie with Keely’s teacher.

Needless to say, Keely was pleased about this. Miles and the kids parted company from the other adults after lunch at Molly’s Diner on Main Street, after munching on the best meatloaf east of Knoxville.

It was a beautiful day, sunny and clear, with a slight fall nip in the air. He took them to the small Jessborough park, located just a block from Main Street, bordered with trees so outrageously colorful you just stood there marveling at them. In the middle was a big swing set for the kids.

Katie went to her office to brief Wade and all the deputies on the situation. She’d no sooner gotten into her office than Agent Glen Hodges appeared in the doorway. He had his arms crossed over his chest, shaking his head at her.

She sat down behind her desk. “Good morning, Agent Hodges.”

He gave her a small salute. “Hi, Sheriff. You’re amazing, absolutely amazing. You took out both bad guys.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t really want to, and you probably know Clancy practically admitted he was working for somebody else.”

“We’ll find out who that somebody is,” he said. “I spoke with Butch Ashburn. He gave me a rundown. Now I’m thinking I should go interview the McCamys.”

Katie smiled. “Admittedly, I’m just a backwoods sheriff, but Agent Sherlock and I have already been to see them. I’d appreciate it if you’d let us deal with the McCamys.”

He wasn’t happy about that, but he nodded.

“What I’d really like you to do is come along to the briefing I’m giving to my deputies.”

He wasn’t happy about this either, but on the other hand, Katie wasn’t very happy with him. When he left for the department’s conference room, Katie called Wade in.

Wade always walked like a guy on the prowl. He was two years older than Katie and he’d wanted very much to be elected sheriff, but the truth was, the powers in town owed a lot to the Benedict Pulp Mill, and so Katie was the one to get the nod. Wade had been a deputy to the old sheriff, a good old boy named Bud Owens who’d believed computers were for wussies. When he’d finally retired, he’d told everyone he wanted Wade. Unfortunately for him, Wade didn’t have Katie’s education, or her experience as a cop in a big city. Certainly her desire to be sheriff equaled or surpassed Wade’s. Her cop experience had been in Knoxville, for two years, and that’s where she’d met Carlo Silvestri, who turned her life upside down. For one year, her life had been one screaming crisis after another. Then Carlo’s father had come and they’d both left Knoxville.

Katie had taken stock, realized she was a cop to her toes, and what she really wanted was to be sheriff of Jessborough. It was what she needed, too. She loved her work. It had helped her get through the worst of her father’s illness, the devastating and inevitable march of Alzheimer’s, which had turned him into an angry stranger before killing him.

She watched Wade, her eyes half-closed. When she’d had enough of his fidgeting around, she said, “Well, Wade, would you like to continue working with Agent Hodges for as long as he remains here?”