Darlene Graham - An Accidental Family

This guy was a cop, wasn’t he? With her imagination conjuring up thoughts about serial killers pretending to be cops so they could lure their victims into remote, dark places like this one, she forced herself to review the facts.

Badge. Bulletproof vest. Shotgun. But anyone could get their hands on such items, couldn’t they? The voice on the radio. He couldn’t fake that, could he? And he’d known her name…and Lyle’s.

Breathe, she told herself, trying to calm down. But that was hard to do when she was practically plastered against his back. His hands had been all over her from the minute she’d slammed into him, but if he hadn’t kept a firm grip on her, she would have fallen off these rocks ten times by now.

What alternative did she have but to trust this guy, at least for now? Running off into the woods like a crazy woman again?

Finally they emerged onto a level moonlit patch in the path, and she relaxed a fraction.

He resumed his questions. “What drew the boys up here?”

“Those caves. Dillon’s idea, I’m sure.”

Seth nodded. “He’s obviously the leader.”

“Some leader. He’s always getting the other two to sneak out of their cabin, steal things, vandalize property, whatever he can dream up. These aren’t normal boys, Sheriff. I suppose you figured out that Maddy is deaf.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And Aaron…well Aaron’s hard to explain. His problems are complex. Basically he’s a psychological mute. But don’t let his silence fool you, Officer— I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

“Whitman. Seth Whitman.”

“Officer Whitman—”

“Just Seth.” Seth had never been comfortable with that “Officer” bit. His motives for becoming a cop were far from pure.

“Okay. Seth. Aaron takes in everything around him like a sponge. Maddy’s been hurt time and again because of his disability. And Dillon’s one angry boy. He can explode for no reason.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m familiar with that kind.” He’d been that kind himself once upon a time, before Coach had taken ahold of him.

“Honestly, that child.”

“He’s no child.” Seth reminded her, and felt a jerk on his hand for the mumbled remark.

He glanced back to see Rainey Chapman’s pretty mouth tight with disapproval. “Yes, he is. And even if I’m the only one who understands that, I still intend to see that he gets the same loving care that any child deserves.”

In Seth’s opinion what boys Dillon’s age needed was a little more discipline and a little less TLC. The “child” was nearly as tall as Seth, though lanky, and Seth had even noticed the beginnings of a mustache on Dillon’s upper lip. “But I take it he’s a real handful.”

She finally favored Seth with a smile. That flash of pretty teeth in the moonlight sent another surprising ripple of sensation through him. He was definitely becoming captivated by this sprite of a woman.

“More like a budding sociopath. Dillon is creative and charming and athletic. He’s everything a boy that age should be. Except he’s also a manipulative little liar.”

Not entirely, Seth suspected, although parts of his story hadn’t added up.

The terrain was not as steep now, and they were hidden from view of the cliffs by the thick canopy of trees, so he flicked on the flashlight and aimed it at the trail. She came up beside him, and he released her hand, missing her delicate clasp immediately. “So, you last saw the boys in their cabin?”

She nodded. “Around midnight.”

It was now well past two in the morning.

“When I got up to go to the bathroom. I’ve gotten in the habit of doing a bed check every few hours since the last…incident.”

“When was that?”

“Two weeks ago.”

Maybe night after night of bed checks for the last two weeks explained Rainey Chapman’s impulsive behavior. Maybe the woman was too sleep-deprived to think straight.

“What happened that time?”

“They went skinny-dipping. I happened to look in on them once, but they had made up dummies in their beds. I would never have caught them if Maddy hadn’t slipped up. He was signing to Dillon at breakfast the next morning. Aaron and Dillon learned ASL so they could talk to Maddy—”

“ASL?”

“American Sign Language. Maddy prefers it to Signing Exact English. The boys are quite clever with it. They do it so fast, it’s almost like a secret language, you know? Anyway, Dillon slapped at Maddy’s hands, but not before I saw that he was saying something about swimming at the old train bridge—that’s where they’d gone that time.”

“So you can read sign language— ASL—as well?” That would be useful.

“That’s part of the reason I got this job. But boy, was I wrong about helping these kids. I was living in la-la land. Reliving my own childhood.”

“You had a troubled childhood?” Seth frowned at her. He could identify with that.

Her expression clouded for only an instant before she covered up with a light laugh. “No! I’m talking about how I played in the out-of-doors. Out here, in these mountains.”

“You grew up around here?” He’d guess they were about the same age. There was only one high school in the area—the massive one in Tenikah. He would have remembered any girl this beautiful. He was certain he’d never seen Rainey Chapman before tonight.

“Only in the summers. Long story. Anyway, I thought it would be so wonderful to be out here in the country, helping disadvantaged children get in touch with nature. Helping them heal and grow and reach their potential. Turning lives around. Saving the universe, et cetera, et cetera.” She let out another little self-deprecating laugh.

Seth smiled. He liked the way this woman talked, the way she laughed.

“Ouch!” She stumbled on the dark path and clutched his arm.

“You okay?” He pressed a steadying palm to her back.

“Yeah.” Her voice was tense. “Just stubbed my toe.”

Seth took his hand off her back but didn’t release her fingers, justifying the lingering touch to himself—then to her. “Maybe you’d better hold on to me a little bit longer.”

“I guess so.”

As they walked on she sighed heavily. “Anyway, so much for helping the kids. Now it looks like the boys are in worse trouble than they were before I took charge of them.”

Seth ignored her self-recriminations and got back to his point. “So, Dillon reads sign language, as well?”

“Yes. Maddy taught him fairly quickly.”

Seth frowned. So why hadn’t Dillon interpreted for Jake? Trying to control the interview? He was obviously used to manipulating adults.

Seth glanced at Rainey, involuntarily tightening his grip around her slender fingers as he thought about how this impulsive bleeding heart of a woman had spooked the Slaughter boys right out of his grasp. He just hoped the twins hadn’t spotted the commotion at the bottom of the hill. And he hoped they weren’t circling back to get the bones this very minute.

He found himself dragging Rainey along faster as anger and worry drove him. As annoyed as he was at this woman for blowing his stakeout, his fear for her safety and the safety of three young boys was greater.

“Officer? Seth? You’re hurting my hand.”

“Sorry.” He relaxed his grip.

“I’m the one who should be sorry,” she said, as if she’d just read his mind. “I should never have covered for the boys the way I did. I’m afraid I was too soft-hearted. I always gave them one more chance. You see, the rule is if a boy causes trouble at Big Cedar, the next step in the system is the reform school at Werner. I didn’t want boys this young to end up in that awful place, especially with their disabilities. The other inmates there would rip Maddy and Aaron to pieces.” She came up short. “I imagine they won’t let me near children now. And the boys will end up trapped at Werner, anyway.”