dontravis.com
blog post #305
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| Courtesy of Pixabay |
Let’s finish our story today. Hope you enjoyed the
two-parter. You will remember that we concluded last week’s post with the
revelation that Mary Harcaswter’s ex-husband was paroled from prison some six
weeks ago. The ex-con is under the impression that little Samantha is his
daughter and has been demanding to see her. Now the child has disappeared.
*****
MUDDY
TOES (Conclusion)
Lights flashing, Sandy and Tom
raced across town to the Park Street Motel, which was contracted out to the
feds as a halfway house. The manager, whom Sandy suspected was a federal
officer, heard them out before confirming Bill Robbins was a resident. He was
to spend the last three months of his sentence at the motel. The residents were
free to move about town during the day but were required to return to the
halfway house for the night. So far, Robbins was an exemplary resident. No, he
was not around right now, nor had the manager seen a small girl with him.
After obtaining the model and
make of Robbins’ car—a black 2005 Buick LeSabre—Sandy and her partner took off
for the Robbins’ last known residence. The current occupant professed to have
no knowledge of William Robbins but directed them to the house across the
street.
Giles Mimms, a man of wide
girth and receding hairline, had lived at his address for twenty-seven years
and recalled his former neighbor vividly.
“Robbins was too smooth by
half, in my opinion. Always knew he would end up in a bad way. And he done it,
too. Now the wife, she was a dear.”
“Why do you say he was going
to end up in a bad way?” Sandy asked.
“Putting on airs. Spending
money like he had a printing press in the basement.”
“How so?”
“Fancy cars. Expensive
vacations. Cabin in the mountains. Dressed Mary up like a million bucks. But by
the time she ended up in the family way, he was already on the downslide. Poor
woman practically went around in rags after that. Hope she’s okay.”
“Do you know any of his
friends or intimates?” Tom asked.
“Nope. Kept to myself and
minded my own business. But I kept an eye out. Tell me, did Mary have that
baby? Boy or girl?”
So the nosy neighbor knew
nothing about a miscarriage. Sandy shook her head. “No, sir. She lost it.”
“Dammit! I knew what he was
putting her through would take its toll. Is she okay?”
“She’s fine, Mr. Mimms. She’s
remarried and has a beautiful daughter. In fact, that’s why we’re here. Someone
took her.”
“You think Robbins done it?”
Mimms blinked and showed how sharp he was. “He thinks she’s his own, don’t he?”
“Afraid so. You have any idea
where he might go to hide out?”
Mimms’ fleshy face collapsed
into a frown. “Maybe that cabin I mentioned. He went up there a lot during the
summers.”
“Where was it?”
“Somewheres up on Mountain
Lake. Don’t have no idea where, though.”
A search of public records
sent Sandy and Tom up Mountain Loop Road to meet a county deputy at the
intersection with Mountain Tarn Drive.
“Robbins don’t own that cabin
anymore. Got sold when he went to prison,” the deputy said after being
briefed.
“You know about that, huh?”
Tom asked.
“Whole community knows about
it. Big news back in the day.”
“Who owns the cabin now?”
“Couple down in the city, but
they don’t get up much.”
“Anybody there now?” Sandy
asked.
“Dunno. My instructions was to
steer clear until you got here.”
“Well, let’s go check.
They followed the deputy’s cruiser
up a rutted dirt road. After a mile, the Jeep drifted to a halt and the deputy walked
back to let them know the place was just around a curve.
“Might want to walk from
here,” he said. “Course, you can hear a motor from a mile away in these
mountains, so he probably already knows we’re here. If he’s even at the cabin,
that is.”
Sandy and Tom bailed out of
their unit and trailed the deputy through the forest. As they broke through the
tree line before a log and rock cabin, there was no evidence of a LeSabre in
the clearing. But there was smoke coming from the chimney.
“Over there,” Tom said,
motioning with his head. Robbins had pulled the Buick off into the trees. “He’s
here.”
The deputy covered the back of
the building while Sandy and Tom approached the front. When they were in
position, Tom pounded the door with a fist. “Police, Robbins. Open the door.”
For a moment, Sandy thought
they were in for a siege, but then the sound of a lock being thrown sent a
surge of adrenaline through her, heightening her senses. She had her service
pistol in her hand as the door slowly opened to reveal a pretty little blonde
child in a play suit, her bare toes still caked with dried mud.
“Samantha?” Sandy asked.
The child nodded. Tom
immediately snatched her to his chest and backed away from the door.
“Mr. Robbins,” Sandy called. “Come
on out. Samantha’s safe now.”
“I’m coming. I’m unarmed. I… I
just wanted some time with my daughter.”
Sandy didn’t know what she
expected, some dirty skell, maybe, but a handsome man with corn-tassel-yellow
hair walked out the door with his hands up. He fell to his knees and went prone
when ordered to do so without resistance. Sandy had one thought as Tom put the
girl in her arms and bent to handcuff Robbins. She’d been lied to. Samantha’s resemblance to the man lying on the
porch in front of her was too strong to be coincidence. Robbins was the child’s
father. She was certain of that.
They put the ex-con into the
more secure county cruiser. Then they followed the deputy back down the
mountain to the city. There were some things to be straightened out, but one
thing was for certain. The Harcasters would be happy to see this cute little
imp… muddy toes and all.
*****
Big
relief! Sammy’s back home unharmed. But a mystery remains. Is she really the
daughter of the ex-con or of the current lawyer husband of her mother? If it’s
the former, why did the Harcasters lie about an abortion? I have a suggestion.
Write the rest of Sammy’s story yourself. Come on, you can do it!
Please
get a copy of my latest book, The Lovely
Pines, and give me feedback on
the novel. If you do read the book, please post a review on Amazon. Each one
helps.
Now
my mantra: Keep on reading. Keep on
writing. You have something to say… so say it.
If
you would like to drop me a line, my personal links follow:
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/donald.travis.982
Twitter:
@dontravis3
Here
are some buy links to the Lovely Pines,
which (as noted) was released on August 28:
Abaddon’s
Locusts is scheduled for release on January 22, 2019, and The Voxlightner Scandal is coming along.
See
you next week.
Don
New Posts are
published at 6:00 a.m. each Thursday.
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