“Why did you bail us out?” Donovan said while he walked over to George.
Jodi walked over to Ernie.
“We felt it was the right thing to do,” replied George, giving Donovan a smile.
“Yeah, the right thing to do,” added Ernie, and he gave Jodi a warm smile.
“Thank you. I’ll pay you back,” said Donovan shaking George’s hand.
“Me too,” said Jodi, then gave Ernie a hug.
While she hugged Ernie, that gave him a strange déjà vu of Tiffany hugging him.
“Let’s go; you can stay with us,” George told Donovan.
“And you can stay with me,” Ernie told Jodi.
While they left the station, Rock sat and steamed behind his desk. He started to have this terrible gut feeling his case against Donovan and Jodi was 242
weakening. He did not want anybody to start looking in his direction. He wanted this to be over forever.
Kent proceeded to give Donovan and Jodi all of their personal belongings back to them, including their cell phones.
Thirty minutes had passed, and Donovan and Jodi checked out of their Motel 6 rooms.
Donovan rode with George to his house while Jodi rode with Ernie to his house.
When Donovan arrived at George’s home, George took him into Howie’s bedroom.
“You can sleep here,” said George, and for some unexplained reason, he felt as if Howie had returned home.
Meanwhile, at Ernie’s home, Ernie took her to Tiffany’s house.
“You’re welcome to stay in her room,” he told her, and he also had this strange feeling overcome him as if Tiffany had returned home.
After Donovan and Jodi settled into their bedrooms, they learned Bernie Hollister was the nephew of George and Betsy. Bernie agreed to represent Donovan and Jodi pro bono as a favor to his aunt and uncle. Donovan and Jodi could not believe the generosity of George, Betsy, and Ernie.
After a nice dinner and an evening of relaxing and watching TV, Donovan and Jodi retired to their old beds. Rock arrived home after shopping at Sears. He bought a new shovel to replace the one he used to help frame Donovan and Jodi, which was now considered evidence.
Donovan went to bed in Howie’s bedroom at George and Betsy’s home.
Not long after Donovan fell asleep, he went off into another dream.
In Donovan’s dream, he and the brunette girl were in her Buick parked in the clearing by Lake Haney.
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The brunette started crying and started shaking.
Donovan pulled her over and placed his arm around her for comfort.
She rested her head on his shoulder and sobbed.
“What’s wrong?” asked Donovan, who was concerned.
“I was raped,” the brunette girl cried between sobs. “Raped? Who raped you?” asked Donovan, and he got concerned.
“Deputy Riley, at the plant parking lot last month,” replied the brunette girl between sobs, then she looked at Donovan. “I’m pregnant.”
Donovan looked at the brunette girl; her face got blurry and then looked like Tiffany’s. He grabbed the rearview mirror and moved it in his direction. He looked in the mirror, and Howie looked back.
He looked at Tiffany. “I’ll take care of you. I’ll marry you,” he said.
Tiffany sobbed on his shoulder.
Donovan woke up from his dream and looked around Howie’s room. That dream felt so real, and he knew he had a flashback of Howie’s life. Then he knew that one of the main reasons for him joining the Navy was to care for Tiffany and the baby.
He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Over at Ernie’s home, Jodi was sound asleep in Tiffany’s old bed. She started to have another dream.
In Jodi’s dream, she sat on Tiffany’s bed one night. Her eyes welled up while she wrote in a brown leather diary.
“June 6, 1970, Saturday,” she wrote in her diary, then she stared at the page while tears rolled down her cheek. “I was raped tonight by Deputy Riley. He caught me with some weed down by the high school.
He put me in the rear of his cop car. I thought he was going to arrest me and put me in jail.
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Instead, he drove me to the plant and parked in the parking lot. He opened the rear door and told me he would not arrest me if he could have me for a few minutes. I knew he wanted sex. I didn’t want him and told him so.
Deputy Riley got mad and slapped me then he started to forcibly remove my blue jeans. I tried to fight back with my feet, but he slapped me harder. I thought he would shoot me. I couldn’t stand the feeling of him entering inside me,” Jodi wrote in that diary. Jodi woke up from her dream and looked around the dark bedroom. “Tiffany had a diary!” she said while sitting in bed.
Jodi got out of bed and headed over to the dresser. She opened up the top drawer and then rummaged through Tiffany’s old bras, panties, and other undergarments.
Meanwhile, at the Haneyville Hospital, Nancy Parker was a sixty-two-year-old nurse. She worked the second shift and was about to go off duty. But she was curious and had to see the skeletons found in the woods.
So Nancy went into the morgue and looked at the two skeletons.
She saw how the one skeleton had a bullet hole in the forehead of its skull.
Her eyes welled up, and for some strange reason, she believed that one of them was, in fact, Tiffany. She and Tiffany have been best friends ever since the first grade. Nancy had missed her best friend since that night in 1970 and could not understand why Tiffany had never contacted her from Canada. Now she knew the real reason. She felt like crying.
Back at Ernie’s home, Jodi went back to sleep.
She rummaged through Tiffany’s entire bedroom and could not locate her diary. She thought about asking 245
Ernie but figured Tiffany probably hid it in the right place. But where was the question nagging Jodi?
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Tuesday morning arrived in Haneyville, and the sky was cloudy with a hint of rain.
Over at the Carlson home, Ernie made Jodi some eggs and toast with coffee for breakfast.
Over at the Anderson home, Betsy made George and Donovan scrambled eggs, toast, and coffee for breakfast. She loved having Donovan stay at their home.
George was upset this morning since his morning Haneyville Tribune paper did not arrive. Grant had issues with his printing press, so the paper would not be delivered today. He would have to wait until tomorrow morning.
It was 9:00, breakfast was over, and Ernie and Jodi drove to George and Betsy’s home.
A few minutes after they arrived, Bernie’s car pulled into the driveway.
Betsy was already peeking out the living room curtains waiting for his arrival.
He got out with a yellow pad of paper in hand.
He headed to the front door, where Betsy waited with the door opened.
“Hey, Bernie,” said Betsy when he walked up to the front stoop.
“Aunt Betsy,” said Bernie, then kissed her cheek when he entered their home.
“Hi, Uncle George,” said Bernie when George walked up to him. They shook hands.
Bernie saw Donovan and Jodi waiting on the couch. “I’m Bernie Hollister,” he said while he walked over to the couch.
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Bernie was sixty-three years old with slicked-back white hair and sported a pot belly but wore a nice suit.
He was an outstanding criminal defense attorney.
“Donovan Kirby,” he said while he stood up, then shook Bernie’s hand.
“Jodi Lauder,” she said while she stood up, then shook Bernie’s hand.
“I’m an attorney and will represent you in your most unfortunate dilemma,” he said, then removed two business cards from his shirt pocket. He handed Donovan and Jodi one of his cards. “Now, let’s go discuss your case,” he said.
“I don’t know how much it costs for an attorney,”
Jodi asked, concerned about this costing a bundle.
“Ah, it’s pro bono. After all, Uncle George and Aunt Betsey helped send me to law school, so I’m paying them back,” said Bernie.
Jodi walked up to George and Betsey. “Thank you,” she said, then hugged George and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
She gave Betsey a hug and kiss on her cheek.
“Yeah, thank you,” said Donovan while he shook Bernie’s hand.
“Well, let’s get started,” said Bernie looking determined.
“We can go in the kitchen; I made a fresh coffee pot,” Betsy said.
Bernie, Donovan, Jodi, George, and Ernie followed Betsy into the kitchen.
While they crowded around the kitchen table, Betsey got coffee cups out of a cupboard and started pouring coffee.
“Okay, now, tell me why you came to Haneyville,”
asked Bernie.
“Well, I saw that article on the Internet about the discovery of Tiffany’s car in Lake Haney. And for some strange reason, I felt compelled to come up here and do a story. Especially since Howie and Tiffany 248
have been missing since nineteen seventy,” said Donovan while Betsy brought everybody their coffee.
“I felt the same when I read that Internet article,”
added Jodi.
Bernie jotted down that information on his pad.
“Nothing wrong with that,” he said while he looked up at them. “Now, tell me what happened that night when you were arrested,” he said and had his pen ready to jot down more information.
“We ate dinner at the Lake View Restaurant,” said Donovan.
“What time?” Bernie asked.
Donovan and Jodi looked at each other for the answer.
“Around seven-thirty,” said Donovan.
Jodi nodded in agreement with his answer.
“That’s about right,” said Ernie.
“How would you know?” Bernie asked Ernie.
“Because I was waiting for a table at the same time. These two invited me to join them for dinner, and I did,” replied Ernie.
Bernie jotted down that piece of information on his pad.
“Did anybody else see you there?”
Donovan, Jodi, and Ernie looked at each other.
“Nobody that I recognized,” said Donovan.
Ernie thought for a few seconds. “I believe that maybe Lynn and Paul Donahue were at the booth behind us.
“Plus, we used a credit card to pay for the meal,”
added Donovan.
“Okay,” said Bernie while he jotted down that information.
“After dinner, Donovan and I had a few drinks at the Watering Hole,” said Jodi.
“I also used a credit card there,” said Donovan.
“Then, after a few drinks, we walked along that brick walkway,” said Jodi.
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“Isn’t that a beautiful area? I was so happy when they built it back in eighty-five,” said Betsy.
George and Ernie nodded in agreement.
“Anything happen during that walk?” asked Bernie.
“We saw one of the deputies,” said Jodi.
“Deputy Riley,” said Donovan.
“The sheriff ’s son?” asked Bernie.
“Yes,” replied Donovan.
“Anything happened?”
“No, we just chatted, and then I got a text message from Charlie. He said he found something and wanted to meet us at the clearing by the lake,” said Donovan.
“What time did you get that text?”
Donovan tried to recall the time then; his eyes lit up when he remembered his iPhone. He reached into his pants pocket and removed his iPhone. He navigated through it and saw his list of text messages.
He had two text messages from Charlie. He looked at the first text message. “Looks like it came in around eight forty-five.”
“Eight forty-five for the first text message from Charlie,” said Bernie while he jotted that down. Then he looked up at Donovan and Jodi. “And you said Deputy Riley was there when you received that message?”
“Yes,” replied Jodi.
Bernie jotted down that information then he took a drink of Betsy’s coffee. “I’ve always loved your coffee, Aunt Betsy,” he said, then he looked over at Donovan and Jodi. “Then you drove over to the clearing, and then what happened?”
“We parked behind his rental SUV and called out his name,” said Donovan.
“Charlie didn’t respond,” said Jodi.
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“No, but I got another text message from him around nine ten,” said Donovan, and he showed Bernie the second message from Charlie.
“So you arrived at the clearing around nine ten,”
said Bernie while glancing at the text message.
“That sounds about right,” said Donovan.
Bernie jotted that down, then looked up at Donovan and Jodi. “Then what?”
“We walked through the woods in the direction he said in his text, calling out his name. He never answered,” said Donovan.
“Then I tripped over something,” said Jodi.
“I helped her up, then turned on my flashlight application on my iPhone and scanned the area over,”
said Donovan.
“That’s when we saw Charlie’s body in the dirt,”
said Jodi.
“I felt for a pulse and didn’t find one, so we knew he was dead,” said Donovan, then paused for a few seconds. “Then I saw the shovel on the ground,” he added.
“And the shallow graves of Howie and Tiffany,”
said Jodi.
“How do you know those skeletons are them?”
asked Bernie.
Donovan and Jodi paused while they looked at each other. You could tell by the look in their eyes that they wanted to show how they knew, but both decided to let that be their secret.
“We just had a strong gut feeling since those two kids had been missing, and her car was found in the lake,” said Jodi.
“We’re reporters,” added Donovan.
“Well, don’t mention that during the trial,” said Bernie while he jotted down the information on how they found Charlie.
“Then Sheriff Riley suddenly appeared and arrested us for the murder of Charlie,” said Jodi.
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“He showed up minutes after you arrived and found the body?” asked Bernie, and he looked concerned.
“Yes, within minutes,” said Donovan.
“That’s odd for him to get there that quick,” said Bernie while he jotted down that information.
Donovan and Jodi thought about that question for a few seconds.
“That is odd,” said Jodi.
Donovan nodded in agreement.
“Did you hear a gunshot when you arrived at the clearing?”
“No,” replied Donovan.
“No,” added Jodi.
Bernie jotted down that information then he looked at his notes from previous research. “His report stated that Donovan swung a shovel at him, and the tip cut his cheek,” said Bernie.
“That’s a lie. I never swung at the sheriff. Besides, he had a flashlight shining in our eyes,” said Donovan, and he sounded sincere.
“That’s true. Donovan never swung at the sheriff,” added Jodi.
George’s eyes widened, remembering
something. “There’s something interesting someone said in court yesterday,” said George.
“What was that?”
“Well, Sheriff Riley is claiming Charlie Abbott was the one that killed those two people in the graves, and they could be Howie and Tiffany. But Rachel Collins told us yesterday that he couldn’t have done it,” said George.
“How’s that?” Bernie asked, and he was curious.
“Well, she claims she spent the night with Charlie.
She did it since he was going to the Navy,” said George.
Ernie and Betsy nodded in agreement with George’s story.
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Bernie jotted down that information on his pad.
“That would throw in doubt if I can get Rachel to testify that in court,” he added.
“Good luck; rumors have it that she’s sleeping around with the sheriff,” said Ernie.
“Town slut if you ask me,” muttered Betsy under her breath, but everybody heard her and gave a little chuckle.
“Oh, there’s something else that Charlie told us,”
said Jodi.
“What’s that?”
“Charlie told us that Tiffany was pregnant,” said Jodi. “Pregnant? By who?” Bernie asked.
“By that sheriff when he was a deputy back then,”
said Ernie, and he started to look a little pissed.
“Sheriff Rock Riley got Tiffany pregnant? He fooled around with her?”
“He raped my daughter,” said Ernie in a louder tone, and that vein in his neck popped out.
“Sheriff Riley raped Tiffany. Wow. That’s good but going to be difficult to prove since she’s not around to testify to that fact,” said Bernie while he jotted down that information. Then he looked at his notes. “Looks like his case is based entirely on circumstantial evidence, and it’s weak if you ask me. Let me talk with Rachel Collins and see if she’ll testify to what she told you yesterday,” said Bernie, then finished his cup of coffee and stood up.
“I believe I can get a not guilty from the jury down in Knoxville,” he said, then walked over and gave Betsy a quick kiss on her cheek. “I’ll be back.”
George, Betsy, Ernie, Donovan, and Jodi watched while Bernie headed to the front door.
Donovan and Jodi started to feel like they finally had a chance to stay out of prison for the rest of their lives. But they know you never know how a jury will reach a verdict.
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They all started to drink some more coffee while Bernie was out chasing down witnesses in their favor.
While Bernie drove to Rachel’s home using the address he got off the Internet, Doctor Jake Lorre, the Haneyville dentist, drove to the hospital.
Doctor Lorre had been the dentist of Haneyville for the past thirty years. He took over the practice that his father started back in 1950. Doctor Lorre was heading to the hospital with the old dental x-rays he found in a storage room at his dental practice.
A little while later, Bernie pulled into the driveway of Rachel’s home.
He got out of his car and headed to the front door with his pad of paper. He rang the doorbell.
A few seconds passed, and the front door opened.
“Want an afternoon delight?” Rachel blurted out then her eyes widened the second she realized it was not one of her usual visitors. “Ah, sorry about that,”
she said, slightly embarrassed.
“I’m Bernie Hollister, an attorney from Knoxville. I’m representing Donovan Kirby and Jodi Lauder. Mind if we chat for a few?” he said.
“Just chatting is something new. Sure, come on in,” said Rachel.
Bernie stepped inside Rachel’s living room. He looked over the room while she closed the door. “You got a nice place.”
“Thank you. Please have a seat,” she said while she motioned for him to sit on the couch.
Bernie walked over and sat down on the couch with Rachel.
“Can I get you anything to drink? Some ice tea, perhaps?” asked Rachel.
“No thanks,” he replied while he glanced down at his pad of paper and notes. “I was told that you made a statement at the courthouse yesterday. You stated that you spent the entire night with Charlie Abbott in 254
nineteen seventy. The same night Howie Anderson and Tiffany Carlson went missing,” he said.
Rachel looked at Bernie. “Have we met? You look a little familiar,” she said.
“I’m Howie’s cousin and often would spend some of my summer days up here back in the sixties,” said Bernie.
“Oh, did we meet back then?”
“I don’t recall,” said Bernie, but he did remember her. He recalled one night back in sixty-eight when he and Howie saw Rachel screwing someone under the high school’s bleachers. But Bernie thought that fact was irrelevant to this case, so he kept that memory to himself. “So, did you make that statement?”
“Yes, I did. I slept with Charlie that night because he was leaving for the Navy the next day,” said Rachel, then she paused. “So there’s no way he could have killed Howie or Tiffany. I mean, it’s not confirmed those skeletons are Howie and Tiffany. Still, everybody in town believes they are,” she added and sounded sincere.
“Would you testify to that fact in court?”
“Of course. I liked Charlie. I don’t want his name tarnished,” said Rachel.
“That’s kind of you,” said Bernie while he jotted down some notes.
“Like I said, I don’t want his name tarnished.”
“Listen, I’ll be in touch when I find out when the trial is scheduled,” he said, then reached into his shirt pocket and removed another business card. He handed it to her.
Rachel took his card and looked sincere in testifying about that night.
Bernie stood up and looked at Rachel. For a second, he remembered that night again with Howie, and though she still looked suitable for her age.
“Thank you, Rachel,” he said, then headed to the front door.
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Rachel smiled and wished she could take Bernie to her bedroom for a romp. But this was serious business, and she did not want to ruin keeping Charlie’s name from being tarnished.
After Bernie left Rachel’s home, he headed straight to the Haneyville Police Station.
Kent worked behind his desk at the police station.
Andrew was home as he was scheduled to work the night shift.
Bernie entered the station and walked up to the counter with his yellow paper pad.
“May I help you?” asked Kent the second he saw Bernie at the counter.
“I would like to speak with Sheriff Riley,” said Bernie.
“And who are you?” asked Kent while he walked up to the counter.
Bernie reached into his shirt pocket and removed another business card. “Bernie Hollister, an attorney from Knoxville. I’m representing Mister Kirby and Miss Lauder.”
Kent took Bernie’s business card and glanced at it.
“Sheriff, there’s an attorney here to see you,” Kent called out.
Rock appeared in the doorway of his office.
“Send him in,” he said, then turned around and walked back to his desk.
Kent escorted Bernie around the counter and over to Rock’s office.
Rock remained seated while Bernie entered his office.
“Sheriff, I’m Bernie Hollister from Knoxville. I’m representing Mister,” Bernie said.
“I heard you,” Rock said, being rude, and interrupted Bernie’s greeting. He looked disinterested in talking with Bernie, and Bernie picked up on that vibe.
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“Sheriff,” Bernie said while sitting in the chair in front of Rock’s desk. “Tell me how you arrived at the murder scene so quickly. Mister Kirby and Miss Lauder said that the second they stumbled upon Mister Abbott’s body in the woods, you suddenly appeared and arrested them. How did you know to show up there?” Bernie asked and had his pen and pad of paper ready to jot down Rock’s response.
Rock looked at Bernie for a few seconds while he pondered his excuse. “I got an anonymous call from someone that heard gunfire in the woods by the clearing,” Rock said, keeping his eyes from looking at Bernie’s eyes.
“Anonymous call. What time?”
“Ah, oh, around nine. I called my deputy out there that I was going to check it out. So I saw two cars in the clearing and recognized Mister Kirby’s Buick. Then I heard voices in the woods and headed in that direction. Then I found those two standing by the dead body of Mister Abbott,” said Rock while he kept his eyes from making contact with Bernie’s eyes.
Bernie jotted down more notes on his pad. He looked back at Rock. “Now, Donovan stated he never swung at you with the shovel. So how did you get that cut across your face?” asked Bernie when he noticed that cut on Rock’s face that started to get scabs.
“Well, your client’s lying. He swung at me with the shovel. The picture in the report shows it that night,” said Rock.
Bernie jotted down that information on his pad of paper. Then he looked back up at Rock. “Where are Mister Abbott’s and the two reporters’ vehicles and belongings from their motel rooms?”
“The vehicles are out back in our secured area, and their suitcases from their motel rooms are locked in a closet in the station,” replied Rock.
“Mind if I take a look? I want to jot down all your evidence on my clients.”
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Rock hesitated for a few seconds, as he did not want the attorney to see those items. But he knew it would be trouble for him if he did not. “Sure,”
Rock escorted Bernie out of his office. They headed to the back door and stepped outside in the backyard.
Rock showed Bernie the three vehicles secured in the backyard of the station.
Bernie was satisfied while jotted down some notes on his pad after looking inside the vehicles and in the trunk areas.
Rock took him back inside the station, showing Bernie the three suitcases inside the closet. Rock carefully opened up the three suitcases; everything inside them was clothes. He jotted down all that was inside the suitcases on his pad.
Then Rock showed Bernie the pistol, in a plastic bag, that he claimed he found under the front seat of Donovan’s Buick. He jotted down the serial number of the pistol on his pad.
He saw Charlie’s wallet in a plastic bag. He got curious. “Where’s Mister Abbott’s cell phone?”
Rock looked caught and hesitated while he felt Charlie’s cell phone in his left front pants pocket. “I guess they tossed it in the lake.”
“Tossed it in the lake,” Bernie repeated while he jotted that down on his pad.
Rock looked concerned while Bernie jotted down that information.
He looked over at Rock for a few seconds.
“Thank you, sheriff. Now I would like to chat with your deputy out there for a few seconds,” he said while he stood up.
“Be my guest,” said Rock and locked the closet door. Bernie walked away from the closet.
While Bernie headed to Kent’s desk, Rock returned to his office.
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“Deputy, mind if I chat with you for a few seconds?” said Bernie while he walked up to Kent’s desk. “Sure.”
Rock got up from his desk and gingerly walked to his office doorway. He stayed out of view but was close to the door to eavesdrop on Kent and Bernie’s conservation.
“Deputy, did you talk with Mister Kirby and Miss Lauder at the lake walkway the night Mister Abbott was murdered?”
“I did.”
“During that meeting, did Mister Kirby get a text message from Charlie Abbott?” said Bernie while he sat down in the chair by Kent’s desk.
“Yes, he did.”
“Do you recall what time?”
Kent thought about that for a few seconds. “Oh, I would say around eight fifty.”
Bernie jotted down that information on his pad of paper. Then he looked back up at Kent. “And you got a call from the Sheriff about hearing a gunshot in the woods by the clearing?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Do you recall what time?”
“Oh, around nine.”
Bernie jotted down that information on his pad of paper. He looked at his notes. “Well, deputy, that’s about all. Call me if you can think of anything else,”
Bernie said, then stood up, grabbed a business card from his shirt pocket, and handed it over to Kent.
Kent stood up and took the card. He shoved it in his pants pocket.
“Thank you,” said Bernie, then he walked away and headed to the counter.
Kent watched Bernie while he left the station.
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“Kent, where’s the cell phones of those two murder suspects?” Rock asked while he stood outside his office.
“I gave them back after they were released on bail,” replied Kent. “There weren’t processed as evidence?” “I didn’t think they were evidence,”
answered Kent.
Rock looked furious while he stormed off into his office.
Kent glanced back at Rock’s office and had that nagging gut feeling something was wrong with this murder case.
While Bernie drove to his Motel 6 room to review the notes he had accumulated today.
At the Haneyville hospital, forensics experts Wendy and Jack were using the x-rays Doctor Lorre provided to see if they could provide an identity with the two skeletons.
Meanwhile, Rock felt he needed some relief from a stressful two days.
So he told Melinda he would be working late and headed off to Rachel’s home.
After he parked in her driveway, he rushed to her front door. He rang the doorbell.
The front door cracked open, and Rachel’s head poked out.
“Not tonight. I’m feeling sick,” Rachel said and slammed her front door, almost catching Rock’s fingers while he tried to get inside her home.
“Open up,” he yelled while he banged on her door. “Go away,” yelled Rachel from inside her house.
Rock walked away, pissed.
He got back in his car and headed home.
Elsewhere in Haneyville, Charlie was in his Motel 6 room with a cup of coffee he bought from the 7-11
store. He reviewed his notes to start working on his strategy for Donovan and Jodi’s defense.
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Over in the neighborhood, Jodi and Donovan decided to take an evening stroll.
It was 8:30 p.m. Donovan and Jodi walked hand in hand down the sidewalk along Addison Avenue near the motel.
“Do you think we stand a chance of getting out of this?” asked Jodi, and she started to get upset thinking about their upcoming trial.
“I don’t know. But I think they don’t have any evidence against us,” said Donovan.
Rock saw Donovan and Jodi walking on the sidewalk from his Impala while driving down Addison.
Donovan and Jodi continued their walk down the sidewalk. They did not notice Rock driving his Impala past them and heading down the street.
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It was raining on Wednesday morning in Haneyville before the sun started to peek over the horizon.
The rain stopped, and it was 8:00 a.m.
While the folks of Haneyville were busy getting up and making breakfasts, six young boys rode around on their bicycles, delivering the Haneyville Tribune to the driveways.
George was up and stepped outside his home to get his beloved Haneyville Tribune. He was prepared to eat his breakfast now that he had his morning paper.
Ernie stepped outside his home to get his Haneyville Tribune from his driveway.
Melinda stepped outside her home to get Rock's Haneyville Tribune from her driveway.
This was going all across the neighborhood of Haneyville, and the folks saw the headlines "Murder Outside Haneyville." All across Haneyville, all the residents had their eyes glued to that headline.
Rock entered his kitchen after shaving and taking a shower. He wore white boxers, a tee shirt, and black socks.
He headed to the table to eat his breakfast, two-fried eggs, sausage, and coffee.
He sat down and opened up the Haneyville Tribune that Melinda had placed in its usual spot on the table. He opened up his newspaper and grabbed his cup of coffee while he read the headlines. He drank his coffee while reading the article.
He read the part about how Charlie Abbott, a former resident of Haneyville, was found murdered in the woods by the lake on Saturday night.
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He read how Donovan Kirby of Tampa, Florida, and Jodi Lauder of Lexington, Kentucky, were arrested for the murder of Charlie and are being represented by Bernie Hollister of Knoxville.
Then he read how the two skeletons were found in shallow graves and are suspected to be the missing teens Howie Anderson and Tiffany Carlson.
Then he read how Charlie Abbott was suspected of killing Howie Anderson and Tiffany Carlson.
Then Rock read how Rachel Collins made a statement in the Court House about how she felt Charlie could not have killed Howie and Tiffany because she spent that night with Charlie. Rock spat out coffee all over the newspaper when he read that part of the article. "What the fuck is she doing?" he yelled and slammed the newspaper on the kitchen table.
"What's wrong?" asked Melinda while she rushed into the kitchen to see what upset him.
"Nothing," said Rock while he got up and stormed out of the kitchen.
Melinda picked up the paper and started to read the headlined article. She always waited until Rock read the paper before she read it.
Rock was in their bedroom fuming while he dressed in his sheriff's uniform.
A little while later, Rachel sat in her kitchen drinking coffee in her nightgown.
She picked up her Haneyville Tribune and read the article about the murder.
She smiled when she saw her name in print.
Her doorbell rang.
Rachel got up from her kitchen and headed into her living room.
She went to her front door, which slammed open the second she unlocked it and turned the doorknob.
Rock stormed in with fire in his eyes and slammed her front door shut.
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"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he yelled while inching toward her with fire in his eyes.
Dribbles of pee ran down Rachel's leg while she inched backward. She had experienced the wrath of Rock's anger before and knew she was in danger. "I, I, I, ah, I wanted to tell them the truth," she said while she moved away from Rock.
Rock swung and slapped Rachel across her face.
Rachel fell backward, landing on her back.
Rock jumped down and straddled over her to where she could not escape.
Rachel peed and a puddle formed on her carpet.
"You stupid bitch. Charlie Abbott killed those two teens. I know it, and the people in Haneyville know it," he yelled while his face turned beet red with anger.
He got off Rachel and brought her to her feet.
Rachel stood up, shaking in fear. She did not want to say anything to Rock.
Rock punched Rachel hard in her mouth, sending her backward. She slammed hard on the living room floor. She started sobbing while her split lip started bleeding.
"You better retract that statement, and I mean it,"
Rock yelled, then turned around and stormed off to the front door.
Rachel stayed on the floor and sobbed while Rock stormed off and opened her front door.
When he left her house, he slammed the front door, which startled Rachel.
She continued to sob on the floor while Rock got in his Impala and screeched off down her driveway, then screeched off down her street.
Thirty minutes had passed, and Rock fumed behind his desk at the police station.
His desk phone rang.
"What," he answered abruptly.
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"Sheriff, Doc Hudson here. I have a copy of Charlie Abbott's death certificate here for you to pick up," Dr. James Hudson said from the phone.
"I'll send someone over," said Rock and slammed down the phone. "Kent," he yelled out.
A few seconds passed, and Kent stood in the doorway. "Yeah."
"Go see Doc Hudson at the hospital; he has a copy of Abbott's death certificate for us."
"Okay," Kent replied, then walked away and sensed Rock was pissed about something but knew not to pry.
Kent left the station and got inside his patrol car.
While driving from the station, he recalled that article in the morning Haneyville Tribune. He could not get Rachael's statement out of his mind and wondered if that pissed off his dad. So he decided to do his own little investigation.
So a little while later, Kent pulled his patrol car into Rachel's driveway.
He got out and headed to her front door.
He rang the doorbell.
He did not see Rachael while she peeked out of her living room window curtains.
Inside her home, Rachel debated whether she could talk with Kent while she peeked out her curtains.
"Fuck him," she said, then walked over and opened the front door.
"Hi, Miss Collins," said Kent, then stopped when he saw her split lip and swollen red eyes from crying.
"Who hit you?" he asked and was genuinely concerned.
"Your daddy," she said and looked pissed.
"We need to talk. Mind if I come in?" asked Kent. Rachel motioned for him to enter her home.
After Kent entered, she closed her front door.
"Why did daddy hit you?"
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"He was pissed that I made that statement to Grant Scott at the Court House on Monday."
"I saw that in the paper, so I stopped over. I wanted to ask you if that's true."
"Oh, it's true; I was with Charlie Abbott all that night, so there's no way he could have killed Howie or Tiffany. He loved them, and they were good friends,"
she said, then wiped away some blood from her split lip. "How well did you know Tiffany?"
"I knew here pretty well. She and I weren't friends because I liked to fool around a lot with the guys at school back then. But we got along okay," said Rachel while she wiped away some more blood off her split lip.
"Donovan Kirby stated that Charlie told him Tiffany was pregnant."
Rachel thought back to those days. "I never heard that." "Charlie claims that my daddy raped Tiffany and got her pregnant."
"Well, that's extremely possible."
'Why do you say that?" Kent asked and was curious but had a hunch where this was leading.
"Why I hate to say this, with him being your daddy, but he was screwing all us girls back then.
Often we had to screw him to avoid being arrested for having some weed on us, or speeding, or what charges he would state he would charge us with."
"Did you?" Kent asked and could not finish the sentence.
"Yeah, it started in the tenth grade, and the last time was the other night," said Rachel, and she finally figured it was time to spill the beans. She was tired of his beatings.
Kent got steamed the more he thought about his father screwing Rachel and other women, but he kept his cool.
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"Thanks for that information," said Kent while he headed to the front door.
"I'm not going to let Charlie Abbott's name be wrongfully tarnished," said Rachel, and she looked serious.
"I don't blame you," he said, looking at her split lip. "Do you want me to take you to the hospital and get that lip looked at?"
"Naw, I'll survive like all those other times," said Rachel.
Hearing that made Kent get even more steamed cause he can remember a few times when Rock smacked his mom around.
He left through Rachel's front door and headed to his patrol car.
While Kent drove his patrol car to the hospital, Berne already talked with Dr. Hudson. Bernie got another copy of Charlie Abbott's death certificate in an envelope for his case files.
While Bernie walked to his car in the parking lot, Kent parked his patrol car in another area.
While Bernie drove out of the lot and headed east down Marshallton Avenue, Kent went inside the hospital.
Bernie drove down Marshallton Avenue, turned left on Haneyville Road, and headed west.
He drove down Haneyville Road and returned to the Motel 6 to review his newest information.
After Kent picked up Rock's copy of Abbott's death certificate in an envelope, he headed back to the station. During the entire drive, he could only think about Rock screwing and beating Rachel. He had doubts his father was telling the truth about these recent events.
While Kent headed back to the station, Bernie stopped off at the 7-11 to buy some snacks and drinks for his motel room.
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Rock sat in his office and pondered how to handle the events.
Andrew was home asleep since Rock put him on the night shift.
Donovan watched TV with George and Betsy in their living room.
Jodi and Ernie watched TV in his living room.
They waited for Bernie to call and meet on their next strategic move.
The other folks of Haneyville were talking about the recent events that happened. This was big news in their peaceful and quiet, uneventful lives.
Kent arrived back at the police station with the envelope from Doc Hudson in hand.
He walked into Rock's office. Rock was not in his office, so Kent just dropped off the envelope on the top of the desk.
He rushed out of Rock's office and went over to his desk.
"Did you pick it up?" asked Rock while he stepped out of the men's room, noticing Kent behind his desk.
"Yes. It's on your desk," Kent replied and wanted to avoid eye contact with Rock.
Rock walked through the office area and headed back to his office.
Once Rock entered his office, he saw the envelope on his desk. He grabbed it and opened it up. He removed the copy of the death certificate while he walked around his desk and headed to his chair.
He started looking over Charlie's death certificate the second his butt cheeks hit his seat. He looked over the death certificate and then placed it on his desk.
Then his eyes widened when he thought something was odd. He picked it back up and looked it over again.
In the office, Kent sat at his desk and looked at the Internet for crime stories.
"What the fuck!" cursed out Rock from inside his office.
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Kent got curious and got up from his desk, he gingerly walked over to Rock's office. He stood by Rock's office doorway to eavesdrop.
"Doc Hudson, what the fuck is wrong with you?"
Kent heard Rock say into his desk phone.
There was a brief moment of silence while Rock heard Doc Hudson's reply.
"You have that time all fucking wrong. It's way too early. Fix it!" yelled Rock into his phone.
There was another brief moment of silence while Rock heard Doc Hudson's reply.
"I said, you have the fucking time wrong. It should be around eight forty-five," yelled Rock into his phone.
There was another brief moment of silence while Rock heard Doc Hudson's reply.
"I said I want you to fix the fucking time," Rock yelled, then slammed down the phone.
Kent quietly rushed back to his desk and sat down in his chair.
"I'm stepping out," said Rock while he stormed out of his office.
Kent avoided eye contact while Rock stormed past the counter with fire in his eyes and went out the front doors.
The second Rock stormed through the front doors; Kent got up and rushed over to the counter.
He went around the counter and headed to the front windows of the station. He peeked out the blinds and saw Rock get into his patrol car, slamming the driver's door.
He saw Rock start up his car, backed out of the parking spot, and race off toward the street.
Kent rushed around the counter and made a beeline to Rock's office.
Once he got inside Rock's office, he picked up a copy of Charlie's birth certificate. He glanced it over and thought nothing of it. Then he remembered 269
something from Saturday night and looked back at the certificate. "Son of a bitch," he said while he took a third glance at the certificate.
He placed the certificate on Rock's desk and headed out of the office.
Kent went back to his desk with that death certificate on his mind. He now started to believe that Donovan and Jodi might, in fact, be innocent.
Back in his Motel 6 room, Bernie looked over the birth certificate while he drank some coffee at the small room desk.
He looked at his notes from the meeting with Donovan and Jodi. He looked back at the birth certificate. "Hallelujah," he said and had a massive grin while he stared at the death certificate.
He picked up his Samsung cell phone and made a call. "Mister Carlson, meet me at Anderson's home.
And bring Jodi. I have something good to share," said Bernie, then he disconnected that call and made another call.
"Mister Anderson, have Donovan at your home. I'll be there shortly with something good to share," he said, then disconnected the end of the call.
Bernie got up from the desk and grabbed his cell phone, a pad of paper, and Charlie's birth certificate.
He did a victory dance on his way to his room door. While Bernie left his motel room and headed to George and Betsy's home, Rock parked his patrol car along the curb by the front entrance of the Haneyville Hospital.
Rock got out of his patrol car and rushed to the front entrance, still pissed.
Rock rushed through the hospital's front doors and made a beeline down the hallway to the right.
Nancy just reported to duty at the Nurse's Station. She came in early today to cover for a coworker that had to stay home with a sick child.
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She looked up just in time to see Rock rush by her station, looking furious. She felt that was odd.
She walked out into the hallway from the station.
She looked down the hall and saw Rock turn right and rush down the hallway that housed some doctors.
She got curious and walked down the hallway.
She turned down that hallway. Rock rushed down.
Then Nancy walked halfway down the hallway and saw the door to Doctor Hudson's office cracked open.
"I don't fucking care," yelled Rock.
"I can't change his death certificate. It's accurate, and changing it would be a falsification. And I'm not going to do that," replied Doc Hudson, and he sounded serious. "Besides, I had Doc Franklin from Knoxville come up here to assist. We both agreed,"
Doc Hudson added.
Nancy rushed away, fearing Rock would burst out of Doc Hudson's office and catch her spying on their conservation.
The second Nancy turned left down the other hallway, Rock stormed out of Doc Hudson's office.
He stormed down the hallway.
Nancy returned to the Nurses' Station and sat down, out of breath.
She glanced down at some paperwork the second Rock stormed past the Nurses' Station.
Nancy thought something was wrong, so she reached down to her purse on the floor and grabbed her cell phone. She made a call. "Hey, daddy, it's me,"
she said into her cell phone.
"Hi baby," said Judge Olson from her cell phone.
"Daddy, I just heard something strange here at the hospital. Sheriff Riley stormed down past the Nurses'
Station, looking furious. He went into Doc Hudson's office and yelled at him to change something on a death certificate. The only death certificate I know that 271
was recently done was the one on Charlie Abbott,"
Nancy said into her cell phone.
"That does sound strange. I'll check into this.
Thanks, baby," said Judge Olson from her cell phone then he disconnected his end of the call.
Nancy put her cell phone away in her purse and felt she did the right thing by calling her daddy.
At George and Betsey's home, George, Betsy, Donovan, Ernie, Jodi, and Bernie sat at the kitchen table. "I found something exciting that will help your case," Bernie said while he removed Charlie's death certificate from the envelope. "The time of death was documented on the death certificate as eight-thirty,"
said Bernie with a smile.
George, Betsy, and Ernie were clueless about what this meant.
It took a few seconds for it to dawn on Donovan and Jodi.
"I got that text message from Charlie around eight forty-five," said Donovan.
"Exactly," said Bernie.
Jodi thought about this for a few more seconds.
"Which means Charlie couldn't have sent Donovan that text message because he," Jodi said.
"Was dead," George said, interrupting Jodi from finishing her sentence.
"That's right. Dead men can't text," said Bernie.
"I can imagine that that would cast a shadow of a doubt with a jury," said Jodi.
"You got it. Plus, Sheriff Riley would have to explain how he got a call about a gunshot in the woods after Charlie died. I'll get his cell phone records subpoenaed," said Bernie while he jotted that down as an action item.
Jodi got up from her chair and walked over to Bernie. She gave him a hug. Bernie smiled.
"Let's go out and eat," said George.
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"The Lake View," said Donovan while he glanced at Jodi.
Bernie, George, Betsy, and Ernie nodded in agreement with Donovan.
They got up from the table and headed out to eat.
Instead of going back to the police station, Rock headed home. He immediately went inside his den and began drinking some Jack Daniels and water. He was still fuming inside and decided to get drunk.
Back at the hospital, Doc Hudson was getting to leave for the day, but his desk phone rang. "Doc Hudson," he answered the call.
"Doc, Judge Olson here; listen, I heard you had an unexpected visit from Sheriff Riley today. And he wanted to change something on a death certificate.
Talk to me."
Doc Hudson sat back at his desk and told Judge Olson about Rock's visit and fraudulent demand.
It was 8:30 p.m. that evening. Donovan and Jodi took another stroll after returning from the Lake View Restaurant.
They walked hand in hand down the sidewalk on Addison Avenue loving the evening air.
They didn't see Rock in his Impala parked south on Addison Avenue. Rock was stalking the two reporters, wondering if they would do this every night around this time.
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Thursday morning arrived in Haneyville, and it was going to be another beautiful cloudless day.
The evening was uneventful for everybody except for Rock, who got drunk and passed out in his lazy boy chair in his den. He woke up this morning with a well-deserved splitting headache.
The forensic experts, Wendy and Jack, were back at the morgue of the Haneyville Hospital.
They were wrapping up their report on the skeletons to document that they were, in fact, Howie Anderson and Tiffany Anderson. This was mainly based on Howie and Tiffany’s dental records.
The report documented Tiffany was struck on the back of her head and shot in her forehead. The report also documented that Howie was shot in his chest by one bullet hole in the heart by the nick in one of the rib cage bones.
They theorized the two were buried naked since no clothing remains were found in the dirt graves.
A bullet was found in Tiffany’s skull, and Jack believed it to be a forty-five caliber. They believed the same type of bullet also killed Howie.
So Wendy and Jack headed to the woods by the clearing to look at the shallow graves for any other bullets. They figured one could have dropped to the dirt after the bodies decomposed. They also wanted to make sure pieces of clothing were not left behind in the graves.
While Wendy and Jack headed out to the woods by the clearing, the rest of Haneyville was awake eating breakfast.
Rock entered the police station with his splitting headache and had an attitude like a grouchy bear.
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Kent avoided eye contact with Rock while he headed to the coffee pot.
Rock was quiet while he poured coffee into his cup. He returned to his office and prayed today would bring news in his favor.
The second Rock sat down at his desk with his coffee, his desk phone rang. He cringed in pain.
“What?” Sheriff Rock snapped at the caller.
“Sheriff Riley, I’m Carl Verlander from down here in Knoxville. I’ve been assigned to be the prosecutor for the murder trial you have up there in Haneyville,”
Carl said from the phone.
“I thought Wallace Mayer from Haneyville was going to be the prosecutor?” said Rock, and he looked concerned.
“Judge Olson wanted someone else to act as the prosecutor after he voiced some concerns.”
“Concerns? What concerns? I haven’t heard of any concerns,” asked Rock, and his head started to pound harder. He cussed in his head between pounds.
“Let me come up there so we can talk about these concerns and this case,” said Carl.
Rock hesitated for a few seconds. “Okay.”
“I’ll be up there in an hour,” said Carl, then he hung up.
Rock hung up his phone and felt like beating something. But he refrained and drank his coffee.
He picked up his phone and made another call.
“Ah, hi, Rock,” answered Wallace after seeing Rock’s name on his caller ID.
“What the fuck is going on? I get this call from some prosecutor in Knoxville that will do the case against those two reporters. Why the fuck didn’t you call me?” said Rock in a raised tone into his phone.
There were a few seconds of silence. “I tried, buddy, but your line was busy,” replied Wallace.
“How come you’re not doing the case?”
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“Judge Olson wanted that Verlander guy in Knoxville to do it.”
Meanwhile, outside the woods by the clearing, Wendy and Jack were at the shallow graves. They carefully dug through the dirt of the two shallow graves. They did not find any pieces of clothing, but they found two forty-five caliber bullets they believed killed Howie.
Wendy and Jack left the clearing and headed back to the hospital with the bullets.
George, Donovan, and Betsy sat around the kitchen table, drinking some more morning coffee.
They chatted, and the recent murder was temporally out of their minds.
The phone in the kitchen rang.
“I’ll get it,” said George while he got up from the table. He walked over to the phone on the wall by the doorway. “Hello,” he answered the call.
“George, Irving Spence here. Listen, I should have brought this up earlier, but I didn’t know if it was important. But anyway, I was out on Stinson Road on Saturday night. I was returning from Lexington and had a flat tire way north of the dirt road that headed out to the clearing. Anyway, around eight twenty-five, I heard a gunshot in the woods. It sounded like it came from the direction of the clearing. Then about ten minutes later, I saw someone run across the road from that direction. Someone ran into that other dirt road on the other side of Stinson. Then a few minutes later, I saw a car drive out of that dirt road. It looked like a Chevy Impala,” said Irving sounding sincere.
George was speechless for a few seconds, as he could not believe how helpful information had arrived.
“Irving, you need to talk to Betsy’s nephew, Bernie.
He’s representing the two reporters accused of killing Charlie. He’s staying at the Motel six,” said George.
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“Bernie at the motel six. Got it, and sorry I didn’t call earlier. I was a little afraid of getting involved, but Martha told me it was my duty. I wanted to talk to you, as I don’t trust Sheriff Riley,” said Irving.
“Thanks, Irving. You did the right thing,” said George, then hung up.
George looked at everybody with a smile. “Great news,” he said while he walked back to the table with a huge grin.
Everybody looked curious to hear George’s great news.
George sat back at the table and started to tell everybody what Irving had just said on the phone.
Everybody was elated.
Wendy and Jack returned to the hospital from the woods by the clearing.
They placed the two bullets they found in Howie’s grave in a separate baggie. They had the bullet found in Tiffany’s skull in another baggie. They planned to take them to Knoxville if the murder weapon was eventually found.
Wendy and Jack finalized their report on their laptop to include the two bullets and the fact that no clothing could be found in the graves. They believed the murderer removed their clothes after killing the two teens. Wendy emailed an electronic copy of the report to their home office in Knoxville. They proceeded to print out four hard copies for distribution. Bernie had previously requested he receive a copy of their report.
After they made distribution, Wendy and Jack headed back south to their office in Knoxville.
Back at the Motel 6, Bernie sat in his room while he jotted down some notes while reading Wendy and Jack’s report on the skeletons.
There was a knock on his room door.
Bernie got up and opened the door. “Yes.”
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“I’m Irving Spence. I have something to tell you about Saturday night. I heard that gunshot,” he said.
A grin grew on Bernie’s face knowing he was getting additional information to help this case.
“Please come inside; George called me,” said Berne.
Irving went inside Bernie’s motel room and started to tell him the same information he had told George.
After the hospital received their report copy, word spread around Haneyville that the two skeletons were, in fact, Howie Anderson and Tiffany Carlson.
Betsy knew this news would be coming soon but still sobbed in bed.
Back at the police station, Carl Verlander had just arrived from Knoxville. He was escorted into Rock’s office by Kent. Rock closed his office door, so they could have some privacy.
Kent returned to his desk and thought about this case and his daddy.
But Kent’s curiosity got the best of him, and he rushed back to Rock’s office.
He stood to the side of the door to eavesdrop.
This often worked since his door had slits at the top for airflow.
Inside Rock’s office, Carl looked Rock straight into his eyes.
“I received your report, and I have to be blunt, Sheriff Riley, I believe that the State of Tennessee has a weak case against these two reporters,” said Carl.
“Weak, how can it be weak? I found those reporters by Charlie’s dead body.”
“Anybody could have stumbled across those two bodies. How do you know they would not call you with their discovery?” said Carl.
Rock did not answer that question.
“Besides, Rachel Collins could testify that she was with Charlie Abbott that night those two kids were 278
murdered. That also throws a shadow of a doubt that Charlie Abbott killed Howie and Tiffany,” said Carl.
Rock was fuming inside but kept his cool while Carl was in his office.
“And I heard Judge Olson might work on getting those charges dropped against the reporters. He stated that you tried to get the doctor at the hospital to change the time of death on Abbott’s death certificate.
Why would you do that?”
Rock frowned while he looked at Carl, who waited for Rock’s response. “I thought he documented the incorrect time based on when I got the call about the gunshot.”
“Who called you?”
“It was an anonymous caller,” replied Rock while he looked away from Carl.
“Anonymous caller. Can you get that anonymous caller to testify?” asked Carl.
Rock looked away. “No.”
“That’s what I thought. I’ll be in touch later,” said Carl, getting up from his chair.
Outside Rock’s office, Kent rushed back to his desk when he realized Rock’s door would open.
He sat down and felt that maybe his daddy harbored a dark secret.
Kent watched while Carl left Rock’s office.
Carl headed to the counter and did not look happy with his meeting with Rock.
Kent looked back at Rock’s office.
“Fuck!” Rock yelled out from behind his desk.
“I’m going to go out and do a patrol around down,” Kent yelled while he got up from his desk.
Rock never responded while Kent headed to the counter and left the station. He got up and walked over, and closed his office door.
“Fuck!” Rock’s voice bellowed from his office while he kicked his desk.
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A little while later, Kent drove his patrol car down Haneyville Road and soon turned right on Highland Avenue.
He parked in the shops and walkway parking lot, wanting to stroll around for some fresh air.
Kent walked down the walkway and headed toward the Lake View Restaurant.
He walked by the restaurant and headed toward Anne’s Antiques store.
He stopped and looked at the antiques’ on display in Anne’s store to kill some time. His eyes widened the second he saw a small six-inch by eight-inch old wooden chest. There was something about that chest that felt familiar.
Kent had a flashback…
In Kent’s flashback, he was eight years old and was rummaging through Rock’s garage on a Saturday afternoon. He was curious, trying to see what cool stuff he could dig up.
Then he spotted the chain dangling from the ceiling for the garage attic pull downstairs. Seeing that chain put his curiosity in high gear, so he wondered what adventures he could have up there.
He walked over and jumped up, and grabbed the chain. He pulled the stairs down then saw it was dark inside the attic.
He saw a flashlight on the nearby workbench. He rushed over and grabbed the flashlight.
He rushed back and climbed up the ladder.
Once he got to the top of the ladder, he turned on the flashlight.
The attic was empty except for this sixteen-inches wide by twenty-inches long, the twelve-inches-deep old wooden chest with a padlock at the far end of the attic to his right.
Kent started to climb into the attic from the stairs.
“What the hell are you doing up here?” yelled Rock, drunk from whiskey.
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Kent froze, knowing that Rock’s voice tone meant he was in deep trouble.
“Nothing, daddy. Just looking around,” said Kent with a shaky voice.
“Get your fucking ass down that ladder, now!”
yelled Rock.
Kent slowly climbed down the ladder.
When he got off the ladder, he could tell that his daddy was pissed by the quivering of his upper lip.
Rock grabbed the bottom of the attic pull downstairs and slammed it shut. “Didn’t I tell you never to go up in that attic?” yelled Rock.
“Yes, daddy,” Kent replied, shaking in fear.
Rock removed his belt, and Kent knew what this meant.
“Please don’t, daddy; I’ll never go up there. I promise,” said Kent while his eyes welled up.
Rock spun Kent around and started to beat Kent’s butt with his belt.
Kent cried out in pain while that belt smacked his backside.
“Never, never, never go up there,” Rock yelled out while he beat Kent with his belt.
And Kent never went up in the attic of the garage.
Back to reality, Kent’s butt cheeks tensed up while he recalled that beating many years ago. He remembered he cried in his room for thirty minutes afterward and was being comforted by his mom. Kent clenched his fists to pay his daddy back for those painful beatings with the belt. He forgot about that chest, as he tried to forget about that beating.
Kent had a hunch, and it was a strong hunch.
He turned around and rushed back down the walkway heading to the parking lot.
At Motel 6, Bernie drank more coffee while reviewing his notes.
He picked up his cell phone and looked up a contact. He called that contact.
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“Carl Verlander,” replied Carl from Bernie’s cell phone.
“Carl, Bernie Hollister here. Listen, I heard you’re the prosecutor for the murder case up here in Haneyville.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m defending Donovan Kirby and Jodi Lauder.
And listen, we need to discuss the possibility of dropping this case. I feel the state has a weak case, and I would hate to embarrass you in court by winning.
Especially since I’m finding mistakes the sheriff up here is making, he’s starting to look a little suspicious in my eyes. I also feel there wasn’t a proper investigation into the murder of Charlie Abbott by the Sheriff of Haneyville. Sheriff Riley jumped the gun too quickly and arrested my two clients. And I want to know why he was at the scene the second my clients stated they arrived there?”
There were a few seconds of silence from Bernie’s cell phone. “I will have a discussion with my boss in this case. I’ll get back to you,” said Carl.
“Thanks. I’m looking forward to your call,” said Bernie, then disconnected the call.
Bernie placed his cell phone down and had a good gut feeling he would clear Donovan and Jodi of murder charges. He started to jot down his points on why he felt the state had a weak case and would lose.
Elsewhere in Haneyville, George, Betsy, Ernie, Donovan, and Jodi went shopping at the Haneyville Mall. This small indoor mall had a Sears retail store at the one end, numerous other stores, and a food court. The residents of Haneyville were happy when this mall was built in 1992 because it saved them multiple trips to Knoxville.
George, Ernie, and Donovan were in the Men’s area of Sears while Donovan shopped for a suit and dress shoes for his upcoming trial.
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Over in the Woman’s area, Betsy and Jodi shopped for a dress and shoes for her trial.
After they were done shopping, they decided to eat at the food court. For George, Betsy, and Ernie, having Donovan and Jodi stay with them brought back many fond memories of raising Howie and Tiffany.
In his apartment off Highland next to the hospital, Kent sat drinking a beer in his small living room. He had all the recent events on his mind while watching TV and was unhappy.
Over at Rock’s home, he again fumed in his den while drinking whiskey and water. Melinda knew he was in another one of his bad moods, so she decided to spend some time with her sister in Knoxville.
That evening, it was 8:30 p.m., and Donovan and Jodi took another stroll down the sidewalk and headed north on Addison Avenue.
They again missed seeing Rock in his Impala parked south on Addison. Rock was staking out the two reporters who took this stroll every night around this time. They did it to relieve the stress of their upcoming murder trial.
It was later that night.
Donovan was sound asleep in Howie’s bed.
Jodi was sound asleep in Tiffany’s bed, and she started to have another dream.
In Jodi’s dream, she was in Tiffany’s bedroom writing down in her diary while relaxing on the bed. In her dream, she wore a tee shirt and cotton panties. On the outside of her tee shirt was a gold chain with a gold heart. A small key also hung around her neck.
“August 19th, 1970. Howie and I had a heart-to-heart discussion earlier today. He decided he was going down with Charlie on Friday morning into Knoxville. Howie decided it would be best to join the Navy instead of running to Canada. He felt that he might not be able to support a baby and me if we ran off to Canada,” Jodi wrote in her diary.
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Jodi got off of the bed and dropped to her stomach on the floor. She reached under her bed, where a piece of the wooden floor had been previously removed, and a hole in the floor was visible.
She grabbed the leather strap, took the keyed end, and snapped it into the lock on the front of the diary.
It was now safe from peering eyes that could see her secrets.
She tucked the diary into the hole in the floor and reinstalled that piece of wood.
Jodi woke up from her dream.
She looked around the room in a daze. The diary she dreamt about seemed genuine; she could feel that leather on her fingers.
She got off the bed and turned on the bedside lamp. She got on her stomach on the floor. She looked under the bed and saw that a piece of wood could be pried up.
She got up and, for some reason, felt the drawer of the bedside table would help. She opened up the drawer and found a small common-head screwdriver.
“Perfect,” she said while she grabbed the screwdriver and dropped it back into her stomach. Jodi pried that piece of wood open and found a hole in the floor.
“Please don’t let there be a rat inside there, please!” she said while she stuck her right hand into the hole. She instantly felt some insulation on the top of the ceiling of the finished basement. Then she felt something that felt like a leather book. She removed it and saw it was Tiffany’s diary, which was still locked.
Jodi got back to her feet with the diary. She rummaged through Tiffany’s bedroom to find the key to unlock the diary.
After an hour of searching Tiffany’s bedroom, Jodi could not find a key to unlock the diary. So she went back to bed. She closed her eyes and hoped to have a dream about the location of that key.
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Hours had passed, and it was now 2:00 a.m.
Kent was still awake and watching TV from his couch. His curiosity was extremely peeked. “I have to look,” he said while he got up from his couch and headed to his apartment’s front door.
A little while later, Kent parked his patrol car on Addison Avenue, four houses from Rock’s home.
Kent got out of his patrol car and rushed down the sidewalk.
When he got to Rock’s home, he rushed up the driveway and walked past Rock’s Impala.
He headed to the side of the garage.
He reached into his pockets and removed his set of keys. One of the keys was a key to Rock’s home.
Melinda gave him the key a couple of years ago.
Kent unlocked the side door of the garage.
He stepped into the dark garage and immediately turned on the flashlight application on his iPhone.
He used his flashlight and saw the garage was a mess. Over at the far side was a 1958 Chevy that Rock started to restore ten years ago. The car was years from being completed, and Rock had not touched it in eight years. The other garage area was filled with pieces of that old Chevy. That was why Rock and Melinda parked their cars in the driveway.
He used the flashlight and walked over to the dangling chain of the attic pull downstairs.
He ever so carefully slowly pulled down the stairs.
He cringed when the springs started to make a twang sound, and he feared Rock would hear and bust inside the garage. But he did not, and Kent was able to successfully pull the stairs down.
He looked up at the dark hole, and that day of his beating with the belt came back.
He decided he had to look, so he quietly climbed up the stairs and went inside the attic.
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Once Kent got inside the attic, he pointed the iPhone in the direction he recalled seeing that wooden chest. His eyes widened, and he was delighted that that wooden chest was still in that exact spot. It appeared to have more dust on it, which made Kent feel Rock had not touched it in years.
Kent used the flashlight and carefully crawled across the wooden floor of the attic.
He got to the chest and found that it was locked.
He pulled on the lock, and it would not open. “Rats,”
he whispered, wanting to see what was inside this chest.
Then he heard the toilet flush inside the home.
Kent carefully crawled back to the opening and quietly went down the ladder.
He carefully pushed the pull-down ladder back up into the attic opening with the springs again making that twang sound.
Kent quietly headed to the side door of the garage.
He went back outside, ran across Rock’s front yard, and headed to his car.
The second Kent got back inside his patrol car and drove down Addison Avenue, Rock came out of his bathroom and had a strange feeling he heard something in his garage.
Rock went inside his garage and flicked on the light. He looked around, and everything appeared normal.
He went back inside his home and went back to sleep, shrugging off that intruder feeling.
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Friday morning arrived across Haneyville.
Bernie woke up around 8:00 a.m. After his shower, he ate breakfast at the Perkins restaurant.
After breakfast, Bernie returned to his Motel 6
room and made a cell phone call.
"Senator Thomas," Senator Jerome Thomas, a Tennessee state Senator, replied from Bernie's cell phone.
"Senator, it's me, Bernie Hollister," he said into his cell phone.
"Bernie. How are you doing? I haven't heard from you in a while. How's your dad doing?" asked Senator Thomas, who grew up with Bernie's father and were old football buddies from high school in Knoxville.
"He's fine and loving his retirement," replied Bernie.
"I plan on retiring after my term is up next year.
So, why the call?"
"Senator, I'm here in Haneyville on a murder case. But things smell really fishy with the sheriff of this town, Sheriff Riley. I think he's framing two reporters for the murder of a former resident of Haneyville. I would like the state troopers to conduct their own investigation into Sheriff Riley."
There were a few seconds of silence on his cell phone. "Do you believe that?"
"Yes, I do, Senator."
"Okay, I'll have someone from my staff contact you later today, and you can give them the details. I'll see what I can do."
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"Thanks, Senator, and I'll be looking forward to talking with them," said Bernie, then he disconnected his end of the call with a huge smile.
Bernie studied his notes and jotted down the points as to why he wanted Sheriff Riley investigated.
After breakfast, Jodi and Ernie had just finished breakfast. He was making a fresh pot of coffee while she excused herself and went into Tiffany's bedroom.
She came out of Tiffany's bedroom with the diary in hand. "I found this last night. I believe it's Tiffany's diary," she said while she walked up to Ernie and showed him the diary.
"Where did you find that?" asked Ernie while he took the diary from Jodi.
"Under the floor of her bed. There was a loose piece of flooring."
"How did you know to look there?"
Jodi felt caught and pondered a viable excuse. "I hid mine in a place just like that in my bedroom. And I got curious if Tiffany had a diary."
"Ah, I see. I remember the day we gave that to her. It was on her sixteenth birthday. Kathy and I promised we would never read it, as we wanted Tiffany to have some privacy with her life," he said while he looked it over.
"I wonder if it has anything about Sheriff Riley?"
she asked.
"Possible, but it's locked," said Ernie while he tried to open it up.
"I couldn't find a key in her bedroom."
"This might contain some information to help your case."
"That's what I'm thinking."
"Wow. I can't believe this has been in Tiffany's room all these years. But I did forget about it a long time ago," said Ernie while he placed the diary on the kitchen table. "I'll call Bernie a little later and tell him what we found and see what he wants to do with it,"
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Ernie then walked over to the coffee pot and poured two fresh cups of coffee.
She just made a pancake breakfast at George and Betsy's home, and they sat down with Donovan to eat.
While they ate breakfast, Betsy wished Donovan could stay in her home forever. She felt he was a mother again.
Rock was back at the police station drinking coffee in his office. He had another splitting headache from drinking whiskey last night and popped more aspirins.
Kent sat at his desk and pondered how he could secretly see the contents of that wooden chest. He had a gut feeling about that chest and could not get it out of his mind.
"I'm going to take a nap," said Rock while he got out of his office.
Rock went down the jail cell hallway where the cot was stored that Kent used on Sunday.
Rock got on the cot, closed his eyes, and hoped he could sleep off this headache.
Kent thought this was his opportunity. "I'm going to patrol around town to give you some peace and quiet," he said while he got up from his desk.
"Good idea," Rock called out from the hallway.
Kent left the station.
A little while later, Kent had pulled his patrol car into the driveway of Rock's home.
He got out of his patrol car and rushed to the front door.
He unlocked the front door and then stepped inside the living room.
Once Kent got inside the living room, he rushed through it and headed into the kitchen.
He went to the door of the kitchen that led into the garage.
He opened the door and rushed into the garage.
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He rushed over to Rock's workbench and looked for something useful. He found a bolt cutter hanging on the wall. He grabbed it and rushed to the chain dangling from the pull-down attic stairs.
He pulled the stairs down.
After the stairs were down, Kent put on some black leather gloves and rushed into the attic with the bolt cutter.
Once he got inside the attic, he turned on the flashlight application on his iPhone.
He carefully crawled on the attic floor and headed to the wooden chest.
He placed his iPhone down in a position where the flashlight provided light on the padlock of the chest. He used the bolt cutter and cut the padlock. He removed and shoved the padlock in his pants pocket.
He picked up his iPhone and shined the flashlight into the chest when he opened the lid.
"What the hell?" he said the second he saw some clothes that looked old and smelled musty. They seemed to be 1970s-style blue jeans and shoes. Then he saw a gold heart and a small key on a gold chain.
Then he saw what appeared to be a wallet and a driver's license.
He reached inside and carefully looked at the driver's license. It was for Tiffany Carlson.
"I don't believe it. I don't fucking believe it," said Kent while he snapped a picture of the inside of the chest with his iPhone.
He closed the lid of the chest.
He grabbed the bolt cutter and his flashlight.
"But it doesn't surprise me," he said while he crawled back to the attic opening.
Kent climbed back down the stairs and then pushed the pull-down stairs back up into the attic opening.
He rushed out of the garage closing the door.
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A little while later, Kent was in his patrol car driving down Addison Avenue. He pondered what he should do now that he had found evidence that his father was probably the killer of Howie, Tiffany, and Charlie.
After Kent drove out of the residential neighborhood, he headed down Haneyville Road to park in the parking lot by the lake walkway. He wanted some fresh air while he pondered this dilemma.
A little while later, Kent walked down the walkway and finally had an idea. So he rushed down the walkway and headed into Tina and Tim's Coffee Shop.
After he got a small cup of coffee, Kent surfed the Internet and found the phone number he wanted.
He left the coffee shop and headed down the walkway.
He stopped on the walkway when nobody was close enough to hear his conservation. He made the call to the number he found on the Internet.
"Special Investigations Bureau, Trooper Becky Faith speaking, how may I help you?" Becky answered the call.
"I'm Kent Riley. I'm a deputy here in Haneyville. Listen, I have a situation where I need your immediate assistance," said Kent into his iPhone.
"How may we help?"
"Well, were had a murder here outside Haneyville this Saturday night. My daddy is the sheriff here in Haneyville, and he arrested two reporters for this murder. Problem is that the guy murdered, named Charlie Abbott, was found dead by two shallow graves where two people were killed back in nineteen seventy,"
said Kent into his phone.
"Wait wasn't a car found in your lake a few weeks ago. A car from two teens that went missing in nineteen seventy and believed to have run away to Canada?" asked Becky from his phone.
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"That's correct, but the skeletons found on Saturday turned out to be whose two missing teens. I believe that my daddy, the Sheriff of Haneyville, killed those two teens and this Charlie Abbott guy," said Kent, and his heart started pounding as he got nervous.
There were a few seconds of silence from the phone. "How do you know your daddy killed these people?"
"I have evidence he killed those two teens back in seventy."
"What evidence?"
"I found a wooden chest in his attic that contained these two teens' clothes, wallet, and driver's license. I snapped a picture. I can email it to you."
"Okay," Trooper Faith said and gave Kent her email address.
Kent emailed her the picture, and a few seconds passed.
"Okay, Deputy Riley. I'll have someone get in touch with you."
"Make it right away. I'm afraid daddy might get rid of the evidence really soon," said Kent, and his legs started to tremble a little.
"We'll be in touch," said Trooper Faith, then she disconnected her end of the call.
Kent walked down the walkway, feeling he had done the right thing.
"Hey Kent," called out Andrew from behind his back. Kent cringed the second he heard Andrew's voice behind him. "Andrew," he said while he turned around and saw Andrew with his young wife, Sandy, who was four months pregnant.
"What are you doing down here?" asked Andrew while he held onto Sandy's hand.
Kent looked at Andrew and then at Sandy. "Can we speak in private? It's a serious matter that only you should hear."
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"Stay here," Andrew told Sandy, then gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Kent pulled Andrew away to a safe distance and then told him about today's events.
Down the walkway, Bernie, George, Donovan, Betsy, Ernie, and Jodi had just walked out of the Lake View Restaurant after eating a late lunch.
Donovan and Jodi spotted Kent and Andrew chatting alone down the walkway. They saw Kent show Andrew his iPhone. They thought nothing of it and headed off to the parking lot.
A few minutes had passed, and Kent and Andrew finished their discussion. Andrew never cared for Rock and agreed to help Kent.
Andrew and Sandy went home to their apartment.
At the same time, Kent decided he better appear at the police station.
At the police station, Rock woke up from his nap with a throbbing headache.
He went into this office and grabbed four aspirins from his desk. He grabbed his coffee cup.
He headed out of his office and made a beeline to the coffee pot.
Kent entered the station while Rock poured coffee into his cup.
"The town is nice and quiet," said Kent while he walked over to his desk and could not look at Rock while he stood at the coffee pot.
Rock could care less while he popped those four aspirins and chased them down with some coffee.
Rock remained quiet while he headed back to his office. He sat down behind his desk and felt like his whole world was crashing down around him.
Kent sat down at his desk and stared at his iPhone.
Meanwhile, Andrew left Sandy alone at their apartment and headed over to his parent's house. He had his badge clipped to the belt of his jeans and had a 293
shoulder harness with his revolver. He started role-playing as a detective and drove off in his Ford Escape.
Sandy sat in their living room and did not feel good about Andrew leaving. She did not mind him being a police officer in Haneyville since nothing had happened. Still, the recent events started to make her nervous.
A little while later, Andrew had his car parked in his parent's garage at their home on Addison Avenue.
This was perfect because they lived five houses down from Rock's home on the other side of the street.
Andrew had a perfect view of Rock's driveway.
He started to discreetly peek out his parent's living room window curtains and staked out Rock's driveway.
Andrew was lucky because his parents were in Florida on a cruise to the Caribbean. And he did promise to check up on their home once in a while. So today was a perfect time to fulfill his promise.
Back at George and Betsy's home, everybody had retired to the living room after a fresh cup of coffee was finished brewing.
While they started to discuss the case, Bernie's cell phone rang from the clip on his belt. "Excuse me,"
he said, then got up and walked into the kitchen.
While Bernie had a private discussion on his cell phone, the others continued with idle chat.
Back at the police station, Kent was still at his desk while Rock was in his office.
Kent's iPhone rang, startled him, and he jumped a little. He looked and saw that Major Tony Sanders was calling.
He got up from his desk. "Hello," he said into his iPhone while he rushed over to the counter.
Rock stepped into the doorway of his office and was curious about Kent's phone call. He watched while Kent slipped out the front doors and got suspicious.
He walked out of his office and headed to the counter.
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Outside by the front doors, Kent felt this was an excellent place to have a private phone call.
"Yes, I'm the one that called," Kent said softly into his iPhone.
While Kent listened to Major Sanders talk on his iPhone, he did not see Rock peeking out the cracked-open front door.
Then Rock went away when he heard his office phone ringing.
Back in the station, Rock rushed through the office area and headed back into his office.
"Sheriff Riley," he answered the call.
"Sheriff, Carl Verlander here."
Rock sat down at this desk, and he thought this was not a good call by the tone of Carl's voice.
"Yeah, Carl."
"Ah, listen," said Carl, then hesitated for a few seconds. "The Attorney General will probably drop the charges again, Donovan Kirby and Jodi Lauder. He feels you really botched up this case and feels we don't have strong evidence that they, in fact, killed Charlie Abbott. The Attorney General is seriously considering having one of the investigators from the State Troopers office investigate this murder. Someone from that office will be in touch with you shortly to get some information," Carl said from the phone.
Rock started sweating and got nervous. "Okay, Carl. I'll be ready to assist someone from the state in any way I can," he said, then hung up his phone. Rock knew that he was more likely the target of this investigation. He could not believe how things had turned within the last couple of days. He started to get scared for the first time in his life.
Rock's hands shook while he reached down at the bottom right side of his desk. He opened the bottom drawer and removed a bottle of Jack Daniels. He opened the bottle and took a healthy swig to calm his nerves.
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Then Rock's eyes widened when he suddenly remembered something. "Fuck!" he called out, then placed the Jack Daniels bottle back in his desk drawer.
He shot up from his desk and rushed out of his office.
Rock charged through the office area and went around the counter.
He charged to the front doors and slammed one of them open.
At the same time, Rock slammed one of the front doors open, Kent tried to go inside the station. A charging Rock who looked scared knocked Kent down on his butt on the concrete.
Rock charged off and could care less that he knocked down Kent.
Kent got up and saw Rock get inside his patrol car, start it up, and screeched backward out of his parking spot.
Rock screeched away through the parking lot.
Kent figured something was going down with Rock's behavior.
He went inside the police station.
Once Kent sat down behind his desk in the station, he wrote a text message.
Over at Andrew's parent's home, he had just fixed a snack of apple pie and some coffee when his cell phone buzzed. He looked at the viewfinder.
" Dad left the station and looked scared. Keep an eye on his house," read Kent's text message.
Andrew grabbed his plate of his mom's homemade apple pie and rushed out of the kitchen, and headed into the living room.
Andrew grabbed a chair, opened the living room curtains, and moved the chair to the window. He sat down and ate apple pie while he eyed Rock's driveway.
Then his eyes widened with an idea.
He jumped up from his chair and rushed through the living room.
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He ran down the hallway and stopped at the closet. He opened the closet door, reached up on the top shelf, and removed a pair of Bushnell binoculars.
He rushed back down the hallway and into the living room.
He rushed back to his chair, sat down, and proceeded to stake out Rock's house with his dad's binoculars.
Bernie finished his cell phone call at George and Betsy's home.
He went back into the living room.
"I hope it wasn't bad news," said Donovan.
"No, sorta good news. The Attorney General is considering dropping the murder charges against both of you."
George, Betsy, and Ernie cheered the good news.
Donovan and Jodi hugged each other with huge smiles.
"Looks like the State Police will conduct an investigation into the death of Charlie Abbott. The Attorney General believes Sheriff Riley botched his investigation or a lack of an investigation," said Bernie.
Jodi rested her head on Donovan's shoulder.
Her eyes welled up, thinking she would remain free for the rest of her life.
"Now, you two will still be considered suspects during this investigation, so you're not completely out of the woods yet," added Bernie.
"Don't worry, you two; I know in my heart that you'll be free of all this real soon," said Betsy.
Donovan placed his arm around Jodi and felt Betsy's comment would come true.
At the station, Kent paced around the office area and was anxious for the State Trooper to arrive from Knoxville.
Kent's iPhone rang. "Hello," he quickly answered the call.
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"Deputy Riley, Judge Olson here. I had a call from State Trooper Major Anita Maus down at the Knoxville Headquarters. I have a search warrant ready for you to pick up," said Judge Olson from his iPhone.
Kent rushed to the door and was happy things clicked in his favor.
While Kent rushed next door to the Court House, his iPhone buzzed. He looked at the viewfinder and saw Andrew had sent him a text message.
"Sheriff Riley moved stuff from one side of his garage to the other, then backed his patrol car into his garage. He closed the garage door," said Andrew's text message.
"Keep an eye on him and text me when he leaves," Kent typed in as his text response.
Kent went to the side door of the Court House and went inside to see Judge Olson.
He was in his garage at Rock's house and just pulled down the attic stairs. His patrol car was back in with its trunk opened.
He rushed over and grabbed his flashlight off the workbench.
He rushed over, climbed up the stairs, and headed into the attic.
Once he got into the attic, he turned on his flashlight.
He crawled through the attic and headed to the chest.
Once he got to the chest, he opened the lid. He illuminated the inside of the chest and rummaged through the contents. He was satisfied that Howie and Tiffany's clothes, her gold chain with gold heart and key, Howie's wallet, Tiffany's driver's license, and Rock's Colt 45 from his Army days were still inside the chest. "I thought I locked this?" he muttered while he closed the lid. But then figured he forgot to lock it years ago.
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He carefully dragged the chest across the wooden floor and headed to the attic opening.
Rock manhandled the chest while he climbed down the attic pull-down stairs.
Rock was halfway down the stairs when he lost his footing with his right shoe. He fumbled with the chest and lost his grip. The chest dropped, smacking Rock's head and sending him down to the concrete floor.
Rock smacked his butt bone hard on the concrete floor, then smacked the back of his head on the bumper of his patrol car.
He was passed out on the floor by the rear of his car. At the police station, Kent sat at his desk with the search warrant. He waited for the State Trooper detective to arrive at the station.
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It was 7:30 that evening.
Kent was getting concerned he had not heard from the State Trooper detective. But he was glad Andrew’s surveillance of Rock’s home showed he had not left the house. Kent figured his daddy might have taken a nap to sleep off the whiskey he probably drank all day.
Kent’s iPhone rang. “Deputy Riley,” he quickly answered the call.
“Deputy Riley. I’m Detective Jan Morris with the Tennessee Highway Patrol’s Criminal Investigation Division. Sorry, I didn’t call sooner, but I had to stop to handle a car accident on Stinson Road. I should be at your station within the hour,” said Detective Morris.
“Great, Detective Morris. I have the search warrant ready, and my other deputy sent me a message that my daddy is still home,” said Kent.
“Good, I’ll see you soon,” Detective Morris replied, then disconnected her end of the call.
Kent felt better after receiving that call.
He got up from his desk and headed over to the coffee pot. He poured his fourth cup of coffee.
At Ernie’s home, he and Jodi had just finished making a large spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread dinner.
“This reminds me of those nights back in the late sixties. Tiffany would help me make spaghetti dinner on Saturday nights. We gave Kathy a break from cooking,” said Ernie while his eyes welled up a little, thinking of his daughter.
Jodi smiled, and her eyes started to warm up a bit, giving her a warm déjà vu feeling.
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“Let’s get the table ready; our guests will be here any minute,” Ernie said while carrying the large bowl of spaghetti with meatballs into the dining room.
He placed it in the middle of his dining room table and had not used this table for eating after Kathy died. Jodi got six plates from the cupboard and headed into the dining room.
While Ernie and Jodi got the dining room table ready, Donovan drove George’s car with Betsy and Bernie inside over to Ernie’s home.
Back at the police station, Kent waited for Detective Morris to arrive. He paced near his desk and was getting antsy and nervous that Rock might get rid of the evidence.
Over in Rock’s garage, he was still passed out on the floor by the rear of his patrol car.
Over at Andrew’s parent’s home, he ate a microwavable Fried Chicken dinner. At the same time, he spied on Rock’s garage from the living room window. He just sent Kent a text message stating he saw no activity at Rock’s home.
They all sat down at Ernie’s home for a night spaghetti dinner with some red wine.
It was now 8:15 p.m.
Donovan and Jodi took care of cleaning off the dining room table and washing the dishes. Ernie did not have a dishwasher since it broke two years ago. He decided since he was alone, he did not want the expense of a new one. So he just washed his few dishes by hand.
Detective Morris drove her black unmarked Chrysler Charger down Haneyville Road and passed the Motel 6.
Back at Andrew’s parent’sparents’ home, he sat in that chair, peeking out the living room curtains, drinking some coffee. This was his third cup. He just texted Kent that there’s still no activity at Rock’s home.
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He stirred on the floor in Rock’s garage and became conscious. He sat up and looked around the dark garage in a daze. It took a few seconds for him to remember what had happened. He cringed as he had a pounding headache and goose egg on the back of his head. He got up and fumbled to the wall by the kitchen door. He felt around the wall and then found the light switch. He flipped on the light in the garage.
He looked by the attic stairs and saw the wooden chest upside down on the floor. Howie and Tiffany’s clothes were dumped on the floor.
He walked over and turned the chest right side up. He picked up Howie and Tiffany’s clothes and dumped them back into the chest.
He reached inside the chest and removed his old Army Colt 45.
He removed the magazine clip from the handle.
He counted three bullets that remained in the clip. He put the clip back in the Colt 45 and dumped it back in the chest.
He looked at his watch and saw it was 8:25. He picked up the wooden chest. He walked it over and set it down in the trunk of his patrol car.
He walked over to his workbench and grabbed the new shovel he bought at Sears the other day.
He rushed over and placed it in the trunk of his car. He rushed back to the workbench and opened a drawer under the top of the bench. He removed a black ski mask and then slammed the drawer shut.
He rushed over to another part of the wall and grabbed the coveralls he had worn the other night when he paid Charlie a visit in the woods.
He rushed back to the trunk of his car and dropped the ski mask and coveralls inside. He slammed the trunk closed.
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Rock rushed to the kitchen door and went back inside his house.
Once Rock got inside his house, he rushed through the kitchen and headed down the hallway.
He went into the bedroom and popped four Excedrin extra-strength pain pills.
He rushed out of his kitchen and headed back down the hallway.
He rushed into his kitchen and over to the Jack Daniels bottle on the kitchen counter. He opened up the bottle and took a healthy swig.
Then he rushed out of his home, got inside his car, and drove out of his garage.
At Ernie’s home, Donovan and Jodi left through the front door and headed down the sidewalk for their evening stroll.
They strolled down Addison Avenue, holding hands, and loved the fresh evening air.
Then Rock’s patrol car rolled up and stopped.
Rock’s driver’s door flew open, and Rock stepped outside.
Donovan and Jodi stopped dead in their tracks.
“We’re doing nothing wrong, Sheriff,” said Donovan.
“Is it against the law to walk on the sidewalk in this town?” asked Jodi, and she started to get concerned.
“No, but I have a suspicion that you’re trying to escape walking around this late at night,” said Rock while placing his hand on his revolver in his holster.
“We’re not trying to escape,” said Donovan.
“We’re just taking a stroll,” added Jodi.
“I don’t believe you. Because there’s a trail that goes deep into the woods just off Addison,” said Rock, then he pointed north on Addison. “You could have a friend waiting in the woods in a car.”
“We’re not trying to run,” said Donovan.
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Rock removed his revolver and pointed it at Donovan and Jodi. “Place your hands behind your heads.”
Donovan and Jodi obeyed and silently prayed someone in one of the homes was peeking out their living room windows.
Donovan’s silent prayer worked. Folks across the street and the folks at the house where this event was going down peeked out their living room curtains.
While Rock handcuffed Donovan’s left wrist to Jodi’s right wrist, they could smell the strong odor of whiskey on his breath. They both had the same lousy déjà vu feeling.
“If you let us go, I promise we’ll leave town, and you’ll never hear from us again,” said Donovan while he walked them to his patrol car.
Rock frisked all their pants pockets and removed Donovan and Jodi’s cell phones. He shoved them in his pants pocket, then placed them in his patrol car’s rear seat.
Rock got behind his wheel and drove off down the street.
Back at Andrew’s parent’s home, he returned to his living room chair after taking a bathroom break.
He sat in his chair and peeked out the curtains of the living room.
His eyes widened in shock when he saw Rock’s garage door open. He saw that Rock’s patrol car was gone. “Shit!” he yelled and jumped out of the chair.
He peeked out the living room window and could not see Rock’s patrol car anywhere down the street.
“Shit!” Andrew yelled out, making a beeline out of the living room.
He ran into the kitchen and entered the garage from the kitchen door.
A little while later, the garage door to Andrew’s parents opened.
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Andrew backed his Ford Escape out and down the driveway.
The garage door closed while Andrew backed down onto the street.
He raced his Escape down Addison Avenue.
“Fuck!” he yelled out for screwing up his surveillance assignment.
At that exact moment, back at the police station, Detective Morris entered through the front doors.
Kent stood up from his desk the second he saw Detective Morris. He was immediately smitten, and his heart raced a little at seeing this beautiful woman in uniform. She was about the same age as Kent, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and pouty lips.
“I’m Detective Morris,” she said while she went to the counter.
“Ah, I’m, ah, Deputy, ah, Kent Riley,” he stuttered, suddenly feeling like a school kid trying to get a date from the girl of his dreams.
“Pleasure to meet you, deputy,” said Detective Morris; she liked something about Kent, but she knew he had to be a professional on this visit.
They shook hands and stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Kent’s eyes widened when he remembered why she came to Haneyville. “Oh yeah, the warrant,” he said, then turned around and rushed back to his desk.
He grabbed the search warrant and then rushed back to the counter. He handed Jan the warrant.
She looked it over. “Let’s go,” she said.
Kent rushed around the counter and opened one of the doors for Jan.
She smiled at him for being a gentleman while she stepped outside the station.
Once they got outside the station, they got inside her Charger.
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When Kent closed the passenger door of the Charger, his iPhone rang. He saw that Andrew was calling. “Hey,” he answered the call.
Detective Morris started her patrol car and let the engine idle while Kent talked on his iPhone.
“I fucked up. I went to take a piss and came back. Your daddy left his house. I’m driving south on Addison and can’t see his patrol car anywhere. I’m sorry, man,” blurted out Andrew from the iPhone.
“Ah, man,” cried out Kent, then he paused to calm down.
Detective Morris looked at Kent and knew something was going wrong.
“Okay, drive around and let me know if you see where he’s heading,” he said into his iPhone.
“Okay,” replied Andrew then disconnected his end of the call.
“We got a little situation. Daddy took off in his patrol car,” he told Detective Morris.
“Do you know where he’s heading?”
“Deputy Barker is out looking for him. He’ll call when he spots daddy’s patrol car.”
Kent’s iPhone rang again. “Yeah, Andrew,” he answered.
“It’s not Andrew; it’s Bernie Hollister. Listen, I just got word from some neighbors down the street.
They claim your daddy just arrested Donovan Kirby, and Jodi Lauder, then placed them in the back of his patrol car. What is going on, deputy?” said Bernie from the iPhone, and he sounded pissed.
“Well, I found evidence in daddy’s home that he killed those two teens. He has the evidence in his patrol car and might dump it or bury it somewhere.
We can only guess why he took those reporters,”
replied Kent.
“Shit!” cursed Bernie from the iPhone.
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“I have a detective from the State Trooper’s office and a search warrant. I’m ready to arrest my daddy for murder,” said Kent into his iPhone.
“Well, deputy, you better not hope he gets arrested for five murders,” said Bernie, then he disconnected his end of the call.
“Looks like daddy took those two reporters hostage, according to their attorney,” said Kent, and he looked worried. At the same time, he thought about where his daddy might be heading. Then his eyes widened with a hunch. “Okay, pull out of the parking lot and head west on Wildwood Avenue. Then at the end of Wildwood, turn left and head south on Thorndale Avenue. We’ll park and wait at Haneyville Road. If my hunch is right, daddy is probably heading west,” said Kent.
“Okay,” replied Detective Morris while she put her Charger in gear and then backed out of the parking spot. Rock turned his patrol car off Addison and headed west on Haneyville Road.
“Please don’t do this, sheriff,” pleaded Donovan.
“Shut the fuck up,” said Rock while he grabbed the flask of whiskey out of his glove box. He opened up the flask and took a drink of whiskey. While drinking his whiskey, he thought about raping Jodi in the woods in front of Donovan. Those thoughts started to give him an erection knowing she would be powerless under his forced control.
Back down by Haneyville Road and Addison Avenue sat Andrew’s Escape. He looked up and down Haneyville Road and then saw the overhead lights of Rock’s patrol car heading east. It was stopped at the traffic light for the entrance to the shopping mall.
Detective Morris pulled her Charger off the side of Thorndale Avenue just before the stop sign for Haneyville Road. They waited.
Kent’s iPhone rang. “Yeah,” he answered the call.
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“Your daddy’s heading west on Haneyville Road,”
said Andrew from the iPhone, and he sounded excited.
At the same time, he raced his Escape down the road.
“Okay, keep a safe distance. We’re waiting by Thorndale and Haneyville Road.”
“Got it,” replied Andrew from the iPhone.
“He’s coming our way,” said Kent while he disconnected the call.
They waited and watched the traffic go east and west down Haneyville Road.
Kent’s cell phone rang. “Yeah,” he answered the call. “I’m two cars behind him, and I can see two people in the backseat,” said Andrew.
“Yeah, he kidnapped those two reporters,” replied Kent. Back in Andrew’s Escape, he drove west on Haneyville Road. After hearing the news about the reporters, he unclipped the strap holding his revolver in the holster. He was ready for some police action.
Back at Haneyville Road and Thorndale Avenue, Detective Morris and Kent waited in her Charger with the engine idling, ready to spring into action.
“I see his patrol car,” Kent said while he looked to his left.
Detective Morris looked to her left and saw Rock’s patrol car heading west. She put her car into drive and waited.
In the backseat, Donovan and Jodi had another strange déjà vu feeling, but they feared for their lives this time.
“Please stop this. I can imagine someone in your neighborhood saw you take us away,” said Donovan.
“Just drop us off, and we’ll tell them that you just gave us a ride,” pleaded Jodi.
“You two fuckers just had to come up to my town and fuck things up for me. You just couldn’t leave well enough alone. Now I’m being investigated. I can read 308
between the lines,” yelled out Rock while his anger was hitting high gear, and he was not thinking straight.
“Please,” pleaded Jodi while her eyes welled up.
Rock looked down the street and saw the black Charger parked along Thorndale Avenue facing south.
“Fuck!” he yelled and had a bad feeling about this, as he had a strong hunch that it was an unmarked car. He accelerated his patrol car and whipped into the other lane to get around a slower-moving pickup in front of him. Donovan and Jodi quickly buckled their seat belts.
Detective Morris and Kent noticed Rock’s patrol car picked up speed in the Charger.
“He’s running,” said Detective Morris while she flicked on the blue lights hidden in the front grill of her car and the siren.
She whipped her Charger onto Haneyville Road in front of Andrew’s Escape.
Andrew slammed on his brakes and fishtailed all over the road with his tires screeching. He sighed a sigh of relief that he did not smack into the rear of the Detective’s Charger.
Rock weaved around traffic while he raced his patrol car down Haneyville Road.
“Fuck!” he yelled out checking the rearview mirror and noticing the Detective’s Charger weaving around traffic after him with her lights and siren blaring.
Andrew weaved around traffic flashing his headlights and blowing his horn. His heart was pounding with excitement about being on an actual car chase with a murder suspect. He saw it in the movies, and now he was living the thrill of the hunt.
Rock’s patrol car sped down Haneyville Road at 80
mph with the Detective’s Charger hot on his tail.
Andrew’s Escape sped down Haneyville Road at 80 mph, hot on the rear of the Detective’s Charger.
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All the cars on the east and westbound lanes of Haneyville Road pulled off to the side the second they spotted the case.
They stood out of their cars and watched the three vehicles whiz past them. For them, this was a treat, as something this exciting hardly ever happened in Haneyville.
The three cars raced down Haneyville Road with traffic scattering for a safe haven.
Rock slowed down his patrol car and then made a screeching right turn on Stinson Road.
He floored it and raced north on Stinson.
Detective Morris slowed her Charger down then she made a screeching right turn onto Stinson Road.
Andrew slowed his Escape down and made a screeching right turn onto Stinson Road. But his turn was a little too fast, and the tires on his passenger side left the road a little.
Rock raced his patrol car down Stinson, hoping to outrun the Detective’s Charger and make it to the Kentucky state line.
Since Stinson got a little curvy, Rock had to slow his car down to 70 mph, as did the Detective’s Charger and Andrew’s Escape.
“Sheriff, pull your car over,” said Detective Morris from her car speaker.
“Fuck you,” yelled back Rock from his car speaker.
“Well, I guess he thinks he’s going to run to Kentucky,” said Detective Morris.
Kent grabbed the microphone. “Daddy, pull the car over. This is stupid,” he said into the microphone.
“Just let me go,” Rock replied from his car speaker.
Rock raced down Stinson Road and headed over the bridge over Lake Haney.
The Detective’s Charger raced over the bridge.
Andrew’s Escape raced over the bridge.
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Then Stinson Road curved through some woods, and Detective Morris slowed her Charger down even slower.
Then Rock’s patrol car started to gain some ground on the Charger.
While he raced down Stinson, Rock glanced in his rearview mirror and saw that he had gained ground on the Trooper’s Charger. He chuckled. Then he turned his eyes back on the road. “Shit!” he yelled out the second he saw a deer slowly walking across the road.
He slammed on his brakes.
Rock’s patrol car swerved all over the road, skidded to the side, and then the front passenger side smacked into a tree close to the road.
Detective Morris slammed on the brakes of her Charger. Her car fishtailed, and her rear tires screeched and smoked. The Charger came to a stop in the middle of the road.
Andrew slammed on the brakes on his Escape.
His SUV fishtailed, and his rear tires screeched and smoked. His Escape came to a screeching stop inches from the Detective’s Charger.
The driver’s door creaked open, and Rock fell out in pain. He hit the ground. His right knee was in pain from smacking into the dashboard.
He painfully got up and hobbled to the front of his patrol car.
“Stop, Sheriff Riley,” Detective Morris yelled out with her revolver in hand.
Rock saw Detective Morris, Kent, and Andrew standing by the Charger with their revolvers drawn. He whipped out his pistol and fired off a shot.
The bullet hit Andrew in his left thigh, dropping him to the pavement in pain.
Detective Morris and Kent took cover behind the front of her Charger.
They looked over the car and saw Rock hobbling off into the woods.
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“I’ll get daddy. You take care of my deputy and then help those two reporters,” Kent said, then he got up and ran toward Rock’s upside patrol car.
Detective Morris ran over to Rock’s patrol car and saw that Donovan and Jodi were banged up. The injuries did not appear to be serious.
Rock hobbled into the woods the best he could, where he hoped he could lose them.
Kent ran off into the woods after Rock, but he could not locate him once he got in there.
Then he heard someone fall and moan out in pain. He ran off in that direction.
After running twenty feet into the woods, he saw Rock attempting to hide behind a tree.
“Stop, daddy. Come in, and we can settle this mess,” Kent yelled.
“No!” Rock yelled back from the woods then he fired off a shot.
The bullet missed Kent by a few feet and hit an oak tree.
“You’re stupid, daddy,” Kent said while he moved from tree to tree to get closer to Rock.
“Just let me go, son. Everything will be better if you just let me go,” yelled Rock while he tried to run through the woods.
Kent ran between the trees and saw Rock while he hobbled between some other trees.
Rock tripped over a dead tree branch. “Fuck!” he yelled after falling face-first into the dirt.
“Stay right where you are, daddy,” yelled out Kent.
Rock painfully stood up, turned around, and saw Kent in position with his revolver drawn. “I’m your daddy; you have to let me go,” said Rock with the warmest smile he could muster up with his pain.
“I can’t do that, and you know it,” Kent said while he inched closer to Rock.
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Rock whipped out his revolver and fired a shot at the moment pain shot through his knee.
The bullet missed Kent’s head by six inches. Kent reacted by returning fire with his revolver.
The bullet hit Rock in his right shoulder, and he flew backward, slamming onto the ground.
Kent rushed over and kicked Rock’s revolver out of his hand. He turned Rock over on his back, causing him to cry in pain. Even though it was painful, Kent immediately placed Rock’s hands behind his back. He handcuffed Rock.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you both understand these rights?”
Rock nodded in pain that he understood his rights.
Kent brought Rock up on his feet then he walked him through the woods back to the cars.
A little while later, down on Stinson Road, Rock sat secured in the back of Detective Morris’ Charger.
Three ambulances from the Haneyville Hospital had previously parked by the cars.
Donovan, Jodi, and Andrew were now treated by the EMTs at the ambulances. One of them previously checked out Rock in the back of the Charger.
While this was happening, Detective Morris and Kent opened up the trunk of Rock’s patrol car.
Kent opened up the wooden trunk and showed Detective Morris the evidence.
They took the trunk and placed it in the trunk of her Charger for later processing as evidence.
While the EMTs continued to check out Donovan, Jodi, Andrew, and Trooper, Morris started some idle chat.
Rock still sat in the backseat of the Charger and could not believe his world had come crashing down this week.
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Saturday morning arrived across Haneyville, and the town was buzzing with the news of last night’s car chase with Sheriff Riley.
Some residents were shocked that Sheriff Riley was arrested for murdering three people. Other residents were not that surprised as they had a gut feeling there was something crooked with the old sheriff. Especially the women that Rock forced to have sex in place of being arrested.
Then other good news arrived when some light rain showers appeared over Haneyville to relieve the summer drought.
Rock lay in a Haneyville Hospital room bed treated for his injuries from the accident and being shot in his right shoulder. He looked depressed while his right hand was handcuffed to the bed’s side rail.
He still could not believe his own son shot and then arrested him. The boy Rock never played ball with or took fishing but often whipped him with a belt. Outside Rock’s hospital room, a State Trooper sat in a chair in the hallway. His job was primarily to make sure Rock did not try to escape.
Donovan lay in a hospital bed with a goose egg on his forehead and a broken right forearm.
Jodi lay in another hospital bed with a cut across her forehead.
Andrew lay in another hospital bed with a bullet wound in his left thigh. Sandy also sat in his room; her eyes were red from crying most of the morning.
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Back at the Haneyville Police Station, Kent worked with Detective Morris and processed the evidence found in the wooden chest.
The evidence included a pair of Levi hip hugger bell-bottom blue jeans, a pair of Levi bell-bottom blue jeans, a busy floral print blouse, a black tee shirt, pair of brown chunky heel sandals, black pair of Converse sneakers with pair of white socks, a wallet with Howie’s driver’s license and a five-dollar bill, Haneyville High School identification card, Tiffany’s driver’s license, a gold chain with gold heart with “Howie” engraved on the back and a small silver key, a Colt 45 with three bullets in the magazine clip, a black wool ski mask with a few strands of black hair, another black ski mask and the coveralls.
Kent also found Donovan and Jodi’s cell phones in Rock’s pants pocket after he was admitted to the hospital.
After they processed the evidence, Kent called George, Betsy, and Ernie to come to the station to identify the items.
Thirty minutes had passed, and George, Betsy, and Ernie arrived at the police station.
Kent and Detective Morris took the four over to a desk to look at the items.
Ernie had Tiffany’s diary Jodi found in his hand while he looked at the items in plastic bags. “That’s Tiffany’s gold chain with heart. Howie gave that to her,” he said.
George and Betsy looked at the bag with her gold chain and gold heart.
“I remembered when he bought that down in Knoxville,” said Betsy then her eyes started to well up.
Ernie set the diary on the top of the desk.
“Deputy, we found Tiffany’s old diary, but it’s locked.
Can we see if that key on her chain will unlock it?”
“Sure. I’m curious what she wrote down back then,” replied Kent. Then he opened up one of his 315
desk drawers and removed some latex gloves. He put on the gloves and removed the chain with a gold heart and small key. Kent took that key and used it to unlock Tiffany’s diary.
“We should keep that diary as evidence, as it might contain information concerning this case,” said Detective Morris.
Kent nodded in agreement while he opened up the diary. He flipped through the pages and got to the summer months of 1970.
He found an entry for June 6, 1970, Saturday, and started to read where Tiffany wrote how Deputy Rock Riley raped her that day. He closed the diary and started to get sick over the thought that his daddy had raped a girl. “We’ll keep this as evidence,” he told Ernie.
George, Betsy, and Ernie had a hunch that the page Kent read was probably Tiffany’s account of being raped by Rock.
“If it helps your case, keep it,” said Ernie.
“Thanks. I’ll make sure you get it back after this is all over with,” said Kent.
Ernie nodded and understood; then he looked at George and Betsy. He motioned that it was time to leave. They nodded in agreement, and they left the station.
Two hours had passed, and George and Betsy picked up Donovan from the hospital while Ernie picked up Jodi. They headed back to their homes.
They all met at George’s house for a late lunch.
Bernie showed up with a massive smile on his face. “I have some good news. The charges are dropped against you two,” Bernie said while they all sat at the dining room table.
Donovan and Jodi hugged each other in relief, knowing they would not spend their entire lives in prison.
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George, Betsy, and Ernie looked sad while they all started eating the ham and cheese sandwiches.
“It looks like the state is going to dig into Sheriff Riley’s recent activities ever since they found Tiffany’s car in Lake Haney,” said Bernie, taking a bite of his sandwich. “Deputy Riley stated you can pick up your cars and stuff at the police station. You’re free to leave town whenever you want,” he added after he swallowed.
George, Betsy, and Ernie continued to look sad while everybody ate lunch. They wished Howie and Tiffany were still alive.
Donovan and Jodi looked at each other and were happy, but something else was on their minds.
“You know, you two don’t have to rush off right away,” said Betsy with hopeful eyes.
“That’s right, you’re more than welcomed to hang around town a little while longer,” added George with hopeful eyes.
“I agree,” said Ernie with hopeful eyes.
Over at the lake walkway, Kent and Detective Morris had just left the Lake View Restaurant. They decided to have lunch before she drove to Knoxville with the evidence.
They walked back to Kent’s patrol car, and both were going to miss each other’s company.
Kent and Detective Morris chatted about their lives while he drove her Charger back to the police station.
She parked by her car, and they got out.
“Well, Detective Morris, it sure was enjoyable meeting you,” said Kent.
“Please call me Jan from now on,” she said while they got to the driver’s side of the car.
“Okay, only if you call me Kent.”
“I will.”
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They shook hands then she opened up her driver’s door. “I’ll be in touch later,” she said, then got inside her Charger.
“Looking forward to it,” said Kent.
Kent watched while she started her Charger and then drove out of the parking lot.
Kent went inside the police station, already missing Jan, and he could not wait until she called in the future.
The second after Kent stepped inside the police station George drove up in his Buick with Donovan and Jodi inside.
George parked his Buick, and the three went inside the station.
Kent just sat down at his desk with thoughts about Jan when he saw George, Donovan, and Jodi standing at the counter.
“Are you here for your stuff?” asked Kent while he got up from his desk and headed to the counter.
“Yes,” said Donovan.
“Listen,” said Kent while he walked up to the counter, then paused. “I’m so sorry for what my daddy did to the both of you. So sorry. His actions by no means reflect the people of our town,” he told Donovan and Jodi, and he sounded sincere.
“Thank you, deputy,” said Jodi. She felt sorry for Kent, knowing his daddy was a murderer.
“If it wasn’t for you, we might spend the rest of our lives in prison. Thank you,” added Donovan, and he also felt sorry for Kent.
“Well, let’s go get your cars and stuff,” said Kent.
A little while later, Donovan and Jodi drove their vehicles back to George’s house.
After Donovan parked his Buick by the street, Ernie came out of George’s house and admired Donovan’s car.
“Just like Tiffany’s car,” he said while he walked around it.
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After Ernie was done admiring Donovan’s Buick, they went inside George’s home.
“You’re more than welcomed to stay the weekend,” Betsy offered to Donovan and Jodi.
Donovan and Jodi looked at each other.
“Ah, I’ll stay the weekend if Jodi would like to stay,” said Donovan while he looked at Jodi.
“I would love to stay; I’ll just have to call my boss and let him know I might be a tad late getting back to the office on Monday,” she said.
George, Betsy, and Ernie looked happy their guests would stay a little longer.
Bernie stepped inside the living room after being outside, taking a call on his cell phone.
“I’m heading back down to Knoxville to my office. I’ll be in touch after I get the paperwork for your charges being dropped,” he said then he shook hands with Donovan and Jodi.
“Thank you for your assistance, Bernie,” said Donovan.
“Yes, thank you. I couldn’t bear the thought of sitting in prison for the rest of my life,” said Jodi, then she hugged Bernie.
Bernie kissed Betsy on her cheek, then shook hands with George and Ernie.
They all watched while Bernie left through the front door.
After Bernie left, George, Betsy, Donovan, Ernie, and Jodi all went out for dinner at the Lake View Restaurant. They had to celebrate that the murder charges had been dropped.
After a nice dinner at the Lake View Restaurant, Donovan and Jodi took their usual stroll down the sidewalk at 7:30 p.m. But tonight, they did not have to fear being kidnapped by Sheriff Rock Riley.
“You know something?”
“What?”
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“This town is starting to grow on me, and now that Sheriff Riley is no longer a threat, I think this place would be a nice place to raise a family,” said Donovan.
Jodi smiled while she thought about Donovan’s comment about Haneyville. “I agree.”
Donovan and Jodi held hands while walking down the sidewalk through the neighborhood.
Sunday morning arrived in Haneyville.
Melinda rushed home when she heard the news on the TV last night from her sister’s house.
Kent comforted Melinda in her living room. She had difficulty believing that her husband had killed three people. But on the other hand, she was often at the other end of his anger.
Back at George’s home, he and Donovan decided to go fishing for the afternoon.
George had a red 1965 Chevy C-10 pickup truck in his garage. It was in excellent shape, as he restored it right after he retired from the plant.
George and Donovan grabbed two fishing poles, a tackle box, and a six-pack of Budweiser. Then they placed the rowboat in the bed of the pickup.
George drove off with Donovan and headed to Meyers Lake, located ten miles northwest of Haneyville.
A little while later, George and Donovan sat in the rowboat Lake Meyers with their fishing lines in the water.
“Howie and I would fish out here when he was a kid. Then when he turned into a teenager and started to take a liking to Tiffany, he lost interest,” said George.
Donovan looked at George and at the lake. He got another déjà vu feeling, which was beautiful and loving.
“Did your daddy take you fishing?”
“No, he was too busy working,” said Donovan.
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“Too bad, nothing like a father and son going fishing,” said George, then he realized he had caught a fish. He reeled it in, and it was a good size trout.
They continued to fish for the rest of the afternoon.
While Donovan was fishing with George, Jodi took Betsy to the mall for clothes shopping.
After returning from the mall, Jodi called her boss and told him about what had happened during the past week. Her boss stated he read about it on the Internet. She told him she’d be in at the office late Monday afternoon.
After eating a fish dinner from George and Donovan’s catch from Lake Meyers, Donovan slipped out for a quick trip to the mall. He told George of his plan, and George decided to go with him. They told Betsy, Ernie, and Jodi that they were going to Sears to look for fishing supplies.
Monday morning arrived in Haneyville.
Andrew was released from the hospital and picked up by his wife, Sandy.
After they arrived back in their apartment, they had a long heart-to-heart talk about their future.
While Andrew and Sandy had their heart-to-heart talk, Donovan and Jodi attended church with George, Betsy, and Ernie.
After lunch at Ernie’s home, Donovan and Jodi drove off to the clearing. He told her that she should go there for closure with all that had happened. But he really had something else on his mind.
Donovan got nervous while he drove his Buick Special down the dirt road to the clearing.
After he parked in the clearing, he and Jodi got out of his car.
Donovan’s legs shook while he and Jodi walked over to the front of his car.
Donovan looked at Jodi, and his legs shook some more.
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“What?” asked Jodi when Donovan just stared at her. Donovan dropped to his left knee.
It took a few seconds for it to dawn on her what he was doing.
Donovan reached into his left pants pocket and removed a small ring box. He opened up the box.
“Jodi Lauder, will you marry me?” he asked while he showed her the beautiful sparkly diamond ring.
“Yes,” she said while her eyes welled up.
Donovan got up, removed the diamond ring, and placed it on her left-hand ring finger.
Jodi’s eyes widened when she had a déjà vu feeling. “Howie proposed to Tiffany just like this,” she said. “I know.”
They hugged and then kissed passionately.
Later that evening, Donovan and Jodi ate dinner with Ernie at George and Betsy’s home. They celebrated Donovan and Jodi’s engagement. But Betsy started to get sad, thinking that she would not be able to attend the wedding since Donovan and Jodi would be leaving Haneyville tomorrow.
After dinner, Donovan and Jodi went on another stroll, hand in hand, down the neighborhood’s sidewalk.
“You know something, despite what happened, I kinda like Haneyville. Sheriff Riley was the only bad apple,” said Donovan.
“I know what you mean. His son Kent appears to be down to earth. I mean, he shot his father knowing he committed those murders and didn’t try to cover it up,” added Jodi.
Donovan pondered what had happened with his life during the past couple of weeks. He looked at Jodi. “You know, I wouldn’t mind staying here for good,” he said.
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Jodi thought about his comment for a few seconds. “You know, this place has actually grown on me. So I could also live here.”
“I would rather raise a family here than in Tampa.”
Jodi thought about his comment for a few seconds. “Me too.”
“So, I guess we’re going to stay for good”
“Yes. Haneyville will be our new home.”
“You mean our home again,” said Donovan, reminding her that they believed they were Howie and Tiffany reincarnated.
Jodi smiled. “Yeah, our home again.”
The sidewalk curved.
“But what can we do for a living?” asked Jodi.
It did not take Donovan long to think about a solution, as he had thought about this for the past few days. “Why don’t we buy the Haneyville Tribune?”
It did not take Jodi long to smile at his answer, as she also thought about that idea the second Grant mentioned he was selling. “Let’s.”
Jodi and Donovan walked hand in hand down the sidewalk and looked forward to again calling Haneyville home.
A week had passed in Haneyville.
Jodi and Donovan attend the burial services for Howie and Tiffany with most of the townsfolk. This was odd for Donovan and Jodi as it was like attending their own funerals.
George, Betsy, and Ernie finally had closure after forty-three years of wondering what had happened to their children.
But something happened three weeks later that helped George, Betsy, and Ernie move on with their lives. Donovan and Jodi got married in Haneyville.
Since Jodi’s parents were no longer alive, she asked Ernie to walk her down the aisle.
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Betsy cried as if it was her son getting married. If she only knew what Donovan and Jodi had figured out.
Donovan and Jodi went on a cruise to Hawaii, as that was a dream honeymoon Jodi wanted as a teen.
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A month had passed, and things had changed in Haneyville.
Grant Scott finally retired and sold the Haneyville Tribune to Donovan and Jodi. He was also lucky that Donovan and Jodi also bought his home.
After giving it lots of serious thought, Andrew went to the police station with his resignation letter.
Getting wounded made him change his mind about a career in law enforcement. He wanted to live a whole life and watch his baby grow up. So his father-in-law got him a job at the plant.
Rock sat in a jail cell down in Knoxville. He was moved down after that his stay in the Haneyville Hospital.
While his public defender went over the evidence against Rock. Some damaging evidence was the strands of hair found in the ski mask. DNA test results proved the hair belonged to Rock. So after his buddy Wallace Mayer had a heart-to-heart talk with Rock, he decided he did not want to go through a trial. He chose to be a man, so he confessed to killing Howie, Tiffany, and Charlie.
Four months had passed.
Rock was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of Howie, Tiffany, and Charlie. He was sent to the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville, Tennessee.
Down in Haneyville, other things had changed for the better.
Kent and Jan got engaged and planned on getting married in a year.
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Jodi was pregnant, and Donovan could not wait to become a father. They decided to make Ernie, George, and Betsy pseudo-grandparents.
Working at their Haneyville Tribune was fun, and they started an Internet paper.
Donovan also finished his third eBook based on the recent events he and his lovely wife experienced.
His eBook titled Murder in the Woods had the potential to become a best seller.
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