Page 62 of Fatal Mistake
Cal jerked his focus to the driveway meandering downhill to a bright red barn with a white silo. About halfway down the drive sat a small, single-story home that Keeler had rented. Out of sight and nearer to the barn lay the ruins from the pump house. Cal continued on and peered over miles of tall green field corn used to feed cows, not humans. His gaze landed on a metal pole barn before finishing the circle back at the women.
June stared at Tara like a person stranded in the desert might eagerly eye an oasis. “It’s been so long. Let me look at you.”
“You’re thinner,” June pronounced. “But you’ve been working out, and you know I believe in staying fit.”
June obviously lived her belief. Cal’s research put her at sixty-four, but her arms were toned and muscled. The agents on her protective detail had reported that she worked the farm with hired hands and put in a full day at their side.
“Where are my manners?” She spun to face Cal. “Agent Riggins, it’s good to see you again.”
Tara startled in surprise as if she didn’t remember that he had a connection to her aunt or maybe even that he stood on the porch.
“We spent a lot of time talking after you took off,” her aunt explained while running her gaze over him from head to toe and smiling at Tara. “He obviously believes in keeping in shape, too.”
An innocent-enough comment, but Tara’s face colored, and he knew where her mind had gone as he continued to admire her fresh farm-girl look, too. He liked the worn jeans, T-shirt, and boots. Her hair in a braid, her face beet red. Such simplicity he hadn’t seen in years, and the corner of his mouth twitched up, but he resisted commenting.
June’s casual gaze intensified. “Oh, it’s that way, is it?”
Cal didn’t know if he should say anything in response, so he kept his mouth closed.
Tara ignored the comment, too, and linked her arm with her aunt’s. “Let’s catch up before Cal grills you about Oren again, as I’m sure he plans to do so.”
They stepped through the door and, after signaling to Kaci to keep her eyes open and stay alert, Cal followed the pair into the living room. A large modular sectional took up most of the room, sitting on dark hardwood floors with scrapes and scuffs from years of use. On Cal’s prior visit, June mentioned that when Tara and Oren were kids, they often separated the sectional pieces, draped blankets over them, and declared them forts. June also said there were few kids in the area, so Tara and Oren mostly played alone, except when her cousins came to visit.
Cal didn’t have to struggle to imagine Tara having fun like that, but Keeler? No, Cal couldn’t imagine the killer anywhere near Tara, much less having fun.
She sat by her aunt on the sofa and took her hand. “So what’s new in your world?”
June spent the next thirty minutes updating Tara on the neighbors and local gossip, and Cal got antsy. Peering out the window. Checking the driveway. Looking for any sign of Keeler. The longer they remained on the property, the greater chance that Keeler would make them. But Tara deserved this little chat with her aunt, so Cal tried to hide his impatience.
His mind shifted to wondering what it would be like at the end of a workday to find Tara, not in any danger, waiting for him to come home to a place much like this one.
A pipe dream. The only progress he’d made in dealing with his guilt was wishing he could get over it, and if there was one thing he knew for certain, wishing didn’t make things happen.
People, determination, and grit did. And, of course, so did God. Or at least that’s how Cal remembered it. For months, Cal had tried to locate Keeler on his own and failed. Maybe it was time to give God a second chance to help not only eradicate the guilt and anger eating at Cal, but bring Keeler to justice.
Are You up there listening, watching? If so, mind giving me some sign that You’re working on this and help me trust in that?
Okay, so he was rusty in the prayer department and his prayer was kind of lame, but maybe God answered lame, too. Maybe.
“Of course,” June said, drawing him back. “People keep asking me about the agents sitting in the driveway.”
Cal thought of the mistake Agent Fields had made at the hospital, and he pushed off the wall to step closer. “I hope they haven’t been a problem for you, June.”
“Quite the opposite. Agent Ingles is particularly good at hoeing the garden.”
Cal gaped at her for a moment. “You got Ingles to work in your garden?”
She nodded with only a hint of an impish expression. “In all seriousness, I appreciate you providing the protection.”
“You’re welcome, but you must know by now that their assignment is twofold.”
“Sure, they’re keeping an eye out for Oren.” She sighed and let go of Tara’s hand. “I’m guessing since you brought Tara over to look at the pump house today that you don’t have any solid leads on his whereabouts.”
He couldn’t acknowledge that, though they’d run down countless leads over the past six months, they’d made little progress in the investigation. “Is there anything you’ve remembered about Keeler since we last talked?”
“Trust me. If I thought of anything to stop Oren from killing, your agents would have been the first to know.”
“Sometimes things happen that we don’t realize are important. Would you mind rehashing the day of the explosion with me again?”
