For a moment, after the car stopped, nothing happened. The engine made the sound of a clock ticking away the seconds as it cooled. The lights were still on, so Pete could only see the vague shape of the man inside the vehicle. It unnerved him further, made him think of running and to hell with the consequences. But he was not alone, and to run would put more than himself at risk. Claire needed him, as she had needed him from the moment he’d first set eyes on her, and nothing she would ever say or do would convince him he was wrong. She was hurt, angry, confused. He knew that now, and realized he should have recognized it before, having felt those same exact emotions in the days after his father’s death.
He loved her, and so would do as she had asked.
The cruiser door opened and above the lights, Pete saw McKindrey wince and lean on the door for a moment as he put his hat on and tugged the brim down so that it cast a shadow over his eyes. A wide white bandage was taped over his nose and deep bruises ringed his eyes.
“Pete,” he said by way of acknowledgment.
“Hi Sheriff,” Pete said.
McKindrey rested his elbows on the door and looked around. “What brings you all the way out here? Last I heard, you’d split town.”
“I come back,” Pete told him. “Wanted to see if I could find whoever hurt my Pa.”
McKindrey nodded his understanding. “But we got the man did that, son.”
“No.”
“No?”
Pete shook his head. “Weren’t that doctor did this. He were a decent man. He wouldn’ta hurted no one. He tried to help.”
“That so?”
“Sure is.”
“They say he was out of his mind. Went crazy after his wife passed.”
“People say whatever they like. I knew him. Saw him that night and he looked fine to me.”
McKindrey nodded at the house behind Pete. “So what was it you was plannin’ to do if you found them out here?”
Pete shrugged. It was an easy question to answer because he hadn’t really known from the moment he’d set his sights on the Merrills what he’d hoped to achieve if he ever found himself face to face with them. He wanted them all dead, that was for sure, but it wasn’t likely he’d ever be able to do that on his own, and now, they weren’t even here and he was probably going to end up in jail just for thinking about it. “Dunno,” he said.
“Well,” McKindrey said, finally moving away from the car door and shutting it behind him. He moved only a foot or so before he grimaced and leaned against the hood. “Shit.”
“You all right?”
“Yep. Busted myself up pretty good down by the creek.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
McKindrey nodded. “My own damn fault. I gotta learn to keep my eyes open.” He folded his arms. “Pete…you know you shouldn’t be out here.”
“Yes sir.”
“And you know I told you I’d find out all I could about what happened to your daddy and try to put this whole thing to rest, didn’t I?”
“Yes sir.”
“Well, you should’ve listened to me. Have I ever lied to you?”
“No sir.”
“Right. Then why do you want to go causin’ trouble for me?”
“I didn’t think about it, to tell the truth. I just wanted to come back here and try to teach these people a lesson. They shouldn’t be let to kill people like they do, Sheriff.”
McKindrey’s gaze was hard. “Well now, that’s a mighty big accusation to be puttin’ on folks unless you’ve got proof of some kind. Do you?”
Pete thought about this, was about to admit that he hadn’t any proof other than the memory of waking up to find the Merrill family in his house that night years ago, when he remembered Claire.
“I reckon I do,” he said, and smiled. “The girl who escaped ’em is with me. She knows the doctor didn’t do nothin’. She knows who did.”
McKindrey nodded, as if he knew all along that Pete wasn’t alone. “Where’s she at?”
“Inside,” Pete replied. “But she wants to be let alone for a while. I reckon she’s tryin’ to find whatever’s left of her friends’ belongin’s.”
“Trespassin’s what she’s doin’, Pete,” McKindrey said, but to the boy’s relief, didn’t make a move. “Now I been sent out here to get her by her sister, who wants her home. She’s been through enough without makin’ it worse for herself and worryin’ everybody else.”
“We didn’t want to make it worse,” Pete told him. “We just had to come back. Couldn’t just let things die the way they did. Nobody knows the truth and I reckon they need to know. And I figure Claire’s come back to close the door on some of that bad stuff. I guess once we’re done, you probably won’t never see her again.”
“That would suit me,” McKindrey said. “Goddamn town has enough trouble without folks who was lucky enough to get free of it comin’ back to stir up more.” He glanced briefly down at his foot, which was wrapped in bandages and shreds of an old shirt, and shook his head. “Now you know I’m real sorry about what happened to your Pa, but you’ve gotta accept the fact that he weren’t a happy man. He took his own life, son, and that’s the truth of it right there. Whatever happened with those kids and that doctor, or whoever done it to them, it doesn’t involve you and you shouldn’t be stuck in the middle of it.”
“But Claire said—”
McKindrey raised a hand. “It don’t concern me what Claire said. Whatever happened to her messed her up real bad and I reckon, between you and me, that she probably ain’t been right since. Probably convinced herself that some family she saw passin’ by her on the road were the ones that did this to her. It happens, you know. Mind has a funny way of makin’ up for lost memory. Happened to my own stepbrother Willard. He went out harvestin’ corn, got drunk and fell over, hit his head on a rock. Swore up and down it was the scarecrow had thumped him upside the head. Still believes it too.”
“It ain’t like that, Sheriff.”
The Sheriff frowned. “How the hell do you know what it is or ain’t, son? Were you there when whatever happened to that girl happened?”
“No,” Pete admitted.
“So how do you know who done what?”
“She told me.”
“Don’t matter what she told you if her mind’s half-gone now does it?”
Pete shrugged.
“Hell boy, if I told you a bear chewed on my foot would you believe it?”
“I guess so.”
“Why?”
“Because… you’re the Sheriff.”
“And you figure I wouldn’t lie to you.”
“Sure.”
“You believe everythin’ that girl tells you because maybe you got your eye on her, am I right?”
Pete felt his cheeks grow warm. “I dunno.”
“Yeah,” McKindrey said with a grin. “That’s it all right. She could tell you the sky’s green and the grass’s blue and you’d believe it if you thought she were gonna let you into that sweet pink paradise of hers.”
“What does that mean?”
“Never mind. It don’t matter. What does matter, son, is somethin’ you may not be aware of.”
“What?”
“Her sister thinks you kidnapped Claire.”
Pete’s mouth dropped open. “No… She asked me to take her here, I swear it!”
McKindrey hushed him. “I believe you. I do. But a whole lotta folks won’t, and the longer you stay down here foolin’ around, the deeper the shit you’re in’s gonna get.”