Control
By Roxanne
RoxanneP@aol.com

Takes place shortly after the story “The Evil That Men Do”.  Lucas and Ronilyn try to redefine their relationship while clashing over Caleb, who seeks out another for help in dealing with his birthright.  Matt gains an unexpected ally at Juniper House and Lt. Drey returns.

Thanks to my beta readers Renee’ and Lali.

[Disclaimer:  American Gothic characters and canon belong to Shaun Cassidy and Sam Raimi; plot and any original characters belong to me.  No copyright infringement intended.]

______________________________________________________________

Wedged into a large pile of dirt next to an unearthed grave, the handle of the shovel glinted in the first hints of sunlight.  Wood crackled and a crowbar was tossed out of the grave to join the shovel.  Hinges creaked, then a ray of sun shone upon a figure dragging the recently deceased occupant out of the coffin.

Dawn had arrived in Trinity, South Carolina.

______________________________________________________________

“Caleb Temple!  I’ve told you a million times you can’t go up there!”  the Juniper House receptionist declared as an orderly hauled the boy over to the information desk.  

“Caught him in the stairwell tryin’ to sneak up to the patient floors,” the orderly said.

“Please.  I just need to talk to Doctor Matt,” Caleb said, trying to shake off the orderly’s grip on his arm.

“Honey, don’t you understand that there’s some dangerous folks here?  And Matt Crower is not allowed visitors.  I keep tellin’ you that.”

As if on cue, screaming drifted down to the reception area.  “No!  No!  Get it away from me!  No!”

The orderly shook his head.  “Must be that new patient.  They ought to change his meds or something.”

“You see what I’m talkin’ about?” the receptionist said to Caleb.

He frowned and pulled away from the orderly.  “Doctor Matt ain’t dangerous, especially to me.  All I want to do is talk to him.  I’m not goin’ to help him escape or anything.”

The receptionist reached for the phone.  “This has to stop.  I’m callin’ the sheriff.”

Caleb started to speak, then stopped.  “Fine,” he said, stomping over to a chair and throwing himself in it.  He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at her.  “Go ahead.”

______________________________________________________________

“Get it away from me!”  Stan Drey yelled as he backed into one of the tables in the sanitarium’s common area.  The patient seated there looked at him dazedly and then returned to stare into the distance.  An orderly shook his head in amusement and turned back to settling a patient in a chair by one of the windows.

“Aw, you scared of a little spider?”  another patient taunted him.  “’Fraid it’s goin’ to eat you up?”  

Drey’s head jerked up at that, staring at the man.  Quickly he looked back at the floor.  “Oh God!  Where is it?  Where did it go?”  His eyes widened as he turned his head back and forth searching for the elusive insect while continuing to back away.

The other patient laughed, following as Drey stumbled over a chair and onto the floor.  More patients joined in the laughter.   He crouched down by a trembling Drey who had scrambled against a wall staring as the insect skittered across the floor.  “Better be careful.  You keep actin’ like this, they’re goin’ to lock you in a room all alone in the dark. They’ll put one of them straitjackets on you and...”

“Then you’ll have some peace and quiet,” a voice said as a foot came down and crushed the spider.  

“Crower,” the other patient snarled, standing up.

“Yes?”  Matt Crower smiled pleasantly at him.  “Did you want something, Riley, or were you just offering to move out of the way?”

“You’re not causin’ any trouble, are you, Matt?”  an orderly called from across the room.  “You just got some privileges.  Don’t think you want to lose ‘em already.”

“No, no trouble,” Matt said as he helped Drey to his feet.  “Right, Riley?”

“Uh, thanks,” Drey said, watching in confusion as Riley mumbled something under his breath and walked quickly away.

“Matt Crower.”  Matt offered his hand.

“Stan Drey.”  Drey shook his hand.  “Sorry.  I’ve got a bit of a problem with bugs and, uh –” he shivered “- beetles.”

“Kind of figured that,” Matt said as they walked over to the windows.

“So what’s the story with that guy?”  Drey asked, inclining his head in Riley’s direction. 

Matt shrugged.  “He’s been here a couple of months.  I don’t know his story.  Just your usual bully, I guess.”  He stared out the window.

“Well, he certainly seemed scared of you.”

Matt shrugged again as he continued looking out the window.  “I may have…a bit of a reputation.”

Drey waited for him to explain, but Matt just stood there smiling as a patch of sunlight lit upon his face.  Drey looked out the window to see what had captivated the other man.  The sun burned brightly in the sky.  Some patients sat in chairs scattered throughout gardens awash with colorful flowers while others strolled along the grassy paths, all under the well-trained eye of hospital staff walking the grounds.  Drey looked back at Matt.  “See something out there you like?”

“Everything,” Matt replied without taking his gaze away from the outside.  “I…just… haven’t seen the sun in a long time.”

“Been here awhile?”

“Seems like forever sometimes.  I’m not really sure how long.  It’s been months, I know.  They don’t exactly give you clocks or calendars in isolation.”

“Isolation?”  Startled, Drey looked over the other man with a practiced eye.  Matt certainly didn’t seem like a threat and he’d seen plenty of dangerous people during his time with the state police.  “What’d you do to end up in here?”

Matt turned to look at him and smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.  “Tried to kill the sheriff.”

______________________________________________________________

“So you cuttin’ class now?”  Lucas Buck broke the silence as he glanced over at Caleb in the passenger seat of the Crown Victoria.

Caleb continued staring at the windshield.

“And you’re goin’ to Juniper House even though you’ve been told not to?”

Caleb sighed heavily and turned to look out the passenger side window.

“Just what exactly do you have to talk to Doc Crower about?  You need to talk to anyone, you talk to me.”

Caleb rolled his eyes and sighed again.

“Miss Holt know you’re doin’ this?  Not really proper behavior for a responsible guardian.   ‘Course, if you don’t care that she could get in a lot of trouble for…”

“You…leave…her…alone.”  Caleb emphasized each word as he glared at Lucas through narrowed eyes.

Lucas observed him for a moment.  “I’m not the one doin’ anything, boy.  You’re the one skippin’ school and tryin’ to break into Juniper House.”  He parked the car outside the school.  “Makes it look like she’s not doin’ her job.  If anything happens, it’s your own fault.”  

Caleb’s face crumpled as if he was about to cry.  He wrenched open the door, flung himself out of the car and slammed the door – hard.  “I hate you!”  he declared, then he turned and ran up the sidewalk and into the school without looking back.

______________________________________________________________

“You talking about Lucas Buck?”  Drey asked.  

Matt nodded.  

The state cop leaned back against the window as he studied the other man.  Matt didn’t look like a killer to him, but if there was one thing he’d learned as a police officer it was that looks could be deceiving.  And apparently Matt had only attempted to kill Buck, so technically he wasn’t a killer.  “Well, no wonder that other guy was afraid of you.  I don’t imagine there are many people around who’ve tried to kill Buck and lived to tell about it.”

“Sounds like you’ve heard of him.”

“Heard of him?”  Drey repeated with a harsh laugh.  “How about dealt with him?  How about almost getting eaten alive by – ” he shuddered “– beetles because of him?  How about spending months in rehab and undergoing plastic surgery to repair the damage?  How about ending up here terrified of bugs on account of him?”

Matt crossed his arms over his chest and nodded.  “Yeah, that sounds like typical Lucas Buck,” he said.  “I’m almost afraid to ask though – eaten alive by beetles?”

Drey shuddered again and held up a hand.  “I can’t talk about it.  You saw how I was with that damn spider.”

“Seems like you’ll have to talk about it at some point,” Matt said.  “It’s the only way to deal with it – and the only way you’ll get out of here.”

“Oh no,” Drey said.  “I’m in here voluntarily.  Nobody committed me.  I can leave whenever I want.”

“Uh huh.”

“No, really,” Drey insisted.  “After all the surgeries and physical therapy, I went back to work, but then I’d question a suspect and a spider would be hanging in the corner of the room or I’d check out a crime scene and there’d be a roach on the floor.  I’d lose it.”  He shook his head.  “It was embarrassing.  The higher-ups basically told me to take a leave of absence and get my act together.”

“Well, you’re lucky then.”  Matt sighed.  “I don’t think I’ll ever get out of here.  Even if the psychiatrists all think I’m no longer a danger to the community, Lucas Buck will never let that happen.”

“Come on, he may carry the badge and have influence in certain areas and be a complete and total asshole, but he’s not all powerful.  You really think he could stop you from being released if you made a full recovery?”

Matt smiled and shook his head.  “You haven’t been in Trinity as long as I have.”

“I wish to God I’d never set foot in it,” Drey declared.  “But isn’t there someone on the outside checking on you, trying to get you out?  What about your family?”

Matt thought briefly of his wife and daughter, glad at the moment that they weren’t alive to see what had become of him.  “They’re dead,” he said simply.  “And I haven’t seen anyone from town.  They don’t let me make phone calls.  I don’t even know if I’m allowed to have visitors.  Up until a couple of weeks ago, I was still in isolation.”

“Well, that’s not right,” Drey said as they walked over to a table.  The two patients sitting there playing cards glanced up at them with a scowl on their faces.  When they saw Matt, they quickly scooped up the cards and scrambled away from the table.  

“Say, is there anybody you want to send a letter to?” Drey asked as they sat down.  “My sister’s supposed to come visit today and see how I’m settling in.  You can give me the letters and I’ll pass them on to her.”

Matt looked at him thoughtfully.

______________________________________________________________

Veronica Lyn Huntley knocked again on the door of Caleb’s room at the boardinghouse.  “Caleb?”  she called for the second time.  “Aren’t you going to come over by my house?  You haven’t been over in awhile and I know the animals all miss you.  The dogs keep jumping at the door every time the doorbell rings.”

“I ain’t goin’,” Caleb’s voice floated underneath the door.  “I don’t care.”

“Since when?”  Ronilyn tucked a piece of auburn hair behind her ear and leaned even closer to the door.  

“What’s the point?  They’re just goin’ to end up dyin’ anyway.”

“Caleb…”

Ronilyn trudged down the stairs to a waiting Loris Holt.  “Well?”  Loris said, concern evident in her voice.

Ronilyn shrugged.  “I don’t know what’s going on with him, Loris.  He won’t talk to me.  Wouldn’t even open the door.  He doesn’t even care about playing with the animals and you know how much he was enjoying that.”  She followed Loris into the kitchen.  “I know he’s been through a lot for a kid his age, but he sounds so depressed.  Maybe he needs professional help.”

“I was hopin’ it wouldn’t come to that, but he won’t talk me either,” Loris said as she handed Ronilyn a cup of coffee.  “He’s been like this the last few weeks.  He was havin’ nightmares then and he wouldn’t tell me about them, but at least he’d talk to me about other things.  Seems like the nightmares started right before we found out about those rapes.  I thought…oh, I’m sorry, honey.”  Loris reached out and patted Ronilyn’s shoulder.  “I forgot.”

“That’s all right, Loris.” Ronilyn gave her a small smile as she stepped over to the table.  “I don’t really remember anything ‘cause of the rape drug.  Besides,” she said with a shrug as she sat down at the table, “it wasn’t like he actually raped me.  Lucas got there before anything happened.”

“Still, that was thoughtless of me,” Loris said, shaking her head.  “I just don’t know what’s going on with that boy.”

“Well, something’s definitely bothering him.”  Ronilyn said in agreement while she sipped her coffee.

“I thought maybe after that awful Horace Watts was caught, he’d be okay. But it seems he’s just gotten worse.  Not talkin’ to anyone, stayin’ up in his room and not goin’ out to play with his friends.  I was hopin’ it was, I don’t know, some kind of phase he was goin’ through.”  Loris sighed as she poured herself a cup of tea.  “But instead of goin’ to school today, he went over to Juniper House to try to see Matt Crower.”

“Again?  They must’ve been really close that he’s so determined.  I’ve got to meet this guy.”  

“Good luck,” Loris said as she sat down at the kitchen table.  “I tried to see him a couple of times, but they’re not lettin’ him have any visitors.”

“So I’ve heard,” Ronilyn said thoughtfully.  “And yet Caleb keeps trying.”

“Well, today he didn’t bother askin’.  He tried sneakin’ in and actually got as far as the stairs before he was caught.”  Loris sighed.  “They called the sheriff.”

Ronilyn set down her cup and frowned.  “They called Lucas?  Why?  You’re his guardian.”

“I think it was ‘cause he skipped school plus I guess it was technically trespassin’ or something of the like.”

“He wasn’t arrested, was he?”

Loris shook her head.  “No.  You think the sheriff would do that?” she said with a bitter laugh.  “I’m sure he’s goin’ to hold it over my head somehow though.  Probably use it to challenge my fitness as guardian.  It never did sit well with him that he wasn’t awarded custody.”

“Well, too bad for him. You’re good for Caleb.  Anyone can see that.”

Loris took a sip of tea.  “Lucas Buck can’t.  I don’t think you realize how powerful a man your cousin is, Ronilyn.  I keep waitin’ for the other shoe to drop.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think you should underestimate me either, Loris.  Remember Lucas and I share the same DNA.”  Even more than anyone knows, Ronilyn thought, since she and Lucas had recently discovered that they were actually siblings.  She rose from the table.  “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

“Well, I appreciate that, Ronilyn.  I really do.”  Loris stood up.  “I have a meetin’ at the school tomorrow about Caleb.  Apparently, he’s havin’ problems – no surprise there considerin’ how he’s been actin’.  You’re welcome to come, if you like.  It’s at 3:00.”

“No problem,” Ronilyn said.  She normally worked until 5:00 in her job as executive assistant to the mayor of Trinity, but planned on slipping out early.  

______________________________________________________________

“All right, everyone, back to your rooms,” the orderly announced as the patients groaned and complained loudly in the common room.  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said.  “Get movin’.  Time for your meds and then lights out.”

Matt looked around as he slowly got out of his chair.  Drey had been called some time ago – could they at least hang a clock on the wall, for God’s sake? – for his visitor and hadn’t returned yet.  He was surprised at how eager he was to hear if the man’s sister would deliver the letters.  He’d become resigned to his life of isolation and loneliness in his windowless room on the fifth floor, leaving it only for his daily therapy session. 

His transfer from isolation to a regular patient room on another floor a few weeks ago had shocked him, but he hadn’t dared to get his hopes up.  Then meeting Stan Drey, someone who didn’t fear or revile him, who he could commiserate with over Lucas Buck, who offered him an opportunity for contact with the outside world, it was almost too much.  He half expected a smirking Lucas to jump out at some point to say “Did you really think anyone was actually goin’ to listen to you, Harvard?” as he was dragged back to isolation.

“Move it, Crower,” the orderly said, giving him a shove.

Matt turned to glare at the man, but stopped himself just in time.  Can’t make waves, he reminded himself with a longing glance at the now darkened windows.  He couldn’t lose the little bit he’d won, however it had happened.  

As he shuffled toward the door, Drey appeared in the doorway, paper evident in his hand.  Matt’s heart sank.  Had the sister refused to deliver the letters?

“Just turn right around, mister,” the orderly behind Matt said to Drey.  “It’s meds and beds for everyone.”

Matt met up with Drey outside the door as they headed down the hallway toward their rooms.  “What happened?”  he whispered, indicating the paper with his head.

“Oh, this?”  Drey was about to hand the paper to Matt, then thought better of it with the orderly still behind them.  “I’ll hold onto this until a better time.”  He shoved the paper into the pocket of his robe as he glanced back at the orderly, hoping Matt understood.  “Betty said she can’t deliver this letter.”

“How come?”

“She said Gail Emory is in Fulton Memorial Hospital.  She’s been in a coma for months.  No telling if she’ll ever come out of it.”

Matt stared at him, open mouthed.  “What?  What happened?”

Drey shrugged as they trudged down the hallway, passing a nurse with the medication cart who was studying her clipboard.  “She fell down some stairs.  Must’ve hit her head or fallen the wrong way, I guess.”

Matt stopped outside the door of his room, still reeling from this information.  Drey watched him.  “You’re thinking Buck had something to do with this, aren’t you?” the cop asked.

“I don’t know.  I wouldn’t put it past him,” Matt said.  “But he always seemed really interested in Gail.  I just can’t see him doing that to her.”

“Well, you never know,” Drey replied.  “She could’ve rejected him and he lost it.  Wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened.  I’ve seen more than my share of those cases.  Besides, I got the impression he’s used to getting his own way.”

“All right.  Enough talkin’.  In you go, Crower.”  The orderly gave him a little push into his room.

Matt stumbled into the room and turned, barely concealing his initial angry reaction, but Drey looked down at the orderly and said, “Hey, buddy, do you mind?  We’re not prisoners here, you know.  Could we finish our conversation?”

The orderly’s eyes hardened and he opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, and closed it again.  “Go ahead,” he growled.  “But make it snappy.”

“Thanks, pal.”  Drey clapped the man on the shoulder.  The orderly glared at him and moved a few steps down the hallway.

“What are you doing?”  Matt said in a low voice.  “You’ve got to be careful with some of these guys, especially the ones on the night shift when there’s less supervision.”

Drey brushed the concern aside with his hand.  “Hey, like I told that guy, we aren’t prisoners here and he knows it.  I don’t get it, Matt.  The other patients are all intimidated by you, yet you’re afraid of that jerk.”  He inclined his head toward the orderly who stood a short distance away with his arms crossed, a barely concealed can of pepper spray tucked in by his belt.

“That’s different,” Matt stated. “And I’m not afraid of him.  I just don’t want any trouble.  If he wants to, he can make things miserable here for us.”

“He’s an orderly, for crying out loud.  Not exactly a mover and a shaker on the Juniper House hierarchy.  I’m a lieutenant with the state police,” Drey told him.  “I can’t even begin to count the number of times I had to deal with guys on power trips and that’s all that little pissant is.”  Drey studied the orderly.  “Probably compensating for something he’s lacking if you know what I mean.”

Matt ignored the innuendo and leaned toward him.  “Listen to me, Stan.  It doesn’t matter if he’s the guy who cleans the bedpans.  The patients are still beneath him.  The staff controls everything here – what time you get up, whether you get your meds when you’re supposed to, when and what you eat, and when you go to bed.  You get the wrong person mad and you could lose access to the common room, not get your mail or phone calls or be given the wrong meds and end up catatonic.”

“You might be stuck here for God knows how long, but I told you, I’m here voluntarily and I can leave whenever I want.  Maybe it’s because I’m a cop or maybe it’s because I almost died, but I’ll be damned if I let that little man push me around.”

“Okay, okay,” Matt whispered.  “Keep your voice down or he’ll hear you.”

Drey sighed.  “Fine.”

“What about the other letter?”

“The one to Caleb Temple?” At Matt’s nod, Drey replied, “My sister said she’ll drop it off at his house tomorrow.”

______________________________________________________________

Ronilyn watched out of the corner of her eye as a sullen Caleb sat hunched down at his desk, arms folded across his chest, glaring at them.  Honestly, she didn’t blame him.  She didn’t understand why Selena Coombs had kept him after school for this conference.  What kid wanted to sit and listen while adults talked about him as if he wasn’t there?  Ronilyn had never liked it.  The number of times her father had been called to the school because the teachers felt she was having “problems” due to her not speaking up in class, eating lunch by herself, and generally being silent and withdrawn were too numerous to count.  

She could’ve told them what the “problems” were had anyone bothered to ask her.  No one wanted to eat lunch with the girl whose mother was locked up in Juniper House.  And there was no reason to speak in or out of class because they’d just twist what she said into mean things about her crazy mother in the nuthouse and how Ronilyn would end up just like her.  

The times she did speak up or react in other ways always resulted in her father being called by the principal – those times because of Ronilyn fighting.  So whether she silently took the abuse or defended herself, she still got into trouble…until that one time...


She was about Caleb’s age and had punched one of the girls who’d been taunting her about Psycho Sarah, one of their favorite names they used for her mother.  The rotten girl had the nerve to sit in the principal’s office crying over her split lip, her mother comforting her while glaring at Ronilyn.  Ronilyn felt a pang of jealousy since her mother would never be able to come to the principal’s office for her, would never be able to comfort her over any type of injury.  She knew her father loved her, but it was times like these when she bitterly felt the absence of her mother.  

Instead of her father, Lucas, still in his first term as sheriff and wearing his uniform, strode into the principal’s office.  He spoke quietly to the principal and then to the other girl’s mother and, within a matter of minutes, strolled over to her.  She mentally prepared herself for “the talk”, a lecture, something.  “Let’s go,” he said softly, putting his hand on her shoulder.  She left the building with him.

They walked in silence to the car.  Finally, Ronilyn asked, “So what kind of trouble am I in?”

Lucas just grinned at her and shook his head.

“You know what your problem is?”  he asked her as they got into the car.  

Ronilyn nearly rolled her eyes in irritation.  Another know-it-all adult telling her all about her so-called problems.  Great.  She should’ve known she’d get a lecture even though it had been Lucas to show up instead of her father.  No matter how much he had played with her when she was younger and how many times he’d let her tag along with him, he was still older than her and an adult so naturally he would behave like an adult.

“What?” she said with a sigh.

He started the car and, still grinning, reached over to ruffle her wavy hair.  “Your problem is that you’re reactin’.”

Well, she didn’t expect that.  Puzzled, Ronilyn frowned and looked over at him.  “Huh?”

“You’re reactin’,” he repeated and pulled away from the curb.  “Reactin’ means something happens or someone does something or –” he gave her a sideways glance – “says something and then you say or do something because of that.”

“Okay,” she said slowly.

“That means you’re lettin’ someone else dictate your actions or make you do something,” Lucas said.  “Do you want to let those girls back there make you do stuff?”

“They’re not makin’ me do anything.” Ronilyn crossed her arms over her chest.  

Lucas sighed.  “Yes, they are, darlin’.  They’re sayin’ things to you about your mama, aren’t they?”  Her eyes widened and she nodded, amazed that her cousin knew exactly what was going on.  “They’re doin’ it to get a reaction out of you.”

“They’re doin’ it ‘cause they’re mean,” she stated.

“Well, that too,” he said, flipping on the turn signal.  “What you want to do is act instead of react.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you decide how you act in any given situation, no matter what anyone says or does.”  He saw her looking at him in confusion.  “Don’t do what they expect you to do.”

“But what does that mean, Lucas?  What am I supposed to do, go up and hug Mary Ellen after she calls Mama Sicko Sarah or Psycho Sarah?  I think I’d throw up. I’d rather punch her out,” Ronilyn declared, making a fist.  “Feels a lot better.”

Lucas laughed.  “Of course it does.  But then –” he caught her eye – “you get into trouble, don’t you?  Even though you didn’t really start it.”

“Yeah,” she admitted reluctantly.  “But, Lucas,” she said as he made a left turn, “I hate not sayin’ anything.  I try not to cause trouble, I really do, but I hate just standin’ there and takin’ it when they say those things about Mama.  I feel bad about it.  It’s like she can’t stand up for herself so I got to do it for her.”

He parked the car and looked at her.  “I know, Ronilyn.  I know how protective you are of your mama.”  

“How come we’re stoppin’ here, Lucas?” she asked, looking around at the unfamiliar houses on the block.

“Because I want you to listen to what I’m sayin’.”  He leaned closer to her.  “No matter what those other children say to you, you don’t react, understand?”

She squirmed in the seat.  “But, Lucas…”

“Ronilyn.”  He put his fingers under her chin and turned her face toward him.  “You do not react,” Lucas said slowly, emphasizing each word.  “You decide what you want to say or do and you think about it first.  If you want to get back at ‘em, you wait.  You don’t have to wait a real long time, but you wait until you figure something out.” He paused.  “And you make sure you don’t get caught.”

“So,” she said after a long minute, “I could wait until day after tomorrow and push Mary Ellen down the stairs as long as no one else sees me do it?”

Lucas choked back a laugh and coughed instead.  “Well, I’m not goin’ to encourage you to do anything violent, but that’s the general idea.”  He moved his hand from her chin to her head and ruffled her hair again, adding, “Oh, and I think you can be a little more creative than that.  You’re a smart girl.”  He settled himself back into the driver’s seat.

“Lucas?”

“Yeah, darlin’?”  He shifted the car out of park.

“How come Daddy didn’t come to school this time?  Was he too busy?”  Ronilyn knew her father had a lot to do with working, taking care of her and their house and seeing to her mother at Juniper.  She tried not to bother him with her problems because she knew he was busy.  “It’s okay ‘cause I know he’s got a lot to…”

Lucas glanced over at her.  “Ronilyn, your daddy is never too busy for you,” he stated.  “I was with him when he got the phone call and I told him I’d take care of it.  You know I’d never pass up an opportunity to see my favorite girl.”

She wasn’t sure if she believed him, but she was happy that he’d been the one to come to the school.  Ronilyn smiled at him.  “I’m glad you came, Lucas.”

“So am I, darlin’,” he said, his eyes on the road.  “And Ronilyn?”

“Yeah, Lucas?”

“Don’t tell your daddy about what we talked about, okay?  I don’t think he’d quite understand it and he’s got other things on his mind.”

“Okay, Lucas.”

Three days later screaming was heard from the girls’ locker room after swim class.  Teachers rushed in to find a sobbing and nearly bald Mary Ellen, wrapped in a towel after her shower, holding out another towel covered with her hair.  She finished out the school year wearing wigs and hats.  Faculty never found out how the Nair hair remover got into the shampoo…


Ronilyn smiled in satisfaction even now as she recalled how Mary Ellen changed from being a cocky little bully to hiding in the shadows so that other kids wouldn’t mock her appearance.  She glanced over again at Caleb.  Too bad this situation couldn’t be resolved as easily.  Ronilyn didn’t believe he was being bullied, although she was sure the kids at school probably teased him about being an orphan.  Loris had even asked his friends Boone and Rose if they knew anything, but both were just as puzzled as everyone else.

Ronilyn turned her attention back to the conversation in time to hear Selena explain how Caleb could get his grades back up with some extra credit work.  

“Fortunately, we caught this soon enough,” Selena said to Loris.  “He skipped school the day of the math test, but I can schedule a make-up test for next week.  As for the science paper he didn’t turn in, I’ll call Mrs. Constantine at the Museum of Natural History.  She’s always been real good about workin’ with our students on science projects.  The museum’s open on Saturday so he could start on that tomorrow if …”

The classroom door banged open.  “What’s goin’ on here?”  Lucas demanded.  The room’s four occupants all swung around to look at him with varying degrees of annoyance on their faces.

“This is a parent-teacher conference,” Selena said as she stood.  “To which you have not been invited,” she added.

Lucas raised his eyebrows.  “A parent-teacher conference?”  he repeated, stressing the word “parent”.

“Yes.  Miss Holt is Caleb’s guardian and that’s why she’s here,” Selena replied.

“I see.”  Lucas’s eyes lingered over the two women still seated.  “And what about her?”  He gestured toward Ronilyn.  “What’s she doin’ here?”

Ronilyn opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted.  “I asked her to come, sheriff,” Loris answered.

“And nobody asked you to come,” Caleb spoke up, still scowling.  “So why don’t you get the hell out?”

“Caleb, language,” his teacher chided him.

Lucas took a few more steps into the classroom.  “Hey, you watch the way you talk to me, boy.  You show me some respect.”

Caleb stood up quickly, knocking his chair to the floor.  “Make me.”  He stared defiantly at Lucas.

Lucas appeared startled by the comment.  “Make you?”

Loris stood and grabbed her young charge by his shirt sleeve.  “Let’s go, Caleb,” she said pulling him along with her.  “Thank you for your help, Miss Coombs,” she told the teacher.  “I’ll be in touch.”

Lucas turned and watched as the two of them slipped out the classroom door, Caleb glancing back at him with a smug look on his face.

“I don’t know what on earth has gotten into that child lately,” Selena said, straightening papers on her desk.

Lucas advanced on her.  “If something’s goin’ on with that boy, you call me.”  He tapped his vest for emphasis.  “Not that woman.”

“She’s his guardian, Lucas.”

“For now,” he stated.  

“Well, then,” Selena leaned on the desk toward him. “For now, I call her.”

“Don’t play games with me, Selena,” Lucas said in a cold voice.  “You ought to know better than that.”  He looked back at the empty doorway and nodded as if coming to some decision.  “It doesn’t matter.  She won’t be his guardian for very long.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Lucas glanced over at Ronilyn.  “You still here?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”  Ronilyn repeated as she stood.  Lucas was taller than her and she wasn’t about to have him tower over her in some ridiculous attempt at intimidation.

A slow, sure grin spread across his face.  “What do you think it means, darlin’?”  Lucas said, then turned and walked out of the classroom.

“Lucas!”  Ronilyn called as she scrambled over the desks and ran into the hallway – slamming right into him as he stood just outside the doorway to the classroom.  

He grinned down at her as he took her by the shoulders and moved her back a couple of steps.  “Yes?”

“What are you going to do?”  she demanded.

“You’re a smart girl, Ronilyn.  You figure it out.”

“If you hurt her, Lucas…”

“You’ll do what?”  he challenged her.

She swiftly changed tactics.  “If you hurt her, you’ll hurt Caleb.  Why would you want to do that?  He’s going through - whatever it is he’s going through - right now as it is,” Ronilyn said.  “Don’t make it worse.”

“Ronilyn.”  He pulled her away from the door and down a more secluded section of hallway.  “What could be worse than havin’ a stranger raise my boy?”  She started to speak and Lucas pointed a finger at her in warning.  “And he is my boy.  By all rights, he should be with me.”

“Yeah, yeah, fine,” she said, waving that issue aside for another time and place.  There was no point in arguing with him about that and she had to admit she sort of agreed with him.  “But something’s going on with him.  Anyone can see that.  Has he said anything to you?”

Lucas gave a sharp laugh.  “You mean besides the fact that he hates me?  No, we haven’t had a really good father/son conversation in awhile.  Once he’s with me, we’ll sort it all out.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s going to solve everything.”

“I can be very persuasive, Ronilyn.”

“I’m well aware of that,” she told him.  “But we need to find out what’s going on with him and take care of that first before you turn his world upside down.”

“Oh, his world isn’t goin’ to be turned upside down,” Lucas scoffed.  “And there’s no ‘we’ here, Ronilyn.  I’ve told you before not to interfere with me and my boy and I meant it.  I let you get away with an awful lot on account of us bein’ kin, but you stay out of this.  I’m not goin’ to tell you again.”

“You’re being selfish.”

Lucas shrugged.  “Been called a lot worse than that.”

“And with good reason, I’m sure.”  She stared hard at him for a few seconds, then made a sound of exasperation and stomped down the hallway.  

______________________________________________________________

The doorbell’s chimes echoed through the mansion.  It rang for the second time as the door opened.  The man’s face fell.  “Sheriff.”

“How’re you doin’, Judge Streeter?” Lucas clapped the man on the shoulder as he pushed past him into the house.  “Place is lookin’ real nice, Judge,” he commented as he surveyed the house, his gaze resting on a portrait hanging on the wall.  “Why, that’s a right fine family portrait you’ve got there.  Looks almost lifelike.  How’s that wife of yours - Charlotte?  I saw her at the church social last week and she was lookin’ mighty fine.”

The judge quickly closed the front door.  “Not here,” he said and ushered Lucas into his study.  

“How’s your boy doin’ in school?  That college tuition’s murder, isn’t it?”

Judge Streeter shut the study door with a bang and turned.  “What is it, Lucas?  I thought we settled things between us.  I did what you wanted.  I signed the papers committing Matt Crower.”

Lucas seated himself in an easy chair and put his feet up on the judge’s desk.  “That’s right.  You did.  And I appreciate it.  Now I’m here to ask you a favor.”

“Me?  You want a favor from me?”  Judge Streeter gave a harsh laugh as he sat down behind his desk.  “What could I possibly do for you?”

“Custody hearin’.”

“For who?”

“Caleb Temple.  Your dearly departed associate Judge Halpern made the wrong decision when he awarded guardianship to Loris Holt.  Far be it from me to question a fellow jurist, but seein’ as he passed away shortly after, it seems he was probably too ill at the time to think clearly.”

“I see.  What seems to be the problem with the boy?” 

“Well, for one thing, teachers say he’s doin’ poorly in his schoolwork.”  Lucas took his feet off the desk and leaned forward.  “More importantly, he’s been seen wanderin’ around the neighborhood at all hours, including hours that he should’ve been in school.  Just the other day, he was caught tryin’ to sneak into Juniper House – not his first attempt by the way – and you know that’s no place for a child to be, especially all by himself.”

“Hmm.”  The judge steepled his fingers in contemplation.  “If this is true, then it is serious.”  He looked up at the other man.  “Is this true, Lucas?”

Lucas put his hand to his heart.  “You wound me, Judge.  Of course, it’s true.  Would I make something like that up?”

“No, no, of course not.” Judge Streeter backpedaled quickly.  “I just meant there needs to be witnesses to these incidents.  People that can verify this.”

“You want witnesses, Judge, you’ll get witnesses.”  Lucas stood up.  “Just get that custody hearin’ set up pronto.”

______________________________________________________________

Ronilyn arrived at the boardinghouse to find Caleb looking less sullen and more confused as he stood in the dining room staring at a letter he held in his hand.  

“What’s that all about?”  she asked Loris as she dropped her handbag on a nearby chair.

“It’s a letter from Matt Crower,” Loris replied in a low voice, both of them watching Caleb.

Ronilyn raised an eyebrow.  “Really?  The elusive Matt Crower?  Wonder how he managed that?”  

Loris shrugged.  “Betty Weller dropped it off when we were at the school.  She left a note.  I’ll have to call her and find out.” 

“Caleb, aren’t you going to open it?” Ronilyn asked the boy.

He glanced up at her, still holding the unopened letter gingerly.  “Uh, I don’t know.  Maybe he wrote it a long time ago and they finally sent it ‘cause he’s dead.”

“Oh, for the love of God,” Ronilyn muttered, nearly rolling her eyes.  Again with the death talk.  Between him and Lucas, she’d about had her fill of the Buck men today.

“Now Caleb,” Loris said, walking over to him and putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.  “I’m sure if Matt had died, they would have said something when you went over to Juniper House yesterday.”

The boy dissolved into tears and wrapped his arms around her waist.  “I’m sorry I went over there, Miss Holt.  I didn’t mean for you to get into trouble.  I just really, really needed to talk to him.  You and Ronilyn are nice and all, but I wanted to talk to Doctor Matt and see if he could fix me.”

Loris held Caleb tightly. “Why, Caleb, what are you talkin’ about, honey?  I’m not in any trouble.”  Bewildered, she looked over him to Ronilyn who shrugged.  “What do you mean, fix you?”

“Fix what’s wrong with me,” he said, his voice muffled by her dress.  “I don’t want to hurt women.”

Ronilyn barely suppressed a gasp and her eyes narrowed in anger.  This had Lucas written all over it.  She’d suspected that Caleb’s recent behavior involved him in some way.

“Caleb, Caleb,” Loris soothed, stroking his hair.  “There’s nothin’ wrong with you.  You’d never hurt anyone.”

The boy shook his head vigorously.  “Yes, I would.  Yes, I did,” he said into her dress.

“What are you talkin’ about, honey?”

He pulled away from her and shook his head as he wiped his eyes, the sobs subsiding.

Ronilyn frowned.  She knew exactly what he was talking about.  When she’d first arrived in town, Caleb had inadvertently revealed to her that he had caused Gail Emory to fall down a flight of stairs, resulting in her miscarriage and current comatose state.

“Well, I, for one, want to read the words of the infamous Doctor Matt Crower,” Ronilyn declared in an attempt to distract Caleb.  She took the letter from the boy, slit open the envelope with her fingernail, removed the single sheet of paper and unfolded it.

Caleb snatched it from her.  “That’s mine!”

“That’s right, it is.”  Ronilyn said, leaning down toward him.  “And I think the man went to a lot of trouble to get a message to you, so don’t you think you should read it?”

As Caleb read the letter, Loris moved over to stand by Ronilyn.  “Why did you stop him from talkin’?” she whispered in her ear.

Ronilyn shook her head.  “Loris, he wasn’t going to say anything else tonight,” she replied in the same low voice.  “At least now we have some sort of idea of what’s been bothering him.”

“Doesn’t really make sense to me,” the other woman said.

“As long as he’s talking again, that’s the important thing.”  Ronilyn watched as Caleb reread the letter, the beginning of a smile on his face.  “For now, let him enjoy this moment.”

Loris nodded.  “I’ll call Betty Weller later.  Maybe Caleb will be able to send a letter back to Matt.  And so will I.”

______________________________________________________________

“So are you goin’ to write him back?”  Boone Mackenzie asked, sitting on the ground in the schoolyard after school Monday afternoon.  He leaned his back against the wall of the school and stretched his legs out in front of him.  

“Yep.  I did already,” Caleb replied, his eyes shining as he looked over at his friend.  “Miss Holt went by the lady’s house after church yesterday and gave her my letter and she said she’d take it over there for me.”

“How’d she end up with your letter anyway?” Boone caught the runaway pencil that rolled out of his bookbag and shoved it back inside.  

Caleb shrugged as he stood up. “I guess she was visitin’ her brother there and her brother knows Doctor Matt and he gave her the letter to give to me.”

“That was lucky,” Boone said, zipping his bookbag closed and standing up.  He eyed his friend’s bicycle.  “You ever get that chain fixed?”

“No.  It’ll keep.  It’s only a little loose.”  Caleb swung his bookbag over his shoulder.  “Thanks for helpin’ me with this project, Boone.  Miss Coombs said it’ll go a long way in makin’ up for that paper I didn’t do.”

Boone climbed onto his bike.  “No problem.  You goin’ to be able to see Ronilyn after supper?”

“No, not for a couple of days at least.  I already talked to her about that.  I got to catch up on all this schoolwork.”  Caleb paused before getting onto his bike.  “Boone, sorry I wasn’t around much lately.  I…just…had a lot to think about, I guess.”

“That’s okay, Caleb.  Sometimes I got a lot to think about too.”

The boys grinned at each other and pedaled out of the schoolyard toward the Trinity Museum of Natural History.

Lucas Buck stepped out from around the corner of the school building, a contemplative frown on his face.  

“Tsk, tsk.  Eavesdroppin’ on children.”  Selena shook her head as she sidled up to Lucas.  “Has your relationship deteriorated to that point?”

Lucas glared at her.  “As if you know anything about relationships,” he scoffed.

“Well, I must,” she replied, “seein’ as I have a relationship.” 

“You talkin’ about that Billy Peale?”  Lucas waved him off dismissively as he closed the distance between himself and Selena.  “He’s a cardboard character.  You’ll tire of him soon enough.”  He grasped her arms and pulled her against him.  “You’ll miss the thrills and the excitement,” he pressed her closer until their faces were inches apart, “and the feel of a real man who can give you proper attention.”  He kissed her, holding her body flush against his, running his tongue over her lips until they opened to him.  Then, just as quickly, he released her.

“Well, I’ve got to be goin’, darlin’,” he said with a smirk as she stared at him.  “Got to go see a doctor.”  He glanced over to the side.  “But I see yours makes house calls.”

He strode through the schoolyard, boots kicking up the gravel as he passed Doctor Billy Peale who stood by the swingset with an unreadable look on his face.  “What’re you lookin’ so down for, Billy boy?  I just stoked the fires for you.”

______________________________________________________________

Ronilyn sighed as she kissed her mother’s cheek and smoothed down her hair.  She rolled away the table that held the food tray and helped Sarah Huntley up from her chair and over to the bed.  Once she settled her into the bed, Ronilyn slid the curtains closed, glancing out the window briefly as the sun set at Juniper House.

She rested her forehead against the window and closed her eyes as she thought about how much less painful this was when she had lived in Chicago with that safe cushion of miles between her and her mother.  It was so much easier to talk to the doctors on the phone every week, to hear about her mother’s progress or lack thereof and to be updated on her condition without having to actually look her mother in the face and see how she was existing.  Because this – Ronilyn opened her eyes and gazed around the hospital room – this could not be considered living.  

While in Chicago she’d sent money to her father every week until he’d passed away a few years ago.  After that she spoke directly to the nursing staff several times a week over the phone to ensure that her mother was well-cared for and didn’t lack for any luxuries that Juniper House could provide.  Not that anyone would dare mistreat the aunt of Sheriff Lucas Buck.  Ronilyn nearly laughed out loud at the notion.

And speaking of Lucas, it was time to work on locating this Matt Crower.  She’d tried to see him once after she returned to Trinity.  Ronilyn still recalled the outrage she felt to discover that the man was denied visitors and locked in a room in a desolate section of the hospital with only a tiny barred window his view to the outside world.  Well, things were a little different for him now.  Having a mother who’d been a mental patient as long as she could remember not only made Ronilyn extremely sensitive to the proper treatment of the mentally ill, but it made her all too aware of the inner workings of the mental health system and the politics involved.  

She crossed the room and carefully closed the bureau drawer after tucking in the clothes that lay inside.  Ronilyn then picked up her handbag.  “See you later, Mama,” she told the older woman who was lying comfortably in her bed staring off into the distance.

Ronilyn had heard all about Matt Crower’s attempt to shoot Lucas, but Loris Holt didn’t seem to think Matt was dangerous.  Ronilyn wanted to see for herself and the only way to do that was to actually meet him.

______________________________________________________________

As Lucas approached his car in the school parking lot, he could hear Ben calling him over the radio.  He opened the door of the Crown Victoria, reached in and grabbed the radio.

“Yeah, Ben?”

“Lucas, I thought you should know,” came Deputy Ben Healy’s voice.  “We got a report about another missin’ body at the cemetery.”

Lucas sighed in exasperation.  “That’s the third one in the last two months.  Who was it this time?”  He heard papers rustling on the other end of the radio.

“Harold Porter,” Ben said.  “School janitor.  Remember, he had a heart attack last week?  Poor old fella.  They barely put him in the ground.  Seems like this has gone way beyond pranks now, Lucas.  It’s like we got our own Dr. Frankenstein runnin’ around town.”

“I think you’re right, Ben.”

There was silence on the other end and then, “That Dr. Frankenstein is runnin’ around Trinity?”

“No, Ben,” Lucas said disdainfully.  “That this isn’t some teenaged prankster diggin’ up bodies.”

“Oh.  What do you want me to do, Lucas?”

“This is your case, Ben,” Lucas said as he got into the car.  “You handle it.  Use Floyd if you think you need help.  But before you do any of that, I want you to check the phone records for Loris Holt’s boardinghouse for the last couple of days.”

“Lucas?”

“You heard me, Ben,” Lucas said, starting the car.  

“But what about the missin’ bodies?”

“They’re not goin’ anywhere,” Lucas said, then chuckled.  “Well, I guess they did since they’re missin’.  At any rate, there aren’t any livin’ victims, so do the phone check first.”  He shifted the car into gear.  “Call me on the radio as soon as you get ‘em.  I’m takin’ a little drive.”  

______________________________________________________________

“Ma’am, ma’am,” a nurse called, hurrying down the hospital corridor. 

Ronilyn turned around, cursing inwardly.  “Yes?”  she said brightly to the young nurse wearing scrubs, who she figured couldn’t have been more than 21 years old.

“You can’t go there, ma’am.  That area is restricted.  Patient rooms.”  The nurse led her back down the corridor.  “The visitors’ area is past the nurses’ station and right around the corner.”  She pointed in the direction.

“Thank you.”  Ronilyn kept the smile on her face as she began glancing around.  “This place is so big.  I got all turned around when I got off the elevator.  Is this the third or fourth floor?”  

“It’s the third, ma’am,” the nurse replied.  “And I know what you mean.  It’s easy to get lost in a hospital big as this one.”

The two women continued to smile at each other as they approached the nurses’ station.  Ronilyn pressed the elevator button.

“Aren’t you goin’ to the visitors’ area, ma’am?”

“Uh, no.  You said this was the third floor, right?”  The nurse nodded.  “Well, I meant to get off on the fourth floor,” Ronilyn said with a laugh.

“Then you might want to push ‘Up’ instead of the down button,” the nurse said and reached out to press the elevator button.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, ma’am,” the nurse said and returned to the nurses’ station directly across from the elevator.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened.  Ronilyn got on and didn’t turn around toward the front of the empty elevator until the doors closed and the elevator began its ascent.  

She rubbed her mouth, almost certain the smile was permanently pasted on there, as she sagged against the side of the elevator.  Obviously, sneaking on to the third floor to see Matt Crower was going to be more difficult than she had anticipated.  From Loris’s conversation with Betty Weller, Ronilyn knew that Matt was on the third floor and she now knew for sure the location of the patient rooms.  

The elevator doors opened on the fourth floor and a couple of orderlies got on.  As it began a smooth descent, Ronilyn reviewed her options.  She decided the best time to try to see Matt would be in the evening just as visitor hours were ending.  There would be more people in the corridors leaving, so she would have a better chance of blending in.

Ronilyn got off on the main floor, pausing a moment as the elevator doors closed behind her.  She decided to see if her mother’s doctor was in before she left.  She hadn’t spoken to him in several days due to the amount of paperwork she’d been dealing with at the mayor’s office.  Ronilyn shook her head.  Mayor Quimby was definitely not a paperwork kind of person.  Once he had agreed to take her on as his assistant, he had eagerly handed the paperwork and files over to her.  She turned toward the hallway where the physician offices were located.  

______________________________________________________________

“Dr. Mitchell.”

The Juniper House psychiatrist turned over a sheet of paper and, without looking away from the file he was reading, said, “I’m sorry, but my office hours are over.  If you need to schedule a consultation…”

The office door slammed shut and Dr. Mitchell looked up.  “Sheriff,” he managed to say as Lucas approached his desk with an unpleasant expression on his face.

“Matt Crower is your patient, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” Dr. Mitchell replied, fiddling with the paper still in his hand.

“I thought you agreed that he was a danger to society and should be kept under tight security.”

“Well, yes,” Dr. Mitchell said uncertainly, closing the file he’d been reviewing.  “He’s been in one of our lock down units…”

“And yet,” Lucas continued as if the man hadn’t spoken, “I find out that he’s sendin’ letters to one of the children in this town.  As a public servant, this concerns me – greatly.”  He put both hands on the psychiatrist’s desk and leaned forward.  “You want to explain to me how that could’ve happened?”

“Letters?  Well, I suppose he could’ve given them to another patient or a member of the staff to mail.  He still…”

Lucas leaned closer.  “I already know that he gave ‘em to a patient who gave them to his sister and she delivered ‘em to the boy.  What I want to know is how he could do that if he’s…locked…up,” he said slowly and emphatically.

“Well, uh, he’s not anymore.  He was transferred to a regular patient room.”  

“I see.” Lucas continued to stare at the man.

Dr. Mitchell looked away and fumbled through the folders on his desk.  “I believe the transfer occurred a few weeks ago.  If you give me a minute, I’m sure I can find…”

Lucas slammed his hand down on the folders and Dr. Mitchell’s movements stilled.  “Stop.  I don’t care when it happened.  I want to know why it happened.”

“We, uh, had a visit from the State.” Dr. Mitchell looked everywhere but at Lucas.  “A complaint was filed with the Department of Mental Health and they sent an advocate to investigate.”  He finally met the sheriff’s eyes.  “The hospital administrator wasn’t happy, to say the least.”

“Well, now I’m not happy.”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“You had a choice,” Lucas snapped.  “You could’ve chosen to call me and let me know what’s goin’ on.  I think I could’ve persuaded one little investigator to see things my way.”

“But it was the State,” the psychiatrist insisted.  “I know how much authority you have in Trinity, but this wasn’t some local hick you could…”

Lucas straightened.  “Doctor, I can assure you that I have influence far beyond the ‘local hicks’ of this town.  Now I don’t suppose you know who filed the complaint?”

Dr. Mitchell shook his head.  

“Of course not,” Lucas said, disgust evident in his voice.

“I asked, but they don’t give out that information.  It certainly wasn’t the patient because he was still in our lockdown unit at the time.”

“Well, I guess I’ll use my influence and find out for myself then.”  Lucas walked to the door and opened it.

“Sheriff?”

Lucas paused and glanced back. 

“He’s still under restrictions, you know.  He still isn’t allowed visitors or telephone privileges,” the psychiatrist said in an attempt to redeem himself.

“Terrific.”  The door banged shut behind Lucas and he found himself face to face with a grim looking Ronilyn.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

“Well, hello, how are you?” he responded sarcastically.  “What the hell kind of greetin’ is that?”  He stepped to one side in order to move past her.

Ronilyn smoothly stepped to the side with him, continuing to block his path.  “The kind of greeting you get when I see you coming out of my mother’s doctor’s office.”

“This has nothin’ to do with your mother,” Lucas said as he shifted to the other side and she followed suit.  He frowned at her.  

“Why else would you be here at Juniper House?” 

“I’m not in the mood for this, Ronilyn,” Lucas said tiredly as he grabbed her by her upper arms and moved her out of his way.  

She shook free of his grasp and glared up at him. “I don’t appreciate being manhandled, Lucas.” 

“And I don’t appreciate you questionin’ me,” he shot back.  “I suggest you move out of my way next time.”  He locked eyes with her.  “You know, you never used to question me.  You used to come to me for advice.”

“I was a kid.  I didn’t know any better.”

“And you used to have more respect for your elders.”

“Respect?”  Ronilyn glanced away and shook her head.  “It went way deeper than that with you,” she said, looking back up at him.

Something shifted beneath the surface of his eyes, but Lucas didn’t respond.  “Well,” Ronilyn said, looking away again and putting her hand on the doorknob of the psychiatrist’s office.  She cleared her throat.  “You know, I will find out if you talked to him about my mother.  You’re not the only persuasive person in this family,” she said as she walked into Dr. Mitchell’s office and shut the door.

______________________________________________________________

“Mrs. Constantine is weird,” declared Caleb as he finished clearing the dinner table.

Loris suppressed a smile. “What makes you say that?” she asked, placing a bowl in the dishrack.

“That museum’s creepy.  It’s dark and smells funny and there’s all them skeletons and other old stuff around.”  Caleb sat down at the kitchen table.  “And she keeps goin’ on about how the museum has one of the biggest collections of old bones in the South, but they just don’t get the proper credit.”  He rolled his eyes.  “I’m glad Boone went with me.  Don’t see how anyone could work there – unless they were creepy too.”

“Well, I expect most museums have that feel,” Loris said, draining the sink of water and turning to face the boy.  “Probably because they hold all that ‘old stuff’, as you put it.  All those people and animals are ones who left this life long ago.  And that ‘old stuff’ is the bowls they ate out of and the clothes that they wore and the like.  We need museums so that folks can properly honor and treasure those that passed before us and everything they did.  All of those ancient objects boxed up together in one buildin’ is bound to be spooky.”

“Creepy,” Caleb stated as the doorbell echoed throughout the boardinghouse.

Loris smiled and shook her head at him as she went to answer the door.  She opened it to find a young man in a suit standing on her porch.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“Are you Loris Holt?” 

“Yes.”

He handed her an envelope.  “You’ve been served,” he said and turned to go down the porch steps.

“What?” Loris looked in confusion at the envelope and then to the man’s retreating back.  “What’s this about?”

The young man glanced over his shoulder at her.  “That’s a summons, ma’am.  Judge Streeter is requestin’ your presence in his chambers regardin’ custody of one Caleb Temple.”

Loris frowned.  The other shoe had finally dropped.

______________________________________________________________

“Betty Weller,” Lucas said, holding up a hand to halt Ben’s recitation of names from the boardinghouse phone records.  

Ben looked up.  “Yeah, Lucas?”

“Why is that name familiar to me?” Lucas mused, tapping a pen on his desk.

Ben wasn’t sure if the question was directed at him, but since he knew the answer, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to say so.  He took a big gulp of his morning coffee, then coughed, his eyes watering.  How Floyd could ruin a simple thing like making coffee, he’d never know.  “She’s Hack Weller’s widow,” Ben finally managed to say.  Lucas’s eyes flicked in his direction.  Taking this as a sign of encouragement, Ben continued, “Remember his bones were found at the old Temple place?  Her brother was a state cop and nosed his way into town to look into it?”

“Drey.” 

“Uh, could be his name,” Ben said.  “It’s been awhile, so I’d have to check the case files to be sure.”  He glanced behind him at the ringing phone in the outer office.

“Oh, it’s Drey alright,” Lucas said, his expression darkening.  “With a D.”

“So, uh, you don’t need me to go through the rest of the names?” Ben asked.

Lucas eyed his anxious deputy and waved him off.  “No.  Go on, Ben.” 

Ben stood, grabbed his mug from where he’d placed it on the sheriff’s desk and walked to the door.  “Ben.” The deputy stopped a step short of escape and slowly turned.  He should have expected that.  Lucas always seemed to have a touch of Columbo about him.  Lull people into a false sense of security, then spring something on them.

Lucas looked amused at his deputy’s discomfort.  “Call Juniper House and see if Drey was admitted as a patient there.  Might as well be sure.”

Ben didn’t know why they had to be sure or what Drey had to do with anything, but he’d learned it was generally best not to question the sheriff.  He did, however, object to the order he’d been given. “Lucas, that’s confidential.  They’re not goin’ to tell me.”

“You ask to talk to a Dr. Mitchell and you tell him you’re askin’ for me.  Tell him to find out and I don’t want any excuses from him – what?” he asked as Ben just stood there staring at him.

Lucas leaned back in his chair.  “C’mon, spit it out, Ben,” he said as his deputy remained silent.  “Don’t tell me you’re havin’ a crisis of conscience.”

Ben frowned at that.  “No, it’s just…folks at Juniper are all sick.  They’ve got a right to privacy.”

“Ben, don’t turn this into something it’s not,” Lucas warned him.  “Just make the phone call.”

“Sheriff?” Floyd called from the outer office.  “I’ve got the Department of Mental Health on the line.”

“Transfer it, Floyd,” Lucas said and proceeded to pick up the ringing phone on his desk.  He pointed emphatically at Ben, then jabbed his finger toward the door as he spoke into the receiver.  “Sheriff Lucas Buck here.”

______________________________________________________________

“Matt!”

Matt turned from his regular spot by the window in the common room as Drey approached him, envelopes in his hand.  “What happened to you last night?  I went looking for you after visiting hours were over, but you weren’t around.”

Matt sighed and leaned back against the window sill.  “Apparently Melvin felt I was causing a disturbance so he put me back in my room.”  He hated those soundproofed rooms with the tiny barred window in the door.  It was bigger than his room in isolation and there was another small barred window that let some sunlight in, but Matt thought his time in isolation might have made him a bit claustrophobic.  Maybe he’d bring that up at his next therapy session.

Drey frowned.  “Well, that’s just…”  His eyes widened.  “Melvin?”

“Yes, the friendly orderly from the other night that you were so determined to piss off.  Fortunately, he’s not working tonight.”

“His name is Melvin?”

“Stan, don’t,” Matt said, holding up a hand.

“Okay, fine...but Melvin?  Really?”

Matt just looked at him wearily.

“Okay, okay, never mind.”  Drey waved one hand dismissively.  He held up the other hand and grinned.  “Look what I’ve got for you.”

Matt’s eyes fixated on the envelopes in Drey’s hand.  “Are those…”

“You bet.”  Drey presented them to Matt and watched as he turned them over in his hands.

“Two,” Matt murmured.  He recognized Caleb’s scrawl on one envelope.  He studied the other one.  “This must be from Loris.”  He wasn’t as familiar with her handwriting.  He dropped into the closest chair and carefully opened Caleb’s letter, wanting to savor this moment of contact with the outside world.

While Matt read the letter, Drey took a seat at the same table.  “I would’ve gotten them to you earlier, but my therapist is out sick today so they rescheduled my session with a different one for this morning.”

Matt looked up from the letter.  “So?”  Drey asked, unable to read his expression.

“Yeah,” Matt said softly with a wan smile.  “He misses me and he says he’s been here ‘a million times’ to try to see me, but they won’t let him.”

“Well, there you go.” Drey reached over and slapped him on the shoulder.  “See?  The kid didn’t forget about you.”

“Yeah, it’s nice.  It’s nice to be able to communicate with someone not in Juniper, even if it’s just through letters.”  Matt looked at the other man.  “I have you to thank for this, Stan.  If you ever need anything…” 

“Just keep this place insect free.  That’s all I need,” Drey joked.  He cleared his throat.  “You, uh, going to open the other one?”

Matt picked up the other letter from the table and slit the envelope open with his finger.  He removed the sheet of paper, read through it, then looked up at Drey with a puzzled expression on his face.  

“Something wrong?” 

“No,” Matt replied slowly.  “It’s from Loris and, among other things, she says that Lucas Buck’s cousin is trying to help me.”

“So what’s that supposed to mean?  Is that good or bad?”

Matt shrugged.  “I have no idea.  Didn’t even know he had any other relatives.” 

______________________________________________________________

“Little early in the day to be drinkin’, don’t you think?”

“Hey, I ain’t workin’ tonight!”  Melvin glanced up from his beer at Deke’s bar, ready to tear into this nosy interloper.  “What’s it to…”  He gulped and squinted at the man towering over him.  “Sheriff?” 

Grinning, Lucas swung onto the barstool next to Melvin and dipped his hand into the bowl of peanuts resting on the bar.

______________________________________________________________

Ronilyn missed Caleb.  Not just his odd yet endearing comments and his big smile, but his help with her pets.  She’d gotten used to his almost daily visits and had forgotten how much time it actually took to feed and care for the animals. She really needed to stop taking in strays, she mused, while watching the dogs run around in the back yard.  

But it was in her nature, she was simply an animal person, her father had always told people.  He never scolded her when he would come home from work to find her playing with yet another dog or cat in the yard.  He merely reminded her that it was her responsibility to care for them.  

She couldn’t explain, even now, the bond she felt with animals.  They had seen her through some of the worst times of her life, never judging, always looking at her adoringly.  Her father never said anything, but as she grew older, Ronilyn came to believe that he indulged her in this area because he hoped it would focus her attention away from her mother’s situation and that the affection she desperately craved in vain from her mother could be replaced with the unconditional love of animals.  Therefore, no animal was turned away at the Huntley house.  

On Halloween, while other children spent the evening after trick-or-treating sorting through their candy, Ronilyn prowled the streets of Trinity searching for any black cats that needed rescuing from cruel teenagers and their sadistic Halloween games.  In any other town, small or large, such actions would have been labeled foolish since a lone girl at night could have become the victim of any number of crimes.  But this was Trinity, South Carolina, and people here looked out for their own.  And almost everyone in town knew better than to target the sheriff’s young cousin…


She was nearly fourteen the Halloween she’d been running through the neighborhood with an armful of yowling black fur.  The veterinary clinic was closed at this late hour so she was headed straight to the veterinarian’s house.  The sun had set some time ago and Ronilyn knew her father would be worried, but the burns inflicted on the cat looked too serious to wait until morning.  She was busy murmuring words of comfort to the injured animal and didn’t notice the figure step out of a nearby doorway as she rushed past.

“Awful late for you to be out, don’t you think?”  a male voice drawled and she stumbled, nearly dropping the cat.

Ronilyn turned and let out the breath she’d been holding when she recognized the man.  “You nearly scared me to death,” she said, blowing away the strands of hair that had fallen in her face from her scraggly ponytail.

“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Carter Bowen asked as he drew closer to her.  

“The vet,” she replied, carefully shifting the wailing cat in her arms.  “I really don’t have time to talk.”

“Always time to talk, Ronilyn.” He eyed her.  “You want some help?”  He reached for the animal.

“No.” She hugged the cat closer to her and gave him a slight frown.

“Suit yourself.”  Carter shrugged.  “I got my car around the corner.  You want a lift?  You’ll get to the vet a lot faster.”

Ronilyn considered him, the frown still on her face.  The cat cried piteously at that moment.  She glanced down at it, looked back at Carter and said, “Okay.”  

He put his hand on her shoulder and guided her along the sidewalk until they neared the end of the block.  A man stepped around the corner into their path.

“I suggest you take your hand off her - now,” Lucas Buck said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Sheriff.” Carter quickly removed his hand.  “Is there some sort of problem?”

“Won’t be as soon as you get away from her.” Lucas stared hard at the man.

Carter held up both hands as he took a few steps back.  “Sheriff, I don’t know what you think is goin’ on here, but…”

“Lucas, he was just givin’ me a ride to the vet’s house,” Ronilyn said with a puzzled look at her cousin.  “On account of the cat.” She gestured with her head at the furry pile in her arms.

“Is that right?”  Lucas continued glaring at the other man.

“Yeah,” she said, then peered at the cat again.  “Look, I don’t have time for this.  He was already on fire when I showed up.  He’s hurt real bad.”

“Ronilyn, you wait for me,” Lucas said firmly.  “I’ll take you soon as I’m done here.”

“Done doin’ what?” she demanded.  “This is stupid.” She started to rush off, muttering, “Probably would’ve been there already if you two hadn’t stopped me.”

“Ronilyn.”  

The sharp, authoritative edge to his voice stopped her in her tracks.  She’d heard talk in town of how it wasn’t smart to cross the sheriff, but this was the first time his “do as I say or else” tone of voice had been directed at her.  Ronilyn slowly turned.  “Okay, okay,” she said, then boldly, “But could you make it snappy?”

Lucas arched an eyebrow at her, then turned his attention back to Carter.  “My cousin?”  He shook his head.  “You ought to know better than that.” 

“You’ve got the wrong idea.  I was just tryin’ to do her a favor.”

“She doesn’t need your kind of favors.  I don’t ever want to hear about you tryin’ to do her a favor.  If we have to have this conversation a second time,” Lucas warned, pointing a finger at the man, “well, let’s just say there won’t be a third time.  Now get.”

Carter ducked past Lucas and scurried around the corner to his car.  Lucas continued staring in that direction as they heard the engine start up.  Tires squealed as the car zoomed away.

“Are you done?  Can we go now?” 

He looked down at Ronilyn, examining her closely for a moment, and traces of a frown appeared on his face.  He opened his mouth, seemed to change his mind about something, then merely said, “Yeah.  Car’s across the street.”

“What was that all about?” she asked as she matched his quick pace.

“You’ll figure it out when you’re a little older.”

“I can figure it out now.  You thought he was goin’ to, what?  Kidnap me?  Rape me?  Kill me?  What I can’t figure it out is why.  Why would you think he’d do that?  What’s he done?”

“That doesn’t concern you.”  Lucas stopped mid-stride in the middle of the street and looked down at her. “You know what I can’t figure out?  Why the hell would you get into his car?  You’re not a stupid girl, Ronilyn.  Don’t you pay attention in school when they talk about stranger danger and all that?”

Ronilyn looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.  “Stranger danger?” she repeated.  “Sure.  I paid attention - when I was six!  And what stranger are you talkin’ about?  It’s Carter Bowen,” she said scornfully.  “He’s no stranger.  He’s lived here all his life.  Been workin’ at the junkyard since he graduated high school.  I’ve seen him when Daddy and me have gone there for parts for the car.  He’s not dangerous.”

“There’s different kinds of danger.”

“Well, he’s none of them,” Ronilyn said, reaching the car and going around to the passenger side door.  She got in and arranged the cat carefully on her lap.

“You sound awfully sure,” Lucas said as he got into the car.

“Would you drive please?”  She fastened her seat belt.  “Besides, it not like he’s interested in me.  He’s too busy screwin’ Wash Sutpin’s daughter.”

Lucas’s hand hovered over the ignition.  His eyebrows lifted, his hand dropped and he shifted completely in his seat to look at her.  “And just how do you know that?”

Ronilyn shrugged.  “Girl talk.  It’s a small town, Lucas.  And she’s only a few years older than me.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Ronilyn,” he warned her, that edge creeping back into his voice.

She squirmed under his gaze. “Fine.  I…saw ‘em goin’ at it one time when I was at the junkyard.”

Lucas swore as he started the car.  “I suppose you were there by yourself.”  When she nodded, he said, “Naturally.  I swear, you need a chaperone or something.”

“She’s the one who needs a chaperone,” Ronilyn pointed out, referring to the Sutpin girl.  “She could do better than Carter Bowen.  Don’t know what she sees in him.  He sure isn’t my type.”  

Lucas slammed on the brakes. 

“Hey!”  Ronilyn protested, one hand braced against the dashboard and the other clutching the cat in her lap.  “What the hell are…”

“Type?” Lucas repeated.  He shifted the car into park in the middle of the empty street and turned to look at her.  “Since when do you have a type?”  As Ronilyn opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off.  “You, missy,” he pointed a finger at her, “do not have a type, understand?  You are way too young to have a type.  Type,” he said again, almost to himself.  “Do you even know what you’re talkin’ about?”

“Of course I do,” Ronilyn said as she rolled her eyes.  “I’m almost fourteen, Lucas,” she stated as if that explained everything.

“Fourteen.”  Lucas shook his head, then rubbed his bottom lip thoughtfully.  “Has your daddy talked to you at all about…the birds and the bees?”

“The birds and the bees?” Ronilyn repeated slowly, then started to laugh.  “Who even calls it that nowadays?” 

“I’m serious, Ronilyn.”

The laughter stopped immediately.  “Uh uh.  No way,” she said with a shake of her head.  “We are not havin’ this conversation.”  She turned away from him and waved her hand aimlessly at the car’s windshield.  “Let’s go.”

“Oh, believe me, I don’t want to have this conversation,” Lucas said, leaning toward her.  “But has anyone had this conversation with you?  Because if no one has, it’s high time someone did.”

Ronilyn whipped her head back around to face him. “Well, I’m not goin’ to have it with someone who calls it the ‘birds and the bees’, I’ll tell you that.  And it’s not goin’ to be while I’ve got this cat dyin’ on me either.”  She indicated the animal with a tilt of her head.  “Come on, start the car.  Let’s go.”

He didn’t move.

“Please, Lucas,” she said.  “I went to a lot of trouble to save this cat and I don’t want him to die on the way to the vet.”

Lucas gave her a sideways glance, but said nothing as he shifted the car back into drive.  After driving a block in silence, he said, “Trouble, huh?  That what happened to your face?”  

As she turned and shot him a look, he reached out a hand and brushed the pieces of hair away from her cheek.  The bruise, barely visible in the dim street lights, was already turning shades of purple and yellow.  

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“I didn’t think you noticed.”

“Noticed it earlier, darlin’.  There’s not much you can slip past me.”

“I guess not,” she said with a slight frown.  “That’s kind of annoyin’, you know.”

“I find it to be useful.  Now who hurt you?  I know it wasn’t Carter or you wouldn’t have been all agreeable about getting’ into his car.”

She glared at him.  “You want to let that go already?”  

“I’ll let it go when I’m good and ready,” Lucas said, meeting her gaze.  “Now,” he pointed a finger at her, “stop playin’ games and answer me.” 

“Of course that’s how I got this,” she snapped, gesturing at the bruise.  “Did you think those boys were just goin’ to hand the cat over to me?  I had to take him from them!”  She shrugged.  “Things got a little…messy.”

“Uh huh.  Any of them get messy?”

“Well, I was outnumbered, so no.”

“You hurt anywhere else?”

Another shrug.  “Not really.”

“Not really?” Lucas repeated as he parked the car near the vet’s house.  “I thought I told you to stop playin’ games.”

Ronilyn was unbuckling the seat belt before he finished speaking.

“Who were they?” he demanded.  “Give me their names.”

She reached for the door handle with her right hand.  He grabbed her left arm and yanked her back into her seat.  

“Hey, watch the cat!” she cried out, quickly bringing her right hand back to balance the cat on her lap.  

“I asked you a question,” Lucas said.

Ronilyn tried in vain to pull away from him without disturbing the injured animal.  “Let me go, Lucas!  I’ve got to get him to the vet!”

“Answer me.”

She heaved out a breath in exasperation and stopped struggling.  “Why?”

His voice hardened and he tightened his grip on her arm.  “What did you say?” 

“Why do you want to know their names?  You think you’re goin’ to fix things for me?  You goin’ to fight my battles for me?”  Ronilyn lifted her chin defiantly.  “Don’t you think I can take care of things myself?”

Lucas smirked at this.  “Yeah, because you’ve been doin’ a fine job so far tonight.”

“I’m not a kid anymore.”  She glared at him.

Lucas gave a bitter laugh.  “No, you’re not.  You’ve turned into something worse.  A mouthy teenager.”

“Ha ha.  Very funny.  I’m not givin’ you their names.”  Ronilyn met his gaze evenly, her eyes never faltering.  “I’ll deal with them myself.  Might take me awhile, but they’ll pay for what they did.  It’ll probably be something to do with fire,” she added thoughtfully, running her fingers lightly over the cat’s singed fur. 

Lucas studied her, then nodded and abruptly released her arm.  “Go.”

She looked at him warily, not sure whether to believe him.  “Really?”

“Go on,” he said.  “Leave the cat and then come right back out.  I’ll be here waitin’.”

Ronilyn sprang from the car and dashed up the stairs to the front porch.  She rang the doorbell and glanced back.  Lucas had gotten out of the car and was leaning with his arms against the roof, watching her with an unreadable expression on his face…


Ronilyn turned away from the window and the barking dogs.  They would be fine in the yard for a short time while she went over to Juniper House.  She had just enough time to get there before visiting hours ended.  The cats were already wandering the neighborhood and would return to the house later that night as they always did.  

She walked to the front of the house and picked up her handbag.  The hamsters and birds were fed and watered, their cages clean, as well as the two guinea pigs Caleb had persuaded her to buy.  Ronilyn shook her head with a smile.  The love for animals must run in the family.  

The telephone rang as she opened the front door.  Ronilyn glanced back, then whipped her head around quickly and nearly shrieked at the ominous figure looming on the front porch.  She swore instead.  “I hate when you do that.  What do you – hey?!” she protested as Lucas shoved her back into the house and slammed the door shut.

For several seconds they glared at each other in the dimly lit hallway, Lucas’s arms crossed over his chest and Ronilyn’s hands on her hips.  He stood directly in front of the door, effectively blocking her way out.  

“Well, what is it?” she finally demanded, flinging her handbag onto the living room sofa a short distance away.  “I’ve told you before that I don’t appreciate being manhandled.” 

He remained silent, but turned slightly to lock the door behind him.  The telephone stopped ringing.

She raised an eyebrow, but continued, “If you’ve got something to say, say it, otherwise get the hell out of my way.”

“Oh, I’ve got something to say, all right.” He abruptly strode toward her, unfolding his arms as he moved.  

Startled by his sudden movement, Ronilyn nearly stumbled as she backed away.  She recognized the menacing edge to his voice and, while she knew immediately that she was in serious trouble, she refused to let him see that he’d rattled her.  “Well, spit it out.  I’ve got somewhere to go.”

“Yeah?  Where you goin’, Ronilyn?” he asked, stalking her.  “The boardinghouse?  Juniper House?  Columbia?”

“Columbia?” she repeated in confusion.  “What?  Like the country?” she asked, backing into one of the dining room chairs and swiftly moving around it until she got the dining room table between them.  She could hear the dogs barking wildly in the back yard.  “I’ve heard they’ve got a really great drug trade, but that’s not…”

“Do you really think you should be makin’ jokes right now?” Lucas pushed one of the chairs out of the way and pressed his hands against the dining room table, leaning toward her.

“I’m guessing the answer is no,” she replied from the opposite end of the table near the kitchen.

“I’m talkin’ about Columbia, South Carolina,” Lucas snapped.  

“The state capital?  Why would I go there?” she asked, still puzzled by this line of questioning as well as his volatile mood.  “That’s an awfully long drive.  Got to be a couple of hours, at least.”

“That’s right,” Lucas said, his eyes studying her.  “Why bother drivin’ all that distance when you can use your job to get them to come to you?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Ronilyn mirrored his stance, hands on the table, body leaning in his direction.  “Get who to come to me?  Would you stop playing twenty questions and just come out with it already?” she demanded in exasperation.

“I’m talkin’ about the complaint the mayor’s office filed with the Department of Mental Health requestin’ an investigation into the treatment of Matt Crower at Juniper House.”

There was silence and then, “Oh.”

“You better have more to say to me than that.”

“Oh…crap?”

He narrowed his eyes at her.  “It was pretty clever actually, I’ll give you that.”  He straightened.  “A complaint from an individual might’ve gotten lost in the system, taken weeks to be looked into, but when it comes from the mayor’s office, even from a small town like ours, that’s bound to get a quicker response.”

“So what’s the big deal?  He’s still in Juniper.”  Ronilyn straightened.  “He’s just not locked up in a tiny little cell with hardly any human contact.  That was just wrong,” she declared.

“The deal is that he’s writin’ letters to Caleb and Caleb’s writin’ back to him.”

“So what?”

“So I don’t want that.”

“Sounds like a problem with the post office to me,” Ronilyn said.  “Why don’t you take it up with them?”

Lucas started circling around the table and she kept pace with him, making sure to keep the table between them, until he was now closer to the kitchen and she was nearer to the living room.  “I’m takin’ it up with you, missy.  If you hadn’t filed that complaint, he wouldn’t be able to send any letters.”

“Again, what’s the big deal?  They’re just letters.  It’s not like Caleb’s actually seeing him or they’re talking on the phone.”

“I don’t want him talkin’ to my boy in any way, shape or form.  I thought I made myself clear about that, Ronilyn.”

“Yeah, as if I’ve been running around Juniper House handing out pens, papers and postage stamps,” she said sarcastically while trying to calculate how quickly she could run to the front door behind her and unlock it.  It was either that or run up the stairs to the second floor and then what?  Jump out a window like other women Lucas had dealt with?  No way was she going to be one of those women.

“Again with the jokes,” Lucas said.  “Thought you would’ve grown out of that.”

“Guess not.  I must be a child at heart.”

He banged his hand down on the dining room table.  “Damnit!  I told you not to interfere with my son!”

“Oh, your son!” she shouted back.  “Yeah, you’re a hell of a father, Lucas,” she said, her voice full of disdain.  “He doesn’t even want to be around you!”

Suddenly, Lucas ran around the table at her and she whirled and raced for the front door.  She managed to turn the lock before he grabbed her wrist and jerked her away from the door.  Ronilyn tried to yank her hand free, but he slammed her against the nearest wall.  Despite her struggles, Lucas held her securely by her arms, pinning her against the wall with his body.  

“Stop it!” he ordered and then more calmly, “Stop it - right now.”

He waited until she had quieted.  “You’ve always got to push things too far, don’t you?” He shook her and her head smacked against the wall.  Other than the slight grimace she made, Ronilyn gave no other reaction and remained silent, watching him closely.

Lucas bent slightly so that his face was inches from hers.  “What am I goin’ to do with you?”  he said softly.  Killing Ronilyn was out of the question since Lucas had sworn that oath to her dying father to protect her.  Knowing Nathan Huntley as he did, Lucas was certain the man had never told his daughter about the vow, so Ronilyn didn’t realize she was relatively safe from him.  Hurting her, however, he felt wasn’t covered by the oath and he tightened his grip on her arms.

Ronilyn’s head throbbed from when she struck the wall.  She could feel his breath warm against her cheek, his fingers digging painfully into her flesh, sure to leave bruises.  She met his gaze evenly and a horrible realization struck her.  Lucas intended to leave bruises.  He wanted to hurt her and he wanted to leave a mark so she would remember it.  Anger mixed with betrayal flared up deep inside.  “How about you let go of me?” she suggested in the same low, even voice he had used.

He shook his head slightly.  “Now why would I want to do that?” he asked with a halfhearted grin.

“Because anything else would be stupid and you’ve never been stupid.”

Lucas considered her statement.  “That may be so, but you, on the other hand  – ” he pressed his body hard against hers, pushing her even further into the wall “– have been doin’ some mighty stupid and ill-advised things lately.”

“That’s a matter of opinion.”

“Yeah?  Well, guess what?  Mine’s the only opinion that matters in this particular situation.”

“Well, I can see why Caleb thinks he’s going to hurt women,” Ronilyn blurted out, then clamped her mouth shut as Lucas glared at her.  She swore inwardly, blaming her inability to think before speaking on her aching head, the closeness to Lucas and the sudden knowledge that this man she had adored her whole life didn’t seem to have a problem with attacking her.  “Especially if he takes after you.  You’re just so damn good at it,” she finished, the bitterness evident in her voice.

Lucas smiled, and it was a disturbingly pleased smile.  “You don’t know the half of it, darlin’.”

“I don’t want to know a quarter of it.  I think I already know more than I want to.” Ronilyn renewed her struggle to free herself.

“But you always want to know things, Ronilyn,” Lucas said while maintaining a firm hold on her.  “You’ve been askin’ so many questions lately.  Pokin’ and pryin’ in other people’s business.  Now, all of a sudden, you don’t want to know something?”  He gave a short laugh.  “I find that hard to believe.  Did Caleb say something to you?”  he asked curiously, his breath ghosting against her cheek.  

Ronilyn sighed in disgust at her failure to escape him and just stood there, propped up against the wall, nearly crushed by his body, feeling ridiculous and useless and annoyed by the entire situation.

“Well?”  Lucas gave her another shake, this one not as hard as the last.  

She slowly lifted her head up to look at him, the annoyance evolving into anger.  “How about a little personal space?  Most women would enjoy being this close to you, but this is starting to get a little incestuous.”

Lucas arched an eyebrow at this.  He took a half-step back, without lessening the grip on her arms, and gave her a smug grin as if to say “what are you goin’ to do now?”

She refused to give him the satisfaction of a reaction and merely said, “What did you say to Caleb to make him think he’s going to hurt women?”

“I believe I’m the one askin’ the questions here.”

“Fine,” Ronilyn said flatly.  “After you busted in uninvited at school the other day,” she said, biting off each word, “he kind of had a mini breakdown.  He started crying and said he wanted Doctor Matt to fix him because he didn’t want to hurt women.”

“He said that?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh.” Lucas looked away from Ronilyn and contemplated the wall over her shoulder.

“I’m assuming he got that from you.”

That drew his gaze back to her.  “And why would you assume that?”

“Because unless there’s some other woman he’s hurt, you and I are the only ones who know that he made Gail Emory fall down the stairs.  He’s never talked to me about that since he let it slip that one time and I’ve never asked him.  So that leaves you.”  If one of her hands had been free, she would’ve poked him in the chest at that point.

“That was months ago,” Lucas said dismissively.  “Why would it bother him now?”

“How do you know it hasn’t always bothered him?  Maybe Horace Watts’s rape spree made him think about it more.  Maybe somebody, like you,” she stated emphatically, “said something to him.” She studied him.  “Did you say something to him, Lucas?  Do you blame him for what happened to Gail?  Did you tell him it was his fault?”

He reversed the half-step he had taken earlier and was back in her face again.  “Shut up,” Lucas snapped as he thought back to the conversation he’d had with Caleb in Ronilyn’s hospital room after he’d saved her from Horace Watts…


“She goin’ to be alright?” Caleb asked.

“Doc said she’ll be just fine,” Lucas told him.  “She won’t regain consciousness for a few more hours until that drug works its way out of her system and she won’t remember much of anything when she does wake up, but she’ll be alright.”

Caleb looked up at him.  “He didn’t hurt her then?”

Lucas met the boy’s gaze.  “No.  You really think that man would be lyin’ comfortably in a hospital bed down the hall if he had?”

“I expect not,” Caleb said, glancing down at Ronilyn as she lay in the bed.  “I ain’t goin’ to be like you,” he declared as he looked back up at Lucas.  “I ain’t never goin’ to hurt women like you do.”

Lucas blinked.  “Is that right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”  Frowning, Caleb folded his arms across his chest.

“Well, why don’t you just go on up to the third floor and tell that to your cousin Gail?” Lucas told him.  “Maybe she’ll actually come out of her coma and hear you.”

Caleb stared at Lucas for a full minute before he turned and bolted from the hospital room…


“Damnit, Lucas!”  Ronilyn had been watching the reflective look on his face and just knew she was right.  Lucas’s eyes focused back on her.  “You did say something to him, didn’t you?  How could you?  He’s just a boy!  You want to be his father so badly, then act like it!”

Lucas glared at her, then took a deep breath and slowly let it out, causing Ronilyn’s eyelashes to flutter slightly.  Oh, they really were too close for comfort, she thought, especially when he was like this.

“It might interest you to know that my father was not the best parent,” Lucas said.  Her eyes widened at this unexpected revelation, especially since Lucas rarely spoke about his father and Ronilyn only had a vague memory of the Reverend Christopher Buck.  “So I don’t have much of a role model, parent wise.”

“That’s crap,” Ronilyn declared and Lucas raised his eyebrows at her statement.  “I barely had a mother and I probably know more about parenting than you do.”

“So we’re back to you thinkin’ you know what’s best for my son, are we?” He squeezed her arms tighter and she winced, biting her lip to keep from crying out.

“Well, at least I know better than to tell him he’s going to grow up to hurt women, or be a rapist, or whatever stupid, thoughtless thing you – Lucas, let go!  You’re hurting me!” she finally admitted.

He leaned even closer and put his mouth by her ear, whispering harshly, “Used to be a time you knew you were in trouble and you kept your mouth shut so as not to make matters worse for yourself.”

“There used to be a time when you’d protect me,” Ronilyn responded.  Lucas pulled away from her head and looked at her.  “Now it seems like I need protecting from you.”

He abruptly released her arms and took a step back from her.  “Hmm,” he mused aloud as Ronilyn sagged against the wall, gently rubbing her upper arms with both hands.  “Guess times have changed.”

She looked up at him with a pained expression on her face.  “I don’t want times to change.”

Lucas shrugged.  “Can’t do much about it.  Times change.  People change.  Some people grow up,” he said with a slight sigh as his eyes traveled down the length of her body and back up again.  “Listen to me.”  He waited until she met his gaze. “Do not interfere with Caleb again, do you understand me?  There’s a whole other dark side of Trinity that you know nothin’ about because, believe it or not, I still do protect you.  That could change in a heartbeat if you keep on defyin’ me.”  He pointed a finger at her.  “You don’t want to force my hand.”

Ronilyn waited until the screen door banged shut behind Lucas and he had gone down the porch steps before sinking to the floor, letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.  The telephone began ringing again, but she barely acknowledged it as she examined the deep imprints Lucas had left on her arms.  Short sleeve shirts were definitely not going to be an option for awhile unless she wanted to deal with the inevitable questions about the colorful bruising that would undoubtedly soon appear.  

She sat there on the carpeted floor for awhile, her planned trip to Juniper House forgotten, the ringing telephone ignored, as Ronilyn processed the fact that not only had Lucas just threatened her and hurt her, but he’d done so without any remorse.

______________________________________________________________

Caleb was leaning against the fence in the schoolyard, looking back and forth at the street, as Selena came out of the building after school the next day.  

“Caleb, honey,” she drawled as she approached the boy.  “What are you still doin’ here?”

“I’m waitin’ for Miss Holt,” he replied, still watching the street for cars.  “She dropped me off today.  Said she was goin’ to pick me up after school ‘cause we have to go see the judge,” he said bitterly.

“Judge?  Whatever for?”

Caleb shrugged and looked at her.  “She won’t say exactly, but I know Lucas is tryin’ to take me away from her.”

“I see.”  Selena’s eyes narrowed.  “What time’s your appointment?  Do you know?”

“4:00.”

She set down her briefcase and glanced at her wristwatch.  “Oh, honey, you’re goin’ to be late.  It’s after 3:30 already.  Come on, I’ll take you over to the courthouse.”

The boy shook his head.  “Miss Holt said to wait for her.”

“Caleb, somethin’ must have happened to delay her,” Selena said, picking up her briefcase.  “But if you’re not at that courthouse on time, they’ll be a whole lot more trouble for both of you.”

Caleb considered this.  “Well, okay.”  He hoisted his bookbag onto his shoulder.  “Do you think we could go by the boardinghouse first to see if she’s there?”

Selena shook her head as she ushered him to her sports car.  “There’s no time for that, but I can swing by there after I drop you at the courthouse.  Do you know which judge you’re supposed to see?”

“Judge Streeter, I think,” Caleb replied as he climbed into the front seat.

“That’s good, honey,” Selena said with a nod as she picked up the cell phone on the seat and dialed the operator.

Caleb buckled his seat belt and stored his bookbag on the floor by his feet while Selena asked for a number and then waited.  

“This is Selena Coombs,” she said into the receiver while inserting the key into the ignition and starting the car.  “Just listen.  Loris Holt was supposed to pick up Caleb after school and take him to see Judge Streeter for a custody hearin’ at 4:00, but she hasn’t shown up yet.” Selena raised her eyebrows as she listened.  “You didn’t know?…Well, I’m sure you can guess who’s behind it all…I’m takin’ him to the courthouse right now, but I can’t stay.  You should get over there as soon as you can.”

______________________________________________________________

The door to Judge Streeter’s chambers swung open and Ronilyn appeared, slightly out of breath, handbag slung over one arm.  “Hello,” she said to the four people in the room.  The judge appeared slightly bewildered, the secretary taking notes looked bored while Caleb grinned from ear to ear and Lucas glared at her.

“Sorry I’m late.  I didn’t know about the hearing.”  Ronilyn vowed to herself that after she returned from her Juniper House expedition tonight, she would hook up her answering machine at home.  Loris must have been the person calling her when Lucas showed up last night.

“Didn’t know?”  Judge Streeter frowned.  “Are you – ” he looked down at the papers on his desk and then back up “– Loris Holt?”

“No.  She’s been delayed.”  Ronilyn strode into the room and plopped down on one of the chairs in front of the judge’s desk.  “I’m here on her behalf.”

“This is highly unorthodox,” the judge stated.

“It sure is, Judge,” Lucas agreed.  “This woman doesn’t have any right to be here.”  He leaned toward Ronilyn from his chair.  “And she apparently didn’t pay attention to that conversation we had,” he said in a lower voice.

“You bet I did.”  Ronilyn removed her suit jacket and folded it carefully on her lap.  

Caleb gasped at the ugly bruises which decorated her upper arms.  “Ronilyn, what happened?” the boy asked, staring with wide eyes.  “It wasn’t one of the dogs, was it?”

“No, different kind of animal,” she replied with a sideways glance at Lucas, who said nothing but was gazing at her arms with an odd look on his face.  “Don’t worry about it.”  She cleared her throat and settled herself in the chair, crossing her legs.  “Now, where are we at here?”

“They’re tryin’ to take me away from Miss Holt on account of my goin’ to Juniper House,” Caleb said with a scowl on his face.  “Said it’s too dangerous.”

“Dangerous?  Pfff.” Ronilyn brushed that concept aside with one hand.  “I went to Juniper House all the time when I was a lot younger than you.  It’s not dangerous.”

“That’s ‘cause your father took you there,” Lucas said.  

“Or you did,” she retorted.  “So I guess you didn’t think it was too dangerous then.”

“You didn’t go by yourself,” he said, giving her a hard look.

“That you know of.”

“When it comes to you, Ronilyn, I know exactly what I’m talkin’ about.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

Judge Streeter, who had been following the exchange with a puzzled look on his face, finally spoke.  “Just who are you, young lady?”

“Oh, sorry.  It’s been kind of a hectic day.  I guess you would need to know that.  For the record,” she said to the secretary, “it’s Veronica Lyn Huntley, but I prefer Ronilyn.”  She turned back to Lucas.  “So is that all you’ve got?  This whole custody hearing is because he snuck over to Juniper House?”

“No,” Lucas said, biting off the word.  “He’s also been seen roamin’ around town late at night.  We’ve already heard witnesses testify to havin’ seen him.  If you hadn’t come so late, you would’ve known that.”

Ronilyn ignored his last remark and sighed in boredom.  “Again, I used to do that when I was kid and nobody tried to take me away from my father.”

“Times have changed,” Lucas said, echoing his words from the previous night.  As Ronilyn shot him a look, he continued, “I thought I made that clear.”

Judge Streeter, who had been waving his hand about in an attempt to get their attention, asked, “Ms. Huntley, what exactly is your relationship to Caleb Temple?”

“My relationship?” Ronilyn repeated thoughtfully, pursing her lips.  “That’s a tricky one.  Well, I’m his friend and I’m also Loris Holt’s friend.  And in the interests of full disclosure, you should probably know that I’m also the sheriff’s cousin,” she added.

“I see.” Judge Streeter looked back and forth between Ronilyn and Lucas.  “No, I don’t see.  Why have you barged into my chambers?”

“I told you,” Ronilyn said.  “Loris has been delayed and I’m here on her behalf.”

“What kind of delay?” the judge asked.

“The kind that kept her from being here.”

“Well, what did she say when you spoke to her?” 

Ronilyn hesitated slightly before answering.  “I didn’t speak to her.”

“Then how do you know she’s even coming?” 

“She knows how important this is.  She’ll be here.”

Judge Streeter rose from his desk.  “Ms. Huntley, you’re going to have to leave,” he said, irritation evident in his voice.  “This is a closed hearing and you have no call to be here.”

“I want her here,” Caleb spoke up and the adults all turned to look at him.

“Caleb,” Judge Streeter began.  “This is against the rules.  She is not your guardian and she does not…”

“I don’t care about any rules,” Caleb said stubbornly.  “I want her here,” he repeated.  “You don’t even give me a say about who I live with.  Can’t you at least let her stay?  She’s the only one on my side.  It ain’t fair,” he finished, folding his arms across his chest.

“We’re not real big on following the rules in this family, Judge.” Ronilyn glanced around the room, her gaze resting briefly on Lucas.  “I think everyone here will admit to that, so why don’t you just set them aside this one time?”

The judge frowned at her and opened his mouth to speak when the chamber door opened.  A young man entered the room, walked over to the judge and whispered in his ear.

Judge Streeter leaned slightly away from the man, the frown still on his face and asked, “You’ve verified this?”  At the other man’s nod, the judge said, “All right, thank you.”

The man left and Judge Streeter seated himself.  He cleared his throat and looked at everyone else in the room who were waiting expectantly.  “I’ve just been informed that Ms. Holt was in a car accident and will not be here today.”

Ronilyn immediately turned and shot an accusing look at Lucas while Caleb asked the judge, “Is she goin’ to be okay?” 

“I don’t know the extent of her injuries,” the judge replied.  “Just that she was admitted to Fulton Memorial.”

“This is all my fault,” Caleb said to Ronilyn.

“It most certainly is not,” she stated, still glaring at Lucas.

“This hearing is suspended until such time as all parties can be present,” Judge Streeter declared as his secretary scribbled furiously in her notebook.  “Now the question remains, what to do with you, Caleb, until Ms. Holt is released from the hospital.  You certainly can’t stay at the boardinghouse by yourself.”

“Why not?” Caleb asked, sounding the slightest bit offended.

Judge Streeter looked at him, appalled.  “Because you’re a ten year old boy, that’s why.”

“I’m almost eleven and I used to take care of my sister Merly all the time.  ‘Sides, it’s not like I’d be by myself.  Miss Holt’s boarders will be there too,” Caleb said reasonably.  “And Rose’s ma usually comes by to help out with the cookin’ and cleanin’.”

“This subject is not up for negotiation, young man,” the judge said.  “I’d be remiss in my duties if I allowed that.”

“He can stay with me, Judge,” Lucas offered.

“How terribly convenient,” Ronilyn muttered.

“No!” Caleb shouted, jumping out of his chair.  “I’m won’t stay with him.  If you’re not goin’ to let me go back home, then I want to stay with Ronilyn.”

Ronilyn swore inwardly as she caught the displeased look Lucas directed at her.  She watched as Judge Streeter glanced in Lucas’s direction and he shook his head slightly at the judge.  And then she swore again, this time under her breath, as she realized that if Caleb stayed with her, she wouldn’t be able to investigate at Juniper House tonight.  

“Caleb, I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Judge Streeter told him. 

“Why not?” the boy demanded.  “I’m sick of people tellin’ me what to do and where to live!  How come I don’t get a say in it?”

“Now, son,” Lucas began.

Caleb whirled on him.  “I told you not to call me that!”  

“Listen,” Judge Streeter said, mostly addressing Lucas.  “If he’s that adamant about it, maybe we should consider a temporary foster home placement.  It would just be until Ms. Holt is out of the hospital.”

Lucas stood up.  “No,” he said, shaking his head.  “Absolutely not.  That boy is not goin’ to a foster home.”  He approached the judge’s desk.  “Are you goin’ to let a child tell you what to do?”

“No,” the judge replied hesitantly.  “But I have to consider his emotional well-being.  He’s clearly upset about this arrangement.”

“He’ll get over it.  Kids are tough that way,” Lucas said as he leaned down on Judge Streeter’s desk to look the man squarely in the eye.  “I’d suggest you consider your own emotional well-being first.”

“Caleb, you should stay with Lucas tonight,” Ronilyn told the boy.

“Huh?”  Caleb’s eyes got wider.

“What?”  Lucas spun around and stared at her, a frown spreading across his face.

Judge Streeter gave a sigh of relief and slumped back in his chair.

The secretary glanced at her wristwatch and put a hand to her mouth to stifle a yawn.

“You don’t want me?” Caleb asked.

“No, no.  That’s not it at all.”  Ronilyn stood, walked over to Caleb and put her hands on his shoulders.  “I would be lucky to have you.”  She drew him close to her.  “Tonight…would…just not work out well.”

“How come?” 

Ronilyn could see Lucas watching her out of the corner of her eye.  “Because I’m going to be working late, Caleb,” she lied.  “I left work early today and a couple of other days and I need to take care of some things that just can’t wait.  You heard the judge.  He said you can’t stay home by yourself, so that leaves Lucas.”

Caleb scowled.  “Then I’d rather go to a foster home.”

“Oh, Caleb, you don’t mean that.”

“Yes, I do,” he said stubbornly.

Ronilyn bent down so she could look into his face.  “You’d rather stay with a bunch of strangers than with Lucas?”

“That’s right,” he said, his mouth set in a grim line.

She straightened and let out a breath.  “Well, you don’t really have a choice.  The judge isn’t going to be able to find a foster home on such short notice.”  She glanced up and made eye contact with the man.  “Right, Judge?”

“Uh,” Judge Streeter glanced between her and Lucas.  “Uh, no, probably not.  It is a little late in the day.”

Ronilyn turned back to Caleb.  “See?”  The boy pulled away from her.  “It’ll only be for one night, Caleb.  You can handle one night, can’t you?  If Loris isn’t back home tomorrow, then you can stay by me.”

“Maybe I won’t want to then.” 

Ronilyn sighed.  “You can decide that tomorrow,” she said.  “Right now, we should stop at the hospital and see how Loris is doing.  Then we need to go by the boardinghouse and pick up whatever you need for tonight.”

Caleb stood there and continued scowling at her.  

“Come on, let’s go,” Ronilyn said.  “Don’t you want to see Loris?”

Caleb trudged to the door, opened it and slowly walked out without glancing back.  Ronilyn gathered up her handbag and suit jacket and followed him.  Lucas reached the door at the same time and put a hand on her arm to stop her.  

She recoiled.  “Don’t touch me!” she hissed in a low voice so no one else could hear.

Lucas snatched his hand away as if he’d been burned.  

“You just keep your distance.”

Lucas put his hands up in front of him in a conciliatory gesture and backed away one small step.  “What are you up to, Ronilyn?”

“Nothing,” she said, biting off the word.  “You don’t want him to stay with you?  Fine.  I’ll figure something out then.”

“You know I want him.”

“Then get out of my way.  I’m not sure how long he’s going to want to stay at the hospital, so we might not get to your house until late.”

“All right, what are you doin’ here?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Ronilyn replied, slipping on her suit jacket.

“This.”  Lucas gestured ineffectually with his hand.  “You makin’ him stay with me instead of you.”

“I’m not making him…”

“Why?  Are you tryin’ to make up for things?”

Ronilyn stared at him, then blinked several times and finally said, “Me?  Make up for what things?  You’re the one who should be making up for what you did to me!”  She jabbed her finger at him.

Lucas leaned closer to her and she barely kept herself from flinching.  “I didn’t want to do that.  You forced me to.”

“I forced you?” she repeated.  She shoved him and he stumbled back a few steps. “Get out of my face, you son of a bitch.  You’ve got some nerve saying that to me.  Do I look like a timid little abuse victim to you?”

“I…”

“And you’re supposed to be the almighty Lucas Buck,” she continued.  “Nobody forces Lucas Buck to do anything.  Isn’t that right?  So how can you even say that?”

He looked at her for along moment, then sighed.  “You get under my skin like nobody else.”

“So we’re back to blaming me again,” Ronilyn said, nodding her head.  “Well, you can go to hell.  Now,” she took a deep breath, “I’ll pick up Caleb in the morning.  Don’t talk to him about anything violent while you’re with him, okay?  Because your last talk didn’t do him a hell of a lot of good.”  She stalked away from Lucas to where Caleb was waiting for her by the elevator.

______________________________________________________________

Caleb and Ronilyn sat in her car parked outside of Lucas’s house, both looking out the window at the gothic style structure and the various gargoyles dotting the landscape.  

“I don’t like this place,” Caleb declared, fidgeting with the handle on the overnight bag that lay on his lap.

Ronilyn nodded, although Caleb couldn’t see her since he was facing the house.  “It’s the gargoyles,” she said.  “I never liked them.  They’re creepy.”

Caleb turned to look at her with the beginnings of a smile. “Yeah, that’s what I…” His voice trailed off as he realized he was supposed to be angry with her.  He stopped smiling and turned back to the car window.

“Caleb, I know you’re mad at me, but it’s just one night.  You don’t have to talk to him if you don’t want to.  Just go to your room.  You don’t even have to eat dinner with him.”

Ronilyn had spent a few awkward dinners at Lucas’s house since her return to Trinity, sitting at the long dining room table, and she wanted to spare Caleb that experience as well as any lengthy conversations with Lucas.  She had deliberately kept him at the hospital until the patients were served the evening meal.  Then she and Caleb went to the cafeteria and brought their food back to Loris’s room, so they could eat with her.  Ronilyn could tell Caleb was happy about that, although he still wasn’t speaking to her. 

Billy Peale reported that Loris had been fortunate in that she only had three broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a mild concussion while the car she’d been driving was totaled.  Loris told them she had been on her way to the school to pick up Caleb when a large black crow flew into the windshield, causing her to lose control of the vehicle and crash into the side of a building.  Billy would reevaluate Loris in the morning, but he was fairly confident that she would be able to go home then.  

Ronilyn looked at the sullen, silent boy seated next to her and sighed.  “Caleb, it’s time.  Remember, it’s just for one night.  You’ll be okay.  He’s not going to hurt you, you know.  He cares about you in his own weird way.”

“I ain’t worried about that,” he said, still facing the other direction.

“Then what is it?” she asked.  “I know he can be a pain…”

“I hate him,” Caleb stated in an emotionless voice.  Then he turned toward her.  “And I hate you for makin’ me stay here.”

Ronilyn’s eyes widened at this declaration and felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach.  “No, you don’t,” she said, fighting a sudden urge to drive away from the house with him.  

“Yes, I do.  Stop tellin’ me what I feel.  I know what I feel.”

If she told him what she was really doing tonight, he wouldn’t hate her and he would be glad she was doing something to help Matt Crower.  “You don’t hate me.  You’re just mad at me,” she told him.  But Lucas would know somehow in that bizarre, annoying way of his and would get it out of Caleb.

“I know what I feel,” he repeated.

“Why do you hate Lucas?”

“I don’t want him to be my father.”

She sighed.  “Well, there’s not much you can do about that.  You can’t choose your relatives.  Believe me, there’s not a single person out there who hasn’t wanted to do just that at one time or another.”  She leaned towards Caleb.  “Just because he’s your father doesn’t mean you’re going to be like him or do the same things he does.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.  I won’t let that happen,” Ronilyn said, reaching out with her hand to stroke the boy’s hair.  “And neither will Loris.”

He leaned into her touch, the anger fading or at least set aside for the moment.  “How come you don’t hate him?” Caleb asked.

Ronilyn blinked, then frowned in confusion.  “What?”

“Your arms.  Did he do that to you?  You said it wasn’t the dogs.  Was it Lucas?  ‘Cause you two were lookin’ at each other funny in the judge’s office.”

Apparently Caleb’s powers of observation were right in line with his father’s and Ronilyn would have to remember that for the future.  “Caleb,” she began then stopped, wondering how to explain a relationship that had changed so much since her return to Trinity that she wasn’t even certain herself how to define it.  Ronilyn settled for saying, “My relationship with Lucas is…complicated.”  Understatement of the decade, she thought.  “He treated me so much better when I was a kid and I looked up to him.  I don’t know if I could actually hate him, although there have been times I don’t like him or the things he does.  And I’m not liking him a whole hell of a lot right now,” she added with feeling.

______________________________________________________________

Matt wished desperately that the common room had a clock.  It was frustrating not knowing what time of day it was and having to rely on the staff and their ever present clipboards to feed him and get him to his therapy sessions.  If some doctor thought that not knowing the time would make the days here go by faster, it had the complete opposite effect.  At Juniper House, the days dragged by and time seemed to come to a standstill.

He pushed away from his spot by the window, eyes still searching the room for any signs of Drey.  The sun had set some time ago and it had been awhile since they’d finished the evening meal, which was the last time Matt had seen him.  He knew visiting hours had ended by the scattering of patients that had trailed back into the common room.  So where was Stan?

He approached one of the patients.  “Hey, Riley, have you seen Stan?”

“What do you want, Crower?” the man asked, scowling at him. 

An orderly assisting a patient who was pointing out the colors of everything in the room kept a watchful eye on the two men.   Meanwhile, a nurse in the corridor just outside the door peeked into the room.  

Matt sighed.  “Have you seen Stan Drey?” he repeated.  “Tall guy?  Ex-cop?”

“Oh, the bug guy?” Riley started to smirk, then thought better of it.  “No.  Haven’t seen him in awhile.  Maybe he’s in his room.”

The idea seemed ridiculous to Matt since he hated being trapped in his room and took every opportunity he could to stay out of it.  Drey, however, hadn’t been here that long and he certainly hadn’t enjoyed the depressing experience of isolation.  Matt shrugged and left the common room.  As he stepped into the hallway, the nurse outside the door glanced up at him from her clipboard, then returned to sorting the various bottles on the medication cart in preparation for the evening rounds.

Matt walked down the hallway and turned the corner into the wing where the patient rooms were located.  He groaned as he saw who was at the far end of the corridor.  

Melvin stood in front of one of the doors with a smug look on his face.  The orderly stopped grinning when he saw Matt approaching.  

“What’re you doin’ here, Crower?” he demanded crossly.  

Matt’s steps quickened when he realized Melvin was standing in front of Drey’s room.  “Patient rooms.  I’m allowed to be here,” he replied defensively.  “Something going on?”

“None of your business,” the orderly said as he strode up to Matt, blocking any further progress down the corridor.  “Now get out of here.” He gave Matt a shove.

“Okay.” Matt started to turn around, then quickly pivoted on one foot and raced down the corridor.  He could hear a squeaky cart wheel and Melvin’s pounding footsteps as the orderly shouted obscenities at him.  Those sounds all faded when he skidded to a halt outside of Drey’s door and heard the muffled cries for help.

Matt peered through the small window in the door.  He could see Drey tugging desperately at the bars to the outside window in the room, constantly looking behind him, a terrified look on his face.  The bedding was almost completely off the bed and Matt could see part of an overturned chair near the door.  

“Hold on, Stan!” Matt called, pulling at the doorknob.  It was locked.  Matt backed up a few paces and was about to make a run at the door when he was suddenly shoved against it, his head striking the metal bars.

“Troublemaker,” he heard Melvin hiss in his ear as the orderly slammed him against the door yet again, followed by a blow to his back.

“Think you’re better than me.”

Matt struck the door a third time.  He wobbled on unsteady legs and would have crumpled to the floor if the orderly hadn’t been holding on to the back of his shirt.  He felt the blood running down his face and the medical part of his brain reminded him that head wounds always bled more due to the thin skin on the scalp.

He sensed Melvin tighten the grip on his shirt and Matt fervently hoped that his head’s next encounter with the door would render him blessedly unconscious.  He sunk to the floor as Melvin unexpectedly released his hold. 

Matt slumped against the door to Drey’s room, breathing heavily and trying to figure out what just happened.  Over the pounding of his head, he heard sounds of a scuffle and the thump of a body hitting the floor.  He started to shake his head to clear the blurred vision, but quickly stopped when his stomach churned in protest.  Matt swallowed several times and remained still until the nausea retreated, then a face suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Hey, you all right?” 

Matt blinked his eyes rapidly to dispel the haziness.  The face finally came into focus and he blinked again, this time in confusion.

“Riley?”

“Yeah.”  The man peered at Matt closely.  “Man, you got blood all over you.  No way you’re goin’ be able to keep this quiet.  Better do whatever you were goin’ to do while you still have the chance.”

“But…I…don’t understand,” Matt managed to say.  He clung to the door as he struggled to stand.

“What’s to understand?” Riley said, grabbing Matt’s arm to help him to his feet.  “I came around the corner and saw Melvin beatin’ the crap out of you.”

“Melvin.” Matt wiped the blood away from his eyes and glanced around to find the orderly sprawled motionless on the floor.  He leaned against Drey’s door, trying to get his bearings and make sense of all of this.  “Why?” he asked Riley, looking at the man.  “Why would you help me?”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Riley said.  “I don’t like you, Crower.  But him,” he waved at hand at the orderly, “him, I hate.  That son of a bitch kept me from seein’ my kid for a month just ‘cause he could.” He glanced down the corridor, but only spotted the medication cart at the far end.  “Can’t believe no one’s come yet. You better get a move on.”

“Huh?” Matt’s head throbbed terribly and, once again, the medical part of his mind took over and told him that despite how it felt, his brain really wasn’t going to slide out of his ears. 

“Whatever you were goin’ to do that made him jump you,” Riley said.  “Once he wakes up, that’ll be it for you.  Most likely you’re goin’ back to isolation.”

Isolation.  Matt felt pressure squeezing around his heart at the mention of the word.  Darkness.  Loneliness.  Despair.  No more contact with the outside…Drey.

“Riley, I need the keys for the door,” Matt said, feeling his brain finally kick into gear.

The other man searched through Melvin’s clothes while Matt wiped his eyes again and looked through the window into the other room.  Drey sat crouched in the far corner of the room, muttering incoherently, his eyes riveted to a spot on the floor

“Here you go.”  Riley handed him the keys and Matt fumbled with the lock until Riley finally took the keys from him and unlocked the door himself.  Matt yanked the door open and started to walk in.  Riley grabbed the back of his shirt and held him in place.

“Watch your step,” Riley warned.

“I take it that’s not your average spider?” Matt asked, not bothering to turn around, preferring to keep a close watch on the floor in front of him.  He took a cautious step into the room.

“If you mean your average black widow spider, then no.” Riley started to crouch down.  “I’ve never seen one that big.”

Matt heard quick footsteps and was about to turn when Riley crashed against him and they tumbled to the floor in a heap.  Riley’s head smacked against the floor and Matt rolled away from the other man, barely avoiding the spider, who continued its journey across the room.  He glanced up in time to see a livid Melvin unsnapping his can of pepper spray and was barely able to squeeze his eyes shut and throw a hand over his face before he heard the sound of the spray being released.  

Moments later, Matt lay on the floor, his eyes burning and stinging.  Coughing, he tried to force his eyes open, but they refused.  He grunted as Melvin kicked him in the stomach.  The nausea rose again and there was a heaviness to his head that was starting to worry him.

“Bastard,” Matt heard the orderly say as the man kicked him again.  

He felt the man’s breath on his face as the orderly said, “Maybe I’ll just lock you all up in here.  Get rid of you all at once.  Yeah.”

The spider, Matt thought.  Where was it?  His eyes agreed to open only to slits and then proceeded to water up on him.  He heard the whoosh of air moving rapidly and the crunch of wood shattering followed by the unmistakable impact of a body as it struck the floor.  The subsequent silence was punctuated only by Drey’s low mournful cries.

As Matt struggled to open his eyes further, he heard footsteps move past him.  The light in the room was painfully bright, burning his eyes, and they teared up even more in retaliation.  He managed to glimpse white loafers as the person again stepped past him and a blurry figure bent over what Matt thought was Melvin.  He blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear his eyes as the figure straightened.  Matt recognized the sound of latex gloves being stripped off and the person turned in his direction.  Then the blissful unconsciousness he’d been waiting for finally claimed him.

______________________________________________________________

The next morning Ronilyn phoned the hospital to check on Loris.  After being informed that Loris would be discharged sometime that morning, she called in at work, then notified the school that Caleb Temple would not be coming in that day.  News about the death at Juniper House was all over town and she wanted to get Caleb to the hospital to see Loris, bring them both back to the boardinghouse and then head to Juniper herself.

Lucas opened the door to his house and they stood staring at each other on the porch.  Ronilyn finally broke the icy silence.  “Caleb ready?” she asked.

Lucas glanced over his shoulder to inside the house and called, “Caleb!  Your ride is here.” He looked back at her.

Ronilyn readjusted the strap of the handbag that dangled on her shoulder.  “I’ll wait out here for him,” she said.

“Suit yourself,” Lucas replied with a shrug.  “I don’t recall invitin’ you in anyhow.”  He turned and walked into the house without looking back.

“Everything go okay last night?” she asked Caleb as he climbed into the car.  She could tell he was still somewhat angry with her by how he avoided eye contact, but he didn’t seem distraught or withdrawn so Ronilyn assumed that Lucas had avoided certain topics of conversation.  

“Yeah,” the boy said, stowing his bag on the floor.  “He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was kind of mad that I’d already eaten dinner.”

Ronilyn smirked as she drove off.  Yes, it was petty and childish, but Lucas had the ability to get under her skin like no one else.

“That’s good you two got along,” Ronilyn said, flipping on the turn signal.  “You probably should get to know him a little more.  I mean, he is your father, after all.”

“Hmph,” Caleb mumbled as he stared out the car window.

“Doesn’t mean you have to like him or hang out with him,” Ronilyn said.  “Just…find out who he is.”

Caleb frowned when he realized they weren’t headed to school.  “No school today?” he asked, clearly puzzled.

“Caleb,” she said, giving him a sideways glance.  “There was an incident at Juniper House yesterday…”

______________________________________________________________

Ronilyn leaned against the wall outside of Loris’s room, watching Caleb wander down the hallway as they waited for her to be discharged.  A nurse was inside with Loris explaining the various papers to be signed and reviewing her medications.  Caleb stopped at an intersecting corridor and appeared to be speaking to someone.  Ronilyn tensed and craned her neck to get a better look.  Deputy Ben Healy came into view and she relaxed back against the wall.  

Caleb stopped talking abruptly as he gazed past the deputy.  He suddenly ran down that corridor out of Ronilyn’s sight.

Ronilyn sprang away from the wall and rushed down the corridor.  She quickly turned the corner, nearly colliding with Ben.  

“Careful there, Ronilyn,” he said as they disentangled themselves.

“Sorry, Ben.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and glanced past him down the hall.  “Did you see where Caleb went?”

“Now look,” Ben said, holding up a hand.  “I know I shouldn’t have let him, but the poor kid.  I figured what’s the harm really?”

“Let him do what, Ben?”  

She pushed past him and strode down the hallway, peering into rooms on either side.  Ronilyn recognized Caleb’s voice coming out of one room and stopped just outside the open doorway with Ben on her heels.

“Lucas’ll have my head if he finds out about this,” Ben said.  

“Well, he’s not going to find out from me,” she said, turning from the door to look up at him.  “We’re not really talking right now.”

“Oh hell.  You two aren’t fightin’, are you?” When she didn’t reply, the deputy groaned.  “That explains why he was in such a bad mood.”

“Was he?”

Ben nodded.

“Hmm,” was Ronilyn’s only comment, although she was pleased to know she still had an effect on Lucas.  “So what happened to him?” she asked, turning back to the room where Caleb was engaged in an animated conversation with a battered and bandaged Matt Crower.  

“The doc?”  Ben glanced toward the room.  “Well, he was in the middle of that to-do over at Juniper House.  You probably heard all about it.”

“Just parts and I don’t know what parts are true or just rumor.  What happened?”

“We’re still tryin’ to sort that out.  Nobody’s talkin’,” Ben replied, hitching up his gun belt.  “Seems a poisonous spider, of all things, killed an orderly and it looks like a couple of patients got into a big fight.  Not sure if any of that’s related yet.  We brought everyone here.  Doctors did what they could for the orderly, but he didn’t make it.”  Ben covered his mouth as he yawned.  “Hospital released the other patient early this morning and he’s back at Juniper already.  Soon as we get the okay, I’ll be takin’ Doc Crower here back too.”

“Great,” Ronilyn said, frowning.  “Take him back to a place where he can’t have visitors, phone calls or mail.”  

“Look, I’m just doin’ my job, Ronilyn.  Judge Streeter’s the one who put him there, not me.”

She took another peek into the room and shook her head.  “It’s hard to believe that he tried to kill Lucas.  He seems so normal.”  Ronilyn looked at Ben.  “Do you think he’s dangerous?”

Ben sighed.  “I think that Lucas knows what buttons to push with people and the doc here isn’t any different.”

“But he is different, Ben.  I don’t remember anybody trying to kill Lucas before and he’s riled plenty of people over the years.”  At Ben’s raised eyebrow, she said, “I’ve heard things – blackmail, threats.  Even as a kid, I remember people saying it’s best not to get in the sheriff’s way.  Nobody ever did anything though.  They’re all too afraid of him.”

“With good reason,” Ben said quietly.

“But not Matt Crower.”

“No, but he’s not from around here.  Didn’t know any better, I guess.  Didn’t know things were that bad for the doc at Juniper,” Ben mused aloud.  “Shame what happened with him.  He was a good man.  Probably should’ve gone to see him.”

“Why didn’t you?  You’ve got the badge, so they might’ve let you in to visit him.”

“Well, out of sight, out of mind, you know,” the deputy said with an empty laugh.  As Ronilyn continued to look at him, he sighed.  “Lucas would’ve known as soon as I set foot in Juniper.”

Billy Peale’s head appeared around the corner.  “Ben!” he called down the corridor.  “I need your signature before we can release him.”  He waved a clipboard.

“Right.” Ben walked over to the doorway of Matt’s room.  “Sorry, Doc, but I’m goin’ to have to cut this little reunion short.  I’ve got to sign some papers and then get you back.” 

While Ben walked back down the corridor to Billy, Ronilyn leaned against the wall next to the doorway where she had a clear view of Caleb’s back as he stood in front of Matt.

“At least we’ll still be able to write to each other,” Caleb said and Ronilyn could tell by his voice that he was grinning.

Matt sighed.  “I don’t think so, Caleb.”

“How come?”

“Well, the man that was helping me with the letters – after what happened, he probably had a relapse,” Matt said.  “And I’m sure I’ll be put back in isolation.”

Ronilyn narrowed her eyes.

“What?  But that ain’t fair,” Caleb said.  “You didn’t kill that man.  The spider did.”

Ronilyn missed Matt’s reply as her eye caught Ben waving frantically at her from the other end of the corridor.  “What?” she mouthed, not understanding his wild gestures.

The deputy glanced back, then rushed down the hall.  “Lucas is comin’!  If he catches those two…”

Nodding, Ronilyn held up a hand.  “Got it.” She walked into the room.  “Hi,” she said to Matt, then turned to Caleb.  “We have to go, Caleb.  Lucas is on his way and they’ll be all kinds of hell to pay if he sees the two of you talking.”

Matt studied her while Caleb turned to face Ronilyn, saying, “I don’t care.  I’m tired of people tellin’ me what to do.”

“Well, you’re going to get Ben in a lot of trouble and I don’t think you want that,” Ronilyn said.  “And I’m on thin ice with Lucas as it is.”  She made a ‘come here’ motion with her hand.  “Let’s go.”

“But it ain’t fair!” Caleb scowled.  “I probably won’t ever be able to talk to him again.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.  We’ll figure something out.  Now come on,” Ronilyn said, grasping Caleb’s shoulders and steering him out of the room.  “Loris is probably ready to leave by now.”

“Excuse me.  Do I know you?”

Ronilyn glanced back in the room at Matt as Caleb stomped down the hall.  “No, not yet, but I’m working on it.”  

She was almost halfway down the corridor before she heard it:

“Boy, what are you doin’ out of school?”

Ronilyn turned the corner to find Lucas standing over Caleb with a slight frown on his face.  Caleb was in what Ronilyn now considered his usual pose:  arms crossed over his chest, scowl on his face, mouth set in a grim line.  Ben stood nearby fidgeting with his notebook.

Lucas looked over at Ronilyn, then comprehension and irritation flickered across his face.  “And how come you’re not at work?” 

Ronilyn smiled at him, although it never reached her eyes.  “Last time I checked, I don’t report to you,” she told him in a perfectly measured voice.  “And as for school, I called and told them Caleb wouldn’t be in today.  Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re taking Loris home.”

His eyes bore into hers and she continued to give him her artificial smile.  Finally, Lucas silently stepped aside, extending his arm with a flourish.

“Thanks,” Ronilyn said, grabbing Caleb’s hand and moving down the corridor at a steady, not hurried, pace.

______________________________________________________________

After settling Loris in at the boardinghouse, picking up her medication from the pharmacy, arranging with Rose’s mother to stop in and check on Loris, and being assured by Caleb that he would take care of Miss Holt, Ronilyn finally headed to Juniper House.  Caleb was so delighted to have Loris back that Ronilyn was certain he wasn’t going to leave the woman’s side the rest of the day.    

She found Juniper House in a semi-chaotic state.  Cars from the sheriff’s department along with media vans were parked haphazardly on the grounds.  Ronilyn managed to locate an empty space at the far end of the nearly full visitors parking lot and pushed her way through the usual crowd of curiosity seekers.   Security at the entrance had been tightened, but Ronilyn found she had no problem getting in.  Since her return to Trinity a few months ago, she had become a regular fixture at Juniper and the day shift staff was accustomed to her presence.

After waiting in a line to receive her visitor’s badge, she immediately went to her mother’s room to check on her.  As she expected, Sarah Huntley remained unaware and undisturbed by the previous night’s events.  The woman sat in her usual place by the window, her face lit by the sun.  

Standing in the doorway, Ronilyn watched the woman for a few minutes. “Oh, Mama,” she whispered, choking back a sob.  

She approached her mother and, ignoring the chair across from the woman, knelt down next to her, grasping one of her hands.  “I need you to come back to me, Mama.” Ronilyn looked up into her face.  “I don’t have anyone else.  Not even Lucas, if you can imagine that.  I never thought the day would come when I wouldn’t be able to count on him.  He hurt me, Mama,” she said, her voice breaking.  “He actually hurt me.  And it didn’t bother him one bit.  I think he wanted to do worse to me.  Maybe next time he will,” she finished aloud, although in her mind she added “kill me”.

Ronilyn rested her face in her mother’s lap, closing her eyes against the tears that were threatening to spill forth. After a moment Sarah’s free hand rose hesitantly from her side, hovered in the air and finally moved over to touch her daughter’s head.  Ronilyn’s eyes shot open and she stifled a gasp as she felt her mother stroking her hair.

In a few minutes Ronilyn’s leg started cramping up from her awkward kneeling position, but she was determined not to move or do anything to spoil the moment.  The whirring sound of a floor cleaner started up in the corridor outside and Sarah’s hand dropped from Ronilyn’s head and returned back to her side.  

Ronilyn bit back a cry of frustration and stopped herself from running out to the hall, unplugging the floor cleaner and beating the worker over the head with the cord.  Instead, she unfolded herself and slowly stood up, massaging the cramped leg.

“Thank you, Mama,” she said, leaning over to kiss Sarah gently on the cheek.  “It’s nice to know you’re still in there somewhere.”

The floor cleaner powered down and two voices from the hallway floated into the room:

“…not surprised to hear that Tom Riley was involved,” a female voice said.  “That one’s always been a troublemaker, but Matt Crower?  I know he tried to kill the sheriff, but he’s been such a good patient.”

A male voice replied, “Sometimes it’s those quiet ones that are up to no good.  It’s that new patient I feel sorry for, gettin’ caught in the middle of that mess.  Heard he had a relapse.”

The woman’s reply was too low for Ronilyn to hear and she crept closer to the door of the room.

“Shame,” the man said.

The floor cleaner whirred back on and it continued its progress down the hall.

Ronilyn peered out the door and watched as the man pushed the floor cleaner farther down the hall while the nurse headed down a different corridor.  So Tom Riley was the name of the other patient involved.  She should’ve asked Ben about that at the hospital this morning, but she had distracted with seeing Matt there.  Perhaps she could find out from the staff why Tom Riley had been committed.  Ronilyn observed a couple of young nurses enter the ladies’ room off the corridor and smiled.  

She tiptoed into the restroom as a toilet was flushing and let the door close gently.  Two of the three stalls were occupied and Ronilyn slipped quickly into the last one just as one of the women exited a stall.   She latched the door over the sound of water running in the sink and the other toilet flushing.  She stood quietly until the sinks were shut off and paper towels were being ripped from the dispensers.

“What’re they goin’ to do with Riley?” 

“Not sure,” the other nurse replied.  “But Noreen said the administrator’s definitely goin’ to send Crower back to isolation.  They think he’s too dangerous.  Heard they’re meetin’ about it today.”

Ronilyn knew Noreen was one of the nurse managers and she wasn’t prone to exaggeration.  If she had indeed said that, then most likely it was true.

“That’s too bad.  He never caused any trouble before this that I heard of.  Good lookin’ fella too.”

“Speakin’ of good lookin’, I never saw Sheriff Buck in person before now.  Too bad I wasn’t on duty last night, so he could’ve…”

Ronilyn waited until she heard the restroom door bang shut before storming out of the stall.  She stood there for a moment, staring into the bathroom mirror as she mentally prepared herself for the task at hand.  

She had no doubt of her ability to convince the administrator to keep Matt out of isolation; it was just a matter of which method to use.  Manipulation and persuasion were apparently Buck family traits and she was learning more and more how much of a Buck she truly was since her return.  As a child she had eagerly absorbed Lucas’s words, not realizing at the time the real lessons he had been teaching her.   If the usual methods didn’t work, she could always fall back on another of the family’s traditional ways:  extortion. 

Ronilyn pulled open the restroom door and walked right into someone passing by.  “Oops.  Sorry about that,” she said before seeing the sheriff’s star right at eye level.  She sighed and looked up at Lucas.  “Hi.”

“Hi yourself,” he said, meeting her gaze.

They stood silently for a moment, then Ronilyn turned to walk away.

“How long you goin’ to keep this up?”

She signed deeply before turning around.  “What?”

“You know what.  The silent treatment.  All this polite, formal conversation.”

“I don’t know.  How about until the bruises fade away?”

His eyes flickered down to her arms, then quickly returned to her face.  “What’re you doin’ here?”

“We’ve had this conversation before.  Maybe you’re starting to get forgetful in your old age,” Ronilyn said.  “I’m here to see my mother.  You, on the other hand, are probably here to screw around with people’s lives.”

“Hmm.  Sure you’re not talkin’ about yourself a little bit there?”

She glared at him.  “Don’t you have a killer spider to find?  I heard the guy didn’t make it.”

“Yep.  Seems ol’ Melvin’s blood pressure was sky high and doctors think he had an allergic reaction to the bite too.”  Lucas shook his head.  “Poor fella probably didn’t even know he was allergic.”

“Probably not.  It’s not like you run into a lot of black widows around here.”

His gaze sharpened.  “How’d you know about that?”

“Know about what?” Ronilyn asked with a slight frown.  “I know I’ve never seen any and I’ve never heard of anyone in town being bitten by one before.”

“No.”  His eyes searched her face.  “How’d you know it was a black widow?  We just told the media it was a poisonous spider.  Never said what type.”

Ronilyn shrugged.  “I probably overhead it from the staff.”

“No,” Lucas said, shaking his head.  “Ben sealed off the crime scene as soon as he got there and the nurse who called it in was too hysterical at the bodies lyin’ around to identify the critter.  Besides, not everybody knows what a black widow looks like.”

“Not much of a nurse to get scared by a couple of bodies, especially if they were all alive and breathing at the time.”

A look of amusement passed across his face and vanished just as quickly.  “Well, not everyone has as strong a stomach as you.”

“Where’d the black widow come from anyway?” Ronilyn asked, reasoning that if she had to talk to Lucas, she might as well try to get some information out of him.  And she really wanted to know how a black widow spider, of all things, ended up in Juniper House.  Bugs, cockroaches, mice, even a rat seemed more likely.  Something was just off about this.

“Well, near as we can figure, it came from outside,” Lucas replied.

“Great police work,” Ronilyn said sarcastically.  

“Actually Floyd’s the one who figured that out.  Got to give credit where credit’s due.  Maybe you should go pump him for information instead of me.”

Ronilyn opened and closed her mouth.  “Excuse me?” 

Lucas chuckled.  “It was pretty obvious.  I’ve told you that you can’t hide things from me.  You need to develop a little more finesse.”

“Finesse?”

“Weren’t you goin’ somewhere?”

Ronilyn clamped her mouth shut and turned on her heel toward the elevators.

______________________________________________________________

Ronilyn returned to her mother’s room and made a quick phone call to the nurses’ station on the third floor, which revealed that Tom Riley was confined to his room and not allowed visitors at this time.    

Sarah Huntley sat quietly, staring out the window, while Ronilyn removed the scrubs and white loafers from the bureau where she had hidden them on an earlier visit.  She quickly changed clothes, casting furtive glances at the door the entire time.  She then slipped out of the room and took the elevator back to the third floor.

As she exited the elevator, Ronilyn glanced down at her watch, carefully avoiding eye contact with the staff at the nurses’ station.  She strode down the corridor, past the common room and turned onto the patient wing.  She’d learned long ago that one of the best ways to blend in was to look as if you knew exactly where you were going.

Fortunately, the wing was empty, so Ronilyn stood in the corridor for a moment contemplating her next move as she had no idea which room was Riley’s.  Then she hurried down the hall, testing the doorknobs to see if any were locked.  When she was almost halfway down the corridor, she found a locked door.  Standing on her toes, she peered into the window to find a set of eyes staring back at her.

Ronilyn stifled a gasp and backed away from the door.

“Did you find what you were lookin’ for?”

“What?” She regained her composure and approached the window again.

The man leaned against the door with a smug grin on his face.  “I said, did you find what you were lookin’ for?  I mean, that’s assumin’ it was you rattlin’ doors for the last couple of minutes.”

“Are you Tom Riley?”  she asked.

He drew himself up to his full height and, looking down at her, pressed his face closer to the window.  “Who wants to know?” he demanded.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“You can take it however you want.”  He scowled as he continued to scrutinize her.  “You a reporter?”

“No.”

“’Cause you’re dressed like someone who works here, but everyone workin’ here knows who I am, so I’m thinkin’ you’re not actually a nurse.”  

Ronilyn glanced down at the scrubs and back up at him.  “I’m not.”

“No kiddin’,” he replied.  “So who are you?”

“Let’s just say that I’m a concerned citizen.”

“Okay, Miss Concerned Citizen,” Riley said, folding his arms across his chest.  “What do you want?”

She leaned closer to the window.  “I want you to tell the administrator what really happened last night.”

“And what makes you think I didn’t?”

“Because it sounds like they’re going to blame Matt Crower for the whole thing:  the orderly’s death, your injury, all of it.  They’re sending him back to isolation.”

Riley shrugged.  “So?”

“So?”  she repeated, raising her eyebrows.  “So you know he didn’t do it.”

He held up a hand.  “I don’t know anything of the kind.  I was out cold.”  Riley gingerly touched the bandage on his head.  “For all I know, Crower could’ve knocked out Melvin and chucked that spider on him.  He’s already tried to kill the sheriff.  What’s one asshole orderly?”

“And that’s what you told the administrator?  The sheriff?”

“No.  They didn’t exactly ask for my theories,” Riley said, glaring at her.  “’Sides, it didn’t matter what I had to say.  They pretty much decided what happened before they even talked to me.”

“You told them what really happened and they didn’t believe you?”

“Yep.  Who’s goin’ to believe the mental patient, right?”  

“I would.  The sheriff should’ve.  He’s not stupid,” Ronilyn stated, thoughts whirling around in her head.  Lucas was sharp and observant.  He would know Riley was telling the truth…unless he didn’t care because this was just another opportunity to screw with Matt.  She swore inwardly and turned her attention back to Riley.

“…for all the good it did.”  Riley sighed.  “You know, it’s not like I got off scot-free.  I’m in trouble for this too.  Doesn’t matter who started anything.  Once you’re caught in the middle of somethin’, you’re just as screwed as everybody else.”

Ronilyn tilted her head slightly and studied him.  “Hmm,” she said after a moment.  “Why’d you help him then?”

The man’s jaw dropped.  “What?”

“I said, why did you help him if you knew you’d get in trouble?”

He narrowed his eyes.  “How would you know that?  Unless you were here…Dressed as a nurse…It’s not the first time you’ve done this, is it?”

She didn’t reply and Riley asked, “Who the hell are you, lady?”

Ronilyn smiled.  “I told you, just a concerned citizen looking out for the best interests of everyone at Juniper House.”

______________________________________________________________

Still wearing the scrubs, Ronilyn strode down the corridor to Dr. Mitchell’s office.  No point in changing clothes again since the jig was going to be up shortly.  She swung the door open without bothering to knock.

Startled, Dr. Mitchell stood up from his desk while the man seated in the chair opposite turned and stared at her openmouthed.

“Ms. Huntley, I’m in the middle of some – ”

Ignoring him, Ronilyn turned to the seated man. “Get out,” she told him.

The man sputtered.  “Now really.  I – ”

She put a hand on the back of the chair and leaned closer.  “Get…out,” she repeated, slowly and firmly, her breath tickling his ear.

The man surged to his feet and swiftly left the office.  Dr. Mitchell stood with his hands on his hips, looking at her with a mixed expression of annoyance and apprehension.  “Ms. Huntley, you really need to learn to exercise some self control…and why are you wearing those clothes?”

Ronilyn smirked.  “I can actually see you trying to psycho-analyze me right now.”  She chuckled derisively.  “I wouldn’t go into that area if I were you.  Now,” she said briskly, “I need to know what the administrator is doing about this incident.  Specifically, what he plans on doing to Matt Crower.  And Tom Riley,” she added. 

“You barged into my office for this?”

“Oh no, there’s a bit more to it than that.  Just answer the question please.”

“There’s a matter of patient confidentiality.  I can’t just – ”

“I’m not asking you to tell me their deep, dark secrets,” Ronilyn snapped.  “I’m asking if Matt Crower is going back to isolation.  I’m asking what kind of trouble they’re in.” She strode up to his desk and looked him straight in the eye.  “And keep in mind, I’m asking nicely for now.”

______________________________________________________________

Dr. Mitchell burst into the hospital administrator’s office.  The man stood up from behind his desk and looked over his glasses at the psychiatrist.  “Mitchell, what is the meaning of this?  Can’t you see I – ”

“Administrator Stevens, nice to meet you at last,” Ronilyn said.  She pushed Dr. Mitchell aside and walked into the office, stopping a few feet behind the high backed chair in front of the desk.  “You’d think after all the years my mother has been here that we would’ve crossed paths by now.  Although I think I’ve been visiting here a lot longer than you’ve worked here.”

“Your mother?”  The administrator pulled off his glasses and peered at her.  “Your mother is a patient?  Because you look like a nurse.”

“Yeah, Ronilyn.” 

Ronilyn froze as she recognized the voice.  She looked reluctantly at the chair opposite the administrator’s desk as the occupant turned around to face her.    

“This a new look for you?”  Lucas inquired, indicating the scrubs she wore.  “’Cause I’m not sure what kind of a fashion statement you’re tryin’ to make.”

“Son of a bitch,” she blurted out.

“Now, now,” Lucas said as he rose from the chair.  “I don’t think you want to be insultin’ the family like that.”

Ronilyn closed her mouth and mentally shook herself.  She pushed past Lucas until she was right in front of the administrator.  “I understand you’re going to discipline Matt Crower and Tom Riley for what happened last night, including sending Matt back to isolation.”

“We call it our lock down unit,” Stevens corrected her.

“Whatever.”

“How exactly does this concern you?”

She put her hands on the desk and leaned toward him.  “It concerns me because they did nothing wrong.  They were defending themselves against one of your employees.  This orderly Melvin attacked them because they tried to help another patient who’d been locked in a room with a spider even though he was here because he has a phobia about bugs.”

“And how do you know this?”

“Because I was here.  I saw it all.”

“Dressed in your little outfit, I bet,” Lucas said.

“The incident occurred after visiting hours,” the administrator stated.  “If you were here after hours impersonating a nurse, I could have the sheriff arrest you right now.”

“Go right ahead,” Ronilyn said.  “And I’ll use my one phone call to contact the Department of Mental Health and inform them that you allowed an employee free rein at night to terrorize and abuse the patients.”

Dr. Mitchell edged his way out of the office and closed the door behind him.

“What?!  That is simply not true,” Stevens said, his voice starting to rise.

“Of course it’s true.  I just told you that I witnessed – ”

“Even if that were true, I’m sure it was an isolated incident with a logical explanation.  Unfortunately, the poor man won’t be able to provide it.”

“Yeah, it’s a real tragedy,” Ronilyn said scornfully.  “I’m sure there were plenty of other incidents involving that ‘poor man’.  Maybe they made it into his personnel file or maybe they didn’t, but I’ll bet if you question the other patients, you’ll hear a lot more stories.”

“No,” the administrator said, shaking his head.  “You’re wrong.  The patients sometimes blame the staff for their problems, for being here.  They’re liable to say anything.”

“If enough of them say the same things, then the State is going to stand up and take notice,” Ronilyn said.  “You know they’re required to investigate any valid complaints and, believe me,” she leaned toward him, “my complaint will be very valid, very detailed and very heartfelt.”

She noticed the administrator’s eyes darting in Lucas’s direction behind her.  Ronilyn stood straight up, blocking his line of vision.  “No, don’t look at him!  Look at me!  I’m the one you should be worried about right now, not him.  Because I will make that phone call to the Department of Mental Health and they’re going to wonder what the hell is going on at Juniper House.  They just had an advocate here a couple of weeks ago and now they’re getting yet another complaint about patient mistreatment?  You can bet they’ll send a team of inspectors to rip this place apart from top to bottom and bury you in paperwork.”

Stevens glanced toward Lucas.  “Sheriff - ” 

Ronilyn slammed her hand down on the desk, cutting him off.  “Listen…to…me,” she said, emphasizing each word.  “I’m the one who got the advocate in here in the first place, so if you think I won’t call the State again about this latest escapade, you’re sadly mistaken.”

“That was you?”  Stevens asked, startled.

“That’s right.  Now maybe you really believe this was an isolated incident and maybe you really were ignorant to what that orderly was doing, but you’re the hospital administrator and the ultimate responsibility is yours.  If anybody’s going to take the fall for this, it’ll be you.  And I’ll make sure it’s a well-publicized one,” she added.

The administrator kept glancing back and forth between Ronilyn and Lucas.  She fought the urge to grab his chin and hold his head in place.  “Things are all ready in the works,” Ronilyn warned the man.  “You better make up your mind - now.”

“What do you want?” Stevens finally said wearily.

“Not to be arrested, for starters,” Ronilyn replied.  “And I don’t want any privileges revoked or any changes in therapy or care for Matt Crower and Tom Riley.  That includes not sending Matt back to isolation.”

“Is that all?” the administrator said sarcastically.

“It’s simple enough.  Just leave things as they are.” Ronilyn gave him hard look.  “I’m here a lot, visiting my mother, so I’ll know if anything’s happened to either of those patients.”  She pointed a finger at him.  “You’d better keep your part of the agreement.”

Ronilyn whirled around, stalked past Lucas, wrenched the door open and left.  

Lucas caught up to her in the hallway.  “Hey!” he called.

“What?” she asked without turning around as she continued striding toward the elevators.

“Things are all ready in the works?” Lucas repeated, a hint of derision in his voice.  “What things?”

Ronilyn shrugged and pushed the elevator button.  

He studied her closely.  “You don’t have anything in the works,” Lucas declared.

Another shrug.  “He seemed to need some extra motivation,” Ronilyn said of the hospital administrator as the elevator sounded its arrival on the main floor.

“Lucas!”

The sheriff glanced over and saw Floyd making a beeline toward him from the lobby.  “We got a problem, Lucas,” the deputy said as he approached.

Lucas sighed.  Floyd’s idea of a problem could be anything from the office running out of coffee stirrers to a massacre on Main Street.  He turned back to Ronilyn only to find an empty space and the elevator doors sliding shut. 

______________________________________________________________

“Did you know Melvin was allergic?”

Ronilyn’s head snapped up from tying her shoes and she spotted Lucas leaning in the doorway of her mother’s room.  “What do I care?” she replied with a shrug.  She picked up the white loafers and got up from the chair opposite her mother by the window.

He watched as she grabbed the scrubs lying on the bed and tucked them and the loafers into the bureau drawer where she had previously stored them.  “Well, you should care.  You put the black widow on him,” Lucas stated rather than asked.  “I’m no lawyer, but I’m sure there’s at least a manslaughter charge in there.”

Ronilyn straightened and turned in his direction.  “Then maybe you better get a lawyer for yourself too.  You know, accessory to manslaughter or something like that.  Hey, maybe we could get a family discount.”

“What are you gettin’ at?”

“I’m guessing you gave Melvin the spider to put in Drey’s room as payback for him helping get Matt’s letters to Caleb.”  

“You don’t know that.”

“I know I wouldn’t put it past you,” she said, approaching him.  “Anyway, neither of us has any proof, so let’s just call it even and move on.”

Lucas looked down at her.  “You don’t sound terribly broken up over ol’ Melvin.”

“Neither do you.”

“Hmm.” Lucas gazed at her thoughtfully.  “You messed things up for me by chargin’ in there, you know.”

“Figured as much.”

“’Course, with Drey babblin’ like an idiot, they’ll be no more mail deliveries to Caleb.”

Ronilyn crossed her arms over her chest and didn’t respond.

“Nice touch with blackmailin’ Stevens though,” he said. “You really steamrolled him.  Man didn’t have a chance to get a word in edgewise.”  Lucas regarded her again.  “You really are my sister.”  

“Well, it’s - ” Ronilyn nearly jumped when she heard the crash behind her.  She spun around to find Sarah Huntley staring at them, clutching the window curtains with one hand.  The curtain rod lay on the floor and part of the curtains rested on her lap.  Ronilyn glanced quickly back at Lucas to find he’d locked eyes with the older woman.  

“Get out.”  Ronilyn gave him a small shove.  Lucas shook his head as if coming out of a fog, blinked and looked at her.

“Go,” she repeated, pushing him into the hallway and shutting the door.

______________________________________________________________

It was late the following afternoon when Caleb and Boone were packing up their books on their bikes outside of the Trinity Museum of Natural History.

“Aw, shoot,” Caleb said.

“What’s wrong, Caleb?” Boone asked, then noticed the broken chain on his friend’s bike. “That’s rotten luck.  You want to ride on my handlebars?  We can come back for it tomorrow.”

“I hate to leave it here all night.  ‘Sides, I don’t think I can hold onto my books and your bike without fallin’ off.”  Caleb’s eyes lit up with an idea.  “Hey, I’m goin’ to call Ronilyn see if she can pick me up.  We can put the bike in her car.”  He started back toward the museum entrance.

“Hurry up, Caleb,” Boone said.  “My ma’s goin’ to be mad if I’m late for dinner again.”

Caleb pushed the door to the museum open and glanced around the large empty room.  The door closed softly behind him as he watched lights gradually dimming in front of various exhibits along the walls.  

“Well, hello, Caleb.” 

He nearly jumped and turned slightly to see Lydia Constantine approaching him.  

“Didn’t you boys just leave?” the museum curator asked with a slight frown.  

“Yes, ma’am,” Caleb replied.  “I was wonderin’ if I could use your phone.  I’ve got a problem with my bike and I need a lift.”

“Of course, dear,” she said.  “Pay phones are this way.”

She led him down a short hallway past the exhibits and pointed at the two wall telephones just before a set of double doors.  “There you go, Caleb.  Let yourself out when you’re done.  I’ll be closing up in a few minutes.”  She pushed one of the doors open and went inside while Caleb dug in his pocket for change.

He caught Ronilyn just as she was leaving the office and was still speaking to her when Mrs. Constantine came back through the doors, smiling at him.

“The museum’s goin’ to be closin’, so I’ll wait outside for you.”  Caleb said into the phone, while smiling back at the museum curator as she strode into the exhibit area.  He hung up the phone and started to walk away when it occurred to him that maybe he should let Miss Holt know that he was going to be late.  He nodded.  She’d had a rough time with the car accident and he didn’t want her to worry.

Caleb reached in his pocket for change again and the coins spilled onto the floor.  He saw a couple of quarters slide across the smooth surface and disappear underneath the double doors.  He pushed the doors open to find a short flight of stairs.  Caleb spotted one quarter right away, the other was lying on the landing a few steps further down.  He picked up both coins, took a good look around the room and stared, fascinating by all the bones in various forms of decay that rested on rows of shelves.  

Caleb glanced behind him, then continued down the remaining stairs and began walking along the shelves.  He peered closely at something that he thought could be a shrunken head.  He reached the end of that row and turned the corner to find a table with a sheet covering what appeared to be the outline of a person.  He slowly approached the table and, with shaking fingers, lifted the edge of the sheet.

______________________________________________________________

Boone paced back and forth in front of the museum.  He was going to be in big trouble if he was late for dinner.  Probably be grounded the whole weekend.  He tugged at the door handle again and it was still locked just like it had been the other three times he’d tried.  Boone turned from the door when he heard a car pull up to the curb and breathed a sigh of relief.  

“Boone?  Where’s Caleb?”

______________________________________________________________

Caleb gasped.  “Mr. Porter?” he said, dropping the sheet and stumbling away from the table which held the remains of the school’s janitor.

Hands grasped his arms and spun him around.  “Oh, now look what you’ve done.”

Caleb stared up at Mrs. Constantine, then back at the table.  “That’s Mr. Porter,” he said, looking back at her, wide-eyed.  “What’s he doin’ here?  There was a funeral.  He was buried.”

“Mr. Porter may not have contributed much to society in life, but in death he will do so much more,” Lydia Constantine said, maintaining a firm grip on the boy’s arms.  “I’m afraid I can’t let you leave now, Caleb.  You’ll tell someone and then what will I do for new exhibits?”  She lifted one hand and stroked his cheek with her fingers.  “You have such lovely bone structure.”

Glass shattered in the distance and a voice called, “Caleb?”

Mrs. Constantine’s head snapped around at the intrusion and Caleb wrenched away from her, running through a set of doors that opened into a long office.  He heard the woman’s steps going in the other direction and glanced frantically around the office for somewhere to hide.  He tucked himself underneath a table holding an assortment of bones and several glass containers full of odd smelling liquid.

Caleb held his breath and listened as Ronilyn’s voice called his name.  Where was Mrs. Constantine?  If he answered back, would the woman find him?  Hurt Ronilyn?  The doors at the top of the stairs swung open and he heard footsteps descend as Ronilyn called him again, then there was a crash, a groan and silence.

The boy scrambled silently out from under the table and slowly rose up to peer through the glass separating the office from the rest of the area.  Ronilyn was slumped over on the ground with Mrs. Constantine standing over her holding a large bone.  Caleb gasped, then ducked back down as the museum curator glanced around.  He crawled over to the table and snatched one of the liquid containers.

______________________________________________________________

Boone burst into the sheriff’s station, his rubbery legs barely carrying him to the counter.  He collapsed against it, holding onto the surface tightly with both hands, as he gasped for air.

“What’s the matter with you, boy?” Floyd said, eyeing him nervously.  “You need a doctor?”

“Need…the…sheriff,” Boone managed to say.

“Uh, Lucas?” Floyd called, still watching the boy warily.

Boone took another lungful of air.  “Ronilyn said…to get…Sheriff Buck.”

“Is that right?”  Lucas appeared in the doorway of his office.  “Take a couple of deep breaths, boy, and let ‘em out real easy.  Then tell me what’s goin’ on.”

______________________________________________________________

Caleb crept across the floor, hiding between the shelving units, until he came up behind Mrs. Constantine.  He noticed the blood pouring down from Ronilyn’s head and could see her moving slightly.  He struck the museum curator in the head, the container shattering with the blow, liquid spilling out onto the woman.

Mrs. Constantine clutched her hands to her face, crying out, “My eyes!”

As Caleb hunched down on the floor next to Ronilyn, Mrs. Constantine flailed about blindly, stumbling into one of the shelves.  Caleb watched as an avalanche of bones crashed down upon her and she tumbled to the floor in a heap.  The boy turned back to Ronilyn and, touching her face, asked, “Ronilyn, are you all right?  Ronilyn?”

Her eyelashes fluttered and she finally opened her eyes, squinting at the harsh light.  Ronilyn put a hand to her throbbing head, took it away and looked at the blood coating her fingers.  “Son of a bitch,” she said with feeling.

Caleb helped her to her feet.  “You sure you’re all right?” he asked, frowning at her.  

“I got hit with a -” she spotted the object on the floor “- bone?” She shook her head, then thought the better of that movement and stopped. “So no, Caleb, I’m not all right, but I will be.”

Ronilyn looked at the shelves lying on top of Lydia Constantine, then at Caleb.  “You saved my life, Caleb.”

He shrugged.  “Yeah, but I hurt a woman.”  He gazed at the pile of debris.  “Maybe even killed her.”

“So?”  Ronilyn straightened her clothes, frowning at the blood that would surely stain her shirt.

Caleb’s eyes widened slightly at her nonchalant response.  “So that means I’m no better than Lucas.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Caleb,” she said, examining a long tear on her shirt sleeve.  “You did it to save me.  Doesn’t matter if you hurt someone if you’re doing it to protect someone else.”

“That makes it all right?”

“It does in my book.  Of course, Lucas wrote a lot of those chapters early on, so I might not be the best person to talk to about things like this.”  Ronilyn leaned down and looked at him.  “Let me ask you this, did you enjoy hitting her?  Do you want to do it again?  Did it make you feel powerful?”

“No!” Caleb answered.  “I was afraid she was goin’ to kill you.  I just wanted to stop her.”

“Then you’re fine.”  Ronilyn straightened and patted his shoulder.  

“But…it…uh…didn’t bother me a whole lot to hit her,” the boy admitted.

“It wouldn’t bother me either,” Ronilyn said.  “But then she whacked me in the head with a bone, so I’m not exactly objective.”  

Caleb took a few steps toward the shelves, peering closely at the wreckage.  “Do you suppose she’s dead?”

Ronilyn shrugged, the movement speeding the flow of blood down her neck.  “I bet I’ll need stitches,” she muttered, carefully probing the wound on her head.  She tore the rest of her sleeve off and began folding the cloth into a makeshift bandage when the shelves suddenly clattered.  Caleb scrambled backwards as they heard a muffled groan.  “I guess that answers your question,” Ronilyn said.

She seized Caleb’s arm.  “Get out of here,” she told him as the pile of metal and bones shifted and a shrunken head rolled across the floor to stare up at them.

“But -”

“Go,” Ronilyn insisted and gave him a push toward the stairs.  She kicked the shrunken head aside as she turned back to the wreckage, narrowing her eyes.  “I’ll be just fine.”

The boy dashed up the stairs and flung himself through the double doors at the top.  He raced down the short corridor, slamming into something as he turned the corner into the main exhibit area of the museum.  As Caleb stumbled back, hands grabbed his shoulders to keep him from falling.

“What’s goin’ on, son?  You all right?”

Caleb looked up at a tan vest pinned with a badge and blurted, “Boy, am I glad to see you.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow.  “Oh, really?  And what brought about this change in your attitude?”

“Mrs. Constantine,” Caleb said, pointing at the corridor behind him.  “She’s got Mr. Porter’s body down there and she tried to kill me and Ronilyn,” he babbled as Lucas flicked a glance at the corridor, “but I hit her and I thought I might’ve killed her, but then she started gettin’ up and…”

“Go wait outside, Caleb.”

“But Ronilyn made me leave and she’s down there all by herself,” he protested.  “Her head’s all bloody…”

“Caleb.” Lucas shook the boy slightly.  “I’ll handle it, understand?  Now go outside, so I don’t have to worry about you too.”

He waited pointedly until Caleb was halfway across the exhibit area before heading to the basement.

______________________________________________________________

Ronilyn looked up from her seat on top of the flenser and watched as Lucas descended the stairs.  She removed the bloody cloth from her head wound and watched while he strode across the floor, boots crunching through the debris, eventually coming to a stop in front of her.  Lucas glanced around the basement until his gaze came to rest on her.  They stared at one another, the skittering of beetles sounding loud in the silence.

“So,” Lucas finally said, clearing his throat. “Understand there was some trouble here.”

She gave a slight shrug.  “It’s taken care of.”

He surveyed the mess in the basement once more, then rapped at the lid of the flenser with his knuckles.  “Mrs. Constantine?”

“Taken care of,” Ronilyn said, stressing each word.

He made a noncommittal sound as he shook his head.

“What?” she demanded. “She hit me in the head with a bone!  A bone, Lucas.”  She waved the blood soaked cloth for emphasis.  “I knocked her out before I put her in there, so it’s not like she’s getting eaten alive.  I mean, she is, but she doesn’t know it.”

“You surprise me,” Lucas said.

She raised her eyebrows at his comment.  “Why?  Someone does something to me, I get them back.  You’re the one who taught me that.”

“I believe I also taught you not to get caught and look at where we’re at.” He tapped the flenser again for emphasis.

“Sorry.  I’ll try to do better next time.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Lucas boosted himself up onto the flenser next to her and she slid over slightly to make room for him.  “So you plannin’ on there bein’ a next time?” he asked.  

“I guess it’ll depend on whether anyone gets in my way.”  Ronilyn looked at him.  “You know how that is.”

He sighed and, lifting a hand, ran his fingers lightly over the bruising on her left arm, exposed by the torn sleeve.  She steeled herself to keep from pulling away.  “That was a mistake,” Lucas said so quietly that Ronilyn wasn’t sure if he was talking to her or himself.

He dropped his hand, but continued staring at her arm while he spoke.  “I normally don’t lose control like that.  It’s not me.  Never a good thing to lose control.  It’s just…when it comes to Caleb…” Lucas looked up at her.  “He’s mine.”

Ronilyn met his gaze.  “As apologies go, that –” she searched for words “- doesn’t even come close.  In fact, it almost sounded like a threat at the end.”

“Wasn’t a threat, just a statement of fact.” Lucas pulled a white handkerchief from his vest pocket and pressed it gently against the wound on Ronilyn’s head. “That any better?”

“Are you asking about my head or your poor excuse for an apology?”

He moved away from her and Ronilyn grabbed the handkerchief before it fell from her head.  “Well, I see there’s nothin’ wrong with your mouth.”

“Nope, just my head.”

“How is it?” Lucas asked, then pointed a finger at Ronilyn before she could answer.  “No smartass comments, you hear?  Serious question, serious answer.”

“It hurts,” she admitted.

“Come on.” He slid off the flenser and held his hand out to her.  “We ought to get you to the hospital.  That hasn’t stopped bleedin’.” Lucas indicated her head.  “You’re goin’ to need stitches.”

“Figured I would.”  Still holding his handkerchief to her wound, she hopped off the flenser.  “Hope they don’t have to cut off any of my hair.”

“If they do, you’ll just have to start wearin’ those fancy hats like the old fashioned Southern belles.” Lucas laughed at the glare she directed at him and they started across the floor.  “Now let’s go.  Caleb’s probably paced a big ol’ hole in the ground by now.”

She touched his arm and he looked down at her.  Ronilyn said, “You know I’m not trying to take him from you, right?”

Lucas searched her face.  “Let’s leave that conversation for another time,” he finally said and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against him, as they walked across the basement floor to the stairs.  

THE END