Gladys sighed. The pause was unlike her.
“Gladys? What aren’t you telling me?” Tom pushed.
Gladys sighed again. “It’s best if the doctor explains it. Let me patch you through.”
Tom’s joy in finding Jim safe and sound at the hospital evaporated in her curt response. A new worry nagged at him. What was so bad they wouldn’t even tell Edna Jim was there? The silence on the other end seemed to last forever before the doctor picked up the line.
“Sheriff? Gladys said you called looking for Jim Miller?” Dave said.
Dave Peptic was Jim’s doctor. Tom breathed a sigh of relief. Dave was the best doctor in Rickdale.
“Yeah. I was following up on Edna’s missing person report. Why didn’t you call her when he came in?”
Dave licked his lips. “You need to come here and see for yourself. I’ve done all I can for him, but he’s delirious, babbling on and on about Harlan and Mae White. It’s—it’s better Edna doesn’t see him like this. He’s—he’s not himself. He had a stroke, which caused a heart attack. I can’t tell if he’s delusional from his stroke, or if he really saw something last night in the fog. I can’t even explain how he got to the hospital, but he was lying in the foyer when I came in this morning. I think you need to hear what he’s saying before you call Edna.”
“I don’t know if I can do that. She’s frantic, Dave. I’ll tell Randy what’s going on and get him to pacify her until I know more. That’s the best I can do.” He swiped his face with his hand, and his eyes landed on the list. “Hey, Dave?”
“Yeah, Sheriff?”
“I have a list of names. Can you tell me if any others are there?”
“I don’t see why not. Shoot.”
Tom rattled off the list of names, disappointed that none of them were in the hospital registry.
“There’s a John Doe here, which is unusual. I know everybody on your list. I’ll go check on this guy and see if I recognize him.”
“Thanks, Dave. I’ll see you shortly.”
Tom hung up the phone and switched to his radio.
“Randy,” he said into the handset.
“Go for Randy.”
“Tell Edna I have a lead I’m following on Jim. After the ambulance leaves, take her to the cafe. She should stay busy.”
“10-4, sheriff.”
He fingered his handset absently. The firefighters were going to take care of moving Harlan’s remains to the main cemetery, but it didn’t give him the peaceful feeling he hoped it would. Staring at the list of names didn’t help, either.
“Curtis.”
“Sir?” The younger deputy stopped looking through a file and gave Tom his attention.
“I’m headed to the hospital. Randy’s on a case. Carla isn’t here yet. Man the phones, please. You know what to do.”
“And if there’s an emergency, sir?”
“You can’t leave the station unattended. Call me or Randy. We’ll take care of it.”
“Yes, sir.” Curtis closed the file and took Tom’s place behind the desk.
“Curtis, do I want to know what’s in that file?”
“Yes, sir. It’s just the report from thirty years ago. Looking for a correlation is all.”
“And? Did you figure out anything?”
“Haven’t looked at it long enough, yet. Sorry, sir.”
“It’s alright, son. We’re already two steps ahead, anyway.”
“How you figure?”
“We demolished the house for one. The other? Just pray it pans out.” Tom put on his wide-brimmed hat. “Carla should be here soon. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Chapter Thirteen
Caleb drove as fast as he could into town without risking a ticket only to discover the cafe was closed, and Everly sat on the stoop shivering. It was an uncharacteristically cold day for Rickdale, a town known for its even temperatures—never falling below 25 degrees and never going above 95. The average temperatures fell between 52 and 85, and humidity was nonexistent. For the residents, it was also another reason to stay. But that morning, the temperatures hovered closer to thirty degrees, and like most Rickdale residents, Everly didn’t wear a coat.
“Get in,” Caleb called, rolling down his window.
Everly’s eyes sparkled as she saw him, and she didn’t hesitate to climb into the passenger seat. “Hey, handsome,” she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. “Thanks for the rescue.”
Caleb checked the time on his phone and held it out to Everly.
“Did I miss Daylight Savings Time or something? Am I too early?”
“No. I don’t know why Jim isn’t here to open up. I went back to the bar and knocked, but he’s not there, either. I tried calling Edna, but she’s not picking up either. I was just about to go back to my room when you pulled up.”
“Your room? Are you staying in town?’ Caleb’s eyebrows shot up. Why hadn’t she told him that yesterday? “I thought you had an apartment in the complex near the edge of town?”
“I do, but Edna was so sweet in her insistence that I stay closer, so she put me up in the room over the bar.” She giggled, soft and throaty, a sound Caleb discovered he really liked. “I swear the bar was a brothel back in the day. There’s so much velvet all over the room, and the huge bed reminds me of the ones you see in all the old Western movies. It even has a balcony with French doors!”
It was now or never, Caleb decided. “So, your boyfriend has to stay all by himself because Edna was concerned about you? Aren’t you worried the lady in white will get him?”
Everly’s tongue darted out and licked her lips. It was all Caleb could do to control himself from devouring her in a kiss. “I, uh, I have a confession. Brayden left me years ago. Up until the other day, I didn’t know if I even wanted to stay in Rickdale, so the thought of getting shacked up with anyone here...” she paused, the rosy stain of her blush making her even more beautiful. “Well, I just let everyone keep believing he existed and didn’t have to worry about it.”
“What changed your mind?” Caleb said, his voice becoming huskier than he intended.
Everly refused to look at him. She licked her lips again as she studied the passenger window.
“You,” she said so softly Caleb wasn’t sure he heard her correctly.
He put a finger on her chin and gently turned her head to face him.
“Me?” He didn’t wait for an answer before his lips found hers.
She returned his kiss, and her tongue explored his lips, darting into its warmth as they parted. Their arms wrapped around each other, and the windows of his mother’s sedan steamed up. Everly broke away, her cheeks flushed, her ponytail askew from his fingers running through her hair.
“I don’t think anyone is coming. Want to go to my place?” she asked.
Caleb’s cheeks were equally red, and his heart hammered in his chest. Of course, he wanted to go to her place. Her apartment would be more private, but at that point, he didn’t really care. She was available, and she was all his. “Which place?”
Everly pointed to the bar across the street. “Just in case someone shows up.”