Chapter Fifteen
The bell over the door of the cafe jingled as Caleb entered. Both Edna and Everly turned to look at him. Edna’s face was a blotchy red mess of tears and snot and Everly had a large wet spot on her shoulder.
“Something happen?” Caleb asked as casually as he could.
Everly nodded. “Jim’s at the hospital, but they won’t tell Edna anything. The sheriff is on his way to pick her up now.”
Edna wailed again, and Caleb looked away, trying to give her some semblance of privacy.
“Can you run the cafe alone?” Caleb asked next.
“I’m closing it down. I can’t be responsible for any more people missing. I know what’s coming, and—” Her sniffle turned into another wail, and the sheriff’s cruiser pulled in front of the cafe. “There’s Tom now.” She turned to Caleb with wet eyes. “Can you make sure Everly gets back to her room over the bar, okay? If you two want some coffee and food, help yourself, but don’t let anyone else in. The cafe is to remain closed until further notice. I’m sorry, Everly. I know you depend on the money, but you can stay in the room over the bar as long as you need to.”
Tom entered the cafe then, and Edna took one look at his face and knew instantly without him saying a word.
“Oh, Jim,” she wailed.
Tom embraced her and let her cry. When she stopped shaking, he let her go.
“I’m sorry, Edna. It was a heart attack that killed him. I’ll take you to him whenever you’re ready to go.”
Tears squeezed out of Edna’s closed eyes as she nodded her head.
“Caleb, if you love that girl, you best hold her tight. Our days are numbered,” she said as she passed Caleb. She wailed again, and Tom led her out of the cafe. Once the sheriff had driven off, Everly plopped down next to Caleb at the counter.
“That wasn’t at all what I expected her to do. Closed indefinitely? I can’t survive off that.”
Caleb pulled her close, offering her what comfort he had to give. “I’ll take care of you. Don’t worry.”
Everly snickered through her tears. “You’re all busted up. What am I going to do? Live with you and your mom?”
“Hey! Ma’s not so bad. She’s a helluva cook, makes fantastic coffee, and you’d want for nothing, but that being said, that’s not what I meant at all. Edna said you could stay above the bar for as long as you need to, and you forget I have an apartment in town, too.”
“Like your mom is going to let you stay in your apartment right now.”
“Doesn’t matter. If you don’t want to go to Ma’s, then we’ll stay at my place here. I just have to take her car back to her.” He rose from his seat. “Are you hungry? I could whip us up some eggs and bacon. I worked the kitchen as a teenager, and I’m pretty sure they never updated the equipment.”
Everly shrugged. She was too upset to think about her stomach, “If you cook it, I will eat it,” she said. “I’ll start the coffee.”
An hour after they had finished eating and cleaning up behind themselves, Caleb followed Everly across the street to her car. The incoming fog bothered him. It wasn’t as thick as the fog that rolled in at dusk, and it wasn’t a totally unexpected thing. They often had fog from the creek. Something just felt ominous about it. They’d stay at his mom’s that night if they had to, he decided.
“I don’t like this fog,” he told Everly. “Stay close behind me, so we don’t get separated. We might have to stay at mom’s tonight, anyway. I’m going to call her and let her know we’re on the way.”
Everly looked at the fog rolling in. Butterflies flew around in her stomach. “Why don’t we leave my car here, and we’ll just stay there for tonight. We can ride back into town tomorrow when the fog has lifted and get my car then.” She looked at the fog uneasily. “Just let me grab my bag.”
“I’ll go up with you,” Caleb said. He’d left his car running and didn’t bother to turn it off.
As they descended the staircase to return to his car, the fog swirled in around them, much thicker than it first appeared. It enveloped them, separating them from each other. Caleb reached out for Everly’s hand but only found empty air.
“Everly?”
“Caleb?”
“Can you hear the motor running?”
“I’m trying. Where are you?” Everly reached into the fog with her empty hand. It collided with something hard and cold. “Caleb? Is that you?”
“Everly?”
Caleb’s voice sounded so far away, but she knew that wasn’t possible.
“Caleb?” She reached forward again, but that time there was nothing there.
“Head for the car! Get in and close the door as fast as you can.”
Caleb still sounded far away, but she could make out the sound of the running car and headed for it. Her body slammed into the side of the sedan, and she winced. Unable to see anything through the fog, she somehow managed to find the door handle. She opened the door, tossed her bag in, and slammed it shut. Foggy faces pressed against the glass, and she shut her eyes.
“Caleb!” she screamed as loud as she could.
Something smacked into the side of the car, and the driver’s door opened.
“Caleb?” Everly whispered.
“I’m here,” he answered as he slid behind the wheel. He slammed the door, breaking the small gust of cloud that had tried to make its way into the car. “Buckle up. I’m flooring it and not stopping until we get to Ma’s.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Edna, I need to prepare you. Jim—Jim doesn’t look like himself. I don’t know what happened to him last night yet, or how he got to the hospital, but he looks pretty rough. Dr. Peptic said he had a stroke that caused a heart attack. Just be prepared. And, sis, I’m so sorry. If I could do anything to change this for you, I would do it in a heartbeat.” Sheriff Greyson studied the woman sitting beside him in the squad car. She hadn’t said a word during the short drive across town. Her eyes stared forward. Only the occasional flare of her nostrils and the slight rising of her chest gave indication she still breathed. “Edna?”
She startled as his hand touched her shoulder. She looked at Tom.
“Are you ready?”
Tears welled in her eyes, and she stubbornly whisked them away. Her chin set, and she ran her hand down her shirt trying to smooth any wrinkles out. “No,” she answered with a huff. “But I don’t think I’ll ever be.” She opened the door and got out. She shivered and then straightened herself and walked into the hospital lobby with her head held high. Tom left his car at the door and followed her inside.
“It’s like a ghost town in here,” Edna observed.
Even Gladys wasn’t sitting behind the reception desk as she normally did.
“Yup. It’s late. Everyone who could leave left, so they made it home before the fog rolled in. C’mon. We don’t have much time. I need to get back to the station.”
Tom used the same pass he’d been given earlier to gain access to the elevator.
“Dr. Peptic will meet us at the morgue. He will answer what questions he can, though I already told you as much as he knew.”