“We thought that Stamps boy had something to do with it,” R.L. said. “We never thought of Carl, though Bud and I talked a lot about what had happened all those years ago after Truman died. About how he’d never gotten over it and all.”
“Then R.L.’s place burned.” Bud took up the tale. “It seemed strange to us that the Stamps kid would hit two of us, but we still didn’t think of Carl. Until someone tried to shoot R.L. in his bed. That’s when we started to put it all together. R.L. left town to do some research. I stayed in touch with him, of course. Knew where he was the whole time. It turned out Carl died in prison last Christmas.”
“Yes, his son told us that,” Riley murmured.
“We were pretty confused for a while. I started getting the feeling that someone was watching me,” Bud confessed. “One night a van followed me down Snake Hill, then passed me so close I damned near ran off the road and into the ravine. It was all I could do to keep from it.”
“Damn it, Bud, you should have told me!” Riley exploded, obviously having listened patiently for as long as he could.
“I was going to,” Bud answered apologetically. “I really was. After you brought Teresa home from that fancy dinner. I thought everything would be okay until then. I didn’t think whoever was after me would know I was at Teresa’s place with the kids. If I’d thought I could be putting them—or anyone else—in danger I’d have stayed far away from them. When I saw the van that had nearly run me off the road sitting outside the house that night—well, that’s when I decided to get out of town before someone was hurt.”
It was R.L.’s turn to speak. “He came to me. We kept looking for answers. It was pretty obvious to us that our problems had something to do with Carl Brannon. That was the only trouble any of us had ever been in. We found out Carl’s son used to visit him in prison real often and that Carl filled the boy full of bull about what a hard life he’d led. How everything and everyone had conspired against him—including a bunch of guys who had set him up for murder. He told his son he had nothing to do with that liquor store robbery, that he was framed. By us.”
“Turned out Carl Junior was just as big a loser as his father,” Bud said. “Everything he tried failed. He’d been dumped by his second wife and been fired from a dead-end job just before his father died. He needed someone besides himself to blame his failures on. He decided to follow his father’s example and blame us.”
“He told his ex-wife that we’d profited from framing his father,” R.L. said. “That we’d taken the reward money and started businesses and lived comfortable lives while Carl Senior rotted in prison. He decided to take revenge.”
“You found all this out since you left town?” Dan asked skeptically.
R.L. lifted a shoulder. “I had to do something. All it took was a few phone calls. I was in business for a lot of years, you know. I had some resources.”
“I helped him when I joined him,” Bud added. “It didn’t take us long to figure out who had a grudge against us, but we weren’t sure we could prove it. When we’d gathered all the information we could find, we came back to town to turn everything over to Dan. I knew Riley would be worried, so R.L. and I decided to have Dan join us at Riley’s place where we’d only have to tell the story once. We had no idea Brannon would show up at the same time. I didn’t think he would dare come out in the open. I thought he’d either wait for us to return, look for us elsewhere or give up.”
“When he couldn’t find either of you, he lost patience,” Riley explained. “The man I faced this afternoon had gone over the edge. I don’t know if his father was crazy or just criminal, but Junior’s nuts.”
Teresa shivered, remembering the look in Carl Brannon Junior’s eyes. She agreed with Riley’s assessment. The man had been out of control. And he’d had his hands on her son.
“Teresa, sit down,” Lindsey urged, suddenly appearing at her side. “You’ve gone pale.”
“I’m fine,” she protested, but allowed herself to be guided into the seat Marjorie had vacated, the one next to Riley.
He reached out
to cover her icy hands with one of his own. “Are you okay?”
“Still a little shaky,” she admitted. “But okay.”
He squeezed her hand. “I know the feeling,” he murmured.
Dan had a great many more questions for Bud and R.L., of course. Lindsey, Serena and Cameron had some questions, as well. Oddly enough, Teresa and Riley had the least to say. She suspected it was because they were both still too dazed to think of anything to ask.
He was still holding her hand, and she didn’t pull away. For now, she needed to cling to him. She would be strong and independent again later, when she had to be.
Dan eventually turned to Riley. “I do have one more question for you.”
Teresa thought Riley sounded weary when he responded. “What is it?”
“When the hell did you start wearing an earring?”
It seemed like hours later when things had settled down and Teresa and her children were alone again. To her great relief, Mark seemed to have recovered almost completely from his scare. She talked to him for quite a while after Maggie went to sleep and then, reassured that he was all right, she left a night-light burning in his room and urged him to call her any time during the night if he needed her.
She placed a soft kiss on his forehead after she tucked him in. “You were so brave today,” she murmured. “I’m so proud of you. And so very glad you’re safe.”
“I’m glad Riley and Uncle Bud are okay,” he murmured, his eyelids already growing heavy. “I don’t suppose you’d let me get my ear pierced, would you, Mom?”
“Not anytime soon,” she answered firmly. “Go to sleep, sweetie. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
She walked downstairs knowing it would be several hours before she would sleep. She was afraid to close her eyes for fear of replaying the entire episode. She could almost hear the echo of that gunshot, could feel the fear that had gripped her when she’d thought Riley could be hurt—or worse.