Ernie looked at his sandwich. One bite was left. “Uncle Bob. It had to be him.”
Beth put her arms around her belly and looked at her son.
She felt sick with the certainty of what must come next.
“For the rest of that day and that night I tried to figure out what kind of mess Ernesto was in. The next day, I read about what happened to you. Then, it all made sense,” Randy said.
Beth said, “My mother must have called Ernesto. All he had to do was back the Lincoln into the garage and drag Bob down the hall. Then Mom called the ambulance for Ernie.”
“That’s what Ernesto said when I asked him three days later. He told me that Leona had been asleep upstairs, heard a noise and found Ernie and Bob on the floor. Bob was dead and she couldn’t get Ernie to wake up. Leona phoned Ernesto for help. When he got there, they rolled Bob over. His pecker was hanging out of his pants and the knife was on the floor. They put two and two together. Leona cleaned some of the blood off Ernie’s face and they decided the best thing to do was look out for their grandson.”
“So, he’s not coming back?” Ernie looked first to Beth and then to Randy for confirmation.
Beth opened her mouth to speak then said to herself, What will Ernie do when he figures it out?
“I don’t have to worry,” Ernie stared down into the valley at the headstone.
“Who else knows?” Beth said. Fear scratched its nails along her spine.
“The three of us and Lane.” Randy watched Ernie and waited.
“He knows?” Beth put her hand over her mouth.
“Lane suspects, but his hands are tied without proof,”
Randy said.
“All he has to do is exhume the body.” Beth’s mind raced as she tried to think ahead.
“Two bodies, actually, and that creates a bit of a problem,”
Randy said.
“Who else is buried there?” Beth said.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Who?” Ernie said.
Randy told them.
“You’ve got to be kidding!” Beth said.
“Nope.”
“Lane will still get the body exhumed.” Beth looked at her son as she said the words.
“Won’t do him much good.” Randy drained his pop. “Not now.”
Ernie chewed the last bite of his second sandwich then licked his fingers.
Beth put her foot to the floor and tried the engine again. It coughed, cleared its throat and caught. A cloud of black smoke puffed from the tailpipe.
“This old girl doesn’t like the heat,” Randy crouched on Ernie’s side of the car.
“Doesn’t like the cold, either,” Ernie said.
Beth said, “Thanks, Randy, for everything.”
Randy lifted his hand, fingers open, cocked his head to one side and said, “Forget it. Oh, I almost forgot.” He pulled out a business card and handed it to Ernie. “She’s a good doctor. Helped me deal with what happened. If you decide that’s what you want, she’s a good one to talk with.”
Ernie took the card and tucked it into his pocket.
Beth pulled away. The car gathered speed as the road dropped into the bottom of the valley. She braked. They passed the grave with its meter high black stone cross and the flags.
“Aren’t we going to talk to Lane?” Ernie said.
Beth hit the brakes hard. Ernie put his hand against the dash. Scout yelped when she fell against the back of the front seat.
“Mom?”
She looked at her hands gripping the wheel. “Are you crazy?”
Ernie considered the question, “You think this will go away?”
She felt the flat of Ernie’s hand between her shoulder blades.
“Uncle Bob’s not coming back. You don’t know how it feels to know he’s not coming back.”
“Do you know what it all means?” she said.
“What?”
“It probably means Bob is dead because you hit him.”
“I just hit him once. He said he was gonna kill me if I didn’t do what he said. He was gonna cut my nose off and then he was gonna cut my heart out.”
“You didn’t tell me all of it,” Beth said.
“I didn’t remember it all till later. It came back in bits and pieces. I remember the knife. I remember what he smelled like. I remember the fear. I remember hitting him. I remember falling. I know what he said.”
“What if you end up in jail?” Beth said.
Ernie’s expression told her he hadn’t thought of that.
“You don’t understand.” Beth touched the smudges of fatigue underneath his eyes.
“You think the reporter is gonna give up? You think Lane will? Maybe you don’t understand.”
She looked ahead at the intersection. Turn East or turn West? she thought.
“I want this to be over. My Dad would run. I don’t want to end up like him,” Ernie said.
Harper said, “Why not dig down beside the hole?”
Lane looked across at his partner. The Chev’s air conditioner pumped a cool breeze. “What do you mean?”
“Are there any graves right beside it? I mean, maybe we can dig a hole down alongside. That way we might not have to get permission to disturb the other body.”
“Never thought of that,” Lane said.
They heard the sound of an engine labouring up the hill.
It was followed by the blue hood of Beth’s Dodge.
“Do we follow her if she doesn’t stop?” Harper said. They watched Beth look their way and turn toward them. She backed in, leaving a parking space between her and the ghost car.
Ernie opened his door, grabbed the dog’s leash, then waited for his mother to come around and join him.
“You have any idea how this is going to play out?” Harper said.
“Looks good so far,” Lane said.
Scout’s tongue hung almost to the ground.
Lane opened his window. He hitched his thumb and pointed at the back seat. “Want to cool off?”
Beth frowned at Lane’s choice of words. Ernie opened the door behind Lane. “Okay if Scout gets in?” Without waiting for permission, the dog hopped in and sat to ponder the pair in the front. Ernie climbed in. The dog eased closer to the boy when Beth climbed in the other side.
“You okay, girl?” Ernie said to Scout. He looked at Lane and Harper, “She was chasing gophers.”
Harper smiled.
“She need some water?” Lane leaned against the driver’s door.
“Just gave her some,” Beth said.
“We found out where Uncle Bob is,” Ernie said.
A rush of emotions ran through Beth.
Harper studied Ernie.
Lane looked at the boy and said, “You know that what you say here can be used in a trial. Detective Harper is going to be taking notes.”
Harper picked up his notebook and propped it on his knee.
Ernie kept his eyes on Lane.
“Do you want a lawyer?” Lane looked at Beth as he asked the question.
“Do we need one?” she said.
“You might,” Lane said.
Ernie said, “I want to get this over with. Besides, you know most of it already.”
“I don’t want my kid to go to jail,” Beth said.
Lane said, “Look, I’ll keep the questions general and if you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to. Okay?”
Ernie nodded.
“You don’t agree?” Lane said to Beth.
“He says this is what he wants. What else can I do?” She wiped her palms on the thighs of her jeans.
“You can say no,” Lane said.
“Ask your questions.” Ernie scratched the back of the dog’s head.
Lane looked at the boy, “Have you remembered anything more about Bob Swatsky’s assault?”
“I remember the knife, the smell of him, the threats and hitting him here.” Ernie used his free hand to tap the soft tissue at the base of his throat.
“You said threats. Specifically, what did he say?” Lane said.