Here and Gone(5)

‘I’ve only got a little way to go,’ she said, pointing to the turn up ahead. ‘I’m heading to Silver Water for the night. I can get rid of some stuff there.’

‘Silver Water?’ he asked. ‘You staying at Mrs Gerber’s guesthouse?’

‘I hadn’t decided yet.’

The sheriff shook his head. ‘Either way, still more than a mile to Silver Water, narrow road, lot of switchbacks. A lot could happen between here and there. Tell you what … grab your keys and step back here, off the road.’

‘If I could just keep going a little further, I’ll be—’

‘Ma’am, I’m trying to be helpful here. Now just grab those keys like I asked you and come on back here.’

Audra reached into the car, around the steering wheel, and took the keys from the ignition.

‘Mom, what’s happening?’ Sean asked. ‘What does he want?’

‘It’s all right,’ Audra said. ‘We’ll get it figured out in a minute. Just you stay put and keep an eye on your sister. Can you do that for me?’

Sean twined his fingers. ‘Yes, Mom.’

‘Good boy,’ she said, and gave him a wink.

She brought the keys back to the sheriff – Whiteside, wasn’t it? – and handed them over.

‘Step onto the shoulder for me,’ he said, pointing to the dirt at the side of the road. ‘Don’t want you getting hit by something.’

She did as she was told, Sean and Louise twisting in their seats to watch through the back window.

Whiteside reached for the trunk release. ‘Let’s see what we got back here.’

Was he allowed to do that? Just open her trunk and look inside? Audra put a hand over her mouth, kept her silence as he surveyed the packed boxes, bags of clothes, two baskets full of toys.

‘Tell you what I can do for you,’ he said, standing back, hands on his hips. ‘I’ll move some of this stuff over to my car, just to lighten the load, follow you into Silver Water – I’d say Mrs Gerber will be glad of the custom – and then you can figure out what to do. You’re going to have to leave some stuff behind, I’ll tell you that right now. There’s a Goodwill store, I’m sure they’ll help you out. This here is about the poorest patch of land in the state, and the Goodwill store is about the only one left in business. Anyway, let’s see what you got.’

Whiteside leaned in and hauled a box to the lip of the trunk. Folded blankets and sheets on top. All bedding and towels underneath, Audra remembered. She had packed the kids’ favorite covers and pillowcases: Star Wars for Sean, Doc McStuffins for Louise. She saw the bright pastel shades as the sheriff dug down into the box.

It crossed her mind then to ask why he was looking inside the box, and she opened her mouth to do so, but he spoke first.

‘Ma’am, what’s this?’

He stood upright, his left hand still inside the box, a stack of sheets and blankets held back. Audra stood still for a moment, her mind unable to connect his question to a logical answer.

‘Blankets and stuff,’ she said.

He pointed inside the box with his right hand. ‘And this?’

Fear flicked on like a light. She thought she had been frightened before, but no, that had been simple worry. But this, now, was fear. Something was going terribly wrong here, and she could not grasp what it was.

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said, unable to keep a tremor from creeping into her voice.

‘Maybe you should come take a look,’ he said.

Audra took slow steps toward him, her sneakers crunching on sand and grit. She leaned in, looked down into the dim innards of the box. A shape there that she couldn’t quite make sense of.

‘I don’t know what that is,’ she said.

Whiteside slipped his right hand down inside, gripped whatever it was by its edge, and drew it out into the hard light.

‘Care to take a guess?’ he asked.

No question what it was. A good-sized baggie half full of dried green leaves.

She shook her head and said, ‘That’s not mine.’

‘I’d say that looks a lot like marijuana. Wouldn’t you?’

The cold fear in Audra’s breast spread to her arms and thighs like ice water soaking through her clothes. Numb at the center of her. Yes, she knew what it was. But she hadn’t used in years. She’d been completely straight for the last two. Not even a beer.

‘It’s not mine,’ she said.

‘You sure about that?’

‘Yes, I’m sure,’ she said, but a small part of her thought, there was a time, wasn’t there ? Could I have stashed it and forgotten it lay among the sheets? Couldn’t have. Could I?

‘Then you care to tell me how this wound up in the trunk of your car?’

‘I don’t know,’ she said, and she wondered, could it be? Could it?

No. Absolutely not. She hadn’t smoked anything since before her marriage, and she had moved apartments three times. No way the bag could have followed her here, no matter how careless she was.

Heat in her eyes, tears threatening, her hands beginning to shake. But she had to keep control. For the kids, she thought. Don’t let them see you lose it. She wiped a palm across her cheek, sniffed hard.

Whiteside held the bag up to the light, gave it a shake. ‘Well, we’re going to have a talk about who owns this. I tell you, though, I think this is a touch more than could be considered for personal use. So it’s going to be a long and serious talk.’