Novel Excerpts–The Boaz Scorekeeper, Chapter 60

The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.

The Boaz Scorekeeper, written in 2017, is my second novel. I'll post it, a chapter a day, over the next few weeks.

Neither one of us said anything as I drove west on Cox Gap Road.  When I turned left on Mountainboro Road, Gina said that she was growing weary of staying with Wade. She said that he was becoming more erratic and unpredictable.

“Explain what you mean.”  I said.

“He’s started carrying a gun.  Something he’s never done.  He is worried sick that something is going to happen to him.  Yesterday, he came home for lunch and said he had spent nearly all morning looking for Fred, including calling his cell phone.  Wade said he had gone to the Bank and spoken with Fritz.  He said Fred had gone to Gatlinburg and should be back by Tuesday.  Wade said that there was something strange about how Fritz looked at him, almost like he was lying.  His eyes darted around and he never did look Wade directly in the eye.”

“Did Wade say why he was wanting to talk with Fred?”  I said.

“He didn’t say exactly but I feel it’s about how James has been acting toward him and Fred.  You remember how mad James was on the transcript when he found out that Club Eden was still selling pretty Hispanic girls to the Russian mob.”  Gina said.

“Have you formulated a plan?  A plan for where you are going, what you will be doing?”  I said.

“I have an aunt in Atlanta, Mother’s sister.  Her two children, my cousins, are also there and own a florist.  You can tell by my blouse that I love flowers.”  Gina said looking over at Micaden and smiling ever so slightly.

“You know you will have to come back, maybe more than once, after we file suit.  The court could order mediation before a trial.  And, either separately or as part of mediation, there will likely be settlement negotiations you will need to attend.”

“Oh, another thing I was going to tell you.  Wade said he has a theory that Fred is gone for good and that, if that is true, there is no doubt that Boaz has a serial killer on the loose who is targeting the Flaming Five.  He said he and James were really in a terrible place.”

“From what I’ve heard, John and Randall’s disappearances could be something as simple as a disgruntled parent.  In a way, it sounds unbelievable that a father would go to such an extreme of abducting his son’s coach.  All to pay him back for his son’s lack of playing time or acceptable attention during Bible study?  Of course, you have heard many stories of people committing horrific crimes over seemingly insignificant things.”  I said.

“You’re probably right.”

“Can I ask you a question?”  I said to Gina.

“Of course.”

“You say you are ready to leave Wade, that you are growing very tired of your relationship with him, yet you continue to wear his wedding ring on your finger. I was just wondering why that is.”

“It’s a valid question.  First, the simple answer is a strategic one.  If I pulled it off Wade would notice and would become suspicious.  The second reason is a little more complex.  You know that Wade and I didn’t marry because we were in love.  Our lives together started with a shotgun wedding as I’ve told you.  This multi-diamond cluster that I’m wearing isn’t my first ring.  Wade’s parents bought us our first rings, just matching bands, just for the wedding, just for show.  You know, love is strange.  I would never have believed that I could be forced into loving Wade.  But, in a real sense, that’s exactly what happened.  Our move to Tuscaloosa right after the wedding was probably the best present we received.  There, we learned to depend on each other.  Wade, back then, was sweet, kind, considerate, much different away from his four buddies.  Four years later, just before we graduated, Wade proposed to me at Denny Chimes on bended knee and placed this ring on my finger.  That night, we went back to the apartment and made love like we never had.  It wasn’t just sex, it was real love.  The next morning Wade asked me if I was still okay with the ring and his idea of proposing as his way of showing me he wanted our lives to have real meaning as a married couple.  I told him I loved it all and that I would wear his ring forever.”  Gina said.

“One thing I have learned since High School is to be careful about swearing and believing that I would never change my mind.  When I was a kid growing up I was, as they say, knee deep into faith and my belief in God and Christ.  To say the least, that has changed radically.”  I said.

I pulled in front of the Gadsden Post Office telling Gina I had a few things I needed to mail.  She stayed in my truck.  With gloveless hands, I carried the ransom folder inside and let the two smaller envelopes slide into the outgoing mail chute being careful not to touch them.

I then drove us to the courthouse and told Gina I would only be a few minutes.  Again, she waited in my truck as I went to the Clerk’s office to kill some time.  I didn’t have any specific business I needed to attend to.  I simply wanted to show Gina I had a reason to drive to Gadsden other than going to the Post Office.

On the drive home, I decided to go the back way through Noccalula Falls.  We talked very little on the way back.  We did talk some about the beautiful Fall colors on the trees surrounding us as we made our way up the mountain.  A hundred yards before I reached Dogwood Trail on my left, I decided I would show Gina my secret office at Oak Hollow.  There was no doubt this was a bad idea.  I had never even mentioned it to anyone else, but someway Gina had broken through my defensiveness and become a trustworthy friend.  What could it hurt?  No one would ever know.  I truly had no ulterior motives, even though I was attracted to her.  I would never have attempted anything sexual or otherwise intimate.

“You got time to see where I do my really serious writing, both for work and for fun?”  I asked.

“Sure, you got a tree house?”

I turned left onto Dogwood Trail and was about half way there when I saw Franklin and Danny Ericson, John’s father and son, standing in the yard just off Blanton Riggins front porch.  His wife, Shelia, waved as I drove by.

“I really hope they didn’t see me.”  Gina said melting down into her seat.

“I suspect the Ericson’s were there talking to the Riggins about selling their house.  I heard a few weeks ago that Blanton was retiring from Goodyear and he and his wife wanted to move to Orange Beach.”

I drove on to Oak Hollow, unlocked and opened the gate, and drove down to the house.  My mind was about to explode.  First, I should never have come here with Gina even without being seen.  Second, I was confident that, at a minimum, the Ericson’s recognized me simply by my truck.  Third, if they saw Gina, it wouldn’t be long until Wade and James knew.  And, most likely, Wade would think Gina and I were having an affair.  But, the most explosive thought I had was I had voluntarily invited a future detective to come snooping around the one place I had, up until now, done everything I could to keep secret.

Gina and I spent thirty minutes inside the house with me showing her a stack of unpublished short stories.  She had been more interested in the wood-burning cook-stove in the kitchen than anything.  I made up a story about how I needed to keep this place a secret and had her promise she wouldn’t tell anyone.  When I told Gina that even Karla didn’t know about Oak Hollow, I could see she felt I saw her as a very close friend.

When we returned to Hickory Hollow, I asked Gina to let me know when she was safe in Atlanta.  I urged her to keep me posted of everything that happened between her and Wade.  She opened her car door, but before she got in, she walked over to me and hugged me once again saying, “I am so glad you are my attorney, but most of all for becoming a faithful friend.  I’m going to miss you.”

I told her I felt the same.  She walked back to her car and drove off.  It was the last time I saw Gina alive.