Bay grasped it tightly. “Who was the baby’s father?”
Soft green eyes swimming in tears looked at Bay. With a small jerk of her head back at the house she said, “His.”
Bay took a deep, calming breath to make sure she could keep her voice calm, even though her heart was breaking over this girl’s pain. “How long’s he been using you?”
“Since mama left.” Melody looked back at the trees. “He said it was my duty since she was gone.”
Rage filled Bay and it took all she had not to blow her top and go take a few kicks at the dead body behind her. Taking a minute before speaking again she asked, “How many babies have you buried out there?”
“Two.”
They heard the footsteps of someone coming around the side of the house. Bay looked over at Joby. “Coroner’s on his way. So’s the little Trooper’s Sergeant, as it seems he doesn’t know what to do now.”
“I do love me the State guys.” Bay said sarcastically. She gave a little jerk of her head to get Joby to leave her alone with Melody again.
“How old are you Melody?”
“Nineteen. Daddy said he was gonna’ let me get a job this next year but I didn’t believe him. He never let me go anywhere.”
“Do you have any other family?”
Melody shook her head. “Not that I know of.” She looked at Bay again and licked her lips nervously. “Can I tell you something and you not arrest me?”
“Of course. You can tell me anything you want. No one is arresting you, not today and not for anything you’ve done before today”
“Mama didn’t leave. She’s buried out there too. With my babies.”
Bay couldn’t say she was shocked. “Did he kill her?”
Melody shrugged. “I don’t know. It happened while I was at school. The last day I ever went. I came home and he told me she was dead and made me help him dig the grave. She was all wrapped up in a sheet so I never saw her, really.”
The sound of a vehicle pulling up brought Bay to her feet. “Come on, sit in my patrol car.” Melody followed without a sound. Vehicles soon flooded the place. The Coroner, which was also the local funeral director, more State Patrol cars and the beginnings of the curious. Bay got to work assigning Joby and Dave crowd control, shot orders to everyone standing around.
Bay found Sgt. McCormick much more knowledgeable than Trooper Foster. In minutes her report had been given, she learned about the exchange of gunfire between the deceased and her deputies. Sgt. McCormick decided it best to let her handle any investigation on weapons used by her Department as none made contact with Moore, and took possession of her weapon himself. He assured her that she’d have it back as soon as he could manage it.
Over an hour had passed before all that was left was the Hill County Sheriff Department. There was no way to secure the house with the windows and door shot out, but since Bay wasn’t going to allow Melody to stay there anyway, she didn’t think it would matter. In the hour of barking orders, answering questions and the baby inside her playing soccer on her bladder, she come up with an idea.
Opening the door to her vehicle where Melody still sat, she looked at the girl. Her long brown hair was tangled but looked clean, her clothes were faded, patched and ill fitting but also mostly clean. “Got any plans now? Where to go, what to do?”
Melody only shook her head. She looked blankly around the yard. “There’s no where to go.” She turned to look at Bay. “I don’t want to go back in there,” her voice quivered.
Bay leaned against the side of the SUV, her belly still fairly small but sticking out prominently. “So you’ve had babies. How long did you get to take care of them?”
“Daisy would have been a year old in a few weeks. The other one, she died right away.” A tear slid down Melody’s face.
Bay laid a hand on the girl’s knee. “No one should have gone through what you have. Not at your age and not alone. But now you have a choice. You can let this life swallow you up or you can rise above it and stand on your own.”
“What do you mean?”
Turning to face her, Bay wanted Melody’s full attention. “I’ll be hatching out my own egg here in a few more months. I’ve never had baby. I have no idea what to do with a baby. I’m the Sheriff, I can’t exactly take the baby to work with me.” A small smile fluttered around Melody’s lips.
For some reason, Bay trusted the girl, despite all that she’d been through. Some would think it impulsive, but she always trusted her gut. “I live in an apartment over the hardware store. It’s got this weird little apartment right next to mine that I pay for but have no use for. It won’t be much, but see I’m going to need someone to take care of this kid while I’m at work.”
She waited while the words took root in Melody. A fearful sort of hope began to bloom in the pretty green eyes. “You would let me live there and take care of your baby?”
“I can’t pay you much. But I already pay for the place and the utilities are all on me too. There is one requirement though.”
“What’s that?” Melody whispered, holding her breath.
“There are GED classes two nights a week at the Courthouse. You’d have to go them. And get your diploma.”
A choked sort of laugh escaped from Melody. “That’s it? That’s all?”
Bay tried to look serious and only nodded. Inside she was doing cartwheels at the thought that her idea was going to work. This girl needed a chance to live and maybe, just maybe she could help her do so. “Some days will have long hours. You’ll be stuck alone with a baby all day.”
“That’s okay! I love babies!” She burst out. Bay saw the girl have some sort of thought that made her stop. Melody bit her lip before tentatively asking, “Do you... do you think that maybe someday, I mean after your baby is grown and doesn’t need me anymore, that maybe... I could go to college? Be a teacher? Or something?”
Bay felt the “click” inside her that told her this girl was going to be okay. Nodding she smiled. “Of course. After getting your GED we can start you off at the college extension that has classes at the Courthouse.” Melody looked confused and Bay realized that she probably didn’t know what a college extension was. There would be time for that later though. Jerking her head at the house she asked, “Is there anything you want from in there?”
“No.” Melody said immediately but then paused. “Well, wait there is one thing. If you wouldn’t mind.”
“Anything you want you can have. If you don’t want to go in just tell me and I’ll get it.”
Squaring her shoulders Melody stood from the truck. “I can get it. I need to go get it.”
Bay stepped back and let her go.
Later at the apartment, Melody stood in stunned silence when Bay showed her the tiny space. Before she could worry that Melody would freak over the small apartment, the girl flung her arms around Bay and hugged her tight.
“This is mine? All mine?”
Pulling back, Bay nodded. “I told you it was small. But yeah, it’s all yours. You can sleep on my couch next door until we get you a bed.”
Melody actually looked disappointed at not getting to stay in her own place, but was wise enough to know that the bare apartment would be pretty uncomfortable. Bay was determined to have the place outfitted at least with the basics as fast as she could. If she knew one thing about the town of Miller Springs, it was that the people looked out for each other and that Melody would soon have more “family” than she knew what to do with.
- 5 -
Tuck sat on the edge of the bed holding Clarice’s frail, cold hand. It seemed that no matter what he did, she was never warm enough, never completely comfortable. “You should have stayed in the hospital.”
He felt her sigh. “I want to be in my home when I die, not some cold hospital. Please, Tuck, you promised me.”
The beautiful blue eyes that used to be so warm were now dim shadows in her thin face. The luster was gone, replaced with a distance that he simply couldn’t breach. She’d given up. The
treatments hadn’t worked and she was home only to die. The knot in his throat wouldn’t let him speak so he only nodded.
“You should go see Bay. See if you can get back on the force.”
Tuck nodded again. He’d go see Bay but not to ask for a job. No one knew better than he that there was no job for him with the Hill County Sheriff Department. Four men was all the budget could handle.
At the sound of the doorbell, he left Clarice to answer it. Soon, the house was cluttered with chattering women there to care for Clarice and keep her company. It was what she wanted. To spend the time she had surrounded by friends and family. Tuck left them to it.
For a while in Little Rock things had been good. He and Clarice were happy, her treatments were going well and life was okay. But then she started getting tired. More tired than she should have. The doctors ran more tests and the results seemed to take the life right out of Clarice. Sometimes Tuck wondered if it took his, too.
He’d spent so much of his life alone that when he married Clarice, it seemed he’d gained new life, new hope for a future with someone at his side. So quickly, it had all turned dark and dim. A heavy cloud settled