Out of the Depths Read online

  “Okay.” She pulled her hand free, got to her feet and peered out the window. “It’s still raining. Looks like that terrible wind has eased, though, so we can probably quit worrying about getting hit by falling limbs. It’s safe enough to drive you on home. Let’s go.”

  Cody’s conscience was doing backflips. If he voiced his apprehension about boating, he’d have to admit to the possibility it might never go away. Plus, he’d have to continue to face Trudy Lynn, an extraordinary woman who was as fearless as any man he’d ever met. That notion didn’t set well in his already churning gut.

  Mulling over his predicament, it occurred to Cody that he cared too much what his hostess thought of him. Way too much. In the space of a few days, staying in her good graces and ensuring her welfare had become the most important goals in his life. It was nice to know he could accomplish that by relying on his brain, even if his knee never healed properly. And he wouldn’t starve. His investments would see to that. So why was he so downhearted?

  Because I never appreciated what I had before, he decided. And now there was no way to reclaim it.

  Watching Trudy Lynn lead the way to her truck, he paused on the porch and began to smile. It might be too late to be grateful for his past but it wasn’t too late to give thanks for the present. For being here. For being dragged into the intrigue surrounding his hostess.

  Cody was grateful. Sincerely so. Yet his heart held back from actually acknowledging the benevolent influence of a higher power. Although the idea of a universal God did make sense, he still doubted any deity cared for him personally or noticed if he stumbled. That premise was okay for women and children. It was too far-fetched for him.

  Trudy Lynn had dropped Cody in front of his cabin, then returned to the main lodge to transmit her grocery order by phone to the computer at the warehouse which supplied her store. She’d just finished when Will thumped up the steps in his rubber boots and flung open the door. He was dripping rainwater and panting.

  His demeanor was enough to alert her. “What’s wrong? More vandalism? Surely not on a Sunday.”

  “No, ma’am.” The old man mopped his wet face with his hands. “It’s worse.”

  “What could be worse?”

  “Plenty. We’re missin’ a canoe.”

  “That’s not too unusual after a storm like the one we just had. The rain probably floated it off. Don’t get yourself in a tizzy. I’m sure it didn’t go far.”

  “This one did,” Will said, still breathless. “Jim took it. Farley saw him push off and head downriver, right as the rain was commencin’.”

  “Then we’ll pick him up at one of the landings as soon as he calls. If he doesn’t phone before I leave for services tonight, wait till I get back. I want to be the one who goes and gets him.”

  “You ain’t thinkin’ of goin’ by yourself, are ya?”

  She hadn’t given it a lot of thought. “Why not?”

  “I don’t like it,” Will said, scowling. “That boy ain’t been actin’ right for months. Mark my words, he’s up to something. I wouldn’t trust him no farther than I could throw him. Maybe not that far.”

  “If you were so worried, why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because he’s your kin.”

  “The only thing Jim and I have in common is our ancestors and I’m about ready to disown him. What, exactly, has he done to make you suspicious?”

  “Sneakin’ around for one thing. Seems like he’s always turning up. For a while there I thought he was spyin’ on me, checkin’ to see if I was workin’ hard enough.”

  “What else?”

  “Those friends of his. Bunch of no-goods if I ever seen ’em. Always hangin’ around and moochin’ free rides. If I had a nickel for every time he let one of his buddies take a canoe without payin’, I’d be a rich man.”

  “Didn’t you say something to him about it?”

  “Sure did,” Will told her with pride. “I took him aside and gave him what for.”

  “And?” Trudy Lynn was beginning to think Will would never finish his story to her satisfaction.

  “And, he cussed at me. Said you gave him permission. If I’d of run to you about it after that, I’d of sounded as spoiled as he is. It’s none of my business if you want to let him treat his friends.”

  “Only I never said he could.” The more she probed, the worse Jim’s sins got. What else was waiting to be uncovered?

  Will looked apologetic. “I’m terribly sorry, Miz Brown. I shoulda known.”

  “Don’t worry about it. You’re not the only one who was fooled. Is that all Jim did?”

  “All that I know of. ’Course, that don’t mean there ain’t more. What’re you goin’ to do? Wait him out?”

  “For now.” She nodded, thoughtful. “If we don’t hear from him by nightfall, we’ll call the sheriff and report the canoe stolen.”

  “Jim’ll be fit to be tied.”

  “Good. He needs shaking up. I wouldn’t be doing him any favors if I let him get away with this.”

  The truth of that statement entered her subconscious and began to bounce around as Widget’s favorite tennis ball had done the time it had accidentally ended up in the clothes dryer. Maybe Jim did need to be forced to face his misdeeds and right them—before she granted him forgiveness. There was a lot to be said for standing up and taking your medicine, even if it was hard to swallow.

  Like Cody needs to do, she thought. Jim wasn’t the only one who should be made to face facts. In a way, Cody’s task was more difficult. His problems had resulted from an accident, while the origin of Jim’s was his own missteps.

  Which is probably why Cody blames God, Trudy Lynn mused. That wasn’t as terrible as she’d first imagined. In his misplaced anger he was at least acknowledging a basic belief in the Lord. That was a start. She knew she couldn’t argue him into a renewal of his faith, though the urge to try was strong. Too bad Christianity wasn’t catching like the common cold or genetic like his light-colored hair.

  Will was still standing by, waiting for orders, when her thoughts returned to the problem at hand. Wherever her cousin was, chances were good he was okay. The storm had arisen fairly suddenly but Jim was a native of Arkansas so he knew how severe the weather could get. Surely, he’d have beached the canoe and waited it out when the heaviest rain had begun. He’d have had to. Seeing where he was going and piloting the boat in the midst of such a deluge would have been impossible.

  “Okay, Will,” she said. “I’ll stay close to the phones in case Jim calls. You go ask Farley if he mentioned anything that may give us a clue to where he was headed.”

  “Yes, ma’am. You want me to tell Mr. Cody what’s goin’ on, too?”

  The old man’s keen perception amused and embarrassed her. “Yes. You can tell Cody. He’s going to be helping me in the office for a while so he should be kept informed about camp business.”

  “You fire ol’ Jim?”

  “Not yet,” Trudy Lynn said, “but I’m going to.”

  “What’ll his grandma Earlene say?”

  “I doubt she’ll be too surprised. She’s had eighteen years of watching after him while his mama worked.” Trudy Lynn began to smile. “I don’t suppose you’d like to drop by Earlene’s place and tell her for me, would you?”

  “Who? Me?”

  To her delight, the old man’s face reddened. “Yes, you. Word around town is, you’ve been goin’ to church with her on the Sunday evenings you don’t have to work.”

  “I mighta gone a few times.”

  “Uh-huh. Well, as soon as I can get things squared away here, you’ll have every Sunday off. Tell Earlene that for me when you see her, too.”

  “I didn’t say I was goin’.”

  “You’re going. Consider it an order. I’d rather have you break it to her about Jim than have to do it myself.”

  “In that case, I think you’d best pass the word to Mr. Cody.” Will began to grin. “If I have to run into town and break the bad news to Earlene, it could t
ake me hours, by the time I get her settled down and all.”

  Laughing softly, Trudy Lynn assented. “I suppose that’s fair. I’ll go tell Cody and you go tell Earlene.” Pausing, she shook her head. “But don’t think I’m not wise to you, old man. You can pretend you’re not interested in her all you want. You don’t fool me one bit.”

  Will was chuckling when he answered, “You don’t fool me, either, missy.”

  If Cody was surprised by Trudy Lynn’s visit he didn’t show it. He joined her on the porch and dried the pressed-metal chairs with a towel before offering her one. That show of hospitality didn’t impress her nearly as much as the fact he was getting around nicely with the aid of a cane he’d borrowed from Will.

  “Jim’s gone,” she said, sinking into the closest chair with a sigh. The cool dampness felt good.

  Cody lowered himself into the other chair. “I figured he’d run. So, what now?”

  “We wait. Since he stole a canoe instead of taking the ATV, his trail will be easy to follow. Even if he decides to beach the boat downriver and take off on foot his options are limited. When he gets tired of hanging out in the woods with the ticks and chiggers he’ll come back. I know Jim. He won’t rough it for long. He’s spoiled rotten.”

  “We have ticks in northern California,” Cody said. “Tell me what a chigger looks like so I can avoid them, too. I’ve heard they really make you itch.”

  Trudy Lynn gave him a lopsided smile. “Oh, yeah. If you ever find one big enough to see, I’d like to take a peek, too. The first inkling you’ll have that you’ve been bitten is a little red spot, usually somewhere near your ankles. I put home remedies on my chigger bites, not that anything works very well. You kind of have to tough it out till the itching finally stops.”

  “How long does that take?”

  “Well,” she drawled, smile spreading, “I’m usually through scratching my summer bites by Christmas.”

  “No wonder Sailor’s been acting uncomfortable. We forgot to buy him a flea collar.”

  “Or two. I left Widget home so he wouldn’t traumatize your gentle giant again. Where is he, anyway?”

  “Inside. Sleeping,” Cody said. “I’ve been thinking.”

  “That’s a good sign.”

  “Be serious and let me finish, will you?”

  “Sorry.” She made a comical face to show she was far from being intimidated.

  “Did Widget like Jim?”

  “Not particularly,” Trudy Lynn said.

  “I wish Sailor had met him.”

  “Why? Is he out of tasty snacks or chew toys?”

  Cody gave a wry chuckle. “No. But he is intuitive, especially about people he doesn’t already know. I’ve seen it before. He’s the best judge of character I’ve ever met.”

  “And he loved me the minute he saw me!”

  “You were covered in gravy at the time. That’s hardly a fair test.”

  “True. He did seem to like me after that, too, didn’t he?”

  “Yes.” Cody blessed her with a grin. “He liked you. I told you he was a great judge of character.”

  Her cheeks grew rosy. “Thanks. Widget told me he liked you, too.” It pleased her when that far-fetched comment made Cody laugh.

  “So,” he said a moment later, “what’s Plan B? Are you going to call the cops on Jim or let him off?”

  “I’m not going to let him get away with stealing, if that’s what you mean. It isn’t just me he cheated, it’s my employees. Too bad none of them questioned their wages.”

  “Maybe they did and Jim gave them some lame excuse.”

  Trudy Lynn had already considered that probability. When all this was over and things were back to normal, she intended to give as many raises as her budget would allow, even if it meant no new equipment for several seasons.

  She nodded in agreement. “That’s entirely possible. I don’t want to discuss it with the kids until I know for sure how much damage has been done, but I may tell Will. He’ll understand.”

  “Because he’s been on both sides of the law?”

  “Of course not!” Trudy Lynn stared at Cody as if he’d just delivered a personal insult. “Will’s my friend. I trust him, even if you don’t.”

  “I’m sorry if I offended you,” Cody said evenly. “You asked for my help solving your mystery and I’ve been doing my best to give it. If you’d rather deal with fairy tales than hear the truth, I’ll stop.”

  “I didn’t mean that.”

  “Then what did you mean?”

  Good question. She sighed. Everything was getting too complicated. Not only had she been disappointed to learn negative aspects regarding people close to her, she was having to come to grips with her own vacillating point of view on a minute-by-minute basis. Was she or wasn’t she interested in developing a personal relationship with Cody Keringhoven? And if she was, how did he feel about it? Given the severity of her other tribulations, that should have been the least of her worries, yet she couldn’t help constantly wondering.

  Clearly, Cody was waiting for an answer. “I don’t know what I meant,” Trudy Lynn said. “This whole business has me so bumfuzzled—confused—I don’t even make sense to myself. And believe me, I’ve been talking myself silly.”

  “I don’t doubt that.”

  It was a relief to see his good humor returning, even though she was once again the focus of his taunt. “I do not talk too much.”

  “Oh?” He glanced at his watch. “I’ve been timing you. The longest you can go without having to say something is about twenty seconds.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Is it? Try keeping still.”

  The man was exasperating. Did he really expect her to believe she couldn’t stop talking, any time she wanted, for as long as she wanted? Of course she could. She pressed her lips together and waited. And waited. Finally, her patience was at an end.

  “All right. How was that? Can I talk now?”

  Cody was laughing. “Nineteen seconds. You just proved my point.”

  Waving her hands like a demented butterfly caught in a whirlwind, she got to her feet and faced him. “Oh, who cares? I’m going to go back to the office and see if Jim has called from one of the landings downriver. If he hasn’t, I’m going to drive the usual route and check each one. Do you want to come along or are you afraid to be cooped up in a truck with somebody who chatters like I do?”

  “I think I can stand it,” Cody said. “Give me a few minutes to be sure Sailor’s going to be all right while I’m gone.”

  “Fine. I’ll be right back.”

  Hurrying away, Trudy Lynn was struck by the fact she was suddenly so elated she wanted to jump for joy. Her life was falling apart, her business might go down the tubes, she still hadn’t figured out who was trying to ruin her new canoes, and her cousin had absconded after embezzling who-knows-how-much from her accounts, yet she was ecstatic to the point of being giddy.

  There could be only one reason for that, she admitted ruefully. Like it or not, her spirits were up because she and Cody were about to spend more time together.

  TEN

  Cody could have predicted they wouldn’t find any trace of Jim no matter how many landings and byways they searched. Night was fast approaching when Trudy Lynn voiced the same conclusion. “I guess we should give up and go home.”

  “Guess so.” Cody tried to sound supportive. “You’ve done all you can. It’s probably time to involve the law.”

  “I know.” She sighed heavily. “I kept hoping. We’ll stop at the sheriff’s office when we go through Serenity. I’d rather talk to him in person than by phone.”

  “On Sunday night?”

  She blinked rapidly and peered at the digital clock on her dash. “Oh, no. We’ve missed church. I was so involved in looking for Jim I let the time slip by.”

  “That’s okay. Why don’t we stop at Becky and Logan’s and tell them what’s been going on? I’d like to see how she’s feeling, anyway. Do you think they’d
be home by now?”

  “Undoubtedly, even if they stopped for ice cream. Evening services don’t last all that long.”

  Cody’s stomach growled. “Ice cream? Sounds good. I didn’t eat lunch.”

  “You mean, dinner. Around here, dinner is served right after church, around noon. Supper is the late meal.”

  “No lunch?”

  “Nope.”

  “How—Southern.” He’d been going to say something less genteel but changed his mind. After the way his hostess had bristled when he’d reminded her of Will’s prison record, he’d decided to choose his words more carefully in future conversations. Judging by her amiable reaction to his latest efforts to subdue his candor, he’d succeeded.

  Turning slightly to stretch his stiff knee, Cody draped his left arm across the back of the seat between them and studied Trudy Lynn’s profile as she drove. It was amazing how her freshness and natural beauty remained so compelling despite the trying day she’d had.

  The driver’s side window was partially open and the wind was lifting wisps of her long, silky hair. It feathered against his forearm like butterfly wings. He knew he should move away. And he would. He just didn’t see any rush.

  Trudy Lynn shot him a bemused glance. “What?”

  “Ice cream,” Cody said, seizing on the first excuse that came to mind. “I’ll buy. I’m starving.”

  “I thought you wanted to go see your sister.”

  “Let her get her own ice cream,” he joked. “I never treat more than one pretty lady at a time.” The glib words were out of his mouth before he fully realized what he’d said. There was no hope that Trudy Lynn had missed the inference. Her cheeks were flaming. Anything he said now would only make matters worse.

  Hunkering down in the seat and facing forward, arms folded across his chest, Cody used the remaining miles to try to figure out how he’d turned into such a blithering idiot in just a short few days.

  Trudy Lynn left Cody talking with Logan and followed Becky into the kitchen. “How are you feeling?” she asked.