Gail pulled up around a corner by a derelict house, wondering if she had gotten the address wrong. She got out of her car and made her way up the path leading to the front door, knowing this must be the right place and a strange feeling came over her when she reached for the doorbell. Gail she stopped for a moment, choosing to survey her surroundings before making her presence known, then started heading around to the back of the property.
Gail was curious to a fault and she was fully aware of this. She had been brought up to know the difference between right and wrong, there were no grey areas in her understanding and she would never pretend that there were. She understood it was good to wait patiently to be invited into a property and it was bad to snoop around when no-one was looking; however, she just didn't care. Gail was curious, she didn't hide that fact and if you were someone of interest to her she would go the extra mile to ensure there were no dark secrets which could hurt her or the people she cared for.
This person was of no importance to her, she was just a tiny thread in a bigger investigation that Gail couldn't let go. She had allowed Caleb to tackle this his way and now it was her turn, she was happy he had chosen a more honest approach even if he had to embellish a little to get what he wanted; however, she was not so patient this late in the game, she had sacrificed her advantage to Caleb and now she just needed to get answers quickly then move on to wherever the next thread took her.
As Gail entered the back garden, she laughed at the lack of security in Trinity. If this was Charleston, there would be camera's everywhere and it would be difficult for her to do what she was doing now; however, this was the naively trusting Trinity and there were no security measures at all here to prevent her from entering this woman's private space.
Gail reached for the backdoor handle and shook her head when she discovered it was unlocked. 'Rookie mistake' she whispered to herself and went to step in the house, then stopped when her darkness spiked and she glanced curiously over her shoulder. An old small outhouse stood at the far end of the garden and a smile crossed over her face.
'I wonder' Gail pondered to herself, turning around and walking through the tall weeds in the garden. Small nettles stung her ankles and the hot sun burned her skin, causing sweat to pour down her forehead; however, she was unfazed and kept on her current path.
A panicked voice then sobbing came from the slightly ajar door of the outhouse and Gail dropped her barrier, allowing her darkness to flow through her veins. What she was doing right now was stupid, but she was no ordinary person and she was more than capable of defending herself should this go sideways.
As she peered through the door and stared into the darkness, she saw two figures clinging onto each other and she forced her barrier back up, taking control of her darkness and pushing it away. 'What in God's name is going on?' Gail asked unimpressed and confused by what she had discovered, then entered the outhouse and closed the door behind her.
Lucas pulled up in front of the derelict house with Caleb in his front passenger seat and turned off the engine. 'You sure this is where your investigation has led you Son?' he asked curiously.
'Ain't this where your investigation's led too?' Caleb threw back and smiled when his Father nodded his head proudly.
'Just wanted to make sure I didn't give anythin' away, you've done well to follow your own instincts and come to me when the time was right' Lucas advised, knowing the head start at the Library had given the boy all he needed to piece a few things together and he decided to wait until Caleb inevitably came to him when the time came to act.
'I shoulda told Mom what I found-' Caleb started, feeling bad that Gail was the last one to work this all out.
'Don't be a baby' Lucas interrupted, not allowing any child of his to go down the remorseful route. 'Gail would be the first to scold you for spoon feeding her information Son, certain people need to get there themselves'
Caleb nodded his understanding, knowing his Father was right and followed him obediently when he got out of the car.
'Now, you let me do the talkin' here understand? There'll be no disobeyin' and no interferin', we may have been playin' earlier but this is a real crime' Lucas warned, taking on his responsibility as Sheriff very seriously.
Caleb stood silently behind his Father at the front door, not daring to step out of line; however, something was wrong and his Father wasn't knocking or ringing the doorbell.
Lucas closed his eyes and shook his head in exasperation, before storming around the house to the back garden. Caleb followed quickly behind and his mouth dropped open when he saw Mrs Connor, Mrs Denton and Gail sat around a small table holding a glass of wine each. 'You've gotta be kiddin' me with this' Lucas said quietly in exasperation, unable to hide his anger at his Wife's current position.
'Uh oh, the fun police have arrived' Mrs Denton said sarcastically and held her hands up in mock surrender.
Caleb's mouth dropped open at the sight of his Teacher behaving in such a non professional manner, and he stared at his Father when he sensed his rage brewing.
'Oh I assure you my Husband is plenty fun, he's just a little strict when it comes to certain rules' Gail advised, shooting Lucas a playful wink when she also sensed his rage rising.
Lucas felt all eyes on him and he gave himself a mental shake, then forced his most charming smile. 'Mrs Connor I'm Sheriff Buck, may we have a word over here?' he asked, the order in the question being clear from his tone.
'Here's just fine Sheriff, we're all friends around here' Mrs Denton responded for her, grabbing Mrs Connor's hand when she started to stand up obediently.
'We are?' Caleb asked Gail.
Gail looked at the desperation in the two women's eyes and sighed. 'Apparently we are' she agreed, taking a sip of her wine when both women let out a relieved sigh.
Lucas couldn't take his eyes off of his Wife and he stood patiently, refusing to repeat his order.
'Caleb, could you come keep my seat warm please? I need to have a word with your Father' Gail asked sweetly and held out her hand to him expectantly.
'Warm? It's like 40 degrees!' Caleb laughed, excited at being included in this strange gathering and rushed to help his Mother up.
'Thank you sweetie, this won't take long. Ladies, best behaviour with him' Gail ordered, rolling her eyes when both women looked offended by her insinuation, then approached her Husband cautiously.
'You're not the one I'm here for Gail' Lucas said sternly when she stood between him and the other women.
'And yet I'm the one you're getting Soulmate...Come one, we really need to talk' Gail advised, stroking her hand up his chest affectionately and staring deep into his eyes, willing him to sense that she wasn't purposely making this situation difficult for him.
Lucas sensed she was genuine and forced his rage back down. 'This better be good Love' he warned and allowed her to lead him to the outhouse at the back of the garden.
Caleb sat moodily in the front passenger seat of his Father's car, staring out the window in silence. After all the hard work he had put in, his parents had ruled his theory out and his Father had in fact arrested Mrs Connor's Husband for the crime.
'There comes a time when you need to grow up Son, not everythin' is so black and white-' Lucas started, unable to deal with the moody silence any longer.
'-I wanna ride with Mom!' Caleb snapped, then gripped the dashboard tight when the car came to a sudden unexpected halt.
Lucas slammed his foot on the brakes and the front passenger side door opened on it's own at his unspoked instruction. 'I've had about enough of demands bein' made to me today. Go on then, get out' he ordered sternly, trying to keep his composure. Caleb wasn't the only one unhappy with how this had played out, but he wasn't about to get into that with the boy right now.
Caleb got out of the car and slammed the door hard, shaking his head when his Father just sped away. A minute later bright lights were on him and the blood red Mustang pulled up a few yards behind him.
Gail watched confused as Caleb jumped in her car and crossed his arms moodily over his chest. 'I gather you're as happy as your Father is right now?' she laughed in frustration, then put her foot on the accelerator and continued the drive home.
'Cal, look what I made!' Luke exclaimed happily, trying to get his Brothers attention to see his dinosaur.
'You didn't make it, you just painted it. That's nothin'' Caleb said uninterested, ignoring the sadness which now came over his Brother and taking his mood out of his sibling.
Gail Jr reached over the Luke and squeezed his hand lovingly, smiling when he showed her his creation.
'It ain't his creation-' Caleb started again.
'-One more word, I dare you' Gail warned seriously not taking her eyes off of the road and not accepting this behaviour.
Caleb stared at her defiantly for a moment, then chose to remain silent and stare out into the darkness.
Gail smiled reassuringly at her children in the back seat and pressed her foot harder on the accelerator, not wanting them to be in the car with Caleb any longer than they had to be. When she pulled up beside Lucas' car, she handed her youngest children to Abe who had thankfully come outside to get away from Lucas' mood and she opened Caleb's door. 'Come on, we're going to the porch' she ordered, sighing when he dragged his heels getting out and he didn't bother waiting for her to lock up the car before walking away.
Gail took in a deep breath, reminding herself that he was just a teenager; however, when she saw Lucas sat angrily on the porch too, she couldn't keep her composure any longer. 'You two are acting like a bunch of spoilt children and I can't be bothered with this!' she snapped, deciding to just leave them to it and go see her appreciative children.
Lucas grabbed her wrist roughly when she started to walk past him and pulled her down effortlessly to the seat beside him. 'You've had us both runnin' around for two days on a wild goose chase, you at least owe him an explanation. The truth' he ordered sternly, willing her to challenge him with the current mood she had put him in.
'Just me?' Caleb asked his Father confused.
'Oh I won't accept an explanation Son, she knows she'll be payin' for this with me later' Lucas responded, grinning devilishly at Gail then getting up and leaving her alone to fix her mess.
Gail closed her eyes at the thought of what creative punishment he may have in store for her later and gave off a small shiver.
'Will it be bad?' Caleb asked her quietly.
'Worth than bad' Gail laughed nervously, then remembered who she was talking to and gave him a reassuring smile. 'We love each other Caleb...he's not going to have an extensive affair, I'm not going to kill him and store his body in his mistresses freezer as a reminder of her bad choice like some other person we know' she said sarcastically.
Caleb's eyes grew wide at the revelation and he stared at Gail in shock. 'Mrs Connor killed him-' he started in protest.
'-No, Mrs Denton had a temporary case of insanity and snapped, they both stored the body where they thought no one would find him. He was a cheater, a drunk and he had some other appalling characteristics...the women panicked after it happened' Gail corrected him, Caleb had been on to something but he lacked experience to put the pieces together fully.
Caleb's mind was racing, what a strange yet intriguing side of his Teacher. 'Why did you arrest Mrs Connor's Husband and not them?' he asked, taking advantage of her honesty.
'I didn't' Gail smiled sweetly.
Caleb thought for a moment, then rolled his eyes. 'Why did Dad arrest Mrs Connor's Husband' he asked the right question this time.
Gail let out a small laugh at his persistence, he was relentless just like his Father. 'Do you really need to know?' she sighed, just wanting to forget about this as soon as possible.
'Why?' he repeated flatly.
'Mr Connor is physically and mentally abusive, he beat Mrs Connor so bad last month that she ended up in hospital. She decided then that she couldn't stand it anymore and she had Mr Denton to fall back on' Gail explained.
'So they dumped him in the road so they could frame Mr Connor?' Caleb asked rhetorically, impressed by their plan.
Gail bit her bottom lip and remained silent, allowing Caleb to come to his own conclusion; however, when his eyes fell on her expectantly she couldn't look at him.
'That's right isn't it Gail?' Caleb asked suspiciously, sensing she was still hiding something.
Gail closed her eyes and put her head in her hands, Lucas had ordered her to tell the truth and she didn't dare disobey him after what he had done for her without question or hesitation. 'Not exactly' she said finally, not proud of herself for what she was about to admit. 'They made a deal'
'With Dad?' he asked confused, 'But I was with him all aftern-'
'With me Caleb!' Gail snapped, before he could go on. 'Mrs Denton isn't stupid and it appears word gets around to certain circles of women in this Town, unbeknown to me. Mrs Connor just wanted it to end, she dumped the body subconsciously knowing a trail would lead back to her and if she was arrested she would be locked away from her abusive Husband, finally free from him. Mrs Denton was trying to talk her out of it, find a way to explain all this away and I happened upon them before you two showed up. Mrs Denton has a friend that I helped previously and she demanded to make a deal with me...I couldn't refuse Caleb, there's other forces at play and that's not how it works'
'So you framed him?' Caleb asked disapprovingly.
Gail just shrugged, the deal would get Joshua off of her back about adhering to her deal with the powers that be and Mr Connor was an easy sell, plus it's one less abuser on the streets. At least she could relax knowing there's no dangerous murderer on the streets, just two women who made a mistake. 'Stop looking at me like that, I never said I was perfect' she said defensively, unable to take the disappointment in his eyes.
Caleb didn't know what to say, he had accepted her bad acts when her darkness was in control as he knew that struggle all too well. When she was herself she was better than any Buck and she was the children's rock to keep them good; however, this decision appeared to have been made with sound mind.
'It was, have no doubt about that' Gail advised honestly, not making any excuses for herself.
Caleb tried to shake off his disappointment; however, he couldn't. He could see tears starting to form in her eyes, not because of what she had done but what he now thought of her and he wished he could reassure her that nothing had changed with them.
'But it has' Gail interrupted his unspoken thought, then turned away from him. 'Go on in, it's late and you're tired'
'What about you?' he asked, not wanting to leave it like this but not knowing how to fix it either.
'Go Caleb, I'm going to get some air for a while' Gail forced a reassuring tone, then walked deep into the dark garden where she saw her trusted companion Gideon lurking and followed the dog to the back of the property where she wouldn't be judged.
-The End-