Unwelcome

"Including this house."

"Yeah."

"Shit. They'll probably tear the hell out of it and I just got the damn place put back together. In fact they aren't even done."

"Well we know the front part of the house isn't hiding anything because they burned that."

"I'd make a lousy cop because I'm losing my patience with this crap."

"I can understand that. But anyway, I like what you came up with and I'll pass that along, but I'll have to take the credit for it. They don't need to know that we talk."

"I see your point. Hell I don't care who gets credit for what, so whatever is easiest for you."

"Great. Oh, and Detective Unger isn't going to be of any help."

"That's okay, I figured out what I wanted to know without his help."

"Well I better keep moving. Thanks for the tea and conversation."

"Thanks for being there for us Buddy."

Chapter Nineteen

Again things settled down until Friday morning. The furniture was delivered and everything for the loft was put off to one side so it wouldn't be in the way of Collin's crew. Then the movers delivered Ellie's living room furniture, and that was followed by Angie Kalin from WBIR and her camera man. I intercepted them in the driveway and smiling Angie said, "I wanted to ask you again if we could video the area where the bodies were found."

"I can't understand what good that would be to you now."

"There's a chance that we'll do an extended piece on the unsolved murders and we're just gathering as much footage as we can that might relate to the story we're telling. We may never use it, but this way we'll be prepared."

I hesitated, which just encouraged her, so I finally said, "Okay, I'll make you a deal Angie. Ready to do some good old bartering?"

"Try me Ben."

"I bought this place to upgrade and resell at a profit. That was my only motive. Buy a foreclosed property that had a couple of lingering memories and then sell it later after things about this farm are settled down and forgotten. Well in the meantime, I've developed an attachment of sorts to this place and have...let's say I've gone off the deep end." I turned to the camera man and said, "You shoot all you want down the side of the barn and be sure you get that whole stretch between the dug up area and the shed at the far end of the barn. That footage just might have some meaning to you one day soon. Now Angie, while he's doing that, I want to show you something where cameras are forbidden for now. This will play a part in what I demand in exchange for letting your cameras all over the place. Deal, or does the cameraman stay here?"

"Show me your cards Ben and then we'll decide," and she smiled. I led her to the barn, in through the small door and up the stairs and then stopped as she looked around.

I pointed to the left and told her about the bathroom that was well on its way to completion. Then the custom bar that was under construction and of course the furniture waiting to be assigned its position. Then she saw Ellie's panties and bra and smiled again. "I'm going to guess there is a story there, but I won't ask."

It was my turn to smile and said, "That represents a developing story right along with that throne. Oh, and don't look too close at the scepter or you might be embarrassed."

"Now that was a blatant attempt to bait and tease me and you succeeded," and she walked across the loft. She was within five feet of it before she stopped and paused before she came back to me still smiling. "Again, my curiosity is killing me, but I'm not going to ask. So how is this to be part of our barter?"

"I want you to come back here and do a follow up piece when it's finished and fully decorated. Feel free to avoid the rafters however. You see, though I can't prove a thing, I believe there is a connection of sorts between this loft and the murderer."

"You're making this up."

"No I'm not. Once this mess is settled I'll share what I believe happened and we'll see just how close I was."

"Okay, so I can guess the reason for you wanting us to show this barn, but tell me anyway."

"I'll want to sell it by spring most likely, and some footage of the whole place can't do anything but help me with my goals."

"Marketing."

"You got it Angie."

"Ben, all I can tell you is I want to do that, but I can't promise because those decisions aren't mine to make. I have influence of course so I can push, but I can't promise."

"Okay, I'll settle for that. Do your best is good enough for me." Then I looked up at the shining hooks and asked her, "You wouldn't want to contribute would you?"

She looked at me and then up at the rafters and hesitated just long enough to tease me before she said, "I don't think so. I go on the air in a couple of hours and sagging boobs just wouldn't do, but thanks for the thought."

"Too bad, I could put you right in the center of the first row."

"You should be in sales. Thanks Ben, I'll send Barry the cameraman around to do this thing."

"Nice doing business with you Angie."

She pointed up without looking and asked, "Your wife's?"

"Girlfriend. I'm pushing her for more donations."

"You must be a gas to live with."

"I hope I'm not too crass."

At least she smiled as she said, "Well you certainly wouldn't be boring," and she led the way down the stairs and outside where she stopped and looked back at the barn. "So you're convinced this barn played a part in the murder."

"And the murderer. How much of that connection you'd be able to sanitize and air I don't know, but the connection is there just the same."

"Oh, now that was a nice clue. I have to sanitize it. Interesting."

"I talk too much," and I pushed her ahead of me for a couple of feet.

The videotaping was accomplished, and then with a very nice smile she got in the van and as they drove off, they left me to wonder if I'd ever get my free advertising.

Chapter Twenty

I went back to Hendersonville Sunday evening and stayed through until late Friday afternoon. I put in twelve and fourteen hour days to get caught up and then got ahead as much as I could. Hugh had been amazingly understanding and tolerant, but I couldn't keep taking advantage of his gentle ways.

I talked to Ellie every night and we were handling the separation reasonably well, but neither of us liked it. Collin's work was nearing completion and the party was less than two weeks away, and life for Ellie and me were settling down. That is until three o'clock Friday morning when she called me. "Ben I need you. I just shot somebody."

"Say that again," and I sat up in bed, now fully awake.

"I heard a noise so I was awake, but then the backdoor rattled. Not enough to set off the alarm, but it was loud enough to scare me to death. I grabbed your pistol and went to the kitchen and..."

"Oh god Ellie you shouldn't have."

"Well I did, and then he really yanked on the door or something, I'm not sure, but I just shot and then shot again and I heard him make a noise. There were two holes in the door where he had to be, so I'm sure I hit him. I called nine one one, but then I called you."

"Stay away from that door Ellie and as soon as the police arrive, put the gun on the table where they can see you so they don't shoot you by mistake. I'm on my way."

"Be careful, but hurry."

"Call me back as soon as you can and tell me you're still okay."

"I will. I love you Ben."

"I love you too Ellie, and everything will be okay."

I managed to get dressed and on the road, and called Hugh at home with the news. "Shit Ben, this has to be it. This has to be the climax of your nightmare."

"It has to be or I'm going to convince Ellie to come up here to live. I love being on that farm but I can't take any more of this. I'll keep you posted."

"Do that."

"I'll do my best." Then I focused on the road as my headlights struggled to cut through the inky blackness ahead of me.

By the time I reached the farm, things had settled down slightly, but my headlights lit up one vehicle from the sheriff's office that remained, and two people were standing nearby talking. I abandoned my car in the middle of the driveway and jumped out and that's when I saw Buddy. "Ellie is inside Ben and she's okay. Go on in and I'll join you in a minute."

I found Ellie sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in her hands. As soon as she saw me, she spilled her coffee as she half dropped her cup and we met about halfway to the backdoor. It wasn't okay for her and I knew it, but I told her, "It's over and it's okay honey." She held on to me and cried softly and I just slowly rubbed her back and kept her the side of her face tucked up against my chest. I waited another minute and then without even knowing the facts I told her, "You did the right thing Ellie."

"I know I did, but I was so frightened."

"Who was it, did we know him?"

"I still don't know. The ambulance came and then not much later it left and a detective talked to me for several minutes. Ever since then they've been out there taking pictures, talking and measuring or whatever they were doing. We have fingerprint dust on the backdoor and...I don't know, I guess I've just been sitting here waiting for you."

"Buddy is out there and said he'd be in pretty soon. Was he here earlier?"

"If he was I didn't see him."

I put my hands on the sides of her face and looked into her eyes as I told her, "I love you and I'm so damn proud of you."

"I still can't sort out how I feel about what I did."

"Did you know what the intruder had in mind to do?"

"Of course not."

"Did you feel that you would be totally safe?"

"That's why I shot at him, because I was frightened for my life."

"There you go then. It really is as straightforward as that honey. You defended yourself."

I was still holding Ellie when Buddy tapped at the door and then stepped in. "You two okay?"

"We will be Buddy. Damn I'm glad to see you here."

"Thanks. Wayne, a friend of mine, called me about thirty minutes after the shooting so I got dressed and raced over here. If you're up to it I'll give you all that I know."

"Sit down and I'll get you a cup of coffee."

Before Buddy could move, Ellie gave him a firm hug and kissed his cheek before she told him, "You have no idea how good it is to have you here right now."

"I'm glad Wayne called me." We all sat down and Ellie and I ignored our coffee as Buddy said, "I guess you know who and why by now."

I put my hand on Ellie's arm and said, "We don't know anything."

"Okay, no holding back this time. The man at your door was Ennis, our illustrious sheriff." Neither Ellie nor I was shocked by the information, so Buddy smiled and said, "I was pretty sure you had that figured out. He was so sure that nobody was home, and Ellie, had you not fired when you did, I have no doubt he would have kicked in the door and come in."

"Will he live?" Ellie asked him.

"There's a very good chance he will. One bullet went through his thigh and the other through his midsection, and though a very serious wound, it's most likely not life threatening. Now let me tell you everything from the start." He tasted his coffee and then said, "As you know, your relatives Thomas and Irene, were murdered. Blunt force trauma was the method and it is the opinion of the detectives that it wasn't planned in advance. Bits and scraps were found buried with the bodies that took forensics quite some time to salvage. It was like a half decayed paper puzzle. Very soggy and fragile. The murder probably evolved from an argument over drugs, but that's just a guess. Let me get into that for a second before I get too far.

Ben, the scenario that you laid out for me was pretty close. So called friends would arrive for a party, and I believe they really did party, but that's not important now. They left drugs or picked it up, money changed hands and then, though we don't know the details at this point, it's almost certain that the drugs were distributed from here. In bundles or how we aren't certain, though what the state police dug up leads us to believe it left here in bulk packages. A wholesale operation of a sort. Sorry Ben, but that's what Thomas and Irene did."

"They don't mean anything to me, so as far as I'm concerned they received a just punishment."

"Now where Ennis comes into the picture is this. Our victims bought him. He became a partner by seeing to it that they weren't bothered. We suspect he was well paid for his services too.

Buddy took a good drink of coffee and then as he put his cup down he leaned back and said, "Okay so let's see. Ellie, this gets a little..."

"We figured it out Buddy so you can say it."

"Well we found evidence that gave us an idea of what kind of parties there might have been in the barn. It's our theory that Irene was into bondage, and once Ennis had her restrained that fateful day, he somehow either caught Thomas off guard or got him into restraints as well. Then it was just a matter of dispatching them with something like a two by four or some similar crude instrument, several of which were buried with the bodies. Other scenarios are possible, but the basics would still be the same."

Buddy crossed his right leg over his left and shifted a little and then added, "So then he had to bury the bodies. That brings the farm equipment into play. For example, the tractor with the front loader that Noah has in his barn. Like so many in this part of the country, I think Ennis had a lot of experience with farming as a boy, so it was no challenge for him to dig that long hole and dispose of the bodies and all of the items we found. Then it was just a matter of covering them and then planting those trees on top of that site. It was probably weeks before anybody realized the standoffish residents were missing, and by then of course, the burial site had become just part of the farm."

Ellie had been all but staring at Buddy, but then she asked him, "So why was he going to break into the house?"

"Our version is he's convinced there are more drugs here and he was determined to find them and sell them. He had become quite used to having a lot of money coming in."

"Can there be more drugs?"

"Anything is possible Ellie, but now it turns out that it's doubtful. The investigation continues of course, and they may be out here to give it another shot, but most of us think that Ennis was letting greed fog his thinking. Of course I still don't know how they knew about those buried drugs they found in the shed. There are parts of this mess that I may never know."

Buddy stood up and said, "Thanks for the coffee, but I better get to the office. Hell is about to break loose, so I better be there to help answer questions and make sure the department continues to run as smoothly as possible."

"Is this information confidential?"

"No. If there hasn't been a press release there will be shortly."

"Is there a chance you'll be the interim sheriff?"

"Don't know, but maybe. Take care," and he eased the door shut behind him.

It was mid day Saturday when Buddy stopped at the farm again. Ben and Ellie met him in the driveway and he said, "I forgot about something last night. The farm equipment will be returned to you in the next few days. We don't think Noah knew anything about the drug business, but it's questionable about how much he believed Ennis' story about keeping the farm machinery safe. Of course what Ennis was really doing was hiding the tractor with that front end loader." Then changing what he was talking about, he said, "You know in a way it's almost funny in a sick sort of way. Ennis worked tirelessly to create that witch and spells fantasy just to be sure folks would steer clear of the farm. I have to say, he did a great job as a con man. But by doing that he also built a barrier between the towns people and this farm, so he lost hope of keeping informed of all the coming and going out here. Like you using that contractor from Cookeville for example. Had you used one from Sparta, and we have some good ones, Ennis could have been getting information from them. His witch idea helped him a lot, but in the end it played a big part in his downfall. Okay, gotta go."

"Buddy," Ellie said, "If there is ever anything we can do to help you, never hesitate to call."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." The sound of an approaching tractor cut into their conversation and Buddy smiled and looked toward the road. "Looks like you're tractor is coming home sooner than I expected."

I watched it as it made the turn into the driveway and headed straight for the barn and came to a stop just feet away. Noah eased himself down and he looked older than the day I met him on the road. A pickup truck had followed him and waited near the end of the driveway as Noah stopped and said, "I gassed her up for ya."

"Noah," I said as I took his hand, "Thanks for keeping it safe, but you'll have to show me how to operate the damn thing. I'm a city boy, born and bred."

He smiled then and said, "I'll send my son down to gettcha goin'."

"Preciate that," I told him in what I thought of as farm slang.

Buddy was smiling as Noah headed to the truck and then he told me, "Nice. No since alienating your neighbors."

"Right, I just may need him some day for some emergency. Us country folk gotta stick together." Buddy laughed and slid into his car and left.

Chapter Twenty One

We didn't even make it to the house before Angie Palmer and her cameraman came flying into our driveway followed by another TV station vehicle. Angie jumped out and my first words were, "Will you do this as we discussed?"

"Damn right," she said smiling.

"Give me a second then," and I went to the second van in the parade. "Sorry, but I'm giving the first van exclusive access. Have a nice day," and I turned away before they could even object. Then I introduced Ellie and then said, "I told you the barn would play a part in this sordid story."

"No kidding. Take us to the barn and tell me everything."

I smiled and said, "Well to a point I will."

We went up the wide stairs and as she stepped into the loft she said, "Oh my god, this isn't a barn at all."

"This is Ben's Barn, and that's what the sign will say when it gets here," Ellie said and smiled at me.

"We have to talk more about this, but Ellie you're the one that shot the sheriff, right."

"Sorry to say, that's right." That began the interview in earnest, and for the next fifteen minutes we talked and backtracked and picked the story apart, but we didn't get into bondage or sex furniture right then. With the first part of the interview out of the way, she asked about my plans to sell the farm and we talked about that for a minute and that was all on camera so I was feeling pretty good by then.

"Barry," Angie said, "Get some footage of the barn interior and then the exterior while I go over something with Ben and Ellie. As soon as Barry was far enough away, Angie leaned closer and said, "Okay now tell me the real story." I talked fast and explained how Thomas and Irene were subdued and then murdered and she never blinked, but she smiled and said, "Good god, what a story that could be if only we could air that part." Then she looked around and said, "Well I don't see any bondage equipment."

I was getting pumped by then so I said, "And I don't see your bra hanging from the hook of honor."

She laughed and said, "The hook of honor, I love that line." She stood up then and said, "Well I can't wait to see what the future holds for you two."

"Come to our Halloween party and maybe you'll pick up a clue or two about that."

"Now that sounds intriguing."

I gave her the details and then added, "Costumes of course are very appropriate, but not essential."

She smiled and tactfully said, "I'll give all of this consideration."

Ellie waited until we were alone and then asked me, "So just where is this hook of honor?"