“I don’t know,” he admitted. “All I know is that the godly woman he was married to would never have put up with a grubby, lawless, moonshiner as a husband.”
The conviction in the young man’s eyes struck deep into Susan’s heart, like an arrow hitting its mark, and she nodded, something intangible putting truth to his words.
“As soon as I get us some coffee, you are going to tell me everything you ever found from the beginning. Every thought, suspicious, or inkling you have ever had.”
The sun was turning the blue of day to the purple haze of night when a doctor in a white coat stepped into the room. “We’re letting you go,” the tall man grinned, shifting a hard candy from one side of his mouth to the other. “You need to take it easy for a few days, and if your headaches get worse, get checked out.” The man’s dark eyes twinkled under wire rimmed glasses and a cheerful spirit seemed to emanate from him. “It would be best if you weren’t alone for a day or two,” he grinned again. “Maybe stay with a friend.” His eyes met Susan’s as he gave her a wink.
Susan choked back a laugh at the wink the doctor shot her, waited until he had answered David’s questions before she spoke.
“I don’t even know how I’m going to get home,” David sighed eyeing his clothing stacked neatly on the night stand beside his bed.
“Why don’t you come and stay with me and Gram for a couple of days,” Susan suggested. “It’s just the two of us in that big old house anyway while mom and dad are doing a train tour of Alaska. We can go over the case and see what we are missing.”
“I’ll be fine,” David refused to meet her eyes as she reached for his clothing, handing it to him. “I’m used to being on my own.”
“Maybe you are, but you have a concussion, and if someone really did try to take you out, how are you supposed to look after yourself?” Susan’s blue eyes flashed as she glared at the stubborn man. “What can it hurt for you to stay with us for a day or two? Who knows maybe we’ll find your journal. At least I can drive you around until you get some wheels.”
David felt his resolve melt under the weight of her logic, and he nodded. “Okay, okay,” he waved her back to the chair. “Can I at least get dressed in peace?”
A bright giggle bubbled from Susan’s lips as she remembered his cute green and white shamrock shorts, but she quickly hurried from the room as the dividing curtain zipped shut.
“Where do you live?” Susan asked as she zipped out of the college entrance that was shared by the hospital. “We can run over there and grab some clean clothes, or whatever you need and then I’m taking you for dinner. I’m starving.” As if to punctuate her current state of hunger, her stomach rumbled and David laughed.
“I could eat,” the young man grinned. “What they served me today doesn’t really fit my idea of grub. How about food first,” he looked down at his rumpled clothing and cringed, “unless you’re ashamed to be seen with me.”
“Food, works.” Again Susan’s stomach growled protesting the demise of the single muffin and bland coffee she had as her only sustenance for the day.
“How long have you been working on this mystery?” Susan asked as she sank her teeth into a humongous burger a half hour later. “You certainly remember a lot of what was in that journal.”
David shook his head, dipping a fry into ketchup and lifting it toward his mouth. He wasn’t sure if it was the fresh air of a Georgia evening, or the company, but his head was already feeling better. “Since I was about nine,” he answered shoving the fry into his mouth and savoring the salty crunch. “My grandmother would talk about Pap-pap, and nothing she said matched with the man who had disappeared without a trace. The police insisted he was an old bootlegger bandit, but grandma spoke of a man who feared God, taught his children to work hard, and treated her with loving kindness.”
He waved Susan to silence as he continued, seeing the protest in her eyes. “I know, I know, there are books filled with cases of men who deceived their families, but something never seemed to click.” The young man grinned as he lifted his burger and met Susan’s eyes. “I guess I picked up the thread and grew a little obsessed. I lost my mother when I was six, so Grandma Watkins helped raise me. She was the best. Honest, loving, kind. No matter what anyone said about Pap-pap, she never believed it. She was steadfast in her love for him even after he was gone.” David’s eyes grew soft as he smiled. “She loved him and believed he never would have left her.”
“She really loved him?”
“She did,” David took a bite of his burger, letting the juices pool in his mouth as his eyes closed in bliss. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was, and now that he wasn’t feeling seasick, he was enjoying his food.
“Do you have anything else at your place that might shed light on this whole mess? We can pick that up when we swing by your place. Tomorrow, we’ll try to piece everything together. Something tells me that we are very close to an answer.”
David walked down the hall toward his tiny apartment, Susan on his heels. “It won’t take me long to get everything I need,” he called over his shoulder. His stomach was gently chiding him for his large dinner, but he pushed the feeling to the back of his mind.
Susan gazed around her at the old apartment building on main. She had driven past it her entire life but being inside it was a whole different story.
