miles an hour, let my wheel drift and the car bumped the wall. I left half my paint on the wall, the 'Darlington Stripe' they call it. Then my right front tire blew and I was completely out of control. This was before the roof flaps era so my car flipped over and then went airborne. There are two interior walls at Darlington, the inside and pit walls. I cleared them both and slid right into a pit crew.'
'Oh my God.'
'
Annabelle gasped. 'It wasn't your father, was it?'
Caleb turned to look at her, his eyes watery. 'I walked away from the crash with a few bumps and bruises, but he was in the hospital for months before finally pulling through. But after that, I couldn't do it anymore. Couldn't shift a gear, couldn't mash an accelerator, couldn't even slide in the car. So I just walked away from it all. Turned my life around. Went from speed to being a librarian. As far away as I could get from that world. But I kept the Nova. It was one of the first cars I ever raced in. I painted it that shitty gray to cover up the numbers and stripes. The number twenty-two car, Double Deuces, they called me. It didn't look like much but under the hood it had muscle, that car. Dual carbs, overhead cam, four hundred-plus horses and a gas pedal that never let me down. Whenever I needed to bring it, it was there. Years ago, late at night, I used to run it on straightaways when Centreville was still cow country. Got it up to 150 more than once. Those were the days.'
'Caleb, I'm so sorry.' She gently squeezed his shoulder.
A few moments of silence passed.
'Hey, I really got you, didn't I?'
She glanced back over at him. He was smiling broadly.
'Come on, Richard Petty's protege? Me?'
'You made that all up? You shit!' She smacked him on the shoulder hard. But there was admiration in her features.
'What? You think you're the only one who can lie really well? I've spent my adult life surrounded by stories at the library, Annabelle. I can 'fiction' with the best of them.'
'That still doesn't explain how you can drive like this.'
'I grew up on the side of a mountain in Pennsylvania. First thing I ever drove was a Bobcat down a dirt road that would make this stretch of gravel look like the Autobahn.' He paused. 'And I did do some stock car racing when I turned eighteen. Mostly junk on dirt tracks. But after my third near-fatal accident, I decided to go into library science. But I'm still a big NASCAR fan.'
'Caleb, I'm seeing a totally new side to you.'
'Yes, well, everyone has their secrets.'
'The Camel Club more than most, I'm finding.'
CHAPTER 53
STONE OPENED HIS EYES and felt rather than saw the people around him.
'Ben?'
He turned to the right and focused on Abby standing there, holding his hand. He gazed over her shoulder and realized he was in a hospital room.
'What the hell happened?' he said, trying to rise up.
Abby and someone else gently pushed him back down.
'Just take it easy, Ben.'
This was Tyree, who was standing on the other side of the bed.
Stone leaned back against the pillow. 'What happened?' he said again.
'What do you remember?' Abby asked.
'Driving Willie home and then waking up here.'
'It blew up,' Tyree said quietly. 'His trailer, I mean. It blew up.'
'Willie? Bob? He was there too.'
Abby gripped his hand. 'They're both dead.' Her voice broke as she said this.
'How did it happen?'
'They think it was his propane tank. Only thing that could've blown like that,' Tyree said. 'Another few feet and you would've been gone too. You're lucky you were standing on the other side of that truck. It took most of the blast instead of you.'
Stone thought for a moment. 'I remember something falling right next to me.'
Abby and Tyree exchanged glances. 'Just some debris,' she said quickly.
'How did the gas thing happen?'
'I'm checking that out right now,' said Tyree firmly. 'He apparently had a cookstove and some propane tanks in his trailer along with a lot of ammo.'
'I don't care about that. It can't be an accident,' said Stone. 'It can't be.'
'I'm inclined to agree with you,' said the sheriff. 'I just need some proof.'
Stone managed to sit up a bit. 'Wait a minute. On the drive home, Willie and I talked about Debby.' He went on to tell Tyree and Abby what he had figured out about Debby seeing who had killed Peterson.
Tyree rubbed his jaw. 'I never saw the connection there, but Willie never told me she was at the bakery that night either. But I knew Debby hadn't killed herself.'
'How?' asked Stone and Abby together.
'Her arms weren't long enough to put the muzzle in her mouth and still pull the trigger.'
Stone looked at him with new respect. 'I actually thought of that when I saw the shotgun. Willie had shown me a picture of Debby. I saw how petite she was.'
'Tyree, you never mentioned you believed Debby was murdered,' said Abby.
'That's because I didn't know who killed her. Or why. Figured it had to be somebody local. Might as well let the murderer think I'm a clueless country bumpkin. He might make a mistake, and it lets me snoop around under the radar too.'
'You're clearly no country bumpkin,' said Stone, and Tyree gave him an appreciative look.
'Does Danny know about Willie?' asked Stone.
Abby nodded. 'He was so upset they had to give him something to calm him down. He was bawling like a baby.'
'No more California dreams,' said Stone.
'What?' asked Tyree.
'Long story,' replied Abby.
'We need to get to work, Tyree, before somebody else gets killed.' Stone started to get up again.
Tyree pushed him back down. 'Whoa, now. You just got yourself nearly blown up and the doc says you need to stay quiet for a day or two.'
'We don't have a day or two.'
'I'm going to poke around some. With what you told me I got some new angles I can work.'
'Danny and Abby need protection,' said Stone.
'Me?' said Abby.
'Look at what happened to Bob. They don't care who they kill.'
'I agree,' said Tyree. 'I got a couple of men I've deputized in the past. I'll have one here with Danny and another with Abby.'
'Tyree, you don't have to do that.'
'But we're gonna do it, Abby. Anything happens to you, I couldn't live with myself. I mean, well, it's just not going to happen. Understand?'
The strength of his words seemed to surprise even the sheriff. He reddened slightly.
'Okay,' she said meekly.
Stone said, 'What are you going to do?'
