Shadow in Serenity

twenty-three


The evidence was indisputable. Carny gaped at the broken piggy bank on Jason’s desk, its pieces left scattered over the wooden top as if he’d been distracted by something else. The bank had been almost full after she’d made him return the money to it, yet there was no sign of the money now.

She told herself to stay calm, that there was probably an innocent explanation. He’d probably forsaken the four-wheeler he’d been saving for and decided to buy a pair of skates or a new fishing pole instead. The fact that he’d done it without consulting her, thus breaking a major rule in their household, disturbed her even more.

As the sun was beginning to go down, she went looking for him and found him in the woods on his way back from the lake, carrying the string of fish he’d caught and talking to himself. He was alone, a fact that relieved her somewhat, though she was sure she’d seen Logan’s car parked nearby earlier.

“Jason!” she called.

He spotted her and, smiling, picked up his step until he was running toward her. “Mom, we caught six. Logan let me keep all of them.”

“I need to talk to you,” she said. “In the house.”

He looked up at her with saucer-shaped eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Come on, Jason. In the house.”

“Is it about Logan?” he asked, walking as fast as he could to keep up with her. “You said we could fish together. Don’t you remember?”

“I remember,” she said, almost feeling sorry for him. She opened the screen door and held it for him as he went in. “Put the fish in the sink. You can help me clean them later.”

He did as she said, then washed his hands and turned back to her. “What is it, Mom?”

“Jason,” she said, pulling out a chair and sitting down so she could face him eye to eye. “I want to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth. Where’s the money that was in your piggy bank?”

He immediately glanced away. “I’m sorry I broke it, Mom, but it was taking so long to shake it out, that I finally just whacked it. I know I was supposed to ask you.”

“Jason, where is it?”

“Well, I decided I didn’t need a four-wheeler. There are more important things.”

An overwhelming feeling of injustice washed over her, and she felt her heart tightening. “What things?”

“Well, you know how you’re always teaching me to save. Some things are just like saving … only they make you more money later.”

She knew then where the money was, and why he was trying so hard to avoid answering her. Closing her eyes, she whispered, “Jason, did you give that money to Logan?”

He was silent for too long, and when she finally opened her eyes, she saw him staring stubbornly at her.

“Jason, I asked you a question. Did you give that money to Logan?”

“Yes,” he said through tight lips. “And the money I had under my mattress too. Last year’s birthday money and my Christmas money. But so did all the other kids at school. We raised three hundred dollars. We’re gonna be rich, Mom!”

Instantly, she shot to her feet, almost knocking over the chair. “And he took it? He actually took the money from little children?”

“Well, why wouldn’t he? We want to be partners too. We’re gonna be VIPs, Mom.”

“No, you’re not!” she shouted. “You’re not going to be anything, because I’m getting your money back tonight! And if he won’t give it to me, I’ll press charges and have him thrown in jail!”

“No, Mom! You can’t do that! I want him to have it! All the kids want him to!”

“How much of it was yours, Jason? Exactly how much?”

“Seventy-six dollars,” he said. “But I don’t want it back. If you get it, I’ll find a way to give it back to him. It’s not your money. It’s mine!”

Carny was livid. “Go to your room! Now!”

He kicked the coffee table, then headed to his room, slamming the door. She followed him and threw the door open. “Now you stay here until I tell you to come out!” she shouted. “And while you’re in here, you can clean up that broken bank!”

“You’re so mean!” he yelled. “No wonder you don’t have a husband!”

The words stung, as if he’d said he hated her. Carny slammed the door again, collapsed against it, and before she could control herself, tears assaulted her, and she covered her mouth as the sobs rose to her throat. Logan Brisco was not only destroying her child’s innocence, he was causing a huge rift in her relationship with Jason. A rift that hadn’t been there before.

Logan had to be stopped.

Pulling herself together, she ran to the phone and called her in-laws. They answered on the third ring.

“Hello?”

“Bev, I need you. Can you come over for a little while and watch Jason while I go out?”

Bev hesitated. “Carny, are you crying, honey?”

“Can you come or not? It’s urgent.”

“Yes, of course. We’ll be right over. Are you all right?”

“I will be,” she said, her voice quavering. “Please … just hurry.”

She hung up the phone, then sat down at the kitchen table and covered her face. Jason had never in his life talked to her the way he had today. Their conflicts had been few and far between, and the ones they’d had were minor. His words cut her more deeply than she could have predicted, and that she’d been made into the bad guy made her furious.

How could Logan take money from the kids? She’d been so foolish to trust him enough to let him alone with her son. That made her just as gullible as the rest of the town.

She heard the car drive up in the driveway, and she got up and met her in-laws at the door. “Jason’s in his room,” she said. “He’s grounded, so don’t let him out.”

“Carny, what’s happened?” J.R. asked, taking her by the shoulders. “I’ve never seen you like this.”

Carny realized that, even when Abe had abandoned her, she had never let her in-laws see her cry. “Jason gave Logan all his money, J.R. Seventy-six dollars, and Logan took it. I know you think he’s legit, but a man with any integrity would not take money from babies! I’m going to get it back, and Jason doesn’t like it.”

Bev looked at J.R., and finally, he nodded. “Whatever you need to do, Carny. Logan shouldn’t have taken it without your permission.”

“And he knew how I felt about it,” she said. “He knew!”

Wiping her eyes, she grabbed her keys. “Let me just tell Jason you’re here, and then I’ll go.”

She went back to Jason’s door and flung it open. “Jason, your grandparents —”

Her voice dropped as she realized her son was gone. The window was open, and the curtains flapped in the breeze.

“Jason!” By then, her in-laws were right behind her. In a mad panic, she pushed past them and rushed back through the house for the door. “Jason!” she screamed. “Jason, you get back in here right now!”

When there was no answer, she ran across the lot separating her from the Trents and banged on the door.

Janice answered it right away. “Carny, what’s wrong?”

“Where’s Jason?” she asked breathlessly. “Is he over here?”

“No,” she said. “Nathan’s doing his homework. We haven’t seen Jason since earlier today.”

“Are you sure?” Carny asked. “I’ve got to find him. He can’t have gone very far.”

She ran into the woods behind the house. She heard Janice calling from behind her. “Carny, don’t go back in there. It’s dark! He wouldn’t go there after dark!”

Still, Carny ran through the brush, between trees, calling as she ran, until she reached the lake. “Jason! Jason, please come home. It’s not safe for you to be out here when it’s dark. We can talk about this!”

Silence. She listened for the sound of a crackling leaf, a breaking limb. All she heard was an occasional cricket or the rumble of a bullfrog. “Jason, please!”

Two flashlights came from the direction of the house, and soon David Trent and J.R. joined her. “We looked in our storage room and in the tent in the backyard, Carny,” David said. “He’s not there.”

“And we searched the house,” J.R. told her, coming up behind David. “Carny, where do you think he is?”

“I don’t know,” she said, “but keep looking around the lake. I’m calling the police! And then I’m going to see Logan Brisco.”