“Who To Trust?”

by Jo and Stacey

Dwayne hated the idea of leaving Abby alone, but with the house locked up tight and with the pills the doc had prescribed for her he was pretty sure she'd be fine until he got back from his errand. Still, something kept nagging at the back of his mind that maybe he was taking too much of a risk here. Twice he nearly turned the truck around and headed back home to make sure she was okay, but then talked himself out of it.

As he rounded the bend he could see the old mill come into view. Reverend Harris was expecting him, he couldn't turn back now - he had to go through with this. With his mind set on his goal and a determined look in his eye, Dwayne parked his truck in front of the mill and quickly strode up to the door. He took one last deep breath, then knocked.

"Dwayne," Alistair said, a slightly wary look in his eyes.  It made him feel rather strange when he was face to face with this man. He tried, he really did, to like everybody, but something about Dwayne set his teeth on edge. "Please, come inside."  He hoped the man didn't sense his feelings. He didn't want that, didn't want that he should make anybody uncomfortable.

"Afternoon, Reverend," Dwayne drawled, as he walked slowly into the home. He could tell the man was a bit uncomfortable, so he tried to put on a warm friendly smile to ease his nerves. "You get that gift basket my wife Abby sent you the other day?"

"Um, yes," Alistair nodded. "How is Abby doing? I haven't seen her around for a bit. Is she feeling all right?"

Dwayne shifted a bit on the couch, trying to decide the exact words to say what he'd practiced in the car ride on the way over. "Umm... well, Reverend, sir, that's kinda why I asked to meet with you today. See, Abby is... well... she's having a bit of a hard time of it, you might say. She ain't quite... how do I put this..." he paused, looking up into Alistair's eyes, "She ain't exactly in her right mind most of the time lately. She's had blackouts in the past, but was taking meds back home to control them. Only problem is, once she starts feelin' good again, she gets off them and then... well... that's when all the trouble starts. I love my wife and I really want to stand by her, but it's been... hard. Real hard. I got a real good doc to fly in and see her - got her back on her meds again. But... oh hell, I hate keepin' her locked up but it's for her own good. She's pretty down about not havin' any visitors other than me and her doc. I was just kinda hopin' maybe you could stop by for a bit, visit with her, maybe it will bring her spirits up a bit." He smiled nervously, wiping the edges of his eyes where tears had begun to form. "What do ya say? Just for a bit maybe? Would mean a lot if you could."

Locked up? Abby was locked up? He had no idea. "Dwayne, this sounds really serious," he said. "Yes, I'd like to see her as soon as I can. What did you have in mind?"

Dwayne licked his lips, let out a sigh. "Well, Reverend, I was hopin' you'd be able to ride over to the house with me now. She was doin' okay when I left her a while ago, but as the day gets on she starts kinda... well... losin' touch, ya know? I'd be more than happy to give you a ride there and back afterwards, if you like." Dwayne looked hopefully up at him.

"Ahnna is at the store. I guess I could leave her a note. All right then. I'm really concerned about Abby and would like to see her quickly."

He got up and went to a drawer for a piece of paper. "Thanks for the offer of the ride, Dwayne."  He scribbled a quick note, mentioning he had his cell with him and to call if she needed anything. Leaving it on the kitchen table, he went to the door, Dwayne following him.

"No problem, Reverend," Dwayne told him as he followed him out of the house and unlocked his truck. "I really appreciate you takin' the time to come and look in on Abby like this. I know you and I didn't exactly hit it off before... now, don't you say otherwise, I could tell. And I have to admit I wasn't none too happy when you went and turned us down on renewing our wedding vows, but I had a good think on it and came to the conclusion that you were only lookin' out for us." He smiled as he waited for Alistair to get into the truck then slipped into the driver's seat and started the ignition. 

Alistair figured Ahnna wouldn't be home for another hour, maybe two. That should give him plenty of time to visit with Abby and be home before his wife returned. Ever since the fire, she'd watched over him, wanting to know that he was all right, that he wasn't coughing much or feeling tired. He'd always been the one to watch over other people...as he was trying to do right now with Abby...and he wasn't used to having someone do the same for him. He smiled as he thought of Ahnna, fastened his seat belt, and gave a look back at the mill as Dwayne started down the drive.

"It's just a ways down the road a bit... past the McGee ranch a ways," Dwayne told Alistair as they drove. He felt a bit awkward sitting next to the man and began to babble on a bit. "Abby's gonna be real surprised to see you. I didn't mention to her where I was going in case you turned down the invite. Didn't want to give her hopes up or anything. I hope she's awake, her pills tend to knock her out and she's been spending a lot of time sleeping lately."

Just then his ranch came into view and he sped up a little, wanting to make the trip there shorter. "Here we are, Reverend," Dwayne said, as they pulled up in front of the huge spread that was the Campbell estate.

Alistair had never seen the place before. "It's...large," he commented. "And Abby's inside?" That's all he really cared about, getting to Abby, making sure she was all right.

"Yep, she sure is," Dwayne replied, "C'mon, let's see how she is." He walked up to the door, Alistair following behind him, punched in a series of numbers on a keypad and opened the door. "This way, Reverend," Dwayne told the man, holding the door open for him.

Alistair wasn't entirely sure why, but the hair on the back of his neck started to stand up.

As Dwayne followed him into the front foyer, he quickly locked the door behind them and turned back to his guest. "Safety precaution," he said, "don't want the missus, wel... best if we just go have a look in on her now."

As they walked down to the end of the long hallway they stopped dead in their tracks. There in front of them stood Abby - eyes wide with fright, still clutching the blood-covered paring knife in her tiny hand.

Alistair had been trying to prepare himself for what he might find when they came to Abby, but a scene like this was no where in his mind. He didn't know if he'd ever seen a face so totally shocked and frightened. "Oh...Abby," he sighed, then his eyes rested on Alex, lying in his own blood right in front of the young woman.

"Abby, darlin'," Dwayne said softly, as he slowly inched his way towards her, trying not to make any sudden moves that may set her off, "put down the knife. We're not gonna hurt you, we just wanna talk."

"Don't come any closer!" Abby yelled, raising the knife towards him. "I'm not afraid to use this!"

"I can see that, darlin'," Dwayne told her, as he slowly inched closer to her - his hands raised in front of him to show he wasn't armed. "But I think you're scarin' the good Reverend here, darlin', so if you'll just be so kind as to drop your knife we can have a little looksee at what you've done here to Mr. Ross."

"Reverend... Harris?" she asked, her eyes trying desperately to focus on the man standing to the side of her husband. "Oh... Alistair! Thank goodness you're here! Dwayne has been keeping me locked up and I think I've killed Ross!" she wailed.

Alex lay on the floor in front of them, bleeding from the chest wound. With the mention of his name, he let out a soft moan, though his eyes remained closed.

Alistair looked desperately from one to the other, wanting to tend to both of them at the same time. But Alex's blood was still flowing and that had to take priority. He dropped quickly to his knees, bending over the man, then pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it, wadded, over the wound. "Alex?" he called. "Can you hear me, Alex?" 

Alex let out another soft moan but remained still.

"I need to call for help," Alistair said, reaching for his cell, his bloody hands getting marks on his own clothes.

"I woulnd't do that if I were you, Reverend," Dwayne said, as he picked up a large ceramic vase and brought it crashing down over Alistair's head - knocking the man to the floor next to Alex.  He picked up the cell phone and shoved it into his pocket and smiled sweetly up at Abby. "Now, darlin', I suggest you put down the knife before I do what the good Reverend here was about to do, only my story will be much more convincing to the cops.

Abby stood staring at the two men lying on the floor, then slowly let the knife fall from her hand as she collapsed to her knees.

"Good girl. Now, you just sit right there while I go get some rope to tie them up."

Abby nodded her head and quietly watched as Dwayne walked down the hallway and disappeared into one of the back rooms.

"Oh Alistair... Ross... I'm SO sorry... this is all my fault!" she cried, wondering to herself how she was ever going to get out of this.