Page 4 of Sour Layer

Clark Weller

Chapter 3

Clark dropped the woman off at the inn and headed back to the office. When he’d gotten the airline notice about a tourist making arrangements for a taxi, he hadn’t believed it. Strangers didn’t come to this town. There was nothing here to see in the dead of winter. Not even any good skiing. So, Clark had checked the flight manifest and started digging into the stranger who would be gracing his town until either the cold ran her off or he did it personally.

Clark yanked open the door to the Sheriff’s Department. The small office consisted of two desks that had seen better days, a coffee pot that produced coffee that tasted like tar, and his office. It was the only room with a door, although it barely closed. Mavis, Brandon, and Clark were the only department employees. Theirs was a group effort keeping things running smooth.

“So, did she make it to town?” Mavis asked as he walked in.

She handled the paperwork in the office, but she’d been an exceptional officer twenty years prior. Clark was lucky to convince her to stay on the payroll when she could have retired.

“Mercy Bennett has arrived,” Clark answered, walking into his office and grabbing his hat off the hook. He didn’t bother taking off his jacket. Not with where he had to go next.

“Any idea what she’s doing here?” Mavis asked.

“Who cares why she’s here. She’s a pretty thing, isn’t she? With a name like that, she has to be,” Brandon said.

“She’s pretty, but a bit weird. She wouldn’t shake my hand, something about germs.”

Marvis chuckled. “Can’t say I blame her with everything going around nowadays. So, did she tell you why she was here?”

“Yep,” Clark answered and headed toward the door. “She’s looking for her ancestors, and let’s hope to hell she never finds them. The last thing we need is a dead tourist in our town. News like that will scare away all the pretty girls from Brandon, and he’ll stay a virgin until he’s dead.”

“Hey now,” Brandon called out.

Mavis chuckled a full belly laugh. “Now we both know he isn’t no virgin. You remember when Kelsie’s husband chased him with a shotgun. Good thing he was drunk and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.”

Clark chuckled on his way out the door. He slipped inside his still toasty truck and turned the ignition, second-guessing his need to grab his bulletproof vest.

He drove forty minutes over snow-covered roads into the next town. This inquiry wasn’t one that could be handled over the phone. He pulled up in front of the only hospital in a fifty-mile radius and killed the ignition.

Dexter wasn’t going to be happy Clark was here. Last time he’d paid Dexter a visit, Clark had left with a black eye, and the Bennett man needed stitches.

Clark got out of the truck and cursed beneath his breath the entire way to the automatic doors. They slid open as he approached, sucking a winter breeze into the emergency room lobby. Clark stomped his feet on the mat to kick the snow off and stepped inside.

The lobby was only partially full. A few people sat in the row of chairs. Beyond was a check-in counter where a nurse sat typing at a computer. The muted yellow of the walls could use a fresh coat of paint. Bright florescent lights hanging from the ceiling highlighted the old linoleum beneath his feet. The hospital wasn’t big or state of the art, but it was efficient and needed.

Clark clomped down the hallway. A nurse checking in a patient glanced up, frowning as he walked by. It was as though her psyche could feel there was about to be a disturbance in the force.

An orderly was pushing an elderly woman in Clark’s direction. Her lap was filled with flowers she’d received during her stay, along with a plastic bag of her belongings. An overnight tote was draped across the back of the wheelchair.

Milly was walking beside them.

The color on his sister’s face drained when she spotted Clark. Whispering words to the orderly as Clark passed, Milly turned and jogged to catch up with him.

“What are you doing here, Clark?” Milly asked.

Her hair had grown since the last time he saw her. Her eyes were as vibrant as ever. He couldn’t totally hate the Bennetts no matter how hard Clark tried, considering his baby sister was married to one.

“Official business, Milly.”

She jogged and turned to walk backward in his way as if trying to act like a barrier keeping him from his destination. “Clark, you should leave now. You know what happened last time.”

“Yep, it’s hard to forget finding out from strangers that my sister and my best friend were not only dating but that he’d knocked you up.”

She rested her hand on Clark’s chest, and he finally slowed. “That Bennett has a name, and Dexter is your brother-in-law and your best friend, as you pointed out. You both need to grow up.”

“We may be related in a court of law, but not how it matters,” Clark said, stepping around his sister. “How’s Charlotte? Mom said you brought her by last weekend.”

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