Chapter 25 - Lowyn

Ester is type-type-typin' away when I enter the little stone building where Jim Bob does his town business. "Go on in." She doesn't even look up. "He's expectin' ya."

"Thanks," I say, passing her desk and approaching Jim Bob's massive door. It's always been intimidating, this door. I was a little girl of only nine the very first time I was called down here. Ester, who was a lot younger back then but, in my memory, looked exactly the same as she does now, was waitin' for me when I got off the bus from school. She said, "Come with me, little Lowyn. Jim Bob needs to speak to you."

This was not unusual. Everyone has been called into Jim Bob's office at one time or another. But lookin' back, nine was a little young. There was a good reason, though. I was going to sing a solo at the Christmas Eve Revival and Jim Bob wanted to give me some direction. I don't remember much about the meeting, but I do remember that I sang my little heart out for that show.

I open his door and peek my head in. "Ya busy? I'm here."

"Come in, Lowyn." He's sittin' at his desk, kinda leaning back in his chair. And he's wearin' a scowl.

I walk up to his desk and decide not to sit. I am not nine years old anymore.

Jim Bob notices this. "Please, have a seat, Lowyn. I think you might need it."

My heart thumps and I sit. "What do you mean?"

"Guess who I just got off the phone with?"

"Uh…" I shrug. "Jim Bob, it could be anyone. Just tell me what the fuck is going on."

"Ike. I just got off the phone with Ike."

My stomach drops. It shouldn't come as a surprise. Not after the way Grimm's been behaving these past couple days. I take a breath and calm myself. "Does Collin know?"

"Does he know what?"

"You know… me… and Ike."

"I can only presume he knows something, Lowyn McBride, because that call from Ike was about Collin."

"What?" I squint at him. "Why would Ike be calling about Collin?"

"Because apparently, your man was up at the boneyard this morning snoopin' around."

"What?" I am truly stunned. "Why would he do that?"

"He had that dog with him. Ike thinks he sent him on a track."

"It's a girl."

Jim Bob scowls at me as he sits forward in his chair. "What?"

"The dog. Mercy. She's a girl, not a boy."

"Who gives a flyin' fuck, Lowyn! Did you not hear what I said? Your man went up to the Blackberry Hill boneyard with a trackin' dog! To say that Ike is pissed off would be an understatement."

I let out a breath. "Sorry. I heard you."

"You promised me"—he's pointin' his finger at me—"that if I let you come home this would not come back to bite me in the ass. Do you recall that conversation?"

I nod. "I do." Then I swallow.

"Well, somethin' just bit my fuckin' ass, Lowyn McBride! And that somethin' is named Ike Monroe! Now I'm gonna need you to go up there and set this right."

"No." I stand up. "No. Nope. No fuckin' way, Jim Bob. I am not going up there."

"Oh, you are, Lowyn. You are. Because he was talkin' crazy on the phone. He knows as well as I do who Collin Creed really is. And he's proper freaked out about what just happened. You're the only one who can get up there without gettin' shot. So you're going. And you're gonna tell him that Collin made a mistake, he will never be back again, and nothin' will ever come of this."

"You don't understand?—"

"No!" He's loud now. And this ‘no' shuts me right up and makes me sit back down. "You don't understand, Lowyn. We have a contract with Blackberry Hill and Collin just violated it. Do you have any idea what could happen if we don't fix this?"

"I mean… I can take a guess. But no, Jim Bob?—"

"Stop it!" he bellows. "Just stop it. I know damn well that Grimm told you what he was told to tell no one."

I'm shakin' my head. Because, of course, Grimm did tell me. This is the very secret he shared with me all those years ago when I shared mine.

But he also said that should anyone ask if I know this secret, my answer is no. Even if he asks me himself. "He didn't. He never told me anything. I don't even talk to Grimm."

"That's funny. I heard you were talkin' to him this morning."

"He came into?—"

"Enough! I don't care that Grimm told you, Lowyn. We all tell someone and I always knew he told you. None of that matters. What matters is that you understand the contract." He stops and stares at me for a moment. "Right, Lowyn? You understand the contract."

I gulp and nod. "I do." It comes out as a whisper.

"And not only that, but you are a debt owed to Blackberry Hill. You understand that as well, correct?"

I sigh and nod again. "I do." Which is a funny thing to say, twice in a row, because it was these exact words that got me into all this trouble in the first place.

"Go on up there and make Ike happy, Lowyn. Smooth this out."

I stand up, resigned to what I must do. "But… Collin? He's OK?"

"Last I heard Ike trapped his dog in a net, but yes. He's alive. He was told to cut the dog down and leave and never come back. And as far as Ike could tell, that's what he did."

My breath comes out in a rush, but my heart is beatin' like crazy.

"Go. And don't you dare call Collin and tell him anything. Do you understand? This is your mess, Lowyn. You're gonna fix it."

"OK." I nod my head, swallow hard, and walk out.

I don't say anything to Ester as I leave, just go outside and try not to cry.

I was not expecting that. Like… having to go up and talk to Ike Monroe was not even in the top million things I was worried about today and now it's number one.

I walk home in a daze, hoping that Collin is there so that maybe he can see that I'm upset and make me tell him what's wrong so I don't have to take responsibility for blabbing my mouth off and I can just let Collin handle all the things.

His Jeep is there, but when I check inside, he's not home.

I might be the damsel in distress right in this moment, but unfortunately for me, there isn't a prince in sight. So I just get in my truck and start making my way up the hill. Because today—nine years after I walked out of Blackberry Hill under the protection of the entire town of Disciple—I'm going back in under explicit orders of Jim Bob Baptist and no one has my back.

What will Ike do?

Will he yell at me?

Will he hit me?

I really don't think so. He wasn't that kind of man the last time I saw him.

But that was nine years ago and he's a much different person now.