Innocent Lies Read online

  INNOCENT LIES

  by Robin Patchen

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  INNOCENT LIES

  First edition. January 19, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 Robin Patchen.

  Written by Robin Patchen.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  INNOCENT LIES

  First edition. January 19, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 Robin Patchen.

  Written by Robin Patchen.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FORTY

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  EPILOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  "My name is Daniel Anderson. My mama's name is Carrie. I don't have a daddy. I am eight years old."

  Daniel repeated the words over and over, holding onto them the same way he was gripping the skinny white tree in the forest.

  Mama told him to walk toward the white house. Not that there were any other houses around here, deep in these woods. Seemed easy when Mama was standing beside him. But now, the house seemed far away, and he had to get through all the trees and bushes and stuff. At least he wasn't in shorts. He figured in shorts, all those branches and twigs would tear his legs up but good. Right now, even his head and hands were covered so he wasn't getting scratched. And he had on them nice new boots Mama bought him at Walmart. They kept his feet dry.

  It hardly ever snowed back home, but Mama said it snowed here a lot. He liked snow. Except right now. Right now, he wished it would quit snowing and the sun would shine. Even if it was bright, though, the sun didn't seem to work the same way here as it did back home. Back home, the sun made things warm.

  It hadn't been snowing when they first got here. But now, Mama was gone, and snowflakes were falling everywhere, sort of hiding the white house.

  He looked through the trees at the back door. Nothing between here and there but woods and trees and probably bears. Except bears hibernated in the winter. He'd learned that in school. He probably wasn't gonna get eaten by a bear.

  What if the man there wasn't as nice as Mama said? Just 'cause he was a police officer didn't mean he was nice, right? Except Daniel had only ever met nice ones. If only Daniel could get up the nerve to go like she told him to.

  "My name is Daniel Anderson. My mama's name is Carrie. I don't have a daddy. I am eight years old."

  The words were mostly true.

  Daniel took a few steps toward the house, shivering and trying not to cry. 'Cause he was too old to cry, and anyway, Mama told him he had to be strong. He wished she was with him right now. He'd hang on tight and beg her not to leave him, no matter what she said. It made no sense to him. If it was okay for Daniel to talk to the police officer, why couldn't Mama?

  He turned around and stared at the forest behind him. He'd never seen so many trees in his whole life. It was like...like a magical forest, like in stories. And these reached all the way to the sky. They made the trees back home look puny.

  He stared through those trees at where she'd gone. Maybe she'd change her mind. Maybe she'd come back for him. If he went to the house and found the police officer, then Mama wouldn't come back. Maybe not ever, even though she promised she would. He stared into the woods as far as he could see. If he went that way, he might get lost and never get found again. Except by the bears. They were sleeping, weren't they?

  And anyway, he'd promised to go to the house.

  She shouldn't have made him promise. That wasn't fair. Mama was usually fair, but not this time.

  A noise came from the house. Daniel turned, saw the back door open.

  A big yellow dog came outside, a man right behind him. The man was wearing jeans and a sweater, but no coat or hat. He probably just wanted to make sure the dog did his business, as Caleb's mama would say. "Make sure he does his business before you let that mangy mutt back in the house."

  Daniel always laughed at that, because the mangy mutt was little and cute. Caleb's mama practically treated it like another son.

  Daniel missed Caleb. He missed Caleb's mama and Peanut and everybody from back home. Mostly, he missed his own mama, and she'd only been gone a little while.

  The dog stepped down onto the snow and sniffed the air. This was no cute little dog. It was a big dog. Its head came up, and it stared into the forest, right at Daniel.

  Then it bounded across the yard.

  The man hollered after it. "Magic!"

  But the dog kept running, right toward Daniel. He told himself to run, to get away from that crazy dog, but his feet might as well have been stuck to the ground.

  He knew that dog was gonna take a big bite out of him. He fell on the ground and covered his head and listened to his heart race. Wasn't until he was like that that he remembered the food in his backpack. The dog would probably attack his back to get at the beef jerky and candy bars Mama had left him.

  Mama. Why? Why did she leave him? How would she feel when she found out the nice policeman's mean dog had eaten him for supper?

  Bushes shimmied, snow plopped. The dog's huffing breaths came closer and closer. Then Daniel could feel its nuzzle at his ear, his hat, his backpack, too, probably, but Daniel didn't dare look.

  "Magic, come." The man's voice was getting closer.

  The dog barked three times.

  Twigs snapped. The dog panted into the near silence.

  "What'd you find, girl?" The man's voice was deep and nice, even though the dog disobeyed him. Maybe he was a nice man like Mama said.

  The dog kept sniffing him, found his ear and tickled him, but it wasn't funny, not one bit. Daniel wanted to run, to get away and find Mama. But he was scared to look up, scared the dog would bite his face off.

  Instead of running, he prayed the man would get the dog before the dog decided to eat him. Or his beef jerky.

&n
bsp; "Magic, come."

  Daniel peeked to see the dog join a pair of legs just a few feet away.

  "Sit," the man said.

  The dog sat. It wasn't as big as Daniel had thought, and it looked like it was smiling.

  The man stepped a little closer. "Well, hi there."

  Daniel hid his face again.

  "You're okay, son." He stepped closer, crouched down, and rested his hand on Daniel's shoulder. "My dog won't hurt you. She might lick you, but if you're not afraid of a little dog slobber, you can sit up."

  Daniel did and looked at the man, who was studying him just as closely.

  "What are you doing way out here?"

  He shrugged. Everything he was supposed to say had been chased away by the dog, who was still sitting like his master told him, smiling at him like he'd found a new friend.

  Daniel smiled back. That dog wasn't scary at all.

  Seemed scary, though, bolting straight at him like it was going to attack.

  "I'm Eric Nolan." The man snapped his fingers, and the dog joined them. "This is Magic."

  Daniel stuck out his hand and let the dog sniff his mitten. "Funny name for a dog."

  The man nodded like he agreed. "I found her wandering down the highway. Her tag told me her name but nothing else."

  "You rescued her?"

  "I guess." He ran his hand down the dog's back. "Maybe we rescued each other. I really needed a friend, and there she was."

  "What kind of a dog is she?"

  The man shrugged. "A mutt. The vet thinks she has some shepherd in her."

  Daniel could imagine that, the shape of its face, the dark fur on its snout.

  "But her legs are shaped a little like a pit bull's."

  Daniel pulled his hand back. "They're mean."

  "Oh, I think most dogs are like people," the man said. "If you're nice to them, they'll be nice back. And Magic's as sweet as they come." He ruffled the dog's head. "Aren't you, girl?"

  The dog kept looking at Daniel.

  He didn't know what to say. He knew his jeans were soaked from kneeling in the snow, and his legs were about to freeze right off his body. His teeth started chattering.

  The man stood and brushed snow off his jeans. He didn't even have on a coat, much less mittens and a hat like Daniel wore.

  "Where are you parents?"

  Daniel shrugged again.

  "You live around here?"

  Daniel shook his head.

  The man looked into the woods for a moment, then looked back down at Daniel. "Is your family around here somewhere? Did you wander off?"

  The words came back to him. His teeth were chattering so badly, he could hardly force them out. "M-my name is Daniel Anderson. My mama's name is Carrie. I d-don't have a daddy. I'm eight years old."

  The man frowned. Kept his mouth closed for a minute. Then he held out his hand. "Come on, Daniel Anderson. Let's get you warmed up."

  CHAPTER TWO

  Eric Nolan led the lost boy back to his house while Magic bounded around them, kicking up snow, sniffing everything in sight, and generally acting like a kid on Christmas morning. Well, what dog didn't love a boy? Though the boy, Daniel, hadn't seemed too impressed at first—and Eric thought his reaction to a charging dog had been near on perfect—now he watched the crazy dog with an almost smile.

  "Magic likes company," Eric said.

  "She's funny."

  Magic circled them at top speed, sometimes running, sometimes doing that funny kangaroo hop thing she did when she was so excited she couldn't get her front legs to catch up with her back ones.

  "She's a goofball," Eric said. "And she's been cooped up in the house all day. She needs to burn some energy. When the weather's warmer, I leave her outside." They stepped out of the woods and into Eric's backyard. He pointed to the dog run, which spanned the length of it. "But it was too cold today."

  He glanced at the boy, who shivered at the mention of the cold. How long had he been out there? And where had he come from? Eric's house sat on the edge of the woods. His property extended into the woods a couple hundred feet. Behind that sat untouched forest for miles. Great for hunting, but there was nothing to hunt in February. And aside from the fact that he was too young, the boy wasn't dressed for it.

  They reached the back porch, and Eric led the way up the stairs, pulled open the storm door, and held it open.

  "Come on in."

  The boy stared up at him, didn't move.

  "It's okay. We just need to warm up. Then we'll figure out what to do next."

  The boy stepped inside and stopped barely past the threshold.

  Eric managed to slide in behind him. Magic squeezed between them both. The dog stayed near Daniel, who seemed to lean toward her like she would protect him. Funny how fast Magic had won him over. Eric hoped he could do the same.

  After stepping around boy and dog, Eric passed his small kitchen table and headed for the fireplace in the living room. "I was just about to light a fire." Not entirely true. He'd been contemplating it, because his house was freezing and heating oil was danged expensive. But many nights, Eric just plugged in the space heater and made do. No sense heating the whole house for just him.

  "Why don't you take off those wet things and leave them there by the door?"

  The kid stared at him.

  "Go ahead. Off with the wet stuff—and those boots." They looked like an eight-dollar Walmart special. Hardly warm enough on a chilly day like today. "And then you can wrap up in a blanket while I light the fire. Okay?"

  Daniel pulled off his hat and mittens, then shrugged out of his jacket and dropped everything where he stood like only an eight-year-old could do. He stepped out of his boots. The floor was wet from the melting snow, so Eric snatched him up beneath his armpits and carried him to the couch.

  The boy weighed hardly anything. He had too-long brown hair and thick round glasses that made his blue eyes look bigger than they were.

  Eric set him on the couch and covered him with the blanket. Daniel snuggled in deep. For good measure, Eric grabbed his parka from the front closet and laid that over the boy, too. That should do until the fire got going. Stupid to light it—he was obviously going to have to go right back out. But he thought a fire might help the kid relax. It always worked for Eric.

  "That'll keep you warm for now. I'll get this fire going, and then we'll talk."

  Eric felt the boy's eyes on him as he tore newspaper into strips and stacked the kindling in the fireplace. He added a few smaller pieces of wood, opened the flue, and set the paper ablaze. He stood and turned to see the boy was staring at the flames. Better, Eric thought. He wasn't used to being watched in his own home. He tried to remember the last time anybody but himself and his dog had been here. Probably the last time his parents had visited. Too long ago.

  "That should warm us up right quick," Eric said.

  Daniel kept staring at the flames.

  "You hungry?"

  The boy shrugged, which Eric took for a yes. He was hungry. He'd just gotten off work. The bad thing about leaving Magic in the house was that he had to rush back here to let her out. Otherwise, he might've stayed in town for dinner. He did that a lot. Ate alone, but at least there were other people around. And sometimes, friends would see him and take pity and ask him to join them. But in the winter with the temperatures this low, he spent most evenings here with just Magic for company.

  This was not the life he'd envisioned for himself a decade ago.

  And what foolishness had brought that thought on?

  Eric checked the fire, then put the screen in front of it to keep embers from popping out.

  "How about something warm to drink?"

  Daniel shrugged again.

  Quite the conversationalist, this one.

  Eric stepped into the kitchen, where he could keep an eye on the fire and the boy across the counter's peninsula, and opened his cabinet. And there it was, an unopened can of powered hot chocolate, a gift from his mother, who figured he must
be freezing all the time, living up north, as if New Hampshire was akin to the Arctic Circle. Mom also seemed to figure Eric was still a child who wanted hot chocolate for every snowstorm. He was glad now he hadn't tossed it out or given it away. He filled two mugs with water and set them in the microwave, then peered into his fridge. He'd been planning to cook a burger, but he figured he'd probably better get Daniel into town sooner rather than later. Maybe they'd grab food on the way.

  Right now, he needed a snack. And he needed to warm the kid up—literally and figuratively—if he wanted to find out who he belonged to.

  He sliced a hunk of cheddar and grabbed a sleeve of crackers. He set the snack on the coffee table.

  "Help yourself," Eric said.

  "Thank you, sir."

  Sir. Hmm. The accent, the addition of sir—Daniel was not a local boy, that was for sure.

  Eric fixed the hot chocolate and returned to the living room with two steaming mugs. He set one in front of Daniel and sat in the chair beside the fire.

  Daniel reached for the cup.

  "Careful. It's hot. But while it cools, it'll warm your hands."

  The boy cupped his hands around the cup for a moment, then set it back down. He glanced at the cheese and crackers.

  Eric took a cracker, covered it with a slice of cheese, then added another cracker on top.

  Daniel watched him eat it, then he did the same.

  They ate their snack and sipped their mugs in silence while the fire warmed the small living area. Eric added another log, then settled back down. "Tell me, Daniel. How did you happen to be in my woods today?"

  He sipped his hot chocolate, didn't meet Eric's eyes.

  Hmm.

  "Were you with your folks?"

  "I don't have a daddy."

  Right. He'd said that. A funny thing to add to his introduction.

  "Were you with your mother?"

  "She had to go."

  "Where did she go?"

  Another shrug.

  "Do you and your mother live around here?"

  He shook his head.

  "Where are you from?"

  After a shrug, he took another piece of cheese.

  "Do you know your mother's phone number?"