Book of Days_ A Novel - James L. Rubart [77]
Not the expected hobby of a middle-aged empty nester, and friends teased her about it. Some called her Robin Hood, at least none of them called her Friar Tuck. Taylor never teased her. He even encouraged her practice, but then he had his own target practice: fly-fishing.
Here she knew the answers, or if she didn't, it's where she could find them and fix the flaws.
As the pop can rotated slowly to the left, the sun hit it and flashed into her eyes. She blinked, then closed her eyes and saw the can in her mind.
Breathe in. Now hold it. Focus. See the can. Trust your instinct. Right there. Focus deeper. Release.
The arrow sang through the air, and Tricia didn't open her eyes till she heard the tip of the arrow rupture the can with a screech.
"Impressive shot."
Tricia whirled around to see who had spoken. There was no one. Wait. Over to the left, halfway behind a large pine. Jason Judah. "Thanks for sneaking up on me."
"No, I didn't do that." He rose from the boulder he'd been sitting on and ambled toward her. "I found you right as you started your routine. I didn't want to disturb."
Tricia glared at him trying to convey that's exactly what he'd done.
He didn't pick up on the hint. Or more likely he did and ignored it. "Mind if I join you for a few minutes?"
"Yes."
"We haven't talked just the two of us for years have we now? Hmm?"
Tricia half walked, half jogged to the can she'd just lanced to get her arrow. She didn't trust Jason. She'd never trusted him. And given his erratic history with Taylor, her heart pounded with the thought that they were miles from anyone.
Before she was halfway back, Jason called out, "What does Taylor know about the book?"
"What do you want?"
"To know what Taylor knows. Do you think he'd be willing to lead me to it?"
"That's a ridiculous question, Judah." She shuffled back up to her shooting spot and started packing her bow and arrows into a forest green bag.
"You know you're the only one who still calls me by my last name?" Jason laughed. "Did you know that?" He paused and leaned back against one of the pines surrounding them.
Tricia didn't answer. She wanted to leave, much sooner than later.
"Why is my question ridiculous?"
"Even if I knew what Taylor knows, I wouldn't tell you."
"Ah, so he does know more than he's letting on."
"Judah, I have no idea what my husband knows, if anything. But if you're so convinced he knows something, then ask him yourself." Tricia threw the last of her pop cans into her bag, yanked it onto her shoulder, and started striding the sixty yards back to her Jeep Cherokee.
"I did."
"And what did he say?"
"The truth about him will come out at some point."
"What truth is that?" She didn't look back.
"About his covering up the accident."
Tricia spun and glared at Jason. "For thirty years you've been hinting and hemming and hawing about Taylor. If you have something on him, why not just tell me. If you don't, simply keep that obnoxious maw of yours shut."
"Whoooweee!" Jason slapped his leg. "A little bit of fire coming out of the belly there. I'm impressed."
"I'm serious."
"Oh, I know you are." He narrowed his eyes. "But then again, so am I. Taylor knows more about the accident than he's ever let on. How do I know this?" Jason leaned forward. "He told me. In a moment of weakness, when for a moment he thought we were still friends, he told me. He said, 'I did it to her. I did it.' And I'm convinced whatever it is he did, is tied to the book. I'd bet my life on it." Jason rubbed his chin. "Did you know he told me that?"
Tricia's face flushed. The possibility that Jason knew more about Taylor's past than she did melted her heart. "The past is the past. What happened then is over."
"You're a believing woman, in God Almighty above. Aren't you? And you believe eternity is real? That there is a realm outside of time? A place where the past, the present,