Evans Creek Book 2: In Good Hands

Chapter 34

Christy Potter had some questions to answer.

She was a minor. She carried a false ID. She was a runaway on the missing-persons list. A non-relative, adult man took her across state lines. And then there was the issue of abandoning Baby Boy.

Rowdy took a seat in the corner of the room, behind Christy. He was hoping that if he was out of sight, he would be out of mind also. He wasn't sure if Christy knew that Suzie lived with him, or if she knew that he was the one CPS placed her son with. He didn't want to make her nervous, or influence her, but he needed to be there. He needed answers too.

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The feds talked to her for a little while. First, they determined that the non-relative male that drove her across stateliness was a truck driver that offered her a ride, nothing more. It was a ride which she asked for, and that she went willingly with him. So, no kidnapping or statutory rape.

They discussed her running away. Why she left and where she went. Then she answered their questions about Baby Boy.

She didn't remember the name of the town she was in when she went to the party where Baby Boy was conceived. No, she wasn't a virgin at the time. Yes, she was drunk. She might or might not have smoked a joint. There was music. There was a guy. He was really into her and she was into him. No, she didn't remember his name, if she ever knew it.

She left that town with her friends the next day. She was in several other towns before she realized she was pregnant. After the baby was born, she kept him, even though her friends told her not to. They left her behind. Even if she remembered names, she had no idea where they went and she went with them willingly anyway.

After that, she stayed at a shelter and got a job and saved up enough for a car. She drove around looking for a better place for them to live, getting work where she could find it.

"That's what I was doing when I met this truck driver who talked about Evans Creek. He made it sound like...what's that town from the old TV show re-runs? The one with the sheriff and the little boy and the idiot deputy?"

"Mayberry?"

"Yeah, he made it sound like that. Like a perfect little town where everyone was nice."

Rowdy's ears perked up and he leaned forward. Suz said it was an awfully big coincidence that Christy showed up in Evans Creek. Now it looked like maybe it wasn't such a coincidence. He remembered the questions Suzie asked. Why get rid of Baby Boy now? Why Suzie?

"Where did you meet this man?"

"I don't remember the name of the town. It's just another one of those small towns. Me and the baby were just driving around looking for work. There was a truck stop, but it was in the middle of nowhere on this country backroad. I mean, it wasn't like the highway or anything."

"And how far from Evans Creek was this truck stop?"

"I don't know," Christy said, "An hour or a little more maybe?"

"And that's where you met the truck driver?"

"Yeah."

"What did he look like?"

"He was tall. He was older because his hair was gray, but it was really thick. His mustache and a beard were gray too. But it wasn't like white-gray. It was part dark too. He wasn't fat or anything though. He wasn't creepy looking or anything. He was dressed in regular clothes but he was neat and clean."

"Did you start the conversation?"

"No, he did. I was sitting at a table and he came in and sat at the counter nearby. He seemed kinda lonely. He saw Baby Boy and said he was a handsome little man. The guy seemed nice enough, so I talked to him."