Shepherd's Crook - 18. Chapter 18

Walking out of the police department, Gibby felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest, but now, instead of feeling relieved, he felt like he had a massive bull’s-eye target on his back. If Amanda found out that he went to the police, who knows what that crazy bitch would do. Gibby and Tanner already knew that she was capable of virtually anything.

At first, Gibby had been scared to tell Office Blackfeather everything he knew, but Tanner insisted. The police had to know the truth, with the exception of Tanner’s ghost telling Gibby who his killer was; he tried to be as honest as possible.

There was no way that the police could properly investigate without having more leads than the few they had before Gibby walked into the station today. Without his information, the case would have probably ended up as a cold case file, shoved to the back of a storage room until the papers turned yellow and disintegrated. Now, they had motive...better yet, they now had a suspect!

Officer Blackfeather had assured Gibby that he would promptly begin the investigation. The police were going to look into his claims against Amanda and Ethan and the officer insisted that Gibby not worry, which was easier said than done. The police were going to handle this their way. Gibby had done all that he could do; now it was the police’s turn.

With that out of the way, there was nothing more that they could do, so Gibby and Tanner slowly headed towards the library. “Are you okay?” Tanner asked as they strolled along the empty sidewalk. A light afternoon breeze ruffled Gibby’s hair, but he noticed that it didn’t affect Tanner in the same way. Gibby stared at Tanner and watched him for a few more steps.

“I guess so. I know that the police believed me. I mean, I practically drew the guy a sign that said Amanda Grady killed Tanner Mitchell…I just feel like I should have done more,” Gibby said shrugging his shoulders, giving Tanner a forced grin, “I guess that wasn’t your unfinished business since you’re still here, ghost boy.”

Tanner stepped in front of Gibby to stop him in his tracks, “Maybe you are my unfinished business, Gibby…” He placed his hands on Gibby’s hips as he looked into his soft brown eyes. “I even dreamed about you before you even came to Shepherd’s Crook.”

Gibby’s heart started to race. The simple touch was so light, yet he could feel the electric charge pulsing through his clothes. “Tanner,” He tried to swallow the lump growing in the back of his throat, “You have no idea what that does to me.” They both glanced down at the growing bulge in the front of Gibby’s jeans.

A wicked grin flashed across the ghost boy’s face as his fingertips slowly worked their way lower to Gibby’s groin. Gasping from a combination of shock and delight, Gibby jumped back and away from Tanner’s searching fingers.

“Not in public,” Gibby hissed, quickly looking around them.

“Nobody can see me.” Tanner protested. He was right, no one could see the ghost boy, but Gibby, on the other hand, looked like a lunatic talking to himself.

Gibby noticed that they had stopped in front of the library steps. As much as he wanted to continue this line of playful banter with Tanner, he figured it was best to move it in off the street. “C’mon, let’s see if the newest Bob Tarkman novel is in yet.”

The boys raced up the steps. Tanner had an unfair advantage as he beat Gibby to the top, before disappearing through the glass door.

“Cheater,” Gibby teased under his breath, trying his hardest to avoid drawing the attention of the spinster librarian inside, but she still looked up from the front desk and smiled at Gibby. In the short time he’d lived in Shepherd’s Crook, he had become a regular. He dug a book out of his satchel before dropping it through the return slot.

“Is there anything in particular you’re looking for today, Mr. Robinson?” She asked.

Gibby inquired about the new book and was told it would be a few more weeks before they got it in, so he decided to check out the stacks for something interesting. Finding some books that sounded good, Gibby turned towards Tanner to ask his opinion. “What do you think, you want to read one of the many Andre Norton books on the shelf or do you want to read, ‘Neuromancer’ and hey, look at this,” Gibby said pointing to the cover, “You know it’s going to be a good story because the author has such a cool name…Gibson.”

Tanner pondered his options then winked, “That’s not a fair decision between the two. You know that Cyberpunk will win in any competition, every time.”

Tucking the chosen book under his arm, Gibby turned to head to the check-out desk. He only got a few steps when he felt Tanner’s hands on his arms, pulling him back into the dusty stacks. “We have some time to kill, why not make the most of it,” Tanner said as he pressed Gibby’s shoulders into a solid wooden shelf of books and brought their lips together for a deep kiss.

At first, Gibby tried to fight him, worried that someone would come around the corner and see them, or technically, see only him, in what would appear to be a crazy form of erotic possession. Pulling back from Tanner’s mouth left a tingly sensation along his lips and tongue. It was amazing, Gibby couldn’t get enough of it and before he could stop himself, he threw caution to the wind and was crushing his mouth to Tanner’s again.

Gibby lost track of how long they remained in the book stacks making out. His body responded to Tanner. Gasping for air, Gibby tried to settle his raging pulse, when all he wanted to do was continue kissing Tanner; he would have done even more if they weren’t in the middle of a public library. Pressing their foreheads together, Gibby closed his eyes waiting for the roar in his ears to subside, and his body slowly returned to normal.

“I swear, ghost boy, you’re going to be the death of me.” Gibby chuckled, relishing the feel of Tanner’s spectral body against his.

Tanner playfully laughed and pressed a kiss to Gibby’s nose, “I sure hope so.”

***

Jonathan sent Gibby a message to tell him that he had a few more charts to write-up before leaving work for the evening and suggested that they meet at the pizza place on Plaza Street for dinner.

Gibby smiled at the text, “Well, it looks like we’ll have about an hour to waste until Dad gets off work. Do you have any suggestions?”

Tanner waggled his blond eyebrows, pulling a chest rumbling laugh from Gibby.

“Not in public,” Gibby warned Tanner. “I don’t feel like getting arrested for indecent exposure tonight, besides, how would I explain that to the police?” He laughed at the thought.

“There’s an ice-cream shop up the street,” Tanner said, steering Gibby in the right direction, “The shop owners are friends with my parents. They’re nice and really cool. We can get a soda and just hang out--”

“Gibby Robinson!” The female voice shouting Gibby’s name caused him to jump and spin around on his heels.

“Shelby?” Tanner muttered before Gibby could find her face in the crowd. The outside dinning area of the Becker Street Grill was filled with patrons trying to enjoy the last warm rays of sunshine before the autumn chill set in. The day was unseasonable warm. The sun was nearing the horizon and with daylight savings time less than a week away, each ray of sunlight was relished.

Stopping to glare into the crowd, Gibby smiled softly when he saw her sitting alone. “Hey, Shelby, what are you doing here?” He asked, as he worked his way through the crowd.

The girl bashfully glanced at her empty table. She was the only occupant in any of the four big chairs surrounding the large, metal table. The other tables along the sidewalk were all packed full, but the teenage girl was the only customer at the café sitting alone. “My parents are at the attorney’s office. They thought it would be better if I wasn’t there for the meeting.”

Gibby nodded his head. He knew what it was like for grown-ups to treat kids like they didn’t understand what was going on around them. When in fact, kids usually knew a hell of a lot more than anyone ever gave them credit for.

Glancing back at her empty table, Shelby suddenly looked hopeful. “Do you want to hang out with me for a little while?”

For a brief second, Gibby contemplated telling the girl no. He had been avoiding the Becker Street Grill and their cute waiter, Scott, ever since that first day when Gibby and Jonathan met here for lunch, but Shelby glanced up at him with her big blue eyes that looked identical to Tanner’s. There was no way that he could turn her down. Gibby pulled out a chair and sat across from her.

“Ask her what Mom and Dad are doing at the attorney’s office.” Tanner demanded as he appeared in the chair to Shelby’s left.

Gibby tried to be subtle while shooting Tanner a warning glance. The girl just lost her brother and probably wouldn’t take too kindly to Gibby suddenly prying into her personal life, so he thought it best to keep the conversation casual. “How are you and your parents doing?”

Shelby’s shoulder trembled slightly as she shrugged. “I’m okay until someone asks me if I’m okay; that’s when it hits me that I’m not okay and probably will never be okay again.” A soft sob caught on her breath as she pressed her fist to her mouth.

The other patrons noticed her starting to cry. Several gave curious glances that were followed by harsh whispers. There wasn’t anyone in Shepherd’s Crook that hadn’t heard what had happened to Tanner Mitchell and now that Shelby Mitchell was crying in public, you would think one of these people who knew her a lot better than Gibby did would try to comfort her, but they didn’t.

Tanner stared at his little sister with tears lacing his eyes, “Do something, Gib.” Pain clouded Tanner’s face.

“Shhh, Shelby,” Gibby tried his best to comfort her, “I know right now, it feels like the pain will never go away, but believe me when I tell you that it will become less and less over time…then one day, you’ll think about him without crying, and without being sad. You’ll think about Tanner and smile.”

“Is that how you feel about your mother?” Shelby whispered.

Gibby gasped, biting down hard on his lower lip. He should have known that the town would have put two and two together and figured out what had happened to Carol Robinson. His lip quivered when he tried to speak, before pausing a moment and then trying again. “Yes, I still don’t understand why she died, but now, when I think about her, it’s usually just the good memories.”

The smile behind Gibby’s sad eyes was genuine. He never doubted his mother’s love for him, even though he couldn’t comprehend why she committed such a horrible act of betrayal. Nothing would change the fact that he still loved her. Carol Robinson was sick and they should have seen the warning signs before it was too late, but they didn’t.

Lost in thought, Gibby never noticed Scott approaching their table. “Hey, Gibby, can I talk to you for a second?”

Gibby nearly jumped out of his seat when the handsome waiter’s voice spoke right beside him. His heart thudded in his chest as he fought a wave of anger that flushed his cheeks red.

“What the hell’s going on?” Tanner suddenly demanded. Shelby glanced up at Scott and smiled at the handsome, young waiter, making her brother even more jealous. Jumping up, Tanner glared at Scott Becker from across the table.

Scott patiently waited for Gibby’s reply.

“Hmmm,” Gibby debated whether he should tell the asshole to fuck off or to hear what he has to say.

“In private?” Scott added as his eyes darted over to Shelby hanging on every word.

“Gibby?” Tanner’s voice rose an octave. “What does he want?”

Focusing on Shelby, Gibby ignored both guys standing on either side of the table. Two gorgeous guys were both looking at Gibby for answers, but his eyes didn’t leave Shelby’s pale face. “Shelby, will you excuse me for a moment?”

“Gibby!” Tanner shouted while Gibby tried to keep from flinching.

“This will only take a second.” Gibby finished without acknowledging Tanner’s angry outburst.

Scott turned when Gibby stood up. Tanner started to follow them as they walked towards the empty sidewalk past the last tables of the Grill’s outside café, but a quick glance over Gibby’s shoulder told Tanner to stay with his sister. The ghost boy was angry, but he settled back into his chair to keep his only sibling company, while she waited for their parents.