Love Inspired Suspense June 2021--Box Set 1 of 2, page 12
Lex leaned his head against the steering wheel. Hot tears pressed unshed behind his eyes.
“Help me, Lord, I feel like such a failure,” he prayed out loud. “I don’t even know who this guy is, how to stop him or what I’m supposed to be doing right now.”
Truth was, he felt like he’d never been enough or done enough. As a kid, he’d done his very best to please his father, but that hadn’t stopped his dad from losing his temper all the time and then eventually walking out on them, never to be heard from again. Lex had gone all out to help friends like Johnny change their lives, and yet they’d still made terrible decisions. He’d cared about two women and both relationships had failed—the first because he’d felt inferior and bailed on their wedding, and the other because she’d left him. He loved his son with his entire being and yet he hadn’t been able to catch the man who’d tried to kidnap him.
“Is all this my fault, God?” he asked. “Did I do something wrong? Because it feels like I’ve let everybody down and I don’t know what You want me to do to fix it.”
A song he’d heard once at a summer camp as a kid buzzed through his brain, around and around like a fly, telling him that if he did what was right everything would always work out for him. For the first time in his life, he found himself questioning just how overly simplified that message he’d internalized was.
As he stepped out of the truck into the pouring rain, bowed his head and walked around to the back of his truck, he found something Jesus said in the gospels cross his mind—God sends rain on both the just and the unjust. A grin crossed his face. Yeah, wasn’t that the truth? He’d lived long enough already to see bad things happen to amazing people, like his mother, and great things happen to people who did terrible things. And, if he was honest, he’d also had some blessings in his life beyond what he ever hoped and deserved.
After all, he knew that Poppy was keeping his son safe right now.
He reached the back of his truck, opened the tailgate and thanked God his emergency gas canister felt heavy when he picked it up and sloshed it. A moment later he found his funnel, too. Other things that Jesus had said crossed his mind as he pulled off the gas cap and poured fresh fuel in the tank. There’d been a story about a man born blind, and while others had been worrying about whose fault the blindness was, Jesus had brushed all that talk away and focused on actually helping the guy.
Maybe that was what he should be focusing on right now, too.
It was a long drive back, prayers and doubts mingling inside him like the raindrops merging into streams on his windshield.
When he got back to the bed-and-breakfast, the front door was locked, but before he could even fish his keys out his mom opened the door. He stepped in out of the downpour. Wordlessly Gillian hugged him.
“He got away, Mom,” he said hoarsely. “I tried my best, but I lost him.”
“You’ll get him next time,” his mom reassured him.
And he almost laughed. Yeah, she said that about most things.
They walked into the living room and he was surprised to find it empty. “Where is everyone?”
“Danny’s asleep,” she said. “Will’s upstairs in Danny’s room, nailing down a piece of plywood over the broken window and helping me move Danny’s bed into my room.” She gave her son a hard look as if guessing what he was thinking. “And don’t say he should sleep in your room instead, because we both know you won’t be sleeping tonight.”
Yeah, that was true enough.
“What about the port of entry for the break-in?” he asked.
“Apparently, there was no break-in,” she said. “According to Will, looks like whoever tried to kidnap Danny used a house key, unlocked the back door and walked in. He found fresh scratches on the keyhole like someone was trying to unlock it in the dark and a bit of mud tracked in the back door.” Gillian shook her head and frowned. “And before you ask, I double-checked my keys right away. They’re still in a zip pouch in my purse and haven’t been touched.”
What could that possibly mean? There were only three sets of keys to the house—his mom’s, his and the one he once gave Johnny. But he’d demanded Johnny’s keys back when his buddy told him about the blue bears being poached and said he’d been drinking again. Lex reached into his pocket and pulled out his key ring. Sure enough, both sets of keys were still there—his and Johnny’s.
Had someone copied a set of their keys? If so, who and when?
“We need to get the locks changed,” he said.
“Agreed,” Gillian concurred. “I’ve already been calling around and found someone from the church who can do that for us first thing tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” He blew out a long breath. “Where’s Poppy?”
“With Danny,” his mom said. Her lips twisted like she was debating whether or not to say something more. Instead, she waved at Lex to follow her and started down the hallway. She reached the door of Poppy’s suite, pressed a finger to her lips to signal for quiet and then eased the door open a crack. He peeked in.
There was Poppy curled up asleep with Danny tucked safely in the crook of her arm, with the toddler’s head on her shoulder and her flaming red hair fanned out around them. Lex pressed his hand against his heart, feeling something tighten in his chest. Stormy was stretched out across the end of the bed by their feet with the kitten snuggling against her snout. The wolfhound’s eyes opened and silently she looked at him.
“Good dog, Stormy,” he whispered, and his voice caught in his throat. “Thank you for protecting my son.”
He eased the door closed again. As he turned back, he found his mother’s eyes on her face.
“I won’t ask if you still have feelings for her,” Gillian whispered as they walked away from the door, “because anyone with eyes in their head can see that you do. I’m not even going to ask if you think she’d be a good mother to Danny, because I know she would be. She’s a good person who loves hard, works hard and can do anything she puts her mind to.”
Her shoulders rose and fell, and he was suddenly reminded just how much his mother had always genuinely liked Poppy.
“But?” he asked softly.
“But as I told you back when you guys were planning on getting married, I don’t like the way you used to get around her,” Gillian admitted. “It was like you doubted yourself, shrunk and got smaller. She made you feel inferior.”
He shook his head. Yeah, he remembered his mom saying this just before he’d ended things with Poppy and called off their engagement. Although he’d never told Poppy, that conversation had been the one he’d accidentally left on her voice mail and the person he’d been admitting his doubts to was his mother.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Lex admitted, “because having Poppy by my side made me feel like a better and stronger man than I ever felt without her.”
“I know,” Gillian said. “But it was like she was a balloon and you thought you were only flying because you were holding on to her string, and since you lost her you’ve started to grow your own wings. I’d hate to see you lose yourself again now.”
He heard a click and turned as the door to Poppy’s suite eased open behind them. There she stood, in her stocking feet, with her hair slightly disheveled, a sleeping Danny in her arms and the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen in his life on her face. She looked so happy and so relaxed he was pretty sure she hadn’t caught the contents of their conversation.
“Hey.” Poppy smiled as she looked from Lex to Gillian and back. Then worry filled her eyes as they searched Lex’s face. “He got away?”
He felt himself nod, but it was his mother who spoke first.
“Here,” Gillian said, reaching out her hands for Danny. “Let me take him upstairs. I’ve got his bed made up in my room.” She eased the sleeping boy into her arms. “I’ll leave you two to talk.”
His mother headed upstairs. The bedroom door swung open wider as Stormy pushed her way through. Mushroom darted past and disappeared down the hallway, leaping over the dog’s feet. Stormy rubbed her head against Poppy’s side. Then the K-9 butted her head against Lex, as well, as if to say hello, then wandered down the hall, leaving just Lex and Poppy.
“I’m sorry I lost him,” Lex started. “He got a head start and was a pretty reckless driver.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Poppy said. She ran both hands through her hair. “Happens to the best of us. We’ll find him again.”
And there was something about the way she said it that was so strong and determined he believed her.
“Thank you for taking care of Danny,” he murmured.
“I loved spending time with him.”
She started to walk past him, down the hallway and back to the living room. But as she passed, his hand reached out and touched her arm. She stopped and turned back.
“I’m sorry if this is speaking out of turn,” Lex said, “but when you stopped outside Danny’s door last night and didn’t come during story time, I wondered if you were avoiding him or felt uncomfortable around him.”
“You were right,” Poppy admitted. “But only because I felt weak and didn’t want it to impact you, or Danny, or this case.”
He blinked. Of all the many words that filled his mind when he thought of Poppy, weak had never been one of them. He opened his mouth, but couldn’t find anything to say.
“I told you,” she said, “when you left it tore me open inside. I might not have cried in front of you, sent you a bunch of angry messages or vented about it on social media. But it hurt me so much I haven’t been close to anyone like that ever since because I was afraid of being hurt like that again. And I guess I was afraid getting close to your son would make that old wound open up again.” Then she smiled. “But I’m glad I got to bond with Danny, because he’s absolutely amazing. Thank you for sharing him with me. I’m so happy for you and the life you’ve built here.”
“Poppy...” His hand took hers. “I’m sorry I wasn’t stronger back then.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t braver,” she said softly. “But when I think about Danny, and Stormy, and my team, and the lives we have now, I’m really happy for who we became.”
“Me, too,” he confided. “I only wish I didn’t have to lose you for us to find it.”
She squeezed his fingers and he squeezed hers back. They stepped closer together in the darkened hallway until the only thing between them was their joined hands.
The sound of a ringing phone filled the narrow space. But it wasn’t until Poppy leaped back and snapped her cell to her ear that he realized it was hers.
“Hello?” she said. “Hey, why are you calling so late?... Oh.” Her face paled as she met Lex’s eyes. “Okay, we’ll be right there. Bye.”
She hung up the phone and sighed.
“That was Eli,” she told him. “He says, bad news is we’re too late and the poachers already have the second bear cub. Good news is they think they’ve figured out where the poachers are taking the cubs. But we have to act now. Otherwise we’ll lose any hope of rescuing the cubs forever.”
ELEVEN
“So, turns out some people are more chatty around the watering hole at night,” Will said as the three of them stood around the table in the darkened living room and waited for the video call to start. “Not that I know if any of the gossip I turned up helps us in solving the case. But it might give you some insight into what your friend Johnny was going through, Lex, at the very least.”
“Thanks,” he said, “I appreciate it.”
The long drive in the rain, praying after losing sight of the poacher, had helped get his heart and mind right. While there were still a lot of answers Lex didn’t have and things he had to figure out—especially in terms of dealing with whatever those invisible threads were that kept tugging him back toward Poppy—he definitely had more peace in his heart about Johnny, and for that he was thankful.
“Go on,” he added. “Lay it on me.”
“All right,” Will said. “Remember I’m dealing in small-town gossip here, not fact. But rumor has it that Ripley’s ex-boyfriend, Kevin Wilson, made a beeline here to find her after he got out of jail. Nolan has been complaining to anyone who’d listen that Kevin’s been coming by both the house and the airplane charter business, trying to get Ripley back and making trouble. The way Nolan apparently tells it, he chased him off and told him not to come back.”
“You sound skeptical of that,” Poppy remarked.
“I’m always wary of anyone who paints themselves as the heroic good guy of the story,” Will said with a shrug. “But Kevin does have a record for assault, not Nolan.”
“Any idea why Kevin went to jail for an assault charge?” Lex asked. “Had to have been pretty major if it wasn’t dealt with by probation.”
“I can answer that one!” Eli’s voice broke through and they glanced to see the tech’s face on the screen. “Kevin Wilson has multiple charges for assault and issuing threats, against both Ripley and Nolan. The incident that put him in jail apparently involved smashing Nolan’s truck with a baseball bat.”
Will whistled under his breath.
“All because he wanted Ripley back?” Poppy asked.
“Looks like it,” Eli said. “But looks can be deceiving. Kevin also tried to sue both Nolan and Ripley for lawyer’s fees, pressing false charges and lost wages, and it was thrown out.”
“That tracks,” Will said. “Rumor is Kevin came around the watering hole looking for Ripley and Nolan a week ago, claiming they owed him money for sending him to jail. Maybe Johnny’s boobytrapped his house to keep him from breaking in.”
Lex looked from Will to Eli on the screen, and then finally at Poppy.
“Then why aren’t you hauling this Kevin guy in for questioning?” he asked.
“He alibied out,” Will said. “Kevin left town a few hours before Johnny died. Nolan flew him to Juneau personally just to get him out of town. Nolan showed me the flight record proving he was in the air with Kevin when Ripley and Johnny were attacked at the house. From there Kevin hopped on a flight to Anchorage. Nolan’s also got both text and phone records showing Kevin’s phone calling Nolan and Ripley from Anchorage.”
“So, Nolan and Ripley have every reason to hate Kevin and yet they’re also his alibi,” Poppy said.
“And vice versa,” Will noted.
Lex let out a long breath and ran his hand over his head.
“So, we’ve got nothing,” Lex muttered.
Except, as Will said, a window into what Johnny was dealing with. Lex couldn’t imagine Johnny dealt well with his girlfriend being harassed by her ex. Johnny was nothing if not loyal and protective.
“Good news is that I finally got the recent client list from Ripley and Nolan,” Will added. “Took some persuading as his clients are mostly rich, foreign tourists who like privacy. But we’ve got people on here from all over Europe, the Persian Gulf and Asia. Any one of which might have been scheming with the poachers to capture the baby bears and then killed Johnny when he caught wind of it.”
“Which is a fantastic transition to why I called you for a late-night chat,” Eli said, drawing their attention back to the screen. “The whole team will be meeting tomorrow morning and Lorenza is off tonight at a charity event as we speak. But I thought you would want to know now, so she gave me the go-ahead to brief you. I’m sending a package of files through for you to print, so you’ve got a copy of everything I’m looking at. Long story short, I found a post on the dark web saying both bears will be going up for bid at an illegal animal auction in less than forty-eight hours. They’ve also apparently got a two-or three-year-old brown bear.”
Poppy blew out a hard breath. Nobody in their right mind would try to poach a fully grown bear, no matter how greedy or desperate they were for money. “That doesn’t give us a lot of time.”
“Less than you’d think,” Eli said. “Because also according to dark web chatter the bears are due to be smuggled out of Glacier Bay by boat, to meet up with a ship near Anchorage just before dawn and then from there head out into international waters. We don’t know where they’ll be headed yet, could be Asia but probably Russia. So, obviously we’ll be coordinating with the coast guard on this. Once they’ve left American waters everything gets a lot more complicated.”
And if that happened, Lex knew animal trafficking well enough to know that would probably mean the bears would be gone for good.
Will looked at Poppy. “Guessing that means we’ll be heading to Anchorage and coordinating with the coast guard.”
“That’s not for me to say,” Eli said. “But I know the boss wants to talk to you first thing in the morning.”
Lex felt Poppy’s gaze on his face but didn’t dare let himself look her way in case his eyes gave away how he was feeling. The lightness he had felt in his heart earlier now seemed to sink inside him like a stone. So, one way or another, it sounded like Poppy was leaving his life tomorrow.
He didn’t notice when Will pushed the button on the laptop to send things through wirelessly to print, but was thankful when he heard the printer in his office spring to life, because it gave him a reason to turn his back on the conversation and head to the other side of the room. Lex took the sheets Eli had sent off the printer and looked down at the crude posts, with pictures of the sad bear cubs and a description of the terrible fate that awaited them. But somehow his eyes found it hard to focus.
He’d never expected Poppy to suddenly land in his life, let alone thought that she would stay. So why did the thought of her leaving weigh so heavily inside him?
“This doesn’t sit right with me,” Poppy said, her voice drawing his attention back to the conversation happening around the table. She reached out for the papers in Lex’s hands, took them from him and then spread them out. “A poacher goes after Lex’s son, tries to kidnap him and says he’s taking the kid for collateral until he can sell the bears to his client tomorrow.”
