Christmas Peril, page 5
“Jayden, wait for me.” Her shout reverberated down the street.
She hurried her pace, rounding the overgrown hedge in time to see Jayden disappear behind a run-down house that appeared vacant. Her pulse rate increased as her steps did toward the place.
“Jayden, come here.”
“Mommeeee,” her daughter yelled, the sound sending a streak of panic down Annie and propelling her into a flat-out run.
Annie came around the side of the house and heard her daughter whimpering. Fear draped her in an icy sweat, and she rushed toward the sound, her heartbeat roaring in her ears. Blocked by a large holly bush up against the wooden structure, Annie didn’t see where Jayden was until she skirted the shrub and found her daughter down on the ground, one leg stuck in a hole that had been boarded over.
Tears in her eyes, Jayden looked up. “I can’t get up. It hurts.”
Part of her wanted to wail at her daughter for running ahead of her, but she kept her words inside for later, when she was calmer. “Don’t move. Let me see what I can do.”
Annie approached Jayden as a large black dog bounded around the corner of the house, barking. Caleb appeared right on his pet’s heels. Surprised to see him but relieved to have help, she knelt next to her daughter and began checking out the situation.
“What happened?” Concern on his face, he stooped beside Annie.
“I thought I saw something inside. I was looking in when I fell.” Tears rolled down Jayden’s cheeks.
“Honey, we’ll get you out,” Annie said, while she couldn’t shake the words her child had uttered. Something inside? What? Again the threat in the message played across her mind. No, she couldn’t show her panic. She wouldn’t give in to what the killer was trying to do. Her call to the police couldn’t have been traced to Christmas. And she hadn’t left a trail to the town.
“This looks like a hole that the previous owner covered up with some boards. It’s been here a while, and most of the wood is rotten. I’ll pull Jayden straight up while you try to keep her leg from being scraped any more with the jagged pieces.” Standing and leaning over, Caleb put his arms around her child. “Are you ready?”
Jayden nodded.
Annie wedged one hand down between her daughter’s leg and the worst broken piece of wood. With the other, she clasped Jayden to help guide the leg straight up. “Ready.”
“On the count of three. One. Two. Three.” Caleb slowly lifted Annie from the hole.
The action pressed Annie’s palm into a sharp, jagged point. Pain flashed up her arm. She bit down and pulled her hand free as soon as her daughter was out. Blood trickled from a cut on her skin.
Ignoring the wound, she angled toward her daughter on the ground, where Caleb examined the gash visible beneath the torn, ruined cotton pants. She moved to Jayden.
Caleb ripped off a part of her daughter’s slacks and tied the strip around her calf to stop the bleeding. “We should have Doc look at this. It might need stitches.”
“Stitches!” Jayden’s eyes grew round as a full moon.
Ralph licked her child’s face, producing a giggle. Jayden threw her arms around the dog’s neck and plastered her cheek against his fur.
“Let’s get her back to my house. I’ll call Doc and let him know you’re coming in. Are you ready? I’m gonna carry you, Jayden.” Caleb slipped his arms under Jayden and lifted her in one fluid motion.
Balling her throbbing hand, Annie rose. “We need to let Sara know we’ll be late. She’ll worry.”
“Get my cell from my left jacket pocket. Call Sara, then I’ll give you Doc’s number to dial for me.”
She stepped nearer to reach for the phone. When she pulled it out, he started for the front of the house while Annie called Sara and told her what happened and where they were going.
When she hung up, Caleb stopped and spun toward her. “Doc’s number is—” His gaze latched onto something over her shoulder. A frown descended.
Annie pivoted and saw the front door of the abandoned house open slightly. “Jayden thought she saw something inside.” Annie again felt as though eyes were on her.
His jaw set in a grim line, he handed Jayden to Annie, took his cell, then headed toward the porch. “Wait by the street.” He signaled to Ralph to go with Annie, then he cautiously entered the house.
“Mommy, what if the ghost gets him?”
With Ralph next to her, Annie followed his directions and stood at the edge of the property along the road, comforted by the fact a big dog was with her. “Honey, there’s no such thing as ghosts. If there was someone in the house, he was very much alive. And while we’re on this subject, don’t ever run off from me again. Understood?”
“I’m sorry. The house looked haunted.”
“It isn’t.” Annie inched closer to Ralph.
Caleb emerged from the house and crossed the yard to them. The scowl on his face didn’t bode well. He’d found something he didn’t like.
“Did you see anything?” Jayden asked.
“Nothing to concern you. Let’s go get you patched up. That’s my priority now.”
What did you find? Annie wanted to demand details but clenched her jaw and kept quiet. She would revisit the subject when Jayden wasn’t listening.
Caleb started to take her daughter from her when his gaze caught sight of her injury. “You’re hurt, too.” He paused and took hold of her hand. “You should have said something.”
“It’s nothing.” The feel of his fingers touching her momentarily wiped the dull ache emanating from her wound.
“Doc’s gonna have two patients.” Caleb took Jayden. “I’ve already called him, and he’ll be at his office.”
Two hours later Annie sat in Caleb’s car heading back to Sara’s with a bandaged hand, a sleepy daughter and a sack of food from the café for dinner. Darkness had fallen over the town, but the Christmas lights lit the night.
Annie peered into the back of the vehicle and saw her daughter nodding off until she slumped over onto the seat. “We didn’t get a chance to talk about what was inside the house.”
“Someone was using the house to stay in. I suspect some teens are using it to party. I’ll have a word with them tomorrow and put the fear of the law into them.”
“Do you think they ran out the front while we were in the backyard?”
“Maybe. I didn’t notice if the door was open when I arrived. I was focused on you disappearing around the corner. More likely they forgot to shut it all the way, and the wind blew it open.” Caleb pulled up to Sara’s and opened his door. “Grab the food, and I’ll get Jayden.”
Caleb carried her daughter toward Sara’s, Jayden slowly waking up and rubbing her eyes. Her wrapped leg testified to her “adventure,” one Annie hoped she didn’t repeat. The tears in the doctor’s office as well as the stitches her daughter had were bad enough, but she didn’t know how she was going to pay the bill. Although Doc didn’t seem too concerned, she knew the state of her finances wouldn’t take many more of these little mishaps, especially if she had to start over somewhere new.
“Sara’s probably starved by now. She’s used to eating early.” Annie took out her key and unlocked the front door then entered.
“I imagine she’s more concerned about Jayden than anything.”
Before Annie closed the door, Sara stood in the entrance into the living room. “How’s Jayden?” Worry lined her wrinkled face as she moved toward them.
“Miss Sara, I’m okay.” Jayden yawned, then stuck her leg out. “See. I got four stitches.”
Sara made a production out of examining the bandage. “Doc did a great job fixing you as good as new.”
Annie headed for the kitchen. “I’ll have dinner on the table in a few minutes. Jayden, go wash up.”
Caleb gently set her daughter down, and she limped toward the small bathroom under the staircase.
“Annie, let’s have a picnic in the living room.” Sara moved toward the room. “I already have a blanket spread on the floor in front of the fireplace. Caleb can fix a fire.”
Ten minutes later Annie sat on a large red-and-green plaid blanket eating fried chicken and all the fixings, from biscuits to coleslaw to green beans. With a huge grin, Jayden put her drumstick down on her paper plate, grease smeared around her mouth. Annie handed her a napkin, which her daughter swiped across her face.
As Annie settled next to Caleb, the fire warming her back, he captured her gaze and held it. Her stomach tightened at the gleam that glinted in his eyes. She searched for a safe topic of conversation—one that didn’t make her regret her decision to leave after the New Year, all brought on by her fearful feelings and the messages she’d received. She couldn’t stay long in any one place. That would give the man time to find her. How she was going to be able to disappear with her daughter was still a question she couldn’t really answer.
This town had taught her one thing. If she had to disappear, she needed a place where she could keep to herself. It was much easier that way. There were too many times she wanted to confide in Sara and Caleb. The burden of an unknown enemy out there was taking its toll on her. Especially when she had to seem perfectly fine so as not to arouse any suspicion.
If Nick Salvador or one of his goons were after her, she never wanted to subject the townspeople, especially Caleb and Sara, to someone like him with unsavory connections and accusations of murder in his past. They had all been so kind, accepting her and her daughter.
“How did you know we were on the other block earlier today?” Annie finally asked, although her words held a whispery quality at the intensity flowing from him, all directed at her.
“Sara told me. I just missed you.”
“I’m glad you came,” Jayden said before Annie could open her mouth. “You saved me.”
The admiration in her daughter’s eyes probably mirrored her expression, Annie thought. She wasn’t good at relationships. The one person she’d really fallen for in the end hadn’t been who he’d first appeared to be. She’d thought Bryan was kind, honest and caring, but the only person he’d really cared about was himself. He’d been in Jayden’s life when it suited him. And she’d caught him in enough lies while they had dated that when she’d discovered she was pregnant she knew she couldn’t marry him. So why was she responding to Caleb? She’d learned her lesson, hadn’t she?
“I hope you know now not to go off exploring on your own, especially vacant buildings. They can be dangerous,” Caleb said in his police officer voice.
Jayden hung her head. “I won’t.” She lifted her chin and looked right at Caleb. “I wasn’t gonna go in. Promise.”
Sara leaned forward and gave Annie her plate. “Remember those marshmallows I got at the store the other day? Let’s roast them over the fire. I used to do that as a kid.”
Caleb rose then tugged Annie to her feet. “Do you have some metal coat hangers?”
“In the hall closet.” Sara waved her hand toward the foyer.
“I’ll get them while you get the bag of marshmallows.” Caleb picked up the trash Annie couldn’t, snagged a mint from a jar on Sara’s end table and headed toward the foyer.
After rummaging through the cabinet in the kitchen, Annie found the chewy treat and pulled the bag out. She turned to go back in the living room and nearly collided with Caleb standing behind her.
He hadn’t needed to steady her, but his hands clasped her upper arms anyway. The smile deep in his eyes warmed her more than the fire had earlier. Tired of being alone and doing everything herself, she wanted to snuggle into his embrace and feel its protective touch about her.
“How’s your hand?” He slid his down her arm to clasp her injured one. Turning it palm up, he peered at it.
“It’s quit throbbing,” she managed to whisper, although her words came out breathless.
“Good.” His gaze stole the rest of her breath. “I worry about you.”
The huskiness in his voice constricted her throat, and the intensity in his expression seized her and held her motionless. Worry about her? Bryan certainly hadn’t. Somehow he’d dragged her into a mess that might cost her life. “You don’t need to. I’m fine.” She tried to interject conviction behind that declaration, but Caleb gave her a slow appraising glance.
He combed his fingers through her hair. “If you’re in trouble, I can help you.”
“In trouble?” Her mind could hardly wrap itself around his words. All she wanted to do was block the world out and just enjoy this man’s attention for just a moment in the middle of the nightmare her life had become.
He leaned in, his mouth inches from hers. The scent of peppermint teased her senses. “I take my job seriously.”
The whispered words tickled her lips. She closed her eyes, the anticipation of his kiss tapping a fast tempo against her rib cage. When his mouth finally settled over hers, she melted against him, her legs going weak. He wound his arms about her and held her upright while deepening the touch of their lips.
When they parted, he rested his forehead against hers, and she tried to bring some kind of order to her thoughts. But all she could think about was the dynamite kiss that had been gentle but demanding at the same time. She was in such trouble, and it had nothing to do with Nick Salvador and Bryan’s killer. Caleb had the ability to steal her heart. She’d had it crushed once before and because of Bryan might never be able to go home again. That scared her.
The reminder forced her from Caleb’s arms. She stepped back against the counter and gripped the edge. “I’ll be moving along after the holidays. I’m thinking of heading out west.” As far away from Florida as possible.
“Why? If you’re looking for a new place to live, what’s wrong with settling down in this town?”
Nothing. “Too small.” Hard to get lost in. According to what she’d read on the Internet, a big city might be easier to disappear in.
“Oh, I see.” Caleb took the marshmallows from her and pivoted toward the hallway. “We better get into the living room before Sara sends out a search party.”
Annie stayed for a moment, her grasp on the counter the only thing holding her up. That kiss and her response changed everything, but she couldn’t allow it to. She’d fought her battles alone. Nick Salvador could destroy people’s lives with his questionable connections, money and hired thugs. She wouldn’t do that to Caleb.
By herself, she would keep Jayden and her safe.
By herself, she would find a way to disappear and a place to live.
But as she contemplated the loneliness stretching before her, her thoughts strayed to the kiss that had taken a piece of her heart. She doubted she would get it back. Caleb was the marrying kind of man, one who would protect the people he loved to the end.
Tell him what’s going on. Get his help.
She didn’t know what was going on. How could she explain it to another?
By herself, she firmed the resolution in her mind and pushed off the counter.
As she entered the living room, she came to a stop just inside and took in that man helping her daughter roast marshmallows over a blazing fire. Jayden’s giggles filled the air. Her megawatt grin brightened the room more than the lights. Caleb glanced back at her. His veiled expression didn’t reveal anything that had happened in the kitchen, but when she had said Christmas was too small for her, she’d seen the quickly masked hurt in his eyes.
As Jayden and Caleb prepared the treats for everyone, Sara pushed herself out of the lounge chair and shuffled toward the long table behind the couch. She plucked the ceramic Christmas tree from it and carried it back with her.
“Jayden, I usually decorate every room in the house, but I didn’t this year because of my fall.” Sara set the tree with colorful painted ornaments down beside Jayden. “Put this in your bedroom. In fact, tomorrow we can drag out the boxes I put away and see what else I have that will add a touch of Christmas to your room.”
“Do you have a manger with baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph? I learned about them yesterday in Sunday school class.”
“I think I have several in those boxes somewhere.”
Jayden clapped. “Yippee. This will be fun.”
Sara chuckled. “Christmas is so much better with children around. Too bad you have to work, Caleb, or you could come over and help.”
He gave Sara her plate with a roasted marshmallow on it. “I’ll stop by at the end of the day, and if there’s anything I can hang and put up for you, I will.”
A warm, cozy living room with a large Christmas tree in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, garland draped along the fireplace, a blaze in the hearth with the scent of wood permeating the air, snowman figurines everywhere, bright twinkling lights on the tree and intertwined in the wreath hanging over the mantel. She wanted to savor the evening for as long as she could.
“I’m glad you came over tonight.” Annie slipped out the front door later and stood with Caleb on the porch. “It’ll be fun decorating tomorrow. We didn’t get to do much this year at home.”
“You didn’t want to because you were going to be gone?” He took her hands in his, the touch warm.
Now she realized her mistake. She shouldn’t have walked him to the door or come out onto the porch to say good-night. Without Sara or Jayden around, she was afraid Caleb, a police officer who was probably a master at interrogation, would grill her. The whole evening he had asked questions about her life. She’d given him a few tidbits, but not much.
She shrugged. “Why decorate when you aren’t going to be around? We didn’t have much anyway.”
He pulled her toward the porch swing and sat, tugging her down next to him. “I feel like tonight all I did was talk about myself. You know about my father’s death last year. About the reason I left Tulsa. But I didn’t tell you the whole story. I was dating a woman seriously in Tulsa and when my father became ill and I knew I needed to return home to help him, I asked her to marry me.”
What would it be like married to someone like Caleb who cared about others, was honest and decent? If she had to live her life on the run, she’d never find out. “It’s obvious she didn’t. What happened?”
