Christmas Peril, page 6
“She told me no, said she couldn’t live in a place like Christmas. She hated small towns. I was floored. I thought I knew her, and I didn’t. It made me question my judgment.”
Ah, so when she’d said that this evening, it had brought back memories of the woman in Tulsa. “How do you feel now?” She knew exactly what he had gone through, because she had with Bryan.
“I finally decided the Lord had a hand in it. He had something else in mind for me.”
“I wish I had your faith. I did at one time.” In more ways than one. He believed good would triumph over evil in the end. She wasn’t so sure, especially with evil lurking out there ready to pounce on her.
With his finger under her chin, he drew her face around so she had to look him straight in the eye. “What happened?”
This she could tell him, and he still wouldn’t know what was really going on. Maybe then the questions would stop. “I’ve made some bad choices, ending with getting involved with Bryan, Jayden’s dad. My father leaving sent my mother into a severe depression. She never recovered. Nothing I could do made a difference. She died brokenhearted.”
“I’m so sorry, Annie.”
Tears crowded her eyes, her throat aching. “I know tragedy happens, but why does it have to?”
“Because we aren’t meant to spend eternity here. This is the place where we grow and learn. Sadly that doesn’t always happen, when everything goes along merrily with no obstacles to surmount.”
“What doesn’t break you makes you stronger?”
“Something like that.” He used his thumbs to brush away the rivulets of tears flowing from her eyes, then he cupped her face. “Thank you for trusting me with that. You don’t know how much it means to me.” He bent toward her and kissed her.
In that one gentle kiss he branded her his. From the very beginning he had accepted her, no questions asked. That fact awed her. He hadn’t gone behind her back but had waited for her to tell him her story—even if he didn’t realize it wasn’t the whole story. For the first time in a while she felt hope for the future. Maybe she should say something to him about Bryan’s murder and father.
Pulling away, Caleb looked long and hard at her. “I’d better call it a night. See you tomorrow.”
As he strolled away, he felt her gaze on him as though she had brushed her hand down his spine. She had trusted him only partially. But she hadn’t said a word about the break-in at her apartment in Crystal Creek or the fact all her possessions had been trashed. Why not? Why would that make her flee her home and travel across the country right before Christmas? What else was she keeping from him? He was developing deep feelings for her, and he couldn’t allow them to go any further. She wasn’t staying in town after the New Year. But mostly even if she was, he had to have total trust.
FIVE
Wednesday afternoon, Annie rocked back and forth in the porch swing while Sara took an afternoon nap and Jayden sat on the steps and drew pictures. Bright sunshine and warm temperatures made the day beautiful, promising. But inside Annie couldn’t unwind. Her stomach remained in a tight knot, as though a nest of vipers lay curled in a lump, waiting to strike and inject her with their poison.
With a glance at her watch, she rose. “Honey, I have to put the clothes into the dryer. I’ll be right back.”
She hurried into the laundry room and transferred the wash to the dryer. What little clothes they’d brought with them she’d cleaned several times since they’d arrived last week. She’d never had a lot of clothing, but she’d had to leave at least half behind in Crystal Creek. In that moment, the thought of having to start over in a new place—get a job somehow, find a cheap place to live—overwhelmed her. She slammed the dryer door closed and leaned into the appliance to steady herself.
Why, Lord? Why me?
No answer came to mind. She couldn’t give in to self-pity. It wouldn’t change her situation or produce a solution. She would survive and protect Jayden. She had no other choice.
She pushed off the dryer and scrubbed her hands down her face as though that could miraculously wipe any fear from her expression. She made her way to the foyer, stopping halfway across it when Jayden came into the house, carrying a wrapped present.
“Where did you get that?” Annie covered the few feet to her daughter.
Jayden held it up to her. “He gave it to me and told me to tell you it was from a secret Santa.”
“Caleb?” Annie took the gift from her.
“No.” Jayden shook her head several times to emphasize the point. “A stranger. I promise I didn’t say anything to him. You told me never to talk to a stranger.”
Chills encased Annie. “What did he look like?”
“Big.”
“Anything else?”
“He wasn’t Santa. He had dark hair. He came in a car, not a sled.”
“What color was the car?”
“Black and big.”
He could have taken Jayden. The rapid beating of her heart thundered in her ears. “Thanks, honey. Let’s get your stuff and come inside.” Somehow she’d managed to keep her voice level, the panic from sounding in it. But inside it raged, squeezing around her chest until she could hardly breathe.
When she stepped onto the porch again, Annie surveyed the street. As it was two days before, nothing was out of place—no strangers, no cars that shouldn’t be. She’d only been gone five minutes.
After Jayden collected her pad, Annie hurried her inside and locked the door. “Why don’t you go draw in our room? I’ll be up there in a few minutes.”
As her daughter bounded up the stairs, Annie peered out the small window in the foyer. Still nothing. She strode to the kitchen, made sure the back door was locked, then looked outside the window there. No sinister man lurking around the yard.
She sat at the table and slowly opened the package. Her hands quaked so badly she fumbled, taking twice as long as she should have. Inside the box lay a 5x7 photo of Bryan, Jayden and her he’d taken last summer. Jayden had a smaller version in her treasure chest she’d brought with her, while Bryan had framed a 5x7 picture and put it by his bedside. At least that was what he’d told her.
On the glossy page a big X was marked through Bryan. The words, You’re next, were written across her image. She dropped the photo, so cold she couldn’t contain her trembling. Rubbing her hands up and down her arms, she tried to erase the goose bumps from them, to warm herself. She couldn’t.
Bryan’s killer is here.
Caleb pushed to his feet and scooted his desk chair back. When he exited his office, he peered at the wall clock and noted the time. 2:00 p.m. He needed to grab something to eat and try to straighten out what was going on in his town. Heading toward the door to the station, he went over his earlier interview with several of the teens he’d thought had used the vacant house behind Sara to party in. None of them had, according to their protests. The three boys had seemed genuinely surprised when he had questioned them. If they were telling the truth, then who had used the house? He’d sent Jeremy, one of his police officers, over to see if he could get any fingerprints. He hadn’t bothered yesterday, but now he’d give it a try, although the chances of finding the culprit’s prints were slim.
Looking up and down North Pole Boulevard, Caleb started across the street for the café. Suddenly he heard the shriek of tires and peered to his left. A black SUV with dark tinted windows came barreling around the corner and headed right toward him. He dove between two parked vehicles on the other side of the street as the car whizzed by him. Scrambling to his feet, he tried to make out the tag number. Mud covered the license plate.
His palms stinging, he flipped open his cell and made a call to Tyler, another officer on patrol. He gave him what information he could on the vehicle and had him keep an eye out for it. If he hadn’t reacted quickly, he could have really been hurt. Lunch forgotten, Caleb limped back across the street to the station to get his keys, which he’d overlooked on his desk. He would do his own patrolling, too.
Annie rushed into the bedroom she shared with Jayden and went to the closet, pulling out their suitcases then stuffing the still wet clothes from the dryer into one of them.
Jayden looked up from drawing at the small round table. “Are we going someplace?”
“Yes, a new adventure. C’mon. Start packing your stuff.”
“I don’t wanna leave.” Jayden threw down her crayon.
“We’re playing a game to see how fast we can get everything in the car. I think we can in ten minutes. What do you think?”
Jayden’s eyes brightened. “Maybe. What do we get if we win?” She leaped up from the chair and raced toward the dresser to get her clothes.
To stay alive. “It’s a surprise,” Annie said, frantically trying to think of anything to say to get her daughter to cooperate. She wanted to be gone before Sara woke up from her nap. She didn’t want to answer any questions.
All she knew was she needed to leave Christmas. She couldn’t stay. He was here! Her heart hammered so quickly the room spun. She paused and inhaled a fortifying breath. I can’t fall apart. I can’t fall apart.
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. The verse infused itself into her mind, and a calmness descended.
Ten minutes later, Annie stopped at the back door and searched the yard and driveway. Empty. She released a breath through pursed lips. She and Jayden left the house and covered the distance to her car parked in front of the detached garage. After stuffing their suitcases into the trunk, she got into the front and inserted her key into the ignition. When she turned it, nothing happened. She tried again.
Dead. As dead as she was going to be if she stayed.
Desperation drove her to try yet a third time. Nothing. She pounded her fist on the dashboard. That was when she saw the piece of paper that had slipped down near the windshield.
She read it. You can’t hide. You’re mine anytime I want.
“Mommy, what’s wrong?
What should I do?
Tell Caleb. Get help.
That calmness still clung to her. She turned to Jayden and smiled, although the effort to maintain it made her lips quiver. “Let’s see, how long did it take?” She checked her watch. “We did it in eleven minutes.”
“We lost?”
“No, we didn’t. And I think there’s some ice cream in the freezer that has your name on it.”
“Chocolate.”
“Yep.”
Jayden leaped from the car and raced for the back door. Annie exited and popped the trunk, taking their suitcases and following her daughter inside. Trying desperately to remain calm for Jayden, she fixed her daughter a large bowl of ice cream and then went to the hall phone and dialed Caleb at the police station.
“Annie, it’s nice to hear from you after the bad day I’ve had.”
“What happened?” She fought to keep her voice from wavering but her hands shook.
“A few minutes ago I almost got run over right outside the police station.”
Annie straightened. On purpose? “Did you catch the person?”
“No, but I’m leaving and going out to look. What do you need?”
She couldn’t tell him over the phone. “I hope you’ll stop by later. Let me know what happens.”
“I’ll see you this evening and we’ll talk.”
She started to go back into the kitchen when the phone rang. She snatched it up, not wanting to disturb Sara. “Hello.”
“Hi, Annie. Did you get my little present? I know it’s a little early for Christmas, but I didn’t want you to think I’d forgotten you,” the deep, gruff voice of her tormentor said.
She shuddered at the implication of his words. “What do you want?”
“You know. And just so you don’t get any ideas about telling your boyfriend about what’s going on, I wanted you to know I’ll actually kill him the next time. Today was your one warning.”
“You tried to run him down.”
“It was so much fun. Or maybe he’s not enough of an incentive to keep quiet. Maybe instead, I’ll take Jayden. She’s a pretty little girl. Not very talkative, though.”
“You wouldn’t.”
His cackle right before he hung up was her answer. With the receiver in hand, Annie sank to the floor and leaned her head back against the wall. She couldn’t leave. And she couldn’t tell Caleb.
Thursday night, Caleb turned off the ignition to his police cruiser in the church parking lot and laid his head against the steering wheel. The last few days had been hectic, especially after nearly being run over yesterday. His body still protested his contact with the asphalt surface of the street.
This morning the black SUV had been found outside of town, ditched in a field. It had been stolen the day before and all prints had been wiped clean. On the other case, Jeremy had found some usable fingerprints in the vacant house and was running them for a match. But that could take time.
He didn’t like everything that was happening in Christmas lately. He had someone he was falling for obviously in trouble and not saying anything to him. Last night he’d tried again to get her to talk, but she hadn’t. He had someone who had deliberately headed right toward him on the street. And he had someone, maybe more than one, using the vacant house without the knowledge of the owners, who he’d contacted yesterday.
The ringing of his cell cut into his thoughts. “Jackson here.”
“I’ve got something else for you, which may or may not be connected to your Annie Coleman,” his friend Don from the Orlando Police said.
Caleb sat up straight, peering toward the doors to the church. “What?”
“Her landlord is in the hospital in a coma. Someone beat him up bad. Nearly killed him.”
“When?”
“Middle of last week.”
“Any suspects?”
“No. I also discovered her daughter’s father was found dead—beaten up and shot in the stomach.”
Caleb’s gut constricted into a hard ball. “No suspects?”
“You got it. This doesn’t bode well for your Annie.”
My Annie. The woman who wouldn’t say a word to him about what was going on. One way or another he would get to the bottom of this tonight. He was through waiting for her to tell him. “If you hear anything else, call.”
He slipped from the front seat and crossed the parking lot to find his Annie.
“I was gonna borrow Harriet’s car to go get the box of garland. I’m glad you showed up,” Annie said as she walked toward Caleb’s vehicle parked in the church lot, not five minutes after he arrived. “You look tired.”
“Just working hard.” He took her hand, a frown creasing his forehead. “You are shaking. Are you okay?”
No, my life is in shambles. I don’t know what to do about the man who murdered Bryan. He could be anywhere. Watching. Waiting. But if I say anything, he’ll hurt someone I care about. “Too much caffeine.”
“You look like you’re not getting much sleep.”
“I never sleep well in a new place.” She slipped into the front passenger seat. When Caleb had come into the rec hall, the grim look on his face concerned her. Had the killer tried something else with him? “Did you find out anything about who tried to run you over?”
“No,” he clipped out and started the engine, then backed out of the parking space. “What happened to your car? Why did you come with Harriet this evening?”
Ah, the questions again. She delayed answering as long as she could. “I went to try it and it was dead. I had it towed this morning to the garage. They haven’t told me what’s wrong yet. It’s ten years old.”
He turned down Bethlehem. “We need to talk.”
“We can after the greening of the church. I don’t want to leave Jayden too long with Harriet. She’ll talk the woman’s ear off about her cat. Besides, with all those kids running around, they need all the adults they have to get the job done before the party Saturday night.”
“Fine. I’ll bring you and Jayden home this evening instead of Harriet. You get the box of garland Sara called about and I’ll get the stepladder they need.”
She opened the door. If she kept busy, maybe she could get through this evening at church and not fall apart in front of everyone. “It shouldn’t take long, but I want to check on Sara. I think she overdid it yesterday and her hip is giving her trouble.”
“I’ll grab my ladder and be back here.”
Annie jogged to the porch and dug into her jeans pocket for the house key. When she entered, the glow from the Christmas lights Sara liked to leave on would give her enough illumination to see her way toward the small storage room off the kitchen. Sara must have gone to bed right after she called her at the church.
As Annie passed the living room, she froze. Inside it, Sara was tied up in her chair with a gag over her mouth, her eyes wide with fright.
SIX
Annie whirled toward the front door and took a couple of steps when someone slammed into her. His beefy arms snaked around her, trapping her against his large body.
“Well, well, you came quick, Annie.”
The sound of the intruder’s voice generated a rush of memories. Of holding the phone listening to Bryan being beaten up. The noise when the gun went off. The same deep, gruff voice taunting Bryan, demanding answers. His threat to find her. To kill Caleb or take her daughter.
Panic seized her in a stranglehold, her body washing in hot and cold flashes almost simultaneously.
He killed Bryan. And he was here for her.
The assailant held her up off the floor, the upper part of her stuck to him like glue. But her legs were free. She swung one back and whacked him in the shin. He groaned. She struck him again, one of her shoes flying off. That didn’t stop her. She kept hammering at him.
He groaned and muttered a few words that fired her determination to get away. “What did Bryan give you? Where is it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she screamed as she swung back her foot with her slip-on shoe to hit him again. Not expecting the sudden release when he dropped her, she crumpled to the floor.
