Burden Of Blood (4 page)

The town began to crawl to life with the first signs of people, in their cars, making their way to work.  Most people out this early were the blue collar type, heading to hard jobs on assembly lines or sweaty jobs in ditches.  That kind of life, in Nicole’s opinion, was one to be proud of.  You could go home at the end of the day, dead tired, ass-dragging and know you’d put in a day worth the money you earned.  That was the kind of living her parents, James and Laura
Keenan
, had made and she respected them even more because of it.

When her mother and father married, fresh out of high school, they didn’t have much to start on.  Neither one came from a rich family so there was no home given to them on their wedding day, nor trust fund to start their new life, just their love and James’ old, black 1968 Chevelle SS.

James had worked afternoons and summers at his dad’s garage to earn enough money to buy that car.  It took him two years of saving every dime he earned to buy that hunk of junk that didn’t run.  Luckily his dad admired his son’s hard work… and the car, so he helped get it running.  The Chevelle was the love of James’ life-until he met Laura.  They fell in love their junior year of high school and married two weeks after graduation.

Nicole’s parents took the first jobs they could find.  Of course, that meant not having a comfortable office job but instead a back-breaking one on an assembly line making mobile homes.  At the time, James and Laura didn’t need much, just a paycheck every week to pay the rent, utilities, and put food on the table.  As long as they had each other to come home to at the end of the day, they were happy.  It wasn’t long until their love led to Nicole being conceived.

Laura continued to work throughout her pregnancy, almost right up until the day she went into labor.  This began the trend, Nicole felt, which sent her obstinate mother to an early grave.  Laura would work ten to twelve hour days at the plant, then return home to cook, clean and spend what little time was left in her day with her husband and daughter.  Her weekends were full of taking care of Nicole’s grandparents.  Their failing health caused Laura to take on the chores of those households too, without thinking twice.  Southern women are the strongest strain you’ll ever find.  It was in Laura’s blood to put family ahead of any personal needs, so when she was diagnosed with cancer she continued her life exactly the same.  Well, she tried to, but that stubborn streak had her in the grave before her forty-fifth birthday-just a year and a half after she was diagnosed.

A loud cat call followed by a wolf whistle pulled Nicole out of the spiraling thoughts of her mother and back into the moment.  Taking a second to steady her breathing she put her hands on her hips, then slowly turned in the direction of the annoyance.  Quickly she spotted a familiar face and the tension in her shoulders relaxed a little.

“Luke Sparks, I thought I was going to get to teach some dog a lesson about being polite to ladies but now I see I would be wasting my breath,” she called out teasingly.  Memories of the previous night started to jump around in her head.  Thoughts of the passion in his eyes as he watched her dance caused her face to blush.

Luke crossed the street to the sidewalk where Nicole had stopped.  She couldn’t stifle the fluttering in her stomach as he came near.  She was sure most girls had the same reaction to him.  He stood close to six feet tall, had dark blond hair, deep hazel eyes, darkly tanned skin and a body that, even with his light brown police uniform on, any woman could tell it was sent from God.  Aside from all that eye candy stuff he was just a polite Southern guy.  He’s the kind of man who will give you the shirt off his back and enjoys the chance to prove chivalry is not a thing of the past.

Despite his Greek God looks and charming personality, Nicole tried to think of him like an older brother even though there was only one year difference in their ages.  Luke had instantly taken her under his wing when she joined the police force three years ago.  They worked as partners quite often on under cover jobs and proved to be a great team.  She did not want to risk losing what they had with a short-lived fling no matter how amazingly attractive she found him.

“Shoot Nicole, I was hoping to buy you some breakfast, but since you’re so moody this morning, I think I’ll head on into work,” he said with a slight smirk to his lips.

“That’s a kind offer, Officer Sparks, but maybe next time you want to ask a girl to breakfast you shouldn’t start out by yelling ‘Hey good looking’ to get her attention.”

“Come on it’s two friends having breakfast, nothing more.  I’ve already given up on you as a dating candidate.  I know, I know, your rules about dating a co-worker, yaddy, yaddy, yah.  I’m not trying to violate that,” he said as he moved a step closer, reaching out to lightly touch her arm, then letting his hand fall back to his side.  “I’m just looking to unwind a bit with a friend over a good meal,” He pleaded.  “Plus I think we need to talk about what happened last night.”

His words sent a jolt of nervousness throughout Nicole’s stomach. 
Oh no, is he going to start asking questions about how I knew what the jerk at the club was up to?  What am I going to tell him?  Or maybe he wants to talk about the fire between us last night.  God, I can’t deal with this right now.

“Thanks Luke but I’ll have to pass.  I’ve got a lot going on today before work and I really want to finish my run.” She turned and started back down the street.  “See you later!” She tossed the words over her shoulder with a slight wave then put her ear buds back in her ears not waiting for a response.

“Yeah, later.”  Luke sighed as he watched her jog away.  He couldn’t help but admire the view even though he knew she would be mad at him if she turned around and saw him enjoying it.  After she was out of his sight, he made his way back across the street to his patrol car. 
“
If she would just give me one chance
.”

Chapter 3

Nicole turned up the volume two more notches on her iPod hoping that by blaring “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes loud enough, it would take her mind off Luke and put it back on her work out.  She told herself having the music this loud was not safe running etiquette, but it also wasn’t safe to let her mind wander down the path leading to Luke…hot, sexy, could-drown-in-his-dark-hazel-eyes…yummy Luke. 
No, no, no Nicole! 
she mentally chastised herself.

Taking a left at the top of the next hill, she turned onto an old country road she seldom ran, thinking a change of scenery would help her focus.  Quickly, the road seemed to be swallowed up on both sides by massive pine trees and old oaks, with only the occasional dirt drive breaking the landscape like subtle clues to a hunter that people actually lived in this area.  Nicole barely took notice of the change, instead focusing on regulating her breathing as her legs started to scream from the strain.

“Lucky me, this is gonna be sweeter than I dreamed.  Stupid girl is running right to me.  She just saved me a lot of trouble.  I’m so damn tired of these wild goose chases.”

Nicole stopped dead still in her tracks.  Immediately, all her senses went on high alert, body slightly crouched and wide eyes scanning the woods around her.  Those thoughts in her head definitely did not belong to her, but where did they come from and were they about her?  There was no one around, no houses, no cars, nothing but grove after grove of trees and the empty road on which she was standing.  No sign of the person to whom this rough, raspy voice in her head belonged.  There was a snap of a twig off to her right, then the crunching of dead leaves.  She quickly lunged to her left, to the opposite side of the road from the direction of the sound, ducking behind the first tree she reached.

“Did she see me?  She couldn’t have but… Maybe he was right about this one.  Hold still for a few seconds, that’s all the time I need and then we will know.”

Fear gripped Nicole but she surged forward again, reaching another tree a few feet deeper into the woods.  She pressed herself hard against the sap-covered pine tree that was too small to completely shelter her from sight.  She stole a quick glimpse back across the road catching sight of the sun reflecting off metal.  She pressed tighter against the tree as she tried to analyze what she had seen. 
Was that a gun?  Why would someone be out here with a gun?  It’s not hunting season…Was it aimed at me?  What the hell
?  Holding her breath, she listened for any sign the stranger was trying to get closer to her.  Time seemed to be in slow motion, she heard a click… then a loud boom made her jerk reflexively.  A burning sensation shocked her right arm.  She felt the warm trickle of blood as her arm began to throb with the beat of her heart, and she instinctively covered it with her hand.

Someone just shot me! 
Her mind snapped back into reality.  She pivoted on her toes as her police training kicked into high gear.  Two more shots rang out, whistling past her, as she ran deeper into the woods using a serpentine pattern to throw off the gunman’s aim.  She dropped off a steep hill and lost her footing but quickly got back up, ducking behind a large, fallen oak tree.  “Damn me to hell for leaving my gun at home, stupid, stupid, stupid!  What am I gonna do now, throw my IPod at him and hope he has A.D.D.!” she scolded herself between panted breaths.  She strained her ears listening for the gunman, while trying to map out her next step.  The warmth of her blood flowing down her arm reminded her that the crazy man was set on killing her.

“I’m sure I got her, saw her drop down.  She’s not the one.  I‘m not getting a reading from her and I know a scare like that would’ve done the job.  Better finish her off.”

His thoughts rang out loud and clear in her head, sending a cold chill down her spine.  She could hear the ominous sound of the underbrush crunching beneath his feet as he closed the distance between them.  Blood dripped from her fingertips painting the dead leaves red.  “Yep, this is one hell of a bad morning.”

****

Luke drove his patrol car the short distance to the end of Main Street.  The road ended at the town’s only red light.  When the light changed to green, he took a left pulling into the Chevron station to fill up with gas.  This station was a hangout for the town gossips and anybody with time to kill.  Luke always thought it was the perfect spot for police officers to sit and chat with the town’s folk.  He had gotten some of his best crime tips sitting on the old worn-out, white bench in front of the station.  This little town didn’t have much in the way of violent crimes, such as murders and rapes, but it did have a drug trafficking problem that seemed to be on the rise as of late.  Sometimes the best way to get a lead was to strike up a conversation with one of the chatty old men who seem to know everything about everybody in this little town.

He began filling the car with gas, thinking he would grab something to eat from the deli inside, after all, his previous breakfast plans had fallen through and he still needed to eat.  His mind drifted back to Nicole as he tried to figure out what he was doing wrong.  “We would be great together.  We have a lot in common, we work together and I know she’s at least a little attracted to me.  I see the way she looks at me sometimes even though she tries hard to hide it.” Frustrated, he leaned back against his car and crossed his arms over his chest as the gas continued to pump.  “I just can’t figure her out, it’s like she’s afraid of letting me close.  She should know by now she can trust me.  We’ve watched each other’s back in life-threatening situations tons of times.  Why doesn’t that matter to her?” The gas handle popped out, signaling the car was full and putting an end to his wallowing in self-pity.

Luke paid for his gas and the much needed breakfast- judging by the loud grumbling of his stomach.  He walked back outside, spotting one member of the usual crew sitting on the bench.

“Hey Sparks, you put in a long night or just getting started?” asked Jimmy Reed, who was a retired logger in his late sixty’s even though he looked to be about eighty.  Time was rough on a man who spent sun-up to sun-down in the woods from the young age of eight.