Faith's Sheriff (Montgomery Family and Friends) (11 page)

Faith sighed.  “Is that necessary?  There might be people in the hospital that are worse off than me.”

Cole gave her a sobering look.  “There might be, but they probably don’t have a murderer hot on their trail either.  There is no doubt about it.   We’re doing this my way.”  It looked like he was going to have to play the work card.  “As far as the hospital is concerned this is official police business, so it takes priority.”

What could she say to that?  Whoever was after her had upped the stakes today and things had gone from scary to downright terrifying.  Faith leaned back in the seat and tried to get as comfortable as her bumps and bruises would allow.  “Okay what now?” She finally thought to ask.

“You were right.  You can’t go back to Caroline’s house.  It might put her and the rest of her family in danger.  You can’t go back to your rental or even my house, because Tome can find you there.”

“I know all that,” Faith cut in.  She twisted her hands in agitation.  “I hate being cut off from my friends.  I thought I’d moved past that time in my life, but it’s happening all over again.”

Cole reached out and grabbed one of her hands and held it tight with his own.  “You’re not cut off from everybody.  You still have me.  I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise,” the relief was evident in her voice.

Cole squeezed her hand.  “I promise.  I own a small two-bedroom log cabin on the other side of the lake from the Wakefield’s house,” he explained.  “The cabin belonged to my grandfather and I inherited it when he passed away.  I use it as a fishing cabin,” he gave a small frown.   “That is when I have the time.  Most of the locals know about it, but Richard Tome didn’t grow up around here, so there’s a good chance he doesn’t know about the cabin.”

“You want me to stay in your fishing cabin?”

“I think it would be best if both of us stay there.  I think this latest attempt on your life proves that you need twenty-four hour a day protection.  While you’re being seen in the emergency room I will call Caroline and ask her to gather up your things.  We’ll go by and pick them up on the way to the fishing cabin.”

Faith didn’t argue, so Cole took a deep breath and surged forward.  “I’m also going to call Mason Blake and let him know that you won’t be back at work until we catch whoever is trying to harm you.”  He finished and waited for the explosion that didn’t happen.

“I’m afraid you’re right.” She sniffed and swiped back a stray tear.  “This thing is only escalating, and I would never knowingly put my students in danger.  I just hope I still have a job when all this is over.”

“You will, don’t worry about that.  This case is a top priority with both the sheriff’s department and state law enforcement.  We will find Tome or whoever is responsible for this mess soon.  Until then trust me when I say Mason and the school board will be very understanding.  You know they went through a similar situation with Caroline a few years back.  She had amnesia after she fell and hit her head during an attempted kidnapping.”

Faith sighed.  “I know.  She told me all about it.  I should have been here for her.  It is one of the biggest regrets of my life.”

“Well I want to make sure you don’t have many more regrets and that means keeping you and your students safe.  Your job will still be there when this is over.”

Cole turned into the hospital parking lot.  He drove his SUV right up to the emergency room door.

Faith unfastened her seatbelt and opened the door to get out.

“Wait for me Faith,” he ordered.  “I’m coming around to get you.”

He rushed around to the passenger side and once again scooped Faith into his arms.

“I really am capable of walking you know.”

“I know,” he agreed, “but you have been injured, this is a hospital, and I like the way you feel in my arms.”

“Oh…”  Faith couldn’t think of anything else to say.  She liked being in his arms too, so why argue.

Cole strode into the emergency room as if he owned the place.  He skipped the waiting area and went straight back to the cubicles. 

One of the nurses started to stop him, until she realized it was the sheriff.  “What do you have Sheriff Duncan?”

“Car crash,” Cole supplied the requested information.  “Her car was forced off the road and she hit her head on the steering wheel.  The paramedics came out to the accident scene and cleaned up the gash on her forehead.  They recommended an MRI as a precaution.  She’s a witness in a murder case and under my protection, so I was hoping we could get this taken care of quickly and discreetly.”

“No problem, Sheriff.  The nurse walked two doors down to an empty examination room.  “Put her in here and I’ll have an imaging technician escort her to the MRI machine as soon as possible.   The Dr. will come in afterward and talk to the two of you about the results.”

“Thanks Jennifer.”

The nurse left and Cole busied himself making phone calls. 

Faith sat in a chair and closed her eyes.  Listening to the deep hum of Cole’s voice was enough to relax her and she had almost dozed off when the technician arrived with a wheelchair five minutes later.

Cole flashed his badge at the technician.  “Straight there and straight back,” he warned. 

The technician looked a little flustered, but she agreed.  “Yes sir!”

Faith was disgruntled.  She gave Cole a hard stare before talking to the medical worker.  “Hey I’m not a criminal or anything.  Someone has made it his life’s mission to torment me. The sheriff’s here for protection not to arrest me!”

The technician let out a short giggle.  “Good to know.”  She seemed a little more at ease and she helped Faith into the wheelchair and rolled her down the hall to the imaging area.

Cole watched Faith leave. He glanced up and down the hallway several times just to make sure nothing looked out of place.  Everything seemed to be as it should.  He called Caroline, gave her the bad news, and asked her to pack Faith’s things.  Then he called dispatch to let his assistant and deputies know that he was going to be out of the office indefinitely unless something major developed. When that was taken care of he paced the confines of the small room until Faith was returned safe and sound.

EIGHT

Faith stared hard into the darkness trying to make out her surroundings.  The SUV she was riding in with Cole bounced its way down the short gravel road.  Suddenly the vehicle came to a stop.  Faith looked out of the windshield and squinted.  She could just make out the edge of the lake about fifty feet from the back of Cole’s fishing cabin.

“Wow, when you said on the lake you really meant on the lake didn’t you?”

“Wait till you see this place in sunlight.  Sunrises and sunsets are spectacular out here.  I’ve probably seen every color of the rainbow reflected in the sky here at one time or another.”  He let out a wishful sigh.  “I’d probably live here full time if it wasn’t so far from the sheriff’s department.  It makes an awesome weekend and summertime retreat though.”

Faith got out of the SUV and stretched her arms and legs.   This day felt like it had been forty hours long and it wasn’t over yet.  She watched as Cole grabbed her suitcase from the backseat and then walked up a set of stairs to the front door of the log cabin. 

Cole unlocked the door and ushered Faith inside.  “This side of the lake is mostly undeveloped.  The landowners use it for recreation and county ordinances help keep out developers.  So it is a lot less populated than Abigail and Caroline’s side of the lake.  It’s busiest during the summer and weekends.  It’s only Monday.  We might not see another person until Friday evening or Saturday morning.” 

“That sounds very peaceful,” Faith admitted.  “I bet the sound of crickets is deafening in the summertime.”

“They can get loud,” he chuckled, “but there’s nothing better than falling asleep to the sound of a chirping cricket on a hot summer night.”  Unless of course it was falling asleep with a well sated woman held tight in your arms.  Images of a sultry and fully satisfied Faith flashed through his mind.  Cole didn’t need to go there at least not yet.  He pushed open the door, turned on a light, and invited Faith inside.

Faith entered the log cabin and looked around in wide-eyed disbelief.  “This place is gorgeous.”  The cabin had high ceilings with interior log siding and a large stone fireplace that extended from the floor to the ceiling.  The side of the cabin facing the lake had floor to ceiling windows and a welcoming deck.  Faith could see a pair of rocking chairs that begged for her to go out there and rock away her worries. 

Cole turned and walked to the right of the cabin.  “The master bedroom which I use when I’m staying here is on the other side of the cabin.  The guest bedroom is right over here.  The bathroom is across the hall.  There’s no tub I’m afraid, just a shower.  I don’t think we’ll be here that long, but if you really want a bath let me know and you’re more than welcome to use the one in the master bathroom.”

“Umm, thanks I’ll let you know.”  The thought of being stretched out naked in Cole’s bathtub was sending her mind places she didn’t want it to go, especially since they were going to be living in such close quarters until the man trying to harm her was caught.   

“I’m going to leave you to settle in.  Go ahead and take a shower if you like.” He brushed his fingers lightly across her face.  “Your body has got to be sore after the beating it took in the crash.”  He stepped away from temptation.   “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”  He was hungry for a lot of things, but the hunger for food would be the easiest to appease.  “I’m going to go back out to the SUV and bring in the bags from the grocery store.”

“Okay,” Faith agreed.  She watched as Cole turned to walk away and on impulse called after him.  “Cole, thank you so much for everything you’re doing for me.”

“You’re welcome.    I remember throwing a couple of steaks into the shopping cart.  I’ll go ahead and put them on the grill.  It’s on the deck.   Come outside when you’ve unpacked and finished your shower.”

Faith offered him a shy smile.  “A shower sounds heavenly.  I’ll see you in about twenty minutes.”  Faith started to retreat to the guest bedroom. 

  “Wait!”  Cole wanted to treat himself to her glorious presence for as long as possible.

Faith turned back with a questioning look in her eyes.  “Yes?”

“Oh umm… How do you like your steaks?”  He finally managed to ask.

“Medium rare to medium is good.”  She watched as Cole nodded and then walked out the front door presumably to haul in the several bags of groceries that they’d stopped to buy on their way out of town. 

Her eyes were glued to his backside.  He sure could fill out a pair of pants.  And the sight of that nice tight backside was doing nothing to calm her nerves.  She made a hasty retreat to the relative safety of the guest bedroom.  It didn’t help much.  Cole might be out of sight, but he definitely was not out of mind.  The more time she spent with him the more of him she craved. 

Despite all the warnings she kept whispering to herself, Faith rushed through the shower and unpacking.  She couldn’t wait to join Cole on the deck.  Little warning bells were going off inside her head and her heart, but she chose to ignore them for now.  Even though it wasn’t the date she’d envisioned, she and Cole were finally going to get to spend some time alone doing something ordinary like eating dinner.

******

The car veered off the road and ran down the steep bank.  The steering wheel was wrenched out of Faith’s hands and she lost all control of the car.  The car was speeding closer to the creek until it sideswiped a tree. 

Even in her dream Faith knew that the car should come to a stop, but this time it rolled.  Over and over it went until the car with Faith trapped inside landed upside down in the creek.  Faith screamed and just kept screaming.  She couldn’t stop. 

She struggled with her seatbelt.  It wouldn’t come loose.  She was flailing her arms and kicking her feet, but she couldn’t get out of the car.  She heard Cole’s voice in the distance.  He was telling her to calm down, to stop fighting.  What was wrong with him?  Didn’t he know she was going to drown if she didn’t get out of there?  Water was already streaming into the car.

Something was wrong.  It felt like her whole body was being shaken, but the car wasn’t moving. She heard Cole call her name again.  This time it seemed much louder, more real, not part of a nightmare.

Faith’s eyes flew open.  It had all been a nightmare.  She wasn’t really back in that car.  She was in the guest bedroom of Cole’s fishing cabin and he was standing next to the bed lightly shaking her and calling her name.

Faith let out a strangled sob more from relief than anything else.   She threw herself into Cole’s arms.  She wrapped both arms around his neck and held him as close as she could.  “Cole it was so horrible.  I was back in the car, but this time it landed upside down in the creek and I was stuck.  I couldn’t get out!”

Cole’s heart twisted at the fear in Faith’s voice.  He sat down on the edge of the bed and settled Faith on his lap.  He pressed her damp face into his chest and used the other hand to rub up and down her back.  “Shh, it’s all right sweetheart.  It was just a nightmare.  You’re safe.  I promise that.  Nothing or no one will get to you here.  They’d have to go through me first and that is not going to happen.”

“It seemed so real,” Faith admitted.  She was in no hurry to leave Cole’s embrace.  As a matter of fact she burrowed as close to him as she could get.  There was a slight chill in the air, maybe a lingering effect from the nightmare, and Faith wasn’t ready to give up the warm comfort of Cole’s arms. 

“Of course it did.  That’s one of the things that make nightmares so frightening.  You are not in that car though, you’re here with me.  Whoever is after you doesn’t know we’re here and he’s not going to find us either.” 

His hand was still rubbing comforting circles on her back.  He could feel Faith’s body shivering.  “You’re cold.  Why don’t you get back in bed under the covers so you’ll be warm?” Cole gently placed her on the bed and stood up.  His body was already reacting to her closeness.  His penis was fully erect and jutted out from the pair of cotton pajama bottoms he’d thrown on when he’d heard Faith scream.  There was no way she hadn’t noticed how much he wanted her.