The Lawman's Legacy (Love Inspired Suspense) (9 page)

“You’re sure he’s okay?” Douglas glanced into the living room. Glass blanketed the sofa and floor, and he imagined Tyler sitting there, playing with a car, sharp projectiles suddenly showering around him.

“Not a scratch on him. We were both in the kitchen when it happened.”

“Did you get a look at the car?”

“An SUV. Dark blue. No license plate.”

“Sounds like the vehicle Merry saw last night. How about the driver? Did you see him?”

“By the time I got outside, the car was too far way for me to see the driver. One of the neighbors might have, though.”

“We’ll take their statements. See what they have to say.”

“What they’re going to say is that we should be doing more to stop the crime wave that seems to be sweeping Fitzgerald Bay.”

“It’s hardly a crime wave, Keira.”

“Those aren’t my words. They’re Ida’s.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“Yeah, well, we can’t afford to have her grumbling to the community. Not when people are already speculating about Olivia’s murder and pointing fingers at Charles.” She frowned, shoving down her hat on straight black hair.

“No one is pointing fingers at anyone.”

“Of course they are. Fortunately, there’s no proof that Charles was involved in Olivia’s death. If there was, certain people around town would be demanding his arrest.”

She was right.

Douglas knew it, but he didn’t like it. Didn’t like that the community he’d grown up in, the community he loved would turn away from a man who’d served them so loyally. “Charles has plenty of friends in the community. He’s also got us. He’ll be fine.”

“He’ll be better once we find Olivia’s murderer.” Keira walked into the living room and used a gloved hand to lift a bullet from the floor. “I’m thinking that might be the same person who fired this.”

“Don’t assume things, Keira. We need facts, not conjecture.” He took the bullet. High caliber handgun. It could easily have gone through siding and drywall.

Had murder been the intention?

Or had the shooter been trying to instill a sense of fear, perhaps convey a warning?

Without knowing the motivation, it was impossible to predict the perpetrator’s next move. If they couldn’t predict it, they couldn’t stop it.

And, Douglas
did
plan to stop it.

One young woman was already dead. He wouldn’t let another be killed.

Whether Merry wanted to or not, she was going to have to start talking. Not just about Olivia. About everything. Somewhere in the secrets she’d been keeping were the answers he needed to keep her safe. All Douglas had to do was convince her to share them.

NINE

M
erry’s heart pounded frantically as she hugged Tyler close. He could have been killed, and it would have been her fault for staying too long in one place. Three years of running and another on constant alert had left her worn out and on edge. Fitzgerald Bay had been a balm to her frazzled nerves. She’d soaked up the easy small-town pace, let herself believe that four years was enough time.

Let herself believe it because she’d wanted to, not because it was true.

She hugged Tyler a little tighter, her mind racing with all the things that needed to be done.

Pack a few of Tyler’s toys.

Leave a note for Ida.

Kiss goodbye all her dreams of settling down and settling in.

They’d be on the run again, and this time, Merry wouldn’t stop running, wouldn’t get complacent, wouldn’t
ever
stop believing that their lives depended on staying one step ahead of the danger that followed.

“You’re smotherin’ me, Mommy.” Tyler pushed against her chest, and she eased her hold.

“Sorry, sweetie.” She brushed soft black hair from his forehead, kissed his chubby cheek, her heart clenching hard with love.

She’d never planned to be a single mother. As a matter of fact, she’d spent the six years after the car accident that had killed her parents imagining what her life would be like when her younger brother and sister were finally grown and out of the house. She’d planned to date, fall in love, get married. Children were a part of that dream, but they would come after the big wedding and romantic honeymoon.

That’s the way she had wanted it.

The way she had thought God wanted it.

And then Nicole had walked into her classroom, and everything had changed.

Take him and run. I’ll come as soon as I can.

Only Nicole hadn’t been able to come. Not then. Not ever.

Merry shuddered, opening her closet and pulling out the overnight bag she kept there. Packed with a few of her things and a few of Tyler’s, it contained only what they’d need to travel to the next place. Everything else had to be left behind. Clothes, books, the dishes she’d bought from the thrift store a few days after she’d arrived in town, the house she’d grown to love.

Her job.

Her friends.

She blinked rapidly, forcing back tears that she wouldn’t shed. She’d grab the money and the bankbook out of the closet after the police left, pack some snacks and drinks and a few toys. Then she and Tyler would get in the car and they’d drive away from the beautiful little town she had thought she could make their forever home.

“Please, Lord, keep us safe and help me find just the right place for us to settle down again.”

“Are you praying, Mommy?” Tyler bounced on her bed, and she didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop. He had friends, too. A preschool he loved. A yard and toys and a room that he wouldn’t want to leave behind. When he’d been an infant, a baby, a toddler, it had been easy to move from place to place, but the older Tyler got, the more reluctant he became to leave people and places behind.

One day, he’d ask her why they moved all the time. She wasn’t sure what she’d tell him. Didn’t know how she could explain the horrible circumstances that had led to their nomadic existence. Didn’t know how she could explain the truth about his parents. He’d only asked about his father, and he’d easily accepted that he simply didn’t have one. One day, though, he’d demand the truth.

“Are you, Mommy? Are you praying?” Tyler tugged her hand, and she pushed the worries away. There’d be time to think of the answers she’d give
after
she and Tyler were safely away.

“Yes. I’m praying.”

“What are you praying about? ’Cause, I’m gonna pray, too.”

She thought about refusing to answer but keeping things from Tyler wouldn’t change them or make them any easier for him to bear. “We’re going on a road trip, and I was asking God to keep us safe.”

“Are we coming back?” He stopped bouncing, his black eyes narrowing as he waited for the answer. He knew, of course. They’d moved a dozen times in his short life, and he understood that road trips meant never returning.

“Why don’t you go in your room and pick a couple of your favorite toys to bring? Nothing big, though, okay?”

“Joe invited me to his party, remember? It’s in two weeks and one day,” he said, and Merry’s heart broke just a little more.

“I remember. Go pick your toys.” She opened the door, praying he wouldn’t put up a fuss, and walked straight into Douglas.

“Whoa! Careful.” His hands cupped her shoulders, holding her steady, his warmth seeping through her coat and T-shirt. She wanted to step into his arms, absorb even more of his heat, but doing that would be almost as much of a mistake as staying in Fitzgerald Bay had been.

The easy way is for you to tell me everything. All the stuff that you’re so determined to keep hidden. Whatever it is, I’ll help you deal with it.

His words had terrified and tempted her.

She was so tired of going it alone, so tired of only having herself to depend on. If Owen hadn’t walked into Douglas’s office with the news of the shooting, Merry wasn’t sure what she would have said.

Everything?

Nothing?

“Sorry. I wasn’t expecting you there. Ty, go on in your room and do what I said.” She stepped back and allowed Tyler to pass, hoping she was blocking Douglas’s view of the room and the overnight bag.

“Ida wanted you to know that she’s already called a company to come repair the window. They should be here in the next hour.” He studied her face, his eyes deep, calm blue, and she felt it building up again. The need to confess everything. To tell him the truth about Tyler, about their years of running, about the lie she’d been living.

The need to let him do what he’d promised.

Help her deal with things.

She swallowed back words she couldn’t say and tried to smile. “That’s Ida for you. Always on top of things.”

“She’s been that way for as long as I’ve known her. That quality must make her a good landlady.”

“It does. Can you tell her I’ll be down in a minute?” She started to close the bedroom door, but he slammed his palm into the wood.

“We need to talk, Merry.”

“I’ll be down in a minute,” she repeated, and he shook his head.

“We need to talk now. Not in a minute. Not in ten minutes. Not tomorrow. Now.”

“Okay.” She edged into the hallway, shut the door. “What do you want to discuss?”

“How about we go down to the kitchen? I could use a cup of coffee.”

“Sure.” But she didn’t want to go to the kitchen, didn’t want to have a conversation, didn’t want to do anything but pack up and head out.

She followed him downstairs anyway, turned on the coffeepot, inhaling deeply as the pungent scent of coffee filled the room.

Seconds ticked by, then minutes, and Douglas didn’t say anything, just watched as she poured the coffee, handed him a mug, grabbed a pop from the fridge.

She took a long swallow, praying she wouldn’t choke on it.

Finally, she couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “You said we needed to talk.”

“I meant,
you
need to talk. I need to listen.”

“Oh.”

That’s it. All she could come up with.

Because, he was right. She
did
need to talk.

But talking could cost her everything, and she had to stay silent.

Had to.

“That’s not a very good start to the conversation.” He sipped coffee, eyeing her over the rim of the mug.

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“No? Then, maybe I do need to talk, and
you
need to listen. Last night, someone tried to get in your house. Today, that same person shot through your front window. Do you know what would have happened if Tyler had been standing near the window?”

Did she know?

She couldn’t forget.

“I know.”

“Then you understand how serious this is.”

“How could I not? My son means everything to me. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize his safety.”

“Yet, you’re still holding back. Still not telling me everything I need to know to help you.”

“If you want to help me, let me get a few hours of sleep. I’m exhausted.” She tried to nudge him into leaving, but Douglas leaned in, his finger sweeping the delicate flesh beneath her eye.

“You have dark circles. Maybe you’ll sleep better if you share your troubles. Tell me what’s going on, and I’ll do whatever is necessary to keep you and Tyler safe.” His voice was as soft as a summer breeze, the words gentle and easy and undemanding.

“I can’t.”

“You
won’t.
” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, his touch gentle and more welcome than it should have been.

“It’s not—” Her cell phone rang, and she grabbed it, so thankful for the distraction she could have cried. “Hello?”

“It’s Mack. Is everything okay?” Her brother sounded like he always did, serious and just a little worried.

“Everything is fine.” She lied. Again.

Another lie on top of all the others, and she felt sick with them, burdened with their weight.

“Are you sure? You sound upset.”

“I’m just tired.”

“The job is wearing you out, huh?”

“Yes.” She glanced at Douglas, walked a few steps away, hoping he couldn’t hear her brother’s words.

“How’s the little guy?”

“Great.”

“That’s what you always say.”

“Because it’s true.”

“Well, if everything is okay, why didn’t you return my call?”

“Your call?” She glanced at the answering machine, saw the flashing light.

“I called yesterday and left a message on your voice mail. Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I think I should be asking you that. You never call me on the weekend.” As a matter of fact, he almost never called. Too many years and too many lies stood between them, and Merry knew he felt those things acutely. Like their sister, Danielle, he had given up trying to maintain the close relationship he’d once had with Merry.

She missed that. Missed what might have been if she could have told him the truth about Tyler and their constant need to move. Told the truth about why she only gave a P.O. box in different cities and never a street address.

Just plain told the truth.

“I wanted to touch base. And, actually,” he hesitated, and Merry knew he had something big to say.

“What?”

“I proposed to Emily, yesterday. She said yes.”

“That’s wonderful news, Mack! I’m so happy for you.”

“The wedding is going to be in December. We want you to come.”

“To Boston?” She realized what she’d done as soon as the question slipped out. Given Douglas a piece of information she shouldn’t have.

She didn’t glance his way. Prayed he hadn’t heard.

But he had.

She knew he had.

“Yeah. You can make it can’t you?”

“Of course I can.” But she couldn’t. No matter how much she wanted to. Anywhere but Boston.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that!”

“I love you, Mack. I wouldn’t miss out on it for the world.”

They chatted for a few more minutes, Mack’s excitement over his engagement ringing through the phone. Finally, he said goodbye, and Merry hung up, turning to face Douglas again.

“Boyfriend?” he asked, and Merry almost laughed. Boyfriend? Having one now would mean lie after lie after lie told to someone she should only ever be honest with. Besides if she’d been willing to date someone long enough to call him her boyfriend, she would have continued to go out with Douglas. The thought made her blush.

No. Dating was out of the question.

Another lonely truth of the life she led.

“My brother.”

“I didn’t realize you had other family. I thought it was just you and Tyler.”

It was, because she couldn’t pull her brother and sister into her troubles and because she couldn’t tell them the truth about how Tyler had come into her life.

“I have a sister and brother. Our parents died in a car accident when I was eighteen. I took care of them until they graduated from college.”

“You must be really close.”

“We are.” But not as close as they used to be.

“So why are you here? Why aren’t you living near your family?”

“People move away from family all the time.”

“That’s a statement. Not an answer.”

“There is no answer. I just…moved away after they went to college.”

“Away from Boston?”

“Just away,” she said too forcefully, and heat spread up her cheeks.

She did not want to look him in the eye and lie.