by Liz Shoaf
“You’re very cynical, you know that?”
His lips twisted in the parody of a smile. “Yes, I’m cynical to the core, and with good reason. Someone, likely from my own country, betrayed me and Finn and I’ll not rest until I track them down and they’re rotting behind bars.”
Ned ignored the fact that Mary Grace had reiterated what his own family had been telling him. He refused to let anything get in the way of justice, and that included the woman sitting closed-mouth—for the first time since he’d met her—in the seat beside him. Nothing more was said until they pulled into the driveway of her grandmother’s house.
* * *
With the car still idling, Mary Grace instructed Ned to crack the windows for the dogs and then sat staring at the house that became a refuge during her turbulent teenage years. Not only for her, but for Bobby, too. Just like the old house, now decked out in Christmas finery, Gram Ramsey had wrapped both of the lonely, bewildered kids in her loving arms and practically raised them herself while her mother and stepfather were gambling their way to destitution. And now she and Bobby had possibly placed her in danger.
After removing Tinker Bell from her pouch and placing her in the back seat with Krieger, she reached for the door handle.
“Impressive place.”
Trying to see it fresh, through Ned’s eyes, Mary Grace stared at the historical Greek Revival–style home, supported by four large round columns holding up the front porch ceiling. Two expanded windows were placed on either side of the half-glassed front door, and six regular-sized windows marched across the top. A set of six steps, sided with brick and flared out on each side, led to the porch.
The swing she had sat in as a teenager, dreaming about her future, still hung by two chains attached to the two-story porch ceiling. Gram Ramsey had shared many pearls of wisdom with Mary Grace in that swing. Two huge Christmas wreaths adorned each side of the tall historical two-door entrance. Greenery lovingly wrapped itself around the columns, each one with a big red bow at the top. Mary Grace had inherited her grandmother’s love of Christmas adornment, but Gram made sure she and Bobby understood the true meaning of Christmas and everything it represented. Mary Grace had decorated her town house, but it never felt the same as Hubert House, the only place that was truly home.
But if a person bothered to look closer, and she had no doubt that eagle-eyed Ned would, there were small signs of neglect. A little paint peeling here and there, shrubs that needed trimming. Her heart clinched at the thought of the grand old place going downhill due to lack of funds, but her grandmother was a proud woman. Mary Grace had offered to help as much as she was able with the upkeep, but Gram Ramsey wouldn’t hear of it.
Mary Grace turned the car door handle and pushed open the door. “Yeah, well, if I have anything to do with it, it’ll stay that way, at least until Gram Ramsey goes to meet her Maker.”
She heard the smile in his words when he asked, “Goes to meet her Maker?”
She twisted around, filled with comical anticipation. “Oh, I’m sure by the time we leave you’ll understand all about meeting your Maker.”
His grin slid away, replaced by a frown, but she swung her legs out of the car and landed on her feet. She wanted to see for herself that Gram was okay. She heard the driver’s car door shut behind her, but she ignored Ned’s order to wait on him and ran up the steps she’d run up hundreds of times. He caught up with her, grabbed the front door handle before she could reach it and shoved her behind him.
“It’s safer for me to go in first.”
Raising both hands in the air, she grinned. “By all means, be my guest, but I’d be careful if I were you.”
He was still turned, staring at her, when the door jerked inward and out of his grasp. Mary Grace’s grin widened at his expression of sheer amazement when he froze at the sound of a shotgun being cocked with the experience of a seasoned hunter. Without taking her eyes off Ned, she said, “It’s okay, Gram, he’s with me.”
When the trigger made a sound, releasing the hammer and uncocking the gun, Ned let loose a pent-up breath and shot Mary Grace a dark look, silently promising retribution.
Mary Grace slapped a hand over her mouth to stop from laughing and sidled around him so she wouldn’t miss anything as Ned slowly turned to face his adversary. He had to keep lowering his chin until he caught sight of her proud five-foot-two-inches-tall grandmother. She probably weighed in at a whopping ninety pounds, but she held the rifle with authority.
With gentility and grace, Gram Ramsey propped the rifle against the foyer wall and greeted her guest with all the aplomb of a Southern belle, as if she’d never pointed a rifle in his face.
“Mary Grace, child, you get over here right now and give your grandmother a big hug, then you can introduce me properly to your young man.”
She stepped forward and hugged the small woman fiercely. A sense of peace and love enveloped her. Gram Ramsey had been the only stabilizing force in Mary Grace’s life and she loved the older woman with all her heart. Pulling back, she studied Gram closely. She visited as often as she could, but it was never enough. Her grandmother looked a little older every time she came home. She’d been joking with Ned, but she couldn’t stand to think of Gram actually meeting her Maker.
Feeling a huge relief that her grandmother was okay, Mary Grace waved a hand toward Ned. “He’s not my young man. We only recently met. This is Ned. As I explained on the phone, we’re looking for Bobby and some disreputable people are trailing us.”
Gram gave her a sharp look. Mary Grace knew what it meant and she shrugged her shoulders. “He won’t tell me his last name, so I can’t introduce him properly.” Inwardly, she smiled. She doubted Ned had ever met anyone like her grandmother. With a warm Southern smile and gracious manners, Gram could perform an interrogation that would make the military sit up and take notice.
Gram stepped closer to Ned and touched his arm in a friendly fashion, but the light of battle and determination lit her eyes in a way Mary Grace hadn’t seen in a long time. There was something else in her grandmother’s eyes. Something Mary Grace would put a stop to as soon as she got her grandmother alone. Gram Ramsey was envied in the community for her matchmaking skills, and Mary Grace didn’t want her to get anything in her head about her and Ned.
“Well, then, Ned, my name is Athena Hubert Ramsey. Athena comes from my mother’s side of the family, you know. I’d like to welcome you to Hubert House and I’d dearly love to know your surname so I can address you properly.”
It was almost comical watching the hulking man hover nervously over her tiny grandmother, but he finally grimaced and spouted forcefully, “Nolan Eli Duncan, ma’am, and I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t spread that around.” He glanced at the plethora of decorations and a small Christmas tree that Gram always placed in the foyer before his gaze landed back on Gram, and he said in a nervous rush, as if trying to make conversation, “I see where Mary Grace gets her love of Christmas.”
Ned stole a small piece of Mary Grace’s heart when he nervously addressed her grandmother, and her heart warmed when her grandmother patted his large muscular arm. Then it dawned on her, Nolan Eli Duncan was long for Ned.
“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Gram said, then started spewing orders like a miniature drill sergeant. “Mary Grace, bring young Eli into the parlor to meet the ladies, then you can show him to his room. I’m sure you two would like to freshen up.”
Mary Grace quickly moved past the fact that she now knew Ned’s name—if that was his real name—and grimaced before laying a hand on her grandmother’s arm. “Gram, we can’t stay. I came to make sure you’re okay and to ask again if you’d be willing to stay with one of your friends until we find Bobby and get this matter resolved. This is the first place the people after us will come looking for him. It’s easy to find out Bobby and I pretty much grew up here.”
Gram reared back and
assessed Ned from head to toe. “Eli, I won’t ask about the particulars of this situation, but can I trust you to keep my granddaughter safe?”
Mary Grace stifled a grin when he bobbed his head like a schoolboy being caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I’ll do my best, ma’am.”
Gram nodded. “That’s all I can ask.” She turned toward Mary Grace and held her arms wide. “Come give an old lady another hug.” Mary Grace walked into her arms. “I’ll be praying for you, child,” she whispered into her ear. “And I like your young man. The good Lord brought him into your life for a reason only He knows. Have patience.”
Mary Grace didn’t have a chance to ask what her grandmother meant because the older woman pulled away and marched toward the parlor.
“Eli, Mary Grace, I’m staying here and I’ll be fine. Let me introduce my friends before you leave.”
“Eli” looked none too happy as he motioned Mary Grace to precede him into the room. They both came to a dead stop once over the threshold and Gram chuckled as they surveyed the room full of Gram’s bridge partners.
Three older ladies sitting at the bridge table each had a pink lipstick stun gun, the lid off, ready to use, placed within easy reach. Mary Grace recognized the stun guns because she had bought her grandmother one the previous Christmas. Gram must have ordered them for all her friends. The scene didn’t surprise her at all. Every good Southern father taught his daughters how to protect themselves from an early age.
They all murmured the appropriate greetings. Mary Grace introduced Ned as her friend and then backed out of the room as fast as possible. Gram followed them to the door.
“So you see, I’ll be fine here at Hubert House.” Her chin lifted and her eyes turned to steel. Ned took a step back. “In the past, Hubert women have weathered far worse than a few thugs who think they can run over an old woman.” She gave a short nod to Mary Grace and spoke with intelligence that showed the sharpness of her mind. “Your old swamp boots are in the shed out back. I assume that’s where you’re headed. Let me know when you find Bobby. I need to have a talk with that boy. He’s always getting into all sorts of trouble. And I expect you to be back in time for Christmas.”
Mary Grace grabbed her grandmother in another fierce hug. “Thanks, Gram. We’ll be careful and I’ll find Bobby. Please take care of yourself. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”
They headed out the door, but Ned surprised Mary Grace by turning back. “Ma’am?”
“Yes?” her grandmother answered with patience and graciousness.
“Out of curiosity, why did you choose to call me Eli instead of Nolan?”
Gram had a sparkle in her eye. “Why, didn’t you know? In the Bible, Eli was the high priest of Shiloh, the second-to-last Israelite judge succeeded by Samuel.”
Ned paused a moment, as if pondering her answer, then moved to leave, determination in his stride. Mary Grace followed him with an equally determined stride. They had a killer to catch before anyone else got hurt, and that included her feisty, adorable grandmother.
TEN
Rounding the corner of the house after helping Mary Grace grab her gear out of the small storage building, Ned heard Krieger barking furiously from inside the car. He took hold of Mary Grace’s arm and used the house as cover when she tried to run toward the vehicle.
“Get inside and take care of your grandmother and her friends. Go in the back way. Now!” Her eyes held terror and his heart pounded in his chest. He wouldn’t allow anything to happen to this feisty woman who loved Christmas, her rat dog and her sweet grandmother.
His eyes on their car, he spotted movement behind the bumper.
“Go now,” he said quietly.
To his relief, she tore off back the way they had come from and Ned pulled his pistol from the waistband of his jeans. When he glanced around the corner of the house, a guy was crawling out from beneath the car. Ned lifted his gun and moved into the open when the guy stood up. “Don’t move or I’ll shoot,” he shouted in warning. The guy had a ball cap pulled low over his brow and Ned failed to get a good look at him. The man stood frozen for a moment, then glanced toward the house with surprise written on his face.
Ned’s heart almost pounded out of his chest when a loud rifle report sounded from the front porch and vibrated in the still air. He almost had a heart attack when he heard Mary Grace’s voice.
“You leave my dog and my grandmother alone or the next bullet is gonna make you limp for life.”
The guy ran off and darted into the woods farther down the driveway. It took everything Ned had not to go after him, but he didn’t dare leave Mary Grace alone. The guy might have a partner somewhere close by.
Shoving the pistol back into his jeans, he took several long strides toward the car. He opened the car door and released Krieger. “Krieger, search.” Crawling underneath the vehicle, he spotted a simple bomb attached to the car. With steady hands, he examined the device, then carefully pulled a wire free to disable it before removing it from the vehicle. He slid out from under the car, stood and took a deep breath of relief.
He jogged to the front porch, gently pried the shotgun from Mary Grace’s fingers and herded her inside. His anger at the risk she’d taken softened at the deep fear reflected in her eyes.
“Everything’s okay, but we really need to convince your grandmother to stay somewhere safe. The guy planted a bomb underneath the car.”
Gram Ramsey stepped into the foyer and smiled at Ned. “Don’t worry, Eli, I’ll be safe here. You two go on and find Bobby. I’ll be praying for your safety.” Her eyes hardened. “And take care of my girl.”
He opened his mouth to argue, but she had already turned to go back and join her bridge partners. Ned could hear the nervous twitters coming from the other ladies over the recent excitement.
Mary Grace gave him a weak smile. “You heard the lady.”
There was nothing else to be done, so he opened the door and there sat Krieger in his all-clear position.
“Okay, let’s go to the swamp shack and get this thing done.”
They got in the car and Mary Grace sat there for a few minutes, worry written on her face. “I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to Gram.”
Ned started the car. “We’ll check out the swamp shack and get back as soon as we can.”
“Well,” she said with a nervous laugh, “at least now I know your name.”
Ned breathed a sigh of relief. He disliked bursting her bubble, but after what had just happened, maybe a different subject would snap her out of her worry over her grandmother. “Your grandmother reminds me of my grandfather and I’ve found it’s just better, in the long run, to go ahead and answer their questions. But I’m afraid you won’t find any information on me if you go looking. I don’t exist.”
She shrugged, when he really wanted her to dig into him. “I get it. You don’t trust me, and I’ll never know who you really are. Fine, let’s just find Bobby. I’ll prove he’s innocent and you can crawl back to your lonely mountain and I’ll be out of your hair for good.”
His chest, close to the region of his heart, rejected the idea that he’d never see Mary Grace again. The woman talked too much and poked around in places better left alone, but for some strange reason he wanted her to stay around. He started the car and berated himself. He couldn’t afford to trust anyone outside of the chosen few. His and Finn’s lives might depend on it.
Back to the task at hand. “Where to?” His flat question had her stiffening in her seat and that was just as well. He had no business becoming attracted to a woman he didn’t trust. He couldn’t allow himself to forget that she had shown up on his mountain—a place few people even knew existed—to ask for help concerning her brother. A man who had conveniently gone off the grid.
He stopped at the end of the driveway and waited patiently.
She glared at
him and motioned to the right. “Go up the road for a mile and we’ll park the car in the Okefenokee Swamp public parking lot. Most of the time Bobby and I trekked to the old swamp shack from the back of Gram’s house, but sometimes we went in this way because it’s easier.”
He swiftly turned the wheel and started driving. Within minutes a large wooden sign with some kind of cypress tree carved into it on the left announced the entrance to Okefenokee Swamp Park. A huge red bow was pinned to the top. He turned in and parked the car between two large campers.
Mary Grace opened her door and grabbed the muck boots she’d retrieved from the shack behind her grandmother’s house. Using her open door to steady herself, she shed her shoes and pulled the boots on. TB had jumped into the front seat and Mary Grace slipped the dog carrier over her shoulders, stuffed the tiny mutt inside and grabbed her backpack.
Krieger whined from the back seat and Ned felt as if he were living in the twilight zone. His fiercely trained German shepherd had never whined in his life. After slipping on a jacket, she leaned into the car, her fighting face back in place.
“Okay, Mountain Man, let’s see how you fare in a swamp. You’ll need a jacket. It might be December, but we’re in Georgia so you don’t have to worry about getting frost bitten like you do on that mountain of yours.”
He folded himself out of the car, slipped on a pair of well-worn hiking boots and grabbed his duffel. He shrugged into a light jacket, even though it was hovering around fifty degrees. Compared to Jackson Hole, this felt like springtime. The jacket was mainly to conceal the pistol in the waistband of his jeans. The gun wasn’t only because their lives were in danger. He’d been in swamps more times than he cared to remember, places that housed far worse things than a Georgia swamp could ever dream of, but there was still plenty of danger in any swamp. He called Krieger to his side and met Mary Grace at the back of the car. She gave him a haughty stare.