by Kathi Daley
“Stay there. I’m on my way.”
I hung up and forced down the nausea that had begun to bubble up as I waited. Even if Mike used his siren and lights, it was going to take him a good fifteen minutes to get up the mountain. I couldn’t just sit here doing nothing. Could I? What if Tony had been shot? What if there was still time to save him? The man who’d shot Star hadn’t hesitated at all. For all I knew, Tony was already dead.
I couldn’t wait another minute; I got out of the car and started toward the house. I had to walk carefully so as not to trip as I tromped through the woods, which were covered with the four feet of snow we’d gotten on Friday night. Of course, the snow had settled somewhat, but it was still a lot deeper than I’d like to have to walk through. I didn’t know what I was going to do when I got to the house. I didn’t have a weapon, so charging in wasn’t going to help anyone, but if Tony was in trouble, I couldn’t just do nothing. I’d left Tilly in the Jeep, which she wasn’t happy about, but if I ended up getting shot, I didn’t want her in harm’s way.
I approached the house from the back. When I was close enough to get a peek through a window, I made my way toward a low window as silently as I could. A quick peek in the window showed an empty room. I continued on to the next window and the next, trying to figure out where Tony was. A peek into the living room revealed that Tang and Tinder were safely sleeping on the sofa. I continued around to find Titan locked up in the small room Tony mainly used for extra storage. Well, that wasn’t good. If Titan was locked away, Tony was definitely in trouble. I didn’t see him, nor did I see the driver of the blue car, but chances were whoever was in the house with Tony was in the computer room, a basement room that, of course, had no windows.
I made my way around to the back door and was preparing to penetrate the interior when I felt a hand clamp firmly over my mouth.
My instinct was to scream, but given the fact that I could barely breathe, I resisted.
“I’m going to remove my hand,” said a voice behind me. “Don’t scream.”
I nodded. The hand fell away, and I turned around. “Dad?”
He looked at me, hugged me hard and fast, and then stepped back.
“What are you doing here?”
“Trying to prevent that boyfriend of yours from getting himself killed. I don’t know the layout of the house. Where do you think they are?”
“In the computer room. It is built into the center of the basement. It is a secure cleanroom, so the only access is the door. How did you know Tony was in trouble?”
“I’ve been tracking Norlander ever since I heard about Star. He won’t hesitate to kill Tony once he gives him whatever he wants.”
“You think he is here to dig up information on you?”
“That is the only reason I can think of for Tony not to be already dead. I’m going in. You wait here.”
“But…”
“No buts. Stay here. If I have to worry about you, I can’t do my job.”
I wanted to argue, but I didn’t. I watched as my dad headed around the house. I was more terrified than I could possibly describe, but somehow I knew in my heart that my daddy would save the day. Saving the day was, after all, the things dads did. I knew Mike was on the way and wanted to warn him, so I stepped away from the house and called him.
“Dad is here,” I blurted out when Mike answered.
“What?”
“He went in to save Tony. He said to wait outside.”
“Where are you?”
“At the back of the house. Near the back door.”
“I thought I told you to wait in the Jeep.”
“You did. I didn’t. I’m sorry. If you are close, you need to be quiet, so you don’t alert anyone inside that you are here. Turn off the sirens and park on the street. I’ll meet you at the front of the house.”
Mike paused before he answered. “Okay. Meet me by the woodshed. I’ll be there in less than a minute.”
The next few minutes were some of the worst of my life. Mike showed up, and we talked about what to do. He was determined to go inside and do what he could to moderate the situation. I supposed I didn’t blame him, but Dad had said to wait. Of course, he told me to wait; I was unarmed and untrained. But he might actually welcome Mike’s help. After a brief discussion, Mike told me to stay where I was, and he headed toward the house.
I hated waiting under the best of circumstances. This was unbearable. I found myself listening for a gunshot. Although if there was a gunshot inside the secure room, I wouldn’t be able to hear it; the room was soundproof as well as air-tight. I wondered if Mike had called for backup or if it was just him and Dad. It seemed like it had been hours since Mike had gone in, but in reality, it had probably been less than five minutes from the time he left me to the time I saw the front door open. I held my breath as I waited to see who came out and then began to sob tears of joy when I saw Mike walk out with Tony right behind him.
I ran toward the house and threw myself into Tony’s arms. “Oh, God, I was so scared.”
“I know. Me too.” He tightened his grip around me.
“Norlander?” I asked.
“Dead,” Tony said. “Your dad shot him just as he was pulling the trigger to shoot Mike.”
I looked around. “Where’s Dad?”
“He went out the back,” Tony informed me.
“But why?” It was at that moment that Mike’s backup pulled into Tony’s drive.
“I think that is why,” Tony said.
I supposed that made sense. I noticed that it wasn’t only Frank responding, but there was also a man in a black sedan who looked very official. I supposed this was Mike’s FBI buddy. I wasn’t aware he was in town, but Mike did say he was looking into things.
The next several hours were somewhat of a blur. I went and got Tilly, and then Tony and I were interviewed by both Mike and his FBI friend. By the time Frank and the FBI guy left, I was physically and emotionally exhausted. Norlander’s body had been removed from Tony’s house. I could see that Mike was upset that the man had died. If he’d lived, he might have been able to get something out of him. Still, I was sure that Dad had done what he’d needed to do to save Mike’s life.
“Did you see him?” I asked Mike when it was just the three of us.
“Briefly.”
“Did you speak to him?”
He nodded. “I came up behind him. He motioned for me to be quiet and cover his left side, which I did. I went in, Norlander aimed his gun at me, shots were fired, and the next thing I knew, Norlander was dead. I turned around to say something to Dad, but he was already gone. I didn’t even see him leave, but Tony saw him duck out the back door as soon as Norlander was down and the situation was contained. I wish he would have waited. I have so many questions for him.”
I put my arms around Mike and gave him a hard hug. “I know. Me too. I just think that this is one of those instances when the answers we need are going to take time.”
Chapter 20
Tuesday, December 24
Tony and I never did get our romantic dinner last night, but I was happy to be with my family tonight. Having just seen Dad, if only for a minute, left me feeling a deep sense of loss I hadn’t experienced since those first dark days after Mom had been told about the accident. I knew that the man I remembered as my father was only an illusion he’d created, and the more I got to know about the man that he really was, the more I realized that I’d never actually known him at all. But that didn’t mean I didn’t want to know him. I’d struggled with the whole thing and wondered many times whether he was a good guy or a bad guy, but after saving Tony’s life, I knew that he’d always be good in my book.
“Heck of a couple of days,” Mike said into my ear as he hugged me and kissed me on the cheek.
“Tell me about it.”
“Have you seen or heard from Dad?”
“No. You?” I asked.
“No.”
I could see that Mike was both saddened and deeply
affected by the encounter. I knew exactly how he felt. “I think he is long gone by now. He only seems to show up when he has a really good reason for doing so. I’d love to be able to spend time with him, but to be honest, I’m not sure whether we’ll ever see him again.”
Mike hung his head. I hated that he looked so sad. “If he does contact you, will you let me know?” he asked.
“I will. I promise. From now on, we really are in this together.”
Mike hugged me again and then went to join Bree. Mike, Tony, Bree, and I were all pretty stressed over everything that had happened, but we’d decided not to fill Mom in on it at least right now. With the events in town for which she had been responsible behind her, she seemed downright giddy with relief and had expressed enough joy and happiness for all of us.
“Did you ever find the deed that the woman you arrested said had been left in that old desk?” Mom asked Mike when she emerged from the kitchen to join us in the living room.
“Yes, we did find the deed and all the other items from the desk,” Mike answered. “On the night that Bree, Tess, Tony, and I searched Colton’s house, Tess found two sets of numbers and letters written on a notepad in his nightstand. It took me a while to figure out the significance of those numbers and letters, but as it turns out, they were related to a safety deposit box that Colton had opened in a bank in Billings. The first set was the box’s number, and the second was the code to get into it.”
“Why go all the way to Billings?” Mom wondered.
“We don’t know for sure, and Colton isn’t here for us to ask,” Mike began, “but he opened the box the day after Star was shot. I think Colton suspected that her death might be connected to the desk and the items they found in it, and he felt he needed to hide everything until he could figure out what to do with it, so he opened a safety deposit box where he believed no one would think to look for it.”
“But why didn’t he go to you for help if he suspected that Star had been shot because of the things they found in the desk?” Mom asked. “It seems he would have wanted to not only protect himself but to help you to track down Star’s killer.”
Mike slowly shook his head. “I have no idea.”
Mike glanced at me, and I nodded slightly. He and I had already discussed the items he found in the safety deposit box in Billings. The file that Denton’s friend had sent to Star was not among the things he’d stored in the box, but we now knew that Norlander had shot both Star and Colton. We’d strongly suspected that Colton had been in possession of the file at some point. Otherwise, why would he even have been on Norlander’s radar? The problem was, we had no idea what had become of the file after Colton had it or what sort of information it contained. But I supposed that answering those questions were tasks for another day.
“This whole thing is just too confusing,” Mom said. “First Star and Colton bought a desk with a secret compartment that holds important papers, and then both of them were shot and killed. It seems logical that they died because of the contents of the desk, but as it turns out, it was just some random guy who murdered them. Why?”
I looked at Mike and decided to let him answer. We weren’t ready to tell Mom about Dad or any of the circumstances of his faked death, so we couldn’t explain who Norlander was or why he shot Star and Colton. In reality, we could only speculate that he shot them because of what they knew, and even that was speculation.
“We don’t have all the details, and the man is dead,” Mike said. “It may just have to be enough to know that the man responsible for the deaths has been brought to justice.”
“I guess so,” Mom said. “Dinner should be ready in about fifteen minutes. I’m going to head into the kitchen to see to the final preparations.”
“Can I help?” I asked.
“No. You kids just relax. I’ll give a holler when I’m ready for you to come into the dining room.”
As soon as Mom left, I grabbed Mike to ask him about the prints on the open/closed sign in Star’s shop. We’d already pretty much determined that the person who kicked Jillian out of the store that day wasn’t Norlander.
“The prints on the sign, which we assume belong to the man who visited Star’s shop the day Jillian Brown was there, belong to someone named Omar Devonshire. Like Norlander, Devonshire once worked for Henderson.”
“‘Once worked’?” I asked.
“According to the information I was able to pull up, Omar Devonshire died three years ago.”
I rolled my eyes. “What is it with all the faked deaths? It almost seems trendy at this point.”
“I agree,” Mike said. “I spoke to Tony about it, and we both feel that Omar Devonshire is likely to pop up again. I guess all we can do is keep an eye out for him.”
“So, is this the same man who came out to Tony’s house to warn him away from looking for Dad, and the same man who pulled you out of a restaurant to give you the same warning?”
“Tony and I both think so,” Mike answered. “If I had to guess, he is working for, or at least with, and not against Dad. We think the guy is trying to keep Dad off everyone’s radar.”
I’d had enough espionage for one evening and said as much. Mike agreed, and, grabbing Tony by the arm, they headed toward the liquor cabinet.
“Do you want a drink?” I asked Bree, intending to join them at the cabinet.
“No.” She leaned in close to me. “Mike and I haven’t told anyone this yet, but we’re trying for a baby.”
My brows shot up. “Wow. That is so great.” I leaned in and hugged her. “How long have you been trying?”
“A month. I was going to tell you right away, but then we had the fight. I’m glad that we made up. It was really hard on me, not having anyone to tell my secrets to.”
I hugged Bree again. “Me too. Let’s not ever fight again. No matter what. We’ll just talk it out.” I supposed that deep inside, I knew that the fight between us would not be our last, but in this moment, I was as happy to have my best friend back as she was to have someone to tell her secrets to. “Have you told anyone else?”
“No. And we don’t plan to. Well, maybe Tony. I don’t want to tell your mother or anyone in my family. Not that I don’t love your mom and my family, but I don’t want everyone asking me how it is going every time we see them.”
“I get that.” And I did. I could totally see my mom going grandma crazy with the news, which would lead her to become way overinvolved. “Mom has been bugging Mike about a baby since before you were even married. It’s a smart move to wait to tell her until after you are actually expecting.”
“I’m glad you understand. I’m both excited and terrified about what the next year will bring. I don’t need the extra stress of everyone watching and waiting for me to conceive like I am the proverbial pot of boiling water.”
“I get why you would be excited about the upcoming year, but why terrified?”
Bree shrugged. “I don’t know. I want a baby more than anything, but something deep down inside is warning me that the road might not be as easy as I hope. What if we can’t conceive? What if we do conceive, but there is something wrong with the baby? There are just so many unknowns.”
I took Bree’s hand in mine. “There are, but you aren’t in this alone. You have Mike, and you have Tony and me. Whatever happens, we’ll go through it together.”
Bree hugged me again. I could tell she was crying, but that was okay because bearing the tears of those you love is part of being a family, and having a family who loves you is the most important thing in the world.
Chapter 21
“What a great night,” I said to Tony as we drove back to my cabin, where Tilly and the other animals were waiting.
“It was an exceptional Christmas Eve, and it’s not over yet,” Tony said.
“It’s not?” I yawned.
“We never had our couple’s night last night, so I prepared a few surprises for you.”
I smiled. “You did? Like what?”
He took my ha
nd in his and rested our joined hands on the seat between us. “You’ll have to wait until we get home to find out.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Oh, I think you can.” Tony winked at me.
He had left the exterior lights on, so when we pulled up to the cabin, it looked like a Christmas village. He parked and then ran around to my side of the truck and lifted me into his arms. When he began to carry me toward the front door, I started to laugh. “Carrying someone across the threshold is a marriage thing, not a Christmas thing.”
“I know.”
He set me down when we arrived at the door. He took out his key and swung the door open. The first thing I noticed after the animals all greeted us was a pile of presents under the tree. The second thing was the angel atop the tree. I frowned. “I thought you understood about the angel.”
Tony didn’t answer, so I turned to look at him. He was frowning.
“Tony?”
“The presents are from me, and I have a fire ready to light, and champagne chilling in the refrigerator, and even a very decadent chocolate dessert, but I promise that I had nothing to do with the angel.”
“But…” I looked at the tree again, and in that moment, I knew. “Dad.” Tears streamed down my face as the truth of where the angel had come from gripped me. He must have stopped by while we were out.
“Tess?” Tony asked. “Are you okay?”
I couldn’t quite manage words just then, so I simply nodded. The idea that Dad had thought of me on Christmas after all these years was almost more than I could process. I had no idea how he knew when we’d be out, but in my heart, I knew that the angel was a message to me that although we couldn’t be together, he still loved me.
I stepped toward the tree as my phone buzzed. It was Mike. “You’ll never guess what I found when Bree and I got home.”
Next from Kathi Daley Books
Preview:
Twas a week before Christmas and all through the inn… I paused and smiled at my computer screen. I’d been trying to work on the thriller that was due to my editor in less than two months, but all I’d come up with were meaningless phrases that seemed to pop in my head as huge snowflakes drifted gently to the ground outside my window. I had to admit that when combined with the scent of evergreen from the bushy fir in the corner of my bedroom, the bright red bows I’d tied to my bedposts, and the gentle snoring generated by my Maine Coon cat, Rufus, as he slept soundly on my pillow, the setting really was quite magical.