Sara had a hard time shaking off the feeling of disquiet. Her monster had been gone for a brief time; to have it reemerge, even in a false alarm, rattled her. The verse from this morning no longer pulled her back to a sense of security. The shield around her felt like it had a puncture wound. She hated the change. Was her faith so shallow it still rocked even under the false alarms? What was going to happen the next time when the threat was real? If she couldn’t ground herself and trust in God, what was she planning to hold on to? Everything else could be shaken.
She leaned against the kitchen counter next to Adam, her mood subdued, as he went about the practicalities of fixing dinner. He diced onions while the smell of browning sausage filled the air. She couldn’t change the reality she lived in, but it sure had ruined a nice evening.
Adam studied Sara’s pensive face for a moment, considering what he could do. “Interested in making the pizza dough?”
She pushed up her sleeves. “Sure. Just tell me how.”
Adam was relieved to see the distant look leave her eyes.
He couldn’t afford to show her or Dave just how disturbed he was by what had just happened. They had considered the danger, determined it was safe, and were taking precautions. They lived their entire lives like this. He had just felt the threat for the first time. It had touched his home. It had been abstract until tonight.
He worried about Sara. One day the threat would be real. He didn’t know how he would cope when that day came. How did he convince her to let him help keep her safe? There had to be something he could do.
For tonight, his role was to help her still have a semblance of a normal life. He turned his attention to making pizza dough.
“The key is to keep the ceramic mixing bowl warm as you work. Fill the sink with about four inches of hot water, then set the bowl down in the water.”
Sara arranged it as he described.
“We’ll make two large pizzas, so you’ll need about a cup and a half of warm but not hot water.”
Sara measured the water, added a package of yeast, and reached for a wooden spoon. “Okay, what next?”
“Add a good dash of olive oil, a couple tablespoons of sugar, oregano, and a little garlic.”
Sara smiled. “Typical family recipe—an art, not a science.”
He grinned back. “Of course.” She rummaged through his cabinets to find everything on his list.
Adam found the black olives she had asked for on her pizza.
“Add flour until you can handle the dough without it sticking to your fingers, and you’re done.”
Adam watched her finish the dough as he greased the pizza pans. “Not bad.”
“Thanks.”
“You’ve done this before.”
“Homemade bread. This is similar.”
Adam dusted his hands with flour. He spread out the dough on the two pans with a deft hand.
Sara pinched part of the shredded mozzarella cheese from the bowl as he tilted the pans to spread the pizza sauce evenly.
“You’re cheating.”
“That’s half the fun,” she replied, grinning.
He handed her one of the pans. “Top this one while I do the other one.”
Two pizzas were soon baking in the oven. They companionably cleaned up the kitchen.
When they returned to the living room, Sara started browsing Adam’s library. She was already beginning to think about what would make a good birthday gift for him. She knew the date from the videotape they had watched. A book was an obvious choice. She could get one autographed for him if she knew who his favorite authors were. She idly listened to Adam and Dave’s conversation about baseball as she ran her finger along the titles.
She was glad they had become such good friends. Dave needed the personal time. He might date, take evenings off, but he never really had a life of his own. Since determining that he was going to be part of her security, his life had been forced to bear the same weight as hers.
So much of Dave’s life had been put on hold because of her. She hated that fact. When she was forced to move, he moved too. She knew he wanted to settle down, have a family and kids one day. When she raised her concerns about how many years were passing for him, he dismissed them with a shrug. God had a plan. He would have his family someday, after Sara was safe.
It would be easier if he said it because he didn’t want to add another burden to the ones she already carried. He said it because he meant it. Dave worried, but it was not about God taking care of him.
His faith was stronger than hers. It was depressing at times.
Sara realized she had stopped at the section of commentaries Adam had on his shelf. She smiled as she fingered the book on James. Faith without works was dead. Dave was like that. His faith was in his actions. He liked to quote from James 2:18: “I by my works will show you my faith.” He expected God to protect him, so he didn’t hesitate to go into harm’s way when he had to.
He not only had to be concerned with her safety, but with the safety of his entire team. He didn’t hesitate to take the actions he felt necessary.
The oven timer went off.
Sara helped set the table.
The pizza was delicious. Sara went through three pieces before stopping to enjoy the conversation.
It was going on ten o’clock. The three of them settled in the living room with sodas to watch the evening news. Sara relaxed beside Adam, content to drink her soda and pet King Henry. She needed to think seriously about getting herself a dog. The husky was a guy-sized dog. Big. Solid. Imposing. At the moment, about to fall asleep with his head on her knee.
“He loves the ball you got him.”
Sara smiled. “I thought he might.” She turned to watch the sports segment on the news.
Adam had hoped to ask her to come down to the beach with him, to enjoy an evening walking the dog. He knew better now. He had to rethink when and where he could see her without compromising her safety.
They needed time to talk. He didn’t want to broach the tough subjects over the phone. He needed to talk to her about how she coped with this situation, what he could do to help.
She lived under a constant threat. He more than knew it now, he also felt it. There had to be something he could do to help her. He hadn’t found this lady only to lose her.
She was beautiful. Every time he saw her, that impression just grew stronger. What she wore. How she carried herself. Tonight was no exception. He liked the way the powder blue of her sweatshirt matched up with the indigo blue of her eyes.
He truly enjoyed the time he spent with her. Their long conversations on the phone were the highlights of his evenings. She had a sense of humor that delighted him. He wanted to spend more evenings with her.
“Would you like to go out to dinner next week?” He brushed his fingers lightly over a few strands of chestnut hair that had escaped from her white silk bow.
She turned to look at him. “Where did you have in mind?”
“Somewhere with a private dining room. The Hamilton Hotel, maybe.”
She tipped her head slightly toward him as she considered his question. “I would like that, Adam.”
“We’ll let Dave set something up.”
“I’m beginning to feel like your social secretary, Sara,” Dave remarked, half asleep in his chair.
She grinned. “You always have been.”
“Thank goodness you haven’t had much of a social life lately.”
Adam chuckled at Sara’s expression. “Take him home, Sara. We’ll kick him out on the next date.”
She leaned over and gently kissed him. “Good idea. Thanks for the movie and the pizza.”
“You’re welcome.”
Adam walked down with them and stayed beside Sara in the lobby as Dave brought the car to the door. It was a beautiful night. Adam tucked Sara in the car. “Get a good night’s sleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
She smiled as she squeezed his hand. “I’ll look forward to it.”
&nb
sp; Adam watched the car pull away. Tomorrow wasn’t going to come soon enough.
Sara rested her head against the headrest as Dave drove them home. She watched the moonlight filter through the drifting clouds. It had been an enjoyable evening.
“I think Adam likes you more than a little.”
Sara turned her head and smiled. “I’m beginning to think so too.”
“Any idea what you intend to do?”
It was the biggest question on her mind these days. “Not really. I keep pushing off making a decision for another day.”
“Maybe that’s best. Take it a day at a time. He’s a good man, Sara.”
She studied her brother’s face. “You really think I could have a future with him?”
“I think anything is possible. We will find the guy who’s after you and end this problem once and for all.”
Sara turned up the cuffs of her sweatshirt, frowning slightly. “You were worried tonight.”
“I would feel better if Adam had security with him.”
“Have you broached the topic with him?” It was inevitable for anyone who entered her world.
“Not yet. But I need to soon if you’re going to continue seeing him.”
Dave passed Travis at the security gate to their home. The clock on the dashboard showed it was shortly after midnight.
CHAPTER 10
The house was quiet. Security lights were on in the hall. Dave deactivated the zones that covered the stairs and the bedrooms. “Need anything downstairs?”
“No. I’m ready to turn in.”
Dave nodded and set the security for the night.
Sara walked upstairs with him, thinking about bed and at least ten hours of sleep. She didn’t intend to go into the office until noon the next day. Covering a yawn, she stepped into her bedroom, reaching for the light switch.
She froze.
“Dave!”
It was instinctive panic. She felt it close against her chest.
Her eyes darted around the dark room, looking for what was wrong. There wasn’t anything out of place. She was alone in the room.
Her throat tightened. She wanted to turn and flee but couldn’t move.
“Sara?” Dave had one hand on her shoulder, his body moving in front of hers.
“Something is w-wrong. I d-don’t know w-what, though.” She was shaking so badly she couldn’t get the words out.
Dave reached past her and pushed the silent alarm, then flipped on the bedroom lights.
He tucked her into the corner of the room with his arm. “Stay there.”
She nodded and wrapped her arms around her waist, trying to stop the shaking.
It didn’t take him long to search the room, check the closet, under the bed, the window. His gun out, he moved back into the hall.
Travis had arrived. Sara heard her brother give the quiet order to sweep the ground floor.
She stood where Dave needed her to remain, determined not to hinder what he had to do. The chill wasn’t fading.
What was it about the room that alarmed her?
The apricot dress she had worn to work still lay across the quilt rack, waiting to be hung back up in the closet. The shoes she had discarded lay on their side by the closet. Her bed still had that annoying crease in the wedding quilt she had tried without success to straighten when she made the bed that morning. The family pictures on the dresser had a faint outline of dust at their base; they had not been moved. The perfume bottle she had used during her rush to change still stood in front of the dresser mirror, waiting to be returned to the spin rack.
Everything was so normal! So why was she shivering like a fall leaf after the first hard frost?
There was nothing here that didn’t belong. Nothing missing that she could see.
Dave was gone only a short time, but it felt like forever.
“The house appears clear. There’s no evidence security was broken.”
The words were not meant to reassure. Dave’s tone of voice told her he was more worried than before.
“Any idea what it is?”
Sara shook her head.
He wrapped his arm around her. “Where exactly were you when you first noticed something wrong?”
She moved to the exact spot, certain of where it was because the mirror had caught the reflection of the moon.
She stopped. Had she seen something outside?
Dave apparently had the same thought. He moved back to the window and ran his hand over the panes. The seals were intact.
The mirror also let her see back into the closet. Sara shut her eyes and tried to remember coming home from work. She had selected jeans to wear, considered a blouse and rejected it, then selected the sweatshirt she now wore.
The cream blouse with rose embroidery. Sara opened her eyes and stared at the mirror.
Hadn’t the blouse been put back in the closet next to the sapphire-and-ivory dress? She distinctly remembered the hanger catching on the belt of the dress.
The blouse wasn’t there.
She moved over to the closet door, dragging in a deep breath against the gaping fear. The faint smell of the cedar wood she loved lingered in the air.
“Sara? What is it?”
The cream blouse was on the other side of the closet.
She closed her eyes, fighting the dizziness that was encroaching.
“The blouse has been moved,” she replied, knowing it didn’t make sense but certain it was part of what she was reacting to.
“Anything else?”
She looked around the closet, thinking hard. She shook her head in frustration. “No. Everything else is right.”
Dave took out his pocketknife and began to open dresser drawers. “Tell me if anything looks off.”
Sara shook her head as drawer after drawer was opened and didn’t trigger a sense of alarm.
She hesitated a couple times—when he opened her jewelry drawer…when he opened the drawer where she kept letters from Ellen. Nothing else looked disturbed.
When he opened her bedside dresser drawer, Sara wanted desperately to reach for the gun inside, have it in her hand. Someone had been in her room. Her nerves were screaming it. She let Dave close the drawer.
The others in the detail were arriving. Sara heard them downstairs, spreading out to create a perimeter.
“I don’t see anything else, Dave.” She knew she was losing her mind. She couldn’t be reacting this way simply to a misplaced blouse.
“Move back to the spot. Tell me what you can see.”
She drew a deep breath as she did what he asked. “Most of the room. Reflections in the mirror. The window.”
“Was your door open or closed when you came upstairs?”
“Open.”
“Did you leave it that way earlier?”
She shut her eyes and tried to think. “I’m not sure. I think so. I don’t normally close it.”
“Where did you put your briefcase when you got home?”
“I left it downstairs. There’s nothing else here, Dave. Just a crazy sense that I had put that blouse on the other side of the closet.”
He came over to join her and caught hold of her hands. “I’ll take your gut reaction any day. I need you to walk through the rest of the house.”
Sara hated the idea, but it had to be done. “Let’s go.”
She hesitated twice, once in the living room beside the mail from that day, a second time by the back door that led out to the rose garden.
She stood, looking out at the night. There was nothing that should be causing this reaction. Her nerves were stretched so taut that anything triggered the fear.
Dave rubbed her arm. “Ben confirmed the sensor logs with a fast forward through the videotapes. They didn’t pick up anything.”
“I’m spooked from what happened earlier, Dave. I can’t explain it beyond that. I have better faith in that security grid than I do my memory. Maybe a bat flew by the window… something in that split second when I stepped into the roo
m.
“Maybe I did hang the blouse by the dress, then moved it later when I went back to select this sweatshirt.” She rubbed tired eyes. “I don’t know. Everything else in the house looks the same as when we left.”
Dave massaged her tense shoulders. “I’ll move us up to level four security for tonight, keep a team on the grounds and another in the house. You can sleep in one of the guest rooms, and we’ll take another look around in the morning.”
Sara nodded, grateful. If he suggested they move locations, it would make matters worse. She would be on the run again.
She had ruined a good evening by frightening herself. She was flinching at shadows.
Sara wasn’t surprised that the dreams came back that night. She was surprised that it was Susan holding her arm when she realized where she was.
“Dave went to call the doctor,” the agent said softly. “We couldn’t get you awake.”
Sara blinked against the light. Her muscles were so tight they felt like they would snap her bones.
Her nightshirt was soaked.
It was always so startling to realize she was not being crushed in the darkness.
“I had a bad one.”
“I’m surprised you’ve got any voice left,” Susan replied gently. Sara watched the agent key her mike and call Dave.
“Did I say anything?” There was always the hope that she would.
Susan shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
Dave arrived at the door to the room. His relief was obvious.
“How long?” she whispered.
He sat down beside her on the bed, taking Susan’s place. “Twenty minutes.” He brushed back her hair. “Remember anything?”
“Nothing new.” The light coming in the window was early morning predawn. “I slept about three hours?”
“Something like that. This one hit fast. You were peaceful one minute and screaming the next.”
Sara sighed. It had been so nice to have a few weeks without the dream. Now, if it ran true to form, there would be a string of nights like this one to endure before the nightmare faded again. She rubbed her face, trying to shake off the aftereffects.
“I’m sorry, Dave.”
Her throat was so sore. She gingerly touched it. She could only imagine what it must be like to listen to one of her night terrors.
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