“I know. But this is a big building.”
“Do you really think the saboteur will strike again tonight, especially since more snow is predicted?”
“No, but I’m not taking any more chances. I told you I would be here for you, and besides I’m your ride home.”
She couldn’t believe that in the middle of all that was going on she could manage a chuckle. “My brother can take me to my house.”
“Okay, then I’m the lead detective on this case and should be here. This is much more than a prankster. A few people have been injured. I don’t want to see anyone killed. I want this guy.”
“So do I. Let’s go inside. It’s going to be a long, cold night because I’m camping out near the window.” She opened the passenger door, and frigid air swept through the SUV and snatched her breath.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ve camped in many different environments and conditions but never inside a store.”
She glanced at him and grinned. “At least we’ll have some heat. It’s freezing out here.” She made a dash—as much as she could in eight or nine inches of snow—to the main entrance.
The thought that Alex would be here with her and the others gave her reassurance and hope a solution to the problem would be found soon. She had the income of too many employees riding on the company remaining viable.
* * *
Dressed in a rented tuxedo, Alex felt out of character Friday night as he entered the hotel where the twenty-fifth anniversary party for Outdoor Sports and Recreation’s suppliers and employees was being held. Knowing Rebecca, she’d probably been here for the past hour making sure everything was set up the way she envisioned. He’d wanted to pick her up at her house and bring her—like a real date—but she hadn’t been sure of her timetable.
At least since Sunday night, nothing had happened at the store. He kept thinking it was the calm before a storm. He had officers scattered around the ballroom for the evening in addition to Rebecca having added security. He prayed nothing went wrong.
The leads he’d run down had led to dead ends. The snowmobile had been stolen and was found about a mile from the store the next day. No useable latent prints were found on the vehicle. Digging into their lists hadn’t produced any concrete evidence pointing to a suspect.
By the end of the week, business at the store had picked up some. Rebecca had to reassure her employees she didn’t want to layoff anyone, especially at this time of year, but there were rumors flying around the staff that made this extra stressful for everyone. To cancel this celebration wouldn’t have played well in the press, besides she still would have lost a lot of money due to the cancellation policies in place.
When he entered the ballroom, his gaze immediately found Rebecca across the large, festive room with Clint and his wife, Tory. Rebecca wore a gorgeous, backless, floor-length gown with long sleeves and a high neckline. Beautiful. Captivating. Enchanting.
She’d shown him the dress last night. She’d called the material gold lame. Its softness clung to her curves as he approached her. Now that he saw it on her, he realized she would stand out in a crowd as though she were a shimmering gold target.
Pulse racing, Alex stopped next to Rebecca. “You’ve gone all out for this celebration. I didn’t realize you could make camping gear look fancy, but you managed to glamorize it with sparkles and glitter among the gold and white streamers and balloons.
“I had fun mixing the elegant with the rugged. Tory helped me with it.”
Clint’s wife laughed. “Most of this is Rebecca. She knows how to throw a party.”
“When do the doors open?” Alex scanned the area filled with waiters, waitresses, and security personnel.
“Any moment, which means Clint and I need to be by the entrance to greet people as they come in. He’ll be at one door, and I’ll be at the other.”
“You didn’t tell me that.” Alex hated surprises.
“That’s because I just thought of it. Right now my employees and suppliers need to be reassured by us personally. What better way?”
In a bullet proof cage maybe—but Alex kept that to himself. “I’ll be right next to you then. Clint, I figure you can handle yourself.”
“Good thing, too. See what my sister talks me into.” Clint took Tory’s hand. “We’ll see you two later.”
“A few days of calm and you’re ready to parade yourself through the streets.”
“Why, Alex, you sound grumpy.”
“I’ve had many sleepless nights because of you lately. You know I was for calling off this shindig.”
“Of course. But I can’t let this saboteur win. Now I have bulletproof windows and doors all around the first floor of the store. Thankfully, there weren’t all that many to install.”
“Yes, I saw that on the news.”
Rebecca frowned. “Someone leaked that to the press. I want to keep everyone as safe as possible, but when you mention bulletproof glass, that doesn’t reassure some people. It makes OSR sound like a battlefield. But this saboteur is not going to win. That’s another reason I went ahead with this celebration.”
He couldn’t change Rebecca, and he didn’t want to. Her independence and determination were two things he loved about her. But in his gut, he felt they hadn’t been concentrating the investigation in the right place. “The more I’ve scrutinized the incidents at the store, the more I think it’s someone who’s still working for you. An employee knows what’s going on and wouldn’t necessarily stand out on the tapes when we reviewed them because he was supposed to be there.”
Rebecca’s jaw dropped. “You’re telling me this right before I’m to greet most of my employees for a night of fun and celebration?”
“I’m telling you this because I’ve been reviewing all the evidence, and I can’t shake this conclusion. Most of the people on our lists haven’t panned out.”
“But why? If they aren’t happy, why are they working for me?”
“I can’t answer that. If I could, I’d probably be able to find them.” The doors swung open. “It looks like the guests are arriving. I do feel better that the guards are screening the guests.”
“Yes, only those invited will be allowed inside.” Smiling, she faced the guests entering. “I haven’t heard of anyone that dissatisfied to ruin the company paying their salary. We’ll talk tomorrow about what you think.”
He positioned himself slightly behind Rebecca and as close as he could to her. As the guests greeted Rebecca, Alex still couldn’t shake the feeling the saboteur was one of the arrivals.
* * *
Rebecca scanned the ballroom full of employees, suppliers, friends, and business connections. Could Alex be right that someone who worked for her right now was behind the recent harassments that were costing her company a lot of money, as well as causing injuries to others?
Lord, thank You there are no deaths.
But what if that changed if the assailant wasn’t caught soon. She knew she wasn’t directly responsible if someone lost his life, but she would feel that way. Years ago, the people who worked for her were considered her family. Now with the count in the hundreds, she still felt that way toward a number of them, but so many she didn’t know personally, unlike before. That was the downside of growing her business.
Alex leaned closed. “Want to dance? This will be the last song tonight.”
Rebecca pushed the unpleasant thoughts away and concentrated on the man next to her who had rarely left her side all evening. The soft melody of the live music, an instrumental version of “Silent Night” pervaded the large room. “I’d like that. This is one of my favorite Christmas carols.”
Alex stepped onto the dance floor and took her into his arms.
As they slowly moved through the crowd, she realized the celebration would be over when the song ended and nothing bad had happened. “I want to be by the door to say good night as my guests leave. Can we move near the main entrance by then?”
“I can’t talk you out of doing that?”
“No.”
“The evening has gone smoothly but—”
“That isn’t the reason. When I can, I need to make a personal connection with my employees. Maybe if I’d done more of that in the past few years, we wouldn’t have this problem.”
He paused in the middle of the floor and stared at her. “Don’t go there. What’s been happening isn’t your fault. And, yes, I’ll move us toward the door.” Then he swept her in the direction of the main entrance. “But I’ll be right beside you. I won’t relax until this is completely over.”
A moment later, Rebecca stood near one of the exits and noticed Clint had done the same on the other side of the room. A parade of guests passed her, all voicing how much they had enjoyed the celebration and looked forward to it continuing the next day at the store.
Susan Maxwell stopped with her husband. Rebecca hugged her administrative assistant. “Thank you for all the long hours you’ve been putting in lately.” Susan and James Collins in HR had helped with compiling all the data on the employees.
“Anything I can do to help with finding the saboteur.”
“And that’s why I don’t want to see you until Monday. Enjoy your weekend.”
After her administrative assistant moved away, Neil shook Rebecca’s hand. “I wish my wife could have come, but our youngest came down with a stomach virus today. She would have really enjoyed this. I sure did.”
The head of tech support was quickly followed by his assistant, Paula Harris and her husband, who Alex had discovered was an outdoorsman with an excellent reputation as a marksman. Rebecca hated her suspicions of the young woman, but she couldn’t shake the reasons she was hired in the first place—her computer skills. “Thank you for coming.” Forcing a smile, she shook hands with both of them and kept an eye on them as they made their way to the door.
Alex nudged her gently, and Rebecca quickly returned her attention to the guests leaving. Heat flushed her cheeks as Rebecca acknowledged the next employee and her fiancé. “Congratulations on your engagement and sharing the news with me tonight.” Rebecca shook Heather’s hand then Zach Walker. “I hope you two had fun this evening.”
“We did, especially your toast to us. It’s exciting about your expansion into the lower states.”
“Only good news allowed tonight.”
“Yes. I’m thrilled the store had a lot more customers today than yesterday.”
“I was, too, even though it makes your job twice as hard.”
“I’d rather be busy than standing around idle.”
When the cashier left, Robert, on the security team and the last person nearby, approached. Not until then did Rebecca realize how tense she’d been. She managed to relax totally for the first time as she shook hands with Robert. “It’s nice seeing you. I appreciate your help this past week and your quick response to the shots at the window.”
“I enjoyed the evening,” Robert grinned, “and not being on duty.”
After Robert left, Rebecca turned to make sure there wasn’t anyone left except security, hotel staff, and her brother and his wife.
With Alex still by her, she finally inhaled a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Now I can say the evening went off without a hitch. Thank goodness. All I want to do is go home and sleep. I wish for twelve hours, but I’ll have to settle for eight. Better than what I’ve been getting.”
“I understand. I’ll be at the store tomorrow, too. I know the celebration on Saturday and Sunday won’t be as big as you wanted, but I think playing it low key is better. You’re still celebrating twenty-five years of serving the community.”
“Yes, with twenty-five percent off every item in the store. That may be more significant to our customers than anything we were planning before the saboteur hit.”
“And just in time for Christmas.” Alex put his arm around her waist. “I’ll walk you to your car. And just so you know, I’ll be following you home.”
Surprise—and excitement—flitted through her. “To stay?”
He chuckled. “My intention was to make sure you get there safely although staying—as your guard—has its appeal. Until this is over with, that’s where my focus has to be.”
When he helped her with her coat, his hand lingered on her shoulder for a few seconds. She imagined the warmth of his palm against her skin, and flutters in her stomach were set off like a burst of fireworks.
“I’m not parked far from the entrance. That’s the benefit of coming early.”
At the exit, she stopped for a moment. Snow fell, the wind swirling it. When Rebecca left the hotel, she hurried in the direction of her car and clicked the button on her key for her engine to start. “The bad weather moved in earlier than expected, but it shouldn’t last long—at least according to the news.” At her four-wheel drive vehicle, she unlocked her door. “In case we get separated, I’m going the usual way home. I’ll leave the gate open until you arrive.”
Despite the brisk bite to the wind, Alex bent toward her and gave her a quick kiss. “If you have trouble. I’m not far behind you. Call if you need me.” He opened her door.
She slipped behind her steering wheel, hoping the heater would warm the interior quickly. She switched it up to the highest it could go, then eased out of her parking space.
In town the traffic was thicker than she expected, even for a Friday night at midnight, but it began lessening as she drove further out of the heart of Anchorage. She saw a few car headlights behind her, comforted to know one of those vehicles was Alex’s. The closer she came to her house, the more treacherous the highway became. That was to be expected with less traffic.
The lights of the city dimmed in the snowfall. When she’d been working late, there were times she’d wondered how she’d ended up at home. But she knew the route so well, she could almost drive it blindfolded. As she headed into the more isolated part of the trip, she still saw headlights behind her. She navigated her SUV around the second uphill curve with towering evergreens looming along the side of the road.
She came out of the curve and gently pressed on the accelerator. Nothing.
What in the world?
Then suddenly the steering wheel moved toward the left without her help. She attempted to wrestle the wheel and tried to brake as her car picked up speed while heading toward the drop off. Nothing.
Help, Lord.
She couldn’t control her SUV as though it had a mind of its own.
Her vehicle kept going faster. She braced herself as her car flew off the ledge.
***
Chapter Eight
The light a few yards away turned green, and Alex crossed the intersection, watching as Rebecca disappeared around the curve ahead. Noting the road conditions weren’t too bad, he increased his speed slightly.
Suddenly out of nowhere headlights flooded the interior and blinded him. The next second a vehicle plowed into the back passenger-side door, slamming him into the other lane and sending him into a spin until a pile of snow on the side of the road stopped him. His body was thrown forward, caught by his seatbelt then tossed against his seat. The back of his skull hit the headrest and sent him toward the steering wheel again. His head struck the hard plastic.
Horns blared. He blinked at the bright lights surrounding him.
In a wreck.
Can’t be.
I have to keep up with Rebecca.
Need to call her.
With his head pounding, he fumbled for his cell phone in his pocket, but his hand fell to his side. The pain emanating through his brain demanded his attention. A dark void lingered at the edges of his consciousness.
Rebecca. He didn’t want her to worry.
He touched his forehead, his fingers covered in blood when he pulled them away. He didn’t have time to be injured. He tried for his phone again, but the blackness swallowed him.
* * *
A numbing cold snaked its way into Rebecca’s mind and through her whole body, urging her to open her eyes. She blinked several ti
mes then forced her lids to stay open. Slowly her surroundings took shape. Faint lights from the dashboard illuminated the interior of the front. A tree branch stuck through the windshield only a foot from her took up the passenger side and the space between the bucket seats. She tried to move, but every time she did pain shot through her. Up her leg. Piercing her skull.
Where am I?
She struggled to remember what happened, but the effort fogged her brain.
She laid back against the headrest, fighting to piece the fragments of her memory together.
On my way home.
Snowing but road passable.
Alex following me.
The bank of fog threatened to swallow her. She closed her eyes and fought to recall what happened.
Everything changed. Flying through the air. Bouncing over rough terrain.
Where am I?
Unable to see out the smashed windshield, she swiveled her head toward the driver side window. A crack slashed across it, but she could look out at the white-blanketed landscape with evergreen trees, spruce, and bare quaking aspen. It appeared her car wasn’t at a sharp angle or the trees wouldn’t be standing so straight. She tried to picture her trip from the hotel to home and see if she could remember where she was.
A vision of her going around a curve materialized in her thoughts. Okay. Not far from her house. A couple of miles possibly.
Slowly she leaned forward and twisted around so she could glance behind her. The movement nauseated her. Before facing forward, she glimpsed the side of a cliff that stretched upward at possibly a sixty-degree angle, but she couldn’t tell for sure or see the top.
How long have I been here? Where is here?
She fumbled for her cell phone in her coat pocket and pulled it free. She’d been down here for at least fifteen minutes. No bars showed on her screen. She couldn’t call for help.
Did Alex see what happened? Would he be here soon?
Deadly Night, Silent Night Page 7