“Reports are on your desk, Jake,” Ernie called over his shoulder as he stirred a healthy dollop of sugar into his coffee cup. He followed Jake into his office and shut the door. “Got a minute?”
Jake sat on the corner of his desk. “Sure, Ernie. What’s doin’?”
The older man scratched his head. “You’re mighty cheerful this morning. Don’t you have a newborn sharing your house right now?”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “She’s beautiful.”
“Mother or baby?”
Surprise rolled through Jake. He laughed as he said, “Both, I guess. Yeah, both.”
Ernie smiled. “Great, Jake. Listen, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about for a while now, and I can’t put if off any longer. I’m retiring at the end of the year.”
Jake blinked and dropped into the wooden chair behind his desk. “I guess I knew it was coming, Ernie, but not this soon. That’s just three weeks. You don’t give a guy much warning.”
“I’ve been puttin’ more and more of the workload off on you, and you’re handlin’ it just fine. I’ve recommended you for the job, by the way. It should be yours for the taking if you just give the town council the word.”
Jake smiled, touched by the praise. “Thanks. I appreciate that. I’ve only been here a year. You sure about this?”
“I can’t think of a better man for the job. Hey, speaking of good men, have you seen the Messenger? The story of you deliverin’ the baby is right on the front page, big color picture and everything.”
Ernie opened the door and yelled down the hall. “Hey, Brandt! Bring me the Messenger sitting on my desk.” A couple of seconds later a beefy hand appeared through the door waving the paper. Ernie grabbed it and handed it to Jake.
When he unfolded the paper to look at the story, his smile faded. Holly and Noelle stared back at him.
“Shit.” Jake swore. “Shit.”
Ernie frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Jake tossed the paper on the desk. “Holly ran away from an ex-fiancé who was stalking her and harassing her to give him her child. She has a PO in place. I tried to talk Amanda out of running the story, or at least to hold off on the picture of Holly and the baby. Amanda seems to think it’ll just run here, but you know how it is this time of year. Everyone’s looking for those peace-on-earth-goodwill-toward-men stories. I’m afraid some news service will pick it up.”
Ernie grimaced. “I can understand your concern, but it’s pretty much out of your hands at this point, Jake. It’s a little late to close the barn doors. The horse’s already out.”
“Yeah.” He pursed his lips. “I’ll just keep my fingers crossed it doesn’t go any further. What are the odds any of the Dilby family will pass through this area?”
“Dilby? Like the stores?”
Jake made a face. “Just like the stores.”
“Wow. A lot of women would give them the baby and walk away.”
“Not Holly. She’s real protective of Noelle and her little brother.” He changed the subject. “Court in session this morning?”
“Yeah, I think so. Why?”
“Just wondered. Evan’s car was already gone when I went for my run this morning. Seemed a little early for him. In fact, a lot of mornings we run together.”
“Can’t say as I’ve heard anything.”
Jake shrugged. “Oh well. I stopped trying to be his keeper twelve years ago after his breakup with Jenny.”
“Never did understand what happened with those two,” Ernie said. “Oh, Brandt caught our Nativity toilet-paper perps red-handed last night.”
“Who was it?”
“The city attorney’s son and his next-door neighbor.”
“Isn’t the city attorney a deacon at the Baptist church?”
“Uh-huh.” Ernie chuckled.
“Well, guess the Presbyterians are off the hook.”
Ernie laughed with him. The long-running feud between the women’s groups from the two churches was legendary. Ernie was still chuckling as he left, leaving Jake to go through the reports from the previous day.
Jenny called him a half hour later. “Jake, I need a favor.”
“What’s up? You know I’d do almost anything for you.”
She laughed. “Wow! Holly’s already had an impact. Last week you told me you would do anything; now I’ve been bumped to almost anything.”
“She’s great, Jenny, you know?”
Her laugh was softer. “Oh, Jake. That makes me so happy.”
He grinned as he stared out the window of his office. “Thanks. Though you might be a bit premature. So…what can I do for you?”
“I want you to come talk to the pigheaded person you call a friend.”
Jake’s grin widened as he shifted positions and stared at his ceiling. “Would that pighead’s name happen to be Evan Richardson?”
“Yes. He’s giving my nurses fits and refuses to let Dr. Razawi treat him.”
“Whoa. Whoa,” Jake said letting his chair fall forward again with a thump. “Back up. Treat? For what?”
She sighed. “I hoped you would have already heard through the police grapevine. It seems to broadcast everything else around here. Evan missed the curve in my drive last night after dropping me off and wrapped his car around a tree. The first I knew of it was when he managed to make it to my door at two this morning. The EMTs were working an accident on the parkway, so I stitched his head, kept an eye on him, and brought him in this morning. Jake, he’s being a prick. Razawi hasn’t even gotten him into the CT scan yet.”
“He’s got a concussion?”
“Yes. I stitched a three-inch laceration right at his hairline, and when I talked to him about what happened, he admitted he was unconscious for quite a while. He keeps insisting he’s going to court at ten.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“Thanks, Jake.”
Ten minutes later, Jake and Jenny walked into the cubicle where Evan was already on his phone, in blatant disregard of the sign asking all cell phones be turned off. He ignored them as he snapped into his phone, “They’re being obstructive. At this point, I don’t see an option. Ask for a continuance until January.” There was a pause and then Evan snarled. “Tell her honor the commonwealth’s attorney is being held hostage at the hospital because of a little car accident.”
After punching End, he turned on Jenny, a taunting twist to his wide mouth. “Had to call the cavalry? Couldn’t handle it on your own, Doc?”
“That’s enough, Ev,” Jake ordered. “Jenny, close the door and the curtains and leave us alone for a few minutes.”
When the door shut behind her, Jake stared at his friend. A neat line of stitches edged Evan’s forehead along with bruising there and on his jaw. Otherwise, Evan’s face was pale and his gray eyes overbright.
He remembered the Evan he’d grown up with. The friend who’d always had his back, no matter what. The friend who’d spent a lifetime trying to make people think he didn’t care about anything because he usually cared too much.
“Ev?” Jake prompted, tilting his head as he walked over to him. “You look like hell, bro.”
“I crashed my fucking car. I’m supposed to look like hell.”
Jake crossed his arms over his chest and waited. It took less time than he expected before it poured out of Evan in a rush.
“I should have let you take her home. We had a fight. I said some nasty things. Even for me.” Evan looked away and swallowed a couple of times. “She told me some stuff. I—I can’t even tell you. I kept going at her and at her and when I left I was crying and I couldn’t see the fucking road, Jake, so I crashed. And then even when she took me in and stitched me up, I started in on her again.”
“Evan.” Jake tried to interrupt, but his friend kept on, his expression tormented.
“She dumped me at the door of the ER and said this other guy would be treating me, but I want her.”
Jake put his hand on Evan’s shoulder and squeezed. “Don’t push, Evan. It’s a miracle she came back here at all. She has secrets no one knows. Give it time. Right now, you need the CT scan. You’ve got a concussion. I’ve lost enough friends over the last ten years, man. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you. You’ve been my friend since we beat each other up in kindergarten.”
Some of the tension left Evan’s face. He smiled, a little watery and his eyes were a little red, but it was still a smile. “Okay.”
“So I can tell Jen and Razawi you’ll do the scan and what they tell you to?”
“Yes.”
Five minutes later, Jenny stood next to Jake as they rolled Evan away. She studied Jake with tired eyes. “How’d you do it, Allred?”
“Let him talk. He was tighter than a tick and just needed to vent.”
Her eyes still on the bed disappearing through the swinging doors, Jenny muttered, “Prick.”
Jake’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you all those years ago, and I don’t want to. You’ll have to work it out, but, Jenny, don’t think he doesn’t feel. He feels too much. You hear sarcasm and cynicism. I hear a guy who’s spent his entire life trying to win approval from a father colder than an iceberg.” Jake paused and lifted Jenny’s chin with his forefinger. “Don’t make me choose between the two of you. I can’t. I love you both.”
* * * *
Spence Dilby glanced at the woman riding next to him. Seely, the fiancée that made his parents happy, looked studiously out the window, her entire posture screaming boredom. Whatever. Spence had promised to take her skiing, but in reality he was on a mission. They were traveling to the ski slopes via the backroads so he could swing through Castle County and Mountain Meadow. It would surprise the hell out of him if the place was any more than a wide spot in the road. If it was that small, he might luck up and spot Holly or her obnoxious brat of a brother.
The state highway widened out after a curve. As the speed limit dropped, Spence smirked. It might be a bit more than a wide spot in the road, but not much.
“Why are we stopping?” Seely asked with a yawn.
“I need something to drink.”
He left Seely in the SUV while he stalked toward the entrance to Mountain Meadow General Store. Probably some freaking tourist trap that would charge him out the ass for a soft drink. The bell above the door jingled as he entered. Behind the counter was a white-haired old woman who looked like her wrinkles had wrinkles. Spence shuddered.
“May I help you?”
He forced a smile. “Just need a soda.”
“They’re in the case there to the side.”
Spence nodded. As he made his way over to the side of the store, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, but when he glanced toward the back of the canned food aisle, it was empty. Spence shook his head. Weird-ass people lived in these parts. Probably inbred. As he walked back to the counter, the paper on the newsstand caught his eye. Holy shit. It was Holly, holding a baby.
“This is your local paper?” he asked the old broad, trying to keep his satisfaction hidden at how easy his quest had suddenly become. At her nod, he continued, “What a great story idea, featuring hometown heroes. And this new mother’s from around here?”
“She sure is,” the woman said sucking in a breath as if she was getting ready to tell him the whole town history. Yes. This was just the break he needed.
For just a second, the old woman’s gaze darted away, then back to him. Her smile faltered, and whatever she’d been about to say died with it. She smiled again, but not as brightly as before. “Is there anything else for you, young man?”
“I’ll take one of the papers. I like good news stories.”
The woman took his money and handed him back his change, shoving the paper and the drink toward him now as if she couldn’t get him out the door fast enough. Spence glanced over his shoulder, scanning the parts of the store he could see, but no one else was in sight. Taking his purchases, he went back out. As soon as he opened the SUV’s door, he shoved the newspaper over the sun visor of the SUV and buckled his seat belt. Seely studied him.
“What’s that, Spence?”
“Just the local fish wrap. I figured it would be good for a few laughs when we’re not on the slopes the next few days.”
As he anticipated, mentioning skiing took Seely’s mind right off the newspaper. While he negotiated the narrow highway leading to the interstate, Spence’s mind turned over what he’d found out. In two months, the damn detectives he’d hired hadn’t been able to discover a damn thing about Holly, just that the kid was going to school in this Podunk town. And look how easy it was. It might not be a bad idea to stop on the way back to see if he could find out anything else.
So Holly had the kid—a little early if his math was right. After all there’d only been one, tedious night. Who’d have thought in this day anyone would be still a virgin at her age. He hated inexperienced women. They took way too much time. He wanted a woman who knew how to get off quick, so he didn’t have to worry about her pleasure. Seely fit that bill perfectly.
That one time in New York had been more than enough. Holly had been frigid, not worth the trouble. Seely was a different matter. He glanced at her—blond hair, blue eyes, and big tits. Man, you couldn’t get much better. Who cared she didn’t have many interests outside snow skiing and keeping her tan intact. She was a good screw and she’d look great as his wife.
Now, if he could just get the kid away from Holly, they could complete the family picture and make all the Dilby clan happy he’d procreated something for posterity. It would be easy enough to hire a nanny, and then private boarding schools would keep the kid out of his hair until he could marry her off. Too bad it hadn’t been a boy, but he wouldn’t be too picky.
Yeah, he would stop by that hokey store again to see if he could get any other info out of the old broad, and then he was going to find little Holly so they could chat. Maybe he just needed to up the ante. Everyone had a price.
* * * *
Jake had had a frustrating day. Two of their guys had called in sick so he’d helped cover some of the patrols during the morning and shoved the paperwork off until afternoon. Problem was, the pile didn’t seem to get smaller. Realizing it wasn’t going to get finished today, Jake started organizing everything to work on tomorrow.
He was just getting ready to leave when the outer door rocked back on its hinges. The noise made Jake spin in reaction. Then he saw it was Tyler. He took a deep breath and tamped down the instinct that had nearly made him reach for his sidearm.
“Hey, kid. You come to hitch a ride?”
“I gotta talk to you, Jake. Right now.” The kid was breathless and a little shaky looking.
Jake voiced his first thought, a shaft of gut-wrenching fear stabbing through him. “Is everything okay with Holly and the baby?”
“Yes. I mean, I think so. I-I don’t know.” Tyler looked like he was ready to burst into tears. Jake knew enough about Tyler now to know whatever was troubling him was serious.
Seeing the curious looks the boy was getting from the two other people in the front, Jake hung his jacket back up and held his hand out. “Okay, buddy. Come on back. We’ll go talk in my office.”
As soon as Jake shut the door, Tyler buried his face against his ribs and hung on for dear life. The boy trembled, so Jake wrapped his arms around the thin shoulders. “Hey. What’s wrong, man?”
Tyler shook his head.
“I saw him. In the store. He was there.”
Jake sat in the nearest chair and let Tyler perch on his knee. “Slow down, Ty. Who’d you see in the store?”
“Spence! Holly’s Spence. He was here.”
Jake went still, coldness spreading through him. “When? Where?”
“He came into the general store to buy some stuff, and I heard him. He saw the paper and bought one. He asked if Holly was from aroun
d here. Mrs. Tarpley told him yeah. She didn’t know.” Tyler’s face crumbled.
Jake pulled his cell phone out, hitting speed dial. “Hang on, kid, okay? It’ll be all right, I promise.”
Evan answered with a gruff, “Yeah.”
“You at home?”
“Doctor’s orders, so here I am.”
“I need a favor fast. Go next door. Stay with Holly and Noelle until I get there. Mooch some more cookies off her or something. Make it seem like just a social visit.”
“What’s up, bro?”
“The ex-boyfriend appeared at Tarpley’s less than a half hour ago.”
“I’m on my way out the door.”
“Thanks.”
After disconnecting, Jake pulled Tyler against his chest in a tight hug. “We’ll take care of her. Everything will be all right.” He held his fist for Tyler to bump knuckles with him. “You and me, bro.”
Tyler grinned weakly. “Yeah.”
* * * *
Holly had just put Noelle down when she heard a knock at the front door. She frowned. She didn’t know anyone, and folks knew Jake wasn’t here. She came downstairs but couldn’t see anything through the stained glass bordering each side of the doorway. She hesitated, then shook off the paranoia. No way could Spence have found her. She opened the door and smiled when she saw Evan’s rangy frame standing on the porch. He turned as she opened the door wider, revealing the bandage on his head.
“Oh, Evan! What happened?”
His expression was rueful. “I wrecked my car last night when I took Jenny home. They let me out of the hospital, but,” he added, “I’m supposed to have someone keeping an eye on me for a couple of days. A concussion, you know.”
Her heart went out to him. As sarcastic as he could be, she sensed vulnerability beneath it. “Come on in. You have to stay here. Jake won’t mind. Aren’t you supposed to have someone check on you every few hours?” Before he could open his mouth to answer, she continued. “That won’t be a problem because we’re up with Noelle anyway, so you can spend a couple of nights. I was just getting ready to start dinner. Come back to the kitchen.”
Special Delivery (Mountain Meadow Homecoming 1) Page 12