Finding Courage (Love's Compass Book 3)

by Melanie D. Snitker

  ~

  After Avalon went upstairs to bed, Duke and Lance decided on a game of chess before turning in themselves. For Duke, fatigue settled into every muscle of his body. Thankfully, by the end of the second week of harvest, he should be used to the work and wouldn’t be this exhausted at the close of the day.

  Lance moved his piece. “You have a lot to be proud of here — what you’re doing on the farm.”

  “Thank you.” Duke studied the board. “I enjoy what I do. It’s been nice to be able to share some of that with Avalon lately.” He moved his knight.

  Lance leaned back in his chair. “She’s told me she’s really liked working with you in the afternoons.” He leaned forward again to slide his bishop. “I think it’s been a good way for the two of you to reconnect.”

  Khanrad jumped up from his sleeping position on the floor at Duke’s feet. A low growl emanated from the dog’s throat. The hair along his back was on end and both ears hoisted to attention.

  They watched as Khanrad got to his feet, body tensed as he listened. Duke stood and approached the computer, moving the mouse to turn the monitor back on. The images from the video cameras outside were displayed on the screen. Lance joined him and they studied the feeds for a moment. A movement near the garage caught Duke’s eye. “There!”

  At that moment, the sound of glass shattering came from the second floor.

  Lance drew his gun. “Go! I’m heading outside to see if I can catch the guy.”

  Without hesitation, Duke took the stairs two at a time. At the top, he nearly collided with Avalon.

  She was wearing an oversized shirt and shorts, her eyes wide. “Something came flying through the window,” she said, gasping for air.

  Duke tucked her against his side. Khanrad tried to enter the bedroom but Duke called him back. There was likely glass on the floor and he didn’t want the dog to cut his feet. He studied his wife. “Are you okay?”

  Avalon flinched as she rolled her shoulder forward to examine the back of her arm. A trail of blood oozed from near her shoulder and formed a path down her arm, drops falling from a finger.

  His chest tight, he flicked the hall light on. The blood stood in stark contrast to the tan carpet it’d fallen on. He inspected her arm, anger boiling up inside him at the gash that tore her skin. Duke ducked into the bathroom, grabbed a towel and the first aid kit, and returned to Avalon. He used the towel to try and stop the bleeding.

  Avalon looked around. “Where’s Lance?”

  “He’s checking outside. We saw someone on the monitors just before the glass broke.”

  Lance came up the stairs then, a frown on his face and determination in his eyes. Without saying a word, he moved past them into the room. When he returned, he had a large rock in his left hand, his gun still clutched in his right. “Someone chucked this through the window. Whoever it was took off as soon as they threw it. I couldn’t find a soul.” His gaze landed on Avalon’s arm and he started forward.

  Duke handed the first aid kit to Lance and scooped her into his arms. “I’ve got her. We’re on our way to the kitchen to get a better look at it.”

  “I can walk, Duke.”

  Not if he had anything to do about it. He said nothing, noticing more blood on the carpet where she’d been standing. She must have stepped on a piece of glass getting out of the room.

  He easily carried her downstairs to the kitchen and helped her onto a chair. Lance set the first aid kit on the table. Avalon took over holding the towel while he retrieved another from a drawer. “I think you cut your foot. Let me have a look.” He threw a cautionary glance at the back door where Lance was standing, phone to his ear, as he talked to the police.

  After Duke laid her legs across his lap, he studied the soles of her feet. There was a small cut, less than a quarter of an inch long, on the heel of her left foot. “It’ll be annoying as it heals, but it’s not deep.” Duke stood, moving her feet to rest on the chair he’d vacated to get a better view of her arm. “Did this happen when the window broke?”

  Avalon nodded. “While I was in bed.”

  Lance slid his gun back into the holster at his waist as he continued talking into the phone. “No, I couldn’t find anyone outside. My sister was in the room at the time and is injured. Whoever threw the rock also vandalized the garden.”

  At his words, Avalon’s head turned to him. Duke put a steady hand on the back of her neck. “It’s not important, Avalon. We’ll worry about the garden later.” Now that the light was better, he pulled the towel away from her arm again and tried to push back his concern. It was worse than he thought it would be, but didn’t look like it needed stitches. Thank you for watching over my family.

  Lance put a hand over the phone’s receiver. “Is she okay? Do you want them to send an ambulance?”

  Avalon shook her head emphatically. “No, I’m fine.”

  When Duke agreed, Lance returned to his conversation with the police.

  ~

  Avalon felt cold all over. She’d barely fallen asleep when the rock came crashing through the window. She wasn’t sure if it was the glass cutting the back of her arm or the sound itself that startled her the most. Not knowing what was going on, she’d leapt out of bed and headed for the hallway. Finding Duke there had been a huge relief.

  Now she sat at the kitchen table while he cleaned her wound and she fought against the instinct to mumble at the pain it caused.

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m just about done.” He pressed a kiss to the back of her neck.

  Her cuts throbbed while her mind raced. Did the person throw the rock specifically to hurt her, or to draw attention to the garden itself? What if someone had been standing outside, watching, until Avalon had gone to bed?

  A shiver coursed down her spine and she folded her arms across her chest. Duke disappeared into the living room and returned with a light throw. He draped it over her shoulders and gave her a comforting smile. His thoughtfulness warmed her more than the blanket ever could.

  Lance ended the phone call. “They’re sending officers out. We’re not supposed to do anything until they get here. They said it may take up to an hour for someone to arrive.” He jutted his chin toward the doorway that led to the stairs. “We need to get the glass cleaned up and the window replaced. If the shards hit you in bed, there’ll be more all over the floor. You can’t sleep in there.”

  Duke stood behind Avalon and placed a hand on each of her arms. “She’ll sleep in my room. I’ve got plywood in the garage we can use for the window. I’ll call tomorrow and arrange to have the glass replaced.” He thought a moment. “They said not to do anything but I’d really like to go over that video footage.”

  “So would I.” Lance’s words snagged both Duke and Avalon’s attention. “Whoever’s doing this is escalating. First a theft, then potential crop damage. Cutting the brake line was a jump up. There’s no reason to destroy the garden and throwing rocks at the house like this is a completely different matter.” He motioned to the back door. “If we can get a good view of the person who did this, then maybe this can end tonight.”

  Duke helped Avalon move to the couch where she put her feet up. Trying to make herself relax as they did so, Avalon placed a hand on her tummy and let her eyes slide closed as exhaustion flooded her body.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Here we go. Right there!” Lance’s words startled Avalon and her eyes flew open. She must have fallen asleep because the guys were in the midst of reviewing the footage and she didn’t remember them sitting down in front of the computer in the first place. She stood and went to watch behind them, her injured heel aching.

  They saw the outline of a shadowy figure peeking out from behind the garage. Whoever it was looked to be waiting for something. Maybe he’d been watching to see if anyone in the house was still awake.

  All three observed as the figure moved slightly until he dashed across and out of the camera’s view.

  “That’s toward the garden,” Aval
on said. None of the cameras would have covered that area — they wouldn’t have thought they’d need them to.

  Duke shook his head. “I can’t see well enough to tell who it is.”

  Lance tapped the monitor. “He must be messing with the garden right now. But we know he comes back to break the window and I’ll bet he gets closer to the house.”

  Avalon’s eyes stayed on the screen. “It appears to be one person doing all of this.” For some reason, she’d imagined there were at least two of them.

  Eight minutes later, the figure dashed back into view and behind the garage again.

  It seemed like all three of them held their breath.

  The figure stuck his head out, paused, and stalked closer to the camera. They could make out an object in his hand and Avalon assumed it must be the rock. Duke was still holding the offending object in his hand and held it up, glaring at it. He must’ve thought the same thing.

  The figure got closer. As he slowed his progress and raised an arm over his head, Duke gasped. “Oh, no.”

  In response to his reaction, Avalon and Lance leaned forward more to get a better view. The lighting was bad and the man’s features not especially clear, but there was no doubt about it.

  “Calvin.” Avalon barely recognized her own voice. She put a hand on Duke’s upper arm, shocked by how strained his muscles were. He clutched the rock with a strength that made her worry he would cut his hands on the sharp edges.

  Lance didn’t say a word. He continued to watch as the figure launched the object he held, waited long enough to see if it hit his target, and raced into the darkness.

  Avalon’s gaze flew to Duke’s face. He stared at the computer screen but she wasn’t sure he saw it anymore. She tightened her grip on his arm.

  Duke shook his head, his expression going from one of disbelief to anger. “I’m going to find that punk kid and teach him a lesson.” He shoved the chair away from the desk and launched to his feet.

  Lance jumped up beside him and held a hand out to stop him. “Man, you can’t lay a finger on him. He’s underage. It doesn’t matter what Calvin’s done, you have to think about Avalon and your baby.” He nodded toward his sister. “If you hit Calvin, you can be brought up on charges. There’s enough video to prove he did this. You don’t want to end up in a situation where you can’t be here with your family.”

  Duke let out a slow breath and put a steady hand on Avalon’s shoulder. “I know.” He seemed to think a moment before straightening his back. “I doubt he’s the one who orchestrated all of this. He’s never thought on his own. My mother has pulled his strings since he was a toddler. Okay. Let’s save a copy of these videos to the computer. That way, if the police want to take the cameras, we’ll still have the evidence. But when they head over to my parents’ house, I’m going, too.”

  ~

  After the police took their statements, Duke insisted on following them over to the main house. They agreed with the understanding that he would stay back and let them handle the situation.

  He drove the truck, following the police car. The lights were going but they kept the sirens off. It would only alert Calvin since no one else lived in the area anyway. It was nearing one in the morning. Were his parents sleeping? He pictured his dad snoozing away upstairs while his mother and Calvin sat in the parlor conversing about the success of the teenager’s activities.

  Thinking about it made him angry. Calvin was anything but innocent, but he held Loretta McNeil just as responsible. Maybe more so if she truly did set up the whole thing like Duke suspected.

  He thought about Avalon back at the house. He’d insisted she stay home and Lance had agreed, choosing to remain with her. Even though Avalon was worried about him, it was clear she was exhausted and couldn’t object too much.

  Duke worked to steady his breathing. Ever since he’d seen Calvin on that video, he’d been reacting viscerally. In a few minutes, he would have the opportunity to confront both his mom and his little brother. What was he supposed to say?

  “Dear God, give me the wisdom I need tonight.”

  They pulled up in front of the house and Duke got out of the truck. He stayed in the background as he’d been instructed as one of the officers pressed the doorbell. Duke knew all the paid help would have gone to their own homes for the night and one of his three family members would have to answer the door.

  A light flickered on upstairs and he saw another light turn on downstairs. A moment later, the door swung open to reveal Rudy, his hair rumpled and his shirt wrinkled. He’d clearly been awakened from his sleep.

  Rudy’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw the officers on his doorstep. “What’s going on?”

  Duke spotted Loretta in the distance.

  One of the officers spoke. “Is Calvin here?”

  At the question, Loretta strode forward and nudged Rudy aside. “He’s upstairs in bed.” She glared past the police officers to Duke. “What’s this about?”

  One police officer stepped up to the door then. “Ma’am, Calvin McNeil is a suspect in damage to property that resulted in injury to a homeowner. We need to speak with him immediately.”

  Loretta raised herself to her full height. “That’s impossible. He’s been here and in bed all night.”

  “Have you seen him yourself? We have video proof of your son at Duke McNeil’s home tonight.”

  Loretta shook her head, anger darkening her eyes. “Duke, tell these idiots they’ve made a mistake.”

  Duke took a step forward. “Mom! Calvin was at our house. He destroyed the garden and then threw a large rock through the bedroom window. The glass rained on Avalon while she was sleeping, cutting her twice. She’s lucky it wasn’t worse or that she didn’t fall trying to get out of the room.” Duke could feel the fury rise to a boil.

  “I don’t care what evidence you claim to have, you’re mistaken.” Loretta’s eyes were wide and they darted between Duke and the officers. “Calvin hasn’t left the house all night.”

  A movement behind his parents caught Duke’s eye. He spotted Calvin and, the moment the boy knew he’d been seen, he dashed toward the kitchen.

  “He’s running for the back door!” An officer pivoted and raced down the side of the house. His partner was close on his heels.

  Duke followed them. He rounded the corner to the back of the house in time to see the door fling open.

  Calvin bounded down the stairs of the back porch haphazardly and it took little for the officer in front to catch up to him. He grabbed one of Calvin’s arms to stop his mad dash, twisted them behind his body, and waited for the second officer to restrain him with a set of handcuffs.

  Duke decided it’d been a good thing the police officers got to Calvin before he had. There were a lot of things he wanted to say to his brother. Punctuated with a good punch to the face. The only thing stopping him was the worry that he’d be arrested for assaulting a minor. He couldn’t risk his life with Avalon and the baby that way — especially not now when they’d stopped Calvin and the danger was over.

  Loretta threw the back door open, walking purposefully to where they waited, with Rudy behind her. “I insist you let my son go. There’s been a mistake.”

  Duke whirled to face her. “It’s no mistake, Mom. You’ve told Avalon she should take the baby and go back to Texas. You told me I should let her go because she’s not good for me. From the moment I decided I wanted to marry her, you hated that she was in my life.” His voice rose. “You got desperate but you’d never get your own hands dirty, so you sent Calvin to do it for you.”

  Rudy remained silent and while Duke had never thought his father to be an unkind man, he wondered if he’d known about all of this and didn’t have the backbone to stand against his wife and youngest son. The conflict waging in the older man’s eyes told Duke he was struggling to understand what had happened as well. Rudy didn’t know a thing.

  “No!” Calvin’s face twisted in anger. “I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do.”


  Chapter Twenty

  Loretta McNeil, bare feet and all, stepped onto the ground and didn’t stop until she stood in front of Calvin. “You mean to tell me you were over at Duke’s tonight? Were you responsible for the thefts and their car?”

  Calvin straightened and rolled his shoulders back, but refused to meet her eyes. “I didn’t steal their four-wheelers.”

  Loretta studied her youngest son, a look of incredulity on her face. Her voice quiet, she said, “Why? Why would you do this?”

  “Because you hated Avalon being here. Every day you said she was bad for our family. When the four-wheelers disappeared, you said you hoped it would scare her back to where she belonged. That’s what I tried to do.” Calvin studied the ground. When he raised his gaze, it rested on Duke. “I never meant to hurt Avalon.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Duke took a step toward him and Calvin flinched. “Did you cut the brake line on our car?” The teen nodded once. “You might have killed her and the baby. Or all three of us. You’re lucky we realized what was wrong before we’d gotten off the property.”

  Calvin fixed his eyes on the ground at his feet and said nothing. Duke watched his brother. That he could express this level of hatred sickened him.

  Loretta seemed to dredge her strength from the place it had fallen and stood straighter. “It was a misunderstanding. I never wanted you to do anything to Duke or his family, Calvin.” She addressed the police then. “I demand you let my son go. We’ll pay for all damages.”

  Duke looked to one of the officers.

  “You can choose not to press charges,” the officer said.

  Loretta turned to him. “Let it drop, Duke. This is a family matter!”

  Duke took in the shrug from his father and the helplessness in the man’s eyes. No. His mother had made her choices that led her to where she was now and Calvin followed in her footsteps. Not only that, but he’d gone a step further and it scared Duke no small amount. He had to stop this and his parents weren’t about to do it. It was the only way he could think of to make an impression on his little brother, hoping it would be enough to turn his life around. Avalon and the baby’s safety were his first priority and he wasn’t about to let his wife think otherwise. He pinned Calvin with his eyes. “I’ll be filing charges.”