She smiled when he entered, but he thought the smile was a little strained. Her dark brown skirt swirled around her calves, and she wore brown loafers. A green satin headband that matched her blouse held her chestnut hair back from her forehead. Good, he thought. Not too fancy. Just a regular girl.
When Patrick ran to him, Dan picked him up and gave him a bear hug. “Hello, buddy.”
“We’re just about to leave,” Marissa said. “Do you need anything before we go?”
“No. In fact, we’ll head out when you do.”
“Will you come back for dinner?” she asked.
“I need a chance to talk to Laurel.”
“You can do that here,” Owen said.
Dan hesitated. “It’s probably better if we don’t come back here today.”
Laurel’s eyes widened. “I’ll get my bag.” She turned toward the hall.
“Is anything wrong?” Owen asked.
“No more than it was last night. It’s just that I didn’t realize last night quite how serious it is.”
Marissa laid a hand on his sleeve. “I’m sorry.”
“Anything we can do?” Owen asked.
“I don’t think so, but thanks. I need to get Laurel away, to a safe place.”
“Dan, tell us what’s going on.” Owen’s eyes met his with the stubborn persistence they’d both inherited from their father.
“I will when I can. Right now I need to help Laurel, and the best way I can do that is to find her another place to wait.”
“What is she waiting for?” Marissa’s voice cracked, and Dan suspected her nerves were fraying. He regretted that. Best get Laurel out of their house quickly.
“I promise I’ll update you soon. Keep praying for us. But for now, the less you know the better.”
“You’re serious,” Owen said. “You’re some kind of target.”
“Not me. Laurel.”
She came from the bedroom carrying her backpack and turned to her hostess. “Good-bye. Thank you for everything.”
Patrick leaned toward her. She reached for him and kissed him, then whispered something in his ear. The toddler clung to her for an instant.
“I hope you can come back soon,” Marissa said.
Owen cleared his throat. “Yes, do.”
Laurel smiled, but Dan caught the glint of tears in her eyes. They went out, and Dan opened the door of his pickup for her.
“How’d it go?” he asked as he eased the truck down the driveway.
“All right.”
“I see you and Patrick got acquainted.”
“Just a little, but he’s a sweetheart!”
“How did you and Marissa get along?”
“Great.”
He glanced at her before pulling out into the street. “She’s good for Owen. I thought you two would have a lot in common.”
“Thank you for arranging this, and for letting me share your family for a night.”
Dan smiled. “You’re welcome.”
She looked over at him. “How much did you find out last night?”
“Quite a lot.”
“So did I.”
“Oh?” Dan’s eyebrows arched.
“Yeah. Classical music. String quartet. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Laurel, and a lot I don’t know about you. I want to spend more time with you and learn everything about you. I want to know all the quirks of your personality.”
“Quirks like playing the violin?”
“Is that quirky?”
She shrugged, smiling. “It was unexpected. But I think I like it.”
He suppressed the grin that wanted to break out. The tranquil mood pleased him, and he deliberately avoided the subject of her past.
“So, what else did you learn about me?” he asked, deliberately switching subjects.
Her shy glance struck him as promising. “Well, let’s see. Should we talk career or love life?”
“Huh! You didn’t.”
“Oh, yes, we did.”
“They’re anxious for me to join their blissful state,” Dan said. “No pressure.”
“Right.” They looked at each other and laughed. “Marissa showed me their wedding album. She thinks I’d look great in a vintage gown, and the bridesmaids should get their dresses at the retro shop on Jefferson Street.”
“Oh, brother.”
“You asked.”
“I’m sorry. Was it awful for you?”
“Not a bit.”
Dan didn’t trust himself to look at her, so he watched the road studiously. “Family can be very pushy.”
“Mm. Owen said you didn’t date much in school, but you’ve had a couple of semi-serious relationships since you joined the P.D.”
“Emphasis on semi, please.”
“All right. Is Jessica one?”
“No. Jess is getting married in August. And I would never date a work partner. It’s against regs, anyway. She’s a good cop, though.”
Laurel nodded. “Let’s get down to business. You don’t think it’s safe for me to be at Owen’s house any longer.”
No dodging the topic now. “I know you don’t want to put them at risk.”
She nodded, her lips pressed together. “I would never forgive myself if something happened to them.”
“Laurel, someone out there wants something you have.”
She pounded her knee in frustration. “But I don’t have anything.”
“Obviously there are people out there who think differently. The way I see it, these criminals felt it was important enough to kill your husband over. There’s either something that will implicate them, or something that will exonerate you. They don’t want either of those things to happen.”
“But why now? Before the trial, no one came after me. If there was evidence like that, you’d think they’d have tried to find it before.”
“Your lawyer hid you.”
“Not that hard.”
“No one searched your belongings in Maine?”
“Well …” She was quiet for a long moment. “While I was in jail, Bob’s and my house was stripped.”
“By thieves?”
“You could say that. His parents emptied the house and sold it.”
“How could they do that?” Dan asked.
“They paid for the house. They said it was theirs.”
“But your furniture?”
“Sold. No explanation except that some of the things had belonged to Bob’s grandparents.”
“That’s terrible. How did you come up with bail?”
“My lawyer arranged it after the trial. He’s filed a civil suit to try to recoup the value of my belongings from the Hatchers, but it’s still hanging—probably until after the criminal trial.”
Dan crinkled his forehead. “What about the rest of your personal things?”
“They had my clothing and a few other things boxed up and put in storage while I was in jail. I got those, but that’s it. I think they even took a few of my paintings, but why they would do that if they hate me so much is beyond me.”
“You mean, paintings you did yourself?” He remembered the art supplies he’d seen in her apartment after the first break-in.
“Yes.”
“Were they worth anything?” he inquired.
She looked away with a tiny shrug. “I sold a few pieces for between three and five hundred dollars each, and I won a prize at the Waterville Arts Fest the summer before. But I wasn’t well known, and now I’m less than nothing in the art world.”
“Maybe not. Think about it. A painting by a convicted murderer might be worth something, especially if it’s good.”
She shuddered. “That’s despicable.”
“I’d like to see your art.”
She said nothing.
“What about your husband’s things? Clothes, books, sporting equipment?”
“Gone.”
He pressed on. “Photos?”
“I have a few.
Those and my paints.”
Dan ruminated on that as he turned in to the church parking lot. “Your computer.”
“It’s new. I took a risk and bought it when I got here. But I almost ran out of money before I got my job because of it.”
“So there wouldn’t be anything on the hard drive the killers would find useful?”
“Absolutely not,” she said.
“The second trial is imminent, and there’s something the killers are afraid will come out this time. So they traced you, hoping to find whatever it is that could incriminate them.”
“I can’t believe I ever had anything like that without knowing it.”
Dan parked the truck and sat still for a moment. “What other explanation is there?”
Laurel’s brow furrowed. “Renee. What about her? She was definitely in my apartment. The message, the blouse …”
“True.”
“And Renee had nothing to do with Bob’s death. She was in jail on another charge when it happened.”
“Renee is incidental. But however she found you, Bob’s killers took the same route. They both learned you were here, and they came after you for different reasons.”
“You must be right. I’ve got two sets of enemies after me.”
“I’m afraid so.”
The anxious frown between her eyebrows deepened. “Dan, I’m frightened.”
He touched her cheek. She was telling him the truth. He couldn’t believe otherwise. “I’m in this with you now, Laurel.”
She bit her lip and nodded. “Thank you. I’d try to talk you out of it, but I don’t think I’d succeed.”
“You’re right. I don’t know what would sway a jury, but if it’s out there I’ll find it.”
Chapter 6
Dan tried to ignore the stares as they entered the church, but he couldn’t repress a smile. The teacher was about to start the adult class in the auditorium, so no one made a scene, but he could tell everyone was curious about the lovely woman sitting beside him.
Laurel listened avidly to the Sunday school lesson, and she turned easily to the place in her Bible. Dan allowed himself to let go of his back burner anxiety and relax against the padded pew.
Between the services, Terry Wyman stopped in the aisle with his wife, Donna.
“Hey, Dan.” They shook hands, and Laurel smiled warmly as he introduced the Wymans.
Donna immediately launched a conversation with Laurel. Dan worried that Laurel would feel smothered by Donna’s enthusiasm, but she held up her end, answering the usual questions about where she lived and worked. He chatted with Terry but tried to stay aware of how things went between the two women and caught a knowing smile from Donna. She and Terry had tried several times to fix him up with nice girls they knew.
Terry leaned toward him. “About time.”
“Hey, don’t get overly jubilant here,” Dan shot back.
“Right. But the fact that you’re bringing her here is an improvement. We’d about given up hope for you.”
Dan grimaced, taking Terry’s comment as a veiled reference to Ashleigh. Definitely a mistake.
“I’d better go collect our daughter from her Sunday school class,” Donna said a few minutes later. She headed toward the back of the auditorium, and Terry settled in a pew across the aisle.
Laurel turned her face up toward Dan. “Nice people. Old friends?”
“Yeah. Terry and I were in school together, and we see each other here pretty often. He’s in construction. We play some basketball together.”
Her nearness ambushed him. Her imperfect nose, her creamy skin, her sparkling eyes—
She closed them precipitously, taking a quick breath. Had she felt it, too? Dan hoped she had felt something.
She was quiet through the worship service. He suspected she avoided looking directly at him. She murmured her thanks when he held out the hymnbook, and held her edge of it almost gingerly as they sang. Her voice was quiet, but true and clear. Did she like music? She must. Still, he felt he knew nothing about her, except that she was accused of killing her husband and must face a second trial for it.
Those were not the things Dan wanted to know about her. Despite his feeling that caution was needed, the idea of discovering all the commonplace things about her excited him. But in order to do that, he needed to see her go free.
Dan forced his mind back to the service. He knew that at a time like this, prayer was just what he needed to bolster his spirits and infuse him with renewed purpose.
*****
“I like your church,” Laurel told Dan in the truck afterward. The pastor’s message had touched her heart, and she’d felt almost at home.
“I’m glad.” His eyes gleamed as he backed out of the parking spot. “Come back.”
“We’ll see.” She hoped she could do that, but with the future so tenuous, she didn’t dare consider it yet.
“I’d like to take you out to eat,” he said, “but we need to keep you out of sight.”
“So where are we going?”
“I called a friend last night. She’s open to having you stay with her for a while.”
Laurel stared at him in surprise. “I thought I was too much of a liability.”
“Judy’s very laid back, and she’s single. She’s willing to take the risk.”
Dan must know this woman well to make that decision, Laurel realized. She wondered what their relationship was. “Did you tell her everything?”
“No, just about the burglaries. But she’s smart. You may want to tell her the rest before she figures it out. I’ll leave that up to you.”
Laurel took a deep breath. She didn’t like bouncing around from place to place, depending on the kindness of strangers. “What about my stuff?”
“If you and Judy hit it off, I’ll go pack it up this afternoon. You can call the superintendent and tell him you’re moving out.”
“If I don’t clean the apartment, I’ll lose the deposit.”
“How critical is that?” Dan shot her a sober glance.
“I’m basically broke. My paycheck is pretty small.”
He nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”
“You can’t.”
“Yes, I can. I have lots of friends who will help.”
“Just take me over there for a couple of hours. I can do it.”
“No,” he said firmly.
Laurel watched him drive for a moment. “And my car?”
“I’ll get someone to help me move it to Judy’s if you want, but it might be better for you to sell it and get something else.”
Laurel smoothed a wrinkle from her skirt and tried to calm her racing thoughts. “You think I should change cars?”
“I’m sorry, but they know your car. If it’s a killer who is after you, he won’t stop at going through your things. Next time he’ll want your purse or the contents of your pockets.”
She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. “You shouldn’t be doing this alone.”
“Do you want me to make an official report?”
She looked out the window, considering. “Would they put me back in jail?”
“I doubt it. I don’t know.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“That might be the only way they could protect you. Or, if the commissioner thought you were too much of a headache, I suppose he might send you back to Maine.”
“I’m allowed to be here,” she protested.
“Not if he convinces the Maine courts that you’re a liability to the people of Ohio.”
He put the turn signal on, and Laurel realized they had reached their destination. A new apprehension hit her. “What if your friend hates me?”
Dan parked the truck and turned toward her. “No chance,” he whispered. “Relax.”
A middle-aged woman emerged from the breezeway of the shingled Cape Cod, and Laurel took a deep breath. Judy was not at all what she had expected. But then, what did she expect? One of Dan’s old girlfriends?
He lowered his window as Judy approached.
“Hi, Dan. Why don’t you pull over behind the willow tree, and I’ll take Laurel inside.”
“Good idea.”
Laurel climbed from the cab and followed her hostess into the house.
Judy closed the door behind them. “Welcome! I’m excited to have you here.”
“Thank you. Dan was very hush-hush about the arrangements. I hate to put you out.”
“No problem. I need a little pizzazz in my life.” Judy’s lively brown eyes belied the sprinkling of gray in her short hair. “Dan says you’re having a rough time, and I offered my hospitality, such as it is. I’m gone a lot, and it’s quiet here. He thought you’d like that.”
“That’s very kind of you.” Laurel wondered how this woman could trust someone she’d never met with her lovely home and treasured belongings. Judy didn’t seem the naïve type, but she was throwing her private life open to a stranger in trouble. Of course, Laurel was here on Dan’s recommendation. That must be it. Everyone trusted Dan. He would never bring an unsavory character into their lives. As she followed Judy to the room where she would stay, she vowed not to let Dan down.
The rich colors and functional antiques in the house charmed her. Judy’s casual conversation put Laurel and Dan at ease as they shared lunch. When she learned her hostess was a physician’s assistant, Laurel again felt her own inadequacy. She’d never held a job that paid more than minimum wage.
“Judy, thanks again for having Laurel here,” Dan said.
“I told you, it’s my pleasure.”
“Well, it’s frightfully decent of you.”
“Are you going back to church tonight?” Judy asked.
“Probably not,” Dan said. “Every time Laurel is out in public, we risk her being recognized and followed.”
“It’s that bad?”
“Yes. If you don’t want to take a chance …”
“We’ve covered that already. Laurel is staying.” Judy smiled at her, and Laurel gulped.
“It’s a nice church,” she said. “I hope sometime I can go back again.”
“Maybe I can go with you if you do,” Judy said. “What do you do for work, Laurel? Seems to me Dan mentioned you work at the hospital.”
Just Cause Page 7