“You’re wrong, Ben. I do have to worry about what that might mean.”
“Because you’re afraid of what might happen to anyone who gets close to you?”
“Because I’ve lived what might happen to anyone who gets close to me and I don’t want to live it again.”
“You’re not going to.”
“You can’t know that.”
“No, I can’t.” His knuckles brushed against hers again, but this time he turned his hand and captured her fingers, his thumb caressing the tender flesh on the underside of her wrist. “But I do know this—there’s nothing in the world that can keep God’s will and plan from being worked out and His plan is always for our best. Whatever happens, it’ll be okay.”
He tugged her forward so that she was leaning over the glass display case, just inches from Ben and the strength he offered. For a moment she was sure he would kiss her again. She thought about moving forward, thought about pulling back, hadn’t quite decided between the two when he brushed a hand over her hair.
A pink petal fluttered down and settled in the floral arrangement she was designing.
“Were you fighting with roses when I got here?”
“I was fighting with Abel who was fighting with pink hydrangea. Opal will not be pleased.”
“I bet not. Will she be back soon?”
“Probably within the hour.”
“And you’re here alone until then?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
“Good idea or not, it is what it is.” Chloe shoved more baby’s breath into the sea of white and pink roses and frowned. “This isn’t exactly going the way I planned.”
“What’d you plan?”
“Something that looked a lot better.”
He eyed the floral arrangement and Chloe expected him to say what most people would—it looks great. Instead, he pulled a few roses from the middle of the basket, spaced them closer to the edge of the foam. “Maybe a little more of the filler would help.”
“A pastor, a chef and a floral designer. Is there anything you can’t do?”
“I can’t leave you alone here by yourself.”
“Sure you can. Just walk out the door.”
“Not until Opal gets here. So, what do you say we finish this and order a pizza? I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for lunch.”
“Ben—”
“It’s just lunch.”
“It’s just you babysitting me.”
“It doesn’t feel anything at all like babysitting to me.” The words were warm and filled with promise.
“I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Good idea or not, it is what it is.” He smiled, his eyes flashing with amusement.
And suddenly having him around didn’t seem like such a bad thing. Despite her worry, despite her fear, for just a while, Chloe decided to believe what Ben had said—that God had put him in her life for a reason, that a divine plan was being worked out and that in the end everything would be okay.
Chapter Twenty
There were two messages on Chloe’s machine when she got home. The first from Karen telling her that Adam’s hard drive was on the way. The second was from Adam’s former receptionist, Jordyn Winslow. She’d mailed the laptop and wanted to know if Chloe needed anything else.
Chloe glanced at the clock as she stripped off her jacket. Jordyn had her ear to the ground when it came to matters that involved anything to do with Adam and James’s business or their personal lives. She prided herself on knowing their schedules during work and away from it. If there was anyone besides James who might have an idea of who Adam had been seeing, it was Jordyn.
It was just past five when Chloe picked up the phone, almost hoping that the receptionist had left for the day. It would be much easier to leave a message than to ask what needed asking in person.
Her hopes were dashed when Jordyn’s chipper voice filled the line.
“Kelly and Hill Investigative Services. Can I help you?” The greeting was the same, but different. Adam’s name no longer a part of it. Grief speared Chloe’s heart, making her mute for a moment too long.
“Hello? Can I help you?” Jordyn’s tone had lost some of its peppiness.
“Jordyn, it’s Chloe.”
“Hi, Chloe. It’s good to hear from you. James said you’re settling in down there. Is it as peaceful as you were hoping?”
“Yes. The lake is beautiful and the area is much quieter than D.C.”
“I bet. Personally, I’m not sure I could do what you’ve done. Move out to the country. Too many years of suburban life have spoiled me. I like the convenience of having everything close by. I don’t know how you’re keeping your sanity.” Was the comment about sanity a subtle jab? Chloe could never be sure with Jordyn. They’d known each other for the three years Chloe had been freelancing for the company, but they’d never been friends.
“Rural life isn’t for everyone, but it’s definitely for me.”
“To each her own, I suppose. Though I’m not sure what the point of giving up a lucrative business to become a florist was. You’d done well for yourself, Chloe. It’s a shame to waste all those years of work.” Jordyn’s words were patronizing, but Chloe didn’t let them bother her. A fixture at Adam and James’s office since they’d partnered as private investigators ten years before, Jordyn had an opinion about most things and wasn’t afraid to share them.
“Like you said, to each her own. My decision might not make sense to you, but I haven’t regretted it.” Chloe set fresh water and food down for Abel and limped to the balcony, unbolting the French doors and stepping out in the crisp evening air.
“Yes, well, we’ll see how you feel in a month. Did you get my message?”
“Yes, thanks for sending the laptop out.”
“James said you needed it ASAP. I wasn’t sure there was quite as much hurry as he made it out to be, but humored him anyway. You know how men can be.”
Not really, but she didn’t plan to admit that to Jordyn whose blond-haired beauty attracted more men than Chloe had ever been able to keep track of. “They’re interesting, that’s for sure.”
“Interesting? Frustrating is more the word I was thinking. Anyway, the laptop is on the way. You should receive it by the end of the week. James didn’t say what you needed it for.”
Chloe decided the nonquestion needed no response, and she ignored it. “I appreciate you getting it out so quickly, Jordyn. I know how busy you are.”
“Not as busy anymore. Adam kept things hopping around here. Without him, things just aren’t the same.”
“Adam did love his job.” Go ahead, bring it up. Ask her before you chicken out. “Jordyn, you asked if I needed anything else, and I was wondering…”
If she knew who Adam had cheated with? If she’d watched him leave for lunch with his girlfriend and silently applauded Chloe’s downfall.
“What?”
“Adam was seeing someone besides me. I wondered if you knew who it was.” There, it was out, and a lot less painful to say than she’d thought it would be.
“I’d heard rumors that’s why the two of you broke up, but I didn’t want to believe it was true. Adam seemed like such a loyal type of guy.”
“Yeah, he did. I guess you don’t know who he was seeing?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“All right. Thanks anyway.”
“No problem. Do me a favor and call me when the laptop arrives, okay? I’ve got it insured and want to make sure it gets there in one piece.”
“Sure.”
“Great. I’ll talk to you soon, then.” The phone line went dead, and Chloe set the receiver down. James di
dn’t know who Adam had been seeing. Jordyn didn’t. Chloe certainly didn’t.
But the computers might. One e-mail, that’s all it would take. One note that spoke of more than friendship. Deleted or not, they’d be there, buried in the computer, waiting to be found.
Chloe just wasn’t sure she was ready to find the information. A nameless, faceless woman was much easier to deal with than a real identity. A name. Maybe a face. Maybe the knowledge that it was someone Chloe knew, had maybe even liked.
Not that it mattered now. Adam was gone, his betrayal minuscule in comparison to his death. All they’d shared—laughter, joy, tears and pain—fading to bittersweet memory.
Hot tears filled Chloe’s eyes and she blinked them back, rubbing at the band of scars on her hand, the cool air from the still-opened French doors bathing her heated face. She wanted so badly to go back to the night of the accident, rewind the clock, change the outcome. But the past couldn’t be changed. All she could do was move forward into the unknown.
As if he sensed her distress, Abel whined, rolling over on his back and begging for attention. She knelt down and scratched him under the chin. “You’re a good puppy. Even if you did destroy the hydrangea and chew the leg of Opal’s desk.”
His tail thumped the floor, his tongue lolled out, the sight comical and cute. If she’d had her cameras she’d have taken a picture, but Jake hadn’t returned them and had made no mention of how long they’d be in his custody. Instead, she straightened, limping into the kitchen and eyeing the contents of her refrigerator. There wasn’t much. Some fruit. A bag of baby carrots. A nearly empty half-gallon of milk. Apple juice. Why hadn’t she stopped at the store on the way home and picked up groceries?
She dug into the cupboard, found a box of Pop-Tarts, and ripped open the wrapper. They weren’t chocolate, but they were better than nothing.
Abel barked, tumbling toward the door, just as a soft rap sounded against the wood.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Mrs. Anderson, dear. I’ve got a package for you.”
“A package?” Chloe pulled open the door and smiled at her neighbor, a spry woman of eighty-nine who spent her days volunteering at the community center and her evenings enjoying the company of her husband of sixty years.
“Yes. Charles said it was on the front porch when he came home. I guess it couldn’t fit in your mailbox.” She held out what looked like a wrapped shoe box. “He thought it best to bring it inside. No sense leaving it outside for thieves to get.”
“Thank you for bringing it over, Mrs. Anderson. And please tell your husband I appreciate him bringing it inside.”
“It was no problem at all, dear. Now, I’ve got to run. It’s senior night at the movie theater and Charles and I are going to meet some friends there.”
“Have fun.”
“You, too.”
Chloe waited until the elderly woman was back inside her apartment, then closed the door and bolted it. The package was light and wrapped in brown packing paper, her name and address printed in broad, firm letters on one side. She turned the package over, saw no sign of a return address, nothing to indicate where it had come from.
A warning shivered along her spine, the box like a coiled serpent ready to strike. Anything could be inside. Pictures. Letters. Poison. Body parts.
“Okay. You’re really losing it, Chloe. Knock it off before you convince yourself there are explosives inside and call the bomb squad to rescue you.”
She set the box on the kitchen table, took a steak knife and slit through tape and paper. There was more paper beneath, bright yellow wrapping paper that she made quick work of. The white box inside looked innocuous enough, but there was no card or note. There also weren’t any blood stains or awful odors, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something awful inside.
Finally, Chloe couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer. She braced herself and lifted the lid, nearly laughing out loud when she saw what was inside. A brown and green turtle was shoved into the small space, one golden eye staring up at her.
She pulled it out, smiling as she saw the dog tag hanging from a string around its neck. Speedy Too.
Ben.
How he’d managed to find a floppy stuffed turtle, Chloe didn’t know. Why he’d taken the time to buy it and send it to her was something she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Everything else aside—all the danger, all the fear, all the nightmares—she wasn’t ready to get involved in a relationship. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready for that.
But if she were, someone like Ben would be perfect… .
Don’t even go there, Chloe. Don’t even think about it. Ben is a charming guy with a congregation of single women standing in line hoping to get his attention. Let them. You’re not interested.
Aren’t you?
She ran her hand over the turtle’s shell, imagining Ben buying it and the dog tag, wrapping them in the box, going to the post office. He’d gone through a lot of trouble and that wasn’t something many people had done for her in the past.
She grabbed the phone, found Ben’s number and dialed.
“Hello?” His voice rumbled across the line, comfortably familiar and much too welcome.
“Hi, Ben. It’s Chloe.”
“Hey. Everything okay?” His voice deepened, warmed, pulled her in.
“Fine.” She smoothed her hand over the turtle again, her throat tight for reasons she refused to name. “I got a package in the mail today.”
“Did you?”
“No return address. No note. At first I thought it might be an unpleasant surprise.”
“More mutilated pictures?”
“I was thinking something explosive. I got pretty close to calling the bomb squad.”
“That would have made interesting news for the gossip mill.”
“Fortunately, it didn’t come to that.”
“No?”
“It seems someone has a thing for turtles. Speedy ones.”
“You don’t say.”
“I do. And I also say that that someone shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.”
“Who said it was any trouble? Maybe that someone happened to be shopping for a birthday present for his niece and saw the turtle and thought of you.”
“And just happened to find a pet tag with the perfect name written on it?”
“Something like that.” He laughed, the sound rumbling across the phone line.
“You could have just brought it over. It would have saved you the effort and the cost of postage.”
“And have you give me a hundred reasons why you couldn’t accept it?”
“I wouldn’t have given you a hundred reasons.”
“Sure you would have. And then I would have felt obligated to list a hundred reasons why you could accept it. That seemed like a lot more effort than putting it in the box and mailing it.”
Chloe smiled, setting Speedy Too down on the counter and crossing to the balcony. The night was clear, the stars bright in the indigo sky. “You’re probably right. I would have argued, but in the end you would have convinced me. Speedy Too is the most thoughtful gift I’ve ever received.”
“Then I’m glad I followed my gut and bought it.”
“Ben, I’m not sure what you want from me, but—”
“I don’t want anything from you, but friendship.”
“A kiss is a little more than friendship.”
“Let’s chalk that up to a momentary lapse of judgment and forget it happened.”
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
“And I think I’m flattered.”
Chloe’s cheeks heated, and she was glad Ben wasn’t there to see it. “You know what I mean. A kiss changes everything. It takes n
othing and makes it into something.”
“What’s between us could never be nothing. Kiss or no kiss.”
“That’s just the thing. I don’t want there to be something between us.”
“There already is.” He sighed, and she could picture him standing in his kitchen, maybe a cup of coffee in his hands, his hair falling across his forehead.
“I—”
“Let’s be friends for a while, Chloe. We can worry about what comes next later.”
“Nothing is going to come next.”
“You just keep telling yourself that.”
“I will. And now I’ve really got to go. Abel needs some attention.”
Chloe could hear Ben’s laughter as she hung up the phone and she couldn’t stop her answering smile. He was right. There was something between them. From the moment she’d met him she’d felt the connection, a living thing that seemed to be growing with every moment they spent together.
Friendship.
She liked the sound of that.
The silence of the night wrapped around her, the bright stars and crescent moon hanging over the dark lake, the distant mountains rising up to touch the sky. God’s creation. His design. Ready for His purpose. His will. Whatever that might be.
Maybe one day Chloe would know. For now, she could barely see the beauty for the shadows. She shuddered, stepping back into the apartment and closing the door against the darkness.
Abel tumbled near her feet as she sat down in front of her laptop and pulled up work files. Maybe she’d missed something in her previous searches. Maybe there was something there still waiting to be discovered.
She could only pray that if there was, she’d find it soon because no matter how confident Ben and Jake were, Chloe had a feeling that all her fears were about to come true and that the nightmare she’d been running from for months would soon overtake her.
Valley of Shadows and Stranger in the Shadows: Valley of ShadowsStranger in the Shadows Page 36