Reasonable Doubt

by Tracey V. Bateman

  “Well, you take care out there in those woods.”

  “Thanks. I will.”

  “You going over to the café before you head up there?”

  “Yeah.” Though her stomach rumbled, Keri found it difficult to muster much enthusiasm for the greasy breakfast her future stepmother was undoubtedly preparing at the moment. Just like every other morning.

  Maybe she wouldn’t go after all. Maybe she’d just grab a donut at the Quick Shop on her way out of town. She wanted change, didn’t she? She’d start with breakfast. Then, who knew what else? Maybe she’d dye her hair black and get some fake nails. Nah.

  Still, a change of pace sounded great. A change of pace that included, for instance, a promotion and a nice fat raise in pay. Then maybe next year she could afford a trip to Maui for her two-week vacation. She smiled at the thought.

  “What are you smiling about? I know it can’t be the thought of your stepmother’s eggs.”

  The chief’s words brought Keri back from her daydream. “Ruth’s not my stepmother yet. And if Dad doesn’t stop stalling, she’s likely to get fed up with waiting and head back to Texas.”

  He actually snorted. “I doubt that.”

  “You never know. Some women don’t wait around forever.” Like I have.

  Keri pushed back the melancholy threatening to settle over her once again. She patted the chief’s meaty shoulder and headed for the door. “You have everything you need. Abe’s capable of holding down the fort. Just remind him to check the radio every now and then to make sure it’s switched on.” The three-hundred-pound part-timer was notorious for knocking against the switch and shutting off the radio.

  The chief chuckled. “Will do.”

  Keri stepped into the frigid mid-November morning. The brisk air smelled clean, fresh. She gathered in as much as her lungs would hold, then released the breath with a smile, suddenly wide-awake. She glanced at the sky. Pregnant clouds promised the first snowfall of the year, a little earlier than normal, but not a record by any means. Forecasters called for up to eight inches before evening. From the looks of it, old Tom, the weather guy, might have hit the bull’s-eye this time.

  Wrapping her arms about herself to stop the shivering, she headed toward the café before remembering her decision to eat a donut. She heaved a sigh. She was definitely in a rut.

  Barely noticing the familiar insurance building, the thrift store, the General Dollar, she continued toward Ruth’s Café.

  Her mind whirled, her heart a tumult of emotions as her thoughts returned to Justin. If she were to be perfectly honest with herself, she wasn’t sure what ticked her off more, the possibility of him murdering his wife, or the fact that he’d married someone else in the first place.

  His see-into-her-soul eyes invaded her mind, and Keri could almost feel the featherlight touch of his lips on hers—the sweetest of memories.

  Even after fifteen years, she felt as though she were betraying him for even considering the possibility that he might be guilty. Love, as strong as ever, combined with aching heartbreak at the thought that Justin was somewhere in trouble, and she couldn’t help him. Worse still was the nagging worry that he might have actually committed the murder.

  As much as her heart rejected the thought, the realist in her had to admit that anyone was capable of changing for the worse. The drunk driver who’d killed her mother was proof of that. If a man could fall off the wagon after years of sobriety and slam his car into an innocent mother of three, a clean-cut teenager could grow up to be a killer.

  She’d been following Justin’s case through the papers and regular reports from Raven. Raven was sure he’d be declared innocent any moment, but Keri had to wonder. After all these months, an innocent man surely would have been cleared by now.

  “Hey, Keri, honey, where you going?”

  Keri stopped short and turned at the soft Texas drawl. Her dad’s fiancée, Ruth, stood in the café door looking at Keri as though she’d lost her mind. Heat rose to Keri’s cheeks. “Sorry,” she said, retracing her steps. “I was just spacing, I guess.”

  “Just wait until you’re my age, you’ll be lucky to find your shoes. Get yourself in here and eat your breakfast.”

  Meekly, Keri followed, but her mind drifted back to Justin. Had he been charged with the crime?

  Please, God. Take care of him and see him through this trouble he’s somehow gotten himself into.

  Despite the treacherous driving conditions, Justin couldn’t help the excitement he felt as each mile brought him closer to the cabin. He hadn’t seen the Mahoney cabin since his parents’ death fifteen years earlier. Despite Aunt Toni’s promise that she’d take him back there for vacations, she’d promptly forbidden any contact with his past. Said it made him mopey thinking about his old home and that made for bad karma. By the time she was out of her karma phase, Justin had moved on with a new circle of friends.

  It hadn’t taken Justin long to figure out that Aunt Toni never took vacations. She worked sixteen hours a day every day except for weekends when she shacked up with her most recent boyfriend and left Justin with cash for pizza and movie rentals. By the time he’d graduated high school and moved on to college, Justin hadn’t even wanted to go back to Briarwood.

  That wasn’t true exactly.

  He didn’t have the guts to face Keri Mahoney after all the promises they’d made each other. He pictured her exactly the way he’d left her. Fresh, wholesome, eyes wide with wonder and hope. Pure.

  His back wheels slid and Justin brought his attention back to the highway, which was quickly becoming snow-and ice-covered.

  The curvy, hilly highway became treacherous with nearly zero visibility by the time he found the country road leading to the cabin. He breathed a sigh of relief when the landscape began to look vaguely familiar. Just a few miles into the woods, and they’d be safely tucked away from it all.

  Chapter Three

  Plump flakes of fairy-tale snow gave way to a wintry mix, and ice pellets bounced off the hood of the Jeep. Keri held her breath and prayed. With extra caution, she maneuvered the vehicle onto Highway 13, wishing she hadn’t taken the time to go home and change out of her uniform.

  Snow-frosted trees lined the winding road with breathtaking beauty. She loved the picturesque view from this road during any season, but the winter scene was her favorite. How could something so beautiful be so potentially fatal?

  She tried to keep her thoughts focused on the frozen pavement, but her mind drifted toward Justin as it often did. Rarely did a day go by without memories of her childhood friend invading her consciousness and even her dreams.

  Now, she imagined him once again sitting beside her, next to the lake, tossing sticks into the water. The promises, the kiss, the declarations of unending love.

  Keri fought her way back from the bittersweet memory that was worlds away from the reality of a treacherous road. With the wipers barely making a difference, she was forced to roll down the window and stick her head out to see the turnoff. Ice pelted her face and stung her eyes. She eased the Jeep onto the gravelly path. Krahoney Road. Despite her precarious situation, a smile tipped her lips. She and Justin had dubbed it that—a combination of their two last names. Keri sobered and focused her attention back to driving a straight course as her back wheels slid to the right. Gasping a prayer, she eased into the slide just in time to avoid the three-foot ditch.

  When she was only a couple of miles from the cabin, she noticed faint red lights flashing ahead. She squinted, trying to make out the source of the glow. Recognizing the flashings as hazard lights, she prepared to stop.

  Anxiety burst through her veins, sending a warning of caution to her brain. Who in their right mind would be out in this weather and on Krahoney Road in the first place? As far as she knew, no one had been out here since this summer when Dad had commissioned all the remodeling for the cabin.

  She eased the Jeep to a stop and started to open the door. Then, just to be safe, she grabbed her gun from the glov
e box and stuffed it in her belt, behind her back. Cop or not, a woman alone on a deserted road was still at a disadvantage to a man who might be up to no good. Leaving the door open and the Jeep running, she walked carefully toward the car. A man was attempting to meet her halfway, walking slowly, his feet unsteady beneath him.

  “Thank God you happened by,” he said. Though he wore a heavy coat and a hat, his teeth were already chattering.

  Keri took another step and, as she did, lost her footing. She struggled to stay upright, but felt herself falling despite her best efforts. The stranger grabbed on to her, the momentum slamming them both onto the road. Her mind fought to process the rapidly changing events as she caught a good look at his full face. She gasped.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, sitting up.

  If she hadn’t already been on the ground, Keri knew her legs wouldn’t have held her up, anyway. Her stomach turned over unpleasantly.

  Justin.

  Even with a five o’clock shadow, his face was unmistakable. The good-looking teenager she’d loved so long ago had turned into a gorgeous man.

  He attempted to stand and crashed back to the ground. “Cowboy boots!” He gave a disgusted grunt.

  She wanted to throw herself into his arms, tell him how wonderful it was to see him again, demand an explanation why he had never come back for her. But reason and maturity prevailed. What if he was running from the law? Had he been charged?

  Knowing she had to be on her feet first if she was going to gain the upper hand, Keri crawled to her knees and inched to a standing position. She reached behind her and pulled out her pistol. “Hold it,” she commanded in her best I’m-a-cop tone of voice. “Turn around and put your hands behind your head.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “Make one wrong move and you’ll find out how serious I am,” she dared, her heart sliding into her throat. What would she do if he turned violent? If he gained the upper hand out here in the middle of nowhere in blizzard-like conditions.

  “Okay, just take it easy. My wallet is in my back pocket. You can have the money. Just…don’t get nervous with your trigger finger.”

  Keri blinked. He thought she was the criminal here? “No. I’m…” What was she doing? As far as she knew, he hadn’t yet been charged. Still…why would he be up here in the winter unless he was running from something? “I’m a cop,” she blurted.

  He glanced over his shoulder. “You can’t arrest me. Last I heard there’s no law against sliding off the road.”

  “I—I know who you are—and about your wife.”

  Dropping his hands to his side, he turned with a scowl.

  Keri adjusted her position, praying that she wouldn’t lose her footing.

  “I don’t know what you saw on the news, lady, but I’m bringing my boys for a vacation.”

  “Up here? In the winter? That seems a little suspicious to me.”

  “Look, I don’t really care what looks suspicious to you. I’m not running away. I’m free to go wherever I want.”

  “Oh, yeah? Well, until I have a little chat with my chief and verify that, I’m going to have to detain you.”

  “How do you plan to do that?”

  Was that a challenge? She sent him her fiercest frown. “Any way I have to, tough guy.”

  He smirked at her bravado. “I meant, how do you plan to get back to town in this ice? You know, for that ‘little chat with the chief’?”

  Her cheeks warmed, but she refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d rattled her. Instead, she tossed him a glare icier than the pellets stinging her eyelids. “I’m driving a Jeep, if you hadn’t noticed. As in four-wheel drive.”

  He gained his footing and faced her, all traces of amusement gone, his voice steely. “Jeep or no, you’re not taking my boys out on the highway in that ice.”

  “Boys?”

  “Yes, my sons. They’re in the car.”

  Keri followed his gaze and saw two identical faces pressed against the window. “You have sons,” she said staring back at him.

  “Yes, I do. I happen to know there’s a cabin down this road where we can go to get my boys out of this weather.”

  “Nice to know your memory works fine when you’re in trouble,” she muttered.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Get your boys and hop in the Jeep. We’ll go to the cabin for the night. And just for your information, I meant I’ll have to use the radio and call my chief to see if there’s been a warrant issued for your arrest.”

  He sat back down on the road.

  “What are you doing?” Had Justin somehow lost his mind? Was that why he’d never come back? Was this why he’d killed his wife? He was a raving lunatic? Or was he just organizing a one-man sit-in on an icy road in the middle of nowhere, protesting the injustice of getting caught?

  Without answering her, he pulled off his boots, stood, and shoved them at her. “I’ll have to carry the boys one at a time. I don’t want to take a chance on falling and hurting one of them. Hang on to these for me, will you?”

  Keri’s heart pounded against her ribs as she took the boots and backed up toward the Jeep, tucking her gun in her belt behind her back. Once inside the Jeep, she reached over and unlocked the passenger-side doors—front and back.

  In moments, Justin opened the back door and deposited a boy onto the seat. “Scoot over so I can get Billy in,” Justin said.

  The boy complied. Keri turned in her seat so she could look at him. “What’s your name?”

  “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

  Her heart lifted with amusement. “Yeah. You’d think a cop would know that, huh?”

  “You’re a cop?”

  “Yeah.”

  He sneered. “I don’t much like cops.”

  “All cops or just certain ones?”

  A shrug lifted his shoulders through his gray, down-filled jacket. “I don’t know. All of them, I guess.”

  “Most people like me once they get to know me.” She sent her best grin to the back of the Jeep. “How about giving me a chance? Looks like we’re going to be holed up together for a day or two.”

  “We will?”

  “Yeah. The roads are pretty slick. Your dad thinks we better hang out at my cabin until it’s safe to drive.”

  “Okay.” His eyes lit with a glimmer of interest, belying his nonchalant response.

  Keri grinned. “So, think we know each other well enough to exchange names?”

  “I guess so.” He extended his hand. “Josh Kramer.”

  A lump formed in her throat as she grasped the chubby mittened hand. “Nice to meet you, Josh.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Keri.”

  “Keri what?”

  From the corner of her eye, Keri saw Justin return to the Jeep. At his sharp intake of breath, she knew he’d heard her identify herself. He gently set the second twin in the seat.

  His gaze captured hers, accusing her.

  Indignation flamed through her like a ball of fire. He, of all people, had the audacity to pretend she had betrayed him?

  “Keri Mahoney?”

  “Yes,” she said. What else was there to say? Especially in the presence of his sons, whose eyes were wide with curiosity.

  “So you’re a cop now?”

  “That’s right. You want to get inside before we freeze?” Her voice remained surprisingly calm, despite the nervous energy pricking her gut like a million needles. “This ice isn’t letting up.”

  “Hang on. I have some groceries in the car.” He returned with two bags, deposited them into the back with the boys, then climbed into the front seat. His nearness caused Keri’s pulse to race. She passed him his boots. “Better put these back on. You’ll be lucky if you don’t have frostbite.”

  “Frostbite is the least of my worries right now.” His teeth chattered, and he shivered as he slipped the boots back on.

  “Hang on a sec.” She switched off the ignition and opene
d the door.

  “What are you doing?”

  “You’ll see. I’ll be right back.” Grabbing the keys—just to be on the safe side—Keri hurried to the back of the Jeep, lifted the hatch and pulled out a thick wool blanket…part of the “emergency pack” Dad insisted she keep with her at all times. Now she was glad for his tendency to meddle.

  Sliding back under the wheel, she tossed Justin the blanket. “Here. This should help until we get you inside.”

  “That was thoughtful,” he said softly. “Thank you.” He unfolded the blanket and brought it up to his neck. And still he shivered. “A warm fire is going to feel great.”

  “Dad’s already at the cabin. I imagine he’s got a fire going and a big pot of chili on the stove for tonight’s supper. Sound good to you boys?”

  “Yeah!” Billy enthused.

  “I hate chili.” Josh groused.

  “Don’t be impolite, Josh,” Justin admonished.

  Billy cast his brother a look of disgust. “Besides, you do so like chili.”

  The Jeep crawled forward. Tension blanketed the air between Keri and Justin. Unanswered questions, unresolved feelings. Neither spoke until at last Keri parked the vehicle in front of the cabin.

  “It looks exactly the same.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell Dad. He spent all summer and way more of his retirement fund than necessary getting it fixed up. This is our first vacation up here since…In a long time.”

  “Really?” He turned to look at her. “I’ve always pictured you here every summer. Like when we were kids.”

  “You’ve thought of me?” As soon as the words flew out of her mouth, Keri wished she could snatch them back. She cringed. It wouldn’t do to show him she still cared. Not only was it pathetic, given the fact that he’d obviously moved on without her, but they might very well be on opposite sides of the law right now, and no matter how “cowboyish” that sounded, it was the simple truth.

  “Are we going in?” The irritation in Josh’s voice jarred her to action.

  “Of course.”