Fear
By: Adrianne Lemke
Edited by: Terri King
Copyright © June 2015 Adrianne Lemke
All rights reserved.
Also by Adrianne Lemke:
Earthshaker Series:
Tracker
Kindred
Hunter
ONE
Ryan Parker sat in the barstool, shoulders hunched in exhaustion. Despite his apparent lack of attention, Ryan’s eyes roved constantly, taking in everything around him. He kept his hands wrapped around his untouched beer and waited for his uncle to finish tending bar so he could get a ride home.
It was a bad day; to put it mildly. On this day, fourteen years ago his parents had both died. They were murdered in a bloody scene that left the then seven-year-old Ryan alone. The last thing Ryan wanted today was to be at his uncle’s bar, but after visiting his parent’s graves Frank had insisted his nephew needed to get out of his apartment and be around normal activity for a while.
Every year at this time Ryan became moody and reclusive, and it broke Frank’s heart to see it. He watched Ryan surreptitiously and sighed when he noticed how tense the kid was. He’d hoped to avoid Ryan’s normal behavior on the anniversary by bringing him out of his solitude, but Ryan seemed miserable.
When his brother and sister-in-law were killed, Frank had not been prepared to take in the depressed and traumatized child. He’d relied heavily on advice and assistance from his friends. Especially useful was his friend Mary Hendrix. She had a daughter around Ryan’s age, and her advice was invaluable. They tried multiple times to have Ryan and Kerry meet but Ryan hid in his room every time she came over and refused to come out.
As if suddenly becoming a parent wasn’t enough stress, Frank also soon discovered that someone was after his young nephew. He never figured out why though. Ryan had been nowhere near the scene of the murder; he had spent the night at a friend’s house, returning the next morning to find his parents’ lifeless bodies in a pool of blood. Letting the kid out of his sight became the hardest thing he had to do, especially after someone tried to kidnap him as he walked to school one morning.
Pulling himself from his memories, Frank finished pouring a customer’s drink and moved to stand in front of Ryan. “Hey, kid.”
“Hey, Uncle Frank,” Ryan answered softly. “You about done?”
Frank nodded. “Kerry should be here soon, but with the weather she may be a bit late. You sure you don’t want to stay here and keep her company?” he asked slyly, suspecting his nephew liked the newly hired bartender. Kerry Hendrix, the daughter of his old friend, had recently moved back into the area to be closer to her mother. Hiring her was both a favor for Mary and a huge help for his bar. He found himself disappointed when Ryan shook his head.
“Honestly, Frank, I just want to be alone tonight.”
Smiling sadly, Frank patted the younger man on the shoulder. “I understand.”
It was nearly half an hour later when Kerry finally rushed in. “Sorry, Frank! The roads are awful. I’ll be ready to take over in a minute!” She spoke quickly as she sped to the back room to drop off her coat and punch in.
Frank took Ryan’s untouched beer away and got no outward response from the young man.
“What’s wrong with Ryan?” Kerry asked quietly, observing the defeated form slouched at the bar.
Stealing another look at his nephew, Frank sighed. “He’s having a bad day,” he answered gruffly.
Kerry smiled sympathetically, but had to turn away when a customer called out for a drink.
***
Entering the empty apartment was a relief. Ryan understood where his uncle was coming from, and that by bringing him to the bar the older man was only trying to help, but all he wanted was to be alone with his memories.
A cold wet nose nudged his hand, and he smiled slightly. “Well, alone except you, huh, buddy?” he said as he patted the big German shepherd. Walking Hunter always helped clear his head, so Ryan grabbed the dog’s leash.
Checking to make sure he had his keys, Ryan clipped the leash to the dog’s collar and headed down the steps. As they walked, Ryan’s mind wandered to earlier in the day when he and Frank had visited his parent’s grave. There had been a bouquet of red roses leaned against the site—the same as there had been every year since they were killed. He had no proof, but Ryan suspected the flowers were left by whoever was behind his parents’ death.
Hunter suddenly stiffened and whined, calling Ryan’s attention to the shadowed area between two houses. A dark shape moved, and he felt the nylon leash digging into his hand as he tightened his grip nervously. Sure, he could handle himself, but this part of town could get dicey. “Still,” he muttered to Hunter. The dog’s whining stopped, but his ears were aimed at the potential threat and his tail was stiff.
Turning his back on an unknown threat was not something Ryan wanted to do, but he trusted the dog to warn him if someone tried to sneak up on him.
“Hey, Parker!” An unwelcome voice called him from behind. Every muscle tensed and Ryan gripped Hunter’s leash fearfully. Theo Draven was the last person Ryan wanted to see.
“What do you want, Draven?” he asked coldly, trying to hide his fear.
The figure Ryan noticed between the houses emerged and he found himself suddenly surrounded on three sides when another man came toward him from across the street. “You put my brother in the hospital,” Theo growled.
Despite trying to hide his discomfort, Ryan felt his lip quirk briefly. Theo’s brother, known on the street as Little Timmy, had nearly killed him almost a year ago. “He put me there first. And technically I didn’t do anything,” Ryan argued.
Hunter let out a fierce snarl, apparently not liking the scent or body language of the men surrounding his master. “It was your mutt that did it,” Theo said as he took a step forward, but lurched back again when Hunter lunged at him.
Ryan held the leash, not wanting his pet to get too close to the probably armed thugs. Make that definitely armed he amended when he noticed the flash of a knife. “Ask around Theo, I spent almost the same amount of time in the hospital as your brother. Shouldn’t we be considered even?”
Not even close; Timmy had ambushed Ryan, very much like how Theo was now. At the time, Ryan had Hunter off leash at a dog park. “Timmy’s a big boy, Theo,” Ryan tried again to talk his way out of trouble, one hand in his pocket attempting to call for help. “You should let him fight his own battles. Assuming he wants to try again.”
The gangster’s jaw clenched, anger radiating through every pore. In his world, reputation was everything. If he fought for his little brother, then Timmy would appear weak. Now the only thing he had to do was back off in such a way that wouldn’t make him seem like a pansy in front of the other members of his gang. Parker was obviously ready to attack, and the man’s dog was just itching to rip them to shreds. Theo hid a shudder at what the dog’s sharp teeth would do to him if he tried to follow through on attacking Parker.
“This isn’t over, Parker!” he snapped with bravado.
“You try again and it will be assaulting a police officer, Draven. Next time I see you, I will find something to arrest you for; you have my word,” Ryan warned coldly.
The soon-to-be cop’s ice blue eyes bore into Theo’s and the gangster could see no fear in them. Ryan walked forward, apparently done with the conversation. The huge dog trotted at his master’s side obediently, and Theo found himself giving ground to the two; his two lackeys he waved off with a frown.
***
Ryan forced himself to walk naturally, but with each step he worried the gang members would either keep following him or just shoot him in the back. The only weapon he’d seen was a knife, but he knew the gang used guns too.
After a couple blocks
he pulled his cell out of his pocket, surprised to find the number he’d dialed was his uncle’s bar. And the call was still connected. “Hello?”
“Thank God!” a female voice exclaimed. “Are you okay? Where are you? I can send your uncle, or the police. What happened?”
Ryan huffed out a laugh. “Kerry, take a breath. I’m fine. Just ran into a few… old friends, I guess.”
“Didn’t sound overly friendly on my end,” she countered.
He could almost hear the frown in the woman’s voice, so he sighed. “Yeah, okay. Theo’s brother tried to kill me once, but Hunter got to him before he could finish the job. Now, apparently, he wants to finish what his brother started. I’m fine… really. I’m heading back to my apartment now.”
“Quick question, Ryan,” Kerry spoke hesitantly.
“Yeah?”
“Why’d you call the bar? Why not dial 911?”
“I had the phone in my pocket. I tried dialing the emergency number, but must have hit speed dial number nine instead.
“Hey, I need a hand free to get back into my apartment, so I’m going to let you go for now. Thanks for hanging on the line with me, Kerry.”
“You’ll tell your uncle about this at least, won’t you?”
“Yeah; I’ll tell him what happened. Get back to work and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Until Ryan started at the Police Academy the following week, he worked as a bouncer in his uncle’s bar.
“Sure,” she answered softly. “Have a good night, Ryan.”
TWO
Loud beeping interrupted the quiet morning. Ryan sighed, slapping the offending clock; he’d gotten little sleep. By the time the alarm went off, he had given up on sleep and had simply been watching the steadily falling snow since about two in the morning.
Before he finished getting dressed, Hunter was bouncing by the door, waiting impatiently for his walk. The big dog whined around the leash he carried in his mouth, making Ryan laugh. “Ready to go, buddy?” he inquired with an amused smirk on his lips.
He didn’t have a lot of time to walk the big dog, but a quick walk wasn’t happening. Hunter loved the snow, and bounced around in the piles along the sides of freshly shoveled sidewalks. Ryan waved to a few people who were out scraping their car windows or shoveling the snow, thankful his building had a maintenance crew to take care of the snow cleanup. Needing to get to his day job at Janie’s Diner, Ryan urged Hunter back into the apartment.
Ryan left Hunter eating his breakfast, and rushed out to his car. By the time he had his windows cleared, he knew he was running late. Taking a quick mental inventory to make sure he’d gotten everything done, he turned the key. The car started right away, for which Ryan was thankful since it had the habit of dying when the weather turned cold. He drove an old blue Pontiac, and it did not like winter driving. Eventually I’m going to have to get something better equipped for winter. Maybe something with four-wheel drive.
The tires spun on the slush in the parking lot, but they got a grip and Ryan was able to pull out of his parking space. Despite his desire to forget about what happened the day before, Ryan couldn’t stop thinking about the flowers on his mother’s grave. Were they from the same person who’d been tormenting him since his parents were killed? If so, how could someone leave such a loving gift at the grave, and still be the cause of so much anxiety and fear?
His phone rang, and he used his Bluetooth connector to answer. “Hey, Ry.” Aaron’s voice sounded gloomy, and Ryan immediately frowned, wondering what happened to make his normally happy friend sound so upset.
“What’s goin’ on?” he asked. “Everything okay?”
Aaron huffed out what might have been an attempt at a laugh. “Not really. My mom’s sick. The doctor’s say she doesn’t have much time left, and her family should come as soon as we can.”
Ryan’s heart sank. Aaron’s mom had always been kind to him, and almost went overboard in her mothering whenever he was at their house. He figured it must have been her way of coping with his parent’s death. “Anything I can do?”
“Not really, but I can’t take Hunter for you while you’re gone… at least not for the whole time.”
Closing his eyes for a moment, Ryan spoke with his most reassuring voice, “I’ll figure out somewhere else for him to go. Don’t worry about a thing. Go see your mom, and tell her I’m thinking about her.”
“Thanks, Ryan. I’ll see you when you get back then, okay?”
Finishing up the call, Ryan drove slowly to his normal parking space at the diner. Finding a person to watch a huge dog for three months was not easy— doing it last minute was even worse—but he decided to add that problem to the list of things he would have to worry about later.
“Ryan…”
“I know I’m late, Janie, sorry!” he interrupted, rushing to the back room to drop off his coat.
The older woman tutted softly. “You know I’m not worried about that when the roads like this,” she informed him, waving her arm to indicate the snow-covered roads outside.
Taking a breath as he tied on his apron, Ryan smiled. “Sorry. What were you saying then?”
Her tone immediately grew more serious. “I heard from him again last night.”
Ryan stiffened, not wanting to know any more. He never received calls from the stalker on the anniversary of his parent’s death, but for some reason Janie did.
Janie’s hand hovered over Ryan’s shoulder for a moment before finally allowing contact. “He has never threatened me, but every year he seems more likely to come for you.”
“Again, you mean,” Ryan bit out angrily. His stalker had attempted to abduct him as a child, and had been pretty close to succeeding a couple times.
Ryan figured the man should scare him more, but he had gotten so used to the notes and calls that they no longer frightened him. He viewed them more as a slight frustration in his life than anything, and strove to ignore them as often as possible so he could just live his life. At least until he had the resources available to allow him to hunt down his stalker.
As soon as he could pull it off, Ryan planned to dig deep into his parent’s lives to figure out who might have wanted them dead.
Janie watched Ryan’s eyes darken and the muscle in his jaw clench. She interrupted his negative thoughts and spoke brightly. “Anyway, no harm done; you have only a few more days here before you head off to make this city a better place to live.”
Ryan’s lips twitched before allowing them to fall into a frown again. “My dad never wanted me to be a cop. I don’t remember much about him, but I know he never wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He wanted better for me.”
“Stop that right now!” Janie exclaimed. “Your father would be proud of you no matter what career you choose. And I know you will be the best officer on the force, so don’t ever think...”
Ryan smiled brightly, grabbing Janie in a big hug. “Thanks, Janie.”
The older woman smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and walked back into the kitchen to prepare for the breakfast rush. Ryan’s smile faded. It didn’t matter what his father had wanted for him or if the man would approve of Ryan’s choice.
All that mattered to Ryan was figuring out who killed his parents, and putting him behind bars.
***
Somehow even the most trivial day-to-day activities seemed fascinating while watching Ryan. Watching the boy serving food at the old lady’s diner, he was struck again by the unfortunate resemblance the kid had to his father.
A sneer crossed his face when he thought about Curtis Parker. It always seemed that Curtis had everything handed to him on a silver platter. He got the best cases; ones that gained him recognition and led to promotions and prestige. And his successes didn’t end with work. The infuriating man had also managed to win the woman of his dreams, and then had a son he could be proud of.
Having everything wasn’t enough to protect Curtis when he came calling one night. He had never meant to hurt Elizabeth, but she tried to stop him from
killing her husband. And, because she knew who he was, she could not be allowed to survive.
His sneer softened as he watched his boy chatting with a customer, never knowing he was nearby. Always watching. Always looking for an opening. The boy would be his greatest creation.
THREE
Kerry stretched lazily as she woke. She had closed at the bar the night before, but even as tired as she was it had taken her a long time to fall asleep. The strange phone call from Ryan played in her head, and she hoped nothing further had happened after he hung up. She doubted Ryan’s sincerity when he told her he would tell Frank what happened, and wondered if she should have called up to the man’s apartment once she was off the phone.
With a heavy sigh, she decided that it wasn’t her place to get involved. The only reason she even knew anything was because she happened to be the one on shift when he’d called. Ryan had been brave. In a situation where she would have been shaking like a leaf, his voice had been strong and confident.
Yawning, Kerry reflected that it was a good thing her mom lived only a couple blocks from the bar. Getting back to her old farmhouse would have been difficult with the snow covered roads, and her being as worried as she was about Ryan; even before he’d called, he wasn’t far from her mind.
She glanced at the clock on the bedside table and saw that it was already nine thirty. I really should get back home, she thought ruefully. Her mom would be disappointed at the short visit, but her cat needed to be taken care of. She also needed clean clothes for work that night.
As if on cue, her mom knocked on the door. “Honey? Are you awake?” she called softly through the door.
“Yeah, Mom,” she answered through another yawn. “You can come in.”
The middle-aged woman pushed open the door and came in to sit on the edge of Kerry’s bed. “Would you like to go to breakfast? I’m in the mood for some of Janie’s blueberry pancakes.”
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