Christmas Stalking

by Margaret Daley

  Ellie took a chair next to Colt while Sheriff Quinn and Winnie sat across from her. “Who have you fired recently?” she asked.

  “No one.” Her eyebrows scrunched together. “Well, I haven’t personally. Harold and the human resources department handle those kind of things. There are days I don’t even go into the office. I prefer working here. That’s why I have a fully stocked lab in the basement.”

  “So you can’t think of any disgruntled employees?” The sheriff blew on his coffee then took a sip. “Let’s say in the past year.”

  Her head down, Winnie massaged her fingertips into her forehead. “You need to get a list from Harold. There have only been a few people I know personally who have left the company in the past year or so.”

  “Who?” Sheriff Quinn withdrew a small pad along with a pen from his front shirt pocket.

  “About a year ago one of the chemists working with me. I wasn’t aware of this problem, but two different female employees in the lab accused him of sexual harassment. Glamour Sensations has always had a strict policy against it. Harold fired Dr. Ben Parker. He was difficult to work with but a brilliant chemist. When he came to me and complained, I supported Harold’s decision. Frankly, I told him I was disappointed in him and...” Winnie averted her head and stared at the blinds over the window near the table.

  “What else?” Colt slid his hand across the table and cupped his grandmother’s.

  “He said some ugly things to me, mostly directed at Harold and the company rather than at me. I will not repeat them.” Squaring her shoulders, she lifted her chin.

  The sheriff wrote down the man’s name on the pad. “Okay, Winnie. We have one we can check on. Anyone else?”

  “The only other who I had any contact with is the driver I used to have before my current one.” She paused for a long moment. “I guess I was directly responsible for his dismissal. He came to work one day drunk. I knew he’d been having marital troubles so I was willing to give him a second chance. We all need those, but Harold was adamant that we don’t. In the end I agreed with Harold.”

  “Harold was right. You can’t be driven around by a person who has been drinking. What’s his name?”

  “Jerry Olson.”

  “Any more?” The sheriff took another drink of his coffee.

  Winnie shook her head. “None. But there are a lot of departments I don’t have any interaction with.”

  “How about someone who’s been passed over for a raise or promotion?” Ellie cradled her mug between her cold hands. “This person doesn’t necessarily have to be gone from the company.”

  “Well...” Winnie patted her hair down, her mouth pursed. “We did have several candidates to be the spokesperson for Endless Youth. Christy actually wasn’t in the running. I’m the one who decided she would be perfect. She might not be considered beautiful by a model’s standard, but she conveyed what I wanted to communicate to the everyday woman. There were two young women before Christy who were in the final running for the position. Mary Ann Witlock and Lara

  Ulrich. I suppose neither one was happy when they weren’t picked. They don’t work for Glamour Sensations. Lara Ulrich lives in Denver, and Mary Ann Witlock lives in Bakersville. Several members of her family work for Glamour Sensations, but she works as a waitress at the restaurant not far from the company’s main office.”

  The sheriff jotted down the additional names. “If you think of anyone else, give me a call. I’ll be meeting with Harold and the police chief in Bakersville to see who they’re looking at.”

  “Have you all thought this could be simply a kidnapping of my dogs?” Winnie asked. “They are valuable. But even more so to me. Anyone who knows me knows that.”

  Ellie nodded. “True, but they’re even more valuable to you because you care for them so much. That could be the reason the person decided to steal them.” She downed the last swallow of her coffee and went to get the pot and bring it back to the table. “Anyone else want some more?”

  Colt held up his mug, as did the sheriff. Winnie shook her head.

  The sheriff closed his notepad. “After I look around, I’ll go back to the office and track down these people.”

  “How’s an omelet for breakfast?” Winnie left her nearly untouched drink and crossed to the refrigerator.

  “Wait until Linda comes to prepare breakfast.” Colt pulled the blind to let in the soft light of dawn. “When she sees all the cars out front, she’ll be here early.”

  “No, I need to keep busy. Besides, I don’t get to cook like I used to. Thomas loved my omelets. Now to remember how to make them.”

  “I’ll help.”

  Colt shifted his attention to Ellie. “You cook?”

  “Yes, some. I have to eat so I learned how.”

  One of his eyebrow arched. “A bodyguard who can cook. A woman of many talents.”

  “I’d love your help,” Winnie said. “Be useful, Colt, and take this cup of coffee to the deputy outside.”

  He passed Ellie as he left with a mug and whispered, “Watch her. She once almost set the kitchen on fire. That’s why Granddad insisted she hire Linda to cook.”

  “I heard that, young man. At least I don’t go outside barefoot in winter.”

  Ellie slanted a look toward Colt as he left. In the doorway he glanced back and locked gazes with her. Then he winked.

  Heat scored Ellie’s cheeks. She’d never been around a family like the Winfields. She would have loved having the caring and the give-and-take between her and her mother. What would it have been like to grow up in a loving family? She could only imagine.

  * * *

  Ellie watched the last workmen leave, the black iron gates at the end of the drive shutting closed after the truck passed through the entrance to the estate. The sun disappeared completely below the western mountains, throwing a few shadows across the landscape. She surveyed the nearly fortified property, her muscles still tense from all the activity that had occurred during the day.

  “What do you think?” Colt asked, coming up behind her.

  “I’d rather have been in the lab with Winnie than out here supervising.”

  “The sheriff put a deputy on the door to the lab. Your expertise was needed making sure everything went in correctly. Winnie needed her security system updated even without the threat to her.”

  “I agree. She thinks being isolated keeps her protected. On the contrary, that makes her more vulnerable.” She threw him a grin. “I just hate it when I need to be in two places at once. But you’re right. I needed to keep an eye on the workers and the job they were doing. After tomorrow I’ll breathe even easier.”

  “When they mount the cameras and put in the monitoring station?”

  “Yes. The only one up and running right now is at the front gate. I’m glad Winnie agreed to let us use that small room off the kitchen for the monitoring station. It’s a good location. Even at night we’ll be able to tell what is happening outside on the grounds.”

  “That would have been nice last night.” Colt lounged against the railing, his gaze fixed on her.

  The intensity in his look lured her nearer. It took all her willpower to stay where she was. “I’m hoping the electrified fence will keep people and large animals away. If someone tries to circumvent the power on the fence, the company monitoring it will notify the house. The jolt won’t kill, but it will discourage someone or something from touching it.”

  “Tomorrow the two guard dogs from the trainer in Denver will arrive, but with the fence up and running and the new security system for the house, we should be all right.”

  He hadn’t phrased it as a question, but his furrowed forehead indicated his lingering doubts. “No place can be one hundred percent safe, but this will be a vast improvement over yesterday. I wasn’t sure how much they would accomplish today, but it helpe
d that Winnie could afford to pay for a rush job.”

  “I got through to the Kaleidoscope and told them I have a family emergency. Just when you think you’re indispensable, you find out they’ll be all right without you. But then I figure you don’t feel that way too much in your job. I know Winnie needs you. Yesterday proved that.” He snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot. The sheriff called. He’s on his way from Bakersville to give us an update on the people they’re checking out.”

  “So he’ll be here about the time Harold arrives. He wants us to have photos of the people Winnie mentioned and some he thought of. He wants us to convince Winnie not to attend the lighting of the Christmas tree in Bakersville tomorrow night.”

  Colt straightened, his movement bringing him a step closer. “I’ll give it my best shot, but I don’t think Winnie will change her mind. Bakersville is honoring Granddad and her at the tree lighting for all the work they’ve done for the town. That’s important to her. Bakersville has been her home a long time since she married my granddad and came to live here.”

  “As important as her life?”

  “My grandmother can be a stubborn woman.”

  “Tell me about it. She didn’t want the deputy in the basement. She thought he could sit in the kitchen where he would be more comfortable. I told her that workers will have to come down there and that I can’t follow every worker around. The deputy stands at the door to her lab or inside with her.”

  “I know she balked at that. She doesn’t even like me in there. Anybody in the lab is a distraction, and she is determined to complete the project in time. She believes it’s tied to who is after her. She thinks it’s a competitor.”

  “That’s still a possibility. The P.I. is looking into that. Maybe Harold will have some information.”

  Colt nodded his head toward the gate. “That’s his car now and it looks like the sheriff is behind him.”

  “Nothing is assured until I check the monitor,” Ellie said as she hurried inside and to the small room off the kitchen.

  She examined the TV that showed the feed from the front gate. Harold waved at the camera. After clicking him through, she observed the Lexus as it passed the lower camera that gave a view of anyone in the vehicle. It appeared Harold was alone. Then she did the same thing with the sheriff.

  When she glanced up, Colt stood in the doorway, his arms straight at his side while his gaze took in the bank of TV monitors. “We need someone to be in here 24/7 until this is over with.”

  “I agree, and I’m hoping you’ll help me convince your grandmother of that in a few minutes.”

  “So you gathered the forces to help you?”

  “Yes. She may be upset with Harold for not telling her sooner, but she trusts him. And she respects the sheriff.”

  “You are sly, Miss St. James, and I’m glad you are. In a week’s time you have gotten to know Winnie well.”

  “I got a head start. On the plane ride here, I studied a file Harold provided me on her. From what he wrote, I could tell how much he cares about her. In army intelligence, I had to learn quick how to read people.”

  He closed the space between them. “That means you can’t be fooled?”

  “I’d be a fool to think that.”

  His chuckle resonated through the air. “Good answer. I like you, Ellie St. James.”

  The small room seemed to shrink as she looked at the dimple in his left cheek, the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes. She scrambled to form some kind of reply that would make sense. But as his soft gaze roamed over her features it left a tingling path where it touched as if he’d brushed his fingers over her face.

  The doorbell sounded, breaking the mood.

  “I’ll get Winnie,” he murmured in a husky voice.

  She stepped to the side and rushed past him to the foyer. Her heartbeat pounded against her rib cage, and her breath was shallow as she peered through the peephole then opened the door to Harold and the sheriff.

  “Colt’s gone to get his grandmother,” Ellie told them. “She wanted to be included in the update.”

  “How’s she holding up?” Harold asked as they made their way into the living room.

  “Fine, Harold.” Winnie answered before Ellie could. “Worried? Is that why you didn’t answer your private line today when I called?”

  With his cheeks flushed, the CFO of Glamour Sensations faced Winnie coming down the hall. “I’ve been busy working with the police chief, to make sure we have a thorough list of people who could possibly be angry with you.”

  The older woman’s usual warm blue eyes frosted. “I’ve always tried to treat people fairly. How many are we talking about?”

  “Including the ones you gave the sheriff, in the past two years, ten.”

  Her taut bearing drooped a little. “That many? I’ve never intentionally hurt someone.”

  “It might not be you per se but your company. Tomorrow I’m going to look back five years.”

  “Why so far back?” Winnie looked from Harold to the sheriff, her delicate eyebrows crunching together.

  “It’s probably no one that far back, but I’d rather cover all our bases. It’s better to be safe than—”

  Winnie held up her hand. “Don’t say it. It’s been a long day. It was nearly impossible to think clearly with all the racket going on earlier. This may throw me behind a day or so. Give me the facts, and then I need to go back to the lab to finish up what should have been completed two hours ago.” She came into the room as far as the wingback chair but remained standing behind it.

  “Winnie, the workmen will be gone by midafternoon tomorrow. They’re mounting cameras all over the estate and activating the monitoring system. The only one right now that works is the front gate.” Ellie took a seat, hoping her client would follow suit. The pale cast to Winnie’s face and her lackluster eyes worried Ellie.

  Sheriff Quinn cleared his throat. “We’ve narrowed the list down to the three most likely with two maybes.” He withdrew his pad. “The first one is Lara Ulrich. Although she lives in Denver, that’s only an hour away, and she has been spotted in Bakersville this past month, visiting her mother. I discovered she’s moving back home because she can’t get enough work to support herself in Denver. Jerry Olson is working when he can but mostly he’s living off his aunt, who is losing her patience with him. He’s been vocal about you not giving him that second chance you’re known for. The last is someone Harold brought to my attention. Steve Fairchild is back in town.”

  Winnie gasped.

  SIX

  Winnie leaned into the back of the chair, clutching it. “When?”

  “A few weeks ago,” Harold said, getting up and moving to Winnie.

  Ellie glanced at Colt. A tic in his jaw twitched. She slid her hand to his on the couch and he swung his attention to her as she mouthed, “Who is that?”

  He bent toward her and whispered, “She blamed him for causing Granddad’s death.”

  “Why is this the first time I’ve heard about him?”

  “Right after my grandfather died he left Bakersville to work overseas.”

  “Because I drove him out of town,” Winnie said in a raw voice, finally taking a seat. “I said some horrible things to the man in public that I regretted when I came to my right mind.” A sheen of tears shone in her eyes. “I wronged him and thought I would never have a chance to apologize. I must go see him.”

  “No.” Colt’s hand beneath Ellie’s on the couch fisted. “Not when someone is after you. Not when that someone could be him.”

  Winnie stiffened, gripping both arms of the chair. “Young man, I will do what I have to. I will not let this wrong go on any longer. I need to apologize—in public. My words and actions were what caused people to make his life so miserable he left town. Wasn’t it bad enough that Thomas had fired h
im that day he died?”

  “I need you to tell me what happened.” Ellie rose, her nerves jingling as if she felt they were close to an answer.

  “Steve Fairchild messed up a huge account for Glamour Sensations. Thomas lost a lot of sleep over what to do about him. That day he fired Steve, Thomas stayed late trying to repair the damage the man had done to the company. I blamed Steve Fairchild for my husband falling asleep behind the wheel. That was grief talking. I now realize Thomas made the choice to drive home when he could have stayed at his office and slept on the couch.”

  Harold pounded the arm of his chair and sat forward. “Winnie, the man was at fault. We took a hard knock when that client walked away from our company. It took us a year to get back what we lost. You only said what half the town felt, and then on top of everything, he dared to come to Thomas’s funeral. You were not in the wrong.”

  Winnie pressed her lips together. For a long moment silence filled the room. “This is the last I’m going to say on the subject. I owe the man an apology, and I intend to give it to him.” She swept her attention to the sheriff. “What about Mary Ann Witlock?”

  “I’m still looking for her. She’s not been seen for a week. She told her neighbor she was going to Texas to see a boyfriend. That’s all I’ve been able to find out so far.”

  “And you don’t think Dr. Ben Parker is a threat?”

  “No, he’s in a nursing home in Denver.”

  “He is? Why?”

  “He had a severe stroke. He can’t walk and has trouble talking.”

  “Oh, dear. I need to add him to my prayer list.”

  “He wouldn’t leave the young women in his lab alone,” Harold muttered, scowling.

  Winnie tilted up her chin. “That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t pray for him. You and I have never seen eye to eye on praying for people regardless.”

  Listening to the older woman gave Ellie something to think about. She was a Christian, but was her faith strong? Could she forgive her mother for her neglect or the bullies that made her brother’s life miserable? She didn’t know if she had that in her, especially when she remembered Toby coming home crying with a bloodied face.