Love Inspired Suspense December 2013 Bundle: Christmas Cover-UpForce of NatureYuletide JeopardyWilderness Peril

by Lynette Eason

  “What do you mean?”

  She nodded to her room. “Why don’t y’all come in and we’ll talk a little before Jordan and I go see Mrs. Johnson.”

  The men followed her inside and planted themselves at the round table in the corner. “What kind of inside information?” Jordan demanded.

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. He knew what hotel I was staying in because he was watching for me to leave. He knew Cort was helping me and he had someone working with him to cut Cort off so he could get behind me. And they worked it at just the right moment so I wouldn’t know what happened. Sure, it was a gamble as to whether it would work or not, but they tried it. And almost won.”

  She paced in front of the table. “This guy doesn’t have any trouble finding me. He seems to know my every movement. He didn’t try to strike at me in the hospital either time—he catches me on the road or in my house, places with no cameras and a good chance for him to get away. And he threatened my parents anonymously.”

  “He doesn’t want to get caught,” Cort said.

  “Absolutely not.”

  Katie’s phone rang and she ignored her aches and pains as she moved to get it from her purse. “Hello?”

  “Hey, it’s Mariah. Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine.” She paused. “Well, I’m still alive, so I suppose that qualifies as okay.”

  “I’m sorry I haven’t been around. I’ve been working almost nonstop over the last few days and taking care of Grandma Jean in the interim.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s probably safer for you not to be around me right now.”

  Mariah blew a raspberry. “I’d help fight back, you know that.”

  Katie smiled. She appreciated her friend’s willingness to fight on her behalf. “Well, the lab is much safer. Speaking of…”

  “Right.” Mariah turned all business. “Your guy got a little careless. I just got my hit from IAFIS and we have a fingerprint from your Molotov cocktail bottle.”

  “Who does it belong to?” Her stomach tightened in anticipation of hearing the name of the person who wanted her dead.

  “He’s a parolee. His name is Norman Rhames.”

  “Norman Rhames!”

  “I take it you’ve heard of him?”

  “Yes. I have. He’s the guy who made that deposit into Lisa West’s bank account. Her husband is the one who killed the guy who broke into my house.”

  “Never a dull moment for you, is there?”

  “You’re funny. But no, never a dull moment.” She bit her lip. “Okay, this is an interesting twist.”

  “Well, I hope you find him. That’s my home, too, and I want this guy stopped.” Fury seeped through her words and Katie empathized.

  “Thanks for the information. I’ll pass it along to Gregory and let him work with it. I’m chasing another lead. Maybe one of us will come up with something.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “How’s Grandma Jean and her cold?”

  “She’s better and so far I haven’t gotten it.” Mariah paused. “Of course, I’ve only been there to sleep at night. I’ve hardly been around her. My poor mother is not faring so well, I’m afraid.”

  “Glad she’s better. And I’ll say a prayer for your mom.” Katie blew out a sigh. “I’ll let you know what happens with Mr. Rhames.”

  “Be careful, Katie.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She hung up and passed on the information to Jordan and Cort, then called Gregory and filled him in.

  “I’ll track him down ASAP,” Gregory said. “I’ll call you as soon as he’s in custody.”

  Katie said, “Please do. I have a few questions for him.” Like why someone who deposited five thousand dollars in the account of the wife of a felon was the same person who tried to kill her the other night.

  “I’m sure. Are you all right? Need a hand with anything?”

  “No, but I appreciate everything you’ve done so far.”

  Gregory snorted. “Haven’t done much.”

  “You’re not complaining about my absence, you’re helping me track down information and you’re picking up the slack on our cases. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that.”

  “You’d do the same for me.”

  “You know it.”

  “What’s on the agenda for today? You going to take it easy, or is that a dumb question?”

  “What do you think?”

  He laughed. “I figured.”

  “We’re going to talk to Mrs. Johnson at the nursing home. See if she remembers anything about a gray sedan being parked in the neighborhood.”

  “Be careful, Katie.”

  “You know it.” She hung up, grateful for a partner she trusted and one who supported her efforts in finding Lucy.

  Jordan stood. “Thanks for your help, Cort. Having you watching is the reason Katie is alive. If you hadn’t been behind her and called…” He shrugged.

  Cort shook hands with Jordan and gave a disgusted snort. “If I had been a little quicker with the steering wheel, I wouldn’t have lost her.”

  Jordan turned to Katie and said, “Do you feel up to visiting Mrs. Johnson now?”

  “I’m sore, of course, but yes, I’m up to it.”

  “Do you mind if I drive?”

  She gave a low chuckle. “Unless you want to hitchhike, that’s pretty much our only option right now.” She sighed. “I guess I need to put car shopping on my list of things to do.”

  “Are you getting a rental?”

  “It should be ready by the time we finish with Mrs. Johnson. Erica lined it all up for me.”

  “She’s a good friend.”

  “She is.”

  Cort stood and said, “Guess I’ll be going, unless you want me to follow and watch for a tail?”

  Jordan nodded. “That’d be great.”

  They filed back out of the room, and Katie joined Jordan in his car. She clicked on her seat belt. “Have your parents said anything more about us working together?”

  The abrupt question didn’t faze him. “No. And I haven’t exactly gone out of my way to talk to them since the confrontation in the restaurant. I was thinking about that earlier and I’ve decided I’m going to have to make some time to do that.”

  His low words had a tightness to them, and she almost regretted bringing the subject up, but she and Jordan were growing closer by the day. And if it wasn’t for his parents’ hatred of her, she’d encourage the relationship. As it was…

  “They don’t know the whole truth,” Jordan said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “That night you arrested Neil. They don’t know everything he was doing that night.” He cleared his throat. “I kept it from them.”

  Katie gaped. “Then I don’t know the whole story, either. I thought it was just a DUI. Are you telling me there’s more?” She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw no one behind them.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you mind sharing?”

  He sighed. “Apparently, Neil was a drug mule.”

  Katie gasped. “What?”

  “When they did the autopsy, they found bags of heroin in his stomach.”

  “Oh, no.”

  Jordan’s lips twisted. “He’d just gotten back from Mexico. From what I can figure out, you stopped him on his way from the airport to deliver the drugs.”

  “How did you find all this out?”

  He slanted a glance at her. “I have my sources.”

  “But I smelled alcohol on him. He registered twice the legal alcohol limit on the Breathalyzer.”

  “I know. I’m not saying he wasn’t drinking. In fact, he probably had a few on the plane, as he always hated flying. But there was more to it than that.”

  Katie blew out a breath. “Wow. And you never told your parents this?”

  “No.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Dad’s in his late fifties. But about two years ago, he had a mild heart attack.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry.” />
  “He seemed to bounce back from it pretty well, but my mother is a worrywart. She keeps telling me we need to spare him as much stress as possible.”

  “Is she right?”

  “I don’t know. The day of Neil’s funeral, he had another heart attack. This one more severe. So…” He shrugged. “I’m sure all the stress didn’t help.”

  “So you kept all of this information to yourself.”

  “Yes.”

  “So why tell him now?”

  “Like I said, I’ve been thinking. All of the anger and resentment and bitterness he’s harboring toward you surely can’t be good for him, either.”

  “True.”

  “I think what I’m going to have to do is tell my parents about Neil. It’s time.”

  “What if he has another attack?”

  He blew out a heavy sigh. “His last check up was good. No sign of any more damage. He’s going to have to face what Neil was into if he’s going to have any kind of peace. Right now he’s in such denial, he’s simply adding stress to his life—and his heart.”

  Jordan pulled into White Oak Manor’s parking lot. He shut off the engine and turned to face her. “This isn’t something I just came up with. I’ve been contemplating it for the last six months.”

  “I see.” She looked at her fingers. “And you’ve decided now is the time?”

  “I think so. I’ve been praying about it.”

  “And?”

  “I don’t know. God hasn’t said yes or no in a way that’s loud and clear.”

  “So why do it now?”

  “For reasons I’ve already stated, but I won’t deny part of it’s because I want to explore whatever is developing between us. And I can’t do that as long as my parents are planted firmly in the way.”

  Katie blinked. Shock zipped through her, followed by surprise and then…hope. “What do you think is developing?”

  Jordan moved in closer and placed a hand at the base of her neck. “This,” he whispered. And covered her lips with his. Warm honey moved through her veins, making her languid and giddy with the thought that she could kiss this man forever. She reached up and cupped his chin as he deepened the kiss, and she wanted to protest when he pulled away with a gentle smile. He gazed down at her. “That. And more.” He stroked her cheek. “I’ve never met anyone like you before, and I want to see if we have something special.” He tilted his head. “Correction. I think we do have something special, and I want the freedom to explore just how special it is.”

  She swallowed hard and let out a breath. “Wow.” He wasn’t holding anything back right now and his openness, his vulnerability stunned her.

  “Exactly.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay what?”

  “Talk to your parents if you think that’s what you need to do.” Then she frowned and tried to ignore the effects of his kiss. With just one kiss, he’d stirred up the longing for a relationship with him, the hope for a possible future together.

  She thought for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to say what was in her heart. Finally, she said, “I’ll be straight with you, Jordan. As much as I’d also like to see where this could go between us, I don’t know if I can do it if your parents hate me.” She bit her lip, then said, “In fact, I’m pretty sure I can’t.” She heard the anguish in her last two words and when he flinched, knew he’d heard it, too.

  *

  Jordan and Katie walked into the lobby of the assisted-living home and stopped at the front desk. Katie flashed her badge and asked for Mrs. Johnson’s room while Jordan stood by a window and watched the parking lot.

  “Who was here?” Katie asked.

  Jordan tuned in to the conversation.

  The lady behind the desk said, “I think it was her son. He came in and she seemed confused as to who he was. That happens a lot these days, poor dear. She is almost ninety, you know.”

  “Yes, I know, thanks. Do you think it would be possible for us to just speak to her briefly? I promise we won’t keep her long. It’s really urgent that I talk to her if she feels up to it.”

  The woman hesitated then said, “Let me check with her nurse. She was apparently pretty agitated when her son left.”

  Katie shifted beside him. “She’s going to say no.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I just have a feeling. Come on.”

  “Where are we going? We don’t have her room number.”

  “Sure we do. I can read upside down. She was documenting something in the chart and snapped it shut when I walked up, but not before I saw the name and a number I’m guessing is her room.”

  They made their way down the hall to Mrs. Johnson’s room. Jordan held the door for Katie, then slipped in behind her. The dark room held the odor that seemed to be indigenous to nursing homes and hospitals: antiseptic, bleach and air freshener.

  “Mrs. Johnson?” Katie’s soft voice brought his attention to the woman in the bed. A night-light burned in the corner. “Mrs. Johnson?”

  Jordan turned on a small lamp and the low-wattage bulb bathed the room in a soft glow.

  The woman on the bed stirred. Katie sat in the chair next to her and took her hand. “Hi, Mrs. Johnson. Do you remember me? Katie Randall?”

  Mrs. Johnson blinked owlishly, and Jordan picked up a pair of glasses and slipped them on her nose.

  “Oh, Katie,” Mrs. Johnson said, her voice paper thin and wispy. “Yes, of course I remember you. Will you help me sit up? I must have dozed off.” She clicked her teeth and sighed. “I seem to do that a lot lately.”

  Katie pressed the button, and soon Jordan heard the bed whirring as it lifted its occupant into a sitting position.

  “What are you doing in here?”

  Jordan spun to see the woman from the front desk. “We decided to come on back and visit.”

  “Why didn’t you wait on me? Her son asked that she not be disturbed.”

  “That man wasn’t my son.”

  The nurse hurried in. “Now, Mrs. Johnson, you know you sometimes get confused. Of course that was your son.”

  “Young lady, I do get confused, but I have never not known my own son. I don’t have dementia, and I don’t have Alzheimer’s, so I would appreciate you not trying to make it sound like I do. I’m old and occasionally forgetful, but that was not my son. Now, please go away and let me enjoy my visitors.”

  The long speech seemed to wind her, but Jordan saw a twinkle in Mrs. Johnson’s eyes. A twinkle that blasted hope through the room. The nurse blew out a breath of exasperation but turned and left the room without another word.

  Mrs. Johnson looked at Katie. “Did you ever find your sister?”

  *

  Katie blinked. So Mrs. Johnson did remember. Katie had almost decided fourteen years would be too much for the elderly woman. “Do you remember the day she was taken?”

  “Like it was yesterday.” She snorted and coughed. “Can’t remember what I had for breakfast, but I’ll never forget that day. If only I hadn’t asked you to help me carry in those groceries.” A tear leaked down her lined cheek. Katie grabbed a tissue and wiped it away.

  “It’s not your fault, Mrs. Johnson.”

  A trembling hand lifted to rub her nose. “Well, sometimes I feel like it was.”

  Jordan shifted. “We think the man who took Lucy was watching, just waiting for an opportunity. If it hadn’t been that day, it would have been another time.”

  That seemed to settle her. “He was watching?”

  Katie said, “We think so. Do you remember seeing a strange car parked on the street a couple of weeks before the day of the kidnapping?”

  “A strange car? No, I don’t think so.” She sniffed. “I remember wondering what that police car was doing out there day in and day out, but that’s the only car I remember thinking was strange.”

  “Police car?”

  “Uh-huh. Lucky it was so close that day, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, very lucky. Mrs. Johnson?” />
  “Hmm?”

  “Who was the man that came to see you, and why did they think he was your son?”

  “Guess he told them he was.”

  “What did he want?”

  Her eyes clouded and drooped. “To tell me to be quiet, but I’ll talk if I want.” Her words slurred, her eyes closed and a snore slipped out.

  Katie’s eyes met Jordan’s. “I think she’s done.”

  He tapped Mrs. Johnson’s shoulder. She snorted and her head lolled over to her left shoulder. Jordan sighed. “I think you’re right.”

  Katie stood and winced as her sore muscles protested. She ignored the pain and made a mental note to take some more ibuprofen. “Why hasn’t anyone else said anything about a police car being there?”

  They walked from the room together. Jordan shook his head. “There were so many police cars there that day most neighbors probably didn’t think anything about it.”

  “Maybe.”

  “And maybe the police car wasn’t really parked. Maybe it was just doing drive-bys, you know?”

  “That’s possible, I suppose, but she did say ‘parked there day in and day out.’”

  “You think it’s the same car Mrs. McKinney saw?”

  “I don’t suppose there’s any way to know. Mrs. McKinney didn’t identify it as a police car, though. Just a gray sedan. And the picture is too unclear to determine if the vehicle is actually an unmarked car.”

  “You think the man who came to see Mrs. Johnson was the man after me?”

  “I don’t see how. He wouldn’t know we were coming today.”

  “Right.”

  “It does seem strange to me, though, that she would get a visitor telling her to keep quiet.”

  “Did you tell anyone that we were coming here?”

  Katie thought about it. “Just Gregory.”

  “You don’t think that was him at the home, do you?”

  She frowned. “No way. He was tracking down Norman Rhames. And besides, why would he do that?”

  “I don’t know. It’s just weird. I think we should get the video footage and see who Mrs. Johnson’s visitor was.”

  Katie nodded. “Good idea.” She made the required calls and was promised a return call when she could go see the videos.

  Once outside the building, Jordan hovered, placing his arm around her shoulder and tucking her close to his side. While she relished the proximity, his touch set her bumps and bruises to screaming. She eased away from him and he shot her a look with a big question mark in his eyes. “Sorry, it hurts.”