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

by Lynette Eason

  He’d brought her home yesterday and had barely seen her settled before he rushed off to his office. But she really couldn’t blame him. For the past few days he’d been at the hospital a good deal of the time, and his work had probably piled up while he’d been away.

  She stood, walked to the window and pulled back the curtain. The snow that had fallen while she was in the hospital had melted, but the weather prediction called for more accumulation before Christmas, which was only a week and a half away.

  The sound of someone entering the room caught her attention, and she turned to see Alex coming toward her. Tired lines creased his face, and his eyes looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. She frowned. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “Nancy let me in.”

  She took a step toward him. “You look tired. Are you all right?”

  A small smile pulled at his lips, and he nodded. “It’s been a hard day at work. My partner Seth and I have been working on a case with a retired police officer for a while now, and it seems to be going nowhere. Besides I haven’t slept much the past few nights.”

  “Why not?”

  “For one thing I’ve been trying to figure out where we go with the Mitchell case now, and the other problem is my father.”

  Grace’s eyebrows knit. “What’s wrong with your father?”

  He looked down at his feet, and she recognized the mannerism he’d had ever since they were children. She knew he would take a breath, look up in a few seconds and proceed to tell her something she probably didn’t want to hear. She braced herself for what he was about to say. “Since my father retired to Florida, he’s been after me to come down there. The town where he lives is going to hire a new police chief, and he wants me to apply for the job. He’s been calling me every day about it.”

  Grace couldn’t control the gasp that escaped her throat. It was as if someone had thrown a glass of ice water in her face. “You aren’t seriously considering it, are you?”

  Alex shrugged. “You know how I feel about Memphis, but my father’s getting older and he’s not well. I suppose I’m kind of in the same situation you were when you had to come back to Memphis because of your father’s situation. Of course my dad’s illness doesn’t compare to what your father’s going through, but he’s my father. He needs me.”

  “I can understand that. Our parents took care of us when we were little. Now it seems it’s our turn to help them. I’ll be praying for you to make the right decision. When do you think you’ll decide?”

  “I told him I’d let him know at Christmas. He’s coming here to spend it with me.”

  Grace smiled. “Then maybe I’ll get to see him. I would like that.”

  Alex nodded. “Maybe so.”

  Grace took a deep breath and walked back to the desk where she’d placed the annuals she’d been studying before Alex arrived. She picked up one and opened it. “I found something I wanted to show you.”

  “What is it?” He walked over and peered down at the book she held.

  She pointed to the three books on the desk and the one she held. “These are our high school annuals. I’ve been looking through them, and I’ve noticed something. In all the pictures of Landon in our freshman and sophomore years he looks like a happy boy. He’s healthy-looking, and he’s smiling in every picture. There are some action shots of him on the football field, and he’s in a lot of pictures with groups of kids. He was one of the leaders in our geocache club during our sophomore year.”

  Alex nodded. “I remember how quick he was on the football field. Once he got started running toward the goal line, there was no stopping him. He was tough, and he could outrun anybody on the team. Coach thought Landon would get a scholarship to a major university.”

  Grace sank down in the desk chair and motioned for Alex to sit in the one beside her. “He had everything going for him. I don’t understand what happened during our junior year that made his life start to fall apart.”

  She opened the annual from their junior year and pointed to his picture. “Look at his face. He had this cocky expression that he never had before. That’s about the time he began to act like he was big man on campus. By the time we were seniors, he’d dropped out of the geocache club. He said he didn’t have time for childish activities. He was into other things.”

  “Did he say what those other things were?”

  Grace shook her head. “When I would ask, he’d just laugh and tell me I was better off not knowing. He dropped all his old friends, including me, quit the football team and took up with a whole new group of kids.”

  “I remember him quitting. Coach was fit to be tied, but Landon wouldn’t change his mind. Do you know who his new friends were?”

  “Yes. They were Jeremy Baker, Billy Warren, Sam Jefferson, Clay Mercer and Dustin Shelton.”

  Alex narrowed his eyes as if he was in deep thought. After a few moments, he nodded. “I remember them. They were a bunch of spoiled rich boys who drove the fastest cars and thought the rules didn’t apply to them. Do you know where they are now?”

  Grace grinned and laid the book on the desk. “No, but I know how we can find out.”

  “How?”

  “I called our high school this morning and talked with the secretary. Did you know that Mr. Donner is still the principal there?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I see his name in the paper from time to time when the school makes the news.”

  “Well, we have an appointment to see him in…” She paused and glanced at her watch. “In about thirty minutes. I’m glad I thought about calling this morning. This is the last day before Christmas break, and the school will be closed for the next two and a half weeks.”

  “Do you think he might know where these guys are now?” Alex asked.

  Grace rolled her eyes and groaned. “I can’t imagine his not knowing. There probably isn’t a school in the whole state that has an alumni association as active as the one at our old school. I suppose that’s to be expected since it’s a private school that receives a lot of their operating funds from donations. Mr. Donner has even hired an office worker who makes it a priority to keep an updated address list of former students and their families. They send out newsletters and requests for contributions to the school all the time.” She paused and propped her hands on her hips. “Sometimes it seems like I get two letters a week wanting me to donate to some program at the school.”

  Alex chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, I get them, too. In fact, I mailed a check last week for the fund-raiser for some new computers in the technology department.”

  “I got that letter, too.”

  Alex glanced at his watch. “Well, if we’re going, we need to be on our way. Traffic may be heavy this time of day.”

  “My coat’s in the hall closet. I’ll get it.”

  He nodded and followed her from the room. When they reached the closet, she pulled the coat out, and he held it for her to slip her arms inside. Then he turned her to face him and pulled the coat tight around her. “It’s cold outside today.”

  His fingers brushed her throat, and her pulse raced. “I know.”

  He stared at her for a moment, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. Then he stepped back, cleared his throat and glanced over his shoulder. “Where are your parents?”

  “They’re upstairs. My father is taking a nap, and my mother is wrapping Christmas presents. She wants to get all of them under the tree tonight. And that reminds me, they said they’d like for you to stay for dinner.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not necessary. I’ve already eaten here once this week.”

  She stopped and looked up at him. “It’s an invitation, Alex. They appreciate what you did for us.”

  “I didn’t do anything special.”

  “You called for an ambulance and carried me from the greenway, then you brought my father home and put him to bed. You also stayed the night so he wouldn’t be alone. You did a lot.”

  “It was no more than any friend would have done.”


  “Then stay and let us show you how much we appreciate your friendship.”

  He seemed to consider the offer, and she held her breath, waiting for his answer. After a moment he nodded. “Okay, I’ll stay for dinner.”

  Grace smiled and opened the door. “Good. Now let’s go see if our former principal can help us locate Landon’s friends. If we can find them, they may be able to answer a lot of questions about what made Landon change from the boy we’d known and why he had a wolf’s head tattooed on his shoulder.”

  *

  The school had changed very little since the last time Alex had been inside. The trophy case still hung on the wall in the spot where it had been when he was a student, and posters of club meetings and extracurricular activities dotted the walls.

  He stopped in front of the trophy case and saw the gold-plated championship cup his football team had won his senior year. The memory of the night they became state champs still excited him after all these years. He knew the coach had retired some years ago, but he had no idea where most of his teammates were. He hadn’t kept up with anyone after high school except Grace and Brad.

  The door to the school office opened, and Grace stepped out into the hall. She walked over and stopped beside him. “The principal is on the phone. His secretary will call us when he’s ready to see us.” She didn’t speak for a few minutes as she looked at the awards inside the case. “There’s the state championship trophy from our senior year. Do you remember the night of the game?”

  He straightened and grinned. “Yeah, I do. I couldn’t believe we beat the top-ranked school, but we did. We all went to that hamburger place down the street to celebrate.”

  She laughed. “I was so proud of you because you’d been named Most Valuable Player for the game, but you shrugged it off like it was no big deal.”

  He grinned. “I thought it was more macho to pretend I didn’t care. Of course I was proud.” He looked at the trophy again. “Seeing it after all this time takes me back to our school days. I can’t believe it’s been twelve years since we graduated from high school.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I can. A lot has happened since then. I’m twelve years older, and I know I’m not that young girl anymore. I check the mirror every morning to see how many new wrinkles I have.”

  Alex laughed and cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. You’re prettier now than you were then.”

  She batted her eyelashes at him. “Thank you, kind sir. I needed that, especially after spending two days in the hospital.”

  The teasing tone of her voice made him smile. He was about to reply when the office door opened, and the secretary stuck her head out. “Mr. Donner is off the phone now. He said for you to come in.”

  They followed the young woman inside and to the door of Mr. Donner’s private office. When he saw them, he rose from behind his desk and motioned for them to enter. “Grace Kincaid and Alex Crowne. It’s good to see you.”

  “And you, too,” Alex said as he reached out and shook the principal’s hand. “Thank you for seeing us on such short notice.”

  He shook Grace’s hand and motioned for them to take two chairs in front of his desk. “How long has it been since you graduated? Eight years?”

  Grace chuckled. “No, twelve.”

  Mr. Donner shook his head. “It can’t have been that long. It seems like yesterday.”

  Alex settled back in his chair and let his gaze travel over the room. He smiled when he spied a framed picture on a shelf behind the principal’s desk. It was a younger Mr. Donner standing in the parking lot beside a motorcycle he used to ride to school. He laughed and pointed to the picture. “I remember the day that was taken. Some of the guys on the football team were examining your bike when you came outside to go home. You asked one of the fellows to take your picture.”

  Mr. Donner smiled. “Yeah, I was proud of that bike.”

  Alex nodded. “We could tell. We thought it was really cool that our principal rode a motorcycle. Do you still ride?”

  “I do. Not that bike of course. I gave it to my son when he got older and bought myself a bigger one. I ride in a club with a bunch of friends. It’s my only hobby.” He clasped his hands on top of his desk and leaned forward. “But I doubt if you came by to talk to me about my bike. Tell me what brings you back to school.”

  Alex cast one last glance at the picture before he looked back at Mr. Donner. “I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but I’m with the Memphis Police Department. I work on cold cases, and at present I’m investigating the death of Landon Mitchell who was thought to have committed suicide the year Grace and I were seniors.”

  Mr. Donner sat back, rested his elbows on the chair arms and tented his fingers in front of him. “I remember when that happened. It was a horrible thing.” He glanced at Grace. “I saw your coverage about Landon’s father and heard you say you would be trying to find out the truth. Are the two of you working together?”

  Grace nodded. “We are.”

  Mr. Donner pursed his mouth as if in deep thought before he spoke. “I’ve always had my doubts about Landon’s death. I thought the police ruled it a suicide too quickly. Have they reopened the case?”

  “It was never officially closed even though they did recover his body and do an autopsy. The investigators thought it was suicide but the medical examiner couldn’t make a definite ruling because of other injuries to the body, such as a head wound.”

  Mr. Donner frowned. “But couldn’t that have been caused by the impact from the fall?”

  “That’s the problem,” Alex said. “It might have been, and it might not have been. I hope this time we find the answer.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  Alex settled back in his chair and took a deep breath. “If you heard Grace’s report about Mr. Mitchell’s death, then you know he thought his son was involved in some secret society here at the school and that they killed him. Have you ever suspected there might be a club that operates in the shadows out of the administration’s sight?”

  Mr. Donner thought for a moment before he shook his head. “Soon after I took this job, I heard rumors of such a group. I investigated it and never found anything that would make me think such a group existed.”

  Alex pursed his lips and thought about what the principal had said for a moment. “Would it surprise you to know such a group was talked about often in the locker room?”

  The man’s eyes grew wide and he nodded. “Really? I talked to students I knew to be trustworthy, and they all assured me no such group existed.”

  “It could have just been kids talking without any real knowledge of a secret society.” He glanced at Grace. “But it’s still difficult to understand why Landon would suddenly drop all his old friends and associate himself with a new group.”

  “Did he do that?” Mr. Donner asked.

  Alex glanced at Grace. “Tell him about Landon’s friends.”

  She scooted to the edge of her chair. “Landon and I dated up until our senior year when he suddenly broke up with me. He also dropped all his old friends and started hanging out with a new group. I lost track of them after high school, and we wondered if you had any information on where they are now.”

  “I try to keep up with our graduates for our alumni council.” He turned to his computer. “Give me a name, and I’ll look him up.”

  “The first one is Sam Jefferson,” Grace said.

  Mr. Donner smiled. “I don’t have to look him up. Sam is a lawyer with offices downtown. He’s done really well for himself. In fact, my wife and I have used him when we’ve needed legal advice.”

  Alex pulled a small notepad from his pocket and wrote down Sam’s information. “That’s good to hear. What about Dustin Shelton?”

  Mr. Donner sat back in his chair, a sad expression on his face. “I don’t have to look him up, either. Dustin disappeared while on a trip to the Gulf Coast a few years after he graduated. I attended the memorial service his fa
mily had.”

  Alex relaxed his grip on the pen poised to write Dustin’s address and stared at Mr. Donner. “I remember Dustin. He was in one of my classes. I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Yes, it was very sad. His family has never recovered from not finding his body.” He shifted in his chair. “Who’s the next one, Grace?”

  “Jeremy Baker.”

  “Um, I don’t remember him, but I’m sure he’s in the alumni database.” He typed the name into the computer, and his eyebrows rose as the information came on the screen. “This is a coincidence.”

  Alex leaned forward. “What is?”

  Mr. Donner looked up from the computer screen. “Jeremy died in California about five years ago.” His forehead wrinkled, and he looked back to the screen. Suddenly he nodded. “I do remember something about this young man. I remember some of the teachers talking about a former student who was found shot to death in his apartment in California. The police thought he’d been killed in a home invasion.”

  Alex and Grace exchanged startled glances before he wrote the latest information down. Then he swallowed and turned back to Mr. Donner. “What about Clay Mercer?”

  He smiled. “Oh, I see Clay from time to time, although he lives in Nashville now. He’s a political advisor and works with the governor’s office.”

  Alex scribbled on the notepad and nodded. “What about Billy Warren?”

  “Billy Warren,” Mr. Donner murmured as he typed in the name. “Here he is. Oh, no. He’s dead also. He was killed in a car wreck in Colorado four years ago.” He glanced from Alex to Grace. “Those were the boys Landon had started hanging out with?”

  “Yes.” Alex’s stomach roiled from the thoughts racing through his head. Of the six boys who had been friends, four of them were dead. The odds against that happening must be astronomical. He closed the notepad and glanced back at Mr. Donner. “We really appreciate your time today, but I know you’re ready to begin your Christmas vacation. We won’t take up any more of your time. It’s been great being back here.”

  The principal stood and held out his hand. “Don’t you two stay away so long before you come back to visit. If I can help you any more, please let me know.”