“Go stand in the corner until Mom gets in here.”
“No,” was shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Zoe, you better do what your sister says.”
Zoe hung her head and walked over to the corner, and stood with her nose to the wall.
“Why does she listen to you, and not me?” Mindi asked, truly sounding puzzled.
“You’re her sister, and she doesn’t have a crush on you,” Luke said, trying not to groan when Mindi twisted to look back at him. If she doesn’t hold still, we’re going to have a problem of a different nature.
“Oh, okay, that makes sense.” Mindi started scrambling to get up off his lap. When she heard him groan again, she froze in place, not sure what to do. When she turned to look at him, he looked like he was in physical pain. She jumped up off him and turned to look down.
She started blushing and stammering. “I’m going to, uh, go and, uh, get some, towels.” Oh, my. I think he has a one-track mind. And it really is as big as I thought it was.
“Hey, don’t be embarrassed. What do you think was happening every time we come so close to losing it?”
Tonya picked that moment to walk back in the kitchen. Her mouth dropped open for a few seconds, and then she started laughing. “You can’t tell me there’s nothing between you two now. However, that was way too much information. I think you’ve damaged me. Please, try to remember, I’m just a child.”
Mindi gave her a dirty look. “Child, my butt, Little Zane. Give me those towels, and go find Mom. And I said that when I first got home. Obviously, things have changed.”
“Okay, here you go.” She dropped the towels on the table next to where Mindi was standing and skipped out the batwing doors to go find Jamie. She was still laughing when they heard her run up the stairs.
Luke and Mindi were still trying to mop up the water when Jamie came through the doors. “What happened in here? Tonya said something about Zoe spraying you two down.”
“Luke wasn’t paying enough attention to her, and she decided to spray us with the sprayer from the sink.” Mindi said, watching Zoe try to sneak a dirty look at her.
“If you two don’t mind finishing the cleanup, I’ll deal with her. I’ve been through something like this before. I know I have.”
“That’s fine, Mom. We can manage.”
“I thought I was being punished. Mindi made me stand in the corner,” Zoe said, sticking her bottom lip out.
“Standing in the corner is not enough punishment for this young lady. Come here.”
Zoe hung her head and walked back across the kitchen to her mom. Jamie pointed toward the batwing doors and waited for her to go through, then followed behind her.
Luke picked up the wet towels off the floor and walked over to the sink and dropped them in one side and started ringing them out in the other.
When he heard Mindi gasp he turned around to see her sitting on the floor. The tile had obviously still been wet enough she couldn’t stay on her feet. He walked back over to her and stuck his hand out to her to pull her up. When she grabbed hold of him and he started to pull, he lost his footing as well and came down on top of her. He tried to catch himself on his hands, but still heard the air swoosh out of her. “Oh Baby, I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
When he looked down at her, it was to find her laughing.
Chapter 23 - Sunday July 22
Sunday morning Mindi got up and started getting ready for church just like any other Sunday. When she got downstairs for breakfast she was disappointed to find a wall of family, along with a very strained looking Luke, determined to keep her in.
“We can’t go,” Luke said in a dry tone. He sounded like he expected an argument.
“Well,” never one to disappoint if she could help it, “why not? If God can’t protect us from her, then we don’t have a prayer. I’m not missing church just because of Tracy. I’ve had to put everything else on hold,” she said giving Luke a pointed stare. “She will not mess up my Sundays.”
Mindi headed for the kitchen, hoping they’d believe she just wanted something to eat. Unfortunately, Luke chose to follow her, and her irritation only cooled a little when she heard her mom ask her dad why they wouldn’t let her go to church with them.
“Yeah, Luke,” she said, spinning around on him. “Why can’t I go to church with Mom and Dad? That would be safe enough.”
“She would expect you to go. She could be waiting on you. And what if she is?” he asked, knowing he had one thing he could use that might make her see reason. “What if she took a shot at you, and hit someone else? There will be a lot of people there, and you know how bad a shot she is.”
He had gone one step too far. Just as she heard her parents fire up their old Cadillac and pull out of the driveway, something else occurred to her. “Oh, God! Is Zane still here?” She turned and ran back through the swinging doors.
Zane, she found out had already went back to the hunting cabin. Lisa and Jenny had both agreed to stay home and watch the smaller children. When Mindi found this out, it made her concerns grow even more. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
She turned back to Luke, her fear growing with every second. “What if she gets angry enough to go after Mom and Dad?”
“We don’t think she’ll do that.” Oh crap! Why didn’t I think of that? Of course, she’s going to be worried about Carl and Jamie.
“Really? Why then, did they ask Lisa and Jenny to stay with the younger kids? That wouldn’t be necessary if everything was truly safe.” She was starting to get very agitated, and had started to pace back and forth in the living room.
“I’m sure everything will be fine.” Luke tried to reassure her, but to no avail.
“You’re afraid she’s going to be waiting for me at church, and that she’s going to get to the point that she doesn’t care who sees her shoot at us. But you don’t think she’s unstable enough to shoot at my parents if she doesn’t get the targets she wants.” She had her hands up in the air, pointing back and forth to her and Luke. “She knows that would be devastating for me. Just like if I lost you. Don’t try to tell me you can be sure she won’t shoot at them.”
Her logic was so sound he couldn’t come back with an answer. He could feel a tingle of fear crawling up his spine and making its way to the back of his throat. He couldn’t have spoken if he had, had something to say.
“I can’t take any more of this. I’m out of here. I have got to go somewhere. Do something.” She walked out the front door, and bounded down the steps before Luke could stop her. She went around to the driver’s side of the four-wheel drive with Luke fast on her heels.
Luke hadn’t made it around the truck yet, when Tracy came out of the trees and pulled a gun on her. “Don’t take another step, Luke, or I’ll shoot her. You know I will. And at this range, I’m not even likely to miss,” Tracy snickered evilly.
“Tracy, you don’t want to do this,” Luke said, feeling the panic literally rise up his throat.
“I have to. Don’t you see? It’s the only way.” She was pulling Mindi back with the gun pointed at her head. “It’ll be over soon, and you’ll thank me.”
“No, I won’t thank you. Look, I don’t know what you’re planning, but it’s not a good idea.” He was hoping someone still inside had looked out the door by now. “You really need to just let her go so we can talk about this.” He had to work to control his panic. He knew if he rushed her, she wouldn’t hesitate to shoot Mindi.
“No. You’ll never see until she’s gone. I have to do this.”
“I’ll never see what?” he asked, just trying to keep her talking. God, please don’t let Mindi die.
“That you belong with me.”
“Tracy, I don’t belong with you. And killing Mindi isn’t going to change that. I’m not in love with you.”
“Yes, you are. You’re just confused. You think you’re in love with her, but you’re not.”
Luke took a deep breath to calm his nerves. T
his wasn’t what he had envisioned. He was hoping when he told her how he felt, they’d be alone. “I don’t think that I’m in love with her, Tracy. I’m not confused. I am in love with her. I have been for over five years now,” he said, keeping his eyes on Tracy. He was too afraid of what he’d see in Mindi’s eyes if he looked at her.
Mindi stood there in stunned silence.
“No, no, no! You’re lying. You wouldn’t have dated me if you were in love with someone else,” Tracy said, her anger finally coming out.
“I dated a lot of women even though I was in love with Mindi. In fact, every woman I’ve dated since she turned sixteen, I dated just as friends to keep myself busy. I told you when we started dating, I wouldn’t be getting serious. That I was just trying to have fun.”
He knew in his head what it had sounded like, but it wasn’t that bad. He never slept with any of them. Matter of fact, he barely even kissed them. Just a simple good night kiss. And he had never kissed Tracy at all. He was always up front that he was just looking for friendship.
“No, you wouldn’t have done that. It’s not true. You’re in love with me,” Tracy said, literally stomping her feet. “You just never slept with me because you’re such a gentleman. You love me, I know it.”
“Tracy, I never even kissed you once.” Is there anything that can get through to this woman?
“Like I said, you’re a gentleman.”
“Some gentleman. I can’t keep my hands off her,” he said, giving her an incredulous look. “If you’ve got to do this, take me. Leave her here. Please.” He knew trying to make her angry was a dangerous tactic, but he was hoping she would take him instead of Mindi.
“No. I have to take care of this. Right now,” she said, taking another step backwards.
Tracy disappeared with Mindi into the trees behind them. The police car came up the drive just seconds too late.
“She went that way,” Luke told Officer Campbell when he jumped out of the car.
He was a rookie cop, but a good one. He had come from a long line of police officers, and had recently moved down from Kansas City to care for his great grandfather.
It was all Luke could do, not to run after them, but he knew that would just increase the chance of Tracy shooting her out right. It was taking a lot of self-restraint for him to just stand there, and let Zane and his buddies do their job. He was shaking from head to toe and he felt like he was going to vomit any minute now.
“She must have a vehicle back there somewhere, but it would be a bad idea for me to follow her on foot,” he said while climbing back in the car. “She might panic and shoot her instead of going to the cabin first. Zane is still back there. From the stuff she has there, she is planning on torturing her,” Officer Campbell said, not yet realizing Luke’s turmoil.
Despite the fact Luke already knew this, he was hit with a new wave of nausea. He just grabbed the side of the car and started retching. He barely had anything in his stomach to start with. He hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. But he was unable to stop himself for several minutes. The whole time he was bent over he could hear Officer Campbell talking to Zane on the radio.
“Zane, she’s headed your way, and she has a gun on your sister.”
“Crap. Okay, we got it.”
When Officer Campbell finally turned back to Luke he was standing up right again, causing him to exclaim, “Man, you look like crap.”
“You would too, if you knew your whole future happiness was dependent on the police being able to catch one crazy woman who has been evading them for weeks now.” He couldn’t stop himself from snarling back at the rookie.
“Hey, come on. They’ve got her this time. She’ll head back to the cabin. They’re there waiting for her,” the officer said, trying to reassure him.
*******
When they finally made it to where she had the car hidden, Tracy crammed Mindi into the passenger side of the car, and made her crawl over to the driver’s seat. She crawled in behind her, and told her, “Start the car. You’re driving.”
Tracy didn’t know that back at the cabin, Zane and the other officers were waiting for them. They figured whatever she had in mind, she’d come back there first.
When they pulled up to the cabin everything looked normal to Tracy. So, she forced Mindi to get out and she crawled across and exited after her.
She kept the gun on her and made her walk to the cabin. “Here, take the key and unlock the door.”
Mindi unlocked the door and flung it open. She wasn’t going to take another step willingly. She wasn’t going to make this easy for her.
“Get in there.” She shoved Mindi forward, and came in behind her. She flipped on the light switch, flooding the small room with light.
Mindi stood there in amazed horror. There were hundreds of photos on the walls. Photos displaying every aspect of Luke’s life. Some of them even had her in them, and there were little red x's over her face, just like Zane had said. Her obsession with Luke really had been going on long before he had dated her.
Mindi didn’t even want to think what Tracy was planning on doing with the car batteries and jumper cables. She did her best not to look at all the other stuff laying around. She didn’t want to make herself crazy before her brother even had a chance to get her out of this mess.
“Don’t just stand there. Sit down.” Now she was shoving Mindi toward a chair in the middle of the room. There was no mystery what the handcuffs were for. Mindi made her shove her once again before she sat down.
When Tracy leaned down to pick up one set of the handcuffs, Mindi knocked her down causing her to drop the gun. She kicked it across the room, and ran for the door, praying Tracy’s track record with her aim would hold out. She made sure to stomp on her hand, causing her to scream on the way. She had the door open and was already outside when she heard the first gun shot from inside. She kept running, making for the trees.
Zane seen his sister running for the trees and made for the door with his gun already drawn. Tracy started out the door, but was brought up short when she came face to face with a thirty-eight.
“Freeze. You’re under arrest,” Zane snarled, barely resisting the temptation to smack her across the face with the butt of the gun. “Don’t move. Hands up.” Zane kept the gun pointed straight at her face.
One of the officers with Zane came up and took Tracy’s gun. He handed it to Zane, then handcuffed her.
“Read her, her rights and put her in the car.” Zane didn’t feel it was safe for him to deal with her. It had taken a lot for him not to shoot her right between the eyes. The things she had been planning to do to his sister had made him angrier then he had ever been in his life.
With Tracy apprehended and no longer a threat, Zane turned around to look for his younger sister. Mindi had seen everything go down, and had already come back out of the trees. “You okay, Sis?”
“I am now. Can you just take me home? I really need to see Luke,” she said, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
Zane radioed in that they had caught Tracy Lewis, then called his parents to let them know Mindi was okay, and asked them to let Luke know. They told him they were leaving church early and that they would call him and tell him immediately.
One look in Tracy’s car told them she had been living out of it for days. They realized now she had probably been sitting outside Carl and Jamie’s house for a least the last three days. It was like she had known Luke and Mindi were both in there, and she wasn’t going to leave until she got her chance.
That certainly would explain why they hadn’t caught her at the cabin or ran across her while she was skulking around town. They had never thought to look there. They hadn’t thought she would be that brave. They should have realized as crazy as she was, she would have. There really was no limit to what she would try. She was crazy enough she thought she could get away with anything.
She probably had seen Luke go in, and had gotten furious when he hadn’t come back out. She had jumped at the first oppor
tunity to grab Mindi.
It took over two hours at the police station with Zane. Between her giving her statement, and Zane filing a report. She was exhausted mentally and physically. So, when she found out Luke planned on coming by the station the next day to give his statement, it just made her angrier.
When they got back to the house, Mindi expected to see Luke still there. She was wanting to talk to him.
When they drove up and his truck was already gone, she felt rejected. Did he not mean what he had said earlier? She didn’t know what to think.
When she got in the house her parents were so glad to see her, they didn’t give her time to talk at first. When she finally did get a chance, she just asked, “Where did Luke go?”
Her mom looked worried. “He went home. He didn’t think you’d want to see him after what he said a while ago. He’s not sure how you feel about him. He hung around long enough to make sure you were okay, and then left.”
“How can he not know how I feel about him?”
“Have you told him?” Carl asked, lifting one eyebrow at her.
She just looked at her parents and Zane for a few seconds. Then, without another word, turned and left. She didn’t notice the three knowing grins that followed her out the door. She went down the steps and crawled in her dad’s old four-wheel drive truck and drove across town to Luke’s garage.
When she got to the door, she didn’t bother knocking. She just went on in. Something she soon wished she had thought out a little more. All the sudden she was having trouble breathing.
Luke had just come up the hall in a towel. He obviously had just got out of the shower. His hair was still wet. She almost turned and went back out the door. Almost.
She stood rooted to the floor. She had come to have this out with him, once and for all. Tracy had been apprehended. He didn’t have her as an excuse anymore.
She was staring at his muscular chest, and wishing his towel would fall. She was going to have to get her thoughts under control. She could feel the heat already rising up her cheeks. When he finally spoke, she was still trying to catch her breath.
Summer Obsession (The Townsends Book 1) Page 21