As always, I’d like to dedicate this to my children, Kristina and Rhys, and all my wonderful grandchildren. Thanks to the love of my life, Ralph, for his patience while I ignore him to spend hours on my computer so that I can delight my readers with more fun stories.
And last, I thank you, my fans and readers for enjoying and buying my books!
CHAPTER ONE
Allison Cornwall, known locally as Ally Holmes, was dashing off to work at Nick’s Bar and Bistro when she literally stumbled over the dead skunk on her front porch. “What the hell?” She kicked at it with her left foot, and then noted the blood spreading on the toe of her pink Sketcher.
She put a hand over her mouth, fighting the mounting nausea as she stared at the dead animal. Had it gotten caught by a wild cat? Or a wolf? Her cabin in Heaven, Pennsylvania was on the edge of town and bordered a natural area, but this was the first time something had crawled on her porch to die.
“Poor thing,” she said, kneeling down. Her warm Anorak, zipped against the winter chill, suddenly felt too tight. Panic rose as she realized the skunk had been gutted—cleanly and precisely. Not a bite mark to be found. Ally stood and glanced at the trees around her rented cabin. “No. Not after all this time. Couldn’t be.”
Her gut clenched. A trickle of perspiration rolled down her spine and into the waistband of her jeans, causing her body to break out in a nervous sweat.
Ally searched the woods, seeing nothing unusual. The nearest house was a half acre away and she could barely see the rooftop over the towering trees. Still, she knew it was vacant. She hadn’t seen any neighbors since Thanksgiving.
Living alone in a remote cottage in the woods didn’t scare her, but a dead skunk filled her with dread. Had it been left as a warning? Could Jimmy have found her after all this time?
Ally took her car keys out of her purse and ran to the carport, unlocking the door of her Honda CVR via remote. She jumped in, pressed the door locks, and glanced in the rearview mirror, afraid she’d see Jimmy’s face leering at her from behind. Her hands shook so badly it took her three tries to get the key in the lock, and the car in reverse. The wheels spun as she fled down the driveway.
It was ten-thirty in the morning and she didn’t start work until eleven. Ally waitressed for the lunch and dinner crowd—she liked to be early, but today would be an exception.
She checked the rearview mirror as she got onto the highway, her pulse finally slowing to normal. Nick wouldn’t mind her stopping at the police station to report the incident. They could maybe take a look around her place and see if there was anything suspicious—though if Jimmy was back, he’d be careful. Or they just might laugh at her, and tell her a dead skunk on her porch didn’t equal a crime.
A year and a half in Heaven had felt like a reprieve—but she knew she couldn’t get too comfortable or stay too long. If anything else happened, she’d grab her cash from the bank and hit the road. No good-byes, no explanation. But she prayed it wouldn’t come to that. She was tired of running, of hiding, looking over her shoulder at every turn.
Ally had friends here—and a job she liked. Dammit! She wanted to stay. As much as it irked her she might need a little assistance to make that possible. She thought of Ian Brown, their new Police Chief. Came from the Bronx. Bit of a hard-ass.
He’d accepted the position about six months ago, lived alone and frequented the restaurant so he didn’t have to cook. If anyone would take her complaint seriously it would be him. He seemed to take a lot of things seriously. She rarely heard him laugh.
Odd, since Heaven was the friendliest town she’d ever known. Everyone knew everyone, and people were genuinely happy. Dogs and children ran freely through the parks, and no one other than herself bothered to lock their cars, or back doors.
Ally pulled into the parking lot facing the squat building tucked just behind the northern end of Main Street. The cheerless brick façade had small windows with four cement steps leading up to the double doors. It was probably built in the 1900’s like most of the properties around here.
Stiffening her spine, she marched up the stairs and pushed open the door. Officer Finn Reilly, acne-faced and about twenty-three, had his feet up on the desk, leafing through a hotrod magazine. He glanced up as she entered.
“Hey, Ally. What are you doing here?”
“Came to see Ian. He in the back?”
The police chief must have heard his name mentioned because he left his office and walked around the front counter. “Morning, Ally. What can we do for you?”
“Morning, Chief.” She hung her head, feeling a little foolish. Perhaps she was over-reacting, but that sick feeling in her stomach hadn’t gone away. And she knew to listen to her instincts—it had saved her life more than once.
“It’s probably nothing, but I found a dead skunk on my doorstep this morning.”
Finn made a sympathetic face. “Yuck. You want us to move it?”
She ignored his question, maintaining eye contact with Ian. “You know I live in that cabin down at the lake. None of my neighbors are around. They usually come for the summer and a few holidays, but right now I’m the only person living there within miles.” She swallowed hard. Until now, the privacy of the lake and trees had been an attraction.
“Probably a wild animal,” Finn said.
“It wasn’t.” Glancing from one man to the other, she said, “Not a bite in the fur. The belly was slit, cleaned out. Set there on purpose.” She pointed to her stained shoe. “I damn well tripped over it on my way to work.”
“Well, that is pretty strange, and I can see why you’re upset.” Ian scratched his smooth-shaven jaw, shaking his head. “Maybe a hunter?”
“Who hunts skunk?” she asked. The last thing she wanted was to be treated like a silly girl afraid of her own shadow.
Ian put a hand under her elbow. “Why don’t you sit down, have a cup of tea, and tell us how you think it got there.” She watched him put a pod in the deluxe coffee machine. “Green tea all right with you?”
“That’s fine. Didn’t come for tea.” She fidgeted, shoving her hands in her coat pockets, then removed them to unzip her jacket. Perspiration trickled into her bra, a cold sweat. She blew out a breath, sat down and tried to remain calm.
“You seem jumpy,” Finn said, swiveling in his chair to watch her. “Anything else wrong?”
“I’ve been stalked before.” It wasn’t something Ally talked about. Enough time had passed that she’d started to feel safe—obviously a mistake. “I’m just nervous, that’s all.”
Ian handed her the tea and took a seat beside her. His kind brown eyes regarded her solemnly. He was a good looking man—big, possibly six three or four, with broad shoulders and a strong chest that would be easy to lean on. If he smiled more she might think him handsome. He had deep expressive eyes, a well-shaped nose, and a solid chin, not one of those weak chins that she disliked—like Jimmy’s.
He cleared his throat. “You have, or had, a stalker? When was that, Ally? Someone local?”
“No.” She managed a small smile. “No. Several years ago. When I was a college student in Connecticut. I dated this guy for a while, and then he started getting too needy, wanting to know where I was all the time, and who I was with.”
Ally focused on the fragrant tea. Jimmy had seemed like an average guy. No warning sign that he was a whacko—in her years on the run from him, she’d gone over every detail of their relationship in search of clues she might have missed.
“Nothing but questions, questions, questions. He never mistreated me, but his controlling attitude pushed me away. I broke up with him.” Her grip on the cardboard mug made the plastic lid pop. “That’s when he started hanging around the dorm, smashed the windshield on my car, although I could never prove it. He terrorized me so much I quit school and went home. Then it began again there. I had a restraining order against him, but it didn’t keep him away.” Her shoulders tensed as she remembered the fear involved in simply leaving the house.
“Years ago.” Ian’s touch was better than tea, surprisingly gentle with hands so big. “I was a prisoner in my own home, and I was afraid for my family. I left and roamed around for a few years, keeping in touch with a disposable phone. Somehow I landed here, and just stayed. It will be two years this spring.”
Finn swore and ruffled his reddish-brown hair. “What a creep. Hope he is here so I can get my hands on him.”
“Finn,” Ian said in warning, withdrawing his hold. “The last thing we need is for this fellow to show up and scare Ally half to death.” He turned his gaze back to her. “What’s his name? I’ll see what I can find out and maybe put your mind to rest.”
“Jimmy Wharton.” She expelled a relieved breath, trusting that Chief Brown was at least listening to her. “Last address I had was his parent’s home in Bethany, New Haven County.”
“Good. Gives me a place to start.”
She stood up and wiped her damp palms on her jeans. “It’s probably nothing. I feel kind of stupid running in here like this. I mean—it’s only a dead skunk. Not a cat or anything.”
“Somebody put it there—probably to scare you.” Ian Brown was on his feet. “You did the right thing coming here. I’ll go check out your property while you’re at work. Remove that rodent for you too.” He gave her a brief smile and walked her to the door. “I’ll come by later and give you a report. Save some of that Boston cream pie for me, won’t you?”
“Sure will.” She shook hands with him. “Appreciate you taking a look. It did give me the jitters.” Saying that, her temper flared and her spine straightened. Here she was, sitting in a police station, while that monster was skittering around somewhere in the darkness, figuring out ways to screw up her life. No more, dammit! This was her town, and she had friends and a life. She couldn’t, wouldn’t, let him take that away again.
She zipped up her coat.
“Know what? I haven’t been frightened since I moved here, and I don’t intend to be again. If he has found me? Good. Let’s end it now.” What better place to make a stand? Head high, she left the two men and stomped toward her car.
She was done with running scared. Jimmy had already put her through that once, and she’d have to be dead before he could frighten her off again.
* * *
Nick Ryan, owner of Nick’s Bar and Bistro, was both friend and boss. When he heard her enter the kitchen from the back door, Nick raised his eyes from the sauce that was bubbling on the stove. “You’re a little late this morning. Run into trouble?”
“Not trouble exactly.” She unzipped her jacket and hung it on a hanger in the back room, lifting her left foot to show Nick. “Ran into a dead skunk, and reported him to the police.”
He glanced down, saw the blood, and gave her a quizzical look. “How did you end up in a scuffle with a skunk?” A dimple in his chin flashed. “Looks like you got the better of him.”
She laughed. “Poor thing was already dead.” Her voice lowered as her heart skipped. “Scared the crap out of me.”
“So you went to the police?” He stirred the sauce and tasted it, nodding with appreciation before putting the spoon in the sink.
“Little more complicated than that.” She sat down on a chair to remove her shoes, and put on a pair of fur-lined boots she kept in the back of the Honda. Her pretty pink sneakers were tossed in the trash. “You really want to hear it now, or should I get myself to work?”
“There are only three people out there.” Nick added a dash of freshly ground pepper to the sauce. “Let them wait.”
“It was gutted,” she lifted her gaze to his, “and lying on my front porch.”
His expression lost all hint of teasing and turned to concern. “That’s scary shit. Could be those high school kids—Jenny said they sprayed graffiti all over the merry-go-round at the park.”
“Hard to believe teenagers are acting out here.” This was unacceptable behavior anywhere, but unthinkable in this sweet town. Heaven was, well, simply heaven. An ideal place in a less than ideal world. “I wish.” She got to her feet. “But this feels more personal than that.”
He nodded with understanding. “Damn it. After all this time?”
She had told him about her stalker last year at Christmas—something she’d tried not to share, but he’d caught her in a vulnerable moment. Jimmy was the reason she could never go home.
“I hope I’m wrong, but I reported it just the same.”
“That was smart.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “You okay? You’re not going to take off on us, are you? We care about you, and a life on the run is no life at all.”
“Tell me.” She sighed. “I’m more pissed than afraid.”
“So long as you’re careful. Did you talk to Ian?”
“Yes. He said he’d stop by later if there’s anything to report.”
“Good.” Nick returned to the sauce on the stove.
She picked up her order pad and stuck a pencil in her spiked, purple highlighted hair. “Back to work.” Ally was a master at compartmentalizing her emotions and efficiently buried any thoughts of her past by firmly planting both feet in the present. “What’s the lunch special?”
Nick dipped a spoon in the sauce, and let her taste it. “What do you think?”
“Hmm. Hollandaise. Poached salmon? Eggs Benedict?”
“Chicken Cordon Blue with Hollandaise. There should be some for tonight’s dinner as well.”
“Sounds pretty fancy, Saint Nick. Who’re you trying to impress?”
“That wife of mine has exquisite taste.”
Nick was a good man—from Ally’s experience of the world, those were few and far between. “She sure does—she chose you.”
CHAPTER TWO
“That’s a strange story,” Ian said to Finn, who had picked up his magazine, flipping through the glossy pages. He knew the young officer was saving up to buy a brand new Mustang. “Ally’s a pretty independent young woman, from what I know of her. Not the type to spook easily, but she seems determined to believe that her stalker has returned.”
Finn dropped the magazine and glanced up. “Yeah. Kind of doubtful after all this time, but you never know.”
Ian rotated his shoulders and stretched. “One thing’s for sure. Someone put that damn skunk there to scare her. Probably the Jenkins boys. Seems like this town’s just a little too serene for the likes of them.”
“Probably,” Finn agreed, and got to his feet. “You want me to go down to the school and round them up?”
“No, leave them be.” Visiting the high school would be a disruption that the principal didn’t need, and it might give the boys added bravado. “I’ll take a look around Ally’s place and then pay the family a visit once they’re home from school. Can’t go accusing anyone without evidence. I want to see their expressions when I mention the skunk.”
“I bet.” Finn’s mouth turned down in a scowl. “Gutted it—that’s cruel.”
“Won’t mention the gutted part,” Ian said. Harming animals went beyond boyhood pranks. “Let’s see if they do.”
“Good idea. Unless they aren’t the culprits. Can’t think of any of our town folks doing something like this.” Finn grabbed a donut next to the coffee counter. “I’ll hold down the fort while you’re chasing our felons.” He took a bite and chewed, then swallowed with a smile. “Kind of exciting to have something going on for a change. Usually giving out speeding tickets is the highlight of my day.”
“Well, count yourself lucky,” Ian murmured, putting on his heavy jacket and gloves, remembering how things played out for him and his partner in what should have been a routine drug sting.
The remembering part was easy—he’d never forget those last few chaotic minutes. Weapons appeared in a flash and Ian realized they’d been set up. He’d ducked, the bullet meant for his head swiping the tip of his ear. John
McGee, his partner and friend, had dropped down on one knee to remove his second revolver from his ankle. A shot fired out, hitting his partner mid-back. Relying on instinct and training, Ian had kick-boxed the guy nearest to him, taking his enemy’s semi-automatic, and managed to drag John’s bleeding body out of the scene without getting his own head blown off.
That kind of excitement he could do without. He’d moved from Brooklyn to find his peace in Heaven, a sleepy little village untainted by the ugliness in the world. So damn quaint it was almost surreal—like something straight out of a movie set. He chuckled to himself, thinking that in his mind even the graffiti wasn’t so bad. It added a slice of color, a youthfulness to the town.
Main Street had old-fashioned lamp posts on every corner, and for the holiday season they were wrapped in candy cane stripes. The cobblestone street encouraged an evening stroll. Small evergreens were planted down the center, and fairy lights lit up the trees and the front of the shops.
The city park had a Ferris wheel and a carousel, plus an ice rink and a pond that was now frozen over. There was a small movie house which showed a new film every week. A library and a coffee house. An ice cream parlor where the teens liked to hang out.
It was an ideal place to raise kids. Only two schools. Elementary, and a combined middle and high school. Teachers came and never left. Didn’t need job perks to keep them signed on year after year.
His thoughts followed him as he jumped into his police cruiser and drove the three miles out of town, toward Ally’s. The road ran between big poles and power lines, heavily laden with snow. There were some farm homes out here with vast barren acres, the ground now frozen. The farms were broken up by patches of heavily wooded areas, rampant with deer.
He reached the second bend and exited the two-lane highway to take a bumpy dirt road that led to the lake, a small marina, and the row of summer cottages on half acre lots. He knew which one was Ally’s, having been out here this summer when some toddler had nearly drowned at a house party two cabins over from hers.
A CHRISTMAS COLLECTION Page 18