by Laura Scott
Zack compassion was nearly palpable, and she knew feeling embarrassed was ridiculous. It wasn’t as if she’d asked for Blake to become obsessed with her.
Just like it wasn’t Blake’s fault that he suffered from a mental illness.
“Merry, please,” Zack said in a low, rough voice. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
She stalled, taking a long sip of her sun tea. “I was an only child, and lived next door to the Caruthers when I was growing up. Caroline was my age and we became best friends. I spent more time at the Caruthers’ house than I did at my own home, but my parents didn’t seem to mind. They were older when they had me, and I think they were a bit overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising a child. And to be honest, I craved being a part of the loud, rambunctious family next door.”
Zack reached out to take her hand, and the simple touch helped keep her grounded.
“I had a huge crush on Blake when I was a teenager, but he was two years older and barely noticed me, treating me like another kid sister. Caroline and I both wanted to go to the University of Minnesota and were thrilled to be accepted. We even roomed together. That’s when Blake noticed me.”
The knot in her stomach tightened painfully. She took a slow breath, staring down at Zack’s hand holding hers, so that she didn’t have to look him in the eye.
“We began dating, but Blake was different. Moody. He talked to himself and sometimes became violent. One night, he slammed his fist through a glass window and had to be taken to the hospital. His behavior became worse, paranoid and delusional. During his second trip to the hospital he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.”
Zack’s fingers tightened on hers, and she forced herself to meet his gaze. “At first, it wasn’t too bad. He was put on medication and seemed to be doing better. But then he stopped taking the medication, claiming he didn’t like the side effects. Shortly after that, he attacked me.”
“You don’t have to tell me anything more,” Zack protested, but she ignored him.
“Caroline came to help me and the police took him away. Blake went back on his meds, and then went off them again. Over the next few months, it became a never-ending cycle.”
“I’m sorry, Merry,” Zack murmured. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”
“I tried to stay with him. I didn’t want to leave Blake just because of his diagnosis. But he wouldn’t stay on the meds and without them he was just too impulsive and violent. I had no choice but to break things off.”
“You did the right thing.”
She shrugged. “After I graduated, I started working as a nurse at one of the hospitals in the Twin Cities, and Blake would always be there, waiting for me at the end of my shift or hanging around my apartment. I moved, but he found me. He attacked me again, so I filed the restraining order. And when that didn’t work, I picked up and moved to a different state without telling anyone where I was going.”
“And you came here, to Crystal Lake,” Zack finished.
She nodded. “I’ve been here for two years. And I thought I was finally safe. But he must have found me, again, even after all this time.”
“I’ll keep you safe. You don’t have to be afraid of him.”
She shook her head, battling a wave of helplessness. “You don’t understand, Zack. I’m also worried about you. Blake must have seen you on the patio. He’ll assume we’re, um, you know.” Her cheeks heated and she ducked her head. “He’ll see you as a threat. I think it’s best if you head back to Madison.”
Zack let go of her hand and scowled darkly. She tilted her chin, not caring if she made him mad.
She would rather have him safe. And if that meant being alone until Julie and Derek returned, then that was just fine with her.
Chapter Five
Zack had to work hard to rein in his temper. Did she really think he was going to leave her here with a crazy man stalking her? Fat chance. What kind of guy did she think he was? As if he cared about whether or not Caruthers came after him? Frankly, he’d welcome the chance to take him down a peg.
Instinctively, he knew Merry wouldn’t want to hear that, so he took several deep breaths before turning around to face her.
“I’m staying the weekend, end of discussion. Are you hungry? We could head over to Rose’s Café for lunch.”
“Don’t do this,” her blue eyes pleaded with him. “Don’t underestimate Blake.”
He narrowed his gaze. “I’m a police officer. I’m more than capable of being your bodyguard. If Blake were smart, he wouldn’t underestimate me.”
“Maybe we should stay here, keep a low profile.”
If he wasn’t so angry, he’d be touched by her efforts to protect him. “Actually, I’d like to go to town, see if we can catch a glimpse of his navy blue minivan.”
She glanced up at him in surprise. “How did you find out what he’s driving?”
“I have connections.” He hesitated, wondering if he should tell her everything else he discovered. He didn’t want to scare her, yet she needed to understand what she was dealing with. “You need to know Caruthers has done jail time. He has a rather significant criminal record. Drugs, breaking and entering, disorderly conduct.”
She didn’t look too surprised. “I guess that’s more proof he’s not taking his medication.”
“Please let me take you out to lunch.” The moment the sentence left his mouth, he wished he could take it back. He hadn’t intended to make it sound like he was asking her out on a date. “I think it would be fun to go into town for a while,” he tacked on.
“What about Ace?” she asked, rubbing the dog behind his ears. The lab’s head rested on her lap, his eyes gazing up at her adoringly.
“He’ll be fine inside for a bit. I’ll play with him when we get back.”
“All right,” she agreed. “But I’ll be rather conspicuous in my scrubs.”
“You can change if you’d like.”
She seemed to consider the idea but then shrugged it off. “I’ll wait until later.”
He told himself again, to think of Merry like a younger sister, but so far, that tactic wasn’t working as well as it should.
“If you’re sure.” He was anxious to go, partially because he really wanted to see if he could get a glimpse of Blake’s van. The sooner he found this guy, the better.
“I’m sure.”
Zack put Ace inside the townhouse. “Guard the door, Ace.”
The dog thumped his tail, and then stretched out in front of the patio doors as if he’d understood Zack’s command.
Merry didn’t say much on the short drive into town. He kept his eyes peeled on the road for any sign of a navy blue van with the tag number of 555VRY. They passed a blue van on the highway, and his heart leaped with anticipation, but the plate number didn’t match.
Main Street was busy with summer tourists, forcing him to park his truck several blocks down from the Café. As they strolled along the sidewalk, he caught sight of the modest Crystal Lake Motel. He paused, scanning the parked cars in the tiny parking lot, figuring if Caruthers was in the area, he had to be staying somewhere.
“Do you see the van?” Merry asked, catching on to what he was doing.
“No.” He scowled and reluctantly began walking again. “Could be that he has it down by the public boat launch.”
“Or it could be that he’s not even here. We don’t know for sure that Blake was the guy in the fishing boat.”
He didn’t bother to argue with her. The boot print beneath the bedroom window, along with the redhead in the fishing boat, was too much of a coincidence to ignore. He held the Café door open, the tiny bell jingling to announce their arrival.
“Howdy stranger,” Josie greeted him with a broad smile. “It’s about time you came back home.”
“Just here for the weekend,” he pointed out with a grin, even though the word home tugged at his heart. In his mind, Crystal Lake would always be home. Josie was the Café owner and self-proclaim
ed gossip. He knew within minutes the whole town would be buzzing with the news of the prodigal son’s return.
“Nice to see you, too, Merry,” Josie said with blatant curiosity in her gaze. Zack feared she was already pegging them as a couple. “Find a place to sit, and Darcy will be over shortly.”
“No problem.” A booth along the row of windows opened up and he nudged Merry in that direction.
“She’s going to have us married off in about an hour,” Merry muttered half under her breath.
Zack froze for a moment as he was sliding into the booth, and then forced himself to relax. “I could care less what the wagging tongues in Crystal Lake think, but if you’re worried, I’ll make sure she knows we’re just friends.”
Merry waved her hand. “It’s fine. Hopefully, once you’re back in Madison, they’ll forget about this and move onto something else.”
The thought of leaving Merry here alone while he returned to Madison bothered him. He stared down at the menu, wondering if he could find someone to cover his next few shifts. His boss wouldn’t begrudge him the time off, but it was summer and many of the guys had plans.
Everyone except him. Until now.
Grimly, he realized he’d need to find a way to get the time off he needed. There was no way he could leave Crystal Lake. Not yet. Not until he managed to find and arrest Caruthers for violating his restraining order.
He couldn’t stand the thought of Merry being hurt again.
____________
Merry enjoyed eating lunch in Rose’s Café more than she thought she would. Although she was nonplussed to discover that Josie knew all about how she’d sustained her injuries.
“Are you feeling better, honey?” Josie asked, when she came over to refill their iced teas. “I heard you were injured by one of your patients.”
Since Darcy was technically their waitress, Merry figured Josie was trying to get the scoop on details.
“I’m fine, really.” Merry didn’t want to talk about poor Leonard. For one thing, what happened wasn’t his fault. Besides, the government expected healthcare workers to keep patient’s information confidential. Obviously, someone at the hospital had talked, but she wasn’t about to compound the error.
“Can I get you two anything else?” Josie asked.
“No thanks,” Zack responded. She wondered if everyone else in the diner noticed how much he’d stared out the window. She knew he was still searching for the blue van, but now that time had passed since the fishing boat incident, she’d convinced herself that she’d let her imagination run away with her. The possibility of Blake actually looking for her and finding her here in Crystal Lake was extremely remote.
She toyed with her straw, thinking about how much she missed Caroline. Picking up and moving from Minneapolis had been hard, but nothing was as difficult as cutting off all ties with her best friend. And not just Caro, but the entire Caruthers family. She’d loved spending time with the noisy bunch. Had thought about having a big family of her own someday.
But, obviously, that wasn’t meant to be. She knew Blake’s illness wasn’t Caro’s fault either, but her friend had inadvertently let key information slip in the past. Blake had found the location to her new apartment in the Twin Cities, just by following Caroline to her place.
Cutting off all ties had been the best thing to do, to stay safe. Caro wouldn’t appreciate it if Blake ended up going to jail because of Merry, either.
Her feelings must have been reflected on her face, because Zack reached across the table and took her hand. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Subtly, she removed her hand from his, knowing that everyone was already gawking at them. No reason to give them any more to talk about. “Just feeling a little tired, that’s all.”
“Is your headache back?” he asked with a frown.
“No, I’m fine.” The ibuprofen she’d taken earlier had worked wonders. She adjusted the strap of her sling, trying to work the kinks out of her neck. “I guess I find it a little frustrating that I haven’t bounced back, yet.”
“Now who’s doing the underestimating?” he asked in exasperation. “That patient of yours knocked you around pretty badly. I’m amazed you didn’t have to stay in the hospital longer than twenty-four hours.”
Zack’s concern was touching, and she had to remind herself not to read too much into it. She ate the last few bites of her salad, and then pushed her plate away. “I’m ready to leave when you are.”
Zack signaled for Darcy to bring their bill. Darcy’s flirtatious smile grated on her nerves, but Zack didn’t seem to notice. He dug his wallet out and tossed enough money to cover the tab and provide a decent tip. “Let’s go.”
She didn’t say anything when Zack took a detour past the public boat launch, scanning the area for a blue van. And he drove up and down Main Street. Twice. She was oddly glad that Zack hadn’t found any evidence that Blake was here. She even felt a little guilty for making a big deal out of the redhead in the boat.
When they arrived back home, Ace ran around the back yard in circles, obviously excited to see them. True to Zack’s word, he tossed a tennis ball for Ace, who threw his whole body into the chase, while she sat in the shade.
She gasped when Ace jumped into the lake, swimming out for the ball, and even more surprised when Zack pulled his phone and his wallet out of his shorts pockets to jump in, too.
It occurred to her that Zack seemed happier now, compared to the last time she’d seen him. She was glad he seemed to be getting over his loss. Although he still hadn’t prayed with her before lunch.
Zack’s phone beeped and vibrated on the table. She hesitated, and then reached for the phone, thinking she could at least take a message. “Hello?”
There was a long pause on the other end. “I’m sorry, I must have the wrong number,” a male voice said.
“No, this is Zack’s phone. I’m—a friend of his. He’s swimming in the lake right now, but I’d be happy to take a message.”
Another pause. “I’m sorry, but did you say swimming?” the man asked, incredulous.
She laughed, realizing that the caller must be a friend of Zack’s. Someone who knew him well enough to know that Zack wasn’t the average fun-loving guy. “Yes, he’s actually swimming. With a black lab named Ace.”
“I’m tempted to drive over there, just to see that for myself,” the caller said with humor. “You must be Meredith Haines.”
The hair on the back of her neck lifted in warning. “Who am I speaking with?” she asked sharply.
“My name is Cole Wallace, and I’m covering Zack’s shift today. Have him call me back when he’s finished swimming. I’ve been doing some digging and have a little more information on that Caruthers guy.”
She relaxed, realizing that this was clearly Zack’s source of information. The fact that Cole was a fellow police officer added to her relief. “All right, but my friends call me Merry, not Meredith. I’ll be happy to have Zack call you back.”
“Great. Well, it was nice meeting you, Merry.”
“Take care, Cole.” She pushed the button to end the call, glancing up as Zack approached.
“Too bad you can’t swim yet. The water is perfect!” he declared.
She didn’t mention that watching him had been just as much fun as swimming herself. She cleared her throat and gestured to his phone. “Your friend Cole called. He mentioned he has information about Blake.”
Zack straightened, water dripping off his soggy T-shirt and shorts in tiny waterfalls. “Are you upset with me because I asked Cole to help investigate Caruthers?”
She swallowed hard and shook her head. “No, I’m not upset. But it was a little weird that he knew my name.”
Zack dropped into a chair beside her. “I didn’t tell him everything,” he said softly. “Just enough so he could help me find this guy.”
“I know.” She forced a smile. “It’s just that no one in Crystal Lake knows about my past problems. I guess I was hoping it would s
tay that way.”
“I’m not planning to go around and tell people,” Zack said, his gaze serious. “My only goal is to keep you safe.”
She stared down at Ace for a minute, wishing desperately that Zack was here because he wanted to be. Because he enjoyed spending time with her. After everything he’d been through, he deserved some relaxation and fun.
Instead, he’d shouldered her problems. And instead of taking well needed time off work, he was having a busman’s holiday.
She needed to remember that she was nothing more than another member of the public who he wanted to keep safe.
Her job would be to protect her heart.
____________
Zack could tell Merry wasn’t thrilled with how he’d called Cole for help, but given the same set of circumstances he’d do the same thing again in a heartbeat.
He reached for his phone, but then hesitated when he realized he left his notes inside. He was still sopping wet, although the hot summer sun was beginning to dry him off. He stood and padded over to the patio doors, darting in and out of the kitchen so that he wouldn’t get the floor too wet.
Derek had spent a lot of time and muscle refinishing the townhouse that had once suffered from a kitchen fire. He didn’t think his new brother-in-law would appreciate water stains on his freshly sanded natural wood floors.
Zack returned to the patio table, wishing Merry wasn’t there to listen in on his conversation with Cole. He was anxious to see what his buddy had uncovered, so he didn’t want to wait until later.
Besides, the sooner Merry knew exactly what was going on, the better.
He pushed the call back button on his phone and waited for Cole to pick up. “Hello, beautiful.”
Zack scowled. “Cole, what are you talking about?”
“Oh, sorry. I thought Merry was calling me back.”
Zack had to grit his teeth to prevent himself from snapping his friend’s head off. “And just exactly how do you know what she looks like?”
“I pulled up her driver’s license photo. She’s a cutie. Is she single?”
His fingers tightened on the phone to the point he feared he’d crack the casing. “Knock it off, Cole,” he practically growled into the phone. “I thought you had new information for me?”