Entering the house, Eli noted the scent of roast and rolls still lingered in the air and knew he’d find some leftovers in the fridge.
Miz Hannah had been the family cook since Eli was two. She’d been like a grandmother to him and was as much a part of the family as Eli himself. When he was twelve, and his mother had taken off to parts unknown, Hannah had smothered him with as much love as he could stand.
And when they’d been teenagers, Holly had been in and out of this house almost on a daily basis.
Then he’d left and broken her heart.
And he’d been too self-centered to worry about it. Regret pierced him. He’d always justified leaving by telling himself that he’d asked her to go with him and she’d refused. Now, he realized just how selfish he’d been to expect her to leave her sick mother and follow after him…and his dreams.
“Dad?” Eli entered the den and found his father sitting in his wheelchair, he and Buckeye watching a preseason baseball game on the big-screen television. His outstretched casted leg hung from the traction device designed to keep the limb as immobile as possible.
Eli flopped onto the couch beside Buckeye. “Who’s winning?”
“It’s tied right now.”
For the next half hour, Eli cheered and groaned according to his team’s performance, enjoying the evening with his dad.
The phone rang and Eli grabbed the handset from the coffee table. “Hello?”
“Eli? It’s Holly.”
The hoarse whisper set his teeth on edge and his cop instincts on high alert. “What’s wrong?”
“I think someone’s trying to get in my house.”
CHAPTER TWO
With a trembling hand, Holly hung up the phone and went back to the window to push the curtain aside a millimeter. Duster, her beloved German shepherd, whined at her side and Sassy, a shy border collie, yipped at the door.
After taking some nausea medicine, her mother had finally fallen asleep. Needing the distraction from her constant replaying in her mind of the assault, Holly had planned to go over her personal bills. She’d just settled at the table to work when she heard a noise outside.
She’d jumped, startled. A little uneasy. Then she’d laughed at herself and decided she was still jumpy after her ordeal at the shop. Then she’d heard it again and noticed the dogs were restless. When she’d looked out the window, a shadow had passed by.
She’d dialed 9-1-1 then hung up before it even rang. What if someone wasn’t out there, and it was just her overactive imagination and on-edge nerves due to the break-in at her store? And she really didn’t want to deal with Alex again. But if someone really was skulking around outside and she needed help…
So she’d called Eli.
Did he still carry a gun?
Another rattle against her back door. Her stomach dropped to her toes only to bounce back up into her throat. Oh, Lord, please…
Duster’s ears went flat against his head. Sassy had disappeared. All she had to do was tell Duster to “dust it up, boy” and he’d go after whatever she pointed at. But she couldn’t do that yet.
A weapon. She needed a weapon. She had her mother to protect. Avoiding the windows as much as possible, she skirted her way into the kitchen. The block of knives sat by the sink.
Could she actually use one on somebody?
Shaking fingers reached out to grasp the handle of the largest one. She pulled it from its sheath without a sound. The lone kitchen light over the sink glinted off the blade and Holly swallowed hard.
Turning back toward the door, she paused, knife held aloft, ready to do some damage to whomever dared to try and get past her locked kitchen door.
Scrape, thud.
Duster barked and Holly shushed him. She didn’t think he’d scare away the intruder, and his barking might wake her mother. Holly didn’t need that right now.
Screech!
She jumped again and heard the blood rushing in her ears. Whoever was out there wasn’t being very careful. What if the shadow had been a figment of her imagination? What if the sound was just an animal? A raccoon looking for a late-night snack? Her adrenaline eased.
The pounding of her heart slowed and her fingers loosened their grip a fraction. Moving to the back door, she tested the knob. Locked. Her ears strained to hear, desperate for advance notice of impending danger.
Duster paced the floor and whined. Someone, something, was definitely out there.
The police force in Rose Mountain consisted of five deputies and a sheriff. If she called 9-1-1 again, what were the odds Alex would come? If he was listening to the scanner, he’d insist on taking the call.
So what? He was the sheriff. She was scared enough right now, she’d welcome him. She started to dial.
Hesitated.
Or was she just being overly jumpy because of the store incident? Speaking of which, did this have anything to do with that? Did the person think he’d find more money or whatever at her home?
Hands trembling, heart thudding, she wondered what she should do. One hand clutched the knife, the other the phone. Her finger hovered over the one.
She didn’t want to cry wolf, and yet…
Listening, she strained to hear anything.
Nothing.
Things had quieted down outside, but Duster kept his ears pricked toward the window.
During a quick glance around the kitchen, the blinds on one window caught her attention. They gaped, exposing the blackness beyond. She shuddered, feeling creeped out by the night and all the noises it brought with it.
Deciding she’d been foolish and would owe Eli an apology for calling him out here, she hung up and went to close the blinds.
Just as she reached up to pull the string that would snap them shut, a face in a mask popped up to eye level then jerked back as though surprised to see her. Her heart leaped and her stomach dropped as terror shot its way through her veins.
As quickly as the face appeared it was gone. Through sheer willpower, she swallowed the scream pounding for release and yanked the blinds shut.
Whirling from the window, she raced to the wall and started flipping on all of the outside lights. The hand still clutching the knife knocked a canister to the kitchen floor. She ignored it.
Tires crunched on the gravel outside and she froze.
Eli? It had to be.
She edged to the back door and pushed aside the curtain covering the window. Eli’s truck. And he was about to climb out with a prowler nearby.
Holly opened the door, pointed in the direction she’d last heard the intruder and said, “Dust it up, boy.” The dog bounded out, barking furiously. He disappeared around the side of the house. Seconds later, the faint sound of a motorcycle reached her ears.
Eli bolted from his car, ran across the lawn and followed after Duster.
* * *
Ten minutes later, Eli gave up the search. He and Duster made their way back to the house where Holly stood on the porch, knife in hand.
He motioned to it. “I think you can put that away now.”
She stared at him blankly, then looked down at her hand. “Oh.” She looked surprised to see the weapon. “When I thought…I had to grab something…”
He’d seen this before. Mild shock.
Carefully, he approached her. “Give me the knife, Holly. You’re safe.”
With a hand that still shook with fine tremors, she handed the knife over to him.
He placed an arm around her shoulders and led her into the house. Duster skirted around them and made his way over to the rug in front of the fireplace. Another animal appeared from the back of the house and followed Duster’s example. Eli smiled. “Still taking in strays, I see.”
Holly’s shoulders stiffened and she pulled away from him. “Of course.”
The shock was wearing off. “I’ll just put this back in the kitchen for you. If you have a powerful flashlight, I can take a look around. You might want to call Alex, too.”
“I know. If someone was
really out there, then I suppose that’s what I need to do. I’ll think about it.”
Confused, he just looked at her.
Her expression softened. “Sorry, but Alex is—” She paused and waved a hand in the air as though searching for the right word. She finally settled on “not the person I want to call.”
“But he’s the sheriff. He needs to know.”
“I know, but I don’t want to encourage him if I don’t have to. If I go running to him with this…” She sighed. “Please, I’d rather handle this on my own.”
That rocked him back for a minute. She didn’t want to call Alex because the man was still after her to reunite. He wondered what she’d say if he offered her his help. “I’m going to go have a look around and then we’re going to have a talk. All right?”
She raised a hand to rub the side of her head that wasn’t bruised. “Look, I’m probably just being paranoid. Most likely, this was all just some stupid prank or something.…”
“Like the break-in at your shop?”
That took the wind from her sails. “I don’t know what to think, Eli.”
“Get me that light. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Okay.”
She set off to find the light. Returning, she handed it to him, looked deep into his eyes for a brief moment before saying, “Thanks.”
He nodded and walked to the door. Flipping the light on, he headed to where the motorcycle had disappeared. Since Holly hadn’t heard the approach, whoever had been on the motorcycle had probably walked it up to the house.
The light pierced the darkness, but revealed nothing as to the identity of the man on the motorcycle.
When he returned to the house, Holly had a cup of coffee in one hand, her fingers drumming the side of the mug in nervous taps.
“I didn’t see anything. Sorry.”
She blew out a harsh sigh. “Thanks for looking.”
“No problem.” He handed her the light.
Hesitating at the door, she finally seemed to make up her mind about something. “You want to come in?”
“I want you to tell me who you think might have been lurking outside your house.”
“I have no idea.” She waved her empty hand. “I don’t have anything of any real value except Mom’s silver and china. The usual stuff. But other than that…”
“All right, well you need to keep your doors locked, that’s for sure. Someone’s targeted you for some reason.” He paused. “You said Alex was constantly harassing you about getting back with him. Could he have been out here doing a little spying on you?”
Biting her lip, she studied her mug. “I don’t think so. Alex is the sheriff, he’s harmless. Persistent, but harmless. He’s more into sending me gifts than scaring me.”
“What kind of gifts?”
“Expensive ones. First it was flowers at my shop. Then today I got—” she set her mug on the end table, crossed the room and opened a drawer “—this.”
She dropped a box in his outstretched hand.
He opened it and whistled.
“Tell me about it.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “For the auction, he even signed up to be on the same committee as I am.” She flushed. “That sounds really egotistical, doesn’t it?” Throwing up her hands, she said, “I don’t know. It’s just when sign-ups went around at church for the auction…” She shrugged.
His dad had explained it to him the last time Eli had been home. The church had come up with the idea for the auction after a mission trip to Haiti two years ago. Holly had been a part of that trip and had fallen in love with the children of the orphanage they’d worked with. On their last day, they’d learned that the place was on the brink of being shut down. When the team had returned to America, the church voted to do what they could to help and had come up with the idea of an auction. Anything donated was auctioned off. To Eli, it looked like a huge yard sale, only in auction format. It had been so successful, they’d made it an annual event.
And the orphanage thrived. His dad also said Holly planned to go back sometime in the summer. He tried to picture what he would be doing four months from now. Briefly, the interview for the job as captain of the New York precinct flashed through his mind. He still hadn’t heard anything about that and had just about given up on it.
“Holly?”
Lashes fanned her cheeks as she closed her eyes for a brief moment. She opened them. “Mom? We’re in here.”
At the sight of Holly’s mother, Eli’s breath left him. A mere shadow of the woman he remembered from his youth and even six years ago, she was now wasted away from her illness. No wonder Holly was so adamant about sticking around and taking care of her. Just like she had right after her dad died and cancer struck Mrs. Maddox, in Holly’s senior year of high school.
* * *
Holly watched Eli cross the room to give her mom a gentle hug. Her mother patted his arm and then held on to it as he led her to the couch. She settled down and said, “I heard voices.”
Holly covered her mother with an afghan from the back of the couch. “We were just discussing Alex.”
“Ah. A very persistent young man, isn’t he? It’s a shame you two didn’t suit each other.” She shifted into a more comfortable position then snapped her eyes to Holly. “Oh, speaking of persistent, I almost forgot to tell you that the nice man from the real estate office, Mr. Miller, came by today with Jarrod Parker.”
“What nice man? And why was our lawyer with him?”
Forehead wrinkled in thought, Holly’s mother said, “You know, the one who came by last week. You weren’t here, but I told you about him.” She looked at Eli. “He wants to buy this place.”
“What did you tell him?” Holly heard the sharpness in her voice, but couldn’t help it. She was so tired of dealing with these people. Why was it no one could seem to take no for an answer anymore?
“I told him we would discuss it.”
Patience, Holly. “There’s nothing to discuss, Mom. This is my childhood home, the place Daddy poured sweat, blood and tears into. How can you just give it up so easily?”
Her mother laughed, “Oh, honey, it’s just a house. Yes, we had some good times here, but it’s time to move on. Your life would be so much easier if you didn’t have to worry about taking care of this place.”
“I don’t mind.” Holly crossed her arms, body language shouting her resistance. “Besides, I have help. Mr. Ryan has been here for years. What would he do if we sold this place out from under him?” Holly’s father had hired Will Ryan when Holly was in the third grade. The man loved this place as much as she did, although he kept a small apartment in town. “And what was Mr. Parker doing with the man from the real estate company anyway?”
Her mother frowned. “Will Ryan needs to retire. The poor man is getting older and can’t keep up like he used to. That’s why he only puts in a few hours a day. And don’t let him fool you, he’s got a nice little nest egg squirreled away and can very easily quit working. He only stays on because he knows you need the help.” She flicked a hand. “As for Mr. Miller, it seems like I might have mentioned that our lawyer handled everything. I guess he went to Jarrod, who, by the way—” she eyed Holly sternly “—thinks it would be a wise move.”
“Why that sneaking, conniving, land-hungry…” Her fingernails dug into her palms as she clenched her fists. But part of her digested her mother’s words about Mr. Ryan. He only stayed on to help her? She thought it was because he couldn’t bring himself to quit working. Guilt stabbed her.
Eli held up a hand. “Um, I think I’ll just head on home.” He looked at Holly. “Are you okay with that?”
She paused midtirade and flushed. “Yes, of course. Sorry, I’m just a little stressed right now.”
“Don’t you want to report what happened—”
“Um, no,” she broke in, eyes flashing a warning about discussing this in front of her mother.
He got the message and bit his tongue. He obviously didn’t agree with
her, but at least he didn’t say anything more. “All right. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You will?”
“Elva Sharp called, said you told her you would pick up her stuff for the auction and thought you would need help. Apparently my dad volunteered me when she came to visit him in the hospital a couple of weeks ago. She called this morning to let me know.”
Holly was in charge of collecting the “treasures” to be auctioned off. She groaned. “I’d forgotten all about that.”
“I’ll be by to pick you up after lunch, all right?”
Her smile felt weak. “Right.”
He left and Holly turned to see that her mother had slipped back into a doze. Not bothering to get her to move to her bed, Holly tucked the blanket a little tighter then checked all the doors once more.
Moving to the window where she’d seen the masked man shortly before, she tilted an eye-level blind and looked out at the darkness. Her stomach rolled with remembered fear.
Who had it been? Why was someone so intent on either scaring her or robbing her? Were the incidents at the store and the one here at home related? Or were they just mere coincidence?
Too many questions and not enough answers.
Holly flipped the blind closed and sighed, wondering if she’d get any sleep at all—in spite of the exhaustion dragging through her and the aching throb pounding in her head.
However the night went, sleep or no sleep, she’d leave the floodlights on tonight.
CHAPTER THREE
As the sun finally made an appearance to Eli’s left, the morning was as beautiful as all the ones he had remembered growing up. The barn lay straight ahead, rolling hills a backdrop to the red-and-white structure. Picture perfect. He’d missed it more than he ever thought he would.
He reached the barn and climbed down from the saddle to hand the reins over to Buckeye. “Thanks. He’s responding great. I think he’s ready to sell along with the other two.”
The horse snorted as Buckeye patted his neck. “So, you still remember how to break a horse even after all these years?”
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