Runaway Heart

by Saranne Dawson

  “I never told you,” she said. “I’d nearly forgotten about him because the warden told me right before you said you were going to escape.”

  “The warden told you what?” Zach asked impatiently.

  “That he’d heard Davis was behind the attack on you. He’s from Ondago County. I remember wondering about it at the time, but I knew he would already have been in prison by the time you became chief.”

  “I didn’t know that. What’s he in for?”

  “Manslaughter, as I recall. He killed someone in a bar fight. When you mentioned Summers’s business, it rang a bell. I interviewed Davis for my group, and I seem to recall that his information sheet mentioned he was employed by a trash hauling company.”

  “Whitfield Sanitation?” Zach asked eagerly.

  “That could have been it.” She nodded. “It sounds familiar. Is that Harvey Summers’s company?”

  “Yeah. It’s an old business. Summers inherited it from his mother’s family.” He was silent, nodding. “That makes sense. I never could figure out why those four came after me. I wrote it off to the fact that I was a cop, but there seemed to be more to it than that.”

  “You think that Harvey Summers paid them?”

  “It’s possible. He could have set it up through Davis, if you’re right about Davis having worked for him. Davis wouldn’t have had the guts to take me on himself, and in any event, Summers would have told him not to get personally involved, because if Davis was his employee, it could come back to him.

  “In fact, I have a vague recollection of one of my men—Colby, I think—mentioning a killing at the Antlers a few years back. That could have been Davis. Or maybe it was your father who told me. Homicides are rare enough around here that he could have mentioned it.”

  “And you’re going to start hanging out there?” she asked.

  “I have to go where the information is,” he replied in a distracted tone, obviously lost in his thoughts.

  “But you said that Summers could have killed you that night and didn’t. So why would he have tried it after you were in prison?”

  “A couple of possibilities. Number one, that he couldn’t do it that night because Colby wouldn’t have gone along with it. And number two, if he’d succeeded in getting me killed in prison, everyone would have assumed I’d been killed because I was a cop.”

  “Colby is beginning to sound like the key to all this,” she suggested. “If we could just get him to talk…”

  “He won’t,” Zach stated flatly, interrupting her. “He has too much to lose, especially if we’re right about Summers being that drunk driver and if Colby was with him. The only way Colby would talk is to save his own skin—a deal with the D.A. And we’re a long way from having enough information to go to the D.A.

  “But you’re right that he’s the key. If he knows it’s over, he’ll definitely be willing to plea-bargain.”

  They walked down the road to the other cabin where her car was hidden in the garage. C.Z. was going home for a day and then returning to stay at Stacey’s as planned. But she didn’t like the idea much since now she knew what Zach would be doing.

  “There’s something we both need to be aware of,” he said as he opened the garage door. “We can’t assume that Colby and Summers are working together at this point.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Summers could have a couple of lowlifes out looking for me or keeping an eye on you. Don’t assume that he bought your story about your reason for being here. I think you’d better stay away for a while—stay with Stacey, I mean.”

  She stared at him. “You intended this all along, didn’t you? Even before I told you about Davis.”

  His gaze slid away from hers, but he nodded. “I figured all along that Summers wouldn’t give up, and what you told me about Davis proves that. It’s time for you to stay out of it, C.Z. It’s too risky, and there isn’t a lot that I can do to protect you right now.”

  “You could have been honest with me,” she protested.

  “I’m being honest now. If I’d told you earlier, we’d just have wasted time arguing about it.”

  He reached for her and drew her into his arms. “I don’t want to let you go, Charlie girl, believe me. You’re the only good thing in my life right now. But that’s why I want to keep you safe. I’ll find a way to see you soon, but I want you to promise me you’ll wait until you hear from me.”

  “But how—”

  He cut off her question with a kiss. “Get out of here now,” he said gruffly, “before I can’t let you go.”

  ZACH WATCHED as her car churned up a cloud of dust and vanished around a bend in the road. She was barely out of sight, and already he missed her.

  He didn’t know which was worse, the risk of keeping her with him or the worrying about what she might be doing when he wasn’t there. He knew she thought he was a risk-taker—and he was—but the difference between them was that he knew the risks, and he wasn’t sure that she did. Still, he was convinced that she would be safer staying at Stacey’s and staying away from him. Summers couldn’t be sure she was in this with him, and if she didn’t do anything suspicious, he’d give up on her.

  He started up the road to the A-frame, plotting a course of action. Now that he knew the disguise worked, it was time to make some moves. He could feel that edge, that feeling he always had when he was pursuing a case. She was right when she’d said that he was addicted to his work. He just hoped she could learn to live with it—because he didn’t think he could learn to live without her.

  “THIS WILL BE your room,” Stacey said. “Actually, it’s my favorite, but we kept the master bedroom because it’s much bigger.”

  “It’s lovely,” C.Z. said sincerely. “The whole house is wonderful, Stacey.”

  Stacey smiled proudly. “Thanks. But you know, we’ve put so much time and work into it that it’s kind of a letdown, now that it’s finished. Ted is half-afraid I’m going to want to move and start all over again.”

  When Stacey left her to get settled in, C.Z. walked to the window and stared at a huge old sycamore that shaded the window, its heavy, mottled limbs nearly touching the pane. It was a wonderful old house. She envied her friend. She’d always been torn between a love for big old houses and an equal attraction to the starkly modern.

  As she stared through the branches into Stacey’s garden where clumps of mums provided the only color, her thoughts turned to Zach’s house—and then to Zach.

  She knew he was right to want her to stay here, but she also knew that meant long, lonely nights of worrying about the chances he might be taking.

  Stacey had told her that Sam Gittings had called the evening before, asking when she was returning. Her old friend had teased her that Sam still had a crush on her, and C.Z. thought that just might be the case. If only she could tell Stacey that she wasn’t interested, that she was in love with Zach. She hated the need for secrecy. Somehow, part of being in love was telling everyone in your life about it, and she was being denied that pleasure.

  But there was no doubt in her mind that she was indeed in love with Zach Hollis. Two days away from him had confirmed that. What had begun as a powerful physical attraction had deepened into something much bigger, stronger.

  He had rough edges that could never be softened, and there was no doubt that he was addicted to danger, but he also had a strong sense of honor and integrity and a very great and private gentleness, as well.

  What it all came down to, she thought, was that she knew Zach Hollis was the man for her. But in between this time and the future she could see them sharing lay a dark and twisted path.

  She turned from the window and began to unpack, then selected a long challis skirt, silk top and lightweight wool jacket to wear for her dinner with Mary Williams. Although she naturally harbored some hopes that Mary might be a source of information that could help Zach, C.Z. was also very curious about Mary’s relationship with her father.

  “MARY, forgive me if I’m pry
ing, but I understand that you and my father were…close.”

  Mary Williams blushed. “We were. It sounds silly to say we were dating at our age, doesn’t it? I didn’t think you knew, because I knew he hadn’t told you. But I guess you found out from Stacey. There are no secrets in this town.”

  C.Z. laughed and didn’t tell her that she’d guessed it herself, then had it confirmed by Zach, not Stacey. Instead, she talked about her guilt over her failure to spend time with her father.

  “He understood, C.Z.—believe me. He said that you were planning to come and spend some time with him after you finished grad school. In fact, right before he was killed, he suggested that might be a good time to announce that we were going to get married.”

  Tears sprang to the eyes of both women and they reached out to clasp hands for a few moments, sharing the grief that hadn’t gone away.

  “It was just so terrible,” C.Z. said. “I mean, Dad was always so careful in the woods. He’d investigated other hunting accidents, so he knew the dangers.”

  Mary nodded as she daubed at her eyes with a tissue. “They were hunting on the camp’s lands, and it was posted. He wouldn’t hunt on public game lands because he was always worried about trigger-happy nuts from the city. My husband had belonged to that same camp, you know, and they never had a problem there before.”

  C.Z. chose her next words very carefully. “Did anyone ever suggest that it might not have been an accident?”

  Something in Mary’s eyes gave her away. C.Z. knew that she, at least, had questioned that at some point. But could it be nothing more than a refusal to accept the truth, that it was nothing more than a random accident?

  “What do you mean?” Mary asked.

  C.Z. affected a shrug. “Nothing, really. It’s just that it was unusual, as you said, and Dad certainly could have had some enemies. I mean, he could have been working on something and was maybe getting too close to the truth.”

  Mary let the silence drag on for a few moments, then shook her head. “If he was, I didn’t know about it. And his men would certainly have looked into that possibility.”

  Their entrees arrived, and C.Z. reluctantly let the matter rest. But she was nearly certain there was something Mary wasn’t telling her. Still, why would she do that? She’d obviously loved him, and that meant she’d want to see his murderer caught.

  They talked about Mary’s children, both of whom were somewhat older than C.Z., though of course she’d known them, since they’d grown up in the same neighborhood. C.Z. told her that she was considering moving back to the area and mentioned the position that would soon be vacant at Ondago Family Services, saying that Stacey had already arranged for her to meet the woman who was leaving and learn some more about them.

  Mary said her sister sat on the board of the nonprofit agency and promised to speak to her on C.Z.’s behalf. C.Z. knew her sister, since she’d been her teacher in third grade. She was reminded of just what a small, insular world this was.

  Zach’s name didn’t enter the conversation until dessert, when they were talking about how the area was growing and changing.

  “I suppose you must have heard about our former police chief who’s in prison for trying to kill Harvey Summers. Or I should say, he was in prison. He’s escaped.”

  C.Z. nodded. “I was working at the prison while he was there, but I’d met him before that. Dad introduced us when I was here on a visit one time.”

  “Oh?” Mary said, obviously startled. “What do you think of him?”

  “I like him,” C.Z. replied. “It’s hard for me to believe he could have done something like that.”

  Mary sighed. “Yes, I know what you mean. I liked him from the first time we interviewed him for the position, and I know that your father liked him, as well.”

  “But the jury obviously believed Harvey Summers and Chief Colby,” C.Z. commented neutrally.

  “Yes,” Mary said, then lapsed into silence before suddenly asking, “Did you actually speak to him while he was in prison? Did he tell you anything?”

  C.Z. was certain that she heard something in Mary’s voice beyond just curiosity, but she wasn’t sure what it was. So she said Zach had told her that, in fact, it was Summers who had tried to kill him.

  “But did he give you any reason why Harvey might have done such a thing?” Mary asked in an oddly intent tone.

  “No. According to him, that was the problem. He couldn’t defend himself because he couldn’t think why Harvey would have tried to kill him.”

  She waited for a few heartbeats, then asked if Mary could think of any reason.

  Mary’s gaze met hers briefly, then slid away as she toyed with her chocolate mousse cake. “No, I can’t. Harvey was adamantly opposed to our hiring Zach in the first place, but he was outvoted. It was a very uncomfortable situation for Walt Jackson, the other commissioner, and me. We’ve always worked well together and we’ve tended to reach a consensus on such matters, but Harvey refused to make it a unanimous vote. He wanted us to consider Dave Colby, even though Dave hadn’t applied for the job.”

  “But he has the job now,” C.Z. commented.

  “I think Harvey talked him into it. Frankly, neither Walt nor I believe that David is up to the job, but after the fiasco with Zach, we felt that we had to go along.

  “Dave is just beside himself right now, because Harvey’s convinced him that Zach must be in the area. In fact, Harvey’s so frightened that he got a permit to carry a gun.”

  Unable to think of a way to gain any more information through indirect means, C.Z. opted for the direct approach. “Mary, is it possible that there’s something in Harvey’s background that he feared Zach would expose? If so, that could explain why he tried to kill Zach and then lied to get him sent to prison.”

  Unfortunately, their waiter chose that moment to inquire if they were ready for the bill. C.Z. had only a fleeting impression of something troubling in Mary’s eyes before she nodded to the waiter. Then, when the waiter had departed, she shook her head.

  “Nothing that I know of, and I’ve known him all my life.”

  Chapter Seven

  “C.Z.!”

  C.Z. jerked to wakefulness. Caught in that strange place between consciousness and sleep, she thought she’d heard Zach’s voice, low and urgent. It didn’t surprise her that she’d imagined it. A week had passed since she’d seen him, and with each passing hour she came closer to ignoring his order to stay away. Every morning, she made sure to listen to the local radio news, fearing that he’d been captured. Fortunately, both Stacey and Ted left for work early; otherwise, they might have wondered at her intense interest.

  “C.Z.! Let me in!”

  A startled cry escaped her lips as she sat up in bed and stared at the window. The drapes were drawn, but she’d left the window open just a bit, and they billowed in the night breeze.

  Her heart pounding in her chest, she climbed from the bed and ran to the window, still half convinced that she’d imagined his voice. But when she parted the drapes, there he was, crouched on the heavy limb of the sycamore, his hands braced on either side of the window frame!

  Reality clashed with her memory of him, rendering her temporarily paralyzed. He was wearing his disguise, including the body padding. It crossed her mind fleetingly that the additional bulk must have made it difficult for him to climb the tree.

  Her fingers trembling, she raised the window and then fumbled with the latches on the screen before finally getting it up, as well. Then she quickly stepped back on shaky legs as he climbed over the sill and stepped into her bedroom.

  “What—How—”

  But Zach’s only response to her half-formed questions was to push her against the bed and then tumble into it with her, his mouth covering hers even as she sank into the mattress.

  “I’ve missed you,” he growled as his hands quickly found their way beneath her nightshirt.

  She shivered, partly from his rough, cool touch and partly from the heated passion of his wo
rds. “How did you—”

  “Later,” he murmured as he tugged the nightshirt over her head and began to rain kisses over her exposed flesh.

  His beard was longer now, and softer, but it still tickled her sensitive skin, making her giggle even as desire began to thrum through her, building quickly and threatening to explode.

  She tried to unbutton his shirt, and then gave up on that and reached for the waistband of his jeans. But there was still the padding to deal with, and she made a sound of frustration. In the pale moonlight that poured in through the window, she saw the flash of his smile as he levered himself off the bed.

  “So you missed me, too,” he said with quiet satisfaction as he stripped off his clothing and the padding.

  Missed him? It went far beyond that, though she could not find the words to tell him that, certainly not at the moment, as he stood there naked before her with the moonlight bathing his body in a silvered glow and revealing the evidence of his desire.

  So instead, she opened her arms to him and drew him to her and gloried in the feel of him. And in that moment before she let all thoughts vanish beneath the sensual onslaught, C.Z. knew that she was not just welcoming him back but was also welcoming back a part of herself.

  Zach tried to temper his eagerness to have her. She could feel the effort he made to control himself, and that only made her want him still more. This was a Zach who was ruled by passion—a far different man from the one who faced danger so calmly and coolly.

  She liked feeling the battle he was waging with himself while at the same time she enjoyed taunting him, pushing him close to the edge.

  With a groan that signaled his surrender to a force beyond his control, he parted her and thrust into her and she arched to him and clung to him, and they both rode the flood tide of passion to the highest crest, then slid slowly down amidst sighs of pleasure—and of regret that it had all been too brief.

  “I love you,” he murmured, his lips brushing lightly against the top of her head as she nestled against his chest. “I didn’t want to say that until I could be sure we have a future.”