He gestured ahead on the road. “We’re almost at June’s place, and I need to focus on the op.” The truth, but it sounded like a lie to him.
Tara clasped her hands in her lap and turned her gaze back to the side window. Cal tried to ignore the rigid set of her shoulders and watched ahead for Shane’s car instead. When he spotted it parked at the end of the drive, he slowed. Shane reached out his window and waved them on, so Cal turned into the driveway. The tires crunched over gravel as the car rolled down to Kaci, where she stood guard next to the agents assigned to June’s detail. Kaci gave him a nod of clearance, and he pulled up to the house.
He lifted his sunglasses to peer at Tara. “Stay close to me, okay?”
She nodded but didn’t look at him. He pushed open his door and hoped his refusal to talk didn’t distract her. He joined her on her side of the vehicle, where she paused to look up at the house. The white clapboard siding on the two-story home and the small front porch with worn rocking chairs seemed welcoming and a great place to grow up. So different from his family’s small bungalow in a dingy suburb of Toledo.
“Looks like a place built for making good memories,” he said, hoping to restore her good mood and keep her mind off the pump house for now.
“It was.” He’d have to be deaf not to hear the residual disappointment in her voice and he suspected it was from his failure to share his past with her.
The screen door groaned open, and June stepped onto the porch. She wore serviceable jeans and a purple tank top. Her silvery-gray shoulder-length hair was pulled back in a ponytail, fitting her down-to-earth personality. Cal had questioned her at length, and he respected the sincerity and strength she displayed. Perhaps that’s where Tara got her strong-willed attitude. June was also a woman of faith, and Cal had to admire how she remained calm and peaceful in times of adversity.
“Aunt June!” Tara ran up the steps with abandon.
Cal knew she’d forgotten all about him, but he couldn’t forget about protecting her. He climbed the stairs, too.
A wide smile on her face, June opened her arms, and Tara rushed into them. A warm feeling settled into Cal’s heart. They were obviously close; they had the exact thing he’d been missing all of his life. Camaraderie with his SEAL team was the closest family connection he’d ever found. He could have the same bond with the Knights, but he’d drawn a line between himself and the team so they didn’t push him into opening up.
Maybe he’d been too hasty with them. His time with Tara told him he needed closer friends and letting the team in might help him cope with his stress.
And what about Tara? Should that line be erased with her as well?
“I’m so happy to see you, sweetheart.” June pulled back and pushed Tara’s hair from her face.
Tara flashed a dazzling smile, and pure joy washed over her face. A look of contentment—of homecoming—replaced the narrowed eyes, the clenched jaw, the uncertainly that had been present since he’d met her.
Cal’s heart melted into a big old puddle of mush. He suddenly knew as clearly as he knew he was standing in the warm sunshine that women like Tara didn’t come along very often, and only a fool would write off the potential of a relationship with her.
“Car slowing by the drive.” Kaci’s voice came over Cal’s earbud. “Will let you know if it turns in.”
Relationship. Right. Not now. Not while Keeler was out to kill Tara. Maybe never.
Cal jerked his focus to the driveway meandering downhill to a bright red barn with a white silo. About halfway down the drive sat a small, single-story home that Keeler had rented. Out of sight and nearer to the barn lay the ruins from the pump house. Cal continued on and peered over miles of tall green field corn used to feed cows, not humans. His gaze landed on a metal pole barn before finishing the circle back at the women.
June stared at Tara like a person stranded in the desert might eagerly eye an oasis. “It’s been so long. Let me look at you.”
“You’re thinner,” June pronounced. “But you’ve been working out, and you know I believe in staying fit.”
June obviously lived her belief. Cal’s research put her at sixty-four, but her arms were toned and muscled. The agents on her protective detail had reported that she worked the farm with hired hands and put in a full day at their side.
“Where are my manners?” She spun to face Cal. “Agent Riggins, it’s good to see you again.”
Tara startled in surprise as if she didn’t remember that he had a connection to her aunt or maybe even that he stood on the porch.
“We spent a lot of time talking after you took off,” her aunt explained while running her gaze over him from head to toe and smiling at Tara. “He obviously believes in keeping in shape, too.”
An innocent-enough comment, but Tara’s face colored, and he knew where her mind had gone as he continued to admire her fresh farm-girl look, too. He liked the worn jeans, T-shirt, and boots. Her hair in a braid, her face beet red. Such simplicity he hadn’t seen in years, and the corner of his mouth twitched up, but he resisted commenting.
June’s casual gaze intensified. “Oh, it’s that way, is it?”
Cal didn’t know if he should say anything in response, so he kept his mouth closed.
Tara ignored the comment, too, and linked her arm with her aunt’s. “Let’s catch up before Cal grills you about Oren again, as I’m sure he plans to do so.”
They stepped through the door and, after signaling to Kaci to keep her eyes open and stay alert, Cal followed the pair into the living room. A large modular sectional took up most of the room, sitting on dark hardwood floors with scrapes and scuffs from years of use. On Cal’s prior visit, June mentioned that when Tara and Oren were kids, they often separated the sectional pieces, draped blankets over them, and declared them forts. June also said there were few kids in the area, so Tara and Oren mostly played alone, except when her cousins came to visit.
Cal didn’t have to struggle to imagine Tara having fun like that, but Keeler? No, Cal couldn’t imagine the killer anywhere near Tara, much less having fun.
She sat by her aunt on the sofa and took her hand. “So what’s new in your world?”
June spent the next thirty minutes updating Tara on the neighbors and local gossip, and Cal got antsy. Peering out the window. Checking the driveway. Looking for any sign of Keeler. The longer they remained on the property, the greater chance that Keeler would make them. But Tara deserved this little chat with her aunt, so Cal tried to hide his impatience.
His mind shifted to wondering what it would be like at the end of a workday to find Tara, not in any danger, waiting for him to come home to a place much like this one.
A pipe dream. The only progress he’d made in dealing with his guilt was wishing he could get over it, and if there was one thing he knew for certain, wishing didn’t make things happen.
People, determination, and grit did. And, of course, so did God. Or at least that’s how Cal remembered it. For months, Cal had tried to locate Keeler on his own and failed. Maybe it was time to give God a second chance to help not only eradicate the guilt and anger eating at Cal, but bring Keeler to justice.
Are You up there listening, watching? If so, mind giving me some sign that You’re working on this and help me trust in that?
Okay, so he was rusty in the prayer department and his prayer was kind of lame, but maybe God answered lame, too. Maybe.
“Of course,” June said, drawing him back. “People keep asking me about the agents sitting in the driveway.”
Cal thought of the mistake Agent Fields had made at the hospital, and he pushed off the wall to step closer. “I hope they haven’t been a problem for you, June.”
“Quite the opposite. Agent Ingles is particularly good at hoeing the garden.”
Cal gaped at her for a moment. “You got Ingles to work in your garden?”
She nodded with only a hint of an impish expression. “In all seriousness, I appreciate you providing the protection.”
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“You’re welcome, but you must know by now that their assignment is twofold.”
“Sure, they’re keeping an eye out for Oren.” She sighed and let go of Tara’s hand. “I’m guessing since you brought Tara over to look at the pump house today that you don’t have any solid leads on his whereabouts.”
He couldn’t acknowledge that, though they’d run down countless leads over the past six months, they’d made little progress in the investigation. “Is there anything you’ve remembered about Keeler since we last talked?”
“Trust me. If I thought of anything to stop Oren from killing, your agents would have been the first to know.”
“Sometimes things happen that we don’t realize are important. Would you mind rehashing the day of the explosion with me again?”
“I don’t mind at all.” A look of resolve very similar to the one Tara often wore narrowed June’s eyes. “But please have a seat. You standing there all agent-like is making me nervous.”
Cal would rather stand where he had a better view of the outside, but Kaci and Shane had his back, and making June uncomfortable wouldn’t help her open up. He dropped onto a worn recliner across from the sofa.
She began describing the day, and Tara listened with rapt interest though June had talked about the pump house events with Tara at the hospital before she’d taken off. Cal hung on June’s every word, too, but when she’d finished her story, she hadn’t added anything new.
“I know Oren is still engaged in horrible things,” she continued. “But I have to say it’s been weird not having him around.”
“From what you told me, you spent a lot of time with him,” Cal said.
“After his mother passed, I stepped in as a surrogate. We often ate dinner together, and he’d talk about his day at work.” She frowned. “He hated his job and thought assembling security systems was beneath him. He said one day he would do something powerful that changed the world.” She twisted her hands together in her lap. “I thought he meant finally going back to college to finish his degree.”
“It was unfortunate that he had to drop out when his dad died,” Tara said. “Maybe if Oren had been able to get a degree, things would be different now.”
June nodded. “But even if he didn’t go back, he could’ve used the knowledge he gained in electrical engineering to do something to make the world a better place. Not start building bombs.” June shifted her focus to Cal. “Do you think this had to do with losing his parents or the farm?”
Cal shook his head but chose not to mention the connection to Tara. If she wanted June to know, she could tell her.
“Cal thinks it’s about me, Aunt June, and he knows I already feel guilty, so he’s being kind and not mentioning it.” Tara caught his gaze and smiled a thank-you at him before explaining to her aunt about rejecting Oren.
June clutched Tara’s arm. “I don’t get why you and Oren didn’t mention it to me.”
“I didn’t because, honestly, it wasn’t big news for me.” Tara sighed. “I guess Oren kept quiet because he was embarrassed.”
“Did you notice a change in his behavior at the time?” Cal asked.
June stared off into the distance. “Now that you mention it, he didn’t come to dinner as often after that, and he spent more time alone.” She shook her head and exhaled hard. “What do you suppose will become of the things he put in my safe?”
Interest piqued, Cal sat forward. “I don’t recall you mentioning a safe.”
June waved a hand. “It’s just some old family jewelry that doesn’t have any real value.”
“Can I see it?”
“Sure, but I don’t see how an old ring and necklace could be related your investigation.”
Cal came to his feet. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”
“Okay.” She stood. “The safe’s in the office. I’ll be right back.”
When she’d left the room, Tara got up and crossed to Cal. “You think the necklace has to do with why he chose necklace bombs?”
“If it has any family significance, yes, but otherwise it may be a coincidence,” he replied, though a coincidence in an investigation rarely turned out to be one.
Tara crossed her arms. “I wish Oren hadn’t involved June in this mess. She wouldn’t hurt anyone and doesn’t deserve this treatment.”
He met her gaze and held it. “You don’t deserve it either.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but June returned, taking Tara’s attention. Her aunt held a cloth bag with a drawstring top made from flowery quilted fabric.
“This bag belonged to Oren’s mother.” She pulled the drawstring open, revealing a flannel lining with pockets. “It was filled with jewelry when she passed. Oren and I went through it together, but he only kept two pieces.”
She reached inside, drew out an opal ring, and handed it to Cal.
He turned it around in his fingers but found no inscription in the gold or anything unusual about it, for that matter.
June dug into the bag again. “The necklace has a lovely cameo. His mother used to wear it to church quite often. In fact, she was wearing it when the car crash took her life.”
She lifted the beaded necklace from the bag and ran the black agate beads mixed with sepia-toned metal beads through her fingers. The cameo dangled from the beads, facing away from them.
Tara stepped closer and took the necklace. “I remember the beads.”
Cal pointed at the gold backing of the oval pendant. “There’s something engraved there.”
“Odd.” June leaned over the necklace. “I don’t remember it being engraved.”
Tara lifted the cameo to inspect it, and Cal bent over her shoulder and read, “‘To Tara, my love.’”
Tara’s mouth opened and closed, but words seemed to fail her. Cal flipped over the medallion, revealing a black oval background holding an ivory skull and crossbones.
Tara gasped and stared at her aunt. “The cameo. He…he…” Tara shook her head. “Why would he deface his mother’s necklace like this?”
Cal couldn’t share Keeler’s addition of the skull and crossbones on the front of the bombs, but he would be an idiot if he didn’t acknowledge to himself that the change in this necklace held significance for their investigation.
June touched the front of the oval and jerked her finger away as if it might burn her. “And when did he do it? It’s been in the safe since he lost the farm, and he’s never taken it out.”
“At least not that you know about.” Cal’s imagination took a dark turn. He visualized the creep stalking through this house. Maybe when June had gone out or even when she’d slept upstairs. His fingers pawing through everything. Touching and messing with June’s personal possessions.
The queasy look on June’s face told him her thoughts moved in the same direction.
“Cal?” Tara’s big eyes, wide and filled with terror, fixed on his. “What are you thinking?”
“It’s not something I can discuss right now, but be assured, I’ll get to the bottom of what this means.” He closed his hand around the cameo to remove the visual threat and wished he could so easily remove the actual threat on Tara’s life.
Chapter 20
Tara approached the burned-out shell of the pump house and stopped at the fringe of the exploded mess. Her knees were weak and her palms coated in perspiration. If she wanted to remember anything, she had to get closer, but she couldn’t get her feet moving forward. She slid her fingers under the thickest rubber band on her wrist and snapped. Once. Twice. A third time, but her heart continued to trip along at an alarming rate.
Cal walked up to her, confidence in his steps. He didn’t speak or touch her, but having him at her side gave her the courage to move. She scrubbed her palms down her jeans and took the final steps into the ruins.
An acrid smell lingered in the air and charred fragments of wood lay on the ground. If she hadn’t called Cal that night, would she have died in an explosion? Or would Oren have simp
ly shot her and hauled off her body? Simply, right. There was nothing simple about a gunshot. She’d experienced that firsthand.
She took a few more steps and tried to remember June’s potting bench, but the sight of the cameo wouldn’t leave her brain. Cal hadn’t explained the meaning behind the skull and crossbones, but with the inscription on the back of the necklace, she believed Oren had wanted her dead even before the pump house incident. Or perhaps, in his sick, twisted mind he thought if he gave her the necklace, her feelings for him would change, and she’d join his crazy world.
She slid a finger under the rubber band again.
Cal gently took her hand and pulled her fingers free. “I know this is hard.”
His voice wrapped around her like a warm blanket, but what touched her even more than his reassurance was his willingness to ignore his need for the same professionalism he’d mentioned in the car and hold her hand in front of his teammates standing guard at the perimeter.
She looked up at him and memorized every plane, every angle of his face and the compassion shining from his eyes. The coldness in her heart evaporated, and with him standing nearby, if she remembered the details of the night Oren had tried to kill her, the memories wouldn’t do irreparable harm.
She touched Cal’s cheek, a light whisper of her fingers, then lowered her hand. “Thank you again for saving me in the woods that night.”
He squeezed her hand. Dark anger, likely over Keeler’s crazy behavior, flashed in his eyes but vanished with a blink. “Why not remember the good times you’ve had on the farm? I’ve seen how much you love your aunt. You light up when you talk about growing up here. Don’t let Keeler take that away from you.”
Cal was right. She had a choice. She could listen to her emotions and let them color her attitude, or remember that feelings weren’t facts and didn’t convey truth. They were just feelings, and she could control them if she put her mind to it.
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