Every Vow She Breaks

by Jannine Gallant

  “I tried to tell you this isn’t the first time someone’s broken into my motor home. But what he’s done here is a lot worse than before, which is why I called the police.” She let out a breath. “It’s a long story, and I’m cold. Do you mind if I put on a warmer jacket?”

  “I can’t let you disturb the scene until it’s been processed, but you can sit in the squad car if you’d like.”

  “No, thanks. I—”

  Footsteps slapped the pavement as the younger of the two responding officers hurried across the parking lot. “I talked to everyone I could find in the vicinity and checked with homeowners in the nearby houses. No one admits to seeing anyone lingering around your vehicle.” He stopped beside her and held out a hand for Scoop to sniff. “Guess you should have left this big guy in your RV. I doubt anyone would have been brave enough to mess with him.”

  Instead, she’d ignored the sign about no pets and taken him with her to the lighthouse. “Hindsight’s a…well, you know.” She tried to stop her teeth from chattering. “I have a heavy jacket in the closet near the bed. If you could—”

  “Hernandez, get her a blanket out of the car. No one’s going to touch anything in this place before the techs get here.”

  “How long will that be?”

  “They should arrive shortly, but it’ll take a couple of hours to process everything.”

  When Officer Hernandez returned with a wool blanket, she smiled her thanks and wrapped it around her shoulders then grabbed her backpack and moved away to sit on the raised curb.

  He followed. Kind eyes gazed down at her.

  Is this man old enough to be a cop? With that baby face, he looked like a sixteen-year-old who worked out. Maybe he was in training.

  “Once the team gets here, we can take you back to the station to get your full statement. Normally we’d handle a B&E ourselves, but the nature of the photographs turns this into something more serious. Edelman wants a thorough investigation and interview, just to be on the safe side.” He turned to glance out over the gray expanse of ocean. “At least you’ll be warm while he questions you. The fog rolled in fast this evening.”

  “A half hour ago it was gorgeous.”

  “You know how it is on the coast.”

  When the older officer called him back to the RV with a barked order, Claire let her shoulders slump. The brave face she’d pasted on after she got over her screaming attack fell away. All those pictures…

  Scoop pressed against her and whined. She leaned her cheek on his warm fur and clenched her fists beneath the blanket. Wishing Jed was there beside her wouldn’t make him magically appear. Her fault. She’d been the one who was so sure she was safe from her stalker. That she could do this alone….

  Nameless. Faceless. She couldn’t begin to imagine what kind of pervert had taken all those pictures. Sunbathing at her old cottage. Dressing in her motor home. A blurry shot of her in the shower at some campground she didn’t even remember. Wait. There’d been a long, narrow window high up on the brick wall of the showers in Yellowstone. She’d set her earrings on the ledge and nearly forgotten them. That was…her brow wrinkled…three years ago. Maybe four. This freak had been following her around for a long time. There were pictures of her in Lake Tahoe and Yosemite and the Colorado Rockies. Pictures from Death Valley and Moab and…no, none from Hawaii. He hadn’t followed her to Hawaii.

  As bad as they were, the photographs weren’t even the worst part. He’d thrown back the covers on her bed to make it up with red silk sheets and left handcuffs on the table, along with a whip and a few other objects she assumed were assorted sex toys. A shudder wracked her as she drew in a ragged breath. Sick freak.

  Bet your boy toy doesn’t know half the things I’ll do to you on our honeymoon. I’ll make you feel so good. Time’s almost up!

  Every word of the note taped to the refrigerator was burned into her brain. She whimpered and pressed harder against Scoop’s side. The dog turned to lick her face as a van rolled into the parking lot.

  Thank God. All she wanted to do was give her statement then go…where? A motel. She couldn’t face the motor home again tonight. Would they take all the pictures and other…stuff…as evidence? Would the officers let her retrieve a change of clothes and her toothbrush? Scoop would want his dinner even if she didn’t.

  “Ma’am, we can go now.” The baby-faced cop approached.

  She nodded and stood to follow him to the patrol car. The older officer joined them, lips still clamped in a tight line, and waved his partner toward the passenger side. She’d be willing to bet the kid never got to drive.

  When Edelman opened the rear door, she hesitated. “Scoop?”

  “Damn. I forgot about him.” The senior officer frowned. “I’ll call animal control to pick him up.”

  “What? No!” She dropped to her knees to clasp her arms around Scoop’s neck. Tears threatened, and she blinked to hold them back.

  Hernandez regarded her over the roof of the car then turned his gaze on his partner. “Can’t we let her bring him along, just this once? I’ll deal with him at the station.”

  The hard gray gaze softened as he turned back to face her. “I suppose he can ride along.”

  She let out a breath then pushed up off the pavement. “Thank you.” After her dog leaped inside, she climbed in beside him, feeling like a criminal trapped behind the mesh partition.

  The two men talked about last night’s baseball game as they cruised down Front Street then made a left turn onto a side street. Away from the view of the ocean, the town looked grim beneath a shroud of fog. Or maybe it was just her mood. They passed a bank and some other businesses then slowed to pull into the parking area behind the police station. The older cop let her out when they reached their destination since the door wasn’t operable from the inside.

  Hernandez gave her an encouraging smile, took the leash from her then led Scoop away. After Edelman checked in, she followed him down a hallway to a room with a scattering of metal desks and file cabinets. He pointed to a straight-back chair beside a desk cluttered with a collection of dirty coffee mugs and an array of framed snapshots before he dropped onto the cracked, fake-leather chair behind it. She would have guessed he was a neat freak. Yet another bad judgment call on her part.

  After jiggling his mouse to bring the computer to life, he clicked a few times then glanced over with fingers poised above the keyboard. “We’ll start with your personal information. Full name, phone number, address.”

  She stumbled over the last one. Thanks to Great-aunt Agatha she didn’t have to admit to being homeless. She was pretty certain the man opposite her wouldn’t have been impressed.

  “Now, let’s go over the sequence of events again. Start with when you arrived in town.”

  Claire repeated every detail of her time in Crescent City from pulling into the campground the previous afternoon to making the 9-1-1 call a little over twenty-four hours later. Then she went through it again.

  “All right, now I want to hear about these other incidents. You didn’t report them?”

  Claire shook her head. “They seemed completely harmless at first. I thought the man responsible was an old boyfriend. I was certain I could handle the situation myself. Except it wasn’t someone I know.”

  Edelman shot her a hard glance. “Let’s just stick to the facts, not your interpretation of them. When did the first incident take place?”

  A half hour later, Claire wondered why no one had recruited this man to interrogate terrorists. Surely they’d break beneath his unrelenting gaze. Did he ever smile?

  “You mentioned your friend, Jed, was around for most of these incidents. Can I get his full name and contact information please.”

  She hesitated. “Jed isn’t involved. He’s been more concerned this…person would prove to be dangerous than I was. After the last time with the nightie and candles, he didn’t want me to go anywhere alone.”

  The cop glanced up from h
is keyboard. “Then why did you?”

  “We sort of had a fight.”

  His brows shot up. “And it never crossed your mind he could be the one harassing you?”

  “No, it isn’t Jed.”

  “But you thought it might be one of your other ex-boyfriends.”

  “I considered it. However, Ross is in Connecticut, so he’s definitely not the one. Ian has no interest in reviving a long dead relationship, and Dallas…”

  “Yes?”

  “I’d know if Dallas was lying to me. He’s not responsible.”

  “I’ll need all their names and addresses.”

  Claire sighed then provided what information she could. The officer had a computer in front of him. She was pretty sure he would ferret out the specifics.

  “Why are you smiling?”

  She straightened. “Was I? Probably because I was imagining Ian’s reaction when he gets a phone call from the police. He’s the only person I know who frowns more than you do.”

  Something that might have been a snort of humor escaped before he pressed a hand over his mouth and coughed. “Let’s move on. Jed’s surname?”

  “Lafferty. He lives up on Donner Summit. I don’t have his address, but I can give you his cell phone number.”

  “Go ahead.”

  She recited it. “Jed had nothing to do with this, honestly. Anyway, his brother is a sheriff, and his dad is a retired cop.”

  “Just because his family is in law enforcement doesn’t mean your friend isn’t a pervert. Where does the brother work?”

  “Kane lives somewhere near Napa.”

  The man typed for a few minutes then sat back in his chair. “You’re sure you’re telling me everything exactly the way it happened?”

  “Of course I’m telling you everything. Do you think I’d make this stuff up? It sounds crazy enough as it is.”

  The gray eyes turned almost silver beneath dark brows. “Maybe after you and your boyfriend had a fight, he wanted to make some kind of point with the photographs. Or perhaps he got a little kinkier than you liked, and it scared you.”

  Fists clenched, she shot up out of the chair. “No!”

  “Sit down. Please.”

  Claire dropped back onto the seat and let out a long breath. “That isn’t what happened.”

  “We’ll look into all the information you’ve provided.”

  She pressed her hands hard against her thighs. “Thank you. Can I go back to my motor home now?”

  “Let me check on the team’s progress.”

  He stood and walked away only to disappear into an office. The door shut behind him.

  Officer Hernandez left the desk where he’d been since he returned without Scoop and offered her a commiserating smile. “Edelman can be kind of a hard ass, but he’s smarter than any cop I know.”

  “He’s wrong about this. The person stalking me may be an acquaintance, but he isn’t someone close to me.”

  “He’ll make some calls and contact the police in Shady Bend to update them on the situation. While you’re in town, we’ll keep an eye on you. You’ll be safe enough.”

  She shivered. “I don’t think I can sleep in my motor home tonight. I’d like to get a few things then check into a motel.”

  His deep brown eyes filled with compassion. “Maybe you should call a friend or relative. Talk to someone. It might help.”

  “I don’t know anyone around here.” She stood when Edelman exited the office. “I’ll be fine. I just need some time to pull myself together.”

  “They’re finished. Everything the man left in your vehicle has been bagged and taken as evidence.” The older cop eyed the rookie. “You can take her back to the RV or wherever Miss Templeton would like to go.”

  She forced a smile. “Thank you. I appreciate your help.”

  He nodded. “I’ll be in touch.”

  Night had fallen while they were in the police station. After retrieving Scoop from the kennel where he’d been languishing, Officer Hernandez opened the car door to let the ecstatic dog jump onto the rear seat before she climbed in beside him. Leaning back against the headrest, Claire stroked her quivering pet and let out a long sigh.

  “Tired?” He glanced at her in the rearview mirror.

  “Drained. I want to go to bed and wake up to find out this was all a bad dream.”

  “That’d be nice. Just click your heels and say, ‘There’s no place like home.’”

  Except she didn’t want to be transported home. She wanted Jed.

  “We can stop to get you something to eat.”

  “No, thanks.” She shook her head. “Seeing those pictures effectively squelched my appetite.”

  “You should still eat something. We can swing through a drive-up window and get a burger.”

  Her stomach churned. “Ugh.”

  He glanced back again through the mirror. “Vegetarian?”

  “No, but I don’t do fast food.”

  “How about a burrito? You’ll think you died and went to heaven.”

  “I guess that’s preferable to the alternative. All right.”

  He drove through town before parking in front of a shack down near the harbor. “I know it looks bad on the outside, but the food is first rate. Trust me on this. Do you want beef or chicken?”

  “Chicken.”

  “Be right back.”

  A fog horn blared, deep and mournful, as she waited and wondered what Jed was doing. Pulling her cell from her pocket, she scrolled through the missed calls. One from Theresa. One from her mother. She’d call them both later. No new ones from Jed. She couldn’t blame him for giving up on her.

  The car door opened. “Here you go.” Hernandez handed her a bag. “I had them double wrap the burrito in foil to keep it warm while we collect your stuff.”

  She reached for her backpack. “What do I owe you?”

  “It’s on the house. My sister owns the place.”

  “Well, thanks. It smells unbelievable. I love Mexican food.”

  He got in, backed out of the parking space, then drove to the lot where she’d left her RV. Letting the car idle, he turned to face her. “You still want to go to a motel?”

  “Yes. No.” She took a deep breath. “Screw that creep! I’m not going to let him call the shots. Anyway, I can’t avoid the motor home forever. It’s the only transportation I have at the moment.”

  A streetlight illuminated his flashing smile. “I like you, Claire. You’re a tough chick, even if you do look like one of those porcelain dolls my niece keeps on a shelf.”

  “I don’t break that easily, but I wouldn’t say no if you offered to go in there first. Like the lion, I need a dose of courage right now.”

  “Unlike the tin man, you have plenty of heart. Let’s go see what sort of mess the techs left in the place.” He turned off the engine, opened the door and stepped out of the car to open her door.

  She was slow to release her seatbelt. By the time she stood on the pavement, he’d let Scoop out and was waiting in front of the RV.

  “Do you have the key? They locked it up.”

  Digging the key ring out of her backpack, she handed it over. His palm closed over hers, giving it a light squeeze. “Everything will be all right.”

  “I know. I’m just a little nervous.”

  After unlocking the door, he pulled a flashlight from his belt and went inside. Scoop followed. When the dog sat in front of his food bowl and whined, she smiled and joined them.

  The officer switched on the battery powered light over the sink. “Not too bad. They dusted the place for prints, so you’ll need to do a little cleaning.”

  The photos were all gone. So were the sex toys and the sheets. Her bed was a tangled mess of covers. They’d taken the note as well. She let out a sigh of relief.

  “I’ll definitely stay here tonight. Well, not here, here. I’ll go back to the campground.”

  “I’ll follow you ove
r then swing by a couple times before my shift ends.”

  Gratitude filled her. “Thank you.”

  “No problem. Did you get your burrito?”

  “I put it in my backpack.”

  He stepped past her as she edged toward the driver’s seat. “Don’t worry. I’ll be right behind you, and I’ll make sure we’re not followed. Claire?”

  “Yes?”

  “The officer who relieves me will drive by a few times, too.”

  “I think I love you.”

  He laughed. “That’s what they all say. Try to get some sleep. Maybe I’ll see you again tomorrow if we have any news to report by then.”

  “I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”

  The short drive to the campground was highlighted by Scoop’s pathetic moans. Apparently he was in serious danger of starvation. Once she’d parked in her site, the patrol car cruised through the campground twice before leaving.

  Claire fed Scoop then tackled the bed, putting on fresh sheets and blankets. Finally she wiped down the table and kitchenette area before sitting to eat her burrito. Officer Hernandez hadn’t exaggerated. With her appetite restored, she savored every delectable bite.

  Scoop’s evening walk was straight to the restroom and back. She sighed in relief when he lifted his leg over a bush almost immediately. No way was she taking a leisurely stroll through the dark campground tonight. Back in the motor home, she tugged all the curtains tightly together across the windows before changing into an old pair of sweats. Her cell sat on the table. She picked it up and turned it over.

  She wanted to call Jed. God, how she wanted to call him. Hear his voice. Listen to him tell her she’d be okay. Tears threatened, and she forced them back. She refused to cry. Refused to break down because some pervert had invaded what was essentially her home and touched her things. Had spied on her when she wasn’t aware she was being watched. She wouldn’t cry even though she ached for the man she loved.

  Turning off the phone, she set it down, rechecked the lock on the door, rubbed Scoop’s ears then crawled into bed despite the fact that it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet. She tucked her knees to her chest and closed her eyes. A single sob escaped.