There’s been enough violence and destruction. Lord, please, help me. I don’t want to feel this way. The fear and unforgiveness are too much for me.
The door opened as Lorie led Colleen up the concrete walkway.
“You have an emergency?”
Lorie looked into the friendly face of a former classmate. Ginny Travis had always been an animal lover.
“Hi, Ginny. Mom told me you’d become a vet, but I didn’t know you worked here.”
Ginny smiled. “Yep, I’m Doc Travis these days. Good to see you, Lorie.” She brushed a strand of flyaway strawberry-blond hair out of her eyes. “What’s the trouble?”
Matt spoke before Lorie could. “Somebody broke into Lorie’s house and hurt the dog.”
“Oh, no! Let’s see.” She looked down at Colleen, assessing her in the security lights. “This looks bad. What happened?”
“I’m not sure exactly. I think Colleen must have tried to stop the intruder.”
Concern and warm competence glowed in Ginny’s face. “Bring her on in to Exam Room 1. We’ll be able to see better in there.”
Daingerville Animal Hospital was bigger than Lorie remembered—though admittedly, she hadn’t been there in years. Since the dog had already had all her shots when her parents presented Lorie with her, there’d been no occasion to visit the vet. She followed Ginny and Matt, bringing Colleen, who appeared to be upset by the various medicinal smells.
“It’s okay, girl. I’ll be right here with you.”
Colleen whimpered as she accompanied them into the exam room. The three of them managed to get her up onto the table, which Ginny had draped with a large towel to keep the dog from getting cold.
Ginny got a good look at Lorie. “Looks like someone hurt you, too.”
“Yeah, well, it hasn’t been a banner day. How’s Colleen?”
In the bright examining lights, Lorie could see where someone had hit Colleen with something sharp. It probably had been enough to send the dog running for cover.
“Well, the good news is that it doesn’t seem life threatening. It doesn’t look as if she’ll need stitches, either. The bad news is, aside from the cut, she also has a lump. We’ll clean the wound, put on some medicine which she won’t like a bit, and then we’ll bandage it. How does that sound?”
“Like a plan.”
“You have vet insurance?”
“I wish.”
Ginny chuckled. “That’s what they all say. If you have animals, it’s worth considering.”
Lorie and Matt held Colleen still as Ginny went through the treatment. It wasn’t as bad as Lorie had feared, but Colleen did squirm and protest. In addition to the bandage, Ginny put a cone collar around her neck to keep her from biting the bandage away.
Ginny checked Colleen’s eyes and tested her reflexes, before nodding.
When it was done, they lifted Colleen down off the table.
“I don’t think it’s a serious injury, but keep an eye on her if you can over the weekend. If she starts showing signs of concussion—dizziness, upset stomach—either give me a call or bring her back in. And you should be able to take the collar off her in a few days. We’ll make a follow-up appointment for next week to make sure she’s healing properly.”
“Okay.”
“Let’s run this through the computer, now that she’s taken care of. I’ll get the paperwork in order. I should have done that first, but I can’t stand to make an animal wait while its people fill out forms. They don’t understand.”
Lorie smiled. “You always did care more about the animals than people.”
“Some people, for sure.”
Lorie filled out a new-patient form for Colleen, putting in all her contact information, most of which would be wrong for the next few days, until it was safe for her to go home again. If it ever was.
“At least the cell phone number is right. I’ll be staying at Rob Roy Ranch until things settle down.”
Ginny brightened at that news. “That’s good. Colleen should be happy there.”
“And safe.” Matt’s voice warmed Lorie like hot chocolate on a cold night.
“Let’s set the appointment for next Friday at—two o’clock okay for you?”
Lorie nodded as she handed Ginny a credit card. After it cleared, they were ready to go.
Ginny gave Lorie a smile as she handed back the card. “Now that I know your number, let’s get together for coffee.”
“You may want to rethink that until after they catch whoever it is who’s threatening me.”
“We’ll get together for coffee.” No hint of compromise in her voice. Ginny reached out and petted Colleen. “After church Sunday morning good for you?”
Lorie smiled. “I may not be able to make it Sunday, but soon.”
“Great! I’m so glad you’re back in town.”
“Thanks, Ginny. Me, too.” Despite everything.
As Lorie fastened Colleen back into the truck seat, a sense of connection with Matt flowed through her. Maybe it was all the talk about church. Maybe it was relief that Colleen was going to be okay. For a brief moment, Lorie let herself relax, ignoring the intensifying pain in her arms.
They cruised through Daingerville, passing the collection of shops and buildings around the town square. At this hour, everything was closed and shuttered. The old gaslights glowed softly, illuminating their hanging baskets of multicolored petunias. Matt headed the pickup toward the Supercenter on the highway.
A few minutes later, Matt pulled into the parking lot and circled slowly, looking for a place.
“I’ll come in with you.”
Lorie shook her head. “I won’t be long. Somebody needs to stay with Colleen.”
In the glare of the overhead lights, Matt’s eyes were warm and concerned. “I don’t feel right about your going in alone.”
“Then take me on to the ranch. I’ll get what I need in the morning.”
“You’ll need some basic stuff tonight.”
Since she hadn’t found a single undamaged piece of clothing in the house, Lorie knew Matt was right. The ranch guesthouse probably had amenities like toothpaste and shampoo, but not nightclothes or slippers. What to wear to work on Monday loomed large in her thoughts. Lorie didn’t ordinarily buy work clothes at the Supercenter, but she could make an exception for now.
“Let me go in by myself. I’ll be fine. They have all those cameras. If anybody tries to bother me, I’ll call for help.”
Matt slid the car into a parking spot and turned off the engine.
“Hand me your cell phone.”
Puzzled, Lorie handed it over. Matt punched a few buttons. A moment later, apparently satisfied, he handed it back.
“You didn’t have anything special on speed-dial 9. Now you do. If you need me, call 9. I’ll be right in.”
A little glow of warmth touched Lorie’s heart. She hadn’t expected Matt to go that extra mile. Of course, maybe he was just doing his job, preventing her from being attacked. Maybe it was only a little deputy work. Sure. That must be it.
“Thanks.” Lorie stuffed the phone into her pocket and activated the Bluetooth device at her ear. “It shouldn’t take long. Maybe twenty minutes. Ten if I hurry and don’t get stuck in a long line. Oh, should I get a few groceries while I’m here?”
“See, that’s why I should come with you. I could point out the things you won’t find at the ranch.”
“Honestly, I’ll feel much better with you keeping an eye on Colleen.” Lorie peered over the backseat. Colleen stretched and lay down, sighing.
“Hurry back.”
Lorie nodded. She had no intention of dawdling.
Once inside the store, Lorie grabbed a bag of Colleen’s favorite dog food, then headed for the women’s department.
As she moved through the selection of Misses sizes looking for a shirt and skirt, the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Recognizing the sensation for the warning it was, Lorie stopped to look around. Someone was watching her.
After one complete circle, Lorie hadn’t spotted anyone staring in her direction, and started to feel grateful that her initial panic hadn’t made her phone Matt. Would he have come charging in here, gun drawn, scaring everybody?
Glancing up, she noticed one of the smoked-glass camera globes. Well, naturally she was being watched. Everyone was.
Not that there were too many people here on a Friday night after 10:00 p.m. Lorie shook off the spooky feeling and chose a couple of shirts in her size without trying them on. She might not feel like shopping tomorrow after everything that had happened today.
Picking out a skirt and a pair of jeans, nightclothes and underwear, Lorie moved to the limited selection of dressier items. She found something immediately. She wondered what Mom would say if she showed up at First Church in a dress from the Supercenter. In spite of everything, she smiled at the thought. First had a reputation for stuffiness.
Her own church wouldn’t mind. Wolf Hollow Community was a little church, and, being out in the country, people often showed up in work clothes. Of course, she might not be going to her own church on Sunday. Matt might insist she accompany him to his. A little trickle of warmth settled in her interior at the thought.
Lorie shook herself, went to the shoe department and grabbed house slippers, shower shoes and a pair of dressy gold sandals for Sunday, in case she couldn’t shop tomorrow.
Lorie’s cell phone started playing Mozart in her ear, and she jumped.
Lord, I’m nervous as a feral cat. Please keep me safe.
She pressed the button on her Bluetooth earpiece. “Hello?”
“Are you all right? It’s been twenty minutes.”
Matt. Lorie sighed with relief.
“Yes. I’m sorry. It’s taking longer than I thought.”
“Did you remember your vitamins, makeup, little stuff like that?”
“No. I was concentrating on the big stuff.” The memory of seeing her makeup, toothpaste and toiletries smeared all over her bathroom, not to mention the stench of three combined perfumes overpowering the spilled shampoo, washed over her again.
Some unknown enemy had gone into her house and deliberately ruined all of her things. Someone had left three threatening notes. An enemy had shot at her, blown up her car. Someone who hated her had injured Colleen.
Apparently the silence on her end made Matt nervous.
“Do you need me?”
Yes. But she didn’t want to need him. Didn’t want to have to need anyone in order to feel safe.
“How’s Colleen?”
“Sleeping soundly. She’ll be fine if I leave her.”
Lorie hesitated only for a moment. The sense of being watched was too strong to ignore, security cameras or no security cameras.
“Okay. I’ll meet you by the vitamins.”
“Be right there.”
A couple of chirps from her earpiece let her know he’d disconnected. As Lorie aimed her basket toward the front of the store, the sensation of being under observation heightened. All the fine hair on the back of her neck rose to attention.
Rules from the self-defense courses she’d taken in California echoed in her brain. Always walk purposefully, as though you have a definite goal and destination in mind. Look confident. Criminals would rather attack people who appear weak or frightened.
Straightening her spine, Lorie strode toward the pharmacy. If someone was going to bother her, she refused to be an easy target.
At this hour, most of the people she saw in the store were employees, though a few tired parents pushed carts with cranky babies on board. Nobody seemed to be at all interested in her. Still, if it wouldn’t have looked weird to run, Lorie would have flown down the aisles to the pharmacy.
*
Matt looked up from the multivitamin shelf as Lorie raced toward him with a shopping cart. She had to be breaking the speed limit. Fortunately, no one was in her way.
“In a hurry?”
Lorie screeched to a halt two seconds before the cart would have hit him.
“Um. No. Not really.”
Matt gave her a look. “What’s really going on?”
“Nothing. I mean, it felt like someone was watching me, but I didn’t see anybody.”
Matt gave the aisles behind Lorie a quick once-over. No one there. His senses jumped to high alert.
No one had asked Matt to look after Lorie, officially, but it was something he’d had to do. The Lord had nudged him as surely as if He’d been standing at his shoulder when Matt made the offer of a cabin at the guest ranch.
“The sooner we get out of here, the better.”
“You’re not laughing at me?” Her voice sounded relieved.
“No. I’m not humoring you, either. Grab some vitamins and a toothbrush, and we’ll get out of here.”
“But—”
“No buts. Groceries can wait. We always have plenty of food in the ranch kitchen.”
Lorie nodded.
The young cashier at the nearest checkout counter looked tired, the purple spikes of his hair matching the shadows under his eyes.
“Find everything you needed?”
“Yes, thanks.”
Lorie ran everything through the checkout without speaking. Maybe she was more spooked than he’d thought. Given the day she’d put in, he could understand.
It was a relief to walk outside into the velvety night.
Matt was on high alert as he helped Lorie carry the bags out to the truck, but couldn’t spot anything out of the ordinary. If someone had been following her, his presence must have frightened them off.
They locked the packages into the aluminum toolbox in the truck bed. By the time they got into the front seat, Colleen was awake. Her tail thumped against the gray leather seat.
“That’s right, girl…we’re back.”
As they turned out onto Highway 273, Lorie sighed.
“All right?”
“Yes.” Lorie sounded tired. “Thanks for making me do this.”
“Anytime.”
“I’m not usually so…”
Matt waited for her to continue, but she left the sentence hanging. “So…?”
“I’m not usually such a fraidy cat.”
“You don’t usually get shot at or your car blown up, either, I’m guessing.”
Lorie chuckled. “True. I just wanted you to know.”
“You have an even bigger ordeal ahead of you tonight.”
She looked over at him sharply.
“What could be worse than flying bullets, exploding cars, my house being trashed and my dog being hurt?”
Matt grinned. “Officially meeting my family for the first time.”
EIGHT
Lorie hadn’t thought it was possible to feel any more trepidation than she had when she’d walked through the door of her house to find it in shambles. Matt’s comment changed everything. By the time they pulled up to the gates at the Rob Roy Ranch, her stomach could have used a gallon or so of antacid.
She knew about Matt’s family, of course. While not on quite the same social footing as the Daingers, the Holts, or the Steeleys, they still carried a lot of weight, especially in the farming and ranching community. Under normal circumstances, she’d have been happy for the chance to meet them.
These weren’t exactly normal circumstances.
What bothered her the most, though, wasn’t the idea of an awkward introduction, but rather the reason behind it. She hoped his siblings wouldn’t be put in too much danger from their unexpected guest.
Matt drove up in front of the lodge and parked. “Wait here. I’ll go grab the keys for you.”
Lorie nodded. She was too exhausted to argue.
As she sat, waiting for Matt to return, Lorie’s stomach started to growl. She had been too keyed up to feel hungry, but the adrenaline was wearing off. She’d bought food for Colleen but nothing for herself, not even an energy bar. Stupid.
No. Not stupid. Just the shock.
Lord, thank
You for taking care of me. Thank You for letting Colleen be okay. Please protect Winken, Blinken and Nod.
The door to the lodge opened and Matt emerged, followed by another man who looked about the same age, not that it was easy to tell in the moonlight. Both men carried packages of what she hoped were food. Light glinted on aluminum cans.
Matt opened Lorie’s door and handed her a zipper bag with bread in it and two cans of cola. “Meet my brother Jim. He runs the ranch.”
“A pleasure,” Jim said with a friendly smile.
“You, too.” When had she fallen into the simple California responses? About the third year she’d lived there? Lorie wished she still sounded as though she belonged in Dainger County.
Jim handed her a covered glass dish, a bag of salad and a bottle of dressing. “Hope you like barbecue, ’cause that’s what was already fixed. There’s a microwave in the cabin. Matt’ll show you how to work it.”
Lorie’s chest grew tight. She fought back more tears and managed to whisper thanks. Jim closed her door and Matt climbed into the pickup.
He clicked his seat belt, glanced over at her then started the engine. “Glad you still have your seat belt on.”
“It’s a habit.”
“A good one. You do know it’s the law in Arkansas now?”
Lorie chuckled. “Considering the hour I spent trying to calm Mom down once it passed, yes, I’d say so. I had to send her one of those emergency seat belt cutter/window-smasher combos before she was convinced she wouldn’t be trapped inside a burning car.”
“I keep one in every vehicle. You never know.”
The image of her beautiful Mustang exploding made Lorie swallow hard. If she’d gotten into her car and turned the ignition tonight… A shudder rumbled through her.
Matt drove up slowly beside an empty cabin and parked. A front-porch light glowed invitingly, as did the lights on all the cabins, occupied or not.
“Let me get that stuff before you try to get out.” Matt came around and unloaded her lap.
“I can take some of it.”
When Matt smiled, Lorie’s stomach danced. Oh, dear. This was so bad. She could think of a million reasons why it wasn’t a good idea to be attracted to Matt. Well, maybe not a million. But close.
Love Inspired Suspense June 2014 Bundle 2 of 2: Forced AllianceOut for JusticeNo Place to Run Page 50