by Aimée Thurlo
Marlee held her breath, knowing with certainty that the intruder had heard her. She inched forward and, as she peered out from behind the trees, saw that the man had vanished.
Icy fear shot through her. Marlee hurried around to the front door, intent on reaching the safety of her home. She was only a few steps from the porch when someone tackled her from behind, throwing her face-forward into the snow.
Chapter Seven
Marlee struggled to get free before the snow choked the air out of her lungs. In desperation, she shoved the stock of the shotgun into her attacker’s middle as hard as she could. She heard him gasp and, as his grip loosened, she rolled away and scrambled to her feet.
As her assailant rose to his knees, she saw his face for the first time. For a moment, she couldn’t speak. “Lucas!” she managed to say, helping him up. “What the heck are you doing out here?”
He brushed the snow off his body, wincing as he touched his stomach where she’d slammed him. “I was trying to protect you. I saw a figure creeping around the house, heading for the front door.”
“I heard someone tampering with the back door, so I called Gabriel and then figured I’d try to detain whoever was out there. I had no idea it would be you,” Marlee explained.
“You told me there’d be a key underneath the mat in the front, but there wasn’t one. I figured I’d try the back door. The house was dark except for one small lamp in the living room, so I assumed you were fast asleep. I didn’t want to wake you.”
“You said you weren’t coming until the early-morning hours! It’s nowhere near dawn!” She brushed the snow off her wet clothes. Without a coat, she was freezing. “Let’s not stand out here arguing. It’s too cold, and now we’re both wet Let’s get inside by the fireplace.” She reached back for the cellular phone, intending to call Gabriel, then realized that it was gone. “Help me look. Gabriel’s cell phone has to be here somewhere,” she said.
Lucas stirred the snow with his boot, searching the place they’d fallen to the ground when he’d tackled her. “It shouldn’t be that difficult to find it. It’s not that small, and it’ll be dark against the snow. When’s the last time you remember having it?”
“I clipped it to my belt loop before coming out of the house. The loop is torn now.”
“Trace back your steps. It probably fell in one of your tracks or close by.”
Together they walked around the side of the house. “We’re going to need flashlights,” Lucas said. “It’s too dark out here right now, in spite of the white surface.”
“I’ve got a couple inside the house. Let’s go get them, and I can call your brother at the same time and let him know that there’s no danger.”
“I’ll keep looking while you’re inside. I don’t think it’s something you should be without, and if it stays here in the snow for long it could short out.”
Marlee went inside the house, called Gabriel, then re-turned outside with a pair of flashlights. The shotgun was now safely in the closet, and her wool coat was securely fastened around her, helping her stay warm. “Your brother was relieved to know it was you I’d heard, not an intruder, but he’s coming over anyway. He wants to talk to both of us. I don’t think he’s thrilled I went on the offensive.”
“Neither am I. I can see why you did it, but you shouldn’t have taken the risk.”
“Would you have waited?”
“No, but that’s different.”
“Is it? I wanted to see the face of my enemy. I knew Gabriel was on his way over and I figured I could hold the person until he arrived. The shotgun was my way of getting his attention and keeping him at a safe distance. I knew the intruder was trying to get inside my house.”
Lucas shook his head. “Would you really have shot him—or me, I should say?”
“I had no intention of shooting, and I certainly wouldn’t have fired without identifying my target.”
“You should have left the house and just kept on going to the neighbors.”
“And bring the danger over to them?” Marlee shook her head.
They followed Marlee’s tracks all the way around the house, but failed to spot the phone. “I thought about having Gabriel call me, then listening for the ring. But I didn’t want him to know I’d lost it. And I don’t know the number myself.”
“Let’s go over your steps one more time, and if we haven’t found it by then, then we’ll go back inside. I know the number and you can call it from inside while I go back out and look.”
As they worked their way around the house, the beam of her flashlight fell on a gray metal-and-plastic object partially hidden under a rosebush beside the driveway.
“What is that?” she said, reaching down and scooping it into her palm. “Is it another listening device?”
“No, it doesn’t look right, and besides, why stick one out here?” Lucas took it from her hand and studied it. “Wait a minute. Wasn’t this about where the peddler’s van was parked?”
She nodded. “You think he left this and that microphone here?”
“No. This, I believe, is a tracking device that was placed on someone’s vehicle, but it fell off and got run over.” The flat plastic box had a magnetic surface on one side, and contained a small circuit board loaded with electronic parts.
“You don’t usually park this far down your driveway, do you?” Lucas added.
She shook her head. “No. I park by the front, so that rules out my car as a candidate.”
“I think someone discovered the peddler was in the area, and maybe even followed him here. They hid the bug in your house to find out what he was doing, and then decided to track him when he left The peddler must have discovered the device and left it behind.” Lucas paused. “It could have just fallen off, but that seems unlikely.”
“Nobody’s ever been able to follow the peddler when he leaves. Even the sheriff tried and failed, according to what I heard Lanie say once. I can see someone wanting to find out once and for all where he goes, but I wonder who was willing to go this far.”
An undeniable sense of relief washed over her. All of a sudden, the incidents appeared to have less to do with her past than with that of Four Winds. The listening device she’d found in her home did make more sense now, when connected to the peddler.
“Here it is,” she said, finally spotting and retrieving the cellular phone from where it had been caught on a pyra-cantha bush.
As headlights bathed the area where they stood, Lucas glanced around the side of the house. “That’s my brother now. I bet he’s going to be real interested in what we have to show him.”
A SHORT TIME LATER, after changing out of their wet clothes, Lucas and Marlee were seated in the living room with Gabriel.
“I remember seeing similar tracking devices at a law-enforcement seminar,” Gabriel said. “It’s not a state-of-the-art device, but it does its job. I’ve got to tell you, though, it’s just not the sort of thing I ever expected to see here in Four Winds. Then again, that’s one thing about our town. Nothing is ever the way you expect.”
Though she avoided looking directly at him, Marlee felt Gabriel’s gaze on her. He knew she was holding back, but for the first time, she didn’t feel guilty. This time she was certain her past had nothing to do with what was happening.
“I can use my law-enforcement contacts to track down the manufacturer and that way maybe get a lead on who purchased it, but I want you two to leave this to me. Whoever bought this device and the bug already had them on hand, ready for the occasion, which means somebody in this town was a snoop even before the peddler showed up. We have no way of knowing who these devices were used on before.”
“I suppose I could ask around and see if there’s anyone with a particular interest in electronics in town,” Marlee said.
“No. I don’t want you looking into this. You’ll end up raising questions in people’s minds, and folks are already tense enough with this illness that’s going around.”
“Someone’s coming a
fter me,” Marlee said. “You can’t expect me to sit tight and wait to see what he’s going to do next.”
“If you start playing amateur detective, you may uncover more than you’re capable of handling. Trust me to do my job.” Gabriel stood. “There’s not much else I can do here tonight. Watch out for each other, and don’t take matters into your own hands again. Think about what happened earlier tonight. You could have easily hurt each other out there.”
Marlee watched in silence as Gabriel left.
“He’s wrong to think I might have hurt you. I knew it was you out there the minute I felt you in my arms,” Lucas murmured, coming up from behind her and pulling her back against him.
Marlee had no armor against the husky promise of his voice. Longing filled her until she ached. “We have to be careful,” Marlee said, forcing herself to step away, though everything feminine in her begged to stay in his embrace. “The danger to both of us is real, and it seems to be coming from many directions.”
Without turning to look back at Lucas, Marlee went to her room and closed the door. Hot tears spilled down her cheeks. She’d hoped never to care deeply about anyone or anything again. That was a road that led only to pain and heartache. But now, it was too late.
LUCAS WENT to the guest room she’d prepared for him earlier. The bed had been turned down, and a pitcher of water and a glass had been set on the nightstand.
He walked around the room restlessly. What was it about Marlee that affected him so much? With her, he felt whole, as if fate had brought her to him, and given her the power to rock his world. She filled him with a warmth he’d never known. Yet there was nothing he could do to change the situation between them. He closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the feel of her in his arms. So sweet, so soft, so tempting.
Muttering an oath, he walked to the window and opened it, hoping the sudden and icy blast of air would help clear his thoughts. As he stood there, staring at the dark emptiness outside, his thoughts drifted back to another time. He hadn’t always known the high cost personal involvements could exact from someone in his profession. Yet back then, inexperience and circumstances had conspired against him. Now he had no excuse for repeating the same mistake he’d sworn to avoid for as long as he lived.
Wartime memories filled his mind. That one wounded man, his best friend. Loyalties were too easily divided when emotions took over. He shut the window and, with it, shut off the flow of his memories, then moved back into the room. He wouldn’t let himself or Four Winds down by allowing anyone or anything to interfere with his duties here. Marlee tempted him with dreams he had no business indulging. A man who weighed his convictions against the cost they would exact wasn’t much of a man.
Lucas stripped off his clothes. Despite everything, as the cool sheets touched his body, his thoughts returned to Mar-lee. He drifted into a restless sleep with images of Marlee, and what might have been, playing in his mind.
LUCAS REALIZED it was morning when the buzz of his cellular phone stirred his brain. He reached for the phone, forcing himself to come quickly awake and alert. Whenever calls began this early, he knew he was in for a long day.
He listened as the high school’s journalism teacher spoke.
“They all look terrible this morning,” Jennifer Sawyer said. “Yet all the kids were fine last night. We met to go over articles in the local paper and gather ideas for human-interest stories of our own. I’d like you to come over and take a look at them. I’m really worried.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes. My temporary clinic is in the portable building across from the track. If they can make it over there, that’ll save us some time,” Lucas said, dressing quickly.
A few minutes later, as he strode down the hall, Marlee stepped out of the kitchen. “More kids at the high school are ill,” he explained. “I’ve got to get there right away.”
“You should eat something. If you don’t eat and get enough rest, you’ll end up catching whatever this is that’s going around.”
Marlee quickly filled a plastic sandwich bag and held it out to him. “Here. It’s just a couple of breakfast burritos, but they’ll hold you until you get a chance to eat a decent meal.”
Lucas took the food gratefully, aware all of a sudden of how hungry he was. “Thanks,” he said, heading for the door. “You know, I just wish my brother Joshua hadn’t left town with his family right after the Harvest Festival.”
“I like Joshua, but I’m not sure he would be a help to you now. His kind of medicine is different from what folks around here rely on.”
“That’s true, but there’s something about my little brother that puts people at ease. And he does know a great deal about herbs that can help relieve symptoms. The older ones here believe in the power of remedios, the herbal remedies that have been handed down for generations, as much as they do medical science.”
“I may be able to help you with that. My knowledge isn’t anywhere near as extensive as Joshua’s, but I do know some local remedies.”
“Good I’m glad to hear it. That may yet come in handy. At this point, I think we have to be prepared for almost anything.”
“If while you’re making your rounds, you discover that you need an assistant to help you keep records or give you a hand whenever it’s needed, give me a call. Just keep trying if you get a busy signal. I’ll be using the phone a lot today.”
Lucas’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Are you planning to do some investigating on your own?”
“I’m going to do some research,” she corrected. “I want to find out if there are any companies in the Southwest that carry listening and tracking devices. Then I intend to call them and get some information as if I’m a potential customer.”
“Be sure to pass any information you get along to my brother, but don’t expect him to thank you,” he added with a wry smile.
Lucas hurried out to his truck, then drove slowly down the snow-packed road. Four Winds was testing him, just as it had his brothers, but would learn soon enough that no Blackhorse had ever backed away from a fight. And when a Blackhorse fought, he always came out the winner.
MARLEE WATCHED Lucas go, thinking how well his nickname fitted him. He moved with the fluidity of a shadow, controlled, never revealing the secrets he harbored within himself. There was much going on inside Lucas. He’d been at war with himself recently. That much she could sense with the certainty of someone who also battled inner demons.
Marlee dressed warmly, then, grabbing the cellular phone and her purse, headed for the library on foot. She’d start her search there, using their computers. Charley had dropped off her car earlier with the brakes fixed, but she’d just parked it in the driveway. The roads were bad, and most of the places in town she usually visited were within easy walking distance. She saw no use in risking a fender bender.
After saying good-morning to Jake, the librarian, who was reshelving returned books, she sat down by the terminal.
The computer search was more complicated than she’d expected, but she managed to get a list of ten electronics shops that seemed good possibilities. Though she was aware of Jake’s questioning looks, she didn’t stop to explain. It was better not to trust anyone.
“I’ve got the information I need,” she told Jake. “Thanks for the use of the terminal.” Ignoring the questioning look he gave her, Marlee quickly gathered her notes and left the library.
Contacting the companies whose phone numbers she’d gathered took another two hours, but at least she was home, where the calls she was making wouldn’t raise questions in anyone’s mind. Slowly a picture began to emerge. The items were not generally available except through mail order, but there were dozens of such catalogs in existence. Trying to track down the exact source of the devices she’d found at the boardinghouse would take days, or longer.
Gathering the information she’d compiled, she placed the papers inside a file folder, bundled up warmly once again and walked to Gabriel’s office. He was on the telephone as she walked
inside, still scraping the snow off her boots.
Rosa, the grocery-store owner, was seated on one of the pine benches, waiting for him, too. She scowled at Marlee. “The sheriff is really busy this morning. Every time I start to talk to him, the phone rings.”
“What’s going on?”
“From the bits and pieces of conversation I’ve over-heard, I think folks want him to call in some outside medical help from the state. This flu bug is going through town like wildfire. Did you know they could quarantine the whole town? Can you imagine what that would do to us? I couldn’t get any of my stock in if they did, so I’m not sure what we’d do for food.”
Marlee looked at Rosa in surprise. “Things aren’t that bad, surely. I mean flu bugs come and go.”
“Nobody’s getting better, no matter what Lucas does, and that’s scaring people. Who knows what could happen next?”
Gabriel set down the phone, then turned to Rosa, continuing where he’d left off. “You’ll have to pay the fine. That’s all there is to it. I’ve written you two warning citations already. You can’t park in the red zone. That’s the only access the fire truck has in case of an emergency.”
Rosa scowled as she placed the ticket and two five-dollar bills on his desk. “You’re as stubborn as an old burro, Sheriff,” she said, then stormed out.
Marlee suppressed a laugh as Rosa slammed the door shut. “Looks like you’re having a bad day.”
“I’ve had better. Now, tell me what I can do for you. Is there a problem?”
“I came to give you some information I thought you might find useful.” As she placed the papers before him, he quickly closed the file on his desk. She’d only had a quick glimpse, but it had been enough. Her name had been at the top of the page. Gabriel Blackhorse was looking into her background.