Circumstantial Memories

by Carol Ericson

  Tucking her under one arm, he held his hand out to Julia. Her fingers curled around his. “Sorry we’re late, but I let Shelby nap longer than usual so she could stay up for the party.”

  “That’s a good excuse, isn’t it, Shelby?”

  Shelby kicked her legs out behind her and squealed.

  “I think it’s time I met the happy family.” Rafe sauntered up to Julia, his hands shoved into his tight blue jeans, a lazy smile on his face.

  Ryder drew his finger across his throat. “Julia, this is my worthless brother, Rafe. Rafe, this is Julia Rousseau and Shelby.”

  “Worthless? How can he be worthless? He’s the new deputy sheriff in town.”

  “Why, thank you, ma’am.” Rafe captured Julia’s hand and kissed it. Then he tweaked one of Shelby’s curls. “Hey, gorgeous.”

  Shelby slapped his hand away, and Ryder laughed. “You have the right idea, Shelby. And don’t let the badge fool you, Julia. He’s bad to the bone.”

  “Speaking of the badge, is your boss here tonight?” Julia swept her arm around the room.

  Ryder shot her a glance. “Why, did you hear anything more about Brody?”

  “No, but I thought the San Juan County Coroner’s Office was doing a preliminary autopsy today.”

  Rafe took a break from pinching Shelby’s painted toes, twisting his head over his shoulder. “Autopsy’s done. That’s why Ballard stayed at the station. He’ll be here later.”

  Ryder hoisted Shelby in his arms. “Let’s get this over with and find my parents.”

  “Nice to meet you, Rafe.” Julia waved.

  “Don’t encourage him.”

  Ryder circled the group where Pam and his father were holding court, commandeering the conversation as usual. He’d dealt with his dominating parents by leaving, Rafe laughed it off or charmed his way through it and Rod stayed and fought it out with them every day.

  He grabbed Julia’s and Shelby’s hands and took the plunge, and then gritted his teeth while Pam fawned over Shelby. Pam told anyone who would listen about Shelby’s riding lessons and how she was a McClintock through and through. He rolled his eyes at Julia, who tilted her head at him.

  Standing on tiptoes, she whispered in his ear, “What’s wrong?”

  He pulled her out of the clump of people hanging on his mother’s every word. “Give them ten minutes more and they’ll have Shelby’s entire future mapped out for her.”

  “That’s what parents do. God knows, my mom tried it with me. I don’t know what you’re complaining about. If I had a parent who smothered me with attention, maybe I never would’ve been lost all those years. Maybe someone would’ve come looking for me.” Julia’s eyes grew bright.

  “I should’ve come looking for you.” He traced a finger along her soft earlobe.

  “Why didn’t you?”

  Ryder blinked. He didn’t want to go through this with her again, especially now when he hadn’t received orders about his next assignment. “Do you remember we had a…disagreement before I left for Somalia?”

  “We had a fight.” Her jaw hardened. “And I didn’t even know you’d gone off to Somalia. You wouldn’t tell me where you were going, remember that?”

  “Top secret orders.”

  “Yeah, I know. That’s why I didn’t tell you about the pregnancy. I didn’t want to force you to change your plans or force you into a commitment you obviously weren’t ready to make.”

  “I understand and I don’t blame you for it.”

  Julia’s eyes, soft with tears a moment ago, glittered dangerously. He knew that sign.

  “You don’t blame me? How thoughtful and caring of you because you’re the one who ran away.” She drew away from him and folded her arms over her chest. “Are you going to run again?”

  Damn. Exactly where he didn’t want to go.

  “It’s called a job. It’s not running.”

  “It’s called cowardice.” Julia spun around and stalked toward the food-laden table, tears blurring her vision.

  She grabbed a chicken leg and tore into it with her teeth. She recalled those discussions all too well. Ryder wanted her in Paris, and after her separation from Jeremy, he got her. They’d reveled in two months of joy and passion and love in a city made for romance.

  Then one day he just started making arrangements for his departure. The love she’d nurtured in her heart meant nothing to him. How could he just walk out of her life for two years, correspondence between them screened, blacked out if necessary, and delayed for months?

  Now here they were four years later in the same spot, but instead of a pregnancy, she had a four-year-old daughter. And it didn’t matter. He still planned to leave them.

  Her cell phone buzzed in the pocket of her skirt and she grabbed a napkin to wipe off her greasy fingers. She plucked the phone from her pocket and flipped it open. A text message.

  News on the doc meet me at the end of the drive Z.

  Biting her lip, still salty from the chicken, she snapped the phone shut and dropped it back into her pocket where it clicked against her car keys. Did Zack have something on the autopsy report?

  She scanned the room for Ryder and spotted him in deep conversation with Rod. As his head dipped toward his brother, the light from a nearby lamp caught the gold highlights in his hair and her fingers itched to comb through it.

  She pursed her lips. He didn’t deserve to know. Besides, she’d better get used to handling stuff on her own. Pretty soon she wouldn’t have Ryder McClintock to run to for comfort anymore.

  Pam was still holding Shelby, while she chatted with her friends. Julia shuffled through the crowd.

  “Pam, could you please watch Shelby? I’m going out front.”

  “What?” Pam cupped her ear.

  “Could you please keep an eye on Shelby? I’m…”

  Pam waved her hand. “You go right ahead.”

  On her way to the front door, Julia squeezed past Rafe. “Excuse me.”

  “Anytime, pretty lady.”

  She rolled her eyes. Did that crap really work in L.A.? She slid through the door and pulled it closed behind her. The buzz from the party filtered into the cool evening, and she inhaled the fresh mountain air and her momentary solitude.

  Lights illuminated the McClintocks’ drive, but it curved so she couldn’t see the gateway at the end. Did Zack park his squad car down there?

  Her low heels crunched on the gravel of the drive. Birds twittered and rustled in the thick foliage that ringed the McClintock ranch. Her eyes darted toward a clump of bushes. At least she hoped birds were making those noises and not a skunk.

  She glanced backward. She could still hear a hum of voices and see an aura of light, but she could no longer see the house.

  Peering into the darkness at the end of the drive, she called out, “Zack?”

  Had he parked his car outside the gate? A breeze lifted the edge of her skirt and a chill stole across her flesh. Julia stepped through the gateway. Most of the party guests had parked their cars on the road, but she couldn’t see a squad car. Why was it so dark out here?

  Her shoe ground into something hard and she looked down. Broken glass littered the dirt. The two lights on either side of the McClintocks’ wide gate to their property lay shattered on the ground.

  A cold fear gripped the back of her neck and she pivoted on her toes, turning back toward the house.

  Too late.

  Strong arms pinioned her from behind. She gathered her breath to scream, but a large, gloved hand clamped over her mouth, smashing her lips against her teeth.

  One thought thumped in her chest along with the fear: her stalker wasn’t dead.

  But she might be.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Another slice of heaven?” Gracie Malone extended a plate under Ryder’s nose.

  His mouth watered at the scent of warm cinnamon apple pie piled high with vanilla ice cream, but he held out his hands, palms up. “No, thanks, Gracie. I had a piece.”

  “J
ust one?” She clicked her tongue. “My Charlie can polish off half a pie.”

  “Go ahead and give him mine.”

  “I would, but I don’t know where he is.” Her brow furrowed.

  “Me, please.” Shelby had squirmed in between them and now held her hands up toward the pie, wiggling her fingers.

  “Isn’t she just the cutest little thing?” Gracie chucked Shelby under the chin.

  Ryder crouched down on one knee. “Nice manners, Shelby, but you are not having another piece of pie. You already had a piece of pie and two of Millie’s homemade cookies. You’re done, kiddo.”

  Gracie beamed. “Well, look at you, acting like a father already. Are you going to make an honest woman of Julia or are you going to take off for some foreign hellhole, like you usually do?”

  God, the woman had a big mouth. He grabbed the pie plate and handed it down to Shelby, while he scowled at Gracie.

  She continued, oblivious. “Because if you and Julia aren’t going to tie the knot, I don’t mind telling you that she and Charlie were quite an item last winter—skiing together, sharing hot cocoa by the fire, he even shoveled her driveway.”

  He opened his mouth to deliver a sarcastic comment, but his cell phone saved him. He put up a finger and dug his phone out of his pocket, checking the display.

  “Hey, Sheriff, you got anything on Brody’s autopsy?”

  “Hello, Ryder. Yeah, that’s why I’m calling. I tried Julia’s number first, but she didn’t answer.”

  “It’s noisy in here.”

  “I’ve got some interesting news for you about Brody, interesting and disturbing.”

  “Disturbing?” Ryder’s pulse thrummed in his throat.

  “Seems Dr. Brody was intoxicated at the time of the car accident. Way over the legal limit.”

  “So? He still could’ve climbed that trail and dumped the boulder on Julia. Maybe he got drunk later.”

  “That’s just it, Ryder. There was no later.”

  “Damn it, Ballard. Spit it out.” Ryder’s heart hammered in his chest and he took a swig of his beer to moisten his dry mouth.

  “Dr. Brody’s car went off the road on Tuesday night. He couldn’t have pushed that rock over the cliff. He was already dead.”

  Ryder clicked his phone shut, the blood roaring in his ears. His gaze swept back and forth across the room. He hadn’t seen Julia for the past ten minutes.

  “Something wrong, Ryder?” Gracie’s beady eyes studied his face.

  “Have you seen Julia?”

  “Not lately. Why?”

  He dropped to his knees in front of Shelby and dabbed a drop of ice cream from her nose. “Where’s Mommy?”

  She hunched her shoulders. “She told me to stay with Gamma Pam, but you had pie.”

  Shoving up from the floor, he put his hand on Shelby’s back.

  “Let’s go back to…Gamma Pam.”

  He tapped his stepmother on the shoulder and she swung around.

  “There you are and with another piece of pie. I can see your daddy’s going to be a pushover….”

  “Pam,” he interrupted her. “Have you seen Julia?”

  “Not since she dropped Shelby off with me and asked me to watch her.”

  “Where did she go?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t hear her above this noise, especially with that music blaring outside.”

  “Watch Shelby again and this time keep her with you.” He pushed through the crowd and stumbled out to the patio in the back.

  A younger group mingled out here, drinking beer and listening to hip-hop. He spied Rafe, sitting on the deck’s railing, with his legs hooked around the new waitress from the Main Street Café.

  “Have you seen Julia?”

  Rafe’s ready grin faded. “About ten minutes ago. What’s wrong?”

  “Where’d you see her?”

  “She was eating at the table and then she went outside.”

  “Outside the front door?” Ryder could barely squeeze the words past his tight throat.

  “Yeah. She left about ten minutes ago.” Rafe repeated, “What’s wrong?”

  But Ryder was already charging through the house toward the front door. He slammed it behind him and ran down the drive. “Julia?”

  A few guests had driven their cars up the drive and parked in the circular driveway that fronted the house, but usually people parked on the street. He didn’t see Julia’s car, and she arrived too late to get a spot close to the house. Maybe she just went back to her car outside the gate.

  Ryder rounded the last bend of the drive and froze. Complete darkness shrouded the end of the driveway at the gates where floodlights usually illuminated the entryway. He shouted, “Julia?”

  He charged into the black night, adrenaline coursing through his body, all his instincts on high alert. He sensed the struggle in the row of cars to his right before he saw or heard anything.

  Then a sob and a hiss disturbed the silence. Didn’t sound like two lovers. He spun around to confront the sounds. The strident blare of a car alarm pierced the night. In the flashing headlights, two figures peeled apart and one dark form plunged away from the car and shot across the road.

  A woman screamed, almost drowning out the car alarm. Julia! The headlights outlined Julia, staggering to her feet.

  He rushed to her side and she collapsed against his chest, sobbing. “H-he tried…”

  “Shh. You’re safe now.” Hadn’t he just told her that two nights ago? “I suppose you didn’t get a good look at him?”

  Releasing a shuddering breath, she whispered, “He had a ski mask on. I felt it on his face as we struggled.” She squirmed out of his arms and pointed across the road. “He took off that way. You have to catch him.”

  “I’m not leaving you alone.” He smoothed his hands down her trembling back.

  “Then stay here. I’ll go after him.” Rafe stepped from the shadows, his gun drawn.

  Julia gestured toward the dense bushes. “He ran in there.”

  “You’ll never find anything in this darkness and by the time I run back to the house to get a flashlight, he’ll be long gone.”

  “I have this.” Rafe dangled his keychain, which had a small flashlight attached to it. “He’s probably long gone already, but if he dropped something or snagged something on a twig maybe I’ll find it before he has time to come back and retrieve it.”

  As Rafe crossed the street and crashed through the foliage, Ryder pulled Julia back into his arms. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

  “No.” She shivered, and he rubbed her bare arms. “He tried to kidnap me, Ryder. If he’d had a weapon, a knife or even a rope, he could’ve killed me. Instead, he tried to abduct me. When you arrived, he was fumbling for something in his pocket. I smelled alcohol or ether.”

  His chest tightened. God, he almost lost her. Again.

  She stifled a sob. “He was going to knock me out. When I heard your voice, I kicked out my legs at that car’s bumper, which set off the alarm. If you hadn’t come along…”

  “But I did.” He rested his chin on top of her head and stroked her hair. “When I couldn’t find you at the house, I panicked.”

  She lifted her head. “Why? We both thought Dr. Brody was the stalker and he’s dead.”

  “While I was at the party, Sheriff Ballard called with the autopsy report. He told me Brody’s car went off the cliff the night before the attack on you. Brody couldn’t have been responsible for that.”

  “But you found the card case with his cards.”

  “Did Brody ever visit you here?”

  “We had a couple of sessions at my house, and I took him on a hike once up to The Twirling Ballerinas, but that was over a year ago. The case you showed me hadn’t been lying in the dirt, exposed to the elements for a year.”

  “Someone planted the case to set him up.” He massaged Julia’s knotted shoulders. Keeping her talking seemed to calm her down. Better to concentrate on logic right now than emotion.
<
br />   “Where would someone get a hold of Dr. Brody’s cards?”

  “A patient.” Why didn’t he think of that before? “Did you ever talk to any of Brody’s other patients? Does he work with any seriously disturbed people?”

  She shook her head. “I usually left his office before the next patient showed up, and Dr. Brody never discussed his patients with me.”

  “His behavior was hardly ethical. It wouldn’t surprise me.” Ryder choked back the rest of his words. Julia didn’t need him to remind her that she’d trusted the wrong guy…again.

  He lifted a shoulder. “Whoever planted the case did it to lull us into a false sense of security. You never would’ve come out here on your own if you thought your stalker was still at large. Why did you come out here?”

  Her hand flew to her mouth. “My cell phone. I got a text message from Zack telling me to meet him out here for information about Brody.”

  Ryder snapped his fingers. “That message can be traced, but first I’m taking you back to the party.”

  “Wait.” She pulled back from him and dug her feet into the ground. “I don’t want you to charge into the party and make some big announcement about this. We’ll tell Sheriff Ballard but no one else.”

  “What if somebody saw this guy or something unusual before the party started?”

  “Ballard can question them later. This is a small town. It’s all going to come out anyway, but I don’t want to slink back into that party with victim written all over me. I’m done with that role.”

  Someone darted across the road. Julia jumped and Ryder shoved her behind his body.

  A small light played across the ground and Rafe shouted, “It’s me.”

  “Did you find anything?”

  “Too damn dark. I’ll do a search tomorrow morning.” Rafe shook some leaves and twigs from his hair. “Can you describe anything about this guy, Julia? Height? Build? Smell? Did he say anything to you?”

  “Let’s take this conversation into the light.” Putting his hand on Julia’s back, Ryder propelled her back up the drive under the lights.

  “It was so dark and he came at me from behind. He was tall and strong. He didn’t say one word. The only smell I could detect was the ether, and it scared the sh…” A furrow formed between her brows.