by Hope White
Sirens wailed in the distance.
Her attacker shoved her aside and Krista lost her balance, banging her head on the counter as she fell to the floor.
She opened her eyes and spots cluttered her vision. Stunned and confused, she struggled to sit up and lost the battle. Collapsing against the floor, she focused on taking deep, slow breaths.
“Krista!” Natalie cried.
And the world faded to black.
FIVE
This couldn’t be happening. He’d left her for ten minutes.
Adrenaline rushing through his body, Luke gripped the door handle ready to jump from the chief’s cruiser.
Come on, come on. They couldn’t get to the shop fast enough.
The chief finally pulled into the parking lot and Luke flung open his door.
“Wait for backup,” the chief ordered.
Backup? Small-town law enforcement was no match for the likes of Victor Garcia.
“I got it.” Luke jumped out of the chief’s cruiser and bolted for the restaurant.
He reached inside his jacket and slipped out his Glock. He turned the corner to the back door and froze at the sight of Natalie kneeling over Krista.
No, he wouldn’t accept it. He couldn’t handle the possibility that Krista had been hurt…maybe even killed. His shoulder muscles tensed.
The chief rushed into the doorway, along with another cop.
“Natalie, what happened?” Luke demanded, rushing to Krista’s side.
“Out front, some guy ran out front!” Natalie shouted.
“We’ll check it out,” the chief said.
“Someone call an ambulance,” Natalie pleaded.
“It’s on the way.” Luke shoved his gun inside his jacket. Didn’t want Krista opening her eyes to see Luke hovering over her brandishing a gun.
He kneeled on the other side of Krista and gently gripped her wrist to take her pulse. Her skin was cool to the touch, but her pulse was strong and steady.
Thatta girl.
He noticed a red bump on her forehead.
“What happened?” He glanced at Natalie. She was pale, looked like she was going to pass out herself.
“Natalie, breathe,” Luke ordered. “Krista’s going to be okay.”
She had to be okay.
“Talk to me,” he prompted Natalie.
She sniffled. “Something tripped the alarm and Krista thought the girls were having problems setting it, but we got here and the door was open and the…girls! Where are they?”
Krista moaned. “Why all the shouting?”
The chief kneeled beside them. “How is she?”
“She’s coming around.” Relief settled low in Luke’s gut. He glanced at the chief. “Natalie’s worried about the girls who were working here earlier.”
“I’ll check upstairs and call their mom.”
Krista moaned and blinked her eyes open. Luke had never seen anything more beautiful in his life.
Confusion creased her forehead. “I’m on the floor.”
“That you are.” He placed her hand on her stomach. He’d been holding it while taking her pulse and hadn’t let go.
“What happened?” She touched her forehead where an ugly bruise was already forming.
“You don’t remember?” Luke asked.
“I was at the party and then, no, it’s foggy.”
She automatically reached for her silver charm at her neck. He guessed it was her touchstone.
“Where are the paramedics?” Luke whispered, glancing out the back. He couldn’t stand seeing her hurt like this, lying on the floor and probably suffering from a concussion.
The chief came downstairs. “The Sass girls are home, safe and sound.”
“Thank God,” Natalie said.
“Something tripped the alarm,” Krista said. “I remember now.”
Luke snapped his attention to her. “What else do you remember?”
“The floor, tea and glass everywhere.”
Luke glanced over his shoulder at the tea racks. Sure enough the floor was covered with broken glass jars of tea.
“A man was here,” Krista whispered.
Luke glanced at her. “Did you recognize him?”
“He grabbed me from behind and…” She closed her eyes.
Luke fought the urge to reach out and hold her hand, tell her everything was going to be okay.
Natalie took Krista’s hand and squeezed it. “It’s okay, Krista.”
Krista opened her eyes and stared directly at Luke. She wanted something. He didn’t know what.
“Is it…safe?”
“Yes. He’s gone.”
But they both knew what she was really asking was if this was connected to Garcia’s drug business.
“Did he say anything?” Luke asked.
“He wanted my purse.”
“Do you think it was the same guy who was hiding in your garage?”
“I don’t know.”
Two paramedics rushed into the kitchen and lay a backboard on the floor.
“I’m really okay,” Krista protested.
Luke and Natalie stepped aside, letting the EMTs tend to Krista.
“Natalie, where’s her purse, do you know?” Luke said.
“In my car.”
With a nod, Luke went outside.
And spotted a man digging around in the front seat of the car. Gutsy. The place was swarming with emergency response personnel and he was trying to snatch the car? So much for this being a quiet tourist town.
Luke came up behind the guy, grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back.
“Find what you’re looking for?”
“Hey, what’s the problem?” The guy struggled, but Luke pinned him against the car.
“The problem is you breaking into a stranger’s car.”
“This is my fiancée’s car.”
Natalie stepped out of the tea shop. “Timothy? What are you doing here?”
“You know this guy?” Luke said.
“He’s my fiancé, Timothy Gaines.”
Luke released Timothy.
“Who are you?” Timothy demanded as he rubbed his shoulder.
“A friend of the police chief.”
With a disgruntled nod, Timothy turned to Natalie. “You okay, honey?” He gave her a brief hug, then stepped back and looked into her eyes. “I was driving by and saw your car in the lot. You left the keys in the ignition.”
“I’m okay. Krista was attacked.”
Luke studied the dynamic between the couple. Although they were engaged there was something awkward about their interaction. Then again, Luke would have no idea what a loving couple looked like. Dad had abandoned them when Luke was five, and Mom didn’t want to complicate her life by getting involved with another man.
Out of the corner of his eye, Luke spotted the EMTs carrying Krista out of the shop.
“The chief will want to talk to both of you,” Luke said, and marched to the ambulance. “Where are you taking her?”
“Westfield Clinic. If they think it’s more serious they’ll transfer her.”
“I want to go with her,” Natalie said.
“I need you to stay here and give your statement to Officer Sherman,” the chief said.
“I’ll follow her to the clinic,” Luke said.
“Good.” The chief and Luke shared a knowing look.
Krista’s situation seemed to be getting more dangerous by the hour. Another reason Luke needed to stay close.
Closer than close.
The ambulance pulled away and Luke followed in his car. He’d left Krista in a house full of people, thinking she’d be safe, that no harm could possibly come to her in that environment.
His mistake. One he wouldn’t make again.
But he’d been anxious to get out of there, away from the friends and church folk who surrounded her, welcomed her.
Loved her.
Something Luke hadn’t experienced much in his life. Mom tried, but Luke always sense
d he’d been more of a burden than a bright spot in her life.
Sure he was. He’d been a troublemaker in school, always acting out, getting sent to the principal’s office. Looking back, he realized it was anger at his life that drove him to lighting fires and stealing bikes. First abandoned by his father, then ten years later losing his mom to cancer.
Anger didn’t begin to describe the war brewing inside Luke’s chest as a teenager. After three years of being shuffled around in the foster care system, Luke channeled his anger into a different kind of war. The war in Iraq. At least it made him feel like he was doing something productive with all his rage.
Rage he’d buried, deep. Yet here he was, thinking about the past. A waste of energy.
He needed to focus on keeping Krista Yates safe. The image of her limp body lying on the floor reminded him of…
Karl, a good friend, who’d been just as motionless after Garcia shot him and left him to die.
In front of Luke.
Helpless. Gutted. There was no other way to describe the burn rushing to every nerve ending in Luke’s body as he struggled to free himself from the duct tape to save his friend.
He’d felt almost as helpless when he’d heard dispatch radio the call from Krista’s tea shop.
She was Luke’s lead to the Garcia gang. Luke’s only lead.
Yet something other than nailing Garcia made him rush out of the chief’s car and into the tea shop.
Luke was worried, truly, genuinely worried.
About Krista.
“Not good,” he whispered as he parked in the clinic’s lot.
He had to shelve the compassionate feelings he was developing for Krista. It was ludicrous to even go there, to consider the thought of Luke and Krista being friends, much less anything more. She needed a nice, Christian man devoted to God and family.
Luke had given up on God a long time ago. About the time God took his mother and left Luke floundering in a foster care system that had no place for a teenager.
He’d seen enough violence and death in Iraq to further destroy any belief in a loving God.
He shook his head, snapping out of his analysis of his life and how Christ had failed him. Being around Krista brought it all to the surface. She glowed with the love she felt for God, her devotion to doing good deeds and caring for others.
That kind of energy was foreign to Luke and made him uneasy. That very uneasiness would be his constant reminder not to let this case get too personal, not to let Krista Yates get too close. Or was it that he didn’t want her seeing all of his imperfections, especially the biggest one of all: that he couldn’t protect the people he loved most?
He’d stay physically close but emotionally distant. Easy for a guy like him, at least he thought so until he saw them wheeling her into the hospital.
Something knotted in his gut and he stormed ahead.
“You can’t come in here, sir,” Nurse Ruth Rankin said on the other side of the curtain. Ruth and her sister often visited the tea shop and it was nice to see a friendly face at the clinic. But Ruth didn’t sound friendly, alarming Krista.
“I have to see her.”
Luke’s voice. Krista smiled, oddly relieved to hear the deep timbre through the curtain.
“Are you her boyfriend?” Nurse Rankin said.
“No, absolutely not,” he said, panic edging his voice. “She’s a friend. I need to make sure she’s okay.”
“Why don’t you wait outside? The doctor will know more after the CT scan.”
“Wait,” Krista said. “Ruth?”
Ruth pushed aside the curtain. Luke eyed Krista, concern etching his forehead.
“Can he stay with me?” Krista said.
Ruth sighed. “Okay, but just until we take you up for the scan. I’ll be right back.”
Ruth disappeared and Luke stood there, waiting. For what, permission to step closer?
Krista wanted to reach for his hand, but felt it was inappropriate. Still, she wished she had someone’s hand to hold on to. Mom. Gran. Someone.
A wave of loneliness washed over her. She touched the silver charm at her neck and found solace.
“How are you feeling?” Luke stepped closer, within inches of her bed.
She sensed his uneasiness. Why, because he didn’t like hospitals? Or was it something else?
“My head hurts, but otherwise I’m okay,” she said.
“Can you tell me exactly what happened at the tea shop?” He pulled out a small notebook.
Back to business.
“A guy grabbed me, demanded my purse, then threw me to the ground. I hit my head on the counter as I fell.”
He scribbled something, then pinned her with intense blue eyes. “Why did you leave the party? What were you thinking?”
She was put off by his anger and critical tone.
“The alarm tripped and I figured the girls were having trouble setting it, so Natalie and I went to reset it. What did you expect me to do?”
“Be smarter than that.”
“Excuse me?” She’d never seen this rude side of him.
He stepped closer. “You need to accept that this situation is dangerous, Krista. You have to…” His voice trailed off. He snapped his notebook shut. “Never mind.”
He shoved his notebook into his jacket pocket and turned to leave.
She was physically bruised and emotionally exhausted. She needed comforting words, not a lecture. Yet she suspected Luke’s reaction had more to do with something in his past than Krista’s experience today. She sensed he felt…guilty.
“Wait,” she said.
He hesitated beside the curtain. A few seconds later he turned to her, his eyes guarded.
“I’m a small-town girl, Luke. I run a tea shop and attend church every Sunday and, well, stuff like this is foreign to me. I get that you deal with it every day, so you’re smarter—”
“Don’t. I shouldn’t have said the thing about being smarter, that was…”
“Mean?”
He glanced at the floor. “Yeah, mean.”
“But you said it because—” she hesitated “—you feel guilty?”
Clenching his jaw, he snapped his attention to her eyes. He leaned away from her, as if she’d exposed him.
“It’s not your fault,” she said. “It’s not my fault either. How could I know someone really tripped the alarm? We’ve had problems with it for months. The girls don’t set it often, so it would make sense they’d have difficulties.”
“If I would have been at the house, I would have gone with you.”
“We can’t be together twenty-four/seven.”
“We can and we will be. No arguments.”
The determination in his voice surprised her.
“It’s the only way I’m going to nail Garcia,” he added.
Right. The case. This had nothing to do with Luke wanting to keep her safe because he cared about her. This was all about nailing the bad guy.
She studied his clenched jaw and piercing eyes. “Why is this case so important to you?”
“It’s my job.”
“I sense there’s more to it.”
He glanced down, as if he didn’t want her looking too long into his eyes for fear she’d see something he desperately wanted to keep hidden. “Luke?”
“Garcia killed my partner. In front of me.”
A chill skittered down her arms.
“I’m so sorry.” She reached out and touched his jacket sleeve, a natural, compassionate act. Luke glanced at her hand. She thought he might pull away.
“I’ve gotta call in.” He stepped back, breaking the connection. “Don’t go anywhere without me.” With a nod, he walked out.
More like ran. From her.
Krista sensed he hadn’t told many people about his partner, and she suspected Luke blamed himself for his death. But why?
She’d probably never find out. Truly, what mattered most was that he caught Garcia and closed down his business so he couldn’t make money o
ff hooking children on drugs.
Krista still couldn’t believe the ugliness had permeated the small town of Wentworth. The tourist town of not quite three thousand was known for its vacation activities, access to both White Lake and Lake Michigan and an annual summer festival. She couldn’t fathom how crime had edged its way into the safe community.
But after today’s break-in, she could no longer hope that her garage attacker was some teenager out for a thrill.
Now Grace’s Tea Shop had been broken into, as if someone was looking for something very specific.
“The shop,” she whispered, searching the chair next to her for her purse. She should call the Sass girls and ask if they’d clean up, restock the teas for tomorrow’s business.
Nurse Rankin came around the corner with a clipboard in her hand. “Where’s the boyfriend?” She winked.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“He sure acts like it.”
“He’s…” She didn’t like keeping the truth from people in town, but knew that for Luke to solve the case he had to keep his identity a secret. “He’s the protective type.”
“Men only protect women they’re interested in, honey. He’s cute.”
“I hadn’t noticed.”
“Uh-huh.” Ruth placed the clipboard on the bed and pulled the gurney away from the wall.
Ruth wheeled Krista out of the emergency room to the elevator.
“I need to make a call,” Krista said.
“After the scan.” Ruth glanced over her shoulder. “Don’t look now, but we’re being stalked.”
“What? Who?” Krista leaned up on her elbow and glanced over her shoulder.
Luke walked a couple of feet behind them. He shot her a comforting smile.
“That protective boyfriend of yours isn’t letting you out of his sight, is he?” Ruth pushed.
“It’s been a wacky twenty-four hours.”
“I heard about the lavender garden sniffer and the Bender kid shooting out your windows.
“He didn’t shoot out the windows. Just fired off some rounds, I guess. And tonight someone broke into the shop.”
“What for? Your hazelnut scone recipe?”
“I have no idea.”
“McIntyre,” Luke said.
Ruth glanced over her shoulder. “Sir, you can’t use a cell phone—”
“When? How many? Hang on.” Luke rushed past Krista and pointed at the nurse. “Don’t let her out of your sight.”