Deceived (Unlikely Heroes Book 3)

by Leslie Georgeson

  “It’s a nice night,” he murmured.

  “Was,” she retorted, “until you came along and ruined it.”

  Zach rubbed a hand over his face. “About that,” he said, “I’m sorry, Kristen. I overreacted. I saw you sitting by him and thought the worst. I had seen him smoking pot in that swing not too long ago.” He hesitated. “Did he offer you drugs? Did you smoke pot with him?”

  She let out a snort of disgust. “If that’s what you think, I’m not going to try to stop you.”

  He sighed. That was the wrong thing to say.

  “All right. I’m sorry. Of course you didn’t. But you can understand my concern, right?”

  She turned her head and glared at him. “Understand why you always overreact? Understand why you don’t trust me or why you don’t like me or why I had to even come to live with you in the first place? No, I don’t understand any of it.” She turned away, wiped at a tear.

  Zach cleared his throat. “I promise to try not to overreact anymore, okay? That was just my fatherly instincts kicking in.” He paused, staring off into the trees. The sun was going down now and dusk was rapidly approaching. Shadows danced among the trees. It was cooling off and a chill filled the air. “I do like you, Kristen and hopefully someday I’ll grow to love you.”

  She turned her head toward him, surprise flickering in her blue eyes. “I don’t like you.”

  He gave a quick nod. “I understand. I haven’t given you much to like yet. I’m sorry for that. I’m still learning about being a parent. I know I’m not very good at it yet.”

  She snorted, turning away to wipe her nose.

  “Kim told me I needed to give you some space, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

  She turned back to him again, eyeing him warily. “What kind of space?”

  He didn’t like the idea of letting her do whatever she wanted, so there were still going to be rules. He was pretty sure Kim hadn’t meant to just let the girl run wild.

  “I’m going to let you make your own decisions on most things. I’m going to trust you and believe you when you tell me something.” He turned and met her gaze. “And in return, I expect you to be honest with me. I don’t want to catch you in a lie.”

  Not like Kim, who was full of lies.

  Annoyed with that thought, he shoved it away.

  Kristen sniffled and wiped at her nose again. “Okay.”

  “There’s still going to be a curfew on school nights. Ten o’clock, okay? And no boys in your bedroom.”

  She snorted and turned away. “As if. No boys even like me.”

  Thank God for that. Zach wasn’t ready to deal with teenage boys just yet. But in time that would change, he was certain. Kristen was a beautiful girl. He wondered if she realized how pretty she was.

  He cleared his throat. “After school’s out for the summer, I’m going to let you have a little more freedom. You can do what you want as long as you text me periodically and let me know what you’re up to. And I expect you home by dinnertime. Okay?”

  She nodded, looking a little shocked.

  “Just don’t take advantage of your freedom, or I’ll have to set some stricter rules and put you on a tighter leash.”

  She rolled her eyes. “It’s not as if I have anywhere to go or anything to do. I don’t have any friends here.” She paused. “Except Kim.”

  Zach’s heart warmed. He was thankful Kim had befriended Kristen. The girl needed female companionship, something he obviously couldn’t give her.

  “One other thing. I expect you to be more respectful toward me, all right?”

  With another roll of her eyes, she nodded.

  “And I promise to be respectful toward you.” He stared out into the darkening forest. “Okay then.” He rose. “Shall we go inside? Wanna’ watch a movie together?”

  She grabbed the railing and pulled herself to her feet. She hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

  Feeling he’d finally gotten somewhere with his daughter, Zach held open the door for her and followed her inside.

  He only wished he’d gotten somewhere with Kim.

  And wondered if he ever would.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Meg tapped the pen on the tabletop as she stared at the private investigator’s last report to her before he’d been murdered. She had no doubt Larry had killed him, that Larry had somehow found out she was investigating him. She imagined Larry had noticed the P.I. following him and had interrogated the man before killing him. The P.I. had more than likely spit out her name while he was being tortured.

  “Followed subject to three-story house in quiet Spokane suburb,” she read aloud. The P.I. had included the address. “Witnessed subject enter residence alone. Watched house all night. No other parties came or went. At approximately 5:30 a.m., subject emerged and drove away.”

  A knock came at Meg’s back door.

  She jumped, knocking the pen onto the floor and accidentally scattering papers all over the table with her bulky cast when she tried to catch the pen.

  Swearing softly, Meg scooped up her notes and all the information she’d gathered on Larry over the years. She stuffed everything back into the file. Then she hid the file in the bottom drawer in the kitchen cabinet. If anyone found out she was privately investigating the Spokane County Sheriff, had been trying to bring the creep down for fifteen years, they’d probably lock her up in a mental hospital. No one had believed her fifteen years ago. But she hadn’t given up. She was still compiling information, seeking evidence. She planned to take Larry down. With her own two hands if she had to.

  Evan had been helping her until he disappeared. So had the P.I. she’d hired, but he was dead now. She had no idea if Larry had killed Evan too or if Evan had just gone into hiding.

  And Curtis, bless his heart, was doing his best to help her too. By involving him, Meg was putting Curtis’s life in danger. Anyone who got involved was in danger because Larry refused to go down. He thought he was above the law. He used the law to hide what he did. No one suspected him of the heinous crimes he’d committed or the terrible things he continued to do.

  No one except Meg.

  Because she knew.

  She’d seen.

  And she’d never forget.

  A knock came at the door again, louder this time. Meg shoved the drawer closed, hiding her file on Larry, and glanced at the clock on the microwave.

  9:30 a.m.

  Who would come to see her at 9:30 on a Sunday morning?

  Meg hesitated in front of the door. Was it Zach? Part of her wished it was. The other part of her was afraid that it was. What had she been thinking anyway, agreeing to go for a run with him yesterday? She couldn’t do that again. She’d spent too much time with him as it was. He’d shared stories with her, told her about himself, and the more time she spent with him, the more she liked him. Hell, the man was fluent in four different languages. She hated to admit it, but she was impressed. She needed to stay away from him. Far away from him.

  Meg cautiously opened the back door.

  Kristen smiled shyly through the screen at her. “Hi. I came to take you up on that offer to go horseback riding. Is this a good time?”

  “It’s the perfect time.” Meg grinned. “Let me go change into jeans and cowboy boots and I’ll meet you out by the corral. You can go on out and acquaint yourself with the horses if you want. I’ll be there in a sec.”

  As Kristen turned away, Meg hurried to her room to change. She was delighted with the chance to spend more time with Kristen and glad to have someone help her exercise her lazy horses. She would have to put Kristen on Prince, since he was less spirited than Mystic Lady. Meg would ride the mare.

  Curtis still hadn’t emerged from his room, but that wasn’t unusual. Meg intended to talk to him about the drugs later. He had to know he couldn’t be doing that here, and especially around Kristen. Even though he did it to help ease the severity of his condition, Meg needed to remind him to be a little more prudent abou
t when and where he smoked his pot.

  Twenty minutes later Meg and Kristen headed into the trees on horseback. Meg had given Kristen a few pointers on how to control the horse and the girl caught on quickly. Kristen relaxed and they chatted companionably as they rode through the forest.

  Meg had to admit she was dying to find out if Zach had made amends to Kristen. Hoping Kristen wouldn’t be offended, she asked, “So, did your dad say he was sorry for how he acted last night?”

  Kristen nodded. “Yeah. He said you told him he needed to give me some space. Thanks for that. He’s trying really hard now. We watched a movie last night and this morning he made pancakes, fried potatoes and scrambled eggs for breakfast.” She looked away for a moment. “He asked me how things were going at school, stuff like that. He’s never really acted interested before.” She shrugged, brought her gaze back to Meg’s. “I think he really does care.” She appeared surprised by that.

  “Of course he cares,” Meg said. “He’s your father.”

  Kristen’s lips twitched a little. “I think he likes you. Why else does he keep going over to your house? I’ve never seen him interested in a woman before.”

  Meg’s face grew hot. “Yeah, well…we’re just friends. Kind of.” She looked away. How did she explain their relationship? She wasn’t even sure what was going on between them.

  Kristen giggled. “You like my dad, don’t you?”

  Meg shrugged. Did she like Zach? Yes. Of course she did. Too damned much. But she was also scared of him. That was an unusual combination. How could you like someone and be afraid of them at the same time?

  “I don’t care,” Kristen admitted. “I don’t think it would bother me if he dated you. I might actually like it.”

  Meg’s face grew hotter. “That’s not going to happen, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

  “You’d be a cool stepmom.”

  Meg cleared her throat. “You’ll just have to be content with me being your friend. That other stuff isn’t going to happen.”

  Kristen shrugged and turned away. “Whatever.”

  Despite herself, Meg felt her lips twitch. She hoped the girl didn’t try to play matchmaker. Meg was going to have a hard enough time as it was keeping away from Zach without his daughter trying to find ways to throw them together.

  As they neared the river, Meg spied a man sitting on a rock near the bank.

  Speak of the devil. She should have known she’d run into Zach again today. He turned and waved at them when they approached. Meg hesitated, then waved back. He was wearing sunglasses so she couldn’t tell if he was looking at her or at Kristen, but she had to assume he was watching her, because he was always watching her, as if he was waiting for her to make a mistake.

  He rose from the rock and reached out to pat Prince’s neck. Then he stepped toward Mystic Lady, reaching out to pat the mare’s neck. Lady snorted and eyed him warily. Zach pulled his hand back, letting it fall to his side.

  “I’m still working with her,” Meg said. “She’s a bit flighty still.”

  “Kind of like you,” he whispered, staring up at her. Meg’s cheeks flamed.

  “You were right, Dad.” Kristen glanced from Meg to her father.

  “Obviously,” he said, leaving Meg to wonder what he’d been right about.

  Kristen smiled at her. “He told me to come see you this morning. He said he was pretty sure you’d be happy to take me horseback riding. He was right.”

  Meg flushed even deeper, averting her gaze from Zach.

  “I found a good fishing hole.” Zach motioned to the river. “Right there.” He pointed at a shady place near the shore beneath a willow where the current was nearly nonexistent. Meg glanced away from the water and finally let her gaze travel down his body. She hadn’t allowed herself to look before, but she couldn’t resist any longer.

  He wore green, brown and tan camouflage hip waders with a fishing krill slung around his neck. He appeared as comfortable in the waders as he did in jeans and a T-shirt or his black sheriff’s uniform. He was obviously a man who was confident and comfortable in his own skin. She was beginning to realize he was open and honest and didn’t hide things from her. She, on the other hand, had kept almost everything about herself hidden from him. The poor man didn’t even know her real name. She knew it drove him crazy that she wouldn’t tell him. If he found out who she was and what she was trying to do…

  He’d probably lock her up in a straightjacket and deposit her at the nearest insane asylum.

  Meg pushed the disturbing thought from her mind.

  He wouldn’t find out.

  She glanced behind him and noticed the fishing pole that he’d propped between two rocks. He opened the krill and reached in. Kristen squealed when he pulled out a fish and held it up for their inspection.

  “Twenty-three inch brown trout,” he said proudly. He dropped the fish back into the krill and pulled out another one. “An eighteen inch rainbow.”

  “Nice,” Meg murmured. “You guys can have a fish fry tonight.”

  Zach returned the rainbow trout to the bag. Meg felt his gaze on her through the sunglasses. “That’s a great idea. Why don’t you join us?”

  “Oh no, I can’t,” she said quickly, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. She hadn’t expected him to invite her. That hadn’t been her intention at all. Her face heated.

  “Why not? You got something better to do?”

  Meg glanced at Kristen. The girl was observing the exchange with a fascinated look on her face. She smiled at Meg and shrugged.

  “I have plenty to do. Thanks anyway.” Meg turned Mystic Lady away from him and headed back into the forest. After only a slight hesitation, Kristen followed on Prince. Meg could feel Zach’s gaze boring into her back as she rode away.

  “See,” Kristen said as she nudged the gelding closer to Meg. “I told you my dad likes you.”

  * * *

  Meg gathered up the paperwork on Larry. No one said taking down a monster would be easy. Especially now that the monster was on to her. Time was running out.

  She’d spent most of the afternoon going over everything, trying to find some evidence that was good enough to hand over to the district attorney, but she didn’t have enough yet. She needed more than circumstantial evidence. She needed conclusive proof. Something that would nail Larry without a doubt. Something that would convince a jury of his guilt.

  Groaning in frustration, Meg decided to give up for the day. She stuffed the file back into its hiding place in the drawer.

  What she needed was a hard run to clear her head.

  It was nearly eight p.m. when she headed outside a few minutes later, dressed in her running clothes. Curtis sat in the porch swing, where he’d taken up residence the last couple of evenings. She knew she needed to talk to him about his marijuana use, but she’d been putting it off.

  He turned toward her, looking guilty, and angled his right hand over the arm of the swing so she couldn’t see it. But Meg didn’t have to see it to know he was smoking pot again. She could smell it.

  “I’m going for a run,” she said, choosing to ignore his habit for now. She’d discuss it with him when she got back. “If I’m not back by dark, go over to Zach’s and tell him I’m missing. He’ll send out a search party.”

  “You sure it’s wise to go running by yourself, especially since Larry might know where you are now?”

  Meg cocked a brow. “You want to join me?”

  “Naw.” He looked away. “You’ll probably be fine. Can’t imagine why anyone would want to wait out here in the forest, watching and waiting for you.”

  Was he trying to scare her? Whether he was or not, Curtis’s words made her heart flutter with nerves, so she went back inside and grabbed her pepper spray. She tucked the spray canister into the pocket of her windbreaker, then tied the jacket around her waist in case she got cold and needed it before she got back. Though the .45 was a more deadly weapon, Meg had learned from her shooting lesson with Zach that
she was better off retiring the weapon until her arm healed, so it now sat in the top drawer of her nightstand. She was still undecided if she should keep it or trade it for a smaller gun.

  Curtis waved as she jogged off the porch and headed for the road. Meg skirted along the edge of the road, staying close to the trees, so she could dart into the forest at short notice if necessary. But no one was out here but her and the local wildlife. No cars drove past. No other people around. Soon she relaxed and settled into a steady, comfortable rhythm, the sounds and smells of the forest soothing to her. After approximately twenty minutes, which was about the time she normally needed a break, she slowed to a walk, then halted, bending over to cool down and catch her breath. She’d stopped near the same log where she and Zach had sat and talked the night before. Well, he’d done most of the talking. Meg admitted that she liked the man she was getting to know. She averted her gaze from the log, but she couldn’t push aside the memories of last night.

  She hadn’t missed the hungry look in his eyes when he’d been sitting on the log looking up at her. She’d seen the way his gaze had raked her from head to toe, resting momentarily on her heaving chest. Thinking about it now made her skin heat. When they’d been sitting on the log and he’d leaned toward her, his gaze on her lips, she’d nearly passed out. She couldn’t deny that whatever was between them was powerful and frightening.

  Gravel crunched down the road behind her. Meg spun around, her hand reaching for the pepper spray. Her heart did a little catapult when she spied Zach jogging toward her, dressed in running shorts and a tank top. His long legs ate up the road in quick strides as he ran toward her. Unsure if he’d seen her yet or not, Meg sprinted into the trees. She didn’t want a confrontation with him right now. And she sure as hell didn’t want him to take her up on the challenge she’d stupidly tossed at him on the porch last night. She would probably forever regret making such a foolish dare.

  Meg found a large pine tree and hunkered down behind the trunk, holding her breath and waiting for him to pass. Gravel crunched louder as he drew nearer.