by Diane Burke
“I imagine he’ll come back with a lot more questions.” Cain lifted her chin with his finger and gazed into her turbulent green eyes. “But since you don’t know any more than he does, you have nothing to be afraid of.”
“Right.” Sophie offered a tentative smile. “I didn’t do anything wrong and I don’t have anything to worry about, do I?”
“I wouldn’t go that far. You don’t have anything to worry about from the sheriff.” Cain gestured around the living room. “But someone is going to a lot of trouble to make sure you worry about them.”
FIVE
Two hours later, Cain tied up the last of the trash bags and hauled them out to the shed. He could see Sophie leaning in the doorway, her arms folded across her chest, waiting for him to return. When he approached he noted a purplish hue shadowing the tender skin beneath her eyes and a deep sadness radiating from within her. The tears she’d fought hard to hold at bay all day slowly flowed down her cheeks. She straightened and her arms fell to her sides.
“Why is this happening, Cain? I can’t make any sense of it. Dad and I lived a quiet life. Minded our own business. I don’t understand why anyone would want to harm us.” She clamped her teeth together and swiped the tears from her cheeks. “I need to know what happened to him. And I plan to find out.”
Cain gazed at the petite five-foot-two bundle of resolve standing in front of him and he didn’t know how to keep his heart encased in steel—only that he would, he had to, no matter what. He couldn’t afford to make a second mistake. He’d paid too high a price for the last one. A wave of pain squeezed his heart at the memories and, rather than try to push them back into the closed little closets he’d created in his mind, he embraced the pain. The pain was good. The pain would help him erect a wall—and keep it there.
His gaze traveled up and down the length of her. Way out of her element, looking bewildered, afraid, still Sophie stood there, shoulders back, head held high, and threw down the gauntlet for him to step up and help or get out of her way. He smiled and shook his head. Of course he was going to help. As soon as he figured out how to find a ghost.
“Relax, Sophie. I told you I’d help and I will.”
He rested his head back against the porch column and took a few minutes to enjoy the impending sunset. The sun hung low in the sky. Brilliant colors of pink, lavender, blue and purple swirled across the sky. He wasn’t sure which was God’s most artistic masterpiece, the breathtaking sunset or the silhouette of Sophie standing on the top step of the porch.
“I wish you’d come into town with me.” He tried to keep his apprehension out of his voice. The last thing she needed was more stress today. But it didn’t feel right leaving her out here surrounded by woods and all alone.
“Don’t be silly,” Sophie said. “This is my home.”
“I know but…”
“No buts. The people who tossed my house are probably as dog tired as I am. They’re not planning on coming back tonight.” She smiled up at him. “Now, go. Seriously. Before it gets much later.”
He straightened but didn’t move off the porch.
“Cain, really, I appreciate you worrying about me. I truly do. But I’ll be fine. I’ll go inside and lock the doors and the windows the second you leave. Besides, your hourly rate and my budget aren’t that compatible.” She grinned the second he started to protest and then he realized she was teasing him about owing him money. She knew he wouldn’t think of charging her for this and had gotten the rise out of him she’d expected.
He grinned in return. “A man knows when he’s been defeated.” He bowed his head and then lumbered down the steps. He opened the driver’s door and paused before slipping inside. “Lock up. Immediately.”
Sophie stood and saluted. “Yes, sir.”
Cain shook his head, slid behind the wheel and started the engine.
She watched the tail end of his compact car disappear down the dirt road. A grin twisted her lips. From the size of the dust cloud behind him, it was obvious his foot leaned heavily on the accelerator. For a man who hadn’t wanted to leave he sure was in a hurry now.
Sophie started to go inside but decided to steal a moment—just one, quiet, uneventful moment—and enjoy the twilight. She wrapped an arm around the porch post and stared into the distance. This was exactly the kind of night her father and she would have spent together. They’d have worked on their separate projects most of the day, come together for dinner, and then carried a final cup of coffee out on the porch to sit, talk, just be together.
Her throat closed up. Oh, Daddy, how could you do this? Instantly her mind jumped to thoughts she didn’t want to have and taunted her with them. Are you sure he’s your father? How do you know? You don’t even know his real name. How can you be sure of anything anymore? The emotional pain that swept from head to toe couldn’t have hurt more if she was being physically tortured.
She had lived her entire life believing she was Sophia Joy Clarkston. Sophie—the person who loved strawberries and thick cream. Who loved walking barefoot in sand. Who loved the change of colors in the fall, the smell of lilacs in spring and the scent of pine at Christmas. The same Sophie who loved to mold and create objects, animals and people out of a shapeless lump of clay. The Sophie who cherished the opportunities to sit on a porch swing or lie in the grass and count the stars.
If she wasn’t really Sophia Joy Clarkston, then who was she? And did everything she remembered, everything she’d done, everything she’d ever believed she was, now suddenly change because she wasn’t the person she’d thought she was?
A tear slipped down her cheek.
Oh, Dad! What were you thinking? Why didn’t you talk to me…trust me?
Over the years, she’d met many older people at the craft fairs that wished they could live their lives over. Start fresh with a clean slate. But Sophie wondered, if they were given that option, if everything they thought they were was gone and they had nothing—no family, no expectations, no memories—would they want their life erased as simply as chalk off a blackboard? She didn’t. At least she knew that much about herself—no matter who or what her real name would turn out to be.
A sudden chill skittered along her nerve endings. Sophie hugged herself and quietly scanned the trees. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. No lurking figures in the bushes. No threatening shadows. Her ears strained to listen for any unusual or stealth-like sounds. All she heard was the cacophony of crickets and frogs mingling with the normal rustling of nocturnal animals coming awake and moving around in the brush.
Still. She scanned her surroundings again—slowly, searching, lingering on every leaf, bush and stone. She found nothing threatening. Nothing scary. So why did her instincts tell her she was being watched? She didn’t have the answer but she trusted her instincts.
She hurried inside and threw the dead bolt behind her. She locked each window in the house for good measure.
She had just finished dressing after her shower and was towel drying her hair when she heard a knock at the door. Cain. A grin pulled at the corners of her mouth. Although he’d promised to bring her car out to her in the morning, from the way he sped out of here she’d had the feeling he would be back. She tossed the towel in the hamper, took one quick look at her reflection in the mirror, smoothed her hair and hurried toward the front door. She opened it just as Cain lifted his hand to knock again.
“You didn’t check.” He frowned.
“What?” Sophie blinked hard.
Cain slipped past her with Holly close behind and they both turned to face her. “You didn’t look out the window to see who was here. You just opened the door.”
“Oh, come on…” Sophie shut the door.
“I don’t side with my brother often.” Holly sat down on the nearest chair. “But this time he’s right, kiddo. You should have checked before you opened the door. You didn’t know for sure it was us.”
“Let me get this straight. You’re saying if the robber comes back, he’s goin
g to knock on the door and announce himself first. Who is crazier, you or me?”
Both Garrisons crossed their arms and stared at her in silence.
“Okay.” Sophie laughed and threw her arms up in surrender. “You win. I should have checked before I opened the door.”
Cain gave a sigh of relief. “Okay, now that that’s out of the way, Holly has agreed to stay with you tonight.”
Sophie glanced at the small overnight bag at Holly’s feet and groaned. She’d already learned arguing with Cain was a losing battle, so she stated her case directly to Holly.
“I appreciate the offer, Holly. It could be fun. It would give us a chance to get to know each other better, and you could catch me up on all the town gossip.”
Holly laughed. “That could keep us up all night. Small towns are what originated soap operas, you know.”
Sophie smiled. “But not tonight.”
Holly blinked and Cain’s frown deepened.
Sophie raised a hand to stop them before they said a word. “It’s been a long and very stressful day. All I want is to forget today ever happened, climb into bed with a good book and then get a good night’s sleep.”
“But…”
“No buts, Cain.” Sophie stood her ground. “Holly, thank you so much for driving my car out here. I know you must be tired after working in the diner and I really appreciate it.” She placed her hand lightly on Cain’s forearm. “And, Cain, I know those ex-police officer genes of yours are chomping at the bit to catch this bad guy. I get it. I do.”
She locked eyes with his and tried to ignore the butterflies batting around in her stomach. “I honestly don’t believe this person would be stupid enough to try and come back on the same night.”
Cain opened his mouth to reply and again she stopped him.
“But if he is stupid enough to try again, I have 911 on speed dial, my bedroom door locks and I will even hide my video camera next to the fern on the mantel above the fireplace. This way if someone does break in he’ll be caught red-handed while you are busy racing to my rescue, because I will be safely barricaded in my room and will have already called 911, the sheriff and you.”
Holly grinned. “A gal after my own heart, bro. She’s one strong, independent lady.”
Cain glowered at his sister. “Who are you helping?”
“Me,” Sophie said. She removed her hand from his arm and smiled up at him. “Both of you are helping me. I’m so grateful for making such good friends so quickly.” Slowly, she opened the front door. “But the best way you can help me right now is to go home. I need to get a good night’s sleep. So do you. Tomorrow is another day.”
Cain muttered under his breath and stepped onto the porch. Holly patted Sophie’s hand as she stepped past her and whispered, “You go, girl,” under her breath.
Sophie accepted her car keys from Holly.
“Thanks, again.”
“Don’t mention it.” Holly skipped down the steps and climbed in the passenger seat of her brother’s car.
Cain put his hands on his hips. “If it wasn’t so deserted out here—”
“Cain.” She waited until they made eye contact and she knew she had his undivided attention. “This is my home. The only one I have. Please don’t try to make me scared to be in it. I’ll be fine. Now, go.” She gestured him off the porch.
“Are you coming into town tomorrow?”
“You bet. You and I have work to do. We have to try and locate my father before the sheriff discovers he’s missing in action, so to speak.”
Cain frowned again. “I wouldn’t count on us beating the sheriff.”
Sophie swung her shoulders back. “I know you just met me. But in case you haven’t noticed, Mr. Cain Garrison, I don’t scare easily. I don’t back down. And I am determined to find out what happened to my dad. The way I figure it, you can spend the morning on your computer, seeing if you can prove this house belongs to me and whatever else you can find. As for me—”
She glanced behind her. “The jerk came here looking for something. My gut says he didn’t find it. But I will. There’s got to be something in this place that will help us find the answers we need.”
Sophie turned back to Cain. “What’s that old cliché? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? Well, I’m furious, Cain. I’m going to find out the truth—no matter where it leads.”
Cain grinned, a slow, lazy, tantalizing grin and Sophie all but melted into the floorboards.
“You’re a mass of contradictions, Sophie. You’re young. Naive in some ways. Fragile.” He held his hand up to stop her protests. “Yet you remind me of that complimentary term used for southern women who are soft and cuddly on the outside but iron inside. I think they call them steel magnolias, don’t they?” He tweaked the bottom of her chin. “Okay, you win. I’ll do one quick turn around the outside of the house to make sure everything’s locked up tight and then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
It was the wee small hours of the morning when Cain returned to the cottage. Headlights off and driving as noiselessly as possible, he eased his car up the dirt road. He stopped about a hundred yards from the house and turned off the engine. His eyes strained to scan the yard leading into the woods. When he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, he turned his attention to the house.
A single light shone from a back window. He knew from having been inside earlier that it was coming from one of the bedrooms. He couldn’t believe Sophie was still up. She had to be exhausted after the day she’d had. He sat in silence, patiently waiting for the light to go out. Thirty minutes later it did.
With a sigh of relief, Cain adjusted a pillow against a window and tried to stretch his legs out in the passenger well. He knew he was in for a long, uncomfortable night. But if the mountain wouldn’t come to him, then he’d have to go to the mountain. Sometimes he wished the Lord would take away his damsels-in-distress Achilles’ heel. Then again, he glanced back at the darkened house. Sometimes he was glad He didn’t.
SIX
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Cain awoke with a start. What? Where? He must have drifted off. The sun shone brightly in his face and he threw up a hand to shield his eyes.
Tap. Tap. Tap. The sound was louder this time.
He turned his head. A figure blocked out the sun, the solid dark outline surrounded by sunlight preventing him from identifying the person outside his car window. Swiftly, Cain sat up, stifling a groan at the pain that shot up his leg when he pulled it beneath him. He tried to shake off the sleepy fog enveloping his mind like a warm blanket.
He wasn’t so lethargic, however, that he’d act foolishly. One hand surreptitiously slid his gun out from beneath his seat as he pushed the button to open his window with the other.
“What are you doing here, Mr. Garrison? And you’d better have a pretty good explanation.”
Sophie’s stern voice oozed over his senses. The warmth from last night had been replaced by controlled but undisguised anger. She stood with both hands fisted on her hips. Yep, she was preparing for a fight, all right. He just didn’t know if he was awake enough to provide one.
“Sophie? Is that you?” He slid his weapon beneath his belt, snug against his back. Sophie stepped back as he swung the car door open and stepped outside.
Acting disoriented and sleepy, which really wasn’t such a tough act since it was probably the first sleep he’d had in the past 48 hours, he staggered a step toward her. He made a show of glancing at her, then at her house and finally back to her.
“I could have sworn I was sitting outside Daisy Lee’s house. I’ve been following her all week from one secret liaison to another. Boy, her husband’s going to be mad that I made the wrong turn and missed where she disappeared to this time.” He held his breath while he waited for her reaction.
Sophie blinked. His explanation wasn’t what she’d expected and she wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Was he serious? Did he really end up here by mistake? He did seem a bit disoriented and lethargic. Or was h
e just hoping she’d be stupid enough to swallow that explanation? Before she could make up her mind, he stepped into her personal space. He stood only inches from her. His body straightened to his full six-foot-two height, an energy and alertness quickly replacing any misconceptions she might have had about his lethargy. His head and shoulders loomed over her, blocking out the sun so there was nothing obstructing the cold, hard features glaring down at her.
“Why do you think I’m out here, darlin’?” His voice was so cold it could drip ice chips. “Couldn’t be because I’m trying to protect one of the most stubborn women I’ve ever met, now could it?”
She drew in a breath and opened her mouth to protest but before she could utter a sound, he said, “What will it take to convince you that the things that have happened to you in the past two weeks are not a coincidence or the result of a bad dream? Every bone in my body wants to shake you silly until you understand this isn’t a game. Lucky for you, shaking women is not one of my character traits. I have other methods for handling obstinate females.” He leaned closer, his breath fanning her hair. “Want a lesson?”
Sophie’s pulse raced and her own breath came in short, shallow gasps. She stumbled backward trying to break this hypnotic hold he seemed to have on her.
But he anticipated her and moved forward with her until only a feather could slip between them. His eyes locked with hers. His lips pulled back in a snarl. “What do I have to do to make you understand? You’re in danger. Real let’s-kill-your-dad, run-you-down-with-a-car and ransack-your-home danger. Get it?”
He waited a second for his words to sink in and then he stepped back. He ran a hand over the stubble on his face. He sighed and softened his tone. “Sophie, I like you. My sister likes you. We’d like to get to know you better. Neither one of us wants to attend your funeral.”