by Jessica Beck
“Well, if nothing else, it should be a unique experience for both of us,” I said as I started the Jeep and drove off. I could see Sally still standing there waving as we left the parking lot, and I noticed Jake smiling softly back at her as he returned her wave.
I just hoped that I could do half the job that Sally had done for him. If I could manage that, I knew that Jake would be all right.
Chapter 7
Jake had his window open, and he breathed the fresh air in deeply as we started to drive. “I didn’t think I’d ever get out of there. Can you smell that?” he asked me.
I took a whiff of the air. “I’m not sure what you mean. I don’t smell anything out of the ordinary.”
“That’s because you’re not sitting in my seat. Over here, it smells exactly like freedom to me.”
We drove a little more before I finally decided that it was time to break the happy silence of the ride. “We both know that we can’t keep avoiding it, Jake. We need to talk before we get back to April Springs. So, who wants to go first?”
“You should go ahead,” Jake said. “Mine’s probably nothing.”
“So is mine,” I said.
He wasn’t about to budge, though. “Suzanne, I still want you to go first.”
“Fine.” I took a deep breath, and then I said, “There was a break-in at the cottage this morning.”
“What! What happened? Are you okay? Why am I just hearing about this now?” I hadn’t wanted to upset him, but it was understandable enough. It was time now for me to downplay it as much as I could. After all, I didn’t want it to ruin the rest of the day for us.
“Take it easy, Jake. I wasn’t even there when it happened, so I’m fine. I came home early after our break at the donut shop, and I found the front door ajar.”
“You didn’t go in by yourself, did you?” he asked me, clearly worried about the possibility that I’d acted rashly. I couldn’t even blame him for jumping to that particular conclusion, since I hadn’t always acted in the past in the most rational way.
“No, I did what I was supposed to do. I dialed 911, and Chief Martin came almost immediately.” I hesitated telling him the rest of it, but if I expected full disclosure from him, I was going to have to do the same thing myself. “There’s something else that you should know. After I’d been there about a minute, I saw someone running away from the house.”
“Did you get a good look at them? Were you able to give Martin a description?”
“It was too dark,” I admitted. “I couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman, to be honest with you.”
“Did he find anything when he got there?” Jake asked, his voice calming down a little as he spoke.
“No, evidently whoever broke in didn’t have time to steal anything. Chief Martin and Officer Grant checked the house thoroughly, and they even checked the park, but whoever did it was long gone. The chief thinks that it was just someone who saw us moving Momma out and thought the place would be ripe for a burglary. The window where they broke in has been fixed, and everything is as good as new.” I took another deep breath, and then I said, “I would have told you about it sooner, but I didn’t want to worry you. I knew that you should be aware of what was going on, though.”
“I appreciate your candor,” Jake said, but there was a hint of hesitation in his voice as he said it. “You’re right. This is something that I need to know. Suzanne, before I tell you my news, it’s important that you don’t automatically jump to the conclusion that the two things are related, okay?”
I eased up on the gas pedal as I glanced over at him. “I refuse to make any promises until I hear your news. What is it that you have to tell me?”
“Evidently the guy I shot wasn’t working alone,” Jake said guardedly. “Evidently Jeffrey Wade Monroe had a partner in crime, a guy named Harry Rusk that we didn’t know about. That’s what Terry was telling me about this morning when you showed up.”
“Do you think that he might have been the one who broke into my place?” I asked.
“Suzanne, according to federal agents up north, there are reports that Rusk was spotted outside a gas station in Pennsylvania this morning. He couldn’t have been the one who broke into your place.”
“What if the reports are wrong, though?” I asked. “You said yourself that eyewitnesses are usually the worst kind of evidence you can have.”
“Think about it. Even if Rusk were still in the area, how could he possibly know that I’m going to be staying with you? And even if, by some miracle, he was able to find that out, why break in before I get there? It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“I guess not,” I said, a little mollified by the logic of his argument, “but that still doesn’t mean that I’m not going to worry that they’re connected somehow.”
“You should really think about saving your worries for things that might actually happen,” he said.
“Is there anything else that you’re not telling me?” I asked him. “Let’s lay it all out on the table before we get home.” Jake looked at me in surprise as I said the last word, and I had to back up fast to explain myself. “I didn’t mean that it was your home, though I want you to think of it that way for at least the next month. It’s just an expression, Jake, so don’t read anything into it.”
“I didn’t say a word,” Jake replied coolly.
“You didn’t have to. Your expression said enough.”
“You shouldn’t read too much into it, Suzanne. I’m just a little tired, that’s all,” Jake said. “So don’t take anything I say or do too personally. I just want to get to the cottage and stretch out on the couch.”
“You can use the bed downstairs if you’d like,” I said. “The master suite is all yours for the duration of your stay.”
“No, if you don’t mind, I’ll just rest a little in the living room. I’d feel a little lazy taking a nap so soon after getting up.”
“But snoozing on the couch is okay, right?” I asked him with a grin.
“Hey, it’s the average American male’s favorite pastime, isn’t it?” he asked with a smile of his own. I was glad that we’d cleared the air. At least now we both knew what we were dealing with.
“Maybe for some average males it is, but we both know that you are anything but average,” I said. “But if it makes you feel any better, you can doze off wherever you’d like, as long as you promise to take it easy for at least the next couple of weeks.”
He moved his slinged arm a bit. “You’re not going to have to worry about that. Up until now, I’ve used my left hand mainly for holding a knife and a little typing. It’s going to take me some time to get used to not using my right hand for everything.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be there to help you until you get the hang of it,” I said.
“I know, and I greatly appreciate it.”
We finally made it to the cottage, and I was beginning to feel better about everything, until I noticed the squad car parked in the driveway. I hoped that it was just Chief Martin paying us a social call, but somehow I doubted it.
It turned out that I was right to be concerned about the reason for his visit, much to my regret.
Jake spoke up before I had a chance to once we were all standing by my Jeep. “Is there news on Rusk, Chief?”
“Who’s Rusk?” Chief Martin asked.
“It turns out that Monroe had a partner we didn’t know about,” Jake explained. “In case you didn’t know, Monroe is the guy I shot.”
“I know that much, at least,” the chief said, and then he looked at Jake. “Do your people have any idea on where this Rusk character might be right now?”
“He was supposedly spotted up north this morning,” I said.
“That’s probably exactly where he is, too,” the police chief said. “I wouldn’t worry about him too much if I were you.”
“But we all know that sometimes eyewitness reports can be wrong,” I answered.
“That’s a fair point. Jake, I’ll need to
know more about this Rusk character if there’s one chance in a hundred he might show up around here,” the police chief said.
“You can talk to a friend of mine in the department,” Jake said, and he gave him Terry’s name and phone number.
“If that’s not why you’re here, then what’s the real reason for this visit?” I asked. “I kind of doubt you’re a one-man welcoming committee.”
“Heather Masterson escaped from the hospital last night,” Chief Martin said tersely.
“The woman who poisoned her aunt and then came after Suzanne? How did she manage to escape?” Jake asked. “Besides, I thought she was in prison, not a hospital.”
“She was,” the chief explained, “but she got into a fight with another inmate and had to be transferred so she could recover from her injuries. Heather was just about to be sent back when she made her break yesterday afternoon about the time we were moving your mother into her new place.”
“And now you think she might be coming after me to get revenge for my help in putting her away,” I said. “Do you think she’s the one who broke into the cottage this morning?”
“I don’t know,” the chief said. “I’m not ready to jump to any conclusions at the moment, but I thought you should at least know what happened. Your mother is worried about you staying here; that’s for sure.”
“Don’t forget that Suzanne is not alone. I’m with her,” Jake said. “She’ll be fine.”
“No offense intended,” Chief Martin replied, “but I’m not exactly sure that you’re going to offer her much protection. With that busted wing, how much security are you going to be able to offer Suzanne?”
“Don’t worry about us. I can shoot with my left hand if I need to,” Jake said.
“I don’t doubt it, but Dorothea would still feel better if you both stayed with her until Heather is caught.”
I shook my head at the suggestion. “Tell Momma that we said thanks, but we’re staying right here.”
“Suzanne, it might not be such a bad idea after all,” Jake said. “The chief makes a good point. We both know that I’m not one hundred percent, and I won’t be for awhile.”
“Between the two of us, I know that we can handle anything that comes our way,” I said, and then I turned back to the chief. “Thanks for stopping by, but we’ve got to move Jake in now.”
Chief Martin clearly didn’t know how to react to our refusal. I didn’t envy him the conversation he’d be having soon with my mother, and I knew that I hadn’t heard the end of this from her either, but for now, I was standing firm. “Can I at least give you a hand?” he offered.
I handed him Jake’s bag to show that there were no hard feelings. “Go on and take it into the master bedroom,” I said. “We’ll be along in a second.”
“You agree with me about this, right?” I asked Jake as soon as Chief Martin was inside.
“Suzanne, whatever you want to do is fine by me. I just don’t want anything to happen to you on my watch because I was too weak to protect you.”
“This isn’t your watch, and I don’t need protecting,” I reminded him. “You are here to recover from your injury, not to keep me safe. Do you understand that?”
“Why can’t I do both?” he asked me with a crooked grin.
“How about if we take care of each other?” I suggested.
“That’s even better.”
“So then, we’re staying right where we are, right?” I asked him.
“Until you tell me differently. But we both need to be especially vigilant, Suzanne, and that means no door or window goes unlocked, and one of us doesn’t go anywhere without telling the other. Can you agree to that?”
I thought about the times I might need to run to the store or the pharmacy, and how inconvenient it would be to check in with him every time I had to step outside. “What if you’re asleep?”
“Then you wake me up. If you can’t agree to do this, then I can’t stay here.”
If Jake was bluffing, then he was better at it than I ever hoped to be. “Okay. I get it. I agree.”
“Then let’s get me moved in,” he said with a smile.
“Do you need a hand with the steps?”
“I got shot in the arm, not the leg,” Jake said as he put a hand on the railing.
“I know that, but you haven’t spent that much time on your feet the past few days. If you want to put your arm around me when you walk up the steps, I’m okay with that.”
“Suzanne, I don’t hate the idea of putting my arm around you, but it won’t be to steady my step, I can promise you that.”
“Easy there, tiger. You need to recuperate first.”
“If that’s not incentive enough for me to get better, then I don’t know what is,” he said with a smile.
I ended up steadying him a little after all as he made his way up the short steps, but neither one of us commented on it. I was going to have to let him go at his own pace and not be overprotective. Not only was that what Jake wanted, but he needed it as well. The man was stubborn, willful, and fiercely independent, three traits that I loved about him the most, but it wasn’t going to make him easy to live with, especially given his injury.
“I put your bag on the bed,” the police chief said as Jake and I walked into the house.
“Thanks,” Jake said as he patted his pants pocket with his good hand. “I’d tip you right now if I could, but my wallet’s on the other side of my pants, and with this stupid sling, I can’t get to it.”
“That’s okay. You can owe me,” the chief said with a grin. “I’m proud to know you, Officer Bishop.”
The sentiment caught Jake off-guard. “Right back at you, Chief,” he said.
After the police chief was gone, Jake asked me, “What was that all about?”
“Haven’t you been reading the papers? It turns out that you’re a hero.”
Jake frowned at that, and then he said, “Don’t you start with me.”
“Don’t worry. You won’t have to hear me ever say anything like that,” I promised him.
Jake shrugged. “Well, maybe a little adoration would be in order every now and then.”
I laughed, happy that he’d survived getting shot and was now here with me. “You can’t have it both ways, buddy.”
“Then I’ll take you just as you are right now.”
“That’s convenient, but that’s what you were going to get whether you like it or not. Now, who’s hungry?”
“I’m starving,” Jake said. “They wouldn’t give me anything like real food at the hospital, no matter how much I begged for it.”
“We’ll see if we can fix that, then. What would you like?”
“Well, I’d like a steak, but since I can’t cut it without your help, I’ll take a sandwich instead.”
I led him into the kitchen and opened the freezer. Momma might have moved out, but she’d left a ton of food behind. “How about pot roast and cooked veggies?”
“You don’t have to go to that much trouble for me on the first day,” Jake said.
“What trouble? I just have to thaw it out and it will be ready to eat. We’re talking leftovers here, nothing made from scratch.”
“Then pot roast sounds great. I’m going to have to start that exercise program early though, if I still want to be able to fit into my clothes when my arm heals.”
“We can walk in the park together,” I said. “It will be fun, but you have to promise me that you’ll stop and rest whenever you get tired.”
“It’s a deal, but for now, I think I’ll stick with walking to the bedroom and back. How long is it going to take to be ready to eat?”
“I can give you something to snack on in the meantime if you’d like,” I said.
“I was thinking more along the lines of a quick nap on the couch,” Jake admitted.
“Take all of the time you need,” I said. “This can wait.”
“Don’t let me sleep too long. Wake me when it’s ready,” Jake said as he headed for the
living room.
“I don’t think so. Sorry, but you need your rest. You’ll wake up in your own good time when you get hungry enough, so don’t expect me to be your alarm clock.”
“You’re one tough cookie, do you know that?”
“I’ve heard it a time or two,” I said. “Have a good nap.”
I put the pot roast and fixings in the oven and let the temperature rise gradually as it started to heat. I wasn’t in the kitchen three minutes when I peeked in at Jake to check on him.
He was already sound asleep.
It looked as though he might be awhile, so I grabbed a piece of pie from the fridge to hold me until my recovering boyfriend woke up.
All in all, it was a pretty fantastic way to wait for him. After I finished it, I cleaned up a little in the kitchen. As I worked, I couldn’t help wondering if Momma was right. Should Jake and I risk staying at the cottage while two maniacs were on the loose, both of whom wanted to cause us pain? It made perfect sense for us to go where we couldn’t be found, but I just couldn’t bring myself to abandon this house just because someone might want to harm me there. This was home, and I wasn’t going to let anyone take that from me, no matter how much sense evacuating might make. Besides, I had a great deal of faith in our ability to take care of ourselves.
I just hoped that I wasn’t wrong, because if I were, it might end up being a fatal, and final, mistake.
Chapter 8
So, the cop had lived after all. Normally I wasn’t all that big on revenge, but this guy Bishop had ruined our plans, and I wasn’t about to let him get away with it.
Sure, he’d taken a bullet to the arm, but he was going to live, which was more than I could say for Morton.
How long Bishop kept breathing was something else altogether.
In the end, it wasn’t that hard to find him. He was shacking up with his girlfriend, a donut maker named Suzanne Hart. They were both in April Springs, and that was all that I needed to know.
Chapter 9
Soon after I finished rinsing my pie plate, there was a tap on the kitchen window that nearly scared me to death. When I looked up from where I was sitting at the table, I was relieved to see Momma standing outside, but when I noticed who was with her, I was startled yet again. What was our mayor doing with Momma? Then I saw the shotgun in his hands, and I was even more disturbed. I went to the front door to let them in and saw that Jake was quietly snoozing on the couch. The day must have taken a lot out of him, and I was glad that he’d been able to fall asleep so quickly, and so soundly. I slipped outside and gently shut the door behind me. “He’s sleeping,” I said softly, even though I knew that there was no way that Jake could hear us now as long as we kept our voices at a reasonable level.