She glanced at the team members outside and sighed.
Her life was empty. Not only since she moved back here, but in Portland, too. She just never took the risk of getting to know someone only to be hurt by them. The story of her life.
Shaking her head, she carried the fruit to the dining table. She’d planned to serve the meal to her guests for lunch, but when she called to tell them about the construction work, they canceled their reservation. Frankly, she couldn’t stomach another cancellation so she asked if they’d like to stay in the cottage for free and they agreed. They’d arrive later that day when Jake said the roof would be completed. She and Birdie would move into guest rooms at the B and B, and Krista had offered to clean the cottage.
Emily took one last look at the table, then deciding it was ready and filled with enough food to feed these hungry workers, she stepped outside. Thankfully, the expected high temperature would be a seasonable seventy-five degrees today and a gentle breeze drifted across the yard as she joined the group.
“Lunch is ready,” she called out.
Cash dropped a bundle of shingles back onto the bed of his truck and jerked off his gloves, then stuffed them in his pocket. “Don’t have to tell me twice.”
He crossed over to Krista, took the shovel out of her hands and stepped toward the porch.
Krista held up dirt-covered hands. “Where can we wash up?”
“The kitchen or bathroom is fine.” Emily stood back and watched as the rest of the team took their time. She glanced at Cash who was already stepping inside the cottage with his arm around Krista.
“Cash might be in a hurry to eat, but you should see Brady.” Darcie grinned. “Mention food and he’s quicker than a bullet.”
“And Archer?” Emily asked as he hadn’t come down from the roof yet.
“He’s not quick to act, but when he does, he’s decisive.” Darcie stared at Emily for long, uncomfortable moments. “He’s a good guy, if that’s what you’re asking. Can be quiet and reserved, but he has a heart of gold and any woman would be lucky to have him.”
Darcie mirrored Emily’s thoughts to a T. “I’m sure they would.”
“But not you?”
“I’m not in the market for a relationship.”
“Because?” Darcie asked directly.
Emily had to force her mouth not to drop open at Darcie’s prying question. “You don’t pull any punches, do you?”
“I did. For years. Hid behind my own issues like you seem to be doing. But you know what I learned?”
“What?” Emily asked as she really was curious to hear the answer.
“Are you a woman of faith?”
Emily nodded.
“Then all I need to say is let go of whatever you’re worrying about. Choosing a life of worry when peace is available is foolish. You’ll only drown in the worry and miss the best God has waiting for you.”
Drown in worry. Yeah, she was drowning all right, but God could also stop the problems, thus ending her worry, right? Or simply give her a hint that He was there, listening.
Are You there, Father? Can You hear me?
“Uh-oh.” Archer came up behind Darcie, putting an abrupt end to Emily’s thoughts. “Looks like you two are far too serious. Anything I can do to help?”
“Yeah,” Darcie said. “Follow your feelings for once in your life and forget about the money.”
“Money?” Emily asked in confusion.
“It’s nothing worth discussing.” Archer tightened his jaw. “Didn’t you hear? Lunch is ready.”
Darcie raised an eyebrow, but said nothing and started for the cottage.
They all settled at the table with plates filled with fruit, homegrown veggies and thick roast beef sandwiches, but Darcie’s comment about money kept plaguing Emily and she didn’t feel like eating.
Could Archer be in dire financial straits like she and Birdie were? If so, she totally understood and wouldn’t judge him, but she wouldn’t ask him about it either and risk embarrassing him. She’d wait to see if he brought it up.
Krista suddenly groaned. “These tomatoes are to die for. Are they from your garden?”
Emily nodded. “It’s an heirloom variety that I grow every year. These are the first ripe ones from the vine.”
“Skyler’s really into gardening, too,” Darcie shared. “You should talk to her about it next time you see her.”
Emily didn’t miss Darcie’s point that she expected, in addition to seeing Skyler at the mall shooting, there would be a “next time” that they’d meet. Emily doubted that would occur unless it involved finding the person trying to kill her.
“While you’re all here,” Archer cut in as if preempting anything else Darcie might say, “Emily, why don’t you share the incidents that have occurred in the past and we can get the team members’ take on them.”
Glad for the distraction from the money comment, she explained the strange incidents. “Delmar seems to want to take credit for the attempts on my life.”
“I know you guys have been looking into Withrow’s friend Stan,” Cash said. “Any thoughts on his other friends?”
She shook her head. “I never really saw him interact with anyone else at the Oregon Free meetings.”
“Is that one of your groups at school?” Birdie asked, still locked in Emily’s teen years.
“No,” Emily answered and didn’t expound on Birdie’s mistaken time frame, as it would just add to her confusion.
“When is the next scheduled meeting?” Jake asked.
“It’s held the first Wednesday of the month.”
“Tonight, then.” Archer frowned.
“I’m sure they’ll be talking about the shooting,” Emily added. “It would be great to be there in case they shared something that could help.”
“One of us could go,” Cash offered.
“No offense, Cash,” she said, “but a lot of the members don’t trust or respect cops and you would get nowhere with them. I’ll try to find someone to stay with Birdie and I can go.”
“No!” Archer’s vehement response drew the attention of his friends. He took a breath and let it out slowly.
“I don’t want you going out of the house at night,” he added, his voice gentler. “If the person behind these attacks is a member of the group, it could be dangerous.”
“If it is one of the group members,” Jake said, meeting Archer’s gaze, “they’ll likely take the night off to attend the meeting.”
Archer jutted out his chin. “And if it’s not them? Remember...we’re still looking at Taylor and Baumann, too.”
“I’m sure after that outburst you wouldn’t let Emily go without you, so she’ll be fine.” Darcie faced Emily. “Noah can catch a ride home with the team, and I’ll be glad to stay with Birdie so you can go.”
“Darcie,” Archer warned.
Emily was glad for his concern, but she would go to the meeting. She smiled at Darcie. “Thank you. I appreciate your staying with Birdie.”
“Stay with me?” Birdie looked up from spearing a piece of cantaloupe. “Why do you need to stay with me?”
Darcie smiled gently. “It’s always nice to have company, isn’t it?”
Birdie nodded and looked at Emily. “You have some lovely friends, Emily.”
“Okay, it’s settled, then.” Darcie winked at Emily. “You will be going to the Oregon Free meeting tonight.”
Cash glanced at Archer. “If members have an issue with law enforcement, then you’re gonna stick out like a sore thumb at that meeting, and they’re bound to clam up.”
“Emily’s not going alone.” Archer’s voice was razor sharp. “She can do all the talking. I’ll hang in the background and observe.”
Emily shot him a look. “You can’t outright quest
ion or accuse anyone of wrongdoing.”
“No problem.” A lopsided smile crossed his mouth. “I am a negotiator after all and have active listening skills.”
“Better yet.” A mischievous glint appeared in Darcie’s eyes. “Why don’t you pretend to be Emily’s boyfriend from Portland? The members are sure to be more accepting of that.”
“Darcie,” Noah warned. “Don’t start meddling.”
“I’m only offering a good alternative.” She pretended to pout. “Of course, I’m not a sworn deputy like the rest of you, so maybe my ideas aren’t any good.”
“No,” Jake said. “It’s a great idea.” He focused on Archer. “What do you think, buddy? You up for being Emily’s boyfriend for a night?”
Archer gave a clipped nod of agreement, but Emily would be lying if she didn’t admit she was hurt by the reluctance she saw in his eyes.
ELEVEN
The Oregon Free members met in the small back room of a local burger restaurant that evening. Archer escorted Emily inside, and his muscles ached in spots where he didn’t know he had muscles. He worked out on a regular basis, but after a day of carrying sixty-pound bundles of shingles up a ladder, he now knew the true meaning of backbreaking work.
Emily set a large basket of vegetables from her garden and cartons of eggs on a table already laden with similar items. Apparently, they swapped homegrown and homemade items. She greeted her fellow members and received mixed responses. Initially, she introduced him as her friend, but when that elicited strange looks, he stepped up next to her and draped his arm around her shoulder to make their supposed relationship clearer.
Knowing looks passed around the room and despite his finely pressed khakis and button-down shirt, so unlike the well-worn jeans and T-shirts on most of the guys, they seemed to accept him. A friendly banter flowed between the members as they exchanged items. Emily finally seemed to relax, but he remained alert. He kept his arm firmly around her shoulder and his eye on the entire group, covertly scoping out signs of concealed weapons, but was gratified not to find any hint of one.
As they took their seats, one of the guys brought up the shooting. Archer felt Emily stiffen beneath his arm. He squeezed to let her know he was there for her and received a sweet smile for his efforts.
“It must have been horrible, Emily,” a woman with frizzy brown hair commiserated. “How on earth did you survive?”
“It wasn’t easy.” Emily took a seat and her closed expression didn’t encourage discussion.
If she were a trained law enforcement officer, she would have taken the opening and run with it instead of discouraging conversation. Archer’s gut reaction was to step in, but he restrained himself because he knew his interference this early on would put them off.
“I figured Delmar was trouble,” the woman went on. “We probably should have voted to remove Stan from the group, too.”
“Why’s that?” Emily asked casually, and Archer wanted to give her an atta-girl for her open-ended question that would keep this conversation going.
“I suspect he knew all about Delmar’s plan to bomb the bridge and was on board with it. If Cindy hadn’t intervened...poor Cindy.” The woman shook her head. “Poor, poor Cindy. She was such a sweet girl, not like Delmar at all, and she didn’t deserve to die.”
“Do you think Delmar let anyone else in on the plan?” Emily asked.
“Delmar? Nah. He was a loner, right?” The woman queried the rest of the group with a questioning gaze.
A young man with a stocking cap not fully hiding his greasy hair nodded. “I think the only reason Stan hung with Delmar was because of Cindy.”
“Then why would he go along with Withrow’s plan?” Archer asked and all the members turned to stare at him with What’s it to you? looks.
“I’m just curious,” he quickly added.
“I don’t really know much about Stan,” the young guy said, then looked at his group. “Anyone else?”
“All I know is he lives in Troutdale and used to come to the meetings with Cindy,” the curly-haired woman replied. “He kept to himself, and he seemed kind of mean or maybe just standoffish. I don’t know which. We haven’t seen him except for that one meeting right after Cindy died.” She cast a knowing look at Emily.
“You mean the night when he cursed me out,” Emily replied, sounding strong and in control.
Archer was so proud of her bravado. He squeezed her hand under the table.
“Yeah, that’s the one I meant,” the woman said. “I don’t want to sound mean, but I think it’s good that he hasn’t come back or we might have to consider kicking him out, too.”
“Do any of you think he might still be planning to carry out Withrow’s plan?” Archer asked.
“The bomb at the bridge you mean?” the young guy asked.
Archer nodded and let his gaze wander the group to measure their response. Some nodded and others shrugged, but not a one of them shook their head, further cementing Fallon as the kind of man who would engage in violence, which made him a prime suspect on Archer’s list.
“Time to get started, people.” An older man with gray hair pulled back into a ponytail and threadbare but clean clothing stepped to the head of the table and the members swiveled to face him.
Emily sighed out a long breath, and Archer squeezed her hand again to show his support, then he held it for the rest of the meeting. She likely thought he was trying to maintain their undercover status, but in reality, she was vulnerable in this room of people he didn’t know or hadn’t vetted. Even if they all did seem like an easygoing, peaceful group.
They talked passionately about saving the environment, and he grew antsy. He honestly didn’t think about the environment very often. Sure, he recycled, but he didn’t live off the land the way many of these people did. In fact, he didn’t live a very sustainable lifestyle at all. He’d grown up in a world of luxury that was all about consumerism. Discarding things that were in perfectly good condition to buy the latest fad. He didn’t live that way anymore, but after listening to the group, he vowed to evaluate how he could lessen his carbon footprint even more.
When the meeting broke up, the leader approached Emily.
“Something you should know,” he said, his tone dire. “After that last meeting when Stan went off on you...”
“Yes?” The word came out on a breath.
“Well, a few of us went out with him for a drink. Stan had quite a few. He said he was going to get even.”
“Did he say how?” Archer asked.
“Nah, he didn’t even really say with who or what for.”
“But you assumed he meant me,” Emily said in slow, measured tones.
“Yeah...yeah. I mean we’d been talking about Delmar. So yeah. Had to mean you.” He looked at other members walking out of the building. “None of us condone what Delmar did, you know. There’s a better way.”
“I agree,” she said. “I appreciate your telling me.”
“No problem.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’d want to know if a guy was gunning for me.”
Emily’s shoulders came up in a hard line. She was understandably upset. So was he, but he wasn’t going to let it stand in the way of watching out for her.
“C’mon,” he said, reaching for her hand and lacing her fingers through his. “Let’s get you out of here.”
“Why?” She shot a look around the area. “You think Stan is hanging in the bushes waiting to attack?”
“It’s a very good possibility,” he said, catching her by surprise. He didn’t let her dwell on it, but he whisked her across the lot and safely into this car.
Once they were on the road, he let out a relieved breath and took a read on Emily’s mood. She sat rigid and unspeaking, staring out the window.
He should get her talking abou
t something to forget Fannon. “How did you get involved in environmental issues?”
“Meaning what’s a numbers nerd like me doing with a group like this?” She chuckled.
“First, I don’t find you to be any kind of nerd, and second, even if you like numbers—” he mocked a shudder “—you can still like the environment.”
“I take it you don’t care for accounting.”
“Actually, I have an MBA.”
She swiveled to face him. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. Did it for my dad, but I hated business. Everything about it. Especially sitting behind a desk all day. So I decided to find something exciting where I could help people. And voilà, I’m a deputy.”
She tapped her finger on her chin for a moment. “Okay, so you don’t like sitting behind a desk, and it seems as if you don’t like the outdoors much. What do you like?”
“I’m still figuring that out.”
“Well, if you’d like to experience more of the outdoors, once this is all over, I’d be glad to be your tour guide.”
Was she joking? He glanced at her to see, but the dash lights cast a red glow on her face, revealing a serious expression. How about that? Seemed like she still wanted to know him after they apprehended their suspect.
His heart lifted. For a moment. Until he turned onto the B and B driveway and slammed on his brakes. One side of the large B and B sign that usually hung over the driveway had given way and was dangling across the drive.
“Accident?” she asked as she stared out the window.
“Doubtful.” Archer leaned across her to reach the glove compartment for his flashlight. “Wait here while I check.”
He got out and strode to the sign, where he ran the beam over the top of the pole and inspected both of the large eyebolts that held the sign in place. He lowered his light and made a closer inspection of the end of the sign lying in the dirt. Shaking his head, he stood and pocketed his light, then lifted the sign and dragged it out of their way.
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