When she and Eric Richards had broken up and Sheri’s heart had been in tatters, it had been Highway’s presence that had comforted her.
She’d buried her head in his neck and wept like a baby, needing the warmth of him, the solidness of him to keep her from slipping off the end of the world.
This time her hug was of sheer happiness. She released her hold on him and stood. “I’m going to take a nice long bath and then we’ll let you run a bit in the yard.”
Highway followed her into the bathroom, where she started the water running in the tub. As she waited for it to fill she went into her bedroom and stood in front of her closet, trying to decide what to wear.
She knew the red sundress showcased the gold-and-red highlights in her hair, but she’d also been told that her navy sundress did amazing things for her amber-colored eyes.
She frowned, irritated with herself. This wasn’t a date. This was pizza with a friend. She pulled out a clean pair of black jeans and a red T-shirt that advertised her business in bold black lettering. That was the appropriate attire for the night.
By that time her bath was ready and she sank down into the warm sudsy water with a sigh of bliss. Today had not only been the first time she’d met her mother, but it was also the first day of Michael Arello’s second chance at working for her. Abe and Michael were closing the store together this evening for Sheri.
When Marlene had been sharing the responsibility for the store, Sheri usually took off for home around three or so, but now that Marlene was no longer there, Sheri had resigned herself to early mornings and late nights.
If Michael proved himself trustworthy, then she and Jennifer could work the morning and midafternoon hours and Abe and Michael could work the late afternoon and evening hours. That would definitely make things easier on Sheri.
It was just after five-thirty when she’d finished getting ready for her evening with Jimmy. She opened the back door to allow Highway the run of the yard rather than the confinement of his pen.
She stepped outside with him, surprised to see dark clouds had usurped the evening sunshine and transformed the backyard into a false twilight. It definitely looked like a storm might be approaching the area.
She laughed as Highway ran circles in the lush grass and fell to his back, wiggling with all four legs in the air as if scratching his back. “You’re a goof, Highway,” she exclaimed.
He got back to his feet and raced around the perimeter of the lawn at the same time Sheri heard the ring of her landline phone from inside the house.
With a quick glance at Highway, who was once again enjoying the feel of the grass as he rolled over and over, she hurried back into the kitchen and picked up the receiver of the phone on the edge of the counter.
It was Roxy. “I called to tell you I’m sorry for yelling at you today.”
Sheri smiled into the receiver. “You weren’t yelling at me. You were yelling about the situation.”
“Marlene said I got a little out of control.”
Sheri laughed. “That’s your nature, Roxy, but in any case you don’t owe me an apology. We’re good and whatever you decide to do about Ramona is between you and Ramona.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do about her,” Roxy admitted, an unusual uncertainty in her voice.
“You don’t have to make any decision tonight. Just think about things for a day or two. Ramona doesn’t appear to be in any hurry to leave here right now.”
The sound of Highway barking moved Sheri to the kitchen window where she saw no sign of the big dog. “Roxy, my mutt is outside and he’s going crazy about something and I can’t see him from here. I need to go check it out. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Talk to you tomorrow,” Roxy said.
Sheri carried with her a niggle of worry as she walked back outside. In the distance she could hear Highway continuously barking, a frantic kind of noise that stood up the hairs on the nape of her neck.
The darkness had grown deeper as the clouds thickened overhead. “Highway,” she called. “Inside.”
Normally whatever he was doing, wherever he might be on the property, he would instantly obey the command. This time his sharp barks continued. Sheri started in the direction of the raucous noise and then halted as there was a sharp yelp and then silence.
The silence screamed through her heart. “Highway?” She started moving quickly toward the woods. Had he stepped into a hunter’s trap? Been attacked by a coyote or the feral pig Travis had been chasing? The feral pigs that were in the area had sharp tusks that could easily pierce through a dog’s hide.
“Highway,” she cried desperately as she entered the darkness of the woods. “Where are you, boy?” She paused and listened, needing to hear a cry, a doggie moan that would indicate where he was in the vast dark forest.
The sound of that yelp shot a terrifying fear through her. Something had hurt Highway. She had to find him. She didn’t know what she’d do without him.
A crunch of leaves to her left gave her hope. “Highway?” If he was moving, then that meant he was still alive. She took several steps in the direction where the noise had come from.
A tall, dark figure rushed out of the darkness. Even in the shadows she could see the ski mask that hid his facial features.
Danger!
Escape! Her brain screamed the words as a sob escaped her and she turned to run deeper into the forest.
Her only thoughts were that the man was responsible for whatever had happened to Highway and she had no idea what he wanted with her. But as she ran, she could hear the crashing of the brush behind her, indicating that he followed her.
Grief for Highway mingled with a new kind of terror she’d never felt before as she attempted to elude the danger that was far too close behind her.
Chapter 7
The Pizza Place located at the far end of Main Street was a popular hangout spot for teenagers and young adults on the weekends, but on a Tuesday night it was relatively quiet.
A family of four took up one of the red booths in the back of the cheerful place that smelled of spicy tomato sauce, simmering sausage and yeasty crust. A table in the center was occupied by a young couple who were definitely more interested in each other than the pepperoni pizza in front of them.
Jimmy slid into a booth up front by the windows where he could see Sheri when she arrived. He was early by about fifteen minutes and when the waitress appeared he asked for a beer and indicated that he was waiting for someone else to arrive before ordering pizza.
Minutes later with a cold beer in hand, he leaned back against the red upholstered booth and wondered how things had gone between Sheri and her mother. How would he react if one day a stranger walked up to him and introduced themselves as his mother or father? In all honesty, he didn’t know how he would react or if he would want to make a connection at all.
At the time of his abandonment as a newborn, police had scoured the area in search of a woman who had just given birth, but they’d never found the woman or a man who would claim him as their own.
He’d long ago made peace with the fact that for some reason his parents had given him away into a system that wasn’t always good and wasn’t always bad.
He took a sip of the beer and then checked his watch. Five minutes. He had a feeling that Sheri wouldn’t be one of those women who was perpetually late. She couldn’t run a successful business without being the punctual type.
Outside the window it appeared as if night had already fallen as dark storm clouds brewed overhead. So far he’d seen no lightning or heard any thunder, although as he’d left his house he’d noticed the distinctive fresh scent of approaching rain. Many times storms developed overhead, but then were blown away by mountain winds without dropping any rain on the small town of Wolf Creek.
He checked his watch again.
It was exactly six-thirty. Nerves in the pit of his stomach gave a little jump as he anticipated seeing her at any moment.
He’d dressed in a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved navy polo, grateful that the sleeve length hid the two tattoos that rode his upper arms. If Sheri was looking for a prince he was pretty sure she wasn’t into tattoos.
One of them was his shame, and the other one represented what, at the time, had been a dream that he had finally achieved.
By 6:45 the waitress checked in on him to see if he wanted to go ahead and order or if he wanted another beer. He declined both offers, telling himself that Sheri should be walking through the door at any moment.
Maybe he had misjudged her. Maybe she was one of those people who were usually late to any event. In Philly he’d had a partner who had never been on time and it had driven Jimmy half-crazy.
After another five minutes passed he began to wonder if maybe he’d been stood up. Surely if she hadn’t intended in coming she would have called him. He couldn’t imagine her being the kind of callous woman who would just keep a man waiting indefinitely without an explanation or a simple call to put him out of his misery.
So, where was she?
By seven he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called her. Her cell phone rang four times and then went to voice mail.
“Sheri, I thought we were meeting tonight at The Pizza Place. Did I get my time or day screwed up? Call me back and let me know if I should wait for you.”
He repocketed his phone and tried to ignore the uneasiness that flittered at the edges of his mind. No reason to think like a cop. No reason to believe she was in any danger.
They’d solved the mystery of who had been following her and he suspected Ramona had been watching her house from the woods the night that Highway had gone crazy. There was absolutely no reason for his stomach to start to twist into a knot of uneasiness.
It was far more likely that she’d just decided that since he wasn’t the man she wanted as her forever after there was no point in pursuing a friendship with him.
Still, it didn’t feel right that she hadn’t called him, that she hadn’t told him. In the months he’d known her she’d struck him as a straight shooter, a woman who didn’t play games with anyone.
Once again he pulled his phone from his pocket and called her. Voice mail again. He frowned as he stared at his phone, wondering if he should continue to hang around or leave and write off the night, write her off.
Maybe she’d gotten hung up at the store. He called the Roadside Stop and Abe answered. “Abe, it’s Jimmy Carmani. Is Sheri there?”
“Sheri? No, she left much earlier this afternoon, said something about meeting her sisters at the Dollhouse to have a sit-down about their mother showing up here in town.”
“Thanks, Abe.” Jimmy ended the call with a sense of relief. She had probably gotten hung up with her sisters talking about the sudden appearance of Ramona.
The minute he disconnected from Abe, he called the Dollhouse and got the automated response that the restaurant was currently closed but was open from seven to five every day except Sundays.
He immediately called the number again, hoping that if the sisters were still there Roxy would pick up the phone, but there was no answer.
He hung up, fighting not just a level of frustration, but a genuine concern. If she wasn’t at home and she wasn’t at work, if she wasn’t with her sisters, then where could she be?
She was now over thirty minutes late and his cop instinct was definitely starting to rear its head. He finally got up from the booth, threw enough money on the table to pay for his beer and then left the restaurant.
Something wasn’t right. He knew it in his heart, in his very soul that Sheri wouldn’t just stand him up. There was a reason she hadn’t made it to The Pizza Place and the only way he’d rid himself of the unease that rippled through him was to find her right now.
* * *
Sheri raced through the thick woods, branches slapping her face and shoulders as her breaths came in frantic gasps. She felt as if she’d been running forever, dodging tree trunks, nearly falling over roots and into holes, and still her pursuer continued to chase her.
It was like a scene from a nightmare, a flash of coming attractions from a horror film, but it was real and terrorizing and she knew she couldn’t keep running forever. She was slowly running out of steam.
She now stopped behind a tree and held her breath, hoping, praying that she’d finally lost him. Had she managed to evade him? She heard no sounds, even the wildlife of the forest seemed to hold their breath with her.
The darkness grew profound, making it more difficult to maneuver through the thick woods. Who was chasing her? And what did they want with her? Certainly she didn’t intend to confront a person hiding behind a ski mask and ask what his intentions were.
She leaned her head back, grateful for a moment to catch her breath, to rest. She had no idea where she was at the moment. Hopefully he was far away from her and lost in a tangle of bramble bushes.
She only prayed he didn’t have a flashlight. If he didn’t then they were equal in the darkness and if she couldn’t see him, then the odds were good that he couldn’t see her.
Tears burned at her eyes as she thought of Highway. Had the man killed her precious dog? Did he intend to kill her, too? Why?
She’d thought the stalker in her woods before had been Ramona, but she’d apparently been wrong. Somebody was after her and twice during the mad dash through the woods he’d gotten close enough to her for her to smell his sweat, to hear his labored breathing.
She tried to meld into the tree, her hands raised to cover her mouth so that her pursuer couldn’t hear the sound of her fear, the terrified gasps of breath that desperately needed to be released.
She knew these woods. She and Highway had spent hours rambling through the brush, finding overgrown trails long forgotten and forging new ones in their exploration.
In her race for her life, she’d made a big circle and wasn’t that far from her house. But, whoever was after her apparently knew the woods as well as she did, for he hadn’t faltered until now.
She remained frozen, afraid to move, fearful that the man was someplace close by, playing possum like she was doing at the moment.
If she left this tree, could she run fast enough to make it back to the house and lock the doors? If she did make it to the house, would he follow her and break through a window? Barrel through a door?
Damn. In the house the only real weapon she had was a shotgun with no shells. There were knives in the kitchen drawers, but she couldn’t use any of them to protect herself unless she could somehow manage to get back inside.
She had to do something. She couldn’t stay trapped here until the light of dawn would be upon them. If she was going to make a move to reach the house, it had to be now.
Drawing a deep breath, still not hearing anything that might indicate the man was near, she darted away from the tree, and instantly screamed as her arm was grabbed by the man who must have been hiding just on the opposite side of the huge tree trunk.
She whirled to face him, kicking her legs, her other arm extended in an attempt to poke at his eyes, scratch at his skin. But his skin was hidden by the ski mask and his eyes were only tiny holes in the material.
Frenzied, she thrashed with a force and energy she didn’t know she possessed, knowing her life depended on it. She was small, yet strong for her stature.
She finally managed to break free but stumbled over an exposed root. Once again she kicked out and then rolled away and sprang to her feet.
She raced like the wind, her heart feeling as if it was going to burst out of her chest. Get away. She had to get away. She’d smelled the evil on him, felt the firm grasp of the devil on her.
“Sheri?”
The familiar voice came from someplace in front of her. Jimmy! There was safety, if she could just get to him in time. Like a wild woman she flailed through brambles and thickets, running in the direction of Jimmy’s voice as he called her name again.
“Jimmy,” she shouted.
She broke out of the woods and into the clearing where the spill of the back porch light illuminated him. She didn’t stop running until she banged into him and grasped him tightly around his waist.
“A m-man...in the woods...ch-chasing me.”
Jimmy pulled out his gun with one hand as he wrapped his other arm around Sheri’s shoulder. “Where?”
“I d-don’t know now. He’s been chasing me through the woods forever.”
“Where’s Highway?”
She buried her head in Jimmy’s broad chest. “I—I think he k-killed him.” She began to weep.
Jimmy withdrew his arm from around her only long enough to pull his cell phone from his pocket. Sheri was vaguely aware of him speaking to Steve and then he’d hung up the phone and led her toward the house.
Once inside he kept her next to him as he cleared the house room by room, his gun like an extension of his fingers. Once he knew they were alone in the house, he locked the doors, and then sat with her next to him on the sofa.
“W-we have to f-find H-Highway,” she said, unable to control the stutter that had taken full control of her speech.
“I’ve got men on their way, Sheri. We’ll find Highway as soon as they arrive. Right now I need you to tell me exactly what happened.”
She swiped at her tears and drew several deep breaths in an attempt to get her emotions locked down. “W-what are you doing here?” she asked.
“Six-thirty? Pizza date? You don’t strike me as the type of woman who would simply stand a friend up with no explanation, so I decided to come and see if you were here. When I saw your truck in the driveway and walked around back and saw the door open and you and Highway weren’t anywhere around I got a bad feeling. Now tell me what happened.”
Lone Wolf Standing Page 9