“After dark tonight I’m going to drive away. Benjamin will sneak into the backyard and hide. He can move like a shadow in the dark and hopefully the perp won’t see him taking his place. I’ll park and come back to hide in the front yard. We’ll keep the house under surveillance and see if Dale or whoever shows up, and if he does we’ll have him arrested before he can do anything to hurt you.”
“What if he isn’t watching the house tonight?” she asked.
“Then we’ll do the same thing tomorrow night and the night after that. Eventually he’ll be here to see my car gone and he’ll assume that you’re here by yourself.”
“And if this doesn’t work? What if he’s too smart to take the bait?” she asked.
“Then we come up with another plan.” He leaned forward. “But I think he hates you more than he has sense.”
“Gosh, that makes me feel warm and fuzzy,” she said dryly.
“Portia, we won’t go through with this if you don’t want to. I want you to understand that with any plan there’s risk, but I believe the risk in this case is minimal.” God, at least he hoped the risk was minimal. He’d worked and reworked it around in his head, afraid to go through with it and yet afraid not to try.
She frowned thoughtfully and turned her head to gaze out the window. “I’m so tired of being afraid. I’m tired of my life being on hold.” She raised her chin and looked at him once again. “Let’s do it. I want this ended and if that can happen tonight, then let’s get it over and done.”
He nodded and hoped that he wasn’t making a mistake. They ate a silent breakfast, each lost in their own thoughts, and then Caleb took the phone back to his bedroom and called Benjamin to set up the plans for the night.
The afternoon stretched into evening with first Portia pacing the living room and then Caleb restlessly walking from room to room.
At six-thirty they sat down to a dinner of baked chicken and rice that Portia had prepared. Although Caleb’s stomach was twisted into too many knots for him to feel hungry, he forced himself to eat.
Portia picked at the food on her plate, as if she had no appetite, as well. He wished he could tell her that everything was going to be all right, that by this time tomorrow night she’d be back home with her world once again as it should be, but he couldn’t.
He had no idea what the night might bring. It was possible that whoever was after her wouldn’t show up, wouldn’t take the bait. Caleb would give it three nights and if nothing happened then maybe it was time they considered other arrangements for Portia.
If she continued to stay in his house he was afraid they’d make love again, he was terrified that he’d forget his own commitment to remain alone. Ultimately he was afraid that he’d be hurt again and he couldn’t allow that to happen.
She released a sigh and shoved her plate away. “I can’t eat. I have too many things on my mind.”
He didn’t ask her what things, afraid of what she might say. Since the night they’d made love he’d felt emotions coming off her that he didn’t want to feel, knew that it was possible she had fallen for him again.
“Caleb, whatever happens tonight I want you to know that I’m thankful for everything you’ve done for me,” she said.
“You can thank me after we have our bad guy behind bars,” he replied.
“I’m almost grateful we had this time together. We needed a healing between us.” Her eyes shone bright as she gazed at him. “I hope there has been a healing, that you forgive me for being young and foolish and easily influenced years ago.”
A lump crawled into the back of his throat. “It was a long time ago, Portia.” He pushed his plate to the side and thought about how devastated, how angry he’d been when she’d cast him out of her life.
He tried to summon that anger now, to use it as a shield against her, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get it back. All he felt was a profound sadness and the acceptance that it had never been in the cards that they would be together.
“I don’t hold a grudge,” he finally said. “I always knew how your mother was and that she had to have influenced your decision to break up with me.”
“I can’t put all the blame on my mother,” she replied. “I should have trusted my heart where you were concerned instead of letting other people get inside my head.”
“And maybe I should have fought harder to make you believe me,” he replied. “I’m glad we talked about it, but it’s just a part of my past now.” These last words were said as a reminder to her and to himself that she had no place in his future.
She got up from the table and carried her plate to the sink and then she turned back to face him. “I’m going to go get my things packed up. If this goes the way we want it to, then I’ll be ready to go back home immediately.” She hesitated a moment, as if waiting for him to say something, but he merely nodded and she left the kitchen.
He stared out the window where the first edges of dusk were beginning to appear. The shadows at the base of the trees deepened with each passing moment and his heartbeat stirred a little faster as he realized it would soon be time to put his plan into action.
He grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and called Benjamin to double-check things. When he ended the call he once again looked out the window. There were plenty of places for Benjamin to hide in the backyard and still keep an eye on the house. The same was true of the front yard.
There was a full moon that night and the sky had been cloudless all day. The moonlight would aid them but make it more difficult for them to stay hidden to whoever might approach the house. But he was confident they would manage to cling to the shadows and stay out of sight.
It was a remarkably easy plan and no matter how Caleb twisted and turned it he couldn’t find any weaknesses that might lead to disaster. If somebody wanted to harm Portia tonight there was no question in his mind that either he or Benjamin could take him down before he even got close to her.
By eight-thirty, dusk had begun to transform to darkness. Caleb stood at the window and Brittany filled his mind.
An aching emptiness seeped into him at thoughts of his missing sister. Caleb and his brothers and the rest of the town of Black Rock had done everything they could to find her. The case had gone cold and the Grayson men were left wondering what they might have missed, what they could have done differently.
Knots of tension formed in the pit of his stomach. At the moment he felt as if they had already lost Brittany. He couldn’t lose Portia, as well. He was aware that this plan had risks, but he believed they were minimal. Dammit, it had to work. It had to flush out the bad guy and give Portia back her life. And then he could get back to his own life, whatever it might be.
Darkness had fallen completely when he sensed Portia behind him. “It’s almost time, isn’t it?” she asked.
He turned to look at her. “Changed your mind?”
“No, I’m just ready to get this night over with. I want this person in jail and if taking a chance like this accomplishes it, then let’s get on with it.”
He fought the impulse to pull her against him, to whisk her back into the bedroom and make love to her one last time. Instead he looked at his watch. “I’m going to move the car down the street about a block. Benjamin should be in position in the backyard by now. I’ll park the car and then double back here. Benjamin will watch the back of the house and I’ll watch the front and hopefully with my car gone, our perp will believe you’re here all alone.”
“Okay,” she said, her voice reedy with nerves. Her eyes were huge and her lower lip trembled with anxiety.
“Don’t be afraid,” he said.
She offered him a forced, brave smile. “What makes you think I’m afraid?”
“I can hear your knees knocking together,” he said.
She laughed and in that moment she looked more beautiful than he’d ever seen her and a sweet, haunting desire filled him.
Without thought, he grabbed her to him and captured her trembling lips
with his own. He knew it was a stupid move, but he wanted one last embrace, one final kiss before he finally told her goodbye.
She wound her arms around his neck and clung to him as if he were her lifeline and for just a moment she felt like his.
He wanted to lose himself in her arms, kiss her forever, but, aware that it was time to go, he reluctantly stepped away from her.
“Lock the door behind me and I’ll see you around dawn,” he said as he opened the door. “Or earlier if our plan works.”
He left the house and heard her lock the door behind him. He’d just pulled his keys from his pocket and unlocked the car door when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket.
He grabbed it and saw from the lighted caller ID that it was Benjamin. “Yeah?” he answered in a hushed tone as he stepped off the front porch.
“Tom called me to a car accident out on the highway. I’m just leaving now, but I wanted you to know I’ll be about ten or fifteen minutes late,” Benjamin said.
Caleb frowned. He’d assumed his brother was already in place. “I was just going to move my car in front of the Johnsons’ place,” he whispered in case an intruder was within earshot. “We get called there so often I figured it wouldn’t look too suspicious parked there, but now I’ll go back inside and wait for you to get into place. Call me back when you’re in the backyard.”
“Got it,” Benjamin replied and then clicked off.
The Johnson family had two teenage boys that were often in trouble and at least once a month they responded to neighbor complaints about loud music or parties. Nobody would think it odd that two patrol cars were parked in front of that house.
Caleb would miss her. The thought stunned him. In the time Portia had spent in his home she’d filled it with color and meaning. She’d made it feel like more than a place to sleep. She’d made it feel like a home.
He’d liked seeing her first thing in the morning and that she had been the last person he’d see before going to sleep at night. He liked the small talk he’d shared with her, the way her eyes lit up when she was tickled about something.
Yes, he’d liked having her with him—too much. And now he needed her away from him, back to her own life so that he could get back to his.
He’d give this plan three nights and then he’d have to figure out something else. Maybe he could move Portia into the cabin with Jacob. That way she’d be out of his house and still protected.
He couldn’t help the small smile that crossed his lips as he thought of how irritated Jacob would be to have his isolation broken by Portia’s presence.
His smile lingered only a minute and then fell as he pocketed his cell phone. He was just about to head back into the house when he heard a scrape behind him…the sound of a footstep on the concrete drive.
He started to whirl around but something hard smashed into the side of his head. Pain exploded in a cascade of pinpoint stars as he staggered back from the car.
As he fell, he had a moment of panic, of knowledge that Portia was in danger. He caught a glimpse of who had struck him, shocked that it hadn’t been Dale Stemple or any of the people on their short list of suspects. Then darkness roared out and grabbed him.
The minute Caleb left, Portia headed for the kitchen to make herself a cup of hot tea. She was chilled to the bone and achingly aware of the fact for the next five minutes or so she was here alone and potentially vulnerable.
Before reaching the kitchen she walked over to the bookcase and looked at the photos on the shelves and her gaze lingered on Caleb’s picture.
Love filled her, along with sadness. How long would it take her to get over this round with Caleb? It had taken her a long time to get over him when they’d broken up long ago. The truth was she’d never really gotten over him.
She sighed and went into the kitchen to fix herself the tea, hoping that would keep her awake until dawn and Caleb’s eventual return into the house.
Caleb. As she filled the teakettle with water she continued thinking about him. She’d spent the last three days fighting the need to tell him how she felt about him. She wanted a second chance with him, an opportunity to get it right, but she was afraid that he didn’t want the same thing.
There was no question that he wanted her on a physical level and she didn’t doubt that he cared about her. There were moments when she felt his gaze on her that she thought she saw love in his eyes, but wondered if it was just her wishful thinking.
As she waited for the water to boil she glanced at the clock. It had only been minutes since he’d walked out the door. Was he already in place, hiding in the shrubs in the front of her yard or maybe across the street in her neighbor’s yard?
Was Benjamin watching the back of her house, waiting for a potential killer to appear? This night would be endless. And what if it didn’t yield the desired results?
She couldn’t stay here much longer. Each and every minute she stayed in this house, each and every moment she remained in Caleb’s life, would only make it more painful when it was time to say goodbye.
The problem was she didn’t know where else to go. She supposed she could stay at her mother’s, but she’d never be able to live with herself if she brought danger to her doorstep. There was no way she could battle her allergies to Mr. Whiskers and stay with Layla.
There was no question that she felt the safest right where she was, that she trusted Caleb more than anyone else on the face of the earth to keep her safe. But there was no way to keep her heart safe if she continued to stay here with him.
Her suitcase was packed, but she didn’t know where she would be taking it when she left here. Would she be going home, with Dale or whomever behind bars and the rest of her life stretching before her? Or would she be carrying it someplace else, someplace where Caleb thought she would be safe until this matter was resolved?
Portia jumped as the teakettle began to whistle and moved it off the hot burner. It took her only moments to make her tea and as she carried it into the living room there was a frantic knock on her front door. What the heck? She quickly set the cup on one of the end tables next to the sofa as her heart beat unnaturally fast.
Whoever was at the door couldn’t be a threat. Caleb would have never allowed the person to get close enough to knock on the door.
With a horrible sense of foreboding prickling through her she went to the door and turned on the porch light. A woman stood at the door, her features twisted in alarm. “There’s a man in your driveway,” she yelled through the door. “I think he’s hurt.” She disappeared from Portia’s view.
Was it a trick? Where was Caleb? Her heart beat even faster as she left the door and went to the front window where she could see the driveway.
The beat of her heart felt like it stopped as she saw Caleb’s car still in the driveway and his body crumpled next to it. But before she could do anything else, her front door opened and the woman walked inside.
For a moment Portia didn’t recognize the woman who held a knife in one hand and Caleb’s set of keys in the other. Her pale blue eyes shone with rage. Then recognition struck and she gasped.
Rita Stemple had gained weight and her light brown hair was now a glossy black. Gone was the browbeaten aura that had always clung to her. Instead she looked like an avenging warrior with murder on her mind.
“Hello, Portia. I’m afraid your deputy boyfriend is a bit under the weather. He had an unfortunate encounter with a baseball bat.” Rita took a step into the room.
Caleb! Portia’s heart crunched in her chest and she fought an overwhelming sense of despair. Was he dead? Had she killed him? She couldn’t think about that now, she thought as she focused on the woman in front of her.
“Rita, what’s going on? What are you doing here?” A scream was trapped deep inside Portia as terror spiked through her veins but she tried to keep her voice cool and calm.
“Surely you know why I’m here.” Rita’s fingers tightened on the knife handle as she took another step into the room and dropped
the set of keys to the floor. “You ruined my life, Portia, and now it’s payback time.”
“Rita, I was obligated to report signs of abuse to the authorities,” Portia said desperately. “I could have lost my license if I hadn’t reported it.”
Rita slashed the knife through the air and Portia’s fear was so great it felt as if her heart stopped beating for a moment.
“I’m not talking about those damned kids. I never wanted them in the first place. They were Dale’s idea. He’s the one who wanted them. They needed discipline to keep them in line.”
Portia stared at her, stunned as she realized the truth. It hadn’t been Dale who had been abusing the Stemple children. It had been Rita. Wrong. They had all gotten it so wrong.
“It’s Dale I care about and you screwed it all up for me and him,” Rita exclaimed.
“I don’t understand. What are you talking about?” Portia asked. Keep her talking, she thought to herself. As long as she was talking she wasn’t using that wicked-looking knife.
“I was a good wife while Dale was in prison. I visited him when I could. I wrote him every day and never cheated on him. I got a job and sent him money to make his time easier and I waited for him to get out so we could be together again.” Rita’s voice was raw with emotion. “On the day he was released I went to his parents’ house so we could plan our life together and he told me he didn’t want me anymore.” Angry tears filled her eyes but she didn’t loosen her hold on the knife.
“If you hadn’t turned us in nobody would have known that he was selling illegal guns, he wouldn’t have gone to prison and we would still be together. Now he wants to divorce me and move on with his life without me and it’s all your fault.”
Without warning she lunged toward Portia. Portia did the only thing she could think of. She grabbed her cup of tea off the end table and threw it in the woman’s face.
Rita screeched in outrage as the hot liquid splashed her. She started to raise her hands to wipe her eyes and Portia took the opportunity to kick the knife out of her hand, then Portia shoved past her and tried to get out the front door.
The Lawman’s Nanny Op Page 13