by Liz Shoaf
Chloe’s heart constricted. She couldn’t leave things this way. What if she failed in her mission to retrieve the disc and Sarah ended up dead because of her? She moved around the desk, shoved the laptop into Ethan’s arms and wrapped her own arms around Sarah. Sarah started rubbing her back, much like she had done when Chloe was a lost four-year-old. Warmth and love permeated her body.
Chloe pulled back. “I don’t think I’ve ever properly thanked you for all you did for me.”
Tears streaming down her face, Sarah touched Chloe’s cheek. “Haven’t you figured it out? You’re the daughter I never had.”
Chloe gave her another quick hug and headed out of the office before she fell apart. For years she’d dodged a multitude of emotional bullets, but the past was catching up with her. She heard Ethan mutter a quick goodbye, then he reached her and charged in front before she could open the front door.
“Let me go first.”
“He won’t kill me until I find the disc. Before then, I think we’re safe. After that, all bets are off.” She knew she sounded confident and sure of herself and the situation—a persona she’d perfected over the years—but the truth was far different. A mixture of anger, helplessness and betrayal churned in her gut, emotions she’d never allow the world—or Ethan—to see.
There were no further incidents on the way to their vehicle. After reaching the car and getting Geordie out for a short bathroom break, they all loaded up and Chloe stared at the orphanage.
“I know what I said earlier, but do you think Sarah is safe?”
“We could still call the police, get the incident on record.”
She snorted. “Yeah, and they’ll send a car by to cruise the grounds a couple times a day. This guy is smart. If he wants to take someone out, the local police aren’t going to be much help.”
“I think we’re dealing with a highly trained individual.”
Chloe whipped her head around. “You think he’s police or military?”
Ethan started the engine. “Maybe. Peter Norris’s death was planned with precision. Our killer has experience.”
They sat there with the car idling, and Chloe became curious about the man sitting next to her.
“I know about Penny, and I know what you and Mrs. Denton told me about your wife—”
“Sherri, her name was Sherri.”
“Okay, Sherri, but what about the rest of your life? Do you have any siblings? Are your parents alive?”
At first, she didn’t think he was going to answer, but then he shrugged his shoulders. “My life hasn’t been as eventful as yours. My dad has a small ranch in Jackson Hole—that’s where I grew up. I have an older sister. Her name is Carolyn, and she and her husband, Bill, have two daughters, Sylvia and Tracy, both under the age of five.”
“And your mom?”
He stared out the driver’s window, and Chloe figured there was more to the story than he was telling.
“She died when I was in college.” He turned back to her. “Why all the questions?”
She had to ask herself the same thing, and if she was completely honest, she’d have to admit that she liked Sheriff Ethan Hoyt. He was the most straight-up guy she’d ever met, and he was a big, mushy teddy bear when it came to dealing with his daughter. She often wondered how her life would have turned out if at least one of her parents had lived.
But it didn’t matter whether she liked him or not, because her past was catching up with her fast, and if he ever found out what she’d done when she was sixteen, well, she could only imagine the disgust on his face. She didn’t want to deal with that, so she fell back on her flippant attitude and shrugged.
“Just curious. I figure if my past is going to be belched up, we should even the playing field.”
“Lovely choice of words, Miss Spencer. We need to plan our next move. Let’s take another look at the letter your mother left you.”
And that statement put things back on an even keel.
Chloe pulled the letter from her pocket. “Looks like we’re going to dredge up more of my past.” She reread the letter, careful to keep the emotion attached to it at bay. “My mom and dad suspected a betrayal and that their lives were in danger. And I’m definitely in an unexplainable and dangerous situation, that’s for sure. She told me to contact Stan and that the answers lie in the past. Then she tells the story about when I hid Dad’s car keys in my secret place.”
Chloe looked at Ethan. “Do you think it’s possible they had a disc of some kind and hid it in my secret place?” Adrenaline shot through her body. This was the first real clue they had, and she hoped it would lead them to the truth even though her parents having a disc the killer wanted raised even more questions, like why didn’t they call Stan themselves? Was it to protect her?
“I think it’s a high probability.”
Chloe got the feeling that Ethan was putting things back on a professional footing after their emotional bonding. That was fine by her. He would never be interested in someone like her anyway, though she had to admit it did hurt a little. Pushing aside any remote dreams of happily-ever-after, Chloe settled more comfortably in her seat and thought about the letter.
“What I’d really like to know is what my parents were involved in.”
Were her parents really even missionaries, or were they...something else entirely?
FOURTEEN
As Ethan drove the car toward the house where Chloe had grown up, he thought about everything that had happened at the orphanage. It had been an emotionally charged meeting. He glanced at her and then back at the road, but she didn’t look upset. He’d been around her long enough to know she was a master at hiding her feelings.
His hands tightened on the steering wheel. He didn’t want to be attracted to her. He was trying hard to keep things professional between them so nothing would come of it, but seeing her with Sarah shed a whole new light on Chloe Spencer. She might carry enough weapons on her person to handle any situation, but her spiked short black hair, Harley and leather clothes hid something buried deep. Something soft and loving. Something he wasn’t sure he wanted to delve into. He reminded himself he still didn’t have all the facts. She was hiding something, and that should be enough to keep his thoughts on the case.
“Don’t worry, you’re off the hook.”
Her words caught him off guard. “What?”
She shrugged and turned her head away from him, staring out the passenger window.
“You’re a small-town sheriff. I live in New York. You live in a black-and-white world, and me—” she turned and flashed him a sad smile “—not so much.”
The whole conversation made him uncomfortable. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Although he did, and, obtusely, he didn’t like her telling him how he should feel, even though he agreed with her. Still, that sad smile clenched his gut and wouldn’t let go.
Against his better judgment, he said, “You want to talk about it?”
She snorted out a laugh. “That came across sounding like you’d rather walk on a bed of nails.”
They both laughed, and Ethan turned down the quiet street Chloe indicated.
“It’s the fourth house on the right.”
There were cars parked in the driveway. Ethan passed by the house, turned around and pulled the car to the curb across the street. He cut the engine and stared at the place where Chloe had grown up. It was in an old North Carolina neighborhood and the house was brick, a typical ranch style. It had a double garage, a small front porch and a cement walkway with a few weeds struggling to survive growing through the cracks.
Neither of them said anything for a few moments.
“My life hasn’t been perfect, you know.”
Chloe didn’t respond, but tilted her head, watching him like a curious dog.
“Forget it,” he said, and reached for the door handle.
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A small, delicate hand touched his and he froze. He didn’t so much as move a muscle. It was amazing how much warmth radiated from such a petite hand.
“Ethan, maybe you haven’t been through the same things I have, but they’re no less traumatic. Losing your mother, then your wife, and you’ve done an amazing job with Penny.”
He looked at her hand on top of his. He couldn’t do this. He wasn’t ready. And even if he was, Chloe wasn’t exactly a home-and-hearth kind of girl.
As her hand slowly slid away, he felt as if he was losing something important, something vital to his life, but he allowed it to happen.
She got out of the car, tapped the roof and leaned in through the open car door. Gone was the warmth, and in its place was the old Chloe, the one he’d first met. The feisty fireball, ready to take on the world, but now he knew differently. He’d gotten a glimpse of the real Chloe and he mourned the loss.
“Are you coming, or not? I know a way we can sneak in through the backyard. My secret hiding place is back there. The owners will never know we’re there.”
Ethan shook his head. This was exactly why nothing would ever work between them.
He got out of the car and started walking toward the front of the house. He heard Chloe slam her car door shut. She grabbed his arm when she caught up with him.
“What are you doing?”
He lifted a brow. “I’m going to the front door to show my credentials, explain the situation and ask permission to be on their property.”
He almost laughed when she rolled her eyes, reminding him of Penny.
“And what if they call the cops, Mr. Go by the Rules?”
He grinned, glad to be concentrating on Chloe’s taciturn nature rather than her inquisitive brown eyes. “You don’t have to say anything. I’ll tell them there’s an ongoing investigation and their cooperation would be greatly appreciated.”
She rolled her eyes again. “You really are naive, you know that? People don’t just cooperate. If it were me, I’d demand a warrant.”
Ethan moved forward. “I’ve found that most people aren’t as mistrustful as you and are willing to help.”
“Yeah, we’ll see about that, Mr. Squeaky Clean.”
* * *
Chloe grunted as she pushed the shovel into the ground with her foot. Not only had the owners agreed to allow them onto the property, they had provided a shovel when she admitted to Ethan her secret hiding place was an old metal box buried in the ground beside the gazebo.
A gauntlet of emotions had almost crippled her when she stepped into the backyard. The swing attached to the huge oak tree was gone, but the gazebo her father had built one summer was still standing. It needed a paint job, but the bones of it had weathered well against time.
“I told you I’d do that.”
Chloe ignored Ethan. She told him she’d do the digging because he got them onto the property, but the truth was that she needed to do something physical to ward off the memories attached to the place.
Her shovel hit metal and she fell to her knees, swiping away the dirt. The top had a handle and she cleared enough dirt to pull it out of the ground. Placing it in front of her, she reached for the latch but jerked her hand back when it trembled. All of a sudden, she didn’t want to know what was in the box. Had her parents been involved in something illegal? Were they even real missionaries?
Two strong hands reached down and raised the box off the ground. “Let me open it.”
Chloe didn’t argue, but she did look up when Ethan chuckled and lifted something out of the box.
“Is this what I think it is? I wouldn’t have taken you for that type of girl.”
Chloe scrambled to her feet and gently took the fragile old doll from his hand. She choked back a sob, stared at the doll and fingered it softly. “This was the last thing my mother bought me before they were killed.” She choked out a laugh. “All the girls my age wanted Barbie dolls, but I wanted this one because she was less known and more unique.”
Before she could get too emotional, Ethan pulled out something else and held it up, something she was very familiar with.
“This is the only other thing in here.”
Chloe took the disc from his hand and grinned. “Bingo!” Her euphoria didn’t last for long. If there was something on there that implicated her parents, she wanted to be rid of it as soon as possible. She slipped it into her jeans pocket.
“Let’s go to the car. I’ll contact the killer and get this over with.”
His hand gripped her arm when she tried to slip past. “Not so fast. Chloe, you know we can’t just give this to the killer. We need to follow through and find the truth.” He paused. “Even if it hurts.”
Chloe jerked her arm from his grip and walked a few steps away. He was right, she knew that. She just didn’t know if she could deal with finding out her parents had lied to her. Chloe hadn’t trusted God in a long time, but if she found out her parents had betrayed Him, where would that leave her?
She shook off his hand. “Fine. Let’s get in the car and I’ll open it on my laptop. We can discuss it after we see what’s on there.”
Ethan picked up the shovel and repaired the hole they’d dug, then propped the shovel against the gazebo.
He took her by the arm and led her toward the car while scanning both ends of the street. His actions made Chloe shiver.
“You think he’s watching us now?”
His jaw was locked and his mouth grim. “I don’t know if he’s working alone or has hired guns, but he’s been one step ahead of us the whole time.”
Ethan tugged her forward. “If you’re going to blow your top at the thought, please wait and do it in the car where it’ll be safer.”
His exasperated tone quickly defused her anger. She almost smiled and did as he asked. As soon as they were in the car and headed down the road, Chloe opened her laptop and waited for it boot up, then inserted the disc. She leaned back and waited, processing everything that had happened.
“Ethan, do you think the killer had something to do with my parents’ deaths?” Now that she’d gotten past the emotional turmoil of revisiting her past at the orphanage and her old home, she was thinking more clearly.
She twisted around in her seat so that she was facing him. “Think about it. He led me back to the orphanage and told me to examine my parents’ past.” She faced forward again and, for the first time since her parents had died, mentally walked through her past, something she’d never done before. Something she had deftly avoided. With startling clarity, Chloe realized she’d been on the run her whole life and had never come to terms with her past. Was that why she’d never dated guys more than two or three times—because she could never stay still long enough to form a relationship?
Slowly she said, “Ethan, why now? Why is the killer coming after the disc now? If it’s connected to my parents’ deaths, why not sooner?”
Ethan tapped a finger on the steering wheel. Chloe was beginning to learn his mannerisms, which was probably not a good idea, considering their attraction could never go anywhere.
“Didn’t you say Sarah homeschooled you, even though the other kids attended a regular school? You were pretty much off-the-grid. Did you change your last name when you were adopted?”
And the lightbulb was lit. “He couldn’t find me,” she said, still speaking slowly. Her computer dinged an alert and Chloe was snapped out of her musings.
“No, no, no, no, no!” Chloe’s fingers flew over the keyboard. “Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should have gone offline.”
Ethan kept quiet and she appreciated that. She explained what was happening while she tried to shut the program down as fast as she could. “I’m so stupid! I knew he had access to this computer. Why did I insert the disc? He’s trying to steal the information.”
Chloe typed as fast as she could, but lifted her fin
gers when a new person entered the equation. “What’s this?”
“What’s what?” Ethan asked as he slowed the car and pulled off to the side of the road.
It took Chloe a moment to recognize the intruder, but she grinned when she did.
“The cavalry has arrived and he’s helping me stop the killer from stealing the information on the disc.”
“Who’s the cavalry?” Ethan’s tone was cool and controlled. Another thing Chloe liked about him. He was calm under fire.
“I do believe it’s our mountain man.”
Ethan snorted and eased the car back onto the road.
Chloe hit a final key and, with help from Ethan’s friend, stopped the killer from accessing the information. She glanced up at Ethan with the fire of cyber battle in her eyes.
“We won. The killer only got a sliver of what’s on the disc.”
“Could you tell what was on it?”
Chloe shook her head. “No, it looks like it’s in code.” And she knew what that meant. A trip to New York and another blast from the past.
That meant trying to figure out a way to tell Ethan about Stan while keeping her past a secret and staying away from the police.
“Hold on!” Ethan yelled, and Chloe stiffened.
Geordie started barking in the back seat, and she braced herself. They were on a curvy back road and she glanced in the rearview mirror. A nondescript four-door car was fast approaching their rear. All of a sudden, her computer dinged a message. She glanced at Ethan. His jaw was taut and his eyes were glued to the road.
“Answer it,” he ground out. “It might be the killer. I’m sure he followed us to your old home and now he knows we have the disc.”
Chloe wanted to kick herself. If she hadn’t been so impatient to see what was on the disc, she wouldn’t have made a beginner’s mistake.