Rush nodded, his nostrils pulsing and jaw working overtime. As they neared Rush’s family’s home he slowed the vehicle. “My dad isn’t the same man you knew.” He bit his lower lip. “After you left for Knoxville, he counseled a congregant with an addiction to pornography, which had developed into soliciting prostitutes. But after a period of time, the man seemed to be healing and doing well. He had his family back.”
Nora nodded for him to continue.
“One night Dad got a call about an illegal gambling and prostitution ring out in the woods near the end of the county line at a pool hall. They raided it and guess what? The man—Randy—was inside. He claimed innocence but refused to explain why he was there. Knowing his history, Dad arrested him for gambling and soliciting prostitutes.”
Nora feared the rest of story but listened as Rush told of that arrest, which led to losing his family again. The rumors that spread.
“Randy hung himself but left a letter that stated, once again, he was free of the addiction, loved his family and wasn’t guilty, but couldn’t live with knowing his family and friends didn’t believe him. Many heard about this terrible addiction for the first time. It was horrible.”
Nora touched Rush’s shoulder. “Was it true?”
“No.” Rush’s voice cracked. “The truth came out. Randy was trying to give back and help others bound by the same addiction. He found out a young man he was mentoring had gone and he went to get him out. The man had only been married two years and had a newborn. Randy didn’t want to give him up and hoped that Dad would believe him. But he hadn’t. Not because of the evidence. Randy wasn’t actually with a prostitute or at the gambling table. But based on what he knew from pastoral counseling. He’d falsely accused a man and it wrecked dozens of lives, including my dad’s.”
“I’m so sorry, Rush.” No wonder he was hypercareful to avoid rumors. Scandal. It had turned his own world upside down.
“The church board asked my dad to resign. If he was going to use what was said in confidence to accuse someone, they didn’t think he could be trusted, and then there were remarks that he lacked discernment. It crushed him, along with the guilt.”
Rush had been close with his father. It must have been terrible to go through.
Rush pulled into the driveway crowded with vehicles. “He hasn’t healed. He’s closed off to everyone. Lost all joy. We keep praying...”
Nora laced her hand in Rush’s and squeezed, hoping it would bring comfort. “He’ll get it back,” she said. “I’ll believe it with you.” She hadn’t believed in anything for so long. But she would believe in this with Rush. It was much easier to believe for someone else. “We’ll do it together.”
He stared at their hands, traced her finger with his index. Was he thinking of the ceramic Christmas ornaments like she was? The pledge behind that gift. To give him her heart. Always. Forever.
Snow had covered the windshield like a curtain, hiding them. Rush didn’t bother to switch on the wipers. Instead, he brushed the thumb of his free hand across Nora’s jaw, then let her cheek rest against his palm, calloused but strong, like Rush. He wasn’t only physically powerful, he had an inner strength that drew her heart to him.
He met her eyes, held them.
She swallowed.
Slowly he met her lips with his. Familiar. Surprisingly new. At first it was soft as a whisper, as if asking permission to be more intimate. She granted it, allowing him freedom to set off a fire of a dozen suns within her, enough to melt away the ice outside. Unable to catch her breath, she didn’t care. Even his kisses were powerful, yet tender like the man. He’d always been special, unique. His fingers slid into her hair. She touched his scruffy cheek before wrapping her arms around his neck as he took his time exploring and savoring.
The beating on the driver’s-side window abruptly brought the kiss to a halt. Nora jerked back, her fingers pressed to her thoroughly kissed lips. Rush sighed, didn’t bother to even turn and see who was pounding on the window.
“We’re going to talk about this later,” he said, his voice husky and breathless.
He opened the door and nailed his cousin Hollister in the shoulder.
“Oomph!” Hollister said through laughter. He hadn’t changed much. Maybe got a bit better looking if that was possible. What was it with the Buchanan genes? “Didn’t mean to interrupt.” He cast amused eyes on Nora. “Well, well. Nora Livingstone. I see you still got it bad for this loser.”
She couldn’t really defend herself after that kiss.
His sister peeped out from behind him. “I told him not to come out here messing with the two of you, but he doesn’t listen.” She came around to her side and Nora opened the door and hugged Greer Montgomery.
“How have you been?” Nora asked.
“Busy. Moved back to Alabama. And I’m a mom now.”
No mention of a husband. Nora didn’t pry. “Congratulations.”
“Baby girl.”
“Can’t wait to see her.”
“Come inside and you can. We’ll leave these men to act like the apes they are.”
Nora snickered and followed Greer. Maybe Rush would forget that kiss and they wouldn’t have to discuss it. Doubtful. That wasn’t the kind of kiss one forgot.
Inside, she was welcomed by everyone, the house crowded with family laughing, joking and eating an array of desserts.
In the corner of the living room, Pastor Buchanan sat alone. Time hadn’t been kind to the aging process. She made her way over. “It’s nice to see you again.”
He patted her hand but didn’t make much eye contact. “How you been, Nora?”
“Better.”
“Me too. Me too.” She couldn’t bring herself to bombard him with questions and press him for answers that he might not even have.
Nora caught Rush’s eye. His expression was tender and emblazoned with an emotion she didn’t want to put a name to. Couldn’t. She was too afraid.
* * *
Rush stood in the bathroom staring in the mirror and still feeling that kiss. For a moment, it was just a man and a woman in that car. No law enforcer. No weather professional.
No past holding them apart.
No pain.
No fear of the future.
And he’d lost himself. In her eyes that had held longing. In her hands that had intertwined with his to bring comfort, companionship and hope. A woman who seemed hopeless herself was going to believe with him for healing for his dad. That kiss had been his wordless way of revealing how much that meant to him.
How much she meant.
But she was moving, and he’d be left once again watching with a broken heart.
Leaving the bathroom, he entered the festivities and after a few hours of eating and playing games—Nora right in the middle as if she’d always belonged—his phone rang.
Troy.
Stomach in knots, he answered and returned to the bathroom for some privacy. “Hey. What’s going on?”
“Got the ballistics from a bullet in the tree the night you were shot at. They’re from your gun.”
The stolen gun from Nora’s. Ballistics were easy enough to follow up on. No reason not to trust the report.
“Have you found any new information?” Troy asked.
Now would be a good time to ask him about his involvement with Marilyn. But Rush wanted to look him in the eye, see his face. “Not much. I’ll let Nora know.”
“Where are y’all?”
“My folks’ place. Probably be here an hour or so longer. But I’m available if you need anything.”
“I’ll let you know. Bring me a slice of pecan pie.” He chuckled and hung up.
“Rush,” Nora said as the knock came.
He opened the door. “You need in?”
“No, just looking for you. I thought I heard you in here talking to someone.”
“Troy. The gun used to shoot at us was the same one stolen from the chalet.”
“What did he say about meeting my mom?” Her eyes drilled into his.
Rush’s neck heated. “I didn’t ask. I want to do it in person.”
Nora’s eyes narrowed and she poked a finger in his chest. “Rush, you need to talk to Troy. You’ve had time to process—at least all the time you can. If he’s involved, he’s trolling around with a badge and power to destroy evidence and who knows what.”
Rush snorted. “You sound like a dramatic crime show. Troy has never once abused his power. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation and I’ll find out what it is.”
Nora gritted her teeth and inhaled. “I’ve had every imaginable tragic thing thrown at me in a few days’ time. When I found out Scott Rhodes was my dad, I went straight there, knowing it wasn’t going to be pretty. It’s your turn, Rush. Nothing about this has been logical. Nothing.”
And what happened when he confronted Troy and found out he was wrong? What would that do to their friendship? Their mentorship? His run for office? No, that wasn’t the most important thing, but it was a dream of his. Was he supposed to throw it away because Nora wanted to charge like a bull? “I just need my bearings in order. Figure out how I want this to go down.”
“Be a straight shooter—”
His phone buzzed and an alert popped on-screen. He glanced down. “Nora, I gotta go. My alarm at the house is going off.” He flew down the hall toward the front door. “Stay here with my family. I’ll be back.”
Hollister met him at the front door. “What’s wrong?”
“Alarm going off at the house.” Could be a glitch, a tree falling against a window or the roof, or it could be something else.
“I’m going with you,” Nora insisted.
“No, you’re not.”
She grabbed her coat from the coatrack in the foyer. “Watch me!”
Rush growled. No time to argue. “I have to take the snowmobile.” It would take too long in the Bronco.
“And? Let’s go!”
“If you need me, call,” Hollister said.
Rush ran out the door and to the shed, Nora on his tail. He opened the shed doors, grabbed two pair of goggles, tossed one and a helmet to Nora and they climbed on.
He raced across the snow like sailing over smooth glass. Nora tightened her grip around his waist, leaning into his back. The wind bit and sliced at his skin as they raced through the snowy woods and embankments to his cabin. They made it to the winding drive to his house and he slowed the snowmobile down, then stopped.
He removed his helmet, grabbed his gun. He wasn’t sure what to do with Nora. Leaving her on the snowmobile gave her a fast way to make tracks if necessary, but if guns were involved, she was a sitting duck.
“Stay close to me,” he said. Having her near meant he could protect her.
The front looked clear. The alert on his phone indicated the kitchen window had been breached, which was in the back of the house. Staying below the windows and scanning the surrounding area, he and Nora made their way behind the house. The window had been busted out and the door was open. “Looks like he went in the through the window and came out the door.” Whoever he was.
“What do you think he was after?” Nora asked.
“The only thing I can think of is the box of photos. He tried to steal them from you so it’s not a stretch.” Rush toed the back door farther open, entered and cleared the kitchen. “Stay right behind me.”
She did as he instructed and followed him through the downstairs as he cleared all the rooms, including the study where he’d kept the photos. They were missing. “Well, that tells us what he was after.”
They cleared the upstairs and returned downstairs.
Rush massaged the back of his neck. “I think the intruder knows he can be identified. By the mask or the cuff links or both. Or maybe he’s in a picture with your mom that I haven’t found. I don’t know.”
“Now what?”
Good question. “Now I take you back to my family’s house, and I’m going to go have a chat with Troy. I am a straight shooter, Nora. I’m just careful.”
Nora threw her hands in the air. “I feel like I keep saying I’m sorry, but I am.”
Rush tugged at her hair playfully. “I know. I’m going to leave the snowmobile here and take my truck. I don’t like us being so open right now.”
Nora agreed and they headed for the garage and climbed into Rush’s personal truck. He hit the garage door and slowly backed out of the drive. The wind rocked the vehicle like their lives at the moment.
Mountains and forest flanked the road that narrowed around the curve. What little sun that had been peeking through had dipped below the horizon, and the moon was blocked by the heavy cloud covering.
“What if Troy tells you their involvement was romantic?”
“Doesn’t make him a killer. Just a colossal disappointment,” Rush said, and spied headlights coming around the curve behind him. He couldn’t tell if it was a truck or SUV, but it had to be tourists. No local would go this fast and this close to another car on the road.
Rush pressed the gas, but he didn’t want to go too fast with the road conditions.
The vehicle kept coming.
“Nora, hang tight. I think we have trouble.”
The other vehicle made impact.
Nora yelped.
Rush’s truck spun in circles across the icy road.
“Rush!” Nora hollered as they went over the side of the road and down the ravine.
TEN
Rush’s truck plummeted over the side of the road, tail end first, banging them into rocks and tree branches. Metal crunched and scraped as he prayed and endured.
Nora knocked her head against the window and went limp.
Rush was helpless.
“God! Save us!”
He hit the emergency brake, hoping it would slow them down before they crashed to their deaths. The truck slowed minimally, and then it rocked and pitched onto the passenger side. Rush’s seat belt cut into his skin as the flipping of the vehicle battered his body and knocked the wind from him. Glass shattered.
Tree branches poked through the pulverized windshield. Rush’s face stung and burned.
The truck rolled again and again. If it continued down the mountain, they wouldn’t make it. “Nora,” he choked out. Blood trickled down her forehead. “Nora!”
She wouldn’t answer.
It felt like every bone in his body was breaking; his head pounded and his ears rang.
Sudden impact jarred him, and he bit his tongue. Every nerve in his body screamed.
But they’d stopped rolling.
The truck was lodged in a huge pine. Snow dropped onto their bodies through the missing windshield. Rush’s hands were cut up. It hurt to move. To breathe. But he didn’t know how long the tree would break their fall.
They were a fourth of the way down the mountain if he guessed right.
“Nora,” he choked out again and undid his seat belt while thanking God they’d at least landed upright. God, give me strength. He was nauseous and dizzy.
His driver’s-side door butted up against the side of the mountain, and Nora’s door hung open. Nothing but branches and evergreen.
The only way out was through the open windshield, and then they’d have to find a way to climb up the snowy terrain to the road.
It seemed hopeless.
A gale rocked the truck. No time to waste. He needed Nora to wake up this minute.
“Nora.” He lightly shook her for fear of serious injury. If she was unable to move... How would he ever get her out and up a steep mountain with no climbing gear?
She stirred and moaned.
“Nora Beth, can you hear me?”
“Rush.” S
he moaned again and shifted.
“Don’t move, Nora.”
Her eyes fluttered open, glassy at first, then they focused on him and panic shot through them. “Rush!”
“Don’t move,” he repeated. “We’re in the pines and it’s not secure. We went over the edge of the mountain. How bad are you hurt?”
“My head hurts and...my everything hurts.” She wiggled her fingers. Cuts and scrapes covered her face and neck.
“Anything major?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
That in itself was nothing short of God’s divine protection over them. “We have to get out through the windshield. Go first. Onto the hood, then grab on to those branches for support. We’ll use rocks and stumps to anchor us as we climb.”
Her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.
“We have no other choice. We can do it.” He hoped his confident words masked how he actually felt.
Rush had lost his phone from the console and Nora’s purse was missing. No one to call for help. The Lord would be their very present help. That was a promise in the Scriptures he was going to stand on. In this case...climb on.
The night was bleak and dark. Only the headlights gave a soft glow. This trek would be one done blindly. Fear raced through him.
Nora unbuckled and winced. Groaned.
“Be easy. Go slow but fast,” Rush said. “I’ll be right behind you.”
“I’m scared, Rush. I don’t know if I can.” Nora’s faint voice shook with uncertainty and terror. He was scared too.
“You can do it, Nora. We’ve climbed mountains together before.”
“We’ve had climbing gear and it wasn’t in winter.”
“Let’s pretend we have them now. And light to guide our way. It’ll be a fun challenge. We’ll look back on it years from now and laugh.”
“Yeah, right.” She leaned forward and the truck jerked; the cracking of tree branches tore through his heart. If the branch broke...
Cold Case Christmas Page 11