Читать книгу The Protectors: Defending His Own / Guarding Jeannie - BEVERLY BARTON, Beverly Barton - Страница 13

Deborah folded the blueprints and laid them aside. She couldn’t seem to concentrate on the plans for Cotton Lane Estates, although she had promised Vaughn & Posey’s backers a detailed report on their present subdivision project.

She lifted the cup of warm coffee to her lips and downed the sweet liquid. Clutching the coffee mug in her hands, she closed her eyes. In a few days, Lon Sparks’s trial would begin and she’d be called on to testify. The waiting had been almost unbearable, not knowing what might or might not happen. She couldn’t give in to her fears and allow the likes of Buck Stansell to frighten her into backing down from doing what she knew was right. But sometimes she wondered what her mother and Allen would do if anything happened to her. Her mother’s health was so precarious, and Allen was still so young. What if he lost both her and her mother?

Ashe McLaughlin had a right to know he had a son. That’s what her mother had told Deborah’s father years ago and that’s what she kept telling Deborah now. If anything were to happen to the two women in Allen’s life, he would still have his father.

But how could she tell Ashe the truth? She and her mother had kept the true circumstances of Allen’s birth a secret for ten years. What would Allen do if he suddenly discovered that the two people he loved and trusted most in the world had been lying to him his whole life?

No, she didn’t dare risk losing Allen’s love by telling Ashe the truth. She had no way of knowing how Ashe would react and whether or not he’d tell Allen everything.

Her mother had warned her that sooner or later Ashe would have to be told. Deborah had decided that it must be later, much later. She had to be strong. Just a little while longer. Ashe wouldn’t stay in Sheffield if she wasn’t in danger. He would walk out of their lives and never look back, the way he’d done eleven years ago. She could trust him with her life, but not with her heart—and not with Allen’s future.

When she heard a soft knock at the door, Deborah opened her eyes. “Yes?”

Annie Laurie eased the door open. “Mr. Shipman’s on the phone. He says it’s urgent he speak to you.”

“Mr. Shipman? The principal at Allen’s school?”

“Yes, that Mr. Shipman.”

“Okay. Thanks, Annie Laurie.” Deborah picked up the telephone and punched the Incoming Call button. “Hello, Mr. Shipman, this is Deborah Vaughn. Is something wrong?”

Ashe slipped by Annie Laurie and into Deborah’s private office, closing the door behind him. Deborah glanced at him.

“Ms. Vaughn, you need to come to school and pick up Allen,” Mr. Shipman said. “I’m afraid there’s been a problem on the playground during PE class.”

“Has Allen been in a fight?” Deborah asked.

Ashe lifted his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders as if saying “Boys will be boys.”

“Oh, no Ms. Vaughn, I didn’t mean to imply that Allen had gotten himself into any trouble. Quite the contrary. It seems that when the fifth graders were playing softball during PE, a stranger approached Allen. Your brother won’t tell us what the man said to him, but Allen seems terribly upset. I thought it best to phone you immediately.”

“Yes, yes, you did the right thing, Mr. Shipman. I’ll be right over.” Deborah’s heartbeat throbbed loudly in her ears, obliterating every other sound, even Ashe’s voice. “Please, don’t leave Allen alone. Make sure someone is with him until I pick him up.” Deborah returned the phone to its cradle.

When Deborah didn’t respond to his questions, Ashe grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her gently. “What’s going on? Has something happened to Allen?”

“A strange man approached Allen on the playground during PE. Mr. Shipman said the man upset Allen.” Deborah clutched the lapels of Ashe’s jacket. “What if—Oh, God, Ashe, what if Buck Stansell sent someone to hurt Allen?”

“Did anyone besides Allen get a good look at this man? Did they see whether he was on foot or driving?”

“I didn’t think to ask, dammit.” Releasing her hold on Ashe, Deborah walked around to the front of her desk. Yanking open the bottom drawer, she lifted out her leather bag and threw the straps over her shoulder. “I have to pick up Allen and take him home. I have to make sure he’s all right. If anyone dares harm him, I’ll—”

“I’ll take care of anyone who threatens Allen, in the same way I’ll handle anyone who threatens you.” Ashe held out his hand. “Give me the keys to your Caddy. I’ll drive. On the way over to the school, pull yourself together. Allen doesn’t need to see how upset you are.”

Deborah took a deep breath. “You’re right. It’s just that, in the back of my mind, I kept wondering if and when Buck Stansell would target Mother or Allen. Oh, Ashe, I can’t let anything happen to Allen.”

“Nothing is going to happen to Allen.” He took her hand in his. “I promise.”

Within five minutes they marched side by side into Richard Shipman’s office where Allen sat, silent and unmoving, in a corner chair. The minute he saw Deborah, he ran into her open arms.

“Give us a few minutes alone with Allen,” Ashe said to the principal, who immediately nodded agreement and exited his office.

“What happened, sweetheart?” Deborah asked, bending on her knees, hugging her child close, stroking his thick blond hair. “Tell us everything.”

Allen clung to Deborah for several moments, then glanced over at Ashe. “You can’t let them do anything to hurt her.”

“Allen, will you tell me what happened?” Ashe reached down and patted Allen on the back.

Allen shook his head, released his tenacious hold on Deborah, but still clung to her hand as she stood. “He walked up to me on the playground. I was waiting my turn at bat. He said he knew my sister and that he wanted me to give her a message.”

“Oh, Ashe!” Deborah clenched her teeth tightly together in an effort not to cry in front of Allen.

Laying his hand on Deborah’s shoulder, Ashe gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Had you ever seen this man before?”

“No,” Allen said.

“Come on, let’s go sit down over here on the sofa.” Deborah led Allen across the room to the small, leather sofa situated against the back wall between two oak filing cabinets. “I want you to answer all of Ashe’s questions. He’s here to help us. Do you understand?”

“What—what do you want to know?” Allen looked at Ashe.

“Would you recognize the man if you ever saw him again? Can you tell me what he looked like?”

“Yeah, I’d recognize him, all right. He was big and ugly and he smelled bad.”

“Sounds like somebody Buck would sent around to frighten a child,” Ashe said.

“He didn’t scare me.” Allen tightened his hold on Deborah’s hand. “I told him off. If you don’t believe me, just ask Tripper Smith. He heard me telling that guy he’d better leave my sister alone.”

Ashe knelt down in front of Allen. “I know you’re brave and that you’d fight for your sister.”

Deborah forced a smile when she looked at Allen’s pale little face. “Did the man try to hurt you?”

“Naw, he just said to give my sister a message. He said to tell you that if you show up in court Monday, you’ll be very sorry. And I told him that nothing he said or did would keep you from testifying against that murderer. And he said if you did, you were stupid. That’s when I tried to hit him, but he just laughed and walked away.”

“Did your teacher see the man, or any of the other kids beside this Tripper Smith?” Ashe asked.

“My teacher didn’t see nothing, but several of the kids saw him. Tripper’s the one who went and told Coach Watkins what had happened.”

“Okay, Allen, why don’t you and Deborah go do whatever is necessary to get you checked out of school for the day. I’ll make a couple of phone calls and then we’ll be ready to leave.” Ashe wished he had the big, bad-smelling stranger in front of him right now. He’d teach Buck Stansell’s messenger that it wasn’t nice to go around frightening little boys, especially not a child under his protection.

“Are we going home?” Allen asked. “Do we have to tell Mother what happened? She’ll just worry.”

“We aren’t going home,” Ashe said. “I think you and Deborah and I should go somewhere for burgers and fries and then do something fun together this afternoon. How does that sound to you, Allen?”