Читать книгу New Year Heroes: The Sheriff's Secretary / Veiled Intentions / Juror No. 7 - Carla Cassidy, Delores Fossen - Страница 16

It had become a waiting game, and as the afternoon hours crept by, Mariah felt as if she might explode. Why didn’t he call? If she and Lucas walked out the front door, would the kidnapper call then? Leave one of his cryptic messages to lead them on yet another wild-goose chase?

Lucas had remained for much of the day at the table, alternately talking on his cell phone and staring at her telephone as if willing it to ring.

Dusk was falling and the panic that night brought with it formed a big, tight lump in her chest. Another night. How many nights could she survive? How long before she lost her mind with grief?

The house had been so quiet. Until his disappearance, Mariah hadn’t realized how much Billy filled up the house with sound. He often clomped when he walked, he hummed and whistled while he did his chores. And he laughed. God, what she wouldn’t give to hear the sound of his laugher once again.

When the doorbell rang at seven that evening, Mariah hurried to answer it, grateful for the break from the tension, from the monotony of waiting for the kidnapper to call.

She opened the door and froze as she saw the man with a sprinkle of gray in his black hair, the narrow dark eyes that had once haunted her dreams.

“Hello, Mariah. How in the hell did you manage to lose our little boy?”

“Frank.” Mariah wouldn’t have thought it possible for the cold inside her to intensify, but it did at the sight of the man who had caused her such pain. A fear she thought she’d gotten past filled her.

“Your hair always looked so nice when you wore it short,” he said. “Now, aren’t you going to invite me in?”

Mariah felt Lucas’s presence just behind her. “I don’t know if she’ll invite you in, but I certainly will.”

As Lucas placed a hand on Mariah’s shoulder, she was filled with strength. This man, this monster, couldn’t hurt her ever again, and she refused to allow him to create fear inside her.

“By all means, come in,” she agreed and opened the door to her past. “We’ve been looking for you.”

“Who are you?” Frank asked Lucas as he stepped into the small foyer.

“I’m Sheriff Lucas Jamison and I have some questions for you, Frank.”

“I’ve got questions for you. Where in the hell is my boy? What kind of an investigation is going on that a little boy and some woman have been missing for the past four days and you can’t find them?”

Lucas’s eyes narrowed. “Why don’t we all go in and have a seat. I’ll be happy to answer your questions after you’ve answered mine.”

It was obvious Lucas intended to maintain the control in the situation. The three of them moved into the living room where Frank sat on the sofa and patted the cushion next to him with a smile at Mariah.

“When hell freezes over,” she muttered under her breath and sat in the chair opposite the sofa. Lucas remained standing next to Mariah’s chair.

“Can you tell me where you’ve been for the past four days?” Lucas asked.

Frank straightened his shoulders, as if affronted by the very question. “Surely you don’t think I had anything to do with this.” He glared at Mariah. “Ask her what she did to put our boy at risk. She’s always been irresponsible. If anyone is at fault here, it’s her.”

“Right now we’re talking about you,” Lucas replied, his tone holding an iron edge. “I’m going to ask you again, where have you been for the past four days?”

“Up until this morning I was in my home in Shreveport,” Frank said.

“We had the authorities in Shreveport looking for you, but they couldn’t find where you lived or worked,” Mariah said. Funny, for so many years he’d been a monster in her mind. He’d been big and strong and scary. But now, seated on her floral-patterned sofa, he looked small and petty and nothing like a monster at all.

“I’ve been living with a friend and I’m between jobs at the moment. It was during breakfast this morning that I saw a newscast about Billy and Mariah and of course I came right here.” He cast a sideways look at Mariah. “My new friend knows how to treat a man right.”

If Mariah had to guess, his new “friend” was probably a young, impressionable woman who didn’t realize the path she’d chosen when she’d hooked up with Frank Landers.

“I’ll need your address in Shreveport and the name of your friend,” Lucas said.

Frank’s square jaw tightened. “You’re wasting your time investigating me.”

“It’s my time to waste,” Lucas replied evenly.

For the next few minutes Lucas questioned Mariah’s ex-husband, and though she tried to stay focused on the conversation she found herself comparing the two men.

She’d once thought Frank the handsomest man she’d ever known, but now she saw the weakness of his jaw, the furtive cast of his eyes and the voice that radiated belligerence rather than strength.

Handsome was a man who loved his sister to distraction. Handsome was a man who had held her in his arms when she thought she might fracture. The fact that Lucas remained standing next to where she sat, creating a subtle united force to Frank, that was beyond handsome.

Somewhere in the madness of the past four days, her attitude toward Lucas Jamison had changed. As she watched the byplay between the two men, she realized she’d allowed her past to color how she saw Lucas and his actions toward Jenny.

“I demand to know exactly what’s being done to find my son,” Frank said, his strident tone bringing Mariah out of her thoughts. He stood as if unable to sit still another moment.

“We can discuss all that at my office,” Lucas replied. “Tomorrow morning at ten. I’ll meet you there and fill you in.”

“Fine. I look forward to hearing what’s going on.” Frank headed for the front door. Mariah started to get up, but Lucas touched her shoulder.

“Stay put,” he said. “I’ll walk him out.”

She remained in the chair and realized seeing Frank again had somehow freed her. She hadn’t known until this moment that he’d still owned a part of her, that a little piece of fear still reigned in her heart where he was concerned. Facing him again had evaporated that fear, and she knew he’d never have the power in life or in dreams to scare her again.

Now if she could just get her son back…. She rose from the chair and went to the window that looked over the backyard and stared out into the deepening shadows of the night.

Strange. The wrist Frank had broken didn’t ache now. Her worst nightmare had come true. Frank knew where they lived, but she wasn’t running this time. He’d chased her from everything she’d known once. He wouldn’t do it again. This was Billy’s home. He loved it here, had friends and roots here.

She’d gone to court before to ensure that Frank had no visitation with his son. He had no legal right to be here, and this time she wasn’t running.

She heard the front door open, then close. She knew when Lucas stood behind her, because she smelled the familiar scent of him. She wasn’t surprised when he placed his hands gently on her shoulders and turned her around to face him.

“You okay?” he asked, his features radiating concern.

“I’m fine.” She smiled. “He was my boogeyman for so long, but seeing him now I realized he isn’t anymore. He’s just a pathetic little man who likes to abuse women.”

“I called Agent Kessler while I was outside,” Lucas said. “I want your ex-boogeyman checked inside out and upside down. I want to know everything about his movements over the past four days.”

She frowned. “So you think he has Billy?”

“I think his concern for his son came off like an orchestrated act,” Lucas replied. “I’ve definitely moved him to the top of my suspect list.” He frowned. “He’s a nasty piece of work.” His frown fell away for a moment and a soft smile curved his lips. “But I will tell you now that you look beautiful with your long hair.”

She touched his jaw, the place where a muscle knotted when he was filled with angry emotion. “I owe you an apology.”

He covered her hand with his, his expression curious. “An apology for what?”

“For telling you that you remind me of Frank, for allowing you to believe that you have anything in common with that man.”

A pained expression chased across his face and he dropped his hand from hers. “I would never, ever willingly hurt Jenny or any woman, but there was some truth in what you said to me.” He stepped away from her and raked a hand through his hair. “I have been overbearing with Jenny. I didn’t mean it to be that way, but over the past couple of days I’ve given it a lot of thought.” His jaw knotted and his eyes darkened. “I just want a chance to do things differently.”

She moved into his arms and leaned her head against his broad chest. It scared her just a little bit, how comforting the act was, how much she felt as if she belonged in his arms.

What they were experiencing had nothing to do with real life. The connection she felt with him had been forged in circumstances of heightened emotions, of tense drama and fear. It had nothing to do with reality, and she’d be a fool to think otherwise.

Still she remained in his arms and thought of her son and his sister and wondered if there was a happy ending to be found in this mess.

Then the phone rang.

THE RING OF THE PHONE electrified Lucas. He broke their embrace and raced for the kitchen. He hit the record and speaker button, then picked up the receiver.

“Jamison,” he answered.

“Ah, the good sheriff. Listen carefully. At the corner of Main and Cotton Street …”

“Wait,” Lucas interrupted the kidnapper. “We need to know that Billy and Jenny are still alive. You’ve got to give us something.”

“I reckon you’ve forgotten who is in charge here. At the corner of Main and Cotton Street you’ll find a bench with a big wide seat.”

“Listen to me, what is it you want from us?” Lucas exchanged a look of frustration with Mariah.

“At the corner of Main and Cotton …” the kidnapper began again.

“Why are you doing this? Just tell us what you want,” Lucas interjected. He was trying to pull the kidnapper into a discussion, hoping that something the caller said would trigger a clue. But the kidnapper still had no desire to deviate from whatever script was in his head.

“At the corner of Main and Cotton Street, you’ll find a bench with a big wide seat. If you look beneath you might find a clue, a little gift from me to you.”

Lucas grunted in surprise as Mariah snatched the receiver from his hands. “Listen you, we’re not playing your game anymore. You hear me? I’m done chasing around town looking for clues that aren’t there.” Her voice was shrill with anger and her eyes flamed with emotion. “Play your stupid game without us, because we’re done.”

The caller hung up.

Mariah stared at Lucas. She clutched the phone receiver so tightly her knuckles turned white. He gently tried to take it away from her.

“What have I done?” she whispered as she released the phone to him.

“You’ve changed the game, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” he replied.

She sank into a chair at the table and covered her face with her hands. He pulled up a chair in front of her and sat, then reached out for her hands.

“Mariah, maybe you shook him up and maybe that’s what we needed to do,” he said. “He’s been running us all over town for nothing. It was time we told him no more. We take away the pleasure he’s gotten in baiting us and maybe he’ll get desperate for attention and make a mistake.”

“I just hope I didn’t make him angry enough to do something awful.”

“If he’s going to do something awful, then nothing we can do or say will make a difference,” Lucas said. It was possible something awful had already been done. He couldn’t ignore the possibility that Jenny and Billy had been killed in the hours immediately following the kidnapping and the killer was just amusing himself now.

“Who are you calling?” she asked as he began to punch numbers on his phone.

“The office. Ed,” he said into the receiver. “I want you to do me a favor. Go to the corner of Cotton and Main and check a bench that’s there. See if there’s anything taped to the bottom of it, then call me back.” If the kidnapper was watching, seeing the deputy might force him to act and give them something to go on.

He hung up and Mariah stared at him expectantly. “So, what do we do now?” she asked.

He shrugged and stared outside where night had once again fallen. The fourth night, and they were no closer to finding Jenny and Billy than they’d been on the first night.

He looked back at Mariah. “We do what we’ve been doing. We let the investigation unfold and we wait for a break.”

She sighed. “Did you find out any more about Frank’s whereabouts the past couple of days when you walked him outside?”

“No, but I did let him know what would happen if he bothered you while he was here in Conja Creek. I told him exactly what we thought of men who abuse women.”

Her eyes widened. “You threatened him?”

“Let’s just say I gave him a friendly warning.”

“Did you get any feeling that he might be behind this?”

“I don’t know whether he is or not, but he’s the kind of man capable of such a thing.” He leaned back in the chair. “The caller’s voice is so distorted it’s almost impossible to match it to somebody we’ve heard.”

“Maybe Agent Kessler will be able to tell us something about the calls,” she said.

Lucas nodded. But he knew that it could take weeks, even months to get information from Kessler and his men. The FBI lab wouldn’t necessarily see the kidnapping of one child and one woman from a small Southern town as a priority given all the other cases they worked.

Lucas still felt the burning need to be doing something, to tear apart the town in an effort to find the missing loved ones, but logically he knew there was nothing more to be done than what was being done.

The kidnapper was still in charge of things, and unless or until he made a mistake, there wasn’t much more Lucas and his men could do.

Maylor called to let them know that there was nothing unusual about the bench at Cotton and Main. Lucas checked in with Kessler and the rest of his men, then the night stretched out before them, long and dark.

“Is your mother still alive?” he asked Mariah, seeking conversation to fill the time.

“No. She had cancer and passed away not too long after my wedding. She died happy, believing that I had found a man to love and cherish me. I’m glad she passed before she knew about Frank and about my divorce.” She got up from her chair. “Want some coffee?”

“Sure,” he agreed. He wished she’d sleep. What little sleep they’d both gotten over the past four days had been in unexpected catnaps, when exhaustion overwhelmed will.

As he watched her making the coffee he was struck by a burst of desire for her, a need to lose himself in her kisses, in the sweet heat her body offered.

He couldn’t know if what he felt for her was real or simply emotions flaring out of control because of the situation.

It also occurred to him that, for the past four days, they’d existed like a married couple, sharing quiet conversations in the predawn moments, listening to each other breathe when the conversation ran out.

Lucas had never been a lonely man, but he had a feeling when he returned to his big house with only Marquette as company, he would be lonely. Talking to Mariah, watching her graceful movements and listening to the sound of her voice had become a pleasant habit, one he knew would be hard to break.

When the coffee was finished, she brought it to the table. She wrapped her slender fingers around her mug and eyed him curiously. “Don’t you want children?”

He started to give a quick reply, but instead took a sip of coffee and thought about the question. “I haven’t really thought about it for a long time. Certainly when I got married I figured eventually there would be kids. But then my marriage fell apart and I was busy raising Jenny. I didn’t give it any more thought.”

“Jenny is going to eventually get married and start a family of her own. That’s important to her, having a husband and kids.” She tilted her head a bit, the light overhead glistening in her chestnut hair. “When do you get your chance, Lucas? When is it time for you to build something just for yourself?”

“I have my work. It’s always been enough for me,” he replied a bit uneasily.

“Work is what I do, but being a mother is who I am.” She took a sip of her coffee, then continued. “I bet you’d make an awesome dad.”

He laughed, the amusement surprising even himself. “You can’t have it both ways, Mariah. You’ve told me in so many words that I’ve been screwing it up with Jenny and yet you think I’d make a great dad. That’s a little bit contradictory, don’t you think?”

She smiled, and it was the first smile he’d seen from her that wasn’t tinged with grief, that didn’t hold tense lines and jagged edges. “My complaint about your parenting skills has nothing to do with when Jenny was younger. I’ll bet you were a loving caretaker for her when she was a kid. My only complaint is that you don’t seem to know that it’s time to let go.”

“Point taken,” he replied. “You’re different than I thought you were.”

“What do you mean?”

“Whenever I saw you at the mayor’s office, you seemed hard-edged and uptight. You’re softer than I thought.”

“I take my job very seriously. Besides, anytime you came in to see Richard, he freaked out just a little bit. I think you scare him. You’re always so sure of yourself and what you’re doing. Richard cares so much about this town and the people, but he’s less sure about his path than you are.”

“Did he know about your past? That you weren’t really a widow?”

She nodded. “I had no references to give him and so I told him the truth, that I wanted a fresh start here and was willing to work hard to create a good life. Harrington isn’t my real name. I couldn’t use Landers nor could I use my maiden name because I was afraid Frank would find me. Harrington is a name I chose, and the shelter where I stayed for a while helped me get identification in my new name. Richard knew all that and hired me anyway. He gave me a chance and kept my secret, and for that I’ll always be grateful to him.”

Lucas grinned. “Then I guess I’m going to have to ease up on Richard.”

The next couple of hours passed in quiet conversation. The tension, the stress and anxiety of the past four days seemed to have momentarily ebbed, as if their minds and bodies could no longer sustain the heightened sense of fear.

She told him a little bit more about her life with Frank, her lonely childhood with her mostly absent mother, and he regaled her with tales of his life in college with the friends he called his band of brothers, the men whom he still called his friends.

It was almost midnight when the coffee was gone and the fear returned. He saw it swimming back into her eyes, in the slight shake of her hands as she removed the cups from the table.

“You should try to get some sleep,” he said.

“I know. But I’m afraid to close my eyes.” She placed the cups in the dishwasher then turned back to face him. “I’m afraid I’ll have bad dreams, but more than that, I’m afraid those dreams might come true.”

Then the phone rang again.