Читать книгу Past Secrets, Present Love - Lois Richer - Страница 11

Kelly leaned against the door and listened to the engine of Ross’s car as he drove away. She was odd man out, alone. Again.

Her friends each had someone special in her life. She had no one. It was a pathetic admittance, but the truth could not be denied. Kelly had no desire to return to the reception. Ross’s news had leeched away the spirit of fun she’d shared with the others. Now all she could think about was Sandra Lange. She was Sandra Lange’s daughter. Sandra was her mother.

The knowledge filled her with unbearable angst that she couldn’t explain. It was fear, she knew that much. But the basis of it couldn’t bear exploring, not now. Kelly moved through the house slowly, scanning each room looking for something she could do to keep her hands busy, her mind occupied. But the big house was as neatly pristine as she’d always kept it. Just like the rest of her life.

Except for this business with Sandra. She skittered away from that. What to do?

Her mind flew to the storage closet she’d been cleaning at the office. Now there was a project that would take her complete attention. So what if it was ten o’clock at night—on a weekend?

She thought about it for the space of two seconds then bounded up the stairs to change her clothes. Clad in a thick gray wool sweater and black pants, she tied on her hiking boots, pulled on her parka, beret, scarf and gloves, then reached for the doorknob. The winking light on her answering machine made her pause.

“Hi, Miss Young. This is Vinnie at the garage. I took a look at your car and—well, I don’t know exactly how to say this. It looks like your steering has been tampered with. What I’m looking at had to be deliberate.” A sigh. “Maybe you better call me tomorrow or Monday. We’ll talk about it then. Bye.”

Tampered with? Surely he was mistaken—overreacting, perhaps. Nobody cared about her car, or about tampering with it. Besides, she kept it in the garage when she was home.

Still, he’d been so definite. Kelly had no idea how steering on a car worked, but she knew Vinnie knew his car stuff. If anybody could fix it, he could. Until then she’d walk back and forth to the office. It wasn’t that far and she needed the exercise after many Christmas indulgences. Kelly pulled open the door and stepped outside.

It was a lovely night—cold, clear, crisp. A promise of things to come?

Deliberately stuffing away thoughts of Sandra Lange, Kelly crunched down the street, admiring the lights and decorations that twinkled in the darkness. Usually she loved the holiday season. Celebrating Christ’s birth, welcoming in another year—they were beloved traditions her parents had taught her to note as milestones. It didn’t matter that the couple was gone now; she kept their traditions alive just the same, as a way of honoring them. Only this morning she’d written about the coming year in her journal.

I hope it’s a year I can move away from the past, put my mistakes behind me and look forward to the future. I need to be free of the fear. Unable to delineate exactly what she was afraid of and unwilling to explore it further, Kelly had stopped there. She only knew that worry had lurked at the back of her mind for years, as long as she could remember she’d had this dream that someday someone would show up and tell her it was all a lie, that nobody cared about her, that she was all alone.

Kelly stopped, turned around and looked back at her house. White Christmas lights glimmered and twinkled under the eaves, above the wooden snowmen her father had created so long ago. Her house, though lovely, was also a reminder of the past. She’d chosen it with Simon, before he’d told her he’d made a mistake, that he didn’t want to marry her. She loved the old colonial with its four big bedrooms, where she’d dreamed of tucking in her own children. Children she wasn’t so sure she’d ever have now.

Was that why she’d hung onto it when he’d left, to keep alive the dream?

The dream was gone. It was time to admit that to herself and stop waiting for Simon to return. He’d made it clear that last morning before summer holidays began.

“I’m taking a new job, a better one, in New York. I don’t want to hang around this pokey place forever, meeting at the diner for lunch, spending Sunday evenings with couples whose only interests are babies. I have big plans.”

Plans that didn’t include her. She knew that now, but then she couldn’t accept that he would walk away without even discussing it.

“What about me, Simon? I thought you loved me.”

“So did I. I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”

A mistake. The words had devastated her.

“I need freedom. You’re afraid of it. You won’t take on the challenge of life, Kelly. You sit in your comfy world at that adoption agency and you spend your days handing out babies. Why? Because everyone expects you to?” His scathing tone had hurt. “You could do so much more, but you’re afraid to venture beyond this place. I wanted to talk about moving, to discuss our future, but then I realized, you see your future here. I don’t.”

In a way, Simon had been right. The thought of leaving this place, of going to a spot where she knew no one, where she was the oddball, where nothing was familiar—that made her blood run cold. The only thing she didn’t understand was why.

The familiar tightness in her chest signaled tension that she didn’t want, so Kelly thrust away the past and sped up her steps. She concentrated on breathing so she couldn’t think of anything else. Within minutes she was unlocking the front door of Tiny Blessings, punching in her security code. She locked it solidly behind her, then climbed the steps to her office. Once she’d removed her parka and winter accessories, she hung them neatly, then glanced around.

Her office was as she’d left it—clean and orderly. No papers marred the blank surface of her desk. Not that she felt like doing paperwork anyway.

What then?

The closet. It was the weekend. She could drag everything into the hall and leave it there till tomorrow. No one would notice or complain, especially not Florence, who wouldn’t come back until four o’clock Monday afternoon.

Kelly picked up her keys and walked into the hall. As soon as she turned the lock, the door burst open and broom handles pushed their way out, one knocking her on the temple.

“Ouch! Stop that or I’ll throw the lot of you in the garbage,” she warned, glowering at them as she propped the offender in one corner. With the brooms and the massive pail out of the way, Kelly could remove several dented, and probably useless, half-full paint cans. That left enough room for her to squeeze inside.

“Okay, now what have we got here?” She grasped the handle of the top drawer of the filing cabinet and yanked, but aside from a groan, the drawer never budged. Kelly tried the bottom one. Locked.

Why would someone lock a filing cabinet they’d left in a storage closet?

“Because they don’t want anyone to look inside, dummy.” She grimaced at her own answer. “So now what do I do? Pry it open?”

She couldn’t think of any good reason why she shouldn’t know what was inside, so Kelly asked herself where she’d find something to pry it open with.

“Florence’s basement,” she muttered and turned to the door.

To her utter shock, the steel door slammed closed in her face.

“Hey!” She grabbed the handle and twisted it but the door didn’t open. “Open this door,” she yelled. “I’m locked inside.”

No answer.

“Florence? Can you let me out?”

But Florence never answered. She’d probably left long ago.

“Wait a minute.” Kelly recalled using her key to unlock the door. The lock was on the outside. She should be able to open the door from the inside. She slid her hands over the knob, tried to find a button, something, that would release the door. She found nothing. The knob would not turn.

Panic began to thrum inside her. There was no way this door should remain closed unless someone was deliberately preventing her from getting out.

“Let me out!” She lifted her hands, clenched them into fists and began banging. After several minutes, the only result she achieved was sore hands.

At least the light was still on. Kelly flopped down on the edge of the file cabinet and wondered how long she’d have to wait. Tomorrow was Sunday. The office would be closed all day. It was unlikely that Pilar, who placed Tiny Blessings’ children, would come to the office—she was a newlywed. And Anne and Caleb hadn’t stuck around after the wedding so she’d hardly come in to take a look at the agency’s books on the weekend. One by one, Kelly ticked off her employees, heart sinking at the realization that she was alone—and going to be here for a while.

But not by herself.

Someone was out there, someone had deliberately closed that door. Rising panic filled her throat and she had to fight for calm. So many questions whirled around her brain—questions like who and why and how did they get into the building.

“It looks like your steering has been tampered with.”

She’d dismissed Vinnie’s words too easily. Now they returned with greater impact. Someone had deliberately tampered with her car? Maybe that same someone had shut her in this room.

Fear crawled up and lodged itself in her brain as a voice sounded outside the door.

“Move out of town, Kelly Young. Forget about the past.” The voice wasn’t clear, but ragged, not unlike a hoarse whisper—a sound made by someone who didn’t want to be identified, or someone with a bad cold.

“Who are you?”

“There’s nothing in Chestnut Grove for you anymore. Leave before it’s too late.”

Leave? But this was her home. She’d been raised here, found friends here, been a part of the church all her life. Where would she go?

“Why? Just tell me why.” She waited for an answer. But the voice was gone. All that remained was an eerie silence filled with foreboding. She was alone—something she’d always dreaded.

Maybe not quite alone. Though the room wasn’t cold, Kelly shivered. She could feel evil waiting just outside that door.

Ross pulled up in front of Kelly’s house and scanned the yard. Three times he’d called her from Sandra’s, three times he’d heard her voice on the machine.

“Maybe she’s more upset than she let on. Please go talk to her,” Sandra had urged him. “I’ll feel better if I know she’s all right.”

Maybe Kelly wasn’t answering the phone on purpose. He got out of the car, walked up the path and rang the doorbell, waited. When she didn’t come to the door, he tried the knob.

“Kelly?” It was quarter past ten. Where would she go?

In a flash the answer was there. Tiny Blessings. She loved her work, was dedicated to finding the perfect home for every child. It had to be emotional, heartrending work and yet in the months he’d spent here he’d never seen her show the least amount of frustration.

Ross had learned a lot about her these past few months. Kelly Young rigidly adhered to every rule and regulation she’d set in place, but perhaps that was simply her way of dealing with the job. And of never making the same mistakes her predecessor, Barnaby Harcourt, had made. Mistakes that had only come to light a few months ago which she’d had to explain to the media. Though falsifying documents hardly classified as a mistake.

Ross knew Kelly was a stickler for routine. But if his revelation about her relationship to Sandra had caused more angst than he realized—He knocked again, twice. Bothered by the lack of response, Ross climbed back in his car and drove the few short blocks to the narrow stone-fronted building that housed Tiny Blessings Adoption Agency.

A big black car sat in front, in the no-parking zone, causing Ross to speculate that Kelly might be meeting someone. He knew from previous visits that Kelly’s office faced Main Street and he could see the light in her office, but no matter how many times he dialed, she didn’t answer the office phone. He parked behind the black car, where it was legal, and pulled on his gloves to protect his hands from the frigid air.

Ross checked the front door. Locked, of course. Kelly wouldn’t dream of leaving the building open to anyone who happened to pass by. Defeated, he returned to his car and sat in the cold and dark, trying to think of some way to contact her. It seemed important that Kelly not be alone tonight. Because of Sandra, he told himself.

From the corner of his eye, Ross saw a movement at the side of the building. He squinted into the darkness, watched a figure slip out an emergency exit door, wait at the edge of the building till a vehicle drove past, then scurry across the sidewalk and plunge into the poorly parked black car. With a squeal of tires it pulled away from the curb, red tail-lights disappearing into the night.

Not a client, Ross decided. Kelly would have let them out the front door. The hair on the back of his neck prickled. Something wasn’t right. People with legitimate business didn’t sneak out side exits.

In two seconds he’d left his car and raced toward the door, which was slightly ajar, thanks to a chunk of ice that had caught in the frame. He dragged it open, stepped into the dimly lit hall and made sure the door was closed securely behind him.

The silence of the place irritated his already cranky nerves. Why didn’t she have some music playing, a radio talk show—something to break the ominous quiet of the old bank building?

Moving with stealth, he walked past the picture displays that lined the walls—Tiny Blessings’ children and their adoptive families. Another time he would have stopped to study them, but Ross glimpsed a sliver of light coming under Kelly’s office door and quickly rapped his knuckles against the solid oak, hoping he wouldn’t startle her.

“Kelly?”

No response. Ross peeked inside. The room was empty, but her coat hung neatly on the coatrack. So she was here. Somewhere.

He stepped back into the hall, wishing he knew where to find the switch that would illuminate the area instead of trying to see in this dim gray-green glow. He jerked to a halt just in time to avoid bumping into some objects littering the hall. What in the world?

Mops, brooms, a pail, paint cans—they were strewn all over. Messy. Now that wasn’t like Kelly. Not at all. He didn’t have time to think it through before his gaze snagged on a chair shoved under a doorknob, holding a gray metal door closed.

Why? his brain demanded. He worked the chair free, grasped the knob and tried to turn. The door wouldn’t open.

“Kelly? Are you in there?”

“Y-yes. I can’t get the door open.”

He heaved a sigh of relief, then concentrated on the task at hand.

“There was a chair blocking it. I’ve moved that but I can’t budge the knob. Is there a lock on the inside?”

“I—I don’t know. Just a minute.”

The doorknob rattled but didn’t turn. He tried to twist it, to no avail. Ross stepped back, studied it, caught a glimmer of silver.

“Just a minute. I see something.” A metal rod had been shoved under the door, tilting it just enough to jam it closed. He grabbed a mop handle and inserted it in the space. At last the metal rod rolled out. “Try the door now, Kelly.”

The knob turned, she stepped out and stood there, tall, slim and more afraid than he’d ever seen her. Her brown eyes looked glazed, glossy with unshed tears, and her hand trembled as she lifted it to smooth her shoulder-length sun-kissed strands of hair.

“Someone locked me in,” she whispered.

He could have handled the weak trembly note in her voice. He might even have managed to ignore the teardrop clinging to her long spiky lashes. But as he watched her face, saw how she grappled for that mantle of self-possession and couldn’t find it, he couldn’t ignore that.

Ross reached out, gathered her into his arms.

“It’s okay, Kelly. You’re safe. You’re okay.”

“Yes. Thank you.” Her hands wrapped around him and she clung for timeless moments.

He held her until the fragile weight of her body stopped shaking, until the strong, capable Kelly returned, took control and stepped away.

“Okay now?” he asked quietly.

She nodded.

“I think so. It was just a little nerve-wracking when I started thinking I’d be locked in there for two days. I didn’t think anyone would come into the office on the weekend.”

So she’d come here to be alone.

“How did you get it open?” She listened carefully as he explained. “That couldn’t have been an accident,” she whispered when he’d stopped speaking. “Could it?”

“I doubt it.” He frowned as suspicion niggled at the back of his mind. “Who would have done something like that?”

“I don’t know. I thought I heard something, someone. But I guess it was just nerves.”

She wasn’t telling the truth. Ross had been reading people for a long time and he knew Kelly Young wasn’t telling him something. That was okay. She could tell him later. But right now he needed some questions answered.

“Kelly, when I arrived I saw someone leaving via the side exit. They drove away in a black car. I didn’t get the plate number.”

“From the side? The emergency exit?” She bit her lip. “But it’s always kept closed. How could they get in? The building was locked up when I arrived.”

Maybe not as tightly as she thought, Ross surmised.

“I don’t know who it was. They were dressed in black, a smallish person—maybe a kid who’s angry at you, a teenager?”

“Angry? At me?” She blinked, her eyes dark and confused. “It’s possible, I guess, but I don’t think so.”

“Then maybe—”

Kelly’s eyes widened. She reached over and flicked on the hall light, then she bent over to pick up something from the floor.

“What’s that?”

“A note.”

The shaky tone was back, threading through her soft voice. Ross glanced down, saw the sheet of paper in her hands.

Leave town. Or pay the consequences.

Kelly felt Detective Zach Fletcher’s intensive scrutiny even though she wasn’t looking at him. Ross had insisted on calling him away from the wedding reception and Zach had come immediately. Now, half an hour later, Tiny Blessings was swarming with police.

“You’re sure you can’t tell me anything more?”

“I didn’t see anything, Zach. I was working in the closet. I turned to leave but the door slammed closed. I couldn’t get it open.”

“But you heard a voice?”

She nodded.

“It said there was nothing in town for me anymore and that I should leave before it’s too late. I told you all this.”

“Yes, you did. And they left this.” He stared at the note for a moment, flicked a finger against the plastic covering it, then glanced at her, his blue eyes softening. “Are you sure I can’t call Pilar? She’d want to be here. For that matter, so would Meg and Rachel.”

“Please, no. Nobody else needs to know about this right now. I’ve already spoiled your evening. I don’t want to ruin anyone else’s. You should be with Pilar, celebrating Ben and Leah’s wedding.”

He smiled. “We’ll celebrate, don’t worry. But I’m concerned about you. I don’t want you to go home alone.”

“I’ll go with her,” Ross volunteered.

Kelly jumped at the sound of his voice from behind her. She’d almost forgotten he was still there.

“You don’t have to—”

“Thanks, Ross. I’d really appreciate that.” Zach overrode her weak objections. “I’ll get the lab working on things as soon as I can, but with holidays and everything, it might take a while to get any answers.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll be in town for a while longer.” Ross and Zach exchanged a funny look before Ross turned to her, raising one eyebrow. “Unless you object?”

Even the thought of being locked in that room again, with someone outside the door, whispering, it made Kelly shiver.

“I’d very much appreciate your help,” she murmured. “After the thing with the car and now this, I’m a little nervous.”

“What thing?” Zach was all ears while Ross explained the accident.

“I gave her a ride, then came back and watched while they towed the car. Vinnie should be able to tell you more when he gets back to work, but the way Kelly described her steering seemed odd for a simple malfunction.”

“Actually, Vinnie left a message on my machine.” She glanced from one ruggedly handsome face to the other. “I think he said the steering had been tampered with.”

Kelly watched the two men exchange a glance and wished she’d kept silent. Now they’d think she was paranoid. “It’s probably nothing, a mistake. In fact, I’m sure it’s a mistake.”

“I’ve never known Vinnie to make a mistake like that.” Zach scribbled something on a pad. “I’ll talk to him. In the meantime, why don’t you head home? We’ll finish here and lock up for you. I should be able to set the security system by myself, shouldn’t I?”

“Just press the set alarm button and leave within twenty seconds.” Kelly chewed her bottom lip. “Um, Zach? The system wasn’t on when I came in.”

“Wasn’t on?” More writing.

“I punched in my code, but I didn’t need it,” she explained. “It wasn’t on. I’m sure someone just forget to set it in the hectic rush before the wedding today.” She wasn’t going to blame Florence.

“Anybody ever forgotten that little detail before?” Zach’s blue eyes were dark as thunderclouds.

“No. Not that I know of.”

“Uh-huh.” He scribbled in his little book some more, then peered at her through his lashes. “Anything else you can think of?”

“I don’t think so.” He kept staring at her, his gaze narrowed. “Really, Zach. I think that’s it.”

“Okay.” He flipped the pad closed. “Go home, Kelly. I’ll get hold of you if I need you again.”

“Thanks.” She glanced at her watch, grimaced. Quarter to eleven. What a way to spend an evening.

“I’ll take you whenever you’re ready,” Ross murmured.

“Thanks. I just have to get my things.”

Moments later they were in his car, rumbling toward Kelly’s home. When they arrived, she was surprised to see a police cruiser sitting outside, waiting.

“If you’ll go inside and check things out, ma’am,” the officer asked. “Zach asked me to make sure.”

She stared at him, the implication hitting home.

“You think someone has been here, in my house?” She felt a pressure on her arm, turned to study Ross’s face. “Surely no one would break in here?”

“He’s not saying they would,” Ross reassured. “He just wants to make sure you’re all right. Come on, Kelly. I’ll go with you. We’ll check things out together.”

She responded to the tug on her arm, followed Ross to the door. He took her keys, opened it and stepped inside, glancing around first, then waved her in. “Everything look the same as you left it?”

Her white cashmere coat was lying across the arm of the sofa where she’d thrown it, black heels nearby.

“I think so.”

“We’ll go through each room down here, move upstairs, then check out the basement. Don’t worry, I’ll be right beside you.” His fingers grasped hers, squeezed. “You deserve some peace of mind after what just happened. Checking everything will ensure that.”

Kelly squeezed back, but kept her hand in his, drawing him along with her. She felt weak, silly, afraid—the emotions jumbled together as she took him from room to room, nodding each time he asked, “Okay?”

By the time they’d returned to the foyer she’d regained some of her equanimity. With an apologetic look, she slid her fingers from Ross’s.

“Thanks,” she whispered, feeling the heat rise into her cheeks.

“Anytime,” he growled, grinning at her blush. Then he opened the door and addressed the officer. “We’ve been through the house. Everything looks fine.”

“Good. We’ll be patrolling past here every little while. You need anything, you dial 911.” He stared straight at Kelly, waiting for her nod.

“Thanks.” Ross closed the door, twisted the dead bolt, then turned to face her. “Would it be too much to ask for a cup of hot chocolate?”

“Of course not. I should have offered. Come on into the kitchen and I’ll put on some water to warm.”

Kelly found her feet moving slowly, as if by rote, and wondered why she couldn’t snap out of this cocoon that weighed her down. She wanted to tell Ross she was fine, that she could manage on her own. She didn’t want him to see her here in this big empty house, looking like a pathetic figure with no one in all of Chestnut Grove to turn to.

But wasn’t that exactly what she was?

“Have a seat. Would you like something to eat with your cocoa?” she asked, hoping he’d say yes.

Kelly had baked a mountain of things before Christmas, thinking she’d have plenty on hand when she invited people over. But holidays were family times and, because she hesitated to break into that laughing closeness that existed between reunited families who got together only once or twice a year, Kelly had ended up asking only a few guests. That left her with a freezer full of fattening food. Oh well, the food bank might take it.

“You wouldn’t have any chocolate cake, would you?” Ross asked. “I love chocolate cake, but no matter how well I read the cake mix instructions, I just can’t make a decent cake.”

The very thought of him mixing and blending made her smile, but she hid it by opening the fridge.

“You certainly are the man of the moment. I happen to have two of them sitting here, but only one is waiting to go to the church outing tomorrow.” She held the door open so he could see. “Is that what you’d like?”

At the sight of her mile-high chocolate layer surprise, his eyes grew huge. He licked his lips.

“Perfect. But are you sure you want to cut into one? If you were supposed to bring two—”

“Just one. But I always make two because the filling is a double recipe. Somehow it doesn’t taste right if you cut it in half so I always make two cakes. There’s plenty for you. I’ll give Pilar’s dad Salvador a quarter, take some to work, maybe even sneak a piece or two to Rachel’s father Charles if I think her mother won’t catch me.”

“Why shouldn’t she catch you?”

“Beatrice is vegan, vegetarian in the extreme. This cake is worse than red meat to her.” She giggled at his squinched-up face. “If nothing else, I can always throw what’s left away.”

“In the garbage?” Ross looked scandalized.

“What else? If I had a dog, I’d feed it to him, but then he’d probably get sick. It’s pretty rich,” she warned as she set the cake on the counter in front of him.

Ross seemed content to sit there, staring at the cake, so Kelly busied herself making two big mugs of hot chocolate, adding water to the gourmet mix she’d purchased. Then she laced both drinks with some leftover whipped cream. She sprinkled some peppermint mint chips on top, then added a striped candy cane poking through the cream.

Kelly carried her favorite etched mugs to the counter, set one in front of him and one at her own place. She got a plate, a knife, a cake lifter, two forks and a couple of festive napkins. In minutes she had two place settings on each of the quilted placemats she’d made for the holidays. With a flick of a button, the radio began playing soft music that filled the room and helped drain away some of the emptiness she felt inside.

“Aren’t you going to taste it?” she asked when Ross made no effort to pick up his fork.

“Uh-huh.” But he remained transfixed, his eyes riveted on the dark chocolate layers that sat on regal layers of pure white cream.

The sound of her grandfather clock chimed twelve and sent the sound echoing from the living room throughout the house.

“I’m a bit late but I don’t think I ever wished you a happy New Year, Ross,” she murmured, holding up her mug.

His eyes met hers. He reached out, grasped his mug and lifted it, touching the rim against hers.

“Happy New Year, Kelly.”

The phone chose that precise moment to ring. Kelly set down her untouched mug and lifted the receiver.

“You’ve been warned,” a voice cackled. Then the line went dead.