Читать книгу Hidden Legacy - Lynn Huggins Blackburn - Страница 12

ONE

The house had been ransacked.

Caroline Harrison squeezed baby Henry closer. Her chest tightened, and each breath came as a spasm as she took in the scene. Chair and sofa cushions lay scattered around the living room. Glass from a shattered vase littered the rug. Two plants had crashed to the floor, their leaves and soil mingled with books yanked from the bookcase.

Who had done this?

Why?

What if they were still here?

A scraping noise from the back of the house answered her silent question. Her skin tingled, and acid filled her mouth.

She had to get out. Now. Her parents’ home was a quarter of a mile back down the winding mountain road. Too far to run with a sixteen-month-old in her arms.

She needed to get to her car. Once she got away, she’d call 911 and wait for the police. She backed up, one slow step at a time, reaching into her pocket for her keys.

Keys that weren’t there.

She patted the other jacket pocket. Also empty. Panic threatened to overwhelm her, but she kept moving—closing the distance between the den and the garage, where the safety of her car waited.

What had she done with her keys?

Her mind spun, retracing her steps.

She’d pulled into her dark garage, frustrated that the bulbs in the garage door opener had blown out—again. She’d grabbed the diaper bag—

That was it. The keys were in the diaper bag.

She’d dropped the bag on the table by the door as she’d entered. She continued to ease backward toward the garage, taking each step with care. Maybe whoever was inside was so busy stealing something they hadn’t noticed her arrival. The longer they stayed occupied, the better her chance of getting away.

Henry slept on, oblivious to the unfolding drama.

Her hand closed around the strap of the overflowing diaper bag. Why hadn’t she cleaned it out this morning? If anything fell out on the floor as she made her escape...

She slid the strap over her shoulder and reached behind her with her free hand. She’d find the keys after she got in the car.

She hadn’t realized her palms were sweating until she couldn’t grip the doorknob. She rubbed her free hand on her pants and tried again. The knob turned without a sound, but as she opened the door, she braced for the chime from her security system that usually alerted her to any opened door or window.

Nothing happened.

The burglar had disabled her alarm. She hurried down the two steps that led into the garage, every cell in her body screaming for her to go faster, every neuron in her brain urging her to move with more caution. She pulled the door behind her, stopping short of closing it all the way.

With her free hand out to keep from crashing into her car, she crept around to the driver’s side. She opened the door, and the click of the handle ricocheted around the room. Anyone in the house could have heard that. Or not. Maybe it only seemed loud because she was hyperaware of every sound. Her blood pounded and her breath rasped, despite her best efforts to make no noise. Opening the door activated the car’s dome light, and she hit three wrong buttons before she managed to extinguish it. She settled into the seat, sweet Henry still resting on her shoulder.

She couldn’t risk opening the back door to strap him into his seat. What if he woke up and started crying? As soon as she was sure they were safe, she’d stop and secure him.

She eased the door closed and fumbled with the diaper bag, digging in the pockets for the keys.

Come on, come on. They had to be here.

Where were they?

Her hand closed over her cell phone, and she grabbed it and punched 911 as she continued to search for her stupid keys. Why, oh why, hadn’t she purchased the car with the keyless ignition? It had seemed like such a pointless feature at the time. She’d give anything for it now.

“911, what’s your emergency?” The operator’s voice echoed through the car.

“My name is Caroline Harrison,” she whispered. “I live at 2200 Mountain View Drive. My home has been broken into. I think the person is still in the house.”

“Where are you now?”

“In my car in the garage, but I can’t find my keys.”

“I’m sending someone now. We have a unit not far from you.”

“Tell them to hurry!”

“Stay on the line with me, Ms. Harrison.”

“I’ll try.”

“Are you alone?”

“No. I have my...my...son.” She didn’t have time to explain the complicated relationship she had with this sweet child. And he was her son. It would be official in two weeks.

“How old is he?”

“Sixteen months.”

Finally!

Her fingers wrapped around the keys. She shoved the diaper bag into the passenger seat and rested the keys on her leg, tracing each one in the dark to find the car key.

Her hands shook and she pulled in a triumphant breath when she slid the right one in the ignition. She didn’t turn it yet—didn’t want the noise of the engine to alert her intruder. She’d make sure she was ready to exit first.

She reached for the button on her visor that would activate the garage door opener, but the door into the house opened. She bit back a scream as a man’s silhouette appeared and stalked toward her.

“There’s someone here.”

“I’m sorry, Ms. Harrison, I didn’t quite catch that. Did you say there was someone—”

“He’s coming—”

She was out of time. No sense in hiding now. She reached for the garage door opener again. She wasn’t going to sit here and wait for him to do whatever he planned to do.

She pressed the button. Again. And again. Why wasn’t it opening?

The horrible truth overwhelmed her. He must have known she was in here. While she’d thought she was getting away undetected, he’d managed to disable her garage door. Probably flipped the breaker in the laundry room. There was no way her little Camry could drive through the garage door, but she had to try.

She turned the key. In the light filtering in from the house, she saw the gun in his hand.

He aimed it at her window.

* * *

Detective Jason Drake pulled his Ford Explorer into the restaurant parking lot and answered his cell phone. “Hey, Michael. I’m here,” he said. He and Michael Ellis had met for dinner almost every Thursday night since he’d come to work for the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office six months ago.

“Sorry, man. I’m not going to make it. Dispatch called.”

“Like that’s a surprise,” Jason said. It had taken him all of two days on the job to realize his old friend had a soft spot for the dispatcher.

“It’s not like that,” Michael said. “We got a call from the Harrisons.”

The Harrisons. He fought the memories pounding on the door of his heart. “Is something wrong at the plant?”

“No. The call came from Caroline Harrison.”

The mention of her name opened the floodgates, and memories engulfed him. Big blue eyes flashing in laughter at a private joke. Full lips curved into a smile that was only for him. The many times he’d held her hand. The one time he’d held her in his arms.

“She said there was an armed intruder at her house.”

Jason floored it. “I’m on my way.”

His phone rang one minute later. The sheriff.

“Drake, we have a situation at Caroline Harri—”

Despite his respect for his boss, Jason cut the man off. “Yes, sir, I heard.”

“I want you to take the lead on this.”

Good. Now he had an excuse to be there. Not that it would have mattered. He had to make sure Caroline was all right.

“Of course, sir. I’m on my way.”

“Jason, I want this case solved fast, you hear me? And I want you to do whatever you have to do to keep Caroline Harrison safe.”

“Yes, sir.”

It took five agonizing minutes to reach the Harrisons’ gated driveway. One uniformed officer stood there, blocking the path up the mountain.

Jason rolled down his window and the young man—Dan? Dave? He’d figure it out later—approached his window.

“Hey, Jason. You here for the excitement, too, huh? It’s a madhouse up there.”

Jason could sense the kid’s disappointment about not being more directly involved, but he didn’t have time to play nice with... Dalton. That was it. “What’s the status?”

“The house is secure. Caroline and the baby are fine, just shook up. No idea where the intruder is.”

“Thanks.” He started to roll up the window.

“Hey.” Dalton put a hand out. “You know where you’re going, right? Caroline’s place is past the senior Harrisons’ about a quarter of a mile.”

He knew. This driveway was one long memory. He drove past the short drive to the house where her brother, Blake, lived with his daughter and his new wife, Heidi. He hadn’t had a chance to meet her yet.

As he approached Caroline’s parents’ home, the activity level increased. Officers and patrol cars with lights flashing dotted the mountain. The house glowed like a beacon. He’d spent so many happy hours in that house. Jeffrey and Eleanor had always welcomed him. Until he blew it with Caroline.

He forced his mind back to the present. Dwelling on the mistakes of the past wouldn’t change anything.

He followed the driveway past the Harrisons’ home and farther up the mountain. They’d hiked to the top of this mountain more than once, and Caroline always said this was where she wanted to live. At sixteen, she hadn’t been sure her dad would sell her the land.

Of course, Jeffrey Harrison had done one better. Jason could still remember the excitement in his mom’s voice as she’d filled him in. “Caroline stopped by last week,” she’d said. “She’s so excited. Jeffrey and Eleanor gave her the top of the mountain for her twenty-fifth birthday. She’s meeting with an architect this week and planning her dream house.”

He eased around a final curve. Dream house, indeed.

She’d always been fond of stonework, and the house blended seamlessly into the mountain. Positioned as it was, the views from the deck would be breathtaking, but only one view captured his mind.

Caroline Harrison.

Even after all this time, he couldn’t look at her without seeing his long-lost best friend. If only he could erase that night. That one conversation. That one kiss that had ruined everything. If he’d kept his mouth shut...

No. It had been the right decision then. Still was. Still hurt.

He stepped from the car and made his way through the throng of first responders, most of whom he knew were off duty. He couldn’t fault them. Armed intruders weren’t part of the daily grind in Etowah, North Carolina.

He stepped into the glow shining from floodlights, and she looked into his eyes.

“Jason.”

It was the first time she’d willingly spoken to him in thirteen years, and in her voice he heard a whisper of hope. Not hope for the future they could never have. But maybe hope for the forgiveness he did not deserve.

She offered him a wavering smile. “I’m glad you’re here.”

An olive branch? “Me, too.” He stared into her eyes a few moments longer than he should have. So many things needed to be said, but they would have to wait. Michael and a young officer were headed their way.

“Heard you’d been assigned the case,” Michael said.

“Yeah. Bring me up to speed.”