Читать книгу The Lawman's Legacy - Shirlee McCoy - Страница 13

FOUR

He meant it.

The coldness in Douglas’s eyes left no doubt about his intentions. He’d be back tomorrow, and he’d ask more questions. If he didn’t get what he wanted, he’d come back again and again and again.

Merry didn’t need time to decide if continuing to lie was worth going to jail over. She couldn’t go to jail. Couldn’t leave Tyler. Couldn’t bear to imagine what would happen to him if anyone found out….

But no one would.

Douglas was interested only in the murder investigation, not Merry’s past. As long as she was up front about her friendship with Olivia, she had nothing to worry about.

Only she’d made a promise and breaking it seemed paramount to dishonoring Olivia’s memory.

Please, God, help me know what to do.

Break the promise? Keep it?

She took a deep breath as she followed Douglas to the door, tried to look into his eyes and convince him that she had nothing to hide. “I haven’t lied to you.”

“But you haven’t told me the whole truth, either. That’s a problem for me, Merry. I want full disclosure. I want everything that you know about Olivia. Everything she said, everything you thought she might have meant. Everything.” He hooked a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on the tender flesh there. She felt his warmth seeping through her, felt herself giving into his urgency and her own need to tell him what he wanted to know.

I trust you more than I trust anyone else in Fitzgerald Bay, Merry, and I’m trusting you with this. Promise me you’ll keep it secret. Don’t tell another soul about it, Keep it locked away until my sweetheart comes for it. Promise me.

Olivia’s words seemed to drift in on the frigid winter air as Douglas opened the door. They sealed Merry’s lips, insisted that the promise be kept, the secret hidden.

“Think about it, okay?” he said softly, and Merry nodded, afraid that if she spoke, she might say what she shouldn’t, reveal what she’d promised not to.

“Mommy, is he leaving?” Tyler appeared at the top of the stairs, his chubby cheeks flushed with excitement, his black eyes flashing with curiosity.

“Yes.”

“But I didn’t show him my other police car.” He held up a small police car, his sleeve riding up just enough to show the bottom edge of the scar. A purplish smudge against tan skin. Barely noticeable, but Merry noticed, and she wanted to race up the stairs, pull his sleeve down.

“I haven’t given you permission to come out of your room, Ty. Go back in there.”

“But he’s leaving!”

“For now. I’ll be back tomorrow, sport,” Douglas responded, and Merry was sure she heard a threat in his words.

“See my other car?” Tyler held out the car again, the sleeve riding up even farther, revealing more of the scar. Merry’s heart skipped a beat, then raced on, the sloshing pulse of it stealing her breath. If Douglas noticed the purplish mark, if he asked about it…

“Go to your room, Tyler William. This instant.” The sharp edge in her tone surprised Tyler as much as it surprised Merry, and he shot her a hurt look before trudging back to his room.

Great.

Could the day get any worse?

“He’s got a lot of energy,” Douglas said, and Merry braced herself for the questions she knew would come.

Because, of course, the day could get worse.

“That’s for sure.”

“He doesn’t look much like you.”

“He looks like his father.” It’s what she always said, and she assumed it was true.

“You were married?”

“No.”

“I see,” he said, and she was pretty sure he did see. All her half truths and evasions. Her way of living for four long years.

“If you don’t need anything else—”

“Do you share custody with Tyler’s father?” He cut her off, and she knew he’d go when he was ready. Not a minute sooner.

“He’s not in our life.” Stick to the truth. Keep it simple. Don’t offer more than what is asked for. Those were the rules she lived by, and she followed them as if her life depended on it.

Her life probably did depend on it.

“Has he ever been?”

Keep it simple.

“No.”

“Is there a reason for that?”

“Not one I want to share.”

“All right.” Douglas studied her intently, his eyes dusky blue, his expression unreadable, and she wondered what he did see.

More than she wanted him to.

Wasn’t that the reason why she’d told him things weren’t working out between them?

She had too many secrets, and he’d asked too many questions and lying to someone she respected and admired and wanted to get to know wasn’t something she’d been willing to do.

She still wasn’t willing to do it, but she couldn’t tell him the truth without losing everything she cared about most.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, lamely filling the silence.

“See you then,” he responded as he walked down the porch steps, zipping his bomber jacket against the cold.

He moved with an effortless confidence. Why wouldn’t he? He was a Fitzgerald in Fitzgerald Bay. Surrounded by family and love. Embraced by a community that knew and loved him.

Merry’s siblings were in Boston, and she couldn’t return there. Her mother and father had been gone for a decade.

All she had was her son and way too many secrets.

Sometimes, that made life a little lonelier than she wanted it to be.

Douglas tipped his hat as he got into his SUV, flashing the charming smile that had given him a reputation as the most eligible bachelor in town. Merry had heard plenty about his single status during her first months in Fitzgerald Bay. As a matter of fact, more than one of the older ladies in her Bible study had suggested that Douglas would be perfect husband and father material. Maybe that’s why she’d given into temptation and gone out with him. Or maybe she’d just been desperate to connect, to feel normal and unencumbered. To be young and carefree and filled with dreams.

Whatever the case, she’d made a mistake. She couldn’t afford to make another one. She closed the door, turning the bolt and setting the alarm, checking the windows and back door. Going through the ritual that had been part of her life for four years.

When she finished, she went into Tyler’s room, put her hand on his solid little shoulder. “I’m sorry I snapped at you, sweetie, but you need to obey me the first time. Not the second or third.”

“I’m sorry, too, Mommy. Next time I’ll listen better.” He wrapped his arms around her waist, buried his face in her side. Precocious and busy, he had a sweet nature that made him very easy to love.

“Good. Now, give me a kiss, and then we’ll go down and have some dinner.”

“Kiss!” He pressed a kiss to her cheek, giggling as she tickled his belly.

“Let’s go.” She took his hand, and he bounced out of the room. Bounced down the steps. Bounced into the kitchen. Preschool teachers were already talking about attention deficit and hyperactivity. Very bright. Extremely likable. Too busy. Too active. Too talkative. The labels had been stamped on his forehead, and Merry knew they’d follow him into kindergarten in the fall. She’d been hoping that being in a small community, having friends and teachers who accepted him as he was would smooth the transition into school. That was one of the reasons she’d stayed in Fitzgerald Bay longer than she’d stayed anywhere since she’d left Boston.

“Is the policeman really gone?” Tyler asked, and Merry nodded.

“Yes.”

“But he’s coming back tomorrow?”

“That’s right. Only tomorrow, you’re not going to open the door for him. You’re going to let me do that.”

“But—”

“Tyler, it’s one of our rules that can’t be broken, remember? You are never to open the door unless I give you permission.” Because the thought of him opening the door for a stranger with his black eyes and deeply tanned complexion filled Merry with terror.

“I remember. I won’t open the door again. I promise.” He threw his arms around her waist, his chubby cheek pressed to her thigh.

“When you make a promise you have to keep it. Right?” Even if the promise costs you everything.

“Yes. Can I have a cookie?”

“After dinner.” Which couldn’t come soon enough. She needed time to think. Not easy to come by with Tyler awake and active. She wouldn’t have it any other way, though.

“When is dinner?”

“Soon.”

“Chicken nuggets?”

“Fish.”

“Yuck.” Tyler frowned, and Merry did her best not to smile.

“Be happy we have food.”

“I’d be happier if the food was chicken.” He ran to the living room window, pressed his face against the glass. “Is he really coming back?”

“Yes, Tyler. Tomorrow.”

Unless she could think of a way to get out of it. A way that wouldn’t make Douglas more suspicious than he already was.

Or, maybe she didn’t have to think of a way. Maybe, she just needed to make a way. Pack a bag for herself and Tyler, take the bus south or west or even north, ride until she reached a place where she and Ty could easily get lost in the teeming mill of humanity. She’d done it before, been successful before. She could do it again. Only, she had a feeling that Douglas would track her down. He might be charming and easy to look at, but he wouldn’t be easy to cross.

The phone rang, and she answered quickly, eager for a distraction. “Hello?”

“Merry? It’s Fiona.” Her boss Fiona Fitzgerald’s voice poured across the line, and Merry blinked back the tears she’d been fighting all afternoon. Melting into a blubbering puddle of sorrow and fear wouldn’t do her any good, and it would only scare Tyler.

“I guess you’ve heard the news, Fiona.”

“I don’t think there’s anyone in town who hasn’t. How are you holding up?”

“I’m okay.”

“Are you sure? I’m shaken, and I wasn’t the one who found Olivia.”

“I’m sure.” An image of the body lying below the cliff, arms and legs splayed, blond hair dark from salty spray flashed through her mind, and she shoved it away. She wanted to remember Olivia vibrantly alive. Not broken and still.

“Douglas said he’s going to stop by your place tomorrow. Would you like me to come by, too? I can bring Sean. He and Tyler can play together.”

“I can’t ask you to do that, Fiona.”

“You’re not asking. I’m offering.” A widow with a six-year-old son, Fiona had proven to be an understanding employer. She allowed Merry time off when she needed it, understood the demands of single motherhood.

“And I appreciate it, but I don’t want you and Sean to give up your afternoon for us. Why don’t you bring him over when the Reading Nook closes next week? We can have dinner together.” If Merry was still around, and the way that things were looking, she wasn’t sure she would be.

But she didn’t want to leave.

She liked Fitzgerald Bay. She liked the people she’d met there. She liked her little house and her landlady. But more than all of that, she liked the home she was making for Tyler. A place to settle, that’s what she’d seen when she’d driven into the little fishing town. She didn’t want to have to run from it.

“Are you sure, Merry? My brother is charming, but he can be pushy. I don’t mind being a buffer.”

“Am I going to need a buffer?”

“That depends on how much Douglas thinks you know.”

“I’ve already told him what I know, so I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She hoped, because from the sound of things, Douglas might have mentioned his suspicions to Fiona. Or, at least, asked enough questions about Merry that Fiona sensed his suspicions. Either way, things weren’t looking good.

Get out of town, Merry.

Go. Before he finds you.

Promise me.

The words whispered out of the past, the desperation in them reaching across four years, filling Merry with the same fear she’d felt the day Nicole had said them.

“If you change your mind, let me know. And if you need some time off work—” Fiona broke into her thoughts, and Merry forced herself to focus on the conversation.

“I won’t.” Sitting around the house, reliving the moment that she’d looked down and seen Olivia’s body was the last thing she wanted to do.

“I’ll see you at church tomorrow.”

“See you then.” If she didn’t pack everything and leave town.

She hung up and walked into the living room, looked out onto the quiet street. Darkness swept in from the east, casting shadowy dusk across the yard. Flakes of snow fell, swirling onto golden grass and black pavement. A beautiful evening, and Olivia wasn’t around to enjoy it.

Merry wiped away hot tears.

“Are you sad, Mommy?” Tyler tugged her hand, and she looked down into his face.

“I’m hungry. Want to help me make the fish?” She sidestepped his question, pulling him toward the refrigerator.

She’d think about Olivia after Tyler went to bed.

She’d think about the promise she’d made to her.

Think about the secret she’d hidden beneath the floorboard in her closet.

Think about truth and lies and the fine line between protecting someone and obstructing justice.

Think.

Pray.

Hope that God would help her figure out what to do, because she didn’t know, couldn’t decide.

Right path.

Wrong path.

She’d stopped knowing which one she was on years ago.

Now she all wanted was to keep Tyler safe.

Please, God, help me keep him safe.