Danger on the Mountain Page 8

  Maggie was tired of worrying.

  “Be anxious for nothing,” she whispered aloud. Then with more conviction. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

  She needed that peace that surpasses all understanding. Peace. Something she’d been searching for all her life, it seemed. Something she found only when she prayed and focused on God.

  Please give me that peace, God.

  He could give it to her, she believed that. Just as she’d believed He’d somehow take care of her and Belle when she’d been at her lowest point.

  And He had. In a way she never would have guessed.

  He’d used her grandfather. The grandfather she hadn’t seen or heard from in over fifteen years.

  The one who’d left her this modest lake house and a good chunk of money to put in her checking account along with a sizable trust fund for Belle.

  Surprisingly, the money hadn’t brought her peace. Yes, it had been a huge relief, but the peace had come in knowing God cared about her. He’d provided.

  The knock at her door jerked her from her thoughts—and prayers. Maggie looked over at Belle who was jabbering and playing with her pacifier. Soon the baby’s happy chatter would escalate to demands to be fed. Maggie scooped her up and settled her on her hip. Belle laughed and Maggie couldn’t help but smile. Thank you for this child, God.

  She carried Belle to the front door and peeked out the window. The cruiser still sat at the end of her driveway. Reese’s truck had pulled in next to hers, and now he was standing on her porch.

  And she looked like a frump. Old sweats and her hair in a ponytail. She hadn’t even brushed her teeth yet. She grabbed a peppermint from the candy dish on the mantel and popped it in her mouth. The sweet candy tingled on her tongue, and she took a deep breath.

  Maggie opened the door and waited for her heart to do that swooping thing it did whenever Reese smiled at her. The way he was doing now. “How are you this morning?”

  “Tired and grumpy and worried.” She matched his smile, though. “But at least we’re alive, Belle’s safe and I still have a house. How’s yours?”

  He shrugged. “The insurance adjuster will be out sometime today. The crime scene unit that came from Asheville called me this morning. The tech said the bomb wasn’t very well put together. Sloppy, homemade and possibly deadly, depending on my location and what debris hit me. If I’d been in the room when it went off, it most likely would have killed me or done some pretty bad bodily damage, but the destruction is mostly limited to the bedroom and part of the kitchen, so the house isn’t a total loss.”

  Maggie shivered and moved so he could come in. Reese stepped inside, making the small foyer seem even smaller. “But it does tell us one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Whoever is after you—and now me—is serious. He doesn’t mind killing.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “Which means you’ve got to be extra careful.”

  Maggie swallowed hard. Not just at his words, but at the trail of heat that followed his finger down her cheek. She wasn’t sure what to think about her reaction to this man. “What about you?”

  “I’ll be careful, too.”

  Belle jabbered at him and after a moment of hesitation, he reached out and tapped her nose. “How are you this morning, Belle? Did you let your mama get some sleep after all the excitement?”

  Belle ducked her head into Maggie’s shoulder, and Maggie let happiness push aside the fear for a moment. Maybe he could learn to love Belle as well as...

  She put a halt to those thoughts as she carried Belle into the kitchen. “She did. We both slept pretty well, considering everything that happened last night.” She shook her head. “I moved her into my room, though. The terror I felt when I first saw she wasn’t in her crib is still there.”

  “It may take a while for it to go away.”

  Maggie bent her head as Belle’s bottle warmed on the stove. “I’ll never forget that feeling,” she whispered. “It’s the same feeling I had once before, and I...” She trailed off and shuddered as she remembered the time she’d turned around in the grocery store for a bare minute. By the time she’d turned back, Belle and her stroller were gone. She’d found her the next aisle over, safe and sound with Shannon, her sister-in-law, hovering over her, but the feeling had been horrifying.

  Another tremor rippled through her.

  Reese’s hands settled on her shoulder and she closed her eyes, relishing the comfort. Then Belle squirmed in her arms and reached for the bottle. Reese’s hands fell away as Maggie juggled the baby and tested the milk on her wrist. She handed the bottle to Belle who promptly stuck it in her mouth.

  “Let’s go in the den so we can sit down.”

  He followed her and settled on the love seat while she took the recliner. Belle nestled in the crook of her arm, Maggie slowly rocked while the baby ate. He said, “Eli called me about an hour ago and said they got some footage off the bank’s video cameras. It’s not great, but he’s hoping to get a response so he’s circulating a picture of the robber I shot. His name may be Douglas Patterson, otherwise known as Slim. He’s been known to hang out with Berkley and Compton. It looks kind of like him, but I couldn’t say it’s him for sure. Eli’s also checked all the hospitals within a two-hour radius of us, but no one recognized Compton or the wounded man.”

  “He didn’t get help, get his wound taken care of?”

  “Probably not. The crime scene unit found the bullet in the wall by the door. It went straight through. I’m guessing Compton played doctor and patched him up.”

  Maggie shuddered.

  Reese said, “We may even have a positive ID on the guy. Eli’s checking it out.”

  “Who recognized him?”

  “A gas station clerk in Asheville saw the newscast early this morning showing Compton’s face and the picture from the bank camera. He called it in about three this morning.”

  Maggie felt a seed of hope sprout. “Maybe they’ll catch them and this will all be over soon.”

  “I hope so.” Reese was silent for a moment as he watched Belle eat. The creases in his forehead said he was thinking about something pretty deeply.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “I was just wondering about you. We’ve spent quite a bit of time together, but I don’t know a whole lot about you.”

  She lifted a brow at him. “I could say the same about you.”

  A flush appeared on his cheeks and she bit her lip on a smile. He nodded. “True enough.”

  Maggie studied him then said, “What do you want to know?”

  “How did you come to live here? Where’s your family?” He swallowed. “And if you don’t mind my asking—what happened to your marriage?”

  Maggie blew out a sigh. “You don’t pull any punches, do you?”

  Reese winced. “Sorry if that’s too direct. I just... I want to know you.”

  And she wanted to know him, too. “My family is all gone. First my mother, then my grandmother. I never knew my father—he left when I was two.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She shrugged. “I never missed him. My grandfather was there for the first eleven years of my life. He was my father figure.”

  “And he died, too?”

  “No, he disappeared.”

  Reese lifted a brow. “Where’d he go?”

  “I didn’t know it at the time, but he came here. He left my grandmother for another woman.”

  “Ouch. That had to be awful for you all.”

  She nodded and ran a hand down her thigh. “It was. My grandmother was very angry, even bitter for a while, but then as the years passed, she gave it to the Lord and let Him heal her. I’ve never forgotten that.”

  “What about Belle’s father’s family?”

  Maggie snorted and pursed her lip
s. “Kent’s parents didn’t like me and didn’t want anything to do with Belle. He married beneath him, you see.” Reese grimaced. Then her face softened. “But his sister, Shannon, was pretty good to me. And Belle. Especially Belle. She loved and accepted her from the moment she was born.” Shame filled her. “When I left, I never told Shannon where I was going. I was so filled with hurt, anger, uncertainty. I just wanted to leave it all behind and start over. Start fresh.” She paused. “I probably should have told her what I was doing.” Maggie sighed. “But I didn’t. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, to see anyone, to explain anything to anyone. I just wanted to be alone.”

  “Any brothers or sisters?”

  “No. I was an only child of only children. As I said, my father left when I was two. My mom told me he’d been killed in car wreck when I was about six, I believe. My mother died of a rare heart disease just after my twenty-second birthday and my grandmother died in her sleep shortly before I met Kent four years ago.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  So she’d been lonely and still reeling from all the tragedies in her life. Easy pickings for the wrong kind of guy.

  Maggie pulled the empty bottle from Belle’s hands and placed the baby on the floor. Maggie handed her a toy that made a quiet noise every time Belle shook it.

  Then Maggie began to pace. Belle looked up and watched for a moment, then went back to the book she now had clasped in both hands. She shook it and laughed as she shoved a corner into her mouth.

  Maggie said, “Long story short, I was an abused wife. By the time I woke up and realized what I was allowing Kent to do to me, I had no real friends left. I was spending most of my time alone in my house, becoming a shell of the person I used to be. When I found out I was pregnant with Belle, Kent reacted horribly. He ordered me to get an abortion. I refused. For the first time since I’d known him, I stood up to him.” Just remembering that feeling brought a smile to her lips. “It felt good. He threatened to cause me to have a miscarriage. I went to Shannon, and she was outraged at her brother’s behavior—and thrilled that she was going to be an aunt. She let me stay with her.”

  “So you left him.”

  “Briefly. Kent found me there and started hitting me. Shannon called the police and he left. I told Shannon I couldn’t stay there any longer. She begged me not to leave, but I couldn’t put her in danger. I had a friend who was a police officer. Practically the one friend I had left from the church I had attended before I married Kent. At her house I was able to finish the last two classes I needed for my degree to teach. And Kent knew better than to harass me while I was with Felicia.” A frown puckered her brow. “At least I thought he did. But a few months later, Kent came knocking on my door, begging me to come back, wanting to prove he was a changed man. Shannon came with him and vouched for him.” Tears flooded her eyes. “He promised he was once again the person I’d dated and fallen in love with. I wanted to believe him,” she whispered.

  “But he hadn’t changed.”

  “No.” She cleared her throat and frowned. “Well, yes, he seemed to. He never laid a hand on me the rest of my pregnancy and we got along pretty well. But two days after Belle was born, the abuse started again. I knew then I had to leave for good or I was dead. And I couldn’t leave Belle with him.”

  Reese felt his gut clench. How he wished Kent Bennett wasn’t dead so he could plant a fist in the man’s face and give him a taste of his own medicine. Reese unclenched his fist and forced his fingers to relax.

  “So...” she paced to the small table next to the fireplace and looked at the pictures she’d arranged in a nice display “...there you have it.”

  “But you left and ended up here.”

  She sighed and settled back into the recliner. Belle crawled over and pulled herself up on her mother’s knee. Maggie stroked the baby’s head as she talked. “When Kent started hitting me shortly after we were married, I knew I’d messed up and that at some point I might need a safe place to go. The only person I could think of as a possibility for refuge, someone Kent didn’t know about and couldn’t threaten, was my grandfather. But I had no idea if he still cared about me.”

  “So you found him.”

  She shrugged. “It wasn’t that hard.”

  “You contacted him?”

  “No, not at first,” she whispered. “I couldn’t work up the courage. I walked around the house with his number in my pocket for weeks.” She gave a watery laugh and blinked back tears.

  Reese swallowed hard. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

  “No, it’s okay. It’s part of who I am. I’ve moved past it, but I can’t deny it.” She pulled in a deep breath. “So then I found myself pregnant, abused and basically lost. At some point, I knew I was going to die if I didn’t get out. I called my grandfather. He was thrilled to hear from me. Apparently, he’d been forbidden to have any contact with me after my grandparents’ divorce and he went along with it. His new wife didn’t want him involved with anyone from his old life and he agreed. She died the year I married Kent.”

  “So he wanted to see you?”

  She nodded. “But I couldn’t let him come to my house. I put him off, not daring to introduce him to Kent. Kent didn’t like people in his house unless he’d invited them.” She paused. “And I didn’t want Kent to know about Grandpa.”

  “You were already planning to get away from Kent and go to your grandfather.”

  Maggie gave a slow nod. “But I had to be careful. If I moved too fast or left a trail, I knew he’d find me and kill me.”

  EIGHT

  And he would have, too. She had no doubts about that.

  Her phone rang, distracting her from her thoughts. Reese motioned for her to answer it. She glanced at the caller ID.

  “Hello, Mrs. Adler.”

  “Hello, dear, how are you? I heard you had some excitement out there last night.”

  “We’re fine. Have you recovered from finding that nasty little gift on my porch? I guess some teenagers are the same all over and like to have fun at other people’s expense.” She gave a small laugh that fell flat. Primarily because she didn’t believe her own words. Most of the teens she worked with were great kids and would never do something like leave a dead squirrel on someone’s doorstep with a threat attached. But Maggie tried to make light of the incident, not wanting the woman to be worried or scared.

  “I don’t know who would do a thing like that, but you definitely need to be careful, dear.”

  “I know.” She glanced at Reese. “Deputy Kirkpatrick is working on helping me get a security system installed as soon as possible. In fact, the installers should be here soon.”

  A pause. “That’s good.” Another pause. “I, um... Well, the thing is, Maggie, ah...”

  Suspicion hit Maggie. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

  In a rush, the words came. “Oh, Maggie, Jim doesn’t want me to come out to your house anymore because of everything that’s happened. He’s afraid I’ll be involved and get hurt.”

  Maggie caught her breath. Then let it out slowly. “Oh.”

  “I’m so sorry. I tried to talk to him about it, but he was adamant and getting himself all worked up. I had to agree so he’d calm down. With his heart the way it is...”

  “It’s all right, Mrs. Adler. I really understand.” Maggie didn’t like it, but she did understand. “You have to take care of Mr. Adler.”

  “But what will you do with Belle while you’re teaching?” she fretted.

  “I...I’ll figure something out. Your first priority is your husband. Once the police catch those bank robbers, all of this will stop and you can come back. I can make temporary arrangements for Belle.”

  “I’m just so sorry.”

  Maggie could tell the woman really was. Reassuring Mrs. Adler one more time that all would be okay, Maggie hung up, wondering what she was going to do about child care.

  “You okay?”

  Maggie picked Belle up and
settled her into her lap. “Because of all that’s happened, Mrs. Adler’s not going to be able to take care of Belle while I teach anymore. I’m going to have to find someone else to watch her.”

  Reese frowned. “I’m sorry.”

  She gave a small shrug and frowned. “I’ll figure something out.”

  “Are you still planning on going to the potluck dinner tonight?”

  She bit her lip. “Should I?”

  Reese didn’t answer right away. Then he gave a slow nod. “I think it’s all right. We’ll be in public, and this guy’s after you or me. No one else.”

  “But what if he does something that puts other people in danger?” She shook her head. “I don’t think I should go.”

  Reese rubbed his chin and studied her. “No. You need to go. I want to watch the people there. I want to see how people interact with you.”

  She lifted a brow. “You mean use me as bait?”

  “No, absolutely not. I just want to observe those you interact with. I’m not trying to catch anyone tonight.” He paused. “And if I think there’s even a hint of danger, I’ll get you out of there faster than you can blink, all right?”

  Maggie gave a slow nod. “All right.”

  The knock on her door pulled Reese to his feet. “Your alarm installers are here.”

  * * *

  After the alarm system was installed, the afternoon passed in a blur of teaching and taking care of Belle. Finally, it was five o’clock and Reese would be there in fifteen minutes to take her and Belle to the potluck dinner. At the thought, her stomach rumbled in anticipation. But her nerves trembled.

  Was she making a mistake? Should she stay home? But what was she going to do? Stay inside the rest of her life? Constantly worry that the bank robber would show up and make good on his threat?

  Maybe.

  Anger swelled inside her. Why did it seem as if the people who tried to do the right thing always got knocked down while those who did everything they weren’t supposed to do got off scot-free?

  It wasn’t fair.

  Then again, nothing had been fair since she’d met and married Kent. And, truly, it wasn’t about fairness. It was about living her life the way she’d determined to live it the day she’d decided to get away from the abuse.