True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn Christmas
Page 20
Aiden and Jennie had no other family. Their father had died years before. They had landed in different foster care homes. She’d always lived with the dread of Steve returning for her. She woke up, night after night, his threats ringing in her ears. She was to blame for the loss of his wife, his job and his reputation. Because of her, he would forever be branded a predator. Her fears had become a reality when she was fifteen, and Steve had gotten out on parole after serving less than four years. He’d come after her, just like he’d promised. Without her brother around, he’d violently assaulted her and stabbed her in the shoulder.
Luke had heard her screaming. He’d arrived too late to save her from being raped, but he was in time to save her life. He’d grabbed the knife before Steve could stab her a second time. Once again, she testified against Steve, this time for rape and attempted murder.
Luke had been wonderful. He’d stayed with Jennie during her therapy, brought her wounded heart back to life. When she was nineteen, she’d married him. They were young, but she felt what they had would last forever. She had dropped her defenses and allowed herself to love. Then he’d been killed in an explosion at work five years ago. His body had never been recovered.
Needing something to occupy herself, Jennie grabbed the mop from the closet to clean up the mess from the spilled milk. Her hands shook as she turned on the faucet. A rock sat in the pit of her stomach, unsettling the bagel she’d indulged in earlier while running errands.
Images from the past kept intruding. Steve’s face, dark with anger above her. His fist coming down fast. Luke telling her he loved her, that he’d never leave her.
But he had left her, although not by choice.
She dashed her fist across her eyes, swiping away the wetness.
She was so done crying. He had sworn he’d never leave, and then he was gone. Three others had been killed in the explosion, and their wives had been able to bury them.
She’d buried an empty casket.
And her heart.
Well, not completely.
Jennie finished cleaning the floor and put the mop away, touching a picture on the wall as she passed. Luke Junior, or LJ, had curly blond hair, blue eyes and a smile that could melt stone. The one thing that remained of the love she’d shared with Luke. The reason she was able to get up each morning and smile.
“Oh, no!” Shock rooted her feet to the floor. What if Steve went after him? What if he targeted her son to get his revenge? LJ was only four. He’d been taught not to talk to strangers, but he was still only a small child. No match for a man like Steve.
It was a good thing she’d taken the day off for a dental appointment. Jennie worked as a computer technician Monday through Thursday, but her dentist was closed on Fridays. If she’d been at work, she probably would have missed the alert about Steve.
She grabbed her keys and hurried to the door, brushing against the Christmas tree. A handful of ornaments tumbled to the tree skirt. She ignored them as she ran to the small shoe mat near the door and shoved her feet into her booties. She didn’t even take the time to lock the door. LJ’s preschool didn’t end for another hour, but she couldn’t wait. She needed to hold her baby in her arms now, to see for herself that he was well. Safe.
She dashed down the steps at top speed, nearly colliding with another tenant. She didn’t know his name, only that he worked nights and she rarely saw him. He wobbled on the stairs.
“Sorry!” she yelled, continuing her mad dash to get her son.
Once outside, she had to slow down, although she didn’t want to. The landlord hadn’t spread salt on the icy walk yet. The path between the apartment building and the parking lot was slick enough to sled on. Meadville and the surrounding area was part of the northwestern PA snowbelt, so they got pelted frequently with snow and ice. After what felt like forever, she made it to her car and buckled herself in.
The temptation to pray for safety for herself and her son hit her in a wave so hard, she rocked in her seat. She shrugged it off. God wouldn’t help her. Where was He all those hard years? If He had loved her, shouldn’t He have protected her? She couldn’t get beyond her bitterness.
At least she had LJ. She’d also found her brother, Aiden, again. He’d located her four and a half years ago. If only Aiden were home, she and LJ would go and stay with him. But he wasn’t. He and Sophie had taken a trip to France for the holidays with their three-year-old daughter, Rose, and Celine. They’d invited Jennie and her son, but Jennie had declined. She’d never been on a plane before and wasn’t comfortable with her first flight being across the ocean. She was now regretting that decision. Had she gone with them, Aiden would have been with her when she heard of Steve’s escape. He would have known what to do.
She couldn’t lose focus. The preschool was ten minutes away normally, but the icy conditions doubled her time. What if she was too late? If she lost LJ, she’d never survive it.
Shifting her car into Park with enough force that the engine shuttered, she turned off the ignition and threw the door open. She hurried past a man dressed like Santa. Her eyes briefly met his as he waved at those passing and called out Christmas greetings. She averted her eyes, tensing. Ridiculous to be scared of a man trying to drum up business for his store. Still, something about him unnerved her. She nearly ran up the walk to the front door. The receptionist buzzed her in. She signed in then strode down to LJ’s room.
“Mama!” LJ’s face split into a wide grin as he spotted his mother when she entered his classroom.
She wanted to wilt against the wall. He was safe. No one had hurt him. Had she overreacted? No. She couldn’t take a chance.
LJ’s teacher, Miss Prince, sat at a large kidney-shaped table, reading with a student.
“I’ll be right back, Zoe.” She stood and walked over to Jennie. “Hi, Jennie. I didn’t know you were coming now.”
“I’m taking LJ home early.” Jennie rubbed a shaking hand through her boy’s curls. “Get your backpack, buddy. We’re leaving.”
“Goody!” He hugged her. “Are we going home, Mama?”
Jennie didn’t answer. It didn’t matter. He was already gone, to get his belongings, chattering to his friends that he was leaving early.
“Will you be back tomorrow?” Miss Prince smiled at him as he stopped again next to Jennie. “It’s the last day before we’re off.”
Jennie startled. “Oh. I forgot. Next week is Christmas break.”
“That’s right.” Miss Prince nodded. “With Christmas on Thursday, the schools around here are closed all next week. He’ll have school off until January 2.”
Fourteen days before she’d need to decide what to do. The relief washed over her. She didn’t need to worry about making up an excuse as to why LJ wouldn’t be back. Because there was no way she was sending him to school until the danger was past.
What if it never was? Would she ever be free of the past?
Once in the parking lot, she glanced around, searching for anything suspicious.
“Look, Mama! Santa!”
Turning her head, she saw the man she’d passed earlier climbing onto a motorcycle. He looked ridiculous. Without a glance her way, he rumbled down the street and around the corner. She felt silly, letting him bother her. Regardless, she stumbled to the driver’s door in her haste to get out of the parking lot.
At home, she looked all the way around her car before turning it off. Not seeing anything, she quickly exited the vehicle and then moved around to the back to get her son. She kept a tight hold on his hand as they entered the building.
Her phone rang. She grimaced. It was Randi again. She placed the earbuds in her ears as they arrived at the apartment.
She forgot about answering the call when she twisted the knob and remembered with dismay that she had left the door unlocked in her haste. Unease rocked in her belly.
She opened the door with caution and
peeked in before entering.
Nothing was out of place. The apartment looked just as she’d left it when she’d rushed out. Moving inside, she heard glass breaking under her foot as she stepped on an ornament.
Alarm shivered up her spine. The ornaments had landed on the tree skirt, not on her carpet. With a shriek, she spun full circle, coming face-to-face with Santa Claus. It was the man she’d seen on the street.
He was too large to be Steve.
He launched himself at her, grabbing the earbud cord hooked to her phone. He quickly wrapped it around her throat and pulled. She couldn’t breathe!
LJ screamed and launched himself at the man. The stranger shoved him away with a casual swipe before focusing again on Jennie.
She was going to die. What would happen to her son?
A moment later the cord around her neck went limp and the Santa was pulled away by two Amish men rushing through the open door. The Santa bounced off the wall with a vicious yell, his white beard lying on the floor of the apartment. She’d never seen him before in her life. Her eyes rose to meet his briefly. A shiver ran through her at his cold glare. He tore his gaze away before turning and bolting from the apartment. His heavy footsteps thundered down the stairs.
She was too shocked to care. Her world shrank down to the man standing in front of her, staring at her with confused eyes. Eyes she saw every day when she looked at their son.
Luke, the man she’d mourned for nearly five years, was standing in front of her, looking at her like she was a complete stranger.
Copyright © 2020 by Dana Roae
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ISBN-13: 9781488061516
True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn Christmas
Copyright © 2020 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Laura Scott and Maggie K. Black for their contributions to the True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn miniseries.
Holiday Stalker
Copyright © 2020 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Gift-Wrapped Danger
Copyright © 2020 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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