Love Is a Battlefield

by Annalisa Daughety

  She’d considered the love she’d had with Mark. Selfish and jealous. The bible said love was patient and kind. Many waters couldn’t quench it. But it hadn’t taken much to quench Mark’s love for her. Or hers for him, either, to be honest.

  She thought about all the relationships around her. Her parents might’ve had love at one point, but it wasn’t the sticking kind. The commitment to remain through the hard times was absent.

  But there was one relationship she could think of that seemed pretty close to the one Paul described in Corinthians. Ainsley and Brad. What they had was special. All you had to do was spend time around them, and you just knew you were in the presence of true devotion. The night before Kristy’s almost-wedding, Ainsley had offered marital advice. “Keep God in the center. If both of you look to Him to be the example, you’ll never go wrong. Pray together. Sure, there’ll be tough times. But it’s hard to be mad at someone you are praying for daily.”

  “Well? Who is it?” Ace asked softly.

  “My friend Ainsley and her husband, Brad,” she said. “Ainsley and I worked together as seasonals during college. She’s a ranger now at the Grand Canyon. Brad is a firefighter. They’re the epitome of the perfect couple, if ever there was one. Best friends, totally in love. They’ve got it all.” she stretched her legs out in front of her and leaned back on her arms. “So there you have it. I was able to come up with one modern-day example.”

  He grinned. “I thought you could come through with one if you tried.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Are you happy now?”

  “Actually ... no.” He looked at her, a serious expression on his face.

  Uh-oh. Something told her things were about to get interesting.

  “Listen, Kristy.” He took a deep breath. “Are you serious about that guy from church?”

  “His name is Robert. You know that. You’ve met him. Why do you always call him ‘that guy from church’?”

  “Sorry. I guess maybe I’m a little jealous.”

  Her mouth suddenly felt like cotton. “I ended things with Robert a few days ago. He was a great guy.” she looked over at him. “But it was the right thing to do.”

  “I can’t say that I’m sorry to hear it.”

  “Why is that?” she asked. She was pretty sure she knew, but she wanted to hear him say it.

  “I’ve wrestled with this for quite a while now. And if you had told me things were going well with Robert, I would’ve just kept quiet.” He shifted on the cold ground. “I just want you to listen. I don’t want you to say anything back. Okay?”

  She nodded, wondering what was coming next.

  “Every minute I’ve spent with you has been special. If I had a highlight reel of the past months, you’d be in every one. I know that you’ve been through a lot. And I know that you say you don’t believe in true love. But I believe enough for both of us. And if you can just give me a chance, I think I can show you that happily ever after does exist.”

  Her heart pounded against her chest. It was hard to keep denying that there was something between them. She gave him a slow smile, unsure of what to say.

  Before she could say anything, he leaned forward. With one hand softly cupping her face, he pulled her closer to him.

  She closed her eyes just as his lips met hers. His kiss was timid at first, then bolder. For a long minute, she was lost in the kiss. She’d read about kisses like this in books, seen them in movies, but she could honestly say she’d never experienced one for herself. Until now.

  A rustling noise broke through the fairy tale moment, and Ace jerked his head up. Kristy glanced in the direction of the Confederate Monument and pointed. She could just make out the shape of a figure climbing the stone steps that surrounded the statue.

  Ace pulled her close. “You radio the others. I’m going to apprehend this guy,” he said in her ear.

  For a moment, their eyes locked. “Be careful,” she whispered.

  She pulled out her radio, careful to turn the volume down before she pressed the button. She didn’t want to alarm the vandal of their presence. For a split second, she forgot her call number. Oh well, forget procedure. She mashed the radio button and whispered, “Arnie, he’s at the Confederate Monument.”

  Kristy watched as Ace crept toward the figure. The vandal was standing in the center of the monument, pulling cans out of a bag. It killed Kristy just to sit there, but she knew she had no choice. She was in no way supposed to be involved. She was eyes and ears only, as Arnie had said so many times. In fact, it was highly unusual that she was even allowed to be involved at all. It showed how desperate they were to catch the guy.

  Snap. Someone stepped behind her, their foot making contact with a fallen tree limb.

  “Kristy,” Arnie whispered. “Where’s Ace?”

  She pointed to where he stood, partially hidden. The vandal was still trying to get the cans open.

  “I can’t believe it,” the boss said.

  “That we finally got him?” she looked up at Arnie. His bald head seemed to shine in the moonlight.

  He shook his head and brought his gaze back to the monument. “That we caught two vandals in one night.”

  She gave him a puzzled glance but didn’t have time to ask him what he meant, because Ace chose that moment to confront the vandal. Her eyes widened in horror. The vandal sprinted off, but Ace was quicker. In less than a minute, the vandal was on the ground in handcuffs.

  She stood and heard a noise behind her that sounded a lot like ... sobbing. She spun around to see the silhouette of Hank holding a bag in one hand and roughly herding a slight, obviously handcuffed figure with the other one. Kristy glanced from one vandal to the other. She’d been joking when she’d said maybe the vandal was a woman, but Hank’s culprit was so much smaller. Maybe the two were a couple.

  Before Kristy could comment about the small stature of the second vandal, a flash of blue lights alerted them to Owen’s arrival from the Michigan monument. He jumped out and ran to Ace, who was leading the glowering prisoner to the car.

  As Ace led the culprit past the spot where she stood, Kristy finally caught sight of the man’s face. She was certain he’d attended her cemetery walking tour a few weeks ago. He’d peppered her with questions afterward about the history of the cemetery. But it hadn’t seemed unusual, so it never crossed her mind to report him as suspicious. He’d just seemed like an inquisitive park visitor.

  Owen opened the back door of the patrol car and stood aside as Ace led the cuffed man past him. At the sight of the prisoner’s face, Owen looked startled. “Mr. Miller?” he said to the scowling man. “Is that you?”

  The man grunted in Owen’s direction as Ace guided him into the backseat and slammed the door.

  The sobbing grew louder behind her as if the second vandal panicked at seeing the first one put into the police car. Kristy turned toward the sound and gasped as moonlight fell on the familiar tear-streaked face. “Zach! Have you been helping spray-paint monuments?” she exclaimed.

  “N-no,” Robert’s brother sobbed, looking more like a little boy than a teenager. “Tonight was the first time I messed with the monuments. And it’s not paint.” His wild eyes pleaded with Kristy to believe him.

  Hank frowned, and he held out the bag to Kristy. “They are cans of something. Looked like paint.”

  She held the bag open. Hank pulled out a flashlight and shone the light on the contents then harrumphed. “Silly string.”

  “I’m s-sorry.” Zach continued to cry. “It was just a joke.”

  She and Hank exchanged glances. “I know him from church. Can you uncuff him and let me take him back to the visitor center?”

  “Fine.” Hank’s voice was gruff, but she thought she detected some relief that he wasn’t going to have to deal with the kid. “See if you can get to the bottom of it.” He motioned toward the patrol car where Ace and Owen stood. “We’ll handle things out here.”

  Hank took the handcuffs off Zach. “Listen, son. You go with K
risty. No funny business, though. She’s gonna take you back to the visitor center and ask you some questions.”

  “Yes, sir,” Zach said quietly.

  Kristy motioned toward the truck. “I’m parked over here.”

  She had no idea what had gotten into Zach. She might not know him very well, but she was fairly certain this was uncharacteristic. She just hoped she could convince Arnie not to press charges.

  CHAPTER 44

  “Hello?”

  “Robert. It’s Kristy.” she hated to make this call. But she had a feeling he would be able to deal with Zach better than anyone else could.

  “Hey. I didn’t expect to hear from you again.”

  “And I wish it were under different circumstances. Listen, I have Zach here at the visitor center. He was caught tonight attempting to vandalize one of the monuments.”

  Complete silence on the other end.

  “Robert?”

  “I’m sorry. I just don’t know what to say. Are you telling me that Zach has been the person vandalizing the monuments all this time?”

  She peeked in the yellow office where Zach sat, a dazed expression on his face. She guessed handcuffs and patrol cars weren’t what he’d expected tonight.

  “Actually, no. The real vandal was caught tonight as well. Zach was actually about to silly-string the Michigan Monument. It wouldn’t have caused damage, just a little extra cleanup.” she sighed. “But he’s also confessed to me that he’s been the one doing things at my house these past weeks, too.”

  “What kinds of things?”

  “Remember when I told you about the random stuff that was happening? Pulled-up flowers, tipped-over trash cans, and then all my patio furniture was turned upside down the other night. Well, it was Zach.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “I’m hoping you’ll say that you’ll come and get him. I think this would really upset your mom. Especially since Owen will be here soon.”

  “I’m actually already on my way. Mom called me about an hour ago, worried. Zach wasn’t answering his cell, so I was coming to help her look for him. Give me fifteen minutes and I should be there.”

  “Thanks.”

  She stepped to the door.

  Zach turned his tearstained face toward her.

  “I just spoke to your brother. He’ll be here soon.”

  He nodded.

  She sat down in Ace’s desk chair. “What got into you, Zach? Do you want to tell me about it?”

  He stared at the floor, refusing to meet her eyes. “Just mad, I guess.”

  “At?”

  He shrugged. “I dunno.”

  She was no Dr. Phil, but she’d give it a shot. “Zach, I’m going to try my best to keep Arnie from pressing charges against you. But I’m going to need you to explain this to me.” Tough love might be her best bet.

  He thought for a second.

  Maybe it was the fact that he’d already been handcuffed once. Or maybe it was seeing the vandal wrestled to the ground and put into the patrol car. But he finally seemed to accept that he needed to state his case.

  “Robert kept canceling on me. Because of you.” He frowned. “I guess I just wanted you to feel bad.” He sniffed. “I tried to get you not to want to go out with him in the first place.”

  She stared at him for a second as things clicked into place. “Wait a minute. Do you mean when you called me pretending to be him?”

  He nodded. “After we met you at church that day, my mom kept talking to him about you. She really wanted him to ask you out.” He shrugged. “I figured if you had a reason not to like him, maybe you’d never go out with him.” His eyes filled with tears. “I know it was stupid. But I remember when my dad first started dating. All of the sudden he never had time for me anymore.”

  “And you didn’t want the same thing to happen with Robert.” He shrugged. “I know doing all that stuff to your house was dumb. I was just mad.”

  And strangely, she understood. She remembered what it had felt like when her dad canceled on her—when it happened more and more—and she knew it had something to do with his “new” family. She’d have liked to tip over their trash cans, too. And she knew that since Zach’s own father had dropped out of his life, Robert was the only father figure he had.

  “Okay. I get that. It wasn’t the right thing to do, but then, you already know that.” she leaned forward in the chair and propped her elbows on the desk. “But why silly-string the Michigan Monument? That’s a lot different than just tipping over my lawn furniture.”

  He looked uncomfortable. “I knew that was a stupid idea.”

  “But you did it anyway?”

  He sighed. “You know my mom’s seeing that Owen guy?”

  Probably not the best time to tell him she’d had a hand in the introduction. “Yes.”

  “I heard her talking to a friend. She said if stuff kept happening out at the park, they’d never find time to go out again.”

  And now it made sense. “So you were going to make sure that things kept happening?”

  “Yeah, but it wouldn’t have been permanent or anything. You can just wipe silly string off.”

  She looked at him sternly and shook her head. “Zach, this is a national park. You don’t just go around spraying monuments with silly string.”

  He nodded. “I know.”

  She sighed. This was like pulling teeth. “And have you thought that maybe Owen is a good guy? And that your mom could probably use a friend?”

  The scowl on Zach’s face told her she’d overstepped the boundaries. He regained his stony silence.

  She heard the back door open and got up. “You stay here,” she told him, pulling the office door closed behind her.

  Ace and Owen were in the hallway.

  “What’s the word?” she asked them.

  “Have you met Jerry Miller before?” Owen asked.

  She shook her head. “Sort of. I’ve seen him around town before, and he came to one of my cemetery walking tours not too long ago. What was his motive?”

  “His dad’s a veteran in poor health. They live in Adamsville. Jerry came out here a few months ago, wanting to get his dad on the list to be buried in the national Cemetery,” Owen explained.

  Kristy frowned. “But it’s full, except for the widows of veterans who are already resting there.”

  “Exactly. And that’s sort of the problem. Jerry saw a fresh burial a few weeks ago, so he got it in his head that we were lying to him about the cemetery being full. I guess he’s been through a lot, and seeing the fresh grave just set him off.”

  “So he decided to get revenge by damaging the monuments,” Ace said. “And you were right on the mark with the years. He’d gotten a list of monuments from somewhere. I think he said off the internet. He just went down the list.”

  “And the list was in reverse chronological order,” Owen surmised. “Boy, I feel stupid. I was the one he talked to about the national Cemetery. I knew he was angry when he left. But I didn’t think about it again, even after the vandalism started. He just seemed so unassuming.” Owen shook his head. “Guess you just never know about people, do you?”

  “What about our other suspect?” Ace asked. “What was the deal with the silly string?”

  Kristy looked at Owen nervously. “It’s Zach Aaron,” she said, her voice a whisper.

  Ace looked confused. “Who?”

  Owen rubbed his head. “Dorothy’s son. My friend. You know.”

  Ace looked at Kristy with wide eyes. “Robert’s brother?”

  Kristy nodded somberly. “Turns out, he’s the one who’s been pulling pranks at my house.” she motioned toward Owen. “But once Dorothy and Owen started seeing each other, he decided to move on to bigger things.”

  “Did you call Dorothy?”

  She shook her head. “I called Robert, actually.”

  Ace shot her a questioning look.

  She shrugged. “I thought he should know.”

  Owen looked th
oughtful. “Maybe I should call Dorothy and fill her in.” He looked at his watch. “It’s nearly ten. She’s probably worried sick about him.”

  He left Kristy and Ace standing in the hallway.

  “Robert should be here any minute.” “Great.”

  He could be so frustrating. She’d already told him she’d ended things with Robert. Yet he seemed irritated that she’d called him.

  The phone in her hand buzzed, and she looked at the screen. “it’s him. I’m going to go let him inside.”

  She opened the back door. Robert was just climbing out of his Honda.

  “You can come in the back,” she called.

  He strode toward her, a tense expression on his face. “Thanks for calling.”

  She stepped outside and shut the door behind her. “I think he’s pretty upset. As it turns out, he was trying to get me back for taking up so much of your time. And then when your mom started spending time with Owen...” she trailed off. “Well, I think that just made it even worse. It seems that he had a personal vendetta against the park because the rangers keep horning in on his family.”

  Robert sighed. “I should’ve done a better job of being there for him. I feel very responsible for this.”

  She shook her head. “I think he just feels displaced. I’ve been there. I was about his age when my dad left. It can be really tough.”

  “Do you know what will happen to him as a result of the vandalism?”

  “Since he didn’t actually do anything to park property, I doubt there’ll be any consequences. And as far as my house goes, he didn’t do any real damage. So I’m pretty sure we can just let it slide. I’ll have to confirm it with Arnie, though.”

  Robert nodded. “Can I see him now?”

  She opened the back door and motioned for him to follow her to Ace’s office, where Zach waited alone, his head in his hands. He looked up at them, fear and regret evident in his eyes.

  “Take your time,” she said softly to Robert. “I’ll be out front.”

  She closed the door behind her and followed the sound of voices. Owen and Ace were standing in the museum section of the visitor center.