He chuckled. “You’re just like a lioness. You’ll do whatever it takes to protect your cubs.”
“That’s it!” Lexie said, pointing to the tablet screen and drawing Daniel’s attention back to their project.
“You’re sure?”
She nodded so hard her pigtails bounced up and down. “Yes, it looks kinda like Deputy Cleetus’ sheriff’s car, only brown and with more dents.”
Melissa and Daniel exchanged looks. Why hadn’t anyone asked her if she’d seen anyone else drive a similar car? It would’ve saved them time looking. Everyone in town knew the vintage Cadillac police car Cleetus drove when on duty. It had belonged to Gage’s father when he was the town sheriff. When Gage came on as sheriff, one of the first things he’d done was update the vehicles he and his deputies drove except for his father’s old car. Cleetus had worked for the former Sheriff Justice since leaving high school, was like a second son to him. So, Gage had the car updated and presented it to the big deputy as his private property.
Daniel turned the tablet for Melissa to see. Lexie had indeed picked out a Cadillac. This one blue.
“You have a very good eye for details,” Melissa said to Lexie.
She swallowed the mouth full of mac and cheese then washed it down with more lemonade, her face very serious. “But not as good as Geoff.”
“Geoff is an artist and has practiced a lot,” Melissa said, then had an idea. “Hasn’t he been helping you learn to draw faces?”
“Yes.” Lexie tilted her head sideways in that way she had when considering a problem.
“What if, when we get back home you try drawing a picture of Gary for Daniel?”
Lexie brightened. “I can do that.”
“What a great idea,” Daniel said. “Let’s finish our lunch so I can drop you back at the house.”
“Aren’t you coming with us?” Melissa asked, then hurried on, hoping not to sound like a clingy female, like Frank accused her of for so many years. “I mean, isn’t someone supposed to be with us, like the sheriff told Judge Rawlins today?”
Daniel laid his hand over hers, his warmth easing her unease immediately. “Bobby will meet us at Westen House. I need to pick up a few things from my apartment before I move into your living room.”
Embarrassment filled her cheeks.
“You must think me a wimp.”
“No,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I think you’re one of the strongest, most resilient women I’ve ever had the pleasure of spending time with and quite frankly I’m looking forward to spending more time with all of you.” He released her hand and closed his laptop, giving Lexie a little nudge and a wink. “I’m thinking this assignment is going to be the best one I’ve ever had.”
Daniel pulled into the drive at Westen House two hours later. Despite the confidence he’d shown Melissa back at the café, leaving her and Lexie alone with only Bobby had made him nervous. It wasn’t that she was a woman and he didn’t think her capable of protecting them. He wasn’t that much of a misogynistic jerk, as girls back in his college days had referred to some guys. No, it was the thought of a killer coming after a little girl, one very protective foster mother, and the pregnant wife of his boss.
Okay, maybe he was a little chauvinistic and over-protective in this case.
He’d seen a meme online somewhere once that said, “A man doesn’t protect his woman because she’s weak. He protects her because she’s important.” It had sounded reasonable to him on a generic, all people are equal sort of philosophy. But now that danger hovered around the women he cared for? He totally got it, on a visceral level.
As he climbed out of the car, the front door opened, and Lexie flew down the steps and across the yard.
“You’re just in time,” she said coming to a screeching stop in the gravel right beside the car.
“I am? What for?” He opened the backdoor and retrieved his duffel bag and his tablet, which he handed to her to carry for him.
“Melissa made chocolate chip cookies for a snack. When the tosters come home they’ll gobble them all up.”
“Well, we’d best get some first, then, huh?”
He led the way up the porch and held the door for her to enter in front of him. Pausing before following her inside, he studied the lot and the two roads that crossed at the southeast corner. The hedges were a little overgrown and could be a hiding place. First thing he needed to do tomorrow was cut back those bushes. Across the street in both directions were other houses. Both owners were longtime residents and had no criminal history.
“Are you coming?” Lexie asked, standing halfway between the door and the kitchen.
“Of course.” As he closed the door, the scent of chocolate and baked cookies hit him hard. A guy could get use to coming home to this. Only problem was, it wasn’t his home. Shaking off the thought, he deposited his bag on the floor near the door and followed Lexie into the kitchen.
Quickly, he scanned the kitchen until he found Melissa bending over and pulling out a tray of cookies from the oven. Seeing her safe, his heartrate slowed a few beats. He hadn’t realized how anxious he was until that moment.
“Everything’s been quiet all afternoon,” Bobby said from the table, a small plate with what appeared to be cookie crumbs in front of her.
“Smells delicious,” he said, pulling a seat up at the table where Lexie had colored pencils and a large pile of paper.
Bobby leaned closer. “Melissa needed something to occupy her mind, so she baked. Good thing to know for future reference.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.” He leaned towards Lexie. “What have you been up to besides helping make cookies?”
“She’s been working on drawing Gary for you,” Melissa said, placing a plate with two chocolate chip cookies in front of Lexie and one with three for him. “Milk or coffee?”
“Milk, please,” Lexie said, shifting through the pile of half drawn pages.
“I figured that. I was asking Daniel.” Melissa smiled at him and he had to remember the question.
“Coffee, please.” He admired the sway of Melissa’s bottom as she moved back across the kitchen.
“Oh, my. You’ve got it bad,” Bobby chuckled quietly beside him. “Mind you, I think it’s great.”
“Shut up,” he said, pulling his plate of cookies closer. “Don’t you need to leave or something?”
“I will in a few minutes now that you’re here, but I want to know what you think of Lexie’s picture first.” She smiled at Lexie. “Can you show him the last one you did?”
Melissa joined them at the table, sitting next to Lexie on the banquet bench. She set a cup of coffee in front of him, along with a creamer and sugar bowl, then handed a plastic box to Bobby. “Thought you might want some to share with your husband.”
Bobby laughed. “If they make it home. This baby definitely has a sweet tooth.”
“You’re silly. Babies don’t have teeth,” Lexie said, handing a paper over to Daniel. “It’s not like a photo. Geoff could do better.”
Daniel studied the picture. It was definitely done by a child and not a sketch artist. It was sort of a cross between the caveman from the insurance commercial and Steven Tyler in his younger days.
“What do you think?” Melissa asked.
He glanced at Lexie, who stared at him as if he were the biggest art critic in the entire world. He gave her a nod and met her eyes with the same seriousness. “Well, first off, you’re right. It’s not like a photo, but then it takes years and years of practice to be that good. Even for Geoff.” Pausing, he considered his words carefully. “You’ve got some good points here. I can tell he has long dark brown hair. And he doesn’t keep it combed.”
Lexie nodded and waved her hands around her hair. “It’s all crazy sometimes.”
“And he has blue eyes.” He winked at her. “But not as blue as yours.”
“I have Mama’s eyes,” she said, then got a little serious remembering her mother had died.
“And I bet h
ers were just as beautiful as yours.” Melissa laid her hand on Lexie’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
Lexie nodded. “That’s what Nana said. I got the Cochran eyes.”
“I like that you drew the shape of Gary’s face for us,” Bobby said, moving the conversation back to Lexie’s rendering of the drug dealer, possible murderer. She’d taken a notepad and pen out of her bag and was making notes of Lexie’s description.
“It’s long and skinny, like Pete’s at the café,” Lexie said. “Not round like Deputy Cleetus. Or squarish like Daniel’s.”
Daniel laughed. “I never knew my face was squarish.”
“Not like a box. Just not round or skinny.” Lexie made a face and shook her head like she considered him silly.
He could live with that. “So how tall do you think Gary is?”
Lexie drew her brows down and peeked at him. “I’m short, Daniel. Everyone’s tall to me.”
Again, he laughed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Would you say Gary is taller than Melissa and Bobby?” Both women were about five-feet-four inches tall, the average height for a woman.
“Yes, he’s even taller than Chloe. She’s really tall for a girl.”
Daniel agreed. Both Bobby’s sisters, Chloe and Dylan, were five-feet-ten. “Would you say he was as tall as Sheriff Justice?”
Lexie shook her head. “No, not that tall. The sheriff’s like a giant.”
Bobby sputtered out her tea, then grinned at Lexie. “I think he’s a giant, too!”
Lexie giggled. She snatched up a cookie from her plate and munched on it. “Gary’s more like as tall as you or Geoff,” she said around the food in her mouth.
Melissa handed her the glass of milk. “Don’t talk with your mouth full, sweetie.”
Lexie gulped down some milk and Daniel took the time to sample one of his cookies. Pleasure hit him with the gooey soft dark chocolate, then a taste of…”Butterscotch?”
Melissa gave a cocky shrug. “I like to experiment with flavors. Sometimes I add chopped frozen raspberries.”
“Oh my God, those must be heavenly,” Bobby said, closing her eyes as if tasting them.
Lexie covered her mouth as she giggled.
Bobby laughed, too. “I love chocolate and raspberries together. We’ll have to get Melissa to make us some, huh?”
Daniel finished off his cookies as he watched the two conspire. He looked at Melissa, who was smiling at the pair and sipping a cup of coffee. This is how they should be. Laughing. Enjoying good company. No cares in the world.
The paper in his hand seemed to weigh a ton and sobered him immediately. Only they did have a care, a very dangerous one. “Let’s go back to Gary a minute, Lexie,” he said, trying not to sound as worried as he felt. “What size is he? Big like Cleetus? Or more like me?”
“He’s like the scarecrow,” she said, almost offhandedly, picking up a green crayon to start drawing on another piece of paper.
Daniel exchanged glances with Melissa and Bobby. Both shrugged. Living out in the rural community, there were dozens of scarecrows on various farms. Maybe she’d seen one.
“Which scarecrow?” he asked.
“The one that sings and dances with Dorothy.” Lexie put down her crayon and waved her arms around all loosey-goosey. “He moves like that sometimes, too.”
“Ah,” Daniel, Melissa and Bobby all said at once.
She might not be able draw Gary’s features accurately, but Lexie had given them a very good description of the person they were looking for.
Bobby slipped her notepad and pen back in her bag and reached for the picture Lexie had drawn. “Would you mind if I took this to show Sheriff Justice? I think he’s going to really like all the information you gave us on Gary.”
Lexie nodded, picking out a new, clean paper. “I can draw another one for Daniel.”
“That’s my girl,” Daniel said, pushing back from his chair. “While you do that, I’m going to walk Bobby to her truck.”
He waited until they were on the porch. “Did you see anyone driving a brown caddie come past the house?”
Bobby shook her head as they walked down the steps. “Melissa warned me this Gary guy knew where Lexie was staying and had driven by at least once. There’s a good view of both streets at the corner from the kitchen window on the side of the house. I stayed there most of the afternoon. Didn’t see anything suspicious, either.”
“Good. I don’t think he’s stupid enough to try to snatch her with a sheriff’s vehicle in the yard. But we don’t know how desperate he might be.” Daniel stopped beside her SUV and opened the door for her. “Will you be back here tomorrow?”
“Actually, no. I have a doctor’s appointment,” she said climbing into the driver’s seat.
“Everything okay?” he asked, realizing not only was she putting herself at risk protecting Lexie and Melissa, but her baby as well.
Bobby laughed. “Yes. Because of my age, over thirty-five and all, I’m high-risk, which means I get to see the doctor more than most women. But don’t worry, Chloe and Wes are coming by in the morning to relieve you. Which of course means…”
“Wöden will be here, too. Always good to have backup available, and I don’t think that wolf is going to let anyone near our girl who means her harm.”
“One thing you need to keep in mind.” Bobby put on her seatbelt and started the engine. “Although she’s hiding it well, Melissa is nervous. She’s watched the front and backyard like she expects this slimeball to pop up out of thin air. She needs things to keep her mind busy.”
“How did you get so wise about this? Years as a schoolteacher?”
“Maybe, but remember I also raised my teenage sisters. Trust me when I tell you worry is the hardest part of being a parent.” She patted her tummy. “And now I get to do it from the beginning with this little person. Just be sure to give Melissa something to do to distract her from worrying, okay?”
He closed the door and stepped back, giving her plenty of room to maneuver her SUV around his and onto the street. As well-meaning as Bobby’s comments were, he’d already anticipated that Melissa had nothing but the man stalking Lexie on her mind. Hell, it was foremost on his, too. Luckily, he had the first night of baseball practice tonight to distract him. No matter how much Melissa might protest, he wasn’t leaving her and Lexie home alone. He’d already set up his own plan to keep her busy.
Before he walked back in the house, he snagged a notebook from his coach’s duffle in the back of his truck.
When Daniel came back into the kitchen, Melissa was busy pouring a jar of spaghetti sauce into the oversized crockpot she’d invested in the first month she’d come to live at Westen House. She’d quickly learned how hungry four teenage boys could be. Making meals to keep them fed had challenged her cooking skills. Then when they’d all gotten jobs, feeding them at different times added to the problem. Her solution? Lots of crockpot meals.
“That smells good. What is it?” Daniel asked coming up behind her to peek into the pot.
She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Frozen meatballs and sauce. I have sub buns and provolone cheese slices, too. And I made a salad. Since the boys will be starving after practice, I thought we’d have meatball subs for dinner.”
“That sounds delicious.”
“Hope you like it.” She nodded at the notebook in his hand. “What’s that?”
“A scorebook for baseball. I need someone to help me keep statistics for the players and I thought maybe you’d like to do that.” He laid it on the counter.
It had a spiral binding at the top and he flipped it open to show her the pages. It was the oddest book she’d ever seen. It looked Greek to her.
“I don’t think you want me to do it. I’ve never really watched baseball.”
“Then this is just what you need to learn about the game. My mom used to keep score at all the games—school, interleague, even the professional games when we’d go. She said it made her pay more attention and know what was
going on.”
She eyed him with skepticism, but he seemed so enthusiastic, she hated to tell him no. “You’ll have start with the basics.”
“Lexie, can you bring me a pencil?” he asked and swung around to the other side of the island where the barstools were. He pulled out one for Lexie, then patted the other one for Melissa.
Apparently, she was going back to school this afternoon. She shook her head ruefully, wiped her hands on a clean dishtowel and joined the pair hovering over the notebook.
“These lines on the left side of the page is where you list the players on the team in their batting order. This book gives you two lines for each batting position. So we start with one name on every other line. Then if I have to substitute someone, they go in between and bat in the same spot. For our purposes, we’ll use our four boys,” he said, writing Geoff, Bryan, Trent and Colt’s names on the lines.
“And me!” Lexie said, bouncing on the barstool beside him.
“And Lexie.” Daniel penciled her name on the page. “You’ll bat fifth.”
Next to the list of names there were eleven columns. Inside each were an empty diamond shape and five boxes that looked like stairs, a row of three on the bottom and on top of that a row of two.
“I never played baseball or softball, but I did go bowling with my grandparents a lot. This sort of looks like a bowling score card,” Melissa said, suddenly feeling more comfortable with the task.
“Yes, it does, only not every player will get to hit each inning. As their coach, I’d love it if they did, but the likelihood is that they won’t.”
“So, what do I do?”
“You know the basic rule of hitting in baseball?”
“Four balls you walk to first base. Three strikes you’re out. Three outs and your team’s half of the inning is over.”
Daniel grinned at her. “Right. See, you know more than you think. When a team gets the third out, whichever player that is, you make a big fat line below their name, like this.” He marked a big line after Trent’ name. “Then the next player on the list goes first the next inning.”
“So, Colt bats first in the two inning,” Lexie said pointing to the spot on the score page.
Close To The Heart (Westen Series Book 5) Page 21
