“You’d better explain what you mean,” he instructed Jennifer. “It’s been many years since I plotted a nefarious deed.”
Jen smiled brightly at him. “Okay.” She faced her classmates. “I don’t know how many of you have heard of Prankster Toys Limited.” There was a consensus most of them had. “Well, you’re looking at the owner and CEO of it. This man runs the company that manufactures those cute little robot dogs you see on TV, and just about any kind of gag gift you can imagine.”
“And probably some we can’t!” somebody shouted.
“And you're located where?” Jen waited for Tom to answer.
“The great state of Rhode Island!” he proclaimed.
“Well, here’s your prize.” Annie handed him a book entitled Good Manners Won’t Kill You—They’ll Just Make You Sick.
Tom laughed good-naturedly as he walked back down the steps to the gym floor.
“And, now our most difficult prize. Who has changed the most?” Jennifer looked at the group of people. “Kim, you’ve changed quite a bit, and so have you, Jason. However, our winner has changed in more than her looks. She used to be so shy, she barely spoke. Now, she speaks out and helps our kids. She has blossomed into a beautiful person, inside and out, and I’m proud to call her my friend. Holly Morris, come on up here!”
Holly was stunned.
“Go on,” Luke urged.
Holly looked at the smiling and applauding people. She thought recognition of her improvements would make her happy, but instead she was embarrassed and ashamed. All but a few of these people wouldn’t have spared a smile for high school Holly—hadn’t, actually.
“I don’t want to,” she murmured to Luke.
His brows rose. “Why not?”
“Because, they—”
The lights went off, surrounding them with darkness before the screen lit up.
Chapter 32
Why were Jen and Rob embarrassing Holly like this? Slide after slide, each with a different photo of her, covered the screen.
“She’s not that pretty.” Sally Young’s “whisper” carried across the floor. Holly had heard her, too, if the way she backed up against Luke was any indication. Her self-esteem was fragile with these people.
“Hey, Jen! Holly’s easy on the eyes, but she ain’t a movie star. Let’s get on with it.” Rock Grayer, the class clown, was probably the only person in the room who could say that in a kind manner.
“I’m sorry,” Jennifer spoke into the microphone. “We didn’t do this. Dennis is trying to figure out what’s going on.”
Didn’t do this?
Holly’s eyes were brown circles when she turned and looked at Luke. “Luke?”
Luke’s attention was drawn over her shoulder, where Tom Dwer and Clay Richmond had joined Dennis on stage. All three were huddled over the laptop, talking and pointing.
“It’s him.” Mitch’s deep voice came from Luke’s left. “Look around and see if anybody is on a smartphone.”
“Luke Walker did not protect Holly Morris. I did.” The room went dead silent as the eerie, computer-generated voice echoed over the sound system. “Luke Walker did not avenge Holly Morris. I did.”
A collective gasp filled the room when the photo on the screen switched to a video.
“That’s Wallace.” Luke would recognize the monster anywhere.
“He’s in the jail cell.” Mitch stepped closer to the screen. “Is this live feed?” He raised his voice. “Dennis, could this be a live feed?”
“I don’t know,” the frazzled man said as he looked up from the trio’s latest efforts. “I have never seen anything like this. The system has been hacked, and I have no control whatsoever.”
“Oh!” Screeches and shouts sounded throughout the room.
Luke looked at the screen, only to see Wallace writhing on the floor of the cell, a half-eaten sandwich in his grip.
“Take. That. Down. Now!” Mitch was no longer asking.
“I can’t,” Dennis repeated.
“Well, I can.” Kevin Tripp hopped onto the stage and walked behind the computer. Luke wondered what he would do, but then Kevin showed them all how complicated they were making a simple problem. He unplugged the electric cord.
The screen went dark, and miraculously, somebody hit the light switch.
“We have to get Tess and Holly out of here,” Mitch ordered Luke. “I’ll drop you off at Holly’s, and then I have to get to the station.”
Luke grabbed a silent, and he knew furious, Holly’s hand and Tessa’s with his other and headed for the door.
He heard Mitch talking on his phone as he followed them out.
“I don’t care if it’s not your job, Crystal. If you want to keep your job, get back there and check on our prisoner. Now.”
They were almost to Mitch’s car when the unmistakable sound of a horrified female scream came from Mitch’s phone.
Holly froze.
“Come on, Holly.” Luke opened the door. “Please get in the car.”
Holly spun to face him. “Jack Wallace isn’t my stalker.”
This wasn’t going to be pretty. “No.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
Her eyes went to Tessa, who was gnawing her lower lip. “You knew.”
Tessa’s voice quivered. “Yes, but—”
“And I don’t even have to ask about you,” she told Mitch.
Her eyes were full of anger as her gaze shifted between Luke and Tessa.
“I can understand why Mitch wouldn’t tell me; he’s the sheriff. But you…you are my best friend and the man who supposedly loves me. And, both of you lied to me all day…you lied to me.”
“We didn’t exactly lie,” Tessa said in a soft voice.
Holly glared at her. “Are we really going to play with semantics, Tessa? Because, that’s not your forte.”
“Get in the car, all of you. I have a dead prisoner.” Mitch wasn’t in the least bit interested in their drama.
Holly silently turned and slid into the back seat.
As badly as he wanted to explain, Luke knew that expression. Fear was fueling her rage, and he and Tessa were the easy targets. She would have to work it out in her mind.
Please, God, I just wanted to let her be happy for one day longer. If it’s your will, help her find forgiveness and understanding in her heart. Please don’t let my act of kindness turn her against me. Amen.
Chapter 33
“Don’t gimme less; gimme Shemar.” Holly recited the silly limerick as she stared at her old poster of Shemar Moore. Before she graduated, she researched and thought she’d join the FBI as a profiler. Of course, she came to her senses when she realized neither Derek Gordon nor Spencer Reid were actually in the Behavioral Analysis Unit.
When had this bed gotten so small? She turned to her other side, trying to get comfortable. Maybe her conscience wouldn’t let her rest because she skipped church this morning to stay at her parents’ and pout.
A stab of guilt hit her chest as she remembered Tessa’s tears when she left for her parents’ home. Holly was too angry to be with her, though, and afraid of what she might say.
“You still awake?”
“Yeah, Mom.” Holly pulled her extra pillow over and made a cushion to lean on. “I can’t sleep.”
Susan turned on the pink-shaded bedside lamp and then sat on the edge of the bed.
“I don’t think it’s in you to go to sleep angry, Holly.”
“I did last night.”
“You were exhausted.” Susan placed her hand on Holly’s shoulder. “Will you tell me what Luke and Tessa did? Honey, your dad and I can only think of one thing, and I just can’t believe the two of them would go behind your back and—”
“They didn’t do that!” Holly would laugh if she wasn’t so close to crying. She closed her eyes and willed the tears away before opening them. “Mom, Jack Wallace isn’t my stalker.”
“I know.” Confusion was visible on Susan’s face.
<
br /> “Yes, but you only knew after Mitch called to tell you to be on the lookout.” Those wretched tears burned the backs of her eyes again. “They knew Friday, Mom. Tessa and Luke knew Friday, and they kept it from me. Now, I don’t think I can ever trust either of them again.”
“Why didn’t they tell you?”
No matter how much Holly ignored her, Tessa kept up a running monologue during the entire drive. “Supposedly, they wanted me to have one last happy day before I had to deal with my stalker again.”
“Honey, that seems like a kind thing to do.”
“But, Mom, if I had known, those slides and watching Jack Wallace…” He tried to hurt, maybe even kill Holly, but no human being should suffer the way he did. “I might have been a little prepared.”
Uh oh. Holly knew the stern look on her mother’s face all too well.
“Holly Elizabeth Morris. Do you mean to tell me, if you knew your stalker was still out there, knowing he photographs you in just about every area of your life and that he tried to murder somebody wouldn’t bother you?”
“Of course it would have still bothered me.” Holly hated to feel this defensive. “But I wouldn’t have been so shocked.”
“Seeing a man nearly die would shock you no matter how prepared you were, and you know it,” Susan said. “Look at it this way. The reason Luke and Tessa kept it from you was because they love you; not out of spite. That should be reason enough to forgive them.”
Her mom was right about Jack Wallace. His purplish, mottled face was forever ingrained in Holly’s mind, and would be for many years—maybe the rest of her life. Thankfully, a seasoned deputy, Wayne Daniels, showed up and was able to perform CPR. A federal agent had shipped the criminal off to a prison hospital, where he was recovering. Mitch instructed the few who knew the man was alive to be quiet about it; it might provide another chance to trick the stalker into showing himself.
Her mom was also correct that Luke and Tessa weren’t trying to hurt her; they were trying to do something nice.
“You’re right.”
Susan smiled broadly. “Wait a minute while I go get my phone. I want a recording.”
Holly felt her own lips wobble into a small smile. “Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Susan kissed her cheek. “And, I’m sorry for trying to keep you my little girl. You’ve amazed me with your courage, you know. If I had been in your place when this started, I would have come running back to the farm and locked myself in the bedroom. Forget college or a career. I’m proud of you, Holly.”
The tears laughed at her puny efforts to stop them, and they erupted. “Thank you,” she said again. Her mom finally told her what she had wanted to hear for nearly ten years.
A smile was her mom’s response. “Get some sleep, and I’ll drive you to Luke’s in the morning before you go to work. We’ll catch him before morning chores. And, you can fix things with Tessa during lunch. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Susan’s method worked because Holly soon found herself drifting to sleep.
“Aruuga! Aruuga!” The car horn ringtone had to go. She sleepily answered before she realized it might be her stalker.
“Holly.” It was Luke.
“Yes.”
“Don’t say anything; just listen. I’ve been fixated on you since we were kids. I’m sorry, but after tonight…the way you acted, things just aren’t the same. It’s time to find out what it’s like to date other women. Puppy love ends, Holly.”
The line went dead.
Holly sat straight and stared at her phone, still lit from the call. Luke wanted to date other women; he outgrew his puppy love for her; he didn’t love her. Luke didn’t love Holly.
But she loved him.
She didn’t even try to stop the tears this time.
Chapter 34
“Come on, Holly. I know you’re mad, but you don’t mean that.” Luke was talking to a dead line.
He flopped back on his bed, still gripping the phone. Had Holly actually said those things?
You’ve been so close, I’ve never had the chance to be with another man. You’re smothering me, Luke. I want to see what’s out there. I’ll see you around.
“I’ve been smothering her?” Clarence’s head appeared beside the bed before the giant dog leaped to the empty side. “Clarence!” He wasn’t allowed on Luke’s bed.
Clarence’s brow rose as if saying, “What are you gonna do about it?”
Well, Luke needed to talk to somebody. “How have I ever smothered Holly? It’s not like I flew to Massachusetts and visited her in college…or showed up at her house every single time I thought of her.” He would have lived there if he did. “And if our weekly routine was too intense, all she had to do was say something. Why didn’t she say something about being together too often if I was smothering her? Don’t you think she should have, Clarence?”
The dog appeared skeptical.
“The ring. It was too much.” He looked at his pet. “Do you think that’s what pushed her away? The ring?”
But she acted happy about it, and told him “yes” was a possible answer. If he were smothering her, that gave her the perfect opportunity to say so. It’s not like he would have thrown himself on the floor and sobbed for hours—at least not while she was still there.
Something about this wasn’t adding up. “She’s at her mom and dad’s, so I know she wasn’t forced to say those things. But, I can’t believe she did, Clarence. I thought after the way she acted at our reunion—holding my hand and snuggling against me—I thought she was going to tell me she loved me. And here she up and tells me it’s over because I’m smothering her.”
He pulled the pillow out from under Clarence’s head and covered his face with it. Maybe he could smother himself. And he would die with a mouthful of dog hair since it appeared Clarence was shedding.
“Smothering,” he muttered just as he felt Clarence’s head plop on top of the pillow. He hoped he wasn’t in the way of his dog getting comfortable. Not that it mattered; he wasn’t going to sleep tonight anyway.
Chapter 35
Holly easily spotted him when she let Clarence out for his bedtime routine. Hank Stone was clearly visible sitting in his parked car, probably because he was directly under a pole light.
It had come back to this. Home and under guard. Mitch wasn’t taking any chances, though—not after Holly’s stalker managed to poison a sandwich somewhere between the time it left the restaurant and when it was placed in his prisoner’s hands. And, because the state police were due to pick Wallace up the next morning, Mitch was extra concerned about the possibility of the mystery man somehow infiltrating his office computers.
At least, Holly had been able to move home this afternoon, even without Tessa. Her friend was coming back tomorrow morning, though. They talked during lunch and again after school, and finally made their peace.
Tessa was particularly hurt by the situation because it turned out she protested the men’s idea of waiting. She only went along with it after they promised to tell Holly it wasn’t Tessa’s idea. And, neither of them spoke up when Holly found out and flew off the handle. Holly should have paid attention because Tessa told her all that on the drive to the Morris farm.
If only she could fix things with Luke that effortlessly…No. He ended their relationship, and she had to get over it. It appeared even a distant friendship was out of the question since his dad brought Clarence this evening. Of course, Luke could be on a date. The thought felt like a knife through her heart.
Clarence ran back through the open door and hopped on his favorite spot—the end of the sofa nearest the television. Maybe he was far-sighted and couldn’t see the screen from anywhere else. Oh, well.
“Clarence, why do you suppose it hurts so much? Luke being with another woman, I mean.”
“I dunno,” Clarence said. What others may consider dog throat noises was close enough to speech for Holly.
Their photograph drew her attentio
n, so she walked past the sofa and to it.
Memories were a movie in her mind.
Luke, laughing and holding her hand as he taught her to roller skate. Tumbling head over heels off the back of the sled and sliding down the smooth path on his back, right past her as she sat buried in a snowdrift. His eyes sparkling when he saw her in her homecoming dress their senior year—and his voice telling her not to listen to anybody else; she was prettier than all those other girls combined. Joy on his face when he saw her walk out of the concourse at the airport.
Every important, and not-so-important event in Holly’s life involved Luke Walker. Because he had always been in her life. Because he was her life.
“I can’t think like that—not after he ended everything. We were good friends. Right, Clarence?”
“Yeah,” Clarence said in his dog language.
Her heart thudded to the ground. She was too late. Even the dog agreed with her.
“That’s just dandy, isn’t it,” she asked the dog. “It’s like we’re living in one of those sappy soap operas my grandma used to watch. Hunter Lumps or some other silly named guy will rush in and save the day.” Only, she wanted Luke to rush in and save the day. All he’d have to do was tell her he was wrong; he did still love her.
“Ha Ha Harooo!” A dog howl came from across the room.
Clarence immediately sprang into action, evidently in search of his fellow canine.
“Ha Ha Harooo!” was joined by a much louder “Howww Harooo!”
“It’s my phone, Clarence.” Maybe a dog howl ringtone wasn’t the best idea. With both the phone and dog howling, she couldn’t hear herself think.
As she finally answered, Tessa’s voice was nearly drowned out by yet another “Harooo! Ha Ha Howwwooo!”
“Oh, my gosh, what did you do to Clarence?” Tessa sounded horrified. “I’m not fond of him, but I would never hurt him.”
“Shhh,” Holly said to Clarence. “It was my phone, you silly dog.”
With a look that could only be described as disgust, Clarence turned his back toward her and lay down.
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