"The trunk," Lynne cried out. "Oh, my God, someone open the trunk."
Now the others heard the knocking, too. Faint, very faint. But definite. The officer found the keys in Babineau's jacket pocket, and opened the trunk.
"Help me," the young woman inside whispered up at him. "Please, help me."
Seventy-Six
One Year Later
Caroline smiled at the woman. "This is a great book, Mrs. Tompkins," she said, as she rang in the sale. "You'll love it."
"Thank you, dear," the woman said. "And thanks for the recommendation; you've never let me down yet."
Caroline had been working in Mr. Goldman's bookstore for four months now, and she loved it. Mr. Goldman was training her in all aspects of running a bookstore. He came to the hospital to visit her and offered her the job, telling her he'd thought she was the perfect person to take over for him when he went to Florida next winter, and the winters following, with an option to buy down the road, if she was interested. Because she'd needed physiotherapy after the long hours in the trunk during which she had been unable to straighten her legs, she couldn't accept the job right way. But he'd waited for her.
Now and then she still had faint stabs of pain in her legs, though not for a while now, and the limp was barely noticeable. Sometimes she still had bad dreams of being locked in the trunk of a car, or being chased with a knife, and woke up in a panic, soaked with perspiration, her heart hammering, but the bad dreams too came less and less as time passed. She had many people to thank for her recovery.
Detectives Tom O'Neal and Glen Aiken were her first visitors in the hospital the day she'd been transferred back to St. Simeon General. They'd been so kind to her. She'd received hundreds of cards offering good wishes, and 'get well soons' from friends and strangers alike.
Last week, she'd been both surprised and pleased to see Detective O'Neal's engagement to Gloria Clark-Breen in the paper. She hoped they'd be happy.
Caroline admired her own lovely diamond in the light from the window; Jeffery had given it to her on Valentine's day. They would be married in June. Jeffrey had come very close to dying from the stab wounds he'd received, but thankfully recovered, though it was a slow process. He lost a lot of blood and the surgery was major. They were in the hospital at the same time and visited one another's rooms, shuffling up and down the corridors, until they were both well enough to go home.
Jeffrey's mother was a lovely woman and Caroline got on well with her. Jeffrey said she was thrilled with the upcoming wedding. She was much better these days, but Caroline thought that probably had more to do with the gentleman friend she'd been seeing, a retired school teacher, then any wedding. Love could work powerful magic.
She also had a new kitten to love, Misty, one of the latest balls of fur with blue eyes. Caroline shared her room and her heart and didn't worry anymore about someone taking her away.
Caroline was feeling particularly good today, if also on pins and needles, but for a different reason. She would be seeing her daughter this afternoon. Lynne had arranged with the adopted mother to bring her daughter into the store. There would be no formal introduction, the woman had said, but she wasn't closed to a meeting when Beth (she had kept the name Elizabeth) was older, and ready to make that decision on her own. Beth had known from a young age that she was adopted.
Oddly enough, she'd been watching the evening news a couple of months back and saw William, Elizabeth's father, on the screen. He had become a prosecuting attorney. He still had the same kind face, if made slightly sterner by his vocation, though most of his lovely fair silken hair was gone. She felt only that pleasant sensation one feels upon seeing someone you've known and cared for once. A very long time ago.
Caroline knew neither the last name of Elizabeth's adoptive parents, nor where they lived, and that was fine with her. The woman was being more than generous, and Caroline was grateful for the blessing she was being given. She would, of course, give no sign that she was anything but a clerk in a bookstore. Nothing to give away what was in her heart.
It was a relatively busy afternoon, the door opening and closing, but she knew the instant her daughter and the woman who had raised her as her own, walked through the door.
The sight of the girl made Caroline's breath catch. Her long hair was lighter than Caroline's, the color of caramel, but other than that, looking at her was like looking at the photo of herself that hung on the wall in her room, come to life. This is my child, she thought, the baby girl the nurse snatched from my arms that morning, while we both protested, little Elizabeth with her doll's fist striking the air. She looks happy, she thought. Lynne had said she was.
Elizabeth (Beth) set a copy of Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear on the counter and smiled up at Caroline. Her eyes were very blue, and there was a light dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks. "I'd like this book, please."
"She's a great little reader," her mother said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As well as penning Award-winning suspense novels including Chill Waters, Nowhere To Hide and Listen to the Shadows, Joan Hall Hovey's articles and short stories have appeared in such diverse publications as The Reader, Atlantic Advocate, The Toronto Star, Mystery Scene, True Confessions, Home Life magazine, Seek and various other magazines and newspapers. Her short story, “Dark Reunion” was selected for the Anthology, Investigating Women, published by Simon & Pierre.
Joan also tutors with Winghill Writing School and is a Voice Over pro, narrating books and scripts. She lives in New Brunswick, Canada with her husband Mel and dog, Scamp.
She is currently working on her latest suspense novel.
ALSO PUBLISHED BY BWLPP
Chill Waters
Nowhere To Hide
Listen to the Shadows
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