A Pursued Heart

by Elaine Manders

“You are a very intelligent man, sir, and it’s an honor to work for you, but you haven’t answered my question. Why did you hire me out of so many qualified candidates?”

  “Do you recall at the end of your interview, after you’d told me all the things you could do for the company?”

  She didn’t have to think long. Every moment of the interview played through her mind for days as she’d waited for his decision. “You asked what I could do for my subordinates.”

  He nodded. “That question usually throws my interviewees for a loop, but you didn’t hesitate a moment. You said you’d love them as you did yourself. Not even God asks us for more than that. How could I?”

  Tears burned the backs of her eyes. She’d not thought of it like that. “It’s true. I know scientists, many are anti-religious, and I understand that part about being ridiculed, but I’ve yet to find anyone who wouldn’t accept love. If a person understands that God is love, he can believe.”

  “Well stated, Rebecca. I hope I’ve assured you the rumors don’t affect me or my wife at all. Just ignore them.”

  “I will. Thank you, Dr. Breckenridge. One more question. Why was Lyle Moran’s record as research chief expunged?”

  Dr. Breckenridge leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. “You know this is a cut-throat business. Our competitors are snooping around like hungry wolves.”

  “Yes, sir, I know that.”

  “Mr. Moran is a brilliant scientist, but he’s not a people person. I should have realized that when I placed him in the position. It was only a matter of time before he rubbed someone the wrong way and they took it to the press. He had to go, but I had to find a way to keep him and protect the company at the same time. The only solution was to place another in that position from the beginning. That was you. If the press ever asked you about the matter, you could truthfully tell them you were on your orientation tour and didn’t know what happened.”

  The whole thing reeked of dishonesty, but who was she to question the company’s tactics. “Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me, sir.”

  “I’ve been well pleased with you, Rebecca. You may not be on the same level as some of our other scientists—yet, anyway—but you are a people person. Just right for your position.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Breckenridge. I promise to live up to your trust.”

  When she checked her calls back in her office, she found a text from Ben. Only one word. Lunch?

  Unfortunately, her schedule only allowed enough time for a sandwich brought in from the diner, but she wanted to get away with Ben. Not at a crowded lunch counter. She tapped his number.

  Without a hello, he got to the point. “Can you go?”

  “No, I’m sorry. I had a meeting with Dr. Breckenridge so I have to make up the time during lunch. However, I want to take you somewhere that’s special to me on Saturday. A place where a miracle happened. Can you get a sitter?”

  “As a matter of fact, Jamie is spending the night with his friend. I’m yours all afternoon and evening. Where is this special place?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Chapter 14

  But I will sing of Your power. Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. -Psalm 59:16

  Rebecca took me to her secret refuge today—a place where she has known peace. -Ben Lucas

  At Rebecca’s direction, Ben drove his four-wheel drive jeep in a southeasterly direction. The terrain would get rough, she’d told him with a sly grin. Outside of Forest Park, they turned onto a county road and left the congested traffic behind. It seemed impossible that just twenty-five miles outside of Atlanta wilderness began.

  “Are you taking me to the woods?”

  She laughed. “Soon. Why do you think I insisted we come in your jeep?” Shifting forward in her seat, she scanned the left side of the road. “Slow down. Our turn is coming up. I just hope they haven’t gated it.”

  “We’re going onto a private drive?”

  “It didn’t used to be that way, and I don’t think it’s been posted because it’s a short cut to Panola State Park.” She strained forward and shook her finger. “There—there’s the road.”

  Ben turned off onto the dirt one-lane road, bouncing over the ruts left by a recent rain. “Did you often come down here?”

  “All the time as I was growing up. In the spring, it’s full of flowers, and the smell is wonderful. Even in the hottest part of summer, it’s cool and refreshing. In the fall, it has the most delightful smell, and so much wildlife to explore. I never came in the winter because that’s when the hunters were out.”

  It would be a good place to hunt. He might ask Tom about it since his friend was an avid outdoorsman.

  They had gone about fifteen minutes before suddenly coming upon a clearing dominated by a small lake—a beautiful oasis hidden in the tall pines—as blue as the deepening sky above. And Rebecca Atkins’s eyes.

  He didn’t have to ask if this was the place and cut the engine a dozen yards from the lake’s edge.

  After taking it all in, he watched Rebecca staring through the windshield with a dreamy expression, obviously reliving pleasant memories. “Ready to eat?” he asked. They had stopped at the burger joint and brought their dinner, along with drinks.

  “No, let’s eat out under the trees.” She opened her door and grabbed the bag. “You bring the drinks.”

  She led him into a thicker part of the forest, where a massive oak full of brown and orange leaves stood, and set the bag on the ground, then gathered an armful of pine needles to make a soft seating area.

  Ben cleared a level space in the middle to set their drinks and food. They ate in silence, a comfortable silence with no need for words. Only the tweeting of birds mingling with the rustle of the burger wrappings disturbed the quiet.

  When finished eating, Ben gathered the trash. “I’m glad you brought me here. It’s a beautiful and peaceful place for a picnic.”

  “My family used to live just down that dirt road, and we came here often because my father liked to fish. My mother would sit under this tree and read.”

  “Her detective books.”

  Her lips tipped into a lovely smile. “Right.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I explored. I’ve always had the naturalist’s urge to explore how nature works. And I found bugs and worms for my father to bait his hook. That was one of the few ways I pleased him. It was the only place I remember when he was happy—and not angry or drunk.” A world of hurt lay behind those words. She must have felt his stare because she scooted around to meet his gaze. “Do you like to fish?”

  “I do. My father used to take me fishing a lot during the summer. I took Jamie a few times…before we moved down here.”

  “I love all the seasons down here. The thing I like best about these woods are the scents. During the spring and summer, the wildflowers perfume the air. There’s a mass of honeysuckle bushes over on the other side of the lake. The fall and winter have their own woodsy scent, full of pine, cedar, and decaying vegetation.”

  A squirrel chattered his warning overhead and an acorn dropped in Rebecca’s lap. She threw it back at him. “You don’t own these woods, buddy.”

  “When’s the last time you came out here?”

  “With Mama the year before I left for college. We came to pick berries. She wanted to put up some blackberry jelly and make a gooseberry pie for Carl. It must have worked. They got married that Christmas.” She got up on her knees. “If I go with you and Jamie to your folks for Thanksgiving, you’ll have to go with me to Mama and Carl’s for Christmas.”

  “I’d like to. I’d like to get to know your folks. Where do they live?”

  “South of here in Columbus. Carl was in the army, stationed at Fort Benning. He retired two years ago. They travel a lot, but they’re always home for Christmas. Carl has two daughters who come with their families for the holidays. He has a son stationed in Germany.”
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br />   “How do you like Carl?” Ben asked. He knew she hadn’t gotten along with her own father.

  “He’s a fine man from what I can tell, and obviously loves my mother. I was glad she found someone to make her happy.”

  “I’m sure she’d like for you to find someone to make you happy.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. He’d like to be that man. “Maybe you should make me a gooseberry pie.”

  She laughed. “That would be a good way to run you off. Besides, the gooseberries are gone for this year—blackberries, too.” Abruptly, she sprang to her feet, a new light in her eyes. “But the persimmons are ripe. Let’s go see.” She held out her hand to pull him up.

  He took her hand, the urge to pull her down on top of him strong. Instead, he pushed off the tree to give her leverage.

  She tugged him along into the woods as the setting sun threw the forest into dark shadows. “We don’t want to get lost in here,” Ben reminded her.

  “We won’t. I know these woods as well as my own apartment.” Rebecca stopped and surveyed the area as if taking her bearings. “There are some nice wild persimmons around here, and they taste so much better than those at the grocery store.” Hooking his arm, she broke into a run.

  Ben had never seen a persimmon tree before, and these were taller than he expected, but there weren’t many left hanging on the trees. “Looks like we’re too late. They’ve all fallen off.”

  “The fruit isn’t sweet enough until it falls off, and the wildlife already had their fill. They’ve left a lot on the ground.”

  Most of the fruit appeared to be rotted, but Ben fell on his knees along with Rebecca to pick over those still edible. “Can you make a pie out of persimmons?”

  She looked up from under her lashes. “Not even if I could make pie. No way to remove the seeds.” She popped one in her mouth. “You have to use your teeth and tongue to get the flesh off,” she mumbled, demonstrating, then spit out the seeds. “Like that. Hold out the tail of your tee-shirt so I can take some. We’ll have to give some to Jamie.”

  “Jamie has really taken to you. I think he loves you as much as I do.” He didn’t realize what he’d said until she gave him a startled look, her features turning serious.

  She reached out and used his shoulder for support as she rose to her feet. “I love both of you, too.”

  Dusk closed in more rapidly than Ben had noticed. “We have plenty of persimmons. Better get going now.”

  “No, let’s go back to the oak. Your jeep is within sight, even in the moonlight. I don’t want the day to end.”

  “All right.” Holding the cache of persimmons secure with his left hand, he took Rebecca’s with the right. Back at the tree, he dumped the fruit in the burger bag and settled down beside her.

  She stared at the sky. The pale, crescent moon hung directly above them, surrounded by a million twinkling stars. “I love the city lights at night, but they can’t compare with that view.”

  Maybe it was that moment Ben realized he loved her, not just as a friend. He understood her spirit better than anyone he’d ever known, even Kelly. And Rebecca had changed him—made him want to dream again.

  “What was the miracle that happened out here?”

  She kept her gaze fastened on the sky and instead of answering, asked a question of her own. “Do you know why Jamie and I get along so well?”

  He thought he did. She was a loveable person, and more importantly, seemed to enjoy spending time with Jamie. As a matter of fact, that was one of the reasons he’d fallen in love with her. “Why?”

  “Locking me in the shed with the spiders wasn’t the worst thing my father ever did to me.” She pulled up the sleeve of her sweater and turned her forearm to him. Even in the pale light, the marks were plainly visible. Scars caused by round burns, exactly like those on Jamie’s arms. Distinctive. Cigarette burns.

  “This was the only place I remember where my father was pleased with me. The only place where all three of us were happy. Maybe I pleased him only because I’d find grubs for his fish bait, but it was enough then.”

  Ben took her into his arms and kissed the top of her head, then slipped his mouth close to her ear. “I’m so sorry, Rebecca. You’re the strongest survivor I’ve ever known.”

  She snuggled onto his chest. “In retrospect, I can see how all things work together for good. Because I wanted to leave home so badly, I studied ten times as much as I had to so I could graduate early and get a scholarship to college. And I managed to finish high school at fifteen and get accepted to Emory. In a way I owe that to my father.”

  “Where was your mother in all this?” He knew how hard it was for a woman to break away from an abusive husband.

  “She did her best. He never treated her badly, and she truly loved him. She could usually protect me.”

  “When did he die?”

  She looked up at him and furrowed her brows like she had to figure up the time. “It’s been close to ten years now. I can hardly believe it.” She settled back into the crook of his arm. “I was in my junior year in undergraduate study when he called and ask me to meet him out here. The pain was still so fresh I almost declined, but I guess curiosity made me come.

  “I’m glad I did. He told me he was dying from liver cirrhosis and asked for my forgiveness.”

  “That’s the miracle? That he repented and asked for forgiveness.”

  “No, the miracle was I could forgive him.” She got to her feet. “We’d better go now.”

  They said little on the ride back into the city, each lost in thought. Ben dropped her at her apartment building and had just cleared the heavy traffic on his way home when his phone rang.

  Even though he’d had the jeep equipped with a phone holder, he wouldn’t normally answer while driving, but Rebecca’s name flashed on the screen. “Hi, hon, what’s up?”

  Rebecca’s frantic voice rose with each word. “Mrs. Gilly was knocked out. There’s blood on the back of her head. I don’t know how long—”

  “Hold on. Who’s Mrs. Gilly?”

  “My cleaning lady. No telling how long she’s been lying here, but she’s still alive. I called 911 and the ambulance is on the way.”

  Ben was already looking for an exit. “Okay. I’m turning around. Call Darcy. You need someone with you until the ambulance gets there.” He prayed Darcy would be at home. “Did you tell them to send the police?”

  “I did. Just hurry.”

  “I am. I’m hanging up now so I can find a turn. Call Darcy.”

  He found one of those connectors cut across the interstate dividers by law enforcement to make a fast U-turn. It wasn’t a proper exit, but he didn’t see any cop cars stationed along the road.

  While waiting for the traffic to clear, he called Tom, asking him to meet at Rebecca’s apartment. No time to explain as he had to pull out in the north lane. His pulse and car accelerated at the same speed. He couldn’t leave Rebecca alone tonight, even if he had to camp outside her door.

  Then as he hit the perimeter, traffic slowed to a crawl.

  Chapter 15

  And I say to you My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. -Luke 12:4

  I’ve often wondered how I would react if faced with certain death. Now I know. -Rebecca Atkins.

  Rebecca read the police report for the third time, and it revealed nothing more than what she already knew. Mrs. Gilly remained in a coma, her assailant unknown. Security cameras had caught nothing suspicious. No one had seen anything amiss.

  Whoever attacked the cleaning lady had to have been hiding in wait, since the nature of her injuries indicated she didn’t know what hit her. That meant he had to have entered the apartment sometime after four o’clock Saturday afternoon, because that’s when Rebecca had left with Ben. That wonderful picnic by Lake Haven seemed so long ago, she wondered if she’d dreamed it.

  At least a dozen people had asked her if she had locked the door when she left. She was certain she
had.

  Ben’s concern touched her soul. He’d wanted to stay with her. She’d convinced him that wasn’t necessary, that she’d spend the night with Darcy. But he’d insisted on coming to take them to church the next morning, although that meant he’d have to drive into the city, far out of his way.

  Today she’d taken off from work for the first time in she couldn’t remember when, but she and Ben had gone to the police precinct for an interview with the detectives. Truthfully, she put more faith in Tom Laster who was continuing his investigation. Her phone sounded the familiar jingle.

  Ben.

  His name flashing on the screen had a way of lifting her spirits and putting a smile on her face. “Hello, sweetie.”

  “You’re sounding better. Where are you?”

  “In my apartment. Security is on.”

  “Good. I’m taking you out to your favorite restaurant. Tom’s coming with us. He has some new information. I’ll pick you up right after work.”

  She noted the time. “That’s an hour. I’d better start getting ready. I want to look good for you.”

  “You always look good to me.”

  “Ah, you’re sweet, but I’m going to freshen up, anyway. See you in a few.”

  She laid out her navy sweater tunic, the one with the big pockets, and cream-colored pants. Her shower took less than ten minutes. Since the spider incident, she didn’t spend long in the shower.

  After a light application of make-up, she was considering what to do with her hair when the doorbell rang. That couldn’t be Ben already, but who else could it be?

  She brought up her security app. Derek Gammon stood outside her door. Activating the microphone, she asked, “Can I help you?”

  “Yes, Ms. Atkins. I don’t know if you remember me from Bay’s.”

  “I do. You’re in Bio Research.”

  “That’s right. My brother is Tad Smalley, head of maintenance for this building. Actually, my half-brother. I’m purchasing an apartment here, and he said you got Southern Charm Decorators to furnish your apartment. I was wondering if I could come in and see their work.”