Love Inspired Suspense December 2015, Box Set 2 of 2

by Margaret Daley

  “A stuffed bear?”

  “Yes,” she hissed. “It’s my most treasured possession.”

  His eyes widened in surprise. “Did you have it when we were in college?”

  “Of course I did. But what girl wants to tell her boyfriend she still has a stuffed bear that sits on the table beside her bed every night?”

  “So it’s more than just a childhood toy. It’s a reminder of the last Christmas you spent with your mother.”

  She gave a nervous laugh and glanced at him. “It’s the only Christmas I remember. I never had one after that. My father thought it was a waste of time.”

  His eyes grew wide. “You never celebrated Christmas or received presents when you were a child?”

  She shook her head. “Oh, I got presents. My father saw that my nanny bought me lots of toys. I’d open them with her on Christmas morning before she left to spend the day with her family. But my father was never there, and I spent the day alone in a big house with servants who were paid to watch me. When I saw that Christmas tree at your parents’ home last night and listened to all of you talk about the dinner your mother is planning for the family on Christmas Day, I wondered if you and your brother and sister really know how incredibly lucky you are. I never had anything like that.”

  His stomach roiled, and he swallowed. He’d thought he had known all about Mia’s life at one time, but now he realized there was much she had never shared with him. She hadn’t had a mother’s love, or a father who gave her any attention, or a husband who loved her. But the question that pulled at his heart was, had he been any better than others in her life who’d let her down? At the time he’d been so obsessed with becoming a navy SEAL that he hadn’t given a thought to how Mia felt about his plans. Had he been so focused on his own dreams and goals that he hadn’t considered hers at all? He didn’t know, but it was something he was sure he would think about in days to come.

  She had her head bowed, and her hair hung down the side of her face. He reached over and tucked a strand behind her ear. She glanced around at him, and he smiled. “I’m sorry I teased you. Don’t worry. We’ll get your bear.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief as he drove away from the McElroys’ home. They rode in a comfortable silence for a few miles before she spoke. “Lucas, it’s been so good to be with you these last two days. Thank you for helping me.”

  “It’s been good for me, too, Mia. I think we’re on the way to being friends after all.”

  “I think so, too.”

  Twenty minutes later they pulled up in front of Mia’s house and climbed from the car. Mia grabbed her keys from her pocket and headed to the door. Lucas had just stepped up on the front porch behind her when he heard her gasp.

  He looked over her shoulder and froze at the sight of the front door hanging on its hinges. He pushed Mia behind him and pulled out his gun. Holding it with both hands, he stepped inside the entry to sweep the room and stopped in shock at the sight before him.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Mia heard Lucas gasp, and she stepped closer to him as she clutched at the back of his jacket. He didn’t move for a moment, and then he dug in his jeans pocket and pulled something out. Reaching behind him, he shoved his car keys in her hand.

  “Take these,” he whispered. “I’m going inside. Get in my car, lock the doors and call the police. Start the engine, and at the first hint of trouble, get out of here.”

  She looked down at the keys she was now holding, and her fingers tightened around them. “What’s wrong?” she whispered.

  “Your house looks like it’s been ransacked. I don’t know if whoever did this is still here, but I need to check. Now go on back to the car.”

  Her knees began to shake. She didn’t know if her legs would support her to get back to the car. And even if she made it to safety, what about Lucas? A burglar intent on breaking into her home probably wouldn’t hesitate to attack anyone attempting to stop him. The thought of Lucas being hurt sent cold chills down her spine.

  “Lucas, be careful.”

  He gave a quick glance over his shoulder and nodded. “I will. Now, please, go back to the car.”

  Mia backed away and ran down the steps. She had the key in the ignition, and the engine started almost before she had the car door closed. Her right hand shook as she rested it on the gear shift, the other one clutching the steering wheel. Her heart hammered in her ears as she watched Lucas disappear into the house.

  The minutes seemed to drag as she stared at the front door, hoping to see Lucas emerge, but he didn’t reappear. How long had he been inside? Had the intruder attacked him? Was he lying hurt somewhere? Should she go in search of him?

  She couldn’t pull her gaze away from the front door as these questions raced through her mind. So focused on keeping watch was she that the sudden tapping on the window of the driver’s side door sent a shock wave of panic spiraling through her. Her scream split the air as she whirled to face the person standing outside the car.

  Relief flowed through her at the sight of Lucas’s surprised face staring at her through the glass. Before she knew what she was doing, she opened the door, jumped outside and threw her arms around his neck.

  “Oh, Lucas,” she sobbed. “I was so worried about you.”

  His body stiffened for a moment, and then he relaxed as his arms came up to embrace her. “I’m sorry, Mia. I didn’t mean to scare you. I came out the back door of the house and around to the front. I thought you saw me come around the corner.”

  She couldn’t seem to let go of him and hugged him tighter. “No, I didn’t see you. I had convinced myself that you were lying inside hurt.”

  He chuckled and shook his head. “No, I’m fine. Whoever did the damage inside is long gone.”

  Suddenly Mia realized that she and Lucas were standing in an embrace, and her face grew warm. Releasing her hold on him, she stepped back out of his arms and tried to smile. “I’m sorry to act like such a scared child.” She glanced toward the house. “So you say the place is in shambles?”

  He swallowed, the muscles in his throat constricting, and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m afraid so. Let’s go in and see how much damage was done. We’ll clean it up after the police have had a chance to look it over.”

  Together they walked up the steps and entered the house. Mia stopped inside the door and let her gaze drift over the interior. The cushions of the sofa and chairs in the living room had been cut open, and the foam and batting from inside lay scattered across the floor. Pictures had been ripped from the walls that were now dotted with gaping holes.

  As she walked through the house, she discovered that no room had escaped the same destruction. Everywhere she looked, everything lay broken and shattered.

  Lucas stood silently behind her as she surveyed the damage. “I’m so sorry, Mia,” he said.

  She didn’t respond for a moment as she let her gaze drift over the wreckage of what had once been a state-of-the art kitchen. “It doesn’t matter. I hated this house and the life I lived here. It’s as if the house finally became as broken as I was when I lived in it.” She turned around and faced Lucas. “Do you think Tony did this?”

  “He’s at the top of my suspect list.”

  She frowned. “I know he’s angry at me for burning him. But why would he go to such extremes to destroy my house?”

  “Because he’s looking for something. The thing that he keeps asking you about.”

  Mia held up her hands in despair. “But I don’t have any idea what he’s talking about. Why won’t he believe me?”

  “Because whatever it is must be very valuable. Like Nadine said, Chapman thought it was going to earn him millions, and she suspected that Kyle was in on it with him. Maybe Kyle was killed because he had double-crossed Chapman, and now Chapman wants all the money to himself.” He frowned and tilted his head to one side as he studied her face. “Are you sure Kyle never mentioned anything to you?”

  She snorted in disgust. “Kyle never talked to me
about anything. But I wouldn’t put it past him to be involved in something illegal and with someone like Tony Chapman.”

  Lucas nodded. “That seems to make sense.” Then he inhaled a deep breath. “What do you want to do about the house? I’ll help you clean it up if that’s what you want. Or I know some guys who own a company that cleans out old houses before renovation work starts. I could probably get them to come sort everything out that needs to be thrown away.”

  Mia rubbed her hands across her eyes and sighed. “That sounds like a good idea. This place won’t be livable again until it’s cleaned up. On the other hand, I don’t know if I ever want to come back here to live.”

  “If you don’t come back, where will you go?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. But I do know that there are too many horrible memories associated with this place. I had intended to sell it when the estate was settled anyway. I suppose there are a lot of decisions I’ll have to make in the future, but I don’t want to think about that until Tony is caught.”

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about the house right now,” Lucas said. “You have a place to stay for the time being, and we’ll figure something out when Chapman’s back behind bars.”

  Her heart twisted at how he’d said we will figure things out. It might have been a slip of the tongue, but to Mia it reminded her that for the time being she wasn’t alone. Of course it would be different after Lucas finished this job for her, but she wouldn’t think about that now. Plenty of time to do that later on.

  Taking a deep breath, she turned and smiled at him. “Let’s go see how badly damaged my bedroom is.”

  She headed down a hallway that led to the master bedroom, with Lucas following behind her. Like the rest of the house, it had been trashed. The drawers to the dresser had been pulled out and their contents scattered across the floor. The mattress had been moved from the bed and cut open. Clothes from the closet littered the floor.

  In the middle of all the chaos Mia spotted the bear her mother had given her lying on his side, partially covered by a dress that had been thrown from the closet. A gasp escaped her throat, and she stooped down to pick up the stuffed animal, half expecting to see his body sliced open. To her amazement the bear appeared to be unharmed, and she hugged him close to her chest before she held him out for Lucas to see.

  “This is Teddy,” she said.

  His mouth twisted in a teasing smile. “Unusual name for a teddy bear.”

  She arched her eyebrows and stared down her nose. “I was four years old when I named him.”

  He studied the bear a moment more. “He has an eye missing.”

  “I know. I did eye surgery on him when I was five, but I could never reattach the eye.”

  A smile pulled at Lucas’s lips. “Poor Teddy. I’m sure he’s forgiven you.”

  Tears filled her eyes as she turned to Lucas. “I hope so. He’s my dearest possession. I don’t know how he escaped being mutilated, but I’m so glad he did. This is the only thing in this house that I care about.”

  Lucas stared at her, his blue eyes filled with an intense look that made her breathless with a longing that she hadn’t experienced in years. For an instant she was again that young college girl, a ballerina who dreamed of owning a dance studio and sharing her life with the free-spirited young man ready to serve his country in the navy SEALs. Then reality crashed in on her, and her stomach roiled. They would never be those two idealistic young people again. Too much had happened. And it was all her fault.

  Tears filled her eyes, and she turned away to keep Lucas from seeing them. The overturned bedside table lay on its side next to the closet, and she walked over and set it upright. Then she placed the bear on it and took a deep breath before she faced Lucas.

  “I suppose I should pick out a few clothes to pack, but I need to get my suitcase.”

  Lucas glanced from her to the bear before he cleared his throat. “Where is it? I’ll get it for you.”

  “It’s in the attic. There’s a pull-down ladder in the garage to get up there. Come on, and I’ll show you the way.”

  They hadn’t been into the garage since coming into the house, but Mia wasn’t surprised to see that it hadn’t escaped her intruder either. Several boxes of Kyle’s things that she’d put there until she could take them to Goodwill had been emptied, their contents strewn across the concrete floor. Tools and cleaning supplies that had once sat on shelves had also been dumped across the area. The ladder leading to the attic had been pulled down to provide access to the storage area above, and through the yawning hole in the ceiling Mia saw that the attic light had been left on.

  Lucas motioned her to stand aside as he put his foot on the bottom rung. “I’ll check out the attic. You wait here.”

  She held her breath as he climbed up the ladder. His footsteps echoed overhead as he moved about. After a few moments she called out to him. “Lucas, are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” he answered. “Your visitor went through everything up here, too. I’m looking for your suitcase. What color is it?”

  “Black leather, medium-sized. If you don’t find it, it’s no big deal. I can grab a garbage bag or something to stuff some clothes in.”

  “Don’t do that. I’ll keep looking.”

  “Okay,” she answered. “But I’m going back in the bedroom to start figuring out what I want to take.”

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  Turning, she walked through the door that led from the garage into the utility room and stopped when she entered the kitchen. Her eye caught sight of a photograph lying amid the broken dishes from the cabinet, and she bent to pick it up. She blinked in surprise at a picture of her and Lucas from when they were in college. He had his arm around her shoulders, and they smiled at the camera, their happiness at being together evident on their faces.

  She had no idea where the picture had been all these years or how it ended up amidst the rubble in her kitchen. Standing back up, she stared at the picture as she brushed her fingertips across it. They had been on a picnic with friends at Overton Park when that picture was taken, just weeks before she and Lucas had quarreled about whether they should get married before or after he enlisted in the navy through the SEAL Challenge Contract. He’d wanted to wait, and she’d been against it. He’d left for boot camp, and she’d met Kyle. End of story, and beginning of a lifetime of regret for her.

  She shook her head and shoved the picture in her jeans pocket. Sighing, she turned to go toward the bedroom and froze in terror.

  A man stood a few feet away.

  She’d never seen him before, but she knew immediately who he was. He wore a heavy coat, but no hat covered his bald head with the elaborate snake tattoo that Nadine McElroy had described. Her breath hitched in her throat at the sight of the gun he held.

  “So you’re Lockhart’s wife?” he rasped.

  Mia took a step back and came to a stop when the counter pressed against her. “And you’re Clyde Harper. Wh-what do you want with me?”

  “It’s not me, honey. It’s my friend Tony. He’s very anxious for you to see the marks you left on him.”

  Her eyes grew wide as a scream ripped from her throat. Before she could move, Clyde had grabbed her around the waist, trapping her arms against her sides, and hoisted her in his arms. She kicked and tried to wedge herself loose, but it was no use.

  Another scream tore from her throat, and he drew an arm back and slammed the gun against the side of her head. Pain exploded behind her eyes, and her head lolled against his shoulders. She struggled to scream again, but no sound emerged from her throat.

  With a sinking heart, she realized she was being half carried and half dragged out the doors that led to the patio and across the backyard toward the lake. Through her glazed vision she spotted the outline of a boat at the private dock behind the house. She had to do something before he dumped her in the boat and made his escape, but her head hurt, muddling her thoughts. They were only a few feet away from the doc
k when she felt herself being shifted over the man’s shoulders. Her head and arms dangled over his back as she stared downward at the ground. Three gunshots split the air, and then there was only darkness.

  *

  Lucas spotted the edge of what looked like a leather suitcase hidden underneath a pile of blankets and pulled the bag loose. He was headed back to the ladder when he heard a sound that caused him to stop and tilt his head to one side. Was that a scream?

  He threw the suitcase aside and lunged toward the ladder. He was halfway down when he heard another scream. There was no mistaking it. That had been Mia’s voice. His senses surged to high alert as he jumped off the ladder to the floor and pulled his gun from its holster.

  He burst through the door from the garage into the kitchen and yelled. “Mia! Where are you?”

  Only silence greeted him. Pressing his lips together in a grim line, he gripped his gun tighter and eased toward the doorway that led into the den. A gust of wind blew across the room at that moment, and he whirled to face the glass doors that led to the patio. He was certain they’d been closed before, but now one stood open.

  He charged across the room and burst through the doorway onto the patio. His eyes widened in disbelief as he spotted a heavyset, muscular man holding what appeared to be an unconscious Mia in his arms and running toward a small motorboat at the dock. Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out his cell phone and punched the app that sent an SOS of his location to his office, the signal that he needed police backup immediately.

  Then he sprinted forward. “Stop!” he yelled at the top of his voice.

  The man glanced around, hoisted Mia over his shoulder and turned to point a gun in his direction. His naval training kicked in, and Lucas instinctively threw himself to the ground as a bullet whizzed over his head.

  Lucas raised his gun to fire but hesitated. With Mia draped over the man’s shoulder, he risked hitting her if he aimed for her captor. He had only a split second to decide what to do before he racked the gun’s slide and fired at the boat. The bullet pierced the hull near the waterline, and even at the distance he was from the dock Lucas could see the gaping, jagged hole it left. Another shot nearer the waterline produced an even larger hole. The faint smell of gasoline drifted on the breeze, and Lucas knew he’d hit the gas tank.