Firefly Run

by Trish Milburn

  "Shelly, you live about thirty seconds from here. It’s not like you have to drive."

  She relented and followed him to the couch. He selected a copy of Legends of the Fall.

  "This okay?" he asked.

  "Brad Pitt with long hair? Any day."

  "Too bad there’s not a Woody Allen movie."

  "You like Woody Allen?" she asked in disbelief.

  "No, but at least you wouldn’t drool over him."

  When Reed sat beside her, she realized the couch was more of a loveseat. Those tangled hints of interest and confusion blossomed again, making her acutely aware of his warmth next to her. But she couldn’t move to the chair without looking suspicious.

  Instead, she sat with her back rigid and her legs pressed tightly together so her thigh didn’t brush his. But as the movie progressed, her eyes grew droopy and she relaxed. Her leg leaned against Reed’s, but she was too tired to move it. Maybe she’d rest, just a little.

  ****

  CHAPTER SIX

  Reed let the movie play on, though he was no longer following the story. His entire body was tensed to the point of popping like a rubber band pulled too tight. First, Shelly had finally relaxed enough that her leg leaned against his. Then, she’d fallen asleep, and her head had slipped to rest on his shoulder. As if that wasn’t enough, she now snuggled against him searching for warmth or a more comfortable position.

  When she moaned in her sleep, he bit his lip. Was she dreaming she was in Troy’s arms again? A flash of jealousy flooded his already warm body, and he hated himself for it. He’d never truly coveted Shelly while Troy was alive, but it still seemed like a stab in the back for him to hold her, his best friend’s widow, and think of doing more.

  He desperately needed to disentangle himself but didn’t want to wake her. She needed to rest more than he needed to be comfortable.

  Reed tried to concentrate on the movie dialogue, but he only caught snippets before his mind turned back toward the woman beside him. Soft but hard, strong but vulnerable, Shelly Myers was a study in contrasts. The uncomfortable sensation that Troy was staring a hole in the top of his head from his seat in Heaven warred with his desire to wrap his arm around Shelly and pull her closer. Lord, he probably needed some serious and expensive therapy.

  He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. When he’d headed for Tennessee as fast as the airliner could carry him, he’d never imagined this happening, this attraction that was tearing him up inside. Shelly shouldn’t have to worry about protecting herself from her protector.

  When the movie ended, Reed let the credits roll, hoping the sweeping music would wake Shelly. When it didn’t, he used the remote to eject the DVD and started flipping channels. Shelly stirred against him, causing him to freeze. He knew the moment she woke and realized where she was. She stiffened, sat still for a moment, then pulled away from him with as much dignity as she could garner with her hair mussed on one side and the imprint of his shirt creases on her cheek.

  "I’m sorry," she said. "I didn’t mean to fall asleep."

  "Sometimes you can’t help it." As soon as she broke contact, he missed the feel of her, wrong as it might be. It took more willpower than he thought he possessed not to pull her back and kiss her with all the suppressed emotion threatening to burst from him. He swallowed hard when she licked her dry lips.

  "Let me walk you back to your cabin."

  She didn’t argue, though if it was out of concern about going out into the night alone or because she was still embarrassed, he didn’t know.

  "Reed, do you honestly think Eddie would come all this way and endanger his new freedom just for revenge against me?"

  "Yes."

  "Why? It doesn’t make sense."

  "Criminals rarely do."

  Despite her nap on his couch, Shelly looked drained as she nodded then went inside her cabin.Only when he heard her lock the door did he retrace his steps to his own cabin.

  Shaken by his growing attraction to her, he prepared for another night of guard duty. He watched out the window until her lights went out. The night surrounding her cabin was tomb black. With the absence of nearby cities, the nights here were absolute except for the light cast by the stars. He felt terribly exposed passing his nights on her front steps, but all that darkness held too much evil potential for him to leave her alone.

  A picture of Shelly, a bullet in her chest, flashed in Reed’s mind, sickening him and sending a violent shudder down his spine. He slipped on his shoulder holster and shoved the gun into it. Then he brewed a pot of strong, black coffee. Thus armed, he turned off his cabin lights, slipped out the door and made for Shelly’s porch.

  If Eddie Victor came for Shelly, he was a dead man.

  ****

  Shelly woke from the nightmare with her mouth open, ready to scream. But she realized it’d been a dream before she could utter the sound. In the dream, Eddie had stood amid the dead bodies of everyone Shelly cared about—her parents, her brother and his family, everyone in Bobcat Ridge...and Reed. Eddie hadn’t said anything, just smiled as "The Yellow Rose of Texas" kept playing over and over.

  Her heart still pounding, she sat up on the side of her bed, trying to banish "The Yellow Rose of Texas" from her mind. As she came more fully awake, she was surprised to find the sun already bright outside. The bedside clock read a quarter past eight.

  Damn, she’d tossed and turned half the night, finally drifting off only to oversleep.

  After a quick shower, she rushed to the office.

  "Oversleep?" Chris asked as she entered the front door.

  "Yeah. Can’t remember the last time I did that."

  Chris, to his credit, didn’t comment on the dark circles under her eyes or her wrinkled shirt. She began preparing a bank deposit as Chris stepped out the door. She counted the money as she stifled a yawn. Thinking she’d miscounted, she ran through it again. No, it came out the same.

  She stepped out onto the porch to find Chris checking the tires of the rental bikes. "Chris, where did the extra money come from?"

  "From Reed."

  "When did he give it to you?"

  "He didn’t. It was under the door this morning."

  She remembered telling him how much the cabins cost a night, but she’d never expected him to fork over the money. She didn’t want him to. After retrieving the crisp hundred-dollar bills, she crossed the lawn to Reed’s cabin. Once again, he was sleeping the morning away. When had he become such a sleepyhead?

  She had to knock three times before he opened the door. The sight of his naked chest stole her breath.

  "Is something wrong?" he asked, snapping her out of her slack-jawed admiration.

  She fought the urge to check her mouth for drool and looked up to find the rest of him didn’t look so hot. His eyes were bloodshot and tired, his short hair mussed.

  "You look like you’ve got a hangover," she said.

  "Not that lucky."

  She stood staring at him, temporarily forgetting why she’d knocked on his door.

  "Is this a wake-up call or do you need something?"

  She lifted the hand holding the money. "What’s this?"

  "It appears to be money."

  "Why did you slide it under the office door?"

  "Because no one was there last night."

  "Reed," she said in frustration. "You don’t have to pay to stay here. You’re not a paid bodyguard."

  "I’m taking up a cabin you would otherwise be able to rent."

  "We’re not at full capacity yet."

  "But you will be in a few days. You said so yourself. Unless you’re ready for me to move into your cabin, I’m paying for the space I occupy."

  He was more awake now, and that determined glint sparked in his eyes. She could argue with him until dark, and he wouldn’t budge. Well, she had other methods of getting her way.

  "Fine."

  "What do you want me to do today?" Their gazes caught and held for a moment. A sort of comfort, an indefinable se
nse of rightness settled over her, and it scared her.

  "Go back to bed. You look like hell."

  He smiled at that, easing the tension between them. "You sure know how to bolster a guy’s ego."

  "Tanner, you have enough ego for half the Dallas force."

  Stupidly giddy that he’d smiled at her, Shelly took the money back to the office, wrote Reed a check for the same amount, and mailed it off to his home address in Dallas.

  The stack of mail she’d been toting back and forth since the previous day stared back at her. She set the bills to one side, discarded the circulars in the recycling box under the desk, filed a couple of reservations, and was left with an envelope addressed to her with no return address. She slid the letter opener through the envelope, and five yellow rose petals fell out on her desk. Her heart faltered before kicking into high gear.

  With shaking hands, she pulled the sides of the envelope apart and saw a single yellow index card. She swallowed hard, afraid to touch the card, afraid that if she did Eddie would leap from it.

  Hoping this was another coincidence, yet knowing it wasn’t, she pulled the card from the envelope and dropped both to the desk as if they were coated with slime. But the words stared up at her, making the threat Eddie posed as real as the air she was sucking in.

  Do you miss Texas? I don’t.

  ****

  "What?!" Shelly jumped as the question exploded from Reed. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

  "I thought it was a coincidence, my imagination getting the better of me." After receiving the card with its accompanying brown-tinged rose petals, she’d gone to Reed and shown him. When she’d mentioned the phone call from the day before, his face went beet red.

  "I don’t care if you’re second-guessing, third-guessing, or fourth-guessing yourself, I want to know every little thing that happens out of the ordinary. No, wait, nothing’s going to happen out of the ordinary because we’re not going to be here."

  "Don’t start, Reed. We’ve already had this discussion."

  "Do you want to end up like Troy?"

  Shelly froze. Reed’s words had sliced through her heart as surely as if he’d wielded a saber.

  "Oh hell, Shelly, I’m sorry." Reed started to step forward, but she put her hand out.

  "Don’t come near me."

  "I didn’t mean to say that."

  "Well, you did, and that was a low blow."

  "I know. But I’m just so angry and frustrated. I feel so helpless. If the bastard’s coming here, I wish he’d just come at me and let me finish this." Reed pointed toward the card and envelope still sitting atop her desk. "Surely you can see with your own eyes now that Eddie’s a threat to you."

  The burn from his words still stung, but the concern in his eyes was genuine.

  "It’s obvious he’s angry and wants to mess with my mind, but this was postmarked in Dallas."

  "The day he was released. Plenty of time has passed for him to be nearby."

  "He could be halfway around the world by now." God, how she wished he was. And if he was nearby, what was she supposed to do about it? If she left or hid, he’d just wait around until she came back. She couldn’t be one of those people who moved from place to place and kept changing their identities just to avoid a stalker. If she had to face Eddie, she would. Because she couldn’t live with the not knowing, the constant fear.

  Reed rubbed a large hand over his face. "Will you at least leave for the day? Let’s go up and see your parents. I swear, I’ll have you back by tonight."

  She had so much work to do, but she did want to get away. And her mother could use the company. "Okay."

  Reed drove his rental car, giving Shelly the opportunity to watch the beauty of the mountains zip by the window. She’d left this place once, and that had ended in disaster. Now that she’d returned, had she just brought death back with her?

  ****

  A loud blast intruded on Shelly’s sleep, and she jerked awake, nearly giving herself whiplash in the process. Still drugged from sleep, she blinked furiously and tried to get her bearings.

  "It’s all right. It was just a car horn."

  The words, spoken so near her, made her jump again and gasp.

  "Shelly, it’s just me."

  Reed.

  With each blink of her eyelids, pieces of reality slipped into place. She looked out the windshield to find a parking lot, one she recognized, then glanced at her watch. "How long have we been here?"

  "Half an hour or so."

  "Why didn’t you wake me?"

  "I didn’t want to disturb you. You needed the rest."

  She couldn’t argue with that point. With Reed by her side and the safety that offered, she’d slept for four hours. It wasn’t a full night’s rest, but she felt better than she had earlier in the day. "Have you ever just wanted to hit the freeze frame button on your life and head to the beach for a week? Do nothing but sit under a beach umbrella and listen to the waves?"

  "We can do that if you want to."

  She shook her head slowly. "If it were only that easy. I have the feeling that no matter where I go, I’m going to feel Eddie’s eyes following me. I’ve imagined seeing him a million places since you arrived. In the woods, in my closet, in the office storage room. I hate him even more for causing this horrible inability to relax. I feel like a spring about ready to pop."

  "I wish you were right, about him doing the thing that made sense and staying as far away from you as possible. Then you wouldn’t have to go through this extra worrying. But I’m right, Shelly. He might not be near your place now, but he will be. I’m as sure of that as I am my name."

  Shelly wasn’t sure if that conviction made the situation more or less stressful. Was knowing a killer was coming after her preferable to not knowing? At least with the knowledge, she could take precautions and perhaps influence the outcome.

  They stepped from the car into the thick, humid air and temperatures a good ten degrees hotter than in Bobcat Ridge. The late May heat baked the bottom of her feet through her thin canvas tennis shoes, and a layer of sweat coated her body in seconds. They were nearly to the entrance to St. Thomas Hospital when she halted Reed by placing her hand on his arm.

  "Don’t tell my family why you’re really here. I’m not sure if Mom even knows about Eddie. But even if she does, say something like you just wanted to come visit because you knew Eddie’s release would upset me. I don’t want any of them to even think I might be in danger."

  He nodded.

  Once they reached her father’s floor, Shelly led the way. They passed doctors and nurses in colorful scrubs and a flower delivery guy with a huge bouquet for another patient, but the riot of color did nothing to dispel Shelly’s dread.

  She hated the smell of sickness and the sadness of hospitals. Hated the sounds of monitors and squeaky shoes. Hated the sight of gurneys, wheelchairs and medical charts. Hated the queasy, lightheaded feeling she got every time she had to enter these hallways. She wondered if she’d ever be able to step foot inside a hospital without associating it with some of the worst memories a person could have.

  But then who liked hospitals? What she most dreaded now was seeing her father if he’d declined. She wanted so desperately to walk into his room and see the rosy tinge of health back in his cheeks and a wide smile on his face.

  Instead, she entered Room 433 to find his bed empty. Her heart nearly stopped. She scanned the room until she spotted her mother asleep in the recliner in the corner. Shelly nearly went to her, but her mother looked so old and tired that she instead spun, pushed by Reed, and strode toward the nurses’ station at the end of the corridor.

  "Where’s my father?" Her voice quavered, afraid of the answer. It couldn’t be bad news. Her mother would have called her.

  He didn’t touch her, but Shelly felt Reed’s reassuring warmth at her back.

  "Who’s your father?" the nurse nearest her asked.

  "Ralph Wynn."

  "They took him down for some more tests. He
should be back up here soon."

  "Has he been awake yet?"

  "I’m not sure, maybe a couple of times. But not for long. It’ll take a while for things to get back to normal after the shock he’s been through." The nurse offered Shelly an encouraging smile, and she appreciated it.

  "Thank you."

  "No problem, honey."

  Reed lightly touched her shoulder, turning her back toward her father’s room. She wanted nothing more than to turn into him and have him hold her and tell her that everything was going to be fine. Eddie would move to Tibet. Her father would make a full recovery. Firefly Run would be filled to capacity for the foreseeable future so the bills weren’t an issue.

  But he couldn’t know any of those things, so she took a deep breath and reminded herself to take one minute, one hour, one day, one problem at a time.

  "Shelly?"

  The sound of her mother’s tired voice made Shelly look up. She hurried down the hall and took her mother in her arms and tried to share what little strength she had left. "Did we wake you?"

  "No, dear. I don’t sleep for long at a time."

  "I don’t know, you were snoring pretty good." Shelly smiled at her mother, trying to bat away the somber mood.

  "I most certainly do not snore."

  "I have it on good authority, namely my own ears, that you do. Doesn’t she, Reed?"

  "Oh no, you’re not dragging me into this."

  Shelly looked up at him, and her heart fluttered at the hint of a smile on his face. Despite the circumstances and the odd way she’d been feeling about him, she liked having him around. "Fine lot of help you are."

  He ignored her, focusing his attention on her mother instead. "Hello, Mrs. Wynn. It’s good to see you again."

  "Reed, it’s nice of you to come. How have you been?"

  Shelly noted the almost imperceptible tick in his jaw as he answered with a "Fine, busy as usual."

  They chatted for only a couple of minutes before her father was wheeled back into the room and transferred back into his bed. Even in sleep, he looked tired.

  "He woke up for a little while this morning, and I was able to talk to him," her mother said. "I’m pretty sure he understood me."