Firefly Run

by Trish Milburn

  "What were the tests they just did?" Shelly asked.

  "I’m not sure. There’ve been so many."

  The weight of responsibility pressed down on Shelly, more so with each minute they spent at the hospital. When they finally headed for the car and the long drive home, it was all Shelley could do to pick up her feet to walk. By the time they reached the car, she couldn’t hold back the tears. Her nerves had finally reached the breaking point.

  Reed looked at her just as the first tear streaked down her cheek. "Oh, Shelly." He did pull her to him then and held her so close she could hear his heart beating. "Shh, it’s okay. Your dad’s strong. He’ll pull through this, you’ll see."

  Her tears were for so much more than her father, but it was easier to let Reed’s assumption stand. She didn’t know how to explain the tangled mass her feelings had become or that he was one of the strands in that tangle.

  ****

  Reed sat on the porch of his cabin after they returned and listened to the sounds of impending summer. Crickets, tree frogs, the slight breeze rustling the thick canopy of the forest. So different than Dallas. If it weren’t for the fact Eddie could use those sounds and the dense forest for cover, it would be peaceful.

  The ring of his cell phone interrupted the sounds of nature.

  "Tanner."

  "Bad news, man," Berk said from the other end.

  Reed’s heart quickened, and he tensed.

  "We lost him."

  "How?"

  "Don’t know exactly. He had to have gone out a back way. He went up to his room, so I figured he was occupied. I couldn’t camp outside his room, so I just strolled by every few minutes. I heard talking several times, but I never saw him come out. His lady friend checks out, and he’s not with her. She said he’d gotten an urgent call to return home and left several hours earlier."

  "Damn it!"

  After getting the rest of the limited details from Berk, Reed slammed the phone shut and forced himself not to crush it to dust. He glanced at Shelly’s cabin when he saw her light go out for the night. Why was life so damned unfair? Shelly had been through enough. Why must she have to relive the horror? Why were good people like Troy and his own sister taken away when scum like Eddie still roamed free and healthy? It was enough to make a person think there was no higher power, that everyone was living out random chaos.

  Reed slipped his gun from its holster and checked it for readiness for the dozenth time. At the academy, they’d told them to never pull a gun unless they were ready to use it. If Eddie made the mistake of setting foot on Shelly’s property, Reed would have no trouble pulling his gun.

  ****

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Shelly sat staring into her bowl of cereal, feeling as if the cosmos had turned over an hourglass with her name on it. Reed sat across from her, but she didn’t look at him. She didn’t have to see his face to know the expression he wore.

  "We still don’t know for certain he’s coming here." She said the words, but they didn’t hold as much conviction as she’d had initially. Instinct told her that it was no longer if Eddie showed up, but when. But her brain rationalized that if she didn’t say it out loud, perhaps it wouldn’t come true. "He could have just noticed the tail, wanted to get away after being watched day and night since he was arrested."

  "By going out the back door?"

  That question and Reed’s heightened state of vigilance were her constant companions as she moved through the routine of her day. Reed stuck so close that she heard his conversations with the sheriff’s department, the state police and the TBI. He wanted them fully aware of the situation should he need quick and effective backup.

  Not surprisingly, word spread through Bobcat Ridge after one of the local deputies started the gossip chain. Harry stopped by with his hunting rifle displayed prominently in his truck’s back window. Connie Phillips, who bred rottweilers, offered the use of some of her dogs, which Shelly declined because, quiet frankly, she was afraid of them.

  Shelly hated the fuss, though well intended. It put back in the front of everyone’s minds why she’d come back to the mountains and how broken she’d been when she arrived. She didn’t want people to look at her like they had then—with pity in their eyes and at a loss for the correct words.

  As the weekend approached, Shelly worked longer and longer hours, making sure everything from the inner tubes to the cabin linens were in top condition. Sleep was still an iffy commodity, but the work kept her mind occupied most of the time so she didn’t focus on her father’s unchanged condition or the continued mystery of Eddie’s whereabouts. She hadn’t received any more odd phone calls or disturbing letters, tempting her to hope Eddie was through with trying to scare her.

  Though Reed’s strange sleep pattern continued, he worked as hard as an employee earning a paycheck. He mainly spent the days with Chris, though never very far away. If she sneezed too loud, he would likely come running. She occasionally caught herself watching him through the window—like she was now.

  Though Chris was tall, Reed stood wide and imposing next to the more lanky and casual younger man. Her face burned as if she’d been out in the sun when she realized watching Reed was literally making her mouth water.

  Tires crunching on gravel drew her attention. She glanced out the screen door to see Marianne’s compact car slip into a spot next to Reed’s rental. She wondered if they should take the car back until he was ready to go home. No sense in paying the rental fee when it was obvious he wasn’t going anywhere without her, and she had a perfectly good car.

  She pulled her thoughts back from the tangent of rental car philosophy and focused on Marianne, who now stood at the back of her car. Shelly’s jaws dropped. For a moment, she wondered if Bo and Luke Duke would come skidding down the road in the General Lee because Marianne was doing her best to look like their cousin Daisy. Dressed in dangerously short denim shorts and a white tank top, Marianne shaded her eyes as she stared in Reed’s direction. Considering Shelly had never seen Marianne wear anything so skimpy, it was obvious whose eye she hoped to catch.

  Shelly shifted her gaze to the side window toward Chris and Reed, who’d been trying to dig out a tree stump all morning.

  Lord help her. Reed had removed his shirt, and she’d swear she could see the sweat glisten on the muscles of his chest. She licked her lips, then swallowed. If she’d been near him, she might have reached out and run her fingers over that tantalizing flesh before she could stop herself.

  "Hey, Shelly."

  Shelly yelped, surprised to find Marianne had stepped inside while she’d been lusting after Reed’s body.

  "Didn’t mean to scare you," Marianne said as she glanced out the window.

  Shelly’s face flushed, and she silently cursed herself for letting her guard down, for staring at Reed in the first place. What was wrong with her?

  "No problem." Her voice sounded rushed and flustered. "What can I do for you?"

  "Thought I’d take a float," Marianne said. "It’s such a nice day I couldn’t stay inside. Mom’s watching the store."

  "You just missed the group we had go out. Chris dropped them off about half an hour ago."

  "I..." Marianne paused, glanced out the window again. She twisted her fingers together.

  Was she nervous? She’d always been so bright, bubbly and outgoing that the possibility of Marianne experiencing an attack of the nerves surprised Shelly.

  "I thought maybe Mr. Tanner might like to take a float together," Marianne finally said. "But he seems to be working." The last word was uttered in disbelief.

  "Uh, yeah." Shelly tried to think of a plausible reason why Reed would be shoveling out the remains of a tree. "I think he kind of felt sorry for Chris digging that big stump out by himself."

  "Oh. That was nice of him."

  Shelly’s jaws clenched at the soft, admiring look Marianne sent Reed’s direction. She wanted to yell at him to put on a shirt, not only so Marianne would stop ogling but so she would as well.
She needed to stop thinking about him that way. Nothing was going to happen. Nothing should. No matter how many times she daydreamed about him kissing her, running her hands over his chest, going to bed with him.

  Good Lord. Reed would be shocked and embarrassed if he could read her mind. He likely hadn’t bargained on her lust when he’d volunteered for this gig.

  "Are you two a thing?" Marianne asked.

  Shelly’s attention jerked back toward the other woman so fast her head swam. "No," she answered, a bit too loudly and entirely too quickly. "No, we’re just friends."

  Marianne’s expression wavered between hopeful and not entirely convinced.

  Shelly had to convince Marianne that her relationship with Reed was purely platonic, no matter what kinds of wild thoughts she’d been having. She couldn’t let the citizens of Bobcat Ridge whisper about her and Reed. Her family had a good reputation, and her father loved his small congregation like they were members of his own family. Shelly couldn’t endanger that by letting her neighbors think something deemed inappropriate was going on.

  Sure, they knew why he was there. But they didn’t know what happened at night when the community went to sleep. And the imagination was sometimes a dangerous thing.

  "Why don’t you go ask Reed if he’d like to join you? I’m sure a cool float down the river would sound nice about now."

  Marianne shot her a questioning glance, but evidently she had come across as convincing.

  "Are you sure? You know my cousin Bennie is a deputy sheriff. I could call him to come out here while we’re out."

  "No, it’s okay, really. Chris is here. I’ll be all right."

  For a moment, it looked as if Marianne suddenly wasn’t sure her plan was a wise one. Shelly saw the war going on between Marianne’s concern for her and the desire to spend more time with the hunky new guy in town.

  Marianne was sweet, but she must be the most clueless person Shelly had ever met. No one else in Bobcat Ridge would have even considered asking Reed to leave Shelly’s side. But then maybe Marianne was having a hard time, like she herself had, of imagining a cold-blooded murderer strolling through Bobcat Ridge to finish an old score.

  "Okay, I’ll ask him." Shelly’s feelings toward Marianne warmed a bit when she heard the second-guessing in her voice, like she suddenly couldn’t believe she was there and might just beat a hasty retreat.

  Shelly swore she wouldn’t look out the window. She tried distracting herself with work. The new brochures had come in, and she had envelopes to former customers to stuff. But the image of Marianne and Reed floating down the river together, laughing and smiling at each other, taunted her.

  Why did it matter? Why did she have all these new and confusing feelings for Reed? Shame wagged its finger at her. Had she always harbored some sort of feeling other than friendship for him? She searched her memories but couldn’t find anything that would have hinted at her current reaction to her friend. She’d loved Troy with all her heart, and when he’d died she thought she’d never care for anyone again.

  That wasn’t what this was. It was simply a combination of her loneliness and a kind, familiar face.

  Then why did tears spring to her eyes when she looked out the window to find Marianne and Reed standing a bit too close?

  She shook it off, and forced herself to turn her back to the window.

  After a couple of minutes, the screen door squeaked. "Shelly?" Reed said as he stepped inside.

  "What?" The single word shot out like a bullet.

  "You okay?"

  "Yes, I’m just busy. What do you need?"

  "Did you tell Marianne to ask me to go tubing?"

  "She came here to ask you, so I told her to go ahead."

  He braced his hands on the counter. "Why?"

  "Because she wanted to go, and I’m sure digging out that stump can’t be any fun."

  "I’m not here to have fun."

  Though it was the truth, his statement hurt. This was just a job to him, even if she was a friend.

  "Just go, Reed. Chris is here. The entire town could be here in five minutes if I made a single phone call."

  "I can’t, and you’ve put me in the position of hurting Marianne’s feelings."

  "Oh, for Pete’s sake," she exploded. "Just take a damn float." She stood and retreated to the back room of the office where she kept supplies.

  Reed followed her. "What’s wrong with you? You’re about as friendly this morning as a rattlesnake."

  "I’m trying to get some work done, and I keep getting interrupted."

  She rummaged through the shelves, looking for nothing in particular. Her whole body tensed when he touched her shoulder and turned her to face him. He was so close, her body hummed with attraction and something else that frightened her—need. For the merest moment, she fancied she saw the same need staring back at her.

  "What’s wrong?" he asked again.

  "I need you to go with her," she forced out. "If you don’t, things here will look suspicious. She already asked if we were a thing."

  "And you don’t want any of your neighbors thinking you might be human."

  "What?"

  He lifted his hand and pushed a wisp of her flyaway hair behind her ear. The touch sent shock waves rolling through her, and for a moment her breathing hitched. He was so close she could feel his breath on her forehead. Thank goodness he’d put his shirt back on or she might melt from the heat he generated.

  "No one’s going to judge you if you start dating again."

  "You volunteering, Detective Tanner?"

  She hated herself as soon as the words left her mouth. The pain that burst in his eyes shamed her. He released her arm and took a step backward.

  "I’m sorry, Reed. I didn’t mean to say that. It’s just..." That she was beginning to feel for him like she had Troy in the early days of their relationship. And she couldn’t be sure if the emotions were real or if she was grasping at a past she could never recapture.

  "I’ll go, but with one condition," he said, miles further away than he’d been a moment before. "You have to go, too."

  "I’m too busy."

  "That’s the deal, or I don’t go."

  "Don’t you think that’ll look a bit odd, like you don’t want to be alone with Marianne?"

  "That can’t be helped. And I’m not sure I want to be alone with her anyway. She looks like a hunter, and I’m the prey."

  If her feelings weren’t so mixed up and near the surface, Shelly might have laughed. "Not too many good catches around here."

  They stared at each other for several long seconds. He looked like a giant granite wall, and he wasn’t going to let her leave the storage room until she agreed to his plan.

  She sighed in defeat. "Fine, I’ll go. Though I’m going to feel like the third wheel."

  After returning to her cabin to put on a bathing suit and shorts, she left Chris in charge of the office and joined Marianne and Reed next to the Firefly Run van. She slipped into the driver’s seat.

  "You’re going, too?" Marianne asked, a shade of disappointment in her voice, though she tried to hide it.

  Poor Marianne. Shelly couldn’t really blame her for being attracted to Reed, for wanting to find someone better than her schmuck of a first husband.

  "Yeah, I need to check out the state of the river before we fill up this weekend." She hoped the answer sounded plausible to Marianne. She didn’t dare look at Reed to determine his reaction.

  Shelly drove through Bobcat Ridge and down the winding road that led to the river. Once below the ridge, she turned toward the national park and the Y where Highway 73 met the park road connecting Cades Cove and the Sugarlands Visitor Center. When she reached the Y, she pulled into one of the larger parking spaces.

  As soon as she stepped out of the van, the sound of the gentle rapids and the whisper of the pine trees worked their mountain magic, helping soothe her frayed nerves.

  Though Marianne had obviously not been thrilled at the outing becoming a
threesome, she’d recovered enough to chatter like a blue jay. She’d addressed all her comments and questions toward Reed, so Shelly had focused her attention on the meandering Little River, wondering how she still could love it so much after seeing it thousands of times.

  Reed had answered with an occasional short response, letting Marianne do most of the talking. Though Shelly hadn’t glanced toward him, she’d gotten the feeling that he was watching her.

  Now, she took a deep breath, wishing she could indulge in a float down the river by herself. She knew every bend, every knobby tree lining its banks. What she didn’t know as she scanned the far side was if Eddie Victor could be hiding amongst the foliage, watching her, waiting for his moment to strike. A shudder ran down the length of her spine and all the way to her toes.

  "You okay?" Reed asked.

  "Yeah." She moved past him to the back of the van. "Let’s get these tubes out."

  As they made their way down over the slick rocks and protruding tree roots to the edge of the river, Shelly suddenly thought of Troy and smiled.

  "Maybe Reed was right," Marianne said as she materialized at Shelly’s elbow. "You’ve been working too hard and deserve a break."

  "What makes you say that?"

  "The fact that you were less than happy when we were up at your place, and one look at the river and you’re smiling ear to ear."

  Taking the opportunity to distance herself more from Reed in Marianne’s eyes, she shared the memory that had prompted the smile. "I was just remembering the first time I brought Troy home to meet my parents. Even though it was only early March, he insisted on taking a float. We about froze to death."

  "You’re lucky you didn’t catch pneumonia."

  "We did end up with a couple of nasty colds."

  Shelly glanced past Marianne to where Reed stood rigid, staring out across the river. He’d heard every word. For a moment, she wondered if his stern expression was because he missed his friend or because she still seemed attached to her husband two years after his death.

  "Well, time’s a wasting." Marianne stepped into the water and plopped into her tube.