“I appreciate the thought, but all the platitudes in the world can’t change the fact that I am facing it alone.”
“I don’t believe in placating people. I believe in telling the truth.”
“What truth? That you and Jake are going to help me? That God is looking out for me? I’ve trusted the police before. I’ve trusted God. But it hasn’t done me any good. The nightmare is still chasing me. Eventually, it’s going to catch up.” There was no anger in her voice, just a weariness that Ben knew all too well. “I really do need to go.”
He nodded, reluctantly letting his hand slide from her arm. “Your apartment is only five minutes from here. If anything happens and you need help fast, give me a call.” He grabbed a sheet of paper from his desk and scribbled his home and cell phone number on it.
“Thanks.”
“I’ll be praying for you, Chloe.”
“Thanks for that, too. I guess I’ll see you Saturday?”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
She nodded and stepped out of the office.
Ben pulled the door closed, wishing he could do more than offer words and friendship, wishing she would accept more. But he couldn’t, she wouldn’t, and he knew the best thing he could do for both of them was pray.
Lord, I don’t know why my life has intersected with Chloe’s. I don’t know what Your purpose is for us, but I know there is one. I pray that Your will be done in both our lives and that in Your infinite mercy You will give Chloe the faith she needs to overcome whatever obstacles and challenges she faces.
The prayer was simple, the peace that washed over Ben a familiar friend. He took a seat behind his desk, tapping a pen against his palm, the glimmer of an idea forming. He smiled, grabbed the phone and dialed.
Chapter Ten
Chloe paced the length of her living room for the fifth time, the walls pressing in on her, the darkness beyond the window preventing her from doing what she wanted to do—leave.
Exhaustion dragged her down, but the bone-deep ache in her thigh wouldn’t allow her to sink into sleep. The skin on her neck felt tight, the bands of scars uncomfortably stiff. She wanted to blame both on her work at Blooming Baskets, but being on her feet for a few hours a day wasn’t the cause. Neither was bending over flower arrangements. Anxiety. Tension. Fear. They haunted her days and filled her nights with dreams that stayed in her mind long after she woke.
She moved toward the computer that sat on the desk against one wall of the living room. Maybe she should e-mail a few friends, catch up with them. Make a few phone calls. See how everyone was, but that would mean explaining all that had happened in the past month. Explaining that she’d left town because she hadn’t attempted suicide. Explaining that someone wanted her dead.
The story sounded far-fetched even to her.
She grimaced, stalked into her bedroom and picked up her Bible before returning to the living room and pushing open the balcony door. The full moon cast bluish light across the yard and reflected off the lake, painting the world in shades of gray. If she’d had her camera, she would have taken a picture, but she didn’t and instead she tried to soak it all in, memorize it, pack it away in her mind so that she could take it with her if she was forced to run again.
The phone rang, the sound drifting out onto the balcony and offering a welcome distraction.
She hurried to pick it up. “Hello?”
“Chloe? It’s Ben.” The warmth of his voice washed over her, and she sank down into the recliner, relaxing for the first time in what seemed like hours.
“Hi. What’s up?”
“I was just out for a ride and thought I’d give you a call.”
“Opal must have put you up to it.”
“No, but she did give me your number.”
“I bet you didn’t have to twist her arm for it.”
“Not even a little.”
Chloe smiled, enjoying the conversation more than she knew was good for her. “So, if Opal didn’t put you up to calling me, who did?”
“Me. I had a thought after you left the church the other night and I wanted to share it with you.”
“I’m all ears.”
“It’ll be hard to explain over the phone. What would you say to going for a ride with me?”
“Now?”
“You’re not busy. I’m not busy. What better time than now?”
Chloe glanced toward the still-open balcony door and the darkness beyond. “I don’t usually go out at night. The darkness hides too much.”
She spoke without thinking, her cheeks heating as she realized what she’d said. “What I meant was—”
“No need to explain. Let’s do it another time.”
“You haven’t even said what it is.”
“And ruin the surprise?”
“I’m not much for surprises.” Most of the ones she’d had weren’t good.
He chuckled, the warmth of it seeping through the phone line and tugging at Chloe’s heart. “I had a feeling you were going to tell me you didn’t like surprises. So, here’s the thing, I have a friend who’s a veterinarian. She’s got a litter of puppies she needs to find homes for.”
“Puppies?”
“Puppies. As in little yapping bundles of fur.”
“Should I ask what this has to do with me?”
“I thought you might like some company at night. A puppy seemed perfect.”
“I’ve never had a dog. I wouldn’t know the first thing about taking care of one.” Though she had to admit, the idea held a certain appeal. The past few nights had been long, filled with odd noises and sinister shadows, nightmares and memories. A distraction might be just what she needed.
“There’s a first time for everything, Chloe.” There was a smile in Ben’s voice and Chloe’s lips curved in response.
“My landlady might not allow pets.”
“The Andersons across the hall from you have one. They’ve brought it to a couple of church picnics.”
“The little mop they dress in a sweater doesn’t qualify as a pet.”
His laughter rumbled out again. “Tell you what, why don’t you think about it? You can give me a call, or we can talk about it when we get together for dinner.”
She should definitely think about it. Rushing into something like a puppy could only lead to trouble and regret, and she had enough of both of those to last a lifetime.
She didn’t want to think about it, though, because saying no would mean spending another night alone in the apartment. Another night jumping at every sound, wondering about every shadow. “Is the offer still open for tonight?”
“Sure.”
“Then I think I’ll take you up on it.”
“Great. I’ll be there in five.”
Five minutes was just enough time for Chloe to check her copy of the rental agreement she’d signed, pull on shoes, pop two aspirin and waffle back and forth on the puppy idea a dozen times.
By the time Ben knocked, she’d driven herself crazy with indecision. Over a dog. But she couldn’t deny the excitement she felt. The sense of fun and adventure that had been missing from her life for far too long and now welled up inside as she pulled the door open. “Five minutes on the dot.”
“I’m a stickler for being on time. Ready?” His easy smile was as familiar as an old friend’s and just as welcome.
“Indecisive.” She limped over and grabbed her purse off the couch, pulled on a jacket.
“Then it’s good you don’t have to decide anything tonight.” Despite his smile, Ben seemed more subdued than usual, his normally abundant charm overshadowed by something dark and sad.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes.” But it wasn’t. Fatigue had darkened
his eyes from sapphire to navy. Tension bracketed his mouth. “We’d better get going. Tori said she’d be at the clinic until eight-thirty. I don’t want to keep her longer than that.”
Chloe nodded, stepping out into the hallway and moving down the steps toward the front door, knowing she shouldn’t ask the questions that were clamoring through her mind, but unable to stop herself. “Were you working today?”
“Friday’s the day I do visitations. We’ve got several housebound members of the congregation and a few in the hospital.” He paused, ran a hand over his hair. “I also conducted a funeral for a two-year-old boy.”
“Just a baby. That’s terrible.”
He nodded, his jaw tight. “It’s hard enough to say goodbye to someone who has lived a long, full life. Saying goodbye to a child who has barely begun to live is devastating.”
“I can’t even imagine what that must be like for the parents.”
“Me, neither.” He pushed open the front door, his movements stiff. “Talking to people who are so devastated, so desperate to know why the tragedy happened, how God could have allowed it, is tough, because there are no answers. We live in a fallen sinful world. Tragedy is part of that. We know that God loves us, that He wants what’s best for us. That makes accepting things like a child’s death even more difficult.”
He ran a hand over his face, then stepped out onto the porch. “Maybe tonight isn’t such a good night for this, after all. I came to cheer you up, not drag you down into the pit with me.”
Chloe hesitated, then put her hand on his arm, feeling the rigid tension of the muscles beneath his sleeve. “I was already in the pit before you arrived. Since we’re both in it together, we may as well hang out. Who knows? Maybe we’ll manage to hoist each other out.”
Ben stared down at her, his eyes dark, the angles of his face harsher in the porch light. He looked harder, tougher, much more like the teen he’d said he’d been than the man he’d become.
Finally, he shrugged. “Then let’s go look at puppies.”
He started down the porch steps and Chloe followed, the coolness of the evening seeping through the long-sleeved blouse and lightweight jacket she wore. She shivered, stumbling down the first step, her bad leg buckling.
Ben grabbed her arm before she could fall the rest of the way. “Whoa! Careful. If you fall and break your leg, Opal will have my hide.”
“And my surgeon will have mine.” She limped down the last two steps, pausing at the bottom to let the aching pain in her thigh ease. “She spent a lot of hours putting it back together. She won’t be happy if I undo all that work.”
“Then we definitely need to make sure it doesn’t get broken again.”
“I don’t think we have to worry about it too much. I’ve got enough rods and screws in it to set off a metal detector.”
“Sounds pretty indestructible, but let’s not take any chances.” He put a hand under her elbow and led her to his sedan, his slow pace matching her limping stride.
Even with Ben beside her, Chloe felt fear creeping close, breathing a dire warning in her ear. Something was out here with them. Something dark and evil. Something ready to strike. Ready to kill.
She glanced around the yard, searching for signs of danger. There was nothing there. At least nothing she could see.
As if he sensed it, too, Ben stilled, his body tense. “Something seems off.”
“Off?”
“Yeah. Off. And it’s crawling up my spine and shouting a warning in my ear.” He glanced around the yard, the hardness Chloe had seen while he stood on the porch even more pronounced.
“Come on.” He hurried her toward the car, pulled open the door. “Get in.”
Chloe did as he asked, sliding into the sedan and expecting him to do the same.
“Lock the door. I want to take a look around.” He pushed the door closed, but Chloe caught it before it could snap shut, pushing it open once again.
“Look around? For what?”
“For whatever it is that’s out here with us.”
“Ben, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Let’s go inside and call the police.”
“Use my cell phone to call. It’s in the glove compartment. I’ve got Jake’s number on speed dial. Lock the door and stay in the car until I get back.”
“Let’s call him together. You can’t go running after whoever is out there by yourself.”
“Why not? It won’t be the first time I’ve gone running after something lurking in the darkness.”
“I didn’t realize that was part of a pastor’s job description.” Chloe wanted to grab Ben’s hand and keep him from leaving.
“It isn’t. Good thing I haven’t always been a pastor.” He brushed the bangs from her eyes and smiled, his teeth flashing white in the darkness. “Now, stop worrying and stay put.”
With that he shut the door and started across the yard toward the lake.
Chloe watched him go, sure that at any moment someone would swoop down on him. Instead, he seemed to disappear, blending into the shadows and fading into the night. Chloe found the cell phone, scrolling through the contact numbers until she found Jake’s.
He picked up quickly, his gruff voice filling her with relief. “Reed here.”
“It’s Chloe. Davidson.”
“Calling from Ben’s cell phone. Is he okay?”
“I don’t know,” she explained quickly, her words rushing out so that she wasn’t sure Jake would be able to make any sense of them.
“You’re at your place?”
“Yes.”
“Stay where you are. I’ll be there in ten.”
Ten minutes. Six hundred seconds. Plenty of time for a shot to be fired, a knife to be buried deep in a chest. A man to die.
Images filled Chloe’s head. Black night. Fire. A shadowy figure. Danger. Pain.
Fear.
She wanted to sink down in the seat, hide her head until help arrived. Wanted to embrace the weak-willed, wimpy woman she’d become and let Ben and Jake handle the problem.
Wanted to, but couldn’t.
Adam had died because of her investigation into the death of Ana Benedict, had died because of what that investigation had uncovered about The Strangers. She had no intention of letting the same thing happen to Ben. Fear or no fear, she was getting out of the car and she was going to face whatever was hiding in the darkness.
Hands shaking, she shoved open the car door and took a gulping breath of cool air. The yard was silent and still, waiting for whatever would come. Chloe waited, too, breathless and watching, hoping to see Ben return before she actually had to go after him. Finally, she couldn’t put it off any longer and she stepped away from the car, leaves and grass crunching under her feet, releasing the heavy scent of earth and decay.
Up ahead, the dark water of the lake washed over rocks and wood, lapping against the shore in rhythmic waves that should have been soothing but weren’t.
I could really use some help right about now, Lord.
The prayer chanted through her mind as she skirted a thick grove of trees and approached the lake. The shoreline was empty, tall reeds and thick grasses heavy and overgrown, tangled in bunches near the water’s edge. A boat bobbed on the surface of the lake, the rickety dock it was tied to barely keeping it from floating away.
“Ben?” She whispered his name as she moved toward the dock, peering into the shadows afraid of what she might find there.
“I thought you were staying in the car.”
He spoke from behind her, his voice so unexpected, Chloe bit back a scream, whirling to face him, her heart in her throat. “I didn’t want you to be out here by yourself.”
“So you decided to come out by yourself?” The moon was behind him, casting shadows a
cross his face, making his expression impossible to read.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“It wasn’t.” He cupped her elbow, tugging her back toward the house.
“Did you see someone?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean someone wasn’t here.”
“What do we do now?”
“We go back to the car and you get in it and lock the door. I walk around the house and see if there’s any evidence that someone has been hanging around. Maybe talk to the downstairs tenant, see if he’s heard anything. Once Jake gets here and checks things out, we’ll head over to the veterinary clinic.”
“It’s getting a little late for that.”
“It’s not late at all.” His hand rested on her back, the warmth of it seeping through her jacket and warming her chilled skin. “I hear sirens. Jake is on the way. Stay in the car this time, okay?”
“Okay.”
The door shut again and this time Chloe stayed where she was, watching Ben move around the perimeter of the house as the sound of sirens drifted into the car and her rapidly beating heart subsided.
Chapter Eleven
By the time Jake and Ben finished searching the property, Chloe had come up with several excuses to return to her apartment and lock herself in for the night. Her head ached. Her leg throbbed. She really didn’t think a puppy was a good idea.
All of them fled her mind as Ben pulled open the car door and slid in, a woodsy, masculine scent floating into the car with him. “We’re all set.”
“Did you find anything?”
“Nothing but a few smudged footprints near the window under your apartment. They could be from anyone and could have been there for a few days.” He started the engine. “Someone was out there tonight, though. I’m sure of it.”
“You saw someone?”
“Felt someone. Whether or not that someone has anything to do with what’s been happening to you, I can’t say.”
“How could it not? It’s exactly what’s been happening to me for months.”
“It started after the accident?”
Valley of Shadows and Stranger in the Shadows: Valley of ShadowsStranger in the Shadows Page 28
