TEN
In line to pay their respects, Ethan took note of the somber crowd.
Friends, family and campaign supporters all turned out to say goodbye to a good man and friend. The governor hopeful, Clayton Robertson, had sent his sympathies to the family with regrets he couldn’t be there owing to a bad case of the flu.
At the funeral the newly appointed campaign manager, Steven Marshbanks, a handsome man in his mid-fifties with a head full of gray hair that made him look older, gave a short eulogy. “Roland will be sorely missed. He was a good man, a good father and great at his job. His senseless death saddens and angers those of us left behind.
Our prayers are with Roland’s parents and young Joshua. May God grant you peace in the days ahead.”
Then it was time to say their goodbyes and head home. Thankfully, the return trip was uneventful. Marianna and Ethan dropped Joshua back at the dormitory, since his grandparents felt he would do better getting back into his usual routine. He didn’t fully understand that his dad was gone for good. Only time would help with that.
They returned the state vehicle, retrieved Ethan’s car from the lot and headed to Marianna’s parents’ house. Ethan broke the comfortable silence by tapping Marianna on the shoulder. She looked at him, a question in her eye.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
A hand reached up to rub her forehead. “Just how weird it is that in less than two weeks, two people that I knew have died.”
“A bit strange, I have to admit, but I guess we just kind of have to roll with the punches life throws at us…with God’s help, of course.” Something he was still working on. His phone rang and he grabbed it, sending Marianna an apologetic look. “Hello?”
“Hey, Ethan, it’s Catelyn.”
“What’s up?”
As Catelyn spoke, Ethan put the phone on speaker and set it in his lap. Left hand on the wheel, he signed the conversation for Marianna with his right.
“We got a fingerprint off the car that’s not Marianna’s or Suzanne’s. We’re running it through the system as we speak.”
“Great. I guess the next step is to question everyone on staff – and the students, too – who was around that night.”
“We’re already on that. So far no one remembers seeing anything or anyone suspicious. But you might be interested to know that several of the lights around that parking lot had been vandalized. Marianna’s car was sitting in virtual darkness.”
Ethan remembered he’d had to move away from the car to the light in order to read the note the perp had shoved in Marianna’s hand. He’d not thought much about it except that the school needed to put in more lights. Now he found out the lights had been purposely broken.
Someone had put some thought into this – and that chilled him.
The question that now occurred to him was: How many people were involved in this attack? Was her car trashed before or after she was attacked in the gym? It really could have happened either way.
“Do they have any security cameras on campus?”
“Nope.”
“Figures. All right, keep digging. Marianna and I are almost home. I’ll catch up with you in the morning.”
“Good deal. See you later.”
Ethan hung up, his thoughts racing. Marianna’s brow furrowed in thought. She’d followed the conversation well with Ethan signing it.
However, confusion flickered in her tired eyes, and Ethan knew exactly how she felt. It was strange that two people she knew had been killed so close together in time. But Roland’s death was an accident, having nothing to do with Marianna. Suzanne’s death, however, seemed to be another story.
One to which he’d like to know the ending.
By Thursday afternoon Marianna didn’t know whether to feel relieved or worried. Relieved because things had been so quiet or worried – for the same reason. Ethan couldn’t stay with her twenty-four/ seven, so she’d sent him on his way promising she’d be careful and not go anywhere by herself except straight to her students’ basketball game. He’d reluctantly agreed but promised to be back and meet her at the game.
Twenty minutes ago she’d entered the gym and that had been hard, memories of her attack pulsing full force. Now the well-lit place buzzed with more activity than a beehive, causing her fears to slowly slide away.
Breathing in the scent of gym socks, tennis shoes, sweat, hot dogs, hamburgers and soft pretzels calmed her and brought her senses into focus. She was here for the students. She could do this. You’re my strength, Lord.
Soon her girls arrived, and she lost herself in a part of the job she loved. Becoming engrossed in the game allowed her to forget her anxiety. “Let’s play, girls!” Even though most couldn’t hear her, she still yelled while signing so they could see her encouraging them. A couple of the players had enough hearing that they could hear her cheering for them even if they couldn’t understand what she was saying.
Trina dribbled down the court and passed the ball off to Bailey, who went straight to the middle for a beautiful layup. Marianna clapped her hands, cheered and whistled, then motioned for defense to set up.
Then Ethan walked in the door. For five solid seconds she froze, drinking in the sight of him; then warmth filled her and she realized how much she was starting to care for this guy. The whistle blaring caused her to whip her head around, to seeing Paulette signing furiously, her teeth bared in a snarl. “I didn’t foul her, Ms. S. That ref can’t see. He’s blind. Needs to see an eye doctor!”
Forcing herself to concentrate on the action in front of her, not the man behind her, she signed back, “Don’t be disrespectful. If the referee says you earned a foul, you earned it.” Then she winked and said, “And if you didn’t, we’ll fuss about it later, okay?”
Paulette rolled her eyes but nodded, accepting Marianna’s direction.
When the buzzer signaled the end of the game, Marianna’s team had won and she felt so proud of the hard-playing girls.
“Whoo-hoo! This calls for a celebration.”
“Pizza!” The team yelled and signed simultaneously.
She’d promised them pizza if they’ d won. She would have taken them even if they’ d lost.
A hand landed gently on her shoulder, and she turned. “Ethan.” Her heart beat double time at the feel of his touch, and she ordered it to quit. It disobeyed.
Admiration glinted in his eyes. He smiled. “Way to go, Coach.”
Heat crept up from her shoulders. Hoping her dark skin would hide the flush she knew would stain her cheeks in mere seconds, she pretended nonchalance. “Thanks.”
His wicked grin said she didn’t fool him. “So, you’re going to get pizza?”
“Yep.”
“You have room for one more?”
An eyebrow shot up before she could stop it. “You want to come eat pizza with us?”
He shrugged and seemed a little embarrassed now. “If you don’t mind.”
Suspicious, she narrowed her gaze. “You found out something?” That attractive little quirky thing he did with his mouth flashed at her, and her stomach flipped. “Can’t hide anything from you, can I?”
“No, so don’t try.”
“But I’d want to go anyway, lead or no lead.”
She gave him a smile that felt a little wobbly. “Come on, you can follow me to the restaurant. The girls will be focused on their pizza, and you can fill me in on what you’ve found out.”
Seated in the booth at the pizza restaurant located about a mile from the school, Ethan waited while Marianna loaded up her plate with the little triangular slices.
He wondered if she’d really eat all that.
She slid in the booth opposite him and grinned. “Yes.”
“Huh?”
“Yes, I will eat all this.”
He felt his face flush. “Caught me.”
“It’s okay. On game days, I’m starving by the time everything’s over, simply because I’m too worked up to eat beforehand.” She turned
serious and asked, “So, what did you find out?”
He swallowed his bite of pepperoni pizza and wiped his mouth with a napkin. A swig of tea chased the food. Her gaze stayed steady, waiting. He didn’t fool her. A clur1k sounded as he set down the glass.
Tea sloshed over the edge. “Okay, I’m stalling.”
“Just tell me.”
“Forensics turned up some DNA at your house. A hair with the root still connected.”
“And?” Anticipation mingled with fear danced across her beautiful features.
He hated to disappoint her. “Nothing back from the lab, yet. Sorry.”
“Oh.”
“But, your car is a different story. The guy was obviously mad at not finding what he wanted. When he busted out all your windows, a fragment of cloth was left on one of the edges.”
“What kind of cloth?”
“A very small piece of leather.”
“Oh, well that could belong to anyone.”
“And the fingerprint we found matched up with your brother, Alonso’s, so I guess we’re at a dead end there.”
A frown marred her forehead. “Alonso’s print was on my car?”
“Yeah.” He took a few more bites of pizza and looked over at the team of girls, who were laughing and chatting, signing exuberantly, oozing life. Two of the girls were busy texting on their Sidekicks. Ashley would have loved…
Don’t. Go. There.
Ethan grabbed the check from the table. Marianna’s hand covered his. When he looked up, the sympathy in her eyes told him that, once again, she’d read him as easily as a First Steps reader.
His phone buzzed, sweeping relief through him. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Catelyn. The boss has called a meeting and wants you here.”
“I’m off the clock,” he groused.
“Not anymore. We’ve got a hostage situation and he wants you to take care of it.”
All the way home, driving the nice little rental her insurance company had provided, Marianna couldn’t get Ethan’s words out of her head. Alonso’s fingerprint had been found on her car. Usually, that wouldn’t be something she’d worry about. But she’d just had the car detailed that very day, and Alonso hadn’t been anywhere around it since then. Or so she’d thought.
Aside from her spiritual well-being, there were several things in life she considered important enough to take care of. Her dog, her house and her car. Once a month, someone from Darren’s Detailing came and picked up the car while she was at work, and by the time she was ready to go home, she walked out to the parking lot and climbed into a spotless vehicle.
With everything going crazy, she’d kept the appointment as a way of keeping something in her life consistent. It would sound dumb to anyone else, but for her it had been important. Something normal in a world gone nuts.
Anxiety dogged her steps as she headed to her parents’ home.
Fingers gripped her steering wheel with extra force as she wondered whether she should confront Alonso and ask him why his print had been found on her car. Or if she should just forget it.
Okay, that wasn’t an option. Maybe she should tell Ethan and see what he came up with, what advice he could offer.
But if Alonso found out, that would put him on the defensive.
Maybe he had a reason to be, she argued with herself. Marianna worried Alonso hadn’t quite given up the wild friends he’d used to hang with. But even if he’d started hanging around those guys again, why would he vandalize her car? His sister’s car?
She parked on the street so her father could leave in the morning to meet up with his breakfast buddies. Every Friday, barring illness or family chaos, he was up and out the door by six o’clock to head down to The Skillet.
Motion to her left caught her attention. Something on the edge of the driveway, then a shadow darting around the side of the house.
Had her mother let Twister out to do his nightly business?
A glance at her watch said eight thirty. No, that was too early for it to be Twister. Besides, he would have run up to greet her.
Unease settled between her shoulders; her gut churned with anxiety. Chewing her lip, she pondered her options. Get out and investigate?
Dumb idea.
Make a run for the front door?
Maybe.
But what if someone lurked ready to pounce? And what if running for the door just led the danger inside? The darkness closed in, suffocating, igniting all kinds of images of danger, the memory of the attack in the gym.
She double-checked the locks on her rental.
Get out? Stay in? Call the police? Call Ethan? She gripped her phone.
Oh Lord, what do I do?
Then the shadow appeared at her window and a scream ripped from her throat.
ELEVEN
Ethan punched his pillow and flipped the lamp on. By the time he’d gotten to the hostage scene, the situation had been resolved. All that adrenaline for nothing. Ethan couldn’t decide how he’d felt driving over to the place where a young father had taken his wife hostage until she promised to let him see their children. Ethan had been anxious, nervous, with scenes from his last hostage incident movie running through his mind.
It had only been two weeks since Ashley’ s funeral, and he’d been going mad sitting around staring at the wall, reliving her death. Insisting he was fine, he’d gone back to work just the day before the incident. He hadn’t been on call that night, but, owing to various reasons, he’d been the only one available with crisis negotiation training. Knowing he should refuse, he’d agreed to go.
The images still haunted him.
The gun at her head, Ethan on the phone, the man yelling his demands, the woman turning, fighting, refusing Ethan’s orders to be still.
The gun going off…the young woman bleeding to death on her kitchen floor.
And later, his desperate desire to know if he’d done something wrong even though everyone assured him he hadn’t. But he knew what they didn’t. He’d been drinking. So the thoughts haunted him. If he’d stayed away from the alcohol, would he have said something different, something that would have given everyone a different ending? He didn’t know, couldn’t know. But he’d made a vow never to place himself in that kind of situation again.
So Ethan had put in for a request his boss had honored. No more hostage stuff.
Until tonight.
But this time, only minutes before Ethan had arrived, the woman had managed to say all the right things and the incident ended peacefully. He breathed a prayer of thanks.
Unfortunately, he was still keyed up and couldn’t sleep.
The Bible on the nightstand patiently waited for him. Instead of picking it up, he bowed his head and prayed out loud. “God, You died so I don’t have to. You took on the sins of the world so I could be spared punishment. Mentally, I know this, so why do I keep beating myself up? How do I stop punishing myself, and forgive myself?”
Not getting an answer, he dressed and went for a cold midnight
jog.
Marianna knew if her heart beat any harder, it would explode. The figure at her window stumbled backward at her hysterical scream.
And she recognized him. Fumbling with the car door, she ruptured from the vehicle signing and yelling, “Alonso! Are you crazy? What do you think you’re doing scaring me like that?”
Shock twisted to guilt, and his eyes slid away from her. Fury pulsed through her. “Oh, I get it. You’re sneaking out.”
The guilt left his face so fast she wondered if she’d imagined it. His lip curled into that sneer only a rebellious teenage male can manage.
He signed, “You’re not my keeper. Stay out of my business.”
Immediately Marianna forced herself to calm down, to push aside her initial fear and subsequent reaction to it. She rubbed a weary hand over her eyes. “I’m sorry, Alonso. You’re right. I’m not your mother or your keeper. I’m your sister and I love you. I really don’t want to see you get in trouble, okay?”
Remorse flickered at her words. Hope ignited inside her that he’d just go inside the house. Because if he didn’t, she’d have to be a tattletale. Not her favorite role.
“You’ll get me in trouble if I leave, won’t you?”
When would this kid start taking responsibility for his actions? “No, Alonso, you’ll get in trouble all by yourself. It’s your choice.
You’re the one breaking the rules.”
The word made her wince, but she didn’t berate him, just walked away, praying he’d make the right decision – for once. Questioning him about the fingerprint would have to wait until she had a handle on her nerves – and her temper. If she started in on him now, the neighbors would probably end up calling the cops for domestic disturbance.
And speaking of cops…
Ethan’s face leaped immediately to mind. And her heart warmed.
She liked him – a lot. Slipping into the house, she greeted her folks.
Her mother stepped back into the kitchen, and her dad lay stretched out in his recliner, Twister at his side and a basketball game playing on the television. When she sat on the couch near his chair, he pressed the mute button and asked, “Got a winning team this year, huh?”
“Seems that way.” Twister ambled over to her and sat at her feet. She leaned over to scratch his head, avoiding the white bandage that decorated him as a hero. His eyes closed in bliss. “The girls did a great job tonight.”
“Did your young man show up?”
An immediate flush made its way up and into her cheeks; she could feel the heat climbing, so she lowered her head and kept her gaze on Twister, then forced herself to look her dad in the eye. “He’s not my young man. He’s a cop.”
That made her father frown. “I know. Have they made any progress on finding Suzanne’s killer or who attacked you?”
“I think so. A little, maybe.” She didn’t think it necessary to go into detail. Her parents were already nervous enough about her safety.
Downplaying everything seemed to be the best route to go, although with all of their experience dealing with Joseph’s job, she didn’t think she was pulling anything over on them. “Where’s Gina?”
A Silent Terror Page 10
