Threat of Darkness

by Valerie Hansen

  And he was going to, whether or not his boss—or Sam’s—approved. Sometimes a cop just had to go with his gut instincts. This was one of those times.

  * * *

  Samantha managed to choke down two slices of pizza before her body insisted she stop. There hadn’t been a lot to hear from the family seated behind her other than the usual comments about table manners and such. That, alone, was telling. Most parents at least conversed with each other, yet the Southerlands had been almost completely silent for the duration of the meal.

  She noticed John’s attention wavering and caught his eye. “What?”

  “They’re leaving,” he said quietly. “And you should have seen the dirty look that guy gave you when he got up to go.”

  “So, he knew it was me sitting here. No wonder he was so quiet.”

  “Oh, he knew, all right. At least he did by the time he left. We have to assume he’d spotted us earlier.”

  “Do you think that’s why he didn’t talk much?”

  “Maybe. Judging by his wife’s reactions and the way she stuck so close to Danny on the way out, Mr. S has a rotten temper.”

  “I already told you that.”

  “Yeah. If I had any doubts before, I don’t now. I just can’t see what either of us can do about it.”

  “Now that Danny is on record for suspected abuse the only thing that might bring it to court is further injuries, and I hate to think of that happening.” She shook her head as she met John’s empathetic gaze. “I feel so helpless.”

  “Well, don’t give up. You’ll think of some way to intervene. What about CASA? Is there any way you might get yourself appointed as his spokesperson?”

  “Only if I keep my distance. The rules say a volunteer advocate can’t have any personal connection to the child’s family. Now that I think about it, it’s just as well we didn’t make it to church this morning. Being part of the same congregation might disqualify me.”

  “Wait a minute. What about your E.R. work? You saw Danny then.”

  “Yes, but only in a professional capacity. If he had been treated by another nurse it would still be my job to interview her or him and make a record of medical observations for the judge. I think it’s okay that I assisted the doctor when he treated Danny.”

  “Okay.” John leaned back and stifled a yawn. “Sorry. I guess the adrenaline is wearing off.”

  “Mine, too. Shall we go? I don’t want Brutus to think I’ve deserted him.”

  “You worry more about that dog than most folks do about people.”

  “He’s my only family these days,” Samantha said with a wistful smile.

  “That’s sad.”

  Her smile spread. “Oh, no. I love it this way. Brutus is always there, always glad to see me and he never loses his temper and snaps at me. I couldn’t ask for a better companion.”

  “He’s not much on conversation,” John quipped as he rose and placed a tip on the table.

  “No, but he watches the evening news with me when I’m working the day shift, like I am this coming week.”

  “That must be a barrel of laughs.”

  “Actually, he likes shows about animals the best. We watch a lot of those, too.”

  She saw John shaking his head as if he were criticizing her but the sparkle in his eyes and the quirking of one corner of his mouth told her otherwise.

  Standing back as he paid at the cash register, Samantha was seized by a sense of déjà vu. How many other times had they shared a meal in this same pizzeria? How many times had they laughed over silly things and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company? How many times had they spent afternoons sitting in Elvina’s porch swing and dreaming of a future together?

  Too many, Sam concluded. She set her jaw, determined to choke back the emotions that were trying to take control. This was the very reason she’d hesitated to agree to eat here. This was what she’d feared. Remembering. Feeling as if they were the same as they had been five years ago. Wishing that nothing had changed.

  But it had. Their past relationship was ancient history. Once John quit hanging around so much she’d be fine. Just peachy.

  Turning away and starting for the exit so he couldn’t see her face or tell she was distressed, Samantha sniffled quietly. She should have dug out an old purse and at least stuffed some tissues inside, even if she didn’t have much else to put into it. Her credit cards had been canceled by phone but it would be tomorrow before she could see about getting a replacement driver’s license and stopping payment on any blank checks that had been stolen.

  One glance into the bed of John’s pickup told her that at least their groceries hadn’t been pilfered while they were inside eating. That was something, anyway. In a rural area like this such thefts were rare, yet judging by the way the past few days had been going for her, anything was possible.

  Anything except letting herself forget that John Waltham was part of her history, not her present, she added, chagrined. For a few lovely moments during lunch, she’d let herself daydream and remember the good times, the special feelings that only he had ever brought to her heart and mind.

  “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she muttered to herself as she climbed into the passenger side of the truck and slammed the door while he circled around front. “I never learn, do I?”

  There was no valid rebuttal to that statement. Her only hope, if she could call it that, was to persevere until he got tired of hanging around and either solved the crime surrounding Bobby Joe’s drug involvement or found a replacement to look in on her every so often.

  When John joined her and started the engine without comment, Sam barely glanced in his direction. She didn’t dare. She was afraid if he demonstrated even the smallest kindness, she might break down and weep for the potential happiness that had slipped through their fingers and trickled away like a handful of raindrops. Or tears.

  * * *

  The child cowered in the backseat of the moving car. He knew he’d better stay very still when his father was in a bad mood. Lately, that was all the time, especially when he’d been working too hard and came home after dark.

  His mama always cried a lot then. Danny had heard their arguments from his room and had pulled the covers over his head to drown them out.

  Sometimes, his mama came to his bedside and sat there for a while afterward, whispering to him while he pretended he was asleep.

  When he got big and strong like his daddy he’d take care of her, he vowed. She wouldn’t have to cry and be afraid then. They’d run away and find a nice house to live in with lots of pets and stuff like that.

  The car slowed, then stopped. Danny heard the door slam so he peeked out. His daddy was standing at the curb talking to some men. They were all yelling and waving their arms.

  “Mama?”

  “Hush, honey. Be patient. Your father has some business to finish and then we’ll go on home.”

  Danny drew up his knees, wrapped his thin arms around them and lowered his head so he wouldn’t have to look. Being grown-up was scary. He hoped he’d be happier than his daddy was when he got to be a man.

  SEVEN

  Sam had allowed John to pick her up for work early the following morning but she’d asked Alice to give her a ride into town on their lunch break so she could apply for a replacement driver’s license.

  Since the sheriff’s office and police headquarters were practically next door to the DMV, she was afraid she might accidentally run into John. When that didn’t happen, she was actually disappointed.

  “Proving once and for all that I am nuts,” she mumbled, climbing back into Alice’s two-door compact.

  The older woman giggled. “You don’t have to try to convince me. I know you.”

  “Thanks. Everybody needs friends who unde
rstand them.”

  “So, did you get the new license?”

  “Uh-huh. It was easier than I’d thought. They just took another picture, laminated a copy and that was that.”

  “Too bad it’s not that easy to get your credit cards back.”

  “I went ahead and permanently canceled all but one of them. I don’t live above my means so I really don’t need credit except in emergencies.”

  “Speaking of emergencies, did you notice who showed up again today while you were on your morning coffee break?”

  “No. Who? Not that I want to gossip,” Samantha added.

  “Oh, you’ll be interested in this case. Remember that kid you were sure was being abused? Danny Southerland?”

  “Yes…”

  “Well, he came back. His mother brought him this time.”

  Sam’s pounding heart sat like a lump in her throat. “How bad?”

  “Bad enough, I guess.” Alice gave a shake of her tight blond curls. “Weiss admitted him for observation.”

  “Oh, no. Why didn’t somebody tell me?”

  “I just did. And now that I see your face, I know who turned the case in to the cops the last time.”

  “How about this time? Was it reported?”

  The other woman shrugged. “Don’t know. I doubt it, although Dr. Weiss did seem a tad upset.”

  “I shouldn’t wonder. Poor Danny.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Make another report as soon as I’ve read the file and made sure this was no accident, I suppose. I saw the family just yesterday in Ash Flat. They all seemed pretty uptight, even then.”

  “I sure don’t envy you when Weiss finds out you interfered,” Alice said flatly. “You know how he feels about Ben Southerland. You could lose your job over it.”

  “I’ll do the right thing and leave the fallout to the Lord the way I always do,” Samantha replied. “If I let this situation go and something worse happens to that little boy, I’ll never forgive myself.”

  * * *

  The sight of Samantha crossing the Serenity square on foot hadn’t surprised John nearly as much as he’d thought it would. Clearly, she’d followed through with her former notion and had asked someone from work to give her a lift into town from the hospital. That made perfect sense. He just felt let down—and pretty ridiculous, if he were honest with himself. After all, he and Sam were no longer a couple. Not even close. So why were his emotions lingering so close to the surface?

  Deciding to act on a whim instead of heeding his personal misgivings, he sought out Levi Kelso and found him in his small, private office. “Are we done with the Rochard car, Chief?”

  “I think so. Harlan had Adelaide dust it for prints but everything was pretty smudged. I don’t think she got anything usable.”

  “We can release it, then? I thought I’d see about returning it.”

  “Fine, if you don’t mind sitting on a pile of shredded foam.”

  “Maybe I’ll call around and see if I can find a couple of decent replacement seats first. Is that fella who collected wrecks still out on Highway 9?”

  “Naw. He gave up fixing old cars and went into the metal-recycling business years ago.”

  “Well, I can at least try to repair the driver’s area so Samantha—I mean Ms. Rochard—can use her car.”

  The chief made a sound halfway between a snicker and a snort. “Might as well call her Samantha. Everybody else does. You’re trying so hard to make us believe you’re not interested in her, it’s comical. Man up and admit it. You still have a thing for her.”

  “She’s an old friend. That’s all.”

  “Okay, have it your way. Walt can follow you out to the Rochard place and bring you back.”

  “Actually,” John said, checking the time, “I thought I’d wait till Sam gets off duty, pick her up at the hospital then bring her by here so she can drive her car home herself.”

  “And that way you can tail her?”

  John nodded soberly. “Yes. I have a bad feeling this whole mess is far from over.”

  “Okay. Suit yourself. There’s a roll of duct tape in the storage closet. You can use that for patching. Adelaide mentioned that those seats looked even worse than she’d thought when she’d gone over the car for evidence. Must be pretty bad.”

  “They are. Thanks. I’ll be out back if you need me.”

  His mind still focused on Samantha, John got the tape and headed for the parking area where the tow truck had left Sam’s old sedan. When he opened the driver’s door and looked inside, his jaw dropped.

  Adelaide was right. This wasn’t the way the car had looked when it had been towed into town. Now, the rip in the front seat far outdid the damage to the rear one, meaning that somebody had completed a thorough search while the car was parked right there behind the sheriff’s department and Serenity police headquarters!

  Turning on his heel John hurried back inside. “Chief! We need to dust the Rochard car again. Right now.”

  “Why?” Kelso rose slowly, both hands on his desk, and leaned forward, scowling. “What’s going on?”

  “The seats do look worse than before. Somebody’s been at them again.”

  “You’re joking.”

  John shook his head. “I’m totally serious. I know what that car looked like when I left it and it’s nothing like what’s out there now. Trust me. Whoever was searching it wasn’t done. They finished their job in our parking lot.”

  Chief Kelso muttered under his breath. He was not only angry, he was embarrassed to have had more vandalism occur right under his nose. “All right. Grab an evidence kit and we’ll go over the car ourselves before anything else happens to it. You can impress me with some of that expertise you picked up in Dallas.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  While the chief paused to let their dispatcher know where he was going, John pulled a fingerprint kit. His thoughts kept going back to Sam, to how she would react when he told her there had been a further search of her car. He was not looking forward to explaining how that could have happened or why they didn’t have a real impound yard that was closed to outsiders the way larger departments did.

  Behind him, Levi suddenly blurted out, “Fire!”

  John whirled. Looked for the source within the office. That’s when he saw his chief pointing at the back door and starting to run toward it while shouting, “Somebody call the fire department!” and grabbing a fistful of keys off pegs by the rear door.

  Billows of black smoke were visible. John followed on his boss’s heels, caught the heavy glass door before it had time to swing closed and raced outside.

  Levi tossed him a key ring, pointed and bellowed, “Get that other patrol car moved farther away before we lose it, too. I’ll take this one.”

  As John slid behind the wheel of one of the black-and-whites, he could see the formerly smoky aura becoming bright, dancing flames. Considering the fuel provided by the loose seat stuffing, it didn’t matter how fast the fire department responded. There was no way any effort was going to save what was left of Sam’s car now.

  * * *

  One quick call to Children’s Services was all it took for Samantha to receive permission to interview Danny Southerland while he was still in the hospital. According to the social worker, Brenda Connors, Sam’s appointment via CASA had been approved. She was good to go. And just in time, because she wasn’t about to let that poor kid leave the premises until she’d talked to him.

  Seven-year-old Danny was asleep when Samantha entered his hospital room. The Serenity Medical Center didn’t have a dedicated pediatric ward because the facility was too small, but there were several rooms that had been decorated with murals featuring cartoonlike animals painted in bright colors. Not only
did children enjoy them, those rooms could be good for a laugh if an adult ended up housed there due to overcrowding.

  The childish decor usually made Samantha smile but not this time. Seeing Danny looking so forlorn, so alone, lying on those stark-white sheets almost brought tears to her eyes. Her soft-soled shoes made no sound as she crossed to his bedside.

  His tousled, reddish hair begged to be smoothed off his forehead. Her touch was gentle and light. His skin felt warm but not overly so.

  Danny’s eyelids fluttered as if he were dreaming. He began to whimper.

  “Hush,” Samantha crooned. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

  Suddenly, the child gave a start and gasped. His eyes flew open and he began to blink rapidly as if trying to get his bearings, and failing.

  Samantha smiled at him. “You’re okay, Danny. It’s just me, Nurse Samantha. Remember me?”

  Instead of answering, the boy levered himself onto an elbow and tried to peer past her.

  Sam stepped aside. “It’s just you and me, honey. There’s nobody else here. See?”

  As he relaxed back onto the pillows she took his wrist and checked his pulse. His little heart was hammering. “I’m sorry if I scared you, Danny. I just wanted to see how you were feeling.”

  He stared, wide-eyed and mute.

  “You can talk to me if you want to. I’m your friend. Nurses and doctors help people when they’re sick or hurt.” She had thought she was getting through to him until she added, “Just like policemen do.”

  As soon as those last words were out of her mouth she rued them. Fresh fright replaced the confusion in the child’s expression. He withdrew, gathered up the top border of the sheet that covered him and once again began staring at the open door.

  Samantha let down one of the side railings so she could perch lightly on the edge of the bed and affect a calming posture while she explained. “You don’t need to be afraid of anybody or anything while you’re here with us, Danny. Do you understand?”