Lethal Homecoming (Tanner Hollow #1)

by Lynette Eason

  Callie flinched and jerked the wheel. Brian stumbled and cursed her. “Drive in a straight line!” He caught his balance and fired again. It gave her an idea.

  Callie looked back over her shoulder while the wind cut through her jacket. Brian stood, weapon aimed. He leaned forward and, with another jerk of the wheel, she cut the speedboat into a sharp left. Brian cried out and went over. She spun the wheel once more and headed toward the dock, her heart pounding over the sound of the motor.

  Rapid gunshots pelted the side of the boat.

  The motor sputtered then quit. “I’m going to kill you!” His manic scream sent fear shuddering through her.

  He continued to fire at the engine, and with growing terror, she realized he was trying to hit something to blow up the boat. And if that didn’t work, he was going to hit her.

  Without another thought, she dove over the side.

  The water closed over her head and cold hit her like a hammer to the chest.

  So cold.

  Swim.

  Safety lay just ahead if she could make it.

  She shrugged out of her heavy coat and started stroking, aiming for the dock. Surprisingly enough, her dash in the speedboat hadn’t taken them too far from the shore. Mainly because she’d driven in circles in spite of Brian’s order to drive straight out of the cove.

  A hand clamped on the back of her neck and shoved her under.

  Callie clamped her lips over the scream that wanted to escape. If she opened her mouth, she’d drown. She spun under the water and wiggled to get away from Brian. A muffled sound reached her ears. A motor?

  She fought her way to the surface and Brian lunged for her once again.

  Callie kicked away from him, terror making her strokes weak. Panting, she pulled hard, her only thought to make it to the dock.

  A hard hand on her head sent her under.

  With his fingers wrapped in her hair, she couldn’t pull away. Her lungs screamed for air. She kicked again and again. Dark dots danced before her eyes and she knew she was seconds away from passing out.

  And then she was free.

  She reached the surface and pulled in a gasping breath. The dots faded. Callie spun at a harsh shout. Seated on the jet ski, Nolan had Brian trapped in a headlock. The smaller man fought him, but Nolan held tight, having the advantage of a firm anchor. Brian thrashed, his cries of fury sending shudders through her.

  “Callie!”

  “I’m okay,” she sputtered. “I’m okay.” But tremors shook her and her clothes weighted her down.

  Callie gathered strength from somewhere and dragged her weary, half-frozen body over to the jet ski. She grasped the footrest and held on. With Nolan’s grip cutting off his air, Brian’s struggles weakened until he finally went limp. “Hold on, Callie.”

  “I’m holding.” Barely. Freezing, she shook so hard, she almost lost her grip on the jet ski.

  The pontoon pulled up beside them and Nolan passed his prisoner to the two officers leaning over the side. They hauled him up onto the end of the boat.

  Then Nolan turned to her and pulled her up behind him. “It’s over. Let’s get you home.”

  11

  Six hours later, after a hospital visit that confirmed Callie’s assertion that she was fine, just cold, Callie sat in front of the fire and sipped hot coffee.

  Nolan tried to get the story straight. He looked at Megan. Still pale and shaky, she, too, gripped a coffee mug in both hands. Other officers stood, taking notes. Brian had been hauled off to jail where he’d get a lawyer, but Nolan didn’t think he’d be free anytime soon since he’d spilled the whole sordid story on the ride to the jail. His backseat confession would go a long way toward a guilty verdict. “So, you found your father’s will.”

  “Yes.” She shrugged. “I was being partly nosey and partly helpful. I thought if I cleaned out some of Dad’s things from his office, Mom wouldn’t have to. I knew she’d been putting it off, not wanting to face it. I figured six years was long enough. In the process, I came across it.”

  Callie’s mother rubbed her eyes before looking at Megan, then Callie. “It never occurred to me that this was about the firm or preventing Callie from reaching her twenty-fifth birthday. Not once did that cross my mind.”

  She was beating herself up for not thinking of it, too, Nolan thought.

  Sharon looked at her youngest daughter. “I didn’t want you to know, Megan. Not yet. Blake didn’t want either of you to know until you were twenty-five. I was trying to figure out how to explain what Callie would get on her birthday without telling you about your part, but I couldn’t figure it out. I’d done so many things wrong, was a horrible wife in so many ways—” She broke off and shook her head. “Suffice it to say, I wanted to honor Blake’s wishes.” She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “And almost got Callie killed because I kept my mouth shut.” She sighed.

  “Wait a minute,” Megan said. “What are you talking about? Tell me about what part?”

  “Blake did the same for you. When you turn twenty-five, you will also get a partnership and shares in the company.”

  “What?” She sat up straight. “I didn’t see that. Just the part for Callie.”

  Sharon frowned, then her eyes widened. “He amended the will shortly before he died. You must have found an old copy.”

  Megan sat back with a slump. “Oh.”

  “You were so young, but when you started working there and he saw how much you loved it, he added that into the will to give you the same thing as Callie should you want it.”

  Nolan figured she wasn’t going to tell her she wasn’t Blake’s child. And really, at this point, why should she? It wouldn’t serve any purpose other than to hurt her. “When you turn twenty-five,” Sharon said, “you won’t ever have to work again if you don’t want to. Blake didn’t want you to know this because he was afraid you’d waste your lives in the meantime, just waiting for the day the money landed in your lap.” She drew in a breath. “Blake was very adamant that you girls work, that you learn the value of having a job and being responsible. He figured by the age of twenty-five, you would have that. Had he lived, it wouldn’t have been an issue. He would have just brought Callie in as partner with the firm and then, when Megan turned twenty-five, the same thing, and that would have been it. However, he made the provision that should Megan die before Callie’s twenty-fifth birthday, well, she would get everything. If Callie had died before her twenty-fifth birthday, Megan would have inherited Callie’s part in the firm.”

  “But I didn’t know that part. And when I vented to Brian about the fact that Callie was going to get everything when I’d worked so hard, he…”

  “Took action,” Nolan said. “He was so in love with you that he would have done anything for you.”

  “Including kill,” Sharon murmured. “He didn’t know Megan would get her share when she turned twenty-five. He just thought she was being shafted. He killed Rick and Clyde because they knew about the embezzling. When he found out about Callie, what was one more death? Especially when it was for Megan.”

  Megan flinched and Nolan wished she hadn’t worded it quite like that.

  “Yes,” he said. “Clyde found the discrepancy in the numbers and thought Megan was responsible for it since it was done on her computer. Rick said he’d take care of it. Clyde was going to the cops.”

  “Wait a minute,” Callie said. “How did Brian even find out that they knew what was going on? That they suspected someone was embezzling?”

  “That was probably me again,” Megan said softly.

  “How’s that?” her mother asked.

  “Rick came to me and told me what Clyde had told him—that someone was embezzling and he thought it was me because it came from my computer.” She shook her head. “I knew it wasn’t me, but never suspected …”

  “You told Brian?” Nolan asked.

  “Yes.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “I was upset that Clyde would suspect I’d do something like that. I mea
n we butted heads constantly about stuff, but I thought we were closer than that. He was like another father and for him to suspect that I would steal from the firm … yeah. That hurt.”

  “And Brian was a sympathetic ear.”

  “Yes.”

  Sharon shook her head. “I still can’t wrap my mind around it.”

  Nolan was glad Rick wasn’t there to terrorize his family anymore, but he wouldn’t have wished death on the man. On Clyde either. He was just glad the truth was out and Callie was no longer in any danger.

  “Brian was the one embezzling from the company.” Megan said. “How did I not know? Why didn’t I have some kind of sense that he was so devious? So evil?”

  “People like that are good at hiding their true self,” Nolan said. “You can’t blame yourself. Those who do wrong, those who do evil are the ones responsible for the wrong and the evil. You’re a victim. There’s no blame to be placed on you.” He looked at Callie. “On any of you.”

  Callie swallowed hard. She got what Nolan was saying. None of what she’d gone through was her fault. She wasn’t unlovable, she was just a victim of another person’s choices. Well, she might be a victim, but she didn’t have to live like one.

  She lifted her chin. She’d been running far too long and it was time to change the way she viewed herself. With Rick’s partiality to Megan and her mother sending Callie away, it had ruled the way she not only viewed herself, but others, too—and the way she thought they viewed her. Especially Nolan, who’d never stopped loving her. At least that’s what he’d said. And if the look in his eye was any indication, he meant it.

  Callie pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders for a double layer. “Excuse me.”

  She stepped out onto the porch and walked over to the hammock. She used to spend hours in this very spot, overlooking the lake and simply staring at the stars. Her father sometimes joined her, and they would plan the future of the firm.

  The door opened and shut. “Are you all right?”

  Nolan.

  “I’m fine. Or no, that’s not quite true. But I will be. It’s going to take some time.”

  “Is there enough room in there for me?”

  “Of course.” She scooted over and he slipped in beside her. Callie spread the blanket over both of them and he lay on his back with his hands under his head.

  “It’s peaceful out here when no one’s trying to kill you.”

  She choked on a surprised laugh. “That’s one way to look at it, I suppose.” She sighed. “I love it out here. I think it feels a little bit like Christmas now. Maybe this one will turn out to be a good one after all.”

  “None of what happened was your fault, you know that, right?”

  “So you said.”

  He turned on his side and braced his head on his right hand. “I mean it. It wasn’t your fault when your mother sent you away, either. You’re not unlovable.” He leaned over and kissed her.

  Surprised, she simply stayed still. Then warmth infused her and she scooted closer to cup his chin and return his kiss. “I never stopped loving you, either,” she said when he pulled back. “But I’m not the same person I was when I left here.”

  “Neither am I, but I think we have a good place to start, don’t you?”

  She cut her eyes at him. “Start what?”

  A slow smile tilted the corners of his lips. “You know what. Start over. Start getting to know one another again. That is, if you want to.”

  “I want to.”

  He drew in a deep breath. “Now that I’m not working on any kind of investigation into your family and friends, will you go out with me, pick up where we left off? Left off as in the fun, good stuff. Not as in the whole you leaving thing.”

  “I’d love to go out with you.” She frowned. “I hope Megan’s okay with that. She’s always had a slight crush on you, you know.”

  “I know, but Megan’s like a cat. She’ll land on her feet. And she will find someone to love. In her time.”

  “And God’s.”

  “Yes, and his.” He paused. “So …”

  “Yes?”

  “Are you moving home?”

  She laughed. “Yes, I am. Just as soon as I can get everything taken care of back in Tennessee.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close once more for a tight hug. “I’m so glad.”

  “Me too.”

  “Welcome home, Callie.”

  Yes. Welcome home. Finally.

  Dear Reader:

  Thank you for coming along on Nolan and Callie’s journey. They’ve had quite an adventure and I hope you did, too! If you enjoyed this little novella, I’d love to hear from you. My email is lynetteeason@gmail.com. My website is: www.lynetteeason.com where you can more about me and my books. I’ve also got a facebook page where you can come and join in the fun. www.facebook.com/lynette.eason. Again, thank you for reading Lethal Homecoming. I hope you have Jason’s story ready for you real soon!

  God Bless,

  Lynette Eason