Abby saw Jeremiah’s gun trained on Stewart and was aware of guests beginning to form in a circle, surprised to see that one of them was Slider.
“I’ve called 9-1-1,” someone said.
“The police are going to love me,” Abby groaned. She looked at Jeremiah. “They’ve probably never had as much business as they’ve had since we’ve moved here.”
Gabriel came around the corner and was at Abby’s side in a second. Or less. “What’s going on?”
“Dad? What are you doing here?”
Abby looked at Johnny and frowned. “Dad?” She looked from Johnny to Stewart, who now hung his head.
“Yeah,” Johnny said, not taking his eyes off of Stewart “He’s my dad. But my grandma said he’s on a business trip.” He glanced at Abby briefly. “He’s gone a lot on business trips.”
“He’s been coming here all summer,” Cooper offered.
“I’ve never seen him here,” Johnny said, confused.
“I’m sure you haven’t,” Abby said, remembering all of Stewart’s change in plans at the last minute. Every time Johnny was coming, he was sure to be gone. She shook her head. She’d never put it together until now.
Noticing the gun for the first time, Johnny looked at Stewart and then at Jeremiah. Johnny’s eyes were wide, tears spilling over.
“What are you doing, J? Don’t shoot my dad!” His voice was thick with emotion.
Jeremiah slowly lowered his gun, never taking his eyes off of Stewart.
“It’s her fault,” Stewart nodded toward Abby. “That witch stole what’s ours.”
“Man, I don’t like the way you’re talkin’ to the lady,” Slider said.
“No one asked you,” Stewart threw over his shoulder. “Now get the hell out of here. This is family business, and it doesn’t involve you. In fact, take the lady with you. Because she’s not family either.” He looked at Johnny. “Son, go in the house. I’ll be in for you in a minute and we’ll go on home.” Johnny stood, not moving a muscle. “Go!” he ordered.
Johnny jumped and started walking away backward.
Abby leaned over to whisper in Cooper’s ear, who was now standing beside her. “Coop, go with Johnny, please. I think he could really use a friend right now.”
“What’s going on?” Cooper asked, confused.
“As soon as the police get here we’ll talk to both of you, okay? But right now I need you to step up and take him in the house.”
She watched as the two of them walked backward, hesitantly, toward the house. Abby nodded her head at Cooper and he turned toward the house.
“Come on, Johnny,” she heard him say, “we’ll play video games.”
“I don’t want to. I want to go home.”
As soon as Johnny was out of sight, Stewart made a run for it. In his poor judgment, he ran by Slider, who’s fist connected with Stewart’s face, the crack of Stewart’s jaw unmistakable. Abby cringed.
“Man! That man has metal in his jaw,” Slider said, rubbing his knuckles.
Police sirens started to wail in the distance, nearing quickly, until the red, blue, and white lights lit up the sky above them, the ear-splitting sirens deafening.
The deputy who had questioned Holly in the too-recent past, was now in front of Abby to get her statement. When she reached the part about the man who ultimately stopped Stewart from running away, she looked around the entire area, now bathed in bright lights. Resort guests were still huddled in a group, craning their necks to see and hear what they could. But nowhere was Slider. He was long gone.
“I don’t know his name,” Abby told the deputy, still glancing around her. “I haven’t seen him before tonight,” she lied.
What she knew as truth was that Slider had come to their rescue and she owed him. Obviously, he wanted to keep private and not talk with the police. And if that was the case, she wasn’t going to make it her business.
“What did he look like?” The officer asked.
“I really don’t remember,” she lied again, one arm hugging her middle, the other around Gabe, who gave her a light squeeze as she leaned into him. “It all happened so fast I didn’t really see.”
“That’s the same thing your dad over there said. What about you? You see him?” he asked Gabriel.
Gabe shrugged. “Can’t say that I did.”
The deputy shook his head. “I guess we’ll just say the guy was a good Samaritan, huh?”
“Yeah. That sounds right,” she agreed, snuggling into Gabe.
33
“Mom, what’s going to happen to Johnny?” Cooper asked the next morning over breakfast.
“I’m sure his grandmother will take care of him, sweetheart.”
“What if she doesn’t?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But this I know for sure. He’s going to need you now more than ever.”
“I don’t trust him anymore. He’s Stewart’s son.”
“Cooper Sinclair,” she said, her voice stern. She sat down beside him, turning his chair to face her. “Johnny is not responsible for his father’s actions. That would be no different than someone judging you based on your father.”
Cooper was silent. Finally, he said, “Guess I never thought of it that way. But, Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t have a father.”
She looked at him, drinking in his sweetness, despite the loss of some of his innocent childhood, thanks to Hunter. What had she ever done without this child? She smiled, stood and kissed the top of his head. “You’ll always have a mother. Even when you don’t want one.”
She was picking up the breakfast dishes when she heard a familiar sound. She parted the curtains and looked out the window. Incoming was a motorcycle with ape handlebars. She smiled. Slider.
She opened the front door and embraced him in a hug, catching him off-guard.
“Thank you,” she said as she pulled away.
“My pleasure, ma’am.”
“I just have one question for you. You weren’t scheduled to stay this week. So how did you know? What brought you here?”
“I’ve been watching. When my buddies were up here that weekend they saw him lurking around the place. I saw him the week I was here, too.”
“The motorcycle gang that was here were your buddies? Why weren’t you here with them?”
“Couldn’t make it that weekend this year. So me and my lady came up by ourselves. Next year I’ll join the rest of them again.”
“Your lady friend? And here I was going to introduce you to my sister. She’s a motorcycle buff, too.”
“Yeah? Well, maybe we can make that happen someday. My lady just dropped me for one of my bros. After I’ve spent some time licking my wounds by putting on some road miles, maybe—well, maybe we’ll talk then.”
“Cabin five again?”
“Of course. The whole haunted thing makes for a more exciting stay.”
She laughed. “So you’re one of those ghost believers.”
“What’s not to believe?” He looked at her, for a moment reminding her of an innocent kid.
“I just may have to stay in cabin five one of these nights.”
“Don’t stay alone.” He grinned and turned to leave.
“Hey Slider?” she said before he’d reached the bottom step, where Gabriel was now standing. “Why did you leave before the police got here?”
“Me and the police, well—let’s just say we don’t like each other much.”
“That’s why you left last night before they arrived?”
“I was just checkin’ to be sure you were okay, is all. I have to be headin’ for the highway. Have some miles to put on before sundown.”
He tipped his head. “Ma’am? Gentlemen?”
Cooper’s eyes lit up as Slider looked at him and held up his fist. Cooper bumped knuckles with him and grinned.
“Keep the peace, man,” Slider said. And then he was gone, his motorcycle roaring to life moments later, leaving Abby and Cooper watching the clo
ud of dust that kicked up behind him as he sped out the driveway.
Finally, she turned to Gabriel. “What do you suppose that was all about? Do you think he’s wanted because he did something bad?”
“I can’t imagine what else he would have meant.”
“What do you think he did?” She looked out the window again as if expecting the answer to materialize there.
“Do you think he killed someone?” Cooper asked, his eyes huge in his small face.
“I don’t think so, sweetheart.” She looked at him, then at Gabriel, doubt suddenly clouding her prior confidence. “Gabriel, you don’t think so, do you?”
“Some things are best left unknown. What I do know is this. If it weren’t for Slider, the three of us might be having a very different conversation. Or none all. I say we’ve got some celebrating to do. Come on, you two, I’ll buy you a coffee.” He grinned and headed into the store and started up the cappuccino machine. “My treat.”
Abby laughed. “Seriously? I think this is more my treat.”
“Yes, ma’am, it is your treat. Because I’m making it.” She laughed as he bowed. “How’s your shin?”
She reached down and touched it gingerly. “If I say it hurts will it earn me a sympathy dinner?”
“I think it might.”
“Then it hurts really, really bad,” she said in a low, sexy voice. Her lower lip jutted out.
Cooper rolled his eyes and groaned, “Oh, brother. I’ll take my coffee to go.”
Gabriel looked back at her. “Okay, I’ll make you a deal. Since I seem to be incapable of operating this gosh darned machine, you can have your dinner even if you’re not in pain if you’ll just make the coffee.”
“Gabriel,” she said slyly, “I’ve never known you to be one to give up.”
He looked at her and winked. “Never on you, Abigail Sinclair.”
The two laughed as they watched Cooper walk out of the store, the screen door slamming behind him, a noise that had never sounded sweeter.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks go to:
First and foremost, to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My everything.
To my family. For understanding my love of writing, and allowing me the time to do so. Your support and unending love is the foundation on which my writing life solidly stands. This wife, mother, and grandmother is the most blessed in the world.
To Rachel Overton. You have taught me more about the craft of writing than any book I’ve read or any class I’ve attended. Your belief in me has carried me when I struggled to believe in myself. (https://www.facebook.com/WordscapesEditor/)
To my Sisters-in-Crime, especially my Colorado sisters. What a gift to belong to such a talented, helpful group of writers. The passion we share for writing has made a huge difference on my journey.
To Becky Shadlich and Elaine Dixon. Thank you for helping this book be the best it can be.
To Linda and my Brighton Group. Without all of you, I wouldn’t have completed my first book, much less my fourth. Thank you for helping bring my dream to fruition and always keeping it real.
About the Author
Rhonda was born in northern Minnesota but now resides in Colorado with her husband, dog, and close to her children and grandchildren. Though she fully enjoys the Rocky Mountains, a piece of her heart will always belong to the woods and lakes of Minnesota.
Her love of writing took flight at the tender age of four when she was caught writing with her crayons on the knotty pine walls of the family home. In her teens, she tested her hand at journalism by writing an article or two for the city newspaper about school events. She completed an online Journalism/Short Story Writing course and was a stringer for another local newspaper, writing about school and community events. It was then she realized writing fiction is her first love and true calling. She has written poetry through the years, some of which have been published in poetry anthologies.
Though her love of writing travels back many years, it wasn’t until she completed her paralegal degree, after her boys graduated from high school, that she threw herself into all things writing. When she’s not at her day job as a Restitution Advocate in a District Attorney’s Office, she can be found hibernating in her home office creating characters, settings, and stories. When she’s not writing, she’s reading books on the craft of writing, and is typically reading more than one fiction book at a time. Mostly mysteries, of course.
Finding Abby: A Romantic Suspense set in the Colorado Mountains (Whispering Pines Mysteries) Page 31
