Echo of Danger

by Marta Perry

  Unfortunately, he didn’t have much in the way of facts. As long as Dixie’s death remained a mystery, a cloud would hang over Deidre, irrational as that was. Still, everyone he’d talked to in town had nothing but praise for Deidre. If there were those who spread rumors, he hadn’t found them.

  Even assuming the police discovered the killer, and it became evident that the death in Deidre’s house was as little her fault as a lightning strike would be, there was still the matter of the anonymous letter and the whisper that Frank had suspected her of an affair. If not for that...

  What was he thinking? He was sure in his own mind of Deidre’s complete innocence, but Judge Morris was hardly likely to be swayed by Jason’s opinion. Maybe the time had come for him to have a talk with Adam Bennett. If the young minister realized his attentions to Deidre had caused talk...well, Jason wasn’t sure what he could do about it, but bringing it into the open might clear the air.

  Adam had been openly welcoming each time Jase had run into him. Maybe he should take Adam up on his invitation to drop in anytime.

  With that in mind, when he left the office he headed for the Bennett house instead of going home. At least it was a positive step to take. He didn’t like the sensation of sitting back and waiting for the next thing to happen.

  The minister’s home proved to be a sprawling brick structure next to the church, which looked as if it had been built for the large families of an earlier age. Since it was nearly what Echo Falls considered suppertime, Adam should be at home.

  As he approached the house, the sound of a baby crying reached him from an open window. Sounded as if his timing might not be great, but he was here now.

  Jason rang the bell and waited. The sound of crying came nearer, and the door was thrown open. The woman who stood there, a crying baby on her hip, was young, disheveled and frazzled-looking. The baby, his small face puckered, took one look at Jason and increased the volume.

  “I’m so sorry.” She thrust a plastic toy at the child, which he grabbed and threw on the floor. “He’s teething. Can I help you?”

  She looked as if she needed help herself. “I’m Jason Glassman. I’d like to speak to Pastor Bennett, if he’s available.”

  The young woman’s jaw clenched, and he reflected that his would be clenching much worse if he had to listen to that ear-splitting crying much longer.

  “He’s not home.” Her voice was tart. Clearly she had reached the end of her tether. Jason had a brief impulse to offer to hold the baby and shuddered away from it.

  “Can you tell me where he is? I really need to talk with him.”

  “Probably at Deidre Morris’s house,” she snapped. “He always is.”

  For a moment they stared at each other. He saw the horror dawn in her face as she realized what she’d said.

  “I...I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that.” Tears filled her eyes and threatened to spill over. Even the baby seemed to sense her distress and stopped crying. “Please, forget it. I didn’t mean it. Please.”

  He studied her face. “You received an anonymous letter, didn’t you?”

  She turned nearly as red in the face as the baby was. “I didn’t... How did you...?” She seemed to run out of steam.

  Now was the moment for the prosecutor to pounce—to bombard her with questions and demand answers. And he couldn’t.

  “If you did,” he said carefully, “the best thing you could do is to talk this over with your husband. You haven’t told him, have you?”

  Her averted eyes gave him his answer.

  “People who write anonymous letters feed on silence. Show it to Adam. Isn’t it better to do that than to wonder?”

  She stared at him for a moment. Then she groped for the door. As she closed it, he heard the crying start again.

  Jason walked away quickly. Six months ago he’d have been all over the woman with questions, exploiting her obvious vulnerability. Now he seemed to have turned into some kind of marriage counselor. What was this town doing to him?

  * * *

  THE HOUSE WAS quiet after Deidre got Kevin to bed that night. This was when she minded being widowed the most—the evenings stretched long and lonely. Dixie had been the person most likely to pop in to chat around now. Maybe she had recognized Deidre’s feelings, although she’d never come right out and said so.

  She may as well face the other person who lurked at the back of her mind. She hadn’t heard a word from Jason since she’d wept all over him. Hardly surprising. She doubted that there was a man in the world who appreciated being cried on.

  Switching off the television she hadn’t been paying any attention to, Deidre paced back through the house, ending up in the workroom. But even the sight of the new crib quilt she’d been logging into the system couldn’t cheer her. She flipped a corner back, marveling at the intricate twining lines formed by the quilting stitches. Who would believe those tiny, even stitches had been made by hand?

  The quilt failed to distract her, as did the wooden toy train her cousin Josiah had made. He’d claimed he’d have to do one for her in a hurry, before it was time to start on Christmas gifts for all the toddlers in the family, but you couldn’t tell from the craftsmanship. It was excellent.

  This room had been the spot where her mother had sat and sewed in the evenings. Her father had claimed the rocking chair in the corner as his domain, where he’d rock and read the newspaper, a cup of coffee at his elbow. She could almost see herself, a skinny, pigtailed nine-year-old, sitting at the table and wrestling with the complications of long division.

  This house had been home for her entire life. Was it ever going to feel as safe as it had been when she was a child? Maybe that was too much to hope for. A better question was could she make it feel that safe for Kevin?

  Deidre was reaching for the telephone, thinking to call someone, anyone, just to hear another voice, when the doorbell rang. The sound jolted her nerves, setting them tingling. Stupid. She’d been longing for company, hadn’t she? Well, she was about to get some.

  Mindful of the precautions Chief Carmichaels and Jason had drilled into her, she peered from the side window. Jason stood there, obviously watching the window to be sure she checked before opening.

  Smiling, she unlocked both locks and opened up. “See how careful I’m being?” she said.

  “Keep it up.” Jason stepped inside, bringing a sense that the house was suddenly full. “I hoped to stop by before Kev went to bed, but something came up. Is everything okay? You look a little strained.”

  “I’m fine.” She wouldn’t let herself add the word now. “Come on into the kitchen. Judith dropped off a schnitz pie today. She’s convinced food is the answer to any form of trouble.”

  “That’s the kind of friend to have.” He followed her to the kitchen. “Should I ask what schnitz pie is?”

  She actually felt able to laugh, the remaining loneliness dropping away. “Dried apple pie. Drying apples is a way of preserving them.” At his doubtful look, she picked up the golden-brown pastry to show him. “Trust me. I wouldn’t steer you wrong.”

  He sat down, a smile lighting his expression. “Seems to me I’ve heard that line from a used-car salesman.”

  “Just wait.” Deidre cut a wedge of pie, added a scoop of vanilla ice cream and set it in front of him before pouring coffee and cutting a small slice for herself. She sat down and watched as he put the first bite in his mouth.

  “Well?” she said.

  “Heavenly. My compliments to Judith. If she ever wants to go into business, I’ll be her backer.”

  “Don’t suggest that,” she said with mock severity. “She already has a business partner, remember?”

  He dug into the pie. “How is your business going?”

  “We’re actually busier than I ever anticipated. I expected it to be a hobby, taking a fe
w hours a week. Instead it’s turned into a paying proposition, and best of all it lets me be home with Kevin.”

  Jason’s smile faded, and the gaze he fixed on her was serious. “I’m happy about your business. Now tell me what has you upset. And don’t bother telling me there’s nothing.”

  Deidre told herself she ought to show a little restraint, instead of pouring out her troubles. But it wasn’t easy to say no to him, not with that dark gaze fixed intently on her face.

  “Maybe my imagination was working overtime, but I thought someone was watching me when I walked home from taking Kevin to kindergarten this afternoon. And I’m sure I heard someone on the front porch, but whoever it was didn’t knock or ring the bell.”

  “Did you call the police?” He rapped the words at her, his pie forgotten.

  “I started to. I had the phone in my hand, and I thought I’d go out the back to get a safe distance away. When I went out the door, Billy was there.”

  He frowned. “Billy. Was he the person out front?”

  “He couldn’t have been. He couldn’t have gotten around the house that fast. Anyway, by that time I was starting to feel foolish, but I made him go around the front with me. Of course, there was no one there.”

  “You still should have called.” Jason reached across the table to clasp her hand.

  “Why? No one was there. There was no sign anyone had been there.” The warmth of his clasp strengthened her. “Half the town already thinks I’m headed for a nervous breakdown.”

  He seemed to ignore that. Probably because he didn’t care what the town thought. “I don’t like it. What did Billy want?”

  “He said he’d come to finish the trimming.” She could hear the hesitation in her own voice. Jason would hear it, too. “He seemed very worried about me. He kept saying I had to be careful.”

  “Did he say that as a threat?” Jason’s grip tightened.

  “No, no, not at all. He was worried about me, but he couldn’t manage to say why.” She went over that conversation again in her mind. “He seemed afraid. That’s as close as I can get to it, but I’m not sure what scared him.”

  “I should talk to him.”

  “Please don’t.” How could she make him understand? “He gets so upset and confused at questioning that he just retreats into himself. He knows and trusts me—that’s the only reason I got as much as I did from him.”

  Jason didn’t look entirely convinced, but he nodded. He stared down at the remnants of his pie. “I had a rather interesting encounter today, too.” He glanced up, as if needing to see her face. “With Adam Bennett’s wife.”

  “Amanda Bennett? Where did you run into her?”

  “It wasn’t exactly an accident. I went to the house to talk to Adam.” He looked as though that should mean something to her.

  “What did you want to see Adam about?” She felt a wave of defensiveness, remembering his rather acid comments about the amount of attention the young pastor paid her.

  He seemed to pick up on her feelings. “Look, I know you don’t want to believe this, but there appears to be some talk going around about you and Adam. If I’m going to help you convince the judge to back off...”

  “That’s ridiculous. No one could think that.” Anger replaced the defensiveness.

  “Tell that to Amanda.”

  The quiet words knocked the wind out of her. “You mean she believes that?”

  “Believes?” He considered. “I’m not sure. But she’s definitely heard something.”

  Deidre had felt this way once as a child, when she’d fallen from a swing and had the wind knocked out of her. For an instant she couldn’t get her breath.

  “But...what did she say? What did you say?” This was bad enough already. If he’d said anything to make it worse... She shoved to her feet, and he grabbed her wrist.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to call Amanda right now and straighten this out.”

  “Don’t.” His voice was sharp, but then he looked apologetic. “Sorry. But I don’t want you to make it worse.”

  “That’s just what I was thinking about you. What did you tell her?” She wasn’t ready to let go of her ire just yet.

  His fingers encircled her wrist. No doubt he could feel the furious beating of her pulse.

  “I told her if she had any doubts, she should talk to her husband.”

  Deidre sank back into her chair. “Do you think she will?”

  “I hope so.” Jason caressed her skin, his touch soothing. “It’s better if you stay clear of it, at least for the moment. Let them settle it between themselves. Really, that’s best.”

  She nodded, lifting her free hand to rub her forehead. “I’m beginning to think I don’t know anything about what goes on around me.”

  “It’s not that bad.” He frowned, as if trying to find the right words. “When something like Dixie’s death happens, it brings a lot of things to the surface that otherwise might never come up. Sometimes that’s good, but—”

  The sound that pierced their ears was so loud, so sharp, that for an instant Deidre couldn’t move or think. Then she was up, running toward the stairs. Kevin—Kevin was screaming. She’d never heard a sound like that. Kevin—Dear God, please—

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  JASON’S FEET POUNDED on the stairs behind her, and he was next to her when they burst into the bedroom. She bolted for Kevin’s bed, while he paused to snap the light switch on.

  The light revealed Kevin, sitting upright in bed, eyes wide and unfocused, mouth emitting one scream after another. No one else was in the room.

  Deidre reached him, pulling him into her arms, heart pounding. He was stiff, rigid, not even bending as she moved him, and still he screamed.

  Was this some new complication from his head injury? She tried to thrust the terrifying thought from her mind.

  “Kevin, Kevin, it’s okay. It’s Mommy.” She cupped his face in her hands. “Kev, look at me, honey. You’re safe. It’s Mommy. It’s all right.”

  The screams stopped, as abruptly as if someone had turned off a burglar alarm. Her ears still rang with the echo of the sound.

  “Talk to me, sweetheart. Please. Talk to Mommy.”

  But he stared as if he didn’t recognize her.

  She hadn’t heard Jason move, but he was next to her, his hand strong on her shoulder.

  “It’s a nightmare, isn’t it?”

  “I...think so. But worse than any he’s ever had. Night terrors, they say. If I call the pediatrician...” But even as she said the words, she felt Kev begin to relax against her.

  “He’s coming out of it,” Jason said quietly. He sat down on the bed next to her, reaching around her to put a comforting hand on Kevin’s back.

  Relief made tears sting her eyes as her son gave a little sigh and snuggled against her.

  “Mommy?” He sounded confused.

  “It’s all right. You just had a bad dream, that’s all.” Instinct told her she couldn’t just soothe him back to sleep. “Let’s go downstairs and get some milk. Okay?”

  Kevin nodded, his head bumping her chin.

  She started to rise, holding him, but Jason lifted him from her arms. “Let me carry him. That’s okay, isn’t it, Kev?”

  As if in answer, Kevin wrapped his arms around Jason’s neck.

  The kitchen was an oasis of calm, the overhead light touching the warm glow of honey-colored wooden cabinets and brightening the colors of the pink and white geraniums on the windowsills. A family kitchen spelled home. It was the very definition of normalcy. If any place would reassure Kevin, this would.

  While Jason took his seat at the table with Kevin snuggled on his lap, Deidre got out the milk bottle with hands that hadn’t quite stopped shaking. On second thought, hot
chocolate would be more soothing than cold milk, so she poured it into a mug, added chocolate syrup and popped it into the microwave.

  When she turned back to the table, Jason’s head was bent over Kevin, and he talked to him so softly she couldn’t quite make out the words. She could see Kevin’s face, though, and the trust in it as he looked up at Jason twisted her heart.

  As soon as the hot chocolate was warm enough, she took it to the table and sat down, pulling her chair close to the other two and giving Jason a look that she hoped expressed her gratitude.

  “Here you go, Kev. Try some hot chocolate.” She held the mug while he put one hand on it to guide it. She noticed he continued to clutch Jason’s hand with the other.

  Her heart clenched, and she blinked back tears. Kevin had such need for a strong male presence in his life. She hadn’t realized how much he missed that until Jason had started to fill the gap.

  Jason glanced up and caught her expression. He lifted an eyebrow in a question. “Missing Frank?” he asked softly.

  To her surprise, she realized that wasn’t even in her mind. She shook her head. “Just...touched by the way he trusts you.”

  That seemed to startle him. He didn’t speak for a moment. “I hope I won’t ever let him down.” His voice deepened on the words.

  Her smile trembled. She hoped not, too. It was a dangerous thing—letting a stranger into her son’s life. But all her instincts told her Jason was one of the good guys, and she longed to trust him.

  Kevin’s head drooped, his eyes closing. He nestled against Jason’s chest as he drank a little more of the hot cocoa. Then, gradually relaxing, he drifted into sleep.

  Her heart twisting at the sight, Deidre set the cup back on the table. Now that her panicked reaction had faded, the dull worry had set in. She rubbed her temples. If only she could see more clearly...

  “All kids have nightmares, don’t they?” Jason spoke softly, obviously not wanting to wake Kev.