by Marta Perry
“I suppose. But this...this was scary.” She let her troubled gaze meet his. “And unlike him. I’m afraid. What if...what if it means he’s starting to remember?”
Jason’s jaw hardened. “Has he said anything to make you think that?”
She shook her head. “No, but he may not realize it himself.”
“Or think it’s a dream, I guess.” Jason cupped Kev’s head in his hand in a protective gesture that stirred her heart. “I don’t pretend to know a lot about kids, but...”
“What?” That sounded sharp, and she forced her voice lower. “Please, if you have any ideas, tell me. I’m at a loss.”
He studied her face for a moment and then nodded. “I’m a great believer in using a professional when in doubt. Have you talked to his pediatrician recently about the chances of his remembering?”
“No.” Deidre rubbed her forehead again. “I guess I’ve been thinking if I didn’t pursue it, I could pretend things were normal. Acting like a stupid ostrich.”
Jason’s lips twitched, and he put his hand over hers. “I don’t see you hiding from the facts. The trouble now is not knowing what they are.”
She was getting entirely too used to relying on him. “I’ll give Liz—his doctor—a call tomorrow. Just to see what she thinks about it.”
He nodded, then looked down at the sleeping child in his arms. “Want me to carry him back up to bed?”
“I can do it...” she began, but he was already rising, holding Kevin lightly against him. Kev stirred, then pillowed his head on Jason’s shoulder and slid back into sleep again.
Deidre followed them up the stairs, trying not to think how natural it all was. She drew the covers back as he deposited Kevin on the bed and then pulled them around him, snuggling his favorite stuffed toys close.
Sighing a little, Kev shifted to the side, hand curled against his cheek, his breathing deep and even.
Deidre bent to kiss his forehead and stood, looking down at him with a mixture of love and concern. She felt Jason move behind her, and his hands on her arms drew her gently back against him. Almost without willing it, she relaxed against him, taking comfort much as her son had in his steady strength. Jason’s breath stirred her hair and moved across her skin. She sighed, content to take in the moment.
Jason wrapped his arms snugly around her so that she felt the solid warmth of his body pressing against her. So that she sensed the desire building in him. An answering response built in her. If only she could give in...
She straightened. Not a good idea, especially not now, when she had to stay focused on what was best for her son.
For an instant Jason’s grasp tightened. Then, slowly, he released her. When she turned to face him, he wore a rueful smile.
“Guess it’s time to say good-night.” He cradled her face in his hands, and then drew her against him again for a long, lingering kiss that set her senses reeling despite its gentleness.
“Dream of me,” he whispered against her lips, and was gone.
* * *
BY THE NEXT DAY, Jason’s frustration had reached a new height. His sense that Deidre was in danger kept increasing, and he seemed to have no way of protecting her from the threat.
What were the cops doing? He hadn’t heard one word from Chief Carmichaels in days, and the judge was oddly noncommunicative.
His workload hadn’t become that heavy yet, and what there was involved working on situations where Trey had already done the groundwork. His appreciation for the man increased. Anything Trey had done was always meticulous. His manner might be relaxed and easygoing, but when it came to the practice of law, he was a perfectionist.
Funny, that he and the judge didn’t seem closer. Since Trey’s father and the judge had been partners, he must have known him virtually all his life. But then, the judge didn’t seem to find it easy to relate to a different generation.
Stepping from the office into the warm May sunshine, he found himself lifting his gaze to the ridge. He must be turning into a local, automatically checking to see if the falls were visible. Light glinted through the trees, and a faint mist seemed to rise from the falls and hover over the ridge. According to Kevin, the mist was the Native American woman’s spirit, watching over the town.
He’d noticed Deidre’s slight frown when she’d overheard him say that, and she asked him who’d told him. When she’d learned it was Billy, she’d laughed and assured him that was just a story.
Jason lingered in front of the office for a moment, frowning. Deidre refused to take his questions about Billy seriously because she knew him so well. But someone had killed Dixie, and Billy might have had a motive.
Deidre handed out her trust to everyone, but experience had made him far warier.
And what about Hanlon? If he’d vanished from Echo Falls, that was all to the good, but he’d think the cops would want to know more about him, especially after the episode in the office.
Making an abrupt decision, he wheeled and strode back into the office, surprising Evelyn.
“Mr. Glassman. I thought you’d gone to the courthouse.” Her fingers hovered over her keyboard.
“I just realized I’d never heard anything further about the fellow who frightened you the other day. I hope the police caught up with him.” Jason always found himself speaking more formally whenever he talked to Evelyn—her very bearing seemed to require it.
She clasped her hands. “Oh, no, I haven’t heard, either, and I don’t mind saying it troubles me. What if he comes back again?”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t make that mistake. But hasn’t the judge said anything to you about it?”
Evelyn shook her head. “He’s seemed very preoccupied lately, and I haven’t wanted to ask.” She hesitated. “Do you think you could?”
Somehow he didn’t see himself bringing up that conversation with Judge Morris, not with so much unsettled between them.
“I’ll do better. I’ll go right to Chief Carmichaels and find out what’s going on. If it was this man Hanlon, he’ll know about it.”
He left with her effusive thanks ringing in his ears and strode off down the street toward the police station. Walking was another thing he’d adopted since he’d come to Echo Falls. In such a small town, it didn’t make sense to drive. Now, if Chief Carmichaels was in—
He was, and he gestured Jason into his office. “What’s up with you today, Counselor? Still worrying about Deidre?”
“Somebody has to.” The grimness he felt on that subject crept into his voice. “But I’m here about the character who tried to force his way into the office. Evelyn’s still feeling unsettled.”
Carmichaels had the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry. I guess I should have reassured her. She identified Hanlon, all right. But he hasn’t been seen in town in the past couple of days. He’d paid for a room at the Town House motel for a week, but the proprietor says it hasn’t been slept in the past two nights. His things are still there, though.”
“So you assume he’s left, apparently without getting whatever it was he came for.” Jase wasn’t satisfied.
A certain amount of defensiveness appeared on the chief’s face. “Look, there’s nothing I can do. He’s out of our jurisdiction now, and I don’t have evidence to charge him with anything. Besides, the judge said he wouldn’t press charges about his actions at the office.”
“Why not?”
Carmichaels shrugged. “Thinks it would be bad publicity, I guess.”
He’d have expected Judge Morris to come down hard on anyone who trespassed on what he considered his. Still, other than disturbing the peace there wasn’t much Hanlon could be charged with. The man hadn’t actually broken in.
He was silent for so long that Carmichaels gave him a suspicious look. “Do you know something I don’t?”
“Nothing susceptib
le to proof,” he admitted. “But I’m still concerned about Deidre and Kevin’s safety.”
“So am I.” For an instant, the professional mask dropped, and Jase was looking at a worried older man who feared making a mistake with someone he cared about. “I agree that Hanlon would normally be a suspect in Dixie’s murder, but he wasn’t even in town then.”
“We don’t know he wasn’t, unless you’ve found proof he was elsewhere.”
“You think he could have been sneaking around town, watching Dixie?” Carmichaels considered. “It’s not that easy for a stranger to lurk around Echo Falls, believe me. He wasn’t staying at any hotel or motel within a twenty-mile radius, that I do know.”
“You checked?” He shouldn’t let himself sound so surprised.
“Sure I checked.” Carmichaels sounded affronted. “Listen, you may think we’re hicks compared to the city boys you’re used to, but we don’t do a bad job. At least we know everybody, and that’s something a big-city force can never do.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean that, exactly. I know you care about Deidre and Kevin.” He hesitated, not wanting to give away something Deidre considered private. “There’s always the chance Kevin might remember something.”
Carmichaels nodded grimly. “That keeps me awake at night, I can tell you. But unless and until he does, we’re running out of leads.”
Carmichaels probably didn’t like saying it any more than he liked hearing it. “It’s crazy. Somebody walked right into Deidre’s house, knowing Dixie was there, and killed her without leaving a trace of his presence.”
“You’d think, with as many busybodies as we have in this town, somebody would have seen something. But no one did.”
No one did. And that left Deidre and Kevin as potential targets. To say nothing of the other threat that hung over their happiness.
Something had to be done. But what?
* * *
DEIDRE WAS BEGINNING to think she might have to let Jason talk to Billy, not that she could prevent it if Jason were determined. But Billy had been around the house the entire afternoon, going from one trivial thing to another. Sometimes she caught him just standing, watching her as she went about her work.
By the time Kevin got home from kindergarten, she’d decided she’d have to make another attempt at finding out what was on Billy’s mind. Leaving Kevin lingering over his after-school snack of peanut butter and apple slices, she tracked Billy down in the backyard.
When he saw her coming, he made a pretense of clipping a lilac bush. She put out a hand to stop him.
“Don’t prune that now, please, Billy. You’ll cut off the blossoms.”
He avoided her eyes. “Sorry.”
“I think you’ve done enough for one day, don’t you?”
He shrugged, silent.
Deidre clasped the sleeve of his faded flannel shirt. “Billy, I know you’ve been watching over us. Won’t you tell me why?”
An instant backward step nearly landed him in the middle of the bush. He shook his head violently, lips pressed together.
“You mean no, you haven’t been watching, or no, you won’t tell me?”
Billy’s gaze shifted from side to side, as if looking for a way of escape. She was reminded of the small boy he’d been, seeking escape when some of the bigger boys taunted him on the playground. She’d come to his rescue then, but now she was in the position of pushing him, and she didn’t like it. Still, if he knew something...
“Billy, please. Tell me. I can see you’re worried about me and Kevin. Tell me why.”
His lower lip came out, and he blinked rapidly. “Bad stuff around.”
“You mean Dixie?” she asked, keeping her voice gentle.
He didn’t answer. After a moment, as if the words were forced out of him, he said the last thing she expected. “Kev says you went to the mill.”
Deidre blinked, her mind blank. “You mean the old mill by the falls?”
Billy nodded several times, his head bobbing up and down. “Don’t go there. It’s not safe.”
Puzzled, she studied him. He seemed obsessed with the idea of keeping them safe. “I’m always careful. You know I wouldn’t let Kevin do anything that’s not safe, don’t you? Remember when your brother was daring you to swing on the grapevine up on the hill, and I wouldn’t let you? I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
She hoped that childhood memory might relax him, but it didn’t seem to. He nodded, but then he lapsed into his usual silence and started edging away from her.
“Billy, if you know something that will help me keep Kev safe, you have to tell me.”
For an instant his flight was arrested. His face contorted, as if he struggled with himself.
Then Jason’s car pulled into the driveway next door. Billy turned and broke into a trot, heading off across the lawn in the other direction and leaving the clippers lying in the grass.
Frustrated, Deidre looked after him. Would Billy have spoken if Jason hadn’t happened to pull in just then? She’d never know. But his actions did confirm her opinion that it would be worse than useless for Jason to question him.
Spotting Judith and Benjamin approaching by the path that led along the field, she waved. “Kevin, Benjamin’s coming.”
Her call was answered by the slamming of the screen door and the thud of Kevin’s sneakers on the porch. She shook her head, smiling. If that screen door survived the summer, it would be surprising. At least it might give Billy something to do by fixing it.
Judith reached her, blue eyes amused as she watched the boys greeting each other as if they’d been parted for months. “I thought we’d komm for an hour before I start supper,” she said.
“You’re just in time for a glass of tea. I made the first pitcher of iced tea of the season.” Deidre led the way into the house, pausing to pick off a sprig of mint from the bed along the porch.
“Sounds gut. But I’ll work if there’s anything to pack,” Judith added.
“I finished it before lunch.” She got the pitcher from the refrigerator and added the mint. Judith took glasses from the cabinet with as much assurance as if they were in her kitchen.
Carrying the tray, they went out to the two ladder-back rockers that sat on the back porch—their usual summertime destination.
During the short time they’d been in the kitchen, Jason had appeared in the backyard. He waved briefly and then turned back to the two boys, who were obviously badgering him to play ball again. Good. She really didn’t want to interact with Jason in front of Judith’s observant eyes, not with the memory of his kiss still on her lips.
“Nice of Jason to spend time with the boys,” Judith commented, watching Deidre as if to measure her response.
Deidre took a gulp of her tea. “Yes, it is.” She trusted any oddness in her voice would be chalked up to the tea.
“I saw Billy Kline going off. Is he doing some chores for you? You know I’d be happy to send one of the older boys over if you need anything.” Judith offered her kids’ services as automatically as she did her own.
“I know. I appreciate it. But Billy really needs the money I pay him.”
Judith nodded, although she probably couldn’t understand fully Billy’s situation. In the Amish community, a special child like Billy would be surrounded by the love of a large family who’d take joy in caring for him. Unfortunately, Billy’s own family had broken up years earlier, so others had to pick up the slack.
“He does a good job as long as I keep an eye on what he’s doing.” She glanced at the lilac bush, which fortunately was still holding on to the buds that were about to open. “He’s been...a little upset lately.”
“He’s taking Dixie’s death hard, I’d guess. He always was devoted to her, wasn’t he?”
Deidre nodded. “He’s been hanging around here a
lot lately, as if he feels he ought to look out for me and Kevin. Jason thinks it’s suspicious,” she added, nodding toward Jason, who seemed to be showing Benjamin something about throwing the ball. She’d be interested in hearing Judith’s reaction.
“I wouldn’t think so. Billy has a gut heart, ain’t so? He’d never hurt a soul.”
“That’s what I think, too. But Jason seems to be suspicious of everyone.”
Judith studied Jason for a few minutes in that calm, appraising way of hers. “He has the look of a man who’s been let down by somebody. Maybe that’s why he seems so suspicious.”
Deidre watched him, as well. Was that what she sensed about him? That behind the confidence and courage, he was shielding pain? The little he’d told her about his family life sounded so alien to her that she could hardly imagine what it did to a person to grow up that way.
Judith, even with her limited experience of the English world, had very good instincts for people. Deidre was inclined to agree, but it raised a new problem. Those moments when Jason let down his guard with her—were they only momentary aberrations? Or could he really shed that prickly exterior and become someone who could love unreservedly?
Maybe she didn’t have the right to be asking that question. A few kisses, especially in an emotionally charged time like this, didn’t make a serious romance. She’d come to know Jason when she was shattered by Dixie’s death and terrified by Kevin’s injury. Was that really a point in life when it was safe to start thinking of forever?
A thwack of the bat announced that Benjamin had hit the ball. Kev went scrambling after it, Jason tried to grab it, and in a moment all three of them were rolling on the grass, laughing and wrestling for the ball.
“They’re getting rough...” She started to get up, but Judith caught her hand and urged her back into her chair.
“Ach, don’t be silly. That’s what boys do. It’s gut for them, and Jason won’t let them be hurt.”
“You’re right,” she admitted. “I’ve been hovering too much, I guess.”
“That comes of having just one. If you had six young ones, like me, you wouldn’t have time for it.” Judith’s smile took any sting away.
