by Woods, Karen
“I’m terrified, Father, that there could be further attacks on this family.”
“There’s no guarantee this is over.”
“That’s what scares me. I don’t know from which quarter the next surprise is going to come. I don’t feel safe anywhere.”
“Neither did David. Psalm 59 has a lot to say to you right now. I’ll read it to you,” Frank Greer brought out a black leather bound Book of Common Prayer from his pocket and turned towards the back of the book. “Rescue me from my enemies, O God; protect me from those who rise up against me. Rescue me from evildoers and save me from those who thirst for my blood. See how they lie in wait for my life, how the mighty gather together against me; not for any offense or fault of mine, O LORD. Not because of any guilt of mine they run and prepare themselves for battle. Rouse yourself, come to my side, and see; for you, LORD God of hosts, are Israel's God...I’ll skip a few verses before resuming near the end…For my part, I will sing of your strength; I will celebrate your love in the morning; For you have become my stronghold, a refuge in the day of my trouble. To you, O my Strength, will I sing; for you, O God, are my stronghold and my merciful God.”
Dani sighed. “That’s quite a prayer for dangerous times.”
“Yes. It is. Please be careful, Mary Danielle. I’ve become quite fond of you in the weeks you’ve been here.”
“I’m trying.”
“Anything else on your mind? I heard that you and Jase have become engaged. But there’s no ring on your finger.”
“Jase and I have a lot of things to work out between us before we even get to the ring stage.”
“He’s a good man.”
“When I first met him, I found him frightening.”
“I suppose I can understand that. He’s not a man I’d like to have as an enemy.”
“No, I felt the bite of his wrath when I was first here. He was so protective of my father.”
“That sounds like Jase.”
“We’ve come a long way in the last few weeks,” Dani replied. “The friendship is growing between us.
“You and he will be able to work out whatever problems you have.”
“I wish I were so confident of that, Father, I really do.”
* * *
Dani sat out by the pool on a chaise the next day, dozing in the shade. At least she’d stopped seeing everything in duplicate.
Bob Hunter, Chief of Police, said, “Are you awake, Mary Danielle?”
Dani sighed. “Would you go away if I said ‘no’?”
“Not a chance,” the officer replied easily.
“Then sit down, by all means...”
Bob pulled up a chair and sat down beside the chaise. “We need you to make an identification.”
“You caught him?”
Bob sighed. “Not exactly. To say we found him would be more accurate.”
She looked at the lawman. “He’s dead?”
“Murdered,” Bob corrected.
“Are you sure?”
“Shot point blank between the eyes with, my guess says, a .45. I’m waiting on the report to be certain on that. We found him in his car. The weapon wasn’t recovered from the scene. Yes, it was murder.”
“There’s someone else involved in all of this, then.”
“That’s the theory.”
“I had hoped I was wrong.”
“Yeah,” Bob agreed. “Me, too.”
“So how do you want to work this identification business?” Dani asked on a sigh.
Bob removed some photographs from his shirt pocket. “There are several photos of tattoos here. Can you pick out the one you saw on the man?”
Dani took the photos and spread them out on the tray table before her. She looked at them carefully. She nodded. “This could be it,” she said handing him back one of the photographs.
“But you aren’t sure?”
“I’d have to see it in person to be absolutely sure. But it looks like the same tattoo. With photographs, you can never be sure the colors are absolutely accurate.”
“Do you feel up to taking a ride?” Bob asked her.
“I guess. Dad will want me to take my bodyguard with me.”
“That’s not a problem.”
“Okay. Where are we going?”
“The morgue. It’s not pretty.”
“Life frequently isn’t.”
The room was cold. The man’s naked body lay on a steel table in the middle of the room. A white sheet was draped over him. The floor drain and the equipment around the room stated this was where autopsies were regularly performed. Dani found her stomach churning, not only from the thought of what went on in this room, but also from the smell. Whoever he was, he had been dead for enough time to begin to decompose.
“Are you okay?” Bob asked, clear concern in his voice.
“Let’s just get this over with.”
“Are you sure?” Bob demanded.
“That’s the tattoo,” Dani replied as Bob replaced the sheet over the man’s arm. “But other men could have had the same tattoo.”
Bob nodded. “His name was Calvin Smith. There were some items among his possessions you should see.”
A bag sat on the counter on the other side of the room. Bob emptied the bag out onto a tray. “Do you recognize any of these things?”
Dani looked over the collection of artifacts, being careful not to touch them. There were the cufflinks, and the knife, along with several other personal items. “Those are the cufflinks the man was wearing. And the knife looks like the same one he came at me with,” she said, handing the tray back to Bob.
The lawman took the tray and placed the contents back into the bag. “Thank you, Mary Danielle.”
“Can we get out of here?”
“You know,” Bob told her conversationally, as he drove them up the drive to her father’s house, “you surprise me constantly, Mary Danielle.”
“Funny, I thought you had me pegged as a trouble-maker from day one,” Dani replied wearily.
“I did. I didn’t expect to like you. But I find myself admiring you.”
Dani smiled. “I suspect you’re just overcome by my beauty and charm,” she quipped. “Don’t worry about it. It’s a temporary aberration. You’ll get over it.”
Bob laughed. “Some people might say you use that razor sharp tongue of yours to keep people at a distance.”
“Some people might be right,” Dani replied as Bob stopped the car in front of the Devlin home.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Her father came into his office later that day to see her sitting at the computer, typing away. “Somehow, I don’t think this is what the doctors meant when he told you to take it easy.”
“This is about as easy as I can take it, Dad.”
Harry nodded. “That’s one of the things I’ve found it hardest to learn, to let go,” he told her.
“I can understand that.”
“Where’s your bodyguard?”
“I told her to make herself scarce before I took a nap. She’s in the kitchen with Sissy. Apparently, they bowl together, or something.”
“Sweetheart, why didn’t you tell any of us that you had accepted Jase’s proposal?” Harry asked, a pained under-tone in his voice.
“Because I hadn’t, and I haven’t. He asked, I suppose. I didn’t tell him no. But I didn’t accept either. I don’t know why he announced we were engaged.”
Harry laughed. “That boy has never let anything stop him from going after what he wanted. He always was a go-getter.”
“I can believe that.”
“Why didn’t you correct him?” Harry stated.
“Aside from the fact I’m in love with him, it will be easier on him, if things don’t work between us, for me to break the engagement. Engagements get broken all the time. And I have a history of doing just that,” Dani said. “In fact, engagements are made to be broken.”
“If things don’t work out between you?” Harry echoed.
“I’m
not going to rush into anything. Jase makes me laugh. He also makes me profoundly angry,” Dani responded. “In fact, he touches more in me than I knew could be touched, all over the spectrum. But I want to, need to, give this more time.”
“But you love him?” Harry asked.
“More than I thought I could love anyone,” Dani replied without hesitation. “I don’t know if that’s enough.”
“If you do decide to marry him, I don’t want you eloping, or anything stupid like that. Give me the honor of walking you down the aisle.”
“Dad, if I ever get married, you’ll be there,” Dani told him gently. “I promise you.”
He cleared his throat. “I remembered some time ago some of your mother’s paintings are stored in the attics. If you want them, they’re yours.”
“Are you sure?”
“I want you to have them.”
“When I’m feeling better, I’ll go up to the attics and retrieve them.”
“I can have them brought down for you.”
“Let’s wait. I’d rather have a look at them myself, sometime when I’m alone,” Dani replied. “I don’t think I could stand having other people around when I was looking at them for the first time. I really don’t.”
“Nancy did a fine job raising you, Dani. A fine job.”
“Hearing you say that would have meant a lot to her.”
Harry nodded. “Well, my dear, dinner will be served shortly. Do you want to change?”
Dani smiled. “Would everyone be upset if I went into dinner as I am? I just don’t feel up to changing.”
“Lyn will understand.”
“I hope so. She loves you.”
Harry smiled. “Can you keep a secret?”
“You know I can.”
“Lyn prefers the formality of dressing for dinner. I would just as soon come home, unwind, slip into comfortable clothes and have a simple supper in the kitchen.”
“And you put up with the formal dinners to make her happy. That’s so sweet.”
“Compromise is what marriage is made of. I give her the formal dinners she loves. She lets me go deep sea fishing with my buddies a couple of weeks a year without her,” Harry stated.
“That’s good.”
“Lyn gets seasick,” he confided. “And the beach isn’t something she enjoys at all. So, I go fishing, and she stays home and makes a new quilt for one of her charities to raffle off.”
“Whatever works for you two,” Dani answered with a smile. “I’m just happy you have someone who loves you like she does.”
Harry nodded. “If you’ll take some advice from an old man, when you marry, Dani, choose a man who doesn’t necessarily live in your pocket. Having different interests as well as commonalities of interest are both important. Don’t ever let things grow stale.”
“I’ll remember that.”
“See that you do.”
* * *
Dani sat on the sofa. Beth sat in a chair beside the sofa. Jase and Harry were engaged in a low discussion across the room. Dani couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the conversation was obviously involved and intense. Lyn and Thea sat discussing the latest designer gown worn by one of their set at a party the previous week.
Beth spoke to her, hesitantly, “Dani...”
Harry cleared his throat. “Everyone... Listen up...”
The room fell quiet.
Harry continued, “I’ve had a new Will drawn which I’ll be signing as soon as the witnesses arrive.”
“Dad,” Dani interjected, “I don’t want you to leave me anything.”
“Tough,” Harry replied. “Because you, Beth, and Jase are each to have a third of the company. This house and the grounds are to go to you and Beth, with the understanding that Lyn has a life estate here. Lyn gets the horses and most of my personal investments, except for the trust fund set up to run the house and grounds.”
Dani shook her head gingerly. Movement still hurt. “That’s not fair to Jase and Beth. They’ve been part of your life a lot longer than I have.”
Jase smiled at her. “It’s okay. Beth and I want you to have that share of the company. Between us, any two of us will have control. I expect the two of you to side against me from time to time. Still, this arrangement guarantees you an income, whether you return to teaching or work with your art full time.”
Dani sighed. “All I want is to have my father for as long as I can keep him around.”
Harry smiled at her. “And I want to make sure you can live comfortably for the rest of your life. If you don’t want the income, give it to charity, but I’m leaving it to you. Get used to it.”
Sissy announced Steve.
“Have I come at a bad time?” Steve asked.
“Not at all, Steve,” Jase replied. “Come on in.”
“I hear that congratulations are in order,” Dani stated.
“Thank you.”
“I hope you and Sarah will be very happy together,” Jase said.
“Sarah and Steve?” Beth replied in a tone akin to shock.
Jase nodded. “Dani and I will be their witnesses at their wedding on Halloween.”
Lyn smiled broadly. “That’s wonderful.”
Steve laughed. “I think so. Of course, if Jase has his way, he and Dani will be signing the license and the parish register with the same last name.”
Dani tried not to cringe.
Jase smiled. “Absolutely.”
Lyn chuckled. “Speaking of the engagement, we have to plan an announcement party. Of course, we could simply make the announcement at the party for Harry and my wedding anniversary.”
Jase walked over to the sofa and took a seat by Dani. “You look tired,” he said as he took her hand.
“And I haven’t done anything all day, except sit around, and take a car ride,” she replied in a tone full of self-disdain. “But, yes, I’m tired.”
“As soon as Harry signs the will, I’ll take you up to your room,” Jase told her.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I’ll feel better if I double check that your balcony door is locked and that there is nothing to worry about,” Jase told her. “Besides, I want to go over some of the new security features with you.”
She smiled at him and yawned. “Are we waiting for another witness for Dad’s will?”
“Yes,” Jase replied. “One of Harry’s old army buddies.”
Sissy announced General Matthews.
Dani looked over at her father who smiled and winked at her.
“Nate,” Harry said, “you know everyone?”
“Certainly,” the general said affably. “Including the young heroine. That’s some girl you have there, Harry.”
“Yeah. Her mother, rest her soul, brought her up well,” Harry agreed.
“I’m not going to be in any shape to take the coaching job, Sir,” Dani said.
The general shook his head. “Of course you will. There’s still a good month before school begins. You’ll be up to teaching and coaching.”
“Did you accept the job at Westfield?” Harry asked.
“Yes. I did. I was trying to find a way of telling you about it. But I’ve felt like I was abandoning you.”
“Nonsense. I think it’s wonderful that you’re making decisions to do the best thing for you,” Harry told her. “Teaching is what you love, isn’t it?”
“It always has been,” Dani answered.
The general nodded. “We’re delighted to have her on faculty.”
Thea asked with obvious reluctance in her voice. “Are you sure you want to change your Will, Harry?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my whole life, Thea,” Harry told his sister.
“Then I suppose you had better do it,” Thea told him reluctantly.
Dani yawned after the Will was signed. “Excuse me, I’m very tired.”
Harry’s face showed deep concern. “Are you okay, Dani?”
“I’m just very tired, Dad.”
On the following Sunday, Jase surprised Dani by being ready for church. This was the first Sunday morning during the weeks she had been here Jase had made any move to accompany her.
“I suppose I can tolerate one of Frank Greer’s sermons,” he told her teasingly.
“He’s not a bad preacher. He’s literate and thoughtful.”
Jase smiled at her. “I know. Come on, Dani. We’ll be late if we don’t get moving.”
“Why have you decided to come to church with me today?”
“You shouldn’t drive yet. Besides, we need to make arrangements with Frank Greer for the wedding.”
“Oh...” she replied. “As I recall, I haven’t said ‘yes’ yet.”
“You will. And we need to talk to him about when the church is going to be available. Assuming you want a church wedding?”
“Yes,” she agreed, “I would want a church wedding.”
Jase looked at her curiously. “Something wrong?”
“Come on, Jase. We wouldn’t want to walk in late. We need to get Jaime for Sunday school.”
“He’s already gone. Beth took him ten minutes ago.”
She sighed.
“Tell me what is bothering you,” he demanded.
“Just give me some time to work this out, Jase. Give me some time.”
“Okay,” he said with a smile. “I know I’m rushing you.”
“Why, Jase, whatever gave you that idea?”
“Dani... Come on, we wouldn’t want to walk in during the opening hymn.”
They drew several interested glances during the services. For once, the Devlin family pew was filled to overflowing. Harry, Lyn, and Beth were sitting there when Jase and she walked in. Jaime was in Sunday School. Dani caught some of the curious glances that came their way.
Somehow, she thought she should be used to the questions in people’s eyes by now. But she seriously doubted she would ever become used to that. Dani wondered if she would ever really feel a part of this community, or if she would ever feel safe again.
After the closing hymn, Dani and Jase were among the last out of the pews. Harry and Lyn, Beth and Jaime, all excused themselves quickly and headed home. As usual, Frank Greer stood at the back of the nave to greet his parishioners.
