Circle of Shadows

by Curry, Edna

  It was a ridiculous time to ask, but suddenly it seemed very important. “Lili,” he asked. “What color is your hair, really?”

  She frowned, perplexed, then laughed. “Why do you ask?”

  Embarrassed, but determined to know, he said, “Because I don’t see any different colored roots.”

  He was surprised to see amusement in her wide blue eyes. “That’s because I don’t dye my hair, Ken. People have been asking that since I was a child. It’s just always been this wild, strawberry-blonde color.”

  He felt like a fool. But he was finding out he’d been wrong about a lot of things, lately, wasn’t he? “I’m sorry.”

  “Forget it. But please, Ken, go check with the police. I don’t want Arthur to get away with this. Why didn’t you phone the police from the store?”

  “All I could think of was getting you to the hospital, to make sure you were okay.”

  Tears welled in her eyes, and she smiled as though his answer pleased her very much. “Go phone,” she ordered.

  Ken nodded, and walked quickly to his office, trying to ignore the huge bulge in his pants. Maybe it was better to take his mind off her bare body for a few minutes. She was in no shape to accept him now, anyway, he told himself sternly, as he dialed. Behave yourself, man.

  The officer told Ken, “We’re doing our best. We’ve got a bulletin out on his Jag, and officers checking the airport.”

  “Keep me informed,” Ken said, giving the officer his unlisted phone number. “Lili’s here with me.”

  “I see,” the officer replied, sounding like he was grinning.

  Ken didn’t care. In fact, he wanted the whole world to know that he was claiming this woman. If only she’d have him. He went back to the bathroom.

  Lili was back under the water, except for her head. Her long hair was dripping wet, and she was almost asleep.

  “Lili,” he said, kneeling beside the tub. He stuck a finger in the water, finding that it had cooled, and wondered if he should add more hot water. “Wake up. How are you feeling?”

  “So tired,” she murmured. “I tried to keep moving in the meat cooler to keep warm. Tried to keep awake in there....”

  “Should I add more hot water? Or would it be better to go to bed?”

  “Sleep, I just want to sleep....”

  “Come on, then, out you come.” He carefully rubbed her dry with a warm towel and got her into the blue flannel pajamas that Jill, who thought that Minnesota was always cold, had given him.

  “They’re too big,” Lili said over the hum of the dryer as he blew her hair dry.

  “You need something warm close to your body, and they’re the only thing I have.” Ken rolled up the sleeves and tucked her into his bed. Curling into a ball, she promptly fell asleep. He found the electric blanket he used in the middle of the winter, spread it over her and turned it on.

  Not daring to leave her, he curled his body around hers. He slipped his hand inside the pajamas, and was pleased to feel that her abdomen was now warm. The doctor had told him that was a better gauge than cold hands or feet. The lack of sleep and emotional upheaval of the events of the last two days caught up with him and he, too, fell fast asleep.

  ***

  Hours later, the ringing of the phone roused him. Grabbing it quickly, he carried it out into the hall to avoid waking Lili.

  “I think Arthur got away,” the police officer said. “We found his Jag near a downtown all night restaurant, and talked to a cabby who took a fare matching Arthur’s description from the restaurant to the airport. There’ve been a lot of flights out since midnight, and a lot of people coming and going. But the most likely one seems to be a Delta Airlines flight to New York. A man answering his description bought a ticket with cash on that flight.”

  “That’s logical,” Ken agreed. “From New York he can get any number of overseas flights.”

  “Yeah. If that was Arthur, he’s probably going out of the country. It’s hard to trace a person if he has false ID and is using cash. But we’ll meet that flight, just in case.”

  Noting it was past time for Adams’ Foods to open, he called there and talked to Anna. It took him several minutes to explain what he knew and assure her that Lili was all right. Then he remembered that Adams’ Foods now had no meat man, so he phoned Rudy and directed him to send over his meat-manager’s assistant to fill the position temporarily.

  Then Ken called his office in Minneapolis to see how the rest of his stores were faring. He knew that they would all keep Renee informed of any problems. He told Renee about Arthur’s attack on Lili. To his relief, Renee sounded genuinely shocked, which reassured him that she hadn’t been involved. Hanging up, Ken went back to sleep beside Lili.

  Hours later he awoke. She was still asleep, so he went to shower, shave and dress. His stomach growled, reminding him that he’d also better fix breakfast. He saw that the sun was getting low in the west over the lake, so they must have slept for hours.

  In the shower he remembered that he hadn’t called Lili’s mother. In a small town, the news was sure to have gotten to her, and he’d better reassure her.

  Sarah had indeed already gotten the story from Anna, and was greatly relieved to hear from him.

  “Your phone’s unlisted,” Sarah told him accusingly, as though he might not be aware of that crucial fact.

  “I’m sorry, Sarah, I know we should have called you, but we were just so tired, we didn’t think. Lili’s fine, she’s still asleep.”

  “But she should be here with me.”

  “We need to talk about some things. Yes, I’ll have her call you later. Please don’t worry, I’m taking good care of her.”

  He hung up and then called the police. Arthur had indeed been on the New York flight and had been arrested.

  With a pleased sigh, he went to fix coffee, omelets and toast.

  Lili awoke to the delicious aroma of coffee. It took her a minute to remember where she was and why. Then she padded to the bathroom, washed her face, and combed her hair, staring at herself in his mirror. She was still wearing the blue pajamas with the rolled up sleeves and cuffs, and looked like a pale ghost, but that couldn’t be helped.

  Shrugging, she followed her nose downstairs where she found Ken setting the table in the corner of the kitchen. He turned and smiled at her. “I was just coming to wake you.”

  “I smelled the coffee. It woke me.”

  He came to her and took her in his arms, kissing and holding her as though he was afraid she’d disappear again. “Oh, Lili, I’m so glad you’re all right,” he said, his lips moving greedily over hers. “I love you and want to keep you safe, always.”

  “I’m fine, really, Ken,” she said shakily. “Just starved.”

  “Of course,” he said, releasing her. “I’m not much of a cook, but I made ham and cheese omelets and toast.”

  “Here, let me do that,” she said, taking the coffee pot and filling their cups.

  “Mm, this smells delicious,” she said as he set a plateful of omelet in front of her.

  “Eat first, then tell me all about what happened.”

  She ate greedily, then, staring at the sun low in the sky across the lake, asked, “What time is it?”

  “Around seven-thirty.”

  “I slept all day?”

  “Mm hm. You needed the rest.”

  “But what about the store? I must call Anna and see if everything is okay. Without Arthur, she didn’t have a meat-cutter all day and....”

  “Whoa. Eat your food,” he said, putting another forkful in his own mouth. He watched her follow suit, then explained, “I called Anna this morning and again a little while ago. She did fine. She had your whole crew to help her, you know. The meat case may be empty by now, but I called Rudy and told him to send his assistant over in the morning. He’ll take care of it until you replace Arthur. Maybe you’ll even want to keep Rudy’s assistant on permanently.”

  Lili bit into her toast and eyed him thoughtfully. “I suppose you
called my mother and told her not to be upset, too?”

  Ken looked sheepish. “Yes. And you’re right, she was upset. But I told her I was taking good care of you.”

  Lili blushed. “Now I’m in for it. She’ll have a fit knowing I’m here alone with you. Why didn’t you say I was still at the hospital or something?”

  “Because she’d have driven right over to see you there. Then the hospital staff would have told her that you’d left with me. Besides, I wanted some time alone with you, and I don’t care who knows it.”

  She smiled at that and finished eating in silence. Could he really mean it? It seemed too good to be true.

  “More coffee?”

  She shook her head.

  “Then come on into the living room. The sun is about to set.” He stood and reached for her hand.

  They moved down into the carpeted sunken alcove in front of the windows and settled back against the pillows.

  He sat behind her, and she lay back against him to watch as the sun sent its multicolored hues across the lake toward them.

  “It’s so beautiful and peaceful here.” Lili sighed.

  “That’s why I wanted to live here, to get away from everything for at least a few hours now and then.”

  At the words, ‘get away,’ Lili remembered what they were getting away from. “Ken,” she said, “I have to tell you about Arthur.”

  He turned her towards him so he could see her face in the twilight. “Are you sure you feel up to it?”

  She pulled herself up and wrapped her arms around her pajama covered knees, adjusting the pillows behind her, so that they were facing each other. “Yes, of course.”

  “Then start at the beginning and tell me all about it.”

  She watched conflicting emotions cross his face as she did so. “Arthur could get away with it because only he knew how much meat he’d actually taken to these accounts, and how much we should have been paid for it,” Lili explained.

  “I see. And because he spread the losses throughout all the departments by ringing them up on the till himself, we couldn’t tell that he was the problem,” Ken said.

  “Yes. Then he told everyone that he’d inherited lots of money, so he could spend and enjoy it right under our noses,” she continued, shuddering. “What a fool I was to trust him!”

  “Don’t blame yourself. You couldn’t have known. He fooled all of us.” He let her talk, only occasionally putting in a question, until she got to the horrors of the meat cooler.

  “It was so cold and dark. I had only my thin uniform on. At first, I tried running in place to stay warm. Then I remembered learning in a first aid class, that one of the causes of hypothermia is too much exercise in the cold. The only thing I could find to keep in my body heat was the cardboard boxes the meat was in. They were too stiff to wrap around me very well.”

  “It was enough, apparently.”

  “I guess so.” She shivered at the memory and said, “I’ll never tease my friend Tami about being afraid of the dark again. I think I’ll always hate it myself, now.” She began to cry.

  “Oh, Lili,” Ken said. He took her in his arms again. “Shh, it’s okay, now, love, it’s all over. I’ll never let him hurt you again.”

  She felt his hot kisses move lower to her throat, and moaned in pleasure as he eased her back against the pillows and lay beside her. His hand slipped his loose pajama off her shoulder and his lips teased her breast.

  A hot wave of desire washed down her insides as he fondled her. Her hands moved up to curl themselves into the crisp hairs along the back of his neck, urging him closer as she arched towards him.

  “Darling, it was awful these past weeks, trying to keep from doing this,” he said, sliding the pajama off and out of his way. “I want you so much. I love you.” She felt his fingers slide lower, exploring the sensitive insides of her thighs, then the softly curled hair on her mound.

  Was he just saying that in the heat of lovemaking? she wondered. Or was it really true? At the moment she was too happy to care.

  Her fingers busied themselves undressing him, then caressing what they had uncovered.

  His lips sought hers as he covered her body with his own. Then he moved his kisses lower to send thrills of delight along the side of her throat.

  In moments they had joined and were eagerly moving in search of ecstasy. The sweet tension built higher and higher.

  “Oh, Lili, that feels so good.”

  “Mm hm,” she agreed.

  Pleasure soared through her to match the brilliant last rays of the sunset.

  Satisfied and happy, they went to shower and made love again under the warm spray of water. He took a large soft towel from his heated towel bars and dried her. She grinned and followed suit.

  Then they cuddled facing each other in his bed.

  “I’ll never get enough of making love with you,” he groaned, sliding her hand down to show her how ready he was again.

  “Nor will I.”

  It was quite a while later when they talked again.

  His hand stroked her hair back from her face and his lips covered hers. “Can you ever forgive me for doubting you as I did?”

  “But I’m the one who needs forgiving,” she said. “I blamed you for what Arthur caused my father to do.”

  “It doesn’t matter now. But we really should settle this for good. If you’ll just marry me, it’ll solve all our other problems, don’t you see? We can just share Adams’ Foods instead of fighting over it.” He watched her wide blue eyes anxiously for an answer.

  “Marry you?”

  “Yes.” He frowned. “I told you that I love you, didn’t I?”

  “Yes, but....”

  “But, what?”

  She blushed. “Well, we were making love when you said it, and well, you know, sometimes men say things then, that they don’t really mean.”

  “I don’t. When I said that I love you, Lili, I meant it.”

  “Oh.” A wide smile crossed her face and she leaned forward to kiss him in the darkening room.

  “Lili.” His voice was full of frustration. “Answer me. Do you love me?”

  “Of course,” she said. “How could I not?” Her long strawberry lashes flicked upward questioningly, then lowered again as she went on kissing his chin and running her fingers through the crisp, dark hairs on his bare chest.

  “Then you will marry me?”

  “Mm hm. But first, answer the phone.”

  He became aware of that noise and cuddled her closer. “Let it ring.”

  “It might be my mother.”

  “We’ll call her later and tell her to start planning your wedding.”

  “But she goes to bed early.”

  “So do we.”

  The End.

  ###

  About the author:

  Edna Curry lives in Minnesota and often sets her novels there among the lakes, evergreens and river valleys. She especially enjoys the Dalles area of the St. Croix Valley, gateway to the Wild River, which draws many tourists who give her story ideas. Besides short stories and non-fiction articles, she writes mystery, romance and romantic suspense novels.

  Edna is married and is a member of the Romance Writers of America and four of its chapters: Midwest Fiction Writers, KOD, WISRWA and Northern Lights Writers.

  Circle of Shadows (half of Deadly Duos #1) was a finalist in RWA's prestigious Golden Heart Contest.

  Visit her webpage at http://www.ednacurry.com

  ***

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/7Edna

  Twitter: @ednafern

  Recent or upcoming books by Edna Curry:

  My Sister’s Keeper

  Best Friends

  Bear Trap

  Mirror Image

  Hard Hat Man

  Double Trouble

  Flight to Love

  Circle of Shadows

  Traveling Bug

  Secret Daddy Whiskey Creek Press

  Never Love a Logger Whiskey Creek Press />
  I’ll Always Find You Whiskey Creek Press-Torrid

  Meet Me, Darling Melange Books

  ***

  Short stories:

  5 Children’s Stories

  7 Short Stories

  Non-fiction:

  The Jam of all Jams

  http://tinyurl.com/b4kbnjb

  The story of the world’s largest logjam ever.

  Lady Locksmith Series:

  The Lilliput Bar Mystery

  Coming soon: Body in the Antique Trunk

  Lacey Summers’ PI Mystery Series:

  Yesterday’s Shadow #1

  Dead Man’s Image #2

  Dead in Bed #3 Whiskey Creek Press

  Eccentric Lady #4

  ***

  Ecerpt from Eccentric Lady:

  A Lacey Summers P.I. Novel

  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AN9ZPOE

  From the back cover:

  Lacey’s new client, Patti, comes to her in a panic because her Aunt Agnes is missing. Patti calls Sheriff Ben stupid for refusing to investigate. Is Patti lying? The case gets more weird when Agnes’s body is found, her nasty nephew and brother and his girlfriend arrive, and Patti begins dating Agnes’ lawyer.

  Though Ben and even her trucker fiance, Paul, want her to drop the case, Lacey continues searching for the truth. Someone else doesn’t want her snooping, either. When threats and intimidation don’t work, she’s kidnapped. Will she survive to solve this case?

  Excerpt:

  Beside Paul’s Buick sat an obviously new blue Honda Accord, and on my doorstep stood a tall, lovely blonde woman. I didn’t like the way her gaze followed Paul striding to his car, so my tone may have been a bit sharp. “Hello. May I help you?”

  Her head swung back around and she eyed me from clear, blue eyes. “You’re Landers’ Lady PI?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I’m Lacey Summers, a private investigator. People do call me that.” Most people didn’t think of ‘Lady PI’ as a derogative term. Just a local nickname they’d adopted for me. So I try not to be offended by it.