His Case, Her Baby

by Cassidy, Carla

  It took him only seconds to get dressed again. As he left the bedroom he used his cell phone to call Caleb.

  “Caleb, it’s me. Meet me at Peyton’s place.”

  “What’s up?” Caleb asked.

  “I think she’s in trouble. Don’t pull up in the driveway. Park down the street and we’ll go in quietly. Wait for me. I should be there in five minutes.”

  Tom clicked off as he raced to the kitchen and grabbed his car keys. His heart thrummed an anxious rhythm as he left the house and got into his car.

  He hoped he was wrong. He prayed the sick feeling in his gut was all a mistake. He’d get to Peyton’s and she would be fine.

  Maybe he’d misunderstood what she’d said about the pills. Maybe he was making a big deal out of nothing. He hoped so.

  Still, with each minute that passed the anxiety inside him grew more intense. His heart beat so rapidly he heard it banging in his ears.

  Buck Harmon had been released from the jail. Had he gone to Peyton’s house? Or was it possible somebody else was there, somebody who had so far flown under the radar?

  It took only minutes to reach Peyton’s street. He parked his car next to the curb half a block away and a moment later Caleb pulled up behind him.

  “What do you think is going on?” Caleb asked as the two men met at the front of Tom’s car. “There’s no vehicle in her driveway. Everything looks peaceful.”

  “I called her a few minutes ago and she said something that didn’t sound right. I don’t know, maybe I’m overreacting, but I have a bad feeling and thought I should come over here and check things out.”

  “How do you want to handle this?” Caleb asked.

  Tom frowned as he looked up the street at her house. “Let’s head to the back and see if we can look through the windows and see if anything looks off. I don’t want to go to the front door, because if somebody is in there with her, we don’t know what the response might be. With Peyton and Lilly inside, I don’t want to take that kind of a chance.”

  Caleb nodded. “Then let’s do it.”

  Together the two moved through the dark of the night like silent shadows. They cut through the neighboring yards to reach Peyton’s place. Tom mentally cursed as he saw the six-foot privacy fence. He’d forgotten all about it.

  Caleb cupped his hands and gestured that he’d boost Tom over the fence. Tom nodded and with his brother’s help dropped to the grass on the other side.

  The back of the house was before him. Lights burned in both the kitchen and the living room. Tom drew his gun and approached the kitchen window, which was the easiest one to see inside.

  He raised up to peek in and his heart crashed into his ribs, momentarily stealing his breath away. Peyton was tied to a chair. Her chin was on her chest and her eyes were closed.

  Was he too late? Grief crashed through him—grief coupled with an anger he’d never known. He had to get to her. He left the window and moved to the back door. It was locked, but he used the butt of his gun and broke the glass so he could reach through and unlock it.

  As he entered the kitchen, Peyton’s head snapped up and her eyes widened, but instead of relief, they held fear. “It’s Rick,” she whispered. “Save Lilly. If it’s not too late, please save my baby.”

  Tom felt gutted as he left her in the kitchen and slid into the living room, his gun leading the way. He had no idea if Rick had heard his entry into the kitchen, had no idea if the man was waiting for him now with a weapon of his own.

  Every muscle in his body was tensed as he saw that the television and stereo were by the front door, obviously ready to be carried outside and taken away.

  So he was going to make it look like a robbery gone bad. Tom’s blood boiled, but beneath the rage was a fear so intense it cramped his stomach. If Rick had done anything to that precious little girl, then Tom wouldn’t try to arrest him, he’d kill him.

  He crept silently down the hallway, trying to get a handle on which room Rick was in, but he heard nothing that would give him any indication.

  He whirled into the first doorway he came to, the bathroom, but it was empty. The next room was the spare bedroom, and once again there was nobody inside.

  Lilly’s room was next, and as Tom stepped inside he saw Rick leaning over the crib. “Freeze!” Tom said, fighting his impulse to pull the trigger.

  Instantly Rick straightened. He whirled around and threw something at Tom. For a moment Tom thought he’d thrown Lilly, and he dropped the gun in an effort to catch the baby, only to discover it was a stuffed bear.

  Before he had time to process it, Rick was on him. They fell to the floor, where both of them grappled for the gun that had slid beneath the rocking chair.

  The gun slid farther away, and Tom managed to drag Rick toward the doorway. Rick swung a fist and connected with Tom’s jaw. His head snapped back and he tasted blood, but it fed the rage and he landed a hard right on Rick’s nose.

  More fists flew and they both gasped for air as the fight continued. The gun was forgotten as they exchanged blows.

  Finally it was another fist to Rick’s nose that brought the fight to an end. Rick fell to the floor on his back, his breathing labored and his eyes closed as Tom got to his feet.

  He reached beneath the rocking chair to retrieve his gun, then looked into the crib and gasped a sigh of relief as Lilly’s bright blue eyes met his and she smiled.

  He looked up to see his brother standing in the doorway. “How long you been there?” he asked.

  “Long enough,” Caleb replied.

  “Thanks for the help,” he said dryly. Gently he picked Lilly up from the crib and suddenly remembered the bruises on Peyton’s body. When he passed Rick’s prone body, he kicked him hard in the ribs. Rick moaned and curled up in a fetal ball.

  “Get this piece of crap locked up,” he said. “I need to take care of Peyton.”

  As he left the room, Caleb was handcuffing Rick. Tom hurried down the hall toward the kitchen where he could hear Peyton sobbing.

  As he entered the room and she saw Lilly in his arms she began to laugh and cry at the same time. Tom placed Lilly in the bouncy chair on the table, strapped her in, then moved to Peyton.

  He began to work the ropes in order to free her. “Thank God you came,” she exclaimed. “He was going to kill us. He killed India and he attacked me that night in the park.”

  “You were smart, Peyton. Telling me that you took three pain pills sent all kinds of alarms through my head,” he replied.

  “I wasn’t smart,” she scoffed, obviously stifling new sobs. “I let him in. I just opened the door and invited him inside.”

  Tom managed to get the last rope off her and she stood and turned to face him. Before he knew it she was against his chest, burrowed into him as her body trembled with residual emotion.

  Tom tried to keep himself rigid, uninvolved, but as she wrapped her arms around his neck he gave into his need to hold her, to assure himself that she was really all right.

  She cried against his chest as he held her. “It’s over, Peyton,” he said softly. “It’s finally over, and he can’t hurt you again.”

  When he finally released her, she went to Lilly and pulled the baby into her arms. “I need to get a full statement from you,” he said. “And I’m going to have to get a couple of the boys in to process this scene.” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket. “Why don’t you go sit on the sofa and we’ll get this all done as soon as possible.”

  He mentally shifted from man to sheriff. There were things that needed to be done to assure a successful prosecution of Rick Powell.

  It was after ten by the time his team began to photograph and collect evidence. Tom had taken a detailed statement from Peyton as she held a sleeping Lilly.

  “This is going to take a while,” he said to her. “You want to go to a motel for the night?”

  She shook her head. “I’m fine here. I don’t think I could sleep anyway. I keep replaying it all in my head. I can’t believe Ri
ck would go to the lengths he did for some grand future he had planned for himself. And India, she was under his spell.”

  “At least she wasn’t so crazy to follow through and kill you and Lilly,” Tom replied. The relief he felt that it was all over was intense. She was safe, and hopefully nobody would ever try to hurt her again.

  It took most of the night to completely process the house and Rick’s car, which they had found parked down the street. It was five o’clock in the morning when the team packed up and Tom and Peyton were once again alone in the house. Lilly had been put back in her crib when Tom eased down next to Peyton on the sofa.

  “You finally have your life back,” he said to her.

  “Rick is smart and he knows the system,” she said with a touch of apprehension.

  He took her hand in his, wanted to whisk away the last of her fear. “He’s gone for good, Peyton. It doesn’t matter how smart he is or how well he knows the system. He’s going to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Now, what you need more than anything is to get some sleep.”

  He started to pull his hand back, but she squeezed and refused to let it go. “When I was tied to that chair all I could think about was Lilly and you.” Her gaze held his, and in the depths of her beautiful blue eyes he saw a wealth of emotion.

  “All I could think about was that I’d never get a chance to see Lilly walk, and she’d never get a chance to play with little friends or go to school.” Tears sparkled in her eyes. “And the other thing I kept thinking about was the fact that I hadn’t told you that I was falling in love with you.”

  Her words hit him from out of left field, and for just a moment an incredible joy filled him, but it was followed quickly by some of the deepest regret he’d ever felt.

  He pulled his hand from hers and got up from the sofa. “Peyton, don’t.”

  “Don’t what?” She got up and stepped toward him. “Don’t fall in love with you? It’s too late, Tom. I can’t stop what I feel in my heart, and I’m sure if you look deep in your heart you’ll have to admit that you care for me more than a little bit.”

  “Of course I care for you,” he replied uneasily. He didn’t want to have this conversation. The light shining from her eyes as she looked at him shot into his heart. He knew he was going to hurt her and he hated it, hated himself for doing it.

  “Peyton, you told me you want to be a priority in somebody’s life, that you were tired of being a distant third. In my life that’s all you’d ever be. I’ve already had my priorities with my ex-wife and my daughter.”

  “But, Tom, they’re gone. They’ve been gone for a long time. Isn’t it time for you to open your heart to love again? Won’t you give yourself a chance at happiness?”

  Tom felt himself closing in, closing off. There was a part of him that wanted to embrace what she offered, but there was a bigger part of him that wanted to run as fast and as far away as possible.

  “Find a nice man, Peyton. Our town is full of them. Find a man who will love you and Lilly to distraction, a man who has an open heart and a loving soul.”

  “I’ve already found him.” Tears escaped her eyes to shine on her cheeks. “What happened to India Richards was a tragedy. What almost happened to me and Lilly would have been a tragedy, but the real tragedy in all of this would be if you don’t allow yourself to find happiness again.” Her voice trembled. “I want you to be happy, Tom. I want you to love again, and if you can’t find that with me, then I hope you’ll find that with another woman.” She stepped back from him. “I just wanted you to know how I feel about you. It suddenly seemed important that I tell you.”

  “Peyton, this has been a crazy time. I’m sure once things settle down and get back to normal you’ll realize your feelings for me aren’t as strong as you think they are,” he replied. His chest felt tight, filled with an emotion he couldn’t identify and didn’t want to look at too closely.

  She looked at him sadly. “Tom, I know the difference between crazy love and the real thing, and I know what’s in my heart.” She released a weary sigh. “Go on, you need some sleep and so do I. I guess I’ll just see you around.”

  “I’ll be in touch as the case goes forward,” he said. There were a million things he wished he could say to her, but the words were trapped someplace deep inside him, in a place he refused to access.

  There was nothing more to say, nothing left to do but leave. He turned and walked toward the front door without a backward glance.

  As he stepped outside, dawn was just beginning to light the eastern sky, but even the promise of a new day couldn’t lighten the weight of his heart.

  He’d never meant to hurt her. He’d been clear with her from the very beginning that he didn’t want a wife, any children in his life. He shouldn’t feel responsible for her feelings, and yet he did.

  Sleep, that’s what he needed more than anything. He needed to put Peyton’s words of love out of his head. Eventually she’d meet somebody who would be the perfect man for her and a wonderful father for Lilly.

  You’re in a box of your own making. Jacob’s words jumped into his head. You never gave yourself time to grieve.

  Tom had intended to go right home, but he found himself at the entrance of the cemetery where Kelly was buried. He parked the car and stood just outside the iron gate, emotion like a steel band pressing hard into his chest. He hadn’t been here since the funeral.

  His head filled with echoes of a little girl’s laughter, her sweet voice shouting “Daddy” whenever he came home from work.

  Before he realized what he was doing, his feet carried him through the quiet dawn across the lush grass to her final resting place.

  The headstone was tiny and held simply the name of Kelly Marie Grayson. Tom stared at the headstone and realized his brother had been right.

  Jacob had been right. He hadn’t taken the time to grieve for his daughter. He’d had a wife who had been overwhelmed with her grief, her guilt, and he’d had to keep it together for her.

  But now there was nothing between him and his grief, and as it ripped through him he sank down to his knees in the dewy grass next to her grave. For the first time in five years, Tom wept for the child he had lost.

  It took two full days for Peyton to really embrace the fact that the danger was over and her life was truly her own. The bruises on her ribs were beginning to heal, and she suffered no nightmares from her trauma—nothing except for the heartache that held the name of Tom.

  She’d hoped that after he’d had a good night’s sleep he would have a magical epiphany and realize he loved her, but as the first day passed and then the second, she accepted the fact that he hadn’t felt the same way that she’d felt about him.

  What surprised her more than anything was that once the story broke of what had happened to her, the town of Black Rock seemed to gather to offer her support and friendship.

  Women stopped by with casseroles and little toys for Lilly. Even Walt Tolliver came by with a charm made of aluminum foil that he insisted would keep the aliens at bay.

  It was the evening of the third day after Rick’s attack on her that Peyton loaded the stroller into the trunk of her car. Lilly was already in her car seat in the back of the car, and the early evening air was warm, but not uncomfortably so.

  As Peyton slid in behind the steering wheel she fought a little flutter of anxiety. She was meeting Rachel and Dawn and their children at the park.

  When they’d called earlier in the day to invite her along, her first impulse had been to turn them down. She wasn’t sure she was ready to face the place where she’d been nearly kicked to death.

  But then she realized she didn’t want to be afraid to go back there. She hoped that the park would be a place of many happy memories for her as Lilly grew up.

  As she pulled up to the park the two women were waiting for her. As she shut off her engine she wished it were Tom meeting her here for a walk in the park after dinner.

  “Foolish woman,” she muttered to herself as s
he got out of the car. She had to put Tom out of her head, somehow get him out of her heart.

  She gave Dawn and Rachel a bright smile as she pulled Lilly from her car seat, then went to the back of the car to retrieve the stroller.

  “Here, I’ll get it,” Dawn offered and took her car keys from her.

  Within minutes the three women were on a park bench with Lilly in the stroller and Dawn and Rachel’s kids on the playground with a handful of other children.

  “Another week and a half and school will start. Are you all ready?” Dawn asked.

  Peyton nodded. “I’ve been working on lesson plans and can’t wait to get started.” Part of her eagerness to get to work was that she hoped with the hours of the day filled she would finally be able to stop thinking about how safe she’d felt in Tom’s arms, how safe and right it had been when they’d made love.

  A pleasant, light breeze accompanied their conversation, and Peyton felt a sense of satisfaction as she realized these women were new friends…good friends.

  Aside from the fact that seeing Tom on the streets of the small town, running into him in the café or at town functions would hurt, she knew she was on her way to building a wonderful life here for herself and her daughter.

  She didn’t know how long they’d been sitting and visiting when Tom’s sheriff’s car drove slowly by.

  “Evening patrol,” Rachel said.

  “I’ve always felt safe here in Black Rock,” Dawn said. “I think that’s why what happened to you was so shocking to everyone.”

  “It must be a consolation for everyone in town that Rick wasn’t from here and had no real ties to the community except for the fact that I happened to move here,” Peyton said.

  Dawn nodded. “You never want to believe that a friend or neighbor could be responsible for that kind of violence.” She gave Peyton a bright smile. “At least it’s over.”

  “Thank goodness,” Peyton exclaimed.

  Tom’s car appeared again, and this time he turned into the park entrance. Instantly Peyton’s muscles all tightened. She wasn’t ready to see him. Her emotions were still too raw.