Matt smiled. He hadn’t been angling for an invitation, but pizza sounded good.
“I’ll see you then.”
Five minutes later, Jen opened the door when Matt arrived. “Come on in before it gets cold.”
Matt keyed the automatic lock on his red F-150 SuperCrew and walked into the organized chaos that was the Burkhalter house. Bobby immediately tackle-hugged him around the knees.
“Unca Matt!”
“Hey, Uncle Matt’s here!” Not to be left out, eight-year-old Kevin raced toward his honorary uncle, holding out his latest freebie from the fast-food kiddie meal.
“Ooh, scary dinosaur!”
His comment earned Matt an instant grin from Kevin, who growled and waved the green plastic tyrannosaurus in Matt’s face.
Chrissy typed something on her phone, giggled and put it into her pocket before waving at Matt.
“New boyfriend?”
Chrissy shook her head. “Oh, no, Uncle Matt.”
“Good. You’re too young to date.”
Chrissy giggled again. It was such a normal sound. How old was she now? Matt had lost track.
“I’m thirteen. All my friends are dating.” Her phone buzzed again, and she snatched it out of her pocket to check the latest text.
“All the more reason.” Matt thought of himself at thirteen, a mass of pimples and hormones. He shuddered. He was so thankful he didn’t have kids. He wasn’t sure he could take the stress.
“Jen, where do you keep the soda glasses?”
Matt started. Lorie Narramore was here? Alarm bells clanged in his brain. He whirled to face Jen.
“Upper cupboard over the counter next to the refrigerator.” Jen rolled her eyes at Matt. “Turn off that expression, Deputy. I invited Lorie before J.T. asked you over, so you can stick your suspicion right back in your detective kit.”
Lorie emerged from the kitchen carrying two glasses in each hand.
“Chrissy, put the phone away and help Lorie.”
Chrissy barely missed colliding with Matt on her way to help. She snatched the glasses from Lorie just as Lorie spotted Matt. Good thing. It looked as though she’d have dropped them if Chrissy hadn’t intervened.
“Deputy? Why are you—did Jen phone you?” Lorie still looked alarmed. Had the note been that disturbing?
Matt put a smile on his face.
“Nope. Just called to catch up with J.T., and he invited me for supper.” Noticing that Lorie’s expression hadn’t changed, his trouble radar kicked in. “Why? Has something else happened?”
Before Lorie could answer, Jen called the rest of the family to the table. J.T. brought the two Old West Pizza family-size to-go boxes from the kitchen and set them in the middle as the thundering herd of children took their places.
“I want to sit by Miss Lowie!” Bobby announced.
In the table shuffling that followed, Matt ended up on Lorie’s other side. J.T. held out his hands to Bobby and Kevin, who were seated next to him. The prayer circle quickly formed around the table. Lorie’s hand was soft but firm. Matt wondered if she still played an instrument. He ignored the warmth that traveled up his arm at the contact.
“Lord, thank You for the guests You’ve brought us, and thank You for keeping us all safe today. Please bless this food and our fellowship, in Jesus’s name. Amen.”
A round of hearty “Amens” preceded an immediate scramble for pizza slices. Matt felt a gentle tug and realized he hadn’t let go of Lorie’s hand.
“Oh. Sorry.” He released her.
“No problem.” Lorie concentrated on the slice of pizza in front of her, effectively cutting off conversation.
The Burkhalter children chattered about upcoming church camp and dozens of other subjects. Matt could barely keep up. He did keep a surreptitious eye on Lorie, noticing as color slowly returned to her fine cheekbones.
Matt waited until after the kids had scarfed down their pizza and scattered to their rooms before bringing up Lorie’s distress.
“Something else has happened since that note.”
Lorie turned to look at him. She nodded slowly.
“What?”
“Somebody called.” Jen spoke before Lorie could. “Just as we were leaving for the day.”
“And…?”
Color drained from Lorie’s face.
“She wouldn’t tell me what he said.” Jen sounded irked. “But it must have been pretty bad.”
Matt waited until Lorie turned to him. Her anguished expression revealed more than words.
“You should have notified us immediately so we could put a trace on the call. Was it the person who sent the note?”
Lorie gulped. “I don’t know. Maybe. Probably.”
“So I insisted she come home with me.” Jen took another swallow of sweet tea.
“Good idea.” Was Lorie going to tell him voluntarily, or would he have to drag the information out of her? “Well? What did he say?”
Tears formed in her eyes, making them glisten. She blinked them away.
“Just one word. It was enough.”
Matt raised both eyebrows in a question.
Lorie took a deep breath, and, as she let it out slowly, breathed her answer. “Murderer.”
Jen’s hand flew to her mouth. “You didn’t tell me! Oh, you poor thing! No wonder you were so shaken. Do you think that’s what the note meant?” She reached over the table and patted Lorie’s hand.
Lorie nodded.
“You were cleared completely.” Matt’s words were firm. “There’s no reason you should have to put up with this kind of harassment.”
Lorie flashed him a grateful smile.
Matt turned to look at Jen. “Speaking of the note, what was the story with the invoice you tried to hide from me?”
J.T. got the expression of a foxhound that had just picked up the scent. This was apparently news to him.
“It was for an order of books from a new publisher. One of the patrons put in a request. Unfortunately, he happens to be on the library committee in the county board of supervisors, so we had to order them.”
What books would Jen find so objectionable? “Smut?”
“No.” Jen sighed. “Worse. Books claiming the Holocaust never happened.”
The pizza and salad soured in Matt’s stomach. His grandfather had been among the troops that freed the prisoners at Dachau. He’d shown Matt the photographs, pictures of things he’d never imagined one human being could do to another. Then again, that had been the problem. The Nazis hadn’t considered their victims to be real human beings. He fought against the rising indignation and managed to keep his voice calm.
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know if I should—”
“Who?”
Jen sighed. “Supervisor Pitt.”
Ouch. Joseph Pitt was a prosperous businessman who not only had friends in high places but was headed there himself. His radical beliefs hadn’t kept him out of office. He always managed to gloss over the more controversial aspects of his beliefs when not among his fellow extremists. But, after a long conversation with the man at a social event when Pitt had been much the worse from whiskey, Matt knew way more than he ever wanted to about the repellant way the man’s mind worked.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I was embarrassed.” Jen picked up her plate and headed toward the dishwasher with it, even though it still had leftover pizza on it. “I detest having that hate-filled propaganda in our little county library. But I need the job.”
Matt looked at Lorie again. “Did you know about this?”
“Yes. When he explained why he wanted them, he said it was just to present both sides of the issue.”
“And you believed him?”
Lorie straightened up. “Mr. Pitt has been nothing but good to me since I came back to Dainger County. He swayed the library board in my favor after they had second thoughts about hiring me. He even gave my Mustang a free tune-up at the Pitt Stop. I’m trying to give
him the benefit of the doubt.”
J.T. snorted. Matt flashed him a warning glance. Retreating behind his napkin, Jen’s husband turned the snort into a cough.
“Supervisor Pitt has always been careful to stay on the right side of the law.” Matt turned to Lorie again. “But I wouldn’t get too close to him if I were you.”
“Why not?”
Matt gave the obvious answer. “He’s a politician. Isn’t that reason enough?”
Lorie smiled, the first relaxed smile he’d seen since they’d parted earlier at the library. A surge of elation rose in him at the sight of it, and he squashed it. Lorie Narramore was a citizen, and he’d protect her as he’d protect any other citizen.
He had absolutely no reason to get carried away with emotion.
None.
*
Lorie was still sorting the books from the overnight drop when Jen arrived for work the next morning. She joined Lorie in the cubbyhole where they stored supplies.
“Any more notes?” Jen took a stack of books from Lorie and put them onto the rolling cart.
“No, thankfully. I’m beginning to hope it was just somebody’s idea of a joke.”
Jen snorted. “Pretty sick joke if you ask me. And what about that phone call?”
Lorie rubbed both hands up the sides of her face and through her hair, messing it up thoroughly. “I know. Yesterday seems like a bad dream.” She scraped her hair back into a ponytail again.
“I hope you were careful driving home.”
“Extra careful.” She’d watched every driver with exaggerated caution, but there hadn’t been any problems. Still, her dog and cats were nowhere close to being as happy as she was when she arrived home.
“Sleep okay?”
Lorie shook her head. “I kept hearing noises, but it was nothing, every time.”
“Every time?” Jen’s eyebrows rose. “How many times?”
“I don’t know. Four or five.” Lorie rubbed at her sleep-deprived eyes. “I’ll be okay.”
“I knew you should have stayed in our guest room. Then if you’d been woken up, you’d have known it was only one of my hooligans.”
Lorie nodded. “I appreciate it, but in case things get ugly, I don’t want your family in the middle of it.”
Jen muttered something as she rolled the book rack out the door. It sounded like, “Things are already ugly.”
Wednesday at the library lasted forever. A few regulars came looking for their favorite authors, but up till three o’clock, it stayed quiet. Lorie busied herself going through the stacks, checking to see whether any books needing repair had sneaked past returns.
As she was in the 799s, she noticed a book spine sticking out at a crooked angle. She reached up to shove it back into place.
Just as her fingertips touched the spine, she spotted a scrap of white sticking out of the top.
Fingerprints.
Lorie snatched her hand back. Could it be the vanished note from yesterday?
“Jen!”
“What do you need?” Jen appeared at the end of the row of shelving.
Lorie looked at her. “Do you see anything out of place?”
“No.” Jen glanced around the stacks. “Wait, what’s that?”
“I’m not sure. I think it might be the note. The book didn’t look like that when I shelved it this morning.”
A frown crossed Jen’s face. “Was the paper sticking out when you found it?”
Lorie nodded. “I did touch the spine before I saw the paper, but I haven’t moved it.”
“Call Matt. Or Vangie.”
Lorie reached into her pocket for her cell phone. “Could you get me my purse? I stuck Matt’s card in there.”
“Good choice.” Jen grinned. “I’ll be right back.”
While she was away, Lorie looked at the book title. Hunting and Gun Safety by Oswald Smith. Her stomach twisted. Had the note been left in that book on purpose, or had it just been an unhappy coincidence?
Lorie fought against the rush of memory threatening to overwhelm her. Not now, Lord, please.
Jen returned with Lorie’s brown leather purse slung over her arm. She tossed it, and Lorie caught it before it could smack her in the ribs.
“Thanks.”
She found Matt’s card in a side pocket and punched in the number with trembling fingers.
His phone rang once, twice—
“MacGregor.”
“Matt, I mean, Deputy MacGregor, this is Lorie Narramore. I think I’ve found the note.”
*
A jolt of electricity smacked Matt’s middle when he heard the suppressed fear in Lorie’s voice.
“Where?”
“Tucked into a library book that was put back crooked.”
“Have you touched it?”
“I shelved it this morning—the note wasn’t there then. When I spotted it just now, I only touched the spine, before I realized the note might be there. I hope I haven’t messed up any fingerprints.”
“I’ll be there in about ten minutes. Don’t let anyone else touch it.”
“Thank you.”
After reporting the call to dispatch, Matt drove toward the county library.
The parking lot was about a third full. Matt made a mental note of the vehicles. Three pickup trucks in various states of disrepair, plus one shiny new Dodge Ram belonging to the mayor’s first cousin and a gunmetal-gray Mercedes-Benz.
Matt parked next to Lorie’s car, a sporty blue Mustang convertible that looked as though it would be happier cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway than winding along the curves of Dainger County’s hilly roads.
Matt locked his car door and headed inside. Jen stood behind the checkout desk, scanning a patron’s mile-high stack of books.
“She’s by the seven-ninety-nines,” she said, before he even had a chance to ask.
“Thanks.”
Lorie looked up as he rounded the stacks. Was that relief in her eyes?
“Thank you for coming.”
Matt nodded then followed her glance to the book sticking out of the shelf.
“Is that the culprit?”
“Yes. Aside from the initial mistake, I haven’t touched it. I have no idea whether that’s the note, but it seems a little coincidental if it isn’t.”
Matt reached into his pocket for the fresh set of latex gloves. He slipped them on, pulling them in place with a snap.
Surprised by its weight, Matt nearly dropped the tome as he pulled it off the shelf. Recovering it like a fumbled football, he opened it to the sheet of paper. Crimson blood-dripping letters in font size 72 screamed at him from the page. He lifted his eyes to Lorie’s.
“What was it the original note said?”
Lorie started. “Original note? You mean—” She took a deep breath. “It said, ‘Don’t think you can get away with it.’”
“That’s what I thought. Can you explain this, then?” He held the page where she could read it.
Lorie went deathly white and staggered against the bookshelf.
BANG! HE’S DEAD, read the top of the note.
Halfway down the page, it continued: YOU’RE NEXT.
FOUR
No, Lord. This can’t be happening.
Swallowing the bile that rose in her throat, Lorie struggled to find words. Matt would expect her to say something, not just stand there like a pillar of salt. First she had to keep from throwing up.
“Take a deep breath.” Matt’s voice penetrated the ringing in her ears.
Lorie tried, and had a fit of coughing. When she recovered, she took in as deep a breath as she could.
“Slowly. That’s it. We don’t want you to hyperventilate.”
His right hand reached out to steady her, but pulled away almost instantly. That zap she’d felt at his touch must have been static electricity.
Please, Father. Please.
She couldn’t even form a sensible prayer.
“You’re not going to faint, are you?” Matt’
s voice was filled with concern.
“I don’t think so.”
Matt turned his head as a library patron turned the corner. Recognizing the man as Supervisor Pitt, Matt blinked. What were the odds of his showing up the day after he’d discussed the businessman-turned-politician with Lorie and the Burkhalters?
“Can you give us a moment, please?”
“Of course, Deputy.” The stately, graying supervisor moved down the next aisle.
“Do you want to go sit down while I print this area?”
Lorie knew she was in shock. She needed a cup of oversweetened hot tea. She put a hand to her face. Cold. So cold. Like that night—
No. She wouldn’t let herself fall apart again. She needed to be stronger than that. It was the only way she’d get through this.
“Is it okay if I stay? I’ll sit right over here on the step stool out of your way.”
“Fine. Wait here while I get the incident kit.”
Lorie nodded.
Matt left, carrying the book and that bloody-looking note with him.
Supervisor Pitt reemerged from around the corner. He gave her the same encouraging smile he’d had for her when he convinced the library board to hire her.
“Has the deputy finished investigating the shelves, Miss Narramore?”
“I’m sorry, sir. I think it’s going to be a while.”
Supervisor Pitt straightened his shoulders in a way that made him look much more vigorous than a man in his sixties ought to appear.
“I’m in a hurry, Miss Narramore.”
Lorie knew exactly how Mr. Pitt felt. She was frustrated, herself.
“What book are you looking for?” The words came out of her mouth against her better judgment.
The look on his face went from impatience to satisfaction in an instant. “The Art of the Decoy.”
“Do you know the call number?”
“745.4.”
Lorie looked for the book, just down the aisle a bit from where she’d found the note.
Forget the note. Concentrate on the patron.
The trade paperback was stuck between two oversize hardbacks. Lorie worked it loose and handed it to Supervisor Pitt just as Matt came back.
“What are you doing?”
“My job. I didn’t think you’d want anyone else in here until you’d—what do you call it—processed the scene.”
“Exactly why I don’t want anything to be moved.” Matt held out his hand for the book.
Love Inspired Suspense June 2014 Bundle 2 of 2: Forced AllianceOut for JusticeNo Place to Run Page 46
