Deadly Competition (Without a Trace)

by Roxanne Rustand

  The darker possibilities haunted him, day and night, especially since right after Leah went missing.

  The police had found signs of some kind of struggle in Leah’s little apartment above the pawnshop. The police thought she might have staged it to cover her tracks—and her involvement in her husband’s death, but Clint knew better. Leah had become a Christian six months before Earl died, and she loved her new faith—and Sarah—far too much to harm anyone, even the deadbeat Earl.

  Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Clint focused his attention on his young niece.

  “Your momma wants to be back here, too, sweetheart,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her. “I’m praying every day for that to happen.”

  His cell phone vibrated against his belt, and he reached down to grab it. With luck, it would be his client needing to delay the appointment this afternoon….

  He frowned at the unfamiliar number. Nearly let it ring through to his voice mail, then relented and caught it at the last second.

  “Um…Hi, I’m calling because I understand you might be looking for a housekeeper and nanny?”

  At the quaver in the woman’s voice, Clint’s instant, silent response was Not you, sweetheart. She sounded wary and unsure, and the faint note of desperation in her voice sealed his impression. The last thing I need is someone with troubles. I’ve got enough troubles. “I’m not looking any longer. Sorry.”

  Silence. Then the woman cleared her voice. “Does that mean you found the right person, or you’ve given up? I promise you, you won’t be disappointed if you just give me a chance.”

  He dropped a kiss on Sarah’s forehead, then set the child aside with one arm and stood. “That advertisement has run for a couple of weeks. I’ve changed my mind about wanting a nanny.”

  “But you do need childcare. Right?”

  “Look, miss—”

  “And it would be convenient to have someone on-site—someone who would be available 24/7, if need be. I understand that there’s an apartment available as part of the deal?”

  “Thanks for calling.” He started to pull the phone from his ear, but her soft, and now-determined voice drew him back.

  “Look, I can be there in—” he heard animated voices in the background “—fifteen minutes, and I’ll only take five minutes of your time. Just talk to me. Please.”

  She did sound more educated than the last few applicants who’d called…and young enough to keep up with a tornado of a three-year-old who never seemed to slow down. And if she was young, that might account for the wariness he’d heard in her voice at first. Maybe he’d just become too suspicious after his sister’s disappearance.

  He sighed. “You have references?”

  “You bet.”

  “You’ve got transportation?” Again, he heard an exchange of voices in the background.

  “Yes, I do.”

  After reluctantly taking her name down and giving her directions to his place, he clipped the phone back to his belt and surveyed the wreckage that was his living room. Somewhere beneath two days’ accumulation of toys there was a carpet, something he rarely saw these days.

  He needed help. No doubt about it.

  Yet he still sensed that something wasn’t quite right about the caller. Trouble. She’s going to be absolute trouble.

  But when he tried to use the callback function on his cell to cancel, there was no answer, and he could hardly leave home with a stranger on her way to his place.

  “Come on, Sarah, let’s find our shoes. We have company coming over, and then we can go to town after our visitor leaves, okay?” He grinned at her. “Want to race?”

  Sarah didn’t enter into the game of trying to find shoes. Her haunting, almond-shaped green eyes brimming with tears, she stood at the fireplace and stared up at the photo on the mantel taken of her and Leah last Christmas, just a week or so before her life irrevocably changed. “I want my mommy.”

  He heard those four sad words every day, and they still had the power to wrench his heart.

  Some days were better than others, but today had been a tough one. This morning they’d gone to the grocery store, and Sarah had glimpsed someone from a distance who’d vaguely looked like Leah. She’d become hysterical, and had been tearful and withdrawn ever since.

  “We’ll find her, sweetheart. I promise I’m doing everything I can to find her.”

  The toe of a pink shoe caught his eye. He went down on one knee to retrieve it from beneath a blue teddy bear, then stayed down and bowed his head in silent prayer. Please God, keep Leah safe, wherever she is, and help me find her. She’s all that Sarah and I have left. We need her back.

  TWO

  When Clint opened the door, he took one look at the vehicle parked outside and the woman on his porch and almost ended the interview right there.

  “Bitsy’s Diner?” he said, eyeing the words emblazoned on the old pickup. If he wasn’t mistaken, he could see the shadow of luggage on the front seat. “I thought you said you had transportation.”

  “I did. I borrowed it.” The woman tipped her head and flashed a tight smile. “I’m Mandy Erick, by the way. And you are…”

  “Clint Herald.”

  Her brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, framing a delicate face that appeared freshly scrubbed and without makeup. Her rumpled clothes—a pale lemon sweater and wrinkled jeans—looked like they were probably expensive labels.

  Unless she shopped for designer bargains at Goodwill, she had to have come from money—yet he caught a definite hint of simmering tension and desperation that she quickly masked.

  Again, warning bells sounded at the back of his mind.

  Why would an attractive woman like this be so edgy? Was she running from something?

  In a town the size of Loomis, people recognized each other. Knew each other’s families from way back. If you saw someone you didn’t know, he was probably your cousin’s best friend’s brother, or had gone to school with your sister…and you could do a quick and accurate character check by picking up the phone.

  Clint had never seen this gal in his life, and he could tell from her cultured, northern accent, that she wasn’t from anywhere close by. What he didn’t need were any surprises, bringing an unknown person into his home. “As I said on the phone, I’m no longer looking for a nanny.”

  “Can we at least talk? I’m new in town and I’d like to stay in the area, so I need to find a job. I love kids and—”

  Behind him, he heard something crash to the floor that sounded suspiciously like the plate of cookies some neighbors had left on the kitchen table. He spun around and hurried to the kitchen with Mandy at his heels, to find Sarah staring at the shattered plate and broken cookies, her lower lip trembling. At least there isn’t any blood. Thank you, Lord, for that.

  “I’m hungry, Uncle Clint,” Sarah whimpered. “I—” At the sight of a stranger, she fell silent and backed up.

  Outside, Clint’s old black Lab, Barney, started to bark, belatedly realizing that someone had arrived. Then Molly, Sarah’s puppy, joined in.

  Clint’s phone started to ring just as he hunkered down to pick up the shards of china. He glanced at the number on the screen and drew in a sharp breath. The Loomis Bank—and if it was the loan officer, the call was one he couldn’t afford to miss.

  Cell phone in one hand, broken china in the other, Clint wavered.

  “Go ahead,” Mandy said. “I can handle this.”

  He frowned at Sarah, hesitating over leaving her in the company of a stranger while taking a call that needed to be private. Maybe Mandy was okay, and maybe not. But after Sarah’s outburst at the store this morning, she’d been tearful and clingy ever since.

  “I’m not going anywhere with your broken dish or your daughter,” Mandy said dryly. “Go ahead. Consider this part of my interview.”

  “I’ll just be outside.” Straightening, he sidestepped the mess and went out to the screened porch off the kitchen dining area, where he could still gla
nce inside and keep an eye on things.

  He was put on hold twice, finally talking to a second loan officer, then the vice president.

  But as frustrating as it was to deal with the bankers, the scene inside his house was a different story. While he was on hold once again, Clint peered into the kitchen and discovered it was sparkling clean. Sarah sat at the table, having milk and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich—a menu item that was apparently an exact art, because he still couldn’t make them exactly right to please his little niece.

  After that, Mandy and Sarah disappeared into the living room. Clint couldn’t see them through the kitchen window any longer, but he could hear Sarah giggle. The sound tugged at his heart until he could barely concentrate on his business call. How long had it been since he’d heard the child laugh? How long since she’d been happy and carefree?

  When he finally came back into the house, the toys in the living room had been neatly put away. Mandy was curled up on the sofa, her hair gleaming like rich mahogany with ruby highlights in the soft, incandescent light of the table lamp. She was reading a story, and Sarah was sitting next to her—almost close enough to lean against her—looking at the pictures.

  Another landmark, because Sarah had been terrified of all adult strangers ever since her mother left—especially if they had red hair.

  “Wow.” He walked into the orderly room and settled on the love seat, wishing he had a camera in hand to photograph the two of them together, Sarah’s white-blond pigtails in such dramatic contrast to Mandy’s darker hair. “It’s great seeing the carpet again. This is amazing.”

  Mandy looked at him over the top edge of the book, but kept reading until she reached “The End”—something else that impressed him. “Sarah first” had been his own mantra since January, and it needed to be any babysitter’s as well.

  “Sarah is a really good helper,” Mandy announced gravely. “And she’s a good eater, too. She ate a whole peanut butter sandwich while you were on the phone.”

  Clint felt the heavy weight on his chest start to lighten. Sarah was watching Mandy with a rapt expression, instead of the wariness she usually exhibited around strangers.

  Mandy had certainly shown her abilities, and she radiated a gentle wholesomeness that could make her the perfect nanny. Did he dare take a chance?

  “What brought you to Loomis?”

  Mandy stiffened almost imperceptibly. “I decided to do some traveling after a relationship didn’t work out. Just needed a change of scenery, I guess.”

  “Where are you from?”

  “I don’t really have a home state. We moved every few years while I was growing up,” she said with a vague wave of her hand. “Since then, I’ve done the same. I enjoy trying new places.”

  “College?”

  “Started twice. The second time, I got within a semester of graduating in education.”

  “Do you have references?”

  “Y-yes, I do.”

  Was that a flicker of hesitation? “You’ve got them with you?”

  Handing Sarah the storybook, Mandy retrieved a backpack that she’d left at the front door. She withdrew several folded documents and handed them over. “I…had some childcare experience with the Reynolds family, but they’re in the midst of a cross-country move right now. The other two are personal references.”

  He flipped through the papers, then studied her for a long moment, wondering if she’d intentionally skated past his questions about her background or if it was just his imagination.

  Perhaps she was just nervous, coming into a strange town, being in a stranger’s home. Maybe any prudent young woman on her own would feel the same. Still…

  “Before I can consider hiring you, I’d need to follow up on your references.” Did her gaze waver at that, or was it just the light?

  “You won’t find anything wrong, I can promise you.”

  He glanced at the clock on the mantel. He was due at the office soon, and he already knew Sarah wasn’t going to be cooperative during the long meeting ahead. “The fact that Nonnie loaned you her truck is a personal reference in itself. She’s a pretty tough old bird, and she doesn’t take guff from anyone. You must have made quite an impression.”

  A glimmer of hope shone in Mandy’s eyes.

  “I’ll tell you what. Wait right here while I do some checking. If everything seems square, we can have a one-week trial to make sure both of us are satisfied. Deal?”

  “Deal.” The relief in her voice was palpable. “The…the job still comes with lodging?”

  “An efficiency apartment over the garage. It isn’t fancy, but it’s clean, quiet and private. We’re on the edge of town, so there’s a long walk to downtown shopping. You could use one of my vehicles whenever necessary. If you get the job, that is.”

  “Perfect,” she breathed.

  “And I need to explain…” He hesitated, with Sarah in the room. “Honey, could you go get your favorite dolly, so you can show it to Mandy?”

  When the child obediently raced off to her room, he lowered his voice. “Sarah is my niece. Her mother went missing in January, so she’s been having a hard time with that.”

  “Nonnie mentioned that.” Mandy’s voice trailed off, the hint of worry unmistakable. “Is she…?”

  “I believe my sister Leah was taken against her will, but that she’s still alive.” He hesitated over just how much to say. “Her husband was murdered two days before she disappeared, so Sarah is dealing with the loss of both parents.”

  “The poor child.”

  “Earl wasn’t a very loving father, but the double loss has been devastating for her. She doesn’t talk as much now, and has lost a lot of the happy exuberance you’d expect in a child her age. Her grief is an issue you would be dealing with.”

  “I…I’m so sorry about your loss. And hers.”

  A woman traveling alone might hesitate to stay in Loomis if she knew the full story, but it was only fair to tell her the truth. “This is a peaceful, quiet town, usually. But there were two other murders in January.”

  “That’s what Nonnie said. She…” Mandy hesitated. “She said the killer hasn’t been found.”

  Clint sighed heavily. “Some folks think my sister Leah was responsible, but she’s a wonderful, caring mother, and she has strong faith in the Lord. There’s no way she could’ve killed her husband or anyone else.”

  “O-of course.”

  “And something else…” He cleared his throat. “There was a kidnapping attempt on Sarah in January as well, but that man is in jail. The woman who hired him was Angelina Loring, one of the murder victims. Neither of them poses a threat to Sarah any longer, but I’m very careful about watching her. There’s still a killer on the loose who might think she knows too much.”

  Mandy blinked.

  “I’m not trying to scare you off, but you’d hear all of this around town anyway.” He felt his sudden tension ease when she didn’t race out the door. “If you’re still game, we could have a one-week trial.”

  “I’d like that,” Mandy said, noticing for the first time how ruggedly handsome—but definitely burdened—her new employer was.

  “Sarah’s safety and care will be your priority, but the job also entails some cooking and light housework. If it doesn’t work out for some reason, either of us can end the arrangement with no questions asked.”

  “Understood.” A faint glimmer of a smile tilted the corners of Mandy’s mouth.

  Doubtful as he’d been at first, now he hoped everything in her background would check out. Sarah apparently accepted her. And if he didn’t get back to his construction business full-time, it would go belly-up. Then where would he be? With a little girl to take care of, plus his efforts to find Leah, he needed childcare help more than ever.

  But though his heart told him Mandy was a decent, well-bred young woman, his gut instinct told him that she was in trouble—or had caused some—and that she hadn’t been entirely truthful. There was no way he’d take chances with h
is sister’s only child.

  Back in his home office, he looked her up on a Web site offering background checks for nineteen-ninety-five.

  Oddly enough, there was absolutely nothing on her—just the name, but no past phone numbers, no previous street address. It was as if she simply appeared out of the blue. So he called his cousin, a deputy with the county sheriff’s department, and asked him to run a quick background check to see if she’d ever been in the legal system. Again, nothing turned up—not even a parking ticket. Her two references were highly enthused, though they were probably close friends of hers.

  So far, so good. But he’d definitely keep a close eye on the attractive Mandy Erick.

  Nonnie had said Clint was a cautious, intelligent man who took his responsibilities seriously and never let anyone down. She’d added that Mandy should take care to mind her heart, because he was the town’s answer to Pierce Brosnan—a man whose quiet humor and tanned, movie-star face had been drawing young gals since he was a teenager, though he had yet to settle down.

  Meeting him had only confirmed Nonnie’s words.

  Tall, muscular and definitely masculine, he looked like he could take on anything that came his way, though he also seemed like a man who would use his intellect and reason before muscle…and that drew her more than any handsome face.

  Mandy had seen him carefully analyze her, his soulful, dark eyes watching her intently as he asked questions and measured her answers. The strong, sculpted lines of his face and that firm jaw suggested that he wouldn’t hesitate to challenge her on anything she said.

  While completing her interview and awaiting his decision, Mandy had been a bundle of anxiety. The miracle was that she seemed to have passed muster—at least for now—and when he offered her the job, her knees had almost gone weak with relief.

  She could already sense that he’d be a good man to have in her corner, if anything from her past happened to catch up with her.