Back then, when he was Tommy’s partner, I didn’t want to love him, but I had no choice. It just happened. I couldn’t hide my heart from him any more than I could hide the bruises inflicted by Tommy’s hands.
“Oh, Ava…you don’t know how much I love you.”
I moved closer to him, growing hungry for more of him, for all of him. He brushed the stray hair from my eyes and framed my face with his hands, kissing my cheeks, my eyelids, my lips. I wanted him now more than I did ten years ago in that motel room.
That day, on fire, he had held me against the motel room wall with his strong hands supporting my weight, his mouth on my breasts, the hunger in both of us a living breathing entity.
But that was then. In this moment, there was no one else in the shadow. No one to cast shame or guilt. I climbed onto his lap, more than ready to take what he offered. What was mine. What had been mine all along. He gently pushed the robe from my shoulders and took in the sight, my body bared before him, my soul open to him. I felt no shame in the less-than-flat stomach or the thirty-five-year-old breasts. Reaching down, I grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. The heat of flesh on flesh as our bare skin touched ignited a passion I’d never known. When I could stand it no longer, when the thought of having him, wholly and completely, pushed aside any guilt of days gone by, I unfastened his belt and opened his jeans.
Afterward, I couldn’t stop the tears that flowed freely; I didn’t want to stop them. I wanted them to wash away all the past pain of loving him and to start anew.
He gently kissed away each tear and whispered, “I do love you, Ava. So, so much.”
We moved to the rug in front of the fireplace and lay in each other’s arms, my head resting on his bare chest. He lightly traced lines and circles on my arm with his fingertip. For the first time in years, total contentment washed over me. I was relaxed. And I was loved.
“Thank you for never giving up.” I entwined my fingers with his.
He gently kissed me. “You never give up on something worth waiting for.”
My lips formed a gentle smile. “But ten years?”
He turned his head to share a grin. “You were pushing it.”
I snuggled closer, breathing in the scent of him, feeling the rhythm of his heart. We laughed, we giggled, we shared. We talked about the past.
“If I’d known he was hitting you, I’d have killed him myself,” he said, the harsh words feathered in softness.
“We both stayed with him too long.”
He rolled over, propping up on his elbow. The glow in his eyes was as warm and hypnotizing as the flames in the fireplace. “The only reason I stayed on as his partner as long as I did was to see you when we came here for lunch.”
“The only grown man I know that still likes peanut butter and jelly.”
He laughed. “Still do.”
In my mind, I counted the years he and Tommy were partners before Tommy was killed. Three? “You had a crush on me all that time? Why didn’t you let me know?”
He lightly ran his finger along my lips. “It wasn’t proper. But if I’d known what was going on behind closed doors…”
I rolled over on my side, facing him. “You would have what?”
A gentle smile toyed at his lips. “I don’t know. Saved you?”
A loud laugh bubbled up and escaped before I could stop it. “Save me? I didn’t need you to save me. I just needed you to love me. I would have saved myself when I’d had enough.”
“I did love you. I was just slow about telling you.”
We slowly kissed and all the bad memories flittered up the chimney like ash.
After a while, we sat up, leaning against the sofa. I pulled my robe on and went into the kitchen for the last beer. When I returned, Ridge had put his jeans back on and was kneeling by the fire.
I handed him the beer then refilled my wineglass. “So how are we going to do this? Our jobs aren’t going to make it easy.”
Laughing, he unscrewed the cap off the bottle. “Nothing has ever been easy with us. You should know that by now.”
Sipping the wine, I shrugged. “True. But maybe we should keep a low profile until after the election.”
He stood and nodded. “Probably wouldn’t hurt.”
Just as I lifted my glass for another drink, Ridge yelled my name and lunged at me, taking me down in one swoop as a gunshot shattered the window. The wineglass erupted into a shower of tiny glass shards. Another shot rang out, followed by another. From outside, Finn barked ferociously. Ridge pushed up on his hands and knees and shoved me toward the sofa. “Get behind it!” He scrambled to the side table and grabbed the Glock. He racked the slide then dug his phone from his pocket.
My heart beat so loud all I could catch was “Shots fired. Need all on duty and K9.”
He frantically pulled on his shirt, never laying the gun down. “Do you have clothes in the laundry room?”
I nodded.
“I want you to crawl, army style, and get them. Do not stand up. Where’s the switch to the flood lights?”
“Beside the back door.”
“Is there a window in the laundry room?”
I shook my head.
“Good. Then stay there. They won’t be able to see in. And stay down. Go.” He pushed me into action, semi-crawling beside me. Another shot pinged off the coffee table, exploding the empty bottle of Guinness.
I screamed out, terror pulsing through every pore of my body.
“Go! Go! Go!” He was shouting, pushing me toward the safety of the laundry room.
“Don’t leave me! Please don’t go out there.”
We were in the kitchen now, just feet away from the laundry room, feet away from the back door.
He held my panic-stricken face in his hands and kissed me quickly. “I’m not going to lose you again. Now go.”
I crawled into the laundry room while he flipped on the flood lights. I could hear Finn outside, in a frenzy, barking and howling into the darkness. I pulled on a pair of dirty jeans and one of Cole’s sweatshirts. I slipped on the old sneakers used for mowing then crouched in the corner. The back door opened then the beam of the flood lights painted the floor of the kitchen. I started shaking, violently, the fear spreading through my body like a fast-growing cancer.
CHAPTER 24
My yard looked like Trish’s had the day I found her body. Patrol cars, unmarked cars, even personal cars of off-duty deputies filled the driveway. Ridge had called the State Highway Patrol and asked for assistance in patrolling Jackson County as the entire sheriff’s department was in my yard and in my house securing the scene. The fire chief came along with three first responders and set up command lights that illuminated my backyard and the river beyond.
I sat on the steps of the back porch, huddled in Cole’s oversized sweatshirt, still shivering in the cold. Finn sat beside me, restless, not understanding the flurry of activity.
Ridge stood a few feet away with a group of deputies, some in their uniforms, some dressed like they had been enjoying a quiet night at home.
One of the canine handlers, Jeff Maness, stood with them, his partner, a Belgian Malinois named Ruger, at his side with his ears at alert.
Ridge pointed into the woods. “The shots came from across the river. There were at least four shots fired and they were using a green laser scope.”
I jerked my head up, out of the fog. So that’s how he knew. That’s how he knew the shot was coming before it shattered the window. I wondered if it too had been centered between my eyes. A slow anger churned inside me. Whoever was responsible for this had now violated the two things I cherished most: the safety of my children and the sanctuary of my own home.
Another K9 handler, this one from a neighboring county, arrived with his German shepherd and joined Ridge.
The fire chief, Larry Roland, hustled up to the group with a rolled map in his hands. “This shows all access roads along the river.”
They gathered around Ridge’s SUV and spread the paper out on the hood. Larry Roland ran his finger along the map. “If the shots came from across the river, they would’ve had to access it from the back side.”
“Unless there’s a shallow point nearby.” Steve Sullivan was dressed in loose athletic pants and a sweatshirt, obviously on his own time. He looked at me and for the first time, I didn’t see contempt. “Do you know if there’s a low spot nearby?”
I joined them at the SUV and looked over the map. “It’s no more than knee-high for a few hundred feet along the property line.”
Ridge tapped the map with his finger, indicating two dirt roads on the other side of the river. “Jeff, you take Ruger and come in from the east. Frank, you take your dog and come in from the west. You can use these access roads here. Steve—round up two guys to go with them. I don’t want them out there alone.”
“How do you know the shots came from across the river?” someone asked.
“Could they not have come from the backyard?” asked another.
Ridge shook his head. “Too high powered. Whatever the hell they’re using could take down an elephant. If they’d been standing that close, they’d have taken out a wall.”
“Could it have been random? Someone spotlighting deer?” Steve Sullivan clicked on his own Maglite.
“Not when Ava’s the one in the sights. This isn’t the first time she’s been shot at lately. Same green laser was used.”
My heart slid slowly into my knees, lodging there, nearly causing them to buckle. I leaned against the SUV as the reality of his words hit home.
Someone was trying to kill me. Whether it was related somehow to Trish and ginseng, or to Ivy, or to an article I hadn’t even written yet didn’t matter. My life was in jeopardy.
The deputies scattered, each following a plan of action directed to them by Ridge. He stared at the map and made notes to the side. After a long moment, he glanced over at me. He reached out for me then pulled me to him. “We’re going to get them. Whoever it is. I promise.”
Another set of headlights turned in and then a minute later, Cole and Emma barreled up the driveway, screaming, “Mom!”
Oh God. I forgot to call Doretha. I ran to them, hoping to calm the terror I knew was coursing through their minds. “I’m okay! I’m okay, guys.”
Emma lunged, wrapping her arms so tight around me I fought for breath. Near hysterical, she sobbed into my chest.
Cole was no less frantic. “What happened? We passed a K9 unit.”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. “Someone shot into the sunroom. Grayson was here when it happened.”
Doretha came running up. “Are…you…okay?” She forced the words out between deep gasping breaths.
“I’m fine. Just a little shaken up. Where’s Ivy?”
Doretha pointed toward the van. After finally catching her breath, she said, “I didn’t want to get her out until I knew what was going on.”
Ridge joined us and Emma moved from me to him, wrapping her arms tight around his waist. “Ava, why don’t you take the kids and stay with Doretha a day or two?”
Doretha patted my hand in that reassuring way of hers. “Of course. I insist.”
The offer was reassuring, but the thought of being run out of my own home made me want to puke. I didn’t want the kids to be uprooted whether it was for a day or a week. And I was the target, not them. “I don’t want to put anyone else in danger. Not you, or all the kids.”
“Hogwash. The Sheriff’s right. You’re staying with me. All of you.”
That was the first time Doretha had ever agreed with Ridge. “We’ll put a patrol car at the house, just in case,” he said.
I didn’t like it but would have to accept defeat on this one. “Just for tonight.”
Cole watched all the police activity with adult concern. He’d stepped up to fill an imagined role way before his time when his father died. He was still just a kid, trying to play a grown-up role. “Where was the K9 unit going?” He turned to Ridge.
Ridge looked at me, silently asking permission to talk openly in front of my children.
Cole was one thing. Talking about someone trying to kill me in front of Emma was off limits. “Emma, how about waiting in the van with Ivy? I don’t want all the lights to scare her.”
“She was asleep.”
“Well then, she’ll be scared if she wakes up.”
Doretha put her arm around Emma’s shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “Come on. I’ll walk back with you.”
When they were out of earshot, Ridge talked truthfully to Cole. “Whoever was shooting was across the river. The K9 units were heading to different access roads to come in from different directions.”
Cole studied the map still spread on the hood of the Expedition. “There’s a spot about half a mile from here that’s pretty shallow where they could have crossed.”
Ridge took another look. “I didn’t see any access roads on the map that were that close.”
“It’s not a road. It’s just a path…” He cut his eyes toward me, hesitating before speaking more.
Ridge wasn’t letting him off so easy. “Like a hiking path?”
Cole swallowed hard. “Sort of. It’s kinda like a…camp.”
The mother in me lowered my brows. “What kind of camp, Cole?”
He didn’t say anything for a long moment, looking back and forth between me and Ridge. After probably weighing what was going to keep him out of the most trouble, he spoke up. “It’s just a camp where we go and hang out.”
“Who is we?” both Ridge and I asked at the same time.
“Me, Brady, Josh, some of the other guys from school.”
Ridge rubbed his chin then yelled for Sullivan. When he joined us, Ridge gave him the update. “Get Maness back here. We’re going about a half mile up the road.” Ridge whistled and waved a group of men over, including Larry Roland, the fire chief. “We’re going to need a command light set up at a makeshift camp a little way up the road.”
“Can we get a truck in there?” Roland asked.
Ridge looked at Cole for the answer. “Can we?” His voice wasn’t harsh, but it was no longer father-friendly.
“If it’s a four-wheel drive.”
I left them a moment to put Finn in the laundry room. When I returned, they had one of the lights loaded on the fire department’s brush truck. I walked back to Doretha’s van. She was in the driver’s seat and rolled the window down.
I didn’t want my kids displaced but there would be no rest tonight at home. “Why don’t you go ahead and take Emma and Ivy back to your house. Cole and I’ll be along once we finish here.”
Although dark in the interior of the car, Emma’s eye shone with apprehension. “Why can’t we stay until you’re through?”
“It’s already late, Emma. I don’t know how long we’ll be here.” High levels of adrenaline still pumped through my veins though fatigue nipped at my mind.
“What about clothes? Can I get some clean clothes for school?”
Ivy needed clothes too. And probably diapers.
Doretha squeezed my hand. “Emma and I’ll go in and pack up a few things for her and Ivy. When y’all get through here, you and Cole do the same.”
“What about Finn? We can’t leave him.” Emma searched for any excuse she could use to stay, to not be the kid for once.
Doretha’s mouth puckered then opened in a slight grin. She nodded toward me. “You bring Finn. I don’t have room in the van.” She leaned out the window and gave me a kiss.
When I went back, Cole was in the front passenger seat of Ridge’s SUV. I ope
ned the back door to climb in.
“What are you doing?” Cole asked.
“I’m going with you.”
“Don’t you think you should stay here? Just in case.”
“Just in case what? Just in case there’s something at this camp you don’t want your mother to see?”
He sighed heavily and lay his head against the headrest.
Ridge slid into the driver’s seat then turned and looked at me sitting behind Cole. “Why don’t you stay here with Emma and Ivy.”
“They’re getting some stuff together to take to Doretha’s then she’s going to take them on back to her house.”
He looked at me a long moment, realizing he would have to arrest me to keep me from going. “We’ll deal with the whole secret camp thing later. Right now we’re looking for evidence that someone was there tonight. Understood?”
I did not have the heart or brainpower right now to deal with what we might find. The thought of my son being involved in something he shouldn’t had pushed its way to the forefront of my thoughts. The second attempt on my life had taken a backseat.
It seemed we had barely gotten on the road when Cole pointed to a slight clearing in the trees and underbrush. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d driven right past and never noticed it. “Right here on the other side of the rock. You’ll have to stop and let me move the tree limb.”
Ridge pulled to the side without saying anything. Cole got out, then illuminated by the headlights, rolled a fallen branch to the side like he was opening a gate. It was a good-sized limb but rolled easily. Its sole purpose was to keep people out. When this was over, this son of mine had some serious explaining to do.
Cole climbed back into the SUV. “There’s an oak tree with a piece of blue tape on it right up here. You’ll need to hang a sharp right.”
Ridge cut his eyes at him but didn’t say anything. He inched along the narrow path while branches grabbed at the sides of the Expedition with hungry fingers. A few minutes in, he asked, “How much farther? I don’t want to drive right up on it in case there’re fresh tire tracks.”
Tell Me No Lies (An Ava Logan Mystery Book 1) Page 19
