Protection
Page 7
“Just the wind. And I thought I saw a shadow out by the garage a while ago.”
“That’s all?”
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
He took a drink. “I’ll take a look around.” He gazed into her eyes. “Is there something else?”
“No. Nothing.” She stood. “I’m going to check my email again, then head up to bed.”
She opened her Gmail account and found two messages from Brooke. The first one read: Hey, Eve. Things are quiet here, not much happening. Nothing new at the bakery, either, as far as I know. Mom sends her love. I do, too. Love, Babs
Shannon translated—Nothing new at the bakery meant Brooke hadn’t heard anything about Corinne Baker Hastings and Mark Hastings.
A second email sent just an hour later made her shake: Mom just called. She had guests for dinner. Served her favorite dessert. Wish I’d been there. That stuff’s like eating air. TTYL, Babs.
She reread the message three times, trying to figure out Brooke’s cryptics. Guests for dinner must mean someone stopped by her house. Favorite dessert—that was easy. Her mother made this Jell-O and fruit dessert with whipped topping. Shannon and Brooke always joked that it was like eating nothing. So she served them nothing—didn’t say a word. Still it made Shannon tremble. Corinne had people pressuring her mother to find out where she was. She wondered how far they would go to get their information.
She typed a reply: I know what you mean. Maybe your Mom should visit with you for a few days and feed you that stuff. Might be good for her to have someone else to cook for. If you two go out to dinner, set a place for me. It would be so good to talk with you both. Love, Eve.
Rereading her message, she could only hope Brooke would understand and follow through. She needed to get her mother out of the house so she wasn’t alone. And she needed to talk to them on the phone. She hinted about dinner because she and Brooke often met for dinner at a sports bar, back before Bailey was born. If they went there, she could call the restaurant to speak with them.
It only took a few minutes for the reply to come through: As a matter of fact, Mom and I are going out tomorrow after I get off work, then I’m hoping she’ll stay with me for a few days. Wish you could be here. We’ll set a place, just in case. Babs
Shannon clicked off the email and on to the internet to look up the phone number of the restaurant in Jefferson City. She jotted it down.
She heard the back door swing shut. Jake was no doubt out scouting around the property, looking for footprints. Oh, God. What if someone was still out there? She raced to the back door and stood on the lighted deck. Finally, she spotted him, baseball bat in hand, creeping around the garage and out of her sight.
He shouted and something ran across the back yard. Shannon yelped.
“It’s okay. Just a raccoon.” Jake sauntered back up onto the deck. “There were two of them, but one ran the other way. They were sniffing around the trash. I keep meaning to put chicken wire around those trash cans.” He sat on the top step, his breathing heavy.
He’d been startled, too, maybe expecting something more to jump out at him. Just then the roar of a motorcycle sounded from somewhere beyond the foot of the driveway. Shannon turned her head in the direction of the sound and shivered.
Jake was on his feet and rounding the cabin. The bike roared away, tires squealing. Shannon knew her mother wouldn’t give Corinne Hastings’ men any information because she didn’t know where Shannon was. It was the only way to make sure her mother was safe. If they found her here, someone had followed her from Missouri. She could still run, get a car and head north, maybe even into Canada. Or she could stay here, live as Shannon Chase, and hope they’d get tired of searching and go away.
She looked at her reflection in the window. She needed to change her looks soon. Bailey’s whimper came through the monitor on the kitchen table. Shannon went back inside and upstairs to tend to her daughter.
After changing the baby’s diaper and before returning to the kitchen to warm a bottle, Shannon pulled the briefcase from the closet and popped it open. She lifted an old tee shirt she’d placed in there and picked up the .38. It wasn’t loaded and she briefly wondered if she should load it, be ready. The gun both terrified her and gave her reassurance. She hated having a gun anywhere near Bailey. But the thought that someone could come and take the baby from her, do God knew what to her in the process, pushed her past her feelings about guns.
“Shannon?”
She startled and dropped the weapon, turning to stare at him.
“What the hell is that?” He strode into the room, staring at the gleaming black pistol.
“It’s a gun. Don’t worry, it’s not loaded.” She shoved the gun back into the briefcase and snapped it closed before he could spot the cash. “It’s for protection. Lots of women have guns now.”
He locked his eyes with hers. “What aren’t you telling me? Why did that motorcycle make you so jumpy, so much so that you came in to check your weapon?”
Bailey’s hungry cry built into a wail.
Shannon stood and kicked the briefcase back into the closet. “I have to feed her.”
“Okay, we can talk while you do that.” He stood in the open doorway and made a sweeping gesture. “After you.”
She picked up the baby and carried her down the stairs, quickly concocting a story he might believe.
*
While Shannon got the bottle ready, Jake took the baby and paced with her. What the hell was really going on here? He’d been suspicious also about the biker, but thought whoever it was might have been after him. Now he wasn’t so sure.
“Can we go into the living room?” Shannon asked.
“Absolutely.”
When she was seated in the recliner, he turned the baby over to her. He watched as she settled Bailey into the crook of her arm and the baby latched onto the nipple. Despite the tension, Shannon smiled down at Bailey’s face.
He sat on the sofa and waited.
She looked up and her smile faded. “I can explain the gun. It’s purely for protection. Think about it, I’m a single woman traveling alone with an infant. Anything could happen. Well, it did. I ran into a tree and destroyed the car.”
“You don’t know that the car was totaled. You were very eager to get rid of it.”
“It just seemed easier. I…uh…let the insurance expire. I was short on cash after Bailey was born and I had to let something go.”
That sounded plausible. “Why the rush to move to the middle of nowhere in the Northwest?”
She bit her lip and adjusted the baby in her arms. “Bailey’s father. He’s married and he didn’t want me to give birth to her.” Her face flushed and her eyes filled. “I c-couldn’t do what he wanted. I just thought it would be good to move away somewhere to a small town and start over. That’s all.” She returned her gaze to the baby. “I can’t imagine life without her.”
Now he felt like shit for having made her cry. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pressed.”
“It’s okay. I at least owe you an explanation. When that biker drove toward us the other night and then I heard the motorcycle tonight, I thought he’d found me.”
“Her father? Would he look for you?”
“He might. Probably not. He didn’t want her in the first place and I’m not pushing him for child support.”
Jake stared at the baby as her eyelids began to droop. She had released the nipple and a stream of formula dribbled down her chin. “How could a man walk away from something so beautiful?” He hadn’t meant to say the words aloud and refused to meet her gaze. “If you see the guy hanging around again, let me know.”
She nodded. “Thank you. I promise I won’t load the gun while I’m here. If you want, we can lock it up until my place is ready.”
“No, that’s fine. Just don’t shoot me if I come in late one evening. I’ll be sure to announce myself ahead of time.”
She grinned. “I’m going to put her to bed.”
He also wasn’t completely convinced the cyclist wasn’t after her. Or him. As much as he hated to do so, he’d have to make a call to his contact in the U.S. Marshal’s office. He could only hope it wouldn’t require another new identity, another move that would uproot him from Snoqualmie and rip him out of Shannon’s life forever.
He chided himself for that last thought. He had to report the recent events with the biker. Just in case. He’d call tomorrow.
Chapter Ten
Rico and Don were both hard workers. They had the roof stripped down in no time and were hammering on new shingles. Jake took a break to go inside and examine the ceilings more closely. The stained areas were solid, just discolored. Kilz primer would prevent any mold and cover the spots. He looked around, deciding what colors he would use. But he’d promised to take Shannon to pick out the paint later.
“Hey, you guys okay without me for an hour or so?” he called up to Rico and Don.
“Sure. We’re gonna take a lunch break,” Rico called back.
Jake glanced up at the roof from a distance before climbing into his truck. They would be finished today if they worked into evening. He’d talk to the guys when he got back.
He was careful to announce his arrival when he returned to the cabin. No point getting himself shot. “I’m coming in and I’m unarmed.”
“Very funny.” Shannon stood in the kitchen wearing a pair of shorts that revealed long, shapely legs, and a v-necked tee shirt that revealed lots more. The bruise around her eye had faded to a pale yellow.
Jake tore his gaze away from that tee shirt. “I thought we could pick up the paint for the apartment.”
“Oh.” She looked down at herself. “I think I should change. It’ll just take a minute. Can you keep an eye on Bailey? She’s in the living room.”
“Sure.” He popped the top on a cold can of soda and strode into the room. Bailey lay on a blanket on the floor. She looked up at him and grinned as he approached. “Hey, pretty girl. How are you today?” He reached out to caress her soft cheek and she grabbed hold of his finger. “That’s quite a grip you got there. I’ll bet you have your mommy’s determination.”
“I hope so,” Shannon said as she came back into the living room. “Determination can be a good thing.”
“I agree.” He sniffed, then asked, “You have a diaper handy? She needs a change.”
Shannon opened the diaper bag she’d brought down with her. “I’ll do it.”
But Jake held out a hand. “I’ve done this before and I don’t mind.”
“Really?”
“Diaper, wipes, lotion and powder, please.”
She complied, then watched as he expertly cleaned and diapered the baby.
He grinned as he handed her the balled up dirty diaper. “You can dispose of this.”
“Oh, thanks. I am duly impressed, though. How did you get diapering experience?”
“Nephew. Girls are easier, though. They don’t take you by surprise.”
Jake lifted the baby carefully and stood. Something ached in him. This felt so right. So natural for him. He argued that it was because he had been trapped in this limbo between lives for the past two years. Not really living, but more like going through the motions of living—someone else’s life.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Let’s go.” She didn’t insist on taking Bailey from him, but just picked up the diaper bag and carrier and headed for the truck.
The hardware store was the place to be. Apparently everyone in Snoqualmie was preparing to spruce up their houses, inside and out, now that summer was approaching. And all heads turned toward the couple walking in with a baby in a carrier between them. Jake felt the rush of heat up his neck. He nodded to those who spoke, but didn’t offer to introduce Shannon, just steered her to the back of the store and the paint department.
He expected her to be indecisive, but she knew exactly what she wanted. She picked up a ring of paint samples. “I’d like white or off-white for the ceiling. It’ll brighten up the place and make the rooms seem larger.” She selected a soft yellow called lemon meringue for the kitchen. “Maybe I can find a border with small flowers to work with this. Oh, and look at this for the living and dining room. I’m thinking of this soft light beige or cream, but with an accent on that far wall in the living room, maybe a nice lighter turquoise? What do you think?”
“I think you know exactly what you want. I like those colors. What about the bedroom and the bathroom?”
“The bathroom already has a lot of tile in blue and there’s no sense ripping that out. We can use white in there, something water-resistant. I like this heather green for the bedroom.”
“I can see that. And those colors all work with the carpeting. If you keep the carpet. I pulled up a loose corner. That apartment has beautiful hardwood floors. It wouldn’t take much to rip out the carpeting and refinish them.”
Her eyes widened and he saw in them the shade of turquoise she had talked about. “Really? I love hardwood floors. I can get a nice area rug for the living room for Bailey to crawl around on.”
He calculated how much paint they would need in each of the colors, along with the Kilz primer. The clerk added everything up and Shannon pulled bills from her wallet.
Jake put a hand over hers. “Abe’s paying for the paint. It’s his repair job.”
“But, he’s already being so generous.”
Jake asked that the material be added to his account. The clerk nodded, then came around the counter to help them carry everything to the truck.
Jake covered the paint cans with a tarp. “I have a little time. You want to get lunch? There’s a café down the street.”
“What about the paint? Will it be safe?”
“You’re in Snoqualmie. It’ll be fine right here.”
“You mean you’re willing to risk having the rest of the town ogle you while you walk around with a strange woman and baby?”
“Bailey’s not so strange.” He grinned. “I’m hungry. I’ll take my chances.” Jake felt better than he had in a long time, better in a way that felt whole. He felt…normal, even as he lightly pressed a hand to her back as they entered the café.
The waitress appeared at their booth with glasses of water. “Hi, Jake.” She turned to Shannon and then glanced down at Bailey. “What a cute baby.”
“Millie, this is a friend of mine, Shannon. She’s relocating here to Snoqualmie. And that little cutie is Bailey,” Jake said.
The waitress frowned. “You’re relocating here? That hardly ever happens. Most people relocate out of Snoqualmie.”
Shannon smiled. “I need a change of pace and this town seems perfect.”
“Where you moving from?” the waitress asked.
“The Midwest.”
“Oh?” When no further information followed, she said, “Well, welcome. The special today is a hot roast beef sandwich with fries. You want menus?”
“I’ll have the special and iced tea, please,” Shannon said.
“Same here,” Jake said.
“Got it. Be right back with your drinks.”
“So….” Shannon glanced around the café. “This is a nice place.”
“It is.”
They sat in silence while the conversations of other diners hummed around them.
Both jumped when Jake’s cell phone rang. He stared at the number for a moment before answering. “Hello?”
“Jake, this is Angie. I talked to my mom and she’ll be happy to babysit when you need her. Here’s her phone number and address. Just give her a call ahead of time.”
“Hold on.” He motione
d to Shannon. “Pen?”
She rummaged in her purse and handed him a ballpoint pen bearing some bank’s logo. He jotted down the information on a paper napkin and thanked Angie. “I have the name and address of the babysitter.”
“Someone you know?”
“I know her daughter pretty well. She cares for her grandkids most days. You can meet her first.”
Millie returned and slid a plate in front of each of them. “You need a refill on your drinks?”
“Yes please,” Shannon said. Then to Jake, she said, “When can we paint?”
“Depends on how much the guys and I get done with the roof today. If they’re willing to work late, we’ll keep at it as long as there’s light. If we finish up tomorrow, I can start the primer in the afternoon. Then we can paint on Friday.”
They ate in silence until a rumble of thunder sounded and Jake looked out the front window. Clouds began to build. “Uh-oh.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s going to rain and we only have half a roof on the apartment. I have to get back there and help the guys fasten a tarp to cover the exposed roof. There’s no time to take you and Bailey back to the cabin. You’ll have to come with me. Are you finished?”
She popped a couple of fries into her mouth and then the last bite of her sandwich, nodding.
The sky darkened and wind whipped the trees. Jake was relieved to see Rico and Don on the roof, already tacking down the blue tarp. Abe Swinson stood on his back porch, watching. When Jake got out of the truck, Abe said, “It’s looking like a storm’s coming.”
“I think you’re right. I rushed back here to help the guys cover the roof and clean up.” He helped Shannon down from the truck and removed Bailey in her carrier. Just as they reached the top of the steps, fat raindrops splattered on the wooden landing. He threw the door open and hurried inside with the baby.
“This storm came out of nowhere. It was gorgeous when we left the house.” Shannon rubbed her moistened arms.
“Welcome to the Northwest. We’ve been lucky so far this week.” He set down the carrier and hurried outside to help the other two men.
*