by Linda Wisdom
“Hey there, Steffie,” he greeted her. “The sheriff asked me to come out and find out what happened.”
“What happened was some idiot practically pushed Mom off the road with his truck,” Steffie said with a scowl.
Without waiting for an invitation, he stepped inside and, seeing Keely in the family room, headed there.
“Heard you took a nasty spill,” he said, taking a nearby chair. His eyes didn’t leave her bare legs, which were peppered with raw skin and dots of medicated cream.
“It’s one of the hazards of in-line skating.” Keely shrugged it off. “I’ve been lucky before, so I guess it was just my turn.”
“It wouldn’t have been if it hadn’t been for that truck that came racing down the road,” Steffie blurted out, perching on the couch arm. “I don’t care what Mom says, that truck driver tried to kill her!”
“Steffie, cut the dramatics, please.” She gave a sigh. “Look, Rick, there was nothing more than a driver not watching what he was doing when he rounded a corner. I guess the residents aren’t used to anyone skating on these roads.”
“Did you see the truck?” he asked, pulling out a notebook.
“Just that it was big,” she said dryly.
“It was dark blue and had orange flames painted on the hood,” Steffie said promptly.
Rick sat up straighter at the description. “Are you sure?”
Keely smiled at Steffie’s expression of outrage as if she silently demanded to know why he should discount her word.
“If I’d had a few seconds more I could have gotten the license plate number,” Steffie continued in a tight voice. “No offense, but this isn’t exactly L.A., so I doubt there’d be all that many trucks around here with those kind of graphics.”
Rick closed his notebook and slipped it back into his shirt pocket. “I already know whose truck you’re talking about. And I don’t like your idea of a joke.” He stood up, deliberately towering over Steffie.
Keely straightened, fully prepared to protect her daughter.
“This is not a joke!” Steffie shouted. “Look at my mom! Does she look as if it’s a joke? If you know who owns the truck, then go arrest them and ask why they sideswiped her and didn’t stop!”
“I own the truck with that detailing, kid,” he snarled, swiping the air with his hand. “And I wasn’t anywhere near you or your mom.”
Keely stiffened while Steffie looked at him warily.
“You mean someone stole your truck?” Steffie whispered.
“No one can steal my truck,” he said between clenched teeth. “I just want to know why you described my truck. Why are you trying to make trouble for me?”
“All right, you two.” Keely held up her hand to stave off further insults between them. “Sit down, Rick. I said sit down.” This time he complied. “Steffie, you back off a little.” She turned back to the deputy. “Whether you like it or not, Steffie described the truck she saw. Perhaps you should check on your truck. I have no desire to make a report about this.” She sat back, fatigued by the angry emotion running so strong around her.
Rick stood up. Conflicting thoughts ran across his face. “I’ll tell the sheriff then,” he muttered, as he walked to the door.
Steffie scowled at his departing back. “Does he think I’m some little kid who makes up something because I might not have seen the real thing?”
Keely closed her eyes. “Do me a favor,” she murmured.
Steffie finally noticed her pale features and hovered over her. “What do you need?”
“Peace and quiet.” She slowly rose to her feet. “I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a long time. I’m going to take a nap.” She carefully made her way down the hall.
“I’ll make dinner,” Steffie offered.
Keely waved her hand to indicate she heard her. Once inside her bedroom, she slipped off her clothing and slid into bed. Within seconds, she was fast asleep.
The voices are so loud! Why is Daddy shouting? Why is Mommy yelling? She was in the hallway, frightened because it was so dark, but even more scared to go back to her room just then. She inched her way toward the top of the stairs, so she could see. No! She didn’t want to look! She didn’t want to know! She didn’t—
Keely shot up in bed, gasping for air that seemed to refuse to enter her lungs. Labored breaths caused black spots to dance before her eyes.
When she felt in more control of herself, she dropped back against her pillows. Why the dream? She couldn’t remember ever having a recurring nightmare of this proportion until she moved here. One thing was coming to mind and she didn’t like what it meant That she just might be that little girl in the dream.
Chapter 8
Keely couldn’t work. She could only sit there and stare at the computer screen as the cursor blinked a silent message for her to get cracking.
She hadn’t had the dream for more than a week, but that didn’t stop it from haunting her every waking hour. Voices echoed in her head and a child’s cry entered her mind at odd times.
In a fit of temper, she threw a small stuffed animal she kept on her desk across the room. She wished her grandmother was still alive. Perhaps she could have answered some questions for her. Or at least assured her she wasn’t going insane. Then the light bulb clicked on in her brain.
“Someone here has to know something,” she exclaimed, quickly shutting down her computer and jumping to her feet. Now was as good a time as any to do a little sleuthing.
“Why don’t you get some lunch?” Freda stormed into Sam’s office.
He looked up, stunned by her abrupt order. “Why?”
“Because you’ve been a little cranky all morning and maybe a good meal will calm you down,” she told him.
Sam knew there was another reason for her suggestion but doubted he’d get a logical answer out of her. Long experience had taught him it was much easier to just go along with whatever she said.
The minute he stepped outside the sheriff’s office and saw a familiar figure on the sidewalk across the street he knew why the dispatcher had practically tossed him out of the building. He stifled a grin and crossed the road.
“Glad to see you’re up and about,” he greeted Keely with a brief nod of the head.
Her expression wasn’t as pleasant.
“I did not appreciate your deciding a report needed to be filed on an accident that was nothing more than that, an accident,” she said in a low voice.
Sam took her arm. “Have you had lunch yet?”
Her “No, but—” was blatantly ignored as he led her toward the coffee shop.
“Good, I haven’t either.”
Since the lunch hour was long past, there were few people around. Sam took a rear booth and gestured for Keely to take the opposite bench.
“What’ll you have?” he asked.
“A hamburger and fries,” she said grudgingly. “And a diet soda.”
“Hey, can we have a hamburger with fries, bowl of chili, one diet soda and a coffee over here,” he called out
“Coming up, Sam.”
He turned back to Keely. “When Rick got back to the station, he checked on his truck. It was missing and not found until much later that night.”
She shrugged it off. “Some kids stole his truck for some joyriding.”
“I can’t see that happening during the day. And Steffie does talk a lot about where you two go skating.” He glanced up and smiled at the waitress as she deposited their drinks in front of them. His smile faded when he saw the shock written on Keely’s face.
She leaned forward, keeping her voice low. “I don’t like this, Sam. There’s no reason for someone to want to frighten me. It’s not as if I’ve been back here long enough to make any enemies. I left this town when I was a little girl.” For a moment, she froze as if something occurred to her.
“What?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Just a crazy idea that really doesn’t make any sense.”
When t
heir food arrived, Keely bit into her hamburger and chewed, but at the moment she didn’t feel very hungry. When Sam told her Rick’s truck had been stolen, she suddenly thought of the menacing note she’d received, then her nightmares and the sense she was being watched late at night The only problem was, she couldn’t understand why someone would show that kind of sick anger toward her. She could feel Sam’s eyes on her as she sorted through her thoughts.
“Well, if it makes any sense, you make sure to let me know,” he said.
She nodded.
“Hey, Sam, I see you have our lovely newcomer all to yourself.” John stopped by the booth and clapped him on the back. “Must be the uniform,” he joked.
Keely’s smile wasn’t as forthcoming as it should have been as she looked up and greeted the pharmacist. And she had an idea that Sam noticed that. She doubted the man missed very much.
“Heard you had an accident on those in-line skates. Always thought they looked dangerous,” John said, turning to Keely. “How are you feeling now?”
“A lot better, thank you. I’m used to falling down when I’m skating,” she replied.
“John, here’s your coffee!” came a call from the front counter.
He nodded. “I guess I’ll see you at the Pioneer Days Picnic,” he said to her before walking off.
Sam turned back to Keely. “Not your type?” He grinned.
She rolled her eyes, looking like her daughter. “Very definitely not my type.”
She thought for sure he would ask her what her type was, but he didn’t. She told herself it was just as well, because right now she wasn’t sure she had a type.
“I gather the Pioneer Days Picnic is a big deal around here?”
He nodded. “It’s our annual celebration to honor the town’s founders. We have it in the park with food booths and carnival rides. I know it sounds like small-town fun, but we enjoy it.”
“Sam, you don’t have to defend anything to me,” she chided. “Believe me, I didn’t spend all my time in nightclubs. For a while the high spot of my life was Steffie’s dance recitals. I was never so glad as when she decided dance wasn’t one of her strengths.”
“Must have been something like Lisa’s clarinet lessons. It came to the point her teacher begged her to quit.”
Sam ate his chili but he was more aware of the woman sitting across from him. Keely always looked like a breath of spring. And smelled like it, too. He knew he’d been without a woman for too long, but it wasn’t just that where she was concerned. Still, he wasn’t about to get involved with her, even though she’d fascinated him from that first moment he’d laid eyes on her. He still had trouble believing she was willing to stay in Echo Ridge and he had to wonder what would happen if she ever remembered the reason why she left here thirty years ago. He couldn’t imagine she would want to stay then.
“We really should embarrass them one day and drag out all the baby pictures,” she suggested.
“Sounds good to me.”
When the bill came, Sam snatched it up before Keely could reach for it.
“No arguments,” he said sternly, reaching into his pants pocket for his wallet.
A hint of a smile curved her lips. “I would never argue with a law officer,” she said demurely, but a hint of mischief sparkled in her eyes.
Sam walked Keely outside, automatically glancing both ways. There was no missing Chloe watching them from the front window of her store. Or John standing in the drugstore doorway talking to Mrs. Morrison. Or Rainey just coming out of the barbershop and sending a dark glare in their direction. Sam doubted there could be any other man angrier at the world than Rainey. That was when he noticed Melanie stepping into the post office. He wondered if half the town was there at that moment just to watch them walk out of the coffee shop.
At the same time, he wondered if anyone out there now was the one who had stolen Rick’s truck and tried to run down Keely. No matter what she thought, he had a sick suspicion that someone did have it in for her. Worse yet, it would be for something she didn’t even remember.
“You’re not really going to dance with that geek, are you?” Steffie asked as Keely parked the truck several blocks from the park. She looked around. “Wow, it looks as if the whole town comes out for this thing.”
“I’d say so.” Keely climbed out and locked the door. Even though they were a few blocks from the park, she could smell the zesty aroma of barbecuing meat. “Are you meeting Lisa?”
Steffie nodded. “Her dad is on duty today, so she came to the park early. She said the rides seem kinda dinky but there’s usually an awesome haunted tower to walk through.”
Keely shuddered. She’d had more than her share of scares lately. “Better you than me.”
“Cotton candy first” Steffie grabbed her mother’s hand and pulled her down the sidewalk.
“A real junk food day,” she groaned, allowing her daughter to drag her along.
As they wandered among the food booths enjoying their sugary treat Keely kept a covert lookout for Sam. While she saw several men in khaki uniforms, none of them was the man she was looking for.
“Well, look at you,” Chloe said, coming up to them. She made a comical face at Keely. “Damn, you got that at one of those pricey boutiques in L.A., didn’t you?”
Keely looked at her blue chambray vest embroidered with tiny yellow, pink and white flowers across the front. Her full denim skirt fluttered around her calves with the front partially unbuttoned to reveal a white ruffled petticoat She had let Steffie pull her hair back into one of the intricate braids the girl enjoyed doing and wore denim flats to complete the outfit.
“Actually, I found it at an outlet mall,” she replied. “Steffie and I used to enjoy roaming through the outlet malls more than the regular ones.”
Chloe shook her head. “I must go shopping with you.”
“I don’t see where you need to worry.” Keely openly admired her friend’s peach cotton walking shorts and matching vest with a cream-colored T-shirt under the vest.
Chloe struck a model’s pose. “With just about everyone here, I’m hoping for a good-looking male who will appreciate me for my mind and my body.” She smiled at Steffie. “How about you? Who do you have your eye on?”
The girl gave a sniff of disdain. “Obviously you haven’t seen the guys in my class. No girl in her right mind would want anything to do with those members of the Cro-Magnon era.”
Keely and Chloe shared a smile.
“So far, I’ve been lucky, but I know it won’t last long,” Keely said.
“How are you feeling after your spill on the road?”
She grimaced. “Trust me, the treatment was much worse than the spill.”
“They use this really ugly wire brush to get the gravel out,” Steffie told her. “I told Mom I’m wearing jeans and long-sleeved shirts the next time I skate.”
Chloe looked pained. “I think I’ll just forgo ever taking it up.”
Steffie spun around when she heard her name called. She turned back to Keely and looked imploringly.
“Go,” she urged. “But I want you over by the picnic tables at two.”
Steffie nodded as she took off at a run.
Chloe looked around. “Do you have any plans with our esteemed head man in khaki?”
“With whom?”
“Sam, silly. There’s no mistake he’s interested in you.”
She shook her head. “Sorry, Chloe, no gossip there. He’s only being nice to me since our daughters have become such good friends.”
“I’d say he’d be a lot more than nice to you even if neither one of you had kids,” she said knowingly, walking along with Keely.
Keely could feel that warm glow beginning deep in the pit of her stomach at the idea of Sam being interested in her. Then the practical part of her brain reminded her that the last thing she needed was a man in her life.
As swiftly as the warm glow floated through her body, a chill skittered down her spine.
She was being watched. She was sure of it. She was also sure it was the same person who stood at the edge of the woods during the night and watched her. The hate seemed to flow across the park grounds and surround her like an icy blanket. She resisted the urge to look around and see if she could spot the intruder. The last thing she wanted to do was let the person know she could sense the hateful presence.
“Are you all right?”
Keely pulled herself back together and managed a smile for Chloe. “I suddenly wondered if I remembered to turn my curling iron off,” she said lightly.
The other woman nodded. “For me, it’s usually my coffeemaker. I finally gave up and wait to have my first cup at the store. Less wear and tear on the nerves.”
With her here, it would be easy to go over and sneak into her house. See if there’s anything there about me. They said all those years ago that she didn’t remember, but I didn’t believe it then and I don’t now. It was just a story. I just bet she came back here because she wanted to make trouble. Fine. I can make trouble, too. I can make her find out just what hell is like.
“I need something to drink,” Keely said, heading for one of the booths. She hoped she could wash the bitter taste from her mouth. The icy feeling of being watched coupled with all too vivid memories of her nightmare was grating on her nerves. She was distressed to see her fingers trembling as she held out the money for her lemonade.
“You are really stressed out,” Chloe said, noticing the way Keely’s hand shook. “Hon, you’ve been doing too much. You better just concentrate on relaxing today and having fun. There’s dancing later on this evening.”
“I just didn’t sleep well last night,” Keely said. “Stayed up too late finishing a book,” she lied.
“Been there. Done that.”
Keely had just turned around, lifting her cup to her lips when she saw Sam standing over by the bandstand talking to an elderly woman. She froze when he looked up and stared at her. With a cream-colored Stetson tipped a bit low over his brow and his sunglasses on, there was no way she could read his expression. The woman standing next to him also turned her head. Keely wasn’t sure why the woman’s face took on an expression akin to pain when she looked her way. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to know why.
