by C. C. Coburn
Adam nodded. “How do you think he found you in Spruce Lake?”
Carly hesitated, then continued, her face flushed. “I emailed my mom last week and told her I’d moved to Spruce Lake, that it didn’t work out in Denver. I didn’t tell her about the hotel being firebombed. She didn’t need to worry about that.”
Adam stood and paced the room. “Could he be obsessive enough to try to get you to return to San Diego by destroying the hotel—where you were about to start work?”
“Maybe…” Carly said slowly. “But I never made that connection because of all the media stories about how it had to be a Mafia hit or something.”
“And if he knew you were in Spruce Lake…”
“Back up a bit. Are you saying he caused the fires in the apartment building and last night, as well? That’s impossible! My children were in those buildings. He was devoted to them after Michael died!”
“Like he was devoted to you?” Adam said drily.
Confused, Carly searched her memory. Come to think of it, there’d been times when she’d wondered how genuinely Jerry cared for her kids. His devotion seemed a little overdone, as if he was trying to impress her.
Something else pricked at her memory.
“What’s the matter?” Adam asked.
Carly explained the weird sensations she’d experienced—at the apartment fire, on the porch at the ranch and then the other day, just before Jerry had approached her in the supermarket.
“What if he was there on those occasions, Adam, watching me? What if he’d been there because he’d lit those fires? What if it was Jerry I saw lurking in the yard last night?”
There was another knock at the door, and Matt came into the room.
“I gave you both enough time to get yourselves decent,” he said. “But—”
“Matt, can you check out a Jerry Ryan of San Diego?” Adam asked urgently. “He’s a firefighter there.”
“Whoa! What’s this all about?”
As succinctly as he could, Adam detailed his discussion with Carly. “If you could check airplane records, rental cars in Denver, ascertain whether he stayed anywhere locally—anything that might link him to the fires—I think you’ll find the real arsonist.”
“IS THERE ANY OTHER way Jerry Ryan could’ve found out where you’d moved?”
“The only person in Denver who knew where I’d gone was the owner of the apartment I rented there…”
“And he owned the same apartment complex you moved to here in Spruce Lake,” Matt finished for her.
“Yes,” Carly said, but her voice was little more than a squeak. Had Jerry Ryan stalked her all the way to Denver and then Spruce Lake?
“You said this guy was obsessed with you?”
Carly nodded.
“Then it’s possible he was burning those places down so you’d have nowhere to work or live and have to return to San Diego—and to him.”
“Adam suggested the same thing. But is one person capable of that sort of evil?”
“Hell, just this morning, I was wondering if you were.”
“Yeah, thanks so much for that.”
“Carly, you have to know I was only doing my job. If I didn’t arrest you, then someone else would have, and it might not have gone so well for you.”
“Four hundred thousand dollars is going well for me?”
“Well, not that part. But look on the bright side. You got a husband out of it.”
Carly gazed at him, deadpan.
“Sorry, bad joke.”
“No, you’re right, I did get a husband out of it, so the day wasn’t a complete loss.” She hugged Adam to her and kissed him soundly.
Matt strode toward the door. “I’m going to check Jerry Ryan’s whereabouts on the relevant dates. Hopefully, we’ll find the link we’re looking for. But in the meantime, Carly, I’m afraid you’re going to have to accompany me to jail.”
Chapter Seventeen
As she’d expected, Carly didn’t sleep. She tossed all night long, worrying about her kids. About Adam. Whether Matt would uncover a connection between Jerry and the fires.
She gave up on sleep shortly before dawn and lay on her bunk, hands clasped behind her head, and stared at the ceiling.
Adam was right; the jail wasn’t so bad. It was new and clean and there were only two other female inmates, both illegal immigrants, on the women’s side, so they each had a cell to themselves. Come the weekend—if she was still here—Carly suspected she’d be sharing with someone who’d been arrested on drug charges or for drunken behavior. She wasn’t looking forward to that.
Sometime later, Carly heard a familiar voice in the corridor outside. Her cell door was unlocked and Matt stepped inside, followed by Adam. Adam smiled as he drew Carly into his embrace.
Matt’s research had proven a direct link to the dates of the fires and the dates Jerry Ryan was in the vicinity. The owner of the apartment building in Denver had confirmed that a man matching Jerry’s description had queried him about where Carly had moved. When he’d refused to tell him, the man had gotten downright threatening. In the end, the owner had threatened to call the cops. Jerry had left him alone after that. It wasn’t until Carly had emailed her mom that he’d managed to track Carly to Spruce Lake.
“But surely this is as circumstantial as the evidence in my case?” Carly said.
Matt shook his head. “Better than circumstantial. Jerry was arrested by San Diego police as he got off a flight from Denver this morning. He fell apart and confessed to everything—including the fire at the warehouse where your husband died.” Matt gave a wry grin. “Must ask them about their interrogation tactics sometime.”
Carly breathed in the crisp mountain air as she walked outside the county jail to be greeted by the O’Malleys. Her children climbed all over her and she reveled in it. Charlie perched on her hip and clasped her cheeks in his chubby little fingers and kept kissing her.
“Is it true Adam’s our daddy now?” Maddy asked.
Carly glanced up at him. Now that she was free, did he want to stay married to her? she wondered.
Adam looked as uncertain as she felt.
“You can have it annulled, if you want,” she whispered.
Adam frowned. “Do you?” he asked.
“I don’t want you to feel trapped because you did something for me and my kids out of the kindness of your heart.”
“I don’t feel trapped,” he said, his voice rising. “I love you, Carly.”
“And that would be a yes to Maddy’s question!” Will shouted to the gathered crowd, and they cheered. “Come on, you two, we’re having a wedding breakfast at Rusty’s. I’m starving!”
Adam picked up Maddy, then turned and clasped Carly’s hand. “Ready to start the rest of your life, Mrs. O’Malley?”
“You betcha, Mr. O’Malley!” Carly said, and kissed him.
“That’s Lieutenant O’Malley to you, Mrs. O’Malley.” He pointed at the bugle on his uniform.
Epilogue
Christmas, later that year
Carly was curled up on the sofa, her hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate as she stared into the fire. Adam had lit it earlier that evening in the living room of Becky and Will’s former residence in Spruce Lake.
During the summer, Becky and Will had moved into the home Jack built for them on the ranchland Will had bought years ago, when he’d been an extreme-ski movie star. He’d subdivided it into large ranchettes. Matt and Beth already lived there, and next spring, Jack would start building a home for Adam and Carly.
But right now, her children loved the old Victorian and so did Molly. She was stretched out on Adam’s blanket in front of the fire, snoring gently.
After seeing how ha
ppy Molly was with the O’Malleys, Mr. and Mrs. Polinski had decided that they wouldn’t take her with them to the Twilight Years, after all. They’d asked Carly to keep her, as previously arranged. Since Molly missed hanging out with the ranch dogs now that they’d moved to town, Carly and Adam had adopted a companion for her from the pound.
Pongo was a dog of indeterminate breed, with oversize paws, floppy ears, a loud bark and a constantly wagging tail. Still a pup, he grew alarmingly each day and was completely devoted to his new family. He slept on Alex’s bed every night and got up at odd hours to patrol the house, as if some instinct told him this family needed his protection.
Carly and Adam had repeated their wedding vows in the presence of all the children and Carly’s parents a week after their hurried nuptials. Carly had felt blessed every day since.
“Whatcha thinking about?” Adam asked, plopping down beside her.
Carly smiled and leaned in to kiss her husband. “How much my life has changed this past year. How much better it is than it’s ever been.”
He kissed her back. “Mine, too.”
“I don’t think you thought that the first time we met.”
“True. I had ‘issues,’ as Sash would say. But you healed me,” he said.
“You healed yourself, Adam. You confronted your demons.”
“You made me do it.”
“Yeah, I’m good at twisting you around my little finger.”
That earned her a tickle and then some playful wrestling that had Carly squealing and begging him to stop.
“The children!” she warned.
Adam sobered. “Speaking of children, would you be averse to having one more?”
Carly grinned. “Another O’Malley?”
“Just one.”
Carly felt that having Adam’s child would make her own happiness even more complete. “When can we start trying?”
“How about tonight?”
“Goodness, you are eager!”
“Well, you’re not getting any younger,” he teased.
“May I remind you, Adam O’Malley,” she said, shaking her finger at him, “that I once punched out an ornery stallion. So don’t mess with me.”
Adam nuzzled her neck. Carly could feel her indignation abate as he moved to her mouth and kissed her. She sighed against his lips.
“Mom and Dad would be thrilled with another grandbaby.”
“They’re already getting two more additions to the O’Malley clan next year,” Carly said, referring to Beth and Becky, who were both expecting babies in the spring. “Three in one year might be overkill.”
“Never!” Adam declared. “Besides, with the birth of little Isabelle last month, Luke’s said he and Megan aren’t having any more kids, so Mom’s been dropping hints.”
“We could adopt another dog instead.”
Adam laughed. “Then this place would be a complete madhouse! How about a cat?”
He reached for the latest copy of the local paper resting on the coffee table and turned to the section where the animal shelter advertised pets for adoption. “There’s a litter of kittens here—”
“Hoo, boy!”
“Calm down, sweetheart. I called the shelter today and they’ve all been adopted. However, the mom needs a home.”
Carly kissed him. “You are such a sweet man.”
“I’m a firefighter, I’m not allowed to be sweet!”
“But you are, and I love you for it. Can we get her first thing in the morning?”
“Sure, the kids would have to come along, though.”
“They’d want to adopt every animal there!”
“Good point. I’ll go by myself and have Mrs. Farquar make up a special box, gift wrap it and I’ll bring her home in that. She’ll be a one-day-early Christmas present for the kids.”
“You’re the world’s best father,” Carly said. “Of kids, dogs…and cats.”
“My brothers might argue with you about that, since they think they’re so good at fatherhood.”
“Speaking of fatherhood, what are we going to do about Jack? He’d make a fantastic dad. But we need to find him a wife first,” Carly said. “I wonder what sort of woman he’s attracted to?”
“Hard to say. He keeps his private life private.”
“Like someone else I once knew,” Carly murmured with a smile.
Adam ignored her jibe. “He had a huge crush on a really neat girl in high school, but she went off to college on the East Coast. Broke his heart.”
“Is that why he entered the seminary?”
“Don’t know. Not sure why he left it, either,” Adam said pensively.
“You’ve never asked?”
“No. Now, can we forget about Jack’s love life and concentrate on ours?”
“What’s the holdup?” Carly said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Adam hoisted her easily into his arms and headed toward the stairs.
Molly looked up sleepily, smiled—Carly was sure of it—then snuggled deep into her blanket and closed her eyes.
* * * * *
ISBN: 9781459223554
Copyright © 2012 by Catherine Cockburn
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