QR Code Killer

by Shanna Hatfield

  If Zach’s behavior the night before when he picked her up at the tiny Walla Walla airport was any indication of how things would go during the next few months, it was going to be a long, hard road of recovery. After lecturing her about leaving the hospital early and traveling alone, he then went on and on about how she needed to be more mindful of her personal safety, how she needed to let them take care of her, how she needed to let herself need help.

  After the first five minutes, she blocked him out and sat ignoring him, watching the scenery fly past her window. She hadn’t been back to town since they finished the first leg of the new highway project. The road was wide and smooth, taking them through beautiful farm country.

  Once he helped her get her things in the house, Zach tried to rally their dad to take up the lecture where he left off. Ethan, to Maddie’s surprise, just gave her a gentle hug and said, “I’m so glad you’re home, cupcake.”

  Exhausted from the trip and admittedly run down from the past three years of constantly working trying to catch Zeus, Maddie slept late, at least late for the farm. Glancing at the bedside clock, she smiled to see it read 9:30 a.m.

  Carefully stretching so she didn’t damage the stitches in her shoulder, Maddie got out of bed and went to the bathroom where she took a bath and got ready for the day.

  She was wrestling with a fresh bandage when a pounding on the door startled her. She would have automatically pulled her gun if she’d been wearing it.

  “Maddie, I’ve got breakfast waiting for you when you are ready,” Lena called through the closed door. “Do you need help with your bandage?”

  “I’ve just about got it,” Maddie said, her breathing returning to normal. She hadn’t realized how jumpy she’d become. “Just give me a second and I’ll be right down.”

  “Okay, honey,” Lena said. “Sure you don’t need help?”

  Maddie opened the door and grinned at her aunt, with the bandage dangling from her hand. “Maybe a little.”

  “Well, let’s get you fixed up then, kiddo.”

  Lena made short work of getting the bandage into place, helped Maddie on with her shirt, then guided her arm into the sling she was supposed to wear. Stepping back she gave her a once over and shook her head.

  “Your hair looks like a nest of something wild tangled in it,” Lena said, picking up Maddie’s brush. Soon Maddie’s gold hair, cut in short, wavy layers, was perfectly styled. “That looks much better, kiddo.”

  “Thanks, Aunt Lena,” Maddie said, kissing her aunt’s cheek as they walked down the hall to the stairs. “What would I do without you?”

  “Not a whole lot until your arm heals up a bit,” Lena said with a grin. “Now let’s get you some breakfast. You look like a strong wind could blow you down.”

  Maddie just glared at her aunt, which caused her to laugh.

  “I know, Miss Maddie, you are one tough cookie and no wind is going to mess with you.”

  Maddie relaxed and smiled. “Glad you remembered.”

  As the two women sat at the table and chatted, Lena caught Maddie up on the farm happenings, including the new wind turbines.

  “Dad mentioned them when he came to see me in the hospital,” Maddie said, enjoying a second cup of coffee. “I’ll have to go out and see them.”

  “Just be careful. You don’t want to overdo.”

  “I won’t, Aunt Lena. I’m made of pretty stern stuff, you know.”

  “Yes, don’t I know it, and if I didn’t, you would remind me repeatedly until I did.”

  Maddie and Lena continued to visit until Maddie’s eye was drawn out the kitchen window to a man she hadn’t seen on the farm before.

  He wasn’t tall or short. She’d guess him about five-nine or ten. He was lean and fit, and walked with an easy, confident gait. When he turned toward the house, all she could think of was the sadness that seemed to surround him. She recognized it well because she felt such a crushing sense of anguish herself.

  “Who’s that man, Aunt Lena?”

  “That’s Erik, our new summer help. Your brother just hired him yesterday. He was with the crew that put in the wind turbines. Such a nice young man,” Lena said, eying Maddie. “As a matter of fact, I’d guess him to be right around your age. Single. No attachments.”

  “Oh,” Maddie said, standing up in her need to escape her aunt’s wild match-making ideas. She could already see the wheels spinning in Lena’s head. Her own wheels were spinning, wondering if Zach had checked this guy’s background. He could work for Zeus and be an immediate threat to her family. Sighing, she realized she would never get them to acknowledge the danger they were constantly in just by being related to her.

  Sizing up the man, she knew he wasn’t Zeus because he wasn’t tall enough to be the madman. That didn’t mean he wasn’t suspect for some other reason, though. Guilty until proven innocent was Maddie’s current motto.

  “I think I’ll go take a look around the farm,” Maddie said, putting on a pair of sunglasses. “It’s been a while.”

  Lena walked up beside her and patted her good arm. “You haven’t been back since your mother’s funeral. We’ve missed you, Maddie.”

  “I’ve missed you, too.” Maddie had missed her family. She just didn’t have time for trips home and, truth be told, she hadn’t wanted to think how quiet the farmhouse would be without her mother there. Although she loved her aunt, she just couldn’t help waiting to hear her mother’s voice around the corner and see her smiling from the stove.

  Deciding to go outside to clear her head and chase away the sad memories, Maddie stepped out onto the porch and was greeted by a friendly dog. He lifted his head from his paws and wagged his tail.

  When she leaned over to pet him, his eyes shone with affection.

  “Where did you come from, boy? What’s your name?”

  “Boone,” a voice said from in front of her. Maddie raised her gaze and saw Erik watching her from a few feet away.

  The dog got to his feet and ran over to Erik, his tail wagging so hard Maddie wasn’t sure how he could walk without pulling himself off balance.

  Erik smiled at the dog and gave him a gentle pat before returning his gaze to Maddie.

  His features were shadowed by the bill of his ball cap, but he took a step forward and held out his hand.

  “You must be Miss Weber,” he said, shaking the small hand she placed in his calloused one. “I’m Erik. It’s nice to meet you.”

  Maddie looked at him. From this angle, she could see his eyes were light brown, almost golden, and laugh lines creased the corners. He wasn’t handsome in the unbelievably gorgeous sense Devin had been, but he was very nice looking with a strong jaw and straight nose.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Maddie said, taking a step back and pulling down her sunglasses. “Please, call me Maddie.” For some reason beyond her ability to comprehend, the touch of Erik’s hand on hers made her stomach start fluttering. She didn’t appreciate the sensation at all. Ignoring it, she studied the farmer standing before her, his hand absently rubbing the dog’s head. “Aunt Lena was telling me you helped install the wind machines. I thought I’d go take a look at them and see if they are as huge up close as they are from here.”

  Erik offered her a genuine smile. “You might be surprised.”

  Maddie felt her lips curving upward in response. “I might be.” Looking around, Maddie spied one of the farm four-wheelers sitting by the barn and started walking that direction.

  “Are you sure you should bump around with your arm,” Erik asked, watching her walk away.

  Maddie stopped and looked at him as she pushed her sunglasses back into place. Studying him for a moment, she decided he was asking out of concern, not some ulterior motive.

  “I’ll be careful, but thanks for asking.”

  Erik nodded his head and walked back toward the machine shed, taking Boone with him. He was gone before Zach returned with Maddie last night and Ethan said she was sleeping late this morning, so he was surprised t
o see her come out on the porch.

  She was nothing like he had imagined.

  Instead of being tall and stocky like her dad and brother, Maddie was about the tiniest thing Erik had ever seen. She looked like a perfect version of a Barbie doll from the blond hair, blue eyes and glowing tan to her generously curved, albeit petite figure. She was absolutely gorgeous and the fact that he even noticed was causing him to question how smart it would be to work on the ranch all summer.

  He had managed to keep to himself for the last two years and he was planning to continue on alone. After losing Sheila and the baby, he didn’t think he could put himself through that kind of torture again. As he glanced back over his shoulder at Maddie slowly riding the four-wheeler up the hill toward the wind turbines, he wondered if maybe he should reconsider that plan.

  When it came right down to it, Erik was tired of moving around, tired of running, tired of grieving, tired of being swept along with no direction or purpose. He still missed Sheila every day, but the pain had lessened to a dull ache that came and went instead of a twisting knot that relentlessly held him in its grasp. Maybe it was time to think about going home to his farm and moving on with his life.

  He hadn’t thought of that once in the past two years, and now that idea didn’t seem so foreign. Rolling it around in his mind, he decided to give it some time and see if, at the end of the summer, he was ready to resume his life in Ontario.

  Chapter Five

  May glided into June on a soft sigh. It was, Maddie would admit, so nice to be somewhere the sun shone most of the time, where the air was clear and fresh, and the sky a dazzling shade of azure blue.

  Used to the damp, rainy weather of Seattle, she didn’t realize how much she had missed the beauty of early summer in the Walla Walla Valley.

  Sitting on the porch swing, she watched the guys working at the shop on equipment. They would start the second cutting of hay soon and were making sure everything was in proper working order.

  Gone from home for so long, Maddie hadn’t realized so many vineyards had popped up in the area. From their porch, she could look across the valley and see several orderly rows of grapes where orchards and wheat fields used to be. It didn’t take long to learn Walla Walla had a booming wine business, which she had largely ignored.

  Sitting in the porch swing, aimlessly moving the seat back and forth with her foot, Maddie was restless. Used to being on the go with a lack of sleep, she hardly knew what to do with herself now that she was well rested. With her left arm still in a sling, she was about ready to climb the walls. Lena was busy cleaning or cooking or doing something domestic inside. Maddie smiled. She supposed it wouldn’t hurt to learn a few domestic skills. Her cooking abilities left a lot to be desired and cleaning was never high on her to-do list.

  Closing her eyes, she just enjoyed the peaceful morning on the farm. She heard the front door open and close then felt the swing dip as her aunt sat down beside her.

  “Thought you might enjoy a glass of tea, kiddo,” Lena said, pressing a cold glass into Maddie’s hand.

  Taking a sip, Maddie smiled in appreciation. “You remembered.”

  “Of course I remembered. Although the guys like their tea dark and strong, it doesn’t hurt once in a while for us to enjoy a glass of mint iced tea, with a generous helping of sugar.”

  Maddie laughed and took another sip. “This is really good, Aunt Lena. You can’t buy a glass of this in Seattle.”

  Lena sat up a little straighter, eating up the praise. “Glad to hear that, kiddo.”

  They sat in silence for a few minutes enjoying the quiet.

  “So, Maddie, what are we going to do with you the rest of the summer? You can’t go back to work for a while, but another week and you’ll be climbing the walls, even if it is one-handed.”

  Maddie leaned her head back against the swing. “I know, Aunt Lena. I’m not used to being idle. Or still. Or bored. I’ve got to find something to do.”

  “Well, it seems to me that you can’t do anything too strenuous because of your arm, but I can think of a few things that would probably be fine.”

  “Like what?”

  “I’m finally going to teach you how to cook. Starting today. First lesson will be dinner. How does that sound?”

  “Like punishment but I can’t exactly beat you off now, can I?”

  Lena laughed and lightly smacked Maddie’s leg.

  “No, you can’t. You wouldn’t ever stay still long enough to learn from your mother and you’ve got no excuse now.”

  “Okay. Lesson one at dinner. What else?”

  “I think you should take a nice, long walk every day. You wouldn’t want to lose all those muscles you worked so hard to build.”

  Maddie smiled. Despite her injury, she was still keeping a fitness routine. She had to. After a couple of months off work, she was going to be soft enough as it was. Aunt Lena just didn’t know what Maddie had been doing when she wasn’t watching. She walked several miles every day, just in fifteen to twenty minute spurts. That way Aunt Lena didn’t grow suspicious and accuse her of over doing.

  “Right. A nice long walk every day. Then what?”

  “You need some friends, Maddie. People your own age to hang out with. So I invited one of your old buddies and his wife for dinner tomorrow.”

  Maddie stopped the swing and stared at her aunt. At least she wasn’t trying to force her to date someone. Yet.

  “Who did you invite?”

  “The sheriff.”

  “Have I behaved that badly, you had to invite him?”Maddie asked, trying to keep a straight face. It would be fun to see her old friend John. Maddie had beaten him in every shooting competition they entered, but he still let her hang out with him. It didn’t hurt that he and Zach had been best friends since the third grade.

  Lena laughed again. “No, kiddo, but I thought you might like to see him. His wife is such a lovely person and I don’t think you’ve had much of a chance to get to know her.”

  “No, I haven’t. They were both at Mom’s funeral, but I… well… it would be nice to visit with her.”

  “Wonderful,” Lena said, getting to her feet. “Now, how about you go take that walk while I get lunch started?”

  “Sure, Aunt Lena,” Maddie said, handing her empty tea glass to her aunt and wandering off toward the shop where the guys were working. Maddie wore cut off shorts, a tank top and canvas sneakers. Not exactly the best attire for work on the farm, but there wasn’t much she could do besides stand around and watch.

  Walking in the shed, Zach, Ethan and Erik were all intently working on the swather, their heads stuck in the machine.

  “If you lean over farther does that help fix the problem faster?” Maddie asked right behind Zach, knowing he didn’t hear her approach.

  Startled, he jerked and smacked his head.

  “What did you do that for?” he grumbled, rubbing his head as he turned to look at her. “You, of all people, should know better than to sneak up on someone.”

  “I know, but I get so much pleasure out of tormenting you.” Maddie smiled at her brother in a way only a younger sister can, and he grinned back, despite the knot forming on his head.

  “If you don’t have anything better to do, I’ll put you to work,” Zach teased, waving a wrench at her.

  “No thanks,” Maddie said, taking a step back. “Lena decided I needed to take a walk and burn off some energy.”

  “Well, then, you better get to it,” Zach said, turning back to the swather.

  “Right,” Maddie said, stepping away when her gaze fastened on Erik’s, causing her heart to beat a little faster and her palms to get clammy. She backed into the baler and would have fallen except Erik reached out to steady her.

  “Be careful. You wouldn’t want to fall,” Erik said quietly, letting go of her good arm.

  “No,” Maddie whispered. “Falling would be bad.”

  Erik winked at her and returned his attention to the swather. Maddie gathered what was
left of her wits and walked out of the shop, heading up the hill toward the wind turbines.

  She hated that Erik had that affect on her. One smile from him, and her insides quivered while she felt like a school girl with a crush. She’d never felt like that with Devin. To be honest, she’d never felt like that with anyone. What was it about Erik that got to her?

  Noticing Boone and Rose following her, she called to the dogs and rubbed first one head, then the other as they walked up the hill. Maddie thought about Erik. She was good at reading people. It was part of her job and part of what made her excel as a cop. Erik was a good guy. She had no doubt about that, but he was running from something. She knew he had lost a wife and unborn baby. Aunt Lena said he walked away from his farm in his grief and hadn’t been back. From watching him work, he was very knowledgeable about farming. Something, though, was bothering him. Something that made him pull up his roots and not set them down again. Maybe it was his grief. Maybe it was something more. She intended to find out.

  Maddie wished he would open up more when he came in for meals, but he was generally pretty quiet unless they were talking about farming. When that topic arose, he was a wealth of information. Her dad and Zach had mentioned more than once that Erik was turning out to be worth his weight in gold. He wasn’t just a farm hand. He was a seasoned farmer who instinctively knew what to do and how best to do it.

  Having watched Erik the last few weeks, Maddie thought she saw some of his sadness lessen. He seemed to laugh more often. She would have to try to find additional ways to make him smile. When he flashed those even white teeth at her, she couldn’t help but smile in return and that was a feeling she greatly enjoyed.

  Walking to the base of one of the mammoth wind machines, Maddie sat with Boone and Rose next to her, enjoying the tranquility and the view. The valley was lush and green this time of year. She could hear the chink-chinking of pivots, the gentle lowing of cattle and the breeze rustling in the still-green fields of wheat. Although she had avoided coming home as much as humanly possible the last few years, she found a peace here on the farm she was unable to capture anywhere else.