by Marta Perry
“That sounds like Aunt Rebecca.” Lainey opened the back door of the car to pick up the groceries she’d put there.
“Anyway, I brought some candy for you, in case you didn’t think of it.” Rachel held out the bag she carried.
Lainey countered by holding up another one. “Great minds think alike.” She smiled. “Although actually, Jake mentioned it to me.” She hesitated, but after all, Rachel would probably notice his car. “He insists on coming over to help me, but I’m sure he’s just determined to catch anyone who tries to take advantage of the night to play any tricks.”
“See?” Rachel gave her a knowing smile. “We told you he was protective.”
“No, you told me it was sometimes nice when a man got protective,” she retorted, picking up an armload of grocery bags. “And I’m not sure I need a guard tonight.”
Rachel looked as if she considered several possible responses before deciding to say none of them. Instead, she gathered up the remaining groceries. “I’ll help you carry these inside.”
“Shouldn’t you be getting Mandy ready for her big trick-or-treating night?” she asked as they walked together to the front door.
“She’s supposed to be doing her homework,” Rachel said. “I’m trying to keep her calm for another hour, at least, but I think it’s a losing battle.”
Lainey unlocked the door, juggling the grocery bags, and pulled a couple of envelopes from the mailbox. She led the way to the kitchen, dropping her load onto the table.
“Thanks so much.” She glanced down at the mail in her hand and recoiled instinctively, as if she’d picked up a snake.
“Lainey, what is it?” Rachel reached toward her. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
That was exactly what it was—the ghost of her mistakes. She shook her head, dropping the offending envelope on the table. “I know what it is. An anonymous letter.”
Rachel turned the envelope cautiously with her fingertip so that she could read the block-printed address. “You’ve had them before?” She seemed to see the answer in Lainey’s face. “You should tell the police. If someone here is foolish enough to use the mail...” She let that trail off, and Lainey knew why. She’d seen the postmark.
“It’s nothing to do with what’s been happening here.” Lainey pressed her lips together, torn. The urge to confide was strong, but what would Rachel think of her if she knew the truth? She sucked in a breath, steeling herself.
“I was having problems back in St. Louis. It looks as if they’ve followed me here.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Rachel probably couldn’t imagine having done something so bad that people would send anonymous letters. Still, the truth could hardly be worse than what she might think if Lainey refused to talk about it.
“I made a big mistake, getting involved with my boss. My married boss. He said he and his wife were getting a divorce, but...” She shook her head, hating the wobble in her voice. “That’s no excuse. It was wrong. I thought I was in love, and I told myself that made it right. Now I’m paying for it.” She pressed her fingers to her forehead, willing the pain away. “She tried to kill herself. His wife, I mean. Thank heaven she didn’t succeed, but—” She stopped, hand dropping, and gestured to the envelope. “I deserve it.”
Rachel seemed to take a moment to absorb her words, but there was no condemnation in her face. “I’m sorry,” she said finally. “Are the letters abusive or threatening?”
“Both.” Lainey realized she’d memorized the contents of the last one. Of the phone call. You cant hide from me. I know where you are. Her stomach twisted. “I don’t see how anyone in St. Louis can know where I am, but still, the letters come.”
“You should tell the police,” Rachel said instantly. “And Jake. Have you told Jake?”
“No!” Fear shot through her. “I can’t.”
Rachel put her arm around Lainey’s waist in a quick hug. “You could, you know. You could trust him with this, and it might have something to do with all this craziness you’ve been going through.”
Lainey shook her head, staring at the envelope. “I can’t. And anyway, I’m sure no one would have followed me from St. Louis to Deer Run just to throw a rock through the window.”
Mandy’s dog barked excitedly from the backyard next door, and Rachel’s gaze flickered in that direction.
“You should go.” Lainey pulled herself together. “I’m fine, and you have a daughter to help dress.”
“To say nothing of dealing with the puppy.” Rachel sounded exasperated. “She’s probably going to bark every time the doorbell rings. It’ll be a long night, I’m afraid. I hope she doesn’t bother you.”
“Not at all,” Lainey said quickly. It had been a relief to unburden herself, but now she felt embarrassed to be with Rachel, to wonder what she was really thinking. “You go on. I’m fine.”
Rachel nodded, heading toward the door. When she reached it she paused, glancing back at Lainey. “Tell Jake,” she said. “He’ll understand.”
Lainey gave her a noncommittal smile, and in a moment Rachel was gone.
She rubbed her forehead wearily as the door closed. Rachel meant well, but she was wrong. Telling Jake was not just difficult. It was impossible.
Over the next hour she put the groceries away, heated up the chicken soup Cousin Katie had brought over, and tried not to think about Rachel’s advice.
Tell Jake. But she couldn’t. It had been a weakness to share it even with Rachel. Say what she would about their twenty-year-old friendship, it was a lot to expect Rachel to carry a burden like the truth Lainey hated to acknowledge even to herself.
Katie’s soup was delicious, but she didn’t seem to have an appetite. She pushed the bowl away and glanced at the window. It was beginning to get dark. Children would be setting off on their trick-or-treating soon.
And Jake would be here. She carried her bowl to the sink. Her jaw was so tight at the moment that eating anything was out of the question.
Tell Jake. But she couldn’t watch his expression change when he realized who she really was.
Walking quickly toward the front of the house, she switched on one of the small battery lamps and set it in the front window. Both Rachel’s and Meredith’s porches held lighted jack-o’-lanterns, and Rachel’s was decorated with cornstalks and mums as well. In the absence of a carved jack-o’-lantern, Lainey’s lamp would have to suffice to let children know they were welcome here.
As she leaned on the window frame, she could see bobbing lights and small figures in costume down the street. Trick-or-treaters were on their way, and she hadn’t opened the bags of wrapped candies yet.
There was a large pottery bowl under the sink—that would do to hold the candy. She ripped open the bags, tossing the contents into the bowl. As she did so, someone rapped at the back door.
Jake must be here. Suppressing the flutter in her stomach at the thought, she pulled the door open and stared, startled.
“You didn’t tell me costumes were required for—”
The figure lunged at her and something wrapped around her neck, pulling tighter and tighter. Her hands flew to the thing that choked off her breath. Fight back—she had to fight back, but her head was swimming, she was being forced backward into the kitchen, vision blurring. She clawed at the band around her neck, gasping for air, but she couldn’t get it, it was too tight—
Her hands flailed uselessly, but her fingers touched the bowl. Forcing strength into her grip, she grabbed it and swung it toward the attacker’s head.
He stumbled backward, dragging her with him through the doorway and out onto the porch. The thing binding her neck had loosened just enough to let her make a sound. She tried to scream. It came out as more of a croak. She fought to make a sound. If she didn’t, no one would come, she was helpless—
A dog began barking furiously, its yelps increasing in volume. A door slammed, voices called, she was falling, she couldn’t fight....
And
then she was alone. The attacker had fled. The dog—Princess, it must be, still barked, the tone nearly hysterical now, and she heard Rachel calling out as she ran across the yard. Another voice, male, deep and frightened, and then Jake’s arms were around her, lifting her, and Rachel was pulling away the thing that had been around her neck.
“Lainey...” Jake’s voice shook.
She grasped his jacket, trying to sit up. Realizing what she was about, he helped her into a sitting position.
“I’m all right.” The words came out in a whisper, and she put her hand to her neck. Painful to touch, still more painful to speak.
“We should call...” Rachel began, but Jake already had his phone out. His voice was crisp and urgent as he spoke to the 911 dispatcher.
“Don’t need an ambulance,” Lainey managed to say.
“We’ll just let them check you out.” Rachel put a comforting arm around her. “That’s all.”
Jake stood, picking her up with ease, it seemed. “Let’s get you comfortable and see how bad it is.” He carried her through the kitchen and into the living room, where he put her down gently on the faded old sofa. She sank into its depths gratefully, feeling as if Aunt Rebecca’s arms cradled her.
Rachel loosened the neck of her shirt with gentle fingers, and Lainey heard a sharp intake of breath from Jake.
“Someone tried to throttle you.” His tone was incredulous.
Lainey touched her neck, fingers encountering a swollen welt. “Nearly succeeded,” she murmured.
“Don’t try to talk,” Rachel ordered. “I’ll get some ice for the swelling.” She scurried off to the kitchen.
Jake clasped her hand in both of his. “I should have gotten here sooner. I never dreamed anyone would try something this early, when young kids and parents are still out. Why did you open the door?”
“Don’t make her talk,” Rachel ordered, coming back with an ice bag wrapped in a tea towel. She put it across Lainey’s neck gently.
“Thought it was you,” she whispered, and then fell silent under Rachel’s frown.
“She’ll have to talk when the police get here,” Jake said, his voice regaining its usual practical tone. “You have any idea who it was?”
She replied with a miniscule shake of the head. “Black costume. One of those scream masks.”
“And you thought it was me?” He tried for levity. “My taste isn’t that bad. What scared him off?”
Lainey frowned, trying to make her mind function. “Hit him with the candy bowl. The dog...”
“Princess was tied in the backyard,” Rachel said quickly. “She started barking so frantically I knew something was wrong. I came out, saw that the back door was open, and called out.”
“Did you see the attacker?” Jake shot the question at her.
“Not to say see, exactly. Just something black disappearing into the shadows beyond the shed.”
“Going toward the dam?”
Rachel shook her head, frowning. “I couldn’t tell.”
Lainey seemed to be having difficulty keeping her eyes open. Or at least, keeping them focused. “Why?” she murmured. “Why?” She could understand anonymous letters, even attempts to frighten her into leaving town.
But this had been far more serious than that. Surely nobody hated her enough for murder.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“DOES THIS BELONG to you?” One of Chief Burkhalter’s young patrolmen marched into the crowded living room, carrying the black cat at arm’s length. It promptly kicked at his wrist and lunged to the sofa, where it curled up next to Lainey and started to purr.
“Where was it?” Jake asked. He’d been wondering at the cat’s absence. It had made timely appearances so often he’d begun to think it really was a substitute for a watchdog.
Lainey was stroking the cat’s back, murmuring softly. The patrolman glared at the cat, nursing his scratched wrist, and then turned to Jake, who was sitting in the rocking chair pulled as close to the sofa as he could get without being too obvious.
“Shut in the woodshed. I heard it yowling when I checked the yard like the chief said.”
“Never mind the cat,” Chief Burkhalter interrupted, his square, ruddy face turning an even darker red. “Any sign of the intruder?”
“Uh, no, sir. I didn’t see anything. Want me to look again?”
Burkhalter jerked his head toward the door, and the kid ambled out. “Look again,” he grumbled. “That kid couldn’t find a black cow on a snow-covered field.”
“You can have another search when it’s light,” Jake pointed out. He nodded toward the cat. “It seems to me shutting the cat up proves it wasn’t just a prank gone awry.” That had been Burkhalter’s suggestion, as if the local teenagers might think throttling someone a suitable Halloween trick. “The cat might have sensed something wrong and alerted Lainey.”
“Seems to me that’s giving a lot of credit to a dumb animal,” Burkhalter grumbled.
Lainey and the cat gave the chief such similar affronted looks that Jake could almost believe the cat understood. He saw Meredith and Rachel exchange smiles at the sight.
Meredith had come racing from her house at the sound of the police cars. Evidently she’d been on the phone in her office at the far side of the house, so she hadn’t seen or heard anything useful.
Lainey turned her head on the pillow, as if trying to find a comfortable position, and Rachel was leaning over her in an instant. “Do you want me to freshen those ice bags?”
“They’re all right,” Lainey whispered hoarsely.
“Maybe some warm tea would help,” Meredith said. “I’ll fix it.”
Lainey nodded, and Meredith hurried toward the kitchen.
“Now, Ms. Colton, you sure you can’t give me anything more about the person you say attacked you? Size, weight?”
Lainey frowned, and Jake thought she was struggling to concentrate. The paramedics had insisted she take something for the pain, and its effects were showing.
“You said you thought at first it might be me,” he prompted. “Was he or she my size?”
The frown deepened. Lainey shook her head slowly. “Not as tall as you are. I just thought, for a second, because I expected you....”
He nodded. “So someone smaller than me.”
“That doesn’t exactly narrow it down,” Burkhalter said. “A teenager could easily be near as tall as you, I guess.”
“You’re not still thinking this was some kind of Halloween prank, are you?” Jake let his frustration show in his voice. Burkhalter was a decent cop, honest and dedicated, but he tended to get stuck on the first solution that popped into his head.
“Could’ve been,” Burkhalter said, his tone stubborn. “Halloween isn’t a simple matter of throwing corn and soaping windows anymore. But I was actually thinking of Thomas Stoltzfus, since Ms. Colton’s had some trouble with him, it seems.”
“I don’t think...” Lainey began.
“I doubt he has the guts to do anything violent,” Jake said.
“And how would he get here?” Rachel asked. “Most Amish parents don’t let their kids go out wandering around on Halloween, and it’s a long way from his dad’s farm.”
“Could have hitched a ride,” Burkhalter said. He blew out an annoyed breath. “Lord, I hate Halloween. If it’s not the teenagers causing trouble, it’s the little kids getting a belly ache from too much candy and their parents calling in to say they’ve been poisoned. And as for the adults...”
He sounded as if he was just getting wound up. Jake glanced at Lainey, who was drooping against the pillow, dark circles like bruises under her eyes. “You have your hands full, all right. And, I think Ms. Colton’s told you all she can at the moment.”
Thankfully, Burkhalter didn’t argue after he took a good look at Lainey. “Guess you’re right. I’ll come by tomorrow.” He raised an eyebrow at Jake. “Walk me out.”
Jake accompanied him to the porch, where Burkhalter stopped, frowning absently at the police ca
r that sat at the curb. He pushed his cap back, looking perplexed. “I gotta say, those three girls certainly manage to stir up trouble when they’re together.”
Jake suppressed a ripple of annoyance. “Not girls any longer, Chief. And without them, you’d never have caught a murderer.”
“I suppose.” He sounded doubtful. “That Ms. Colton...I don’t know her like I do the other two. Seems like she might be the kind to overdramatize herself.”
He didn’t bother to suppress the irritation this time. “You can’t deny the marks on her neck. Somebody did that to her.”
That red, swollen line running across Lainey’s slender neck sickened him.
“True, but it still might have been horseplay that got too rough. Anyway, I figure she shouldn’t be alone tonight.”
Anything Jake could say about Burkhalter’s mention of horseplay would come out as an insult, so he swallowed his ire as best he could. “She won’t be alone,” he said, and went back into the house.
When he reached the living room, Meredith and Rachel were arguing that very point, each insisting that she should be the one to stay. Lainey, her fingers wrapped around a steaming mug, gave him an appealing look.
“Tell them I don’t need them,” she murmured.
“You heard Lainey. She doesn’t need you.” He went on before anyone could protest. “Because I’m going to be here.”
Rachel looked troubled, and Meredith raised her eyebrows. “Willing to risk the gossip?” she said.
“Let the gossips chatter all they want,” he said. “Lainey needs a bodyguard, and I’m it.” He sat back down in the rocker. “Forget about arguing. Just tell me if you think this attack can be connected to Aaron Mast’s death.”
“You mean your idea about Laura,” Meredith said. Her forehead wrinkled. “Honestly, I can’t picture Laura dressing up in a costume and coming here to attack Lainey. I doubt she could keep a plan like that in her mind long enough to do it.”
