by Liz Bradford
Maybe it was just his exhaustion, but he was barely holding it together. He wouldn’t be okay until Ella was safe in his arms. He lifted his head and looked around at his friends. He knew each one was a believer and now he was too. “So, this is the point in the case where you guys normally pray in your mind constantly, isn’t it?”
Becca’s eyes met his and her grief gave way to compassion. “Oh, Adam, that started the second I heard that Ella was a target.”
Tears rushed into his eyes. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eye sockets. He wiped his eyes. “Guys, we have to get his scumbag.”
Jared spoke from where he leaned against the wall. “I’m beginning to think we need to double our efforts to keep Ella safe. Any routine you guys have fallen into needs to change.”
“I think the change we’re making in where she’s staying is timely,” Amelia said.
Jared nodded. “Definitely. I’d send a couple of uniforms to the school, but I seriously don’t even know who to send.”
“Well,” Gavin said, “let’s try to make that list.”
Adam dropped his hands on the table in frustration. “Lists haven’t been working for us this case. Who are we missing? Is everyone that is in the building regularly even in the system? There has to be someone that has fallen beneath the radar.”
“Wait”—Jared pushed off the wall and looked at Adam—“who was it that you said Ella was talking to the other night when God told you to protect her?”
“Scott Rebus.”
“He wasn’t on our list before?” Gavin asked.
Adam shook his head.
“Why not?” He pressed.
Everyone stared blankly at one another. Adam grabbed his laptop and flipped it open. “Is his file not in the system yet? He’s only been working back here for what three weeks?”
Becca twirled her hair. “That timing is awfully suspicious.”
“But what about the tapes?” Jared asked. “Could he be our mystery man?”
“Probably not,” Amelia said. “He was on the tape, and we talked to him.”
Adam’s computer finally brought up the personnel files. “Well, he wasn’t on the list because his file isn’t in the system yet.”
Amelia said, “But he’s a dead end anyway. If he was clearly on the tape, why would he come back in disguise?”
Adam ran his hands through his hair, “Cuz that would take our suspicion off of him.”
“Yeah, but that would take some serious forethought,” Amelia said.
“Well,” Adam turned to face Amelia more, “forethought is what put Patrick on that tape; remember that mysterious note Patrick claimed sent him upstairs. If he hadn’t been on footage, we might not have spent so much time thinking he could be our perp.”
Amelia tilted her head to the side. “Valid point, but I just don’t see it being Scott. I know you don’t like him, but he’s a nice guy. Been nothing but helpful around here.”
“Of course you’d say that, he dotes on you all the time, but maybe that’s just because he’s trying to find out about Ella.”
“You’re just being paranoid, Adam. Maybe he’s just being a gentleman and helping a pregnant lady out.”
Becca stood. “Enough you two. I think Scott was around the station this weekend. Let’s check into that. Whoever killed Hillary probably didn’t leave her out at the farm. She was in really bad shape, like she was tortured the entire time she was gone. If Scott was here for any length of time, he’s not our guy.”
“That’s awfully simplistic, Palmer.” Adam stood, too. “If he wanted to establish an alibi that would be the perfect way to do it. He couldn’t have been here the entire time. That would give him opportunity.”
“One step at a time.” Jared lifted his hands. “Let’s talk to Scott. But let’s do it in a non-interrogating way. Let’s ask him about who was around when he was here. Then we can ask them about him and such. Riley and Johnson why don’t you two focus on that. Palmer and Jamison, get duty rosters and see what people who weren’t here at the station were doing. But, Jamison, I want you at that school before the bell rings. We’re not going to let anything happen to my daughter’s favorite teacher.”
Adam nodded.
Amelia shoved the squad room door open. This was a waste of time. Scott was a great guy; she didn’t get any weird feeling around him or sense that he was trouble. Wouldn’t she have some sort of intuition telling her if he was the least bit menacing?
“Johnson.”
She turned and found Gavin had followed her out of the squad room.
He fell into step beside her. “Ready to find Scott?”
“After I grab a snack.”
A smirk grew on Gavin’s face. “You’re going to have a gigantic baby if you keep eating like this.”
She looked up at Gavin. “You mean I’m going to be gigantic?”
“Never. At 5’2” I’m pretty sure gigantic could never describe you.” A spark of life briefly masked the sorrow that normally plagued the detective’s blue eyes.
She squeezed his arm and entered the breakroom. She walked across the empty room and pulled a protein bar from the cabinet. “I wish we had a better candidate.” She ripped the packaging open and took a bite.
Gavin shook his head. “He’s the perfect candidate.”
“You really think he could have done any of it?”
“How could you not?” Gavin shuffled his feet.
Amelia leaned back against the counter. But before she could go into her defense of Scott, he walked in. Good, he could come to his own defense. “Just the man we wanted to talk to.”
Scott face beamed. “Why, color me honored, what could the beautiful Amelia Johnson want to talk to me about?”
She shook her head. She hated the flattery, but that just seemed to be Scott’s way. “We’re trying to get tabs on everyone who works here, specifically whoever was around this weekend.”
“I was here. What can I help with?”
She wanted to point that out to Gavin. See he was here! He couldn’t have killed Hillary. “I’d love to get a list of people you saw. And approximate times you saw them.”
“Anything I can do to help.”
She pushed off the counter and pulled her notepad out of her back pocket along with her pen.
Gavin puffed up his chest and took a step closer to Scott. “Were you here the whole weekend, Scott?”
Scott turned and met Gavin’s stance. Both men tried to stand a little taller as they stared at the other. “A man has to sleep.”
“Put the rulers away, boys. Scott, mind giving me a list?”
“Sure.” Scott turned back to her and sat with her at a little table. He gave her a list of over a dozen names and various times he remembered seeing the people. The list included Saturday and Sunday, morning and afternoon.
Once he finished giving her all he could remember Scott left her and Gavin alone in the breakroom. “See!” She looked up at Gavin who had remained standing with his arms crossed the whole time.
“I don’t see anything but a clever man who knows how to make an alibi. I still think he’s a viable possibility.”
She stood so fast her chair flew backwards.
Gavin caught it before it crashed to the floor.
“You’re being a fool Gavin. It couldn’t be him. He just alibied himself out. If even half of these people say they saw him too, he’s clear. Why are you so insistent that he’s guilty?”
“Why are you being so pigheaded?”
She grunted and pushed him out of her way. She stormed out of the breakroom. How did Becca work with Gavin?
Chapter 22
Ella laughed. Aidan shared his favorite moment of the day as the students sat on their desks with their backpacks on waiting for the bell to ring. This was their ritual every day. Once the students were ready to go home, they would come back and sit on their desks, the only time they were allowed to, and take turns telling about how their day had gone. Aidan’s story today abou
t laughing so hard at lunch that milk came out of his nose made everyone laugh.
The bell rang, and the kids jumped down from their desks. Half of them came to hug her before running out the door, a few yelled, “Bye, Miss Perkins!” and a few other simply vanished. She giggled with a few of the girls before they left and started cleaning the board as a few last students exited her classroom.
Movement by the door caught her eye. “Adam!” She dropped the eraser on the tray and walked to him with a spring in her step.
“Ella!” He rushed at her and drew her into his arms with a fierceness that nearly knocked the breath out of her. His arms wrapped tightly around her. He stroked her hair and kissed her head.
“Adam, what’s wrong?” Her insides became a jumbled mess. She could sense his fear. When he didn’t answer she pushed him back enough to see his face. “Tell me.”
“It’s Hillary. The other survivor from seventeen years ago…”
“No…” Ella felt her knees turn to pudding, collapsing beneath her. Adam’s arms kept her from falling to the ground. “He killed her?”
Adam nodded and pulled her back into his arms. Her head fell against his chest. She clenched her arms around his waist and held him tight. Her heart thundered. That could be her. Knowing Hillary had been murdered changed everything. The whole situation came back to the front of her mind. Her developing relationship with Adam had distracted her from the real threat out there. Her body shook.
Adam’s hands ran up and down her back. “Shh… we’re going to keep you safe.”
“You say that with such confidence… but why are you so scared. Adam, you’re shaking as badly as I am.” She didn’t want to, but she pulled back again to see his face. She reached up and held the sides of his face.
Tears filled Adam’s eyes. “I can’t lose you.”
“I know. I really don’t think you will.”
“You can’t know that.”
“You’re right I can’t. And as scared as I am, I have a peace in my soul that God’s got this. Just like He always does. We have to trust Him.”
Adam nodded, and Ella wrapped her arms around his neck. They held one another, and Ella pleaded with the Lord in her heart. Words couldn’t form in her prayer: it was a prayer of emotion rather than words. She knew the Lord could protect her; she trusted that he would.
Her legs grew tired from being on her toes to hug Adam’s neck, so she pulled away. “Give me a minute to gather my things and we can get out of here.”
“That would be good.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and she turned towards her desk.
Adam inserted the key Becca had given him into the door and unlocked it. He turned the knob and swung the door open. “Welcome to your new home.”
“Thanks, Adam.”
He followed her through the door into Becca and Jared’s house and punched in the code in the alarm. “Becca said to make yourself at home. She and Jared will be home for dinner.”
“Are you going to stick around once they get back?” The tightness of her voice gave away the unease that she was trying to hide.
“Of course. I pretty much told Becca I’d be staying before she even asked.” He winked at her. Her shoulders dropped, and a bit of her tension faded. “Let’s take your stuff upstairs. Becca said you can sleep in Dani’s room. There’s a daybed in there and Dani hardly ever sleeps in there anyway. Apparently, she’s been giving Becca a run for her money in the sleep department.”
“Yet, Becca still looks so put together.”
“Pretty sure you can credit coffee and makeup for that.” They walked up the stairs, and Adam said, “Becca’s taking Hillary’s murder personally.”
“She is?”
“She was lead on keeping her safe.”
“That would be hard.”
Adam pointed to Dani’s room. “Definitely. I think it will make her even more determined to keep you safe.”
They walked into the nursery painted in lavender and adorned with owls. He set Ella’s bag down and waited for her to put her pillow and other things down. Desire was growing inside him, leaving him feeling lightheaded. Once she released her things and turned towards him, he reached out and pulled her to his chest. His heart fluttered. She looked up at him, her beautiful brown eyes so warm and inviting. He stroked the hair away from her face. Her lips parted slightly. He smiled; his heart sped up. He slowly lowered his face closer to hers.
She looked down.
His eyes slammed shut.
“Not yet, Adam.”
“I’m sorry.” He opened his eyes.
She looked back at him. “No, don’t apologize. I’m… just scared.” She let out a shaky breath.
“Scared?”
“I know; it sounds stupid.”
“It’s not stupid. Been a while since you kissed anyone?”
“You could say that!” She pulled away and picked her school bag back up. “Let’s go find a snack. Think Becca has anything good?”
Just like that the conversation was done, but his body was still reeling. He wanted to kiss her so badly. Really, he wanted more than that, but he knew Ella. That would wait until she was his wife. Was he really thinking about matrimony? He laughed at himself and followed Ella out the door and down the stairs. She chatted away about her day, and they searched Becca’s cabinets and settled on some popcorn.
They laughed as it took a bit to figure out how to use Becca’s popcorn popper. Ella chuckled. “Seriously, didn’t think it would take a PhD to make popcorn! This is why I buy microwave popcorn.”
“Yeah, but Becca’s popcorn is never burnt. Can you say the same for yours?”
She scrunched her nose at him. “Not if I’m using my microwave.”
He laughed. He reached over and pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. She looked up with him with rosy cheeks.
They settled on the couch, and Ella started grading papers and such. Being up for over twelve hours was starting to catch up with Adam. He had consumed ungodly amounts of caffeine, but it had all worn off.
“Adam, just lay down and go to sleep.” She scooted away from him and towards the edge of the couch. She laid a pillow next to her legs and patted it.
“If you insist.” He was grateful she didn’t leave and encouraged him to stay next to her because that was right where he wanted to be. He laid his head on the pillow and let his legs hang of the end of the couch. He slid his hand under the pillow, but it ran into Ella’s leg. He rubbed her leg and left his hand in contact. He closed his eyes, and she stroked his hair. The evil he had seen that morning faded into oblivion, and he drifted off to sleep.
Hushed voices brought him back to consciousness, but he refused to open his eyes. Sleep was too sweet, and Ella’s voice sweeter. She was talking to someone, probably Becca. Yep, definitely Becca. He shifted slightly but realized a hand was resting on his chest. His lips turned upward. It had to be Ella’s. He brought his hand up to meet it.
“Looks like Sleeping Beauty over here is finally going to join us in the land of the living.” Ella’s voice was light and relaxed.
Without opening his eyes, he said, “Eh. If I have to.”
“Dinner is nearly ready, so yeah, you have to.”
He opened his eyes. “Dinner? How long did I sleep?” He looked up at Ella who was still sitting where she had been when he fell asleep.
“Almost two hours.”
“You let me sleep that long?”
She shrugged. “It helped me catch up on my work. I got all my grading done.”
“Well, that’s good.” He let go of her hand and forced himself to sit up.
“Ada-Ada!” He smiled at Dani as she toddled over to him.
“Hey, little one! Come to Uncle Adam.”
The toddler threw herself into Adam’s arms. He picked her up and tickled her. She snuggled herself against his chest. How he loved this little girl!
He looked over at Ella. She was smiling at him. “She really likes you, huh?”
&nb
sp; “Yeah, we’re pretty tight; right, Munchkin? Fist bump?” Dani gave him the cutest little fist bump. “I taught her that!”
Ella laughed. “That’s so cute!”
Dani wiggled down from his arms, and he and Ella stood and joined Becca in the kitchen. They helped Becca finish getting dinner ready, and they all sat down and had a nice dinner. Adam and Ella cleaned up dinner, and Jared and Becca spent a few minutes with the girls before bedtime. Adam didn’t want the day to end. He didn’t want to leave Ella. He wanted to sleep with her in his arms. He wanted to be sure she was safe. But he knew that wasn’t possible. He had to trust God with her safety.
“Adam, you still look exhausted,” Ella said.
He wandered over from the kitchen to where she sat on the couch. Jared and Becca had taken the girls up for bed, and they were alone for a few moments. “Here’s your water.” Adam handed her the glass.
“Thanks. You can go home. I’ll be okay.”
“I know. I just…” He sat down next to her and slid his arm across the back of the couch.
She turned towards him and smiled. Her hand traced his jaw-line. He hadn’t shaved since Friday and hadn’t showered since yesterday. He knew he needed to go home, but it felt as if his heart would rip out of his chest and stay behind if he left. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder. His arms went around her and pulled her as close as he could. His heart pounded, and his breaths were shaky. She had no idea what she was doing to him.
“I’ll be fine.” She pulled back and looked him in the eye. “Go home and get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Ella’s right.” Jared’s voice boomed behind him. “I could pull rank on you, but I’ll stick to the friend side of it. Go home and go to bed.”
He turned to see Jared. “Fine, but can I ask what progress y’all made after I left this afternoon.”
“Well, Becca took a nap on the Captain’s couch, but Amelia and Gavin talked to our potential suspect and most of the people he remembered seeing. Really doesn’t seem that it could be him, despite your suspicions.”
“Really?” His hope deflated. Part of him had hoped that it was Scott, but that was likely just because he didn’t like the man.
