Dangerous Inheritance (12 page)

“Thanks for doing this. I appreciate it.”

“Hey, I’m glad to do it. In fact, I should have suggested it before now. It’s just a couple of miles from here.”

“I guess I should have gone earlier, but everything else seemed to get in the way.”

“Well, it’s a nice day for a drive, and we’ll probably be the only ones there.”

Macy stared out the window as he drove away from town, wanting to talk, but so full of conflicting emotions she couldn’t think of anything to say. She dreaded this trip, had kept putting it off, knowing that viewing the graves would be hard. If she could just remember her mother and grandmother, remember what they were like, it would be so much easier, but she felt so conflicted. A part of her wanted to grieve for them, but they seemed like strangers. People she’d heard about but had never met.

A sign pointed uphill in a wooded area on the outskirts of town. The road was just a dirt track, and a bit rough, but it opened out to a snug little cemetery on the top of a hill. Trees surrounded the clearing, and birdsong filled the air. Macy got out of the car and hesitated.

Nick took her arm and led her toward a row of tombstones. They walked slowly, with Macy stopping to read names and examine the brightly colored artificial floral arrangements, aware she was only putting off the moment when she would stand beside the graves of the two women who had been such an important part of her life. Women she couldn’t remember and had no idea what they were like as real people. That seemed like an insult to them. She stumbled and Nick pulled her erect, drawing her against him. Macy took a deep breath, wanting to turn and walk away. Why was this so hard? It was just a couple of graves in a remote country cemetery. Why did she have this feeling of guilt as if she had betrayed them in some way?

Her father wouldn’t be here. He was buried in Tulsa. Grandma Douglas was buried beside him. Something Macy hadn’t realized until she had to make arrangements for her grandmother’s funeral. Another secret that had been kept from her. She’d never been to the cemetery there, had no reason to go. Not until after her grandmother had died had she known her father’s body lay in the adjoining grave site. That had been a devastating surprise on a day she’d had enough to deal with. Even thinking about it brought back the overwhelming sense of surprise and hurt she had felt on reading his tombstone.

Macy shook her head in amazement. Each mother buried by her own child.

A bitter, despairing sensation of being alone, of having no one, surged through her. Being here in this secluded plot of ground set aside for the dead brought home with a desperate finality just how empty and desolate her life really was. Her family was gone. All she had left was this driving obsession to see the monster who had destroyed them brought to justice.

Nick stopped beside the graves and Macy forced her thoughts back to the present, reading the names engraved on the two tombstones. Opal Lassiter and Megan Douglas. She knew how her mother’s life had been taken from her, knew in sickening detail, but she needed to find out how her grandmother Lassiter died. Had she been ill? Or was she a victim, too?

She paused, struck by the thought, wondering where that had come from, then dismissed it. If there had been anything strange about her grandmother’s death, someone surely would have mentioned it. And right now was a good time to remember that she wanted the truth, not to spend valuable time wandering down emotional and mental side roads. She had to stick to the facts as she knew them.

Macy glanced around at the well-kept graveyard. An eagle perched on the branch of a dead tree off to the side, its snowy head and tail stark against the blue sky, but other than that the two of them were alone. She moved away from Nick, needing space. Her mother. Her grandmother. An overwhelming sense of loss assaulted Macy. Her knees buckled, causing her to slump between the graves, an outstretched hand resting on each mound of earth as she gasped out a prayer.

“God help me. Please. I feel like I’ve let them down by not being able to remember them. If You will...give me a memory of them and the love we shared. I need them...need to know them in my mind the way I once knew and loved them in my heart...please...”

Macy knelt there for a few minutes longer, aware that Nick waited, watching over her. She was glad he’d come with her. This was too hard, too devastating to face alone. She was beginning to realize that searching for the truth might not be what she had expected when she came to Walnut Grove. But she had a job to do, not only for her mother and father, but for both of the women who had raised and loved them. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she got to her feet, more determined than ever not to let them down. With God’s help she would never give up searching for the truth, no matter how long it took or where it led.

* * *

Nick stood silent, watching Macy. He could almost feel her grief, her emotion, touching him as if the two of them were connected to each other in some way. She knelt between the two graves, and he sensed she was praying. He sent up a prayer of his own, asking God to comfort her. This had to be hard. Suddenly he realized how alone she was, how vulnerable. She’d never mentioned other family members, friends, anyone who would be there for her. Was that why he felt the need to help her as much as he could? Did God have a reason for putting him in Macy’s life? If so, he prayed he wouldn’t let either of them down.

Although he wanted to reach out to her, he wouldn’t intrude on her space. She needed to be alone right now. Alone with her family’s graves. This was a tough time for Macy, but Nick believed God would calm her, give her the peace she needed so desperately. Still, he was grateful he could be there for her. She might need him later.

His own parents were buried here, but he knew how they had died, had lived through their funerals. Although it had been painful for him, he realized Macy was dealing with a more crushing problem. She couldn’t remember her family members. He had good memories; she had nothing. He couldn’t take the place of what she had lost, but he promised God that he would be there for her, and if it was at all possible, he would keep her safe and do everything he could to help her regain her memory.

Macy turned around to find Nick standing close behind her. He reached out and she stumbled into his arms. He held her in a gentle embrace. For a moment she leaned against him, as if drawing strength from his presence. His lips brushed her forehead as he murmured words of comfort. After a moment she stepped away, swiping at her eyes. “I’m sorry. I sort of lost myself for a minute.”

He drew her back to him. “It’s all right. I’m glad I could be here with you.”

She leaned against him and he realized how much she needed someone; maybe she didn’t actually need
him
, although he’d like to think so, but she needed someone to be here so she wouldn’t be by herself. Visiting these graves alone would have been overwhelming. After a few minutes they walked back to the pickup.

Once inside Nick turned to look at her. “You all right?”

“I am now.” Macy placed her hand on his arm. “Nick, thank you.”

He gently stroked her cheek. “Anytime, Macy. You need me, I’ll be there—whatever happens, whatever you need.” He knew all too well he couldn’t be there every minute, but he’d do everything humanly possible to keep her safe.

He started the motor and drove her back home. They didn’t talk much, and he suspected she was thinking about the graves and the time they had spent there. When they reached the house he walked her to the door and hugged her again before he left.

She gazed up at him, her smile tremulous. “Thank you for going with me. I can’t express how much it meant to me.”

“I’m glad you asked me. Do you need me to stay or are you all right?”

“I’m fine now.”

“Well, anytime you need me, you call and I’ll come.”

She nodded, and he squeezed her hand, hating to leave her but he wanted to find out more about Steve Douglas’s trial.

A few hours later he was working again. He decided to drive by and check on Macy just to be sure everything was all right after their long afternoon at her family’s grave site. As he drove down the street all was quiet, but he felt his senses go on high alert. Suddenly, a shrill, ear-splitting howl seemed to be coming at him from all directions.

An alarm!

An alarm was going off somewhere on this street. He stopped in front of the Lassiter house where the noise was the loudest. Someone was trying to break in. He swerved into the drive. The entryway light was on and the front door closed. The noise stopped and the sudden silence was almost as shocking as the noise had been.

Nick jumped out of the car and ran toward the house. The porch light came on. He ran up the steps and Macy opened the door. She stood before him wearing a robe, hair tousled and carrying a cane like a weapon. Her eyes were wide with fear.

Nick, one hand on his gun, looked around before entering the house. “You all right?”

“Something set off the alarm.” Her voice quivered.

“Yeah, I heard it. The neighbors did, too. Most of them are out on their porches. I’ll let them know you’re okay.”

He stepped out on the porch and waved before examining the door and pointing to the sharply etched fresh scratch marks on the door frame.

“You think someone was trying to get in?” Her voice trembled slightly.

“Someone was
almost
in,” Nick replied. “That’s probably what set off the alarm. I’m guessing he had the door partially open when it went off like that. I told you the neighbors here keep a close watch on each other. He only had a few seconds to run for cover before everyone was awake and out their front doors.”

Nick called the station to report the disturbance and received permission to handle the investigation, then turned to Macy. “Let’s sit down and talk for a minute. Give you a chance to calm down.” And give him more time to look at her. Even dressed in a dark green robe of some kind of silky fabric, that fiery hair tumbled around her shoulders and no makeup, she was beautiful.

They sat down in the living room and Nick glanced around, taking notice. This stately old home had been the scene for a lot of violence. He intended to bring that to a close if it was at all possible. And with God’s help he believed it was.

Now that things had calmed down, Macy looked worn out. He could imagine what waking up to the sound of that alarm going off could do to a person. No wonder she was slumped in the chair, eyes closed. He fought the urge to wrap her in his arms, holding her close, comforting her, but this wasn’t the time to allow personal emotions to distract him. Right now he could serve Macy better by keeping focused on what had happened here tonight.

His heart clenched at the thought of what she’d been put through, and he hadn’t been here to protect her. He couldn’t watch over her every minute of the day and night, but he still felt guilty. “You all right?”

She opened her eyes and gave him a faint nod. “I will be, as soon as I pull myself together. Nick, what do you suppose is in this house someone wants badly enough to break in?”

He didn’t want to answer that, mainly because he thought this intruder might have been after
who
was here, not
what
. He had a bad feeling that someone wanted to eliminate the woman who was keeping everything stirred up.

Nick shook his head. “I don’t know, Macy. I’d guess it might be something valuable or even incriminating. We’ll just have to keep searching and pray we find it before the intruder does.”

“I know, but it’s so frustrating. I did have a flash of something. I guess you’d call it a memory. It was a voice—a voice I felt I’d heard before, but it was loaded with hatred.”

“What did it say?”

She cleared her throat, looking shaken. “You brat! Get away from me.”

He listened while she repeated the remembered words. While it wasn’t much, he’d file it away with the other bits and pieces they were accumulating. Maybe it would all fit together eventually.

“You thought it seemed familiar?”

“Yes, but only for a minute. I wasn’t exactly hearing it, you know, just remembering someone saying it. I have no idea whose voice it could have been.”

Nick didn’t want to go there. For his money it had probably been a remembered echo of the killer’s voice. And who would have sounded more familiar than her father, the man who had gone to prison for killing his wife?

He reached for his flashlight. “I need to look around outside. Lock the door behind me.”

Nick left the porch light on and stood looking around. A small piece of mud lay about a foot from the door, but he didn’t see anything else. He turned on the flashlight and descended the steps, checking the ground in front of the house. Then he walked slowly around the side of the building, searching for footprints or anything out of order, but didn’t find anything. Back in front again, he stepped up on the porch and Macy opened the door. He shook his head, answering her questioning expression. She still looked shaken, but she moved aside so he could enter.

He patted her shoulder. “How about making a pot of coffee, and let’s talk.”

Nick watched as she went through the motions, noticing how the simple, everyday task seemed to calm her somewhat. He sent up a silent prayer of thanks that Joe had fixed the alarm and installed new locks. Instead of sitting here watching her move around the kitchen, he could have been investigating a fatal crime scene.

The thought of something happening to Macy sent a surge of concern through him. Although he hadn’t known her very long, he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. Somehow he had to learn what was going on, and figure out a way to keep her safe. It all kept coming back to that. He had to keep her safe.

When the coffee had perked and she’d warmed cinnamon rolls in the microwave, they sat down at the table. Nick waited until he thought she had settled down to something approaching normal before bringing up what had happened. He didn’t want to point out what could be the reason for tonight’s activity, but he couldn’t neglect to warn her of the possibility, either.