A Silent Terror (11 page)

Ethan returned his attention to the road. Checked the side mirror, the rearview mirror.

Made a mental note about the car coming up behind them.

And noticed it was coming fast.

Marianna registered the sudden tensing in Ethan’s shoulders, his body’ s abrupt shift to alert mode. Wondering at the lightning-fast change, she watched his eyes, not wanting to ask and take his concentration from whatever it was that grabbed his attention.

Flicking a glance in her side mirror, she noticed the black car approaching at a high rate of speed. Instant terror blindsided her.

“Ethan?”

“Just hold tight.” She caught the words even though they were muttered between clenched teeth.

Ethan kept his eyes fixed on the road before him as well as the car behind him. Marianna did the same. Closer, closer. Bracing herself for either the impact or Ethan to swerve suddenly, she was almost floored by surprise when the car flew past in the left lane. Then relief left her shaking.

A breath blew out of Ethan, and she watched the tension ease from him, his fingers relaxing their white-knuckle intensity on the steering wheel.

“Wow.” Marianna couldn’t keep the word from slipping out.

“Yeah.”

Josh continued to play his game in the back, oblivious to the tension oozing from the front seats.

“That was a government car. I glimpsed the license plate as he went by. Stupid. Driving like that. Guy must have been going ninety-five, a hundred miles an hour.” Disgust emanated from him.

“Maybe there was an emergency somewhere.”

“Humph. In the form of being late for some bureaucratic meeting or something.”

Marianna gave him a grin, glad she could find it now that the false alarm had passed. “Don’t have a very high opinion of our government officials, do you?”

He slanted her a glance and offered a wry smile. “Only a select few.”

Absentmindedly she wondered out loud, “I wonder how the campaign will handle Mr. Luck’s death. I guess Steven Marshbanks will have his work cut out for him, although maybe moving from assistant to the campaign manager position into the primary campaign manager position won’t be a big deal for him. Who knows?”

“Clayton Robertson will bounce back. Nothing negative ever seems to touch that guy. He oozes charm.”

“Hmm…which is why he’s so popular with the people, I guess.” She lay her head back on the headrest. “I think all my adrenaline just seeped out. Do you mind if I close my eyes for a few minutes?”

“Go right ahead. We’ll be there in about an hour.”

The rest of the drive passed in peaceful silence, broken only by the sound of the video game coming from the backseat. Finally, Ethan pulled into the entrance to a small, well-kept farm. The long driveway wound around and up to the side of a large white house with black shutters.

Even in January, the grass was green, showing loving care and skill in the maintenance of the property. Two horses grazed behind the house out in the large pasture. A brown barn nestled underneath a grove of trees gleamed in the bright sun; bales of hay stacked neatly to the side brought to Ethan’s mind the one summer he’d gone to a wilderness camp. He’d been about nine years old, and he and his cabin buddies had sneaked down to the barn and scattered and piled the hay about five feet deep under the loft.

They’ d had themselves a blast jumping into the mess. He’d been sent home early, and his parents had never let him forget it. But he wouldn’t have given up those rare carefree moments for anything…not even his parents’ short-in-supply approval.

Marianna’s eyes flickered open when he put the car into Park.

“We’re here?”

“Yep. Safe and sound.” Thank You, God.

She gave him a small sleepy smile and his heart lurched. Uh-uh. She was part of a case. Don’t get your emotions involved with a case.

Then he wondered what their first date would be like.

Get out of the car, O’Hara.

He climbed out and Marianna followed, opening the back door for Josh. Josh put his game away and let out a squeal when he realized he was home.

As he ran for the fence that held the horses in the pasture, the door to the house opened, revealing a heavyset, gray-haired woman in her late sixties.

Grief showed on her plain face, but her joy at seeing Josh shone through. “Joshie!”

The woman smiled at him hanging over the rail petting the nose of his favorite horse. The change in the boy was remarkable as he leaned over to go nose to nose with his four-legged friend.

Then with sadness replacing her momentary joy, she headed over to him and Marianna. “Thank you so much for bringing him home. My husband fell last week and injured his ankle, so us driving over to get Josh would have been a hardship.”

Marianna reached out to hug the woman saying, “It’s no problem, Mrs. Luck. I wanted to be here for Josh and you, too.”

Tears welled but didn’t fall. “It’s hard to believe this has happened; at the height of Roland’s career, too.” She sighed, shaking her short gray curls. “But I guess it’s not always for us to understand.”

Marianna kept her own tears at bay through fierce determination.

Then Josh’s grandmother waved a hand in front of her face as though swatting away a fly and said, “Come in, come in. I have a fresh pot of coffee on. Let’s sit down a few minutes.” Everyone trudged into the kitchen, leaving Josh with his horses. He would be fine, Marianna knew. She took note of the house as she followed Mrs. Luck. Pride showed in every part Marianna could lay eyes on. From the scented plug-ins to the plethora of pictures on every available surface. Pictures on the wall, pictures on the end tables, knickknacks, family mementos. It reminded Marianna a little of her own childhood home. Maybe that’s why she liked Mrs. Luck so much. The woman resembled Marianna’s mother in a lot of ways. Marianna picked up a picture of Josh when he was about six years old and dressed in army fatigues.

Mrs. Luck saw her interest and stopped to say, “That’s Joshie, taking after his daddy. Roland served twelve years in the army along with some buddies of his that he went to school with. Most of them are in politics now.” A myriad of pictures cluttered the table, and she wished she had the time to study each one.

“I remember seeing photos Josh brought to school for Veterans Day.”

A sad smile curved the woman’s lips.

“And that one is my daughter, Lisa, and her family.” Marianna studied the picture framed in a simple black rectangle. Ethan stepped up behind her to look. His nearness sent a sudden shiver of awareness zipping along her nerves. When his hand rested on her shoulder, she noticed it felt…right. As if it belonged there.

Briefly, she met his gaze and noticed he’d felt it, too…and wasn’t

quite sure what to think about it either. He let his eyes linger on hers, his fingers gave a gentle squeeze and pressure danced along her nerve endings.

Mrs. Luck intruded on the moment as she motioned them on.

Ethan let his hand drop to hers, entwining their fingers as he led her to the kitchen.

Sitting at the round table, sipping coffee, Marianna, Mrs. Luck and Ethan chatted for a few moments. Then Marianna ventured, “Well, I guess we need to see about getting a couple of hotel rooms for the night. I know the funeral is tomorrow. Can you suggest a place for us to stay?”

“Why don’t you stay here with us? We have plenty of room. All my kids are grown and…gone.” Looking away, she got a hold of her emotions once more, then offered a weak smile. “Don’t reckon I’ll ever get used to thinking of Roland as gone permanently.”

“I know it’s hard,” Ethan murmured, “losing someone you love. I lost my sister three years ago.”

“Oh, you do understand then, don’t you?” Mrs. Luck nodded. “It’s really strange, too, because he had just come home for a short visit.”

Mariana perked up at that. “Really? Josh didn’t say anything about seeing his father on the weekend.” Usually, if Josh had seen his dad over the weekend, he would come in Monday morning signing, “See Daddy. See Daddy. See Daddy.” Sometimes it was all Marianna could do to get him focused back on his work.

“No – ” Mrs. Luck shook her head for emphasis “ – no, it wasn’t on the weekend. It was last week. In fact it was Monday afternoon. It was so odd for him to just show up out of the blue like that. I wondered what was going on, but he claimed he was just here to visit, although it did seem something was bothering him.” The woman sniffed and wiped her nose with what was left of the frayed tissue she held. “Well, now I wonder if he had some kind of…idea…inkling that something was going to happen to him.”

Again, Marianna felt compassion sweep her. “Who knows what was going on with him? It could have simply been a bad weekend or week for him. You know how it is in politics.”

Mrs. Luck gave a watery chuckle. “Well, you’re certainly right there. I don’t guess I’ll ever know what was going through his head.” She slapped the table and stood. “Let me check on my husband and see about getting you a couple of rooms fixed up.”

Marianna hurried to her feet. “Oh, no. Listen, we really don’t want you to go to any trouble. I’m sure you’re going to have family and friends descending upon you shortly. Please, we’ll just go back into town and stay there.”

Mrs. Luck reluctantly agreed, and soon Marianna and Ethan were on their way to the hotel.

After securing two rooms for the night, Ethan asked, “Dinner?”

“Sure. Do you have someplace in mind?”

“Actually, I do know of a little place not too far from here.”

They climbed back into the car and, fifteen minutes later, Ethan pulled into the parking lot of Lakeside Steakhouse. He cut the engine. “Uh, guess I should have asked. You do like steak, don’t you?”

She grinned at him, loving the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he was excited about something, yet a bit unsure of how she was going to react. “I love steak. As long as it has broccoli and mashed potatoes to go with it.”

“I think that can be arranged. Come on.” He got out and rounded the car to open her door. When he placed his hand on the small of her back, sparks shot along her spine. Wow. She was very attracted to this man. Biting her lip, she pondered that as they walked into the restaurant. Ethan was everything Curt wasn’t. Self-assured without being cocky; tough as nails without being cruel. Could he also be a man with the sincere desire to take care of her without being overprotective and smothering?

Possibly. Time would tell.

Seated across from him, she asked, “What’s your favorite food?”

“Definitely steak.” A self-deprecating smile crossed his lips. “I wasn’t entirely selfless in bringing you here.”

Marianna let out a laugh. “That’s all right. You deserve a good steak.” She paused, reached over to lay her hand on his. He flipped his over so their palms touched. “Thank you for coming with me.”

A corner of his mouth lifted. “I have a confession.”

Uh-oh. “What?”

“My boss ordered me to come and I wasn’t crazy about the idea.

Not,” he hastened to assure her, “that I didn’t want to be with you, but…”

“But what?”

He waved a hand. “It doesn’t matter now. Today has been a – a blessing. And it’s thanks to you. I know we didn’t end up meeting each other under the ideal circumstances, but I’m not one to turn my nose up at a good thing.” He offered another smile. “I’m glad we had this time together and hope we have more in the near future.”

Marianna didn’t quite know what to say. He was being so open, so…vulnerable. She gulped. “I…I feel the same way, Ethan. I’d like to see where all this is going, too.”

“But first we have a killer to catch and you’ve got to stay out of his way, deal?”

“I’m not going to argue with that one.”

By the time they returned, it was pushing eight o’clock and Marianna was exhausted.

Ethan asked her, “Why don’t I drop you at the door and you go on in and lie down. I’ll park the car and see you in the morning.”

She’d agreed. Now, back in front of the door to her room, she slipped the key in the slot. Then stopped. Dread crept up her spine to settle at the bottom of her neck. She shuddered at the feeling of being watched…again.

Unease gripped her as she glanced over her shoulder, down the carpeted hall.

Nobody.

Nothing.

Continuing her perusal, she caught sight of the camera in the upper corner at the far end of the hall. The black eye seemed to be trained on her, zooming in, capturing her fright.

Wrenching the room door open, she stumbled inside and slammed it, leaned back against it and put a hand over her racing heart.

A quick glance around the room showed no disturbance, everything just as she’d left it an hour and a half ago. The room was simple, containing one queen bed and a small sitting area. The bathroom sat to the left of the main entrance.

Convincing herself she was just having some post-traumatic stress after the events of the last week and a half, Marianna did some deep breathing exercises while whispering prayers and managed to get herself calmed down.

Her BlackBerry buzzed, startling her. She read, “Meet me downstairs in the lobby. Catelyn called with some news.”

Sweat broke out across her forehead at the thought of opening the door and going back into the hall.

Get a grip, girl. You’ve fought long and hard for your independence; don’t start being a wimp now.

She typed, “Be there in a minute.”

Tucking her BlackBerry back into the little clip on her pants, she gripped the doorknob. Then checked the little peephole.

Nothing. Again.

Sighing in exasperation with her paranoia, she opened the door and stepped into the empty hallway. Where was everyone? She felt like the only occupant of the fourth floor.

Scurrying to the elevator, she pressed the down button and stood tapping her toe, willing the doors to open. In the gold-framed mirror to her left, she caught a glimpse of movement. Someone had come up the stairwell and stepped into the hall.

Probably someone staying on the floor, Marianna, don’t panic.

The pep talk did nothing to banish the memories of last night’s – had it just been last night? – terrifying ordeal in the gymnasium.