BIG SKY SECRETS 01: Final Exposure (6 page)

“Can we play today?”

“Only if it’s all right with your uncle.” Erin lifted a brow. “The fenced backyard ought to be pretty safe, though I wouldn’t leave them there alone.”

Did he look that inept as the boy’s guardian? Stung, Jack shot a glance at her. “Of course not.”

“Well, then—” her eyes veered toward a trio of ladies by the steps, and she waved at them “—enjoy the service. I haven’t been here in decades, but if Pastor Gordon is still here, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. He’s an amazing preacher and—”

“Doubt that,” Jack muttered.

He hadn’t meant to say the words aloud, but she must’ve heard him, because she gave him an odd look. “And you still came?”

Glancing down, he gave his nephew’s hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s the right thing to do, eh, Max?”

Erin’s stride faltered. “Forgive me. I—I’ll talk to you later.”

She joined the women over by the steps and fell into animated conversation with them without looking back, and Jack felt strangely bereft at her departure.

Not on a personal level, of course. It was just that adult conversation was in short supply these days, barring the clients he talked to on the phone.

Still, his thoughts veered back to Erin, and he found himself wondering about her previous life in Denver.

How had she managed to stay unmarried all these years? Were the men in Colorado so blind that they hadn’t seen her?

Watching her visiting with her friends, her face open and sunny, and her musical laughter floating on the breeze, he was suddenly glad—even if he
wasn’t
interested.

Jack swept Max into his arms and climbed the wide stone steps leading to the open double doors of the church, where the pastor stood in his white robe, his face wreathed in smiles as he greeted each person who entered.

“And who’s this?” he exclaimed when Jack
reached the door. He playfully reached for Max’s hand to shake it. “Are you bringing your daddy to church, young man?”

Max jerked his hand back, his eyes wide, and sucked in a deep breath as he twisted away and burst into tears. “Not my daddy! He’s not!”

“I’m his uncle,” Jack said, though the older man probably couldn’t hear him over the wailing child. “His parents are recently…gone.”

The minister blinked. “I am so sorry. I never meant to upset him.”

“Happens a lot,” Jack said firmly. “So don’t think twice about it. And maybe the church reminds him too much of the funeral.” He leaned back to look at Max’s tear-streaked face. “I don’t think we’d better try going in today. Maybe another time.”

He shook the pastor’s hand and accepted the man’s words of sympathy, then turned and headed back down the stairs. The crowd parted as he strode toward the parking lot with the crying child in his arms.

“I want Mommy,” Max said brokenly, resting his damp face against Jack’s neck. “I want her back.”

“I know you do, sport. I know.” Jack rubbed the boy’s trembling back. “You know what? I think we should check out those ponies today. Would you like that?”

“P-ponies?”

“Remember? The lady at the store told you about them. It’s a nice day to be outside, after all. We’ll go home and after lunch, I’ll get the directions.”

Ponies wouldn’t heal a broken heart, but anything to help bring some fun into Max’s life was worth it, whatever the cost.

After buckling Max into his car seat, Jack rounded the front of the car and braced his hands on the door frame before climbing behind the wheel.

Fun. What fun did the poor kid have these days? The past three months had been filled with constant turmoil.

The accident.

The funeral.

Closing down Janie’s house and storing the contents, the endless legal complications at the abrupt end of a life. And then there was Ted’s unbelievable act of greed and the ensuing, rabid attention of the local press. Elana’s background as the daughter of a wealthy, influential family had only made it worse.

Through all of it, Max had been pale and shell-shocked and eerily quiet, and only recently had he started to talk more and to cry over the loss of his parents.

Did he need playmates? More toys?

With his August birthday he wouldn’t start kindergarten until next year—Jack knew that much—but
maybe he needed some sort of preschool where he could interact with other kids?

The next three months could be a long, long time in the poor little guy’s life, but maybe Erin would have some ideas or would know someone he could ask.

Erin turned slowly and scanned the store, giving her search one last try. Had she missed anything? Not likely. She’d looked everywhere, high and low, and the keys were gone.

She snapped her fingers. “Come on, Charlie. We’ve got to let Jack know.”

An image of Jack cradling his distraught nephew flashed through her thoughts, and she felt a flash of guilt.

They’d shown up at church, but given his terse comment, she’d had the temerity to actually question why he’d come—as if she’d had any right.
Please, Lord—forgive me for my foolish words.

Whether or not he wanted to be there, Jack had shown up, hadn’t he? Embarrassment warmed her cheeks as she turned to a display of stuffed animals, picked out the right one, then dropped it in a gift bag.

“It’s a peace offering,” she told Charlie when he sniffed at the bag. “Do you think it will help?”

He cocked his head and looked up at her.

“You’re right. The best thing would be a dog just like you. But maybe he’ll like it, anyway.”

Charlie dutifully trotted at her side as she walked the fifty feet between the front door of the store and the matching log home next door. She found Jack and Max coming down the porch steps.

“Oh,” she said, faltering. “I guess you’re leaving.”

“Actually we were coming over to ask you for directions to that stable.”

“To see ponies,” Max added.

“I…um…brought you something. Charlie and I picked it out.” She offered the gift bag to the boy and held her breath as he pulled out the tissue, then withdrew a floppy, white, stuffed animal that looked a lot like Charlie.

Max’s eyes widened as he hugged it to his chest and rubbed his cheek against the thick, soft fur. “Can I keep it? Really?”

“You bet.”

“Thank you!” Still gripping the stuffed animal in one arm, he knelt to give Charlie a hug, then pulled on the pup’s collar. The two of them trotted up the stairs to the covered porch, where Max pushed a ball across the floor and watched Charlie go after it.

She smiled at the boy’s tight grip on the toy. “The stable is north on 29, then left on Three Peaks Road about three miles. Can’t miss the sign.” She cleared her throat. “Actually I…um…came over to apologize for a couple of things, if you have a minute.”

“Apologize?” Jack flashed a quick grin. “I can’t imagine what for.”

“For being rude at church, of all places.” She rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe I said what I did.”

He laughed. “I’m not sure I can accept an apology when there was nothing to offer it for.”

“And I need to apologize for something else—inconvenience. I’m missing a set of keys for all the locks on the property, including the house. I’ve looked everywhere.”

He shrugged. “If they turn up here, I’ll let you know. I haven’t seen anything, though.”

“The thing is, if someone
did
break into the store and those keys have fallen into the wrong hands…well, none of us is safe. So I talked to a locksmith in town. He’s going to replace all the locks during the next few days, and he’ll be starting with your house this afternoon.”

“Do you know if this locksmith is also a handyman?”

“He dabbles with most anything, so I hear.”

“Then do you have a minute?” Jack hiked a thumb toward the entryway on the porch. “I’d like to show you the ceiling fan in the living room.”

She followed Jack to the front door. “Max?”

The boy shook his head. “I wanna stay outside with Charlie.”

The windows and door were open to the soft Sep
tember breeze, and she and Jack would be just inside, well within hearing range. “We’ll be just a minute. Just don’t leave the porch, okay?”

Slipping closer to the house, the watcher stifled a growl of impatience.

Two days.

Two. Whole. Days.

And what had he accomplished? Exactly nothing—and the clock was ticking. With only an hour or so left today there’d no longer be time to go through the house. Especially if the guy and his kid continued to hang around.

And coming back next week might be another big trip for nothing, if that renter was still there.

But a few minutes ago, he’d watched through his binoculars as the man and his kid came out of the house, and it looked like they were leaving. So he’d circled back through the trees, then crept along the side toward the corner of the full-length front porch, just to make sure they were gone—

A twig snapped beneath his foot at the moment he caught sight of the kid sitting cross-legged on the porch, hugging a dog.

Startled, he cursed and pulled back.

It was too late. The boy’s head jerked around, his eyes flared wide. His mouth dropped open in obvious terror as he started to push the dog away from his lap.

“No, no—I’m just a friend,” the man wheedled. “You sure got a nice dog there. What’s your name, kid?”

The kid screamed. A blood-curdling, terrified scream that sent the dog into a frenzy of barking.

It rushed across the porch to throw itself at the rail, its snapping jaws barely missing his face as he fell backward into the bushes.

From inside the house came the sounds of running footsteps. “Max? Max!”

Swearing under his breath, the man raced for cover. He’d be back. He
had
to retrieve what he’d come after, or his life was as good as over.

Settling into a steady jog, the man smiled to himself as he headed for the car he’d parked out of sight a good mile away.

There’d be another day. He
would
succeed. And if anyone got in his way, it would be their own, very unfortunate mistake.

E
rin raced out to the porch after Jack.

Max was huddled in the far corner behind the porch swing, arms wrapped around his knees and the stuffed animal, his eyes closed tight. Charlie was there, too, crowded next to him with his furry head resting on the boy’s shoulder.

But oddly, after those terrified screams, the boy was silent—as if he’d taken himself into some other world.

Jack knelt in front of him. “Hey, buddy. What happened? Did you fall?”

The child was so still he might have been carved of marble.

“Were you scared of something?” Jack turned and surveyed the empty porch. “What was it?”

Again, no response.

Erin walked around the perimeter of the porch and studied the surrounding property. Was that a dark
shadow off in the distance, moving through the trees? Or just her imagination? Was it a deer?

She looked to the north, but there were no customers parked in front of Millie’s, waiting for her to take down the Back In Ten Minutes sign and unlock the door.

And there were no hikers or animals that she could clearly see in the surrounding stand of pines, though with the dense undergrowth, something smaller might be out there. A fox, or maybe a coyote.

Bright September sunlight filtered through the trees. The air was crisp with the scent of pine. A fitful breeze toyed with the thick, powdery ribbon of dirt marking a trail that led off into the forest, raising small, swirling dust devils.

A beautiful day, not a dreary one made for mist and shadows and bogeymen.

“I don’t see anything, Jack,” she murmured as she came back to stand next to him.

He rested a tentative, gentle hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Here—want to come with me? We can sit on the swing and you can tell me why you’re scared, okay?”

Charlie anxiously nudged the child’s face, looked up at Jack and whined, then paced in a tight circle and lifted his head to stare out at the pines.

When Max still didn’t respond, Jack picked him
up in his arms and moved to the swing, where he held the boy on his lap.

“Did you see…a big deer?” Erin asked, sitting next to them. “Or a bear?”

The boy gave Erin a silent, stricken look.

“Hmm. What else could there be? Maybe a moose with bi-i-i-g antlers, like the one in the store?”

Max shook his head, but just barely.

“Someone walking on the trail?”

Instead of snuggling into his uncle’s comforting embrace, Max looked as if he were afraid to trust Jack or anyone else. He kept his eyes riveted on her face.

“You know,” she continued in a soothing voice, “I looked out there and didn’t see anything. But we do see hikers go by occasionally. The trail running behind your house goes on for many, many miles. Did someone come close to your house?”

A faint nod.

She gave him an encouraging smile. “Was it a lady?”

“No,” he whispered, choking back a sob.

“Fear of strangers, especially men, has been an issue since…that night.” Jack wrapped his arms around the child and met Erin’s gaze. “Sometimes he’s afraid, but no one is really there. The psychologist thinks it’s related to his terror when the EMTs came on the scene.”

Erin nodded at his careful choice of words within
the boy’s hearing, but the expression on Max’s face seemed too stark, too distressed, for this to be over anything imaginary.

Could Barry have come here hoping to stir up trouble? Could he have sent Ollie?

She bent down to try again. “Did the man say anything to you?”

Max turned away from her.

“You know what, I think it’s time to go find that pony and have some fun,” Jack said. “What do you think, pal? We can always talk later.”

Max gave a single nod.

“And when we get back, maybe we can do some more thinking when things are a little calmer.” Jack stroked the boy’s hair, then glanced at Erin as he stood up and fished his car keys out of his pocket. “Believe me, I want answers as much as you do.”

Erin swept the store, then dragged in a ladder from the storage shed in back and began working on the inventory.