Copper (20 page)

Before she could muster up the strength to take a peek strong arms were surrounding her and helping her to her feet.  She recognized Copper’s touch and gratefully sank into his body taking strength from his nearness.  She heard him give the other men an all clear message. 

She glanced over his shoulder at the prone body of her stalker.  Copper’s aim was true.  A bright red circle of seeping blood soaked Rob’s shirt right above his cold black heart.  There was also a hole right between his eyes.  Copper went for the kill shots, and he succeeded.   

She closed her eyes tight and buried her face in his neck. The shaking started, and she might have fallen back to the ground if the arms holding her hadn’t tightened and pulled her close.  “Are you hit? Are you hit?” she exclaimed while running her hands up and down his body. She was examining every inch of him and was relieved not to see any dark red stains or other signs of injury.

Copper grabbed her hands to still them.  “His bullet didn’t even come close to me. He was as lousy a shot as he was a human being,” he observed. 

Marla appreciated the wit but couldn’t muster up a laugh.  Instead, she hugged Copper as hard as she could, trying to transmit as much relief as possible.  “It’s over!  It’s finally over!” she whispered. 

Natalie joined them wrapping her arms around the couple as best she could.  “Yes it is.  Now it’s up to you to leave the nightmare behind and embrace the dream.”  Marla knew her sister was referring to Copper.  “I plan to,” she promised.  “As long as you do the same, no more putting things on hold for my sake,” she reminded Natalie. 

The sound of an approaching vehicle stopped the conversation.  Marla glanced around and saw a county SUV that she suspected was being driven by Luke Davis.  Her guess was proved correct when the sheriff stepped out of the parked vehicle. 

He took one look at Marla, Natalie, and the gun still clutched in Rob’s hand and shook his head.  “Copper phoned me about fifteen minutes ago and told me I’d want to be here before hanging up.”  He glared at Copper when he added that last part. 

“I’m glad I didn’t let his rudeness put me off.” He turned his attention back to the ladies. “I’m going to need a statement from the Taylors.” He glanced at Copper, “with marksman ship like that, I’m sure you’re the one that pulled the trigger. I need your statement too.”

Copper’s mouth flattened into a straight line, and he nodded in the affirmative.  “Damn straight!  Storey got off a shot too, but it went wide left. You might be able to find the spent casing if you look hard enough.”

“Don’t need it. I’ll test his hand for gunpowder residue and inspect his gun to verify that it was fired.  But the bottom line is that I have an armed man who confronted two women with active restraining orders against him.  As soon as I get your statements and make an official report, the matter’s closed.  I won’t be filing charges. This is an open and closed case of self-defense.”

Marla cleared her throat.  “What about Rob’s family?  They might want an investigation.  He was their son after all.” 

“They can push the issue, but I doubt if they’ll want the bad publicity. If they make noise, I’ll shut them down with the facts.  The DA wouldn’t waste his time or reputation trying this case.”

Marla broke away from Copper and Natalie.  Her whole bodied shook while she stared down the sheriff.  “Can we do this in the parking lot?”  She glanced back at the bloody body still lying on the ground.  “I know he can’t hurt me anymore, but I need to get as far away from him as possible.”

“The parking lot will do just fine,” the lawman agreed.

Copper wrapped one arm around Marla’s waist and the other around Natalie’s shoulders.  “I thought the two of you might abandon the plan when the deputies and firemen showed up.   I’m proud of y’all for standing your ground.” He handed out the praise while escorting them under the arch and to the relative safety of Natalie’s car. 

He lowered his voice so that the sheriff wouldn’t overhear. “What was that about anyway?”

Marla leaned her head down on his shoulder so she could whisper into his ear.  “Rob’s doing, trying to spring any trap that might exist.”

“He tried to be smart, but we were smarter and stayed one step ahead of him.”  They reached Natalie’s car. Copper broke contact with her and tuned all his attention to Marla.  He backed her into the side of the car and caged her in with his arms.  “I’ve never been more scared than when he started to lift that gun toward you.”

“Same for me when I heard the shot that came from Rob’s gun.”  She shuddered.  “Now that you’re in my life, it would be dull and empty without you. Copper Ellison, you put the color in my life, and I love you!”

“Love you too,” he replied, sliding his lips across hers and then down the side of her neck.  “I can’t wait to show you just how much when we get back home.”

The loud clearing of a masculine throat made the two lovers put a few inches of space between their bodies.  “Just a few more minutes of your time, so I can nail down the details, and you’ll be free to go.”  The sheriff fished out a notebook from his pocket and started to write.

Marla gave a quick and concise statement. She purposefully excluded any mention of stakeouts, strategies, and the Metal Cowboys.  Natalie matched her description almost word for word so did Copper. 

“Just like Marla said.  We were grocery shopping, she told me she wanted to come here, I vehemently disagreed for obvious reasons, and she left with her sister. It just wasn’t in me to leave them unprotected. Iron dropped me off, so I could keep an eye on them, just in case Rob tried something.  I had a feeling Marla’s stalker would try to take advantage of her grief and sorrow, and as it turned out, I was right.”

Sheriff Davis slapped his notebook shut.  “That’s all I need. The three of you are free to go.  I don’t anticipate having to bother you for a follow up, but if the need arises, I know where to find all of you,” he said with a wink. 

“It’s over, it’s finally over!”  Marla threw herself into Copper’s open arms and buried her face in the side of his neck.  “We can finally move on with the rest of our lives without having to look over our shoulders with every step we take.”

The three of them started walking toward Natalie’s car.  “You and Natalie should definitely be able to breathe much easier,” Copper agreed. He held out a hand when they reached the vehicle.  “Let me have the keys, I’ll drive.”

They piled into the compact car, Copper behind the wheel, Marla beside him, and Natalie in the back.  Copper started the engine and slowly drove away from the cemetery.  Marla watched the side mirror until the large arch guarding the entrance finally disappeared from view. 

  The car was too quiet.  She guessed Copper and Natalie were lost in reflections of their own.  She desperately needed to lighten the mood.  The danger was over, and things could get back to normal.  The problem was that Marla craved a new normal. 

“I’m suddenly in a socializing kind of mood.  Let’s have a barbecue at the house tonight. It would be a great way to celebrate new beginnings,” she enthusiastically declared. 

“I don’t even mind if you invite Sheriff Davis. He’s not all that bad for a lawman,” she said with a smile.  “I’m going to invite Lexi from the flower shop too.  She hasn’t lived in the area very long.  I have a feeling she could use a few friends.”

“Not me, I’ll take a rain check,” Natalie replied. 

“No way!” Marla pouted.  “A celebration wouldn’t be complete without you,” she insisted.  “Besides I’m not the only one with something to celebrate.” 

Natalie shot her sister a warning look, silently telling her not to say anything else. 

Marla immediately interpreted the look and snapped her mouth closed. 

“I just want to be back under my own roof,” Natalie admitted.  “No offense, Copper, but being a long-term houseguest, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  I’m ready to be surrounded by my own things in my own space.  Your house is huge but with seven adults living there… Well, it’s just that sometimes people trip over each other.”

Marla looked back at her sister and raised an eyebrow.  Natalie wasn’t naming any names, but Marla was pretty sure her sister was talking about Chrome. There was definitely something brewing between those two.

“No offense taken,” Copper answered after a few seconds of silence. “I get it, I really do.  You’re not the only one who feels that way.”

“What do you mean?” Marla wanted to know. “I know I haven’t been staying with you very long, but I didn’t notice any tension or problems. I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with Natalie and me being around.” She gave him a worried frown. 

“It has nothing to do with you.  The large acreage was one of many reasons we bought where we did.  I own the antebellum and the surrounding two acres.  The other four members have two acres of their own. The garage and the rest of the property is jointly owned. Chrome has started making noise about having his own house built.” 

Natalie jumped on that tidbit and tried to use it to her advantage. “Glad to know someone else agrees with me even if it is Chrome.”

“Don’t get too excited. You still can’t go back to your apartment for a few days at least. Thanks to Rob’s vandalism, it’s not livable. It’s got to be cleaned out first. Plus you and Marla are going to have to buy new dishes, furniture, food, and all kinds of things before you move back in,” he reminded her.

“There’s definitely not much we can get done today, anyway,” Marla tried to reason with her sister.  “Celebrate and enjoy the barbecue tonight, and tomorrow you and I can get an early start on fixing the apartment.”

“I’m not trying to be the bad guy here, but even if you somehow managed to get the apartment ready in one day, which I doubt, the two of you need to stay where you are until this mess completely blows over.”

“What!”

“Rob’s dead, it’s over,” Marla adamantly insisted.  Still, his words chilled her spirits.

“Exactly!” Copper interjected. “A man is dead. He has a family. The two of you are staying right where you are until I’m sure he doesn’t have any family members who are as crazy as he was.”  

“Oh,” Marla said in a duller voice. “I didn’t even think about that. I’m pretty sure in this case Rob was a rotten apple that somehow managed to fall far from the tree, but it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially after the past several days.”

A resigned sigh slipped out of Natalie’s mouth. “Okay,” she said holding up her hands. “I know when I’m beat.  Both of you made valid points, I give in.  Looks like I’m going to a barbecue.”

Marla smiled big.  Everything seemed to be falling into place.  Her stalker was no longer a threat, Copper wasn’t burning rubber to get her out of his house, and tonight she was going to sit back and shoot the breeze and relax with the people who meant the most to her.  She’d suffered so many drastic events in such a short amount of time, but her life was definitely looking up!

****

Two Weeks Later

“No peeking.”  Copper tightened the silk cloth he’d slipped over Marla’s eyes just moments before.

She grabbed his hand to keep from stumbling.  Her nerves were jittery, but it was a good kind of nervousness.  Copper promised her a pleasant surprise, and Marla loved those.

She let him lead her outside, trusting him to safely guide her. “I couldn’t get a look if I wanted to.  I don’t know why you’ve been so secretive about the new project,” she said with a sigh.   “Everybody worked really hard to make sure I didn’t catch even a glimpse of what was going on out here.”

Right after Rob’s demise and the end of the looming threat to Marla, Copper bargained with one of the top landscape designers in Texas.  The designer wanted a custom Metal Cowboy bike, and Copper wanted a large landscaping job completed as soon as possible. Now the project was finished, and Copper was ready to share the end product with her.

“We’re here.”  Copper pushed on her shoulders guiding her down onto some kind of bench.  Her shorts were brief enough that she could feel the hard press of wooden slats against the back of her thighs. She reached for the strip of silk and yanked it off. She was more than ready to see what inspired such need for secrecy from Copper. 

As soon as her eyes focused on the area around her, the breath rushed out of her body. She was speechless. There were no words to describe how Marla felt when she took in the scene before her.  She was sitting on an ornate wrought iron and wooden bench.  The iron on the back of the bench was shaped to form three beautiful daisies.  The bench was located in the back of a circular area about twenty feet in diameter.  The grass in the surrounding area was replaced with beautiful brick red pavers.  Medium sized shrubs formed a semicircle enclosing all but the front of the area, giving it the illusion of privacy.

A four-foot sculpture in the front drew her attention. A sweet suspicion began to form in her mind when she recognized the outline. She got up from the bench and slowly walked to the front so she could get a look at the stone garden sculpture.  Marla fell to her knees in front of the work of art as soon as she got a good look at it.  A beautiful angel kneeled over a baby, surrounding it with her wings. The baby rested on top of a tablet.  The words In Loving Memory of Baby Taylor were engraved on the tablet’s surface.  A bouquet of freshly cut white daisies rested against the base of the sculpture.

Her hand flew to her mouth, and she stifled a gasp.  “It’s absolutely perfect,” she whispered.  “The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”  She wiped a few stray tears from her eyes.   “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”  She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close.  “It’s the most precious thing ever.” 

Copper stepped away from her and joined his hand with hers.  He guided her back to the bench, and they sat down, facing each other.  He squeezed the hand he was holding.  “You haven’t been living here long, but it was long enough to leave an indelible mark on the house and my heart.  You make this place a home. You’ve been making talk about moving back to your apartment, but I don’t want that.”

“Me either,” Marla was quick to reassure him. 

“That’s real good, because I’d miss you if you left. I want you to feel at home here.”