Home to Sparrow Lake (Harlequin Heartwarming) (21 page)

“So far.”

“Meaning he won’t be okay in the future?”

Brian shrugged, but his expression showed his worry. “I think he’s hanging with some really bad dudes. Andy says one guy has been in and out of prison.”

“That sounds dangerous.” And like the scenario Alex had described about wayward youth being influenced by older criminals.

“I tried to talk him into coming back to Sparrow Lake, but he doesn’t seem to want to listen.”

“Did you tell him his family misses him?”

“Yeah, and I also said the community service he would have to do wasn’t that bad. He says he plans to stay with these guys and make money.”

“Make money?” Andy was just a teenager, still in high school. What did
these guys
want him to do? “That sounds like it could be something very dangerous.”

“That’s what I think.” He gave a big sigh. “And I’m afraid I may be responsible for his taking off.”

“How could you be responsible?”

“I led him into doing all those stupid stunts.”

“He wouldn’t have done them on his own? Or something similar?”

“Well, maybe,” he agreed, his expression earnest. “But still. I’m afraid he’s going to ruin his life. What can I do?”

She thought about her own worry when she’d realized Brian was messing around. She also remembered Alex’s advice to her.

“Just tell him you’re on his side and want what’s best for him...if you get the chance.”

“If I get the chance is right. He may never call me again.” Brian shook his head. “Thanks for listening.”

“Anytime.”

Since the conversation seemed to be over, Kristen rose to rinse her dishes. Brian came up behind her and placed his plate and glass in the sink. She was so proud of her little brother for being concerned about someone else. It was a side of him she hadn’t seen in a long time, one she appreciated. Feeling better than she had all day, she turned and gave Brian a quick hug. He hugged her back.

“I’m glad you confided in me,” she told him. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone else.”

He left the kitchen to go watch TV. Kristen wandered out onto the brick patio facing Sparrow Lake. She stretched out in a lawn chair and enjoyed the breeze. It was still daylight, though the shadows were starting to lengthen. Everything was peaceful without the low background roar of traffic that was ever present in the city.

She’d lived here for almost twenty years and had liked Sparrow Lake just fine. She’d also liked Chicago, however, and had found its constant activity exciting. When she’d had a good job and a nice place, she’d regarded herself as successful. Somehow she’d thought of her return to her hometown, unemployed and homeless so to speak, as a failure. She’d felt as if she’d lost her identity.

But what defined failure and success? Her professional efforts had certainly been putting Sew Fine on the map. And, as far as relationships went, she’d had friends in Chicago, still had one or two, but she again thought about the comparison. No one had paid so much attention to her personal life that they made a quilt in celebration of her dating someone.

Today had been a very good day, she thought, with warm wishes from both friends and family, exactly when she’d needed the support. Maybe living in Sparrow Lake would give her things she couldn’t get in Chicago.

She certainly couldn’t ask Alex to spend a lot of time in the city. His confession of what had driven him to Sparrow Lake made her heart ache. What a horrible thing to have happen to a wonderful man.

She gazed up at the sky where a few brash stars already glimmered. They brought back memories of the night she and Alex had parked at the make-out spot. His kisses had been exciting, exhilarating. What was he doing tonight? she wondered, wishing he would call.

* * *

A
LEX
STOOD
AT
the front desk talking with Janet, the good-natured nightshift clerk, and Owen, who was getting ready to go home. He wanted to call Kristen in the worst way, but he feared talking to her would backfire on him. Telling her how he felt hadn’t gone as he’d hoped, and he was still a little raw from that evening in Chicago.

“No more pranks going on,” Janet was saying. “Right?”

“Nope. Everything’s back to normal,” Owen agreed with a laugh. “Some guy over on the east side of town complained about his backyard being ruined by a neighbor’s weed spray. That’s all the excitement for today.”

“Did you check on it?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, I warned the neighbor to keep the spray in his own yard and I told the other guy his actually looked better without the jungle he’d had growing back there. Whatever, I think he’s settled down.”

Janet read a note on her desk. “Jergens, one of the state troopers, reported that he sighted a skinny redheaded kid walking around Lake Geneva.”

They were still looking for Andy Eccles, but Alex said, “There are a lot of redheaded kids.”

“He was hanging out with someone suspicious,” Janet added.

“Hmm, maybe I should talk to Jergens,” said Alex, though he was pretty sure he could wait and do that tomorrow. Jergens might not be on duty—the note was from the day shift.

Owen took out his own cell to read a text, then grinned. “I’d better head home.”

Alex only wished the woman he wanted would urge him to hurry to her side that evening. Or anytime. He was trying to give Kristen the space she needed so that he didn’t chase her straight back to Chicago.

He might not be ready to throw in the towel, but he knew he had to maintain a little distance until she made one of those lists she was so fond of, until she decided what was important in her life.

He only hoped he would be at the top of her reasons to stay.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

K
RISTEN
HAD
STILL
not heard from Alex by Saturday. Though she’d planned to stay home and clear her head to make some important decisions, she realized she’d forgotten her most current list of things to do and would have to go to Sew Fine to find it. Around noon, she made a trip to the store. Driving down the street, she glanced at the family restaurant on the other side and spotted two men in black uniforms sitting in the front booth near the window.

Alex?

Her heart beating faster, Kristen slowed, and seeing only one car coming from the opposite direction, did an abrupt U-turn. She passed the restaurant again and recognized Alex and Owen inside. She braked hard, accidentally making the tires squeal, and Alex looked up. She waved, ignoring the beep of the other car, which had come up behind her quicker than she’d expected. Looking puzzled, Alex waved back but didn’t move from the booth. Kristen drove on, slowly.

Unbelievable! Surely he saw that she was trying to get his attention. Why didn’t he come outside and ask her what she wanted?

And what would she say if he did?

She drove on, nosing into the restaurant’s tiny parking lot where the police cruiser sat. Turning her car around again, she came back out into the street. His back to her, Alex wasn’t even looking around to see where she had gone.

She felt a chill. Had Alex already written her off because he thought she was leaving Sparrow Lake? Surely not.

Parking the car in front of Sew Fine, Kristen started for the front door, then halted. If she wanted see Alex, she would simply go talk to him. She started back for the restaurant, not even thinking about the fact that she was crossing in the middle of the block. Another passing car beeped at her, making her jump.

She gave herself a mental talk. Maybe she was being impatient. Maybe she should wait to talk to Alex.

Then again, why couldn’t she just follow her instincts for once and face him?

She turned around, then turned the opposite way again, finding herself pacing back and forth in the center of the street. And someone was watching her, she realized, wanly returning the wave of the friendly motorist who’d politely stopped a few yards away, probably wondering what direction this crazy woman would eventually choose.

How embarrassing!

Her face hot, forgetting about Alex for the moment, she nearly ran back to her car.

* * *

A
NDY
E
CCLES
WAS
staying in an old farmhouse that looked abandoned from the road. Up close, Brian saw there were newspapers taped over the windows from the inside, though an air conditioner droned away in one of them, and the front door was shut tight. A couple of unsavory-looking dudes lounged on the wide, sagging back porch. They glared when he got out of the car.

“Thanks, man,” Brian told the driver, an acquaintance of Andy’s who had given him a ride from town. “Can you wait for a few minutes?” Until he rounded up his friend.

But he’d barely closed the door before the car backed up and took off, leaving him standing there between a pickup and a beat-up sedan. He looked around, feeling exposed and uncomfortable. Then Andy ambled out from the shadows of a small shed, one of the decrepit outbuildings in the farmyard. There were several, including a skeletal barn leaning so badly to one side that the next storm might topple it.

As skinny as usual, Andy appeared the same as when he’d run off, except his hair was a little longer and his clothes looked as if they needed to be washed.

“Hey,” he said to Brian, pounding him once on the shoulder. “Wasn’t sure you’d come.” He motioned to the nearest outbuilding. “Let’s get out of the sun.” He led them over to a pile of boards. “We can sit here.”

“It feels real tense around here.” Brian indicated the two guys on the porch. “Who are those losers?” He wondered what sort of illegal activity was going on. At the least, drinking and partying. At the worst, serious crime of some sort.

“I don’t know anything, not even their names.”

“They aren’t the guys you’ve been hanging with?”

“No, Jerry and Leon are in the house.”

“Are you ready to come back to Sparrow Lake?” asked Brian, who’d been hopeful when a seemingly unhappy Andy had called him earlier.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do.” Andy was acting nervous and jumpy.

“Your mom misses you, you know.”

“Yeah.” Andy sounded sad. “I miss her, too. You didn’t tell her I called, did you?”

Brian didn’t answer the question. “Your family’s getting food from the community kitchen now. They still have a place to live.” Even if it was a motel room. “You need to come back, man. You’ve got your last year of high school to finish.”

“Graduating from high school don’t mean I’ll get a job.”

“Not graduating will ensure you don’t get one.”

Andy merely grunted.

“And if you keep hanging around with these guys—” Brian nodded to the men on the porch “—you may end up in jail. Or worse.”

“Thought about that,” Andy admitted.

“Then why don’t you just come back to town with me?”

“How? Our ride left.” Andy was obviously referring to the driver who’d delivered Brian. “I had to just about beg for the favor of bringing you out here anyway.”

“We can call someone else to come get us.”

Andy shook his head. “Jerry said I wasn’t goin’ anywhere. He has plans for me.”

Some bozo had told Andy he couldn’t leave? Now that concerned Brian even more. “Well, I’m leaving after I talk to you...one way or the other.” He’d walk back to town if he had to.

“You can go. But be careful about it. Maybe wait till it starts gettin’ dark,” Andy advised him. “Then they won’t notice.”

Obviously Andy had gotten himself mixed up in something pretty bad. And hearing he’d have to sneak away after dark made Brian uneasy about his own safety. There were no neighboring farms in sight. The closest was a place he’d seen about two miles down the road.

As they sat there, another pickup arrived driven by a big guy with long matted hair and more tattoos than Brian could count. The man had a woman with him who also sported multiple tattoos. They approached the farmhouse porch where one of the sentries greeted them and took them inside.

Brian pulled out his cell phone. “So are you with me or not?”

“You don’t understand. I don’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice. And I think you know that or you wouldn’t have called me.”

At that moment, the front door of the farmhouse opened and a wiry, bow-legged man strode out. Despite the heat, he was wearing a leather jacket. He looked directly at Brian and yelled to Andy, “Who’s that?”

“A friend of mine,” Andy shouted in return.

Brian slipped his phone back into his pocket.

“Come on over here. I wanna talk to both of you.”

Andy said, “He’s just visiting, Jerry.”

“Come here,” the man said sternly.

Now what? Hand on the pocket with his cell phone, Brian wondered if they were going to be able to escape.

* * *

K
RISTEN
FELT
HUMILIATED
over having a local motorist witness her pacing crazily up and down in the middle of the street. And Alex probably hadn’t even noticed. After grabbing the list she’d gone after, she’d hurried out of Sew Fine and headed home. She was nearly there when her phone rang. She answered as she was parking in the driveway.

“Kristen?” said Brian, sounding tense and out of breath.

“Is something the matter?” Kristen asked.

“I need some help here.”

“Help? What’s wrong?” Her mind started spinning, imagining all kinds of things.

“I need someone to come pick me up...and Andy.”

At least he wasn’t hurt. “Where are you?”

“I’m not sure...but you need to take the second turn off the highway on the west side of town, then turn onto the gravel road off the blacktop. The farm looks deserted, but it’s not.”

“Are you in danger?” She recalled what Brian had said about the company Andy had been keeping.

“Uh...maybe. I had to sneak away to make this call.”

Kristen reached for her keys. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“No, not you, Kristen.”

“What do you mean, not me?” she asked indignantly.

“There’s some bad people. I don’t want you getting mixed up in this. Find Alex.”

“Did you call the police station?”

“He’s off shift.” There was some noise in the background. “Get him, will you? I have to hang up—”

Then he was gone. Kristen just sat there with the cell phone in her hand for a moment before she reacted.

Brian was in trouble. Her pulse began to race. If he wanted Alex to come get him, it must be serious. Brian had said that at least one of Andy’s new “friends” had been in prison. She started up the car again and pulled out, intending to find Alex in person and fast.

One good thing about small towns...he didn’t live far away.

* * *

A
LEX
SAT
AT
the kitchen table, thinking. He was tired after finishing the night shift and then going out for breakfast with Owen. He’d been surprised to see Kristen, though he supposed he shouldn’t have been, considering Sew Fine was right across the street from the restaurant. What was even more startling was the way she’d acted, driving recklessly up and down the street, then walking out into the middle of the road until cars beeped at her.

Why hadn’t she just come into the restaurant and talked to him? he wondered. He could have gone out and arrested her for jaywalking—something she might have been tempting him to do, he guessed—but he was reluctant, still avoiding the break-up he feared might be coming. He didn’t want to play games anymore. Since taking Kristen home on Wednesday night, he’d been mulling over the possibility that the woman he loved just might not love him back. Might never love him. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be seriously considering moving away. Yes, they’d only known each other a short time, but they had something wonderful. If she didn’t realize it, she might not be the woman for him.

The doorbell shrilled suddenly, making Alex jump. Spike, who’d been eating out of a bowl on the floor, bolted out of the kitchen, heading for the safety of the bedroom.

The bell rang again.

“Coming!” Alex yelled, thinking it must be the postman.

He strode to the door and opened it to see Kristen, her face flushed and eyes wide. Part of his brain asked hopefully if she had come to tell him she couldn’t live without him, but then he realized she was panicked and trying to hold it in. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Brian. Come right away. He’s in danger!”

“Brian?” His tired brain wasn’t functioning at its best.

“My brother.”

He frowned. “I know who he is. What happened?”

Her words spilled out in a gush. “He’s with Andy Eccles. Out in the country. It sounds like there are some dangerous people involved.”

“And you’re asking me to go get him?”

“Brian called and told me to find you, Alex. He must be desperate.”

That was true. The kid definitely wasn’t his biggest fan. “All right.” Alex motioned for her to wait while he grabbed his gear. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, waking him up.

Outside, the cruiser was parked in the driveway. Alex unlocked the door for Kristen, then climbed in himself. Backing out, he asked, “Where are we going?”

“He said they’re on some farm.” She gave him Brian’s directions and he thought he knew the roads she was talking about.

A few minutes beyond the town limits, he slowed down and turned onto a county blacktop.

“Do you think you might have to arrest someone?” she asked anxiously.

“Actually, illegal activity outside the city limits isn’t the responsibility of Sparrow Lake,” he told her. “It’s county. Or possibly even state or federal.”

“What about the spray-painted cows?”

“I dealt with that because the boys were from town and I knew the farmer.”

“So this isn’t your responsibility.”

“I’m making it my responsibility, no matter what.” He explained, “We’ll say that I’m just picking up some minors who’ve been messing around in town. I don’t have any beef with anyone else.”

He glanced over at Kristen. Concern and fear made her appear more vulnerable than he’d ever seen her. He wanted to take her in his arms. He would, if he wasn’t driving, no matter the state of their relationship.

“Don’t worry,” he told her, attempting to be comforting. “This police car will be a red flag to lowlifes. They won’t expect us to drive right in the gate. Hopefully, they’ll freeze. I’ll tell them I’m not interested in anyone but the boys. We’ll pick up Brian and Andy and get out of there. And if the guys they’re staying with are doing something illegal...” Which probably they were. “...I’ll call it in.”

They passed farms from time to time with big red barns and silos. Cows dotted the pastures, along with sheep or horses, and, sometimes, pigs. Finally, Alex turned onto a rough gravel road bordered closely by empty fields with sagging fences and ragged foliage.

“Brian said the farm looks deserted.”

“There are several places like that around here. Old houses and buildings that look like they’re ready to fall down. Perfect hideouts for squatters up to no good.”

Driving along, looking on both sides of the road, Alex gave her directions. “You’ll wait in the car.” He flicked on the police radio. “If anything happens, push this button to alert dispatch.”

“Should we tell them we’re out here?” she asked.

“If we do, they might tell me to back off or send for backup. We don’t want to wait if the boys are in trouble.”

“That makes sense.” She added, “But I’m not staying in the car. Brian is my brother.”

He gave her a disapproving look. “You need to keep out of it.” He wouldn’t even have brought her along except that he knew she’d follow him anyway.

“And what if someone gives you trouble? I can’t just sit there and watch someone hurt you.”

Alex’s chest tightened at her caring tone. “So what do you think you can do? Take your heels off and pound them on the head?” He’d noticed she was wearing some kind of spike-heeled platforms with her jeans.