Natural-Born Protector / Saved by the Monarch (10 page)

She leaned back in the chair and tucked the ring back beneath her dress. “I’ve lived alone for a lot of years—maybe I’ve become so set in my ways I’m not sure I’m willing to live with Fred at this point in our lives.”

“I just want you to be happy,” Melody said.

Rita smiled. “Funny, that’s what I want for you.”

Melody didn’t share everything with her mother. She didn’t tell her about James O’Donnell, nor did she mention that she intended to check out the jewelry stores in town.

Rita had spent a lifetime worrying about her eldest daughter, a worry that she’d no longer have because the worst of her worries had come true. Melody didn’t want to become a source of further concern for her mother.

It was after eight when Melody walked her mother to the door and the two women said goodbye. “Please don’t hesitate to call me if you need help here,” Rita said. “Contrary to what Fred says, I’m quite capable of taking care of things. I could help with boxing up things.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m doing fine. Within the next couple of days I should have everything done here and it will be in the hands of a Realtor.”

“And then you’ll get back to your own life?” Rita asked hopefully.

“We’ll see how things go,” Melody replied and refused to give in to the concern that darkened her mother’s eyes. She laughed lightly. “I keep getting the feeling that you’re trying to get rid of me.”

“Of course not,” Rita exclaimed hurriedly. “You know that there’s nothing I’d love more than if you’d find a job here in town and stay. What I don’t want is you involving yourself in Lainie’s case. Leave it to Zack.”

“I’m trying, Mom. I’m trying.”

After Rita walked out the door Melody moved to the window where she could watch her mother get into her car. A burst of love filled her heart as she saw Rita walking across the parking lot, her blue dress whipping around her still-shapely legs in the evening breeze.

Certainly Rita hadn’t expected to lose a husband so early in life, then suffer the unnatural experience of burying her child.

She watched her mother pull out of the parking lot, then started to turn away from the window but paused as she spied a man standing near a parked car.

James O’Donnell.

Her heart began a rapid banging in her chest. His gaze seemed to be intently focused on the window where she stood. She stumbled backward, her first thought to call the sheriff or Hank, but she realized there was little they could do. He wasn’t breaking any laws. He wasn’t threatening her.

He was just standing there…staring.

Turning away from the window, she ran to the front door and made sure it was locked with the dead bolt engaged. She leaned her back against the door, willing her heartbeat to slow to some semblance of normal. But nothing felt normal as she moved back to the window and stared at the man she believed had killed her sister.

L
arry Jenkins shook his head. “I’ve seen a ton of those class rings over the years for stone replacements. For the price the students pay for them, you’d think they could use a little extra gold and prong them properly. But I haven’t seen one for about a year or so.” He smiled at Hank and Melody with apology. “Sorry I can’t be more help.”

“That’s all right. Thank you for your time,” Melody said lightly, but Hank could hear the underlying disappointment in her voice.

He hadn’t seen her for the past two days, not since he’d followed her to Zack’s office when James had been following her. She’d called first thing that morning to see if he’d accompany her to the three jewelry stores in town.

He’d readily agreed. Over the course of the past two days it had surprised him how much he’d missed her
company, had missed seeing her smile. She’d be leaving town soon enough and in the end he’d decided to enjoy her presence while she was still here.

Of course his other reason for agreeing to accompany her was that he was still concerned about her safety. While there had been no other overt or subtle threats to her over the past two days, she’d told him that she’d seen James lurking around the parking lot of the town houses.

Hank had no idea if James O’Donnell was guilty of killing Lainie or not, but he wanted to make sure that O’Donnell didn’t get an opportunity to hurt Melody in any way. He’d hoped that Zack would warn the man away, but either Zack hadn’t talked to him yet or James hadn’t listened.

“Well, that was a bust,” she said as they left Jenkins Jewelry.

“We have two more places to check before we declare the day a failure,” he reminded her. As always, when they hit the sidewalk, his attention focused less on her and more on their surroundings.

The morning sun beat down on his shoulders as he gazed in first one direction then the other, seeking any potential source of danger. His gun was tucked snugly at the small of his back, the bulge hidden by his untucked dress shirt. As long as he was with Melody he wouldn’t be without the gun and he wasn’t afraid to use it if the situation warranted.

They headed down the sidewalk toward Raymond’s Gold and Jewelry. “I got the kitchen all packed up yesterday except for the few pots and pans I’m still using,” she said.

“I’ll bet you’re eager to get back to Chicago,” he replied.

She frowned thoughtfully. “In some ways, but I love the small-town charm of Cotter Creek. I’d forgotten what it was like to wake up to birdsongs and the smell of pastures instead of the constant noise of traffic and sirens.”

“I couldn’t handle big-city living,” Hank replied. “I hated it whenever I had to leave the ranch to go into Dallas for anything. Besides, I want Maddie to be raised in a small town without so many of the influences a bigger city offers.”

She cast him a sideways glance, her eyes as blue as the T-shirt she wore. “You know it’s absolutely none of my business, but Maddie seems to need more of you than you’re giving her.”

Hank stopped walking and stared at her in surprise, a hint of irritation rearing its head. She must have seen the irritation for she offered him a smile of apology. “I’m sorry. That was out of line.”

Just that quickly Hank’s ire fell away and he realized he was aggravated because he knew she was right. “Don’t apologize.” He drew a deep breath. “I know you’re right. I think in some part of my head I’ve been preparing her for the time I’ll be spending away from her with my new job with Wild West Protective Services.”

“It’s going to be hard on her without you,” Melody said softly and there was something in her gaze, something soft and caring, that both drew him and repelled him. It repelled him because he realized it would be far too easy to depend on her caring.

As much as he’d loved Rebecca, as easy as it was to
cling to her memory, it was difficult to hide beneath his comfortable grief whenever Melody was around.

“She’s tough,” he said gruffly. “Come on, let’s get to those two other jewelers before it gets too hot to be outside.”

It took an hour to go to the remaining jewelry stores and discover that nobody had brought in a Maple Park College class ring needing a stone replacement in the last couple of weeks.

By the time they headed back to Hank’s car, the weight of Melody’s disappointment was palpable. “Want to grab some lunch before I take you home?” he asked, wishing there was some way he could alleviate her frustration.

“Okay,” she replied without any real enthusiasm.

They settled in at a table toward the back of the busy café, two of many lunchtime diners. She stared at the menu for several minutes and as she did, Hank found himself staring at her.

Her long hair was pulled back and tied at the nape of her neck with a blue ribbon. Her slender neck seemed to invite the attention of his lips and he knew that behind her ears he’d find one of the sources of her evocative scent.

She looked lovely but sad. He wanted to take the sadness from her beautiful eyes, see that sunny smile of hers that always pulled an answering smile from him.

“I guess I’ll just get a salad,” she said as she set the menu aside. “I’m really not hungry.”

“That’s because you’re disappointed,” he observed. “You can’t let this get you down.”

“I know. I guess I was just hoping the killer would
be stupid enough to take his ring into one of the local shops for repair.”

“You’ve been watching too much television,” he said teasingly, then sobered. “We aren’t one hundred percent positive that stone is from a ring,” he reminded her.

“But I’m one hundred percent positive that I believe James O’Donnell is Lainie’s killer. All I need to do is figure out a way to get close enough to him to somehow trip him up.”

Fear erupted inside him. “Melody, don’t,” he said softly. “Don’t try to get close to him. Don’t talk to him anymore. If what you believe is right, then he’s more than just a stalker—he’s dangerous.”

At that moment, with his fear for her tightening his chest, he realized that somehow she’d become more to him than a simple fling. He cared about her, and with each day that passed—with each minute he spent in her company—he cared about her more.

He was grateful when the waitress arrived to take their orders, her friendly chatter overriding his unsettling thoughts.

“I’m sorry you’re so disappointed,” he said a few minutes later as she picked at her salad with disinterest. “I haven’t seen you smile since we left the last jewelry store.”

She looked up at him, a tiny spark of humor lighting up her eyes. “I know what you could do to make me smile.”

“What’s that?”

“You could run down Main Street buck naked like you mentioned to Zack the other day.”

He laughed. “I’d never be totally naked. Cowboys always wear their hats.”

She tilted her head to one side. “But you aren’t a cowboy anymore.”

Funny how that statement sent a mournful rush of emotion through him. He had a memory of the wind in his face, the sun on his shoulders and a horse beneath him. The rolling pasture stretching out as far as the eye could see had been the landscape of his dreams. But it had been his choice to give up his old life and embark on a new one.

“Then, as a bodyguard, I’d have to wear my gun while I was running through the streets,” he replied, pleased when she laughed.

“I can just imagine the gossip that would make its way around town. ‘That Hank Tyler done lost his mind.’ That’s what they’d say.”

He gave her a teasing grin. “Really? I was thinking that maybe what they’d be saying was that I was a fine specimen of manhood.”

“That, too,” she agreed.

And just that quickly there was a heat between them that would rival the griddle back in the kitchen. It sparked in the air and flooded through his veins, making his jeans uncomfortably tight.

Her cheeks brightened and she quickly averted her gaze to her salad. But even breaking eye contact with her didn’t ease the hot desire that coursed through him.

He took a big swallow of his ice water, hoping to cool his thoughts—thoughts of running his hand up her sleek, long legs, of capturing the bud of her breast between his lips. He wanted that hot mouth of hers open and hungry beneath his.

“Are you about finished?” he asked, his voice deeper, heavier than usual. “I’ve got some things I need to take care of this afternoon.” Like a cold shower, he thought ruefully.

She shoved her bowl aside. “I’m finished and I’ve got a full afternoon of packing still ahead of me.” Her voice sounded strained as well.

The ride back home was awkward, their mutual desire a living, breathing third occupant in the car. He wanted to pull into the closest motel and take her hard and fast.

He didn’t want slow and easy because he knew instinctively that would involve his heart and that was the last thing he wanted.

He’d stood at a graveside on a cold, windy February day and had vowed that his heart would never belong to another woman. His heart had been buried in a Texas cemetery, in a grave beneath an oak tree.

A sigh of relief swept through him as he pulled into his parking place. He wasn’t afraid of any danger the role of bodyguard might bring his way.

He wasn’t afraid of bullets or fists, or even death itself. But all of a sudden he was scared to death of Melody Thompson.

“
Y
our price is right and the place is in good condition.” Mary Jane Decanter, a Realtor for Cotter Creek Real Estate, walked around the living room with a small notepad in hand. She opened the coat closet, made a note on her pad, then headed toward the kitchen.

“So you think you’ll be able to sell it soon?” Melody asked, following close at her heels.

Mary Jane frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t think we’ll have any problems, although the tragedy that occurred here might put some people off.” The frown inverted into a bright smile. “But I’m sure finding a buyer won’t be a problem.” Her smile turned crafty. “And you’ll give me a three-month exclusive on it?”

“Sure,” Melody agreed. She just wanted to get this over with. She’d spent most of the previous afternoon
and all of today finishing up the last of the packing and getting the place ready to show to Mary Jane.

“The kitchen is lovely, the bedrooms are a nice size. I’m confident I can move this fairly quickly. I’ll just get a contract over to you tomorrow, and once you sign it I’ll get to work for you,” Mary Jane said as she returned to the living room. She held out her plump hand and exchanged a firm shake with Melody. “I’ll call you in the morning.”

Melody nodded and saw the woman to the door. Evening shadows danced across the living room, where there was nothing left except a folding chair and a small portable television. Three men and a truck had arrived that afternoon from the local charity and had taken away all the furniture except those items in the living room and the bed Melody was sleeping on in the guest bedroom.

The last thirty minutes had been the most difficult she’d endured since Lainie’s death. Once this place was sold, nothing would be left of Lainie’s life except a couple of boxes of knickknacks.

If it was sold before Melody was ready to leave town, she’d either move back in with her mother or get a motel room for the duration of her stay in Cotter Creek.

She moved back to the window and stared out into the parking lot. Maybe she should put this all behind her and just head back to Chicago. Things were getting complicated here. She hadn’t found out who’d killed her sister, and her mother seemed to have her own life on hold while waiting for Melody to get back to hers.

She turned away from the window with a rueful grunt. Who was she kidding? The truth was things had become painfully complicated with Hank.

Every time she saw him her heart did a crazy happy dance in her chest. Each touch between them, no matter how casual or inadvertent, caused her pulse to race with sweet anticipation. She’d vastly overestimated her ability to have a summer fling with no emotional connection.

The truth was, she was falling in love with Hank and each and every minute she spent with him only deepened her feelings.

She needed to get back to the real world, back to her cramped Chicago apartment and preparing for the school year ahead. She needed to remember that this return to Cotter Creek was temporary, as was Hank in her life.

She eased down onto the folding chair and felt the darkness of depression settling on her shoulders. Even as she thought about returning home, Lainie’s voice whispered in her head.

Not yet,
she said.
Don’t leave me yet, Melody. I still need you. I need you to give me peace. Find my killer. Don’t leave me alone in the dark. You know I hate it when night falls.

Melody shot up off the chair and clapped her hands over her ears. What she needed was to get out of there for a little while.

There was a convenience store a few blocks away. Maybe she’d take a quick drive there and buy some ice cream. Wasn’t ice cream the panacea for anything that ailed you?

She moved back to the window and scanned the area. For the past two days she’d seen no sign of James O’Donnell and she didn’t see his familiar bulk lurking in the area now.

She certainly didn’t want to call Hank and ask him to accompany her to pick up a gallon of ice cream. Thoughts of him were part of what she wanted to escape.

Before she could give herself time to think, she grabbed her purse and left. Shadows chased her across the parking lot to her car, but she neither saw nor heard anything to make her afraid of being alone.

The convenience store offered a vast array of comfort food and she was in the mood for a major pig-out. She realized she hadn’t eaten since the day before when she’d picked at the salad with Hank at lunch. No wonder her tummy was rumbling with the need for carbs.

She grabbed a bag of cheesy corn chips, a sleeve of sinful cookies and a gallon of chocolate ice cream, then paid for her purchases and got back into her car.

Maybe when she got back she’d carry the television into the bedroom and lie in bed and eat ice cream and corn chips and watch some sobbing drama on the tube.

It was a perfect plan for a woman teetering on the edge of a broken heart, grieving the loss of a sister and mourning the additional loss of a little girl she’d already grown to love.

Night had fallen completely by the time she pulled back into her parking space. As she turned off the ignition, she realized that, during the trip from the convenience store back to the condo, she’d made the unconscious decision to remain in Cotter Creek for a while longer.

Lainie’s voice would not be silent until her killer had been found and Melody still felt that somehow she was the one who needed to solve the case.

She opened her car door and grabbed her packages.
She still believed that James was the likely suspect. All she had to do was convince Zack to dig a little deeper into the man’s life. What kind of a man stalked a woman who didn’t want anything to do with him?

A monster.

Juggling her bags she got out of the car, the hot night air slapping her in the face and building a ravenous hunger for her ice cream. She wished she’d bought a bottle of chocolate syrup to pour over the top. She was in the mood for a double shot of chocolate comfort.

She’d gone only a few steps from the car when she was slammed from behind. Her body flew forward. She dropped her bags and purse as she threw out her arms in an attempt to break her fall.

As she crashed down, the asphalt ripped into her knees and the palms of her hands. Before the pain fully penetrated, before she could even process what had happened, a heavy boot landed a kick to her side.

Her face was smashed against the concrete with each blow. Pain crashed through her, a pain so intense she couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. All she could do was curl up in a fetal ball as kick after kick smashed into her ribs.

Grunts accompanied each kick. “You were warned,” a deep voice growled as she closed her eyes and begged for unconsciousness. “Get out of town. Go back where you came from.”

When she opened her eyes again, all she heard was the sound of crickets in the grass nearby and a dog barking in the distance.

No grunts, no threats…just crickets and pain.

She was afraid to move but equally afraid that if she
remained where she was, somebody would find her dead in the morning.

Tentatively she rolled onto her back, nearly screaming from the pain. Her cheek was wet and warm and she raised a hand to touch it, knowing without looking that she was bleeding.

Help. She needed help. For a moment she remained unmoving, hoping that somebody would pull into the parking lot and see her, that somebody would come to her aid.

After several agonizing minutes, she realized that if she was going to get help, she needed to move. With a groan she managed to sit up, her ribs feeling as if they were broken in a hundred places.

Tears oozed down her cheeks as she tried to get to her feet. Using the side of her car as support, she eased up, the pain so intense that darkness skirted the edges of her vision.

Sucking in a breath that shot more pain through her, she began to put one foot in front of the other, focused on the door of the building in the distance.

Lainie, help me,
her brain screamed.
Night has fallen and I’m scared of the dark. Someone evil found me and I’m afraid he’ll find me again.

Her mind emptied as she concentrated on getting inside the building. Each breath ripped through her, tearing her apart. Each footstep jarred her, and she had to stop after each step and fight to remain conscious.

She had to get to Hank. He’d help her. His name became a litany, a prayer in her mind as she slowly, painfully, made her way inside the building.

It felt as if it took her an eternity to make it to Hank’s door. She knocked once, then slid to the floor as darkness overwhelmed her.

Hank stared at the television but his thoughts were on Melody. He’d never felt as alone as he did right now. Maddie was spending the night with his mother, and all he could think about was that he should have called Melody. She should be with him right now.

He was just about to shuck his jeans and call it an early night when he heard a knock. A glance at the clock indicated it was just after nine.

He opened the door to find nobody there. Maybe he’d just imagined the soft knock. He started to close the door when he saw her, slumped on the ground as if dead.

“Melody!” Fear rocketed through him when she didn’t respond. He crouched down next to her, his gaze riveted to her bloody face as he grabbed her wrist to check for a pulse.

He nearly wept as he felt it, a faint beating that let him know that she was alive. In an instant he assessed her condition. Hands and face bloody, the knees of her jeans ripped and her complexion deadly pale.

He left her only long enough to grab his car keys and gun, then returned for her. She moaned, but didn’t seem to regain consciousness as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to his car.

Her car was parked near his and he saw her purse and a plastic shopping bag lying next to it. As gently as he could, he placed her in the backseat, sprinted over to
grab her purse, then raced back to his car and slid behind the steering wheel.

Driving like a bat out of hell, he tried to stay in control, but his heart raced wildly as he all too easily imagined what had happened to her. And along with fear for her came a killing rage.

He crunched his fingers around the steering wheel, wishing he were crunching the neck of whoever had done this to her.

“It’s all right, honey. You’re going to be fine. We’ll get you to the hospital and we’ll get you fixed up.” Although he had no idea if she could hear him, he babbled like a fool, hoping that on some level she’d be comforted by the sound of his voice.

Why had she gone out at night by herself? Why in the hell hadn’t she called him if she needed to go out? Yet even as the question came to mind, the answer filtered through his head along with a boatload of guilt.

He could guess why she hadn’t called him. For the past two days he’d been giving her all kinds of mixed signals, getting close to her then implying with a cool distance that he was tired of having her around.

Cotter Creek Memorial Hospital was a small facility, but the minute Hank pulled up in front of the emergency entrance and yelled for help, two orderlies came running out with a stretcher.

“What happened?” one of them asked as they loaded the still unconscious Melody onto the stretcher.

“I don’t know. I found her like this,” Hank said and hurried after them as they pushed her into the hospital. Once inside, they disappeared through a double door but
a stern-faced nurse who pointed him to the waiting room stopped Hank from following them.

He walked past the waiting room and back outside where he grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and punched in the number for Zack West.

It took Zack only fifteen minutes to arrive at the hospital. He took a statement from Hank, then disappeared to find the doctor and Melody.

Hank remained in the waiting room, praying that she was okay. The hospital scent brought back bad memories. In the last weeks of Rebecca’s life he’d practically lived at the hospital.

Rebecca. He was surprised that thoughts of her no longer evoked the killing grief they once had. He felt only a normal sadness for a loved one long gone.

A tall young man in a white coat came into the waiting room and Hank stood to greet him. “I’m Dr. Fedor,” he said and held out a hand. “She’s conscious and talking to Zack right now. But she wants to see you.”

“How is she?”

“The cuts on her face and hands were superficial and she has a couple of bruised ribs, but the X-ray showed that nothing was broken. She’s going to be black-and-blue for a while.”

Hank clenched his hands at his sides, once again feeling a rage sweep over him. He wanted to punch somebody, he wanted someone to pay for what they’d done to Melody.

“Can I go back now?” he asked.

Dr. Fedor nodded. “She’s in room three.”

Hank’s heart pounded as he thanked the doctor then went to see Melody. There were three examining rooms.
The first two that Hank passed were empty and a murmur of voices came from the third.

“I didn’t see anyone anywhere around when I got out of my car.” Melody’s voice sounded weak, but thank God she was talking.

Hank entered the room and his chest squeezed tight at the sight of her. Although the doctor had told him the cut on her cheek was superficial and the blood had been cleaned off, her skin looked like it had been chewed up by grit and gravel.

Her face was unnaturally pale and her eyes, huge midnight pools, looked haunted. But as soon as she saw him, her lips curved up in a wan smile. She held out a bandaged hand to him and he quickly moved to her side and gently took it in his.

“What happened?” he asked, emotion welling up thick in his chest.

“Somebody tried to punt me over the county line,” she replied.

“She was attacked,” Zack said. “He hit her from behind then kicked her repeatedly.”

“Who was it?” Hank asked. He tightened his grip on her hand, then quickly released it as she winced.

“I don’t know. I didn’t see who it was,” she said, then looked back at Zack. “But if I had to make a guess, it was James O’Donnell. I think he’s crazy, Zack. I think he was obsessed with Lainie and now maybe he’s become obsessed with me.”