Only By Your Touch (22 page)

Ben laughed, grabbed the child under the arms, and tossed him in the air. “I live here. Why the big surprise?”

Jeremy caught his face between his hands. The feel of the child’s little fingers pressing against his cheeks made Ben’s heart catch. He caught the boy to his chest on the downswing to steal a quick hug. Never in Ben’s recollection had any embrace felt so right.

“I missed you,” he whispered.

Jeremy clung to his neck. “Me, too.”

Ben tucked in his chin to frown in mock bewilderment. “You missed yourself?”

“No!” Jeremy giggled. “I missed you!”

Ben shifted the child onto his hip. Chloe was still standing in place, the soiled bedding held slightly away from her body, her hands knotted over the cloth with such force that her knuckles gleamed white. With one glance at her hands, Ben knew this was as difficult for
her as it was for him—and that he wasn’t the only one alarmed by the feelings between them.

Oddly, seeing the hesitation in her big brown eyes made him feel braver. He swung Jeremy to the floor. “That pup of yours could use a walk. There’s a leash hanging on the coat tree in the entryway. Just keep him by the deck so he doesn’t sniff any germs.”

Jeremy was off like a shot.

Chloe gestured with the bedding. “I was on my way to the laundry room.”

Ben stepped aside so she could pass, then turned to follow her.
Not smart
. But he could no more pretend last night hadn’t happened than he could deny his Shoshone blood. He had to talk to her. It wasn’t a decision. It wasn’t a choice. He just had to.

When they reached the utility room, he positioned himself in the doorway so she couldn’t escape and watched as she stuffed the bedding into the washer. She knew he was there. Her fidgety, nervous movements were a dead giveaway.

“How are you this morning?” he asked.

“Oh. I’m fine. I slept like a baby.”

Ben ran his gaze over her. She was wearing tight blue jeans that lent a whole new definition to the term
packed
. Her green knit top had a scoop neckline that revealed the creamy upper swells of her breasts, which he was happy to see bore no marks this morning. She was too sweet to be defiled. Damn, he liked the way she was made.

“Is something wrong?”

He searched her wide brown eyes. The innocent look became her, but he wasn’t fooled. She knew very well what was wrong. Or, more precisely, what was right, namely practically everything. Usually when two people clicked like this, they jumped in with both feet.

“No, nothing,” he forced out. “I’ve just been
worried about you. I’m glad to see you’re okay this morning. I could have sworn you had a bad scratch on your chest.”

She flattened a slender hand over the spot. “I thought so, too, but it was only a smear of blood.”

Now there was an interesting explanation. “Whose?”

“Bobby Lee’s. I—” She broke off, her cheeks flaming.

“Bobby Lee,” he repeated. “I see.”

She blinked. “I didn’t mean to say his name.”

“I realize that. Although why you’d try to protect the bastard escapes me.”

She glanced past him into the hall and touched a finger to her lips. “Please, Ben. Don’t forget Jeremy.”

“He’s outside with the pup.” Ben struggled to make sense of it all. He’d already determined that Bobby Lee was the shooter, but it hadn’t occurred to him that he’d also been the man who jumped Chloe. What did that mean? More important, was there a connection? Had Bobby Lee guessed that Ben was coming to care for Chloe? Was this just another twisted way to make Ben suffer? It made no sense, yet Ben had an awful feeling he was right. Chloe had become a target. “The man’s worse than a bastard.”

“He’d had too much to drink. Things got out of hand. It was—”

“Bullshit. I can drink whiskey until my eyes turn amber, and nothing would induce me to force myself on a woman.”

“That’s good to know. But maybe it’s different for him. Not everyone can handle alcohol, and maybe he just—”

“I call bullshit again.” Ben’s blood was pumping through his head with such force he could hear the swish against his eardrums. “Drunkenness is no excuse. It’s
never
an excuse. Any man who hurts a
woman, claiming booze is to blame, needs his ass kicked from here into next week.”

She hugged her waist, staring at him from eyes gone soft with compassion. “I’m sorry. I think this subject may strike a little too close to home for you to discuss it rationally.”

Bobby Lee had gone after Chloe. That was all Ben could take in.
Sweet Christ
. When he thought of all the animals that had endured horrible pain at the deputy’s hands, he broke out in a cold sweat. “You’re not going back there.”

“Back where?”

“To work. I won’t have it.”

The widening of her eyes was no act this time. “I beg your pardon?”

Ben saw the stubborn lift of her chin and knew he’d screwed up. A woman like Chloe couldn’t be ordered around. She’d get her back up every time. “Please,” he tacked on. “I’m afraid he’ll hurt you, Chloe. Please, don’t go back.”

She held up a hand. “Save it. I’ve already quit. Not officially, but I did call and give notice this morning so they could get someone to cover my shift tonight. I’ll submit a written resignation when I go in this afternoon to clean out my desk.”

Ben’s skin felt prickly. “Let me drive you.”

She arched a finely drawn eyebrow. “I’m a grown woman, Ben. I don’t need anyone to hold my hand while I quit a job.”

“I won’t hold your hand. I’d just like to be in the parking lot.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want him to catch you alone.”

“He won’t. At least one dispatcher is on duty at all times. Besides.” She flapped her hand. “It’s not as if he’s dangerous or anything.”

Oh, yes, very dangerous.
Only Ben had no proof to convince her of that. “He damned near ripped your blouse off last night.”

“But he did stop.”

“You said he waited along State Rec Road for you. If you hadn’t run into the woods to evade him, do you think he would have stopped a second time?”

Shadows darkened her eyes. “It’s a different set of circumstances in town, with people all around. I’m not worried that he’ll bother me.”

“So why did you have his blood on your chest?”

She blinked and scratched under one eye. “Oh, well, that.”

“Yes, that. Why was he bleeding?”

“Because I bopped him a good one on the nose.”

Ben relaxed marginally. Maybe, he decided, those self-defense lessons had saved her bacon, after all. Nevertheless he was worried about her going near Bobby Lee again. She was a slightly built woman. Any man could knock her ass over teakettle with one punch, and Ben had a very bad feeling that Bobby Lee wouldn’t hesitate.

“I have errands I need to run in town. Just a couple. I could swing you by there, and then—”

“No.” She said it softly, but the word rang with decisiveness. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t lean on anyone. I’ll handle my own affairs.”

Ben studied her face. He’d realized last night that he was falling in love with her. Feeling afraid for her had given him that final push over the edge. If anything happened to her, he didn’t know what he’d do. “Why don’t you lean on anyone?”

“Because just about the time you grow to count on the support, it isn’t there anymore.”

She moved toward him. Ben could see that their conversation was over. He was trying to decide if he
should let her pass or stand his ground until they settled this to his satisfaction when he heard the front door crash open.

“Ben!” his mother shrieked. “Ben?”

Chloe followed Ben back up the hall, her running feet slapping the tile twice for every stride he took. An instant later, they entered the kitchen to see Nan standing by the work island. Her short hair was in wild disarray, her blue eyes gigantic in her pale face. She stumbled over to her son, made frantic fists on his shirt, and rested her forehead against his chest. Ben curled his arms around her trembling torso.

“Mom? What’s wrong?”

“A dead body!” she cried. “I just saw a man burying a body on the hill above the log deck!”

Ben cupped a hand over the back of her head. “Ah, now.”

“No, no! I didn’t imagine it, I swear. I really, really saw it happening! A body, Ben. Right here, on our land!”

Ben met Chloe’s gaze and waggled his eyebrows. By the gesture, Chloe knew he was trying to tell her not to take this seriously. Chloe understood. The older woman wasn’t always in touch with reality. Nevertheless, she was very convincing now.

Speaking in soothing tones, Ben pressed his mother onto a chair, fetched her a glass of water, and then stepped to a cupboard. Chloe watched as he withdrew a hypodermic needle, sterilized a cool vial of medication, and expertly filled the syringe. “Here, Mama,” he said gently. “This will make you feel better.” He drew up her sleeve to dab at her upper arm with a cotton ball. “A fast prick. Hold still, okay?”

“No!” Nan cried, attempting to pull away. “That’ll put me to sleep! I don’t—”

Ben firmly grasped her arm to hold her and expertly administered the injection. Afterwards he capped the needle, put it on the table, and crouched to curl an arm around her. “If it makes you sleepy, that’s okay. I’m here to handle everything.”

Nan shook her head. She looked imploringly at Chloe. “You
have
to listen!” she cried. “I saw a man burying a dead body!”

When Nan had calmed down enough to talk, Ben asked her questions. Nan shakily repeated the story, giving specifics. The man burying the body had been tall and dark. “He was wearing a baseball cap, an Oregon Ducks sweatshirt, and sunglasses,” she said, her words growing slightly slurred. “The same kind of glasses your father used to wear.” She grabbed a quivering breath. “Diablo—oh,
God
. He tried to go up there. I grabbed his collar, but it was all I could do to hold him back. I hid with him behind the logs. I was so afraid he might bark. I know he doesn’t usually, but he was so upset I was afraid he might. What if that man saw us?

“Finally, he went back up the hill to bury some other stuff—a pack of some sort, I think—you know, the kind hikers use. While he was up there working, I tightened my hold on Diablo’s collar and ran.” Nan threw a frightened look at Chloe. “I just pray he didn’t see me. I’m a witness. What if he decides to shut me up?”

Ben kissed his mom’s forehead. Imagined or not, the incident had frightened her badly. He tried to massage the tension from her shoulders. “He can’t hurt you now. I’ll keep you safe.”

“I’m not lying, Ben. I swear I’m not. You need to call the police. The log deck isn’t that far away, a quarter mile at most. If he saw me, he’s liable to come up here.”

Too much late-night television, Ben thought. This story had all the plot elements of an old Hitchcock thriller. Jeremy hugged his puppy protectively to his chest and glanced fearfully at the windows. Ben gestured subtly at the child, cluing Chloe that she needed to do some damage control. She crouched beside her son, whispered something in his ear, and a moment later, Jeremy carried his puppy from the kitchen.

Chloe gazed after the boy until he was safely out of earshot on the front deck. Then she came to put an arm around Nan’s frail shoulders. “It’ll be okay,” she said soothingly. “Let Ben go check it out.”

Nan shook her head. “No, no,
no.
He could get hurt. That awful man. He’s killed once. What’s to stop him from doing it again?” Nan pressed a hand over her heart. “We should just let the police handle it.”

Ben patted his mom’s arm. “I’m not stupid, Mama. I’ll be very careful.” He winked at Chloe over the top of her head. “Rest assured, if I see a fresh grave up there, or anything that looks the least bit suspicious, I’ll call the cops.”

When Ben left the house a few minutes later, Chloe sat at the table and held Nan’s hands. The injection had done its job, and Nan’s fingers felt limp. She stared blankly at nothing. Her pupils had grown dilated, and the light had gone out in her expressive blue eyes. Chloe sighed and trailed her thumbs over the protruding veins just below Nan’s wrists. Ben wouldn’t be gone long, she knew. He would take an obligatory drive up to the log deck, scan the hillside, and then come back to tell his mother that he’d seen nothing.

There was, after all, nothing up there to see. It had all been a product of Nan’s confused mind.

“Chloe?” Nan managed to focus on Chloe’s face. Speaking slowly, as if her tongue had gone thick, she said, “Will you do something for me?”

“Of course,” Chloe replied. “Just name it.”

“Call the sheriff’s department for me. Please? Ben doesn’t believe my story, but I swear to you, I’m not lying. We have to report this.”

After thinking over Nan’s request, Chloe nodded and stood. “Sure. I can do that for you.” Everyone at the department knew of Nan’s illness and wouldn’t take the call seriously. “I’ll even speak directly to the sheriff. How’s that?”

Nan closed her eyes and smiled shakily. “Thank you, Chloe. I’ll rest easier, knowing it’s been reported.”

Stepping over to the desk, Chloe dialed the number, waited for an answer, and then asked to be put through to Sheriff Lang. He listened quietly to what Chloe said. Then he replied, “Having a bad day, is she?”