LEAP OF FAITH (22 page)

Jack nodded to Gage. “I think we understand each other.”

Anne rose from her chair to hug Abby and then Jack, beaming at him as she ushered them to the table. “Come and have breakfast with the rest of the family.”

Before they could sit down, Maggie scurried over to them with a pancake turner in her hand. “You be good to my baby, Jack Burton,” she said, waving the utensil in front of his face. “If you don’t, you’ll have me to answer to!”

Jack laughed and planted a big kiss on Maggie’s cheek, which totally diffused her tirade. She patted his arm before shuffling back to the stove. When Sam and Anne returned to their seats, he pulled a chair out for Abby and then seated himself next to her. After a round of congratulations, everyone dug into their meal, chatting with him as if he was already part of the family. Abby was positively glowing with happiness, and Jack couldn’t have been more pleased.

**

Jenna let them borrow her BMW and caught a ride with their parents to the charity ball, which was being held at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Jack tossed the keys to the attendant before helping Abby out.

“You look stunning,” he said as he wrapped an arm around Abby’s slender waist and escorted her into the hotel.

“You look rather dashing yourself.” Abby pointed the way to the Crystal Ballroom. “This is where Mom and Dad fell in love,” she told him. “Dad asked her to a dinner party in the Crystal Ballroom and they fell madly in love with each other. Mom said it was the date that never ended. Isn’t that the most romantic thing you’ve ever heard?”

“It beats getting an axe tossed at your head,” he teased.

Abby groaned. “You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?”

“Not a chance, sweetheart.”

She spotted her parents immediately and waved to them. “I forgot to tell you how the ball starts,” she said as they made their way through the crowd.   

“With music and dancing, I presume.”

“Smart aleck,” she whispered. “There’s an auction at the beginning. Ten women go up on the stage and the auctioneer takes bids for the first dance. Jenna and I always participate.”

Jack stopped walking. “You’re not dancing with anyone but me.”

“But I have to do it, Jack! It’s tradition. And besides, it’s for a good cause. Even Mom goes up there. Of course, Dad is always the highest bidder. As a matter of fact, his bid always brings in the most money. I don’t think he’s ever bid less than twenty-five thousand for the first dance with Mom.”

He let out a low whistle. “Pretty steep for one dance.”

Abby looked at her parents with a soft smile. “Daddy says he would give just about anything to dance with the most beautiful woman in the room. Look at them, Jack. Do you think we’ll still be that much in love thirty years from now?”

“You can bet on it, sweetheart. So, tell me how this bidding works.”

She explained it to him in between interruptions from the other guests who stopped to say hello. Abby proudly introduced Jack as her fiancé and received enthusiastic congratulations as they slowly made their way across the room, where her mother greeted them both with a hug.

“You look beautiful,” Anne told her daughter. “Are you ready to go on stage?” 

“Jack isn’t happy with giving up the first dance, but he knows it’s for a good cause.”

“Who says I’m giving up the first dance?” Jack asked. “If I have to sell my cabin and pitch a tent in the woods, I’m going to make sure you bring in the highest bid.”

Abby laughed. “Well…the second highest anyway,” she said, glancing at her dad.

Jack remained beside Sam, whose eyes never left his wife as she walked away with his daughter. “She still takes my breath away,” Sam said as the music started, signaling the beginning of the auction. “And now she’s about to take away a good chunk of my money.”

“I have a feeling I’m about to lose a good portion of my portfolio too.”

Sam nodded thoughtfully. “Worth every penny, wouldn’t you say?”

“Every penny,” Jack repeated.

He stood beside Abby’s father as the auctioneer explained how the auction worked and then asked the first pretty woman to step forward. The bidding started at a thousand dollars and bounced around the room until the highest bid stopped at five thousand. The guests applauded excitedly as the auction continued and several more women received similarly generous bids. Jenna brought in sixteen thousand dollars, the highest bid of the evening until Anne Travis stepped up to the front of the stage.

The auctioneer didn’t even consider starting the bidding at less than ten thousand for the beautiful Mrs. Travis. She looked radiant each time Sam outbid someone. Jack thought it was amazing that she could look so completely in love with her husband after all their years together and wanted so desperately to see that look in Abby’s eyes for the rest of his life. 

When the bidding reached twenty-five thousand and the auctioneer lifted his gavel to declare Sam the top bidder, Jack shocked them all by tipping his head. The room buzzed with chatter when the auctioneer accepted his bid of thirty-thousand.

Sam grinned at Jack. “Think you’re going to take my woman?”

“Just making it interesting,” he responded.

Sam nodded to the auctioneer and the bid hit thirty-five thousand. Jack’s eyes met Sam’s as he tipped his head once more.

Sam shook his head with a chuckle. “While I appreciate you getting into the spirit of the auction, Mrs. Travis doesn’t dance with anyone except me.” Sam turned his attention to his wife, who was beginning to look a little concerned. “Fifty thousand for the first dance with Mrs. Travis,” he announced. The room exploded in applause as the auctioneer swung the gavel and declared Sam Travis the winning bidder.

There was only one other woman left besides Abby. The young woman’s nervous smile morphed into an elated one when the bid stopped at seven thousand. The amount of money being raised by Anne Travis was impressive and he told her so when she and Sam came to stand beside him. Then Abby took her place on stage, her exquisite beauty blinding Jack to everyone and everything except the primitive need to proclaim that she belonged to him. 

The bidding started at five thousand, which quickly increased to ten thousand, then eleven.  Jack watched and waited. Once or twice Anne glanced at him and then at her husband, no doubt wondering why Jack wasn’t bidding and why her husband wasn’t doing anything about it. He didn’t need to look at Sam to know the man understood exactly what Jack was doing. Sam may have won the bid to dance with his wife, but Jack wasn’t about to let him be the highest bidder of the night as well.

When the bidding hit twenty-one thousand and looked like as if would end there, Jack walked up on the stage and whispered something to the auctioneer. Then he joined Abby, smiling at her puzzled expression. The room went silent. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Jack Burton has entered a bid for his future bride of sixty thousand dollars.”

Abby didn’t hear the thunderous roar of the crowd. There was only Jack. “It’s too much,” she whispered hoarsely.

He led her to the dance floor and held her close as the music began to play. “Not for you, Abby. I would have paid just about anything to dance with the most beautiful woman in the room.”

Abby stared out the window of the jeep. They’d had a great visit but it would be good to get home where she and Jack could return to their routine. He was well ahead of schedule on his novel but she had fallen behind. Julia was expecting a full manuscript in four months and Abby didn’t want to disappoint her. Jack’s manuscript was due in two months, but if everything went as well as it had been, he would probably wrap it up in a few weeks. 

It had been a long weekend and rather than get home and have to make lunch, they decided to stop at Lou Lou’s. A decided hush fell over the room the moment they walked in, but she assumed it was because word had gotten around they were getting married and thought nothing more of it until Sherri came to take their order. It was obvious that she was uneasy about something, especially after the mumbled greeting she gave them. Abby shot a questioning glance at Jack, who didn’t seem to have a problem asking his friend outright about her curious behavior.

Jack looked around at all the solemn faces and averted eyes. “What’s going on around here, Sherri?”

Sherri kept her voice low, her eyes darting around the room. “They found the Sawyer girl, Jack.”

“Was she…”

Sherri shook her head. “No, they found her alive. She got away somehow, but she’s in pretty bad shape. They say she was sexually assaulted and cut up something awful.”

“But she’s going to live?”

“Yeah, she’ll live, though I don’t know what kind of mental state she’ll be in.”

Jack’s brows furrowed. “I don’t get it. If they found her and she’s alive, why is everyone acting like the world is about to end?”

“Because she managed to say a few words before they took her to the hospital,” Sherri replied, tears pooling in her eyes. “She hasn’t spoken since.”

A trickle of fear made Abby reluctant to ask, “What did she say?”

Sherri glanced from one to the other. “
Mister Jack
. That’s all she said,
Mister Jack.
They tried to get more out of her but she just…drifted off into her own little world. Semi-catatonic is what the Sheriff called it.”

Abby’s heart plummeted. “But she couldn’t have meant Jack,” she protested. “It doesn’t make sense that she would preface his first name with mister. Surely there are other men in this area with a last name like Jackson, or even similar first names…”

Sherri brushed away a new flood of tears. “None that live on your side of the mountain.”

“You mean they found her near our cabins?” Abby managed to croak. Her fear for Jack was like a vice around her chest and she could only imagine how he must feel. A quick look in his direction was all she could bear without bursting into tears. Jack sat stone faced, the color slowly draining from his cheeks while Sherri continued.

“Mason…the Sheriff said if you dropped by, I was to let you know he wanted to talk to you. Jack, I’m so sorry.  I know you wouldn’t hurt a fly. It’s just that…well, with Anya saying your name and all, people around here think…”

“It’s okay, Sherri,” he said woodenly. “When Anya comes around, she’ll clear it all up.

“I’m afraid that’s not all.” She leaned over so no one else could hear. “They searched the area around your cabin and found a shovel propped against a tree just a few feet into the woods. They’ve taken it for prints. The Sheriff says there was fresh dirt on the shovel, not more than a few days old.”

“Well, of course they’ll find my prints on it,” he snapped, “it’s my shovel.”

Abby blinked, unable to assimilate any of it. “Why did you have a shovel in the woods?”

Something suspiciously like guilt flickered behind eyes. “I…I can’t explain it right now, Abby. When we’re alone…”

“You’d better go see the Sheriff before you do anything else,” Sherri interrupted. “He was pretty upset when he found out both of you were gone. I think he might have put out a warrant on you, Jack.”

“We’ll go now. Thanks, Sherri,” he said, offering a thin smile. “Chin up; I’ll be cleared just like the last time.”

“If there’s anything I can do, you let me know.”

His movements were stiff as he rose from the chair and took Abby’s hand. The way people were looking at them made her feel as if they were walking death row on their way to the electric chair and she didn’t breathe easy until they were back inside the jeep. She wanted to say something, anything, to reassure him that somehow they would figure out why this was happening to him again, but she couldn’t seem to find the words. Abby finally gave up and returned to the questions about the shovel.

“Why was it there? What were you using it for?”

“You’ve got to do something for me, honey,” Jack said as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the police station. 

Conscious of the fact that he had once again avoided the subject of the shovel but sensing this was far more important, Abby quickly replied, "Of course, you know I would do anything for you." 

Jack nodded grimly. “If there was any way to keep you out of this I would, but I can’t see any way around it. And as bad as it seems right now, it will get even worse if you don’t help me out.”

“You’re really starting to scare me, Jack.”

He pulled into the police station and parked the jeep but made no move to get out. When he turned to face her, Abby could see the fear hovering in his eyes. And that, more than anything, terrified her. 

Drawing in a stilted breath, Jack reached out and took her hand. “I know I have no right to do this, Abby, but I’m asking you to take the biggest leap of faith you’ll probably ever make in your life.”

“Jack…”  

“You need to listen to me, honey. I may not have much time.” He cast a furtive glance at the police station and then held her eyes with his. “About a month before Digger died, he brought something home. He’d been out in the woods most of the morning so I have no idea where he found it. I went out with him every day after that, hoping he would lead me to the place he’d gotten it from, but he never did.” 

His eyes shifted to the station house again. “After he died, I started taking long walks in the woods. I took the shovel with me in case…in case I found anything. I usually dug in places where it looked as though fresh dirt had been turned, but the woods are littered with holes and piles of dirt because of all the small animals so it didn’t take long to figure out I was looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.”

“What was it? What did Digger bring home?”

“It was a human hand. Well, the skeletal remains of a hand anyway.”

“Oh, God, Jack,” she cried, “why didn’t you tell someone? Why didn’t you bring it to the Sheriff?”

“Because he had already arrested me once. Digger had to have found it in the woods around the cabin because he never wandered more than a quarter mile out. I thought if I could find the rest of her…” Jack’s voice trailed off. Visibly shaken, it took him a few minutes to pull himself together. 

“I thought I could solve the mystery. If I could find the body, there had to be some small piece of evidence that would lead them to the real killer. But with just the skeleton of the hand…”   

“They might use it as evidence against you,” Abby finished for him.

He nodded solemnly. “You have to move the bones, get them away from the cabin.”

“Oh, Jack, you didn’t keep it close enough they might find it!”

Again, he nodded, his handsome face lined with anxiety. “At the end of the path to your cabin you’ll find a boulder about the size of my hand. I buried it beneath the stone, probably a foot down.”

“What should I do with it?”

“You’ll do it?”

“Of course I will.  But what will I do with it?”

“I don’t know,” he said, sounding as helpless as Abby felt. “I shouldn’t even be asking you to do it. If you get caught…”

“I’ll be careful.” Abby followed his gaze to the police station. “You think they’re going to arrest you as soon as you go inside, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll go in with you,” she said firmly. “If they do arrest you, I’ll call Nick and ask him to represent you. Then I’ll…well, I’m not sure what I’ll do, but I’ll think of something.”

“You believe me, don’t you?”

It hurt to see how badly it was tearing him up. There wasn’t much Abby could do at the moment to allay his fears about being accused of kidnapping and possibly murder, but she
could
dispel the notion that she wouldn’t stand by him. 

“I wouldn’t be sitting here if I didn’t believe you,” she said, and meant it.     

Jack let out a heavy sigh. “I guess we’d better go in.” 

He got out of the jeep and came around to open Abby’s door, but she was already scrambling out the door before he cleared the bumper. Launching her trembling body into his arms, Abby threw her arms around his neck with a harsh sob.

“Oh, Jack! I’m so scared for you.”

“I’m scared for me too, honey.”

“Kiss me before we go in. Tell me you love me and this is all just a horrible nightmare.”

“I wish I could. It’s like one of my novels,” he said, looking utterly defeated, “except I don’t think I’m going to be able to write my way out of this one.”

“Don’t talk like that!”

“My beautiful Abby, what did I ever do to deserve you?”

"I’ll get you out of there, I promise,” she said fiercely. “You have the whole Travis family behind you now and none of us will rest until you’re exonerated for good. They’ll never be able to do this to you again.”

“My little wildcat,” he chuckled. “I believe you will do it. I love you, Abby. No matter what happens, don’t ever forget that.” 

Jack crushed her to his chest, the desperation in his kiss bringing tears to her eyes. Gradually, the tight grasp he had on her was loosened as tenderness replaced the frantic meshing of mouths. He held her for a moment longer before taking her hand and starting up the steps that led to the police station.

***

Abby dropped her keys on the kitchen counter, feeling more helpless and despondent than she had ever been in her life. She could still see the expression on Jack’s face when the Sheriff told him there was an eye witness that swore he’d been seen with Anya Sawyer the day she disappeared. For a moment, Jack went deathly pale and then his cheeks flushed with color.

“Of course, I
saw
her,” Jack had said with undisguised anger. “I see her every time I pick up my mail at the post office, but I sure as hell wasn’t
with
her.”

“Trust me, Jack, I won’t rest until I get to the bottom of this,” Sheriff Crane promised.

The Sheriff had been kind, apologizing to Jack over and over for having to arrest him. It gave her some semblance of hope. Sheriff Mason Crane didn’t believe Jack was responsible for what happened to the Sawyer girl and seemed more intent on proving Jack’s innocence than his guilt. 

Aimlessly wandering from room to room, Abby forced herself to focus on a plan of action. She needed to call Nick; if there was any way to get Jack out on bail, her brother would figure it out. At best, Jack would be in jail for two days because court in Parkersville was only held on Wednesdays. At worst, they would deny bail and she would have to leave it in Nick’s capable hands. The first thing she needed to do, however, was dig up that poor woman’s bones and hide them somewhere.

Waiting until dark wasn’t an option; what a disaster it would be if the Sheriff or one of his deputies showed up and she was outside with a flashlight, leading them right to the burial spot! Not to mention it was just plain creepy to contemplate digging up the skeletal remains alone in the dark. Abby gnawed on her lip as she stepped outside.  There was still a good two or three hours of daylight left. Plenty of time to accomplish what she needed to do.   

She grabbed the little hand shovel Jack used to clean the charcoals from the grill, along with the metal pail he dumped the ashes in, and walked across the yard to the path. Just as he’d said, there was a boulder the size of his hand. Abby dropped to her knees and tossed the rock aside, ignoring the nauseating roll of her stomach as she began to dig. With each scoop of fresh dirt that was placed inside the pail, she became increasingly aware that she was getting closer to uncovering the unfortunate woman’s bones. She tried to convince herself that she was going slowly to prevent damaging them but, in truth, Abby was terrified of touching them and would have raced back to her cabin without them if the thought of Jack spending the rest of his life in prison hadn’t spurred her on.  

Just as Jack had indicated, she found them about a foot down. Thankfully, he’d placed them in a paper bag, which she carefully extracted and set aside before dumping the bucket of dirt into the hole and stomping it down. Abby put the stone back in place, eyeing it for a moment. Satisfied it didn’t look as if she had just been digging up bones, she collected everything and traipsed back to the cabin and deposited the pail and shovel on the deck, and then stood with the bag in her hand wondering what in the world to do with it. She gazed out at the forest. Somewhere out there, the bodies of at least seventeen women were buried. 

Abby shivered. The evidence against Jack was circumstantial, but she was well aware that people had been convicted and sentenced to death on far less. The thought of it happening to the man she loved more than life itself was almost more than she could bear.
Shake it off
, Abby told herself firmly. She couldn’t afford to cave into her emotions, not when there was so much she needed to do. Like find a safe hiding place for the bones. Where the idea came from, she had no clue, but it suddenly occurred to her to place the bag inside the lint hose of the clothes dryer.