Love Inspired Suspense June 2014 Bundle 1 of 2: Undercover Marriage\Collateral Damage\Forgotten Past (24 page)

“Let's get to it.”

As they stepped onto the bridge, he glanced over the side. “Mom told me the school always had a bonfire the first night of football. That's when they had freshman initiation. Some of the guys got pretty mean and threw the freshmen off this bridge into the creek until one guy broke his ankle.”

“Shelby was disappointed that they stopped the tradition before we reached ninth grade.”

Their footsteps echoed on the old wooden pavement. “Of course she was. She couldn't exist without some kind of excitement taking place around her all the time.”

Sarah glanced at him. “True, but in your eyes, Shelby could do no wrong.”

Her words surprised him. “You really think that?”

“Who could blame you? Half the class felt the same way.”

“I wasn't the proper half of the class.”

She shrugged and glanced toward the water. “I remember exploring this all the way downstream until it emptied into Shoal Creek.”

“In that inflatable raft we bought at the garage sale,” Nick said. “Shelby wasn't the only one who enjoyed some excitement.”

“I didn't enjoy the trouble it got us into.” Sarah paused for a moment to catch her breath.

He stopped and turned back to her. “Well, we were only ten. What parent would have allowed a child to float two miles along this creek?”

“I can identify with our parents a lot better now.” Sarah glanced up at Nick. “Still, it was fun.”

He studied the tense, reflective, well-memorized curves of her face. Fun was only one description he would use to describe their friendship. She'd been his best friend. How drastically life had changed when her family moved away.

“Think you can make it up the hillside?” he teased. “You sound pretty winded already.”

She dabbed at the perspiration running down her neck. “You try running after kindergarteners all day and see if you don't develop some stamina.”

They scrambled from the bridge and rushed into the grassy, unused road on the other side.

“Maybe Emma's love of excitement comes naturally,” Nick said.

“Of course it does.”

“You and I both loved a good romp along the creek or exploration of the cave.”

She stepped in front of Nick into the deepening grass. It was warm enough for snakes to be out, but she showed no fear. She used to be terrified of the littlest of harmless garter snakes.

“Um, Sarah, I should take point. Dad mentioned seeing copperheads in the area.”

That gave her pause, and when she slowed, he moved ahead. It astounded him that even in the midst of their worry about Emma, he was lost in memories of the past with Sarah, and aware of the woman she had become.

“Emma!” Sarah called up the hillside.

Still no answer.

“Alec mentioned how much Emma resembled my mom's picture at school,” he said over his shoulder.

Sarah didn't reply. He glanced over his shoulder and saw her staring into the distance, nibbling on her lower lip.

“He compared Mom to Emma.”

“Of course he did. He'd already heard about the red VW parked at Edward's house. Anyone would jump to the conclusion that she was family. A cousin, maybe.”

Something about the tone in her voice disturbed him. It wasn't quite right, and he hated the suspicion he felt growing.

“Are you going to climb the hill, or are you just plain tuckered out?” she asked.

Nick scrambled off the grassy road and onto one of the rock paths they once used to climb the hillside. “Remember the weeks just before you and your family moved away?”

“It was the first time I really felt as if I fit into my all-black clothing. I went into mourning.”

“Then of course you recall the huge uproar about the party Nora Thompson had in their big old barn just a week before your family moved away.”

“You do realize Shelby was the one who talked Nora into throwing that party. Somebody spiked the soda.”

Nick grimaced. “Yeah, with ecstasy.” He turned and looked back at her, pausing for a moment.

“Running out of breath?” she taunted.

“Don't change the subject. No one remembered much about that night. You weren't there.”

“I'd warned Shelby I wouldn't be.”

“So you couldn't know how weird it was, but Nora and her friends noticed things were getting strange, good church kids getting giggly and silly even more than normal. Nora, Carmen and Kirstie even searched some of the kids' purses and coats to see if they could find any signs of illegal drugs. Nora told Dad later that there was no smell of alcohol anywhere, so she and the girls gathered up all the food and sodas, cake, snacks, every single crumb, and packed it away. Then they kept watch over the kids the whole night. The boys slept in the barn, the girls in Nora's huge house. The next day, after the kids went home, Nora took everything she and the girls had packed up and drove it to an independent lab in Springfield. That's where the lab techs found ecstasy.”

“And you were at that party.” Sarah moved as if she would step around him, but he turned and continued up the hill.

“I was there. Shelby was there. Nora, Carmen and Kirstie were good chaperones, but nobody can control a crowd poisoned with ecstasy.”

All he heard behind him as he climbed was Sarah's breathing. “Shelby was sick that night,” she told him at last.

“No, she wasn't. Shelby was with me sometime that night. I don't remember a lot, but I do remember that much.”

Again, nothing but Sarah's labored breathing.

“Sarah, could you just tell me, is Shelby Emma's birth mother?” He kept walking, didn't turn to look down at her.

“I know what you're thinking, but I can promise you Shelby isn't Emma's birth mother, Nick. I should know that better than anybody. I—”

A scream reached them from the top of the hill. It was Emma.

SEVEN

N
ick hurtled up the hill barely ahead of Sarah. If she could have flown she'd have winged her way past him to the place where that one brief cry had originated. Instead, she allowed Nick to help her when she stumbled over boulders, and lift her over a huge trunk of a fallen tree.

“Emma!” Nick shouted.

There was no reply.

Terror ripped through Sarah's chest like a thousand serrated knives, and for a moment she thought the day might go black on her. But she kept running, tripping through deep grass, letting Nick take her hand and pull her forward.

Why had Emma insisted on coming here? How awful to imagine her fallen, broken body somewhere above them.

Sarah stumbled against another boulder, and Nick caught her and shoved her upward ahead of him along the rocky path they had once used to make their way to the cave. She remembered this terrain, though much of it had changed. She had no doubt the scream had come from the conference center—she'd been there often enough with Nick.

Why had Alec insisted on taking the shorter way? If they'd taken it instead, they'd have reached that spot by now. But that meant he should be there, shouldn't he? Unless he'd stopped to talk to Gerard.

Either Sarah had stayed in better shape than she'd thought, or her terror for her daughter was giving her superhuman strength. Multiple visions flew through her mind—horrible thoughts of Emma injured, Emma's body mangled. It gave her increased energy and speed until she slid again on a steep part of the trail.

Nick caught her and helped her up the path. “Keep going, we'll get there.”

They barely had breath to talk, and Sarah fought the images of Emma in her mind by replaying her answer to Nick's question. How long had he wondered? All this time?

As she scrabbled up toward the top of the hill, she realized the truth must come out about Emma's heritage. It should have long ago. The whole truth. Shelby was not Emma's birth mother, but if Nick was her father he needed to know; it was becoming more and more obvious that he was. First, they had to get to Emma.

Sarah only prayed Alec had also heard the cry and would make his way to them. “Nick, can you get a signal on your phone?”

He pulled it out. “No.”

More nightmare images of Emma's broken body continued to urge Sarah upward, and she forced them from her mind.

What a joke it must have been to some wicked soul to watch a bunch of kids who'd tried to remain pure, lose control and allow their hormones to hold sway. Was someone up at the conference center getting the same kind of sick fun making Emma scream? Hurting her?

Sarah gained the top of the cliff. Nick caught up with her, took her hand and together they raced the final distance along the hilltop to the secluded lodge where their parents had spent so many good times together with a strong fellowship of others in their ministerial alliance.

“Emma!” Sarah cried. When they entered a copse of oaks, the sight and scent of charred wood nearly took her to her knees. She imagined the power of the explosion that had taken her parents. It was this very place that they had died. She stumbled onto the steps of the burned-out shell and covered her face. “Oh, no.”

Nick caught her and held her up. “What did you see? Did you hear something?” He raised his head. “Emma!”

Sarah shook her head and straightened. “No. They just died here, is all.” She scrambled to her feet and rushed onto the slab porch.

The front door of the log lodge stood half open, and it was all that remained upright. Only spikes of logs reached upward, charred furniture, a floor littered with debris that hadn't yet been cleaned up. Of course, it didn't matter that yellow crime-scene tape surrounded the lodge; that wouldn't have stopped Emma from crossing it.

“Emma!” Sarah called.

“Honey, are you here?” Nick shouted.

The rhythmic sound of running steps reached them, and Alec appeared through the wreckage. He came clambering up onto the porch and into the destroyed lodge. “I was looking for Gerard and heard a scream.”

“Emma.” Sarah started down the hallway that led to the sleeping quarters.

Nick stopped her. “You might fall through.”

“What if that happened to Emma?” She pulled free and continued. “Honey? Emma? Are you here? It's Sarah. Please answer me, sweetie. You're scaring us.”

“Sarah, look,” Alec said, pointing to the floor. “We're tracking fresh mud.”

Nick caught Sarah's arm. “There aren't any other tracks but ours.”

“She hasn't been here?” Sarah asked.

They spread out and searched the building, stepping carefully over gaping holes in the floor, until Sarah reached the back stoop, where fresh, muddy footprints led down some concrete steps. She recognized the tread of Emma's favorite running shoes. Beside the steps was an opening to a storm cellar. The wooden door had burned with the rest of the house. Something red fluttered in a slight breeze.

“Nick!” She scrambled through the remnants of a screen door and down the steps to the cellar, where Emma lay face down, head down, as if she'd taken a headlong tumble.

“Oh, please God, please let her—”

A soft moan interrupted her panicked prayer as she knelt at Emma's head, where her dark hair tumbled into her face. “Honey? Can you hear me?” She reached out to brush the hair back.

“Don't touch her.” Nick's shadow blocked the light as he joined Sarah beside their daughter. “Don't move her, and don't let her move.” He knelt two steps below Emma's head.

She moaned again, and this time her voice sounded stronger.

“Emma, we're here.” His voice was deep and reassuring. “I need you to hold still if you can hear me. If you can, say yes.”

Another soft moan, and then a whispered “Yes.”

Sarah lowered her head to keep from passing out. Thank You, God. Thank You, thank You.

“Good,” Nick said. “That's good. Be sure not to move until I assess for injuries. Can you tell me what happened?”

“No,” she squeaked.

“Did someone hit you?”

“Don't know. How long was I out?”

“Not long, honey,” Sarah said.

Alec hovered above them. “I'll call for an ambulance.”

Nick stood up. “Let me check her out first. If we can move her, we'll get her to the hospital more quickly than an ambulance could, but call the hospital in Monett and let them know we're bringing a patient in for a CT, maybe more. While you're at it, get a car up here. Use Gerard's. It'll take less time if we can move her ourselves and cell reception is spotty up here.”

Alec nodded and left.

Emma groaned and tried to raise her head.

“No!” Nick grabbed her and eased her gently back into the same position. “You can't move yet. I have to make sure you won't injure yourself with movement.”

“Hurry. These steps are digging in.”

“I know. I'm sorry. Would you wiggle your toes for me? Not your legs, just your toes.”

Sarah held her breath and waited while her daughter moved her feet, wiggled her fingers, and even giggled a little when Nick squeezed each leg and arm, testing for any painful areas. He moved quickly, with assurance. He knew what he was doing, and as he continued his exam, Sarah felt herself falling in love with him all over again. This was the man she'd known he'd become one day.

This was Emma's father. A pit viper of guilt shot its poison through her. She pushed it away. Time for that—for reminding herself what happiness she and her parents withheld from Edward and Aunt Peg and Nick for sixteen years—when she knew for sure Emma would be okay.

“Do you feel sick to your stomach?” Nick asked Emma.

“No. Can I get up now?” Her voice was growing stronger every moment.

“Soon, honey.” He asked the usual questions to test for mental alertness, and she answered her full name, birthday, year, what day it was.

“I got mad at Sarah and left and I'm sorry, and I went to talk to Carmen, and then got hungry and went to get a smoothie and—ouch!”

Nick's hands stilled at the back of her head where he had been searching for wounds, then he looked at Sarah and nodded to a spot of blood in Emma's hair. “Honey, do you remember how you fell?”

“I...uh...no.” She moved both arms and kicked her legs. “But I'm moving, see? The only thing that hurts is my head and the places where these stupid steps are slashing into my skin like shark teeth.”

“Do you remember hitting your head on something? Maybe you fell backward and hit your head on the step, then somehow rolled forward?” He gently moved each leg, then each arm, palpated her neck and looked up at Sarah.

“I guess so. I don't remember. Please, can I get up now?”

He nodded to Sarah and together they rolled Emma over and right side up until she was able to sit on a step.

“Are you dizzy?” Nick asked.

Emma grimaced at Sarah. “If I say yes, Sarah will feel sorry for me and then she won't yell at me.”

Sarah took that stab without a word.

“Emma Russell, this is not something to joke about.” Nick's voice was suddenly firm and filled with authority—the kind of authority Sarah wished she had with her daughter. “Are you dizzy?”

“A little, yeah.”

“What do you last remember before you woke up?” he asked.

She scrunched her lips together. “That cashier at the diner told me where this place was, then she said I shouldn't come up here because there was still crime-scene tape around it. But nobody's doing anything about the crime, so I figured why shouldn't I, right?”

“Wrong,” Nick said. “What else? Which way did you come up here?”

“I took the new bridge and passed the rehab center. Wow. Cool place. I didn't think it'd be so big. I saw the place that exploded.”

“Then what?” Nick asked.

Emma looked up at him, her eyes so like her father's that Sarah found herself holding her breath. “Well, first I walked around this place and kind of...you know...cried a little. Because, you know, this is where they died.”

“I feel the same way, honey,” Sarah said.

Emma nodded, then winced and reached up toward the back of her head. Nick grabbed her hand and lowered it.

“Anyway, I saw fresh footprints in the mud at the side of the building, and I thought, hey, if someone was here, maybe they could tell me something. So I started calling out.” She frowned. “I think. After that, I don't remember. I don't know how I fell or hit my head.”

An SUV with the logo Vance Renewal on the door pulled up to the entrance and a giant, blond, broad-shouldered man stepped out wearing well-worn jeans, boots and a camo T-shirt.

“I got a cryptic message from our favorite city father that you were in need of my services.” The man, obviously Gerard Vance, the ex-cop, had a deep voice with a definite Texas drawl. “He was running and talking on his cell at the same time.” His attention went to Sarah and Emma.

Nick stepped forward and shook his hand. “Glad you came, Gerard. We're in some trouble. Can you give us a ride to the hospital?”

“Sure thing.” Gerard released Nick's hand, patted him on the shoulder and walked toward Emma and Sarah as Nick explained the situation. Together, the two men gently eased Emma to her feet, waited for her response, then when she remained steady, they helped her into the front passenger seat of the car.

Nick opened the backseat door for Sarah, closed it, got in the other side, and Gerard eased smoothly down the road on the way to the hospital.

Sarah was so glad she hadn't eaten anything since early morning because she knew she'd have lost it in the ex-cop's nice, clean SUV.

* * *

To Nick's relief, the E.R. waiting room wasn't filled to capacity, and a tech took Emma straight back via wheelchair, with Emma protesting all the way that she could walk, she wasn't an invalid and she was sure the techs had more important things to do than coddle her. Then she started apologizing for all the trouble she caused. When the tears began, Sarah was there, talking softly. But she was obviously alarmed by her sister's behavior.

Nick waited until Gerard returned from parking his SUV. “Hey, if you want to take off, Dad told me he's on his way here. I know you're busy today.”

“You kidding? You realize, don't you, that half of Jolly Mill will be here after word spreads through town like wildfire? I've been around long enough to have learned that much. This could be a break in our case.”

“Did you know Chaz was found drowned this morning in Spring River?”

Gerard's expression darkened. “Tragic. Believe it or not, Alec relented enough to tell me that much before running downhill, probably toward his car. I think we've got him on board completely now. We should expect to see him pulling up outside any time, along with several others. Most folks still think of the Russells as part of the town.”

“They'll fill the room.” Nick couldn't stop a smile, despite the tense situation. His old, close-knit hometown was appealing to him more all the time. Except, of course, for the killer that might reside there.

“The outpatient waiting room will be empty today, this being Saturday.” Gerard's deep voice and Texas twang drew the attention of some of the people in the waiting room and even an admiring glance from the secretary behind the glass partition.

“Want to direct traffic there?” Nick asked.

“I'll take care of that. I'm sure the E.R. staff will appreciate it. I've been here a few times, so the staff knows me. I'll call the clinic and let Carmen know so she won't be blindsided. I need to talk to Megan, anyway.”

“I'd appreciate it.” Nick glanced toward the doors through which Emma and Sarah had passed.

“I know you want to join them,” Gerard said.

“More than anything. She doesn't need to face this alone, but do you really think a killer would have the guts to come through those doors with half the population of Jolly Mill hovering nearby?”