Authors: Marion Faith Carol J.; Laird Lenora; Post Worth
Tags: #Fluffer Nutter, #dpgroup.org
“Matt, he's threatened my parents!”
Matt set his camera on the sofa and without analyzing his motives pulled Lorie into his arms.
“We'll put them in protective custody.”
“Butâ”
“It's all right.” His arms tightened around her.
Lorie buried her face in his shoulder, her arms wrapping around him, holding on as if the contact would keep her world from falling apart.
“I'll call the department, have them send somebody out there at once. What's their address?”
Lorie pulled back and looked at him. “What if my attacker bugged the house? What if I tell you the address, and he goes to kill my parents?”
“All right. Let's lock up here. We'll call from the car.”
“Thanks for not thinking I'm paranoid.” She tried to smile and failed.
“If I'd had a week like yours, I'd be paranoid, myself.”
* * *
Matt helped Lorie carry the cats to the Nissan and secure them in the backseat. Once in the car, Matt drove away before calling the department. Lorie hoped they weren't being followed by someone with a field microphone.
Girl, you've watched too many espionage films. Either they have one, or they don't. There's nothing you can do about it but pray.
Why hadn't she thought of that sooner?
Lord, things are getting out of hand. Please protect Mom and Dad. Protect Matt. Protect me, too. And please stop this person before things get any worse.
As they drove toward West Bluff, Lorie remembered how safe she'd felt in Matt's arms. Of course, he hadn't meant anything by it. He had just been comforting her, keeping her from having hysterics. That was all it was, wasn't it? It had to be. She hadn't known him long enough for it to be anything more.
Maybe, when this was all over, if she could let go of her suspicion of law enforcement...
Lorie sniffed. No sense thinking about the future. Things were so iffy, she wasn't sure she'd live to see tomorrow. She shoved the thoughts ruthlessly behind a shelf in her brain.
“City police have sent an officer.”
Matt's voice recalled Lorie to the present.
“They won't scare them, will they?”
“Their dispatch told me they were sending Officer Rodriguez. He's good. He'll handle it gently.”
“Thanks. I want to see them so much, but I'm scared to get near them for fear someone will harm them. I'm even scared to call them, afraid I'll give them a heart attack or something.”
“Be brave.” After a moment, Matt chuckled.
Lorie glanced at him sideways. “What was that for?”
“I'm laughing at me, telling you to be brave. You're one of the bravest people I know.”
“Me, brave? I don't think so.” If she felt any less courageous, she'd find a hole and pull it in after her.
“Bravery is just doing what's right in the face of overwhelming circumstances.”
“I hadn't thought of it that way.” Lorie considered the concept for a moment, but then felt her thoughts drift toward other concerns.
“I wish we could have finished cleaning, but the phone call messed that up. Kind of like the caller messed up the house in the first place.”
“I'll call out the family troops. We'll come out in a bunch and go through it together.”
“I hate for your family to see the place looking like such a disaster area.”
“This was
not
your fault.” Matt's words were like a hug.
“I know that with my head, but emotionally is another story. Get enough pictures?”
“I think so. We should be good to go in terms of laying out charges as soon as we round up your assailant.”
Lord, please let that be soon!
TWELVE
T
his case kept getting worse and worse. Every time Matt felt like he was making progress, something came along and muddied the water again. Now someone was threatening not just Lorie but also her family. And he had to find out who before it was everlastingly too late.
When they drove up in front of the West Bluff Police Department, Lorie let out a little squeal.
“Their car is here. They're safe.”
“I told you WBPD would look after them.”
Matt found a space on the opposite side of the lot from the Narramores' car, but still well within sight of the surveillance cameras. Matt rolled down all the windows so the cats would be safe.
They walked into the updated 1870s stone police station together and stopped at the front desk. Matt flashed his badge. “Deputy MacGregor. Where can I find the Narramores?”
“They're with Lieutenant Buckingham. Second office to the right.”
“Thanks.”
Matt took Lorie's arm in an old-fashioned gesture of protectiveness and tried to ignore the sense of warmth, of rightness it gave him. At the second door, he released her and tapped twice on the glass.
“Come in.”
Matt walked in, Lorie right behind him.
Two seconds later, the emotional reunion made Matt feel superfluous. Amid cries of “Mom!” “Dad!” “Lorie!” “Baby, are you okay?” and hugs, it was a full two minutes before everyone sat down in the lieutenant's office.
Once all the greetings had been exchanged and Lorie introduced to Lieutenant Buckingham, the police officer got down to business.
“What exactly did the man say to you, Ms. Narramore?”
Lorie recounted everything she could recall, and where shock had robbed her of memory, Matt filled in the gaps. Her parents were understandably upset. Matt noticed they seemed to be more afraid for her than for themselves.
“What happens now?” Ben Narramore asked the lieutenant, his glance also including Matt.
“The threat against you and your wife moved the case into our jurisdiction.” Lieutenant Buckingham looked over at Matt. “From the sound of things, we could bring in the FBI if we have to. However, I'm always reluctant to call in the Bureau unless there's no other option.”
Matt agreed. “So basically, we need to have a powwow with the sheriff and the West Bluff Chief of Police.”
“That's my thought.” Lieutenant Buckingham sounded stoic.
“I hate to be the cause of so much trouble.”
The distress on Lorie's face affected Matt more deeply than he'd expected. When her parents each took her by the hand, he had to fight wishing he were a part of that tight-knit little circle. The notion surprised him. He wasn't ready for love, so why did he find Lorie's family so appealing?
“The best thing will be to stash you someplace safe.”
“We can't run off and hide, Lieutenant. We have obligations.”
“Ma'am, you also have a daughter who doesn't want to see you get hurt on her account.”
“Lieutenant Buckingham is right, Margaret.” Ben Narramore reached around Lorie and took his wife's free hand in his own. “The church can get along without us one Sunday, or even more if necessary.”
“But what about your job?”
“I'll take some time off.”
“You're more than welcome to come out to the ranch.” Matt heard the words come out of his mouth before he'd thought about it. It wasn't the best idea. If they were all together, they'd make an easier target.
“I don't want them to find any of us.” Lorie looked at Matt, and the question in her eyes was plain. Could he guarantee their safety?
No. Only God could do that. Surely Lorie knew the only safety was in the Lord. Anything else was icing on the proverbial cake.
“It's a judgment call.” Buckingham must be looking at it from the law enforcement point of view. “Do you think you can provide adequate protection at Rob Roy Ranch, or should we send them someplace under an assumed name? It would be tricky to get the finances for that approved, but I could give it a try.”
Matt thought about it, considering all the wooded areas and open pastureland of the ranch, the tree-covered hills and edges of the mountains. It was excellent hunting country, as the deer they bagged every autumn testified. Would it be just as convenient for hunters with humans as their prey?
“It has a lot of unprotected approaches, but we installed security cameras last year. The main compound is fenced. If Sheriff Sutherland gives me leave to devote my attention to this full-time, and maybe assigns someone else to help out so we have round-the-clock surveillance...”
“If the sheriff doesn't object, we can make sure one of our SWAT-trained officers is available to you, in plain clothes,” the lieutenant offered. “I won't send uniforms or patrol cars out of the city. Might as well wave a banner over the ranch if we did that.”
Matt nodded. “All right. We'll manage. And in the meantime, we'll all do what we can to track thatâum, perpetrator, down and put him away for a long time.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“What about clothes?” Mrs. Narramore sounded unhappy.
“Sorry, Mom, I guess we'll have to go shopping.”
Margaret rolled her eyes. “Do we have to?”
“It's safer than returning to the house to get anything.” They all stood to leave.
“I'll get on the horn with the sheriff.” Lieutenant Buckingham shook Matt's hand. “You keep these people safe.”
“Count on it.”
As they walked out of the police station together, Matt hoped that was one promise he could keep.
* * *
Matt examined both cars before he let anyone get into them. He checked for explosive devices, leaks in the brake or transmission lines, even kicked the tires to make certain no one had damaged them to make them leak slowly.
“As far as I can tell, they haven't been tampered with.”
He crawled out from under Lorie's parents' car somewhat the worse for wear, but he looked like a hero to Lorie.
Oh, dear. These feelings she was experiencing were totally inappropriate. It had to be an attraction based on the circumstances. Nothing real could happen this fast. Could it? Even if he weren't in law enforcement, now was hardly the time to think about romance. Not with her parents in danger, and the same crazy person who'd already done so much damage at the root of it all.
Matt found a parking place close to Lorie's parents' car at the shopping center. A city police unit pulled in beside them. The blue-uniformed officer rolled down the window.
“Deputy MacGregor?”
Matt nodded.
“Lieutenant Buckingham sent me to keep an eye on the cars so you could guard the Narramores.”
Matt smiled. “Thank him for me.”
The officer behind the wheel nodded. “Will do.”
“I wondered how I was going to be in two places at once.”
Matt reached out and took Lorie's hand, as though they were on a date instead of a shopping expedition under guard.
If Mom and Dad noticed, they didn't say anything. They smiled and Dad took Mom's hand in his. The look Dad gave Mom made Lorie wish she had someone who loved her that way. She glanced at Matt.
If only he were anything but a lawman...
* * *
Matt watched in amusement as Mrs. Narramore shopped. Lorie was right. Her mother really would rather be doing almost anything else. Mr. Narramore ended up helping her choose some things for herself as well as him, and Lorie picked out half the dresses her mother bought.
“We ought to get you something, too.” Lorie looked at Matt, her head tilted to one side, studying him. “You smeared oil and grease all over your clothes when you were making sure nobody'd tampered with our cars.”
Matt shook his head. “They'll wash, and I have more at home.” Looking to distract her from the idea of spending her money on him, he asked if they needed anything else.
“We should stop by the shoe store. I still need something decent, and Mom and Dad don't have any spares, either.”
Proudfoot's Heel-To-Toe carved a large footprint of mall space. Matt preceded the Narramores into the footwear emporium, his eyes marking off the distances between men's and women's departments.
The stacks of shelves climbed much higher than Matt liked. Almost anyone could hide in the aisles.
One woman with expensive, upswept blond hair had a stack of boxes in front of her as she tried on a pair of extreme, zebra-stripe platform spike heels. Matt turned to glance at Lorie and was surprised at the smile on her face.
“Don't tell me you like them.”
Lorie leaned in closer and murmured in his ear. “You mean those Frankenshoes? No way.”
Matt swallowed a chuckle as a sales assistant, wearing sensible trainers, headed in their direction.
As Lorie and her mother followed the assistant, Ben Narramore tapped Matt's shoulder.
“What's your take on all this?”
The moment of lightness faded as the seriousness of the situation hit home again. “We're still looking into everything, but it seems very much as if her troubles have followed her here.”
“That's what concerns me, too.”
Lorie and Margaret sat down in chairs close to the blonde shoe shopper and waited for the sales assistant.
From the men's section of the store, a face Matt knew well appeared and strode over to the blonde. Matt froze. Leonard Adderson was here?
“What do you think, Lennie?” Blondie stuck out one foot and modeled the zebra stilt.
“It's what you think that matters, baby.”
She squealed and threw her arms around his neck, threatening his expensive-looking necktie. At that moment, Adderson spotted Matt's uniform and visibly flinched before he regained his composure.
Ben nudged Matt. “Isn't that the real estate and property-management guy?”
Among other things, including suspected drug mogul.
Not that they'd been able to prove anything yet. Matt nodded. “Let's speed this up.”
Ben's sharp look told Matt he understood. The two of them ambled toward the Narramore ladies.
“About done, sweetheart?”
Margaret nodded. “These will do.”
“I have what I need, too.” Lorie put a lid on the shoe box and picked it up.
Adderson fixed Matt with a bland stare. “Afternoon, Deputy.”
“Good afternoon, sir.” Matt stood still as the well-dressed but dissolute businessman gave him a nod. If only he could prove Adderson was behind the mushrooming number of meth labs in Dainger County.
The blonde and Adderson headed for the cashier. Matt held a hand out, low, to stop Lorie and Margaret from following.
“Let them go. I want some distance between us and them.”
Lorie looked a question at Matt. He couldn't answer, not with Adderson still within earshot, but he raised an eyebrow.
“Come on, Mom, let's help Dad find something.”
The Narramores turned toward the men's shoe department. Matt saw Adderson watching them as if burning them into his memory. If he'd been tempted to dismiss the real-estate mogul as a possible suspect in Lorie's case, that inclination had just flown out the window.
* * *
On the drive to the ranch, Lorie could feel Matt's darkened mood in the atmosphere like an approaching storm. The sun was still shining, just not in Matt's car. Lorie wondered if she'd done something to ruin things. Was he upset by the way she'd been joking earlier? She'd only wanted to forget, for a few minutes, the state of the world in general and her world in particular.
Well, she guessed a few minutes were all she had. Now it was back to reality.
He followed Mom and Dad's car to the lodge and parked. By the time they got out, her parents were already standing next to it, looking all around at the trees surrounding the lodge.
“Isn't this lovely?” Mom took a deep breath of the pine-scented air and smiled. “Why haven't we ever come out here before, Ben?”
“Maybe because it was too close to home?”
“Mom and Dad always have liked long driving vacations,” Lorie explained to Matt, “beforeâ”
“Before the trial,” Dad finished. “And I'm sure we'll go again. Maybe we can twist your arm to come with us this time, cupcake. We miss having you along for the ride, complaining about how I never stop for anything interesting.”
An answer stuck in Lorie's throat. All she could do was nod.
“Come on in. Unless they rented them all out since this morning, we still have two cabins available.”
“Can't we share Lorie's?”
“It's only a one-bedroom. I don't think we have any two-bedroom cabins left.”
“Oh.” Mom sounded disappointed. But then again, she'd also been disappointed when Lorie had decided to renovate Mamaw and Papaw's old place rather than move into the house with them in West Bluff. Considering what happened to the house, she could only be grateful she'd stood firm. She didn't even want to think what the vandal might have done to her parents if they'd been there when the attack took place.
Dad wrapped an arm around Mom's shoulder, and they climbed the porch stairs together. Alana was behind the desk when they entered.
Matt performed brief introductions as close to the desk as possible, and kept his voice low. His sister-in-law followed suit.
“How about Cabin 14, Mr. and Mrs. Narramore?”
“Is that close to Lorie's cabin?”
“Cabin 4 is closer. It's the other option.”
Mom smiled. “If it wouldn't be too much trouble, we'd rather be closer to Lorie.”
Alana smiled. “No trouble at all.”
Lorie wondered whether it actually wasn't any trouble, or whether Alana had simply chosen not to let it be a problem. Either way, Alana handed Dad the key.
“Any new guests?” Matt's tone was casual, but Lorie knew a lot was riding on the answer.
Alana shook her head. “Not since the couple from Pickertown this morning, who took Cabin 12. One attempt to register from the L.A. area, but I put them off. They wanted a week, too.”