Echo Of Danger

“The place with the swing set in the backyard.” He could hardly help noticing it. His bedroom windows overlooked the property. Obviously the judge’s staff work was excellent. “There’s no guarantee that I can find anything to help you,” he warned.

Judge Morris gave a curt nod. “I accept that. Don’t imagine that your position here is conditional on success.” A muscle in his jaw worked. “Deidre is a manipulative woman who betrayed my son. I have to keep her from damaging my grandson.”

Manipulative. Betrayed. Did Judge Morris know that those words would strike fire in him? Maybe, maybe not, but it didn’t really matter. He already knew what his answer had to be.

“All right. I’ll do my best.” Now his jaw clenched. He didn’t have a very good track record when it came to outwitting a manipulative woman. But this time, at least, he was forewarned.

* * *

DRESSED FOR HER evening meeting, Deidre peeked into Kevin’s room. He’d been determined to stay awake until the arrival of Dixie, her neighbor, who’d offered to babysit tonight. But he was already sound asleep. She tiptoed to the sleigh bed that had been hers as a little girl and bent to kiss his smooth, rounded forehead. Kev slept with abandon, as always, one arm thrown over his head and his expression concentrated.

“Sweet dreams,” she whispered.

She’d told him that the bed, with its curved headboard and footboard like an old-fashioned sleigh, had always brought her good dreams. Maybe it worked for Kevin, too. Although he sometimes woke up in the middle of the night, he never seemed frightened, going back to sleep as quickly as he’d wakened.

Leaving the door ajar so Dixie would hear him if he called out, Deidre hurried downstairs, glancing at her watch. This first meeting of the Echo Falls Bicentennial Committee would probably be a fractious one, with representatives of every segment of town life in attendance. She’d promised to arrive early at the library and start the coffee—one of the inevitable chores falling to the only person on the library board who was under seventy.

A tap on the front door heralded Dixie’s arrival, and she came in without waiting for Deidre to answer. “Am I late?”

She slung her jean jacket over the nearest chair and pushed her black hair over her shoulders with a characteristic gesture. She eyed Deidre’s tan slacks, blue shirt and camel sweater with disappointment. “You look as if you expect this meeting to be boring. Why don’t you spice things up a little?”

Dixie herself wore a scarlet tank top that clung to every curve of her body. Her voluptuous body, Deidre amended. When they’d been kids together, and every other twelve-year-old girl had been straight as a board, Dixie had seemed to mature overnight into someone who’d befuddled the boys in their class and even drawn covert looks from a few male teachers.

Even though Dixie had returned after years away, divorced and apparently ready to start over, some things hadn’t changed. She still attracted males like a magnet. After all, single women their age were a rarity in Echo Falls.

“I’m representing the library board, remember? Besides, I don’t have the figure to wear something like that outfit.” She nodded to Dixie’s bright top and formfitting jeans.

Dixie tossed her hair back, laughing. “Sure you do. And I’d like to see the expressions on the old girls’ faces if you turned up in this.”

One thing about Dixie...she never apologized for anything she wore, said or did. It must be nice to feel that confident. Deidre never had, and she’d settled for an updated version of her mother’s style, typically small town, middle-class and designed not to raise a single eyebrow.

“I’m almost ready, and Kev is sleeping. I promised him you’d come in and kiss him good-night, but I didn’t promise you’d wake him up.” She retrieved her cell phone and tucked it into her bag.

“Okay, will do.” Dixie picked up the television remote but didn’t switch the set on, a sign she had something to say. “Did you see the new tenant next door yet?”

“Someone moved into the second-floor flat at last?” The old Moyer place had been converted into three apartments, with Dixie renting the top floor. “I hope they’re not going to be noisy.”

“Not they, he. Thirtyish, single and sexy. Just what we need in the neighborhood.”

Deidre gave her a look. “Had a long chat with him, did you?”

Dixie grinned. “We barely exchanged two words. But believe me, I didn’t need conversation to make up my mind about him. Lean, dark and tough-looking. He’s the brooding, dangerous type, and that suits me fine.”

She could only hope Dixie didn’t intend to launch herself headlong into a new romance. Her past was strewn with the guys she’d been convinced were the real thing. Needless to say, they hadn’t been.

“Who is this paragon? And what brings him to Echo Falls? Maybe you’d better be sure he’s going to hang around before you make a dead set at him.”

“That’s the thing.” For a moment Dixie looked uncertain, an unusual expression for her. “I hear he’s actually the new lawyer in your sainted father-in-law’s firm.” Dixie gave her a sidelong look. “You hadn’t heard?”

No, she hadn’t heard. Silly, to be bothered by the news that someone was taking Frank’s place. After all, it had been almost a year, and the firm was constantly busy.

“I knew they needed someone, but didn’t know they’d made a decision. Funny that the judge didn’t mention it when he was here today.”

She didn’t think her expression had changed at the mention of that visit, but Dixie knew her well.

“What’s he up to now?” She held up a hand to stop Deidre’s protest. “Don’t bother denying it. The judge is always up to something, isn’t he?”

Deidre shrugged. It would be a relief to vent to someone, and she and Dixie had been friends long enough for her to know Dixie was safe. “The same conversation we had before. I thought it was settled, but apparently not. He wants us to move in with him and Sylvia.” A chill slid down her spine at the thought.

Dixie abandoned her lounging posture on the sofa to sit bolt upright, anger flashing in her dark eyes. “You can’t be considering it. Move into that mausoleum? I’d rather be dead.”

“No, of course I’m not considering it. If I wouldn’t move in there when Frank was alive, I’m certainly not going to do it now. I couldn’t raise Kevin in that...” She couldn’t find a suitable word that was compatible with her sense of politeness.

“Mausoleum,” Dixie repeated. “Good. Don’t you even think of giving in to him.”

“I’m not,” she protested. “But you know what the judge is like.”

“He’s a boa constrictor.” Dixie spat out the words with more than her usual emphasis. “Get caught in his coils, and the next thing you know you’ll be digested, just like that poor wife of his.”

“Sylvia has other problems. I’m not sure her husband can do much for her.”

“He’s probably the one who drove her to alcohol to begin with,” Dixie muttered. “And you know how he treated Frank when he was growing up. You can’t let him get his hands on Kev.”

“I’m not going to.” She didn’t know when she’d seen Dixie so passionate. “All I have to do is keep saying no. He can’t force me. Honestly, Dixie, there’s no need to get so upset about it.”

“You’re too trusting, you know that? You think everyone’s as nice as you are. They’re not.”

Dixie’s reaction was fueling her own, and she had to look at this sensibly. “I’ve got to get going. Again, thanks so much for staying with Kev. And don’t worry about the judge. I’m not. Really.”

Deidre reminded herself of those brave words as she drove to the public library, just off the square in Echo Falls, and pulled into the parking lot behind the building. No worrying. Obsessing about Judge Morris’s plans wouldn’t do any good.

She shifted her focus firmly to the upcoming meeting. At least she wasn’t the first arrival. The lights were already on, a welcome given the fine mist that was forming.

She picked up the tote bag with the coffee and doughnuts and ducked through the mist to the back door, hurrying inside. In the flurry of greeting people and getting the refreshments ready, she managed to shove Judge Morris firmly to the back of her mind. Like Scarlett, she’d worry about that tomorrow.

The meeting was being held in what was normally a quiet reading area in front of the fireplace. Folding chairs had appeared to supplement the sofa and love seat donated by some library patron who’d probably been redecorating. Concentrating on refilling the doughnut tray, Deidre didn’t notice that someone was coming toward her until he spoke.

“Hard at work as always, I see.” Adam Bennett, the pastor of Grace Church, was mature enough to be aware of the status his collar gave him and young enough to be made a bit uncomfortable by it. He flushed now, as he often seemed to when he spoke to her.

“Not very,” she said, smiling. “Will you have a doughnut?”

“No, no, thank you.” He shied away as if his wife had lectured him about the dangers of fatty foods. “I wanted to introduce someone to you. Deidre, this is Jason Glassman, the new associate in Judge Morris’s office.”

For an instant Deidre could only stare at the man who’d come up behind Adam. Brooding and dangerous-looking indeed, as Dixie had said. His tailored suit and tie would be more at home in a big-city office, and his lean face gave one the impression of a man stripped down to the essentials and ready for action. There was nothing casual about the assessing look he turned on her, and she was suddenly aware of the sticky icing on her fingers.

When in doubt, take refuge in good manners, her mother always advised. Deidre wiped her hand on a napkin before extending it.

“Mr. Glassman, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m sure my father-in-law is relieved to have someone to...” She’d started to say assist, but this man didn’t look as if he’d ever been an assistant to anyone. “To take over the extra caseload. I know the office has been very busy.”

“Please, call me Jason.” His deep voice held nothing more than conventional courtesy, but the clasp of his hand lingered a bit too long, and his dark eyes studied and probed, as if to warn he’d know everything about her before he was finished. “I’m just getting settled in. I understand we’re neighbors, as well.”

“We’re all neighbors here in Echo Falls.” Adam glanced from one to the other as Deidre pulled her hand away, his voice uncertain. “I was just telling Jason how happy we’ll be to have his help with planning the celebration.”

“Not planning, just listening. I understand no one else was available tonight, and the judge thought the office should be represented. I’m just holding a watching brief.” The way his eyes held hers made it sound as if she were the one he was watching.

Deidre gave herself a mental shake and took a step back behind the protection of the coffee urn. Jason Glassman would have better luck turning his measuring look on Dixie. She’d know just how to respond.

“I see the chairwoman is ready to begin.” She nodded toward the fireplace, where Enid Longenberger was shuffling through her notes. “Maybe we’d better take our seats.” Busying herself with the arrangement of trays, Deidre gave the two men plenty of time to find chairs before she slipped into one as far away from Glassman’s disturbing presence as possible.

What had the judge been thinking? Surely he couldn’t picture this man settling into a quiet career in Echo Falls. He looked as if he’d be bored to death in a week. Certainly he did nothing to dismiss that opinion as he sat, eyes half-closed, through the inevitable suggestions, ranging from the mundane to pie-in-the-sky ideas that would only happen if a benevolent billionaire decided to lend a hand.

The meeting dragged on even longer than she’d expected, with Enid obviously determined to give everyone a chance to offer an opinion. Deidre found herself taking surreptitious glances at her watch. Dixie claimed to enjoy staying with Kevin, and she’d never let Deidre pay her, so she made a special effort not to keep Dixie out too late.

Finally, the subcommittees had been assigned, a general outline of ideas approved and the last grumbler had been satisfied. Enid banged down her gavel with an air of decision, and people started filing out the doors, some lingering to rehash the meeting with their friends, as they often did. Deidre kept herself busy clearing up the coffee service as the room slowly emptied. She didn’t think Jason Glassman would approach her again, and she didn’t want to give him any excuse to do so. Something about the man set her nerves on edge, and she didn’t think it was the attractiveness and underlying masculine sexuality that Dixie had obviously noted.

When she went outside, locking the back door behind her, Deidre realized she had dallied almost too long. The lot behind the library was empty except for her sedan, and darker than it usually seemed—or maybe that was just her mood.

The streetlamp in front of the building was blocked by the roof of the library, and the closest one in the other direction didn’t extend its light this far. The massive brick block of the bank building on the other side of the lot effectively hid it from view of anyone passing on Main Street, giving it an isolated feeling.

Deidre walked quickly to the car, heels echoing on the concrete, fingers clasped around her keys. She’d never felt unsafe in Echo Falls after dark, and she wasn’t going to let an odd case of nerves make her start now. Unlocking the car, she slid in and slammed the door, feeling like a rabbit darting into its hole.

She turned the key in the ignition, listening for the comforting purr of the motor. The engine gave a sputter, a grinding sound and then stopped. Nothing. She tried again. She couldn’t have stalled it. But there was still nothing. The engine was dead.

It was pointless to keep turning the key. Fumbling for her cell phone, she tried to come up with the most sensible course of action. If she called the auto club, they’d undoubtedly send someone out from Williamsport, a good thirty miles away, and she’d be stuck here for an hour. She could try one of the people who’d been at the meeting, but they wouldn’t be home yet, and she suspected none of them were entered on her cell phone. If Dixie weren’t babysitting—

A sharp rap on the window next to her sent her heart jolting into overdrive. She turned to see Jason Glassman peering in at her, his strong-featured face an ominous mask in the dim light.

“Trouble?” He raised an eyebrow, giving his face a hint of caricature, and she was swept with a feeling that trouble was exactly what the man represented.

CHAPTER TWO

JASON TILTED HIS face to the available light, making sure the Morris woman recognized him. With a slight nod, Deidre lowered the window manually, apparently deciding he was trustworthy.

She was wrong. Her car wasn’t starting because he’d made sure it wouldn’t. Nothing serious. A mechanic would spot the loose connection in thirty seconds, but he was banking on Deidre not even looking under the hood.

“My car is dead.” She glanced at her watch. “I can’t imagine what’s wrong.”

He shrugged. “I’m not much of a mechanic, but I’ll be glad to wait with you while you call your garage. Or my car is here, and I can easily take you home.”

Now she managed a smile. “The garage will have closed at five, and nothing short of a three-car pileup would get George Frazer away from his television at this hour. If you’re sure you don’t mind...” Deidre was already opening the door.

“Not at all. We’re neighbors, aren’t we?” So easy. She didn’t suspect a thing. Too bad the drive was so short, but at least he’d have some chance of talking with her. “I’m parked out front.”

They walked together along the alley toward the street, their footsteps echoing on the concrete. Shadows lay around the building, and it surprised him that Deidre didn’t seem warier. Maybe small-town living deadened the instincts.

“I appreciate the offer. It’s certainly time I relieved my babysitter.”

“Teenagers always have the meter ticking, I suppose,” he said lightly, wondering who watched the judge’s grandson when she wasn’t there.

“It’s not that. A friend of mine is staying with my son. I hate to call a teenage sitter on a school night, especially when I think a meeting might be lengthy.”

They’d reached his car, and he opened the passenger-side door so she could slide in, then went around quickly to get in and start the car. “It wasn’t my imagination then. It did go on and on.”

“And on,” she said, amusement in her voice. “I’m afraid it wasn’t a very good introduction for you. But typical. Everyone has to have their say.”

“Even if someone else has already said it.” He slanted a smile at her.

“Especially if someone has already said it. No one wants somebody else claiming credit for his or her good idea. I have a theory that the amount of work that gets done is in inverse proportion to the number of people on the committee.”

He had to laugh at Deidre’s dry tone.

“I shouldn’t laugh at them,” she said, shaking her head. “They all mean well. I just hate keeping Dixie out late, even though she insists she doesn’t mind.”

“Dixie?” The name rang a bell. “I think there’s a Dixie in my building.”

“The same one. Dixie James. We’ve been friends since kindergarten, although she just moved back to Echo Falls a couple of years ago. Speaking of which, I hope you’re settling in all right.” She sounded like a good hostess, checking on a guest’s comfort.

All in all, he was beginning to wonder if Deidre Morris, with her honey-colored hair and candid blue eyes, wasn’t just a little too good to be true.

He suspected a show of candor on his part would win her sympathy. “I don’t know if I should bring it up, but I hope...well, I hope it doesn’t bother you that I seem to be taking your late husband’s position in the firm.”

Jase didn’t think he imagined a hesitation before she spoke.

“Not at all. I know the firm needed another person. Trey Alter’s been overworked, especially during the times when court is in session and the judge is unavailable.”

That last bit sounded a tad formal. He should have asked the judge what his current relationship was with his daughter-in-law. If they were in a state of open warfare, he’d have to step cautiously.

He’d been wondering if he should mention her husband or play dumb. But anyone might let it slip that they’d been in law school together. Better play it safe.

“I was sorry to hear about Frank’s death. I noticed it in the alumni newsletter. Guess I should have sent a card, but...well, you wouldn’t have known who I was.”

She turned in the seat to look at him. “Were you a friend of Frank’s?” So that had caught her attention.

“A classmate. I was working too hard to have much time to socialize. But he was a nice guy.”

“Yes, he was.” She didn’t sound overtly mournful, but it had been about a year, and she was probably used to dealing with condolences by now. “When you see our son, Kevin, I think you’ll notice the resemblance.” She was smiling now, maybe at the thought of the kid. “At least, I always thought he looked like Frank, although Frank didn’t agree.”

“Frank thought he looked like you, did he?”

“He claimed Kev was Pennsylvania Dutch through and through. That’s my side of the family, the Wagners. You’ll have to get used to all the German-sounding names in an area like this, especially with the number of Amish we have.”

She was talking more easily now. He’d made some progress, despite the fact that they were pulling up to the house already. She’d feel as if she owed him a favor, and that would make it easier to pursue an acquaintanceship that the judge seemed to feel would pay off.

Jase drove past his own driveway and turned into hers. “I’ll drop you right at the house. No point in walking across the lawn in the dark.”

“You don’t need...” Deidre stopped, staring.

He followed the direction of her gaze, and his nerves went on alert. The front door of her house stood open. That couldn’t be normal.

Deidre grabbed for the door handle, and his hand shot across to arrest the movement.

“Stay here. Call the police. I’ll check it out.” He slid out of the car, not looking back to see if she’d obeyed him. Something was wrong, and there was a defenseless child in that house.

It took him seconds to reach the porch. Deidre was right behind him, and he didn’t waste his breath telling her to stay back. They hit the doorway at the same time, and he grabbed her arm, stopping her from plunging inside.

His gut clenched. A woman lay on the area rug in front of a sofa, blood from a head wound soaking into the fibers. Dixie, he supposed. The child—

Deidre gave an anguished cry that sounded barely human. She yanked free of his restraining hand, running toward the stairway at the back of the room. Then he saw what she had. That small bundle on the bottom step, tangled in a blanket, had to be her son.

* * *

DEIDRE STUMBLED TO her knees next to Kevin, reaching for him. Some rational part of her mind shouted for her to be careful, not to move him suddenly.

She had to hold him—had to know he was breathing. Sliding her arms around him, she managed to cradle him against her. His lips were slightly parted, and a gentle breath moved against her cheek. Relief flooded through her.

Please, God. Please, God, let him be all right...

Deidre’s fingers found a fluttering pulse. But he was pale...so pale that the faint blue shadows under his eyes looked like bruises.

“Kevin, baby, can you hear me?”

Nothing, but she could see the vein pulsing at his temple.

Someone knelt beside her, and she realized it was Jason. “Careful. Don’t move him.”

“No. His head...”

Jason bent over her son, seeming to trace the swelling behind Kevin’s ear with his gaze. “EMTs are on the way. They’ll be here soon. Two ambulances, I told them.”

“Dixie...” She hadn’t been able to take her eyes off Kevin long enough to look. And now, when she tried, Jason’s solid body blocked her view.

“Head injury,” he said briefly. “It looks...bad.”

Deidre’s sluggish wits started to move again at that moment. Kevin must have fallen, but Dixie... How could she have gotten a head injury sitting on the sofa?

“What...what happened to her?” Ridiculous to think that he would know any more than she did.

“Someone hit her. She couldn’t have done that much damage falling.”

Amazing that he could sound so calm. Dixie had been attacked. How could that be true? That meant that someone had come into her house and done this.

Jason had turned, surveying the room. Looking for evidence? Deidre cradled Kevin closer, trying to control the trembling that had seized her. She had to be strong. She had to be there for Kevin. She couldn’t fall apart now. Frank was gone, and she was all Kevin had.

Jason’s hand came down on her shoulder, his firm grip steadying her. “It’ll be all right.”

He didn’t sound as if he believed the words. She didn’t. How could anything be all right again when the unthinkable had happened?

Sirens wailed. Jason stood up. “I’ll go signal them. Hold on.”

Deidre managed to nod. She’d hold on because she had to. She couldn’t lose Kevin.

In what seemed a moment, her small living room was filled with people. They’d obviously called out both of Echo Falls’s paramedic teams. One surrounded Dixie while the other moved swiftly into place around Kevin.

“You’ll need to move back just a little.” It was a female voice. “I’m just going to slide your arms out from under him, okay? You don’t need to worry. Joe has him.”

She must have made some sound as hands pulled her away, because the woman patted her. “Just ease back a bit. You can put your hand on his foot, okay? That way he’ll know you’re still here.”

Her throat was too tight to allow for speech. All she could do was close her fingers around Kev’s bare foot, sticking out of the blanket. The superhero pajamas he’d insisted on wearing were getting too small for him. She should get him a new pair. Clinging to the thought was holding her to normalcy for a moment. She held on to a world in which the biggest threat to a small boy was outgrowing his favorite pj’s.