The Christmas Rescue

Someone had tried to break into Kayla’s home. What had the intruder been looking for? Had he missed something the night they’d found the security system turned off? Somehow it didn’t make sense that simple burglars would target a home so far away from town.

He’d been a fool to leave her alone.

His cell phone rang again. “DeSilva,” he answered, when he saw Luke Sanders’ name light up the screen.

“The medical examiner has finished the autopsy on your dead body. The base of his skull was cracked, and the ME confirmed he was dead before he hit the water. Because of the location of his skull fracture, the medical examiner is leaning toward a homicide. The pathology results won’t be back for thirty days.”

“Did they confirm his ID with dental records?”

“Yes. With the tattoo they were pretty certain he was Bill Schroeder and finding his dentist wasn’t hard. He doesn’t have a lot of family, so the police are heading out to inform Jeannie, his ex-wife, now.”

Rafe grimaced. “I’m sure that will be difficult.”

“Did you talk to Charlie Turkow yet? He must know something about the criminals being smuggled out through Canada.”

“Not yet. He wasn’t around when I stopped in. I’ll talk to him as soon as I can.”

“All right. Call me if you get something significant.”

“Will do.” Rafe hung up the phone and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel thoughtfully. Should he let Kayla know about Bill Schroeder? The news was better coming from him than through the media. And he was fairly certain Schroeder’s death would make headlines, especially since the medical examiner would likely deem his death a murder.

Rafe pressed a little harder on the accelerator. He couldn’t explain this desperate need to get to Kayla. He hadn’t felt this protective toward a woman in a long time. Since Angela.

He tried to tell himself to relax, but his lead foot was ignoring the message. When he pulled into Kayla’s driveway, he was amazed to note he’d made the trip in a record thirty-three minutes.

The instant he stopped, the front door popped open and Kayla stepped out. His first instinct was to yell at her for not waiting with the alarm set.

But when she hurried down to meet him, he couldn’t speak. Instead, he leaped from his jeep and threw caution to the wind, pulling her close in a warm, reassuring hug. “Are you all right?” he murmured, filling his head with her light, strawberry scent.

She grasped him tightly around the waist, burying her face against his chest. “Yes,” she said in a muffled voice. “Thanks for coming.”

“You couldn’t have kept me away,” he assured her. Holding her close was sheer heaven. He would have been happy to stay like this all day, but of course, she pulled away when Brianna and Clyde bounded out of the house, followed more slowly by an elegant-looking older woman with silver hair. He recognized her as Kayla’s mother-in-law, Ellen Wilson, whom he’d met earlier that year when he and Alex had insisted on putting Kayla’s security system in place.

“Mr. Rafe!” Brianna heedlessly flung herself at him and he sucked in a quick breath and caught her before she could get hurt. He lifted her into his arms as the dog barked excitedly at his feet. “You forgot to say goodbye,” she accused, looking him directly in the eye.

“I did?” He frowned, distracted by her accusation. He cast his mind backward in time, wondering what she meant.

“The night we had pizza.” Brianna’s green eyes were full of reproach. “You didn’t say goodbye.”

“I’m sorry, mi nina,” he murmured. “You’re right, I guess I forgot.” He glanced at Kayla who watched their interaction with a worried frown.

“Brianna, I explained how Mr. Rafe needed to get back to work,” Kayla said, walking back to the house. Still carrying Brianna, he followed on her heels. “Remember? He works all different times of the day and night.”

He wasn’t used to anyone making excuses for him. In fact, he hadn’t even considered the idea that Brianna would notice he’d left without saying goodbye. He could see by Kayla’s guarded expression that he’d inadvertently hurt her daughter.

It was clear she was worried her daughter might be growing too attached to him. And could he blame her? Brianna was at a vulnerable age. He took a deep breath and tried to collect his thoughts. Brianna was a great kid, but he wasn’t ready to be a father again.

Not when he’d failed so miserably last time.

He hadn’t been able to save his infant son’s life. To have another child dependent on him was inconceivable. The very thought shook him to the core. No, having a family was not an option.

“Next time,” he promised, quickly setting Brianna back on her feet and closing the front door behind him.

“Rafe, you remember my mother-in-law, Ellen, don’t you?” Kayla said, belatedly reintroducing them.

He cleared his throat and nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Nice to see you again.”

“Nice to see you, too,” Ellen said, although her expression was guarded and he wondered if Kayla’s mother-in-law viewed him as some sort of threat. As if he was trying to replace Jeremy in Kayla’s heart. He was tempted to reassure her he’d only come to offer protection, not to start something he had no intention of finishing.

They all walked into the house and Kayla reengaged the security system once they were safely inside.

“Come on, Brianna, we need to finish making Christmas cookies,” Ellen said, as if sensing the two adults needed to talk alone.

“Cool!” Brianna raced toward the kitchen, but then paused to glance back at him. “Don’t leave without saying goodbye,” she reminded him.

“I won’t,” he promised. He turned toward Kayla. “Tell me about the break-in. What happened?”

Kayla walked over to the sofa in front of the great room fireplace. He froze. She’d put up Christmas decorations. The brightly lit tree in the corner of the room reminded him of his early years with Angela. She’d loved Christmas.

Now there was only a black hole in his heart.

He took a seat across from Kayla, trying to shut out the memories.

“I had two couples staying here last night,” Kayla began. “In fact, they were supposed to stay for the weekend. At four in the morning, one of the women screamed, waking everyone up. She claimed a man’s face was pressed up against the patio door in her room. We called the police and the deputy found deep gouges in the wood near the door handle where the burglar must have tried to jimmy the lock in his attempt to get in.”

“Why didn’t you set the alarm on the security system?” Rafe asked.

“Because I don’t want my guests to think the alarm is necessary. Business is slow enough without insinuating this place isn’t perfectly safe. And besides, it would be too easy for one of the guests to trigger the alarm. All they’d have to do is to open a patio door to let some air in. I refuse to impose restrictions on my guests.”

She was right. He didn’t like it, but she was right. He remembered she’d argued this point fiercely when Alex insisted on putting the system in.

“I just don’t understand. Why would anyone try to rob me? Everyone knows I don’t have a lot of money or jewelry or anything else of value.”

“I agree, it doesn’t make sense,” Rafe admitted.

Kayla worried her lower lip between her teeth and he wished there was some way to reassure her he’d keep her safe. “I keep coming back to that strange guest I had, Greg Landrum. He rented a room from me last weekend.”

He raised a brow curiously. She hadn’t mentioned the guy when they spoke the other day. “Why was he strange?”

She lifted her shoulder. “Little things about him were odd. Like he claimed he had come to hike, but his hiking boots were brand-new and gave him blisters. He didn’t have warm winter outdoor gear, either. I heard him making noise in his room in the middle of the night, and when I asked him about it the next morning, he claimed he had trouble sleeping.”

“What did he look like?” Rafe asked.

“I don’t know, in his mid-thirties maybe, with dishwater-blond hair. He had weasly eyes.”

Weasly eyes? “Was that what bothered you? His eyes?”

She frowned. “Maybe. Clyde didn’t like him, either. He barked and growled at him all the time. I guess the strangest thing of all was that I saw him down at the lakefront the day Brianna and I found the body.” She looked troubled as she gazed at him. “Rafe, do you think it’s possible he’s targeted me for some reason?”

Greg Landrum. Would be worth putting his name through their database to see what popped. “Maybe, but again, it doesn’t make sense that he would come back after he’d already been a guest here. He would know there weren’t a lot of valuables here, wouldn’t he?”

Unless he was looking for something that only had value to him. But what?

“Yes, you’re right.” She gave a dejected sigh. “Maybe the deputy was right, that this was nothing more than a random attempt. I don’t live in town, but it’s possible someone saw the article in the paper and figured I had something here worth stealing.”

“Article?” he echoed sharply. “What article?”

She grimaced. “I did an interview for the Green Bay Gazette about two weeks ago. The editor is a friend of Ellen’s and did the interview as a favor.”

He hadn’t seen the article and her theory was plausible. He wanted to link everything back to Schroeder, but he could be overreacting. It was possible her break-in had been a random attack. “Do you have a copy?”

“I have several,” she responded dryly. “Everyone in town saved one for me. I’ll be right back.”

He watched her disappear into the kitchen, returning a few moments later with the folded newspaper in hand. Must have been some favor, or a really slow news day, because her picture was plastered on the front page of the lifestyle section. Kayla looked beautiful, her smile a little sad, as she stood in the kitchen. He noticed there was another glossy picture on the wall behind her in the photo. This one showed Kayla and her husband standing down at the marina in front of a charter fishing boat. He scanned the article. It briefly mentioned Kayla’s husband, Jeremy, had finished building the B and B in the months before he died. But otherwise, the article was all about Kayla and her renowned breakfast pastries.

“Nice article,” he murmured. Broaching the subject of her dead husband for the first time, he raised his gaze to meet hers. “I’m sorry for your loss, Kayla.”

“Thank you.”

He knew it wasn’t really any of his business, but he couldn’t help adding, “I know what it’s like to lose someone you love. I don’t think I would have been able to cope if not for my faith. God’s strength and love helped me through the grief.”

“Your faith?” Her gaze darted to the cross he always wore around his neck, a gift from his mother after his wife and unborn child had died. “Now you sound like Alex and Shelby. Alex has changed a lot since meeting Shelby. And he seems very happy.”

“Does that surprise you?”

She flushed again and glanced away. “A little. But in a good way. He’s a better person now that he’s met Shelby. They’ve invited me to attend church with them, but weekends tend to be my busiest time. At least, when I actually have guests,” she amended.

“I understand. When I’m out on the water and attending service isn’t an option, I just find a few minutes of quiet time to pray or maybe read my Bible.”

“I’ve never read the Bible,” Kayla murmured. “To be honest, I have trouble understanding why God would take my husband away so young.”

“Sometimes it is difficult to understand God’s plan. Reading the Bible can help. The book of Psalms is my favorite. ‘The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.’ That quote is from Psalm 40:1.”

“Sounds beautiful,” Kayla said thoughtfully. “Maybe you’re right. I’ll think about it. Might be interesting to see what has Alex so enthralled.”

He wanted to offer to attend church with her, but sensed she wasn’t quite ready. Besides, being at church with Kayla would feel like having a family.

Friends, he reminded himself. They were just friends.

Kayla tapped the newspaper article, her attention centered once again on the burglary attempt. “Do you think this article is the cause of the break-in?”

“Maybe,” he said, but he didn’t really think so. The odd guest she’d had was more concerning. “I think we’ll do some digging on Greg Landrum. The fact that he was down at the lakefront when you and Brianna were there bothers me.”

Kayla frowned and shivered. “He bothered me, too. I really wanted Clyde with us down there to help keep him away. Which reminds me, did you find out the identity of the victim yet?”

He let out a long breath. This was the moment he’d been dreading. He slowly nodded and reached out to take her hand in his, sure she’d be shocked when he told her the news. “Kayla, the victim you found happens to be someone you know. We’ve identified him as Bill Schroeder.”

Kayla blanched, unable to believe she’d heard him correctly. “Bill? Dead? Are you sure?”

“I’m sorry, but yes. We’re sure. The police are notifying his next of kin as we speak.”

“H-how did he die?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“His skull was cracked and he was dead before he fell in the water.” Rafe’s expression was full of compassion. “You need to know, the medical examiner believes he might have been murdered.”

She gasped, images from the lakefront scene flashing before her eyes. The red shirt bobbing in the water had been Bill Schroeder. And he’d been murdered? How? Why? “But I just saw him a week and a half ago.”

Rafe tightened his fingers around her hand. “I know. You mentioned that the other night. You said he came over because of the memorial. Did he come over here often?”

“Rarely. Maybe more so in the beginning,” she corrected herself. “In those first few weeks after Jeremy’s death, but not lately. Frankly, I was surprised to see him.”

Seeing Bill Schroeder had dredged up memories better off forgotten. The arguments she and Jeremy had over the long hours he worked in the charter fishing business. She’d been thrilled when he’d finally agreed to sell out his half of the business to Bill. She’d been looking forward to more family time.

She rubbed her aching temple. Why was she suddenly remembering the rough points in their marriage? Jeremy had been a good husband and father. She’d never worried about him straying. She’d planned to spend the rest of her life with him.

But Jeremy was gone. All she had left of her marriage was this house, her memories and the memorial that Bill Schroeder had recently put up in honor of Jeremy.

“You knew, didn’t you? That’s why you went back to talk to the police.”

“I suspected, but I couldn’t say anything until we knew for sure.”

Kayla’s shoulders slumped. It didn’t matter if Rafe knew before or not. She was doubly glad she hadn’t gone down to the body to take a closer look.

“So tell me, how much do you charge to rent one of your rooms?” Rafe asked, abruptly changing the subject.

Startled, she glanced at him. Why was he asking? Because he planned to stay? As much as she wanted to laugh off his offer, she couldn’t. Especially now that she knew Bill Schroeder was dead. “Just so happens I’m running a half-price Christmas special,” she weakly joked.

Rafe didn’t so much as smile. “I’m serious, Kayla. I’d like to stay for a few days. Just in case this intruder tries again. Put me in the same room he tried to break into, if possible.”

She wished she didn’t need Rafe’s help, but she couldn’t turn down his offer. Brianna’s safety had to be first and foremost. After all, wasn’t that the main reason she’d called him? She’d known he’d take charge.

Keep them safe.

“If you’re sure,” she said, meeting his gaze. She was thankful Ellen had agreed to stay with them for a while, too, so that she could take Rafe up on his offer. Ellen had mentioned needing to go and visit her sister, who’d fallen and broken her hip, but she wasn’t planning to leave until closer to Christmas.

“I’m sure.” He smiled, and suddenly she remembered all too clearly those moments when he caught her close in his embrace.

She swallowed hard and glanced away. She could only hope that allowing Rafe to stay wasn’t a huge mistake on a personal level.

For Brianna’s sake. Or her own.

Rafe left Kayla’s house, after making her promise to set the security alarm, so he could run back home to pick up what he needed. Leaving her alone, even knowing Ellen was there with her, wasn’t easy. He couldn’t help hurrying, unwilling to give Kayla time to change her mind. He’d been shocked at how easily she’d agreed with his plan to stay.

Which only indicated just how scared she’d really been.

He’d returned home to get some clothes and his laptop computer. Once again, he swung by the lakefront, but there was still no sign of Charlie.

He called Luke to tell him about Schroeder’s surprise visit to Kayla days before his disappearance. “I’m going to try to convince Kayla to let me go through her husband’s belongings. I just can’t help but think it’s odd that Schroeder suddenly put together a memorial for her husband two years after his death.”

“I’ll give you until Monday,” Luke reluctantly agreed. “But if you don’t have anything by then, I’m pulling you back here. We need to figure out who killed our key suspect. Obviously, someone else must be taking over duty of transporting our crooks out of the country.”

“That’s fine.” Rafe was willing to take what he could get.

When he returned to the bed-and-breakfast, Kayla seemed nervous, as if having him as a guest felt awkward. He used work as an excuse to retreat to his room, where he began an Internet search on Greg Landrum. Thankfully, Kayla had a wireless router for Internet access for her guests.

She invited him to join them for dinner and he warily agreed, trying to come up with some way to avoid giving Brianna the wrong idea.

But when he went down to the kitchen, he found Kayla and Ellen were alone. “Where’s Brianna?” he asked.

“She was invited over to her friend’s house for a sleep over,” Kayla admitted. “I thought it might be best, just in case this guy decides to come back tonight.”

Rafe hesitated, abruptly doubting the wisdom of his plan. “Maybe you should both leave, too. You could stay at Ellen’s place. I plan to keep the security system off so I can catch this guy in the act.” And what he really hoped was to have a few minutes alone with the guy to find out what in the world he was searching for.

“Don’t worry about us,” Ellen said in a feisty tone. “We’ll be fine, right, Kayla?”

Kayla nodded. “We’ll keep our doors locked, don’t worry. I’m sure I won’t be able to sleep much, but I’m staying.”

Rafe couldn’t think of an argument that would encourage the women to leave, so he fell silent. Kayla served a big pan of lasagna for dinner and made-from-scratch garlic bread. He took a bite and the tangy sauce melted in his mouth. He’d never tasted anything so good.

“You’re an excellent cook, Kayla.”

“Thanks.” She flushed at his praise and then glanced guiltily at her mother-in-law. “Ellen taught me a lot. And it’s nice to have friends to cook for, rather than strangers.” The subtle loneliness underlying her tone wasn’t lost on him. He knew only too well how difficult it was to spend evenings alone.

“Speaking of strangers, I haven’t found much on your guest, Greg Landrum,” he said, quickly changing the subject to a safer topic. “You told me the address on his driver’s license was from Chicago, right?”

She nodded. “Yes. Why?”

“I can’t seem to find him anywhere, that’s all.” He stood to help her clear away the dishes, but Ellen shooed him away, taking over the task herself. “I’m going to keep looking. Everyone leaves some sort of electronic trail in today’s world.”

“Go on then, we can clean up here,” she said. “I have some sewing that needs to get finished tonight, anyway.”

“I thought you gave up doing alterations?” Ellen asked over her shoulder.

“No, why would I? Helps pay the bills in the gap between guests.”

He stared at her for a moment, hating the thought of Kayla struggling to make ends meet. Doing alterations couldn’t possibly pay much. She’d mentioned her bed-and-breakfast business was slow, but he hadn’t realized just how serious she’d been.

Was she in danger of losing her business? He hoped not.

“Good night, then. Don’t forget to lock your doors. And keep your cell phones close at hand.” He was glad Kayla’s private living space was tucked in the back of the house, far from the guest rooms.

He wished there was something he could do to minimize the danger.

“We will. Good night, Rafe.”

He spent several hours working on his laptop, still not coming up with much on Greg Landrum, although he did find that the guy owned a computer software business in a small suburb outside Chicago.

The information was somewhat reassuring. Greg Landrum did exist, but without a picture, he couldn’t be sure that he’d found the right guy. He wanted proof that the man who’d rented a room from Kayla was really Greg Landrum.

When his eyes blurred from the strain of reading his computer, he stretched out on the bed, lightly dozing. The minutes ticked by agonizingly slow.

A soft thud woke him. He levered upward, wide awake. Someone had landed on the wraparound balcony outside. Each of Kayla’s guest rooms had access to the balcony, but he’d figured the intruder would come to the same door he’d pried open before. And he’d guessed right.

Sliding from the bed, he slipped soundlessly over to the door, pressing himself against the wall. He hoped and prayed the guy would come in.

God answered his prayers. Slowly, the patio door eased open. There was no shrill alarm, as he’d purposefully kept the security system off. Rafe held his breath, trying to peer through the darkness.

A figure dressed in black stepped into the room. Rafe waited another beat for the intruder to come in farther so he could grab him. But the figure instantly spun away and Rafe suddenly understood why.

The intruder was wearing night vision goggles and saw that Rafe was in the room.

No! He couldn’t let him get away! Rafe followed after him, barreling through the doorway and across the deck.

Rafe took the same path as the intruder. He leaped up onto the edge of the deck railing and then grabbed the low-hanging tree branch. The bark was rough against his palms as he swung to the ground. He ran after the suspect dodging through the trees. The way the branches slapped him in the face had him wishing for the benefit of night-vision goggles.

With only a sliver of the moon for light to guide him, he ignored the stinging pain as he tore through the darkness. Rafe couldn’t see the intruder but he could hear him as they both wove a zigzag path through the woods. He thought he was only a few feet behind the guy but suddenly, he heard a rumble of a car engine.

No! Rafe burst through a line of trees at the end of Kayla’s property just moments too late. Bright red taillights were disappearing down the highway.

He’d lost him.

Bending over at the waist, he rested his hands on his knees and took a moment to catch his breath. So close. He’d been so close.

But then he stood, his expression grim. One thing was for certain, the average burglar didn’t wear night-vision goggles to break into a house.

And he’d left Kayla and Ellen alone.

He turned and jogged back through the woods, retracing his steps to the bed-and-breakfast. The guy had to be looking for something. But what? Something Kayla had or something someone else had planted? Someone like Schroeder, who’d been there just ten days ago?

Rafe quickened his pace, suddenly anxious to get back.

Whatever the intruder was looking for, he and Kayla needed to find it.

FOUR

Footsteps on the deck had woken Kayla from her light doze. She jumped out of bed and quickly pulled on her robe. She took a moment to peek in on Ellen, who was sleeping, before hurrying out to the great room. Through the large picture window, she saw Rafe disappear into the woods.