Eye of the Storm

“I think she was talking about you. So that means you told her you were coming.”

“I said I would be coming soon, but I didn’t make the decision to drive here last night until she told me about the poison theory. I didn’t want you to face that, along with everything else, all alone.” And Kirstie had given no hint that she was suspicious of him. Quite the contrary. “She said you were in danger from me?”

A wry smile crossed Megan’s lips as she slid her gaze away from him. “A certain kind of danger.”

He continued to watch her, relaxing enough to enjoy yet another break from the tension. “Ah. I see.” He couldn’t help returning the smile, and he did it in double quantity, though Megan still avoided his gaze. “She’s a perceptive lady. You’ve spoken to her of us then.” He knew she had. Kirstie had alluded to hearing his name mentioned quite a few times over the past year or so.

“Of you. Singular.”

He could tell by the light in Megan’s eyes that she was also enjoying the break in tension, temporary though it may be. “Well, that’s still good. She said you told her how strong I was, that I was an ex-cop.”

“Did you tell her you forced me to take classes to get a license to carry—”

“I did not force you to do that.”

Megan blinked up at him. “I hope you didn’t lie to her. She can see through lies these days, and she does not take kindly to them.”

“I didn’t force you to get the license. I strongly suggested it because of the section of town where we’re located.”

“You threatened me with my life.”

“I did not. I only suggested you might save a life in more ways than—”

He realized too late that he should have let it drop when Megan turned away, shoulders once again drooping, eyes closing in pain.

“Kirstie did share your description of me,” he said, gently resting a hand on her back. “Even I was impressed. I’m a tough, giant blond guy with strikingly beautiful blue eyes, and no woman should be able to resist me.”

Megan turned back. “I did not say that.”

Gerard chuckled. “No, wait. You said I was still a tough cop at heart.”

“Something like that.”

“Kirstie did agree with you that I tend to growl on occasion.”

“Well, here we are on your favorite subject again,” Megan drawled in the Texas twang she’d developed during her time in the town of Southern heat. “You.”

“Ouch.”

He watched the pain ease from around Megan’s eyes again as the discussion lightened. Something inside her was sealed up like a brand-new Deepfreeze. Maybe she truly couldn’t have this conversation with him yet. This argument. This call to return to the scene of the crime and work through the tangle of confusion and pain that left them both with open wounds.

She was needed here now, for Kirstie and Lynley. She finally realized she could help Kirstie. Though she didn’t realize it yet, Gerard too, needed to be here. In time, they’d get through the tangle and set things right again.

THREE

Megan studied Gerard’s profile as he gazed out into the forest. She was caught once again in the gale-force wind that was Gerard Vance, and she felt a desperate need to tell him everything that had happened since they’d last talked. Really talked. As in, sharing their thoughts, debating their gut feelings, even touching souls on occasion.

She’d missed that so much since the world flew apart. Now there was this huge black hole in the universe keeping her from Gerard and Tess and all her friends at the mission, because she couldn’t get past what happened and reconnect with them. She didn’t even have time, right now, to find her way back to sanity here in Jolly Mill because of Kirstie.

“Poison,” she said, drawing Gerard’s gaze back to her. “Drugging of some kind. Do you really think it’s possible? Here in Jolly Mill?” Megan felt the strength of Gerard’s presence encompass the wooden front porch, the yard, possibly even threaten to charm the fluttering and chirping birds from the trees.

“There’s evil everywhere,” he said. “Even here in paradise.”

“When did you first talk to Kirstie?”

“A week and a half ago. I thought I’d give you a little more time, warn you I’d be coming here so you wouldn’t be caught off guard. I left messages for you with Kirstie, and she, of course, recognized my name.”

The teasing lilt in his voice brought a surprising sting of tears to Megan’s eyes. She swallowed. So much had been lost. Not only had that heinous killer destroyed the life of a very pregnant young woman, but he’d destroyed a powerful relationship between two people falling in love…hadn’t he?

“So of course,” Megan said, swallowing again, “charming as Kirstie is, she drew you out, got more information from you about yourself.”

“About us, I think. That’s why she warned you of danger.” Still that hint of a tease in his voice. “Once I told her about how much we valued you at the clinic, she opened up and started to talk about your friendship with Lynley and how much you meant to her.”

Megan narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t start me on any guilt trips.”

“How’s that?”

“She wants me to take her case. She doesn’t believe she has Alzheimer’s.”

“Neither do you,” Gerard said.

Megan held his gaze. How did he read her mind so well? “I referred her to two of the best specialists in the region, and she didn’t want to go to them. She wants me or no one, but she never said a word to me about her suspicions of poison.”

“She knows you’ve been through some kind of trauma, and she’s willing to sacrifice her own health in order to walk on eggshells around you, keep you from being stressed.”

Megan was amazed by how easily she was suddenly coming to tears this morning. “I’m not a specialist.”

“But you are.” Gerard’s footsteps echoed across the porch as he drew closer to Megan. “You specialize in people. As you’ve told me more than once when treating patients at the mission, Alzheimer’s can be a trash-can diagnosis, and people with mental problems aren’t trash.”

Megan winced. He was using her words against her. “Speaking of Kirstie, I got a call about her before you so rudely arrived at my door before daybreak.” She glanced at her watch, then reached into her bag to check her cell phone. Either Lynley hadn’t tried to call or she was in an area without coverage and couldn’t call. “She’s missing.”

“Again?”

Megan nodded. She took a deep breath, and it wasn’t until that breath came back out as steam in the air that she suddenly realized it was chilly. She brushed by Gerard and went down the steps. “I told Lynley I’d check Kirstie out at the clinic.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Megan couldn’t resist a glance back up at Gerard, the firm jawline with an overnight shadow, the sudden cloud of worry in his blue eyes.

What was it about the man that made her feel stronger? Why did she suddenly feel capable of doing whatever she needed to for Kirstie? He gave her strength, and she had longed for that strength these past two weeks—had longed for it so much that she’d even tried to resort to prayer a couple of times. Gerard Vance reflected the strength of the God he served when he wasn’t coming across as the ultimate bossy alpha male.

“If you come with me, the whole town will be talking,” she said.

“Let ‘em talk.”

“Easy for you to say. You don’t have to live here.”

“Then I’ll drive myself and help search.”

Megan scowled at him. “You don’t know what she looks like.”

“Actually, I do. Hazel eyes, heart-shaped face, dimples, wavy blond hair. It is the computer age, you know.”

Megan pushed past a hibiscus as tall as she was. Droplets of dew sprinkled across her face. “We have plenty of people in town who know her and know where to look.”

“No one knows exactly where to look right now or she’d have been found.” Gerard fell into step beside her.

She brushed past moisture-drenched evergreen shrubs to keep from feeling the warmth of him beside her. She’d be dripping by the time she reached the clinic at this rate. But hadn’t she known she would react this way to his presence? It was why she hadn’t returned his calls. Yet how was she supposed to tell him that? Say, “Sorry, Gerard, but I can’t have you around because when you’re near me I can’t think straight”?

“You didn’t take enough time for closure so you’re avoiding me,” he said.

“I don’t need closure. I need time to reverse about three weeks.”

“So do I, but that’s not going to happen. I have to deal with today just as it is. So do you.”

“I can only deal with one thing at a time.”

“Understood. We’ll focus on Kirstie, but first, would you tell me why I didn’t receive a request for a reference from your new employer?”

Megan gritted her teeth and her footsteps slowed. She saw the glint of steel in Gerard’s gaze and braced herself for yet more arguing. Sometimes she felt there was nothing he liked better.

Gerard bit back a grin as he watched Megan’s eyes flash. By now Tess would’ve blown sky-high at his goading. Megan took a lot more from him.

“Alec didn’t need a reference.” Megan’s words were measured, her voice a little lower than usual. “We’ve known each other since kindergarten. This cottage belongs to his family.”

Now they were getting somewhere. Gerard didn’t like it, but at least it was out in the open. “Of course. Small town, no one’s a stranger. Alec Thompson’s his name, right?”

She pushed aside a branch of a juniper tree and allowed it to slap back into his face. “Don’t you dare tell me you called him about me too.”

“Nope, I just studied him.”

She turned a scowl on Gerard, then stepped ahead of him and continued toward her car. “How?”

“Internet. You really should try it sometime.”

“You’re not really a cop anymore, you know.”

“Megan, I didn’t gather the information to hurt the man.”

“So why were you checking him out?”

“The more a person knows, the better his chances of getting a job done.”

She stopped and turned so quickly he almost stumbled over her. “What job?”

“I have to be able to trust the people I work with. I may not be a cop any longer, but I’m still responsible for the safety of a lot of people who don’t have anyplace else to go. Unlike you, I can’t just quit my job and leave.”

Her grimace told him his words had plunged deeply enough to draw blood. Maybe she’d take the bait.

“You’re right.” Her gold-bronze eyes flashed a few sparks of lightning. “I’m nothing like you. Get used to it. I failed, okay?”

He held up a finger. “First of all, I checked Alec Thompson because it’s helpful for me to know that there’s been a layoff at the casket factory owned by the Thompson family, thus the need for new jobs in the area. Knowing that his father apparently abandoned the family and disappeared from the face of the earth when Alec was in high school tells me more about Alec and the Thompson businesses.”

“Why do you need to know that?”

“I need to know who handles the businesses and has the goodwill of the people.” Gerard held up a second finger. “It’s also nice to get to know the kind of people I might be working with, even hiring, if it comes to that, and knowing the kind of employees hired by the company will help with that.” Three fingers. “Medical care and supportive services, and room for expansion, are vital. I have my work cut out for me if this is where I plan to set up shop.”

Some of the fire left her eyes. Megan was always one to see reason, and though she could get cranky and had a sharp tongue when her patients were in danger, she wasn’t one to hold a grudge over the small things. “The casket factory did have a big layoff,” she mused. “I heard it around town.”

“But not from Alec? He didn’t tell you how hard the economy was hitting his pocketbook?” Gerard found it difficult to keep a thread of satisfaction from his voice. Jealousy didn’t become him. Not that he cared.

Alec Thompson had a clean record, had served four years total in the navy and was legally married, but since his wife had lived in California for at least the past year, he was likely living alone. Amazing how public a person’s life became online these days. The man was a handsome devil too, according to Gerard’s sister. Tess had discerning tastes, but the term devil had appealed more to Gerard.

“I read that he also runs the grocery in town,” Gerard said.

“His family owns it but he doesn’t manage it,” Megan said. “So I guess you can’t believe everything you find online, can you?” she taunted. “He took over the family businesses his parents established twenty-five years ago.” Megan opened her car door then turned to look up at Gerard. “His mother is an astute businesswoman, and the clinic was her idea. They’re nice people, Gerard.”

“I have no doubt of that.”

“They aren’t overworking me and I’m being well-reimbursed. Nora’s letting me stay at the cottage for free. Thanks to their generosity, I may be able to pay off my school loans, after all. You’ll like her. You’ll also like Alec, whether you want to or not.”

Tess might. Gerard definitely did not. “I will meet him, I’m sure.”

Megan slid behind the steering wheel of her Neo, but when she reached to close the door, he caught it.

“You’re out here in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “You wanted to be as far from the city as you could get—even as far from Jolly Mill as you could get.”

“I like the country. I always have.” She started the car. The engine still had that slight rattle Gerard had intended to fix for her.

He didn’t release the door. “What you’re doing isn’t healthy, Megan.”

“What I’m doing is helping a friend.” She gave him a pointed look then jerked her head toward the hand that held the door. “Do you mind?”

He didn’t move. “One of the reasons I kept trying to reach you was because tuberculosis has been making a recurrence on the street, and you worked closely with many patients.”

“Yet you didn’t tell Kirstie about that, or call my new boss?”

“I didn’t want another person to do my job for me.”

“I’m not your job.”

The tip of Gerard’s tongue scrubbed at his teeth. “It’s my job to see to the welfare of my employees, and you were my employee when you worked with the patients at the clinic.”

“I get my yearly TB test, I don’t have night sweats, unexplained weight loss or a dry cough—”

“You do need more time off.”

“Make up your mind. A few minutes ago you wanted me to be Kirstie’s physician.”

“One patient. That’s nothing like going back to work at a busy clinic.”

Megan put her hands on the steering wheel. “This isn’t helping.”

“I’m sorry.”

Megan’s cell phone rang, and she stiffened. Gerard could tell she hadn’t calmed down as well as she wanted to pretend she had. She took a breath and reached for the cell.

Gerard watched her expression as she took the call. Instant relief.

“They found Kirstie?” he asked.

Megan irritably motioned for him to shut up. He knew that gesture. She’d used it enough times at the mission.

“We’ll have to check to see if she inhaled any creek water,” Megan said. “Just get her to the clinic and I’ll meet you there.” She flipped the cell shut and reached for the door. “I have to go to Kirstie.”

“I’ll follow you there.”

“Gerard, they’ve found her, and you don’t need to be at the clinic.”

“It’s time I started meeting some of the people, checking out the town. You’re a big girl, you can handle a few rumors, can’t you?”

With a sigh, Megan started the engine and gunned it. “Fine, if you can keep up, but I warn you, I drive the way I always have.”

Gerard chuckled as he watched her burn a doughnut in the leaves and grass and miss his car by half a foot. Had it not occurred to her that he’d already studied the layout of Jolly Mill? He would take his time and enjoy the drive now that he knew Kirstie had been found.

FOUR

Kirstie Marshal no longer held out hope of regaining her dignity anytime soon, especially not in Jolly Mill. She had mud up her nose, silt between her teeth and fish eggs in her hair. When she caught a reflection of herself in the glass entryway to the clinic, a leaf appeared to be sticking out of her right ear—or was that part of her hair? If Lynley’s hands weren’t already trembling so badly she’d barely been able to steer the car to the clinic, Kirstie would have goosed her.

“I can’t believe you’d allow me to appear in public like this,” she muttered, fighting Lynley’s attempts to hold on to her arm from the car to the clinic.

“I want to make sure you’re okay.”

Kirstie pulled away long enough to tug the leaf from her hair. “I’m fine except for the public humiliation.”

“And bloody feet.” Lynley’s serious coal-brown eyes, lustrous from recent tears, narrowed slightly. She blinked as if seeing her mother’s face for the first time. Her hair, dark as twilight, the way Kirstie’s once was, stood out in odd directions, proving she’d plunged from bedclothes to search clothes without a glance in the mirror. No toothbrush had touched those pretty white teeth this morning, that was for sure.

“How did you discover I was gone?” Kirstie didn’t want her kid doing bed checks at thirty-minute intervals.

“Your bedroom door was open and the light was still on. The light woke me up.”

“You fell asleep studying again?”

Lynley nodded. “You sleep with the door closed, not to mention the lights out.”

Kirstie sighed. “Sorry again, sweetie. You’re not old enough to be part of the sandwich generation. You don’t even have kids. And I’m not an old moldy piece of bread.”

“No, you’re not, so stop expecting me to throw you away like one.”

“That isn’t what I’m doing.”

Carmen Delaney, clinic director and a stalwart member of Kirstie’s shrinking band of trusted friends, opened the inner door and held it for them, keys still jingling in her hands. She had her silvery-blond hair pulled straight back from her face in a severe ponytail.

Carmen was the only forty-eight-year-old Kirstie knew who had a face pretty enough—and taut enough—to support such severity. Kirstie knew, however, that Carmen kept that rubber band tight to smooth out the lines that had begun to form. Soon she’d be bald, what with the bleaching and the tugging. Then what would she use to keep those wrinkles stretched?

Oh, that’s right, menopause time. Soon the fat will fill those wrinkled places quite nicely. Poor Carmen was in for the shock of her life anytime now, if she hadn’t already learned something from Kirstie’s and Nora’s shared experiences.

“Kirstie, honey, you gave us all a scare and a half!” Carmen said. “Lynley, how’s she doing?”

“I can answer that question for myself, thank you very much.” Kirstie limped, barefoot and still dripping leaves and mud, onto the smooth wooden floor of the waiting room. “I’m not elderly yet. I can swim, apparently, even when I’m out of my mind.”

“You mean you found a place along Capps Creek deep enough for swimming in this drought?” Carmen asked.

“I found her at the edge of the mill pond,” Lynley said.

Kirstie held her arms out and looked at the mud. “Don’t ask me how it happened. I came to myself up on a cliff somewhere just before the ground gave way.”

“Did you get hurt?” Carmen asked.

“No. I’m fine. It’s just a little blood.”

“We’ll find out as soon as we get her into the exam room,” Lynley said. “I expect Megan’ll come racing up any moment.”

“Why bother Megan for a few cuts and bruises?” Kirstie said the words, feeling like a fraud. She wanted Megan here more than Lynley did, though at the same time, she hesitated to consider dragging Megan into this mess more deeply than she already was. Something was going on with her, and she didn’t seem able to talk about it to her closest friends. Although Megan was one of the strongest and most resilient young women Kirstie had ever known, this kind of pressure might overwhelm even her.

“I could just wander back to an exam room and take a look at these feet myself,” Kirstie said. “Then I can walk home if someone will loan me some shoes.” She knew that would never go over, even if it was only a few blocks away. “Then you can all get to work on the real patients.”

“No real patients for an hour,” Carmen said. “Megan won’t want you walking home. She may even decide to keep you here for observation.”

Kirstie grunted. Not if her plan panned out. Of course, in order for that to happen, one had to remain in one’s right mind.

“She’ll need to see if you inhaled any of that creek water,” Carmen said.

“More likely silt.” Lynley’s voice continued to tremble.

“Oh, sweetie,” Carmen said, wrapping an arm around Lynley—something Kirstie should’ve done. “She’s going to be just fine. This may be just what we need to convince Megan to run some tests of her own.”

“She turned us down, remember?”

Kirstie hated that tremor in her daughter’s voice. “She had her reasons, sweetie.”

“What reason could she possibly have had to turn down—”

“None of our business what the reason is.” Kirstie met Carmen’s gaze of understanding, then patted Lynley’s cold, moist cheek. “But I expect it has something to do with wanting me in more experienced hands. You want someone placing their whole life, their future, all their hopes in your hands when you aren’t a specialist in the field? You want to be responsible for that kind of burden?”

“But you’re not going to either of the other specialists.” Lynley’s voice no longer trembled, but there was a hint of rancor in place of the agitation.

It seemed that ever since Lynley arrived back in Jolly Mill, her emotions had swung from fear to anger to grief. She didn’t know how obvious it was to everyone that she had begun the grieving process. Kirstie wished she could swallow all that pain for her precious daughter, but her own emotions kept getting in the way.

“Don’t tell me you’re blaming Megan for that,” Carmen said. “Honey, if you ask me, our Megan’s barely hanging on as it is. Did you see her face when she caught sight of Forrest the other day?”

“Who?”

“You know, as in Gump. The man with the wild gray hair who walks all over the place.”

“You’re talking about Kendall Ross,” Lynley said. “He looks like a homeless man, but he has a house and three kids and a wife.”

“I know, plus he has three cats and two dogs, but he looks homeless. Smells it too, sometimes, and he talks to himself.”

“So do I,” Kirstie muttered.

“Recovering addict, you know,” Carmen said. “Last I heard he was under house arrest.”

Kirstie fingered her mud-stiff hair.

“Anyway, Megan’s face went white as my refrigerator when he walked past the clinic a couple of days ago,” Carmen continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “That long, bushy, gray hair of his was flying every which way. Megan’s eyes teared up and she had to get to the bathroom quick. If you ask me, our poor Megan worked with the homeless a little too long and her heart just broke. She’s burned out at the age of thirty-two.”

“Wish she wasn’t living alone,” Kirstie said.

“I told her she could stay in my guest room,” Carmen said. “And Nora has that whole huge house to herself and begged Megan to move in with her and keep her company. Nothing doing. The best she could do was give Megan that isolated cabin in the woods.”

“Megan always did love that place,” Lynley said. “She has what she wants.”

Kirstie glanced out the window and saw a bright yellow car flashing through the shadows of trees overhanging the road. Hmm. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad situation, after all. Quite a way behind the yellow Neo came another car, bright red, and Kirstie suppressed a smile. If she wasn’t mistaken, the cavalry had arrived. Thank you, Jesus!

“She’ll have to at least weigh in on your case now, won’t she?” Carmen asked, voicing Kirstie’s thoughts as she stepped up beside her at the window.