Danger on the Mountain

Guilt stabbed Maggie. She should at least have called Shannon and let her know that she and Belle were okay. “No, not hiding out, just living pretty simple. I’m sorry I haven’t called.”

“I’m sorry, too. How’s my Belle?”

Maggie smiled. One thing for sure, Shannon doted on her niece. “She’s fine. Sleeping right now, thank goodness.”

“I want to see her. To see you.”

Did Maggie want that? As much as Shannon loved Belle, she was also the sister of the man who’d liked to use Maggie as a punching bag. And Shannon had adored her brother, refusing to believe anything bad about him. “I...um...”

“Please, Maggie.”

The quiet plea did her in. “Well, I suppose. When would you come?”

“I’m not sure. Let me...check on some things and I’ll call you back.”

“Okay.”

Maggie said goodbye and hung up, her mind spinning, her heart pounding. Shannon had always intimidated Maggie. And Maggie wasn’t even sure that she could explain why if someone asked. The woman just seemed to have it all together. At least the world’s view of “having it all together.” A good job, a nice house and friends who held the same social status.

Social status that Maggie had never had, nor really wanted. And Maggie couldn’t help the feeling that Shannon had looked down on her for being a stay-at-home mother.

Even though that’s what Kent had insisted she do.

He hadn’t wanted her to work, to have any way of being able to support herself. He’d wanted her totally dependent on him. And she’d bought into it for a while. He’d convinced her that he was all she needed. He would take care of her. Something she’d missed since losing each and every family member. But once the abuse started, she knew she had to do something.

She’d had to sneak online classes to keep her teaching certificate current. Though now, thanks to her grandfather, Maggie didn’t have to work unless she wanted to.

Which she did. She loved her job.

Loved helping her students and earning a living that allowed her to provide for herself and Belle. The money her grandfather had left her was there if she needed it. Otherwise, it would go to Belle. Satisfaction filled her. Maggie was so grateful she could leave that money to Belle, so the girl wouldn’t have to scrape and scrounge and work three jobs while trying to go to school. And she’d never have to be dependent on a man to take care of her. Never.

A scratching at her window made her jerk.

Then a surge of anger flowed hot and heavy through her veins.

Enough was enough.

* * *

Reese tossed and turned. At 2:00 a.m., he felt frustrated and tired.

And worried.

Which was why he couldn’t sleep.

After taking care of the situation at Maggie’s, he’d gone back to Holly’s café, ordered the daily special and taken it back to the jail for Pete.

The man looked surprised—and grateful.

Reese felt a twinge of sympathy for the fellow and had a feeling Eli often fed him his only hot meal of the day. He’d interrogated Pete while he wolfed the food down, but Pete had nothing else to add to his previous story.

So now, in the darkness, questions bombarded Reese. Questions about the bank robbery, the man Maggie had seen in her yard and questions about his attraction to a woman with a baby.

He’d promised himself he’d never put his heart on the line again. He’d had his shot at a family and happily-ever-after, and it had been snatched from him when his wife and child had died in childbirth.

So why couldn’t he get the pretty mother out of his mind?

Tossing aside the covers, he padded to the window that overlooked the lake. Peering across, he could see Maggie’s house lit up like a Christmas tree.

Realization hit him.

She was all alone and scared. The nights would be the worst. He knew this from experience. She would play the scene from the bank over and over in her mind, building it up, picturing what could have happened instead of what actually had happened. And she would work herself into a ball of nerves and fear. And with the threat the robber left ringing in the air, she would be jumping at every creak and moan of the house, wondering if the man was back to follow through on his promise.

Without a second’s hesitation, he picked up his phone and dialed Maggie’s number. She might be afraid of the phone ringing at this time of night, but his number and name were programmed in her phone. Once she saw it was him, she would be all right.

“Hello?” Her low, husky voice trembled over him.

“You can’t sleep either?” he asked.

She gave a self-conscious little laugh. “I’m assuming you can see my well-lit house?”

“Reminds me of Christmas.”

A sigh slipped through the line. “No, I fell asleep for a bit, but then started hearing things.”

He frowned. “Hearing things? Like what?”

“Something scraping against my window.” Another little laugh escaped her. One that didn’t hold much humor. “I was angry enough to chew someone up and spit him out. I went flying out the door and no one was there.”

“You did what?” He nearly had a coronary. “Maggie, may I just say that was incredibly stupid?”

“Oh, I know. What was even more stupid was the butcher knife in my hand. I used it cut the branch that was knocking against the window.”

Some of his adrenaline slowed. But he still warned her, “Don’t ever do anything like that again. Not after today.”

She went silent.

He hurried to say, “Not that I have the right to tell you what to do, but—”

“No, you’re right.” This time her voice was soft. “I know you’re right. It was stupid. I just let my fury get the better of me. It’s just that the thought of being a victim again—” She stopped. “I won’t do that again. I promise.”

He felt slightly better. Then frowned as he realized what she’d said. Victim again? Unsettled, he started to ask her about it then stopped. She’d cut off her sentence. He took that to mean she wasn’t ready to talk about it.

Instead, he said, “I tell you what. Since I’m going to be awake for the next few hours, I’ll keep an eye on your place. You can rest easy.”

For a moment she didn’t respond. Then her voice, choked with tears or relief, he couldn’t tell, reached his ear. “I really hate to say okay, but I...would truly appreciate it. That is, if you’re sure you’re not going to be sleeping anyway.”

He let a sad smile curve his lips. “I’m not.”

“Okay, then. I think I’ll try to go to bed.”

“Sweet dreams, Maggie.”

She hung up, and he watched a few of her lights go off. The small manmade lake was probably only half a mile in diameter, but it would only take him about a minute to reach her house by motorcycle or car should he have to do so.

The dark night called to him. Slipping on his heavy coat and a pair of jeans and boots, he walked outside and down to the dock. Sitting there he wondered again at the strange things that had happened to Maggie that day.

And figured he might be losing a lot of sleep in the near future.

* * *

Reese walked into the sheriff’s office a little later than usual Tuesday morning. He’d finally gone to sleep around 5:30 a.m. when he’d noticed Maggie up and moving around, her shadow dancing across the window blinds. The bundle in her arms told him Belle was an early riser.

So here he was at nine o’clock instead of his usual eight o’clock. Fortunately, Eli didn’t require his deputies to punch a clock. They all worked more than forty hours a week and if one of them needed a little flexibility, as long as someone was willing to stay a little longer on shift to cover, Eli was fine with that.

Reese decided he could learn to like that kind of schedule.

Eli looked up and turned from his computer at Reese’s entrance. “You ready to question our prisoner?”

“He lawyer up?”

“Oh, yeah, first chance he got.”

Reese shrugged. “Let’s have at him then.”

“After we take a crack at him, he’ll move up to the larger prison in Bryson City where he’ll wait to see the judge who’ll set bail and all that.”

“Where is he?”

“Talking to his lawyer in the holding cell.” Eli stood and grabbed a ring of keys, which made Reese grin. In Washington, one simply pressed a button and the door opened. They still used keys here. Eli noticed the look. “We don’t have a lot of crime here.” He frowned. “Although, I have to say, it seems to be picking up lately.” Then he shrugged. “But why spend the money to upgrade?” Eli passed him on the way to the back and said, “I’ll get our prisoner and his lawyer and meet you in the interrogation room.”

“Sure. Be there in a minute.”

Reese noticed the brand-new laptop sitting on his desk and smiled. Now that was more like it.

He booted it up and pulled the sheet of paper from his drawer that had his email address and other pertinent information he needed to do his job here in Rose Mountain.

Setting that aside to deal with later, he headed for the interrogation room.

A bald man in his late forties sat next to his client. Eli and the lawyer seemed to know each other and shook hands. Eli said, “This is Mr. Nathan Forsythe.” Reese shook his hand then sat down and crossed his arms. The one thing he really hated about interrogations was giving up his weapon. He felt incomplete without the comforting weight of the gun under his left arm.

Once everyone was settled, the bank robber slouched in his chair, his hard eyes on the table in front of him.

Reese gave him a hard stare. “Hello, Charlie.”

The man didn’t even look up.

Eli said, “We ran your prints through AFIS. Welcome to Rose Mountain, Mr. John C. Berkley. Looks like you have a pretty nice rap sheet here.”

Tension ran through Berkley as he finally lifted his gaze. He drilled Reese with a silent look filled with hate and a cold confidence that made Reese narrow his eyes.

Eli leaned forward. “Now, would you like to tell us who your partners are and where we can find them?”

Without expression, Berkley simply said, “No.”

“Of course not.” Eli nodded. “Well, then, I guess we’ll send you on up to Bryson City. Oh, and I’m going to let it be known that you weren’t just bank robbing, you were going after a baby.”

That got Berkley’s attention. His shoulders straightened and the surly attitude slid off his face. “Wait a minute, that’s not true. You can’t do that.”

Eli shrugged and Reese admired the man’s acting abilities. “I think it is true. What do you think, Reese?”

Reese rubbed his chin as though pondering Eli’s question. “He told her to come with him. She had a baby she wasn’t leaving behind. Yeah, at least attempted kidnapping.” Reese kept his voice casual, as though he didn’t have a care in the world. “Especially since we have someone who witnessed you saying something about ‘The woman is mine.’ Now, which woman were you talking about? There were only three in the bank.”

Berkley’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t believe you, but we can come back to that. I’m real interested in the fact that you didn’t mind putting a child at risk and attempting to kidnap her mother. That might not go over so well in some prisons.”

Berkley fidgeted, and Reese could tell he was working hard to keep himself under control.

Eli pressed the issue. “Lots of guys in prison, especially those with families of their own, don’t take kindly to those who put children in danger—you know what I’m saying?”

A bead of sweat dripped from Berkley’s forehead. He knew.

But he clamped his lips shut and looked at his lawyer, who said, “Don’t say anything. I’ll see what we can do with the judge.” Forsythe nailed Eli and Reese with a glare. “That’s pretty low, Eli.”

“So is trying to rob my town’s bank and kidnap a local resident.” Eli stood and walked to the door.

Reese leaned forward toward Berkley, knuckles resting on the table. “And so is trying to shoot me. That tends to make me a little angry.”

Barkley said nothing, just met Reese stare for stare. Then a slow smile slipped over the man’s face, and he leaned back in his chair.

Reese stood, hoping his contempt for the man was obvious. As he walked toward the door, Berkley gave a low chuckle. “You think you know everything don’t you, Kirkpatrick?”

Reese paused, exchanged a glance with Eli and the silent lawyer. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t mean anything.” He looked at his lawyer. “Get me out of here.”

Reese stepped in front of them. “What do you mean?”

For a moment the man simply stared at him, then sneered, “I mean, your little lady messed up when she decided to mess with our job. She’d better watch her back cuz this ain’t over.”

FOUR

Reese felt his blood boil as he watched Eli escort Berkley from the room. Was the man all talk? Or was there more to this than met the eye? Berkley’s attitude suggested that he knew something they didn’t, and it made Reese’s palms itch. He wanted to watch the bank video, see if anything struck him.

Eli had said it was being sent over. So he’d wait for it.

He dialed Maggie’s number and it went to voice mail. Then he dialed Mitchell’s, the other deputy on duty.

“Mitchell here.”

“This is Reese. What’s your location?”

“I’m just on the edge of town, at the base of the mountain.”

“Will you swing by Maggie Bennett’s place?” He gave him the address. “Just check and make sure everything’s all right?”

“Sure.”

Reese’s stomach rumbled, and he frowned. Although he felt better about sending Mitchell to check on Maggie, he couldn’t help remembering Berkley’s words. “It’s not over yet.” And why would one of the robbers talk about “the woman” being his before the robbery? Had Pete gotten his conversations mixed up? If not, which woman? One of the tellers?

Maggie?

But Maggie’s trip to the bank had been spur of the moment. Hadn’t it?

His stomach sent up hunger signals once again and Reese sighed. He’d grab a quick bite then get back to work. He’d left in a hurry this morning, which meant he hadn’t taken the time to eat breakfast.

Reese headed for the door. “Hey, wait up.” Eli came from the back. “Where you headed?”

“Thought I’d grab a biscuit at the diner. I missed breakfast.”

“You mind if I come along? White’s got the jail covered, and Alice is on the phones.” Alice Colby, the department secretary, was a pleasant woman in her early fifties. She had salt-and-pepper-colored hair and blue eyes that sparkled all the time. Reese liked her. Jason White was the new hire who’d started the same day as Reese. Reese didn’t like him as much as he liked Alice. But the deputy was competent, and Reese knew Eli was glad to have a full staff once again.

“Sure, come on,” he said. “What’s wrong? Holly didn’t feed you this morning?”

Eli grinned. “Not this morning. Holly’s not feeling all that great.”

“Why does that put a smile on your face?”

“She’ll feel better in a few weeks. After the first trimester.”

“First tri— Oh.” Holly was pregnant. A pang shot through him, and grief hit him in the gut. Covering the split-second reaction, Reese cleared his throat. “Ah, well, congratulations.”

The smile slipped from Eli’s face. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Reese forced a lightness into his voice that he didn’t feel.

“It still hits hard, doesn’t it?”

Reese didn’t bother to try to avoid the question. “Yeah. It does. Not as hard as it used to, so time’s helping, but it still hurts.” This time his smile was real. “But I’m happy for you and Holly. That’s great. I hope it’s a girl for her sake, though. Even things out with you males in the family.”

Eli slapped him on the back and gave his shoulder a friendly squeeze. “Me, too. Come on, I’m starving. Let’s eat while we have a chance.”

On the way to the diner, Eli stopped residents of the town and introduced Reese to each one. Friendly faces welcomed him, and Reese felt a small sliver of peace slide into his heart.

Coming to Rose Mountain had been the best choice he’d made in a long time.

“By the way, don’t forget about the church potluck dinner Wednesday night. When I was a bachelor, I looked forward to those things like a kid does Christmas. Best home cooking you’ll find.”

Reese nodded and smiled. “I heard the announcement in church last Sunday.” One thing he’d done as soon as he’d moved to town was find a church. He’d settled into his house on Saturday a week ago and gotten up and gone to church with Eli and Holly and Cal and Abby the next morning.

He wondered if Maggie Bennett would be there.

When he walked into the diner, his eyes landed on the woman his thoughts couldn’t seem to stay away from. Belle sat in her lap, picking Cheerios out of Maggie’s hand and eating them one by one. Like a homing pigeon, he made his way to her, drawn by her deep brown eyes. He was vaguely aware of Eli following along behind. She smiled when she saw him. “Good morning, Reese.”

“Morning. How’d you sleep last night?”

“Pretty well, thanks to you. Knowing you were watching was—well, it made a big difference. Thanks.”

He returned her smile. “It was no problem.”

Eli cleared his throat, and Maggie looked past him to greet the man. “Hi, Eli.”

“Maggie. No classes this morning?”

“Not until 11:00 today. I started on paperwork about 6:00 this morning and decided I had definitely earned a break. So here we are.”

Reese thought about that question he’d wanted to ask her. “Hey, do you go to the bank every Monday?”

She lifted a brow at him. “Yes. Usually. I get paid by electronic deposit on a weekly basis. I go to get my cash for the week and then go to the different places to pay my bills.”

“You don’t use checks? Pay online?”

She shook her head. “No. I do it this way on purpose. It gets me out of the house. I spend many hours online with my job.” She shrugged. “I could do everything online, but I like getting out, visiting with people and...” She flushed. “I know it sounds silly. I just need that personal interaction.”

“It doesn’t sound silly,” he reassured her. He understood what she was saying, and his mind was already clicking through what it meant.

Belle jabbered at Reese and held her arms out to him. He backpedaled, almost knocking Eli over. Maggie jerked and lifted a brow at him. Feeling like a fool, he stammered, “Um, well, I guess we’d better get a table. See you.”

He turned and headed for the table in the far corner, feeling Maggie’s puzzled gaze follow him until he was able to slide into the seat and out of her line of sight.

Eli seated himself on the opposite side and shook his head. “What in the world was that?”

A cold sweat broke across Reese’s brow and he closed his eyes on a groan. “I don’t know. I’m an idiot.”

“Have you talked to anyone about this? Like a professional counselor?”

Eli’s soft question sent darts through Reese’s heart. “Yeah. I did.”

“And?”

“It helped, but...”

“The grief is still there. And it will be for the rest of your life, I know, but...”

Guilt shook him. He opened his eyes and looked straight into Eli’s compassionate gaze. “For Keira, the grief is less sharp. It’s more of a sadness for what could have been, the loss of what we had. I miss her. A lot. And I’m sorry she died. I wish I could change that, but I can’t.” He sighed. “It’s hard to admit it, but I’m ready to move on. To find someone to spend the rest of my life with. But...”

“But?”

“When it comes to babies, I just... It’s hard. I don’t know why it’s so hard.” Frustration at his inability to put his feelings into words washed over him. “It just is. And I need to find a way to move on, to accept the loss and deal with it, but...”

“You lost your wife and daughter, Reese. That’s huge.”

Reese swallowed against the lump in his throat. “I know.” He stirred in his seat, restless with the direction of the conversation. Fortunately, the waitress arrived before he had to contribute further to it.

Then Eli changed the subject. “What was that about? Maggie and her trips to the bank?”

“She has a routine. A routine someone has figured out in her short time here in Rose Mountain.”

Eli nodded, knowledge lighting his eyes. “And they hit the bank at the time she was going to be there. Just as she was every Monday.”

“Coincidence?”

“Maybe.”

“But you don’t think so?”

“I think time will tell. I also think we need to keep a really close eye on her.”

Reese stared at the woman who’d already made such an impression on his heart. “I don’t think I’m going to mind that.” He also wouldn’t mind finding out exactly why the pretty mother came to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

In fact, finding that out might require spending a lot of time with her and getting to know her better.

He couldn’t help the small smile that slipped across his lips.

* * *

Maggie pushed the sippy cup from Belle’s grasping fingers, tired of the “throw it on the floor so Mommy can pick it up” game.

Belle protested with a loud squeal so Maggie stood, trying to juggle the baby, her purse and the diaper bag. Her wallet fell to the floor when it tipped out of her tilted purse.

With Belle on her hip, she squatted, attempting to keep her balance while she retrieved the wallet.

“Let me hold her a minute.”

Maggie looked up to see Mrs. Adler standing behind her. Belle grinned when she saw her.

Grateful for the woman’s intervention, Maggie handed Belle over. While Belle grabbed a handful of Mrs. Adler’s graying shoulder-length hair and tried to get it in her mouth, Maggie picked up her wallet.

When she stood again, she nearly mashed her nose into the uniform-covered broad chest. “Oh!”

Reese’s strong hands came up to grasp her upper arms, and she shivered at the contact. He gave her a crooked smile that didn’t match the look in his eyes. He handed her a dusty pacifier. “This fell out of your purse and bounced almost to my table. Would hate for you to need it and it not be there.”

Maggie took it from him and stepped back to catch her breath. Being so close to him did crazy things to her pulse. She swallowed hard. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He smiled at Mrs. Adler. “Good to see you, ma’am.”

“And you, Deputy Kirkpatrick.”

He smiled. “You can call me Reese.”

Reese returned to his seat, and Maggie tucked the dirty pacifier in her purse to wash later. As Reese settled himself onto the plastic-covered seat, she saw Eli raise a brow at his new hire.

The flush on Reese’s cheeks made her wonder if perhaps she triggered the same crazy feelings in him that he did in her.

While thankful for the return of the pacifier, she still frowned as she watched the two men engage in conversation. Because while Deputy Reese Kirkpatrick seemed to have a soft spot for her, she couldn’t help but notice that when he offered her the pacifier and addressed Mrs. Adler, he never once looked at Belle.

* * *

In the small bedroom that served as her office, Maggie clicked out of her virtual classroom and took her headphones off. She was pleased with the five students who had shown up, and the class had gone well. In fact, all her classes this morning had had lively discussions and productive work. Satisfaction filled her.

Mrs. Adler entertained Belle in the den while Maggie worked. Now that Belle was getting older, Maggie needed someone to help out during her class times and for four hours a day, four days a week, Mrs. Adler was happy to do it. Not only that, the woman liked to cook. She seemed to feel as if it was her personal duty to keep Maggie in casseroles and pies. Maggie didn’t argue with her.

She pictured the food-laden tables she knew would be spread out tomorrow night in the church gym and her stomach growled. The sandwich she’d downed in a hurry a couple of hours ago had worn off. She’d find a snack in a minute. Right now, she had something on her mind and needed to think a bit.