A Silent Terror (18 page)

Curt spoke it, too, and she remembered how well that turned out. She trusted too easily, too fast. She fell for his charming ways and smooth talk.

All of these thoughts tumbled through her mind with lightning speed. Then Ethan was smiling, satisfaction gleaming. “I think we’ve got our guy.”

“But we still don’t know what he was looking for.”

“True, but I think in time he’ll spill it.”

“What about his family? They’re pretty powerful here in the state.

Won’t they have some influence?”

He took her hand to pull her from the room. She followed, letting him lead her as she watched his face. “They’ ll try. In fact, Gerald’s father already has a call in, but with the evidence against him, plus our eyewitness accounts,” he said, flexing his arm, “not to mention the fact the man sliced me, I’d say we’re pretty good. The father can argue all he wants, but the fact remains, his son’s guilty.”

Relief slowly eased its way through her. She was starting to believe it might finally be over. Life could return to normal. She gazed at the tall man beside her. But would life ever truly be normal? “Was he the man who made the call from the hospital?”

“Looks like it. Same jacket, even with a piece of leather missing from the sleeve. Plus it was the same hat.”

“Ar1d the one who attacked me in the gym?”

“Probably.” A frown caught at his forehead. “Did you smell alcohol on the man from the gym?”

She closed her eyes, not wanting to remember the incident but forcing herself to relive it. Walking into the gym, knowing someone was there, feeling his presence behind her, the breath-snatching fear, the agonizing moment when she thought she was dead. Her heart rate accelerated just thinking about it. She gripped the door handle, tuned all her senses into that moment. The smell of cigarettes, a sweet sickly, smell of…alcohol?

Instead of pondering that thought, she asked, “No, I don’t think it was alcohol. It was more like cologne, a woodsy, yet sweet kind of smell. One I’ve smelled before and didn’t like.” She snapped her fingers. “Chewing tobacco! That’s what it was, I guarantee it.”

“Tobacco?”

“Yes. I’m sure of it. Alonso tried it once upon a time, and it stunk up the place.” She shrugged. “What do you think about calling Mrs.

Luck and asking her about the relationship between her family and the Chambers family? I’m guessing Roland and Gerald’s father were involved in politics together and became friends. And they both had on military uniforms. Maybe they met in the army.”

“And Gerald followed in his father’s footsteps.”

“Yes, all three were in uniform.”

“Makes sense. Do you have the number?”

She grimaced. “Yes, but it’s in my classroom.”

“Want to ride over there and get it?”

“Sure, why not?”

Ethan walked her out to her car and opened the door for her. She climbed in and Ethan walked around to climb in the passenger side. He made only one painful face as he reached up to grab the seat belt.

“Does it hurt that bad?”

He shot her a rueful look. “Kind of like being dipped into a vat of boiling tar.”

“Ack. Sorry.” Definitely painful.

“It’s all right. It’ll pass.”

The flash of Gerald with the knife, charging at Ethan, and the remembered terror. It was all still too fresh. She swallowed hard. The graze of his knuckles sliding down her cheek caught her, and she flicked him a glance. He said, “Don’t think about it.”

She started the car. “It’s hard not to.” The path his knuckles traveled tingled. Her insides shuddered, and she realized she was very attracted to this man. What would happen when this was all over? And it was getting close to being finished…she hoped. She fingered her hearing aid and studied him. Could it be possible he was different? Could he truly accept her as she was? Hearing loss and all.

Could it be possible she’d finally met a man who wouldn’t try to “fix” her?

“Ashley would have liked you.”

His out-of-the-blue comment startled her. She wondered if she’d caught exactly what he’d said. “Excuse me?”

“Ashley.” He gave her a wistful smile. “She would have liked you. A lot.”

“Well…thanks.”

“You’re a lot like her, different in many ways but alike, too.”

“How?” He was letting her in. Opening himself up and allowing her to see the hurting, vulnerable side of him. She remembered their dinner the night before Roland’s funeral, remembered his kindness, his willingness to be honest with her about his feelings. It made her want to reciprocate.

For a moment he didn’t answer, and she wondered if he was having second thoughts about keeping the conversation on this particular topic. Then he took a deep breath, “She was an incredible girl. Had a deep faith in God you wouldn’t expect someone of her age to have.”

“I think I remember her going on a mission trip when she was a

student here.”

A faint smile curved his lips. “Yes, her last one. To a deaf school in Jamaica. She loved it. And came back even more determined to make her mark on her world.” Then he frowned. “That’s why it’s so hard to understand how God…”

“…could let her die?”

His throat bobbed. “Yeah.”

“I don’t know, Ethan. But I think He understands why you would ask that.”

Reaching over, he grasped her hand. “Thanks. I think so, too. I finally had to come to the conclusion that if God is who He says He is, then I have to choose whether I believe it or not. It was a long road, and I can’t fathom the purpose of her death, but…”

“God is faithful and just.”

He squeezed her hand, then pulled away. “Yeah.”

And then there was no more time to delve deeper. And Marianna wasn’t sure what to think.

Arriving at the school, she waved to the weekend security guard and drove through the gate, winding around the campus to reach her building.

Two other cars sat parked on the side of the road, and Marianna’s heart sank when she recognized Misty’ s. Great. Often teachers worked on the weekends, but Marianna hadn’t even thought she’d run into the woman who continued to aggravate her. She glanced at Ethan, his strong presence a comfort.

But not a necessity, she assured herself. She wasn’t compromising her independence by being glad he was with her. Was she? She’d come to rely on him…a lot. A niggling sense of discomfort pierced her. She’d fought long and hard to convince her family she could take care of herself. Even having a deaf mother hadn’t made a difference. The woman had married Marianna’s father right out of high school.

Because Marianna was the first deaf child born, they’d been so protective. Overprotective. Smothering her. Especially Joseph. He’d driven her nuts before she’d finally gotten old enough to stand up for herself. Fortunately, she’d been blessed with a healthy dose of stubbornness that had done her well when it came to dealing with Joseph.

But she didn’t need to be so antsy when it came to Ethan. He was here because she was truly in danger, needed someone to watch out for her. Keep her from harm. He didn’t smother her or make her feel as if she were incompetent. He didn’t try to change her, force her to be someone she wasn’t. He just…watched out for her.

She could live with that.

Using her key, she opened the door and stepped into the building.

It smelled like…school. Crayons, markers, paper, copies, glue, sometimes popcorn and cookies. She smiled. No matter what school she entered, they all had that same educational fragrance, one that Marianna loved.

Ethan once again placed a hand at her back, and once again she shivered at the contact. Would his touch ever grow old? Would she ever not want to be with him? Breathe in his unique scent? Would the anticipation of waiting for him, watching him walk into the room, dwindle over time?

All of these questions flittered through her mind as she walked to

the door of her classroom – and found it already open.

She paused. Ethan moved his hand from her waist to her shoulder turning her to look at him. “Should that door be open?’

Marianna shook her head. “I always lock up when I leave on Friday. Maintenance people come in to clean, but they always leave the door locked when they finish. I don’t know why it would be open. No one knew we were coming up here, so…”

He pulled her back a little, then stepped in front of her. “Let me just take a look.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” she protested, but not too forcefully.

“One way to find out.” He stepped into the room.

Marianna followed in spite of his order to stay put.

And found Misty going through her desk.

Anger flowed and Marianna clenched a fist to keep it in check. The woman looked up with a deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face. Marianna watched her swallow, clearly incapable of speech, her eyes flitting back and forth between the two who’d just walked in on her.

Ethan said nothing and simply looked at Marianna as he stepped

to the side.

And she realized what he was doing.

Since there was nothing life threatening about the situation, he was deferring the handling of it to her. Something flowed through her at that realization. In the blink of an eye she realized she could love this man.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to dwell on that. Instead, she focused on the woman still standing behind the desk. Help me say the right thing, Lord. Show me how to handle this.

Keep your cool, Marianna. Deep breath. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Misty straightened, and an expression appeared that Marianna had never seen cross the woman’s face.

Shame.

Misty dropped her eyes and moved away from the desk. A tear leaked out to trail down her cheek. Then she moved from behind Marianna’s desk and dropped into Josh’s seat. It swallowed her small frame.

Marianna glanced at Ethan. He motioned he was going to step out of the room to give them some privacy. She shook her head. If the woman said something to incriminate herself in any of the problems Marianna had been facing lately, she wanted a witness.

She moved over and placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder.

“What can I do?”

The teacher looked up, all traces of animosity gone. “I’m so sorry for everything.” She gave a little self-mocking laugh. “I guess the old adage about a woman scorned is true.”

Marianna pulled up a chair and faced Misty. Ethan stepped back, but remained in hearing distance. He’d understood why she wanted him to stay.

“You’re talking about Curt, aren’t you?”

Shock filtered through the shame. “How did you find out?”

“I sort of came by the information accidentally. A friend was…researching something for me and asked me if I’d known you two had dated.”

“Yes, we did. For about three years.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize it had been that long.”

“He just wouldn’t commit to marriage, and I’m not getting any younger. So – ” she shrugged “ – I broke up with him, thinking it would send him running back to me. Be a wakeup call, so to speak. Instead, he found someone else.” Tears hovered once again as she looked Marianna in the eye. “You.”

Marianna ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back behind her ears. “And you want him back.”

A hiccupping sob escaped the woman. “Yeah. How dumb is that?”

Real dumb, but Marianna decided to keep that to herself. “Well, we’re not dating anymore.”

“I know, but he refuses to get back together with me, and I just…” Another sigh. “I just took my frustration out on you. I’m really sorry.

Can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course. But why were you going through my desk?” A flush crept up into Misty’ s face. “Curt changed his numbers, and I thought you might have them written down somewhere.”

“Ah.” Marianna reached over and covered the woman’s hand.

“Don’t waste your time on him. You deserve better. Believe me, I know.”

More tears threatened, but Misty managed to hold them back. She said, “So I keep telling myself.”

“Would you like to come to church with me sometime?”

Once again Marianna had managed to shock the poor woman. “What?”

“Sure. What better way to start over. Trust me, you don’t need Curt. He’ll just try to change you into what he thinks you should be instead of…” Marianna snapped her lips shut and glanced at Ethan to see a gleam in his eyes. She’d revealed something very personal, and he hadn’t missed it.

Marianna stood. “I’m glad this happened.”

“You are?”

“Yes. I’m glad I got to see the real you.”

Misty shook her head. “So, you’re not going to report this?”

“No. I believe you when you say you’re sorry. And I hope we can be friends in spite of everything.”

“Oh, thank you!” Misty looked as if she might hug her but withdrew at the last moment and left the classroom.

Marianna looked back at Ethan, who had a strange look on his face. She asked, “What?”

“That was a really nice thing you just did.”

Embarrassed, Marianna shrugged. He asked, “Is that what’s called living your faith?”

She paused and thought a moment, then smiled. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

“Well, I think we can safely assume that Misty is not involved with all your latest problems.”

“I would agree with that.” She went to her desk, pulled open a drawer and found Josh’s file. She rattled off the number to Ethan, who dialed it on his cell phone.

Ethan listened to the ringing, impatient for one of the Lucks to answer. When the voice mail picked up, he winced but left a message, asking Mrs. Luck to call back because he had a question for her.

“No answer.” He clicked the phone shut.

Marianna grimaced. “Well, we can try again later.”

“I’ll keep the number on my phone.” He looked around. “You ready to go?”

“I guess. I need to check in on Alonso and see how he’s doing anyway.”

“Let’s take Gerald’s picture by and see if he can ID the guy as the man who paid him to trash your car.”

Arriving at Marianna’s family home, Ethan ignored the throbbing of his injured arm and the fatigue that dragged at him and found himself once again overwhelmed by the boundless energy of her family. All but her elder brother, Joseph, were gathered in the backyard, playing a game of flag football. Even her mother had on a yellow-and-green jersey with the number zero proudly displayed. Each jersey had the name Santino on the back.