Forget Me Not: A Novel (Crossroads Crisis Center) (40 page)

Mark Taylor walked into reception from the alcove by the door. “Mr. Denham can’t help you right now, Paul. He’s being questioned by the FBI, along with Mr. Chessman.”

“What are you talking about, Taylor?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Darla tried to move away. Paul pulled out a knife, grabbed her, and positioned her as a shield, then pushed the tip of the blade against her jugular. “This is not going to happen this way.”

Harvey stepped forward. “Paul, don’t do anything foolish. We can talk through this.”

He laughed hard and deep. “Sure we can, Doc.” Paul inched toward the door, baby step by baby step, the left side of his face seemingly frozen by muscles in lockdown. “Everybody just stay calm and still—don’t move. Darla is leaving with me. Just don’t try to stop us and no one will get hurt.”

Darla put up token resistance, but behind it was genuine fear. Kelly sensed it and slid along the wall, dropped down to her belly, and crawled across the floor, hidden from his view by furniture and partitions. She crawled along the last of the partitions, then pulled the pin on the extinguisher.

Paul stood not three steps on the other side, the entire left side of his face twitching. If Darla moved her head, Paul would see Kelly, and then she had no idea what to expect.

Darla heard her; Kelly saw her stiffen. “Right.”

Paul spun right.

Kelly aimed and discharged the extinguisher, spraying foam directly into his face.

Mark and Ben rushed in. “Get the knife!” Kelly shouted, catching a glimpse of Jeff Meyers.

Ben tackled Johnson. He went down clutching his jaw, then stilled—and stayed still, as if he couldn’t move, and a distant haze clouded his eyes.

Kelly stared down at him. Had he blanked out? What?

Ben noticed it too. “Harvey, Lisa—something’s wrong with him.”

Darla inched back and then tried to run.

Jeff Meyers intercepted her with little physical effort. She heaped curses on his head, but her verbal abuse seemed to roll right off him. He sent a relieved look at Kelly. “I’m glad you’re all right, but if you ever pull a stunt like running in here on your own again, so help me, I’ll arrest you for nearly giving us all heart attacks.”

“It wasn’t one of my finest moments,” she admitted. “But there were extenuating circumstances.”

“Not enough of them to keep you out of jail.”

Kelly smiled. “Yes sir.”

Mel let out a heartfelt sigh. “Whoa.”

Lisa was stooped near Paul Johnson, checking him out. “He’ll be fine.”

Mel told Kelly, “He has a history. When he gets acute anxiety, he zones out. It’s a self-preservation thing. Dr. Talbot explained it to me one time—using different words, but that’s what he meant.”

“Ah.” Kelly rubbed her forehead.

“You okay, Lisa?” Mark asked from beside her.

How had Kelly missed that tenderness in his eyes when he looked at Lisa?

“I’m glad you’re here.” She glanced up at him. “Next time, don’t wait so long, though, okay?”

“I’ll make a note of it.”

Kelly looked at Peggy. There was a definite twinkle in her eye.

“I’m seeing Cupid getting a fix on them,” Mel whispered to Kelly.

She agreed but didn’t say so.

“Mel, can you get an ambulance?” Lisa said. “Mr. Johnson’s going to require transport.”

Jeff had Darla cornered. “Mark, I need a hand.”

“Sure.” He walked over. “Ben, run a quick check in the back, will you? Make sure neither of these two left us any
gifts
back there.”

Ben double-timed it down the hall.

“Watch that one while I get some backup to escort Mr. Johnson to the hospital.”

Ben came running through from the back of the building, took in what was happening, and went straight to Kelly. “Everyone okay?”

“Fine.” She smiled. “Glad you avoided that knife.”

He dropped a kiss to her temple. “So am I.”

“You can’t arrest me,” Darla spat at Mark.

“I’m not.” He nodded toward Jeff. “Meyers is.”

She tried to twist free of Mark’s hold. “He can’t either. I am the mayor’s wife. His wife!”

“The mayor is dead, Mrs. Green.” Peggy stepped closer, a still photo in her hand. “So is a man named Richard Massey. Maybe you knew him?” She held up a photo of Massey and Darla in Massey’s office.

Having Paul secured, Jeff turned to Darla. “Well, well. Interesting photo, Mrs. Mayor.” Jeff grunted. “You are coming with me.”

“Whatever for?”

The remnants of humor left the detective’s face. “You’re a person of interest in the death of Richard Massey.”

“No. No. I will not stand for this.”

“Then sit down, because this is where we are and what we have, and you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.” Meyers motioned to Mark. “I could use a little help getting this one into my car. Ambulance should be here for him any moment,” he said, gesturing toward Paul.

Mark and Jeff led Darla out of Crossroads.

Ben watched over Johnson. Minutes later, the EMTs arrived, put Johnson on a stretcher, and took him out. Through the window, Ben saw Jeff Meyers instructing one of his men to escort Johnson to the hospital.

When the ambulance pulled away from the curb, the group inside the center let out a collective sigh, and none was louder or more deeply felt than Kelly’s.

“Glad that’s over.” Lisa frowned. “Reminds me too much of the way things go at my mother’s.”

A wave of regret that Lisa Harper had to live through that crashed over Kelly.

“You can always do something about it.” Peggy looked at Lisa with concern and genuine empathy.

“As soon as I can afford it. Two more months, I’ll have my license and she’ll be out of there,” Lisa added, in a tone that fairly screamed that two months could seem like a lifetime.

That sparked an idea. One for the beach house.

Kelly mulled over the idea on the way back to the cottage and as she went to sleep. It was on her mind the moment she awakened.

Okay, God. I’ve got the message
.

She smiled at the cottage ceiling. There had been no path for Ben and her. But God created one. It was true, what the Bible said. He turns what is meant to harm you to good.

Now, if Peggy and Ben would just cooperate …

As Kelly dressed and prepared to go to the center, she dared to hope God was talking to them too.

“Kelly.” Peggy greeted her from Mel’s desk as she walked in the door. “I’m surprised to see you here this morning.”

“Doris drove me in. She’s parking the car. I need to talk to you. If you have a minute.”

“Sure.”

“I have a plan for the beach house,” she told Peggy, then briefly explained.

“Well,” Peggy said. “Your enthusiasm is contagious. Just what we need around here after some very demanding days.”

“You like the idea?”

“No. No, I don’t.” Peggy looked down, her expression sober, then flashed her a beaming smile. “I love it.”

“Oh, good.” Kelly let out a laugh. “You had me worried there.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

Doris came in, her handbag swinging at her hip, her coffee cup in hand. “Morning, everyone.”

“Hi, Doris,” Peggy said. “She’s got you up early, huh?”

“Just a little.” Doris slid Kelly an indulgent look. “Not that I mind.”

“Morning, Doris. Kelly.” Ben joined them at the front desk. “What are you doing here at this hour? You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

“I was too excited.”

His smile faded. “I guess you’re eager to get back home, huh?”

He sounded desolate but resigned, fueling her hope that this would give them just what they needed: time. “Actually, no.”

His eyes brightened. “No? You’re not eager to get home?”

She shook her head. “I’m glad you came in. I need to talk to you about something.”

“What?”

“I’ve made some plans that will require me to stay here for a while, and I was wondering if I could rent your cottage. I’m already settled in there, and the security puts my mind at ease. Who knows how many more NINA operatives are out there.”

Ben’s smile returned and kicked up several watts. “Of course. Stay as long as you like.” Confusion crossed his face and tugged at his expression. “Um, why are you staying?”

“Because you and I need time, and I have some remodeling to do on Aunt Beth’s beach house.”

“You loved being at that beach house.”

“I did,” she said, surprised he remembered. “Nora and I have been talking about it, and we think it can be put to good use. Peggy agrees.”

He looked from her to Peggy, who nodded, then looked back at Kelly. “Oh?”

Kelly resisted the urge to fidget. “I’m calling it Safe Haven, in Susan’s honor. Maybe it can be a safe haven for someone like Lisa and/or her mother.” Kelly shrugged. “A place to heal.”

“That’s terrific, Kelly.” Ben glanced at Peggy. “Mark will love it.”

“Mark?” Kelly asked.

“He worries about Lisa.”

“Ah.” So Mark definitely had a thing for Lisa. Kelly had suspected it, and Ben had mentioned it, but apparently it was a serious thing that had been going on for some time. Would they end up together? Did Lisa know it? “It’ll be at least a couple of months until the beach house is fit for human habitation. It needs a first-rate security system too.” If things went as she hoped, then Annie and Lisa would be living in it and they wouldn’t have to worry about Dutch bothering them. “Are you sure you’re okay with me being in your cottage for that long?”

“Positive.” He let his gaze linger, studying her face a long time. “Stay as long as you like.”

Such warmth in that look!

“Um, I hate to be abrupt, but could you excuse me for a second? It won’t be long,” Ben said, a hand in his slacks pocket. “But there’s something I have to do, and it can’t wait.”

“Of course.” Kelly watched him go. Maybe she’d been wrong. Maybe things could work out for them after all.

“Give him time,” Peggy whispered to Kelly.

Craning her neck, Kelly glanced at her. “Time for what?”

Peggy dipped her chin and looked at her over the top of her glasses. “Time to realize he’s in love with you, and then time to accept that loving you is not betraying Susan.”

“Do you think he’ll get there, Peggy? Honestly?”

Peggy smiled. “Pray on it.”

Faintly disappointed, Kelly promised, “Oh, but I am.”

“You know how this works.” Doris patted Kelly’s shoulder. “If you’re sure something is what you want, then praise God like you’ve already got it.”

Kelly frowned at Doris. “Does that work without infringing on the free will of people involved?”

Peggy and Doris shared a mischievous look. “What do you think?”

“I think I’m not going to get a straight answer from either of you.” Kelly let them see her frustration, which was only partly feigned.

“You’d be right about that.” Peggy turned to Doris. “How about a refill on your coffee, or a cup of hot chocolate?”

“Love some.” They moved together toward the kitchen.

“Some help you two are.”

Walking by, Harvey chuckled. “I think there’s a point to them not helping you, Kelly.” He caught her snarl and lifted a hand. “Don’t bite. It was just a friendly thought.”

“Harvey,” Mel called out to him. “Emergency Management. Line two.”

“I’m on it.”

Kelly looked around. Everyone had been going full out countless hours, but still sandwiched in life. She loved that about this place.

This was Susan’s dream.

A sense of loss swept over her that Susan hadn’t lived to see it. She would have been so happy, so proud.

Could Kelly ever earn her own place here, living in Ben and Susan’s world? A world that Susan would have survived to experience herself if Kelly hadn’t been on Chessman’s terrace and been mistakenly identified as Susan.

Would Kelly feel as if she were stealing Susan’s future? Always feel like an outsider who shouldn’t be here?

God, if this is my place and Ben is the one You’ve chosen for me, I need a sign. I can’t live my whole life feeling guilty. I know I didn’t kill her or
Christopher, but … You know what I mean and how I feel. Show me if this is my path. I believe it is, but my heart is conflicted. I need Your steady hand. I need to know that I won’t get lost in preserving her dream. Our life can’t be their life with me substituting for her. I need my own life. My own place. And I need to know I’m loved for myself. Can You do that for me, God? Give me a sign?