Lawman's Perfect Surrender (22 page)

She reached for the crackers.

Gemma lifted a magazine and shoved it in front of Ford as the clerk ran the crackers through. The container of apple juice fell over onto the test.

“Another star gets divorced,” Ford said, eyeing her peculiarly. He was starting to get suspicious.

His badge caught her attention and she got an idea. Seeing the clerk reach for the test, she touched the badge. His head lowered to look there and then his eyes lifted. As the pregnancy test made its way from the clerk’s hand to the rolling belt, she moved so that Ford moved with her, his back to the counter.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Just reminiscing.” She traced the edges of the badge as the pregnancy test waited for the bagger to pick it up.

Hurry!

“Reminiscing about what?”

“You know.” She stepped closer to him, looking up at him suggestively. “Last night?”

He put his hands on her arms and moved her away from him. “What’s the matter with you?” He glanced back at the clerk, who’d slowed in the process of checking out the items to eye them.

He turned to face the counter. Gemma stopped breathing. The test was at the end of the counter. Ford’s head began to move in that direction. The bagger lifted the test.

It disappeared inside the bag.

Ford hadn’t seen it. Gemma breathed several times.

He glanced at her from under lowered brows. She wiped her forehead and smiled at him.

Now all she had to do was get him out of the kitchen while she unloaded the groceries.

* * *

Alone in the bathroom, Gemma unwrapped the pregnancy test. It had taken a near argument to get Ford to leave the kitchen. He offered to help her unload all the groceries but she’d refused. She’d almost had to yell at him. He hadn’t understood. He didn’t know why she was acting so weird. But he was curious enough to make her wonder if he wasn’t starting to catch on.

Feeling pale and sick with foreboding, she performed the test and waited. When the pink plus sign appeared, a tremor shook her hand as she stared at it.

How would he feel about this? Would he be happy? Was she?

Pregnant.

Oh, dear Lord.

With Ford’s baby.
A feeling of pure euphoria stole over her before doubt chased it away again. How on earth was she going to tell him? She didn’t trust his reaction. But he had to know. Didn’t he? What if she waited a while?

No. Insecurities drove that impulse. Insecurity would keep her from taking the bold act of telling him what he had a right to know. Besides that, he was as much to blame for this as she.

Still, her legs felt shaky as she left the bathroom and made her way downstairs.

Ford was in the kitchen, sitting at the table drinking the new kind of soda she’d piled into the cart.

“It’s pretty good.” He held up the bottle.

Her nervous heartbeat made her swallow hard and catch her breath.

Noticing, he grew alert. “What’s the matter?”

There was no avoiding it now. Gripping the test in her hand, she moved to the table and sat down across from him. Then she just sat there and stared at him.

He watched her, the first signs of uneasiness edging into his gaze.

Words clogged in her throat. Lifting the test, she opened her palm and extended it to him. He looked down, up and back down again.

“I thought you were on the Pill.”

Disappointment plummeted inside her. “You never asked, so how could you know?”

“Women take care of that sort of thing. I thought you did…take care of it, I mean.”

“Well, you thought wrong,” she almost snapped. “Why is it up to the woman to do that?”

“I thought you’d tell me if you were worried about this happening. Most women do.”

“Well, most women don’t divorce an abusive husband! I wasn’t even thinking about being with a man when you came along. This is as much your fault as it is mine!” She was so upset that he wasn’t happy. Those brief seconds of euphoria she had had were obliterated now. He was going to let his fear take over, ruin any chance they had for happiness. If she weren’t pregnant, she’d walk out on him right now.

Knocking brought them both to attention.

Ford stood up and went to the door. After peering through the peephole, he turned to look back at her. “It’s Grayson.”

Samuel? What did he want?

Removing his gun from the holster at his side, Ford checked its readiness and put it back into the holster. Then he opened the door, searching beyond Samuel. He was alone.

“Hello, Ford. I’m here to see Gemma.”

Ford eyed him dubiously.

“May I come in?”

Ford opened the door wider and stepped aside, his movements mocking.

Samuel approached Gemma. “You’re looking well.”

“Thanks. What brings you here?”

“Is there somewhere we can talk?” He glanced back at Ford. “Alone?”

He wanted her alone so he could work his magic on her. “Anything you have to say Ford can hear.”

Fleeting disapproval crossed his eyes. “I noticed you haven’t been attending any seminars and I wanted to make sure you were all right. I strive to provide the community with the best therapy possible. I’m concerned over why I haven’t seen you at the center.”

Make sure she was all right? Therapy? She met Ford’s silent scoff before turning back to him. “I’m fine. Why were you concerned?”

“I thought the seminars were helping you.”

She folded her arms. “The seminars did help me, Samuel. But I don’t need them anymore.”

Samuel looked down at her folded arms briefly. “Are you certain? So soon?”

So soon.
Meaning, he hadn’t had enough time to brainwash her. “I’m certain.”

He studied her, leashed frustration hidden behind the curtain of larger-than-life magnetism and good looks. “Is there something I should know about? Something that didn’t meet with your expectations?”

Ford moved as smoothly as a protective angel around Samuel.

“No. The seminars did help me. Really.” Ford stood beside her now. “I just don’t need them anymore.” As she’d already said.

He smiled, congenial and infectious, presenting a man with selfless benevolence that expertly cloaked his true intent. “I have a special interest in you, Gemma. A woman like you sets a fine example. You’ve been given difficult mental hardships to overcome, but you’ve persevered. You’ve begun to make a new life here, one people can look up to. I would hate to see you endure any more setbacks.”

Wow. The veiled threat was barely discernable. His special interest nauseated her. And she didn’t delude herself that her bracelet turning up at Jed’s crime scene was one of the setbacks he referred to. Would there be more if she didn’t cooperate? Didn’t yield to his ways and become a Devotee?

She glanced over at Ford, who wore a smirk.

“I appreciate all you’ve done, Samuel, and for thinking so highly of me. But you won’t see me at the community center anymore.”

He flashed an accusatory look at Ford. “I encourage you to reconsider.”

“And I encourage you to stop pressuring me.”

Now he had the opportunity to catch her own veiled threat. “Perhaps if you spent some time away from local law enforcement you’d change your mind.”

“Asking Ford to watch over me was the best decision you made. I feel so safe when I’m with him.” She put her arm around him and he put his around her.

The blatant snub brewed anger in Samuel’s gaze. “Very well. Then my worry is eased.” He went to the door with one last look at both of them. “Good day.”

Ford shut the door and faced her.

“I can’t wait to find out what they’ll do next,” she said.

“We need to find who killed Jed and the others before that happens.”

How? Bo had taken the best chance of that when he took the laptop.

They stood in her living room staring at each other. It wasn’t long before the magnitude of their earlier conversation returned.

Ford moved away from her, awkward again. Though he wouldn’t admit he was afraid, fear billowed from him. That’s why he’d claimed to want to wait until he was in his forties to have a family again. Avoidance was his motto. The prospect of fathering another baby terrified him.

His cell phone rang. Another interruption.

Gemma folded her arms again, this time rubbing them. What was she going to do?

“McCall.” He listened, and then, “Excellent. Your timing couldn’t be better. I’m on my way.”

He tucked his phone away.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m going. You’re staying here.”

He was leaving her? “What about Samuel?”

“You’ll be all right.”

Somehow she doubted that. His judgment was fogged by the knowledge that she was pregnant. In the next instant, she realized she didn’t care. If he could abandon her that easily, then she didn’t want him anywhere near her.

“Fine. Go, then. But don’t come back here when you’re finished.”

Stunned, he stared at her. “Gemma, I can’t take you.”

“You could if you wanted to.”

After a long, searching look, her ultimatum slid behind a barrier. Cutting himself off from her, he turned and left, taking her heart with him.

Gemma tipped her head back and breathed through the tears that burned her eyes.
How could he?

How could he walk out on her after learning she was pregnant with their child? So they barely knew each other. They’d created a life together. Would he walk out on that, too?

This couldn’t have gone worse. She’d worried he’d take the news hard, but walking out on her? And right after she’d turned Samuel away. A tear swelled over her lid, tickling her skin on its way down her cheek. She angrily swiped it away.

She wished she could have stayed away from him. Even if she’d thought to go on the Pill or make him wear protection, she wouldn’t have before that first time on the stairs. That had happened without warning. Neither of them could have prevented it. And unfortunately, she was pretty sure that’s when he’d gotten her pregnant.

Gemma swiped another tear away, plopping down on one of her living-room chairs and hanging her head low. She was well on her way to ending up just like her mother. Single and with a lover who couldn’t step up to the plate and be a father.

Chapter 12

F
ord saw the dark Audi following him and took a turn before leaving town. His errand would have to wait. He drove back to Main Street and parked in front of Cold Plains Coffee. Getting out of his SUV, he spotted the Audi parking down the street. Bo got out of the passenger side. The tall and lanky Wade Herrington was driving. What was he doing with Bo?

Entering the coffee shop, he spotted Alan talking urgently to one of Lacy’s workers. He didn’t see Lacy. Alan turned and saw him just as Bo entered the shop with Herrington, thin blond hair combed neatly back and ghostly gray eyes scanning the crowd, lingering on Ford.

Herrington sat down at a table by himself and Bo walked toward Ford. Alan reached him first.

“Have you seen Lacy?” the burly man asked.

“No.” He glanced toward the counter and saw Lacy’s workers talking anxiously amongst themselves, haphazardly serving customers.

“Are you sure? She and Gemma are good friends. Has she heard from her? Is she staying with you?”

Ford couldn’t decide if Alan was worried or angry. Maybe both. He wanted to find Lacy, but why? And why was she suddenly missing? “Why would she be staying at Gemma’s house?”

“Where is she?” Alan demanded.

“What happened? Why are you looking for Lacy?” Ford asked.

“She’s been missing for two days,” Bo said, coming to a stop before them. “Are you sure you don’t know where she went?”

The way he asked said he thought Ford did know. “Neither Gemma nor I have seen her in almost a week. What’d she do? Run away from Grayson?”

Bo scrutinized him for several seconds, and then let the issue drop, putting a copy of today’s Cold Plains newspaper on the table beside them. On the front was a photo of Gemma and Ford coming out of the grocery store. This was the reason he’d followed him here. He didn’t care about Lacy. Neither did Grayson.

Ford read the headline of the local paper: Witness Comes Forth in Jed Johnson Case.

“Something come up?” he queried without reading further.

“David Retting over at the Stillwater stopped by the station yesterday. Turns out he saw Gemma leaving Jed’s room the night of his murder, just before he went in and found the body.”

Ford couldn’t even muster up the motivation to appear surprised. “I take it Grayson accurately predicted what Gemma’s answer would be this morning.” He hadn’t even waited until after his visit to print the article.

They must have been on the way to Gemma’s house when they’d spotted him and followed. What had they intended to do? Arrest her? Maybe they hadn’t anticipated he’d leave her alone. He shouldn’t have. He’d let his emotions make that decision. Finding out she was pregnant had really knocked his sensibilities. He hadn’t expected it. Hadn’t seen it coming. And yet, he should have. Gemma was right about that. This was as much his fault as hers.

“We’d like you to bring her in, Ford,” Bo said.

“Me?”

“If you don’t, we will.”

Is that what they’d been on their way to tell him? Did Grayson want to make him arrest her out of sick pleasure? Retaliation for going against him? He thought he had plenty of evidence against her. He thought Ford would have no choice.

“I’m not going to arrest her.” He loomed over Bo, taller and a little bulkier. “You and I both know she didn’t kill Jed.”

“That’s not how it appears. David Retting claims he saw her.”

“Retting stole Jed’s laptop before calling to report the murder. You remember…the laptop you took from the forensic lab?”

“There was no laptop at the scene.”

“I suppose you also don’t know anything about the forensics technician, either. He saw the recording. Did he identify the killer? Is that why you had him murdered?”

Murmurs spread through the coffee shop.

“Those are some serious allegations, McCall. Can you back them up?”

The technician had been hanged like all the others, but there’d been no baseball bat. If he could link the rope to the other murders, he could very easily back up his allegations. Bo felt untouchable, just like Samuel. Just like the hit man committing murders in the name of health and prosperity. Ford needed them all to sweat a little. Long enough for him to spare Gemma any time in jail, or anything worse they had in store for her.