The Lawman's Legacy (Love Inspired Suspense) (11 page)

Life in Fitzgerald Bay had a predictable rhythm and an easy flow that he’d always loved. While his high-school peers had talked about heading to big cities after graduation, he’d dreamed of staying exactly where he was, working for the police force, raising a family in the sleepy little fishing town where he’d grown up.

Things had turned out the way he’d wanted.

Except in one area of his life.

There’d been no wedding, no kids, nothing but a series of girlfriends who had been nice enough.

Nice enough wasn’t good enough.

Douglas knew enough about love to know that.

He’d rather be single than settle for anything less than the kind of relationship his parents had had. That’s why he’d backed out of the dating scene, tried to avoid the matchmaking efforts of his friends and family. He’d decided he’d be content with what he had and not keep asking God for something more.

Merry had changed all that. He’d seen her, and he’d known he couldn’t resist her smile, couldn’t deny himself the opportunity to get to know her. Two dates, and he’d wanted so much more. He’d wanted to memorize her smile and her laughter, wanted to know every part of who she was, but she’d turned him away. Despite the way he’d felt, he’d let her, because pushing for something she didn’t want wasn’t his style. No more lunches. No dinners. No more going into the Reading Nook to see if Merry was there.

He’d done what she’d wanted and left her alone.

Now he was going to do what he wanted.

He was going to stick close, keep an eye on Merry and Tyler, keep them safe. And, when it was over and they were out of danger, he was going to do what he should have done from the very beginning. Learn every part of who Merry was.

Including every one of her secrets.

ELEVEN

S
tay.

Go.

Merry wasn’t sure what was right anymore.

What you need is someone you can trust.

That’s what Douglas had said, and he was right.

She
did
need someone to trust, but trusting would mean putting Tyler’s life in someone else’s hands, and she couldn’t do that.

She shoved toys into an oversize duffle, tucked the crackers, cookies and cheese on top of them and zipped the bag.

That was it.

They were ready to go.

She carried the duffle to the front door, set it next to the overnight case, her heart heavy with what she was about to do.

An image of Douglas flashed through her mind. Deep black hair and vivid blue eyes. Compassion and strength and something indefinable, but so compelling, she’d almost told him what he wanted to know.

More than once.

And that scared her.

Even if she could make herself believe that staying in Fitzgerald Bay was safe, she knew that staying around Douglas wasn’t.

The wind howled, carrying in another storm. She needed to get out of town before it hit. The station wagon didn’t do well in snow, and if she didn’t leave soon, she wouldn’t be able to leave until the storm blew over.

That wasn’t an option.

No matter how heavyhearted she felt, no matter how much she’d rather stay, leaving was the only choice.

She hurried into her room, pulled the bankbook, the journal and the cash from their hiding place.

Tyler’s inheritance. All of it. One day, she’d have to tell him the truth about his beginnings. She’d have to tell him about Nicole. When she did, she’d pull out the journal and the bankbook. Until then, she kept them hidden safely away. Hidden like so many other things.

Like the truth.

Merry traced the numbers and letters carved into the front of the journal’s cover. Nicole’s doing, but Merry had never figured out what they meant. Maybe they were a secret message for Tyler. If so, she hoped he would have an easier time deciphering them than she had.

She sighed, dropping the journal and bankbook into her purse, then pulling out cash from the stack of bills and shoving the remainder in her bag. Her emergency fund taken from the money she’d received after her parents’ house had gone to escrow. She kept it close rather than in a bank. Cautious. Careful. Prepared.

But that didn’t mean she wanted to leave.

Hot tears clogged her throat as she scribbled a note on a piece of paper, hurried down to the kitchen to leave it and the cash on the table. A few months’ rent for Ida to make up for leaving unexpectedly.

But they’d been friends, and she was leaving without saying goodbye. Leaving forever with no intention of ever contacting Ida again.

Leaving Fitzgerald Bay was almost more difficult than leaving Boston had been. Almost more difficult than leaving her childhood home, her siblings, the person she used to be. Because, after years of running, she’d finally felt at home, finally felt as if she was safe. That had been a heady feeling.

While it lasted.

But she wasn’t safe anymore.

She walked into Tyler’s room, her pulse racing as she touched his shoulder. “Buddy? Time to get up. We have to go.”

He rolled onto his belly, buried his head deep into the pillow.

“Come on, Ty. Up you go.” She tugged off the covers, tickled his feet.

“Don’t want to.” He whined but sat up, wrapping his arms around Merry’s waist and pressing his head against her stomach.

“It’s going to be fun.” She kept her voice cheerful and bright, hoping to convince herself and him.

“Staying here is fun. Going to Mark’s party is fun.”

“You’ll make new friends.”

“I want my old friends.” He scowled, his dark hair falling down into his eyes.

“You can have new friends
and
old friends.”

“We’re not coming back, though. I want to come back.”

“Maybe we will.” It’s what she’d said every time they left.

“Okay.” His sigh was like an old man’s, and guilt piled upon guilt as she helped him dress, grabbed a few more items of clothing from his dresser and led him down the stairs.

She buttoned his coat, pulled a knit hat over his soft black hair, kissed his cheek. “You’re the best four-year-old boy I know. You know that, Tyler William O’Leary?”

“You’re the best mommy I know. You know that, Mommy?” He threw himself into her arms, and she blinked back tears. This wasn’t what she wanted for her son, leaving a home they both loved in the middle of the night.

It wasn’t what she wanted for herself.

What you need is someone you can trust.

Douglas’s words seemed to hang in the air as she disarmed the alarm and unlocked the door. She’d been asking God for help since she’d fled Boston, begging Him to give her a way out that wouldn’t cost her Tyler. Maybe Douglas was that way. Maybe he was the help she’d been praying for.

Or, maybe he was the beginning of the end.

As soon as he realized she’d fled, he’d try to track her down. She’d have to move quickly to keep a step ahead. Change her name again. Get a new car, new identification. New life.

And, she’d have to change Tyler’s name.

This would be the first time she’d have to tell him that.

How would she explain that to a four-year-old?

Merry stooped to help Tyler with his mittens, pulling them up under his sleeve, her thumb brushing the raised mark, the catalyst that had sent her world into a tailspin. A brand seared into the flesh of a newborn baby.

Please, take him. I’ll follow as soon as I can. If I can’t…you have to keep him safe. Promise me you will.

Nicole had spoken the words through swollen, bleeding lips, her face puffy from tears and swollen from the beating she’d received from Tyrone Rodriguez. Her boyfriend. Tyler’s father.

Merry shoved away the memory. If she dwelled in the past, she couldn’t live in the moment, and living in the moment was the only way to survive.

“Okay, buddy. We’re out of here.”

“Yep. Out of here!” Tyler’s cheerful good humor had returned and he skipped out the door, completely oblivious to the danger that had been hunting him his entire life.

Merry unlocked the station wagon, urged Tyler to hurry into his car seat, her pulse pounding frantically in her ears, the howling wind and frigid air shivering through her.

“Hurry, sweetie.”

She was sure she felt eyes tracking her movements as she tossed the suitcase and duffle into the backseat, hurried around the car and into the driver’s seat.

Her hands shook as she shoved the keys into the ignition, praying desperately that the car would start. Old and fickle, it protested the cold weather, sputtering to life in a series of short, sharp sounds that were sure to bring neighbors to their windows.

Just go!

She stepped on the gas, pulling out of the driveway and onto the street, her hands sweaty on the cold steering wheel, her body humming with nerves.

She had to get out of town, get on the interstate highway, drive and drive until she couldn’t drive anymore. Eventually, she’d find a place to settle again. Eventually, another town would feel like home.

“Where we goin’ this time, Mommy?”

“Somewhere warm?” she suggested, her mouth so dry, her throat so tight the words sounded raspy and harsh.

“Cold. Like this place.”

“Okay. Somewhere cold.” She glanced in her rearview mirror. One last look at the house they’d spent a year living in. One last look, only the house wasn’t the only thing she saw.

A man stood in the middle of the road. Tall. Blond. Very, very thin. Something in his hands. A gun!

A loud pop startled a shriek out of her, and she barely managed to keep the car on the road as it pulled to the left, bumping along the pavement.

A blown tire.

Pop!

Bump.

Pull.

The car shimmied and jerked, and she slammed on the brakes, saw
him
in her rearview mirror. Loping toward the car, long legs eating up the ground, face hidden in shadows, the gun aimed at the back of the station wagon.

No!

Please, God, protect Tyler.

She stepped on the gas pedal with all her strength, the car shooting forward as a third pop dragged it to the right and into a tangle of bushes that lined Old Man Silverman’s yard.

Please, God. Please!

The car stalled there, the old vehicle absolutely refusing to start again.

Please!

She grabbed her cell phone, dialed 9-1-1, Douglas’s words ringing in her ears as she shouted her situation and location, begged the dispatcher to send help quickly.

Don’t leave town.

Stay in the house.

Call if you need me.

“We have patrol cars en route. Stay on the phone, ma’am.” But Merry tossed the phone onto the dashboard, turned to Tyler.

“Listen to me. Unbuckle your seat belt. We’re going to play hide and go seek in the dark just like you’ve always wanted to. When I say run, I want you to open the door and jump right into those big bushes.”

“You hide with me, Mommy!” He’d already gotten out of his seat, and he scrambled into her lap, clung to her the way he had when he’d been a toddler.

The light came on outside the Silverman’s house and the front door opened.

“You’re a brave boy, remember? You’re going to run into those bushes, and then you’re going to hide in every bush you can find all the way to Mr. Silverman’s front door. Mr. Silverman is standing right there.” She glanced in the rearview mirror. A hundred yards away, the figure darted behind a thick oak tree. Gone, but not for good.

She opened the door. “You have to run, okay, Ty?”

“Mommy, no!” Tyler clasped her shoulders, refusing to release his hold.

“Honey, go! Now!” She dragged his hands from her shoulders, nudged him into the thick scratchy shrubs, her heart breaking into a million pieces as he wailed in fear.

All her fault.

If anything happened to Tyler…

She grabbed her purse, jumped out of the station wagon, searching the darkness for signs of the gunman. Lights flashed on the snow-encrusted ground and footsteps pounded behind her.

She turned, swinging the purse blindly, terror fueling her.

“Merry, it’s me, Douglas.” His hands cupped her shoulders.

Douglas.

She looked up into his face. “Thank God!”

“I told you to stay inside. You should have listened,” he growled.

“Tyler. I need to get him.” She tried to move away. Wanted to stop looking up into his angry eyes, but he held her arms, his hands light and warm around her biceps. “He’s at the Silverman’s.”

“I told you not to leave town, Merry.
This
is why. It’s not safe for you to be wandering around without protection.”

He was right. Tyler could have been killed.

One of the bullets could have gone through the back window, slammed into Tyler’s little body.

Douglas walked her to the Silverman’s house and she rang the doorbell, knowing that her need to save her son had nearly cost his life.

Sirens screamed behind her, more police officers arriving as Mr. Silverman opened his door, scowled and gestured for her to enter.

She stepped into the foyer, wincing as Tyler’s piercing cries filled her ears. She followed the sound into a large living room. Tyler sat on the floor, tears streaming down his face. He reached for her as she moved close, his hands grasping and holding as she lifted him.

“It’s okay, sweetie. Everything is okay,” she whispered.

But it wasn’t okay.

She’d tried to run. Failed.

She didn’t think Douglas would give her a chance to try again. Didn’t think she dared try again. Not with danger so close. She buried her face in Tyler’s soft hair, inhaled the scent of baby shampoo and winter.

The problem was, staying meant saying goodbye to everything she’d worked so hard to protect, everything she loved.

She couldn’t do that.

Wouldn’t.

“It’s okay,” she said again, as much to comfort herself as to comfort Tyler, but the words rang hollow in her ears, and all she could do was pray they were true as she listened to the sirens and waited for Douglas to come.