Firefly Run (3 page)

"You shouldn’t care what anyone says. You ought to care about your life."

"You might not believe this, but the thought that Eddie Victor might be coming here scares me to death. Sure, I’d feel safer if you were sleeping on my couch, but there’s no guarantee he’ll ever come near Bobcat Ridge. I have to live here after you leave. I have to think about things like my parents’ reputation, how what I do affects the business. We bill ourselves as a good, clean family destination."

"That’s so old-fashioned."

"You’re in the Appalachians now. Things are a little bit slower here than Dallas. But that’s part of its charm."

"If you say so."

She resumed her course toward the nearest guest cabin, part of her wishing she didn’t have to worry about appearances and he could stay with her. Then again, another part was glad she had an excuse to keep him at a distance. That warmth wasn’t going away. Maybe she was coming down with something. What horrible timing. She glanced at what moments before had seemed like a short distance between her cabin and what would be his. Even with him nearby, she doubted she’d be able to sleep well, if at all. How long could the human body go without sleep before it began to shut down?

"Shelly, people will understand if they know about the danger."

"I don’t want to scare everyone, especially when Eddie might not even leave Texas. Everyone has finally stopped looking at me with pity in their eyes. I’d rather not remind them of what brought me back here."

"It’s going to be on the news. It’s too big a story not to be. All your neighbors will know about it by nightfall."

She stopped and sighed, already dreading the flood of phone calls she was sure to receive when the word got out. "Probably. Which means even more people will be stopping by. This is close enough, Reed. For now at least. If we get evidence that Eddie really is coming here, we’ll deal with it then, okay?"

"Fine." The way he bit out the word told her it wasn’t fine at all.

Reed followed her as she walked the rest of the way to the cabin, but she could feel the gears turning in his head, trying to figure out how to bend her to his will. Like he’d said, she’d always been stubborn, and living through the most torturous kind of hell had made her even stronger. Not to say she didn’t have her weak moments, but she figured she could hold her own against an equally stubborn Texas lawman.

She unlocked the door, and he followed her inside.

"Here you go, your very own vacation cottage with an awe-inspiring view of the famous Firefly Run of the Little River."

He dropped his bag on the bed. "You sound like a travel brochure."

"Did it make you want to visit?"

He shrugged. "I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t vacation much."

"Thanks for the ringing endorsement. Remind me not to quote you in my next ad campaign."

A twinge of sadness pulled on her heart when he didn’t even try to smile. Where was the man who used to tease her and laugh at her way with words? Had Eddie Victor killed him, too? Left the body but killed the soul?

Her eyes threatened to tear, but she shook it off. "Well, impressed or not, this is your temporary abode. Try to like it. It’s normally a hundred fifty dollars a night." She watched him as he scanned the small space, his gaze pausing at the windows and the door to the bathroom, likely assessing the quickest escape routes. "Listen, Reed. I’m not so stubborn that I won’t ask for help if I need it." She nodded toward the phone on the nightstand. "If I need you, I’ll call."

His gaze locked with hers, and something about it made her want to pull him into her arms.

"Well, I have work to do. Feel free to look around," she said, suddenly needing to put some distance between herself and Reed and breathe some air he wasn’t invading.

She hurried out the front door and toward the office. Once she opened the screen door to the office, however, she wished she could flee anywhere else. Chris stood at the side window staring at the cottage now occupied by Reed.

"Are you all right?" he asked as he turned toward her, hesitant to take his eyes off the guest cabin.

"Yes. Reed’s just surly at the moment."

"What’s going on?"

Shelly wondered how much she should tell him. An image of Eddie shooting Chris as casually as he had Troy twisted her insides. She had to tell him the truth. If Eddie showed up, Chris was as likely to encounter him as Reed or she were.

Oh Lord, maybe Reed was right. Maybe she should close down and protect all the innocent people like Chris and her guests. She pressed the heel of her hand against her pounding forehead. No, she couldn’t jump to conclusions. She understood why Reed would want to take every precaution when it came to Eddie Victor, but what if he was wrong? What if she did what he asked and Eddie never showed up? How would her family support themselves if she ruined the business based on a what-if?

"Grab a couple of Cokes and come out on the porch."

She perched herself on the porch swing. Chris followed and handed her a soda. He leaned against the porch support.

She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "Reed was Troy’s partner in the detective division. Right before Troy was killed, they’d arrested one of the bigger drug dealers in town, and the guy’s brother decided to get Troy back."

She stopped for a moment, looked down, and swallowed hard past the lump in her throat. God, it was like she was standing on those church steps again, like all those months of trying to heal had been erased. Chris might know most of this already, but she had to say it out loud to make it real, to convince herself it was more than just a bad dream.

"The brother drove by and shot Troy just as we were walking down the steps in front of the church." She slipped her hands beneath her legs to keep them from trembling. "I identified the shooter at trial, and he went to death row. At least, he was there until this morning."

"He escaped?"

Shelly shook her head. "No. If he had, Reed probably wouldn’t be so worried. Chances are he wouldn’t get out of Texas. But now the guy can go anywhere he wants to. Seems some other officers planted evidence, and the conviction’s been thrown out. His name is Eddie Victor, and Reed thinks there’s a chance he might come here to try to get revenge for my part in sending him to death row. Part of me doubts that, but just in case I want you to be extremely careful. If you see anyone suspicious, call the sheriff’s department and don’t get anywhere near the guy. He’s dangerous."

"Jesus. That’s why he’s here, to protect you?"

"Yeah. And it’ll probably be on the news. People will be calling, neighbors, possibly some media." A chill ran down her spine at the memory of all the reporters who refused to leave her alone during the trial. Vultures feeding on someone else’s misery. "Just tell them I’m okay if they’re neighbors, that I have no comment if it’s reporters. But I don’t want anyone calling my family. Don’t tell anyone where Mom and Dad are. They don’t need to know this right now."

Chris stood abruptly and moved to the edge of the porch, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She couldn’t blame him. She still couldn’t quite believe it herself.

"Have you called the sheriff’s department?"

"No."

"I’ll call them."

"No. There’s nothing to report. Eddie’s a free man in the eyes of the law. He can go where he wants to." That he could walk right up to her without consequence chilled her blood.

Chris looked at her with disbelief, as if she were a bit daft. "They need to be on the lookout for this guy in case he shows up. If he comes here, I don’t think it’s going to be for any good reason."

"Reed will no doubt contact them if he thinks it’s necessary. And if they show his picture on the news like I think they will, everyone will see it. If he shows up anywhere near here, someone will see him and sound the alarm." She hoped it was in time, before he could cause any more loss of life.

Chris fidgeted, shoved his hands in the pockets of his shorts then pulled them out again. "There has to be something I can do," he said, staring at the surrounding forest much as she had earlier, as if the devil himself was hidden behind one of the thick tree trunks.

"Leave, and convince her to go, too."

They both jumped at Reed’s unexpected response. He’d quietly stationed himself at the edge of the porch, his arms crossed and determination tightening his features. Shelly’s heart hammered against her chest.

Chris stood taller and stared Reed straight in the eye. "I’m not going to run like a scared rabbit."

"Eddie Victor won’t care if you run or not. You’ll be just as dead if you get in his way."

Despite his attempt to stand firm in the face of Reed’s frankness and intensity, the blood drained from Chris’s face.

Reed’s gaze locked with hers. There was no mistaking his intent. She might have maneuvered him to a guest cabin, but he fully intended to call the shots from now on.

A shape rushed from the edge of the forest, making them jerk their heads in that direction. Shelly’s already thundering heart vaulted into her throat. It continued to pound even after she identified the shape as one of the children of her newest guests. She prayed Reed was wrong, that Eddie was toasting his good fortune in Tijuana. So many decisions, possibly life and death ones, and she had so little brainpower left today to make them.

She glanced at Reed and noticed him slipping the T-shirt he’d changed into back over the gun in his waistband. The sight of the weapon made the seriousness of their situation more real.

His backing down about her closing up shop had only been temporary. She knew he was just doing his job, being the unyielding cop, but she didn’t need any more badgering after the emotional day she’d had.

"He’s right," Chris said. "You should get away from here, Shelly. This Eddie Victor probably knows how to find you if you stay."

"Don’t you start in on me, too. I’m no fool. I’ll take every precaution, monitor the situation. But until I have more proof, it’s business as usual." Well, as much so as it could be with her looking over her shoulder every two seconds, which she was sure to do now that the specter of Eddie Victor had been shoved back into her life.

She turned to Reed, daring him to argue further. Tomorrow, she’d be friendly. Today, she’d just about had it. Reed’s jaw ticked, but he said nothing. Instead, he glanced at Chris, then walked down the gravel drive. He looked left, then right, examining the lay of the land.

"He always been so intense?" Chris asked.

"Not this way. He’s really a good man, just under a lot of stress." She watched Reed walk away with his shoulders stretched tight. Despite her frustration, her heart went out to him. And the woman in her appreciated him. Good Lord, she needed to get some rest.

"Like you’re not?"

"Troy was his best friend. They’d known each other since they were little boys."

"But he was your husband."

"Yes, and I loved him dearly. I thought I’d die from missing him, but I had people to help me through the grief. I doubt Reed has ever talked to anyone about that day outside of the testimony he gave at the trial. I can’t see him running to his mama for comfort like I did."

Chris watched as Reed disappeared around a bend in the drive. Shelly suspected he identified with the way men kept their feelings inside, letting pain and anger fester rather than talk about them.

"Do you want to leave, Chris? Eddie Victor is extremely dangerous. I don’t know if he’ll come anywhere near here, but I can’t stand the thought of anything happening to you."

He looked back at her, his facial features strained. "I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I hightailed it."

"It’s because you’re my friend that I want you to consider it. I can’t close the business, not yet, but I can manage without you."

She hated the hurt expression on his face, but Reed’s suggestion had some validity. A young man not even out of college didn’t deserve to be caught in the crossfire of someone else’s fight.

"You might not need me, but I’m staying just the same. I figure three against one is better odds than two against one. I don’t have a gun, but I can get one from my granddad."

Shelly shook her head. "Reed’s got the gun part covered." The thought of carrying a gun herself nauseated her.

"What does this Victor guy look like so I’ll know what to watch for?"

Shelly shuddered when she pictured Eddie, with those cold, hateful eyes boring twin holes in her. She stood, sending the swing swaying back and forth.

"About six feet tall, dark complexion, dark hair and mustache. Snazzy dresser, though if he does come here, I don’t think he’ll be wearing Armani suits. And he’ll probably disguise himself somehow." Shelly exhaled as if doing so would rid her of thoughts of Eddie. "Now, if you’re staying, you’d better start earning your paycheck. We’ll be busy in a few days. Make sure all the tubes are good to go. And the oil needs to be changed in the van."

Chris hesitated, likely still trying to decide on an appropriate response in light of all the information she’d dumped on him in a short amount of time. Finally, he smiled and saluted, trying no doubt to lighten the mood. "Yes, ma’am."

When he disappeared around the edge of the cabin to work on the tubes, she looked down the road but couldn’t spot Reed. A chill ran down her back despite a temperature in the lower eighties.

Damn you, Eddie Victor. I won’t let you do this to me. I won’t let you win.

****

By the time Shelly closed the office for the day and convinced Chris to go home, she was beyond exhausted. She hadn’t been able to do anything right, dropping files, fumbling the phone, and cursing with each of the three paper cuts stinging her fingers. She couldn’t concentrate on the design for the new brochure or the accounting, jumping at every sound and watching out the door for Reed to return from his walk.

She’d been so distracted that she’d barely been able to talk to Callie, one of her friends from Dallas who’d called to check on her after hearing the news about Eddie. Only when she’d called her mother to check on how her father was doing was she able to focus. But the moment she hung up the phone after hearing there was no change, her nerves went on high alert again.