My Deadly Valentine (13 page)

SIX

A
drenaline pumping, Holly scrambled for her cell phone. The headlights crept closer.

What to do?

Sit there like a paper target?

Run back into the church? Would she have time to unlock the door, get in and get it closed before he could grab her?

With shaking fingers, she punched in 9-1-1.

“What’s your emergency?”

“I…I’m…I…” What did she say? What
was
her emergency? “My truck won’t start. I’m stuck at the Community church on Rosewood Drive.”

“Holly?”

“Trish?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong? You sound terrified.”

“I am.”

The headlights flickered off. No one made any move to exit the car. Thanks to the lone parking lamp stationed to the rear of the vehicle, she could make out the head and shoulders of a figure sitting behind the wheel.

“Sit tight. I’ll have Alex come out and give you a hand.”

Of course. Alex. If she hadn’t been so scared, she would have laughed. Even the dispatcher, a friend who attended the same church as Holly, knew about her and Alex. “There’s a car parked in front of me. He turned his headlights on as I got in my truck. Now they’re off and he’s just sitting there. Stay on the phone with me, okay?”

“Holly, I’m unable to locate Alex at the moment. I’m dispatching a car, all right? I’ll be glad to stay on the phone.”

Holly watched the figure move; the head looked left, then right. What was he doing?

Making sure he didn’t have any witnesses to the crime he was about to commit?
Lord, what do I do? Why didn’t I ask Eli to wait until I could follow behind him?

Because he was scared about his father and she’d pushed him to hurry.

The figure bent over. She couldn’t make out the features. Who was it? The man who’d grabbed her outside the sheriff’s office? The person who’d tried to break in her house? Why didn’t he get out of the car?

“Holly, are you still there?” Trish asked.

“I’m here.”

“What about the car with the headlights? Is it still there?”

“Yes.” She could hear herself panting, the fear making her short of breath. Adrenaline made her hands spasm. “The guy’s just sitting there. This is really creeping me out, Trish.”

“I agree. It’s kind of weird. Just stay put. Joel’s patrolling over near the church. He’s on the way. What is the guy doing?”

“Nothing.” The car door opened. A booted foot landed on the gravel beneath the door. “Wait,” she squeaked, “he’s getting out of his car. Where’s Joel?”

“On his way. I told him it was an emergency. Do you have any kind of weapon on you?”

She wanted to cry. “No. Um…wait.” Leaning over, she ran her hand under the seat. Fingers closed around the tire iron. “I don’t think it’ll do much to stop a bullet, though.”

“Hold on to it.”

Flashing blue lights appeared in the distance, then disappeared as the cruiser rounded a curve. Came back into view.

The person, now in front of his car, paused, focused on the patrol car heading his way.

Then he whirled, climbed back into the car, gunned the engine and sped away.

Holly blinked. Fear slowly ebbed from her. “Joel is here, Trish. Thanks for your help.”

“No problem.” Trish hung up.

By the time Joel pulled into the parking lot, Holly had the trembling somewhat under control.

She hopped out of her truck and met him as he spun up next to her and lowered his window. Before he could speak, she asked, “Did you see a car on your way up here?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Because that’s the guy that was sitting here scaring me.”

“Stay here, I’m going after him.”

He wheeled the cruiser and shot after the man who’d scared her. Not taking any chances on the fact that he might double back, she opened the church, walked in and locked the door behind her.

Then she took watch from the window.

Ten minutes later, headlights once again approached and she tensed, ready to run and find a hiding place. The car passed under the outside light and she realized it was Joel.

Stepping back outside, she waited for him to pull up beside her and roll his window down. He propped an arm on the door. “I didn’t see anyone. Sorry.”

A siren sounded in the distance and Joel got on his radio. After some crackling communication, he turned to her. “That was Alex, he heard what was going on and is headed up here.”

Holly sighed. “Okay, can you figure out what’s wrong with my truck?” She just really wanted to leave.

“Sure.” Joel climbed from his cruiser, flashlight in hand.

Holly popped the hood and he began his investigation. As he worked, she leaned against the front grille beside him. He cleared his throat. “So, what’s the deal with you and Alex?”

“There is no more deal.”

“Huh.”

“What does that mean?”

“Means he’s still got his eye on you.”

Perturbed, she looked at him but he still had his head buried under the hood. “Why do you say that?”

“Because he’s always talking about you.”

“Joel…”

“Seriously. He even talks about the kids you guys are going to have.”

Not good. “Joel, look at me.” He did. “I’m not going to marry Alex, all right? We dated, found out we’re completely incompatible, and have gone our separate ways. Understand?”

Narrowed eyes stared at her from under wild brows. “Sure, if you say so.”

“I say so.”

“I don’t think Alex gets that, though. He asked me just the other day if I thought you were a diamond or a pearl type. Here’s your problem.” He pointed to a cable. “Your battery’s disconnected. Probably shook loose.”

Another patrol car pulled in beside them and Alex got out. “Trouble, Holly?”

Aggravated at his presence, she snapped. “Yes.”

He lifted a brow but didn’t comment on her surliness. Instead, he looked over Joel’s shoulder.

Regret filled her. Smoothing her tone, she said, “I just had that battery put in. It didn’t just shake loose.” While she’d been in the church, someone had been busy working on her battery. The man from the restaurant? The one who’d been hanging around her shop before bashing her in the head with the trash can?

Breathing deeply, she watched Joel hook the cable back up to the battery. “Thanks, Joel, I appreciate you doing this.”

“Anytime, Holly. Want me to follow you home?”

“I’ll do it.” Alex motioned her to her truck.

“No…um…” She looked around. What if the person who’d been here earlier was just waiting for her to leave the church so he could resume his scare tactics? “Well, maybe. If you’re sure it won’t be any trouble.”

“No trouble at all.” Alex opened the door to the truck and gave her a smile. “It’s never any trouble spending time with you, Holly.”

Ignoring the intimate undertone, just plain not in the mood to deal with him, she hopped back into her truck. The engine turned over smooth as silk.

Cable came loose, my eye,
she thought.

She had to admit she was grateful for the escort home. She just hoped no one lurked outside her house tonight. Eli was in Bryson City with his father. It was up to her to take care of things tonight.

She dialed her mother’s number.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Oh, Holly. I was just going to call you. Elva asked me if I’d like to go up to that little bed-and-breakfast in Valle Crucis. I told her I’d ride with her.”

“Do you feel up to that?”

A pause. “Yes. I’m going to try it, anyway. Today was a pretty good day.”

“And you’re leaving now? But it’s after dark.”

“Elva’s daughter is going to drive us.”

“Oh, okay. When will you be back?”

“Sometime tomorrow evening.”

After wishing them a safe trip, she hung up. Actually, her mother getting away might be a good idea. Holly didn’t know exactly how much danger she was really in, but she would be able to concentrate on figuring it out a lot better if she didn’t have to worry about her mother for a few hours.

But she really didn’t want to go home to an empty house.

Alone.

In the dark.

Glancing in the rearview mirror, she could see Alex’s headlights—and wished they belonged to Eli.

And she was mad at herself for wishing it.

Eli looked up to see Holly walking toward him in the hospital waiting room. He blinked, sure she was a mirage his exhausted brain had dredged up just to play a mean trick on him.

She was still there.

He stood. “Holly?”

“Hi, Eli. I came to keep you company. Do you know anything yet?”

“Dad’s with the orthopedic surgeon. They had to take more X-rays so I’m just waiting for them to get back. What are you doing here?”

A tiny lift of her shoulders. “I didn’t feel like going home. I was driving around thinking and thought I’d come see if there was anything I could do.”

Shrewd eyes studied her. “What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, Holly, I was a cop for a lot of years. I can read body language and smell fear a mile away. You’re scared.” He reached out and grasped one of her hands. Fine tremors still shook it. “See?”

She slumped into one of the plastic seats. “Like I said, I didn’t want to go home. My mother decided to go on a little trip and I was afraid…”

“Afraid of what?”

She looked up at him from the corner of her eye. “My truck wouldn’t start after you left.”

He frowned. “What? It was running fine just a couple of hours earlier. There was never any indication something was wrong.”

“That’s because I don’t think anything was.”

She explained the incidents with the headlights and Joel finally arriving to find the disconnected battery cable.

With each word she uttered, Eli felt his blood pressure rise. And the guilt for leaving her behind. He should have made sure she was on her way before taking off. But he’d been so worried about his dad that he’d messed up.

And possibly put Holly in danger because of it. “I’m so sorry, Holly.”

She waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault.”

Eli placed his hands on her shoulder and when she didn’t resist, pulled her close for a gentle hug. His heart thudded at her familiar scent, the coming-home feel of her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head and asked, “Did you see anything at all?”

Without looking up, she said, “I saw somebody. An outline behind the wheel of a car. He positioned himself in a way that kept me from identifying him.” She looped her arms around his waist and sighed.

As right and wonderful as it felt to hold her again, his detective instincts kicked into high gear. “What about the car? Did you recognize it?”

Pulling away, she looked up at him and shook her head. “No, but I didn’t get a good look at it, either. The lights were too bright and when he left, he was in the dark, so I still couldn’t see anything.”

“Sir?”

They looked up. Eli squeezed Holly’s fingers before letting go and reaching to shake the doctor’s hand. Her name tag read Dr. Mary Beth Hill. “Your father’s doing fine. We’ve got him on some pretty strong painkillers so he’s out of it right now, but the X-rays show he didn’t do any more damage to the broken bone. He’s very lucky.”

Relief swept over Eli. “Thank you. When can I take him home?”

“I would say tomorrow. We’re just going to keep him for observation tonight to make sure we haven’t missed anything. If he’s still doing well by lunchtime tomorrow, we’ll discharge him.”

“Great. Thank you so much.”

“No problem.”

Dr. Hill left and Eli turned to Holly. “Guess I’ll be spending the night here tonight.”

She nodded and rose. “Then I’ll see you later.”

“Go on home, boy.” Eli turned to see Buckeye standing in the doorway. “We got those people coming to look at the horses in the morning. Since your daddy is laid up here, it’s going to be up to you to make the sale. My sister lives just up the road a piece. I’ll stay with her tonight and get your dad home tomorrow whenever they spring him.”

“But, Buckeye…” Torn, Eli offered a halfhearted protest. He didn’t want to leave his dad, but he knew they needed the sale. Buckeye didn’t like to handle that end of things and Eli didn’t want to ask him to. “All right. Thanks.” He looked at Holly. “Want me to follow you home?”

Relief at his offer coated her pretty, fragile face. “Sure, if you don’t mind.”

“It’s kind of on the way.” He smiled at her and she reciprocated. His stomach did that funny swooping thing it always did when she looked at him like that. When she let the past go and forgot he’d once acted like a jerk. He really
was
home to stay this time, no matter what she thought. The promotion he’d applied for last month tickled the back of his mind.

Although, if he hadn’t heard anything by now, it was probably a sure bet he wasn’t going to be offered the job.

But what if you are? What will you do then?

He didn’t have an answer for himself.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he motioned for her to go ahead of him, waving goodbye to Buckeye on the way out.

Eli walked her to her car. “I’m parked around the other side. Give me a ride to the other parking lot and I’ll follow you home.”

“Okay. I’m glad your dad didn’t hurt himself any worse.”

“I know.” He shook his head. “He’s so stubborn. Won’t listen to a word I tell him.”

“Hmm. Sounds like someone else I know.”

He shot her a look, guilt pinging him once again. She was right. Ten years ago, even six years ago, he’d known everything. “I’m not like that anymore.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him. “If you say so.”

He got out when she parked next to his car then turned to peer back in at her. “I’m going to prove it to you.”

“How?”

He just looked at her. “I have no idea, but I hope you’ll give me the chance to work on it.”

Eli climbed into his car, mind and heart churning. More than ever he wanted to be back in Holly’s good graces. He couldn’t bear the thought of her pushing him away forever. Even if she decided she couldn’t ever trust him with her heart again and he had to settle for just friendship, he’d start there.

He wondered if Alex felt the same way. Part of Eli sympathized with the man if that was the case, but the other part of him vowed to keep Holly away from him.