Yuletide Defender. Sandra Robbins
“Then how did you get it?”
Philip gazed down at the ring for a moment before he replied. “My brother died. Since he wasn’t married, he wanted me to have the ring.”
The sadness that flickered in his eyes pricked Rachel’s heart. “I’m sorry. That must have been hard for you. I have a sister and I don’t know what I would do if she was taken from me.”
He smiled and straightened his shoulders. “Then don’t take the time you have with her for granted. You never know what tomorrow will bring.”
Rachel glanced at Matt. His eyebrows drew down across his nose, and she wondered what he was thinking. Philip’s smile wavered as he glanced at Matt. He backed away from Rachel and pulled his cell phone from his pocket.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have a few calls to make. I’ll meet you at the car, Matt.”
With a nod in Rachel’s direction he turned and headed out the door. When he’d disappeared from view, Rachel tilted her head and crossed her arms. “You look tired this morning, Matt. What time did you get home last night?”
He exhaled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I was at the station until three o’clock.”
Rachel stepped closer. “Is there something else wrong? The look you gave me when I was talking with Philip struck me as odd.”
He hesitated a moment before he spoke. “I’ve known you for several months now and you never told me you have a sister. You only met Philip last night and you felt comfortable talking about your family.”
Rachel opened her mouth in surprise and then laughed. “I can’t believe you said that. For your information, Mr. All-Business Policeman, I don’t think we’ve had a personal conversation until last night. I know nothing about you or where you grew up.” She let her gaze drift over him. “I can tell from the expensive clothes you wear that there’s something different about you from any detective I’ve ever known.” She inched forward and lowered her voice. “So, tell me, do you have deep, dark secrets you’re keeping? For all I know, yours could be worse than a sister.”
Matt’s face turned crimson and he stuck his hands in his pockets. “I guess we don’t know much about each other. Maybe we can take care of that when we go out Saturday night.”
She smiled. “I’d like that.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Well, I guess I’d better find Philip. I have a feeling he didn’t have any calls to make and just wanted to give me some time to talk with you. I told him I was taking you out this weekend.”
“And I need to get back to work. See you later.”
Rachel watched Matt walk out of her office before she returned to her desk. She picked up the pen lying on the desktop and tapped it on the surface. Even though she’d joked with Matt about him being different, there was an element of truth to it. It wasn’t just his expensive clothes, but rather the ease with which he wore them.
He’d said their date Saturday night would give them the opportunity to know each other better. She wanted to know more about Matt, but that meant opening up about her background, too. What would he say when he found out about her family? Probably what every other man she’d ever dated said. If so, she’d better enjoy Saturday night because there wouldn’t be a second date.
In high school, the boys she’d grown up with were content to be friends at school, but not one of them had ever asked her on a date. Not even to prom. She’d made all kinds of excuses to her mother to cover her disappointment—there wasn’t anybody she wanted to go with, spending money on a prom dress was ridiculous, she needed to study for finals. But her excuses thudded like a hammer against her hollow heart.
College offered a fresh start with people who didn’t know her. She’d fallen in love for the first time, and it had been perfect. Until she took her boyfriend, Justin, home to meet her family. She had thought he was different, that he would be able to accept her sister Cara and her disabilities, but she’d been wrong.
Cara’s attempts to be friendly with Justin had been met with cold indifference. He wasted no time in telling Rachel that he’d never been comfortable around special-needs individuals and that he wouldn’t have come if he’d realized how bad Cara’s condition was. It came as no surprise when he ended their relationship a week later.
The worst blow had come, however, when she realized he’d warned all the guys he knew to keep their distance. She often wondered what stories he had told about his visit to her home, but she thought it better that she not know. She didn’t need to add more anger to what she already felt over the hurt her mother and sister had suffered. They didn’t deserve it. That experience did, however, confirm one thing for her. Love and marriage didn’t have a place in her future.
The ringing of her telephone interrupted her thoughts and she reached for the receiver. “Rachel Long.”
“I seen the morning paper.”
Rachel’s eyes widened at the sound of the familiar voice. She sat up straight. “You did?”
The man didn’t speak for a moment. “So the vigilante got Terrence. He been with the Rangers a long time. Never met that cop but I heard the brothers talkin’ ’bout him.”
Rachel closed her eyes as the memory of what she’d seen the night before swept over her. “I’ve never seen anyone killed before.”
“So, now you believe me?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then maybe we can help each other.”
Rachel reached for a pen and paper. “Do you have anything else you can tell me?”
“Yeah. Can you meet me again?”
Rachel’s heart raced. “Where?”
“Tonight. Same place, same time. How’s that for you?”
Her fingers tightened around the pen. “I’ll be there.”
“I’ll see you then.”
“Wait,” Rachel cried out. “Let me give you my cell phone number. You might need it sometime.”
She recited the number and waited for a response. “Got it. See you tonight.”
Silence on the other end told her the caller had disconnected. She hung up the phone and sank down in her chair. Her conversation with Matt and Philip replayed in her mind. They wanted her to let them know if her source called again. She reached for the phone, but then she drew her hand back.
Common sense told her she didn’t need to go to this meeting alone, especially after what had happened last night. But the rendezvous time was over twelve hours away. She could decide later what she needed to do. With a sigh she swiveled her chair so she faced the computer. There were a lot of emails, and she wanted to see what the citizens of Lake City thought about a vigilante in their midst.
Three hours later, Rachel pulled on her coat and walked out of her office toward the elevator at the other end of the hall. She’d just pushed the down button when the elevator doors opened and her editor, Cal Belmont, stepped out.
His smile broadened when he saw her. “Good job on your story, Rachel. I’ve had a lot of emails this morning about a vigilante in Lake City.”
“Thanks, Cal.”
A man stepped around Rachel and moved into the elevator. She watched the door close and groaned inwardly. A conversation with her long-winded editor could turn into a lengthy chat, and her stomach was already rumbling the message that it was time for lunch.
Cal’s glasses rested in the mass of gray curls on top of his head. He pulled them off and thumped them on the newspaper he held. “Great job, Rachel. We had the story before anybody. You never did tell me how you got it so fast.”
“I got a tip that something was going down on that street corner. I thought