High Desert Hideaway. Jenna Night
of the road. “I mean I’m almost home,” she quickly said into the phone. “I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.” She disconnected.
Nate pulled into the driveway of the house. The porch light was on and a couple of lights burned upstairs. It was in the older part of Copper Mesa, a little run-down-looking, and it backed up to the ravine that meandered through town.
Nate cut the engine and opened his door.
“What are you doing?” Lily asked, getting out.
“I’m walking you to your door.” He got out and came around to meet her.
“Thank you, but I’d rather you didn’t.” She bit her bottom lip for a few seconds. “It’s just that I’ve already put my mom through a lot lately. Seeing you might make her heart stop. Not in a good way,” she added with a slight smile.
Nate looked down at his leather jacket and torn jeans. He ran his hand over his beard. When he’d gotten the green light to leave Phoenix and go home, he’d just jammed. No cleaning up his appearance first, no haircut or shave. “I’ll tell her I’m a deputy sheriff,” he said. “Show her my ID.”
“I realize you think that would be comforting, but it won’t make her feel better. She’ll realize something bad happened if I need a cop to drive me home.”
“Okay.” Nate glanced up and down the street. “Sheriff Wolfsinger will have deputies driving by throughout the night while they’re on patrol. I’ll hang out here until the first one shows up so I can fill him or her in on the details. Let them know one of the guys they’re looking for should have soda can–sized bruises on the side of his face.”
Lily managed a small laugh despite her apparent exhaustion. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Good night.” He watched her turn, walk up the garden path to the front door and step inside the house.
He got back into his truck, pulled out of the driveway, drove around the block and then parked midway down the street, where he had a good view of the house. The chilly, late-autumn wind started to pick up again, shaking leaves and branches around her house near the windows and the front door.
Something caught his eye. Movement by a corner window. He stared at it, trying to determine if it was something to be concerned about, or if it was just a shifting shadow.
Lily’s muscles felt stiff and sore as she walked through the front door of her mom’s house. She’d experienced nearly every emotion possible over the last few hours, as well as the physical reactions that went with each one. No wonder she felt like she’d just gone a couple of rounds with a three-hundred-pound prizefighter.
The chilly fall wind loosened wisps of hair from her ponytail, and brushed the skin around her face like itchy, impatient fingers. She smoothed her disheveled hair as she walked through the small entryway in the house. The kitchen, which was to the left, had a dining area with room for a small round table, two chairs and not much else. The living room was to the right, with its comfy, well-worn and unmatched furniture.
The curtains in the window on the far side of the living room twitched.
A furry snout pushed through the spot where the two pieces of fabric met. Another snout poked through beside it and then wagging tails batted the fabric back and forth. Two miniature dachshunds jumped down from the windowsill. Abby and Beatrice. Their dark eyes shone with light that spilled into the living room from the kitchen.
“Hi, girls!” Lily kneeled to let the little pooches kiss her.
She was finally home. And Deputy Nate Bedford had helped her get here. That was still hard to believe. Her entire experience tonight was hard to believe.
Abby and Beatrice whined joyfully. “I’m happy to see you, too.” Lily picked them up for a squeeze and gave them each a kiss on the head before setting them back down.
Once the dogs were settled, Lily took a minute to take a breath and compose herself before going upstairs to tell her mom what had happened at the Starlight Mart.
Kate Doyle had worked very hard at multiple jobs over the years while Lily was growing up, providing for the two of them and keeping a roof over their heads. The memory had made Lily’s failure and subsequent return home from college all the more bitter.
She was supposed to have made something of herself by finally earning her degree after numerous delays. The plan had been to get a well-paying job and pay her mom back for all her sacrifices over the years. Kick a little extra money her mom’s way so she could take a break and put her feet up now and then. Not that her mom had ever asked for such a thing.
It was Lily’s goal to make her mom’s life easier and she had failed. By moving back home, she’d added to her mom’s burdens. She’d been forced to leave college just a couple of months ago, and now she had to tell her mom she’d been held hostage and nearly killed.
She was tempted not to tell her mom about what had happened to keep her from worrying. But Kate was a social butterfly—definitely not an attribute Lily had inherited—and somehow she would find out. Might as well get it over with.
Lily walked through the shadowy living room and up the narrow stairs. “Come on, girls!”
Abby and Beatrice bolted past her, their ears flapping like proud wiener-dog flags as they led the way.
Her mom had a sitting room next to her bedroom. It was really just a small bedroom, but she’d put in a sofa, a comfy chair and a TV.
Lily hesitated when she reached the top of the stairs, trying to decide if she should ease into the details of what had happened or just blurt it out.
The dogs ran ahead of her down the hall and into the sitting room. Over the sound of the TV, Lily heard her mom say, “What have you two girls been up to?”
“I’m home,” Lily called out, trying to sound upbeat as she walked down the hall.
Her mom was stretched out on the sofa, a hand-crocheted multicolored afghan pulled up to her chin. She had to feel terrible. It took a lot to keep Kate Doyle down. A tissue box sat within reach on an end table. A few foil-wrapped chocolates trailed along the arm of the couch.
“Hi, honey, you’re home late.” Her mom sat up. She started to brush her hair away from her face and then suddenly froze. “What happened?”
Lily caught her reflection in a wall mirror. Tear-smeared mascara had left dark circles around her eyes. Her blouse was rumpled and dirt covered the bottom of her slacks where she’d crawled across the floor. She had a bruise and some small cuts on her face.
How could she not have noticed that earlier?
She walked to a chair and sat down, smoothing her hair and straightening her blouse. In this warm, safe, cozy room where Lily could finally let her guard down, the icy terror that came from having a gun shoved into her neck wormed its way back into her consciousness. Her hands started to tremble.
“The good news is I’m okay,” Lily said, her voice a little shaky.
Kate turned off the TV, swung her legs around so her feet were on the floor and dropped the remote onto the couch cushion beside her. “Why wouldn’t you be okay?”
In a wavering voice Lily told her mom what had happened, everything from overhearing the conversation at work to Nate Bedford seeing her home.
“Well, you’re not going back to work at that trucking company.” Her mom crossed her arms over her chest.
Not exactly the comforting response Lily had hoped for, but Kate typically turned practical when she was upset. Lily stood up, walked over and sat next to her mom on the sofa. Kate put an arm around her and pulled her close.
“So, Nate Bedford, huh?” her mom said after they’d sat together in silence