Standing Guard. Valerie Hansen
in making that happen. What I need to know is, why? Who’s that mad at you, Lindy?”
“Nobody.” She returned to the chair and perched on its edge, leaning her elbows on her knees and cupping her face in her hands.
“Okay,” he drawled, choosing his words carefully, “then who might still have it in for your late husband?”
Her head snapped up. Her jaw dropped. It took several long seconds for her to regain her composure and in that short space of time, Thad saw myriad conflicting emotions. The final one looked a lot like resignation.
“You don’t have to tell me a thing,” Thad said. “But you should confide in someone, preferably somebody in law enforcement. You do see that, don’t you?”
Standing again, she pulled her jacket tighter, folded her arms across her chest and shook her head. “No. Absolutely not.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“Who says I’m afraid?”
“You do. It’s written all over you. And there’s no reason to feel that way when you have an alternative. Talk to the police. Let them help you.”
“I have nothing to say to them. I’ll phone the bank in Atlanta and the other credit card companies, explain the problem, and everything will be fine. You said so yourself.”
“That was before I saw the records.” Thad stood but didn’t try to approach her. He could tell how close she was to the breaking point and didn’t want to do anything that might push her too far. Nevertheless, he felt obliged to try to convince her to be sensible.
He found an empty place for his hip on the edge of the desk and struck a nonchalant pose by perching there. “Look, lady, you’re in big trouble. Somebody has hacked into your accounts and left you destitute. Unless you’re carrying a wad of cash in your purse, you can’t even buy yourself a hamburger right now. Understand?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“The way I see it, you have two choices. You can either report the theft and let the proper authorities step in or you can give up and let the bad guys walk off with your money—not to mention whatever they might also try to charge against your credit in the future.”
He could tell by the way her eyes misted that he had her full attention so he plunged ahead. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t call the cops for you.”
Lindy’s mouth opened. No words came. Thad didn’t need to hear any. The unbridled fear emanating from her reached him all the way across the office and raised the hair on the nape of his neck.
“They threatened you,” he said flatly. “I should have known. What did they say?”
Lindy pressed her lips tightly together, shook her head and averted her gaze.
Thad decided to take the chance of approaching, of gently grasping her shoulders so she’d have no choice but to look at him. When she didn’t jump at his touch or try to slap his face the way he was afraid she might, he took it as a positive sign.
“Look, if you keep their threats to yourself, they win,” Thad said. “Think about it. The only control they have over you is by intimidation. I know you’re a strong woman. You’d have to be to have weathered the trials I’ve heard about.” He paused, intending to censor his next statement, then let it continue unedited. “I’m going to help you whether you like it or not. I feel as if we were meant to meet so I could. Does that make sense?”
“No.” Lindy’s tone was weak, her voice tremulous.
Releasing her and distancing himself, Thad smiled. “It doesn’t to me, either, but that’s how I feel.”
“You don’t want to get mixed up in my troubles.”
“It’s already too late. I promised God a long time ago that if He’d let me live, I’d do all I could to help the helpless for the rest of my life.”
He immediately raised his hands, palms out, as if surrendering. “Don’t get mad. I’m not calling you helpless. I’m just telling you the story the way it happened. My unit was pinned down by sniper fire and I’d taken a bullet in the shoulder. I figure, since I’m standing here having this conversation with you, I need to remember that promise. That’s all.”
“A bullet in the shoulder?” Lindy sighed deeply and released the breath with a visible shudder. “We’ve got more in common than I thought.”
Thad didn’t realize what she’d meant until she took off her jacket, pushed up the softer sleeve of the sweater beneath and revealed a scar that cut a shallow groove across her upper arm.
Thad had seen lots of worse injuries, yet his gut knotted. Someone had hurt this sweet, innocent woman in the past and those same people might now be planning to do her further harm. He was going to see that they—or anyone else—didn’t get away with it.
“What happened?” His voice was gentle even though his fists were clenched.
“The shot that passed through my husband grazed my arm. We were both protecting Danny. Ben died trying to keep us safe.”
“I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
“Most people don’t know the whole story. They’re happy to blame Ben for everything and say he deserved whatever he got. It’s a lot more complicated than that.”
“The men who killed your husband—are they still after you?”
Lindy slowly shook her head. “They can’t be. Two died in the same gunfight and a third was arrested later. The problem is, I didn’t know for sure whether or not there were others who might have it in for us—until last night.”
“Are you positive the men who messed with your credit are from the same gang?”
“No. But I can’t afford to take the chance that they were lying when they threatened me. They mentioned Ben. That was enough.”
“And I suppose they also told you to avoid the police?”
“Yes. They said they’d be back and hurt Danny and me if I reported the break-in. What could I do? I have no way to fight them. I don’t even know who they are.”
Deep in thought, Thad scowled. “Why pick on you? And why now, after so much time has passed? What could they want? Was there a lot of cash in your accounts?”
“A couple thousand, and maybe another four if you add up all the unused credit I thought I had on the cards. It still isn’t much, even with what they managed to steal in cash advances.”
“Right. It doesn’t make sense to go to that trouble.”
Lindy huffed. “Well, at least we agree on something.”
“I have an idea.”
“If it has anything to do with calling the police, forget it.”
“Actually, no,” Thad said. “I still maintain that you’re making a big mistake but I think I see a way for you to get by while we figure this out.”
“We, Kemosabe?”
He was glad to see her starting to smile. His own grin spread as the plan came together in his mind. “See, that’s your problem. You’re going about this like a lone ranger when you need friends. How would you like a job?”
“You can’t afford me.”
“I can’t guarantee long-term employment, but as you can see, I have a desperate need for someone who can organize this office.” His arm passed over the clutter she had barely had time to touch, let alone sort properly. “First, we’ll set up a new bank account for you and tell whoever has been sending monthly checks to deposit them locally instead of in Atlanta.”
Hope shone in her eyes and her smile broadened.
“It’s not