Page 6 of Serial Love

Jack nodded, spoke into his radio and within a few minutes, Luke drove up in his SUV. Bethany settled her grandmother in the passenger seat and opened the back door. Before her foot could step up, she was hoisted from behind by a pair of large hands. Glancing back, she saw Jack right behind her, his hands spanning her waist.

He had her buckled and then rounded the vehicle and entered the back seat as well. The others nodded and headed back to the compound. They knew Jack wanted to see where the women lived and how his perimeter was breached.

“Where to ma’am?” Luke asked.

“Turn left here and we’re the next property over,” Bethany directed.

Jack turned and looked carefully at her. “Are you staying in the rental cabins?”

“No.”

“Do you live there?”

Silence greeted him from his seat partner, but Ann turned around from the front and beamed, “I own Mountville Cabins.”

“Gram,” Bethany said, her voice low in warning. “We don’t need to tell all our business to strangers.”

“Oh, stuff and nonsense,” Ann said. Looking at Jack, she narrowed her eyes. “Do I know you, young man? Idon’t think I’ve seen you around here before and I’ve lived here all my life.”

Jack looked into Ann’s clear eyes, seeing no confusion now. “No ma’am. I’m new here.”

Nodding, Ann smiled. “Thought so. But if you’re going to be courtin’ my Bethany here, then you need to make sure your folks come around for a visit.”

“Gram! He’s not courting me. You got lost and he’s taking us home,” Bethany exclaimed, trying hard not to let the exasperation show in her voice.

“Well, why wouldn’t he be courtin’ you? You’re pretty, nice and a good girl to boot.” Ann looked over at Luke and added, “Unless you’re the one courtin’ her. You know it’s hard to find a good girl nowadays.”

Luke, looking into the rear-view mirror at his boss, tried to hide his smile. “Yes, ma’am. I’m sure. But Jack’ll be good to her.”

Before Jack could respond, Ann speared him with a glare. “Jack? I thought your name was Charlie?” She twisted farther around to look at Bethany and said, “Helen, aren’t you goin’ out with Charlie?”

Bethany leaned her face into her hands, fatigue taking over. When she realized Gram had wandered away from the cabins, she tore through the woods after her. Finding a few pieces of ripped clothing on a barbed wire fence, she knew Gram had slipped through the neighbor’s property line. With her heart in her throat, she raced on ignoring the thorns clawing at her arms. Finally seeing Gram standing in the clearing, her heart did not have a chance to slow down considering thatseven huge men were around Gram, with weapons in their hands.

If the situation were not so dire, she probably would have laughed at the absurdity of it all. Luke’s voice interrupted her thoughts as he asked, “Where to now?”

Lifting her head, she saw they had turned by the wooden signpost with the name Mountville Cabins burned into it. Her grandfather had made that sign when he and his bride first built the facility. Vacationers had been coming to rent the small cabins for over forty years.

“Keep going straight and you can drop us off at the welcome cabin.”

“So, you do own Mountville?” Jack asked.

Bethany sat straighter in the seat, answering, “Yes. Gram owns it. She and Gramps built the cabins when they first got married. She’s been running the business since he died three years ago.”

Luke stopped the SUV in the parking area of the large, two-story cabin with the sign Registration and Welcome Center on the door. Baskets of ferns hung on the porch that spread across the width of the lodge. The small gravel path leading to the front steps was lined with an array of flowers on either side. Jack could tell they were well tended while appearing to be naturally planted at the same time.

Bethany hopped out before Jack could get around to her, but his hand landed on her shoulder as she struggled with the door to assist Gram.

“Let me,” he insisted, moving her gently back.Opening the door, he helped Ann who just beamed at him.

“Oh, Charlie, you’re such a sweetie.”

“Gram, he’s not Charlie,” Bethany said once more, moving up to put her arms around Ann. “Let me get you inside and take care of those cuts.”

As the two women walked to the door, Luke came around the front of the vehicle. Looking at their retreating backs, he said softly, “Well, that was unexpected.”

“Right,” Jack growled. “You get back and work with the others. I want to know how the hell an old woman managed to get through our property line, and we couldn’t get visuals on her.”

“You sticking around?”

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