Page 89 of Threat of Danger
Blood rushed in Jess’s ears. Every muscle in her body drew tight as she shoved the note into her pocket to keep her hands free and ready to fight. Except, there was nobody there.
She desperately scanned the landscape.Oh God. Not Kaylee.Bile rose in her throat.Talkhow? She yanked the note back out. Where the hell was the damn phone number?
But then she caught a shadow at the edge of the woods in the twilight, just a few steps in from the edge of the forest, right below where the crows gathered. She couldn’t see the man’s face. Was he wearing a mask?
The world spun with Jess. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Nausea rolled in her stomach. The note dropped from her hand, and the wind immediately swept it away.
The man stepped back. Then another step and another, until she could no longer see him. The bushes had no leaves yet, but the jumble of branches hid him anyway. At a little past four o’clock in winter, dusk was already dimming the light.
She couldn’t lose sight of him.
“No! Wait!”
Jess ran.
Chapter Twenty-One
DEREK MADE COFFEEand poured himself a cup. He found some soothing lavender tea and steeped some for Zelda, then went to sit with her.
She stared at the black TV screen, rocking herself, still in shock.
“What can I do to help?” he asked as he handed her the steaming mug.
She looked at him as if he was crazy. As if there was no help. She was probably right. But the idea that he could do nothing didn’t sit well with the SEAL in him.
“I talked to my lawyer. She hooked me up with a family lawyer. The family lawyer is flying out from New York first thing in the morning. Her firm has an office in Burlington, so they have people who are licensed to work in the state.”
The lawyer was probably going to cost him half his royalties on the new book, but he didn’t care. He’d gladly give all the money he had to give Kaylee a sense of stability, of family.
“Thank you. Chuck would want Kaylee with us. I was a young single mother when we met, you know,” Zelda said. “Chuck was in his twenties. I was in my thirties. I thought he was so young. Yet more mature than my husband had ever been. Chuck raised himself, with a lot of hard work.”
She began telling stories about the old days, some of which Derek had already heard, and some that were new to him. Half an hour passed before he said, “I wonder how Kaylee is doing.”
He pulled his phone and texted Jess.Everything OK?
She didn’t respond.
He didn’t worry. They were in the sugar shack. If Kaylee was sobbing in Jess’s arms, Jess wouldn’t pick up the phone. They’d come in when they were ready.
Then another half an hour passed, and they still hadn’t returned, so Derek said to Zelda, “I’ll go and check on them.”
“Good.” Zelda stood too. “We all need to eat something. We have to be strong and be there for Kaylee. And she can’t be skipping meals either.”
Zelda was a cook at heart; she healed in her kitchen, with the food she made with her two hands. Making something would help her to feel better.
“I’ll get them.” Derek grabbed his coat and ran out to the sugar shack.
Zak was testing the sugar content, looking up as Derek walked in. “Holding at five percent. Chuck would be happy.” But the guy’s expression was stricken.
Derek paused. “We have to make sure we put a bottle in the coffin with him. Could you make sure we have that ready when the time comes?”
A sad smile popped onto Zak’s face. “Chuck would like that.”
“Jess and Kaylee?”
Zak nodded toward the back door.
Derek walked through. When he didn’t find them on the loading dock, he figured they’d gone over to Chuck’s place. The lights were on. He sent another text.Want me to drive around and get you?
