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As she started down Rattlesnake Hill, the car edged over the double yellow line.
No, he can’t pass me. Not here!
A booming blast from an approaching semi’s air horn forced the car behind her again. Lorie’s heart raced. One more trick like that and he’d shove her off the hill.
Not taking any chances, hands clutching the wheel, Lorie concentrated on getting back onto mostly flat ground. If she could just make it to Cartwright, she could pull into the bank’s parking lot and let this road hog have the whole highway. Unless he wasn’t just a road hog...
Show me what to do, Lord.
Slowing as she wound around the hill bordering the eastern end of Cartwright Valley, Lorie drove into the small village, pleased to note that the car behind her eased off the gas, falling back.
Lorie turned into the bank’s parking lot. As the car started to follow her, the town’s lone black-and-white pulled to a stop at First Street. Lorie’s heart pounded as the Camaro’s driver headed on down the highway. She checked the license plate, but it was covered in an uncharacteristic amount of mud. No way to tell whether it was an Arkansas plate or not.
As the black-and-white settled in to watch for speeders, Lorie waited to let all the after-work traffic pass. After twenty cars and trucks had come down the hill, slowing noticeably as they spotted the police car, Lorie turned back into traffic.
Exhaustion tugged at her. She wasn’t far from the turnoff to Wolf Hollow. Only a few more miles, and she’d be home.
For the rest of the drive, she scrutinized the traffic ahead of her, fearful of spotting her tailgater. When she reached AR Highway 14, she turned onto it without signaling. The small highway was practically empty.
She’d escaped.
Lorie slowly let out her breath. Most likely the driver had just been impatient, and glad to get out from behind her. That must be it. No connection between the tailgater and the missing library note.
If she could manage to convince herself of that, she’d sleep a lot better tonight.
After feeding her menagerie, Lorie debated whether or not she was too shaken to attend prayer meeting at Wolf Hollow Community Church. Everyone would understand if she didn’t show up, knowing how exhausting her job could be. Still, she hated to miss it. Physically, she was well enough to attend, and spiritually, she needed all the help she could get.
Deciding she needed the fellowship more than rest, if she even could relax after being nearly run off the road, Lorie locked the dog and cats securely in the house and headed for the small town she called home.
Few people attended prayer meeting these days, but the ones who did were solid. Of the half dozen couples in attendance, one was her cousins the Tubbys, Tammy and her locksmith husband, Ike, whom Lorie hadn’t been able to reach on the phone the previous day. Tammy pulled out a chair at the table in the fellowship hall. Lorie headed toward them, a human homing pigeon.
Tammy reached over and gave her a hug. “You look like you’ve been through the mill. Rough day at work?”
“Doesn’t even begin to describe it.” Lorie laid her worn Bible on the table and slung her purse onto the back of the chair. She launched into a brief description of the notes, the phone call, the broken window and the unlocked office door that they had firmly locked.
Ike frowned. “That doesn’t sound good, but I can’t say I’m surprised the locks didn’t hold up. Those old locks should have been changed decades ago. Windows, too. A kid with a bobby pin could unlock them. You want me to come by tomorrow and have a look?”
“I was hoping you’d offer.” Lorie leaned back in the uncomfortable blue plastic chair as Pastor Enoch headed for the wireless microphone. Maybe she could relax, after all.
* * *
The next morning, Lorie arrived at work earlier than usual to meet her cousin-by-marriage. She showed him the damage outside then took him inside to the office.
Ike scrutinized the door handle. “It doesn’t look like it was tampered with. Unlike the window, which I got to replace.” His slow drawl sounded like home. The home where she’d forgotten she belonged.
“So how many keys are you gonna want for the office?”
“One.”
“You should at least have two, so you’ll have a spare. What if you lost it?”
“I’d call you.”
Ike grinned. “The lock comes with two keys, anyway.”
“Okay. I guess I can live with that.”
“You know, if you really want security, you should get a different type of door. One without a window in it.” Ike tapped the gold-painted OFFICE with a tan index finger. “Good blow with a hammer on this plain glass and they’d be right in there.”
Lorie shrugged. “Technically it isn’t my door. I’ll have enough explaining to do to the county library board when they find out I authorized the changes.”
Ike set his toolbox down onto the pinewood floor with a resounding clang. “You need somebody to back you up, just give us a call. Tammy and I’ll speak up for you. Now, I’ll get the measurements on the window after I fix the door. Should have it in for you by the end of the day.”
“Thanks, Ike.”
She left him to the work, the whir of his battery-powered drill driver reminding her of the leaf blower that used to stalk her neighborhood in San Diego. That noisy monstrosity was one thing she hadn’t heard a lot of in Dainger County. She hoped that would never change.
The reminder of the place she used to call home turned her stomach to acid. Would she ever again be able to think of her dear city without raw memories of death’s aftermath?
Only God knew.
FIVE (#ulink_df852afd-51a4-5166-9483-0b5384402bae)
Jen arrived a few minutes later. Lorie met her at the door with the rolling book cart.
Tilting her head to one side, Jen scrutinized Lorie. “Something else happen?”
Lorie chuckled. “You should be a detective, not a librarian.”
“Comes with the mom job description.” She headed toward the office, but Lorie put out a hand and stopped her.
“Okay. Tell me.”
“Somebody tried to run me off the road yesterday. I think.”
“What!”
“I’m okay, car’s okay, everything’s okay. Not a scratch on either of us.”
“But what happened?”
“It could’ve been just a tailgater with a death wish. He was way too close for miles, and then he tried to pass me on Rattlesnake Hill. A semi scared him back into his lane. I pulled off near a cop car and waited for him to go. End of story.”
Jen let out a sigh. “I’m glad.”
“Me, too.” Lorie handed off the book cart to Jen.
“Okay, I’m on my way to the hardware store for that window. As for the door, you’re all set.” Ike moseyed back to the circulation desk, rusty red toolbox in one work-hardened hand, a set of keys in the other. He dropped them into Lorie’s outstretched palm.
“Thanks, Ike.”
“Tammy told me to tell you to come for supper Sunday night after church.”
“Tell her thanks. I’ll see y’all then.” Lord willing. Odd how she’d gotten out of the habit of adding on the scriptural phrase while she was living in San Diego. “Lord willing.”
Ike nodded, then headed out the door.
Moving the squeaky book cart toward the stacks, Jen stopped and looked back at Lorie. “What was that all about?”
“Ike just changed the lock on the office door. He’ll be taking care of the window once he gets everything he needs.”
Jen’s jaw dropped. “When did you have time to get approval from the library board?”
“I didn’t.”
Her eyes widened further. “You did this on your own?”
“I won’t charge them for it.” Lorie fought the defensiveness rising inside her. Surely as head librarian, she was entitled to a few judgment calls.
“Those locks haven’t been changed since 1958.”
Lorie straightened her spine and placed both fists on her hips. “All the more reason. I had Ike put in a dead bolt.”
“How’m I supposed to get in there?”
Lorie pulled one key off the tiny twist of wire and handed it to her. “Guard it with your life.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “Seriously, just put it on your key ring and don’t lose it. We only have the two. I guess we’ll have to have another made for Mitzi’s weekend shifts. Come on, let’s check out the dead bolt and make certain both these keys work.”
Lorie locked and unlocked the shiny brass lock with her key, and had Jen do the same.
The sight of the lock gave Lorie’s spirit such a lift, she broke into a grin. “That looks like it should keep out all but the most determined burglar.”
Her good mood lasted only until closing. Lorie’s heart began to race the moment she locked the door behind the last patron of the day. Soon she’d have to go home. Would the car that had almost driven her off the road be waiting for her again?
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Yep. That was true. But He also expected us to use the good sense He gave us.
Magnolia blossoms scented the summer air as Lorie and Jen reached the parking lot.
“See you tomorrow.”
Lorie waved at Jen as she keyed the lock on her Mustang. It opened with a friendly chirp. Letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding, Lorie climbed into the car.
Lord, I can’t keep reacting this way. Please help me.
Driving home, Lorie kept glancing in her rearview mirrors. She’d know that mean-looking car anywhere. If it followed her again—
It didn’t. Her afternoon commute was completely uneventful.
Her dreams were another story.
* * *
Friday morning dawned with streaks of pink and purple daubing the horizon. Cardinals, white-throated sparrows and a persistent mourning dove greeted Lorie right after the three cats jumped on her bed and reminded her it was time for breakfast.
She blinked at them blearily. “All right. I’m up.” Lorie shoved off her mamaw’s multicolored story quilt and swung out of bed.
Colleen, the sable-and-white rough collie, wagged a bushy tail.
Mornings in Wolf Hollow were an entirely different species from mornings in suburban San Diego. Here, no motorcycles vied to see which could be the loudest. That contest was reserved for the birds, whose chirping and calls made her glad she was here. Mostly.
After feeding the menagerie and herself breakfast, Lorie noticed the rural postal delivery pickup stop at her mailbox. Hannah was early today.
“Want to go to the mailbox?”
Colleen wagged and pranced by the door.
Throwing on a straw cowboy hat, Lorie opened the door for Colleen. The three cats raced outside, almost tripping her. Winken, Blinken and Nod had been impulse names that seemed to fit when she first met them, but proved to be appropriate only half the time. When they were awake, they were in constant motion. Off on a critter hunt now, no doubt. As long as they didn’t bring home any rodents or birds, Lorie had no objections.
The morning air smelled of Old Blush China roses and magnolia blossoms. The tree-lined lane was alive with birdsong.
Then, suddenly, it wasn’t.
Stopping in the middle of the lane, Colleen growled.
“What is it, girl?”
Nerves heightening, Lorie scanned the lane and the road for signs of intruders. Straining her ears to listen, Lorie could hear only the distant whine of a semi changing gears on Bobcat Hill.
No crashing in the underbrush. Only silence, with Colleen’s low growl an undertone.
Lorie was halfway to the mailbox. Glancing back at the house, the sensation of being watched grew too strong to ignore.
“Colleen. Come.”
Heading back toward the house, Lorie broke into a run. Something loud buzzed near her ear as her hat flew off her head. A split second later, she heard the report of a rifle.
Lord, help!
Lorie ran, Colleen keeping pace.
Another gunshot ripped through the meadow, a bullet thudding into the magnolia. Lorie ducked behind an oak. Why had she left her cell phone on the nightstand?
After darting from tree to tree, Lorie hesitated. There was little cover in front of the house. Could she make it inside without getting shot?
Wishing she had more experience with dodging and running, Lorie prayed and dashed for the front door. As she tripped on the step, a bullet struck the door frame where she should have been standing and ricocheted into the porch overhang. Lorie threw open the screen. Colleen bounded inside with Lorie on her heels.
Slamming the front door and locking it, Lorie raced to the phone and dialed 911. The emergency operator sounded rational and calm.
“I’m being shot at!” Tossing grammar to the wind, Lorie explained the situation in a few terse words.
