Eye of the Abductor (5 page)

“Yeah, how about that?”

“I’d like you to meet my mother.”

Allison gave her attention to the
attractive fair-skinned woman with the same brilliant blue eyes as Brance.

“Mom, this is Allison, my downstairs
neighbor. Allison, my mom, June.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,
June.”

“My pleasure as well. So you’re
the one who wouldn’t accept his roses.”

“Mom,” he scolded.

Allison couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yes, I’m the one. To have accepted them would be leading him on. I didn’t want
him wasting any more time or money on me.”

“She’s not playing hard to get.”

“Mom, you’re embarrassing me.”

June laughed. “I’m sorry."

It floored Allison to think he’d
spoken to his mom about her. Could this man really be interested? Rob had told
her how plain she was. Several times he’d stated he wasn’t sure what he’d seen
in her or why he’d married her.

"Allison." Rick, the
choir director joined them. "I figured you’d be gone.”

“I ran into a neighbor.”

Rick eyed June. “We could use you
back in the choir.”

"I’m too old. Let the young
ones sing.”

“I’ve asked Allison to sing at our
candlelight Christmas Eve service. Maybe you can talk her into singing a solo.”

“You should do it,” Brance
encouraged.

“I’ll have to see if I can work it
in. Christmas Eve is one of our busiest nights at Malden Brother’s.”

Allison wanted to kick herself for
mentioning where she worked. She’d already lost one job because of Brance
Stone.

“See you Wednesday, Allison,” Rick
said. He turned to June. “You're never too old to sing.”

After the director left, Allison
inched along the wall, hoping to escape. “I’d better run as well. It was nice
meeting you.”

“Likewise, dear.”

Allison shifted her gaze to
Brance. “I’ll see you later.”

Bewildered over her attraction to
him, she hurried toward the exit. She couldn’t come near the man without a
four-alarm fire blazing inside her.

***

Brance wanted to wring his
mother’s neck. Why in the hell had she brought up the damn roses?

His mother placed her hand on his
arm. “Are you coming over for lunch?”

“Nah, I have some reports to fill
out, and I need to gather up my laundry and wash it.” He hesitated. “What’d you
think of her?”

“She seems nice and very pretty.”

“But very uninterested.”

His mother smiled. “She’s
interested.”

“Then why’d she return my roses?”

“It’s not from a lack of finding
you desirable. I saw it in her eyes.”

Brance remembered Linda had said
almost the same thing. “Then why is she refusing to go out with me?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe she’s
recently divorced or widowed and isn’t ready to date.”

“That never occurred to me.”

“How much do you really know about
her?”

“Very little.”

"You're a cop. Do your
homework."

***

The next day Brance whipped into
the parking lot of Fred’s Dollar Store to investigate a burglary that had occurred
in the pharmacy.

As he scanned the layout of the
shopping area, he caught sight of Allison’s old, blue Dodge parked behind the
Little Pal’s Daycare. It had to be the only car in town painted in two shades
of blue. If she hadn’t mentioned working at Malden Brother’s, he would’ve
assumed she worked in the area.

Inside the store, he spoke to the
manager. After being given the details, he filled out the report and called in
for help to process the scene.

Immediately, he recognized the
same MO as two other burglaries, stealing prescription drugs that carried a
street value such as Viagra, Xanax, and a variety of painkillers. It didn’t
take a rocket scientist to realize the same people had pulled it off.

When he left the store, the Dodge
was still parked behind the daycare. Being curious, he climbed in his car,
started the engine, and slowly cruised closer. He parked midway in the lot
where he had a good view. He removed a pair of binoculars from a case and
peered through them.

Allison sat behind the wheel, her
gaze lingering on the children playing on the other side of the chain-linked
fence. Her face appeared withered and pale as she wiped away tears. He didn’t
like seeing her in this weak and vulnerable condition. Where was the
fire-breathing she-dragon who’d cooled Linda down?

His chest tightened, empathizing
with her obvious pain.

Once the children were escorted
back inside, Allison started her car and drove away.

At the light, the gold sedan he’d
seen before remained a few cars behind her. Coincidence? Maybe. He didn't have
a view of the license plate, but next time he saw the sedan, he'd run it.

He set the binoculars beside him
and pondered over what Allison had been up to. Did she have a connection with
one of the children? The only thing he knew for sure was that Allison Davenport
was a lot more complicated than he’d ever suspected, and he wanted to find out
more about her.

Chapter Three

Allison tried to concentrate on
the assigned chapters but couldn’t. The relentless need to see her son or at
least be near him clawed at her sanity. She tossed the book aside and sighed
with defeat as she grabbed her keys.

She drove the four miles to the
Wilsons' home in the Oak Forest subdivision where she parked two houses down on
the opposite side. Though it was late, the downstairs lights indicated the
Wilsons were still awake. She doubted Nathan was. She studied the darkened
upstairs rooms. Which one belonged to her son?

Where are you my precious
little boy?

If only she could hold him and
tell him his mommy loved him and would never leave him. She’d read him a
bedtime story, say his prayers with him, then give him a goodnight kiss. A pain
squeezed her throat.

She didn’t have a glimmer of hope
of getting him back anytime soon. The most she could hope for was visitation
rights. And the courts would probably insist they be supervised by some stuffy,
insensitive social worker.

Despair burrowed in her soul like a
parasite feeding on her fear and depression. An important part of her was
missing. She thought about the long nights in prison when she’d surrendered to
grief and cried over Nathan.

Grief wasn't an option now. She
couldn’t give up on getting him back. She had to stay positive. Determination
replaced despair, strengthening her resolve.

She started the car and drove
toward her apartment. A few miles down the road, her check-engine light came on
and steam rose from under the hood. The temperature light was red.

Damn. Damn. Double damn. This
can’t be happening.

She steered to the curb and turned
off the engine.

A vehicle eased up behind her. Its
bright lights beamed through her back window, blinding her. Had someone stopped
to offer help?

Suddenly, the car backed up,
pulled around her, and drove off. Apparently, the Good Samaritan had changed
his or her mind.

Then Allison turned on the hazard
lights and climbed out.

Why God? Why does everything I
do have to be so hard?

After locking the car, she trekked
down the almost deserted boulevard beneath the pink tinted streetlights to the
nearest service station a mile away. At least the November night wasn’t cold.
Autumns in Memphis stayed milder than ones she’d known in Kansas.  

At the Exxon, she counted the money
she had on her. A whopping three dollars. It wouldn’t exactly pay for a tow
truck. She asked the attendant to use the phone. She called Jill’s cell but
only reached her voicemail.

Allison didn’t see any other
option but to walk home and have her car towed in the morning. As she walked
out, a familiar red jeep pulled up.

Brance climbed from the vehicle
and zeroed in on her immediately. “Allison, hi.”

She managed a weak smile. A battle
raged within her whether or not to ask him for a ride home. The man had finally
given up on her, and she’d at last stopped wondering what it would be like to
make love with him.

Well, almost.

And of all things, she wore her
hair twisted in a sloppy bun. She had on old jeans, a faded sweatshirt, and absolutely
no makeup. Of course he looked perfect. He wore jeans, boots, a long sleeved
white shirt under a leather jacket that emphasized his broad shoulders.

He glanced around the lot.
“Where’s your car?”

She pointed east. “About a mile
that way. It overheated."

“I'll be right back, and then
we’ll go check it out. Get in. It gets a little chilly in the jeep. Here, take
my jacket.”

Allison didn’t argue and took it.
She hopped in his jeep and tossed his jacket across her chest and arms. Damn if
it didn’t smell like him. Light airy cologne with an underlying masculine scent
that was all him
-o
ne that woke her senses. She breathed in the smell
again and actually moaned.

He left the store, carrying a
carton of beer and a gallon jug of water. He tossed both in the backseat, then
slid behind the wheel. “We’ll need the water for your car."

“Thank you for doing this.”

“Not a problem. I should give you
my number in case you need help again.”

Being in the same enclosed space
with him electrified her. Every sexual nerve ending buzzed, causing her to
overheat just like her Dodge. Damn this man. She had been so focused, so
disciplined, so determined, yet now he filled her mind with fantasies and foolish
dreams.

Get real.

Once they reached her car, Brance
left the jeep and raised her hood. He glanced back at her. “There’s a flashlight
in the backseat. Grab it.”

Allison hurried to his side and
held the light on the radiator. "Is it still hot?"

"No, it shouldn't spew."
He unscrewed the cap. After pouring the water in, Brance dropped the hood, walked
around, and opened the door for her. “It should get you home."

"That'd be great.
Thanks." She handed him the flashlight and climbed in her car.

"Try starting it."

Relief spiraled through her at the
sound of the familiar roar. "I appreciate this very much.”

"I’ll follow you."

At the apartments, she parked and
waited for him to join her. “I want to thank you again. I really didn’t have
the money for a tow truck.”

“Glad I could help.”

“Do you have any idea what made it
overheat?”

“Could be the thermostat or
something more serious like the radiator. I’ll check it tomorrow.”

“Oh, no. I wasn't trying to rope
you into fixing it.”

He stared at her for a moment.
“You’re not use to people helping you. Are you?”

“Not really. My friend Jill is
about the only person I’ve been able to depend on.”

“Allison, anytime you need help,
call me. I'll take care of your car tomorrow.”

“I can't expect you to do that.
I’ll take it to a garage.”

“Nonsense. They’ll overcharge
you.”

Outside her apartment, she
considered inviting him in for coffee. It was the least she could do. But
before she could ask, he spoke up. “Goodnight. See you tomorrow.”

“Thanks again,” she said.

“Glad to do it.” He flashed a
killer smile that brought out his dimples. And for a second, she thought her
body would undergo a full nuclear meltdown.

***

Later that night, she woke
embarrassed and sexually aroused from a dream of hot sex with Brance.

Was she even sure what hot sex
was?

She’d never experienced it with
Rob. He’d usually left her very unsatisfied. Orgasms with him had been as rare
as astronomical events like comets and solar eclipses. Of course later she'd
realized all his energy had gone into pleasing his mistress.

Rob had been visiting family
friends when she met him. She’d just started her first year of teaching at a
small Kansas school when he proposed after only two dates. Silly her. She
accepted wanting to see what was over the rainbow.

The past faded as her thoughts
returned to Brance. How would she face him after the dream she’d had? She was
twenty-nine. A woman, not some love hungry girl who thought life was passing
her by if she didn’t latch on to the first man who proposed.

The next morning, she
showered and brushed her hair into a ponytail before strolling outside to the
mailbox. To her astonishment, the hood on her car was up.

As she approached it, she
got a view that again caused vivid, lustful images from her dream to tap dance in
her mind. Brance leaned over the engine. His jeans emphasized his cute butt.