Genesis: A Harte's Peak Prequel (18 page)

Right. He'd almost forgotten. Then again, he'd pretty much ceased to think straight for the past few hours. It seemed that every muscle in his body had relaxed and unkinked. He and Maggie were acting like a couple, holding hands as if they'd been doing it for years, and it all felt so natural. Deep in the back of his mind there was a nagging thought that maybe he should stop feeling this way, stop acting as if he had every right to care about her. But for now, he wanted to ignore that voice and listen to Maggie's soft and lilting one instead.

As he pulled into the driveway, he noted the white van parked in front of his house, another vehicle he hadn't noticed on this street before. A couple he didn't recognize got out of the van and approached. Jack instinctively calculated the short distance between him and Maggie, how fast he could get to her, and then reminded himself to calm down. These people were not a threat.

“Thank goodness,” the man said. “You're home.”

“Do we know you?” Jack moved next to Maggie and slipped an arm around her.

“You have our dog I think,” the portly woman said. “Our shepherd mix. We've been searching for weeks, and today we saw the sign in town.”

“We don't know how it happened, but if you have our Max, he's come a long way. We live in Sonora,” the man said. “By the way, my name's McGuire and this is my wife, April.”

Sonora was a town thirty miles east, and it was indeed difficult to believe Chief had come that far. Then again, recalling his smell it all started to make sense. He'd obviously been on his own for some time before Mrs. Jones had found him.

“Jack Butler. And this is Maggie.” He walked to his front door and opened it to find Chief standing by at attention, waiting, as he always did. As if he wasn't sure anyone would be back.

He would miss that. His own welcoming committee.

It didn't take long for it to become obvious that Chief was indeed their dog as he greeted them with his circling dance, normally reserved for meal times.

“Max, we've missed you, boy. And so have all your patients,” McGuire said.

“Patients?” Maggie asked.

“Max is a therapy dog. He's been trained to work with our returning soldiers. Mostly for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, that kind of thing. Max just knows when he's needed,” April said with a smile.

“That's amazing. I want you to know that your dog has healed my daughter's heart, too. She's really going to miss him.” Maggie bent down to pet the dog Jack would always think of as Chief.

“Wonderful. That's what Max does. He always seems to hone in on the one person who needs him the most. And he won't let that person out of his sight usually. Maybe we can bring him back for a visit. We're not far by car anyway.” McGuire nuzzled Chief's ears, and the dog leaned into the touch.

“My daughter would love that. We'll miss him around here. Won't we, Jack?” Maggie's voice seemed to come at him through a tunnel.

He didn't have words as his heart pummeled in its rib cage. These people were about to take Chief away. The dog he swore he wouldn't get attached to, and now he could only think of the fact that Lexi wouldn't get a chance to say good-bye. She loved Chief even more than he did, if that were possible. “Yeah.”

He bent down to say good-bye to Chief. For so long he'd refused to own the label, but PTSD was exactly what he'd had when he came to Harte's Peak, and this creature had somehow known. He felt a surge of gratitude he couldn't put into words.

As though he might feel the same way, Chief reached up and licked his face.

“I'll miss you, too,” Jack whispered in his ear.

When he rose and glanced at Maggie, her eyes were wet.

No use in prolonging the inevitable. He and Maggie got the bag of dog food he'd purchased, the bowl, and leash. He wouldn't need them any longer. McGuire accepted them after some minor protests, and within a few minutes, Jack stood with Maggie on his lawn watching them drive away.

Maggie had both arms wrapped around his waist as though she thought he needed the support. She'd had her wits about her enough to get their name, address, and phone number so that Lexi would be able to visit. For that, he was grateful, even if a clean break was probably for the best.

Because, after all, he was going back to Virginia. Wasn't he?

“Your thoughts are almost loud enough for me to hear them. Care to share?” Maggie asked, rubbing his back.

“I'm thinking that I'm glad you're here.” He pulled her into his arms, feeling his heart rate increase. This time in a good way.

Without her, he might face another sleepless night. Without her, he feared, nothing made sense anymore. Mostly, he feared facing the truth: he was afraid he had fallen in love with Maggie Bradshaw, and that was a problem.

 

****

 

Everything made sense when McGuire explained that Chief was a therapy dog: the way he had attached himself to Jack and rarely left his side. Even the way he'd loved Lexi. She'd seen God at work in many ways in her thirty years, but she'd never seen him use a dog. Chief was special, but now he was gone.

And she was left wondering how she'd get Jack to tell her why he had PTSD. She had a feeling it had something to do with what Kimberly alluded to. Maggie wanted to help, but what if Jack didn't want her help? What if he pushed her away?

It didn't look as if he wanted to push her away now as he held her close. And if it were up to her, she wouldn't go anywhere. Being in his arms felt so right, like the perfect fit. It wasn't supposed to happen, but wasn't that the way love worked? Again, taking her by surprise. For the second time in her life, she loved a man and this time so deeply that she wasn't sure her head was involved any longer.

She'd offered to cook him dinner, but Jack was so kind that he suggested pizza for take-out, saying he wanted her to relax while Lexi was gone. All he seemed to want, maybe because Chief had left such a gaping hole, was to hold her tight.

As much as she wanted this peace, Jack had something on his mind, and she could feel it in the air between them. Somehow, she had to get him to tell her. Whatever it was wouldn't change the way she felt about him, of that she was certain. “Will you tell me what happened in Virginia?”

Her head against his chest, she felt his heart begin to race, his chest muscles tense, and the arms that held her tighten their grip. “Why do you want to know?”

“Maybe because Chief isn't here anymore.” She raised her head to look into his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“You may not believe this, but I think Chief was brought here for a reason. God never wastes a hurt, and you and I both know that the odds of a therapy dog winding up with the man who needed him most are pretty great.”

“Maybe that's true. Chief did help me, I admit it.”

“I'd still like to know what happened.”

“I don't like to talk about it,” Jack said. “I don't know what Kim told you, but whatever it was she was out of line.”

“She wouldn't say much, but she did say you need closure. You and Robert were partners, and now he's dead. I know enough to realize something terrible happened back in Virginia. Can you tell me?” She wanted to help him, but she couldn't do it if he wouldn't tell her what he'd been dealing with. Chief had instinctively known that Jack needed help—and now it was up to her to do what she could.

Jack stood up and walked away from her embrace. “You might as well know. I didn't mean for things to get this far between us, Maggie. You deserve so much better than me.”

No, he wouldn't get away with that. She knew what she wanted, and despite the fact that she hadn't thought she'd love again, it didn't make sense to fight it any more. Her instincts about him had been right. Jack was a good man, and Chief knew that. So did she, and, she was willing to bet now, so did Lexi. “Why don't you let me decide what I deserve? You've done so much for me and Lexi, and I want to do something for you. Please let me.”

He shook his head, pacing the floor in front of her. “If there was something you could do, I'd let you. Even your God can't help me now. It's my fault that Robert is dead. I might as well have held the gun in my own hands. He's dead because of me, and my failure.”

“I don't believe that. Kimberly doesn't strike me as someone who would forgive the man who killed her husband.”

“It's more complicated than that,” Jack protested. “He would have done anything for me, but when push came to shove, I couldn't do the same for him.”

 

 

 

 

 

13

 

The look in Maggie's eyes pried the words out of him. Now or never. He might as well tell her so she could run the other way. No use in prolonging the inevitable. He didn't want or need this right now, but despite that, the memories came flooding back.

“Robert and I were transporting a prisoner to Georgia's top security prison. Luther should have had the death penalty, but he had a good lawyer. Wound up with a life sentence.”

“What did he do?” Maggie asked.

“He had a federal judge killed.”

Maggie's face turned pale, and no wonder. This wasn't exactly casual conversation, and precisely why he didn't talk about his work. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

“I do.”

He wasn't sure he wanted to tell it, but she pulled at something deep inside. “We weren't taking any chances. Luther was in shackles. It was a regular transport to the airport. We should have been home in time for the Celtics game that night.”

“But that didn't happen.”

“No. I heard the first pop to my left, and then Robert lost control of the van. It plowed into a fire hydrant. The shots kept coming, and we couldn't just sit there and wait to die. Robert requested backup, but we had to get out of the van. No time to discuss options. We had to seek cover. I followed the shots to a one story building while Robert sought cover behind the van with Luther. Eventually, I found the shooter on the rooftop. Alone with a sniper rifle.”

“Oh no, Jack.”

“The worst thing about it? He was just a kid. Luther's kid, turns out. Stupid teenager thought he'd make his father proud and stage a prison break.”

Maggie didn't say a word but simply placed her hand over his wildly beating heart.

“I had my gun drawn. And I warned him. I yelled for him to stop shooting. I did everything I was supposed to do, Maggie, but I hesitated. For one second, I didn't think I could shoot that kid. But he just kept shooting, and I had no choice. One clean shot to the chest, and he was done. Too bad I didn't shoot him before he shot Robert. That one moment of hesitation cost me my best friend.”

Tears filled Maggie's eyes, and he pulled her into his arms. “It's not your fault,” she said on a sob.

“I hesitated. And because I hesitated, not just one, but two people are dead. Robert and Luther's teenaged son, Marcus. He was a part of the youth group that Robert led. We thought we knew the kid.” He wanted so badly to take back that day. Over and over in his mind, he'd thought of how he might have done things differently.

“What about his mother? Did she know?”

“His mother told us that her son didn't want anything to do with his father. But the truth was that she didn't even know her own kid. He'd been planning this, thought it was a way he could impress his dad. Later, we found the arsenal in his bedroom. Stupid, stupid kid.”

“You shouldn't blame yourself. You did what you had to do. Who knows how many more he might have killed?”

“Yeah, I know the drill. Shoot an unarmed kid, it's wrong. But shoot an armed kid, somehow that's OK. It's still a kid who didn't get to grow up.”

“I realize how you must feel, but he killed your partner. It's not like he was an innocent in all this,” Maggie said.

How could she not hate him? “You want to know the worst thing about it? Robert told me he'd have done the same thing. As he was lying there before they took him to the hospital, he'd heard it was a kid. And as if he knew what I'd done, he told me not to worry. He would have done the same thing. But I second guess everything I did that day. I could have rushed him if only I was closer. But I couldn't let him keep shooting.” His hands shook, palms sweaty from the vivid memory of that day. No matter how many times he'd relived it, it still seemed to have the power to feel as if it were the first time.

“If you hadn't done what you did, even more people might be dead. I can't believe you've been carrying this around inside you. A burden like this should never be carried alone.” Maggie came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

She forgave him, just as Kim had done. Forgiveness he didn't deserve. “I've committed the worst sin. It's unforgiveable, and I don't deserve forgiveness.”

“But none of us deserves it. No sin is too great, because God is great enough to forgive them all.”

“I can't believe that. I've put enough murderers away to know that God wouldn't have anything to do with those people. Evil to the core.”

“But no one who wants forgiveness is evil to the core. And we all have sin, Jack. Do you know the Bible says that no sin is greater than another?” The sound of her voice was muffled as she pressed her head against his back.

“That doesn't make sense.”

“It's true. I'll get my Bible out if you want me to prove it to you.” He turned to see the smile on her face. The warmth in those eyes had been enough to warm his cold heart, but she still wasn't done surprising him.

He couldn't resist framing her beautiful face in his hands. “Not necessary. If you tell me it's true, I believe you. Even if I don't understand it now, I'm willing to learn. In case you hadn't realized it yet, I love you, Maggie. Which is why this is so hard.”