Love Inspired Suspense December 2015, Box Set 2 of 2 (7 page)

“I've missed this,” he murmured, not realizing how much until he said it out loud. Rachel had always been the bright spot in his life. Every birthday and Christmas when he wouldn't receive a call or present from his mother, Rachel had cheered him up and given him her gift.

Suddenly, Mitch became alert, emitting a low growl.

Jake dropped his arm from around Rachel and straightened, handing her his mug. “Stay here.” All his police training coming to the foreground, he moved toward Mitch, twenty feet away.

He approached Mitch. “Stay.”

His dog did, but he pointed at attention at an area on the west side of the house. Jake wished he had his weapon, but it was in the house.

Then he noticed the huge moose in the moonlight, and relief replaced the stress. Although he had a healthy respect for the damage a moose could cause, he wasn't worried about this one. He was sure the animal knew they were there, and yet he ignored them.

He started back toward Rachel. “Come, Mitch. Time to go in.”

“What was it?” she asked in a shaky voice.

“A moose.”

“Oh, that's Fred. He comes around once or twice a week. Sometimes during the day. Sometimes at night.”

“How do you know it was Fred?”

“Was he missing part of his antler?”

“Yes.”

“Then it's him. He's been around for years. He started coming not long after you left Port Aurora.”

“Good to know.” Jake held the door open and let Rachel and Mitch go inside, then he gave one last look across the snow-covered ground to the line of evergreens about thirty yards away. Darkness loomed in the depth of the forest.

“I'll get the canvas bag. Let's get this over with.” Rachel headed for her bedroom and returned in half a minute. “I think I should handle the papers. You don't need to get the smell on you.”

“Fine.” Jake sat on the couch where he slept at night while Gramps took the third bedroom. He called Mitch to his side, and they watched while Rachel laid the papers in a row across a blanket on the floor. He'd suggested that way earlier, so if the drug scent got on anything, it would only be the blanket.

She went through that same routine three times with a different set of papers before Mitch indicated the scent of drugs and barked. Rachel glanced in the direction of the bedrooms. “I'm not sure we won't wake them up if there's more than this one.”

By the time Mitch had checked all the papers in the bag, Rachel had collected ten different sheets. “They're all different. A couple of time sheets for the boat crews. Some are shipping notices and a few are orders.”

“The paper most likely was touched by someone who had been handling drugs, and some of those sheets were contaminated by the original one or two.”

“Which doesn't narrow it down a lot. I'll write these down, and then we can look at the boats in the harbor for the past week since all these papers are from that time frame.” Rachel jotted down the information and then collected everything and stuck it in the canvas bag. “I feel like a criminal having to sneak these in and out of the fishery.”

“If something fishy is going on, we need to find out and let Randall know. I don't want to accuse anyone without evidence, but the police chief did say he needed my help. They're shorthanded.”

Rachel chuckled. “Definitely something fishy is going on. That's the nature of the business.” She sat next to Jake on the couch. “Here is the list of boats in the harbor the past week with when they came and when they left, if they're gone.”

Jake lounged back and read the forty names. “Is anyone who works for the fishery not on this list because they've been out over a week?”

Rachel leaned toward him and reread the list. “There are three due back soon. There are some boats in the harbor that have nothing to do with the fishery.”

The apple scent from her shampoo teased his nostrils. He'd come to associate that smell with warmth and caring. She'd always had a calming effect on him. “We'll concentrate on the boats that work for the company. Let me see the list of contaminated sheets.”

She handed it to him. “They are all from people on the list of boats in the harbor, but I would expect that. So how does this help us?”

“Not sure yet. I'm going to start taking Mitch for walks on the pier and see if anything catches his attention. I'll concentrate on the four boats on this second list. Who handles the crew time sheets?”

“Everyone writes down their own hours, then the captain verifies it and turns it in. I can't see the Blue Runner having anything to do with Aunt Betty's death. They were out of the harbor on Friday and Saturday. The other three were tied up in their slips.”

“I can't rule them out concerning the drugs, but you're right about Aunt Betty's death. So tell me about Tundra King, Alaskan King and Sundance.” The brush of her arm against his threatened to steal his concentration on the task at hand.

“Tundra King and Alaskan King are owned by the company. As I told you before, the Alaskan King is a new trawler. Captain Martin of the Sundance sells his catches to the fishery.”

While he looked over the lists, Jake asked, “Who is in port right now?”

“Alaskan King and the Blue Runner. Tundra King left today and Sundance is due back tomorrow. We're closed for two weeks during the holidays, then we start back up with crabbing. What do you want me to do to help?”

He dipped his head and turned toward her, her glance trapping him in a snare. For a moment he didn't say anything until she dropped her gaze to the papers. “You've done it. Leave the rest to me. This is my job.”

“But you don't have access to the fishery like I do.”

After nearly losing her in the fire, he didn't want to take the risk. “I'll find a way. Remember Sean and I were good friends in high school, and I was over in the processing center with him today before we went to lunch. Gramps and I know many of the men who work there.”

“I thought we were in this together. I want to find who did this to Aunt Betty. She was family. She doesn't deserve this.”

And I want to keep you safe
. If anything happened to her...he shuddered at the thought. “We're a team. We've always been one.”

“But that wasn't enough to keep you here or let me know about the injury you suffered in August until much later.” Rachel pushed to her feet and walked to the Christmas tree. After turning off the lights, she shut the drapes. “I have to be at work by seven thirty. Good night.” She started for the hallway.

“Rachel,” Jake called out and rose. When she stopped, he bridged the distance between them. “I'm sorry. I promise I'll be around so much in the future you're going to get tired of me, but my job is in Anchorage. I make a difference. I'm good at working with a K-9.”

She spun around, her teeth digging into her lower lip. She did that when she wanted to remain quiet and was fighting the urge to talk.

“I've seen Celeste on a number of occasions, and my life hasn't fallen apart. She doesn't have any power over me anymore.”

She inched closer and lifted her hands to cup his jaw. “Good. I hated seeing what she did to you. I wish you'd come to that decision years ago.”

“What can I say, I'm stubborn.”

She leaned toward him and kissed his mouth lightly, then dropped her arms to her sides and rushed from the living room.

His lips tingled from the contact with hers. Suddenly, he wanted more than just a brief kiss. He watched her disappear into her bedroom and wondered why in the world it had taken him so long to see her as more than a friend. He shook his head and pivoted. But that was crazy. Neither of them wanted a long-term commitment.

* * *

On Wednesday Rachel stood next to Jake. Halfway through the memorial service for Betty, she grasped his hand, needing that connection, or she might break down. Then her aunt would start crying, and she was to speak at the end.

When Aunt Linda finished paying tribute to Aunt Betty, the church choir sang “Amazing Grace” and then her aunt announced that after the Christmas tree lighting everyone was invited to come back to the hall for refreshments provided by the Port Aurora Community Church's women.

Jake bent to her ear and whispered, “Are you ready? Do you need to stay?”

His breath on her neck tickled, making her think about the kiss she'd given him the other day. She'd wanted more, but she was afraid of these feelings his presence was generating in her. She'd always thought they had been best friends, but now she wondered if she hadn't taken it further and felt rejected when he fell in love with Celeste instead of her.

“Rachel, are you okay?”

She closed her eyes for a few seconds. “I'm all right. Aunt Betty used to come with us to the ceremony at the harbor when all the lights were turned on officially. The part I love is the lights in the harbor are turned off for a few minutes while the mayor gives a little speech then flips the switch. Then for a while the only lights are on the Christmas tree. It's like a ray of hope at the end of the pier, that Port Aurora is welcoming any lost soul.” And now someone had tainted their small town.

“I never thought of it like that. I see Gramps is with your aunt. If we're going to get a good place, we better leave.”

“The best places are reserved for the children at the front. Remember when we would push our way through the crowd so we were in the first row?”

“Yes, but they always tolerated us doing that. Does the mayor still toss out candy to the kids?”

“Yes, and I wouldn't mind something chocolate right about now.” When Rachel stepped outside, she lifted her hood since the wind off the water could be freezing cold.

“Remember that year the harbor iced over? Thankfully, that doesn't happen every year.”

“But the water feels like it could turn to ice at any moment. I've never been into the polar bear plunge some people do.”

Jake laughed. “Neither have I, but I have navigated some cold rivers and streams before that almost felt like that's what I was doing.”

Again she felt like years of separation had slipped away, and their relationship had returned to what it was before Celeste. But he would be leaving again in a few weeks. Would he stay away as long as he had before? She had to remind herself even though he might come home two or three times a year, their friendship wouldn't be the same. She wished he would work for the Port Aurora Police Department like he had before going to Anchorage. What was the lure of a big city? A place with too many people and not enough open space wasn't for her.

Jake maneuvered them to where they could see the tree well but at the back of the crowd and off to the side on one of the docks. “So much for hurrying. We're going to be at the back, anyway. Want me to put you on my shoulders? Maybe the mayor will take pity on you and toss you a piece of chocolate.”

“I know where there is some chocolate at Aunt Betty's reception afterward.”

Jake saw Lawrence and Aunt Linda and waved to them. They headed in their direction.

“Being back here is probably the best since we have to get to the hall to serve the food and refreshments.” Aunt Linda took the place next to Rachel while Lawrence and Jake began talking.

Then the lights in the harbor and surrounding area went out. With a cloudy night Rachel couldn't see anything around her. She touched her aunt beside her. “Now for the mayor's long-winded speech. It gets longer every year.”

“That's because he's always running for mayor at any ceremony he officiates.”

Someone moved into Rachel's faint line of sight, so she sidestepped a couple of feet away from her aunt and snuggled in her heavy parka. “When we get home a roaring fire in the fireplace would be great.”

“I know what you mean,” her aunt's voice came from the dark nearby.

Rachel opened her mouth to say something to Aunt Linda when a large body rammed into her and she went flying backward...into the freezing water.

CHAPTER SEVEN

W
hen Rachel hit the frigid water, she gasped as if she'd been submerged in a bucket of ice. She plunged totally under, taking in a mouth full of salty water. Instinct kicked in, and she fought to the surface, her heavy parka like a boulder dragging her down.

Have to scream
.
Only minutes before I begin shutting down
. The thought sent panic surging through her, and she thrashed, barely keeping her head above water.

Calm down
.

In her mind she could hear Jake talking to her in a soothing voice.
Stay still
.
I
'
m coming
.

No, don
'
t
.
I can
'
t lose you, too
. She tried to say those words aloud, but her heartbeat raced at a dizzying speed, and her body started shivering from head to toe.

* * *

Behind Jake, a woman screamed, the blood-curdling sound vying with a loud splash as if someone hit the water. He swung around, so dark he could only see about a foot in front of him.

He headed toward where Rachel was a few feet away. “Rachel, what's wrong?”

Linda used her cell phone like a flashlight and gasped. “Someone pushed her into the water!”

His heartbeat galloping, Jake quickened his step, removing his cell and using it to illuminate his path. “Gramps, we need light.”

People around them began doing the same with their phones while he glimpsed his grandfather shoving his way through the crowd. The fear on Linda's face scared Jake. As he reached her, she grabbed his arm and pointed toward the water.

The faint light from their cells barely showed a head bobbing in the water, arms thrashing. Rachel looked so far away when in reality she wasn't.

“Stay calm. I'm coming.” Struggling could make the situation a lot worse. The movement would lower her body temperature faster.

Jake searched the pier and saw a lifebuoy against a piling. He rushed to it, grabbed it and hurried back. “Rachel, I'm going to toss this life buoy to you. Hold on and get as much of yourself above water as possible.”

Coughing followed a weak, quavering voice saying, “I will.”

Suddenly, the harbor lights flooded the area, and Jake could make out Rachel better as he threw the life buoy to her. She grasped it and hung on.

Now he had to get her out of the water—over four yards below the pier. Too bad it was low tide.

Tom appeared behind him. “My boat isn't far. I have a skiff on it. It would be easier to haul her out of the water from it.”

He and Tom raced to the Blue Runner with a skiff attached. Tom lowered it to the water. Each minute they took, Rachel's body temperature was dropping. In less than fifteen minutes, hypothermia could set in. That didn't leave much time to get to her.

* * *

Bright light illuminated the harbor and hurt her eyes. Rachel closed them and tried to latch on to a single thought, but her mind raced with nonsense.

She couldn't feel her arms and legs. Were they moving? Shivers consumed her body.

The sound of concerned voices reached her. Jake? Aunt Linda?

Help, Lord
.

A loud noise penetrated the haze that gripped her. She eased her eyes open, comforted to see she was still holding the life buoy. If she let go, she was sure she would sink to the bottom of the harbor. Then she saw a skiff coming toward her with Jake in the front of it.

“Hang on, Rachel. Almost there,” he shouted over the racket of the motor.

She tried tightening her hold on the life preserver but couldn't feel if she had or not. It seemed like ice had replaced the marrow in her bones.

Stay calm and still
. She repeated those words she remembered Lawrence telling her and Jake once about falling through the ice. Her eyelids slid closed again.

The sound of the motor stopped—nearby. But she couldn't find the strength to open her eyes.

“Rachel! Rachel!”

She turned her head slightly and looked at Jake leaning over the side of the boat. “You're here,” she said while her teeth chattered so much she wasn't sure he heard her.

He scooped down and hooked his arms under hers, then lifted her from the water. The second she was in the skiff, it started moving toward a larger boat.

“You'll feel much better once you get out of your wet clothes.” Jake used his body to block the wind that knifed through her while he stripped off her gloves and heavy parka and then wrapped her in a blanket. “This is only until Tom gets you back to the Blue Runner. I see your aunt. She'll help you then.”

Rachel caught the gist of what he said, but pain took hold of her from her feet to her head. And cold still had its icy talon around her.

When they reached the Blue Runner, hands grabbed at her. She pushed them away and pressed herself closer to Jake. The memory slammed her. Someone had pushed her into the water.
Who?

“I've got her.” Jake swung her up into his embrace and leaped to the trawler.

The motion made her sick to her stomach. She buried her face against him. As he walked then descended some stairs, she knew she would be safe with him.

When he set her feet on the floor of the boat, she began to sink down, but Jake's arm clamped around her and steadied her.

“Have her sit, then leave. I'll get her clothes off. I need a warm blanket. Some warm sweet tea,” a familiar female voice said.

Rachel met her aunt's worried expression. “I'll be okay.”

Aunt Linda helped her undress, then wrapped blankets around her. She towel-dried Rachel's wet hair and pulled a wool beanie down over her head, followed by a scarf around her neck. “Doc is on his way.”

* * *

Even though her feet and hands tingled as though tiny needles were being stuck in her, Rachel hated Aunt Linda missing the rest of the evening's events held in Aunt Betty's honor. “I want you to go to the memorial service reception. I'm going to be fine. Doc said so. Tom, you loved Aunt Betty. You need to go and take my aunt and Lawrence.” Rachel lay on a bunk bundled up like a baby with everyone standing around waiting for something to happen.

“I agree Linda and Tom need to attend, but I'm staying with Jake and Rachel. I'll keep watch. No one is gonna hurt Rachel.” The fierce expression on Lawrence's face matched Jake's earlier one when he had been determined to haul her out of the frigid water.

Her aunt and Tom looked at each other, then Tom replied, “I'm only going to be there an hour. Is that okay with you, Linda?” When her aunt nodded, Tom grabbed his heavy coat and shrugged into it. “Rachel, you need to stay on my boat and rest for the time being. When you think you are capable, you should get up and walk some. Get your blood pumping. I'm just thankful you were only in the water fifteen minutes. I've pulled a few guys from the Bering Sea and believe me it isn't fun. Ready, Linda?”

Her aunt leaned down and kissed Rachel's cheek. “Are you sure you're okay?”

“Believe me. The feeling is definitely returning to my limbs. I'm not shivering as much. Go.”

Jake moved to Lawrence and murmured something to him. The older man frowned but gave a nod.

“I'm coming with you.” Lawrence slipped into his parka.

After the trio left, Rachel peered at Jake, standing at the back door they'd left through, staring at the harbor through the window. She glimpsed the bright lights of the Christmas tree. They blended with the other illuminations on the pier. “The man who pushed me in was waiting for the right time. It would have been hard to get away unseen if the lights had been on at the harbor.”

Jake turned, his forehead creased, the look in his eyes thoughtful. But she could see the worry in them.

“I'm fine now, Jake.” She wasn't so sure an hour ago she could have said that.

He closed the space between them and sat in the chair next to the bunk. “You came close to dying for the second time in less than a week. I don't...” He cleared his throat. “I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you.”

She brought her hand out from under the blankets and laid it over his, drawn to the warmth radiating from him. “Obviously, someone thinks I know what's going on, so we'll take precautions. They may be sending a message not to dig any deeper, which means we're on the right track. My aunt was murdered. Something bad is going down in the town I love. I can't ignore that.”

“That's what I'm supposed to say. I'm a police officer. You aren't.”

“But I'm in the middle of this, and that's not going to change. We need to be sneakier. Don't give them anything to worry about.”

One corner of his mouth quirked. “I think we're beyond that. You have to promise me you'll be careful wherever you go and to assess each situation as though someone was out to kill you.”

“What did Chief Quay say about the incident?”

“One lady late to the lighting of the tree saw a tall man running away. Another felt a jostle as someone went through the crowd. Nothing clear-cut.”

“What did you say to Lawrence?” Rachel finally realized that he had captured her free hand and had it cupped between his. She savored the warmth of his skin against hers.

“I want him to go Betty's reception because they were friends, and I also want him to listen to what people were talking about. Sometimes a person will witness a crime but not step forward because they're afraid. If there is a witness that saw something who isn't coming forward, maybe I can at least talk to him in private.”

“Are you always thinking like a cop?”

He grinned. “Pretty much. Except if I get my hands on the guy who did this, I might forget I'm a police officer and take matters into my own hands.”

“In situations like this one and what happened with Betty, I find it difficult to forgive the person who caused them.”

“I've continued to wrestle with that since I became a police officer. I haven't forgiven the bomber, and I don't know if I can. He hurt a lot of people and changed many lives—not for the better.”

“How about your mother?”

His smile faded, and he released her hand, pulling back. “I didn't think much about her in Anchorage. I can't change the fact that she didn't want to be a mother. At least in your case it was your mom's new husband who didn't want children, and later she asked you if you wanted to come live with her.”

“Only after she divorced and married husband number four. I think my mom leaving me with Aunt Linda was the best thing she could do for me. In her own way she loved me, but my aunt has really been my mother.”

“So you've forgiven her?”

Rachel thought a moment, searching her heart to make sure of her answer. “Yes. I like the stability I've had here. This is home.”
I wish you saw it that way
. The words were there in her mind, but she couldn't say them to him. Although both of their mothers left them in Port Aurora, his situation was much different, and he still hadn't dealt with it.

Jake rose. “Tom said to get you up and walking around. I don't want him to come back and have to tell him I didn't.” He offered her his hand.

Again she put hers in his, and he helped her to stand. Her body ached, and her muscles were stiff, but she shed her blankets, wearing clothes borrowed from the general store. A chill hung in the cabin, even though the heater was on, but it was much warmer than outside in the cold and wind.

Jake retrieved his coat and slung it over her shoulders, then he held her arm and took a step. Once she began walking, she loosened up. She felt safe next to him. In less than a week she'd come to depend on him being in Port Aurora. She had to work on that because he was leaving at the end of the month, and she didn't want to go through the hurt she had when he left eight years ago.

“When they return, I want to go home. I can walk to the car now.”

“But your shoes are still wet and all you have are the socks from the general store. You can't walk. I'll carry you.”

She started to protest, but he was right. And she knew she'd enjoy being in his arms. That thought surprised her, but her feelings for Jake had always been deep, so she shouldn't be. She cared about him beyond friendship, feelings that were doomed to cause nothing but heartache.

* * *

Rachel and Linda's house was quiet—too quiet for Jake. He sat up on the couch and swung his legs to the floor. He probably slept no more than three or four hours. He couldn't shake the image of Rachel bobbing in the harbor's ice-cold water. When he'd stuck his hand in the water to hoist her up into the skiff, he'd gotten enough of a feel of what she'd been in. Hypothermia could strike quick in Alaska.

He switched on a lamp and checked his watch. Five in the morning. He might as well get up and make the coffee and then use the time to go over what they knew so far about Betty's murder. What if he couldn't find the killer? How could he leave knowing Rachel was in danger? For that matter, Gramps and Linda? Worse, if a drug-smuggling ring was working out of Port Aurora, it would be a big blow to the town. If drugs were tied up in Betty's case, that heightened the danger even more. He would call a buddy he knew who was a state trooper and specialized in apprehending illegal drugs. Maybe he'd heard something.

Jake headed into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee to brew. Then he began to pace while he waited for it to perk. An unsettling restlessness dominated him, and he didn't know if he would get a good night's sleep until the case was solved.

But he wasn't sure the feeling was totally caused by the murder. Ever since he'd returned to Port Aurora, he had been fighting mixed emotions. Being home was what he needed, and yet Celeste's appearance had churned up all he'd gone through years ago. He'd honestly thought he'd gotten over her, but maybe it was because he'd never really resolved things with her.