No Plans for Love (7 page)

"Then Mark was at home when the gunshot occurred? This is very important."

Frank leaned on the counter with his arms folded. "Why?"

"Elena claims that Mark and Sherry are trying to make her appear crazy..."

"She is crazy!" Sherry declared.

"She said she left her gun in Mark's glove compartment and that is where I found it. I am just trying to get a time line where everyone was and when."

"Mark was at home." Frank asserted.

"What I need to prove is that she had opportunity and motive to steal Mark's other set of keys to get into his truck."

"Let's go over and see if they're there." Frank started for the door.

As they went out the door Sherry heard Chad ask if the door was locked. Frank responded, "No. I never lock the door until it's time to go to bed. Unless I'm away."

Chad followed Frank through the mud room to where the key rack was in the kitchen. "Mark's keys are here." Frank frowned. "Something's missing. Those hooks all should be full but the one for my truck keys." He studied the key rack which hung full of the keys for various pieces of equipment. "The key to Sherry's house is missing."

"Could it have been misplaced?"

Frank shook his head. "Mark had it last night in case we needed to get in over at Sherry's. But she had the storm door locked. He gave it to me before I came home. I distinctly remember hanging it back on the rack."

"Did you notice if Mark's keys were there at that time?"

"No."

"That means Elena has a key to Sherry's house." Chad was plainly worried.

"She might get in the breezeway but she can't get into the main part of the house. I put bolts on the doors after that break-in. Maybe that's why Laddie was so restless last night."

****

"Show me how to program this thing." Sherry handed her new cell phone to Judy who made the call to have the phone activated. Then she put her cell phone number into it. "That's the number you call if you can't make it in to work."

"Can you put a few more numbers in? I'll watch how you do it."

"What numbers do you want in?"

"The local police."

Judy put that number in under Scotty. "That's Scott Wade's number. Even if he isn't on duty you can call him if you're in trouble." She put in the state police number under PSP. "What else?"

"I want to do it myself to make sure I know how." Sherry added the Blakelys' home number and the cell phone numbers for Mark, Jan and Frank. "Now I'm all set if Elena follows me home." She'd confided to Judy all that had occurred between her and Elena.

Sherry was almost home when a car pulled out behind her. When she took a corner too fast her purse slid to the far side of the seat next to the passenger door. She couldn't reach her cell phone because she needed both hands on the wheel.

When Elena pulled up beside her, Sherry hit the skids and whipped the wheel which sent her crossways on the road with her front end toward the soybean field beside her property. There wasn't much of a bank so she floored it and her car shot forward. Elena had stopped and was turning around. Sherry didn't have time to waste. She had to get to the house fast if it tore the whole exhaust system off her car.

She aimed the car at her backyard and gunned the engine to go bouncing across the field. Driving right beneath the roof over the patio, she grabbed her purse by the strap with her keys in her hand and bolted up the steps to the back door. With shaking hands she unlocked the door and ducked inside.

Through the breezeway window, she could see Elena getting out of her car right outside of the door. She darted to the kitchen door and unlocked it. Once inside, she locked the door and shot home the bolt.

Grabbing her hammer from the counter, she sprinted across the kitchen to the bathroom door and locked herself inside where she sat down on the floor and dug out her cell phone. With her heart pounding she hit the button for the Blakely's home phone. Jan answered.

"Elena's outside!" she cried. "She ran me off the road. Please send Frank and Mark over."

She could hear Elena in the breezeway trying to get in the kitchen door. She thanked God and Frank for the bolt that kept Elena out. And she was glad Frank told her about the key to the bathroom door that had hung on a little hook in the cupboard over the sink. "You used to lock yourself in the bathroom and your grandmother kept the key there so she could unlock the door," he told her. That key was now on Sherry's key ring.

Everything got quiet. She sat still, waiting, praying that Frank and Mark would get there soon. Then she heard Mark calling for her to unbolt the door.

She ran to unlock the kitchen door. Mark burst in and hugged her close. She couldn't stop shaking.

"This time you are going along home," he ordered. "You can sleep in the guest room."

"No. This is my home. She isn't going to scare me away."

"What good is that if you're dead?" he demanded.

She pulled away from him and gave him her keys. "Please go move my car to the garage."

After Mark went out Frank told her, "What Mark says makes sense. It won't be any problem."

Sherry didn't respond to his statement. Instead she took her flashlight to the pantry to find something to eat. She came away with a can of tomato soup and one of tuna. "At least we know what happened to the missing key to my house. She was in the breezeway trying to get in the kitchen door but it was bolted."

"I'll have Mark call Chad and tell him. Even if he isn't on duty he needs to know about this. Maybe they can find her and arrest her and charge her with stalking. Mark has Chad's number in his cell phone."

"By the way, I got a cell phone tonight. Judy programmed it for me. That's how I called."

"I need your number so I can put it in my phone."

After setting the tomato soup off the stove and turning off the gas, she dug in her purse for her cell to call up her number, just as Mark came in the door. He immediately put her number into his phone. "Why didn't you call as soon as she started following you?"

"I couldn't reach my purse and drive, too." She poured her soup in a bowl, set it on the table and began to make a tuna sandwich. "I'm okay now that it's over."

"Until the next time," Mark said. "You really need to come home with us."

"No. Go leave me alone so I can eat."

Mark and Frank went out to the breezeway to talk. Soon Sherry could hear them arguing loudly. She wasn't finished eating when they came back inside. Mark was visibly angry.

"You're going home with us if I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you out to the truck," Mark asserted.

She sprang to her feet. "If you do I'll have you charged with kidnapping and unlawful restraint."

Mark seized her by the shoulders and gave her a shake. "You hard-headed little..."

Frank intervened by stepping between them with his hands on Mark's chest. "Try 'independent'. Leave Sherry alone."

Sherry backed away to the bathroom door. "Get out of my house!"

"Sherry, listen to reason," Mark pleaded in a calmer tone.

"Just get out. Go!" She stepped back into the bathroom and slammed the door, locking it.

Mark tried to get past his father but Frank blocked him. "You heard her. Out."

Sherry was at the table finishing her supper when the phone rang. She was tempted not to answer it but after it rang six times she lifted the receiver.

It was Mark. "Please don't hang up. I'm sorry for being overbearing. I'm just trying to protect you. I have no clue why Elena is targeting you but it isn't your fault. I'm sorry you got mixed up in my mess."

"Elena is crazy," Sherry responded. "I know. I looked into her eyes when she was attacking me. Nobody will believe me." She drew a deep breath. "Do you still want to take me to dinner tomorrow night?"

"Definitely. I'm looking forward to it. You need to get away from all this for a while."

She didn't go to bed until after midnight. It was past three when she went to sleep. The clock's red numerals showed eleven o'clock when she woke up. Even though she would like to have remained in bed, she knew she had to get around to leave for work at two-thirty. She muddled through the day trying to focus on what she needed to do. She could not keep her mind off Mark. He intruded into everything she did. "I don't want to fall in love with him," she muttered to her  dishwater. Her hot shower didn't wash him from her mind.

Chapter 6

She was glad it was a busy evening at work. But on the drive home thoughts of Mark followed her. She hoped that she would not have to deal with Elena. The last thing she wanted was for that woman to find out that she and Mark were going on a date. She almost called to cancel. But she really wanted to go. She needed a distraction from the complications of her life. And Mark was distracting.

She changed to a flowered dress topped by a white sweater. Then she called Mark. Hiding her purse in one of the milk cans, she pinned a door key to the underside of her collar. She was waiting when Mark drove in the driveway.

He chose a small family restaurant frequented by rural families. That late in the evening there were quite a few teenagers hanging around the pinball machines. When Mark guided her to an empty table, Sherry selected a chair where she could see the door, just in case Elena had followed them.

A hefty woman with her gray hair pinned up in a bun and a pencil behind her ear came to take their order. "Well, hello, Mark. We don't get to see you much anymore."

"This is Sherry Winnette. Violet's grand-daughter."

"Your grandparents used to come in here every Saturday night. I'd guess you'd be the little tyke they used to bring with them."

Sherry smiled. "Possibly. I don't remember." She looked over the menu. "A BLT, fries and coleslaw. Chocolate milk to drink."

Mark grinned up at the woman. "Sounds good to me, Kate. Make it two."

When Kate delivered their food, Mark pulled the toothpicks out of his sandwich and picked up half. "The food here is good."

Sherry was hungry because she skipped her supper break. She sat eating without pausing for conversation.

"Cat got your tongue?" Mark asked.

She shook her head and swallowed. "It's impolite to talk with your mouth full. I'm famished." But she remained quiet through the meal.

"What's wrong?" Mark asked.

"I keep expecting Elena to walk through that door. If she does, I'm going under the table."

Mark gave her a grin. "Elena wouldn't lower her standards to come to a place like this."

"That's what I thought about the Laundromat. But she did. I have the marks to prove it." She indicated the scratches on her cheek. "I got a summons in the mail today. My hearing is next Wednesday at nine o'clock. I'm ready to go home. I'm tired. I haven't been sleeping well and we had a busy evening at work."

She remained quiet all the way home. Mark tried to draw her out but she remained reticent. When he walked her to the door he asked, "May I come in?"

"No."

"May I kiss you without getting bit?"

She stood on the doorstep making her as tall as he was. She smiled. "I won't bite."

He put his hands on her shoulders and she put her hands on his chest to keep him from getting too close. The kiss began gently but deepened. She slipped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with ardor. Until his hand touched her breast. She shoved against him and stepped back.

"That's enough." Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure he could hear it. He had awakened feelings in her she didn't know existed. She knew if she allowed him to come in she would end up in bed with him. "Good night, Mark."

"You expect me to just go home after a kiss like that?"

"Yes. Go home, Mark." She turned, opened the storm door and unlocked the door. He reached to stop her but she slipped inside and shut the door, locking it. With her heart hammering she unlocked the door to the kitchen and stepped inside. She stood watching him through the kitchen window.

At his truck, he turned back and looked at the closed, locked door. Then he shrugged and got in his vehicle and backed out of the driveway.

"You can't afford to fall in love now," she told herself. "What about all your plans and goals? Think about college and what you plan to do with your life." But Mark wouldn't go away. Thoughts of him inserted themselves into everything she tried to do. She put a classical CD in the stereo and went to bed

It was nearly nine-thirty when she awoke. She didn't feel like getting up but there were things she needed to do. She could sleep late tomorrow. She put the teakettle on and tried to open the silverware drawer to get a spoon. It stuck. She tried to work it open to no avail. "I've had trouble out of you ever since I moved in," she complained to the drawer. "I'll get you open one way or another."

Just then the door buzzer sounded. She turned around to look out the kitchen window. Mark stood at the breezeway door.

"Just what I need--an engineer. Can you fix a sticking drawer?"

"I think I might be a little over qualified but I'll try." He followed her to the kitchen. He tried pushing the drawer back in. That way it worked easily but when he tried to pull it out it stuck again. He removed the drawer just below it.

"That was my next plan but then you came so I figured I'd let you do it." Sherry turned off the gas as the teakettle began to whistle.

Mark knelt down to look at the bottom of the drawer. "Flashlight."

She placed the flashlight in his hand. He directed the beam at the bottom of the drawer. "There's something taped to it."

Sherry leaned down to look. Mark turned his head and they were nose to nose. He put his left hand behind her head and kissed her as he stood up and laid the flashlight on the counter. As he embraced her with his right arm, the kiss deepened. She could feel his tongue enter her mouth. She pressed her open mouth to his as his kiss stirred up the same feelings as the night before. This time she didn't push away but clung to him.

Finally reason penetrated her giddy brain and she pushed away from him gasping for breath. Her heart was hammering so she thought it might burst free of her chest. "Don't...do that!"