On Ice (19 page)

It felt natural to reach out and touch Brett. He could be rather frightening, but not really. Not in the same way.

Brett’s warm kitchen still smelled of spices and fresh baking, Rene realized Mrs. Jolly was nowhere to be seen.

“
It’s Wednesday.”

Rene turned to find Brett’s broad shoulders slouched casually against the door frame, his questioning gaze stripped her to her soul.

“
Bible study,” he said. “At the church every Wednesday unless the snow’s too deep. Reverend Goodnight holds them in thrall on Sundays and Wednesdays.”

“
I see,” she gasped out. She couldn’t move, especially since she would have to pass so close to Brett to escape the kitchen. She stared out the window at the distant snow-capped peaks outlined sharply against the deepening blue of the late-afternoon sky.

“
Rene, I won’t bite you,” he said. “I know something’s wrong. I just hope you’ll learn to trust me enough to tell me what’s bothering you.”

“
I wish I could.” Her voice sounding strangely high-pitched and quavery.

“
You can,” he said, “whenever you’re ready.”

When she turned, he was gone. Rene wondered if Brett deliberately invited her to his house on a Wednesday evening knowing Mrs. Jolly would be elsewhere.

~*~

Maddy stared out the window.

Mark’s dark blue Lexus still sat parked at the curb. He didn’t even try to hide his surveillance. She thought about calling the police but what would she tell them?

My brother-in-law is parked in front of my house. Could you please come arrest him?

Ted had taken the girls to school, but she refused to call him. It would only worry him. He would probably drive all the way back to find that Mark had gone. He didn’t deserve to be thrust into the middle of this. Besides, Terrence was around somewhere. Oh, yes, she remembered. He went to check the fluids in her car. But he had been out there a long time.
What was it with men and garages?

She turned from the window, knowing that in his strange and twisted way, Mark enjoyed this. She hated that he took pleasure in making her family miserable, that he had enjoyed making Rene miserable. At least, Rene remained safe, for now.

Where is Terrence anyway?
Maddy strode toward the kitchen and peeked out the window. She couldn’t see Terrence, but the garage door still stood open. Perhaps she could just pop out and tell him Mark was parked in front of the house. She really should let him know.

She stuck her head out and looked all around the spacious, well-landscaped back yard. The trees, once shady and inviting, seemed dark and sinister concealing unknown threats. A tingling at the nape of her neck warned her to be alert. She stepped off the porch, silently scurrying to the garage. “Terrence!” she called softly, not daring to raise her voice.
Strange.
She didn’t see him. He wouldn’t leave without telling her. Besides, the car was here.

The car’s passenger door stood ajar, the interior light glowing in the dimly lit garage. She walked around to close it, but stumbled over something. Something big.

“
Terrence!” She squeaked out his name when she recognized him slumped on the garage floor. A dark sticky stain spread on the concrete from his tightly curled ginger-colored hair. Maddy knelt beside him. He was warm and breathing. Without thinking, she picked up the large wrench lying by his head. The full impact of the situation settled heavily upon her just as she heard a footstep. Mark stood over her, grinning broadly, his eyes glinting with pleasure. Her gaze focused on the expensive leather gloves covering his hands as he continually snapped his fingers.

She swung the heavy wrench with both hands, striking him on the shin. The impact caused a reverberation that hurt her hands.

Mark screamed in anguish. “You bitch! I’ll kill you!” He shrieked, as he clutched his shin, dancing on one foot.

“
Not a chance,” she said in a remarkably calm voice, swinging the wrench again. As he fell to the garage floor, screaming again, Maddy sprang to her feet, clutching the precious wrench. Darting around the car, she ran into the house, twisting the dead-bolt into place and activating the alarm system. The police would be here in a matter of minutes.
I have him this time!

~*~

Rene tried to pretend that the impending fishing trip was only minimally important. Whenever it sprang to mind she intentionally shoved all such thoughts to the very back recesses of her brain.

Seth was thrilled. He talked of nothing else. Would Brett allow him to fish? Did he have the right equipment? Would they need to bring anything?

“
I’m sure Brett has everything we need,” she reassured him. “He knows we’ve never been fishing before so it’s unlikely he would expect us to have any equipment.”

Seth’s face was transparent, his anxiety heartbreaking.

“
It’s going to be okay.” She squeezed his shoulder. “We’ll have a great time.”

She decided to take a walk over to Ben’s cabin. Seth needed something to hold onto and unfortunately, she didn’t have the right answers.

The children walked with her along the well worn path between their two residences. She walked slowly holding Sara’s hand while Seth pranced ahead. Rene laughed to see him bounce along, his mood having magically reinvented itself.

“
Miz Reeny!” Clearly puzzled by their unexpected appearance, Ben opened his door for them.

“
Hello Ben,” she said. “Do you fish?”

“
I got some in the freezer, Miz Reeny. You want some?”

Rene smiled. “I guess that means that you know how to fish.”

“
I sure do, Miz Reeny. You want to go fishin’?”

“
Perhaps you can tell us about your fishing experiences. We’re going on a fishing expedition on Saturday and we don’t know what to expect.”

“
Sure thing! You want to sit down?” Ben led them to his kitchen and they were seated around a small table. He poured them each a glass of apple juice from a glass pitcher. “What do you want to know, Miz Reeny?”

“
Can you tell Seth something about fishing? We’ve never been fishing and he wants to know how it’s done.”

Ben looked from Rene’s face to Sara’s and settled on Seth’s. “I got just what you need right here.” He pushed back from the table. “Yessiree. Just you wait one little minute.” He opened a closet and brought a small metal box to the table. Seth rose and stood close as Ben opened the box. It was filled with fishing lures.

Ben proceeded to explain the difference between live and dead bait and the use of different kinds of lures. He showed where the barbed hooks were tied on and let Seth touch a shiny silver spoon. Sara liked the little bits of fluff and feather attached to some of them. When he had explained the process, Seth was smiling and Rene was thankful that their neighbor was willing to assuage a little boy’s fears.

~*~

“
What do you mean no trace?” Maddy shrieked at the police detective. She struggled to control her voice. “Detective Ambrose, he was there! He assaulted our chauffeur! What more do you want?” She glared up at the burly officer who had apparently dealt with hysterical women before.

“
Ma’am, he’s not there now,” the detective explained, as to a child. “There’s no sign he was ever there. Your neighbors didn’t see him or the car you claim you saw parked in front of your house.”

“
He was in our garage!” she insisted. “I saw him.”

“
What did he do? Did he threaten you?”

“
Yes he threatened me! He’s a threatening kind of guy!”

“
What did he say to you?” The detective held a small pad and pencil at the ready.

“
He called me a bitch and threatened to kill me.”

“
Did he touch you or hurt you in any way?”

“
No but he grinned at me and he kept clenching his fists and snapping his fingers.”

“
He grinned at you?” The detective looked up from the pad.

“
Yes. Leering, really.”

“
And then what?”

“
That’s when I hit him with the wrench.”

“
You assaulted him with a wrench? Is that the same wrench you used to assault the chauffeur?”

“No, you idiot! Mark hit Terrence! I hit Mark.”

“
You saw your brother-in-law hit this Terrence?”

“
Not exactly.” Maddy sniffed impatiently.
What’s wrong with this man?

“
What makes you think your brother-in-law hit the chauffeur? Was there bad blood between them?”

“
No! He’s been threatening my family and me. He tried to strangle me in a castle in Scotland. Don’t you understand how dangerous he is?”

“
Yes, Ma’am.” He folded his pad and tucked it inside his rumpled jacket.

“
You don’t believe me? Ask Terrence. He’ll tell you.”

“
Ma’am, I questioned your Terrence before the ambulance took him. He was groggy, but he said he didn’t see a thing.”

“
Aren’t you going to go to Mark’s condo? Arrest him! Look at his shins. I’d be pretty surprised if they weren’t badly bruised.”

“
Yes, Ma’am. We plan to check out your story.” His expression let Maddy know she was the suspect, not Mark.

~*~

Rene allowed herself a small luxury. After school, she took the children to town. They made their first stop at Pinkey’s where she treated herself to a new pair of denim jeans. She stepped out of the dressing room and turned around to get an idea of how they fit.

“
Hey there, Miss Baggy Butt!”

Rene turned quickly to see Nadine with a shopping basket on her arm. “Baggy?”

“
Yes. Don’t you city girls know how to shop?”

“
I thought I did.” She ran her fingers around inside the waistband.

Nadine grabbed a handful of fabric on Rene’s rear. “Way too big. You can’t even tell that you’re a girl.” She turned and rummaged through the stack of women’s sizes. “Try this on for size.” Nadine tossed Rene a pair one size smaller.

Rene looked at Nadine’s expression. “Are you sure?”

“
Don’t even argue with me, Missy. You owe it to the hoard of men with their tongues hanging out to at least wear jeans that fit. Now, get in there. I’m standing right here till you come out.”

Rene pulled up the new pair and was struggling with the zipper when Nadine pulled back the curtain.

“
These are too tight,” Rene said. “I’m having trouble zipping them up.”

“
They’re perfect. Everyone knows that if a girl can zip her jeans without lying down, they’re too loose.”

Rene blew out a stream of air. “In that case, they’re just right. I’ll take them.”

~*~

Mark lay on the sofa, his shins throbbing. He’d seen Rene use a bag of frozen vegetables as an ice pack in the past when he’d chanced to leave her bruised. It was never anything serious. She bruised like an over-ripe banana anyway. He couldn’t seem to touch her without her flinching.

A bag of frozen peas was draped over his left shin with broccoli on the right. He rotated his ankles experimentally fearing the bitch had fractured his legs. The bags of veggies accidentally rolled to the carpet. He retrieved them and put them back into place, then leaned back on the pillows. He would have gone to the emergency room or at least to his personal physician, but he couldn’t think of a plausible explanation for his injuries.

Damn that bitch
. He couldn’t believe she’d attacked him.

Mark laughed aloud. When he’d seen the Scot head for the garage, he followed and spied the wrench on the worktable. The Scot was vacuuming out the car and hadn’t heard a thing. When he backed out of the car, Mark swung the wrench.
What a big sham
. Maddy’s protector had dropped like a ballerina. He’d dropped the wrench beside the Scot’s body

Mark grinned as he thought of Maddy. He hadn’t thought he’d have the good luck to have her come prancing out to the garage. If he’d just waited a few more moments he’d have had her.

But, no.

He practically handed her the weapon. If she hadn’t had the wrench she wouldn’t have stood a chance against him. Mark flexed his fingers. He could have forced her to tell him Rene’s whereabouts. He could have.

~*~

Saturday morning, Rene got out of bed early. She swallowed her first cup of coffee without tasting it. How could she spend a whole day in close proximity to Brett without acknowledging her attraction to him? Canceling the fishing expedition would be out of the question. Seth was too excited. She couldn’t bear to disappoint him.

“
I am a strong woman. I am completely in control. I can do this for my son,” she chanted softly under her breath.

“
Do what, Mom?” Seth had also awakened early. He inserted the long laces in his new hiking boots.