My Deadly Valentine (14 page)

No matter what the cost.

SEVEN

T
he Transcross Realty vehicle parked in her driveway made Holly gape in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered as she yanked on her clothes.

A glance at the clock made her blink again. Seven-twelve. The sun had barely put in an appearance this morning when she’d heard someone crunching the gravel on her driveway. Thinking about how wonderful it had been to be held by Eli once again had kept her awake into the wee hours of the morning. Now this.

Bolting down the steps, she stopped at the front door and gathered her composure—and her temper. As an afterthought she snatched her cell phone from the table beside the door.

With an outward calm that hid the boiling anger inside her, she stepped outside to find two men, their backs facing her, taking pictures of her property. “Excuse me, may I help you gentlemen with something?”

They whirled. “Um, good morning, miss.” The one with the thick glasses held out a hand then dropped it when she crossed her arms. “I’m Preston Hancock and this is my associate, James Miller. We’re from Transcross Realty.”

“I got that much.” She gestured to the car. “What I don’t understand is why you’re in my front yard.”

“Our boss, Mr. Zimmerman, sent us out here to take pictures. Said you were selling.”

A frustrated yell wanted to rupture from her throat. She swallowed, stepped forward and planted her hands on her hips. He backpedaled two steps. James Miller’s face remained impassive. “Let’s get one thing straight right now,” she insisted. “I’m not selling. And I’m just about past the point of being nice about it.”

He blinked owlishly behind his thick glasses. “Excuse me? But…but…”

Patience, Holly.
“I’ve also sent that statement in writing to Mr. Zimmerman. Now get off my property before I call the cops and have you charged with trespassing.”

Mr. Miller’s jaw went hard. “Lady, Mr. Zimmerman wants this property.” Menace dripped from him and for the first time, she noticed his eyes. Hard eyes. Mean eyes.

Fear darted through her as she thought about the man who’d accosted her outside the sheriff’s office, but she ignored it. “Please leave and don’t come back.”

His lip curled. “Better take the man’s very generous offer. You never know when you might need the extra money.”

“Just what are you threatening me with?” Was this really happening? First the man outside the sheriff’s office, then this? And what about last night? What if it was someone from Transcross sent to scare her?

“This is a dangerous area.” His hand swept out. “Isolated. Never know when you might end up with a few more medical bills.” With that, he gave her one last threatening look then jerked his head toward his partner. “Come on.”

Once they were gone, Holly let out a frustrated “Oh!”

Then the uneasy feeling that she was still being watched kicked in. Spinning around, she scanned the surrounding property. Nothing moved or seemed out of place.

Then again, why hadn’t the dogs barked when the Transcross guys drove up?

“Duster? Sassy?” She’d let them in the house when she’d gotten home last night, wanting the company. Without her mother there, the house felt empty, lonely.

And somehow threatening.

“Duster? Here boy! Sassy?”

No dogs.

Now her stomach clenched.
Oh, Lord, please don’t let anything have happened to them.

She went back inside and checked the kitchen. They had a doggie door and could come and go as they pleased from the sunporch side of the house.

Holly checked the area but there wasn’t any way to tell if the dogs had used the door or not. Since they weren’t in the house, she’d have to assume they had.

But where would they go? They never wandered very far. And they’d both greeted her when she’d arrived home last night.

“Duster?” She whistled. “Sassy?”

The faint sound of barking reached her ears.

“Duster?” She closed her eyes, listening.

The shed?

She raced across the back lawn to the utility shed. Pushing the sliding door open, Holly gasped as the two furry animals bolted from the interior. Both immediately went to take care of business, which told her they’d been locked in there for several hours.

But why? Who would do this? Mr. Ryan? But he hadn’t even been around for the last few days. And he wouldn’t have put the dogs in there anyway.

Between the time she’d gotten home last night to the time she awakened, someone had locked her dogs in the shed.

They bounded up to her, tails pumping ninety miles an hour. She scratched ears while she thought. Then Duster darted into the house via the doggie door while Sassy chased a bird.

Pacing, wondering what this meant and what she should do about it, she eyed the shed. The phone vibrated in her hand and she jumped. She’d forgotten she even had it.

Who would be calling this early? Did she want to answer it? Not recognizing the number, she paused. Finally, on the last ring, she snapped it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Good morning, Holly.”

“Eli? How did you get my number?”

“I’m sorry, is this a bad time? I figured you’d be getting ready for work and wanted to catch you before you left.”

Deep breath. “No, no, sorry. Actually, it’s been a rather strange morning.” She glanced at the clock. An hour had passed since she’d been awakened by the Transcross Vehicle.

“Want to tell me about it at the church? Dad couldn’t sleep in spite of his pain meds and kept calling me from the hospital. He decided he had some stuff to get rid of and had me up all night going through it.”

“All night?”

“Well, maybe not all night, but I’ve got quite a load here I need to dump. Want me to pick you up? I’ve got Miz Hannah’s homemade doughnuts.”

Ooh, now that was tempting. Her heart hesitated, still not ready to take the risk of spending more time with him, and yet…“Sure, Mom’s on a mini vacation so I just need to get ready. Let me meet you there, though, because I’ll need my car when we’re finished. I’ve got to run go to the store to open up. Jessica can take care of the store while we’re at the church. I also need to finish…um…taking care of some things around here.”

His voice sharpened. “What kinds of things?” He must have picked up on the lingering fear in her voice.

She paused then said, “I’ll tell you when I see you. Give me a few minutes or so to get everything together and I’ll meet you.”

He let her get away with the delay. “All right. My buyer called this morning to say he’d be running late so I’ve got some time to take this stuff to the church before I have to get back here and meet him.”

“And you thought I’d help, huh?”

“I knew I could count on you.”

She couldn’t help the warmth that danced through her, but listened to the word of caution her brain sent to her heart. His next words made her grimace. “Besides, you’re the closest person with a key to the church.”

She snorted. “Thanks, Brodie.”

Laughter greeted her, then his husky voice lowered. “You know I want to see you, Holly.”

She shivered and said, “I’ll see you in about an hour.”

Hanging up the phone, she groaned. What was she
doing?
Why was she spending time with the man who’d dumped her, not once, but twice? Was she out of her mind?

But he’d changed.

Right, she argued with herself. Did she really want to take a chance on that? Risk having him splatter her heart all over the ground once more?

Part of her did. Part of her desperately wanted to believe it. The more cynical side of her flashed warning signs shouting that she needed more proof than the apology he’d offered the other day. And the fact that he’d put his personal life aside to come take care of his father and run the horse ranch.

As she thought about Eli, she knew for certain why she and Alex didn’t work. No one pulled at her like Eli Brodie. She couldn’t get the man out of her head—or her heart.

Even though an examination of the shed showed nothing amiss, she was still bothered. If the doors hadn’t been the sliding kind that had to have human help to close, she might be tempted to think the dogs had gotten trapped on their own.

But it just wasn’t possible.

Someone had shut them in there.

Still pondering, she headed back inside to finish her morning routine.

And then she’d meet Eli at the church. The one man she should probably avoid if she wanted to keep her heart from splintering in two again.

Eli slapped the aftershave on his cheeks and stared at himself in the mirror. Excitement over the upcoming meeting with Holly made him smile. Nervousness made his insides jumpy.

Lord, I know I don’t deserve her. In fact if I were her, I’d probably take off running in the opposite direction and not stop until I was covered in her dust. But I’d really like one more chance. You and I both know I’m a different man than I was before. Holly and I had something special and I messed it up. But this time, with You in the mix, I think we could get it right.

Grabbing his coat from the back of the chair where he’d tossed it last night, he slipped it on, snatched up the keys and headed for his truck.

At the end of his driveway, he took a left and climbed the curving road to the next turnoff. Twenty yards later, he spun into the parking lot.

Holly’s little red truck sat in front of the church.

Just as he climbed out, she came out of the front door of the church and down the steps toward him. She raised a brow in the direction of his vehicle. “That’s quite a load.”

At the sight of her, Eli’s heart thumped a little faster, sweat slicked his palms. She had on denim jeans, her heavy coat, hat and scarf. She looked adorable.

She reached his truck and he leaned over to hug her. At first, she went stiff, then relaxed. He relished the feel of her in his arms. “Thanks for coming to the hospital last night. It was really good to see you. I needed that.”

She placed a hand on his cheek, opened her mouth to say something then snapped it shut when a sheriff’s cruiser pulled into the parking lot.

Alex.

Eli heard her indrawn breath as she pulled away. She muttered, “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that man planted a tracking device on me.”

Eli felt his ire rise. If Alex didn’t back off, he was going to have to have words with him.

Alex climbed from the cruiser.

“What are you doing here?” Holly crossed her arms and leaned back against the truck.

Even though he’d seen the cozy embrace, Alex said nothing. “I got a call about a silent alarm going off.” He nodded to the church.

“What?” She straightened. Instant red suffused her face and she darted back to the building. Thirty seconds later, she reappeared. “Is it off now?”

Alex got on the radio, said something, listened, then nodded. “All taken care of.”

Holly shook her head. “I’m so sorry.”

“No problem.” He smiled then looked at Eli’s loaded truck. “You need some help?”

Surprised at the offer, Eli studied the man then shrugged. “Sure, since you’re here.”

Thirty minutes later, Eli’s truck bed was empty. Eli rolled his shoulders and decided he liked working as a team with Holly even with the addition of Alex and his determination to compete for Holly’s affection. Her fluid grace made every movement a pleasure to watch.

Alex’s radio crackled and he stepped away from them for a moment.

Holly locked up the church and Eli pulled his keys from his pocket. “We never did get around to eating those doughnuts.”

“Guess I’ll have to take a rain—”

“Holly?”

Eli looked up to see Alex coming toward them wearing a frown. Foreboding hit Eli. “What is it?”

Alex looked at Holly. “Someone spray painted graffiti all over your store. The alarm never went off so I don’t know if they attempted to get inside, but we need to go take a look.”

“What?” Holly didn’t wait for an answer. She spun on her heel to head for her truck.

Eli grabbed her arm. “Hold on, Holly, I’ll go with you.”

Alex intervened. “You’re not a cop here anymore, Brodie, remember?”

“I don’t care, I’m a friend.” He shot a hard look at Alex. The man stared back, some emotion Eli couldn’t identify glittering in his dark eyes. Jealousy? Possessiveness?

Finally Alex shrugged. “Fine. Anne, one of the cashiers at the grocery store next door to your store, called it in and Alice radioed me.”

The three of them climbed into their respective vehicles and headed down the mountain.

Five minutes later, she pulled up in front of her store, shock pounding through her.

Climbing out of the car, she just stared at the building. Bright red words glared at her. “Time’s up,” she read in a whisper. She wouldn’t say the other painted words out loud, but they burned in her brain nonetheless.

“Who is doing this?” Eli wondered aloud.

“And why?” Alex added.

Anger—and more than a touch of fear—made her fingers shake as she pushed the door open. She couldn’t hold back her cry of dismay. “It’s been destroyed. All my hard work…Everything…” She wanted to puddle into the floor and wail. Instead, she straightened her spine, sucked back the tears and took in the damage.

Alex laid a hand on her shoulder and she felt too shell-shocked to move away. He turned her to him and said, “I promise I’ll get this guy for you.”

Eli’s gaze darted between them and she gave him a tremulous smile. She moved over to the Valentine’s display she’d spent hours putting together. Smashed chocolate, stuffing ripped from the cute teddy bears, flowers strewn across the room. Everywhere she looked, destruction greeted her. “I’ll have to refund orders. Valentine’s Day is the day after tomorrow. I’ll never be able to have this cleaned up in time.”

“What about insurance?” Eli asked.

She nodded. “I have insurance, but even with it…” She shook her head and swallowed hard. “I may have to close the store.” The phone line had been cut, explaining why the alarm hadn’t gone off. The trouble light blinked, telling her she needed to investigate.

That was a lot of help after the fact.

Two hours later, she had her police report filed, and Alex had collected all the evidence he could. Eli had gone back to his ranch to sell his horses and Holly had called her insurance company. Now she set the broom aside, slumped into a chair and stared at the destruction.