Protector - Laurel Dewey [170]
“How can he contact you?” Lisa asked confidentially.
“Is that a ‘yes’?”
“I have a way with my brother. Just like you and Mike, we’re real tight. If I tell him I need a favor for a good friend, he’ll do it. So, how are we going to contact you?”
Jane was dumbstruck. After all the awful things she had said about Lisa—out loud, under her breath and in her head—after all that, this girl was willing to play the middle-man in a dangerous game. “My pager,” Jane said quietly, before giving her the number. “It’s a voice pager. So, if he can cut to the chase in sixty seconds or less, have him leave a message. Otherwise, tell him to give me his number and I’ll call him right back.”
“I’ll take care of it, Jane.”
“I don’t want you involved in this any more than just contacting your brother!”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. Like you said, I’d like to be part of your family one day. And family does this kind of stuff for each other.”
Jane was completely floored by Lisa’s words. She closed her eyes, listening intently to Lisa’s voice echo in her head. She heard neither a lie nor the whisper of betrayal in the timbre. “Thank you.”
Monday turned into Tuesday and there was no word from Lisa. Jane noticed that Dan increased his self-appointed, drive-by patrols each day and evening. Late Tuesday afternoon, he stopped by to share news with Jane. While Emily played in the backyard, Dan and Jane stood at the front door, talking in confidential tones.
“I don’t know exactly what’s goin’ on,” Dan revealed, a worried look etched into his face, “but I think Sheriff George is fixin’ to investigate you.”
“I thought he bought the whole story about Emily being sick.”
“I thought he did, too. But that’s the word I’m gettin’.”
Jane let out a tired sigh. “What in the hell made him change his mind?”
“I don’t know. Unless . . .”
“What?”
“Unless he heard or saw what happened with Emily at the carnival . . .”
Jane thought it through and realized Dan was probably right. “Shit! If he starts poking around on his computer, he’s bound to figure the whole thing out—”
“If I catch wind that he’s found out about your ex, I’ll let you know.”
“Dan, if he finds out the truth about me—”
“I guess all we can pray for right now is water seepin’ into the underground lines. It breaks the Internet connection around here.”
“Then I suggest you go break a water main.”
Tuesday melted into Wednesday and Jane’s voice pager remained silent. Knowing that she now had the added stress of Sheriff George searching on his computer for information on her, Jane’s tension was growing exponentially. Thanks to her constant paranoia, the two had not left the house since returning home from making the phone call at The Pit Stop on Monday afternoon.
By Wednesday afternoon, Emily was stir crazy. With Kathy’s “welcome basket” nearly drained of its contents and the refrigerator and freezer almost empty, Emily begged Jane for a trip to The Mountain Melon Market. Jane acquiesced with the caveat that Emily stay within eyesight of her the entire time.
Main Street was alive with red, white and blue banners, American flags and countless signs and posters heralding Sunday’s Independence Day Parade. Jane parked the Subaru. “Stay next to me in there. Understood?”
“Understood,” Emily said, feeling like a trapped animal.
The market was empty, save for the cashier whose head was buried in the National Enquirer. Jane grabbed a cart and headed to the frozen food section at the rear of the market. No sooner were she and Emily hidden from view when the bell attached to the market’s front door chimed.
“Hey there, Sheriff!” the cashier called out. “How’s it goin’?”
Jane suddenly felt cornered.
Emily perked up. “Can I go—”
“Shh!” Jane cautioned her.
“Say, is your lotto machine working?” Sheriff George asked the cashier.
“Nah. It’s havin’ one of them days. Why? Is your computer down again?”
“Yeah. That damn water in the lines is causing it to crash constantly.”
Jane