Chapter 2

He had removed the work shirt that he had on that morning and was just wearing a short sleeve T-shirt. Wow! His arms and shoulders had not looked that big this morning. And a hand full of the soft black hair was dusting the top of his T-shirt. His jeans were form fitting and she noticed the muscles in his legs as he walked toward her. Whoa, she really must be tired, she was never going to get involved with men again and never wanted to notice this stuff again either. It was just stress.

“Miss, where do you want me to put my things. I’d like to take a few minutes and wash up if you don’t mind.”

“No, of course not. Come on in.”

He grabbed his bag from the truck and followed her inside. “What the hell happened here?” he asked.

She just turned and glared at him, what did he think happened here?

“Go on upstairs; you can have the last room on the right. The bathroom is right next to it. There should be clean towels in the basket. If not just let me know.”

He came down a few minutes later and informed her that the upstairs looked just as bad. She just kept picking up and straightening things. She tried to push the sofa back where it belonged, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Let me help you with that.” he offered. His hand touched hers and she pulled away as if she’d been burnt. Their eyes met, he looked deep. “I won’t hurt you,” he said.

She still moved away.

“I won’t hurt you, I’m here to help.”

“No one can help!” she whispered staring at him.

He slowly took a step toward her, she didn’t move so he took another. She just stood there; she was close enough to touch. He could see the conflict in her eyes. She was alone and afraid, but she needed someone, she couldn’t go on alone anymore, she was so tired. He reached out and folded her into his arms. She didn’t fight him, so he pulled her closer, up against his chest. She sobbed. One sob after another, until his shirt was wet, and she was empty. He had wanted to pick her up in his arms but decided against it. He was amazed that she was letting him hold and comfort her, just hours ago he would have said this would never happen. She was truly an emotional mess. What had Tommy gotten him into? Without notice, she wiped her face and pulled away.

“Could you help me with the sofa? she asked.

He tossed the last cushion on it and smiled at her.

“Thank you” she said, and he knew she didn’t mean for helping with the sofa.

He smiled and started to push the other furniture where she directed. Not a lot was broken so clean up was easier than it looked. They silently worked together cleaning up the downstairs. When that was finished, she offered him a cold drink.

“So how bad is the upstairs?” she finally asked.

“Pretty bad” he answered taking another drink. “I put the mattresses back on the beds in rooms where the doors were open when I was up there, but I didn’t open any doors.”

Annie was afraid to open doors.

“Maybe you wouldn’t mind going through the upstairs with me to see if there is anything big, I might need help with” she asked.

He didn’t need a picture drawn for him, she was really afraid.

“Of course, but why don’t you rest for a few minutes. I’ll go on up and get started.”

He started upstairs and noticed that she was right behind him. At the top of the stairs, he turned left. There was a door at the end of the hall and then one beside that. The one at the end was a bedroom and by the looks of it, he guessed it was Walt’s, a nice big room with a view to the west. The room was completely trashed. From the doorway, it was even obvious that the desk drawers were smashed. Someone did a good job on this room. Spencer stepped into the room and Annie closely followed. On the top of Walt’s desk was Annie’s picture. It had been taken out of the frame and placed in the center of the desk and then a knife stuck through it right into the wood of the desk. Annie gasped. Spencer took hold of her wrist and gently pulled her out of the room and closed the door. The next room was his bathroom and it had been gone through too. The upstairs was like a balcony with six doors running behind it the width of the house. They all faced the front of the house, which had big beautiful windows upstairs and down for a full view out them. The downstairs was mostly open. The living room was large and blended in to a dining area, the kitchen sat behind that, and then there was a short hall way to what looked like two more doors, but Spencer had not seen what was behind them. A mudroom and bathroom came in to the kitchen off the back porch and there was a nice guest bath by the bottom of the stairs. The house was truly large. Walt had also put a nice paved patio just off the back porch. There were flower beds laid out, but it didn’t look like they were kept up very well. There was a place to park by the first barn and a white fence encircled the entire property, for at least as far as the eye could see. They turned and looked in the room at the top of the stairs. The door had been open, and it contained bunk beds. True to his word, the mattresses were back in place and the room just needed cleaned up. The next door was hers and when Spencer opened the door, he heard her cry. There was nothing out of place. The entire house had been trashed but her room was just as she had left it, well almost. There was something on her bed, as they stepped into the room Spencer followed her eyes.

“What is it Annie?”

“I don’t know,” she said reaching for the envelope on her bed.

“Wait, don’t touch it” he ordered.

Spencer looked around the room for a moment and spotted a pencil on her nightstand. He picked it up and moved toward the envelope.

“Annie, move out into the hallway.” he said.

“What?”

“Go and stay around the corner until I call you.”

“What, are you insane, you act like you think that thing is a bomb.”

“Annie, I do. Get out, now.”

She slowly backed out of her room. Moving just around the corner so she could watch, Spencer was using the pencil to do things to the envelope, but she couldn’t see what. When he finally got it open, he called to her.

“Its ok you can come back in now.”

Annie studied him for a few minutes. This guy was some kind of commando or something. He was trained to deal with bombs and apparently had at some time because he knew just what to do. He realized she was just staring at him; he was just standing there holding the envelope when she finally spoke.

“Who sent you?”

Spencer ran his hand through his hair. He didn’t think it was a secret or there was any real reason she shouldn’t know.

“Tommy Clay” he answered.

Tommy Clay, the name raced through Annie’s mind. Detective Clay? Was his first name Tommy? Yes, it was, she remembered him saying once that he didn’t like it, so he just went by Clay.

“Detective Clay sent you, but why?” she asked.

“He said you needed help, the kind I can provide, I have special skills and I owed him one.”

“What kind of skills?”

“Let’s just say I have had special training and have picked up a few things along the way, if Tommy is concerned about someone getting to you, I was the best person he could have called to prevent that. He didn’t give me any details about this assignment, said you would when you were ready. Are you ready yet?” he asked pulling the contents of the envelope out and handing them to her. It was a copy of her marriage license and it had forever written on it in what looked like blood. Then there was a picture of her car, the one she had been in when the accident happened. The car was down a cliff and in flames. He had been there and had taken time to take a picture but not to help her, the significance of that made her shiver. And the last picture was of her standing on the front porch of this house and she was holding a gun. The front of Spencer’s truck was in the picture which meant that this picture had only been taken hours ago, and someone had been in the house since then. A sob escaped, she dropped the pictures and turned to run but Spencer caught her. She was hysterical. He held her tight, but it didn’t seem to help.

“I can’t get away from him, he warned me! How did he know I was here already? I have to get to Papa.” She tried to push past him, but he wouldn’t let go.

“Annie, stop it, listen to me, you have to trust me.” She looked up and nodded. He put his finger to his lip, telling her to be quiet and pulled her into the bathroom that they would be sharing. He turned on the cold water and wet a rag, handing it to her he said “wash your face” then he leaned in and whispered “We are going to leave; we will go out, get in my truck and go into town. Smile all the way, unless he has a bug planted somewhere in your room, he won’t know that you found the envelope yet.” The water was still running, and he reached to turn it off. Annie touched his hand to stop him.

“I can’t, I’m so scared” she whispered.

“Yes, you can. Now smile because here we go.” He reached down and took her hand. He could feel her trembling, but she didn’t pull away. They went down stairs and Annie picked up her purse as they headed for the door. The windows, those damn windows, Spencer hadn’t thought about them facing the bedrooms, if someone was watching, they may have seen them coming out of her room. Oh well now was not a good time to start second-guessing himself. He helped her up into the truck and they drove down the lane. Annie sat beside him smiling like a woman without a care in the world. She was truly a beautiful woman. Her hair had just a touch of red to it and a hint of natural curl. She had it up in a ponytail and the crunchy thing holding it up matched her shirt. He could see that she had little if any makeup on but then she really didn’t need any. Her complexion was sun kissed and as his look moved down her body, ample was the only word he could come up with. Her body curved in all the right places and she just looked soft and smooth. Grrrr his groin growled. He was here to help her not help himself to her. They stopped at the road and then turned left onto it. A few minutes into town and he pulled in to the diner that he had just had lunch in. Helping Annie down out of the truck he could read the questioning look on her face.

“Trust me!” Again, she nodded. They went into the diner and sat in a booth. Spencer looked around. “Order something for me to drink, I’ll be right back.” She was ready to protest him leaving her but as he walked across the diner he looked back and mouthed the words ‘trust me’ to her. Even in all this mess she had to smile. He moved around the corner by the restrooms and picked up the pay phone. He talked for a few minutes and then hung up. He flipped open the phone book that was hanging from the phone and dialed again. He talked to someone again only this time he seemed angry. When he hung up and came back to her, she felt safe again. She had ordered them both iced tea and he sat down and started to drink his. The door to the diner opened and two guys came in and sat at a table across the room. Spencer watched them but Annie had her back to the door, so she didn’t pay too much attention.

“Who did you call?” she asked.

He looked up through his dark lashes at her and just shook his head gently. She drank her iced tea and they sat in silence. She was waiting but she wasn’t sure for what. They had gotten out of the house and into town but now they needed to get to Papa and the Sheriff, why were they just sitting there drinking iced tea? The door to the diner opened again and a man came in and headed their way. Spencer stood and took Annie by the hand. He tossed some money on the table and moved toward the man. Hey, he looked familiar to Annie, where had she seen him before. It dawned on her as they got close, he was in the Sheriff’s office, but he had been in uniform.

“Let’s go out front,” Spencer said. When they got outside, he positioned Annie between him and this other man and then he let go of her hand.

“Thank you for meeting me like this.” Spencer finally said.

“Sure, but I still think you’re in way over your head here. And I know something strange is going on with Sheriff Drake, but I don’t think he could be in on any of this.”

“I hope you’re right, but did you check these two guys out?” Spencer asked.

“Yea, I think you’re right, did you see what they drove up in?”

“Yea, blue Ford, parked on the corner.”

“Ok as I walk away, I’ll get the license and run it.”

“Good, I’ll be in touch.”

“Did you say that you had help coming? And where are you going to stash her?”

“Yea helps coming and she’s a lot safer with me than stashed somewhere.”

“You may be right about that. I’ve already got a watch on Walt, they can’t get to him. Are you ever going to tell me what this is all about?” asked Deputy Green.

“Maybe, if I find out.” Spencer said taking Annie’s hand again. “We’re headed for the hardware store; keep an eye out, because these guys will no doubt follow us.”

“I want to go see Papa. He needs to know something is going on.” Annie finally chimed in.

“Ok honey, but I want to lose these guys first.”

“Do you have a gun?” the deputy asked Spencer.

“No, but I won’t need one.” he said as they started toward the hardware store.

Once inside the store, Spencer picked up some new locks and other items that Annie wasn’t familiar with. She had turn herself and Papa over to this man and she had to trust him. When they came out of the hardware store, the two men were sitting in the blue Ford, just waiting.

“Don’t look over there,” Spencer said. He positioned himself between the men and Annie. They were on a public street and he didn’t expect any trouble here but since he didn’t have all the facts, better safe than sorry. They got in his truck and he headed out of town, the blue truck pulled out right behind them. Spencer made a few turns and when Annie looked back again, they were gone.

“Where are they?” she asked.

“Probably on their way to the farm.” As they pulled up and parked by the hospital, he turned to her. “I have help coming in the morning but we’re on our own tonight. Walt has protection and is safe, so are you, so let’s not upset him if you can avoid it, ok?”

“But I need to explain all of this to him.”

“Just what he needs to know now, the rest you can tell him later.”

Annie noticed as she got out of the truck that the sky was getting dark. Spencer followed her glance.

“Looks like we might get some rain” he commented.

Inside the hospital Annie noticed a man standing by the elevator and one running a floor mop down the hall by Papa’s room. Spencer didn’t seem concerned, so she just assumed that they were police.

As she pushed open the door to Walt’s room, she reapplied her smile.

“Hi Papa,” she said going to his bedside and giving him a kiss.

“Hi baby, what are you doing here, run out of work already?” he said smiling.

Spencer smiled and nodded, and then he nodded to Annie.

“Papa, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Sure Annie, what’s wrong?”

“I’m afraid I’ve brought home some trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“Well to make a long story short, I think Ron is responsible for hurting you and I think he did it to get me here because he wants me.” Annie stopped and waited for him to digest that much.

“But why?”

“Because Ron is a bad man, and I know things about him that he doesn’t want anybody else to know, but I left and he couldn’t find me, so he needed to do something to make me come out of hiding.”

“You’ve been hiding from him?” Walt asked.

“That’s not the point Papa, he is here or at least he has people who work for him here and they are bad too. Spencer was sent here to protect us by Detective Clay. They were in our house today while I was here with you. Now there are a few policemen watching you here in the hospital, but you have to be careful. These are bad people; they will hurt you just to get to me.”

“But what about you? I need to come home to protect you.”

“No sir, that’s what I’m here for. She couldn’t be safer; I swear to you” Spencer offered. “We will get you home just as soon as possible and, in the meantime, maybe we can get this mess cleaned up. My brother will be here in the morning and we can handle everything at the farm. I would like to hire another hand to do the evening milking if you don’t mind. We may not need to, but I just thought I would get your permission in case.”

Annie could tell that Papa liked Spencer. He liked his style. Never took anything for granted and respected his elders. She liked his style too. He was kind and gentle, something she had not seen much of in the last year.

The door to Walt’s room opened again and Spencer moved between the door and Annie, but it was just the nurse bringing Walt his dinner.

“Oh, look Papa, dinner” Annie said and then realized that she sounded like a child or someone speaking to an old person. Papa wasn’t old, why was she treating him like that, she just wanted to protect him.

“I’m sorry Papa; I’m just so tired I don’t even know what I’m saying. I’m just worried; I wish you could come home with us.”