The Christmas Rescue

“I’ve never read the Bible,” Kayla murmured. “To be honest, I have trouble understanding why God would take my husband away so young.”

“Sometimes it is difficult to understand God’s plan. Reading the Bible can help. The book of Psalms is my favorite. ‘The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.’ That quote is from Psalm 40:1.”

“Sounds beautiful,” Kayla said thoughtfully. “Maybe you’re right. I’ll think about it. Might be interesting to see what has Alex so enthralled.”

He wanted to offer to attend church with her, but sensed she wasn’t quite ready. Besides, being at church with Kayla would feel like having a family.

Friends, he reminded himself. They were just friends.

Kayla tapped the newspaper article, her attention centered once again on the burglary attempt. “Do you think this article is the cause of the break-in?”

“Maybe,” he said, but he didn’t really think so. The odd guest she’d had was more concerning. “I think we’ll do some digging on Greg Landrum. The fact that he was down at the lakefront when you and Brianna were there bothers me.”

Kayla frowned and shivered. “He bothered me, too. I really wanted Clyde with us down there to help keep him away. Which reminds me, did you find out the identity of the victim yet?”

He let out a long breath. This was the moment he’d been dreading. He slowly nodded and reached out to take her hand in his, sure she’d be shocked when he told her the news. “Kayla, the victim you found happens to be someone you know. We’ve identified him as Bill Schroeder.”

Kayla blanched, unable to believe she’d heard him correctly. “Bill? Dead? Are you sure?”

“I’m sorry, but yes. We’re sure. The police are notifying his next of kin as we speak.”

“H-how did he die?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“His skull was cracked and he was dead before he fell in the water.” Rafe’s expression was full of compassion. “You need to know, the medical examiner believes he might have been murdered.”

She gasped, images from the lakefront scene flashing before her eyes. The red shirt bobbing in the water had been Bill Schroeder. And he’d been murdered? How? Why? “But I just saw him a week and a half ago.”

Rafe tightened his fingers around her hand. “I know. You mentioned that the other night. You said he came over because of the memorial. Did he come over here often?”

“Rarely. Maybe more so in the beginning,” she corrected herself. “In those first few weeks after Jeremy’s death, but not lately. Frankly, I was surprised to see him.”

Seeing Bill Schroeder had dredged up memories better off forgotten. The arguments she and Jeremy had over the long hours he worked in the charter fishing business. She’d been thrilled when he’d finally agreed to sell out his half of the business to Bill. She’d been looking forward to more family time.

She rubbed her aching temple. Why was she suddenly remembering the rough points in their marriage? Jeremy had been a good husband and father. She’d never worried about him straying. She’d planned to spend the rest of her life with him.

But Jeremy was gone. All she had left of her marriage was this house, her memories and the memorial that Bill Schroeder had recently put up in honor of Jeremy.

“You knew, didn’t you? That’s why you went back to talk to the police.”

“I suspected, but I couldn’t say anything until we knew for sure.”

Kayla’s shoulders slumped. It didn’t matter if Rafe knew before or not. She was doubly glad she hadn’t gone down to the body to take a closer look.

“So tell me, how much do you charge to rent one of your rooms?” Rafe asked, abruptly changing the subject.

Startled, she glanced at him. Why was he asking? Because he planned to stay? As much as she wanted to laugh off his offer, she couldn’t. Especially now that she knew Bill Schroeder was dead. “Just so happens I’m running a half-price Christmas special,” she weakly joked.

Rafe didn’t so much as smile. “I’m serious, Kayla. I’d like to stay for a few days. Just in case this intruder tries again. Put me in the same room he tried to break into, if possible.”

She wished she didn’t need Rafe’s help, but she couldn’t turn down his offer. Brianna’s safety had to be first and foremost. After all, wasn’t that the main reason she’d called him? She’d known he’d take charge.

Keep them safe.

“If you’re sure,” she said, meeting his gaze. She was thankful Ellen had agreed to stay with them for a while, too, so that she could take Rafe up on his offer. Ellen had mentioned needing to go and visit her sister, who’d fallen and broken her hip, but she wasn’t planning to leave until closer to Christmas.

“I’m sure.” He smiled, and suddenly she remembered all too clearly those moments when he caught her close in his embrace.

She swallowed hard and glanced away. She could only hope that allowing Rafe to stay wasn’t a huge mistake on a personal level.

For Brianna’s sake. Or her own.

Rafe left Kayla’s house, after making her promise to set the security alarm, so he could run back home to pick up what he needed. Leaving her alone, even knowing Ellen was there with her, wasn’t easy. He couldn’t help hurrying, unwilling to give Kayla time to change her mind. He’d been shocked at how easily she’d agreed with his plan to stay.

Which only indicated just how scared she’d really been.

He’d returned home to get some clothes and his laptop computer. Once again, he swung by the lakefront, but there was still no sign of Charlie.

He called Luke to tell him about Schroeder’s surprise visit to Kayla days before his disappearance. “I’m going to try to convince Kayla to let me go through her husband’s belongings. I just can’t help but think it’s odd that Schroeder suddenly put together a memorial for her husband two years after his death.”

“I’ll give you until Monday,” Luke reluctantly agreed. “But if you don’t have anything by then, I’m pulling you back here. We need to figure out who killed our key suspect. Obviously, someone else must be taking over duty of transporting our crooks out of the country.”

“That’s fine.” Rafe was willing to take what he could get.

When he returned to the bed-and-breakfast, Kayla seemed nervous, as if having him as a guest felt awkward. He used work as an excuse to retreat to his room, where he began an Internet search on Greg Landrum. Thankfully, Kayla had a wireless router for Internet access for her guests.

She invited him to join them for dinner and he warily agreed, trying to come up with some way to avoid giving Brianna the wrong idea.

But when he went down to the kitchen, he found Kayla and Ellen were alone. “Where’s Brianna?” he asked.

“She was invited over to her friend’s house for a sleep over,” Kayla admitted. “I thought it might be best, just in case this guy decides to come back tonight.”

Rafe hesitated, abruptly doubting the wisdom of his plan. “Maybe you should both leave, too. You could stay at Ellen’s place. I plan to keep the security system off so I can catch this guy in the act.” And what he really hoped was to have a few minutes alone with the guy to find out what in the world he was searching for.

“Don’t worry about us,” Ellen said in a feisty tone. “We’ll be fine, right, Kayla?”

Kayla nodded. “We’ll keep our doors locked, don’t worry. I’m sure I won’t be able to sleep much, but I’m staying.”

Rafe couldn’t think of an argument that would encourage the women to leave, so he fell silent. Kayla served a big pan of lasagna for dinner and made-from-scratch garlic bread. He took a bite and the tangy sauce melted in his mouth. He’d never tasted anything so good.

“You’re an excellent cook, Kayla.”

“Thanks.” She flushed at his praise and then glanced guiltily at her mother-in-law. “Ellen taught me a lot. And it’s nice to have friends to cook for, rather than strangers.” The subtle loneliness underlying her tone wasn’t lost on him. He knew only too well how difficult it was to spend evenings alone.

“Speaking of strangers, I haven’t found much on your guest, Greg Landrum,” he said, quickly changing the subject to a safer topic. “You told me the address on his driver’s license was from Chicago, right?”

She nodded. “Yes. Why?”

“I can’t seem to find him anywhere, that’s all.” He stood to help her clear away the dishes, but Ellen shooed him away, taking over the task herself. “I’m going to keep looking. Everyone leaves some sort of electronic trail in today’s world.”