Danger on the Mountain

* * *

Maggie pushed the sippy cup from Belle’s grasping fingers, tired of the “throw it on the floor so Mommy can pick it up” game.

Belle protested with a loud squeal so Maggie stood, trying to juggle the baby, her purse and the diaper bag. Her wallet fell to the floor when it tipped out of her tilted purse.

With Belle on her hip, she squatted, attempting to keep her balance while she retrieved the wallet.

“Let me hold her a minute.”

Maggie looked up to see Mrs. Adler standing behind her. Belle grinned when she saw her.

Grateful for the woman’s intervention, Maggie handed Belle over. While Belle grabbed a handful of Mrs. Adler’s graying shoulder-length hair and tried to get it in her mouth, Maggie picked up her wallet.

When she stood again, she nearly mashed her nose into the uniform-covered broad chest. “Oh!”

Reese’s strong hands came up to grasp her upper arms, and she shivered at the contact. He gave her a crooked smile that didn’t match the look in his eyes. He handed her a dusty pacifier. “This fell out of your purse and bounced almost to my table. Would hate for you to need it and it not be there.”

Maggie took it from him and stepped back to catch her breath. Being so close to him did crazy things to her pulse. She swallowed hard. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He smiled at Mrs. Adler. “Good to see you, ma’am.”

“And you, Deputy Kirkpatrick.”

He smiled. “You can call me Reese.”

Reese returned to his seat, and Maggie tucked the dirty pacifier in her purse to wash later. As Reese settled himself onto the plastic-covered seat, she saw Eli raise a brow at his new hire.

The flush on Reese’s cheeks made her wonder if perhaps she triggered the same crazy feelings in him that he did in her.

While thankful for the return of the pacifier, she still frowned as she watched the two men engage in conversation. Because while Deputy Reese Kirkpatrick seemed to have a soft spot for her, she couldn’t help but notice that when he offered her the pacifier and addressed Mrs. Adler, he never once looked at Belle.

* * *

In the small bedroom that served as her office, Maggie clicked out of her virtual classroom and took her headphones off. She was pleased with the five students who had shown up, and the class had gone well. In fact, all her classes this morning had had lively discussions and productive work. Satisfaction filled her.

Mrs. Adler entertained Belle in the den while Maggie worked. Now that Belle was getting older, Maggie needed someone to help out during her class times and for four hours a day, four days a week, Mrs. Adler was happy to do it. Not only that, the woman liked to cook. She seemed to feel as if it was her personal duty to keep Maggie in casseroles and pies. Maggie didn’t argue with her.

She pictured the food-laden tables she knew would be spread out tomorrow night in the church gym and her stomach growled. The sandwich she’d downed in a hurry a couple of hours ago had worn off. She’d find a snack in a minute. Right now, she had something on her mind and needed to think a bit.

Maggie got up and walked toward the closet where she had a small portable file box. As she passed the window, movement caught her eye.

Stopping, she glanced out. The bedroom was in the back corner of the house. The view from the window was part lake to her right and part woods to her left. The sheer curtains allowed light to flood the room during the day. But now, Maggie wished she had something heavier and more concealing over the windows. She shivered and waited. Watching. Her mind flashed to the robber’s threat that he would kill her.

Would he really? She remembered the look in his eye as he spewed the threat and decided, yes, he really would.

Fear trembled through her and she pulled in a deep breath. For the next few minutes, she simply stood and watched the area outside the window, then she moved to Belle’s room and looked out. Again, she saw nothing that caused her concern. Before she left Belle’s room, she checked the window latch. It was fastened securely.

Feeling a bit better, thinking it was just an animal or something that had captured her attention, she let herself relax slightly. Returning to her office, she went straight to the closet. The file box she wanted sat on the top shelf.

Maggie pulled it down and brought it to the desk.

Before she went any further, she couldn’t resist one more glance out the window.

Nothing.

She turned back to the box, opened the latch and lifted the lid. Ever since the attempted bank robbery, she’d been troubled by the fact that she could have been killed. She wasn’t ready to die, of course, but it wasn’t so much the act of dying as it was dying and leaving Belle to face the world without her.

Maggie sorted through the files until she came to the one she wanted. The one marked WILL. When she’d lived with her husband, she’d learned fast to hide things she didn’t want him to know about. He was suspicious and mean and went through her things often, accusing her of hiding money from him.

Guilt pulled at her. Well, he’d been right about that. She’d been hiding things from him. She’d been planning her escape from the man for several months because she knew if she didn’t get away from him, she would eventually wind up dead. And now she had more than herself to think of. She had to take care of Belle.

Maggie pulled the one sheet of paper labeled LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT from the file, sat in the chair and simply looked at it. She really had to do something about guardianship for Belle in case something happened to her. The attempted bank robbery yesterday had hit home the fact that Maggie had no other living relatives. None.

Except for her deceased husband’s sister, Shannon Bennett. And she wasn’t even a blood relative. The woman was thirty-seven years old, had never married and seemed to prefer it that way. She was listed as the person who would get custody of Belle in the event of Maggie’s death. And while Maggie knew without a doubt that Shannon was crazy about Belle, that she would take care of her, provide for her and love her, Maggie hesitated. She just wasn’t sure she wanted to leave Belle with her. For a number of reasons.

The doorbell rang and she jumped.

Mrs. Adler called, “I’ll get it.”

Maggie relaxed and went back to trying to make a decision about what to do about Belle in the event of her death. Not something she planned on happening, but the bank robbery still had her shaken.

A high-pitched scream echoed through the house. Maggie jerked, bolted to her feet and raced down the short hall to find the woman standing in the doorway, hands clasped to her mouth.

“What is it?” Maggie’s heart thudded as she stepped around Mrs. Adler and stared down at the dead squirrel on her porch. He lay on his back, feet in the air.

The words painted in red next to him read, “You’re next.”

FIVE

Maggie’s shaky phone call still echoed in his mind as Reese stood on the porch looking down at the dead animal. The bright sun in the blue cloudless sky cast a cheery glow around him. A direct contrast to the chilling message next to the carcass.

Eli stepped forward and placed a hand on Mrs. Adler’s shoulder. The woman still trembled as she twisted a tissue between her fingers. “Let me call Jim to come get you,” Eli offered.

“No, I have my car. I’ll be fine.” She bit her lip. “I’d rather he not know about this. We’re going to Asheville day after tomorrow for some heart tests. This wouldn’t be good for him.”

“I’m so sorry,” Maggie whispered, her face pale and drawn.

Mrs. Adler reached over and took Maggie’s hand in hers. “It’s not your fault, honey. Someone is just getting his kicks in a twisted way.” She fluttered her hand as though to say she was going to try to ignore it.

Reese wished he could.

But the would-be bank robber’s threats still rang in his ears. He hadn’t thought the two who’d escaped would have hung around the area. But maybe one had revenge on his mind. Maybe the person Maggie saw running from her home yesterday had indeed been the robber who’d threatened them. But why go after Maggie? Reese was the one who’d shot him.

Then again, if Maggie hadn’t pulled the rope, everything would have ended differently. They would have gotten away with their money and Slim wouldn’t have a bullet hole in him.

Eli looked up from the squirrel. “He was already dead. Been dead a couple of days, I’d say. Our joker probably came across him and decided it’d be a good way to scare Maggie.”

She grunted. “It worked.”