Danger on the Mountain

The two men raced for the door, Eli barking into his radio. “Let her know we’re on the way.”

“Hey!” Pete hollered. “Don’t forget my food!”

The ten-minute drive up the mountain to the clearing that led to the lake seemed to take forever. Reese found himself imagining all sorts of awful things happening. “Do you think he came back?”

Eli didn’t ask who he meant. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t have thought it, but weirder things have happened.”

Worry surged through him. Would the bank robber, known only as Slim, have any compunction about hurting a baby? A wave of nausea swept through him at the thought.

“Is she still on the phone?”

Eli relayed the question to the dispatcher then nodded. He shot a glance at Reese. “She said the guy ran off into the woods. He had on baggy jeans and a black T-shirt with short cropped hair.”

Reese’s jaw tightened. “That’s pretty close to how the robbers were dressed. They all had masks on, too.”

They finally pulled into the driveway he’d just left about an hour earlier. Deputy Jason White swung in behind them.

On the outside, everything looked fine, peaceful. Undisturbed. But when Maggie opened the door, he could see the strain on her face, the tension in her shoulders.

Climbing out of the car, he and Eli walked up to the porch. She pointed to the back of the house. “He ran that way.”

Eli nodded and glanced at Reese. “You stay with her. I’ll check it out.” He looked at Jason. “You go that way, make a search of the perimeter.”

Jason took off.

Reese took her soft hand in his and led her back inside. “Why don’t you sit down and tell me what happened.”

She dropped onto the couch, leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “I do believe this has been the longest day of my life.”

Reese could see her frustration, her fear.

“My husband called. I’m going to have to go.” Reese looked up to see a woman standing in the doorway to the den.

Maggie made the introductions. He reached for his radio and said, “Just a minute. I’ll get Deputy White to escort you home as soon as he’s finished clearing the perimeter of the house. Until we find out the intentions of the person snooping around, I don’t want you out there by yourself.”

Mrs. Adler nodded, her frown furrowing, the lines in her forehead deep with worry. Five minutes later, in response to Reese’s call, Deputy White appeared on the front porch and Reese waved him inside. “Anything?”

Deputy White shook his head. “Nothing that I can see. If someone was here, he’s gone now.”

“Thanks. Mrs. Adler’s ready to go. Do you mind taking her home?”

“Sure, be happy to.” The deputy escorted the woman out to his car.

He turned back to Maggie, opened his mouth to question her further—and heard Belle crying.

A low groan slipped from her throat and before he could stop himself, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll get her.”

Grateful surprise lit her eyes, and she melted back onto the cushion.

Reese followed the wails down the hall to the nursery. It was tastefully decorated in pink-and-brown polka dots, and he couldn’t help but smile.

The smile slipped when he saw the baby standing up, holding on to the railing, staring at him and blinking. A puzzled frown creased her forehead, and she looked as if she might start crying again. “Hey there, Belle. It’s all right. It’s just me.”

His throat tightened as he recognized what he was doing. He was using the same voice he used to—

Oh, God, help me.

What had he been thinking? Volunteering to get the child from her crib. All he could see when he looked at her was his own baby daughter’s lifeless face. The last baby he’d held, and she’d been gone. She’d never had a chance to pull in a breath this side of heaven. His hands shook, and he clenched them.

You can do this.

But he wasn’t sure he could.

“Reese? Everything okay?” Maggie called from the other room.

He found his voice and some small measure of strength. “Yeah. Just fine.”

When Belle’s face scrunched up again as if she was getting ready to crank out a cry, he hurried across the room and lifted her from the crib. Her frown stayed as he held her at arm’s length straight out in front of him.

And that’s the way they walked down the hall into the den.

Belle’s head swiveled and when she saw her mother sitting on the couch, her face brightened and she leaned toward her. Reese let her slide from his outstretched grasp into Maggie’s embrace.

He backed up and perched on the edge of the recliner, his heart aching, memories fogging his thinking.

“Are you all right?” Maggie asked. She cocked her head, looking at him as though trying to figure out what was going on inside him.

She probably thought he was an idiot, based on how he carried Belle. He clamped down on his emotions and cleared his throat. “Yeah. Sure. I’m fine. I just...” He motioned toward a now-content Belle.

“Don’t have much experience with babies?” she asked with a raised brow.

“Ah, no. I don’t.” Desperate for a change of subject, Reese touched the radio on his shoulder and got Eli. “Anything?”

“Nothing really. I’ll be up there in a minute.”

True to his word, Eli knocked about a minute later and let himself into the house. Wiping his shoes on the mat, he said, “I found some disturbed ground, but can’t tell if it’s recent or not.”

“Like someone watching the house?” Reese asked.

A pause. “Yeah. Could be. But probably not. I don’t think it was the robber.”

Reese wasn’t sure. “Maybe not. Maybe it was just a teenager or someone looking for an empty place to crash for the night. The more I think about it, the more I don’t see how someone could have been waiting for her. How would they know who she was in the first place, much less where she lives?”

Maggie said, “So this was just a random thing? Someone tests the doorknob to see if I’m home and then runs off when I ask who’s there?”

Eli sighed. “It could be some high school kids. We have our fair share of troublemakers. Nothing too serious, but...”

Maggie frowned and bounced Belle on her knee.