Point Blank

Faith grinned as if she had a big secret. “Maria had to leave early, so I helped Valerie make spaghetti, and it’s good.”

Hannah frowned. Maria, the cook who had begun work at the ranch years ago when her grandparents were alive, hadn’t said anything to her about needing to take off early.

“Why did Maria have to leave?”

“Her sister called and said she was sick. Maria wanted to go check on her, and I told her not to worry. Faith and I could make dinner tonight,” Valerie said.

Hannah started to make a comment about the sister who seemed to always suffer from some ache or pain. Instead she let her mouth drop open and bent over so that she was staring into her child’s eyes. “You helped Valerie make dinner? Then it must really be good.”

Faith’s chest puffed out with pride. “We saved you some.”

Hannah closed her eyes and smacked her lips as if she was getting ready to devour a feast fit for a king. “I can hardly wait.”

Valerie smiled and started to turn back toward the kitchen. “I’ll warm up your plate. You must be starved.”

Hannah reached out and stopped her before Valerie could leave the room. “I can get it. I know you’re in a hurry to get home. I’ve kept you later than usual.”

Valerie cast a quick glance at Faith before she replied. “I don’t mind. Anytime you need me, I’m glad to help out. I’d rather be here with you two than watching TV alone in my apartment.”

Hannah studied the young woman for a moment. Valerie Patrick was only a few years younger than Hannah, but something about her made her seem much older. Perhaps it was the way her eyes appeared to fill with sadness sometimes when she looked at Faith. Hannah had never questioned Valerie about her past, but she had confided in her before she’d come to work at the ranch that she’d had a miscarriage several years ago when her husband died unexpectedly. She had come to the Smokies in hopes of starting a new life and was grateful to Hannah for giving her the opportunity to make a living doing something she enjoyed.

Sometimes, though, Hannah thought she asked too much of Valerie. She had taken on more and more responsibilities since coming here, and Hannah felt guilty about taking up so much of her time. “I keep telling you to get out more. Maybe if you’d go to church with us Sunday, you could meet someone near your age.”

Valerie seemed to consider it for a moment before she smiled. “I think I’d like that. Let me know what time you’re leaving, and I’ll be here to go with you.” She reached for Faith’s hand. “But for now, why don’t I go help Faith through her bath and get her ready for bed while you eat? Then you can come up and tuck her in for the night.”

Suddenly Hannah felt so tired. It had been a long day. She was exhausted and hungry, and that spaghetti smelled really good. “Thanks, Valerie. Go on upstairs with Faith, and I’ll be up in a few minutes.”

Hannah watched as her daughter grabbed Valerie’s hand and dragged her toward the stairway. Her eyes sparkled, and she giggled in her little girl way as they climbed toward the upstairs. “Can I have some bubble bath tonight?”

Her excited voice made Hannah smile. She heard Valerie’s muffled agreement as they disappeared down the second-floor hallway. Smiling, Hannah walked into the kitchen. A plate covered in aluminum foil sat on the table.

She removed the foil, placed the plate in the microwave and within minutes was sitting at the kitchen table practically inhaling the food. She hadn’t eaten much lunch, and now she realized how hungry she was. The thought of Faith telling her how she’d helped cook the spaghetti flashed in Hannah’s mind, and she suddenly put her fork down and covered her face with her hands.

For a moment she let the tears flow as she thought about how differently things could have been tonight if she’d been killed. Thankfully, Ben and Luke had come to her rescue.

Ben’s warning echoed in her mind again, and she swallowed the fear that rose in her throat. If someone had a grudge against her, it had to have something to do with Shane. Ben and everybody else in town thought of him as the bigger-than-life local hero. If only they knew what she’d endured, they would be shocked at the real Shane Riley she’d come to know. But to reveal the ugly truth would only make their family the target of public gossip and ridicule. That would hurt Faith in particular, who didn’t remember her father and who believed in all the stories she’d heard of what a good man he’d been.

Even after all these years, Hannah couldn’t figure out how she could have been so naive to fall for such a con man. Mounted archery competition was an expensive sport. Most competitions, even international ones, required high entrance fees as well as travel and transportation for a horse, and the prize most of the time was a trophy or medal, not money like rodeo competitions. His fees for the workshops he conducted didn’t start to cover the expenses of the sport.

Shane had played the loving and attentive boyfriend until they were married and he gained access to the money the ranch brought in. At first she’d been happy to help him until she discovered that most of the money was spent on his extravagant lifestyle and the women he met while competing and teaching workshops.

Even after she found out about the women, she’d held out hope he would settle down when she became pregnant, but he’d been furious at any attempt she’d made to curtail his activities. By the time he was killed, their marriage had been over for several years but she had hung on to it in public to save face. Sometimes she wondered how she’d been able to do it.

The whole experience had taught her a lesson, though. She didn’t intend to fall in love again. She’d seen how a man could pretend to be one thing and be entirely different. She didn’t intend to go down that path again.

“Faith’s in bed and waiting for you to come up.”

Valerie’s voice jerked her from her thoughts, and Hannah looked up to see her standing in the door. “Thanks for getting her ready. Now you go on home, and don’t worry about coming to get Faith ready for school tomorrow. I’ll tell Dusty to take care of the morning chores, and I’ll drop her off myself. But I’d like for you to pick her up from school as usual.”

Valerie looked as if she was about to object but then changed her mind. “If you’re sure you don’t need me to take her to school, it would help me out. I have some errands I could take care of in the morning.”

Hannah pushed up from the table. “I don’t plan on getting out or doing much tomorrow, so I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

Valerie smiled and turned toward the front door. Hannah followed her and watched until she had pulled away from the house. Then she locked the front door and climbed the stairs to Faith’s room.

She was already in bed, propped up on two pillows, and held the book they’d been reading. “Mommy, read me some more.”

Hannah smiled and snuggled up in the bed with her daughter. They’d read only a few pages when Faith yawned, and Hannah set the book down. “You’re getting sleepy,” she said. “Why don’t you say your prayers, and I’ll tuck you in.”

Faith nodded, laced her fingers together and held them under her chin. Then she closed her eyes and bowed her head. “God bless Mommy, and Valerie, and Dusty, and Ben, and Miss Morris. And God bless Janie Culver and help her to be my friend again. Amen.”

Hannah reached for the covers to tuck Faith in, but she suddenly closed her eyes again and prayed the ending that she’d been adding for the past few weeks. “And please make Mommy let me get a new puppy.”

With a grin on her face, she opened her eyes and burrowed down into the covers. Hannah laughed as she leaned over and kissed her daughter good-night. “Sweet dreams, baby girl. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Mommy.”

Hannah walked to the door and turned out the light. The Winnie the Pooh night-light that they always left on cast a glow across the bed. Hannah smiled once more before she slipped from the room and headed back downstairs.

Once in the kitchen, she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at the table drinking it as she thought of how thankful she was for her child. When the cup was drained, she set it in the sink and walked to the back door.

She locked it and then flipped off the overhead lights. Only the hall light filtered into the kitchen as she stared out the door toward the barn. She was about to turn away when movement in the shadows caught her eye.

She stood still as if she were frozen and watched as a figure emerged from beside the barn and eased toward the house. In the dark she couldn’t make out any features, but from what she could see of the height and build, it had to be a man.

He crept closer until he was about halfway between the barn and the house. He stopped and stood still as he faced toward her. She knew he couldn’t see her standing in the darkened kitchen, but she couldn’t stop the chills that ran down her spine.

After a few minutes, he turned back toward the barn and melted into the shadows. She stayed there watching for the next ten minutes, but he never reappeared. Could that have been the man who kidnapped her earlier? If so, what did he gain by spying on her house?

She bit down on her lip and tried to calm her shaking body. Maybe it really was time to get a dog, one that could alert them when someone came around—and a security system, too. She’d check on that first thing tomorrow.

For now, though, she had to get through this night, and something told her sleeping was going to be difficult. She slipped from the room and into the den where her grandfather had built a wall safe. Her shaking fingers misdialed the combination twice before the door finally opened.

She reached inside and pulled out her grandfather’s handgun and the clips of ammunition he’d always kept there. Then she closed the safe, and clutching the gun to her chest, she sank down on the couch.

Reason told her that the man who’d been spying on her house would have broken in then if he’d meant to, but she couldn’t take a chance that he might return to try to harm her or her daughter. She had a gun. It was loaded, and she was ready if trouble came.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

At six o’clock the next morning, Ben pulled into the driveway at Little Pigeon Ranch, the dude ranch owned and operated by his best friend, Dean Harwell. He headed for the barn, knowing Dean had probably been up for an hour and was getting ready for another busy day. When Ben pulled to a stop, he saw his friend leading a horse out of the barn.

Dean threw up his hand in welcome when he caught sight of Ben’s truck coming down the driveway. Grinning, he stopped and waited while Ben climbed out of the vehicle. “You’re out kind of early, aren’t you? I thought you told me yesterday you were going to take a few hours off today and do some trout fishing. Did you change your mind?”

“I had everything arranged for Luke to fill in for me today, but we had some excitement yesterday afternoon.”

Dean pulled on the lead attached to the horse’s halter and started toward the corral. “Let me put this horse up, and you can tell me all about it.”