Chapter 21
The rain had stopped by the time the police arrived. It didn’t take them long to identify the would-be assailant as Bob Phillips, an alcoholic who was well known by almost all the local law enforcement officials. He was still unconscious as they loaded him into their car and started back down the hill.
“What about you?” Mark asked, his arm around Kate’s shoulders as they stood at the door and watched the red taillights of the police car fade into the distance. “Can I drive you and Jason home?”
Kate looked up at him gratefully. “I’d appreciate that,” she said. “I just don’t think I could stay here tonight, and my car won’t start.”
“I wouldn’t want you driving in your condition even if it would,” Mark said. “Besides, we can come back and see about your SUV on Saturday. I’ll go get my jeep and bring it up to the house, then carry Jason outside and put him in the backseat. The ride might be a little bumpy, but something tells me he won’t even notice.”
Kate turned and looked at her son, curled up under a blanket on the couch. He had fallen into an exhausted sleep soon after she had called the police, and hadn’t even stirred when they arrived.
“Great shall be the peace of your children.” The words echoed in her mind once again. This time she smiled.
The ride down the mountain in Mark’s Jeep was just as he had predicted—bumpy. But Kate didn’t mind. Sitting near enough to Mark to feel the warmth of his body, while her son slept undisturbed in the back seat, she couldn’t have been happier if she were riding in a chauffeur-driven limousine.
Besides, she thought, smiling slightly as she looked up at Mark’s profile, who needs a chauffeur when you’ve got a knight in shining armor? What would we ever have done if Mark hadn’t arrived when he did?
“Wait a minute,” she said suddenly. “I still don’t understand how you found us. I mean, you said something about acting on a hunch. What exactly did you mean by that?”
“Well, to be perfectly honest,” he explained, glancing down at her and flashing his most disarming smile, “I’ve been worried about you ever since that pickup almost ran you down in front of the bookstore the other day. It just seemed too deliberate somehow. And then I saw that same truck driving through town today, heading in the direction of the lake. That’s when I thought I’d better check up on you, especially since I’d tried to call you several times and got nothing but busy signals.”
Kate winced, remembering how she had left the phone off the hook before leaving for the lake.
“Anyway, since I couldn’t get through to you on the phone, I drove by your house. When I realized you weren’t home, I checked with your neighbor and she said she hadn’t seen you in two or three days. That’s when I really panicked. I just knew you and Jason were up at the lake, and the memory of that pickup... Well, anyway, off I went, with absolutely no idea how I was going to find you once I got up there. I never even thought that you might have a phone at the cabin or that it might be listed, but it’s probably just as well. If I’d called you earlier and you were all right, I might have dismissed my worries and not gone looking for you.”
Kate sensed a tremor pass through Mark’s body, and she realized how much Jason’s and her welfare meant to him. For the first time in so very long, the knowledge that someone cared for her and her son didn’t frighten her. Nor did she resent it.
“When I got to the lake, it was starting to get dark,” Mark continued, “and it looked like it was going to rain any minute. I drove around the lake, up and down every dirt road I could find, looking for your car. Then I spotted some bearded guy skulking around in a dirty old raincoat, with a rifle slung over his shoulder. I thought at first he might be the driver of the pickup, out looking for you and Jason. But then I remembered you and Jason telling me about that old guy—what’s his name? Charlie?”
“Chester,” Kate said. “Chester Greeley. You saw him?”
“Sure did,” Mark answered. “And after grumbling and carrying on about all the ‘dad-burned city-folks’ invading his place, he finally pointed me toward your cabin.”
“And none too soon,” Kate said.
“That’s for sure,” Mark agreed. “Anyway, when I got within about a quarter-mile of your place, I happened to see the pickup truck parked behind some trees alongside the road. No one was in it. And I knew.”
He shook his head slowly. “I left the jeep there and came the rest of the way on foot, praying I wasn’t too late.” His voice choked momentarily. “When I saw the front door had been kicked in, I thought I was.”
“Another couple of minutes and you might have been,” Kate said. “I didn’t realize until the lights came on that he had a gun.” She laid her hand on his arm. “Mark, do you think he would have...killed us?”
He glanced down at her once again. It was too dark to be sure, but she thought she saw tears glistening in the corners of his eyes. “I don’t know, Kate,” he whispered. “I truly don’t know.”
Taking a deep breath, he looked back at the road. “When I jumped him from behind, I didn’t realize he had a gun, either. Thank God it was on the bed and he wasn’t holding it. It might have gone off and hit you or Jason.”
“Or you,” Kate added softly, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Oh, Mark, I still can’t believe any of this happened. It’s all so bizarre. I never even heard of Bob Phillips before. In fact, when Jason and I were hiding behind the bed in the dark, I suspected so many other people, even old Chester Greeley.” She closed her eyes and shuddered. “I’ve never felt so helpless in my entire life,” she whispered. “But you know something? For the first time in years, I actually found myself praying.” She paused. “And I believe God heard me. Not only did you show up at just the right time, but the lights came back on and the phone was working again. Surely that couldn’t all be a coincidence, could it?”
Mark didn’t answer, but even without looking up to check, Kate was sure he was smiling.
When they pulled up in front of her house, Mark got out and carried Jason inside. It was almost midnight.
“He’ll wake up in the morning and wonder how he got here,” Mark said, grinning down at her.
Kate smiled. “Something tells me he’ll know right away that it had something to do with you.” Her smile faded as her eyes held his. “Jason thinks the world of you. You know that, don’t you?”
Mark nodded. “I know. I feel the same way about him.” Then he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. “In case you hadn’t noticed,” he whispered, “I’m pretty crazy about his mother, too.”
And then he was gone.