19

 

At the hardware store, Nila went straight for the wall of paint chips while Will headed toward the plumbing department.

“I’ll pick up what I need to plumb in the bath fixtures and meet you here in a few minutes,” he told her as he walked away.

“OK,” Nila murmured, already engrossed in the variety of colors. She picked out two color chips and read the backs. “Muskrat and Silk Stockings. I wonder who gets to make up these names. Wouldn’t that be a fun job?”

“Are you having fun, Nila?” The low, menacing voice came from behind her, and she froze. “I told you I’d be watching you. Did you miss me? Or were you too busy having fun after you got me arrested?”

Nila turned slowly, not wanting to believe her ears—or her eyes. The squeak in her voice betrayed her. “Nick.”

“In the flesh, darling.” He grabbed a fistful of her hair and tugged. “You didn’t really think a haircut would fool me, did you? You belong to me. And you always will.”

She jerked her head back and clenched her teeth.

His fist still held several hairs.

“Don’t touch me,” she hissed. “You’re not supposed to be here. Do you want to go back to jail?”

He grabbed the arm he’d broken before and twisted it. “You put me there once, but I’m never going back. And if you make trouble, your boyfriend is going to have an accident. Got it?”

Pain radiated up and down her arm, and a whimper escaped. “Please…don’t.” She bit her lip until she tasted blood.

He squeezed harder and pulled her up against him. “Got it?”

Panic choked her. She couldn’t answer. She could only pray. “Jesus, help me.”

A strange calm washed over her. She turned to look her enemy in the face. “You don’t own me anymore, Nick. And if you don’t leave right now, I’m going to scream.”

“You little…” Nick squeezed even harder until she thought her arm would snap in two.

She closed her eyes and yelled. “Help! Someone help me, please!” Her arm suddenly hung limp at her side, and she slumped to the floor as her legs gave out.

“Are you all right, miss?”

The man’s voice was unfamiliar.

Nila opened her eyes and stared at a balding, heavyset man in a store uniform.

“I—I…” She looked past him. Nick was gone.

A crowd began to gather, but she couldn’t see Will. Desperation made her voice squeak again. “Where’s Will?”

“Let me help you up.” The man extended one beefy hand to her, and she grabbed it with her good hand and pulled herself up.

“Now,” he said once she was standing, “who is this Will, and what did he do?”

Nila shook her head and dizziness rocked her. She leaned against the wall. “Will is my friend. He didn’t do anything. But Nick did.”

“All right, you’ve got me confused.” The man looked down his nose at her.

Nila looked from face to face in the crowd now surrounding her. “Did any of you see the man who grabbed me? About this tall,” she indicated a height above her head. “He’s wearing a black parka and dark blue toque. He was right here.”

Heads shook in denial, and people drifted away.

“Anyone?”

“Let’s get you somewhere quiet, miss.” The store employee took her bruised arm, and she flinched.

“Don’t. That hurts.” She pulled out of his grasp. “I don’t need to quiet down. I just need my friend. Could you please have Will Jamison paged? I’ll wait here.” She met his eyes without blinking, despite the fact that panic continued to rise. She hoped he wouldn’t notice.

He gave her one last intense look and walked away muttering, “Christmas. Sure brings out the crazies.”

Nila grabbed paint chips in several shades of blue, green, and brown without really looking at them. She stuffed them into her pocket with her good hand as she heard Will’s name announced over the loudspeaker. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. She felt every heartbeat thump in her injured arm.

“Nila, what happened?”

Will. She opened her eyes. He looked like an avenging angel, his eyes ablaze and fists clenched.

“Nick,” she said before she felt his arms gently pull her to him. She whimpered when he touched her left arm.

He growled something she couldn’t hear and put his arm around her waist instead. “Let’s get out of here.”

Memory clicked on, and Nila looked up at him with eyes that threatened to overflow. “Did you get your plumbing stuff?”

Will frowned and shook his head. “That doesn’t matter. You do. Come on. I’m taking you home.”

 

****

 

Will kept his arm around Nila as she held an ice-pack against her arm.

Pastor Dave paced, his brow furrowed.

“I still think we should call the police. Nick broke the conditions of his parole, and they need to know that.”

“But they won’t believe me,” Nila said. Her wide eyes looked wounded. “No one saw him. At least no one admitted it.”

“What about cameras?” Lydia perched on the edge of the couch, hands clasped. “Those stores have cameras everywhere, don’t they?”

“I’m going to make some calls, including one to the police.” Dave marched into the kitchen.

Will felt her tremble against his side, and he tightened his arm around her waist. “How’s your arm doing? Are you sure you don’t want an X-ray?”

Nila shook her head without looking at him. “It’s the same arm he broke before, so it’s extra sensitive.” She sighed, a sound that tore at his gut. “I’ve been through this before, you know. I wish…I wish I’d remembered what I was taught in the self-defence course at Haven House.”

Lydia cleared her throat before speaking, but her voice was still husky. “What if the bone is cracked?”

Nila closed her eyes again. “If it’s no better in a couple days, I’ll go for an X-ray. But I’m sure it’s just bruised.” A tear slipped past her closed lids. “I’m sorry. I messed up again.”

Will’s arm spasmed as red-hot anger surged. “What? You didn’t do anything. That jerk is the one who messed up, not you. I’d like to…”

At Lydia’s warning look he clamped down on his lip. He drew a deep, calming breath. “We’ll let the police deal with Nick. I hope they get here soon.”

“About half an hour, I’m told,” Dave said as he re-entered the room. “So while we wait, let’s pray.”

 

****

 

Forty minutes later, Nila felt a glimmer of hope when Constable Roth entered the house without his partner.

“Welcome,” Dave said. “Thank you for coming.” He motioned to the empty loveseat. “Please have a seat.

The policeman removed his coat and hat and sat on the edge of the loveseat. “I hear you’ve had some more trouble,” he said to Nila.

Nila recounted her encounter with Nick at the hardware store while Constable Roth wrote in his small notebook.

“You say nobody saw this?”

Nila squirmed beside Will, dislodging his arm from her waist. “No one admitted it.”

He turned to Will. “And you didn’t see anyone bothering Ms. Black either? Where were you at the time?”

Will tensed as he leaned forward. “I was in the plumbing section, so, no, I didn’t see the creep. But he was there. He hurt her arm.”

One eyebrow raised, Constable Roth wrote some more. When he looked up, he pinned Nila with his gaze. “Have you had a doctor look at your injury?”

“Not yet,” Dave injected, “but she will.”

“Show it to me.”

Nila blushed and scooted away from Will’s side. She set down the ice pack and pushed her sweater sleeve as high as it would go. Dark red imprints showed just above her elbow.

The police officer towered over her as he examined her arm. His touch was gentle, but his frown felt like an accusation. “And you say Nick Parnell did this?”

Nila could read the doubt in his eyes. “Yes, it was Nick.” Her eyes filled as he dropped her arm and returned to the other side of the room. “Don’t you believe me?”

He leaned back in the loveseat and sighed. “I want to, Ms. Black, but your evidence is skimpy. Other than some bruises of unknown cause…” He ignored Will’s derisive snort and continued, “We don’t have any evidence that Mr. Parnell was even in the store at the time.”

Lydia spoke up. “What about store cameras? Wouldn’t they prove he was there?”

Constable Roth turned to her. “I can check on that, but I doubt they’ll show anything conclusive. I’ll talk to Mr. Parnell. Again.”

He faced Nila again, and the disappointment in his expression chilled her. “We got the results back from the lab on that package you said was from Parnell. There were no fingerprints, nothing to indicate who may have made it. I had a talk with Mr. Parnell, but he denied any knowledge of the package. He also denied being anywhere near the wedding reception where you said he appeared.”

Nila gasped, shaking her head. “He was there. I saw him.”

“He had an alibi, Ms. Black. I checked it out, and it held.”

Nila felt the blood drain from her face. “You don’t believe me.”

Constable Roth cleared his throat and shrugged his shoulders. “I wish I could.” His lips compressed, and a line appeared between his eyebrows. “I understand you’ve been under a lot of stress. Is there any chance…?”

“No!” Nila leapt to her feet, ignoring the sharp pain in her arm. “I am not imagining this.” She looked desperately at Lydia, Dave, and then Will. “You believe me, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Yes, dear girl.”

“Absolutely.”

Will leaned forward, catching the constable’s attention. “What about Daniel’s slashed tires? Nick has done that sort of thing before. And someone looked into Daniel and Mom’s windows. I’m sure that was him, too.”

Constable Roth wrote quickly and then looked at Will. “Did you report the incident with the tires? What about the peeping?”

“I called you guys when Daniel’s tires got slashed, but not the other time. I got a security system installed right away, and everything’s been fine since then.”

The constable leaned back and rubbed his chin. “So, the tires belonged to Daniel…what is his last name?”

“Martens,” Will said.

“Daniel Martens.” He wrote in his notebook. “And the house in question belongs to him, too? And the wedding photos in the box were taken at, whose wedding was that?”

Nila’s mind whirled. She knew where he was going with this, but it couldn’t be. She knew Nick was responsible. For all of it.

Will’s shoulders sagged.

Dave and Lydia both frowned.

“It was the wedding reception for my mom and Daniel,” Will said.

Constable Roth nodded. “That’s what I thought. Just how well do you know Mr. Martens?”

The room erupted with sputters and protests.

“He’s a good man.” Dave scowled.

Constable Roth stood with his shoulders straight and his chin lifted. He faced Nila squarely, looking at her with only a hint of compassion. “I will talk to Mr. Parnell about these accusations.” He glanced at the others. “But I think we’d better look into Mr. Martens’s past. Good day.”

As the door closed behind the police officer Will stood, his fists clenched. “I don’t believe it. He’s going to try to make this about Daniel?”

Nila pulled her knees to her chest and held them with her uninjured arm. She shook her head slowly. “He didn’t believe me. Nick is going to get away with everything. He’s too smart for me. And for them.”

Lydia sat beside her and wrapped one arm around her gently. “We’ll just have to keep praying, won’t we?”

Nila flinched as Lydia’s hug tightened.

She noticed. “Meanwhile, we’re taking you to the clinic to get that arm checked.”

“I’ll take her,” Will said. He touched Nila’s shoulder. “Is that OK?”

She shrugged. “I guess. It doesn’t matter.”

Nothing mattered if God didn’t care.