Chapter Six
Hannah was smiling as she opened the back kitchen door of The Cookie Jar and walked in. The blizzard had raged for two more days, but on the third day, the snow had stopped falling, the winds had ceased to blow. A few hours later, they’d heard the welcome sound of Earl’s snowplow coming down the access road that led to the condo complex. Hannah had put on the coffee, Michelle had prepared a plateful of their newest creation, Chocolate Mint Cookies, and Mike and the men had gone out to intercept Earl to invite him in for coffee and cookies.
Mike and Lonnie had been the first ones to leave, and before he’d left, Mike had promised Hannah that he would warn Ross. Hannah, Norman, and Michelle had been ready to follow Mike out, but then the phone had rung and the call had been from Lisa, who’d told them that she’d opened The Cookie Jar that morning for their customers who lived in town. There weren’t many customers since the country roads hadn’t yet been plowed and the long farm driveways were still impassable. Lisa said that the school would be closed for another couple of days, so Hannah and Michelle should take an additional day or two off. Since there weren’t many customers, Lisa insisted that she was managing just fine with Aunt Nancy and Marge. And since they weren’t that busy, they were going to test some Valentine recipes. She’d recommended that Hannah should stay home with Michelle and do the same. Then they could compare notes when Hannah got back to town.
Hannah had felt a bit guilty staying at home when The Cookie Jar was open for business, but Lisa had convinced her. And there were several recipes she wanted to test. But this morning, Hannah’s mini-vacation had ended as early as sunrise when she’d glanced out the window to see a beautiful, calm morning outside.
Once she’d unlocked the back door to the kitchen, Hannah stepped inside, slid out of her boots, changed to shoes, and hung up her parka. Then she headed straight for the kitchen coffeepot to make herself a fresh, hot supply of her favorite morning wake-up drink.
A few minutes later, coffee mug in hand, she’d opened the swinging door to the coffee shop. Everything was in place, ready to go, and she was the only occupant in the building. Instead of feeling lonely, Hannah was grateful for this time alone in one of her favorite places. She carried her coffee to her favorite table in the back of the coffee shop and sat there, sipping and waiting for the sun to come up.
It was so quiet in The Cookie Jar, Hannah could hear the clock on the wall behind the counter clicking off the minutes. This was her favorite time of day, the half-light that began to brighten the sky right before the sun peeked over the horizon. Shapes began to appear in the distance, and the shops across the street gained recognizable form. There was nothing else moving. No cars. No lights. It was as if she were the only person awake at this hour in Lake Eden. There was a sense of peace, of feeling comfortable in her own skin, the beginnings of happiness after Hannah’s long weeks of feeling abandoned and bereft. She relished in the moment until she heard a knock at the back kitchen door.
Could it be Norman? Or Mike? Or Michelle? Or Delores? Hannah went through the possibilities with lightning speed as she rose to her feet and hurried to the door. The knock came again, just as she reached it, and that was when she realized that the knock was not distinctive and she could not identify it. It was probably an early delivery of baking supplies that Lisa had ordered.
“Coming!” she called out, releasing the deadbolt and turning the doorknob. She pulled the door open and gasped in shock as she recognized the man standing there. Despite the warning Mike had given him, it was Ross! He was back!
“Hannah!” he said, reaching out to her.
Hannah stepped back out of sheer reflex. “Ross. What are you doing here?”
“I love you, Hannah. My wife is going to get a divorce and I want to marry you again the minute it’s final.”
Hannah shivered at the thought. “No!” she said. “Never!”
“But, Hannah . . . I love you. All I need is the money I left in the safe deposit box. I’ll give it to my wife and she’ll file the papers.”
Hannah felt cold all over and it had nothing to do with the freezing temperature outside. “No!” she said again, even louder this time. “You’re a liar and a cheat! I wouldn’t marry you again even if you were the last man on earth!”
“But I’ll make it up to you, I promise. And this wasn’t my fault, Hannah. When I left my wife a year ago, she said she was going to divorce me. She was the one who didn’t keep her word, not me!”
Hannah just stared at the man she thought she’d loved. Her heart was leaden in her chest and she knew she could never trust him again. “No!” she said again. “Go away and don’t come back!”
“Look, Hannah. I’ll be perfectly honest with you. I’m in big trouble and I need that money. Just give me the money and the key that was under the money in the safe deposit box and I’ll never bother you again.”
“I don’t carry that key with me.”
“All right, fine! Where’s the money!?”
Hannah heard a note of desperation in Ross’s voice and she did something she never thought she’d be able to do. She faced him squarely and smiled. “It’s back in your checking account, along with the money you deposited in my bank account. Write yourself a check, cash it at the bank, and get out of town! There’s nothing here for you.”
“I can’t wait until the bank opens. I’m in danger here. Mike said a lot of people are mad at me and he couldn’t be responsible for protecting me. Why do you think I drove all night to get here before anyone else was awake?”
Hannah just stared at him. There was no way she was going to invite him inside to hide until the bank opened. “Mike’s right,” she said coldly. “I guess you’ll just have to be careful. You got yourself into this mess and you’ll have to get yourself out. I can’t help you. And I don’t want to help you!”
“I’ve got to get that money!”
“Fine. You know where it is. Come back as soon as the bank opens and get it. I told you before. It’s in your account. I don’t want your money. You can’t make up for the way you treated me with any amount of money!”
A cold, hard expression crossed Ross’s face, an expression that Hannah had never seen before. Suddenly, she realized that everyone in town was still asleep and she was alone with a dangerous man.
“Don’t play games with me, Hannah! I can hurt you! And believe me, I will!”
Hannah took another step back as Ross moved toward her again. The sky was lightening and she could see the way his eyes had narrowed. He didn’t love her despite what he’d said. And she was suddenly afraid.
“What do you want, Hannah? Half the money?”
“No!” Hannah told him, matching his icy tone. “What I want is for you to get out of my life . . . permanently!”
He reached out for her and Hannah leaped back into the warm interior of the kitchen. She slammed the door in his face and turned the deadbolt. And then she somehow made her way to the stool at the work station. Her legs were shaking so violently, they collapsed the moment she reached a stool.
It might have been a matter of moments or much longer than that. Hannah had no way of knowing. She drifted in and out of fear so intense, she might have lost consciousness. Dimly, almost as if it were a dream, she was aware of the front door opening and the sound of footsteps heading toward the kitchen.
“Hannah?”
Lisa! Hannah began to breathe again. She hadn’t been aware that she had been holding her breath. She did her best to look up, but she couldn’t quite focus on Lisa’s face.
“Hannah! Are you all right?”
Lisa’s hand was on her shoulder and Hannah forced herself to concentrate. “No,” she said in a voice that was still shaking with fear.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“Call Mike.” Hannah forced out the words. “Call now! He’s back and he’s going to kill me!”
* * *
She had managed to drink several swallows of water by the time Mike rushed through the door. “Mike,” she said in a small voice. “He’s back.”
“Okay. Just relax, Hannah. Nobody’s going to hurt you as long as I’m around. You’re safe with me.”
“Yes,” Hannah said, and she could feel herself begin to relax. “I’m safe now. Sorry, Mike. I just . . . lost it for a minute or two. I’m better now that you’re here.”
“Good. You should be. I’m armed.”
He reached out to give her a little pat on the back and Hannah managed a smile. “Which arm will you use?”
Mike laughed. “You cracked a joke and I can tell that you’re better now. You had me scared, Hannah. Your face was so pale, I thought you were going to faint.”
“I might have,” Hannah admitted. “There was a kind of reddish haze over everything when I got back inside, and I put my head down. I don’t know how long it was before Lisa came in the front door.”
“You had a panic attack,” Mike decided, patting her back again. “I’m assuming you ran into Ross?”
Hannah nodded. “He knocked on the back door and I thought it was a delivery. I opened it without asking who was there. I should have known better.”
“Yes, you should have. And I’m having Lonnie install a peephole as soon as he gets to the station.” Mike pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text to Lonnie. Then he turned to Lisa. “Do you have any orange juice? She still looks a little rattled.”
“That’s from the loose screws in my head,” Hannah quipped. “I should have known better than to open the door, especially since I didn’t recognize the knock.”
“True, but we all make mistakes.” Mike watched Lisa pour a glass of orange juice and walk over to hand it to Hannah. “Can you hold this glass?” he asked her.
“Yes. I’m not shaking as much now.” Hannah grabbed the glass and took a big swallow of orange juice. “I’m feeling better, Mike.”
“That’s what all the ladies say around me. Drink more, Hannah. You need the sugar.”
“It’s the first time in my life that anyone’s told me I need sugar.” Hannah took another swallow. “He said he’d hurt me if I didn’t give him the money that was in the safe deposit box.”
Mike nodded. “That figures. Where’s the money?”
“Back in his bank account. Doug deposited it for me. And I put back the money Ross deposited in my account, too.”
“That must have made him mad, especially since the bank won’t be open today.”
Hannah just stared at Mike in shock. “It won’t?”
“No.”
“Why not? It’s not a bank holiday, is it?”
“No, but the wind was so strong, it blew in a couple of windows and there’s glass all over the floor and the counters. Doug and Cliff managed to get down there to board up the windows, but there was a lot of damage done. They’ve been working on it, but they don’t expect to open for business again until Monday morning.”
Hannah began to frown. “I didn’t know anything about the damage and I didn’t drive past the bank when I came in to work this morning. I told Ross he’d have to go there today if he wanted to get his money. And now he won’t be able to do that! He’s going to think that I was lying to him and he’s going to be even more furious with me!”
Hannah felt herself begin to shake with fear again, and she did her best to stop. Even though she knew she was safe now with Mike and Lisa here, she couldn’t help thinking about what might happen if she encountered Ross alone.
“You’re okay, Hannah,” Lisa said, sitting down on the other side of Hannah and giving her a hug. “You’re safe with both of us here, and maybe it’s a good thing that the bank is closed. Since he can’t get his money, Ross won’t be back before Monday.”
“But how will Ross know that the bank is closed today?” Hannah asked. “He could be standing outside the building right now, waiting for the bank to open.”
Mike shook his head. “Doug posted a sign on the door saying the bank won’t be open until Monday. Ross will see it and he’ll know he can’t get his money until then.”
“This could turn out to be good for you,” Lisa pointed out. “At least you won’t have to worry about Ross coming back to Lake Eden until Monday morning.”
“Not necessarily,” Mike pointed out. “Ross may decide to stay in the area until the bank opens on Monday.”
Hannah felt her anxiety begin to rise again. “Then I’m not safe anywhere in Lake Eden!”
Mike put his arm around her. “Yes, you are. It’s the best place you could possibly be. We’ll take care of you, Hannah. I promise.”
“I just want him gone!” Hannah said, and she felt tears coming to her eyes. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m afraid of him!”
“You’d be a fool if you weren’t afraid,” Lisa said.
“That’s right.” Mike reached into his pocket and drew out his pen and notebook. “Okay, Hannah. I want you to tell me everything that happened from the time you first opened the door and saw Ross. Don’t leave anything out. I need to know everything he said and everything that you said until you locked the kitchen door behind you.”
“I’ll get coffee,” Lisa said, hurrying to fetch two cups of Hannah’s favorite beverage. She added a generous spoonful of sugar to Hannah’s cup and carried the coffee back to the work station.
“Thanks, Lisa,” Hannah said, raising the cup to her lips and taking a sip. A startled expression crossed her face as she swallowed. “I don’t take sugar!”
“You do today,” Lisa insisted. “You’re still shaking and it’ll help. And I’m willing to bet that you didn’t have breakfast before you came in this morning.”
“I . . .” Hannah stopped objecting and sighed instead. Lisa was right. She hadn’t bothered to eat breakfast. “You’re right, Lisa. I didn’t fix any breakfast this morning.”
“That’s what I thought. Drink the coffee,” Lisa ordered. “Your blood sugar’s probably low. Take a couple of swallows right now and then I’ll get you a plate of cookies that you can share with Mike. Tell him everything, Hannah. It doesn’t matter how small and insignificant you think it is. I’m going to go out to the coffee shop and get things ready to open in there.”
“Concentrate,” Mike ordered, once Lisa had left. “Tell me everything you remember, Hannah.”
Hannah took another swallow of coffee and a bite of her cookie, and began to recite the events that had happened after she’d heard the knock on the back kitchen door. It took quite a while and she was surprised at all the small things she remembered, even facts like how Ross had been dressed, the boots he’d been wearing, and how his appearance had changed in the weeks that had gone by since he’d left her.
“Very good, Hannah,” Mike said, closing his notebook and sliding it back into his pocket.
“I’m back,” Lisa announced, coming through the swinging door again. “Aunt Nancy and Marge are here and I’m going to start the baking.”
“I’ll help,” Hannah said, rising from the stool.
“No, just sit there, Hannah,” Lisa ordered. “You’ve been through an emotional morning already and I can handle the baking. Drink coffee, eat cookies, keep me company, and do your best to relax. That’s all I need from you right now.”
“Lisa’s right,” Mike told her. “You’ll be okay, Hannah. And just to be on the safe side, I’m going to assign a couple of my deputies to stay with you wherever you go. There’s no way we’re going to take any chances with your safety.”
“The minute he hears about this, Herb will offer to help,” Lisa told Mike. “Herb can watch the entrances to Lake Eden, and we can make sure Hannah is safe while she’s here at The Cookie Jar.”
“Thanks, Lisa. And tell Herb thanks, too. My detectives will make sure Hannah is escorted everywhere she goes,” Mike promised, and then he turned to Hannah. “You’ll have constant protection, Hannah. I’m going to order round-the-clock security for you.”
Hannah was about to tell him that she didn’t need bodyguards, but before she opened her mouth, she remembered the menacing look on Ross’s face when he’d tried to grab her and keep her from going inside. Perhaps she did need bodyguards.
Mike looked surprised when Hannah didn’t voice her objections to round-the-clock security. “You’re not going to argue with me about this?”
“No,” Hannah said, and then she gave a long, drawn-out sigh. “I don’t like it, but you’re right. Ross really scared me when he threatened to hurt me, and I know that I might need protection.”