“This isn’t easy,” Josie said a few hours later.
She had the whole staff gathered in the break room. Her aunt, whom she’d already told everything, was sitting in the front lobby with the last of the children. Maisy was there with Aunt Marilyn, helping out as usual.
Glancing at the clock, she said, “I hoped Officer West would be able to help me explain this but...you know how it goes with police officers.”
Heather’s grin brightened, but she wiped her face clean when Josie didn’t grin back. Josie had to tell them what was going on to keep them safe and to show them that she wasn’t hanging out with Dalton West because she suddenly had a hankering to date a K-9 cop. Not that the notion hadn’t entered her mind.
“What is it?” Tricia Munson asked, her brown eyes full of anxiety. “Are you laying some of us off already? Is that why you called me in for this meeting?”
“It’s not that,” Josie said, sinking down on a chair. “I’ve received some threatening notes.”
“What?” Heather’s blankness vanished. “Is that why you’ve been so preoccupied?”
“Yes,” Josie said. “Officer West found one of the notes on the playground yesterday after someone tried to open the back door.”
They all started mumbling among themselves.
“Listen, let me finish,” Josie said. “I’ve talked to Aunt Marilyn about this already, but I need you to understand—this might be nothing. I received another note today.” She glanced at Heather. “The package you found at the door.”
Heather gasped. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
“It’s not your fault,” Josie replied. “We don’t know if it’s a joke or if it’s an upset parent trying to scare me. Or maybe someone else.”
“That granny woman sure wasn’t happy with anybody in Desert Valley,” Floyd, the maintenance man, said. “Could it be her pulling some strings from jail?”
“You mean Patrick Murphy’s grandmother, Alice Shepherd?” Tricia asked. “They arrested her after she tried to take Patrick. Surely she isn’t starting all over again? She’d be crazy to do that.”
Floyd let out a grunt. “I rest my case.”
Thinking she needed to school her staff on being sensitive to others’ suffering, Josie hadn’t even considered Floyd’s suggestion. “Mrs. Shepherd is being treated for her mental problems, so I don’t think this is coming from her. But I’ll mention it to Officer West.”
She took a sip of water. “We don’t want to scare our parents, but they’ll need to know if it keeps happening. Before we alert them, however, you need to keep this among the staff. Officer West wants to check on every parent who has a child here to rule out that possibility. So he might have to interview all of us.”
“Does he think it’s one of them? Or one of us?” Tricia asked.
“No. He’s not accusing anyone. We’re being diligent in making sure we’ve covered every possibility. It could be kids playing pranks.”
“Are the notes threatening?” Floyd asked.
“Not in an obvious way,” Josie said.
“Can we see them?” another worker asked.
“No. Officer West filed them as evidence, and he’s filled out an incident report.” Josie stood, ready to end this. “Remember, they’ve only come to me. No one else is being threatened in a direct way. I’ve alerted the police, and Officer West is on the case since his daughter attends the after-school program here. Several officers place their children in our care, so the whole department will be aware. He’s putting a patrol on the street during the workday and after hours. And if I can find some money in the budget, I might put in a security system.”
“I know a guy,” Floyd said, coming over to pat her on the arm. “We’re all behind you, Josie.”
“Thank you, Floyd,” she told the older man who seemed like everyone’s grandfather. He’d retired from coaching soccer at the high school, and she was blessed to have him. “We’re going to be okay, I promise.”
But even as she said it, Josie didn’t know how she could make such a promise. She’d pray her way through this situation. And hope that Dalton found something soon.
Nothing. He’d found nothing.
The old house was vacant and falling down, and the car looked like it’d been stripped for parts. But Luna had displayed a keen interest in the car. Since they hadn’t found any items near the automobile or in the trunk, he couldn’t be sure if she’d sniffed something she recognized or if she’d had a false alert from too many squirrels hanging around.
The house was locked, so he didn’t search inside. But the place gave him a feeling he didn’t like. He’d have to keep an eye on it.
With nothing concrete to connect this place or the abandoned car to the case, he had to move on. But he would alert the chief.
After taking care of that, he headed back to the day care and saw Josie’s aunt Marilyn with a cluster of children.
“Daddy,” Maisy said, waving. “We’re reading. Miss Josie is having a meeting. Can I finish this story?”
He nodded. “Good idea, honey. I need to see Miss Josie, anyway.”
Marilyn Carter nodded at him. “They’re in the break room.”
Dalton hurried back, Luna by his side.
When he walked into the room, several workers were gathered around Josie. “Did I miss the meeting?” he asked.
Josie looked relieved. “We just finished. I waited but...they were anxious to hear what was going on.”
Dalton nodded to the half-dozen workers. “I’m sorry I’m late. I’m sure Josie has explained, but if you have any questions—”
Everyone starting talking at once, so Dalton tried to calm all of them, one question at a time. And then he asked them some questions of his own.
An hour later, Josie locked up and turned to Dalton. “You can’t keep escorting me home.”
“I don’t mind,” he said, his gaze moving over her in that way that left her both warm and chilled. “Part of the job.”
And he was all about doing his job, she reminded herself. She shouldn’t read anything else into this. He needed the extra training with his partner, Luna, and what better way than to find out who was harassing her?
But her need to remain independent kicked in. “I can make it home. It’s not that far.”
“It’s getting dark,” he said. “Don’t waste time arguing.”
“Right.” He wanted to get on with his day, too. Stubborn, meet stubborn. “Let’s go.”
“Are you eating with us again, Miss Josie?” Maisy asked from the patrol car, hope in her question.
“No, honey. Your daddy’s being a gentleman and making sure I get home okay.”
Maisy shrugged and gave her father a disappointed glare. “Why can’t she have dinner with us?”
Dalton looked heavenward and then tried to explain. “Because we have our house chores and homework, and Miss Josie is tired and she wants to go home to her house, alone.”
“Alone isn’t fun,” Maisy said with a pout.
“She has a point,” Dalton said to Josie.
“But we can’t do this,” Josie whispered to him. “She might get the wrong idea.”
“I know.” He did the visual thing, his sharp gaze roaming the street. “It’s kind of out of the blue, but I wouldn’t mind taking you out to dinner sometime.”
Josie blinked. “Did you just ask me on a date?”
He looked sheepish. “Maybe when...things settle down. You know, as friends.”
“You’ll be gone after Christmas, Dalton. It can’t happen. Even as friends.”
Giving her a resigned stare, he said, “Right. Forget I asked.” Whirling, he added in a gruff command, “Let’s get you home safely.”
Josie wished things could be different, but she hardly knew the man. Besides, she wanted to stay in Desert Valley, and Dalton planned to move back to Flagstaff.
But...he had asked. Probably felt bad that she was alone and being harassed. A shiver moved like a caught spiderweb against her skin. What did this person want from her?
She got in her car, her mind still on Dalton. But when she looked up and saw a red rose lying tucked into one of the windshield wipers, Josie jumped back out.
Parked across the lot, Dalton got out and hurried over. “What is it?”
She pointed to the rose.
His expression grim, Dalton took a pen out of his pocket and lifted the wilted flower from the wiper. It stood out in stark contrast against her white car.
“A card,” he said, motioning to the cream-colored square attached to the flower. He flipped the card over.
’Tis the season. Soon, I’ll be sending you something special.
“That’s definitely a threat,” Dalton said. “Josie, I think it’s time we question everyone you know here.”
Before she could answer, a shot rang out and Dalton tugged her down against the truck and shielded her as glass from her car’s windshield exploded all around them.
Josie shook all the way home.
She kept glancing at Dalton. When they got to her place, he got out with Luna and Maisy at his side. He’d called for backup after someone had shot at her, but the police hadn’t found anyone. The shooter had gotten away, and even though they’d scoured the parking lot, they hadn’t found any bullets. Josie’s car couldn’t be driven until she had a new windshield.
“Do you think your aunt would mind if Maisy stays with her while I check your house?”
The girl stared her down. “Daddy told me you’re getting an alarm system. I don’t mind staying with Miss Marilyn. You need to be safe.”
Amazed at Maisy’s calm acceptance, Josie said, “You’re so patient. A real trooper.” The girl had barely flinched when Dalton had hurried to check on her after Josie’s windshield had been shot out. But Luna barked incessantly, anxious to do her job.
“Comes with the territory,” Maisy said in a mature tone. “Can Luna go with me?”
“I need Luna to work,” Dalton said. “She’s good at sniffing out trouble spots.”
Josie tried to sound animated. “Did my aunt tell you about her dog? He’s a tiny Chihuahua named Boo. You’ll love him.”
Maisy grinned. “I can hold him?”
“Sure.” Josie’s chuckle was ringed with a frazzled edge. “Let’s walk over there.”
“She has boys,” Maisy pointed out, her nose in the air.
“True, they’re not girls for you to play with, but they’re fun kids,” Josie replied, her gaze hitting on Dalton while she tried to keep things light for Maisy’s sake. She noticed Dalton checking the immediate area to make sure no one was lying in wait.
Soon, she had Maisy settled with her aunt, the sound of boys boasting and little Boo barking giving her hope that her world wasn’t about to cave in.
“Thank you,” she mouthed to Marilyn. Her aunt nodded and held her hands together, prayer style. Her aunt was a good prayer warrior. “We’ll talk later.”
“Come over for dinner,” Aunt Marilyn said. “And bring Dalton with you. We’ve got a big pot of stew going.”
“Thanks,” Josie said, thinking it wasn’t such a good idea to invite Dalton and Maisy for another meal.
Hurrying back to Dalton, she said, “Aunt Marilyn said we need to come and have dinner with them. No arguments, unless we find something we need to deal with.”
His eyes centered on her. “We’ll go over every inch of your house and yard. But before dinner, I need you to level with me about your past.”
“The yard is clear,” he told her a few minutes later.
Josie nodded. In her mind, she’d gone over all the details of her marriage, Douglas’s death and the days following. Could that have something to do with this?
“I’ll check the bedrooms,” he said as they headed inside her house.
Full official mode. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, but she wasn’t sure what he expected her to say. That her past had finally caught up with her? That her life in Texas had not been a pleasant one?
“All clear,” he said when he came back.
She turned on the Christmas-tree lights. “It doesn’t feel like a holiday around here.”
“Someone threatening you can certainly ruin the joy.”
“I won’t let them do that,” she replied on a determined note. “I’ve worked too hard for this.”
He crowded the small space with a comforting presence that made her feel safe. “Then you’d better tell me why you had to start over here in the first place.”
He ordered Luna to heel, and then he walked into the kitchen. And immediately filled it with enough man power to make her want to shrink back.
But she held her ground. “I won’t let you steal my joy, either.”
“I have to know everything about you so I can figure this out,” he said, his eyes moving over her face like a laser. “It’s standard procedure. And it could save your life.”
He was right. Instead of being aggravated, she should be thankful. She handed him a cup of coffee and then said, “My husband’s family resented me even before he died. I was never good enough for them, and I didn’t produce grandchildren right away, so they pretty much treated me like the enemy. And after his death, they blamed me for him being distracted the day of the accident. Somehow, they knew we’d had a bad fight that morning before he left for work. After he died, I received a large amount of life insurance money, which my mother-in-law seemed to think I should share with her.”
Dalton’s eyes held hers in a way that stripped her soul.
“Enough money for one of them to come after you?”
“More than enough,” she said in a low whisper. “But I didn’t tell them I was coming here. I sold most of my belongings and I left. No one back there could possibly know where I am now.”
He gave her a sympathetic stare. “Josie, finding a person is easy with the available technology these days. They might have put a GPS on your car or phone. Or someone could have seen you leaving and tipped them off. If they know you have a relative here, it’d be the first place they’d look.”
“I tried to be careful,” she said. “I never dreamed someone might come after me. But...no matter who’s doing this, we have to stop them.”
“We’ll keep working on it,” Dalton replied. “Sooner or later, they’ll either slip up or we’ll get a solid lead.”
Placing her coffee cup on the counter, she asked, “Dalton, what if it is one of my in-laws? What if they’ve found me?”