Chapter 7 Seeing Double
One month later
A nnalee plunged her hands into the soil that would soon form a flowerbed, loving the feel of soft, pliable dirt around her fingers. Her fingernails were painted a shade of yellow that Miley had called kayak.
Like a boat on a lake, Mom, she’d said.
Annalee should’ve worn a pair of gloves this morning to protect the manicure her daughter had given her, but she rarely wore gloves. She was too hands-on for that. It was cute, though, seeing her bright yellow fingernails weave in and out of the topsoil.
For the fun of it, she’d pulled a matching yellow hoodie over her head this morning. It was lightweight since it was made from one of those cooling fabrics that were perfect for workouts, or gardening in her case. The long sleeves also helped protect her skin from the sun. At the last minute, though, she’d decided to pair the hoodie with cutoff jean shorts. Since she spent most of her time bent over or squatting, her legs rarely got as much exposure to the sun.
“Hey, Mrs. Gilbert!” One of the girls who lived next door to Hawk rolled up to Annalee on her bike. “Mind if I ride on your track?” She’d proudly informed Annalee the other day that she’d officially graduated from kindergarten and would begin the first grade in August.
Annalee smiled and ushered her toward the dirt track that one of the local residents had just finished grading flat. “Go for it, kiddo. The track is for the whole neighborhood.”
“Yay!” The child happily pedaled off, standing up on the pedals and pumping her skinny little legs as fast as she could. Her dusty pink bike was soon zooming around the track. No doubt she wanted to get a closer look at the playground that was under construction behind a chain link fence.
A layer of sand would go down on the track next, then some crushed granite. They eventually hoped to pave it. Hawk was in the process of crafting a sign that read, No Motorized Vehicles . Both now and later, the track was for walking, bicycles, and strollers only. Not too far down the road, the rez already had a skateboard park and dirt bike trails.
Annalee had been working from dawn until dusk for three days straight on the flowerbeds that ran intermittently along the outer perimeter of the track. Instead of commercial pavers, neighbors had taken the time to gather medium-sized stones to edge the flowerbeds with. The result looked both natural and beautiful.
Yesterday, she’d started planting the hedges and fruit trees that would line the inside of the track. It would take a couple of weeks to finish that segment of the project. Then, and only then, would she be able to devote all of her time and attention to the heart of the project — the community garden. The spring planting season was already well behind them, but there were many late-season crops they would still have time to sow. She seriously couldn’t wait for the tilling crew to finish prepping the ground so she could start poking seeds into the soil. There would be lettuce, spinach, kale, carrots, beets, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower…plus peas, beans, and garlic. Before long, they would have vegetables coming out of their ears.
An elderly woman shuffled her way with a ball of string in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other hand. The ankle boots she had on were missing the laces. The tongues of them flapped with each step she took. Two thick gray braids tumbled over her shoulders as she stooped wordlessly over the first plum tree she came to.
She worked in silence to tie a trio of strings to the young sapling. Then she anchored them on the ground with a set of upside-down U-shaped hooks. Though she didn’t make eye contact or greet Annalee, they worked in companionable silence.
Annalee watched the woman from the corner of her eye, loving how the project that Running Bear and Hawk had envisioned was quickly becoming a popular gathering place for the members of their tribe. Folks showed up without being asked to pull weeds, haul rocks, chop downed tree limbs into logs, and perform countless other tasks. Most of the work wasn’t glorious — just good old-fashioned elbow grease.
Though the Comanches rarely smiled or engaged in chitchat, their quiet presence provided a much-needed balm to Annalee’s aching heart. Their gradual acceptance of her role in the project made her miss her foreclosed farm less. The sting of losing her husband was also fading. It was still there. It would always be there, but it was becoming more bearable.
She and Hawk were dating without calling it that. She still wasn’t ready to put a label on their relationship. They simply enjoyed each moment they got to spend together, which was pretty often since he rarely let her out of his sight.
She could feel his whiskey eyes on her now. Glancing up from her planting, she drank in the coppery strength of his arms that were never idle. He was trimming a long strip of leather while observing her from the doorway of his workshop.
To an outsider, it might look like he was simply gawking at her, but she knew it was so much more than that. His watchful gaze was trained to pinpoint any sign of danger, and he’d installed numerous security cameras on his property to assist him. There were a few cameras in plain sight for drive-by punks, who were foolish enough to vandalize them, and hidden cams to catch them in the act. Word on the street was simple: Nobody who messed with Hawk Chesney got away with it.
Even the older fella who’d flicked a cigarette butt in Hawk’s yard, inadvertently starting a fire, had been quick to bring his sons over to help repair the sod. In return, Hawk watchdogged the entire residential community sprawling around the acreage his cabin was located on. He performed small repairs inside the homes of the elderly, dribbled basketballs with the teens, and played soccer with the younger kids.
What few people knew was how well armed he was. Because of the number of times Annalee had been in his embrace, she was intimately aware that she was dating a walking arsenal — a man who had the rez police, the Heart Lake Police, both fire departments, and all key personnel at Lonestar Security on speed dial. He worked in tandem with them to protect the innocent and put the guilty behind bars.
And right now, he was the man guarding Annalee and her daughter with his life. Like she did nearly every time she laid eyes on him, she sent up a silent prayer of thanks for his protection. It didn’t feel like any less of a miracle now than it had when she’d first run into him at the diner downtown.
She fluttered her fingers at him and went back to work. As she mulched the flowerbed, a nagging thought returned —one that had been bothering her ever since she’d called the cell phone company to turn off Miley’s old phone number. Discontinuing the service to prevent a thief from wrongfully running up her phone bill hadn’t erased the fact that the thief was still in possession of her daughter’s old cell phone.
When Annalee was alone with her thoughts like this, it was all too easy to replay the conversation with the stranger who’d answered when she’d called the stolen cell phone. She could remember the woman’s ugly laugh. Her cruel words. Her bold declaration that she’d taken Annalee’s life as a ransom, whatever that meant. It wasn’t all she’d said, though. The rest of her vicious declaration was permanently seared into Annalee’s mind:
Your husband is dead, your farm has been foreclosed on, and your daughter is missing.
Only someone without a conscience could’ve sounded so gloating over the triple tragedy Annalee had suffered. She’d immediately demanded to know who the woman was and why she was tormenting her family.
I’m you, of course , the stranger had declared with another one of her evil cackles. Your life has been taken as a ransom. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you no longer exist, my dear.
Who was she? Annalee could only assume she was the same person who’d tried to burn Miley alive in her bedroom. But why?
She replayed the maniacal voice again and again inside her head until a new observation struck her. There’d been an almost mechanical quality to the voice. Though the volume of the voice had fluctuated and the laughter had come across as spontaneous, the pitch and tone of the voice had remained steady — almost too steady.
What if…? Her thoughts raced over the possibilities. What if the person who’d stolen her daughter’s phone had been using a voice changer device? What if she didn’t sound in real life anything like the woman on the phone had?
There was only one way to find out. Annalee straightened and reached for her cell phone. She dialed the cell phone company while she walked back toward Hawk’s cabin.
A nerdy-sounding guy picked up and asked how he could be of service.
“I have a weird question,” she admitted.
“Fire away,” he shot back cheerfully.
“My daughter’s phone was stolen a while back.” She gave him the short version, sticking to the parts most relevant to her forthcoming request. “I had the number turned off, of course, but I was wondering. Is there a way to get it turned back on — like remotely — to the same phone?” So I can get back in contact with the creep who stole it? She wanted to hear the maniacal voice again. She wanted to tap the record button on her phone and capture a sample of it.
“We can’t do that.” Her listener sounded apologetic. “If you found the phone, the best way to reconnect it to your daughter’s old number is to bring it to the store.”
Bummer! “I was afraid you’d say that.”
“If you’ll give me the number, I’d like to check something,” he offered.
She rattled it off, not sure what he had in mind.
He typed it in. “Uh-oh. Glad I checked. It looks like the number has already been reassigned. I’m sorry, ma’am. Now that it’s taken, we won’t be able to reconnect it to your daughter’s new phone after all.”
“I understand.” She thanked him for the information, not bothering to tell him that she didn’t actually want the old number back. “Guess that was a dead end,” she muttered to herself.
“Sorry to hear it, Detective Gilbert. Is it anything your bodyguard can help out with?”
Hawk’s voice made her jump. She hadn’t heard him approach. She honestly hadn’t been paying any attention at all to her surroundings. A detective she most certainly was not!
She spun his way. “You know how I canceled Miley’s old cell phone number?”
“Yep.”
“I called the service provider to see if they could reconnect it.” In hindsight, it sounded like a dumb plan.
“Why?”
“Because whoever the thief is may have killed my husband. Then she or one of her associates ran me off the road, burned down my home, and tried to erase the Gilbert family off the face of the earth.”
“Which brought you into my life,” he reminded, stepping behind her to encircle her with his arms.
“I’m not complaining about that,” she assured him, leaning her head back against his shoulder.
He gently steered her toward his workshop. Once inside, he shut the door behind them.
She glanced around the cluttered work space in search of her daughter. “Where’s Miley?”
“In the cabin taking another shower. She didn’t say why, only that it was necessary .” He sounded amused.
“Ah. Girls.” Annalee could easily guess what was going on. Miley was probably on her period. “Sorry about your water bill these days.”
“My property is on a well,” he reminded. “Even if it wasn’t, my higher water bill would be a small price to pay for having two of the coolest ladies on the planet in my life.”
She stepped eagerly into his embrace again. “Boy, do we have you fooled!”
“I’ll be your fool anytime, any day.” He backed her up to his work table and lifted her to sit on it. “I’ll be anything you want me to be, Annalee.”
She ran a hand through his shoulder length hair, loving the silky feel of the strands. “How does best friend sound to you?” she teased.
“As long as it comes with a few extra benefits.” He leaned his face into her hand.
The raw, unfettered adoration in his gaze never failed to make the ground shift beneath her. “Like this?” she asked softly. Then she leaned ever so slowly his way, bringing their mouths closer.
“I take back everything I’ve ever said about you being nice.” His voice grew wicked. “You’re a cruel, cruel woman, Annalee Gilbert.”
“Maybe this will change your mind.” She closed the remaining distance between them to touch her lips to his.
His hard mouth grew still against hers. Then he kissed her back. Slowly. Tenderly. Reverently.
The sweet fire springing between them brought tears to her eyes.
“Don’t cry.” He started to draw back, but she cupped a hand around his neck, holding him there.
“Don’t stop.” She needed this, needed him. Only him.
He nipped her lower lip, as if unable to resist. “Are you sure about this? Because I don’t do anything halfway.”
“I’m sure.” She was finally ready to let him the rest of the way into her heart. He knew she was still a wreck, but he’d already accepted that part of her.
His mouth hovered over hers. “I’m in love with you, Annalee. If you’re gonna let me kiss you, you’ve gotta let me love you. It’s the only way this will work.”
“Then love me, Hawk.” She wept out the words, knowing there would be no turning back from this moment.
He palmed her face, gently brushing the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs as he slanted his mouth over hers. He accepted what she was offering, brokenness and all, branding himself into her with his touch and his kisses.
She’d been afraid of how she’d fit him in her life, but there was no fear now. No confusion. No comparing. No wishing he was someone else. No pain. There was no one else in the workshop but him.
His nearness.
His strength.
His loyalty.
His love surrounded her, dizzied her, and filled her.
“Hawk.” His name trembled on her lips. “My Hawk.” Her head dropped weakly to his shoulder.
“All yours,” he agreed. “Been yours since the day we met.”
She laughed and sobbed and laughed some more against the side of his neck. Happiness lent her a weightless feeling, making her feel like she was floating. She’d never before felt so weak. Or so strong.
“Am I dreaming?” she asked dazedly.
For an answer, he lightly stabbed two fingers against the soft skin beneath her ribcage, making her squirm with laughter. “What did you do that for?”
“Would you rather I’d pinched you?”
“Now who’s being cruel?” She tugged his head down for another kiss.
“You love me anyway.” He deepened their next kiss, erasing her equilibrium and leaving her at his complete mercy.
“I do,” she admitted shakily. “So much that it scares me.” Loving him would most assuredly drag him beneath the crosshairs with her. “Aren’t you scared, too?”
He grunted. “I don’t scare easily. You should know that by now.”
“What if the evil plaguing my family comes after you, too?” She couldn’t bear the thought of him suffering in any way because of her.
“We’ll face it together, just like we’ve been doing. Kissing me or not kissing me was never going to change that.”
She leaned back a little to meet his glittering gaze. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
“Yep.” He lightly ran a finger down the front of her neck. “In case I haven’t been clear on the subject, you mean the world to me. You and Miley both,” he added cautiously. “Hope you don’t mind me saying that. I’m sure you’ve noticed, but I care for that skinny little snot head, too.”
A faint sniffling sound alerted Annalee to the fact that her daughter had returned to the workshop at some point.
The lack of surprise on Hawk’s face told her he was already aware of her daughter’s presence, meaning he’d intended for Miley to hear his last statement.
“Mind?” A joyful laugh tumbled out of Annalee. “You think I mind having help wrestling a beastly teenager during her beastly teenage years?”
Hawk smirked down at her. “She’s a handful, I know. I have to carve saddles with her for hours upon hours upon hours?—”
“Okay, you two have had your fun.” Miley stomped up to the work table, making no effort to maintain her previous stealth. She plopped into her chair, hunching her shoulders dejectedly over her latest carving project.
Annalee couldn’t tell if she was kidding or truly in a rotten mood.
Hawk winked reassuringly at her as he backed toward the storage closet. “Something tells me the only way we’re going to redeem ourselves is by making a peace offering.”
Miley watched him suspiciously as he flung open the door to the storage closet and reached inside to withdraw a large plastic cage. It was blue with a silver handle, and it made a faint mewling sound as he approached Miley with it.
She sat up straighter, eyes growing wide. “Did you seriously…?” She breathed out the words, reaching for the cage with both hands.
“I seriously did, kid.” Hawk set the cage in front of her on the table, reaching down to flick open the door to the cage.
Out marched a yawning, stretching barn cat. He sniffed the strip of leather Miley had been working on, then pushed his head against her hand.
“Oh, Hawk!” Miley flung her arms around the glossy ginger tomcat and buried her face against his furry neck.
“Fleas?” Annalee inquired quickly.
“All gone,” he assured. “He’s already been to the vet and everything. New shots. New collar. He’s good to go.”
“Can I take him inside sometimes?” Miley asked eagerly. “Like when it’s raining and stuff?”
He shrugged. “That’s up to your mom.” He pointed toward the cabin. “There’s a litter box beneath the sink in the bathroom, which I’ve installed a cat door on, and a box of refill litter at the bottom of the linen closet.”
“You did all of that because you know I’m not going to say no, huh?” Annalee drenched him with a smile that made his gaze darken with emotion.
“You’re such a softie,” he scoffed.
“Takes one to know one.” She imagined few people had ever seen this side of him. It touched her deeply to know her daughter was the one who’d inspired such devotion from him.
“Mom of the year award,” Miley cooed as she lifted the cat and held him over her head in the Simba pose.
Hawk sent her a look of mocking protest. “What about the guy who adopted the furry flea-bag for you?”
“Flea-less bag,” she corrected. “I could maybe scrounge up a Boss of the Week award for you.”
“Better,” he growled playfully.
“Um, so…” Miley cuddled the enormous cat against her shoulder. “What are you guys now? Like…a couple?” Despite having been a barn cat for so long, the enormous tomcat settled into her arms like he’d been made for spoiling.
“Yep.” Hawk stalked back toward Annalee, kissing her with his eyes. “I’m in love with your mom, kid.”
“Like everyone didn’t already know that!” She rolled her eyes at them. “I was asking if you’re her boyfriend.”
“We-e-ell…” Annalee gave him a blushing look tinged with mischief. “Now that you mention it, he hasn’t officially asked me out yet.”
Hawk snorted. “You called me your Hawk! That felt pretty official to me.” He arrived at the end of the table she was still perched on, reaching around her to tweak her ponytail.
Miley made a gagging sound. “I just threw up in my mouth,” she informed the cat.
He stretched and yawned in her face.
“I’m gonna name him Rex, if that’s alright with you and your boyfriend, Mom.” Miley bent to nuzzle the cat’s forehead with her forehead.
“Rex?” Annalee gave Hawk a puzzled look, but all he did was shrug.
“Yes, Rex. As in king of the dinosaurs,” her daughter explained impatiently. “I’ve never met a more blood-thirsty predator. He’s forever stalking birds, squirrels, mice, and anything else that dares to cross his path. The last time I was playing with him in the backyard, I had to watch him dismember a dragonfly.” She shuddered. “Dive-bombing Rex was the last bad decision that poor little winged critter made.”
“Speaking of bad decisions.” Annalee dropped her voice and leaned toward Hawk.
“Stop right there!” Miley made another gagging sound. “There’s a no-kissing during work hours rule out here,” she announced loudly. “Hawk’s rules. Not mine.”
Annalee blinked at him. “A no-kissing rule?” If it was true, they’d just finished breaking it at least a dozen times over.
“It only applies to teenagers.” He wagged a finger at her daughter. “And Josh Chavez,” he added beneath his breath. “He visits here way too often for my taste.”
It had only been a couple of times. “He’s a really nice guy,” Annalee protested softly. She would have no objections whatsoever if Miley decided to date a minister. None! It filled her with hope that her daughter would be less likely to make the same mistakes she’d made at her age.
He changed the subject. “I believe we were speaking about bad decisions?” He reached for her hands, tangling his fingers with hers.
“Oh, my goodness! I can’t hear what y’all are saying, but you’re still killing me!” Miley pushed back her chair and stood with Rex in her arms. “You’d better not forget about the no-kissing rule while I give Rex a tour of the house.”
Annalee smiled at the way Rex’s furry back legs dangled below her daughter’s waistline. “Isn’t he a little big to carry around?”
Miley’s voice wafted back to her as she stepped out the door Hawk had left open. “Carrying him is part of his domestication process.”
Annalee chuckled. “She has an answer for everything, doesn’t she?”
“She’s an amazing kid.” Hawk dipped his head over hers. “Not a surprise, since she was raised by an amazing woman.”
“Thank you. I try.” She leaned into his kiss. It was several minutes before she picked up the thread from their earlier conversation.
“I’d like to test out a theory and call Miley’s old number.” She knew how crazy it sounded, but she hastened to explain her reasoning. “The cell phone company told me the number has been reassigned, but what if the lady who says she took my life as a ransom was the one who requested it? I know how sick that sounds, but we’re talking about someone who’s admittedly trying to step into my skin.”
Hawk’s gaze narrowed as he considered her theory. “It feels like a long shot. A very long shot.”
“It makes a weird sort of sense, though.” She scrambled for a way to flesh out what she meant. “She moved into our home and tried to take over my life, Hawk. If she managed to get Miley’s old phone number reassigned to her, she’s right this second intercepting all kinds of communication intended for our family. Appointment reminders. Calls from friends who don’t yet realize Miley’s number has changed. There’s even the possibility I might fall back on old habits and call the old number.” She paused a beat before adding the point she’d been working her way up to. “Or call it on purpose to interrogate the creep.”
He looked intrigued. “Let’s say she picks up the phone. What’s the first thing you’ll ask her?”
“I don’t know. I’ll think of something. She was pretty dodgy the last two times I tried to speak with her. This time, I mainly want to record a sample of her voice. And if we’re really fortunate, we might even be able to pinpoint her location.”
“Not a bad idea.” He dug out his own cell phone. “My only request before you make contact is to bring Johnny in on it. He’s probably at the office.” He placed a call to Lonestar Security, mashing the speaker phone button so she could listen in.
“Tucker Pratt speaking.” The voice of one of his other P.I. friends boomed across the line. “Oh, hey there, Hawk! Whatcha need?”
“Thought I called Johnny.”
“You did, but the tribal council has him chasing down another lead,” Tucker informed him cheerfully. “Anything I can do for you in the meantime?”
“What I need is some recording equipment and a way to triangulate a call,” Hawk replied.
“I gotcha covered, bro. Wanna meet me here at the office?”
Hawk glanced at his watch. “We can be there about twenty minutes from now.”
“We?” Tucker sounded surprised.
“Me and Annalee.”
“Ah. See you shortly.” He ended the call.
* * *