like that around here.”
Jack spun around. “Did you see who took it, Mrs. Harper?”
Her neighbor patted her freshly curled hair. “Well, yes, I did,” she said, before dropping her voice to almost a whisper. “But I didn’t want to disturb you.” She pursed her lips. “What with you staying the night with Rebecca and all.”
Rebecca rolled her eyes. “He didn’t stay the night, Mrs. Harper,” she said. “I had a break-in last night, and I called Jack to come help out.”
“A break-in,” Mrs. Harper gasped, holding her palm flat to her bosom. “But this is such a safe neighborhood.” She padded across the lawn in her velvet pantsuit, stooping briefly to pick up her little white dog. “Are you all right? Did they take much?” Her eyes traveled to Rebecca’s bandaged hand. “Oh my, you’re hurt.”
Rebecca smiled reassuringly at her, holding up her hand. “This is just a small cut. I’m fine.” She looked over at Jack, feeling suddenly shy in front of Mrs. Harper, well-known in the area for her love of gossip in all its forms. “Thankfully, Jack came to my rescue and scared the intruder off before he had the chance to take anything.”
Mrs. Harper slid her eyes over to Jack coyly. “A knight in shining armor,” she said demurely. “We could use you on our neighborhood watch.”
Rebecca could see Jack struggling to hold his impatience. “Mrs. Harper,” he said calmly, “who took my car?”
“Oh, it was a repo company,” she said with a sympathetic downturn of the eyes. “But don’t feel embarrassed. Financial difficulties can happen to everyone at one time or another.”
“I own the car outright,” he said with a puzzled expression. “It’s not financed.”
Rebecca went to stand next to him. “Could it be something else?” she offered. “Unpaid tickets? Traffic offenses?”
“No,” he replied. “There’s no reason for anyone to tow the car.”
Rebecca stood even closer and lowered her voice. “Do you think it has something to do with the break-in?” She noticed Mrs. Harper creeping closer, making a big pretense of looking at the flower baskets on Rebecca’s porch. “How do we find out where it’s gone?”
Jack brought his face close to hers, so close that she could feel his breath on her cheek. “Let’s go back inside. I’m not comfortable with an audience.”
Jack lifted his head and smiled broadly. “Thank you very much for your help, Mrs. Harper,” he called. “I guess I must’ve forgotten about some unpaid tickets.”
He put his hand on the small of Rebecca’s back and guided her up the porch steps. She glanced behind them to see her neighbor watching them each step of the way, rubbing the fur of her immaculately preened terrier, whispering in the dog’s ear, no doubt already composing the grapevine of rumor that could sweep through a small town like Bristol in the blink of an eye.
* * *
Jack navigated the streets of Blountstown in Rebecca’s minivan. He noticed her wringing her hands in her lap, clearly concerned at this new turn of events. Her house had been broken into and her life threatened and, as if that were not enough, his car was then unlawfully taken by a fake repo company.
“It’ll be okay,” he said, glancing over at her. “We’ll get this all straightened out in a day or two.”
He wished he sounded convincing, because he had no idea who or what they were dealing with. He just hoped he could contain the situation before it got out of hand.
She didn’t answer. She remained silent for a while before asking quietly, “How did Ian die?”
Jack felt his grip tighten on the wheel at the unexpected nature of the question. “I thought you knew that,” he said gently. “Ian stepped on a land mine.”
She looked over at him. “Yes, I know that, but I want to know how he died.” She bowed her head. “Was he scared?”
Jack worked hard to steady his breathing and retain a composed demeanor. He and Rebecca had never spoken fully about the day that Ian died. She knew the basics, and that was all. She had never wanted to know more.
“No,” he said finally. “He wasn’t scared.”
“Good,” she said firmly. “I’m glad of that.”
He waited for more questions to come, but she fell silent and turned her head to look out the window, watching the wide streets of Blountstown pass them by. The ornate colonial-style buildings gave the town a feeling that was rich in history, and he knew that Rebecca loved working among its proud residents. But right now, he guessed that her mind wasn’t on the residents of Blountstown. It was focused on an event that took place a year and a half ago on a dark hillside in Afghanistan. The code name Dark Skies mission that had taken Ian Grey’s life hung over both of them like a shadow. He knew that Rebecca was sometimes angry with God for taking her husband, and Jack couldn’t heal her heart, no matter how hard he tried. Maybe this tentative questioning regarding Ian’s fatal mission was the final step in her healing process. He could only hope so.
He turned in to the Liberty News parking lot and screeched the minivan to a halt.
“I don’t believe it,” he said, staring straight ahead. “What on earth is going on?”
Parked in the corner, tucked against the wall of the parking lot, was his Porsche, gleaming like a yellow beacon in the hazy morning mist.
Rebecca and Jack locked eyes in mutual shock. She automatically reached her hand to open the passenger door and go take a closer look, but Jack’s fingers closed around her wrist.
“No,” he said firmly. “I’ll go check it out.”
He parked the minivan as far away from the Porsche as possible in the small parking lot and moved his hand to rest on top of hers in her lap. “Stay here. If anything bad happens, run into the building and call the police, okay? Don’t put yourself in any danger.”
“Jack,” she said, “be careful.”
He gave her hand a squeeze. “I always am.”
She watched him slide from his seat onto the ground, keeping low and alert. With his hand resting on his holstered gun under the loose fabric of his shirt, he approached the Porsche cautiously, checking the surrounding vehicles for anything suspicious. He skirted around his car, looking through the windows and squatting low to check the underside.
Finally, he returned to her and retook his place in the driver’s seat of her minivan.
“It looks exactly the same as always,” he said. “There’s no sign of anything having been tampered with.”
Rebecca felt the air growing muggy like a storm was brewing. “But what’s it doing here?”
Jack shook his head. “I have no idea, but let’s save that question for later.”
