Shattered Identity Page 7

She arched an eyebrow. “Have you found peace, Scott?”

  “No, but I’m trying to come to grips with my past. Not just my aunt, but also the experiences I had in the military.” He hesitated a moment. “Kate may have told you that I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. My doctors say I’m better, but I still have flashbacks.”

  “What kind of flashbacks?” She crossed her arms on the table, and their hands were so close Scott wanted to reach out and cover hers with his. He threaded his fingers together to keep from doing so.

  “Mostly dreams. Images of my men wounded and dying. Guilt that I didn’t save them. But there’s one experience that’s helped me get through a lot of bad days.”

  Her gaze roved his face. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  The memory of a desert road in a faraway country flashed in his mind, but he clamped his lips together and shook his head. He’d never shared that experience with anyone, and he wasn’t ready yet. “No.”

  “I can respect that.” She leaned closer to the table. “Do you agree with your doctors that you’re getting better?”

  He shrugged. “Some days I think so, others I’m not so sure. I pray a lot, and I have faith God is going to be with me through all this. He’s given me a family I didn’t know I had. That’s been a big help.”

  The sadness returned to her eyes. “You’re lucky, Scott. I don’t have any family left, and I’m afraid I lost my faith in God a long time ago.”

  “It makes me sad to hear you say that, Lisa. God loves you.”

  Lisa shook her head. “Then He’s got a strange way of showing it.”

  Before he realized what had happened, he had reached out and grasped her hand in his. He wrapped his fingers around hers and almost gasped at the tingle of pleasure that raced through his body. He’d never before felt such an attraction to any woman as he did to Lisa, but it wasn’t fair to her.

  He slowly released her hand and tried to smile. “I hope I can change your mind about how God loves you before you leave the island. But as long as you’re here, you know my sisters think of you as part of our family. Kate considers you her best friend, and Emma adores you. She begs all the time to come help you with the filing.”

  She smiled. “I love them, too. I’m really going to miss them when I leave, and I’m coming to realize how much I will miss their brother, too. You’ve been a great help to me these past few days.”

  Locking eyes with Lisa, a protective feeling surged through his soul. “Like I said, ma’am, the Ocracoke deputies aim to please.”

  She tilted her head to the side and studied his face. “I think it’s more than wanting to please, Scott. I think you’re a very kind man who cares what happens to other people. That’s an admirable characteristic. And you’re also very easy to talk to. Thank you for listening to me.”

  His heart pounded in his ears so loud that he thought she must be able to hear it. “My pleasure,” he murmured.

  She started to reply, but her cell phone chimed. A frown wrinkled her forehead. “That’s a text coming in. Who could it be?” She pulled the phone from her purse and gasped when she glanced down at the message.

  His body tensed. “What is it?”

  “Oh, no!” She clamped her hand over her mouth, and the cell phone clattered to the table.

  Scott scooped it up. His pulse quickened at the message displayed on the screen.

  What did you think about my last visit to your house? If you thought that was bad, wait until you see what I have planned next.

  The muscle in Scott’s jaw flexed. He glanced across at Lisa. Her body shook, and terror flickered in her astonished stare. Scott fought the urge to rush around the table, pull her into his arms and promise to protect her from her unseen tormentor.

  Instead, he placed the phone on the table and glanced around the restaurant. The table where Ean Thornton had sat minutes ago was now empty. Everyone else in the dining room appeared to be strangers. He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “I know this is frightening, but I promise you we’re going to find this guy. We’ll trace this text message and find out who sent it. For now, let’s get out of here.”

  She nodded. “I want to go back to Treasury’s.” She started to get up but sank back in her chair. “I forgot I left my car at the station so I could ride over here with you.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m driving you to Treasury’s, and I’ll pick you up in the morning to go to work. Until we catch this guy, I want someone with you all the time. If I’m on patrol, then Kate or Brock need to be with you.”

  For a moment, he thought she would refuse. Then she nodded. “All right. I appreciate that.”

  He motioned for the waitress to bring their bill, and Lisa started to pull her wallet out. He shook his head. “This is on me tonight.”

  “But I invited you to dinner.”

  “We’ll do it again, and you can pay the next time.”

  She gave a distracted nod. “I’d like to have dinner with you again.”

  A panicked feeling washed through him. What was he doing? He’d promised himself that tonight would be the only time they would go out. But then he hadn’t planned on a sinister text message changing his mind. He couldn’t desert Lisa when she needed a friend.

  He hoped he could keep their relationship on a friendly basis. She was a woman needing protection, and he was a cop. That was reason enough to be with her, but in his heart he knew it wasn’t his only motive. Despite all the warning bells going off in his head that told him to keep his distance from Lisa, he realized it might already be too late to do so.

  As far as he could tell, she had no idea how he was struggling against his attraction to her. If he could help it, she never would know. What he had to do was concentrate on keeping her safe until she could sell her house and move away. Then maybe he could move on, too.

  SIX

  The morning sun flashed a rat-a-tat message through the window of Lisa’s office. The flickering patterns on the floor announced that it was another great day for sun worshippers at the beach. It might be a beautiful day outside, she thought, but a feeling of impending doom hung over the police station. Perhaps it was her imagination, or the fact that Scott had insisted she not be left alone at any time.

  He had even taken his concern a step further and talked to Brock last night. They had decided the best course of action for the moment was to have an additional deputy assigned to the Ocracoke office so someone could be with Lisa at all times. That’s why she was playing hostess this morning to Deputy James Clark, who had arrived on the early ferry.

  Deputy Clark, one of the best-liked officers in the sheriff’s department, had served Hyde County for nearly thirty years as an officer and would soon retire. Lisa had known the man all her life and always welcomed his visits to their office. However, today she wished there was no need for him to be here.

  She glanced across the room to where the deputy sat hunched over another desk with his gaze directed to some papers in front of him. “Would you like some coffee?”

  He looked up and smiled. “Now, don’t you worry about me. I brought some reports that I needed to work on. That should keep me busy and out of your hair.”

  She stood and walked over to where he sat. “Deputy Clark, I really appreciate your help. I have to admit I’m a little spooked. It’s hard to believe anyone could hate me that much.”

  His faded brown eyes softened, and he shook his head. “I’ve been doing this work for a long time, and I never have been able to figure people out. It seems to me folks ought to be able to get along and not hurt each other, but life don’t seem to work that way.” He grinned, and the wrinkles in his craggy face deepened. “I guess if it did, we wouldn’t need no police officers.”

  She returned his smile. “I suppose you’re right.”

/>   Behind her, the front door of the office opened, and she turned to see Scott entering. Her gaze dropped to his hand, which she expected to be holding a bag from The Coffee Cup. Instead, he grasped a rolled-up newspaper. He took a step toward her and stopped. “Lisa, have you seen the morning paper?”

  Something was wrong. She could tell by the way he frowned and gripped the paper in his hand. She reached for it. “No. So what kind of news has Lloyd Haskell written today?”

  He held the newspaper just out of her reach, and it crunched in his tightened fingers. “It’s not Lloyd. Do you know a Terry Davidson?”

  A tremor shot through her body at the memory of Terry’s visit to the office the day before. “Yes. We grew up together and attended the island school. In fact he came by yesterday to check on me. Why do you ask?”

  Scott unrolled the paper and glanced down at the front page. “Did you know he works for the newspaper?”

  She gasped and shrank back against her desk as she remembered Terry’s questions, which she had thought strange. “Oh, no. He knew about my mother’s diary, and he asked me all kinds of questions.” She glanced down at the paper. “Did he write something?”

  “I’m afraid he did.”

  She held out her hand. “Let me see it.”

  Almost reluctantly, Scott passed the paper to her. “I’m sorry about this, Lisa.”

  The headline blazed like tongues of fire that shot off the page and licked at her face. She tried to block the words from her mind, but they seared her brain and raced through her body— “Diary May Yield Clues to Woman’s Mysterious Death.”

  The paper shook in Lisa’s hands. Unable to speak, she glanced up at Scott and Deputy Clark. Now Terry’s visit made perfect sense. He hadn’t come to the police station because of concern for her. Grady had told him about the diary, and all he wanted was a story.

  She shook her head in disgust. His performance had fooled her into thinking he really had come as a friend, and she had fallen right into his trap. Words that seemed so innocent at the time were now splashed across the front page of a newspaper. As soon as the locals read the account, her mother’s death would be the topic of conversation everywhere.

  Her hands shook, but she clutched the newspaper tighter and scanned the story underneath the headline. Each word she read made her angrier. When she finished, she crumpled the paper in her hands and jutted out her chin.

  “He’s despicable. The headline makes it sound like there’s some big mystery about how my mother died.”

  “That’s the hook he’s using to get people to read the story, Lisa,” Scott said. “The tabloids do it all the time.”

  “But everybody knows how she died. I’m probably the only one who cares why she died. I’ll never forgive him for this,” she seethed. “I can’t believe he came here pretending to be an old friend, and then reported everything I said. Of course, he twisted my words to give it the slant he needed for his story.”

  “What do you mean?” Scott asked.

  She smoothed out the front page and jabbed a finger at one line of the story. “Right here he says that I was happy to have my grandmother take care of me at night because my mother stayed at the local pub all the time. That’s not what I said.” Tears stung her eyes.

  Sympathy lined Scott’s face. “I’m sorry, Lisa.”

  “A-and right here…” She stabbed at the paper. “He says I’m thankful my house was broken into because it helped me find the diary that I know is going to answer all my questions about my mother’s death.”

  He nodded. “I know. I read the whole story before I came over here.”

  Deputy Clark tilted his head to one side and frowned. “Don’t worry about what this guy wrote. You know the truth, and it don’t make no difference what other folks say. I know it hurts, but the best way to deal with things like this is to ignore it. People may talk for a few days, but something else will come along to take their minds off your troubles.”

  The half smile on his lips warmed Lisa’s heart, and she grinned in spite of her anger. “Thank you, Deputy Clark. I’ll try to remember that.” She glanced at the newspaper she still held. Frowning, she wadded it into a ball, tossed it into the trash can and took a deep breath. “That’s where Terry Davidson’s story belongs. I think I feel better already.”

  Scott laughed. “Good. Now try to have a good day. I’ve got to get back on patrol, but there was one more thing I had to tell you.”

  “What?”

  “I got a call from Sheriff Baxter’s office, and they checked your cell phone records for that text last night. It was from a prepaid phone. It’s impossible to trace an owner when it’s a throwaway.”

  “I was afraid that might happen. I didn’t think this guy would be stupid enough to use his own phone.”

  “And another thing… Brock told me this morning he’d gotten nowhere questioning Calvin’s friends. They all have alibis. He suspects whoever broke into your house had no ties to Calvin at all.”

  Lisa sighed. “So that means we have no leads.”

  “Not yet.” Scott glanced at Deputy Clark. “I appreciate Sheriff Baxter sending you over to help us out. Until we catch this guy, Brock and I think Lisa needs someone with her.”

  Deputy Clark nodded. “No problem. I’ll stick close to her. Won’t let her out of my sight.”

  “Good.” Scott turned back to Lisa. “Do you want to do some more work at your house tonight?”

  “I do, but maybe Kate could come over and help. I hate to ask you to come again.”

  He shook his head. “It’s no problem. I’d like to go home and get out of my uniform beforehand. Can you stay here and wait for me? I get off at five, and Brock will be here until I can get back, say about five-thirty.”

  “I have to meet my insurance agent at three-thirty. Deputy Clark is going with me to the house, and Brock said I could forward all the incoming calls to his cell phone. I’ll lock all the doors after my agent leaves, and you can come to the house when you get off work.”

  Scott’s eyes darkened. “Lisa, I don’t want you to be at home alone even for a short amount of time. It may not be safe.”

  The determined spirit that had often caused clashes between her and her grandmother boiled to the surface. Scott had been a big help to her in the past few days, but he didn’t control her life. “I’ll be perfectly fine until you get there. Don’t worry about me.”

  Scott clenched his jaw and took a step toward her. “Lisa…”

  Before he could finish his statement, Deputy Clark stepped to his side. “I tell you what. I won’t leave Lisa until the insurance guy is there, but I do have to catch the last ferry back to the mainland. No telling how long her agent will be there. If he leaves before you get there, she should be okay if she locks herself in the house.”

  Scott bit down on his lower lip and stared at Lisa for a moment before he shrugged. “Okay, but keep your cell phone close by and call me if something seems strange. I’ll come by to check on you when I make my last patrol run out to the beach.”

  Lisa nodded. “Okay. Now, go on back to work.” When Scott had left the office, she smiled at Deputy Clark. “Thanks for helping me out. Scott has really taken his job seriously since all this started.”

  Deputy Clark’s mouth curled into a grin, and his eyebrows arched. “From the looks of it, he seems more interested than just a deputy wanting to keep somebody safe. I’d say it’s more personal to him.”

  Her face grew warm at the teasing glint in the deputy’s eyes, and she shook her head. “No, I just think he remembers what happened to his sister when she was the chief deputy, and he doesn’t want something like that to happen again on Ocracoke.”

  Deputy Clark chuckled. “If you say so… Now, I’d better get back to my reports and let you get to work, too.”
/>
  Lisa sank back in her desk chair and tried to concentrate on the computer screen in front of her, but it was no use. No matter how much she might try, the events of the last few days couldn’t be ignored. Someone wanted her to be frightened, and she was. That wasn’t anything new, though. She’d been frightened most of her life. Growing up in her grandmother’s house had accomplished that.

  Every person should have happy memories of childhood, and there had been times when Lisa was happy. They came on the days her grandmother was able to put aside her grief for her son who had died at sea and her hatred for the woman she held responsible. Only years later when she was in high school had Lisa realized her grandmother had suffered from depression. On the worst days her grandmother never left her bedroom, and Lisa took charge of everything. Perhaps that’s what had fostered her independent spirit.

  Thanks to her new friendship with Scott, those memories had receded to the back of her mind in the past few days. As much as she might protest, it made her happy to have someone who seemed to care what happened to her. She’d never felt that before, and she now realized what she’d missed in life.

  Lisa pulled her attention back to the computer screen and tried to block thoughts of Scott Michaels from her mind. She had to be careful. Her feelings were beginning to chip away at her determination to keep her distance from him, and she couldn’t fall into that trap. If she did, it would only lead to more heartbreak for her.

  Maybe the best thing to do was to tell him she didn’t want to be around him anymore, that she felt as though he was an unwelcome intruder in her life. Even as she thought it, she didn’t know if she could follow through. She couldn’t repay his kindness with a lie, but she had to find a way of getting the devastatingly handsome deputy out of her life.

  At three-thirty that afternoon Lisa, with Deputy Clark right behind, pulled into the driveway of her house. Before she could climb from her car, Wayne Simms stopped his truck on the road in front of the house and climbed out. A briefcase dangled from his hand.