Warrior, Fatal & Flawed Read online

  Business fell off quite a bit when I was accused of murder a while back and it was slowly climbing back. However, it did make me aware of just how tenuous small business ownership could be.

  I spent the rest of the afternoon either teaching or fiddling with the fundraiser class and other workshops with newly revitalized energy. My body felt tired, but my spirit was light as I locked up and headed out the back door toward home after the last class.

  Pulling up to my house in the darkness, the movement-sensor lights were already on and a figure stood on the front porch, his hand in a wave.

  From my car, it was hard to see who it was, so I cautiously slipped out of the car and hovered by the driver’s side.

  “Hey, Mariah! It’s Adam from Garry’s garage.”

  My body relaxed and my shoulders unclenched as I recognized Adam’s voice. I grabbed my things from the back seat, where I tend to stow stuff, and walked up the steps to my front door.

  “Hey, Adam, how’s it going?”

  “I’m good. I have a good book and a monster sandwich. I am ready to go!”

  He grinned at me and I grinned back as I stepped into my house, wandering toward the kitchen and dropping my purse on the kitchen table. Pulling leftover Fettucine Alfredo from the fridge, I turned on the oven at a low level, then tucked the alfredo inside and set the timer. I stood and stared around the room.

  My home didn’t feel like such a sanctuary right now, with a relative stranger sitting on my front porch. Maybe if I got to know him better, I would feel more comfortable. I grabbed a knitted afghan from the back of the couch and headed for the porch.

  Adam sat quietly in an Adirondack chair, sipping coffee from the thermos cup. His eyes flickered up as I slipped outside, the blanket wrapped around me.

  “Hey,” I said as I settled into the other Adirondack chair.

  “Hi.” He closed his book and set it on the small glass-topped table next to him.

  “What are you reading?”

  “The Count of Monte Cristo.”

  “I didn’t peg you for a fan of the classics.”

  Surprise showed on his face.

  “Oh, no, I didn’t mean anything by that, I just figured you were more of an adventure reading kind of guy.”

  “Who, me?” He pressed his hand to his heart, then laughed. “Well, this one is a classic and an adventure.”

  “Have you read it before?”

  He nodded. “It’s one of my favorites. I like the whole theme of reinventing yourself.”

  “Kind of like you’re doing here, right?”

  Adam chuckled. “I guess you could say that, only I haven’t changed my name or become rich and famous. It is a new start, though, that’s for sure.”

  We sat in silence for several moments.

  Finally, Adam cleared his throat. “I’m sorry you have to go through this.”

  “Me, too. Thanks.” I snuggled deeper into the blanket. “It sure isn’t how I expected this week to go, that’s for sure. But enough about me and my troubles. Tell me about you. How do you like living in Jasper?”

  Adam smiled and shrugged. “I like it. I like my job and my boss. The people are nice. I wish we had a good gym, though.” He lifted his head toward me, his eyes wide. “No offense, Mariah. I know you work at like a gym, right?”

  “It’s a yoga studio.”

  “Yeah, I like to lift weights, that kind of thing.”

  “Did you have a place you liked in Walnut Grove?” I settled back in my chair, relaxing as the conversation moved away from killers to exercise, a topic I was much more comfortable with.

  "Yeah, I did. I went all the time working the different muscle groups each day. I miss doing that. The gym here is okay, but it’s not like the one back home.”

  “If you don’t mind a drive, you might check out Buddy Johns’ gym in South Sacramento.”

  Adam looked at me sharply. “Buddy Johns?”

  “Yes, have you heard of him?”

  “Maybe. I think so.”

  Ding! The oven timer went off, signaling that it was time to take out the warmed Fettucine Alfredo.

  “Anyway, we were up there yesterday. You might check it out.” I gathered the blanket around me and stood up. “Nice chatting with you. Thanks for hanging out here.”

  “My pleasure.”

  As I stepped back into the house, Adam settled back into his chair and picked up his book. Yes, I would definitely have to introduce him to Stormy.

  Chapter 17

  Crash! I bolted upright in bed, my heart racing, at the sound of breaking glass. Yelling rose up from the backyard.

  “Hey, come back here! Mariah, call the police!”

  Adam’s voice rose from the back yard. I flung aside the bedcovers and raced to the window, snatching my cell phone from the nightstand. Adam ran toward the edge of my back yard, which backed up to a green belt. The gate was open when he reached it, sprinting out of the gate onto the path just outside. He sprinted into the darkness as my shaking fingers pressed 9-1-1 on my cell phone.

  Neil answered the call. “Mariah? Are you okay?”

  “Neil? Why are you answering dispatch?”

  “She’s on a break. What’s happening?”

  “I don’t know. Adam is chasing someone out my back gate.” I padded down the stairs in my socks toward the kitchen. Shattered glass was strewn across my floor, a large rock with a note attached to it lying near the refrigerator. Oddly enough, I was momentarily grateful that the rock hadn’t dented my fridge.

  I described the scene to Neil.

  “Mariah, stay outside the kitchen. We’re on our way.”

  I nodded into the phone.

  “Was that a yes?” Neil’s voice was gentle as he spoke into the phone.

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “I’ll stay on the phone with you until they get there.”

  “Okay.”

  “Is Adam back yet?”

  I peered through the back windows, but I couldn’t tell if he was there. Sirens started in the distance. “I can hear them coming now, Neil. I’m going to hang up so I can let them in.”

  “Okay.” He sighed heavily. “I wish I could be there.”

  “Me, too.”

  I clicked off the phone as a Sheriff’s Deputy vehicle pulled into my driveway, red lights circling overhead.

  Josie raced up the steps toward me. “You okay, Mariah?”

  I nodded and pointed around the side of the house. Josie took the steps back two at a time as she waved her arm in that direction. Another officer raced ahead of her into the darkness.

  I sat down on the porch, huddled in a blanket, the lights from the sheriff’s vehicles casting over me. Another sedan pulled up and Cindy jumped out, leaving the driver’s door open as she bolted toward me. I leapt up, the blanket falling to the porch, and threw myself into her arms. My body shivered.

  “Are you cold?” Cindy drew away from me, rubbing her hands up and down my arms. “You’re shaking.”

  I shook my head, then shrugged my shoulders. “No, maybe. I don’t know. I’m not sure what’s happening.”

  “Tell me what you know.” Cindy sat down beside me on the porch steps, collecting the blanket and pulling it around my shoulders. She listened, her face impassive, as I told her about Adam chasing someone through the backyard.

  She took my hand, gently rubbing it, as she looked me directly in the eye. “Sis, I don’t like this. I think you should come and stay with us until we catch this guy.”

  My first response was to fervently shake my head, but then I hesitated, looking up toward my front door. I didn’t want to leave my house. Every fiber of my being shouted that if I stayed at Cindy’s, I would be playing into the killer’s plans, whatever that was.

  Just then, voices, first faint, then louder, reached us from the background.

  Josie and Adam walked back around the house. Surprise washed over Josie’s face, though she tried to hide it.

  “Hey, boss, why are you up at this h
our?” Josie said. She tried to make it sound like a joke, but it seemed forced to me.

  Cindy’s arm tightened around me. “Just looking after my sister, Deputy. I heard her address on the scanner.”

  Josie nodded, her eyes darting warily between us. Adam hovered behind her. His eyes met mine.

  “You okay?” he mouthed.

  I nodded, then remembered something, so I turned to Cindy. “There’s a note. On the rock.”

  Josie jumped toward the house just as Cindy and I stood up. I stumbled as Josie pushed past me.

  “Hold up, deputy.” Cindy’s voice was icy. Josie froze, then turned back.

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “Do we know the house is secure?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Do that first.”

  Josie swallowed hard and gestured for the other deputy to go with her. They entered the house like danger waited inside.

  Cindy relaxed back on the step with me, one arm around my shoulders. We sat in silence. Adam stood over by a deputy’s car, quietly giving his statement about what had happened.

  Josie returned and stuck her head outside the screen door. “All clear, Mariah. Come on in,”

  I stood up and reached for her arm, but she pulled back, standing up straighter, then gestured for me to go inside. I stepped quickly through the door, Cindy on my heels. The silence was palpable as Josie followed us both into the house.

  The rock lay on the kitchen floor among the broken glass.

  “Once we get what we need, make sure that window gets boarded up tonight.” Cindy’s voice was authoritative.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Josie made a note in her notebook, although I was sure she didn’t need to. The awkwardness in the air made me wrap my arms around myself, clutching the blanket closer.

  “Can they get fingerprints from the rock?”

  Josie gave a quick laugh. “No, Mariah. Of course not. You watch too many cop shows.”

  She stopped when she realized Cindy was staring at her, one eyebrow lifted.

  Cindy turned to me, a tight smile on her face, that smile that said she didn’t really mean it. I’d seen it before, directed at me. Tonight, it was directed at Josie.

  “What my deputy means to say, Mariah, is that most rock is too porous to hold onto fingerprints. However, we will of course bag it as evidence and take it in to be tested. And we will look for prints on the note.”

  She looked back at Josie. “Pictures of the crime scene?”

  Josie held up her phone. She took pictures of the kitchen, including close-ups of the rock and the window from several angles.

  “Where did that rock come from?” I puzzled as I stared at it.

  “What do you mean, Mariah?” Josie’s tone was impatient.

  “I don’t have any rocks like that in my yard and there isn’t any right out on the trail. Where did it come from?”

  I turned to look at my sister. “Whoever it was brought it with them, right? This was planned.”

  Cindy nodded. “Yep, it just gets better and better. Good thing Adam was here.”

  “What did he say happened?” I hadn’t had a chance to talk with him.

  “He was just about to start getting his stuff ready to leave and he heard a crash from the back yard, so he raced around the house just in time to see someone run through your gate. He chased them but never saw whoever it was.”

  “I’ll have to thank him later.”

  Cindy pulled on a pair of gloves and gingerly picked up the rock, using a pocketknife to snip the yarn that held a piece of paper to the rock. She unfolded the note and showed it to me: GET OUT OF TOWN was written in big block letters.

  “Someone does not like whatever it is you are doing with this case.”

  “Are you sure it’s related to the case?”

  Cindy pulled back and looked at me skeptically. “Do you really want to know that two people want to hurt you? It’s too much of a coincidence. Of course, it’s related.”

  She paused and stared at the yarn, then gave a quick smile before ducking her head to set the rock on the table.

  Our eyes met and I smiled. “You’re wondering if the killer is a crafter because the rock has yarn on it.”

  Cindy chuckled. “It was just a passing thought. A completely inappropriate passing thought.”

  She looked over at Josie, who had stepped outside and was brushing finger-printing dust from the outside of the windowsill. “I’ll go ahead and get this stuff bagged.”

  Josie nodded, continuing her work.

  I walked over to the window, still holding on to my blanket. “Why are you checking for fingerprints there, Jos? I thought they threw the rock just to scare me.”

  Her eyes flicked up, then back down to her work. “I just want to make sure that’s all the perpetrator was doing. If I find fingerprints here, that could indicate he was looking for a way inside your house, and I would find that extremely troubling.”

  That made sense to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cindy nod, then dig into her jacket pocket for an evidence bag. Maybe she would be less hard on Josie, now that she saw how thoughtful Josie was being about her work.

  “Thank you, Jos. For everything.”

  Josie paused and looked at me a wistful smile.

  I wasn’t sure what was up with the two of them. Cindy had seemed pleased to be giving Josie a chance to prove herself, but tonight she just seemed irritated. She was probably worried about me, now that I thought it over.

  I blew out a breath as I surveyed the kitchen, then turned to Cindy. “Thanks for coming over. I’ll call you in the morning.”

  “Oh, no, you’re coming home with me.” The look on Cindy’s face left no room for discussion. Truth be told, as much as I didn’t want the killer – whoever it was – to chase me out of my own home, I also wasn’t wild about the idea of staying in the house by myself, even with Adam to guard me.

  Reluctantly, I trudged upstairs and yanked an overnight bag from the bottom of my closet. I shoved in pajamas for tonight, then caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I was still wearing pajamas and had been talking to all sorts of people in my pjs. Of course, it was my house and the middle of the night. Still, not less embarrassing. With a heavy sigh, I grabbed some yoga clothes for tomorrow and a book off the nightstand, then zipped up the bag.

  “Mariah, let’s go!” Cindy’s voice sounded impatient, so I snagged a sweatshirt and pulled it over my pajamas as I walked slowly down the stairs.

  Cindy tucked her notebook away. “You ready?”

  I shrugged and nodded at the same time and followed her out the front door and down the steps. “They’ll lock up when they’re done, don’t worry.”

  I shrugged again. Feeling like my shoes were filled with lead, I trudged toward Cindy’s patrol car, Jasper County Sheriff emblazoned on the side.

  We rode in silence, my head leaning against the window. As we pulled up, Cindy’s husband, Charlie, waved as he stepped out onto the front porch and waited for us. Cindy pivoted toward me.

  “Sis, I know this isn’t your fault, at least, not completely. This maniac is responsible for her or his own actions, but we have to figure out a way to keep you safe until we make an arrest.”

  I met Cindy’s gaze. “Are you close? To an arrest?”

  Cindy pursed her lips and held my gaze. “Yes, but I can’t tell you any more than that.”

  Charlie met me with a big hug at the door and took my overnight bag up to the spare room. I didn’t miss the worried look he exchanged with Cindy

  I wasn’t really interested in chitchatting, so as soon as Charlie came back downstairs, I headed up.

  I paused at the top and glanced back just as Charlie took Cindy into his arms, planting a gentle kiss on her head. Her arms wrapped around him. They had always been like that. One unit, one force. No matter how far away their daily lives took them, they always came home to each other.

  A pang wracked my heart as I turned away, my head dropping to my chest. I really
wanted that kind of relationship. Looking back, I never felt like I had it with Lee. I was always the one cheering him on. And here I was, still taking care of him.

  Quietly, I closed the bedroom door and sat on the edge of the bed. Every fiber of my being wanted to throw myself under the covers and sob wildly.

  Instead, I slipped to the floor and took off my socks. Coming into an Easy Pose, Sukhasana, a simple cross-legged position, I took a breath, inhaling through my nose and out through my mouth. After a few warmup breaths, I moved to the ujjayi breath, where I inhaled and exhaled as if I had a straw in the back of my throat. The ujjayi breath helps provide focus and energy. Plus, it sounds like Darth Vader, which always makes me smile. Following a few rounds of breathwork, I rolled up to my knees for a few rounds of cat and cow poses.

  After a few minutes, I stood up and threw back the covers. Now I felt ready to crawl into bed for sleep, not out of fear. Sleep came quickly, and I slept reasonably well, considering.

  When I awoke, I decided that I was off the case for good and for real now. It was time to focus on my business, not do Josie’s and Cindy’s jobs for them. I pushed aside the nagging questions in my mind and hopped into the shower.

  The Sun Salutations class was harder for me than usual considering my lack of sleep, but the students helped me get through. Instead of bolting out the front door as soon as class was over and jogging to CeCe’s coffee shop, I stepped into my office, put my head down on the desk and closed my eyes. My brain felt foggy and my body was tired. If I could only stay here for a few min--

  Bang! The front door banged open, jerking my head off the desk.

  “Mariah, Mariah!” Lee barged into the studio.

  “Sir, you can’t go in there with your shoes on,” Stormy’s voice followed Lee into the room. More footsteps sounded in the lobby and Josie burst into the studio.

  “Sorry about the shoes, Mariah.” Josie and another deputy grabbed Lee, who struggled against them. The three of them wrestled Lee into stillness. “Mr. Whitten. You are under arrest for the murder of Serena Jacobus.”