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Something didn’t feel right. Shiloh shook her head and opened her eyes. Why would this person try to kill her and then send her a warning note? In situations like this, the crimes and attacks usually escalated; they didn’t go backward in terms of threat level, as this did. She searched her mind for explanations, something that would make everything clear, but found nothing. Were they toying with her? Trying to confuse and scare her?
Shiloh didn’t know.
She left the mail on the counter and walked to her bedroom. She’d take a hot shower, read the book she was in the middle of and see if she could make sense of everything happening in her life. The resurgence of the threat she’d thought had dissipated, Adam’s reappearance in her life... It was all too much to take in within a few days.
Yet again she wondered if the two were connected but dismissed the idea. Whoever was threatening her had no connection to Adam—she was certain of that. Adam may be a lot of things—she could make a long, insulting list—but he’d never threaten or attack her. That made one person—two, if she counted the chief—in this town that she could trust if she needed help.
As much as Shiloh preferred to rely on herself, she knew it was smart to have contingency plans. Too bad the one man she felt she could trust the most was the one she’d handed her heart to, only to have it stomped to bits and then returned.
Shiloh turned the shower on to a scalding temperature and breathed in the steam. She always felt better after a good, long shower. Even though these were bigger problems than she’d faced in a while, it would help with those, too, at least a little.
Shiloh was in the middle of shampooing her hair when she heard the first rumble of thunder in the distance. Her long, relaxing shower would have to be a quick one. She hurried her pace and tried to calm the pounding of her heart as the thunder grew louder and more frequent. By the time she had showered and then dressed, rain pelted her little house, and thunder shook the windows violently.
It was a fitting end for the afternoon she’d had, and Shiloh was confident of one thing: it was going to be a very long night.
* * *
Adam sat in his rented house, listening to the howling storm trying to find its way inside. It had succeeded in the kitchen via a leak in the corner of the ceiling. He’d have to fix that once it dried.
He made his way to the garage, eager to work out the tension of the day on his boxing bag. He’d hung it up Sunday afternoon after going back to Savannah following church to pick up his dog, his belongings, which he’d put in a storage unit after moving from Atlanta, and a U-Haul trailer. He hadn’t boxed seriously since he’d finished college, but it was the best way he knew to burn off stress. It also helped him focus while he prayed, especially if he was wrestling with something.
Tonight it was Shiloh.
He’d seen her in town once or twice, but they hadn’t spoken since that first day. Not that it seemed to matter to Adam’s heart or mind. He kept thinking of her, of the way things used to be. Wondering if she was in danger now. Wishing he could do something to protect her if she was. His tumultuous thoughts about her made it difficult for him to focus on anything else.
He’d been in love with her once—before she’d broken his heart by leaving him behind. It had been a shock to see her again, putting his emotions in turmoil. But he wasn’t one to let feelings overrule his common sense. They were at different places in life now. He’d seen a hardness in her eyes that hadn’t been there before, and he knew he’d changed, too. It wasn’t as if picking up where they’d left off was a good idea or an option at all.
Besides, she’d run away from him once. He wasn’t exactly eager to experience that again, especially when he wasn’t clear on all the details of why she’d left. Everything had been perfect in their relationship; but in the last six months of Shiloh’s cousin’s life, things had started to change between him and Shiloh. The three of them had all been friends, but eventually Shiloh and Annie had started getting together alone and making it clear that he wasn’t welcome. Shiloh had given only vague answers when he’d asked about their evenings. Now he wondered if he should have pressed her more.
And then there had been that blowup in his dad’s office, days after Annie’s death, when Shiloh had gone to his dad for help, and he’d told her that what she was planning—becoming a cop to find her cousin’s killers herself and pursue justice—was wrong, even unbiblical for a woman.
That seemed to be the moment things ended for them.
He punched the bag hard.
He pulled back to do it again when his cell phone rang. He slowed his breathing and answered. It was a man from his church whose teenage daughter was about to have emergency surgery for appendicitis. From what Adam gathered, it sounded as though the situation was under control, but people liked to have a pastor around in those cases.
He ran upstairs and jumped in the shower, ignoring the crashing thunder and deciding getting struck by lightning while wet in his bathroom would be better than going out in public smelling as though he’d been working out for an hour.
Adam felt relieved that the man had called and had given Adam an excuse to stop thinking about Shiloh in particular and women in law enforcement in general. For tonight he was grateful to put them both out of his mind.
FOUR
Shiloh was beyond ready to get to work the next morning. The storm the night before had set her on edge. Along with the threatening note, the weather had unearthed memories she’d thought long buried. The crashing thunder had sounded the same as it had on the night Annie had been killed. Shiloh had lain awake all night, caught between the past and the present. Even if she’d been inclined to heed the warnings of the note found in her mailbox, she couldn’t forget the past. It was etched in her memory with the clarity of a lightning flash.
This morning, as she navigated her new cruiser toward the station, she considered her options. Running was not one of them, as far as she was concerned. If they’d bothered to track her here, they’d track her anywhere, and she didn’t want to live life continually looking over her shoulder. Besides, as part of the law-enforcement community, she could keep an eye on things. Wasn’t that the reason she’d left behind her job as a history professor and had become a cop?
Her cousin’s face flashed in her mind. Keeping an eye on things wasn’t the only reason. Shiloh owed it to Annie to finish what she had started.
Maybe Shiloh was looking at this wrong.
Regardless, she didn’t have time to worry about it right now. She parked her car and entered the police station in time for roll call, when the day’s assignments were given out. She learned she’d be patrolling an area near Widow Hamilton’s house that included several miles of Treasure Point’s coastal marshes.
“Officer Evans, the chief needs to see you in his office. Anyone have questions?”
Lieutenant Rich Davies scanned the room, brows raising when he came to Shiloh as though he expected her to have a question. Her cheeks burned with a blush she hoped no one noticed; she felt like a kid who’d been called out for talking in class. She hadn’t been paying attention but wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of admitting it.
The meeting was dismissed, and Shiloh walked to the chief’s door and knocked. Uneasy flutters danced in her stomach as she tried to figure out what he could want.
“Come in.”
She pushed the door open, willing away the tumultuous thoughts while forcing a pleasant smile on her face. “You wanted to see me?”
The chief nodded. Shiloh stepped in to take a seat when she noticed that one of the desk chairs was occupied. Her step faltered. “I can come back later if you’re already in a meeting.” That sandy-blond hair could belong to only one person.
“No, now’s a fine time.” The chief cleared his throat. “Lieutenant Davies already give out assignments for the day?”
Shiloh nodded as she sat.
“What I told him I’d tell you myself is that you have something of an extra assignment for the next several weeks.”
The flutters in her stomach returned full force.
“You already know Adam is the new chaplain...”
With the words “extra assignment” and “Adam” in such close proximity, the flutters turned to concrete bricks. There was no good way for this to turn out. Shiloh straightened in her chair, listening closely. There had to be a way to get out of whatever her commanding officer was suggesting; she never gave up without a fight.
The chief shifted in his chair. “What you may not realize is the difficulty of a man in his position. He’s here to help the department and the town, and he can’t do that if he doesn’t know people, doesn’t fit in like a local. For the next few weeks I’m assigning Adam to ride along with you. As you get the chance, tell him about the town, introduce him to people. As the other officers see you accepting him, they’ll start to. Everyone loves you, Shiloh. They look to you.” The chief nodded as though he was as pleased with his decision as Shiloh was displeased. “Do this for me and for Adam, would you?”
“Sir, I’m flattered that you think this would help him, but wouldn’t my time be better spent pursuing whoever tried to run me off the road the other day? Or checking out Widow Hamilton’s house for her?”
“Your time is best spent doing what I’ve asked you to do.” The chief’s voice was still kind, but she could hear the steel in it. Nothing about this was optional.
Or fair, in Shiloh’s opinion.
“I understand the two of you knew each other in Savannah. I would think you’d be eager to help out an old friend.”
Shiloh’s eyes darted to Adam as the chief spoke. Was it her imagination or was there a degree of pleading in those gorgeous eyes? Once upon a time those eyes had melted her like chocolate on a hot summer day. Even now their effect was difficult to resist.
She let out a breath. “You’re right. It’s the least I can do to help an old friend.”
The chief nodded, the matter settled to him. “Good.”
Shiloh could feel Adam’s eyes on her and knew if she looked she would read his thanks in them. But the fact that she couldn’t bring herself to intentionally hurt him like he’d hurt her didn’t mean she was ready to buddy up to him, either. Without another word to either man, she started for the door.
“And, Officer Evans?”
Shiloh turned.
The chief leaned back in his chair, folded his arms behind his head and grinned. “Try to keep this car intact.”
She made a face. “I’ll do my best.”
Adam followed her to the parking lot. At least, Shiloh assumed he did so. She certainly didn’t wait for him, but when she unlocked the car doors, they both climbed in. She turned the key in the ignition and drove toward the area she had been assigned to patrol.
At least her shift today was seven to three. She’d be home well before dinner, safely inside before darkness sneaked in. Logically speaking, she was no safer during the day, as the attacks on her so far had already proved. But darkness reminded her of the night Annie had been killed.
“Beautiful scenery.”
What was he, Chatty Cathy? Why did the man feel compelled to talk?
She grunted in response. Men could do it, so maybe it would work for her.
“Shiloh...” He shifted in the seat beside her, and his tone said more than a dozen words could have. He touched her arm. Her breath caught and she stiffened. “Look, it was years ago. Whatever happened, can’t you let it go? Or do you hate me that much?”
* * *
Adam hadn’t realized how much touching her—even on the arm—would affect him. His heart drummed a crazy rhythm in his chest, and he knew reaching out to her had been a bad idea.
But how was she reacting? Did he still affect her at all? She’d gone rigid when he had first rested his hand on her arm, but she was softening now, relaxing. No, whatever she was telling herself, he knew the truth. She didn’t hate him at all.
Relief battled with tension in his shoulders. Her not hating him made this much more dangerous. All he wanted was to make sure that she stayed safe. Maybe be friends with her again.
He’d already experienced firsthand the heartbreak she was capable of inflicting. He wasn’t eager to sign up for round two.
“Can’t we forget the past?” he asked.
Her pause was so long that he was sure she’d say no or have some kind of comeback for him. But, instead, after a minute of ear-deafening, heart-pounding silence, her answer stunned him.
“Okay.” She let out a breath. “I’ll try.”
Adam wanted to say so much more but only nodded and said, “I’m glad.”
He glanced over at her, as he thought about how much had changed since the past he’d just promised to forget. She wasn’t the Shiloh he’d known. That Shiloh had been a bit of a risk-taker, sure. She’d loved to go rock climbing and whitewater rafting, and she had even talked him into hang gliding up in north Georgia once. But she’d been sweet, gentle and not at all the intimidating, in-charge woman she appeared to be now. It seemed she’d left that personality in the past along with her history-professor job.
Something niggled in his stomach. Gut instinct told him the changes in her personality, her job, were somehow tied to whatever reasons she’d had for breaking up with him five years ago. Adam had never considered himself dumb when it came to women, but those few months of Shiloh’s life, the last few months of their relationship, had been so hectic with Annie’s death and Shiloh’s reaction to it that he’d never known what had made them hit their breaking point. All she had said was that they weren’t right for each other. At the time he’d been too stunned to press for more of an explanation, but now that she was back in his life, he intended to get an answer eventually to replace the question mark that hovered in his mind, if only to satisfy his curiosity.
Riding along with her would help him achieve two goals. He’d finally get some answers—and he’d be close at hand to help if any more attacks materialized. He may have put the past behind him and moved on from his feelings for Shiloh, but he was still determined to make sure she stayed safe.
Shiloh pulled the car off into a secluded parking area next to another stretch of Hamilton Creek. In town, where he’d seen the creek before, it looked like any other creek. A little marshy but pretty civilized in general.
Here the water flowed freely through the reeds and grass. It was guarded by centuries-old oak trees—whose creaky branches were draped with gray Spanish moss—and Georgia pines taller than he could guess. Adam could smell the salt in the air coming through his rolled-down window and figured they must be close to the coast.
“Is the ocean near here?” he asked Shiloh.
She nodded. “A hundred yards or so through some of the thickest coastal forest you’ve ever seen.”
“Ever walked to the beach from here?”
Shiloh raised her eyebrows. “It’s not a beach like you’re thinking. Not sandy like Tybee. There’s a little sand, but mostly the water meets the marsh, and that’s the end of that. And, no, I’ve never walked from here. There are some trails not too far from here, half a mile or so away, but it’s too dangerous to try from here. The woods are chock-full of snakes, and it’s so thick it would be easy to get lost.”
“That doesn’t sound like my adventurer.”
She speared him with a look before turning away and opening her car door. “I’m not your anything anymore, Adam, except maybe your friend, and that’s still kind of probationary.”
Probationary? She’d always liked big words, but they’d been words like historicity. She even talked like a cop now.
“I see.” He opened his door to follow her. “So, where are we going?”
“I’m not sure you should be going anywhere.” She frowned, looked at the car and then back at him as if deliberating what she should do.
“Worried I’ll slow you down?” He couldn’t resist the urge to tease her. She’d always been competitive, and it had grated on her anytime he had managed to finish a hike before her, which was often. Shiloh was in great shape, but his boxing days had made him even more fit, and since exercise was a stress reliever for him, he hadn’t lost much muscle tone since.
“No, but aren’t you supposed to be riding along and getting out if I’m talking to a townsperson? This is more like investigating.”
“I’ll be fine. Tell me about where we are.”
Shiloh seemed to consider it, then shrugged. “It’s your call. This is one of the areas closest to Widow Hamilton’s home. She’s kind of town royalty, I guess, or as close as we get in south Georgia. Her family was among the founders of the town, and their homestead is almost as old as the dirt it’s built on. Anyway, she’s had trouble lately—prowlers, or so she thinks.”
“What do you mean, ‘so she thinks’?”
Shiloh frowned again.
What was it about him that made the woman frown so much? He was going to have to work on ways to get her to flash that brilliant smile she had.
“Honestly, I think she’s probably a lonely old woman with a big imagination. But I feel bad that I can’t do more to make her feel better, so I’m hoping that telling her I checked out this area—since it’s adjacent to her property—and came up empty will put her mind at ease.”
Adam nodded. “Got it. Sounds fun. Let’s go.”
“It could be dangerous. As a civilian, I feel like you should know that. I would hate to put you in danger.”
She sounded passionate about that last line, as if she spoke from experience. Another aspect of this new Shiloh that mystified him.
“I’m sure we’ll be fine.” He spoke with confidence, but as she finally started off toward the edge of the woods, and he followed her, he felt eyes on him again.
And had the distinct impression that, despite her best efforts, they were in danger already.
“Hey, Shiloh?” He lowered his voice and continued to follow her, not breaking the rhythm of his stride. “Do you feel at all like we’re being watched?”
Shiloh didn’t look back. But Adam saw her nod. Chills crawled up his spine, and he found himself hoping they were only being viewed through something innocuous like binoculars. And not through the scope of a high-powered rifle.
Shiloh reached the edge of the woods and began to inspect the perimeter, seeking footprints or other signs of recent activity. She walked slowly along the tree line, scanning around her as she went. Adam kept an eye out, too, but when it came down to it, although he wanted to be protecting her, she was the one with the training and the gun. If any real danger arose, she would be the one keeping him safe. He’d always liked the idea of men being the protectors—an old-fashioned idea Shiloh and Annie had always teased him about. It wasn’t that he thought women were incapable—not at all—he just liked the idea of men filling that role.
He remembered Shiloh and his father debating the same thing after her cousin’s death. He wouldn’t say that his opinions were as extreme as his father’s, but Adam hadn’t contradicted his dad or said anything to support Shiloh’s position. He was sure he hadn’t imagined the flash of fire in Shiloh’s eyes as she’d said good-night after that long-ago discussion.
He’d told Shiloh to forget the past, so why was he having such a hard time keeping it from crowding in on him? Adam pushed the memories from his mind in time to avoid running into Shiloh, who had stopped cold in front of the oddest pine tree he’d ever seen. Its trunk grew straight for the first ten feet or so, made a dramatic almost-ninety-degree turn to the left for a stretch and then continued growing upward.
“Weird tree, huh?”
“Shhh.” She pressed a finger to her lips and motioned to the ground.
At first glance he didn’t understand what had caught her eye. He saw only grass, pine needles and palmettos. A second look told him that everything was pressed to the ground as if this had been used as a pathway.
A third look revealed something at the base of a palmetto plant. He leaned closer.
The color was duller than it would have been in a movie, likely because of its probable age, but there in the dirt he saw the unmistakable gleam of a gold Spanish doubloon.
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