Sharon Dunn - Wilderness Target

TWO

Clarissa slipped down the first alley she came to. She didn’t want to involve Ezra any further in this tangled mess. Maybe it was just because she had been on her own since she was fourteen, but she’d gotten into the habit of not expecting help from anyone. She could fix this by herself. She’d find another job. She’d get a new start somewhere else.

She shifted her handbag to her shoulder and walked on. Maybe she should go to the police. And tell them what? she wondered. They couldn’t fix what had taken place in California.

She had a natural distrust of the police from her teen years, and knowing that the police had been dismissive of her claims in California made her worry that they would do the same here. Really, she had known from the moment Max fired her that she should cut her losses rather than try to take on the legal and financial resources Max had access to. She just had no idea he would go so far as to send Don after her. It didn’t make any sense. Why couldn’t Max be happy with her leaving the state? Why did he want her to come back?

She stepped out onto a side street. Things looked different after ten years. But then, she supposed she was different, too. For one thing, she’d found faith in the time since she’d been gone. And that reminded her of the friend who had helped with that—a friend she hoped could help her again now.

Sondra had been a maid employed in Max’s house. Because she had started out on Max’s cleaning crew, Clarissa had felt a kinship to her. But Sondra had been more than a friend. She was the person who had taken the seeds of faith that had been planted in Clarissa ten years ago, when she’d been a scared, pregnant teenager here in Discovery, and helped them flower. Clarissa had witnessed love and grace at Naomi’s Place, a home for pregnant teens, but it had taken a decade for the message to sink in. And it never could have happened without Sondra.

She’d been fired about the time Clarissa had gotten her promotion. Sondra had cleaned Max’s office on a Tuesday, when it was supposed to be cleaned on a Wednesday. Right before she’d left, Sondra had pressed a piece of paper with her phone number and address on it into Clarissa’s hand. “If you ever need anything, give me a call.”

At the time, Clarissa had wondered why Sondra’s words were so filled with desperation. As someone who worked in his mansion, maybe she had known what kind of man Max really was.

Clarissa wandered through the town, trying to remember the location of things. First, she needed to find a safe, quiet place to call Sondra. The streets were nearly abandoned at this hour and most places were closed. Her heart squeezed tight as anxiety returned. Would Max’s thug follow her here? He must have figured out she was in the van. It would take him a while to get a rental car or taxi. That bought her some time.

Why had she come back to Discovery anyway? She’d stood at the airport counter in LAX. The attendant had asked her where she wanted to go, his gaze heavy and demanding. She had blurted out Discovery without thinking.

Sondra lived about a day’s drive away, in Wyoming. Glancing nervously up and down the alley, Clarissa pulled out her phone and searched for the crumpled piece of paper. She walked a couple more blocks until she spotted a coffee shop. She ordered a herbal tea and found a secluded booth away from the only other patrons. The posted hours said they closed in twenty minutes.

She stared at her phone. It was late. Would Sondra even pick up? Clarissa pressed the numbers and put the phone to her ear.

“Hello.”

She let out a sigh of relief when she heard her friend’s voice. “Sondra, it’s me, Clarissa.” She gripped the phone a little tighter. Asking for help had always been hard for her.

“Hey, kiddo, it’s good to hear from you.”

The welcoming tone in Sondra’s voice made Clarissa smile. Sondra had been a true friend. Clarissa wasn’t sure why Sondra called her kiddo; they were maybe ten years apart, but it made her feel cared for, as if she was someone Sondra wanted to look after.

“So what’s going on?” she asked.

Clarissa closed her eyes and thought through what she would say. “I’m in some trouble. It’s Max.” She opted for the shorter version of what had happened. She could give Sondra the full details later. “He fired me, and I’ve left California. I don’t have a car.”

Sondra hesitated in answering. “Where are you now?”

“I’m in Discovery. I remembered where you lived, so I called.” Clarissa tensed, half expecting her to say the drive would be too much trouble.

“I can be there in seven hours. I’ll leave right away. Tell me where to pick you up at.”

Clarissa felt a rush of gratitude. “Oh, Sondra, thank you so much.” She thought about possible meeting places. “There’s a bench outside the Black Bear Inn downtown. I’ll be sitting on that.”

“See you then,” Sondra said. “And kiddo, it’s good to hear your voice.”

Feeling a sense of hope, Clarissa shut off her phone. Now all she had to do was find lodging for the night. She opened her handbag. In an effort to get away from Don, she’d left her checked baggage at the airport, but at least she still had her wallet. In it was enough cash to pay for a hotel room.

She finished her tea and left the coffee shop. She turned the corner, back toward the Black Bear Inn. As Ezra’s van had come into town, she hadn’t noticed any other hotel within walking distance. If she hurried, she could get checked in before Max’s thug showed up. Far better than wandering the streets trying to find a different hotel. Staying outside would only make her vulnerable. Though it was several blocks away, she could see that the lights in Ezra’s office were still on. The memory of what he had done for her brought some guilt to the surface. She really did need to thank him for his kindness.

* * *

Ezra pulled some food and other supplies from a cupboard in a back room, then worked his way around stacks of boxes in the hallway. The office was more of a storage space for backpacks, tents and other supplies than it was an office. Surrounded by packets of dried food, his computer was barely visible on the desk.

“My conscience wouldn’t let me leave without saying thank you. The light was on, so I...”

Ezra whirled around to face the petite blonde woman. She must have come in when he was in the back room. Her voice had a soft, hypnotic quality, like wind rushing through trees.

He placed the boxes of supplies on the desk. “Yeah, sure, no problem.” A war raged within him. He still had a lot of prep to do before morning, and the last thing he needed was a woman bringing trouble with her. At the same time, when he looked at this woman, he wondered if he could have done something different so Melissa would still be in his life. He couldn’t undo what had happened with his sister. His conscience would be clear if he knew he’d done everything he could for this woman.

She pressed the large handbag she’d brought with her closer to her body. “I wanted to thank you for your kindness, is all.”

She stood before him, the blouse and tailored jacket a little disheveled. Her blue eyes held a pleading quality.

“What is your name?”

Her expression softened. “Clarissa.”

He stepped toward her. “Listen, Clarissa, I don’t know what is going on with you and that guy who was looking for you. I can take you up to the police station if that would help.” He pointed in that general direction.

“No...” She took a step back and a wall seemed to go up around her. Panic coated her words. “I’ll be all right. I’m...I’m meeting someone tomorrow.”

Again, he wondered what she was afraid of, and why the man was after her. That she didn’t want to go to the police made him a little suspicious. Maybe she wasn’t the fragile innocent she projected. “Are you sure? I know some of the local guys. I’m positive they’d help you out...whatever the trouble is.”