Under Threat by B.J. Daniels (reading the story of the .TXT) 📕

He had sworn under his breath “So they could have been abusing her too.”

“Or Fiona could have lied about all of it. When her mother, stepfather and the three sons died in a fire, I had to wonder. Fiona could have been behind it. I wouldn’t put anything past her, would you?”

“Or she could have lied about the sexual abuse and then been racked with guilt when they all died.”

Patty had laughed. “You really do try to see the best in people, and even after the number she pulled on you. You’re a good guy, Chase. You take care of yourself.”

He didn’t feel like a good guy. He’d made so many mistakes. Fiona for one. Mary for another. He couldn’t do much about Fiona, but he still had a chance to right things with Mary.

Patty had put Rick on the phone. The news was the same. Fiona’s body still hadn’t turned up.

“Some fisherman will find her downstream. It will be gruesome. A body that’s been in the water that long...”

Chase hadn’t wanted to think about it.

Like now, he tried to put it behind him as he neared Mary’s office door. He wanted to surprise her with coffee. He just wished the barista had known the kind of coffee she drank. Mary was helping him today with his search for a man with the initials J.M. She understood his need to find his father even though there were days when he didn’t. Why couldn’t he just let it go? His mother apparently had forgiven the man if not forgotten him.

For all he knew, the man could have moved away by now. Or his mother hadn’t used his real initials. Or... He shook off the negative thoughts. He would be spending the day with the woman he loved. Did it really matter if they found his father today?

As Chase came in the front door of her office, Mary saw him look back toward the coffee shop and frown. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

He started as if his thoughts had been miles away. “There’s a woman working over there. Lucy?”

“I know her.” She took the coffee he handed her. Not her usual, but definitely something she liked.

“She just reminded me of someone I used to know—and not in a good way,” he said.

“She just started working at Lone Peak Perk only a week or two ago. Why?”

He shook his head. “Just a feeling I got.” He seemed to hesitate. “That dangerous woman, Fiona, who I told you about from Arizona. Lucy doesn’t look anything like her, but she reminds me of her for some reason.”

Mary shook her head. She really did not want to hear anything more about Fiona. “You do realize how crazy that sounds. I know Lucy. She’s really sweet. I like her. I rented one of my apartments to her. I’m sure she’s nothing like your... Fiona.”

“She wasn’t my Fiona. Look, you’ve never asked, but I didn’t date for a long time after I left. I wasn’t interested in anyone else. That wasn’t why I left and you know it. If I hadn’t been drinking, if I hadn’t just picked up my mother’s ashes the day of the barbecue at my boss’s house...”

Mary stood up. “I don’t need to hear this.”

“Maybe you do,” he said, and raked a hand through his hair as he met her gaze. “It was one drunken night. I regretted it right away. She became...obsessed, manufacturing a relationship that didn’t exist. She must have stolen my extra house key and copied it. I came home several times to find her in my apartment. She knew I was in love with someone else. But that seemed to make her even more determined to change my mind.” He shook his head. “She wouldn’t stop. She tried to move some of her stuff into my apartment. Needless to say it got ugly. The last time I saw her...” He hesitated as if he’d never wanted to tell her the details about Fiona and she didn’t want to hear them now.

But before she could stop him, he said, “She tried to kill me.”

Mary gasped. “You can’t be serious.”

“She knew I was leaving. She said she wanted to give me a hug goodbye, but when she started to put her arms around me, I saw the knife she’d pulled from her pocket. I would have gotten to Montana weeks sooner, but she sabotaged my pickup. I had to have a new engine put in it.” He shook his head. “What I’m saying is that I wouldn’t put anything past her. She supposedly drowned in the Colorado River after driving her car into it. But her body was never found.”

Mary couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Lucy doesn’t look anything like her except...” He glanced up at her and must have seen the shock and disbelief in her eyes. Couldn’t he tell that she didn’t want to know anything more about Fiona?

She shook her head, wished this wasn’t making her so upset. He’d said Fiona was obsessed with him? It sounded like he was just as obsessed. “This woman really did a number on you, didn’t she?”

He held up both hands in surrender. “Sorry. I thought you should know.”

About a woman he’d made love to who was now dead? But certainly not forgotten. Even Lucy reminded him of her even though, as he said, she looked nothing like Fiona? Her heart pounded hard in her chest. She pushed her coffee away, feeling nauseous. “We should get going. I need to come back and work.”

He nodded. She could tell that he regretted bringing up the subject. So why had he? She never wanted to hear the name Fiona again. Ever.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. Forget I mentioned it. I promise not to say another word about her.”

But she saw him steal a look toward the coffee shop as they were leaving. He might not mention Fiona’s name again, but he was definitely still