The Defenders

TWO

There weren’t many conundrums that bothered Thad Pearson for very long. After the years he’d spent in war zones, he was used to meeting challenges head-on. Right now, he figured he must be thinking about battle casualties again due to the familiar, wounded aura around the woman Samantha had railroaded him into eating with.

Lindy Southerland’s personal problems were probably common knowledge in Serenity, Arkansas, and for once he wished he’d paid more attention to gossip. He knew she was a widow because her husband had died a violent death in some kind of gang shoot-out, but that was about all.

“It’s enough,” Thad murmured, dumping his trash and heading for the café door. He didn’t have to know a lot about the kids he worked with to help them. Besides, that woman might never drum up enough courage to actually bring Danny to his class.

Mrs. Southerland was clearly scared to death. Not having known her prior to returning to the States, he had no idea if her unsettled persona was a new development or if she’d always been the nervous type. Either way, living with someone like that couldn’t be easy on the boy. If Danny was about the same age as his nephew, Timmy, then he was seven or eight. Not too young to understand simple logic or too old to be reached via kindness. A good age.

Thad checked his watch. He’d promised to refill the break room fridge with sodas for his crew and figured this was as good a time as any to swing by the store. He’d been trying to loosen up and not run the Pearson kitchen-gadget business with his usual military precision, but he knew he was still a long way from being the hassle-free kind of boss his brother, Rob, had been. Providing free sodas would be another step in the right direction.

Pushing his cart to the nearest of the two checkout stands at the little local market, he was surprised to recognize a familiar voice coming from the customer ahead of him in line.

“But it has to be good,” Lindy Southerland was insisting to the clerk. “I put plenty of money in that account a few days ago.”

When she exchanged that debit card for a credit card with a shake of her head, Thad was struck by how beautiful her reddish-blond hair was when it swung. During lunch he’d noticed it was long and framed her heart-shaped face but he’d been looking so intently into her green eyes, trying to read her thoughts, he hadn’t paid attention to much else. Now, however, he could appreciate the graceful way her hands were moving as she held them out, palms up, in supplication.

Lindy’s next words fit the pose perfectly. “What? That’s impossible. I almost never use that card. It can’t be maxed out.”

“It isn’t,” the clerk said. “It’s been canceled.”

“No way.”

Thad saw Lindy’s confusion and realized she was too frustrated to be thinking clearly. He stepped forward and opened his wallet. “Here. Let me get this for you.”

The emerald eyes widened when they met his. Recognition dawned. “No, thank you. I can take care of it.” She was rummaging in her copious shoulder bag. “I don’t usually carry my checkbook but it may be in here.”

“Well, since we’re holding up the line, how about I bail you out temporarily? You can pay me back after you figure out what’s wrong with your cards.”

Lindy sighed noisily. “I guess that will be okay. We are both friends of Samantha.”

Thad didn’t think this was the right time to inform her that he was less a friend of Samantha Rochard, now Waltham, than he was a former adversary. Oh, they had made their peace regarding the permanent placement of his niece and two nephews but that didn’t make them buddies. Thad could count his close friends on the fingers of one hand without using half the digits. His military doctors had been right when they’d warned him that he might not relate well to most folks, although he was beginning to warm up to Jill and Mitch, probably because of their connection to his brother’s children.

Paying his own bill as well as Lindy’s, Thad carried their groceries while she walked beside him and continued to paw through her purse.

“Which car is yours?” he asked.

“What? Oh, the silver one over there.”

“Nice.”

“It was my husband’s,” she said flatly. “It’s paid for and it gets good gas mileage so I kept it. I suppose I should have traded it in on a smaller model but I just never got around to it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a luxury car. Where do you want this stuff? In the trunk?”

“Yes.” She pressed a button on her key ring and the trunk unlatched with a click. “Thanks. I’ll pay you back as soon as I get everything sorted out.”

“No hurry. You know where to find me on Sunday mornings. I’m looking forward to meeting Danny.” The startled expression on her face made him chuckle wryly. “Not very subtle, am I?”

“No. Not very.” She began to smile and reached out, clearly offering to shake his hand.

Thad shifted his own grocery bags so he could oblige. He hadn’t anticipated feeling her tremble. It was not that cold for a short walk outside.

Rather than release her immediately, he held on long enough to ask, “What is it? What else is wrong?”

“Nothing, I...”

“Don’t you know it’s a sin to lie to a Sunday school teacher?”

“It’s a sin to lie to anybody,” Lindy said. She seemed to be struggling with a decision for a few moments before she sighed and spoke again. “It’s a long story. My house was burglarized recently. I surprised them in the act so I didn’t think anything was stolen.” Her forehead furrowed. “Now, I’m not sure. I mean, the cards are still in my purse. They can’t have been used.”

So that was the rest of the story he’d partially overheard. “You don’t have to have a card in hand to debit to it, you know. Look at sales on the internet. All you have to do is type in the right numbers and it’s a done deal.”

She paled and swayed slightly. “Oh, dear.”

“What did the police say about your break-in?” Thad asked, knowing what she’d probably say.

“I didn’t call them.”

“You should have.” He scowled, hoping his opinion would make her change her mind. “What stopped you?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Okay. Look, I have a little experience with computers. If you’ll let me, I’d like to help you.”

“What can you possibly do?”

“Start by checking your accounts to see when they were tampered with, file a claim to have the money returned, then tighten up security to make sure nobody can do any more damage.” He paused, smiling at the irrationality of his suggestions and wondering why he’d made them. “Or, you could just swing by the bank on your way home and do all that in person.”

Lindy began to shake her head. “I can’t. My husband insisted we keep our accounts in Atlanta, even after we moved here, and I never got around to changing to a local bank.”

“Then my offer stands. I learned a lot of useful tricks while I was working for Uncle Sam. I’m pretty sure I can help you.”

“I’d heard you were a soldier. I had no idea that job involved computers.”

“We had guns, too,” Thad said, continuing to smile for her benefit. “I was taught to handle both.” He eyed an old blue pickup that was parked several spaces away. “There’s my truck. Since you didn’t buy any perishables you can follow me to my office and we can get started right away.”

“I don’t know, I...”

He held up his free hand as though taking an oath. “I promise you. I am one of the good guys. I even have the medals to prove it. I can dig them out and show you if necessary.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“Good, then hop in your car and let’s go.”

“Why are you doing this?” Lindy asked, still acting hesitant.

“Because you look like somebody who needs help and I’m in a position to offer it, that’s all. No ulterior motives. Scout’s honor.”

It was easy to tell she remained anxious. He assumed that was because of those useless bank cards and the fact that someone had violated her privacy. He could understand feeling that way. He just hoped she would take him up on his offer instead of changing her mind and driving off.

Watching in his rearview mirror, he was relieved to see the silver sedan pull out and fall smoothly into line behind him. She was going to let him help. Good. If he’d ever met someone who needed a friend it was Lindy Southerland.

Why care? he asked himself. That was an excellent question. Perhaps it was because of the woman’s demeanor. Or maybe it was meeting a widow who was raising her child alone that had tapped into his conscience and created such a strong desire to offer assistance.

He’d seen plenty of widows overseas; enough to last him a lifetime. And every time his work had fractured more families, his gut had tied in bigger knots. Knots that still lingered and had resulted in a medical discharge in spite of his continued desire to serve.

The doctors who had judged him no longer fit for duty hadn’t understood. Nobody did. There was no job Thad had ever tackled that he hadn’t approached with complete dedication. That was why he’d assumed personal responsibility for the outcome of every skirmish and why the shrinks who had debriefed him had insisted he be sent back to civilian life.

Well, here he was. And, in retrospect, his presence had been advantageous after Rob and Ellen had died in the fire that Ellen’s sister, Natalie, had caused. But that didn’t make life fair; not for his lost brother, not for Rob’s orphaned kids who had been given to people who were not even kin, not for all the survivors who had to carry on in spite of broken hearts.

That needless sense of loss continued to disturb Thad but not in the same way it had at first. His personal faith had faltered initially, then had deepened in the aftermath of the tragedy, yet he was still searching for a satisfactory explanation for all the pain his family had suffered.

Perhaps he always would.

* * *

Lindy knew she was being foolish to trust a virtual stranger but there had been something about Thad Pearson that had emotionally connected him to her. From the moment he had touched her hand and shown such concern for Danny, she had liked him. She couldn’t help herself.

But do I dare trust him this much? she asked silently. If she’d been the least bit computer savvy or had known someone else who might be willing to go to bat for her, she wouldn’t have turned to Thad. However, since he was not only handy but had dropped into her life at exactly the right time, as if heaven-sent, she felt compelled to let him try to help. Worst case scenario, she’d have to change the passwords on a few accounts. Other than that, she couldn’t see any big risk.

Sensing movement out of the corner of her eye, Lindy glanced into her side mirror. Speaking of risks, what did the driver of that big, white, dual-cab pickup think he was doing? This narrow section of road was no place to try to squeeze by.

Her hands tightened on the wheel. The other truck had pulled even with her and was easing to the right, encroaching on her lane.

She tapped the brakes, slowing to give the larger vehicle room to drop in between her and Thad. Since she knew where they were headed, she didn’t need to stay right on his bumper. Besides, somebody had to do something before that other driver caused a wreck.

Lindy fell back, waiting for the more massive truck to sail on by. It did exactly the opposite, pacing her exactly.

Scowling, she glanced over, trying to see who was driving, but was thwarted because the truck sat so much higher off the ground than her car. Its broad side door and right fender stayed even with her no matter how she varied her speed.

Her heart pounded. Her breathing grew shallow, rapid. Had Thad noticed what was going on? It sure didn’t look like it.

Again, Lindy changed speed, shoving the gas pedal to the floor. Forty became fifty. Then fifty-five.

The rear of Thad’s truck loomed ahead. She thought she saw his head turn, saw him look back.

Suddenly, the white truck swerved.

Slammed into the side of her sedan.

Hit hard enough to shove her onto the narrow shoulder!

Metal crunched and grated. Gravel flew. She almost overcorrected and went into a ditch, then regained the edge of the roadway and came to a stop as the reckless driver accelerated and sped away.

Incredulous, she just sat there, her fingers clamped to the steering wheel, her eyes wide. Staring blankly.

The driver who had forced her off the road passed Thad as if his truck were standing still and disappeared around a curve.

She could barely breathe, barely think straight.

This was turning into the second worst day of her life.

* * *

Thad stopped the moment he realized what had happened. Jumping from his truck he ran back to Lindy. “Are you all right?”

The side window rolled smoothly down. Her breath was condensing into visible clouds and her complexion had lost its rosy glow. “Did you see that? That idiot was trying to wreck me!”

“Sure looked that way.” Thad continued to check the road as he spoke in case the heavy-duty truck came back. “I thought he just wanted to pass us until I saw him deliberately ram you.” He was leaning against her car with both hands capping the edge of the door over the window slot. “Who was he?”

“I don’t have the slightest idea. I didn’t recognize his truck, either.” She peered forward and winced. “How bad is the damage?”

“Looks mostly cosmetic,” Thad said. “Though you should still have a garage check over the car before we go on.”

Lindy let go of the steering wheel and stared at her hands, watching them shake. “I’m not sure I’m ready to drive again, anyway.”

“No problem.” Straightening, Thad slipped his cell phone from the clip on his belt, flipped it open and stepped away from her car to speak. He didn’t ask Lindy’s permission. He simply called the sheriff.

She was tugging at his elbow long before he finished the call but he persisted. “That’s right. Hit-and-run. Highway 9, south of town. Nobody’s injured. A guy in a white truck sideswiped Mrs. Southerland’s car then took off. No. We didn’t get a license number and we didn’t know the driver.”

Lindy yanked on his arm. “Stop!”

He ignored her. “It’s pretty cold for us to wait out here. How about we leave the car as it sits and I take her with me to the warehouse? Is that all right with you?” He recited the license plate number and make of her vehicle. “Okay. If you have any questions for us, you can reach us at this number. It’s my cell. Or at Pearson Products. We’re headed there.” He ended the call with, “Right. Thanks.”

“What did you do that for?”

Lindy was practically screeching at him so he reached to place a calming hand on her shoulder. To his amazement, she ducked as if expecting a blow.

Thad raised both hands and backed away. “Whoa. I’m not going to hurt you. Just calm down. You’ve had quite a shock.”

“I told you I didn’t want the authorities involved in my business. Why did you have to call them?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because somebody almost rolled your car into a ball—with you in it.” He knew he’d spoken gruffly but he didn’t know how else he was going to get through to this stubborn, irrational woman.

Lindy covered her face with her hands.

Thad started to reach for her, then stopped himself. She’d already indicated reluctance to accept physical comforting. He could get himself into deep trouble by trying to give it again.

Instead, he waited patiently until she pulled herself together, then nodded toward his pickup. “My ride’s not fancy, but right now that’s our only transportation. Unless you want to wait out here for the cops and freeze to death, I suggest you come with me the way I told them you would.”

She stood so still for a few moments he wondered if she was going to refuse. Finally, she seemed to regain her composure. “I’ll need my purse. And I suppose I should take the groceries in case they tow my car.”

“I’m assuming they will,” Thad said. It was a relief to see her acting more stable. “They probably won’t need your keys so you’d better pull them. The dispatcher said they were really busy today. Since nobody was hurt here, it may take them a while to respond and we don’t want your car stolen before they arrive.”

Lindy almost laughed. At least Thad thought she did. She’d been so upset before, it was hard to tell how she was feeling until he heard the sarcasm in her tone when she said, “The way my life’s been going lately, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. I’d expect it.”

He stood back while she unlocked the trunk, then carried her purchases to his truck and placed the plastic bags in the cab between the driver and passenger seats. The way he saw it, he was already on thin ice with this woman and having a pile of groceries as a buffer between them was to his advantage.

Did he wish he hadn’t volunteered to help her? Not really. If he hadn’t been there when she’d almost wrecked, she’d have been stranded, particularly because she was so against police involvement.

Thad observed her as he held open the passenger door and she climbed in. She seemed pretty normal in most ways, so why was she so scared of the cops? Could there be a connection between her current problems and her late husband’s criminal activities? Had she been personally involved?

No. No way, his instincts insisted. He’d know if Lindy was a crook at heart. Truth to tell, she seemed so totally innocent it was laughable. He could far more easily imagine her as a helpless lamb being circled by a pack of hungry wolves than the other way around.

That picture of helplessness stuck in his mind as he rounded the truck and slid behind the wheel. If he were to consider the accident he had just witnessed as a deliberate attack, how might that change his tactics going forward?

He cast a sidelong glance at the woman riding beside him. She was obviously still tense. Her hands were clasped around the strap of her purse and she was holding on to it as if she were suspended above a bottomless chasm by that one, thin strip of leather.

Strange notions kept surfacing, insisting to Thad that he had been put there to provide an anchor for Lindy’s lifeline. Was that possible? Sure. Why not? If someone had asked him a few years ago what he’d be doing these days, he would never have guessed he’d be managing a kitchen-gadget business in a little Ozark town. And if they’d suggested he’d be playing bodyguard to a pretty but unstable widow, too, he’d have laughed in their faces.

So, what now? Only one thing was certain. No matter what his original motives had been or how circumstances had conspired to draw him into this woman’s problems, he was committed. He knew Lindy Southerland needed help and it was his duty to provide it. Period.

THREE

Pearson Products was located next to the single-runway Serenity airport outside town. Lindy had passed the site often but other than the one time she had tried to apply for a job there, she’d never had reason to stop.

As Thad drove around to the rear of the largest metal building, she was struck by how isolated the manufacturing and shipping complex seemed. The hardwood trees on the surrounding hills were bare but would soon begin to bud, and by summer the open area would feel like a tiny island amid a sea of green leaves.

If there had not been other cars parked there, she might have been more uneasy. “I never realized how far out of town this place is. It’s really secluded.”

“It wasn’t always.” Thad pointed. “Rob and Ellen used to have a house attached to their office on the far end of this long building. You can still see the foundation. I made my office in the warehouse instead of rebuilding after the fire.”

“So, you don’t live out here like they did?”

“No. I have a little place off Old Sturkie Road. It isn’t fancy. I don’t spend a lot of time there.”

She chose to open her own door rather than wait for Thad to do it. Ben had always made a big deal of holding doors for her and otherwise treating her gallantly in public, though he’d abused her in private, so Lindy now insisted on fending for herself. It wasn’t that she objected to a man showing good manners, it simply seemed intrinsically necessary for her to demonstrate self-reliance as often as possible.

If Thad minded her behaving so independently he didn’t give any sign of it. Smiling, he directed her to the rear entrance to the warehouse and caught the heavyweight metal door behind her as she passed through. The area was open and airy like a barn, yet bore the chemical odor of new plastic. It wasn’t an unpleasant smell but it was a noticeable change from the crispness of the February air outdoors.

“This is our shipping department,” Thad said, pointing to rows of bins and shelves filled with brightly colored kitchen tools and several long tables. “You probably know most of these folks better than I do. That’s Margaret over there in the brown sweater doing the packing and Louise Williams pulling orders. Vernon Betts looks after the factory and Angela runs the mail room.”

Lindy raised a hand to wave when Louise looked up and smiled. “I do recognize a few faces. We moved to Serenity a couple years ago but I really haven’t gotten out much.”

“I know what you mean. I’ve been so tied up in trying to salvage this business I don’t have time to socialize, either. If it wasn’t for church, I’d probably be a hermit.”

She followed Thad as he led the way to a rudimentary office located at one end of the cavernous, rectangular building. That area was anything but posh. The floor was concrete, the walls unpainted plasterboard. There were bundles of assorted cardboard boxes stacked in one corner. The massive, oak desk was so messy it looked as if someone had upended a carton of trash in the middle of it, then stirred the pile of paper with the blade of a shovel.

Lindy had to smile. “I love your filing system. How’s that working out for you?”

“Poorly.” One corner of his mouth quirked and his dark eyes sparkled. “I know I need help. I just don’t want to hire and then have to lay off somebody. Orders are sporadic since Rob died and I can never be sure how the cash flow will hold up. Ellen used to process orders while her sister, Natalie, kept the books.” He grimaced. “You probably heard how that turned out.”

“The embezzlement? Yes. I’m sorry.” Lindy’s fingers itched to get a chance to sort through the messy piles of paperwork.

“Tell you what,” she said, eyeing his desktop. “While you try to figure out what happened to my credit, why don’t I start sorting this stuff into some semblance of order?”

“I don’t know...”

“Well, I do,” she said flatly. “You’re helping me and I’m going to return the favor.” She pushed up the left sleeve of her jacket to check her watch. “I can stay until just before three when I have to pick up Danny at school.”

Thad nodded. “It’s a deal. Let me know when it’s time and I’ll run you back into town.”

“If you do that, I’ll owe you even more hours of work here,” Lindy said.

She was delighted to see him grin and hear him say, “Uh-huh. That’s kind of what I’d figured.”

* * *

Thad was so engrossed in his computer search he let Lindy answer the business phone. He had to smile at how professional her “Pearson Products. How may I help you?” sounded. It was good to have an accomplished executive assistant, if only for one afternoon.