Chapter Fifteen

For a moment Tammy couldn’t fight back or even breathe. She forced her eyes open, trying to see who was hitting her, but could make out only the shadowy outline of a figure dressed in dark clothing. Her attacker grabbed her hair and forced her head back, then rammed it into the dirt.

Pain rocketed through her and freed her from her momentary paralysis. She shoved against her assailant, then brought her knee up, hard, between the other person’s legs. The reaction wasn’t the one she had expected. Her attacker grunted, then laughed.

Whoever this was, Tammy realized they weren’t much bigger than her. Another shove pushed them off her. She kicked out again, this time connecting with the other person’s shin. She grabbed for any hold she could find and wrapped her hand around an ear and pulled hard.

This time her attacker screamed—a high-pitched wail of rage. They staggered up and began kicking at Tammy, who rolled away, then shoved to her knees.

By the time she got to her feet, whoever had assaulted her was running away, feet pounding hard on the pavement. Tammy stood, staggering a little as a wave of dizziness rocked her. The front door creaked open. “Tammy? Is that you?” her mother’s voice asked.

The words forced her into action. She hurried to the door and gently urged her mother back inside. “Let’s go in, Mom.” She followed her mom into the front hall and locked the door behind them.

Mrs. Patterson stared at her daughter. “You’re bleeding!” she said. “What happened?”

Tammy turned to the mirror by the door. Blood trickled from her swollen lip, and her hair was sticky with clotting blood. One eye was starting to swell, and her shirt was torn. “Someone attacked me right in our driveway,” she said.

“We need to call the sheriff.” Her mother looked around, as if searching for a phone.

“Yes. You’d better do that.”

While her mother dialed 911 and talked to the operator, Tammy went to one of the front windows and peered out. Hers was the only vehicle visible near the house, and she could see no sign of her attacker, though the darkness past the circle of light from the porch was so intense she could scarcely make out anything.

“They’re sending a deputy right away.” Her mother came to stand beside her. “Let me clean up that cut,” she said.

“No, thanks. I’ll be okay until after the deputy gets here. They may want to take pictures or something.” Was that only in cases of rape? Had that been the attacker’s intent? This felt like violence for the sake of violence. Someone wanted to hurt her.

Deputy Declan Owen knocked on the door approximately ten minutes later. The handsome dark-haired deputy was relatively new to the Rayford County Sheriff’s Department, but he had impressed Tammy as smart and professional. He studied her battered face for a moment when she opened the door, then said, “Why don’t we sit down somewhere, and you can tell me what happened.”

She led him to the living room, where they sat on either end of the sofa. Her mother took the armchair nearest Tammy and perched on the edge of the seat, hands knotted together. “I drove home from the planning-commission meeting, parked my car and started up the walkway,” Tammy said. “Then someone attacked me. I hit the ground hard, my attacker on top of me, pummeling me. We wrestled for a few minutes, then I managed to fight them off and they ran away.”

“Did you see your attacker?” Declan asked. “Can you describe them?”

She shook her head. “It was dark, and I think they were wearing dark clothing. I think they even had something covering their face, like a balaclava.”

“How big a person? Did they say anything? Could you tell if it was a man or a woman?”

“Not much bigger than me,” she said. “I think that’s why I was able to shove them off. And I think... I don’t think it was a man. They felt—softer. Like a woman. And...and I kicked them hard between the legs, and while they didn’t like it, it didn’t exactly disable them.”

Declan made more notes on the pad in his hand. “Did they say anything?”

“Not a word.”

“Do you have any idea who this was?”

“No. I don’t know why anyone would attack me. Especially another woman.”

“Anyone who might be upset by an article you’ve written lately?”

“No. I haven’t written anything controversial lately. And when people get upset by an article, they write angry letters to the editor. Or they tell me to my face what I did wrong. This person just started hitting me without saying anything.”

“Could it be a jealous girlfriend or wife who thinks you’re involved with their husband or boyfriend?”

“No. I haven’t been dating anyone.” She blushed. “Well, I’m sort of seeing Vince Shepherd. But he doesn’t have a girlfriend, or a wife.” Not that she knew of, anyway.

Declan turned to Tammy’s mom. “Did you see anything unusual this evening before Tammy came home?” he asked. “A strange car in the neighborhood, maybe someone who stopped by the house, looking for her?”

“No. I didn’t know anything was going on until I heard a scream. I went to the door to see if Tammy had fallen in the dark or something.”

“Did you get a glimpse of her attacker?” Declan asked.

“I’m sorry, no.” Her mother frowned at Tammy. “I didn’t know you were dating anyone.”

“Vince and I are taking things slow,” she said. She turned to Declan. “Have there been any other attacks like this?”

“No,” Declan said. “Is there anything else you can tell us about the person who attacked you? Did they have long or short hair, or anything that stood out to you?”

“I think they had their hair covered, perhaps by the balaclava. I didn’t feel any hair. Whoever it was, they were strong—and angry.” She touched her swollen lip. “I need to clean up and get some ice on my face.”

Declan stood. “I’ll talk to your neighbors and see if any of them noticed anyone hanging around who shouldn’t be in the area. Let us know if you think of anything else.”

Tammy walked with him to the door. As soon as he was gone, her mother started fussing. “We should go to the hospital,” she said. “You might need stitches.”

“I’ll be okay, Mom. I’m going to take a shower, then go to bed.” The fight had left her exhausted, and in no mood to talk to anyone. Not even Vince.

“I’m going to call Mitch and ask him to come over.”

“Mom, no. He’s probably with Elisabeth.”

“I don’t care. I’ll feel a lot safer with him here. She can come with him, if she likes.”

Tammy studied her mother’s placid expression. “You like her, don’t you?”

“I like that she makes your brother happy. That’s what I want most for both of you children.”

“Do you worry that she’s not right for him?”

“The most unlikely couples can make a good match,” her mother said. “As long as each partner has an equal stake in making things work. Otherwise, there’s going to be trouble ahead.”

Tammy retreated to her bathroom. If she let herself, those terrifying moments on the ground with her assailant would replay themselves over and over and in her mind. Instead, she thought about Vince. The two of them seemed equally matched. And they were both equally hesitant to be hurt. Did that bode well for their future or mean they were condemned to never get close enough to last?

T HE SEARCH AND rescue training Tuesday evening was mandatory for rookies like Vince, who were preparing for their SARTech II certification test. He took a seat at the end of a table, next to Grace Wilcox. Bethany turned to smile at him. “Hi, Vince,” she said.

“Hey.” The intensity with which she studied him unnerved him. He didn’t want to be unfriendly, but he didn’t want to encourage her attention either.

“Don’t you have anything better to do on a Tuesday night?” Grace Wilcox asked as Eldon slipped past them to settle on her other side.

“It never hurts to refresh my memory,” Eldon said. He picked up a pencil and slotted it behind one ear. “Plus, May is out of town at an art show, and there’s nothing good on TV. I might as well be here.”

Danny moved to the front of the room. “Let’s get started, everyone. Somebody dim the lights.” He hit the button for the first slide. “We’re going to start with some definitions.”

A loud creak from the door interrupted him. Everyone in the room turned to see Tammy slip inside. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, and took a seat at the back of the room. She had her head down, hair falling over one eye. Vince sat up straighter and tried to get a better look. Normally, he expected her to smile and maybe search the room for him, but she wasn’t doing that. Was something wrong?

“It’s okay,” Danny said. “Let’s get started with the first section.”

They took a break after the first hour, and Vince made his way toward Tammy. He stopped short when she turned to look at him. One eye was swollen shut, and her lips were puffy. “What happened to you?” he asked. At the sound of his voice, everyone who hadn’t already been looking their way turned toward them.

Tammy’s face reddened. “Somebody jumped me outside my house last night when I got home from the meeting,” she said. She put a hand on his arm. “I’m okay. Really.”

“Who was it?” Eldon asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “It was dark and I didn’t see a lot, and they never said anything. I fought them off, and they ran away. Apparently, none of the neighbors saw anyone suspicious in the area.” She put a hand to her face. “I know I look terrible.”

“You look fine.” Vince hesitated, then put an arm around her. “But I hate that you were hurt.” He leaned closer and spoke more softly into her ear. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to upset you,” she said. “You’ve got enough on your mind right now.”

“Not too much to care about what happens to you,” he said.

This made her smile, though she immediately winced, probably because her lip hurt.

“Are you thinking of joining search and rescue?” Bethany asked. She had moved up on Vince’s other side and was studying Tammy with that piercing way of hers.

Tammy looked grateful for the change of subject. “No. I told Danny I wanted to write more about the training you guys undergo, and he suggested I attend the class tonight.”

“It’s an overview of the general knowledge we need to have,” Danny said. “Though there’s a lot more that goes into wilderness rescues.”

“So I’m learning,” she said.

“Is that your next article, about training?” Caleb asked.

“No. I’m going to write about the Denise Darling case.”

A buzz arose as several people asked about Denise Darling, and others rushed to explain. Danny, being the most senior volunteer present, gained the floor. “She was a thirteen-year-old girl who disappeared during a youth hiking trip seven years ago,” he said. “She became separated from her group and got lost. She was found eight days later, almost ten miles from the place she had last been seen.”

“Was she alive?” Bethany asked.

“She was alive.” Vince hadn’t realized he had spoken loudly enough to be heard until everyone turned to him. “I remember the story,” he added. “It was all anyone talked about for a while.” And he remembered it because of Valerie. When Denise Darling had been found, his mother had burst into sobs. Not because she wasn’t glad that a girl had been restored to her family, but because the same thing had never happened to them. Why wasn’t Valerie ever found?

“I wonder what became of her,” Danny said. “She did an amazing job of taking care of herself—better than most adults under similar circumstances.”

“I’m still trying to locate her for an interview,” Tammy said. “If I do, I’ll let you know.”

Danny checked his watch. “We’d better get back to work, or we’ll be here all night.”

Vince tried to focus on the material, but he kept looking back at Tammy’s battered face. Who would hurt her that way?

He hoped the notes he was taking would help him cram for the SARTech test, because he had been too distracted to absorb much information tonight. As soon as Danny turned the lights up, he was out of his chair and headed for Tammy. She smiled at his approach. “Don’t look so worried,” she said. “I really am all right.”

“Where did this happen?” he asked.

“Right in front of my house. I think the person might have been waiting for me. Either that or they followed me home from the planning-commission meeting.”

“You’re not making me less worried,” he said.

She took both his hands in hers and squeezed. “Mitch is staying at the house for a while,” she said. “I guess it does feel safer having him there.”

“You’re welcome to stay with me whenever you like.”

“I like that idea.” She rose on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his. He wrapped his arms around her and turned it into a proper kiss.

A shrill whistle sounded. “Hey, get a room!” someone shouted, followed by raucous laughter.

They pulled apart. “Why don’t I follow you home?” she said, and reached for her car door. She immediately recoiled, and let out a moan.

“What is it?” Vince took her arm. “What’s wrong?”

She pointed, and now he saw that something red was smeared across the car door and windshield. He leaned around to examine the windshield and went cold all over when he read the message scrawled in the same red across the glass: Next time you won’t be so lucky. V.