Chapter Seventeen

The next day, Tammy and Vince headed to the town park together. “How are you feeling?” he asked when they met, He studied her face. “The swelling is almost all gone and the bruises aren’t as noticeable.”

She resisted the urge to touch the worst of the bruises, which she had attempted to cover with makeup. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Glad to hear it.” He kept his arm around her on the walk to the park, but once there, they parted ways. Tammy was taking photographs of the parade while Vince helped set up the search and rescue booth. Later, she would take pictures of the Fun Fair while he fulfilled his duties at the SAR booth and the first responders’ part in the festivities. He was also meeting his parents to spend time with them. The plan was for her to join them as soon as she was free. Later that evening, they would enjoy the fireworks.

The Eagle Mountain Fourth of July Parade was everything a small-town parade should be, from the high school marching band to dignitaries waving from fire trucks to clusters of kids pedaling red, white and blue-bedecked bicycles. Members of the historical society, dressed in turn-of-the-last-century garb, threw candy from a float decorated with papier-maché rocks and old mining implements, while a trio of miniature horses and one full-size camel from a local hobby ranch enchanted onlookers.

The mayor’s six-year-old son brought up the rear of the parade, riding a donkey with a placard attached to its backside that read Follow My Ass to the First Responders Fun Fair .

After a detour to photograph the historical society members handing out lemonade and brownies in front of the town museum, Tammy headed for the park, where the Fun Fair was in full swing. At the search and rescue booth, which was festooned with colorful T-shirts for sale and photographs from past rescues, she learned that Vince had just completed his shift. She took a photo to possibly run with her article, then hurried across the park, where she found Gage Walker supervising a pillow fight between two boys who straddled a sawhorse and flailed at each other until one slid to the sawdust below.

“Have you seen Vince?” she asked Gage after he had helped the children to their feet and sent them on their way.

“I think he’s over at the dunking booth.” Gage grinned. “He’s probably pretty wet by now.”

She had to stop and ask two people for directions to the dunking booth, but she arrived in time to see Vince, in swim trunks and nothing else, climb onto the narrow perch over a tank of water. “Just remember, that water’s really cold,” Deputy Shane Ellis teased Vince, egging on the crowd. “Five dollars for three throws,” he said, holding up a baseball. “All the money goes to local first responders. Who wants to throw out the first pitch?”

“Why don’t you show us how it’s done, Shane?” someone called from the crowd.

“That wouldn’t be fair, would it?” Shane demurred. He was a former big-league pitcher. Though an injury had ended his career, he was still feared on the local softball field.

“I’ll go first.” Ryan Welch stepped forward and handed over a five-dollar bill. His first pitch went wild, banging hard against the wood to the left of the target.

“A little more finesse there,” Shane advised.

The second throw came closer but still failed to hit the bull’s-eye.

“Come on,” Vince taunted. “I’m getting hot up here.”

Ryan clenched his jaw and palmed the ball, then hurled it, striking the bull’s-eye dead center and sending Vince plunging into the tank.

He came up sputtering and laughing as the crowd cheered. Tammy snapped a series of photos; then he returned to his perch and Shane called for someone else to take a turn.

“Hey, Tammy.”

She turned to see Mitch and Elisabeth working their way to her through the crowd. “So, that’s Vince!” Elisabeth waggled her eyebrows at Tammy.

Mitch looked toward the dunk tank. “Looks like he’s all wet,” he said.

“Even better, huh?” She nudged Tammy.

“Anyone else want to take a try?” Shane called.

“I’ll do it.” Mitch raised his hand and pushed forward.

Elisabeth moved in closer to Tammy. “I didn’t know Mitch was an athlete,” she said.

“He’s not.” Tammy winced as her brother’s first ball sailed past the dunk tank altogether. A trio of children chased after it.

“Steady there, Rocket,” Shane said, and handed him another ball. “Go a little easier.”

Mitch nodded and launched the second ball, which bounced harmlessly off the side of the tank.

Elisabeth cupped her hands around her mouth. “Go, Mitch!” she shouted.

Mitch waved back at her, then turned and fired the third ball toward the target. It glanced off the edge, but without enough force to trip the trigger. The crowd groaned.

“Let me have a try!” Elisabeth called, and waved her hand.

Applause greeted her arrival. To the delight of the crowd, she dusted off the ball with her shirt, then leaned forward like a pitcher waiting for a sign. Then she straightened and let the ball fly. It landed harmlessly in the grass, just shy of the target.

“Put a little more behind it this time,” Shane advised, and handed her a second ball.

This one struck to the left of the target. Vince clapped his hands together. “You can do better than that!” he shouted.

Elisabeth glared at him and accepted the third ball. This time she stared not at the target, but at Vince, until he looked away. She wound up, then let the ball fly. It hit the center of the target, and Vince went down with a shout. The crowd roared its approval.

“Way to go, babe,” Mitch said as Elisabeth rejoined him. He hugged her close. She accepted congratulations from those around her.

“That was fun,” she said. “What should we do now?”

“I don’t know,” Mitch said. “Do you want—”

But before he could finish the sentence, Elisabeth was moving away. “I just saw someone I need to talk to,” she called over her shoulder, and was gone.

“What was that about?” Tammy asked.

“I don’t know.” Mitch stared after her. She was weaving through the crowd, already a quarter of the way across the park. “I’d better go after her,” he said, and left.

“It’s Tammy, isn’t it?” An older couple squeezed in beside her. The woman smiled. “I’m Vince’s mom. I thought I recognized you from your picture in the paper.”

“It’s good to meet you.” She nodded to Mr. Shepherd.

“Have you been here long?” Mrs. Shepherd asked.

“Long enough to see Vince get dunked twice,” Tammy said.

“Us too.” Mr. Shepherd smiled, fine lines deepening at the corners of his eyes. “He looks like he’s having fun up there.”

A loud creak and a cheer from the crowd signaled that Vince had once again been dunked. “Three strikes and you’re out,” Shane announced. “Give us a few minutes, folks, and we’ll have your next victim—I mean, volunteer—up.”

He handed Vince a towel as he emerged from the tank. “Let’s go see if he’s ready for lunch,” Mrs. Shepherd said.

The three of them met Vince as he was pulling on a T-shirt. “Give me a second to change into dry pants, and we’ll get some food,” he said.

“It’s good to see you,” Mrs. Shepherd said to Tammy. “Are you working on anything interesting right now?”

“I’m doing another piece about the search and rescue team,” she said.

“Vince has told us about some of the rescues he’s been on,” Mrs. Shepherd said. “We’re so proud of him for volunteering, though I worry about the dangerous situations he gets into.”

“One thing I’ve learned in researching my articles is that the search and rescue team trains a lot, and they always put safety first. They’ve never lost a rescuer.”

“That’s reassuring.”

Vince joined them. He put one arm around Tammy. “Can you join us for lunch?” he asked. “Or do you have to work?”

“I might try to get a few shots of the fireworks tonight, but I’m free for the rest of the afternoon.”

“Great. Let’s hit the food booths. I’m starved.”

They followed the scent of barbecue ribs and roasted corn to a parking lot filled with food trucks and refreshment booths. Tammy ordered shrimp tempura from one truck, while Vince and his dad opted for the ribs, and Mrs. Shepherd chose a hot dog. “That looks delicious,” she said, nodding to Tammy’s tempura. “But I guess I’m a traditionalist.”

“We always grilled hot dogs and brats on the Fourth when the kids were little,” Mr. Shepherd said.

Someone who wasn’t watching closely would have missed the sadness that fleetingly shadowed Vince’s mother’s face. Though she had acted cheerful all morning, now that she was closer, Tammy could read the strain in the dark circles beneath her eyes and the slight tremor in her hand as she poked a straw into her drink. When she noticed Tammy watching her, she leaned closer. “You haven’t heard anything more from V, have you?” she asked softly.

“No.” Vince had told her he had decided not to tell his parents about the attack on her, the message on her car or the late-night phone call. “Hearing all that would just upset and worry them,” he had said. She had agreed. As much as she hated the harassment V had aimed at her and Vince, at least she hadn’t targeted these two older people, who had suffered so much.

They finished lunch and spent another hour walking around the park, visiting the various vendors and stopping to listen to a woman who played “America the Beautiful” on a hammered dulcimer.

“I’m walked out,” Mrs. Shepherd said as they approached the food court again.

“Time for us to head home,” Mr. Shepherd said.

“You’re not staying for the fireworks?” Tammy asked.

“We can see great fireworks from our backyard in Junction,” Mrs. Shepherd said. “Maybe not as spectacular as here in the mountains, but when they’re done, we can go right to bed.” She laughed. “I can see the idea is appalling to you, but when you get to be our age, it’s a plus.”

They each hugged Vince goodbye, then surprised Tammy by embracing her too. “Your parents are such nice people,” Tammy said when they were gone.

“They are.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders. “But it’s good to be alone with you too.”

“Was the water in the dunk tank cold?” she asked.

“Icy.” He grimaced.

“It was for a good cause.” She patted his chest. “And you looked good up there.”

“That was your brother who tried to take me down toward the end, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, that was Mitch. And the woman who got you afterwards is his girlfriend, Elisabeth.”

“Elisabeth who?”

She frowned. “I don’t remember.” She or Mitch must have said, but the name escaped her. “She’s from Nebraska, I think. Though I guess she’s decided to stay here.”

“Where in Nebraska?”

“I don’t remember. Why?”

“She looked familiar.”

“You’ve probably seen her around town. She’s the kind of woman men notice.”

“Nah. Not my type.” He grinned. “I prefer curly-haired blondes.”

They spotted Gage and Travis Walker, and Vince waved. The two law enforcement officers joined them. “I saw you at the dunking booth,” Gage said. “You got soaked.”

“Next year, I’m going to lobby for them to fill the tank with warm water,” Vince said.

“It wouldn’t be nearly as fun then.”

“You can both pick your vehicles up from our impound lot tomorrow,” Travis said. “We weren’t able to get a great deal of information off of them, unfortunately.”

“I’ll have to call a wrecker to haul mine away,” Vince said. “I wish you could find who did that and make them pay for the repairs.”

“No more love letters from V?” Gage asked.

“None,” Vince said. Which wasn’t a lie, Tammy reminded herself. Gage hadn’t asked about phone calls.

She waited until the lawmen were some distance away before she asked, “Have you had any more phone calls?”

“No. I’m hoping we’re done with all that. Whoever it was has moved on to bothering someone else.”

She slipped her hand in his and they walked on, their lighter mood from earlier subdued. But they had a whole afternoon to regain that lighter feeling. And fireworks tonight, which never failed to lift her spirits.

“I need to stop here for a minute,” she said when she spotted the restrooms. She slipped away to the ladies’ room, leaving him waiting outside. When she emerged a few minutes later, Vince was talking to a dark-haired woman—one of the other search and rescue volunteers, Tammy remembered.

At Tammy’s approach, the woman looked up, then hurried away. Tammy stared after her. “Who was that?” she asked.

“Bethany Ames. She’s with search and rescue.”

“Why did she run away when she saw me?”

Vince made a face. “I think she was embarrassed. She asked if I wanted to watch the fireworks with her tonight. I told her I was going with you. She stammered an apology and left.”

Amused, she slipped her hand in his. “I didn’t realize I had competition.”

“No competition. Bethany isn’t my type.”

“She’s cute.”

“Yeah, but...she’s a little too intense, you know? Something about her puts me off.”

“How long have you known her?” Tammy asked.

“Not long. She just moved to town and joined the group.”

Was it a coincidence that this woman had moved to town and taken an interest in Vince at the same time someone had started harassing him?

“What is it?” Vince asked.

“Nothing?”

“Are you sure? You look worried.”

“It’s nothing.” No sense worrying Vince. She would do a little digging on her own to see what she could find out about Bethany Ames before she said anything. “Let’s go back to the music stage,” she urged. “There’s supposed to be a bluegrass band there at four. I’ve heard good things about them.”

The band deserved the praise she had heard, and she and Vince were soon tapping their toes and nodding their heads in time to the lively music. She was so engrossed that she didn’t realize Vince had received a phone call until he moved away. One look at his expression set her heart racing, and she hurried to his side.

His eyes met hers, stricken. “It’s my dad,” he told her, then spoke into the phone again. “Are you and Mom okay? All right. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

He ended the call, then pulled Tammy away from the crowd that had gathered to listen to the music. “My parents got home, and there were fire trucks lining their street. The fire was at their house.”