Not My Solution Read online

  “You know, almost the whole family is going to our church now. You’re about the only one that isn’t. Why not? Why don’t you come? I’m sure you’ll like it once you try it.”

  Roger apparently didn’t answer her quick enough since he was trying to think of a way to say no without hurting his little cousin’s feelings. But she wasn’t finished with him yet.

  “I know your mom wanted to take you and the others to church when you were little, but Uncle Harold wouldn’t let her.”

  He smiled down at her, hoping that would take the sting out of what he had to say.

  “That was all Mom. None of us kids wanted to go, so we were happy when Dad wouldn’t let her drag us off to church.”

  He should have known that wouldn’t stop Jo when she got going.

  “That’s no excuse and you know it Roger. Why don’t you go ahead and admit that you’re just too lazy to get up on a Sunday morning and go to church with us?”

  “That’s not the reason. I get up plenty early enough.”

  He realized his mistake immediately. She jumped on that before he could continue. “Then it’s all settled. If you don’t mind getting up on Sunday morning, then how could you mind coming to church with us when it would make both of your parents happy if you did it.”

  Now she had him. Yes, his dad sure had changed, and he probably would be happy to see the last of his family finally in church with the rest.

  But he couldn’t let Jo win that easily or quickly.

  “Aw Jo. I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

  She laughed a harsh sounding laugh he couldn’t believe came from his little cousin. “That’s just a way of avoiding me and you know it Roger. Make up your mind right now.”

  She was leaning across the counter almost in his face by the time she finished.

  Wow! He sure hadn’t expected that from Jo. His dad wasn’t the only person who had done some changing recently.

  He held up both hands, and she grabbed them with both of hers.

  “Okay. I’ll go. What time is it?”

  Jo relaxed back into her seat. “Eleven o’clock and don’t be late, you hear?”

  * * *

  Finally, the school day was over, and Nicole was getting into her van to go home. Once inside and locked down, she laid her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. Tears formed in her eyes and streaked down her cheeks and she couldn’t understand why.

  What was going on with her? She’d been way too emotional lately. She knew it had all started when Darla had accused her of stealing the Student Council money.

  Being frustrated over that and knowing there was very little she could do to make the accusations go away had been too much like her physical predicament. There wasn’t a single thing she could do to change that either.

  She drove home in a daze and did not understand why. It was like that day back in Afghanistan six years ago. She’d had a premonition that day too. She’d felt that something bad was about to happen and that’s exactly how she felt now.

  When she pulled into her driveway and was driving into her garage, she could see something white on her front door. It looked like a piece of paper. She’d have to go check it out when she got inside the house.

  Once inside, she dropped her bag on the kitchen table and wheeled toward the living room and on to the front door.

  When she opened the door, she could see it was indeed a piece of paper taped to the security door glass in such a way that she could see the writing which faced her.

  “You have not paid enough for what you did. But you’ll get yours soon.”

  Nicole, having been in the Military Police in the Army, knew not to touch the note or even the security door. So, she immediately slammed the door and headed for the table next to her recliner where a Captioned Phone sat. She quickly dialed 911 and told the operator what she had.

  Once she hung up, she sat in her wheelchair at the large window to await the deputy that the operator said would be there shortly. It didn’t take long. Within five minutes, a county SUV pulled into her driveway.

  She was surprised to see who stepped out of the vehicle though. It was Sheriff McCracken. How did that happen? She doubted the sheriff took this kind of call regularly. Well, he answered her question as soon as she opened the door.

  “Good afternoon ma’am. There’ll be a deputy along in a few minutes to take your statement, but I was just a few blocks away headed home when the call came out.”

  He pointed at the paper still taped to the door. “This the note?”

  “Yes, it is. If you’ll step inside, you’ll be able to read it.”

  She rolled her chair back to allow the big sheriff to enter. He had to kneel since the note had been taped at her eye level. She hadn’t even realized that before. That was interesting. Whoever did this knew she was in a wheelchair.

  She was about to tell the sheriff that when he turned toward her. “Looks like whoever did this knows you’re in a wheelchair ma’am. Do you have any idea who might have left it here?”

  She shook her head. “No, at least not right away.”

  “How about that other teacher who tried to frame you last week?”

  That surprised her. He knew who she was, and he also knew about what Darla had tried to do to her. Then she remembered that the lawyer had said he would talk to his brother, the sheriff, about it.

  “I don’t know. I know she doesn’t like me, but she’s never threatened me before.”

  “How about from when you were in the Army. You were in the MPs, weren’t you?”

  That shocked her. “Yes, I was. But how …”

  He snorted. “The school requires background checks on all their new teachers, and I did yours.”

  “Why?”

  He laughed a booming laugh. “Not because of anything you did or didn’t do. I do as many of them as I can. I like to know the secrets of all the people in my county.”

  He looked away then back at her. “I got to say your background check was one of the most interesting ones I’ve ever done.”

  She was getting angry now. But he held up both hands.

  “Now, don’t take that wrong. I truly admire you for all the things you’ve accomplished both before and after you were wounded in Afghanistan. You are one very strong lady in more ways than one.”

  She couldn’t believe it, but she was blushing, and he noticed it too. She realized there was a whole lot more to Sheriff Floyd McCracken than she’d previously thought. In fact, she’d thought he was another one of those country bumpkin sheriffs she’d read about and seen on TV.

  They were interrupted by a knock on the door and the sheriff turned around and opened the door for two men. One was a deputy, and she was surprised to see the lawyer was with him. Why?

  Before she could ask, the sheriff turned to the deputy and told him he could go back on patrol that he would take it from here. But he didn’t tell his brother to leave.

  The sheriff turned back to Nicole. “Roger here was in Afghanistan too and it was about the same time you were Captain Fuller.”

  She shook her head at that. “No longer, Sheriff. In fact, I’d only made captain a couple of weeks before we were hit.”

  Well, if no one would tell her, she was going to ask. “Why are you here Mr. McCracken?”

  The sheriff answered for him. “I called him and asked him to stop by. You see, he was a criminal attorney up in KC before he came down here and he handled a case similar to this one. And it turned out that the stalker or potential murderer was someone from the guy’s time in the Army.”

  The lawyer stepped up beside his brother then. “Miss Fuller. Have you ever had any contact with the families of the two men who were killed when you were hit?”

  Well, after everything else, she wasn’t surprised that he knew all that. She shook her head.

  “No, wait. I did write letters to their families trying to tell them as much as I was allowed to tell them about the incident when their loved ones w
ere killed. Any good CO would have done the same.”

  The two men looked at each other and a knowing look came over both their faces.

  * * *

  Roger was sure now that someone from one of those families had looked Nicole up and was coming after her. She was talking, so he turned to listen to her.

  “But that was six years ago. Why would they wait until now?”

  Floyd snorted again. “Ma’am, there’s no way of telling what the criminal mind will do. I’ve seen people stew on something like this for as much as ten to twenty years before they do something drastic.”

  No one said anything for a long moment then they were interrupted by a man in a white coat coming to the door. The sheriff pointed at the note on the outside of the door and he went to work on the note, dusting it for fingerprints then carefully taking it down and slipping it into a plastic bag. Finally, he dusted the whole outside of the door and left.

  They had all been watching the tech and the two men turned back to her when he left.

  “Ma’am, being as you were an MP, I assume you have a weapon around here somewhere to protect yourself.”

  She smiled and pointed at the bag on the right side of her wheelchair. He reached in and pulled her handgun from the holster mounted on the side.

  He whistled. “Beretta M9. Nice weapon. Looks just like the one I carried in the Army. Military issue?”

  She nodded. “Yes. My Battalion Commander gave it to me in the hospital.”

  She smiled with what Roger would call a little snarl. “And I have a Conceal Carry permit for it in this state.”

  “Didn’t doubt that for a second.”

  Floyd handed the weapon back to her, and she replaced it in its holster.

  Roger could tell Floyd was about to say something else when his cell phone rang. He turned away to answer it.

  When he turned back to them, he had a frown on his face. “I’ve got to go.”

  He looked at Roger. “Can you finish up here, I’ve already got enough for my report but if you come up with anything else, just let me know. Okay?”

  “Sure. I’ll only be a minute.” Roger looked at Miss Fuller. “That is if you’ll allow me to stay a little longer. There are some things I can tell you about how to handle a situation like this.”

  Floyd laughed as he went out the door. “That’s why I called you little brother.”

  Roger was surprised when Miss Fuller pointed at the door. “You might as well close it. It’s cold out there.”

  She surprised him again when without a word, she pointed at a stuffed chair then wheeled her chair into the kitchen which was partly visible from the living room. He watched as she took a pitcher out of the refrigerator and poured two glasses of what looked like tea.

  When she came back into the living room, she had a tray across her wheelchair that looked like it snapped into position on the two metal bars. There was a spoon and some sugar packets on it too.

  She handed him a glass. “One thing I’ll never get used to down here is drinking what they call sweet tea which is half sugar. If you like it sweet there’s some sugar.”

  He laughed at the stern sound to her voice when she said all that. In fact, except when she’d been telling her story in his office, this was the most she’d ever said to him in one spurt.

  She crossed her arms and glared at him. “So, Mr. McCracken. What was so important that you felt a need to disturb my Friday afternoon relaxation time?”

  He almost laughed but caught himself just in time when he realized she was serious.

  “Well, the first thing is I would suggest you get an alarm system installed.”

  She smiled, at least he thought it was a smile. It was more like how a cat smiles when he has a mouse caught in his claws.

  She pointed at the drapes to the large window which were pulled. “The control panel is behind that drape. Any other suggestions.”

  He laughed. “I’m sorry. I forgot about your MP background there for a minute. It won’t happen again.”

  When she remained silent, he went on. “Don’t open any mail that isn’t totally flat. Just set it aside and call Floyd.”

  Her expression didn’t change, and he knew he’d told her something else she already knew, again.

  “I assume you carry your Beretta with you everywhere except at school.”

  She nodded but still no change in her fierce expression. He had the idle thought that she must have been one tough MP.

  “It stays right here in this bag except it goes in my glove compartment at school and on my bedside table at night.”

  “Good.”

  He was running out of suggestions. He’d better come up with something worthwhile before she threw him out. And right now, he wanted to stay more than anything and he couldn’t figure out why.

  Then he looked into those bright blue eyes which had suddenly softened, and he knew why.

  “Well, it looks like Floyd was wrong when he said I could give you some suggestions about what to do next.”

  She still said nothing, so he stood. “I guess I’ll be going then. Sorry to have disturbed your relaxation time.”

  She wheeled her chair closer to the door when he headed that way.

  “If you think of anything else or anyone you might think would want to do this to you, don’t hesitate to call Floyd.” He paused for a moment. “Or me.”

  He turned slightly and lifted his shirt enough for her to see the holster at his back. “The Army does certain things to all of us. You don’t have to have been an MP to know the value of being armed and prepared for anything.”

  He could see he’d scored a few points with that comment but knew better than to say any more or stay any longer.

  As soon as Roger was back in his car, he was about to sit there for a moment to think but realized she could see him through her big window. So, he backed the car out and headed home. It was too late to go back to the office, and he didn’t really have anything going on there that couldn’t wait until Monday.

  He was just going into the house when his cell phone rang. He looked at the ID and saw that it was his sister Shelly. She probably found out he had promised Jo he’d go to church Sunday and wanted to harass him about it.

  “Hey Roger, you still looking for a part-time secretary?”

  “Yeah, I guess. I can only afford a few hours a day for right now, but it should turn into more.”

  “That’s great, my friend Gina can work whatever you need from fifteen hours a week to forty.”

  “Okay. I’ll be there all morning, Monday. Tell her to come in any time.”

  When they disconnected, he felt like he’d dodged a bullet. She must not know about him going to church Sunday. Good. But he knew that wouldn’t last long.

  Chapter Four

  The rest of Friday was quiet for Nicole and so was Saturday. She stayed around the house and did her cleaning and laundry as she always tried to do on Saturdays.

  She spent both evenings watching movies she had recorded earlier on her DVR. Snowball was her only company, and she always enjoyed the extra attention curled up on Nicole’s lap.

  They usually spent a lot of time together on Nicole’s recliner.

  Sunday morning came too soon. Nicole did not like to go out in public. Why did she ever agree to meet Shelly and her family at church?

  Probably the biggest reason she didn’t want to go was that she had no idea what to expect. She had never been to any kind of church for a regular service. She’d only been to a few for funerals and weddings and she knew this had to be totally different. But how different? What would it be like?

  She and Nick usually talked on the phone almost every evening. They were still that close even after all that had happened to her. He was the only one close to her. She’d never had a relationship with her dad who was a workaholic spending long hours at the investment firm he owned in KC.

  Nicole’s mom was one of those social butterflies who seemed to flitter from one board of directors o
r charity to another. In all fairness, she seemed to be really good at what she did. If the time she spent doing it was any indication, she certainly was.

  Nick was a vice-president at the investment firm and the plan had been for Nicole to be one by now too. But she’d known even in high school she wasn’t cut out for that kind of work. She’d gotten a degree in finance and had expected to be in a business-related occupation in the Army but had been surprised when they’d placed her in the Military Police.

  What had surprised her even more was that she’d really enjoyed being an MP. She’d even had thoughts about going into police work when she was discharged but the incident took care of that little idea.

  Well, enough of those thoughts. They went nowhere anyway. She couldn’t change the fact that she was stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. There was no real job for her in law enforcement. Sure, she could have used her business degree and done office work but that was not what she wanted especially after a taste of police work.

  No, she’d discovered that she loved teaching and even if she did say so herself, she thought she was pretty good at it.

  When she’d talked to Nick the night before, she finally told him about the note she’d received. And of course, he’d reacted exactly the way she’d expected. She had to spend the next half hour talking him out of coming down there to protect her.

  She’d only been able to convince him when she reminded him, she had a gun and was an expert marksman with it.

  Now, she was dressing after her shower. She thought about her house. She truly loved her house. It was totally handicap equipped. Her shower had a seat that swiveled in and out of the shower allowing her to take a refreshing shower every day. After so many months in the hospital, she’d grown to hate baths.

  Once she was dressed and had eaten a light breakfast, she couldn’t think of a single valid reason not to go to church. She knew Shelly would be hurt if she didn’t. So, she headed into the garage to make the trip to the church.

  * * *