Small Town Justice(25)

Because her pet was not easily convinced, she carried him halfway around the large body of water before setting him down again.

The sun was warm, the breezes gentle. A wooden-slatted bench invited rest and she accepted, closing her eyes and taking a deep, settling breath.

Why couldn’t life be sweet and simple like this all the time? Why was she so fixated on making up for lost time and finding out what had really happened when R.J. had gotten into so much trouble?

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” she told herself. Would she feel that way if she hadn’t begun this quest? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But she had stirred up the hornet’s nest and it was too late to just walk away.

Glancing over the shimmering water and watching the graceful glide of ducks and geese, she let her gaze drift to the parking lot across the lake. Most of the vehicles that had been there when she’d arrived were gone and it was easy to pick out her truck, even though it was black.

Ulysses had been happily sniffing every weed and blade of grass near the bench. Jamie Lynn was smiling down at him when she noticed his posture change. He stiffened. Stared across the water. Growled for a moment before starting to bark as if defending her from a pride of charging lions.

That was when she heard the first crash. Saw movement. Understood why her little dog was upset and jumped to her feet. Somebody was bashing her truck with a sledgehammer!

“No! Stop!”

Shouting was futile. They were too far away and wouldn’t have heeded her if she’d been standing next to them—except to perhaps turn the hammer on her!

“Thank God I’m not still over there,” she whispered, realizing her words were heartfelt. She did thank God. There was no other plausible explanation for her ending up so far away when the trouble started. Ulysses’s barking at the geese had been the trigger, yes, but the park covered many acres. What were the chances that the tiny flock would be close by when she’d arrived?

She had her cell with her. Punching in 911, she fidgeted, hoping help would come while she still had enough truck left to salvage.

“Sheriff’s office. What’s your emergency?”

“Somebody’s beating on my truck!”

“Are you in the vehicle?”

“No.”

“Are you in any danger, ma’am?”

“Not exactly, but...”

“All right. Give me your location and I’ll send someone out.”

“I’m at the Serenity Park. Please hurry.” When the dispatcher spoke again, Jamie Lynn was positive she recognized her voice, not to mention her attitude.

“Ah, that’s local police jurisdiction. You can stay on the line if you want while I see if they have any units available.”

Jamie tamped down her anger long enough to learn that the estimated time of arrival of law enforcement was up to half an hour.

As soon as she hung up she let loose with a combination shout and growl that was so loud, so forceful, it startled Ulysses and echoed back to her.

Bystanders were starting to edge toward the parking lot, clearly cautious as well as curious.

The banging noise stopped. Moments later a truck sped away. Jamie Lynn scooped up her barking dog and headed back around the lake. Even if she had run, there was no way she’d have gotten there in time to see the license plate, assuming this truck had not been stolen like the other one at the old farm.

The closer she got, the worse the damaged metal looked. “Terrific. Now what?”

There was only one thing she could do. Like it or not, she had to wait and make another police report. Which meant she’d probably be delayed getting to Marsha’s.

She punched in the woman’s home number and started to fill her in as soon as she answered.

“No, no, I’m all right,” Jamie insisted when Marsha interrupted to pepper her with questions. “I was all the way across the lake when it happened, Yes, I’ve called the sheriff. That dispatcher must hate me by now. She told me I’d have to wait for the local police. I’m stuck here until they arrive, and who knows how long that will really be.”

“Stay put,” Jamie heard Marsha say. There was garbled, muffled conversation in the background.

A few people had gotten up the courage to join Jamie and were trying to talk above Ulysses’s barking, so she had trouble hearing everything that was being said on the phone. She covered her other ear with her hand. “What? I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.”

“Just keep your distance,” Marsha shouted. “I’ll call Harlan. I know he’ll come out if I ask him.”

At that point, Jamie didn’t care who showed up. She just wanted to know that someone in authority was on her side. Cared what befell her. Wanted to help. At times like this it was easy to recall how abandoned and alone she’d felt when she’d first arrived at Tessie’s.