Beauty from Ashes: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 5) Read online

  13

  Adrianne ended up staying in the bathtub longer than she’d planned, but once she’d been able to relax, it had been hard to find the desire to get out. When her fingers started to prune, Adrianne finally climbed out of the tub and wrapped a large towel around herself. With slow movements—she wasn’t in a hurry to go anywhere—she dried off then got dressed in a pair of leggings and a large sweatshirt that came down past her hips. Knowing her feet would get cold quickly, she found a pair of thick socks with little rubber grippers on the bottom and pulled them on.

  After retrieving her phone from the bathroom, Adrianne made her way downstairs. She could hear voices from the kitchen as she got closer. She spotted Rebecca and Melanie sitting at the breakfast nook together. They looked up as she walked into the kitchen and then Melanie got to her feet.

  “Are you feeling better?” she asked as she came over to where Adrianne stood, reaching for a coffee cup from the cupboard.

  “I’m feeling a bit more settled,” Adrianne told her as she slipped a pod into the coffee machine and stuck her mug under the spout before turning it on. “I’m still a little… I don’t know what the word is. Shaken up, maybe? I don’t really want to think about it, but every once in a while it takes me off guard, and suddenly I’m hearing the gunshots again and the shouts from people.” Adrianne glanced at Melanie as her mug continued to fill “I just don’t understand how someone got a gun into the building. We are safer than that. It should never have happened.”

  “Well, I can answer that for you. Tyler called a little bit ago, and it appears that the gun the man used was Kelsey’s.”

  “Kelsey’s? How did he get hold of her gun?” Adrianne felt fear spark to life within her as she didn’t recall seeing Kelsey at all after the shooting. But Alex had said only Than and Eric had been hurt, hadn’t he? “He didn’t hurt her, did he?”

  Melanie shook her head. “Apparently, the man has been delivering flowers the past several weeks. The security guards at the entrance to the office let the guy through since they were familiar with him and he had passed through the scanner without setting off any alarms. When Kelsey pulled out her purse to tip the guy, he grabbed her gun and headed back toward where the offices were.”

  “Wait.” Adrianne frowned. “Someone had already been there to deliver flowers earlier that day. Kelsey stopped me on the way to the meeting to give them to me. I was a bit surprised since my flowers were usually delivered on Friday. Was it just some random flower-delivery guy who went nuts?”

  Something about that didn’t ring true with her memories of the event. She stared down at her coffee cup, her mind going back to when she first heard those shots.

  “No,” Melanie said. “It looks like it was planned to some extent. Kelsey said she had tipped the guy before, so she wasn’t sure if he’d seen her gun on a previous occasion or if he was just looking for an opportunity to inflict harm. But several people said that he was shouting out specific names as he made his way to the back offices.”

  That made more sense. Adrianne had been sure that she’d heard an unfamiliar voice calling out to Alex and Marcus. She wondered if they’d get any answers at all now that the gunman was dead. Was he the one behind all the attacks? Did that mean it was all over now?

  Adrianne doctored her coffee up and then took a sip of the warm beverage, savoring the taste and the heat as it warmed her from the inside out. Of course, she hoped that this was the attacker’s grand finale and that everything was over, but she just wasn’t sure.

  “Are Alex and Tyler coming home soon?” Adrianne asked as she made her way over to the table where Rebecca sat.

  “Tyler said he’d be here in a little bit, but Alex will likely have to stay until the police are done their investigation.”

  “How much of an investigation do they need to do when the man is dead, and it’s clear that he was killed in self- defense?” Rebecca asked, cupping what looked like an empty mug in front of her on the table.

  “I would think it would be pretty cut and dried,” Melanie said as she slid into the seat next to Adrianne’s. “But I don’t know how it works in a situation like this. Will there be an investigation into motivation? Or will they just accept that he had plotted this all out and that he was killed in self-defense? ”

  Adrianne took another sip of her coffee then lowered the mug to the table. “Well, I for one hope they do a thorough investigation of the man. Given what we’ve had to deal with over the past year, if he’s been behind it in any way, I would like to know that all of that is now at an end. If he’s just been a pawn used by someone else, I think we need to know that. We can’t let our guard down until we know for sure one way or the other if he was the mastermind behind it all.”

  “I can only imagine the security measures that will be put into place if they discover that he isn’t the person behind everything.” Melanie shot a look at Adrianne. “Guess this means you and Kelsey might not be getting flowers again for a while.”

  “The weird thing is, while mine may have been from an anonymous person, Kelsey’s were actually coming from her boyfriend. So maybe the attacker started sending flowers to me so that he could make more frequent deliveries.”

  “Hmmm.” Melanie didn’t look convinced. “That would mean he would’ve had to get hired at a florist shop specifically to deliver flowers to… Kelsey? Or was that just a coincidence?”

  “I don’t really believe in coincidences,” Adrianne said as she lifted her mug to take another sip.

  The three of them lapsed into silence, and Adrianne was glad to have something to focus her mind on instead of the actual events of the shooting. Melanie, more than any of the rest of them, would be the one who would pick up on the behaviors of people and their motivations. It would be interesting to talk with Alex and Tyler whenever they got home to see what they thought and what evidence the police had come up with.

  It was supper time before they were all gathered back at the house to eat the big pot of chicken and dumplings Rebecca had made. As they gathered around the table, Alex, Tyler, and Ryan shared what had gone on after Adrianne and Connor had left. But by far, the person with the most interesting information was Connor.

  He hadn’t come back over to the house until after the three guys had returned from BlackThorpe, so Adrianne hadn’t had a chance yet to thank him for what he’d done earlier in the day. As he began to speak, Adrianne realized what he had been doing since they’d returned from the office.

  “Does the name Stefan Rimes mean anything to you guys?” Connor asked after he gave a little background on what he’d found on Jonathan Jaeger.

  “Doesn’t mean anything to me,” Alex said with a shake of his head. “But if he applied to work at the company, his application might’ve been rejected by one of the other guys. Or maybe he was someone that was let go for any number of reasons.”

  “You mean like a disgruntled employee?” Tyler asked.

  Alex shrugged. “Anything’s possible. I’d have to check with HR to see if they have anyone on record by that name.”

  “HR won’t have any information on him,” Melanie said softly. “Stefan Rimes was connected to the Wellness Center.”

  Alex leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the edge of the table. “Was he there as a resident?”

  “For a very brief time.” Melanie paused, her gaze unfocused. “His family lobbied hard for us to take him on. He didn’t have any physical injuries the way a lot of the guys do that come to us. His major struggle was with PTSD. He had one of the most severe cases I’d ever seen. He had lots of triggers, and it seemed that most anything would set him off, even if it was something he hadn’t reacted to previously.”

  When Melanie paused again, Alex said, “Were you able to help him out?”

  Melanie’s shoulders slumped. “During the time that he was there, we were just starting to see how dogs could be used to help people dealing with PTSD. We hadn’t gotten into the program yet, but we had some people who would bring dogs
in a couple of times a week to see how the residents interacted with them. It had been a very positive experience up to that point.”

  Adrianne felt a pit forming in her stomach as she suddenly recalled Melanie telling the story before. She still didn’t remember the name, but the story was one she’d never forget.

  Alex must’ve remembered as well because he straightened in his seat and cleared his throat. “Are you telling me that Stefan Rimes was responsible for injuring that dog?”

  Melanie nodded. “He’d shown aggressive behavior before that point, but we’d been working with him, and we had hoped that the dog might be something that would work well for him. We were wrong. When we dismissed him from the program, his family was very, very upset. But we just couldn’t keep him on. He was a threat to other residents as well as the staff.” She paused again as Tyler reached out to slip an arm around her shoulders. “I’m just not sure there was anything that we could do for him. It wasn’t long after he was removed from the program that he was killed.”

  “Killed? By whom?” Alex asked.

  “By the cops. He took a couple of people hostage in a convenience store and the cops shot him.”

  Alex stared at Melanie for a moment then turned his gaze to Connor. “How does this man tie into what happened here today?”

  “Jonathan Jaeger was Stefan Rimes’s older half-brother. It took a little bit of digging, but once I knew what I was looking for, I was able to find plenty on the internet that Jaeger had put out there expressing his anger towards BlackThorpe. He felt that it was the Wellness Center’s fault that his brother hadn’t gotten the help he needed. Jaeger had been one of several people who had worked hard to get you guys to let Stefan into the program.”

  “So he’s not the end of it then,” Alex said with a sigh.

  “What do you mean?” Adrianne asked. “If Jonathan Jaeger had a bone to pick with BlackThorpe, and he’s dead now, then how can it not be over?”

  “I think I can answer that question,” Connor said, drawing her attention toward him. “I think that the person behind everything has been using other people who have a grudge against BlackThorpe. I know that not every person behind the individual events of the past year has been identified, but I’d be fairly certain that the person masterminding all of this has not gotten his hands dirty just yet. In other words, now is not the time to let down your defenses.”

  That wasn’t really what Adrianne had wanted to hear. After reacting so badly to that attack earlier in the day, she really didn’t want to be faced with anything like that ever again. What if she froze again and Connor wasn’t there to protect her?

  When an alert sounded from the security panel in the kitchen, tension flooded the room. Alex got to his feet and with long strides made his way out of the dining room. Adrianne noticed that the three men left in the room had each gotten to their feet. And, as if out of nowhere, Connor now held a weapon in his hand as he edged closer to the door.

  “False alarm,” Alex called from the kitchen. “It’s just my folks.”

  Connor slid his weapon into a hidden holster in his waistband then settled back into his chair. Tyler and Ryan also sat back down as the tension dissipated. While Adrianne was glad that it wasn’t a serious threat, the idea of facing her mom right then was not terribly appealing.

  “Adrianne,” her mother called out as she came into the room. Adrianne got to her feet and met her mom as she came around to hug her. And for a brief moment, she allowed herself to relax in the comforting embrace. Her mom pulled back a bit to look at her. “I couldn’t believe it when Alex called to tell us what had happened. I’m just so glad you’re both okay.”

  “Yes, we are very thankful that no one was seriously injured,” Adrianne said as she stepped to the side to hug her dad. “It definitely could have been a whole lot worse.”

  “And Connor,” her mother cried as she moved to where the man sat. “Alex told us how you protected our girl.”

  Connor got to his feet and accepted the embrace that came his way. “I’m sure she didn’t need my protection, my instincts just kind of kicked in and took over.”

  “You’re a good man, Connor Mackenzie.” Her mom reached up to pat him on the cheek and then looked over at Adrianne. “See, I knew he was the right man.”

  Adrianne felt heat rise into her cheeks, and she tried her best to keep from looking at Connor. She wasn’t sure what was worse at that moment. The fact that her mom was trying to set her up, or that she was trying to set her up with Connor yet again. It was like her mom didn’t trust her to find a man for herself. Of course, given her history so far, Adrianne could somewhat understand why her mother might think that way. She just wished that there was some way to convince her mom that she didn’t need her help in finding a man.

  “Seriously, Mom?” Adrianne looked at Alex in surprise when he spoke, exasperation clear in his tone. “We’ve just dealt with a stressful situation at work, the last thing we need right now is you trying to set up Adrianne and Connor. If there’s going to be anything between the two of them, it will be their choice. You need to stop meddling.”

  Their mom placed her hands on her hips as she turned to glare at Alex. “I’m only trying to help. Connor seems like a perfectly lovely man, and he’s single. And after what he did for Adrianne today, I feel like they would be a good match.”

  “Adrianne doesn’t need your help. Just like Melanie and I have, she will find the person she’s meant to be with when the time is right. But for now, we have other more important things to focus on.” Alex slid an arm around his mom’s shoulders and looked down at her. “I know you’re doing this because you love Adrianne and want to see her happily settled in a relationship, but honestly, Mom, I think the more you do stuff like this with Connor, the more stressed she becomes. You need to just let go, trust God and trust Adrianne to know who the right man for her is.”

  Adrianne stared at Alex in shock. He’d never really spoken up when their mom had gone on her matchmaking tangents. Maybe her talk with him about moving out had helped him to understand where she was coming from with regards to relationships. Regardless of his motives, Adrianne was grateful to have someone on her side.

  Adrianne let out a small sigh as she felt the knot of tension that had been growing since her mother’s arrival begin to ease just a bit. She wanted to have a good relationship with her mom, but they were very different in a lot of ways. Her mom had never understood why she hadn’t confided much in her during her teenage years. Adrianne wasn’t sure why either, but she’d never felt confident that if she shared about the boys she liked or the dream she had for her future that her mom wouldn’t laugh or make fun of them. So she just kept all those feelings and emotions to herself.

  And then, after Melanie had been kidnapped, her mom had devoted much of her time to helping Melanie, and Adrianne had been left to her own devices. She hadn’t resented Melanie since, by that time, Adrianne was already twenty years old.

  But now, all these years later, she still had no idea how to interact with her mom. And her mom was only making it worse by constantly trying to set Adrianne up with any single man she could find. Her actions seemed to convey desperation at the thought that her oldest daughter would somehow end up alone.

  Surprisingly enough, that prospect didn’t alarm Adrianne as much as it once had. At one time, the thought of spending her life alone would have reduced her to tears. But now, Adrianne was slowly finding a place of quiet acceptance of where her life was. And where it might be going. If she was meant to be single, she would fill her life with other things. With her family, with Jordan and hopefully more nieces and nephews. She would be the best aunt ever.

  Thankfully, her dad and Alex managed to turn the conversation back to what had happened earlier in the day. And while Adrianne had listened closely when they’d been discussing it before her parents’ arrival, this time, she tuned most of the discussion out as she finished her food.

  When she pushed her bowl away from her just
a little, she happened to look up and find Connor’s gaze on her. Surprised, Adrianne found herself staring back, almost as if she was unable to look away. But she had to. Her heart longed for much from this man, while her mind kept repeating one thing over and over again.

  He hurt you. He hurt you. He hurt you.

  Adrianne tried to pull forward the memory of the pain Connor had caused her. It seemed that in the past, that memory had raised its ugly head whenever it wanted to. Usually at a time when she was feeling particularly vulnerable. But now that she wanted that memory—the memory of the pain—it just wouldn’t come.

  With more effort than she would’ve liked, Adrianne managed to look away from Connor. But even as she did, in her mind she could still see his blue eyes. Watching her. But what had he been thinking? He never reacted at all to her mother’s attempts to set them up. He never encouraged her, but he never shut her down either. His apathy almost hurt more than an outright rejection would have. He acted like he couldn’t summon the energy to care one way or the other.

  When her mom had made a brief attempt at setting her up with Ryan—even though she’d had a few concerns about their age difference—Ryan managed to deflect her efforts without making Adrianne feel as if he was rejecting her. Of course, it helped that she really didn’t have any sort of feelings like that for Ryan. He was a nice guy, and he was cute, but for some reason, there was just no spark between them. And she knew he felt the same way, so friendship was what they’d ended up with. Kind of like her and Hank. It seemed as if she was destined to always end up as a friend with the eligible men in her life.

  Would that be how she and Connor would end up?

  It would probably be for the best if that were the case, considering they were going to be in each other’s lives many years to come.

  As the conversation flowed around her, Adrianne picked up her phone to check her email. She ignored her work account and tapped the screen to bring up her personal messages. She spotted an email from Patsy and quickly opened it. The message contained three links to listings that Patsy thought might interest her. Adrianne tried not to get her hopes up since they’d been down this road before, but right then she felt the need to have at least one of her dreams realized.