A Matter of Circumstance by M J Marlow (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud .TXT) 📖

the pretty blond standing next to him and tried smiling. “Miss Ryan arrived here just ahead of us. All we can do now is wait and see if they take the bait.” “You really think they’re going to come after my sister, Martin?” his partner, Joanna Marlow, frowned now. “Why?” “Because,” Martin said as he watched the cloud of dust moving off, “Juliana is the only one of the children taken by that witch who got away.” He sighed. “She was left damaged, but she never let that woman break her. The witch is not going to leave your sister be for that reason alone.” “Then we’ll finally have her!” Joanna nodded. She had spent the past five years studying and training, devoting her energies to the Missing Persons Bureau. She knew a great deal of it had to do with her unreasonable guilt over her sister’s abduction. She had believed that she should have been able to prevent it from happening. Though how a ten year old could stop a determined adult was something her child’s mind had not bothered to see into. At twenty-five, she knew better now, but it didn’t make the guilt any less. “The woman who hurt my family is going down!” “We having dinner with the family, Joey?” Martin asked her, using his pet name for the woman who had become his partner in more ways than one over the past five years. He looked down at the ring finger still finding it a wonder that this beautiful woman had accepted him into her life. They’d been married a year now and each day was a gift he treasured. “Mama wants us to wait until tomorrow,” Joanna told him. “She thinks too many family members being thrown at Juli this early will just frighten her more.” She shook her head. “Poor Mama! I wish we could tell her the truth about why we are here.” “Don’t you think she has enough to deal with right now, Joey?” Martin asked as he pulled her into his arms and kissed the tip of her nose. She nestled into him and he smiled. “Let’s just content ourselves with the knowledge that Juliana is not the one facing the coming threat, okay?” He saw a Jeep heading their way and stepped away from her. “That will be Hawk.” They watched Hawk pull up and Martin smiled as he saw the man get out the take out boxes and six packs of beer and soda. They went inside; unaware of the man who lowered his binoculars and made a note in the pad he pulled from his jacket pocket. He was so intent on the cabin below, he was completely oblivious to the five young men who sat around an old rusted out pickup and followed his movements with every increasing interest. “Our newcomer is an enemy but not the man at the cabin,” Grady said with disappointment in his voice as Adam sketched. “Not if your uncle knows him well enough to bring him and his wife dinner.” “Did you recognize the wife?” Samuel asked as he lowered his own binoculars. “That’s Joanna Marlow! I’d recognize her anywhere.” “Isn’t she a fed?” Gordon Manymoons squeaked in excitement. He grabbed the binoculars and watched the trio go into the cabin. “If he’s her husband, he’s not very happy about something.” “Probably here undercover,” his twin, Frank replied. “Who better to keep an eye on the girl than her own sister?” He took the binoculars and trained them on the stranger watching the cabin. “So who’s the stranger? Why is he watching them?” He handed the binoculars back to his twin and got his rifle from the truck. “We told your uncle we were target shooting,” he said as he got the empty soda cans. “I think we should keep our word.” No one argued with Frank. At twenty-one, he was the elder of their little group. They followed him down to the valley floor and set up the targets. They knew they were in full view of the stranger and the cabin but that was exactly what they wanted. Hawk would know they were close and he wouldn’t worry – much. And the stranger would move off if he realized they weren’t going anywhere. The man jumped as he heard the rifle fire and trained his binoculars on the area. Five young men were taking turns shooting at empty cans. He frowned. He hadn’t been expecting company here. This valley was a bit off the beaten track, even in this area of the state. He couldn’t risk them seeing him and he had enough for his initial report, so he went to his Jeep and drove off. Hawk smiled as he heard the rifles. Adam and his friends were close and he was relieved. He was not relieved by his increasingly disturbing thoughts about Juliana Marlow. He looked at Martin and Joanna and they looked guilty. They knew something. He finished his beer and looked at them sternly. “So tell me the truth,” he said as he met Martin’s and then Joanna’s eyes. “If I were to pursue this connection I’m feeling with Juliana would I be accused of robbing the cradle?” “Hawk,” Martin frowned and looked at his wife. Joanna shrugged and nodded. “You can’t let anyone else know this, my friend, but that isn’t Joanna’s sister you’re lusting after. The woman is an international operative working this case in conjunction with the FBI, a very gifted chameleon, by the name of Victoria Ryan. Juliana is in too fragile a state to be used as bait, so Victoria was asked to take her place.” “She’s good,” Hawk smiled as relief flooded through him. “I was beginning to feel like a dirty old man.” “Just you keep thinking that way,” Joanna warned him, “until we have Danville in prison where she belongs people have to keep believing she is Juliana.” 5 Juliana was having a nightmare again Gloria noted with a frown as she stopped in to check on her daughter for the third time since she’d gone to bed. She was afraid that she would come into this room and find she’d been dreaming. Juliana would be gone and the day would be just another dream unfulfilled. “Juli,” she said as she went to the bed and sat down to lay her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Wake up, darling. You’re having a bad dream.” Juliana’s eyes opened and for a few moment, the terror in her eyes remained. But the awareness came and with it the girl’s sob of relief as she threw herself into Gloria’s arms. Gloria held her close and stroked her back, murmuring support, assuring her that everything was all right now. “You’re home now, Juli,” Gloria said as she felt the trembling ease. “You’re with your family where you belong.” She saw the uncertainty again and it hurt her. “You are my daughter and you belong here,” she said a bit too fiercely. Juliana burst into tears and Gloria knew she’d gone too far. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m just so happy to have you back home that I’m getting too emotional.” “I keep thinking I’m dreaming,” Juliana said softly as she touched her mother as if she weren’t real. “But it’s all real, isn’t it? I am finally home and you want me here.” “Of course we want you here,” Gloria replied, unaware that her words were being transmitted to her real daughter in Phoenix. “We will always want you, Juli.” She kissed her daughter on the forehead and got up. “Your sister will be here tomorrow with her husband. They’re eager to see you, too.” “My sister?” Juliana couldn’t deny the eagerness she felt at this. “How soon?” “It’s only eleven, Juli,” Gloria smiled at her. “There’s still an entire night of sleep for us all to get.” She saw the flicker of fear in her child’s eyes. “Would you like something to help you sleep?” “No,” Juliana said quickly. “I think I can sleep now.” She threw her arms around her mother. “Thank you for still wanting me, Mama. I was so frightened that I’d come home and the woman would be right.” “She wasn’t right then,” Gloria said as she returned the hug, “and she’s not right now. I love you, baby. You hold on to that and don’t let those lies keep you frightened any longer.” Juliana smiled and lay down to try to get back to sleep. She watched her mother leave and close the door until only a sliver of the hall light could be seen. She’s as anxious as I am, Juliana thought as he lay there trying to relax. That woman hurt all of us when she took me away. She dozed off and came awake hours later with the certainty that she was no longer alone. She sat up slowly and saw the shadow on the other side of the open French doors. She frowned as she saw this. She had seen Gloria close and lock them when she’d first gone to bed. “Scarlet…” Juliana shook her head and pulled a pillow to her chest as she backed into the corner. It wasn’t real, she told herself. It was just a hallucination born of nightmare. “Come to me, child,” the woman’s voice filled her ears and sought to control and coerce. “You know you belong to me.” “No!” Juliana whimpered and got as small as she could, willing the apparition away. She covered her ears with her hands and shivered in fear. “I belong here!” “Come out to me, child,” the woman was more insistent now, angrier. “I’m waiting.” “Go away!” Juliana screamed and threw the pillow. She ran for the door to the hall, needing her mother. Her mother would keep her safe. She froze as she saw the door close and heard the lock engaging. “It’s not real,” she repeated, shaking her head in disbelief. She turned to see the woman standing in front of her. “You’re not real!” “Silly child,” the woman laughed and cupped Juliana’s cheek in her hand. “Is this the touch of an apparition?” Her expression was impatient. “It’s time for you to come with me.” “No!” Juliana shivered and tried to move. But she was held paralyzed by the fear building inside of her. “I’m not going with you! I belong here with my Mama!” “Enough!” the woman shrieked, slapping Juliana across the face. Her eyes were filled with rage then and Juliana was terrified. “You will come to me, child, or I will destroy your precious Mama and the rest of your family.” She clamped her hand on Juliana’s wrist painfully and tried to drag her out but the girl fought her. Her scream brought people running and the woman backed off then. “The next time I come, you will leave with me or they will die!” “No!” Juliana sobbed and fell to her knees. “Leave me alone!” “Never,” the woman laughed as she paused a moment at the French doors. “I will not let you go, Scarlet. Ever!” Juliana watched the doors close and lock and she was on her feet, stumbling out into the hall. She ran into Norman. He saw the terror in her eyes and he set aside the bat he had in his hands. He held her until she was calm enough to tell him what had happened, and then he called his security team and had them check the grounds. They found a woman’s footprints and evidence that the lock had been tampered with. He left Juliana sleeping under his wife’s watchful gaze and called Warren. “It’s obvious that monster is here after the girl, Warren,” he said as the two men shared drinks in the study. “What are we going to do to protect her?” He was worried. “That woman is not getting her hands on Juliana again!” “I’ll talk to Hawk in the morning,” Warren nodded. “He will