Page 123 of Noel Secrets

He shot her a quick glance then gave the officer their story. “Clay Walker. I’m Darby’s boyfriend.”

It felt odd to hear him speak those words. Mrs. Buford’s mouth flew open.

“I should check on the dogs. They were probably frightened when they saw those men grab me.” Darby hurried past the group and toward the kennels. Dogs had a special sense when something was wrong, and these dogs had become attached to her, so they’d be upset at seeing her harmed.

No surprise that Mrs. Buford had called the police. But this time, Darby would give her some grace. After all, if Agent Walker—Clay—hadn’t witnessed the abduction, no one else would have known what had happened.

She entered the pen and spoke to each dog then opened their kennels one by one and petted them. They grinned and wagged their tails, but their anxiety showed as they whined and circled her. She had four dogs at the moment: David’s black lab mix named Hercules, along with Scout, a mutt with some German shepherd in his DNA, Fishsticks, a golden retriever, and Mace, another lab with border collie markings.

She’d always had a heart for rescue dogs and none of these were pure breeds which she preferred. She was merely boarding Fish and Scout but Mace’s owner had hoped Darby could calm the hyper dog enough to learn some commands.

After giving her some good sniffs and licks, assuring she was safe, all the dogs calmed down except Hercules. He continued to pant heavily—evidence that his anxiety remained. Darby rubbed him down, gave him plenty of kisses, then placed him back into his kennel after making sure he and the other dogs all had plenty of food and water.

“You’re good with them.”

She turned and saw Clay standing outside the pen as she closed Hercules back into his kennel. “They were upset because they saw those men take me and the dogs couldn’t help. It’s no wonder they caused such a ruckus.”

“Officer Hall and I checked the house. He’s going to contact the Courtland sheriff’s office for the incident report about the van and the two suspects. I think your neighbor believes she’s the heroine of the story.”

“I’m sure she does.” Her next-door neighbor was nosy and annoying yet Darby had a difficult time believing she was involved in this threat against her, especially now. “Would she have called the police if she was involved?”

He didn’t seem ready to make that leap. “The sooner you’re reported missing, the sooner she could have had these dogs taken away.”

Darby gasped at that thought but she had to concede it. Her neighbor always looked for a reason to force her to get rid of the dogs. Especially Hercules, since she believed he was the worst noise offender.

Unable to process such cruelty, she was glad when Clay told her Mrs. Buford and Officer Hall had both left. “I’m happy to behome. I’ll let the dogs run off some energy in the fenced yard once I’ve settled in and caught my breath.”

Clay placed his hand on her back as he walked with her to the house. She liked the feel of his touch, suddenly glad he was there. She didn’t feel so alone now, and she hadn’t had to face Mrs. Buford and the Sheraton police alone.

Darby hesitated at the garage, dark images replaying in her mind.

“It’s okay,” Clay assured her. “I checked the house. No one is inside. You’re safe.”

She pulled up her courage and walked in. Once inside, Clay closed the curtains and made sure the doors and windows were locked.

Her cell phone, still lay on the table where she’d dropped it when she’d seen the van. Jason Kemp, her son’s camp chaperone, had called five times. Since David struggled with homesickness, she’d been expecting a call from him, hopefully to help calm David.

Surely David didn’t think she was ignoring him. Bad enough for him to struggle, but it gutted her to realized he’d wanted to talk to her, and she hadn’t answered.

“I need to call my son’s chaperone at church camp,” she told Clay. She and Jason had agreed to talk about her coming to get him early, but that wasn’t an option now that someone had targeted her.

She explained the situation to Clay. “He’s safer there.”

“I agree. But how many people knew he was going to camp?”

“Brent knew. David was supposed to have visitation with him during the school break, except for the week of camp.” That must mean Brent was involved. Her muscles clenched in anger. “I also posted it on social media, so it wasn’t a secret. I was so happy the church offered this because I knew the tension between his father and me would make the holidays difficult for David.”

She gripped the phone, anxious to check on her son.

Clay stepped into the kitchen and made a call, also giving her privacy to talk to David.

She dialed the camp and after a few minutes, Jason came to the phone. “David was upset when he couldn’t get ahold of you, but he’s calmed down now. He’s worried you’ve forgotten about him. I assured him that wasn’t possible.”

“Thank you, Jason.” She never wanted her son to feel unloved, but she also couldn’t risk his life. She quickly explained what had happened.

“I’m so sorry that’s happening, Darby. I’ll inform the camp director. We have security measures in place for all the campers, but maybe we can add extra precautions. But let’s not tell David what happened. We don’t want to increase his anxiety. When you speak to him, simply tell him it’s important for him to remain at camp and work through his homesickness.”

“I agree. He doesn’t need to know what’s happening here.”