Page 84 of More Than Anything

“Because,” Shannon purred into the phone, “I want to see you.”

A chance to get her to sign the divorce papers, Avery thought. “Oh, really? When and where?”

“How about the DoubleD Diner over in Texarkana?”

“Sure. I know where that is. When?”

“In about an hour?”

Damn. That would mean he’d miss dinner, but it didn’t matter. This was far more important. And he didn’t want anyone else to know where he was going and what he was doing. “It’ll take me over an hour to get there. How about I call you when I leave?”

“Okay. That’ll be fine. I’ll be waiting when you get there.” The phone went silent and Avery shook his head. “Hey, Jason?”

“Yeah?” his friend called back from the laundry room.

“Dinner’s out for me. You go meet the girls. I’ll catch up with you guys later. The vet’s coming back in a bit. He forgot to do something earlier,” he told Jason, hoping the lie would work.

Jason shrugged. “Okay. We were talking about going to the movies. Sure you can’t go?”

“No. But you guys go on. It’ll be fine.” If missing a movie was all it took to get rid of Shannon, he’d do it?gladly.

For reasons he couldn’t understand, Jason poked around for what seemed like forever before he left. As soon as his car was out of sight, Avery called Shannon. “I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in however long it takes me to drive there.”

She giggled into the phone. “I’ll be waiting!”

Of course you will, Avery thought as he climbed into the truck. The drive was uneventful, but he was on pins and needles the whole way. What if she refused to sign the papers? What if this was some kind of ploy to get him to give her money? That wasn’t going to happen. It was more likely that she wanted to kill him, but if that were the case, she wouldn’t have asked to meet at the diner.

His truck rolled to a stop in a parking spot at the diner and he strode in. A glance around surprised him—she wasn’t there. He’d realized on the way there that he was pretty hungry, so he ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and a big soda. The food came, the burger dressed just the way he liked it, and he enjoyed every bite of it as he waited. Thirty minutes went by, and then forty-five. He tried to call Shannon but, of course, she didn’t answer. It looked like he’d been stood up.

It was getting dark outside, and he called Lydia. “Hey, babe,” she whispered into the phone.

“Where are you?”

“The movie’s getting ready to start. I’m getting dirty looks from everybody around me for talking on the phone,” she snickered. “Wish you were here. What are you doing?”

“Still waiting for the vet. Sorry. Jason and Danette there?”

Lydia sighed. “Jason is. Danette said she had to work late.”

Danette’s working late?Avery didn’t remember her ever working late. What was going on with her? “You guys have a good time. I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”

“Love you too. Bye.” A smile broke across his face as they hung up. He had an overwhelming urge to go track them down at the movies, but he kept hoping Shannon would show.

After an hour and a half, he was certain it wasn’t going to happen. Why would she waste his time like that? Maybe the cops had picked her up! That would be great, but it was unlikely that was the reason. She’d blown enough of his time; he’d just go home and wait until Lydia and Jason got there. Maybe Danette would show up and they could watch TV or something.

By the time he turned onto his road, the sky was black and stars were everywhere. That was one of the things he loved most about living out there. He could see every star in the sky, and it was an amazing sight. In town that couldn’t happen?too much light pollution?but out in the country, the night sky was one big light show, and he loved to stare up at them, especially if Lydia was there with him.

The house was dark when he drove up, and he could’ve sworn he’d left at least one light on. He reached for the lock with his key, but when he touched the knob, the door swung open. One step inside and he heard and felt a crunch under his boot?glass. Someone had broken in, and they could still be inside. Avery listened, but there wasn’t a sound. Maybe he’d scared them off. Before he took another step, he pulled his three-eighty out of the holster in the back of his jeans and flipped off the safety.

The same darkness he’d embraced for stargazing worked against him inside the house, and he couldn’t see anything. Moving silently across the living room floor, he reached for a lamp but before he could flip the switch, something hard struck his forearm and he screamed in pain as his handgun clattered to the floor. He flailed out, listening to the lamp fall, and tried to move toward the kitchen, but a dark figure stood between him and the light switch at the counter, barely visible but frighteningly obvious.

Who is this and what do they want?his mind screamed. They aimed for his head, but he threw his hands up; his attacker hit them instead and he cried out. With his fingers throbbing, he knew even if he found his gun, he couldn’t do anything with it. “WHO ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU WANT?” he yelled at the top of his lungs as the figure moved toward him. Thewhishof something passing over his head filled his ears and he felt the displacement of air just as he ducked.

Before the figure could recover, Avery rushed them, but they sidestepped him in the dark and a solid mass connected with his gut. He wasn’t even sure what he’d hit, disoriented as he was in the darkness, fear gripping him. Doubled over in pain, he pitched forward, sure he was falling to the floor. And just before he landed on the hard surface, something crashed into his head, something hard. The pain was overwhelming, and he felt himself losing consciousness as he fell forward, hitting the coffee table on his way down. Thoughts of Lydia were everywhere, her smile, that golden hair, those big blue eyes, and in that instant, he wondered what she’d think when she found out he was dead. Confused as he was, his brain picked up on a flash of light, a loud pop, and voices somewhere near him. Just as he heard someone call his name, a buzzing went off inside his skull, and then everything went black.

The light was bright, too bright, and his head hurt so badly that he couldn’t stand to open his eyes. Even through his lids, the brightness was like a knife in his temples.Am I dead?he wondered, but realized if that were the case, he wouldn’t feel any pain. There were voices around him, soft at first, and then louder, and he heard someone say, “I think he’s coming around.”

“Mr.Holcomb?” Avery wondered if they were talking to him. They had to be; his dad was dead. “Mr.Holcomb, can you hear me?”

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