at someone swam before her eyes. A man wearing a helmet pushed Baloo away from her side and shoved a mask onto her face. The sweet oxygen eased the pain in her lungs. She let herself close her eyes, but she needed to hang on to her thoughts. She didn’t have time to lose consciousness.
Tonight was no accidental house fire, and she needed real help. Everything she’d worked for was at risk. She couldn’t start over. Not again. And there was only one person she could think of who might be able to help her.
Jeff Tucker.
* * *
Jeff Tucker squinted at his alarm clock. Who would be ringing his doorbell at four in the morning? He grabbed his cell phone on the way to the door.
He flipped on the porch light and peeked through the peephole. His lead accountant at Earth Generators, Inc. recoiled in the bright light. She closed her eyes and waved at the door. What in the world?
Jeff did a quick assessment of his own appearance. He supposed his blue flannel pajama pants and navy T-shirt were modest enough to answer the door in the middle of the night. He unlocked the bolt and swung the door open only to see a large beast just to Victoria’s right. The dog knocked him to the side and trotted indoors. “Hey!”
Victoria held a hand to her mouth. “I am so sorry, Jeff. He’s kind of my protector right now. He usually has better manners.”
Jeff squinted. “Victoria, what’s going on? And why does your dog smell like a barbecue?”
She responded by glancing over her left shoulder and then her right. “I think I’m in danger. Can I explain inside? Please?”
Jeff’s mouth dropped open, but he moved back and opened the door wider. “Yes, of course.” She stepped in and immediately to the left of the door, flat against the wall, as if she didn’t want anyone to see her. He closed the door. “Want me to call the police?”
“Someone set my house on fire tonight. The police already know but have nothing to go on yet.”
Jeff raked his hand through his hair. So many questions came to mind. He started with the most obvious. “Your house was on fire?” Jeff blinked. “Are you okay?” He examined her once more. Her face appeared paler than normal, and her bright blue eyes were red from crying...or smoke? His first aid training kicked in gear. Victoria could be in shock, which would explain her bizarre decision to come to his house. “I can drive you to the hospital now.”
“No, I’m fine. The paramedics checked me out.” She crossed her arms, and her teeth chattered. “Sorry. I just can’t seem to get warm.”
Jeff turned to the basket by his couch. “I think I have a blanket here somewhere.”
She eagerly accepted the red fleece and swung it around herself like a robe. She flipped her long hair out from under the blanket. It looked wet; no wonder she couldn’t get warm.
“My neighbor let me borrow her clothes and take a shower, but I didn’t think of a jacket. Everything of mine is—” her voice caught “—gone.”
“That’s horrible. How can I help?”
Victoria’s face crumpled. “I’m sorry to barge in on you in the middle of the night. I had to talk to you, and I remembered where you lived from the department Christmas party.”
She shifted her gaze to the ceiling, then the living room walls. She looked everywhere, it seemed, but at him. “Jeff, I need you to come with me to work. It can’t wait.”
Jeff’s arms fell to his side. Did she realize most people considered four in the morning to be the middle of the night? “I better start a cup of coffee while you explain.”
“No. There’s no time. I need you to go with me to the office. Now.”
Jeff turned toward the sudden slamming noise in the living room. The mammoth dog flopped down on the rug at his back door. The baseball bat-sized tail pounded a couple more times on the glass. “Make yourself at home,” he muttered. How was it possible that Victoria—beautiful, sweet, off-limits Victoria—could be in his home, like this? And why did she need him? He wasn’t an accountant or a police officer; he was a supervisor.
“I think you’re the only one that can help me,” she said, as if hearing his thoughts.
“How do you figure?”
She took a deep breath and swung her black, velvet hair over her shoulder. “Can I explain it in the car? Please?”
The image of her, wrapped in his blanket in his living room, suddenly felt too intimate. Going to the office—or anywhere else—seemed like a good idea. “Give me five minutes.” Jeff closed his bedroom door behind him and flipped on the light. He slapped his face a couple times while watching his reflection in the mirror. He definitely wasn’t dreaming. Confusion and annoyance were evident from his expression, but it was the best he could do at this hour. He threw on jeans and a shirt.
The dog growled from the other room.
“Jeff!”
He shoved his feet into already tied shoes and ran out of his room. The dog’s large mouth lifted up and over its teeth, in preparation to bite something...or someone.
Victoria whipped around to face him. “There was a man lurking down there in your backyard.” She pointed at the back glass door.
Jeff’s shoulders relaxed. “Well, it’s more of a community area.” The moment he said the words, he knew it was a weak attempt at comforting her. The dog turned around in a circle a couple of times and plopped back down on to the rug.
She blew out a long breath. “He must be gone, or Baloo wouldn’t relax. I’m sure of it,” Victoria said, but it seemed as if she was talking more to herself than to him. She turned her attention to Jeff. “Ready to go?”
Her concern about a lurking man may have diminished, but his only increased. “If you’re right and think someone is after you, I don’t know how safe it is to walk to your car in the open. Even with me and the gorilla by your side.”
A flash of anger sparked in her eyes, and Jeff was reminded how badly he needed coffee. He wasn’t guarding his tongue very well without it.
“He’s a Newfoundland. And a great rescuer.”
He smiled at the dog in hopes of appeasing Victoria. “I’m sorry.” The possibility of a man waiting in the shadows changed things. Jeff wasn’t armed or trained in defensive techniques. “What are we dealing with?”
She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips. He’d never seen her look annoyed before. At work, she was nothing but quiet and efficient. She faced the window again. “Last quarter I reviewed the expense reports before submitting them to the audit committee.”
He nodded. “Like every quarter.”
“Yes, but when the numbers went public, they seemed different than I remembered.”
Jeff shifted his feet. Maybe he should’ve taken a seat first. “What do you mean?”
“The numbers made Earth Generators, Inc. look like a much better company than reality.
