the tangle of small birches and pines, thigh-high ferns, blackberry vines and invasive Japanese barberry so thick with thorns, nothing could get through it.
Wild turkeys? A squirrel?
Behind the shed were woods laced with paths that led to favorite spots along the lake, connected with trails that eventually snaked up into the mountains.
Mackenzie listened for a few seconds, but when she heard nothing more she draped her towel over one shoulder and reached for the shed door.
A guttural sound—a low growl—came from the brush. She turned quickly, just as something leaped out of the bushes, coming at her.
A man. Dark hair, a beard.
Mackenzie jumped back, but he was diving for her, slashing at her.
A knife.
She reacted instantly, adrenaline flooding her senses, and hooked her beach towel around her right arm to block another slash of his knife. Quickly, she grabbed his wrist, pointing the knife to the dirt path, and simultaneously locked his elbow in place with her other hand. She gave his wrist a sharp, hard twist away from her.
He groaned in pain, but still gripped the knife.
With the side of her foot she delivered a quick, hard kick to the inside of his knee.
The knife dropped from his hand, and he screamed in pain, sinking to the dirt.
Maintaining her hold on his forearm, Mackenzie kicked the knife into the brush. Her attacker smelled of rancid sweat, and his beard was unkempt. His hair was wild, dirty, streaked with gray. He wore scarred hiking boots, lightweight khaki-green pants and a sweat-stained tan T-shirt.
White-flecked pale eyes stared up at her.
Those eyes…
She’d seen him before.
She felt something warm oozing down her left side but didn’t let herself look.
“You’re bleeding,” he said, grinning at her. “I cut you.”
He wasn’t lying. She could feel the pain now, searing, overtaking the adrenaline that had protected her in the first seconds of injury. But the wound couldn’t be deep. Her counterattack had prevented him from stabbing her in her kidney, killing her on the spot. Instead, he’d cut a five-inch gash in her side, just above her hip.
Spit formed at the corners of her attacker’s mouth and sparkled on his beard. “You’re going to pass out, Deputy Stewart. Think about what I’m going to do to you then.”
He knew her name—he knew he’d just assaulted a federal agent.
Pain pierced through her. She needed to disable him, make sure he didn’t get up even if she did pass out. Just one good chop to his neck. But she could feel the warm blood from the slice on her side mingling with the cool lake water on her skin. Her grip on him slackened, and her towel slid off her arm onto the ground.
He seized the advantage and surged up, pushing her backward. She blocked his move, and managed to stay on her feet as he grunted, spun around and ran, crashing through the brush, swearing like a madman.
Did he have another weapon hidden in the woods?
Mackenzie knew she couldn’t charge after him. She was barefoot and injured. She’d had one chance to nail him, and she’d failed. She needed to get to her gun, a telephone. Put on some dry clothes.
Her heart jumped. Carine.
Her friend was up on the road with her baby. What if she ran into this bastard?
What if she already had?
Mackenzie pressed her forearm against the wound on her side to provide compression. She didn’t want to pick up her towel and risk passing out.
The shed door was still open. Had her attacker come out of there? Or had he been on his way into it, but saw her emerging from the water and ducked into the brush?
She had to check the shed for any other victims. If her attacker had an accomplice, he’d have surfaced by now. In her pink tankini, she was an easy target for two men.
Nothing was out of place in the shed. There was nowhere for a person to hide—the old canoe was upright, the lightweight kayaks leaned against a wall. Mackenzie grabbed a crowbar from among the tools hanging on hooks and nails, planning to use it as a makeshift weapon. But its weight pulled on her cut side, the resulting pain dropping her to one knee. The crowbar clattered to the cement floor, landing inches from an old stain—her father’s blood, still there after twenty years.
Forcing herself to stand up, she chose a hammer—it wasn’t nearly as heavy as the crowbar—and stepped out of the shed, squinting in the bright sunlight. The breeze made her teeth chatter.
I can’t pass out.
“Mac.”
What?
She blinked, trying to focus, trying to keep her head from spinning. She had to be hallucinating. She just couldn’t be this unlucky. Attacked out of the blue, stabbed, humiliated…and now Andrew Rook, special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, black-haired, black-eyed and humorless, had materialized in front of her?
His gaze narrowed on the blood dripping down her side. He was controlled, focused. “What’s happened?”
“I was attacked. Not by a shark, either.” She pointed behind the shed with her bloody hand. “The man who sliced me is in the woods. He doesn’t have a big head start. You can catch him.”
“You need a doctor.”
She shook her head. “My friend Carine is up on the road with her baby. I can’t go after her myself.” She coughed—a mistake; the pain was so intense, she saw white and almost dropped her hammer. “Go, okay?”
Rook reached into his jacket pocket. “I’ll call the police.”
“Your cell phone won’t work out here. There’s a phone in the house. I’ll call, you go.” Mackenzie raised her eyes as she held her bloodied side and tried to keep from shivering. “Why are you here, anyway?”
He sighed through clenched teeth. “Later.” He drew a pistol from his belt holster and held it out to her. “I’ll go after your friend. Take this.”
“It’s not necessary.” She raised her hammer. “I’m all set.”
“Take the damn gun, Mac.” He plucked the hammer from her and pressed the 9 mm into her hand. “I’ve got another.”
She didn’t argue and straightened, suddenly aware again that she was in pink, a bright pink tankini.
Hell.
She started toward the house, but after two steps her stomach lurched. She went still, feeling dizzy, her thoughts jumbled. How had this happened? She’d been swimming on a beautiful summer day, and now here she was, woozy, knifed and arguing with the man she’d come to New Hampshire to get out of her mind.
“He
