She’d tried to remember, but everything felt fuzzy and out of focus. She’d never felt so shaken or so unsure.
“Is the light bothering you?” the policewoman asked.
She opened her eyes as the woman rose to adjust the blinds on the hospital-room window. The room darkened, but it did nothing to alleviate the pain in her head. “It all happened so fast.” Her voice broke as she remembered the gaping open trunk and the man’s arm at her throat as she was lifted off her feet.
“You said the man was big.”
She nodded, remembering how her feet had dangled above the ground. She was five feet six so he must have been over six feet. “He was...strong, too, muscular.” She shuddered at the memory.
“You said he was wearing a baseball cap. Do you remember what might have been printed on it?”
“It was too dark.” She saw again in her memory the pitch-black parking lot. “He must have broken the light because I would have remembered parking in such a dark part of the lot.”
“Did he say anything?”
McKenzie shook her head.
“What about cologne?”
“I didn’t smell anything.” Except her own terror.
“The car, you said it was large and dark. Have you remembered anything else about it?”
“No.” She hadn’t been paying any attention to the car or the man and now wondered how she could have been so foolish.
The policewoman studied her for a moment. “We received a call last night from your receptionist about a man named Gus Thompson.”
McKenzie felt her heart begin to pound. “Gus works for me. You aren’t suggesting—”
“Is it possible the man who grabbed you was Gus Thompson?”
McKenzie couldn’t speak for a moment. Gus was big. He also had to know, after numerous warnings, that she was ready to fire him. Or at least, he should have known. Could it have been him? Was it possible he hated her enough to want to hurt her? “I don’t know.”
“We found a car registered to him, a large, dark-colored Cadillac. Did you know he had this car?”
“No. But his mother recently died. I think he mentioned she’d left him a car.”
“He never drove it to work?”
“No, not that I know of.” Again, she hadn’t been paying attention. She knew little about Gus Thompson because she’d chosen not to know any more than she had to. “I saw him parked outside my house one night. I spoke to him about it and I never saw him again, but I can’t be sure he didn’t follow me sometimes.” She thought of one instance when she’d noticed him driving a few cars behind her. But Bozeman was small enough that it hadn’t seemed all that odd at the time.
The policewoman raised a brow. “You never reported this?”
McKenzie tried to explain it to herself and failed. “I guess I thought he was annoying but harmless.”
“Did you ever date him?”
“Good heavens, no.”
“But Gus Thompson probably knows your habits, where you go after work, where you shop?”
She nodded numbly. Gus could have followed her many times and she wouldn’t even have noticed. She’d been so caught up in making her business a success....
The policewoman closed her notebook. “We’ll have a chat with Mr. Thompson and see where he was last night at the time of your attack.”
“He wasn’t at the office last night when you sent a patrolman over there?” she asked.
The policewoman shook her head. “He’d already left. Your receptionist was unsure when.”
McKenzie felt a shiver, her mind racing. Could it have been Gus who’d attacked her? She swallowed, her throat raw and bruised from last night. Gus was big and strong and she knew he resented her. To think she’d almost reassured Cynthia that Gus wasn’t dangerous. He could be more dangerous than she would have imagined.
“I used to work with his mother when she owned the agency,” she said. “I inherited Gus. He is my best salesman, but I know he felt his mother should have left him the business and not sold it to me.”
The policewoman nodded. “This could have been building for some time. We’ll see what he has to say.”
She had a thought. “I hit the man last night several times, but I’m not sure I did enough damage that it would even show.” She described the ways she’d hit him.
“Don’t worry. We’ll check it out. In the meantime, you’ll be safe here.”
As the policewoman started to leave the room, McKenzie said, “The man who saved me last night...” She had a sudden flash. You’re safe now. She blinked. “I’d like to get his name so I can thank him.”
“He asked that his name be kept out of it.”
She blinked. “Why?”
“There actually are people who don’t want the notoriety. I can contact him if you like and see if he might have changed his mind. What I can tell you is that he just happened to fly in last night and stop at that grocery store on his way to see family. Fortunately for you.”
“Yes. Fortunate.” She had another flash of memory. Warm brown eyes filled with concern. You’re safe now.
“The doctor said they’re releasing you this afternoon. We’re going to be talking to Mr. Thompson as soon as we can find him. Maybe going to the office isn’t the best idea.”
“I have to go into work. I was planning to fire Gus Thompson today. Even if he wasn’t the man in the parking lot last night, I can’t have him working for me any longer.”
“Why don’t you let us handle Mr. Thompson. We have your cell phone number. I’ll call you when he and his personal items are out of your business. In the meantime, I would suggest getting new locks for your office and a restraining order for both yourself and your business.”
She must have looked worried because the officer added, “You might want to stay with friends or relatives for a while.”
“I have a client I need to see tomorrow south of here. I could go down there tonight and stay in a motel.”
“I think that is a good idea,” the policewoman said.
* * *
“LOOK WHAT THE cat dragged in,” Tag Cardwell said as Hayes walked into the kitchen on the Cardwell Ranch. “We were getting ready to send the hounds out to track you down.”
“Hey, cuz,” Dana said as she got up from the table to give him a hug and offer him coffee. It was his first time meeting his cousin. She was pretty and dark like the rest of the Cardwells. As Tag had
