her up the porch steps.
God, her mind was jumping all over the place. She needed a few minutes to take everything in. Should she go inside with a stranger who had practically abducted her? She could trust Therese. They might not have seen each other in the past couple of years, but when you went through the police academy together...it created a bond that didn’t go away.
A dog bayed at the fence next door.
“Hush, Junior, hush.”
“Getting out of that truck might be the most stupid thing I’ve ever done in my life. I have no idea what’s going on. Why is it so hard to think straight?”
“Not surprising, since someone drugged you. Not me. I assume it was the guy who followed you off the plane and who has your carry-on.” He set her on the couch and switched on the table lamp before securing the front door.
“When would they have drugged me? Why would they? I don’t get it. Scratch that. It doesn’t make sense. I’m a nobody.” Megan struggled to cover her eyes with a hand. She could have been drugged at any time before or during the flight. It was possible no matter how unlikely she thought it might be.
“I have no idea. Your friend didn’t bother to give either of us much information.” He patted her softly on her back. “You feeling okay? Should I have taken you to the emergency room? To be honest, I wasn’t given too much instruction. Other than you needed a protective escort and place to stay this weekend.”
“I’m better than when I was at the airport. I...I don’t think I need a doctor, but what do I know?” She did feel better than before. “My head is throbbing and every muscle I have is aching.”
“I’ll get you some water and aspirin.”
“If Therese asked you to help me, then I think I deserve some answers.” She spoke louder, following his movements through the gaps between her fingers.
He returned with a bottle of water under his biceps, shaking pills from a bottle. Could she trust that it wasn’t more of whatever had been slipped to her earlier?
“I think I’ll just take the water for now.”
He gave it to her and she gulped it down.
He popped the two pills into his mouth and swallowed. She watched his Adam’s apple bob under that cute dimple and took an inventory of his brown eyes and the thick eyelashes that men naturally had. Straight eyebrows quirked as he stared back at her, then shook his head.
“No one hired me. I’d answer your questions if I could. But my deal is to keep you safe. I made a promise not to leave you alone. That’s all I know until someone lets me in on more.”
“I’m not really the helpless type.” At the moment, she did appear helpless to herself. She said that she wasn’t. Even said it out loud after someone had just drugged her. She didn’t know how or where. If this guy hadn’t been there, who knew what would have happened? Or where she would have ended up?
“You probably don’t think anyone would want to kill you, either.” He took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest.
“How do I know that Therese wasn’t being forced to tell me to go with you?”
“I guess you don’t. Neither do I. But one thing in our favor is that I’m not forcing you to stay. You aren’t tied up or anything.”
She needed to test that challenge. Could she get up? Get closer to the back door? What would he do?
Even though the house was sparsely decorated, the photographs on the wall really stood out and called to her. She stood and swayed toward one near her—an action picture of a retriever flying into a pond. Water droplets were caught forever hanging in midair.
“That was Birdie. I took that picture when I was in college. She was a great retriever.”
“It’s exceptional. So alive.” Megan looked for signs of a dog. “Is she around?”
“Naw, she died a few years back.” He shoved his fingers through his hair before settling his arms in front of his chest again. And he stayed where he was, not making a move to stop her from wandering.
Even if she was stumbling and leaning on the backs of chairs.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Her head really wanted to check out that aspirin bottle.
“She was a great dog.” He shrugged.
“What did you say your name was?”
“Jack MacKinnon. I’m a Tex—”
“Jack, um...what did you do with my stuff? My laptop? Phone? I don’t see my carry-on.”
“You left it by the gate. Sorry, but there wasn’t time to explain to airport security. Your phone and laptop are still in the truck. Safe for tonight.”
“What if someone sees it and breaks in? Isn’t that risky?”
“Not too many break-ins around here. Everybody knows me and that I’m home this week. Your stuff is safe.”
She shifted to another chair, closer to her goal. “You really don’t know what all this is about?” she asked.
He shook his head, and she believed him. It was her job to know when someone was lying or telling the truth. Jack seemed to be completely at ease telling her everything—or as little as—he knew.
“I really need to call Therese and find out what this is all about.” She needed to know why she needed protecting. She didn’t doubt that she could handle herself when put to the test. But what test?
Oh, yeah, sure.
“I tried your friend. Tried my partner. Voice mail. You’re safe and need some rest, so how ’bout we try again in the morning?”
Scolding herself was nothing new. Being in a life-threatening position wasn’t, either. Shoot, being alone with arrogant men who thought they knew more than her was something she’d dealt with since joining the police academy. The State Fire Marshal’s Office wasn’t much better.
The strange new sensation was that she could trust this man. Weird. She rarely trusted anyone. Getting her feet to even slide was beginning to be a chore. So maybe she could wait until her legs were more stable and could make it out to his truck. Then she’d find out what was going on for herself.
He pushed his hands through his tangled short mop, smoothing and looping some of it behind his ears. “I wasn’t expecting anyone, so I’m not sure what I have in the fridge. You feel like eating? Need another bottle of water?”
“No. Thanks. Look, all I need is a couch for the night and I’ll be out of your hair tomorrow.”
“Why don’t we talk about that in the morning?” He reached forward, and they touched with an electric shock.
Not the kind she’d felt wrapped in his arms. It was a sincere static-electricity pop that had them both waving their hands in pain.
Megan looked
