Running Scared

by Shirlee McCoy

“Then let’s go.” He offered a hand, and she accepted, allowing his support as he helped her from the car. His arm slid around her waist, and he positioned her so that her back was to his chest, his body shielding hers from the street. His warmth enveloped her. His scent surrounded her. Masculine and strong and so compelling she wanted to lean into it, lean into him.

  Her heart slammed against her chest as she and Kane moved in tandem up the driveway, onto the porch and into the house. As soon as they crossed the threshold, Kane closed the door, then took a step away. “You’re not going anywhere tonight, are you?”

  “Of course she’s not, and if she tries, I’m going to hog-tie her like I used to do with my kids when they were being ornery.” Edith hovered in the threshold of the living room, her face creased with concern.

  “You did not hog-tie your children,” Maggie responded, more because it was expected than because she wanted to engage in conversation.

  “No, but I will hog-tie you, so don’t tempt me to do it. You go up to that apartment, and you stay there until the sun is up.”

  “I will. Good night, Edith.”

  “Good night, my dear.” Edith disappeared back into the living room, and Maggie started up the stairs, not even bothering to tell Kane not to follow. He would. She knew it, and the knowledge filled her with warmth.

  He put his hand on hers as she unlocked the door, stopping her before she opened it. “Let me. Just in case.”

  “In case what? Derrick would have had to bypass a deputy, climb a two-story building and open a locked window to get in there.” But Maggie stepped aside anyway, letting Kane open the door and step into the apartment ahead of her.

  “Mind if I take a look down the hall?” he asked, already moving in that direction.

  “Kane, I really don’t think this is necessary.” She followed him into her room, nearly walking into his back when he stopped to survey the small, sparsely furnished area. “See? There’s nowhere for anyone to hide.”

  “How about a closet?”

  “I use the wardrobe.” She gestured to the large oak wardrobe that Edith had placed against the far wall.

  “Do you mind?”

  She shook her head, and Kane opened the wardrobe, glancing inside as if he really thought Derrick might have managed to enter Maggie’s house and hide there.

  “You can check under the bed, too, if you want,” Maggie said, and Kane shot a quick grin in her direction.

  “I planned on it. I figured that would save you some time later.”

  “Later?”

  “Yeah. When it’s quiet and late, and you can’t sleep, you may start wondering if Lyons somehow snuck in. If I check now, you won’t have to later.” He made a show of checking under the bed, then stepped past Maggie and back out into the hall.

  She followed him to the bathroom, standing in the doorway as he checked behind the shower curtain.

  “That’s it. Looks like the apartment is clear.” He walked back out into the living room.

  “Did you really think it wouldn’t be?”

  “No, but acting like I did gave me a good excuse to spend a little time alone with you.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her close. She could feel his warmth, smell the spicy scent of his aftershave.

  “If that’s what you wanted, you could have just said so.”

  “If I had, you would have sent me on my way, and then I couldn’t have done this.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Or this.” Dropped another one on her cheek. “Or this.” The last landed on the corner of her mouth, and Maggie’s pulse leaped.

  “So you were just plotting to steal kisses?” Her voice was raspy with longing, and she knew she should step out of his arms, refuse what she was feeling.

  But being with Kane felt more right than anything had in a very long time, and she stayed where she was.

  “I’m not stealing. I’m giving. Consider them a thank-you. I had a great time with you tonight, Maggie. My whole family did,” he murmured, his lips brushing the tender flesh behind her ear.

  She shivered, leaning in close, giving in to the mo ment.

  “I had a great time with all of you, too.”

  “Good, because I’d like to repeat the experience many times in the future.”

  “Your parents will be going home soon.”

  “True, and I’ll miss them, but I don’t think we need them around to have fun. Although, my father did add a little something special to the night.”

  “What’s that?”

  “He made you smell like chocolate.”

  “Chocolate?”

  “I figured it was the bag of cookies he shoved in your coat pocket. But maybe it’s just you. I’ve always had a weak spot for chocolate, you know.” He smiled, cupping her face in his hands, his eyes the soft green of distant mountains, the tenderness in his gaze so real that Maggie could feel it to the very depth of her soul.

  It made her weak and vulnerable and all the things she knew she didn’t want to be, but she still didn’t step out of his arms. “Kane… I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

  “Funny, I was just thinking what a great idea it is.” His lips brushed the corner of her mouth again, hesitated there.

  Maybe he was waiting for Maggie to move away.

  Maybe he was giving her a chance to prove what a bad idea it really was.

  But she didn’t. Couldn’t. His lips touched hers sweetly, gently, as if he were afraid of scaring her away. Afraid to end what had barely begun.

  It wasn’t their first kiss, but the emotion behind it cut a knife through Maggie’s heart, left it raw and wounded and open.

  Tears slid down her cheeks, but she didn’t care; she couldn’t care about anything but Kane and the power of his embrace.

  His hands slipped from her face, rested on her shoulders as he looked down into her eyes.

  “I’ve made you cry again.” He brushed a tear away with his thumb, kissed the spot where it had been. “Why?”

  “Maybe because when I’m with you I feel like the person I’ve always wanted to be.” Her voice broke, and Kane pulled her into his arms, offering a hug that gave everything and demanded nothing.

  “You’ve always been that person, Maggie. It just took you a while to find her.” He stepped back again, his face tight with emotion. “I need to go. Be careful tomorrow, Maggie. Don’t take any chances when you go out.”

  “I won’t.” Somehow she managed to speak, to walk with Kane as he opened the door and stepped out of the apartment.

  And somehow she managed to say goodbye, to act as if her entire world hadn’t just shifted, as if her focus hadn’t just completely changed.

  She’d spent years living her life, never once allowing herself to dream of all the things she’d given up on when she was too young and foolish to realize how important they were.

  Marriage, kids, Christmases with noise and laughter, Thanksgivings around large tables filled to capacity. Those were the things she’d wanted before she’d decided that a party life would be more fun.

  She closed the door, then leaned her back against it as if locking Kane out could change the way he’d made her feel.

  “What am I going to do, Lord? What should I do?” she prayed as she moved away from the door.

  She wanted an answer, maybe an audible voice as God provided clear direction, but she got nothing.

  “Well, at least I have cookies.” She pulled the bag from her pocket and bit into her fifth cookie of the day. It tasted like chalk in her mouth, and she shoved half of it back in the bag.

  Chocolate could cure a lot of ills, but it couldn’t find Derrick and put him in jail, and it couldn’t help Maggie figure out what was going on between herself and Kane.

  What was going on?

  She knew what was going on. Kane had stepped over the line from friendship into something more, and she’d stepped over it with him. Willingly. Happily.

  And she should regret it, but she didn’t.

  Did she?

>   She was too tired to know, too scared, too worried about what tomorrow would bring. Derrick was in Deer Park, and eventually he’d do what he’d come to do.

  All she should be thinking about, all she should be worried about was surviving.

  SIXTEEN

  Maggie had loved college from the day she’d gotten up the nerve to enroll and walk onto the Eastern Washington State University campus. Each class was an accomplishment, and every credit she earned was a step closer to her goal of obtaining a teaching degree. With finals coming up, she couldn’t afford to be distracted or overtired, but she was both as she sat through her Curriculum and the Elementary Classroom course.

  She stifled a yawn as the professor dismissed class, then she stood with the rest of the students. They poured out into the hall, but Maggie followed more slowly. She’d stayed in her apartment all day, then hurried to her car an hour before class, her heart pounding and her stomach churning with fear. Still, she hadn’t actually expected Derrick to be waiting for her outside Edith’s house, not with a patrol car stationed in front of the house.

  No. He’d wait until she wasn’t expecting it. Wait until he was sure he wouldn’t be caught and stopped. Just as Kane had said.

  Outside, darkness had descended, and Maggie hesitated at the door of the humanities building. There were still plenty of people milling around, but that wasn’t as comforting as Maggie wanted it to be. For all she knew, Derrick was one of the people out there. For all she knew, he was waiting near her car, hoping for an opportunity to drag her away.

  And she knew what would happen if he did.

  She knew how it would end.

  Derrick didn’t make idle threats. She’d known that before Kane had told her about the three women who’d died after dating Derrick. She’d known it, but she’d hoped she was wrong. Hoped that maybe he really had forgotten her and moved on.

  She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the sheriff’s office. Maybe something had happened in the last few hours. Maybe they’d tracked down Derrick and thrown him in jail.

  It took her less than five minutes to confirm what she’d already known. Derrick was still on the loose. The Miami police had contacted several small airports in the area, and they suspected that Derrick had hired a private plane to carry him across the country.

  They were a day late and a dollar short with the information. Not that knowing it any sooner would have changed things. The die had been cast the day Maggie went to the sheriff with information about Eli. Nothing could have changed what had happened since then.

  She sighed, pushing open the door and stepping into the cold night, her cell phone still clutched in her hand. The area was well lit, and she jogged to her car and fumbled with her keys, shaking as she got in and slammed the door shut again.

  The cell phone rang as she shoved the keys into the ignition, and Maggie screamed, dropping the phone and then scrambling to pick it up again.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, it’s me.”

  Maggie knew the warm baritone, could picture Kane standing in his living room, a fire crackling behind him. “Kane. I didn’t realize you had my cell phone number.”

  “Is that the same as, ‘I wish you didn’t have my cell phone number’?” he asked, and Maggie could hear the smile in his voice. She’d spent the better part of twenty-four hours trying to put Kane out of her mind, trying to forget the way she’d felt when she’d been in his arms.

  She’d failed, and her skipping, dancing heart was proof of it. “No, I’m just surprised.”

  “I called Edith, and she gave me the number. I wanted to check in and see if you were still planning to come for dinner tonight.”

  “I’ll be there. I’m just going to go back to my place and grab the ice cream Edith picked up for me earlier.”

  “Just be careful, Maggie. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “That makes two of us.” She tried to laugh, but it came out flat and hard.

  “Your class is over, right?”

  “Yes, I’m leaving now.”

  “Call security. Ask for an escort to your car.”

  “I’m already in my car. I’ll be home in a half hour, and at your place by six.”

  “You walked to your car without an escort?”

  “The same way I do every night.”

  “But this isn’t every night, Maggie. This is a night when you know that your ex-boyfriend is coming after you.” He was right, of course, but Maggie wasn’t sure she appreciated the hard edge to his voice.

  “I’m an adult, Kane. I think I’m aware of the kind of trouble I’m in.”

  “Then promise me you won’t go anywhere without an escort from now on.”

  Promise?

  It seemed so simple, but Maggie didn’t believe in making promises she couldn’t keep, and she wasn’t sure she could keep that one. “That might be difficult. I have to live my life. No matter where Derrick is or what he’s planning.”

  “Putting your life on hold for a few days makes more sense than losing it.”

  “I’m not planning to lose it.”

  “No, but Lyons is planning to take it. And I’m worried about you.” His tone had softened, filled with concern, and Maggie softened with it.

  “I’ll be careful. I can promise you that.”

  “Good, I’ll see you in about forty minutes.”

  “See you then.” She hung up, shoving the phone in her pocket and starting the car engine.

  She had expected a lot of things to happen when she decided to go to the sheriff with her suspicions about Eli. She’d expected she might be in the news and that Derrick might find her. She’d expected to be in danger. She’d even expected to leave Deer Park for good. What she hadn’t expected was to find something she’d given up dreaming of.

  And she had.

  If she could only allow herself to believe in it.

  You already do.

  Maybe, but she was afraid, too. Worried that if she wanted it too much, grabbed it too tightly, the dream would slip through her fingers and disappear like mist on a mountain lake.

  Whatever your plans, Lord, whatever your dreams for my life, I’m open to them. Just show me the way you want me to go. Show me the right choices to make.

  She sighed, pulling into Edith’s driveway, the darkness pressing in around the Ford as Maggie turned off the ignition. A dark sedan was parked across the street, and Edith had left the porch light on. Its golden glow should have been comforting. Instead, it cast long shadows that twisted and twined into faceless, shapeless forms.

  Was someone hiding near the edge of the porch?

  Were black eyes gleaming out at her from the darkness?

  Of course not. If someone were out there the deputy would have spotted him by now. Still, Maggie tensed, searching the shadows for movement. She saw nothing, heard nothing as she opened the door and eased out into the night. Keys clutched in her hand, she ran the few yards to the porch, shoved her keys in the lock and opened the door. The foyer was dark, the light in the living room off. Surprised, Maggie peeked into the room but, saw no sign of her landlady.

  “Edith? You around?” she called out, walking into Edith’s dining room, then her kitchen. It was too early for Edith to have retired for the night, but it was possible she’d gone out with friends. Widowed at a young age, Edith had spent years raising her children. Now that they were grown and gone, she had an active life filled with friends.

  Still, Maggie’s uneasiness didn’t leave, and she walked down a short hall to Edith’s bedroom suite. “Edith?”

  She knocked on the door. Heard nothing.

  “Okay, so she’s out for the evening. She’s out more than she’s home, so stop overreacting, get the ice cream and get ready to go to Kane’s,” Maggie said as she turned and heard something creak in the room above her head. Her room.

  Maggie froze, then backed away from Edith’s door, ears straining to hear more above the harsh beat of her heart. Another creak.

&nbs
p; A soft shuffling.

  Footsteps. Slow. Deliberate. Moving across the floor above her head.

  Maggie’s blood went cold, and she ran for the front door, her breath coming fast and hard. She needed to get out, call the police.

  She grabbed the door handle, her palm slippery against the metal as she turned it, then felt the cold sweep of winter air as it blew into the house.

  “Going somewhere, Angel?”

  The name.

  The voice.

  The life Maggie had managed to outrun for three years had finally caught up to her.

  She didn’t turn. Didn’t want to see Derrick standing at the top of the stairs, didn’t want to look into his cold, dark eyes.

  “You can keep going if you want. Keep on running, and I’ll keep on finding you. Of course, with you gone, I’ll have to spend my time with someone else. That nice landlady of yours’ll do. We’ve been having a good conversation while we waited for you to show up. It’s a shame the cop couldn’t join in, but he was otherwise engaged.”

  His words filled Maggie with dread, and she knew she had no choice but to turn around and look Derrick in the eyes.

  “Where is Edith? What did you do to her? What did you do to the deputy?”

  “Nothing permanent. Yet. The cop, he’ll live. Unless that knock on the head scrambled his brains more than it should have. Come morning, his replacement will find him trussed up like the pig he is, lying behind some bushes in the yard. Your friend? What happens to her is up to you.” He smiled, his straight white teeth gleaming in his deeply tanned face.

  “If you hurt her—”

  “What? What are you going to do? Nothing. That’s what, because you’re weak and stupid and not worth the time and the effort I put into finding you.” He spat the words out, the ugliness of them the slap in the face Maggie needed to start thinking again. Moving again.

  “I want to see her.”

  “You don’t get a say in what happens from now on, Angel. It’s all about me and what I want.”

  “What do you want?”

  “A little bit of time, that’s all. We didn’t exactly get to say goodbye when you left Miami.”

  “We said goodbye months before I actually left Florida. About five minutes after you beat me senseless.”