“He isn’t going to fight the bear, is he?” Megan’s voice sounded faint over the loud noise coming from his German shepherd.
“No. Unless I give him the command, Shep will stay put.” A minute later, the bear ambled back into the denser vegetation. Shep continued to yelp and growl until Luke said, “Shep, stop.”
Silence reigned almost instantly.
“I have a dog. She isn’t nearly trained as well as Shep. Oh, no!”
Luke spun around and faced Megan whose hand covered her mouth, her eyes round. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know how long I’ve been gone. Lady’s been alone—possibly for days. What day is it?”
“Friday.”
Her tensed shoulders sagged. “Good. That means I’ve only been gone a day.”
“You’ve remembered more of what happened?”
The words had just come out of her mouth. Then she recalled why. “Not much but Thursday was the day I was going to run errands. I need to get home. She’s probably worried where I am.”
“I agree we should leave, but I still think you need to go to the police first. I know the police chief in Sweetwater City.”
She shook her head. “First, I want to get Lady. I know I’m in danger if the two kidnappers discover I’m alive, but my poodle is like a member of my family.”
“Lady is a poodle? This isn’t the dog you talked about earlier?”
“No. I named my poodle after my German shepherd I had years ago.”
“I’ll pack up the car before the bear gets the idea to return. We’ll go by your house and pick up Lady and whatever else you’ll need for the next week or so. It’s probably not a good idea for you to stay at your place until we figure out what’s going on.” We had slipped out before he realized it. He’d saved her, and he had no intention of those two thugs finding her and completing the job.
“I’m still not sure about going to the police station.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, but every time you mention the police, my stomach tightens.”
“I’ve worked closely with Chief Franklin several times on search and rescues.” Could one of his officers be involved in what happened to Megan? He didn’t want to believe that. Joe Franklin was dedicated to his job to the point he went above and beyond in every situation Luke had dealt with him. “How about I have the police chief meet us somewhere privately? He could search quietly to see where your car was left. That might help you remember what happened.”
“That would probably be okay. What can I do to help you pack your car?” She gestured toward the camping equipment around her. Something was wrong. She examined her right hand.
“Is something wrong?”
“I lost my ring.” She stared at her middle finger. “I always wear it.” Glancing in the direction of the river, she blinked the tears forming from her eyes. “I must have lost it in the water. I always take it off when I go swimming.”
“I didn’t notice one when I was carrying you.”
“It was my mother’s.”
“Sit. It won’t take me long to dismantle the tent and pack up everything.”
“But I can help—”
“Megan, you went through a traumatic experience an hour ago. Rest when you can.” The only reason he would take her to her house was the fact the bad guys thought they had killed her. They wouldn’t be looking for her. He would call Chief Franklin after that. Until she remembered what had happened over the past twenty-four hours, she wouldn’t be safe.
She took her cup to the stove and poured more coffee into it. Then she sat in her camping chair. Color returned to her face, but worry was still visible in her eyes. He was concerned for her, too. Sweetwater City was a quiet town of forty thousand. Several times the police chief had mentioned the low crime rate, so what had Megan stumbled into?
Ten minutes later, he had all his belongings packed. He slung his backpack over his shoulders then picked up the tent. “I won’t be gone long.” He started in the direction of his car.
“Wait. What can I carry? I’ll follow you.”
He stopped and glanced back at her. “Shep, stay. Guard. I’ll be back in a few minutes, Megan.”
Despite the cut on the bottom of his foot hurting, he jogged down the narrow path to his SUV. Shep would protect her, but Luke didn’t want to be gone long. As he quickly loaded his car and returned to the camp, he made a decision he hoped Megan would accept. He took his job as a rescuer seriously. He would never let another person down again. The one time he failed his wife, she’d died because he couldn’t reach her in time. Her family didn’t blame him, but he did.
As he emerged into the small clearing, Megan’s gaze was trained on Shep nearby. “I think we—”
She gasped as she twisted toward him. “Shep didn’t indicate you were coming. How could he tell it was you?”
“My scent. We’re a team. Have been for five years. Are you ready to leave?”
She nodded. “What do you want me to take?”
“What you’re sitting on. I can get the rest.”
She opened her mouth to say something. Instead, she snapped it closed and folded up her chair while he picked up the duffel bag holding the stove, the cooking dishes, and the utensils. After he hefted the box of food, he headed toward his chair.
Megan moved in his path and blocked him, her chin tilted up. “I can manage both yours and mine.”
“Okay.” Chuckling, he went around her and led the way to the SUV with Megan and Shep following.
After he loaded the rest of the car, he put Shep into his kennel tied down in the cargo area. Megan slipped into the passenger seat, a long sigh escaping her lips as he slammed the rear door closed.
“I don’t remember much of the past twenty-four hours except getting into my car and backing out of my driveway, but I’m exhausted,” she said as he climbed into the driver’s seat. “I feel like I’ve run a marathon in record time.”
“Near death situations can do that to you.” Luke started the engine then pulled out onto the dirt road. “What kind of job do you have? Maybe your errands had something to do with that.”
“I’m an elementary teacher at the main school campus for Sweetwater City where my building is as well as a middle and high school one and the administration building. I’ve been there several times this summer, but I can’t remember going there yesterday or when I was taken.”
“Do you live alone?”
“Yes, in my family home. It’s just Lady and me since my mother died last year.”
“Would there be anyone who would miss you if you were gone for any length of time?” Luke turned onto the two-lane highway leading to her town.
“I had a sister who died as a child, and my father left years ago. He cut off all ties with us. I have no close relatives.”
“Friends? People you work with?”
“Possibly my neighbors, like Louise next door. She seems to know everything on the block. Another is a teacher I work with. Sally might notice if I was unexpectedly gone for several days, but I doubt she would if it was only one. Another good friend I talk with a lot is in Europe with her husband.”
“And you’re sure you were running errands yesterday?”
“I think so, but truthfully, when I’m on vacation, the days run together for me. Now if it was during the school year, I would know exactly. I have a set routine but purposefully avoid one when I’m not teaching. That’s the rebel in me.” Megan sent him a smile and relaxed back against the headrest.
“I know what you mean. When I retired from my job on Wall Street, it was a cultural shock to my system. Life on a horse farm and work in the financial district are totally different.”
“You’re retired? You look about thirty.”
He chuckled. “I’m thirty-seven, and I’ve been retired from Wall Street since I was thirty-three.” Even before his wife had died and everything fell apart, consuming wealth had dominated too much of his life.
“What made you buy a horse farm?”
“I didn’t. It’s been in my family for decades, handed down from one generation to the next. My parents retired to Florida and turned it over to my sister and me. We run it together. But enough about me. What made you become a teacher?”
“A lot of teachers in my family. My mother loved being one. But the real reason is that I enjoy working with children and helping them navigate through this world.”
He and his wife, Rochelle, had wanted kids, but their busy lives had forced them to postpone the wish until “life settled down,” which never seemed to happen. He shook the memory from his mind. He needed to remain focused on Megan. She was in trouble.
As he neared the outskirts of Sweetwater City, Megan’s demeanor changed. For a while when they talked about their work, she had relaxed. Now she sat up straight, her shoulders tensed, her cheeks pale. She chewed on the side of her bottom lip that hadn’t gotten cut and clenched her hands in her lap.
He slanted her a glance. “You’ll be okay. I’ll be there with you.”
* * *
Although Luke’s presence reassured her that she wouldn’t be alone, Megan couldn’t stamp down the fear oozing through her body. She remembered the moment when she realized the two kidnappers were going to throw her off that high bridge. No matter what she did, she wasn’t able to fight them, not with her legs and arms shackled to her sides. The heavy chains had weighed her down, and she had plunged to the bottom of the river to die. And she couldn’t even recall why.
That was when she’d twisted and done whatever she could while she called out to the Lord. The captor she’d gotten a look at had laughed and punched her. She touched the sore left side of her face and wondered if she would have a bruise.
But she was here now. God sent her a rescuer. Maybe the two men didn’t have a reason to abduct her other than to terrorize her. There were people like that in the world. They could have been driving through the town, spotted her, and taken her on impulse. By now, they might be out of the state. Maybe Luke was right, and she should report it to the police. But the thought churned her stomach.
She ignored that reaction. “You’re right about reporting it to the police. I was letting fear take over.” Megan flexed her fingers and shook them to release the tension. Luke would be with her. She would be all right.
“Perfectly understandable. We’ll go to your house first, so you can get your dog. I’ll call Chief Franklin to come over then.”
She smiled. “That sounds good, especially the part about making sure Lady is all right.”
“That’s how I would feel concerning Shep. How old is Lady?”
“Three. And she thinks she runs the house. She’s very smart. She drove me crazy because she wanted to go outside all the time. I finally put in a doggie door. She’s small so I was able to get one that a person couldn’t crawl through.”
“Did you ever take her to an obedience school?”
Megan laughed. “Yes, and she failed the course. That was when she was around a year old. Lady is stubborn about a couple of things, but otherwise she’s been a good dog. She loves people.”
“I’ll need directions to your place.”
“Sure. Stay on this road for three stoplights and then turn left onto Pine. Go two miles and take a right onto Lakeshore Drive. My house is the third on the left.” She couldn’t wait until she held Lady. Her dog always knew when something was wrong and had a way of centering Megan so she could move forward. “Although I live on Lakeshore Drive, you have to go almost two more miles before you come to the small lake. If I want to jog around it, I have to drive my car to the park near it and start from there.”
“Do you jog a lot?” Luke headed down Pine.
“About once a year, when we jog around the lake to raise money for the school where I teach.” The prospects of seeing the haven she’d lived in all her life lent lightness to her reply. “In my defense, I do exercise, but I prefer biking.”
When Luke turned onto Lakeshore Drive, Megan shifted her attention in the direction of her house as she sat forward filled with eagerness.
She gasped at the burnt remnants of what used to be her home.
Chapter Three
Stunned, Luke gripped his steering wheel and stared at the destroyed structure with the brick fireplace still standing tall while the walls were burned in many places to the foundation.
Megan put her hand on the handle and pushed the door open.
“Don’t!”
She glanced over her shoulder at Luke, devastation carved into her facial features from her furrowed brow to the anguish in her eyes. “I have to find Lady. She can’t be—” Her words came to a halt as tears ran down her cheeks.
“It’s too dangerous. I’ll go look for Lady. Stay in the car where no one can see you. My windows are dark, but I’d get down on the floor to be on the safe side.”
After pushing the seat as far back as she could, Megan scrunched down on the floorboard in front of it. “She’s a white miniature poodle. Why would someone burn my home down?”
“It looks like it was done yesterday. The yellow tape is up, and I don’t see any smoke coming from the rubble.” He climbed from his vehicle. “I’m locking the doors. If someone tries to get in, honk. I’m letting Shep out in the back. If a person comes near, he’ll bark.”
At the rear of his SUV, Luke opened Shep’s kennel. His German shepherd jumped out, so he could hop into the front. After giving his dog the command to guard, Luke strode with a slight limp toward the ruins, wanting to find out how the fire started and when. He could call Chief Franklin, but he wasn’t sure bringing attention to the fact Megan was with him would be the right thing to do. There were so many unanswered questions about what was going on, especially in light of her house being burned down. And he now couldn’t totally dismiss Megan’s initial reaction of being frightened when he mentioned the police. His gut instinct demanded he wait until he could take Megan somewhere safe.
As Luke rounded the side of the house, he noticed an older woman in her backyard leaning against the fence. He covered the distance to her. “I’m Luke, a friend of Megan’s from out of town.”
She cupped her ear. “I’m a little hard of hearing. What’s your name?”
Luke repeated in a loud voice what he’d told her a moment ago. “I’m shocked to see her place is gone. What happened here?”
“I’m Louise. I can’t believe she’s dead.”
“Dead? I didn’t see anything in the news about her dying.”
Megan’s next-door neighbor shook her head. “It was awful. I was fixin’ to go to bed when I saw her house engulfed in flames.” She pointed at a side window on her place. “I called the fire department, but they were already on the way. Another neighbor or Megan must have notified them, too.”
Worried about Megan in his car by herself, Luke stamped down his impatience and asked, “What makes you think Megan’s dead?”
The gray-haired woman’s eyes grew saucer wide. “Because the firefighters found a dead body in there.” She waved her hand toward the destruction. “Near the front door. Megan had been so close to saving herself.”
“How about Lady? Did they find her?”
“No.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “Such a sweet dog. They still might, though. There was a lot of smoldering debris. It’s just now cooling down. The police and firefighters couldn’t really search through the rubble. They’ll be here in an hour or two. I’m making sure no one disturbs the place. When I saw Chief Franklin earlier this morning, I told him I would. I look after my neighbors.”
“Where’s the dead body now?”
“The firefighters removed it, and the police took it away. Charred beyond recognition. Such a beautiful woman. So sad.”
“How do they know it was Megan?”
“There was a ring on her hand that I recognized was hers. It was her mother’s. When she died last year, Megan started wearing it to keep a part of her mom close to her.”
Luke knew it would take more than that
to identify the body as Megan’s. But letting people think it was Megan in her house might give them time to figure out what was going on. “Do you mind if I look around? Maybe Lady got out of the home in time. Megan told me she’d had a doggie door installed.”
Louise cocked her head. “You know you’re right. I didn’t think about that. Not surprised I didn’t. I was so upset and up most of the night because of the fire.”
“I know Megan would want me to take Lady and care for her.”
“How sweet. I’d take her except that I have two cats that don’t care for any dog, especially Lady.”
“I understand.” Luke started for the fenced backyard. If Lady made it outside in time, she would probably be hiding somewhere there if she didn’t make a getaway while the gate was open.
He stood a few feet from the patio. “Lady,” he called several times while he visually swept the area. There was only one place where it would be good for Lady to hide. He marched across the grass to the rear along the chain-link fence where three large, lush bushes grew. After kneeling on the ground, he leaned down and spied a fluff of white fur in the midst of the green foliage.
Luke grabbed a doggie treat from his pocket that he carried for Shep and slid his hand under the brush. “Lady, it’s yours.” He held it up and shook it then placed it back on the dirt. When the poodle crawled forward, he left his hand nearby. As Lady enjoyed the beef delight, he stroked her. She finished, and he added, “Want another, Lady?” He laid it on the grass in front of him. “Come and get it.”
Slowly the poodle inched closer. Black streaks covered her white fur on the sides. Had she tried to go back inside after everyone left? He gently lifted her front paw and saw the reddened pad. He scooped up the fluffy ball into his arms. The dog’s body shook against him. “You’re safe, Lady.” Then he inspected the rest of her feet. Relieved she wasn’t injured badly and only on one paw, he cradled her and rose.
Before heading to his SUV, he continued his trek around the house, checking the debris as he made his way to his car. He knocked on the front passenger side window to alert Megan to his presence. She stared up at him with wide eyes, but when she saw him and then Lady, a smile erased all fear from her expression.
Hunted Page 2