“Wait.”
She vaguely detected a deep male voice calling out to her when her right foot cleared the final step. She didn’t dare look back. Her breath came in labored gasps as she rushed in the direction that she gauged the gate to be. Just a few more feet. Almost there.
His heavy footsteps echoed along the porch behind her. He was following her.
“Stop. I have your dog.”
At first, her mind didn’t register what he said. Every single thought focused on escaping. She bolted toward the beach, but she could hear her pursuer steadily gaining on her.
Faith reached for the latch on the gate when a strong hand clamped down on her shoulder. The momentum of his body slamming into hers sent them both sprawling along the dew-covered grass. It took a few seconds to drag air into her lungs and then she was kicking and punching him, fighting with everything she had, but her strength was no match for his.
“No!” she screamed as loud as she could, hoping someone would hear and come to her aid.
The stranger moved to a kneeling position, caught her flailing hands together in one of his, and brought them up over her head. “Stop that. I’m not going to hurt you.” When she finally stopped struggling, he let her go and got to his feet.
“See? I mean you no harm,” he said. Faith opened her eyes and stared at him for the first time. From her position lying flat on her back, he seemed incredibly tall.
She ignored the hand he held out to her. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“I told you, I have your dog.”
“What are you talking about? My dog is inside my house. How can you have him?” She sat up slowly, rubbing her wrists where he’d held them. In the darkness, she couldn’t tell much from his expression.
“Well, his name tag says he’s Ollie and that he lives here.”
He knew her dog’s name. While her brain struggled to make sense of it, barking coming from the front porch seemed to confirm his story. Yet Ollie was scared of his shadow. He would never willingly go to a stranger.
“Ollie, it’s okay, boy. Come here.” The little Pug bounded around the corner of the house and into her arms.
“Satisfied?” The stranger sounded amused. Faith got to her feet and put some distance between them, an impossible habit to break no matter how hard she tried. Another gift from him.
Although she couldn’t remember a single thing about the actual attack that had taken place in Austin, she knew it had been brutal. When the EMTs brought her to the hospital, the doctor who treated her told her it had been so violent her mind had simply wiped away all traces of the incident as a coping mechanism. In spite of all her doctor’s reassurances, her memory of the attack and what her life had been like before it remained locked away in her head.
She knew her attacker had murdered two people that night. Her friend Rachel Jennings and Rachel’s father, Carl, had paid the ultimate price with their lives. Faith had given up a lot to this nightmare as well. She had nothing left to give except for her life and he seemed determined to take that from her as well.
She brushed off her jeans while Ollie wriggled in her arms and licked her nose. She could only imagine what this man must be thinking after their hot-pursuit chase. “Yes. I’m sorry. I thought…” She stopped, realizing she couldn’t possibly tell him the truth. Most normal people would probably think she was the crazy one, and at this point, she was beginning to wonder if she was. She shook her head. “Never mind. Where did you find him?”
“Sitting on my back deck barking at the door and demanding to be let in. I guess he mistook my house for yours. He doesn’t appear to see too well at night. I stopped by earlier, but no one was home. I took the dog for a walk on the beach and saw your car lights.”
She smiled at his description of Ollie. At almost fourteen years old, a lot of things didn’t quite work the way they used to. Ollie’s poor eyesight was one of his latest ailments.
“Well, thank you for bringing him back. I don’t know how he got out.” Faith headed back toward her house with Ollie’s rescuer falling into step beside her, careful to keep some space between them. He’d caught the way she reacted when he got too close.
“I’ll help you find your keys. My name is JT Wyatt, by the way.” He held out his hand and she hesitated only a second before accepting it.
“Faith McKenzie.”
JT stepped up onto the porch and retrieved his flashlight from where he’d dropped it.
It took only a second to locate the keys beneath the porch swing. “Can you hold this for a second?” He handed her the light and got down on his knees to recover the keys. She caught a glimpse of faded jeans and a dark, long-sleeved turtleneck. The casual way he dressed didn’t quite fit with her first impression of him. She hadn’t pegged him as a local. More the corporate vacation type.
The light illuminated golden highlights scattered throughout his chestnut hair, which he wore swept back away from his face. A single strand fell across his forehead, dispelling the notion that he might have walked off the cover of some slick magazine.
“Here you go,” JT said as he got to his feet. She realized her first assessment of him had been correct. He was tall—well over six feet. She had to tip her head back just to look him in the eyes. They were a magnificent shade of blue that reminded her of the sky on a summer day.
Faith tamped down her wayward thoughts. “Thank you.”
He grinned at her. “No problem. I’m just glad I was home when Ollie showed up. I’d hate to think of him roaming around the beach on his own. October nights here can get pretty cold.”
When JT handed her the keys, his fingers brushed against hers, sending an unwelcome jolt of awareness surging through her, and she instinctively took a step back. His gaze narrowed just a fraction as he watched her, no doubt witnessing all her anxiety. Faith turned away and unlocked the door while praying he wouldn’t ask the questions she’d seen in his eyes.
“Looks like you have a secret admirer.”
Immediately her heart leaped to her throat and she turned back to him. “Excuse me?”
JT pointed the flashlight at something just beyond the door. “Someone left you flowers.”
A dozen red roses had been deliberately placed on the porch railing.
Faith struggled not to fall apart. In spite of what she’d hoped, she realized the call earlier hadn’t been an accident. He wanted her to find the roses when she returned, but she had been too scared and intent on escaping her would-be attacker to see them right away.
This was his subtle little reminder he could find her wherever she went. He enjoyed toying with her. The way a cat toyed with a mouse before devouring it.
“I take it you weren’t expecting those.” JT continued to watch her expression carefully.
“No.”
He took the flashlight and went over to examine the flowers. Nothing unusual about the dozen red roses in a cut-glass vase except for their purpose. They were part of his deadly game.
“They were purchased at the local florist here on the island. There’s a card attached.” JT held it out to her.
She closed her eyes and tried to capture the faintest memory. There had once been a time when she’d loved red roses. Something had changed. The memory disappeared before she could grasp it. Had it been real?
When she opened her eyes, she realized JT still held the note. She couldn’t bring herself to take it from him. Read the words aloud. Relive the terror again. When she shook her head, he placed the note back in its holder. “You should probably get them inside anyway. They’ll be ruined by morning.”
She shook off her uneasiness with difficulty. “Yes, you’re right. Thank you.” Faith took the roses from him even though she couldn’t bear the sight of them. She’d throw them in the trash as soon as JT left.
“If you’d like, I could come inside and take a look around. Just to ease your mind.”
Her hand stilled on the door. She hesitated. She didn’t know what to trust anymore, including he
r own judgment. She should refuse JT’s offer outright. Thank him for his kindness and send him on his way.
“That’s very kind of you, but I don’t think so.”
When he stepped closer, her back hit the door and he stopped. “You’re obviously frightened. I can check things out to make sure nothing’s out of place and then I’ll be on my way. If you want, you can wait out here until I’m finished. I promise I don’t have any ulterior motives,” JT added with a hint of a smile.
She knew she was being ridiculous. He only wanted to help. After all, he’d taken the time to bring Ollie home when the dog had wandered onto his back deck. JT seemed genuinely concerned about her well-being, and at some point in her life she needed to learn to trust someone if she wanted to live long enough to discover her attacker’s identity.
Through every single one of the moves, she’d prayed for God’s help. At times, it seemed as if He wasn’t in the answering mood when it came to her prayers. At one of the church services she’d attended once, she remembered the pastor saying that God didn’t always choose to answer prayers in the way we would like Him to, but He always answered them in the best way for us. Had God sent a total stranger into her life as an answer to her prayer?
Trust Me. The words echoed through her thoughts. Trust was a hard thing for Faith to give freely, but she needed to try.
“Okay,” she said at last. “Thank you. I’d really like that.” She stepped aside and let JT pass through.
Faith flipped on the lights. She set the roses on the table by the door and waited with Ollie while JT searched through each room of her house.
“Here’s your problem,” he called out from the kitchen. When she followed him to the room, he pointed to Ollie’s pet door. “You forgot to lock it in place. The little guy probably figured out how to open it.”
An unbelievable sense of relief soaked into every fiber of her body. “Oh, I’m so relieved. For a second, I thought…”
“That you had an intruder?” JT finished for her.
He obviously thought she’d overreacted. He had no way of knowing what she’d been through in her life to warrant such a response.
“Yes,” she admitted and felt foolish. “I’ve only been here on the island a month. I guess I’m still getting used to living out here. Especially so far away from town.”
“I see. Well, you don’t have anything to worry about living here alone. This is one of the safest places to live in Maine. We rarely have anything more than the occasional high school prank.”
So he was a local. This surprised her. “You live here?”
JT nodded. “Yes. I’m restoring the house down the beach from you.” He was a carpenter. That explained the healthy tan. Still, it didn’t quite fit her first impression of him.
JT had a funny little grin on his face and she realized she’d been staring again. “Well, thank you for rescuing Ollie,” she said to cover up her embarrassment.
“No problem. I kind of admire the little guy’s spunk.” He reached down and scratched Ollie’s ears, and the dog rewarded him with a lick on his hand.
Faith laughed warmly. “I think you’ve made a new friend. Ollie loves having his ears scratched.”
When JT straightened, he looked right into her eyes and her heart did a little flip. He was an incredibly attractive man, yet she wondered if he even realized it.
He glanced away and she could breathe normally once more.
“You know, I remember this house. I came here a lot as a kid. My mom and the previous owners were friends. As I recall, Mom brought my sister and me over a couple of times a week for a visit. Liz and I used to explore the house while my mom and Evie Fitzgerald talked.” He sighed fondly. “I remember Mrs. Fitzgerald used to make this mean chocolate cake and she’d give my sister and me each a huge slice. We would end up with a sugar rush for hours after. It drove our mom crazy.”
She smiled as she listened to him reminisce about his family. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had such a simple conversation with anyone without looking for ulterior motives. It felt nice. “I can imagine. Are you and your sister still close?” Ollie scratched at her leg, his little signal he wanted her to hold him. She scooped the dog up in her arms.
“Oh, yes.” He sounded amused. “Sometimes a little too close. Liz is happily married and determined that everyone around her should be as well. She’s constantly trying to set me up on blind dates,” he added with a shake of his head.
Faith found herself unexpectedly drawn to him. She liked the way his eyes lit up when he talked about his sister. It must be an incredible blessing to have someone to care about you in such a way. She’d been on her own for a long time and she’d never really known the love of a family. Since moving to Hope Island, her interactions with others had been limited to the cashier at the local grocery store and the occasional hello from the postal employee who sorted the mail.
“Actually, that sounds pretty nice.” She stole a sideways glance at him and found him watching her with a sympathetic look on his face. When had she gotten so bad at covering up her feelings?
“Yes, I guess it is. As much as I tease my sister about being a mother hen, it’s nice having her close. She and her husband, Sam, and my niece Ellie live here on the island as well, so I get to see them a lot.” He hesitated. “I take it you don’t have any family close by?”
Faith struggled against feelings of loneliness. She hated being completely alone with no one to talk to about her problems and terrified of something she couldn’t remember.
Before she could come up with an answer, JT held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked and it’s none of my business. Here I am talking about Liz being nosy.” He chuckled. “Blame it on the detective in me. I guess we’re always searching for answers.”
Faith did her best not to react to the news that he was a cop. After what happened in Austin and the way the detectives had treated her, she had stopped trusting in the police for help.
“You know, we can keep doing this all night,” he said softly, interrupting her troubled thoughts.
She swallowed hard. “Doing what?” But she knew.
His expression gave nothing away. “Making polite conversation while we ignore what we should be talking about. Like who you really thought was following you tonight.”
Faith couldn’t hold his gaze.
“I know you’re scared of someone. Who’s following you, Faith?”
He had no idea the dark secrets her mind had locked away because they were just too ghastly for her to remember. “I can’t. I’m sorry, you don’t understand.”
A single muscle worked along his jawline. Evidence enough he didn’t like her answer. “Then help me understand. I take it this isn’t the first time this has happened?”
She took her time answering. “No, it isn’t. But it’s my problem and I know what I’m doing.”
That look on his face said that he didn’t believe her, and she couldn’t blame him. After all, the way she’d reacted tonight wasn’t the normal behavior of someone who had things completely under control.
“I suppose you’re right. It’s not my place to—” Before he could finish the sentence, her cell phone chirped to life on the kitchen counter where she’d left it earlier. Suddenly, she couldn’t move. “Don’t you think you should answer it?” JT asked when she made no attempt to do so. “It might be important.” She read every single one of the questions in his eyes. She knew them all by heart.
After the third unanswered ring, JT picked up her cell phone and handed it to her, forcing her hand.
The caller ID registered “Unknown,” just as it always did. Faith wanted to throw the phone as far away as she could, but if it were truly him, it wouldn’t matter if she didn’t answer. He would just keep calling…or worse.
It took everything inside her to accept JT’s challenge without falling apart. “Yes. Yes, of course you’re right.” Her hands shook as she hit the talk button and listened to the familiar stan
za of the old love song, “I’ll Be Seeing You.”
She murmured something to JT—some excuse—she wasn’t sure what. Somehow, Faith managed to draw air into her lungs. Put one foot in front of the other. She needed distance between herself and the man watching her every move, seeing too much. If she wanted to stay alive, she couldn’t fall apart. If she stayed in the same room with JT, she would.
Faith closed the door to the great room and leaned against it. “Please, please, just leave me alone,” she whispered frantically. “I don’t remember anything. I can’t hurt you.” The sound of a receiver slammed into its cradle was her only answer. She pushed away from the door and sank down to the sofa. Tears sprang easily to her eyes and she rubbed her hand over them.
She was so tired of fighting this battle alone.
“Is something wrong?” JT asked quietly from the doorway. She hadn’t even heard him come in.
Faith rose to her feet and moved away before he could spot the tears. “No, I’m fine. It’s…nothing.”
“Then why are you crying?”
“I’m not—” She couldn’t go on when he came over to where she stood and stopped inches away. JT touched his finger gently to her cheek and held up the proof for her to see.
“Who was that on the phone just now? What’s really going on here, Faith?” The gentleness in his tone made it next to impossible to remain strong. It would be so nice to be able to lean on someone besides herself for a change. Remember Austin. Remember how the police treated you there.
She shook her head. “It was just a wrong number.”
“That’s not the truth, is it? Tell me what’s going on in your life. I promise you can trust me.”
She’d give anything to believe him, but she couldn’t. Two people were dead already because of her, and she was no closer to learning the name of the person responsible for their murders now than on the night of the attack. Even if she did trust JT, she’d be putting his life in jeopardy by doing so. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”
Love Inspired Suspense June 2014 Bundle 2 of 2: Forced AllianceOut for JusticeNo Place to Run Page 42