The Awakening (12 page)

“Okay,” Josie said.

Given her weak voice and complete lack of argument, Tanner knew Josie felt worse than she was willing to admit.

“Doc?” Tanner asked. “Is it okay for me to move her upstairs to her bedroom? She’ll be more comfortable there and I can fetch anything she needs from the kitchen.”

The doctor nodded. “Bed is definitely the best place for her, and she should stay in it awhile. I’m not sure what your role is here, Mr., er...”

“LeDoux,” Tanner said, and extended his hand to the doctor. “Tanner LeDoux. Ms. Bettencourt hired me to look into the problems she was having with vandalism.”

The doctor studied Tanner as he shook his hand. “Seems those problems just got worse.”

Vernon snorted and Tanner frowned. “Yes, sir, but that’s a situation I’m going to correct.”

“It’s not his fault,” Josie said. “I knew if someone really had it in for me, they’d escalate if I hired someone to investigate. I just didn’t expect a response this quickly. I’ll be more prepared from now on.”

The doctor didn’t look particularly happy at her response, but he must have known her well enough not to argue. He looked back at Tanner. “I’m going to hold you to your promise, young man. Josie’s father was one of my oldest friends. That makes her family.”

Tanner nodded. “You have my word. I’ll keep her safe.”

Josie blew out a breath of exasperation. “Don’t I get a say?”

“No.” All three of the men spoke at once.

She looked from one determined face to another and finally sighed. “I give up. If there’s nothing else you need to check, I’d like to go to bed now.”

She pushed herself into an upright position. Three hands reached out to her, but she waved them all away, swung her legs around and rose from the couch. “You guys can fight over who’s going to bring me aspirin and a soda. I’m going to take a long, hot bath and then climb into bed.”

Tanner watched as she disappeared up the stairs. Then he turned back to the other men. “You have to admire her spunk,” he said.

“She’s as hardheaded as her dad,” Vernon said, “and not as wise, which makes for a dangerous combination.”

The doctor clapped Vernon on the shoulder. “She’s young yet, and Franklin could be as big a fool as anyone if he decided to. The girl’s got a good head on her shoulders. She’ll be fine.”

The doctor turned and pointed a finger at Tanner. “And if she’s not, I’m paying you a visit.”

“Yes, sir,” Tanner said, and followed the doctor and Vernon to the door.

The doctor waved one hand over his shoulder and headed to his car.

“You didn’t see anyone enter the house?” Tanner asked.

“No, and there wasn’t anyone on the trail from my cabin. I couldn’t sleep and figured after that stunt last night, I’m come check on the horses. I didn’t see no light, either, but I’m not doubting your word on that.”

“I should have been better prepared,” Tanner said, mentally cursing himself.

Vernon shuffled a bit, then finally sighed.

“I assume you know how to use a weapon?” Vernon asked.

“Of course. Shotgun, rifle or pistol.”

Vernon nodded. “Don’t hesitate to use them. If anything happens to that girl, Franklin is going to come back and haunt me.”

He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and walked out the door and across the lawn in the direction of his cabin. Tanner watched him walk away, wondering if he’d ever figure the man out. He was belligerent to Josie one minute, then worried about her the next.

So many things about Emmett Vernon simply didn’t add up, but Tanner was going to keep crunching the numbers until they did.

Chapter Ten

Josie pulled on yoga pants and a T-shirt and towel-dried her damp hair. Her head still throbbed a bit, but her chest no longer ached. She supposed it had been anxiety that caused it to hurt in the first place, but she’d never felt anything like it in her life. Of course, she’d never been almost abducted from a creature out of a horror movie, either, so she supposed it was only right that she’d panicked.

She’d just walked back into her bedroom when there was a soft rapping at her door. “It’s open,” she called out as she picked up a comb and started working on her long tresses.

Tanner walked in, carrying a glass of soda and a bottle of aspirin. “The doctor said aspirin should be fine for tonight, but if they didn’t work well enough, to let him know and he’ll prescribe something stronger when you see him tomorrow.”

“I’m sure the aspirin will be fine. My head doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”

Tanner nodded. “The adrenaline rush is over. Your blood flow and heart rate are back to normal. Not as much pressure on your head.”

She put the comb back on her dresser and looked at him. “Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”

“Lots of things happen when you’re working in the swamp. I’ve been on the wrong end of trouble more than once, and I doubt it’s the last time.” He motioned to the bed. “Why don’t you take a couple of aspirins and get some rest? That’s the best thing for a head injury.”

She propped the pillows up and climbed into bed, resting her back against the pillows. Tanner crossed the room and handed her the soda, then poured a couple of aspirins into her hand. As she swallowed the aspirin, he sat on the edge of her bed and stared down at the floor for a moment.

Finally, he looked back up and said, “I’m really sorry about this. It’s all my fault. You hired me to protect you and your property, and I’ve only made things worse. I’m going to call my brothers first thing tomorrow and ask for one of them to take over your case.”

“No, you’re not!”

Tanner’s eyebrows lifted at the strength of her reply, and instantly, she felt bad. She’d been thinking only of herself, not of him.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “If you want to leave, I understand completely. You’re a tracker, not a bodyguard. But if you’re offering to leave because you think you somehow failed me, you’re wrong.”

“How can you say that? I was supposed to be tracking a vandal in the swamp. Instead, I started setting up a sting operation like I was a cop. I don’t have the training for that, and it’s something I never should have done. Look what happened.”

“What happened is we made him nervous. He’s reacting now. He’ll make a mistake.”

He raised one eyebrow. “That sounds like an interesting theory for a horse trainer.”

“I watch a lot of
Law & Order.
”

He gave her a small smile and she could tell that some of the guilt had lifted off him.

“Look,” she continued, “I knew the risks when I agreed to go into town with you tonight. And the reality is, it was going to happen now or later because I’m not going to quit. So whether he escalated tonight or two weeks from now, his response would have been the same. The difference is tonight I had you here to help.”

He stared at her for so long that her body began to tingle. Suddenly, she realized how close he was to her, separated only by thin bedding and clothing. Even more disturbing was how much she wished there was even less between them.

He reached up and brushed a lock of her hair from her eyes. As his rough fingers stroked her soft skin, her body flashed with heat. Given that it was December, she was certain it wasn’t the temperature in the room that had caused the response. He looked her directly in the eye for several seconds, and she would have sworn he was about to lean in and kiss her. Then he rose from the bed and went over to look out the window.

“I’ll lock the door before I pull it shut.” He picked up her cell phone from the dresser and handed it to her. “Keep this on your nightstand. If anything at all bothers you during the night, call me. If I don’t answer, call the police.”

“But—”

“No buts. I should never have left you waiting in the truck. I should have sent you back to town to get the sheriff. I’m not going to make the same mistakes again.”

The stubborn look on his face was a dead giveaway that she would get nowhere arguing with him.

“Try to get some rest,” he said before stepping out of the room and closing and locking the door behind him.

She stared at the closed door and sighed. Finally, she pulled her pistol out of her nightstand drawer and checked to ensure that it was loaded and ready to fire, then placed it on the nightstand next to her cell phone.

Soon, she would slide down under the covers and try to stop her whirling mind long enough to sleep. Somewhere in the house, Tanner was probably still blaming himself for everything. Truth be known, she understood how he could think that way from his perspective, but from her own, she knew there was no way she would have left him in the house alone. Not tonight and not any other.

The television remote was right there on her bed, but she didn’t pick it up. Even the most fascinating of programs couldn’t top what was happening in her own home. She rose from the bed and pulled the curtains aside, staring out into the darkness.

Someone or something was out there. Even in the cloak of darkness and separated by glass and curtains, she could feel the eyes upon her.

* * *

T
HE INTRUDER LURKED AT
the edge of the black swamp, watching the house as the lamp in Josie’s bedroom clicked off. Kidnapping hadn’t been part of the plan, but she’d been a sitting duck. It was too much temptation to resist.

If tonight didn’t put the fear of God into her, then the intruder would have to come up with another idea. A key to Josie’s house jingled in a duffel bag as the intruder lifted it from the ground.

The night’s events had accomplished two things.

* * *

J
OSIE GROUSED AND DRAGGED
her feet over breakfast and generally delayed more than any ten females he’d ever seen, but Tanner finally got her in his truck and on the way to the doctor.

“I don’t need to see the doctor,” she grumbled for at least the tenth time as he drove into town. “I don’t even have a headache.”

“I made a promise to the man. Do you want me to be branded a liar
and
a fool?”

She blew out a breath and slumped in her seat. He looked over at her and grinned.

“Have you always been this spoiled?” he asked.

She sat up straight and glared at him. “Spoiled? I’ll have you know I work my butt off. I’m no pampered princess, regardless of what some might think.”

“I didn’t say anything about working hard.”

“Then what are you insinuating?”

“That aside from Vernon, you’re used to men doing what you say.”

She frowned. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Look, I’m not trying to be ungrateful. I know all of you are worried about me and trying to do what you think is right. And I know I’m making that more difficult than it has to be.”

“No argument so far. You want to tell me why that’s the case?”

She shrugged. “I guess I got used to taking care of myself for one. I don’t have time to be off work if I want to open the bed-and-breakfast on time. And since I’m self-employed, I don’t have insurance. All that testing comes directly out of my pocket.”

Tanner glanced over at her and took in her stiff posture and the way she nibbled at her bottom lip. He understood being independent—understood it with a vengeance—but he didn’t understand the rest of her concerns. If it had been someone without the last name Bettencourt, he might have, but Josie could write checks for additional workers and get everything done on time if it was that important to her, and the cost of an X-ray was negligible in the big scheme of things.

If her inheritance wasn’t immediately liquid, he was sure the doctor would bill her and allow her to get money shifted. Certainly, the man wasn’t going to hold her hostage in his office for cash payment. All he could assume was that whatever the real problem was, she wasn’t ready to tell him about it. As much as that frustrated him, he really couldn’t blame her. When it came right down to it, he was barely more than a stranger, and he was hired help, to top it off.

It occurred to him that where Josie Bettencourt was concerned, “hired help” seemed to be his destiny.

He held in a sigh as he parked in front of the doctor’s office on Main Street.

“While you get checked out,” he said, “I’m going to have a talk with the sheriff. I’m sure he’ll want to talk to you as soon as you’re done.”

“Oh, I doubt that. He doesn’t like to talk to anyone who thinks he should actually do his job.”

“Well, then he’s going to be mighty unhappy, and I don’t care. Rest assured, he
will
do his job. I’m not giving him a choice.”

Josie gave him a small smile. “If I didn’t despise the man so much, it would probably make me happy to see you lean on him. Unfortunately, that requires looking at him, so my enthusiasm is not where it ought to be.”

Tanner laughed. “Tell me how you really feel.”

Now she smiled for real. “That was the ‘light’ version.”

“I think I might enjoy this,” he said, and climbed out of the truck.

Josie exited the truck and gave him a wave as she walked up the sidewalk to the doctor’s office. “I’ll come see the fallout as soon as I’m done here,” she said, and walked inside.

Sufficiently warned, Tanner set his jaw and strode across the street to the sheriff’s department, but before he could enter the building, a young woman stopped him on the sidewalk.

“Tanner, right?” she asked, then looked at the ground.

He took a good look at her, then remembered where he’d seen her before. “Good morning, Marquette.”

She looked up and gave him a shy smile. “I hope you enjoyed your ribs last night.”

He nodded. “The ribs were excellent, as was the service.”

Her eyes widened and a dark red flush crept up her neck and onto her face. “That’s a very nice thing for you to say.”

Tanner instantly felt a bout of compassion for the young woman. He’d been that person before—shy, hiding in corners, afraid to draw attention to himself. He hadn’t morphed into an extrovert, but he’d finally become comfortable in his own skin...usually...most of the time. Okay, maybe he had some work to do, but he was way better off than Marquette.

“I’m going to have some coffee at the cafe,” Marquette said, staring at the sidewalk again, “If you want to join me.”