Page 6 of Peril in Piney Woods

“It is. I’ve never been very fond of guns, but I’ve spent a lot of nights in a sleeping bag on the ground under the stars. Keeping a knife handy felt like a healthy habit. These days, it helps with all sorts of menial tasks, like opening all those boxes delivered to my shop. Once in a while, a pet will get hung up in its restraint loop, and I never want to cause an animal anxiety by taking the time to untangle it. I’d much rather just cut the restraint and start fresh.”

Battles made another note before meeting her eyes once more. “So, you don’t carry it for protection?”

Meg turned her hands up. “I suppose I do. I mean, I have it with me on my runs, and if confronted by trouble, I would do what I had to. Like tonight. But injuring anything or anyone—much less taking a life—is never something I want to do. I’d much prefer to avoid the trouble altogether.”

The deputy’s brow furrowed as he considered her for a few seconds more. “Just one last question.”

Meg braced herself. This would be the one that required the most finagling.

“Why didn’t you stab him? Why go for the throat that way?” He shrugged. “Just seems like an unexpected move for someone such as yourself.”

Meaning a woman who wasn’t a cop or self-defense expert. If Jones hadn’t been wielding a gun, she would certainly have gone a different, perhaps even less lethal route. But her only hope had been to go for the swiftest deadly strike.

Meg took a moment, although she already had her answer prepared. “I was attacked once.” She drew in a deep breath. “A very long time ago. After that, I decided it would be in my best interest if I took a self-defense course. According to the instructor, when your weapon of choice is a knife and you are faced with certain death, it’s best to go for the jugular. Anything else is like trying to swat a fly with a tennis racket. Too much leeway for a potential miss.”

He held her gaze for a long moment without responding. Obviously he wanted more.

“He had a gun pointed at my head. If I’d tried to stab him, I would have been dead before the point of my knife pierced his skin. My only viable option was to lunge, swipe and go into a rolling dive for the floor in hopes of avoiding the shot he would no doubt pull off.”

Battles gave one of those vague nods. “But how did you slit his throat before he could fire the weapon?”

A reasonable question from a man who thought Meg to be a throwback to the days of hippies and flower children. She supposed she did sort of dress the part. Old jeans, vintage tees. She kept her long dark hair in a braid. It was a good cover.

“I was hunkered behind the counter,” she explained, “as I said earlier. When he reached the end of the corner, his weapon aimed at me, Jennifer suddenly screamed for help. He turned to stare toward the storeroom—instinct, I suppose—and I took the only opportunity I believed I would have.”

A firmer nod this time. “You were lucky.”

“I was lucky.” She blinked. “I’m just sorry I had to...do what I did.”

Battles tucked his notepad away. “I’m sorry to have to confiscate your knife and scabbard, but I’m sure you’ve watched enough TV and movies to know we have to keep all evidence until the investigation is concluded.”

“I understand.” She had a backup. No need to tell him that part. For now, she was just thankful not to have aroused his suspicions further.

“I’ll be in touch if we have more questions.” He straightened from the wall. “You sure you don’t want someone to walk you home?”

Meg stood, relief sliding through her body, immediately followed by exhaustion. It was late and she was tired. “No thanks. You’ve got your hands full here. No need to take someone away from their work to walk me around the block.”

“You did a good thing, Meg,” he said softly. “I know this may be difficult to live with for a while, and you’ll question yourself over what you had to do, but, bottom line, you did the right thing and there’s no question in my mind that you saved Jennifer’s life. You’re a hero.”

Oh, good grief. She was not a hero and the last thing she wanted was that label in the report. “I just did what anyone in my shoes would have done.” She shrugged. “It’s not like the guy gave me a lot of choices.”

“Still,” Battles insisted, “you took a great risk, and now it’s time to take care of you. See a counselor. This was a traumatizing night, and the full impact won’t have set in yet. Taking a life—no matter the circumstances—comes with a truckload of emotional baggage. Don’t ignore the impact to your psyche.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Deputy Porch called for Battles, and before he could say more to Meg, she turned and walked toward the back door. The door closed behind her, and she took a moment to draw in a chestful of air. She closed her eyes and drew in another breath, exhaled it, then she started to walk. She weaved her way through the woods for the short distance before it turned into the narrow alleyway that lined the back of the old shops. Rather than step into the alley, she kept to the woods. The going was rougher, but the likelihood of running into anyone was greatly diminished.

When she reached the end of the first block of the old shops, she made her way up to the alley and around the corner to the side street. At the end of each of the four blocks that constituted the old town portion of Piney Woods, a short, narrow cross street led into residential areas. There weren’t that many houses actually used as homes. Two had been transformed into bed-and-breakfast operations, one was a doctor’s office, another was a dental clinic and most of the others were now retail shops.

The few that remained residential holdouts were those of founding families. The annual Christmas tours featured those homes, and members of the families told stories of how their ancestors had come to choose this portion of the mountain as home. All the shops participated. Last Christmas, even Meg had opened her shop to the tour. She’d had her employees do the hosting. Putting herself in the limelight was not something she liked doing.

Not to mention it was dangerous.

Not going there.

A glance down the boulevard and Meg surveyed the crowd that still lingered in the Gas and Go parking lot. Emergency lights still strobed in the darkness. Excitement like this almost never happened in Piney Woods. Folks would be out until it was wrapped up in hopes of learning the full details.

The idea that trouble had shown up tonight worried Meg just a little.

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