Page 48 of Mountain Man Daddy

She heard pounding on the door when she climbed out of the shower dripping wet. Her heart raced. Was it the cops? She wrapped the towel tightly around herself and peeked around the bathroom door, hoping she could see who was on the porch without having to expose herself. She couldn’t see a thing, so she remained frozen to her spot, a puddle forming at her feet.

“Avery! Let me in!” There was more pounding on the door. Angry pounding. She jumped from behind the door in only her towel and ran to unlock the door for Mike.

“I’ve been out there for twenty minutes!” He came in with his brows hovering low over his grumpy eyes, but when he saw she was just in a towel, he smiled.

“I’m sorry,” she stammered, stepping out of his way.

“Why hello,” he said and gave her a predatory leer, grabbing at the towel she clutched to her breasts.

“Daddy!” She grabbed her towel tighter and backed away shyly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Locking the door was exactly what you were supposed to do.”

“It’s just there was a hiker here before, and I was nervous.”

“A hiker?”

“Yeah, some guy that says he has a cabin around here. Or at least his brother does.” He nodded, still eyeing her towel with a heated gaze.

“His name is Henry.” Mike froze. Instinctively she knew something was wrong, but then he relaxed.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He reached for her towel. “Come here, little girl.”

“I’ll go get dressed so you can tell me what happened with Riley.” She turned to head to the bedroom when he grabbed her.

“No, don’t. I think you should wear that.” He chuckled and yanked hard until she crashed into him. “You look good enough to eat, and I’m starving.”

“Tell me.” She frowned, her stomach churning with nerves.

“No one is looking for you from the police. There is nothing in the system about you other than as a reference to Alex Donovan and his last known address. I explained what happened, and Riley’s checking out my story.”

“So what does this mean?”

“I think it means they lied to your husband. My instincts tell me neither of them were cops. I think the police that were looking for you were only there to ask if you knew where Alex was. Unlike you,heis in the system, and he’s wanted on many fraud charges, as well as charges for illegal gambling and some other petty stuff. In fact, his name isn’t even Alex Donovan. It’s Peter Wright.”

“What?” Her brows knitted in confusion. “He lied from the beginning?” Her mind spun, and she grabbed for the sofa to steady herself. “Does that mean we were never married?” Shock set her heart fluttering. She didn’t know how she felt about that or what it mattered now that he was dead.

“Yeah.”

“You think I’m safe then?” Her eyes found his. “How have they been tracking me?” Her shoulders fell. “And the Jeep owner is still dead. They’ll still think I killed him. I’m responsible for his death anyway.” Her breath quickened, and she started to pace, looking at the floor.

“Hold on now, little girl.” Mike grabbed her and rubbed his hands up and down both of her arms. “Let me finish before you start getting ahead of yourself.” He released her arms and took her chin in his hand. He tilted her face so he could look her in the eye.

“Tim Lester was shot while you were here. Time of death was only a few days ago. Both Annie and I are your alibi on that. Annie even told her daughter about you.” He took a deep breath. “And while I don’t think your problem is a legal one right now, I am concerned about how these guys are tracking you.”

“I still stole the Jeep, money, and a gun.”

“They only know about the Jeep, and Riley understands, and he doesn’t think it’ll be an issue as long as you’re willing to cooperate when they get these guys. This stuff is really at the discretion of the Crown, and no one with a heart or brain will go after you for this. No jury in the world would convict.”

“You’re sure?” she asked, her eyes tearing in relief. She was almost afraid to believe it in case Mike was wrong. If she was going to jail, she needed to prepare herself.

“We’ll go see Riley tomorrow once they’ve left our mountain.”

She swallowed hard, her hands shaking as she twisted them in front of her.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be with you the whole time. Okay?” Mike squeezed her shoulders with his hands.

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