Page 76 of Threat of Danger
Her brain had trouble catching up, so she just focused on that last sentence. “I’m not going to leave while both Mom and Chuck are in the hospital.”
“If I knew you were coming, I never would have released the book this month. I don’t want you to become a target again.”
She gaped at him, suddenly understanding yet another thing—and this one was a real doozy. “You’re making yourself the target.”
She felt as if she’d missed a high jump and smacked into the side of a building instead of landing safely on the roof.
He squared his impressive shoulders. An armored tank had nothing on him. “I can handle the bastard if he comes.”
Her heart squeezed. “What about your leg?”
“What about it?”
Anger flashed through her. “This is crazy, Derek. I can’t believe you did this.” The anger kicked up a notch. “You had no right to open this up. To put yourself in danger. You have to let go. You’re injured!”
Her fury seemed to reflect in his slate eyes, throwing sparks. “You mean, let go, like you let it all go?”
She stepped around the table and stabbed her index finger against his hard chest. “You don’t get to criticize how I handle the past.”
And then she thought of something else, and her breathing grew ragged. “What if he shows up at a book signing and stabs you or shoots you or something?”
“I’ll be waiting. I’ll be ready. He won’t take me by surprise again, believe me. I’m not some hapless college kid anymore, Jess.”
She could only stare. “You’re crazy.”
He took her by the elbows and searched her face. “Would you leave for a couple of weeks? I’ll take care of the sugaring. Your mom will be in the hospital for at least a month. You can come back after she’s released if you want to help her.”
She pulled away. “I’m not leaving.”
Frustration sparked in his eyes. “Dammit, Jess.”
“Dammit, Derek.” She wanted to shake him. “Why didn’t you tell me what you were doing?”
“I was hoping you’d leave before the book came out.”
When she said nothing, just looked at him as if she wanted to murder him, he took her arm again, this time by the wrist, and pulled her after him, up the stairs, into his old bedroom, which was now apparently his office, because when he switched on the light, the first thing she saw was a giant desk with a laptop in the middle.
Various notes, articles, and pictures of half a dozen young women covered an entire wall. She recognized most of them: her own high school yearbook photo next to Madison Hale, Crystal Gneiss, and Mariana Allen. Her gaze snagged on Hannah Wilson’s grainy picture, cut from theTaylorville Times.Oh God.
A violent shiver ran through her.
Derek was still holding her hand. She let him. When she stepped closer to the wall, he went with her.
“Who is she?” she whispered as she pointed at a pixielike girl she didn’t recognize.
“Emma Ramsey. Half a dozen girls altogether. One roughly every other year.”
“I was right.”
“Yes.”
“He’s careful.”
“Very. Half a dozen teenagers disappearing in the course of a decade in a region as large as this one is not a statistic that would stick out, considering national averages. There are plenty of teen runaways in every area of the country.”
“What about the girl in the river? They ever find out who she was?”
“Unrelated. Runaway from up north. The river had carried her body down. It got caught at the foot of the bridge. By coincidence, Hannah Wilson’s car had been pushed into the water at the same spot.”
