Danger on the Mountain

She’d had to sneak online classes to keep her teaching certificate current. Though now, thanks to her grandfather, Maggie didn’t have to work unless she wanted to.

Which she did. She loved her job.

Loved helping her students and earning a living that allowed her to provide for herself and Belle. The money her grandfather had left her was there if she needed it. Otherwise, it would go to Belle. Satisfaction filled her. Maggie was so grateful she could leave that money to Belle, so the girl wouldn’t have to scrape and scrounge and work three jobs while trying to go to school. And she’d never have to be dependent on a man to take care of her. Never.

A scratching at her window made her jerk.

Then a surge of anger flowed hot and heavy through her veins.

Enough was enough.

* * *

Reese tossed and turned. At 2:00 a.m., he felt frustrated and tired.

And worried.

Which was why he couldn’t sleep.

After taking care of the situation at Maggie’s, he’d gone back to Holly’s café, ordered the daily special and taken it back to the jail for Pete.

The man looked surprised—and grateful.

Reese felt a twinge of sympathy for the fellow and had a feeling Eli often fed him his only hot meal of the day. He’d interrogated Pete while he wolfed the food down, but Pete had nothing else to add to his previous story.

So now, in the darkness, questions bombarded Reese. Questions about the bank robbery, the man Maggie had seen in her yard and questions about his attraction to a woman with a baby.

He’d promised himself he’d never put his heart on the line again. He’d had his shot at a family and happily-ever-after, and it had been snatched from him when his wife and child had died in childbirth.

So why couldn’t he get the pretty mother out of his mind?

Tossing aside the covers, he padded to the window that overlooked the lake. Peering across, he could see Maggie’s house lit up like a Christmas tree.

Realization hit him.

She was all alone and scared. The nights would be the worst. He knew this from experience. She would play the scene from the bank over and over in her mind, building it up, picturing what could have happened instead of what actually had happened. And she would work herself into a ball of nerves and fear. And with the threat the robber left ringing in the air, she would be jumping at every creak and moan of the house, wondering if the man was back to follow through on his promise.

Without a second’s hesitation, he picked up his phone and dialed Maggie’s number. She might be afraid of the phone ringing at this time of night, but his number and name were programmed in her phone. Once she saw it was him, she would be all right.

“Hello?” Her low, husky voice trembled over him.

“You can’t sleep either?” he asked.

She gave a self-conscious little laugh. “I’m assuming you can see my well-lit house?”

“Reminds me of Christmas.”

A sigh slipped through the line. “No, I fell asleep for a bit, but then started hearing things.”

He frowned. “Hearing things? Like what?”

“Something scraping against my window.” Another little laugh escaped her. One that didn’t hold much humor. “I was angry enough to chew someone up and spit him out. I went flying out the door and no one was there.”

“You did what?” He nearly had a coronary. “Maggie, may I just say that was incredibly stupid?”

“Oh, I know. What was even more stupid was the butcher knife in my hand. I used it cut the branch that was knocking against the window.”

Some of his adrenaline slowed. But he still warned her, “Don’t ever do anything like that again. Not after today.”

She went silent.

He hurried to say, “Not that I have the right to tell you what to do, but—”

“No, you’re right.” This time her voice was soft. “I know you’re right. It was stupid. I just let my fury get the better of me. It’s just that the thought of being a victim again—” She stopped. “I won’t do that again. I promise.”

He felt slightly better. Then frowned as he realized what she’d said. Victim again? Unsettled, he started to ask her about it then stopped. She’d cut off her sentence. He took that to mean she wasn’t ready to talk about it.

Instead, he said, “I tell you what. Since I’m going to be awake for the next few hours, I’ll keep an eye on your place. You can rest easy.”

For a moment she didn’t respond. Then her voice, choked with tears or relief, he couldn’t tell, reached his ear. “I really hate to say okay, but I...would truly appreciate it. That is, if you’re sure you’re not going to be sleeping anyway.”

He let a sad smile curve his lips. “I’m not.”

“Okay, then. I think I’ll try to go to bed.”

“Sweet dreams, Maggie.”

She hung up, and he watched a few of her lights go off. The small manmade lake was probably only half a mile in diameter, but it would only take him about a minute to reach her house by motorcycle or car should he have to do so.

The dark night called to him. Slipping on his heavy coat and a pair of jeans and boots, he walked outside and down to the dock. Sitting there he wondered again at the strange things that had happened to Maggie that day.

And figured he might be losing a lot of sleep in the near future.

* * *

Reese walked into the sheriff’s office a little later than usual Tuesday morning. He’d finally gone to sleep around 5:30 a.m. when he’d noticed Maggie up and moving around, her shadow dancing across the window blinds. The bundle in her arms told him Belle was an early riser.

So here he was at nine o’clock instead of his usual eight o’clock. Fortunately, Eli didn’t require his deputies to punch a clock. They all worked more than forty hours a week and if one of them needed a little flexibility, as long as someone was willing to stay a little longer on shift to cover, Eli was fine with that.

Reese decided he could learn to like that kind of schedule.

Eli looked up and turned from his computer at Reese’s entrance. “You ready to question our prisoner?”

“He lawyer up?”

“Oh, yeah, first chance he got.”

Reese shrugged. “Let’s have at him then.”