Megan wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Stavanovich called him Pal, nothing but that. I’d never seen him before. He was bigger, more physical.” She stopped short.
“Go on,” Savannah urged gently.
“He raped me first.”
Savannah wanted to wrap her arms around her own stomach, but she knew this was not the place or the time to indulge her own feelings. So she put a gentle hand on Megan’s arm and said softly, “Matty Stavanovich has been out there for the last two weeks, carrying on business as usual. Sam took Susan to his place last week; she left the Jaguar for him to fix.” She paused for a bewildered second before asking, “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
Megan swallowed hard. “I couldn’t. He threatened me with even worse things than he’d already done, and he threatened to hurt Will.”
“But you’re telling me now.”
With another swallow, Megan rose from her chair. She crossed the room and stared unseeingly out the window. “I can’t live with his threats hanging over my head. I thought about it all last night and then again this morning. I drove around and around thinking about it. I liked being in Florida because I felt safe there. But it’s not my home, and I can’t spend my life running.” She turned to face Savannah. “You were right when you said that I had a chance to take control of things. I want that control. I want my life back. I want Matty Stavanovich punished.”
Savannah was watching her, wide-eyed, still having trouble believing that the Cat had suddenly changed his style. “Are you sure, Meggie? Before the others get here, are you absolutely sure that Matty was the one?”
“For God’s sake, Savannah!” Will exclaimed.
Megan stiffened. “You don’t believe me.”
“I do, but it’s a serious charge and there are a world of emotions involved. I want you to be certain that you’re pointing a finger at the right man.”
“I am.”
“Matty?”
“Yes.” She tightened her arms around her waist, and, though she was even paler than before, she forced herself to go on. “You can check his blood type with the tests they ran at the hospital. And you can check his body. He has a birthmark shaped like a light bulb just under his right nipple, and he’s not circumcised.”
Savannah let out a helpless moan.
Will swore, crossed the floor, and took Megan in his arms. Despite the rigidity of her body, he held her tightly, pressing her head to his chest in a futile attempt to shield her from thoughts that were repulsive to them both.
Just then, Sam arrived. Savannah met him at the door and, keeping her voice low, filled him in on the turn of events. She was barely done when Mark Morgan joined them. Both men questioned Megan gently. It was an unpleasant necessity. Though tense and upset, Megan stood firm in her conviction that Stavanovich had been her abductor.
The wheels of justice began to roll. Within hours, Megan had identified mug shots, blood types had been matched up, a search and arrest warrant was issued. At five o’clock that afternoon, the Cat was taken into custody.
Savannah didn’t get home until well after nine that night, and when she did, it was to find Jared waiting in her living room. She had never been so glad to see anyone in her life.
Taking one look at her, he folded her in his arms and held her while she trembled. In time, her body began to relax. Only then did he speak.
“You shouldn’t have to go through this, babe. It’s not right, so much tension.”
“It’s part of the job,” she said quietly, then looked up at him. “Besides, this time there’s excitement, too,” and it was there in her eyes. “We got him, Jared. We may not have nailed him for burglary, but if I can get a conviction for what he did to Megan, he’ll spend the rest of his life behind bars.”
Jared had caught the evening news, but that had only given him the bare outlines of the case. “Isn’t it a little bizarre—the Cat doing something like this?”
“I thought so. I honestly didn’t believe Megan at first. But she was insistent, and Megan’s never been an overly imaginative person. She’s down to earth. She’s always had an eye for details. Matty’s blood type was right. She identified things on his body that she couldn’t have possibly known unless she’d seen him naked.” She paused, looking at Jared all the while, then said in a low voice, “I know what you’re thinking. Sammy was thinking it, too. So was Mark. You’re thinking that maybe Megan had an affair with Matty totally independent of the kidnapping. You’re thinking that if it went awry, she could pin this on him out of revenge, but none of that’s possible. Megan loves Will. There’s no way she’d have an affair with Matty or any other man. Besides, she was kidnapped. Money was demanded and delivered. And she was brutalized. We have concrete proof of that.”
“How about the second man who was involved? Have you found him?”
“Matty claims total innocence, so he’s not about to talk of a second man. Megan gave us a detailed description of him, though. The police are working on it.”
Tempted by her upturned face, Jared lowered his head and kissed her. It had nothing to do with what she was saying, but he had felt the urge, and she didn’t protest. Her mouth molded to his with the sweetness he’d come to expect.
Taking her to his side, he headed for the kitchen. “Why did Megan take so long to come forward?”
Savannah took comfort from his nearness to discuss things that might well have set her to shaking again. “Trauma. Fear. That’s how it works. But she’s angry now, too, and that’s given her a strength she didn’t have before. Still, we’ve assigned a police detail to watch her until we get the second man.”
“Have you found any of the money?”
