Another bowling buddy, the crusty Archie Esposito, might still be in the area, but he had no way to reach him, since the man refused to carry a cell phone. The best bowler on the team, Archie took every opportunity to remind Cullen. He better have gone or Cullen would have something to say about it. Archie was a self-described stubborn old coot.
You’re the stubbornest,Cullen.
But if Cullen hadn’t delayed leaving, he never would have seen Kit’s rig careening off the road. Prickles danced up his spine. Didn’t bear thinking about what might have happened to her and Tater Tot if they’d remained in the crushed rig. He joggled over to the front windows that looked out upon the pasture and pulled the curtains closed.
After they fixed the tire, the two guys in the SUV would figure out where he’d turned off sooner or later, if they had any smarts between them. He intended to be ready for the reckoning that was going to happen. The tightening of the muscles in his stomach felt oddly pleasing, reminding him of who he used to be, the good part that did things for people and brought others to account. That part.
With Tot against his shoulder, he climbed the narrow staircase and stood in the darkened bedroom, using the night vision binoculars from his bedside table to scan out the window. Nothing moving out there in the fallingrain that he could detect. He checked the camera he’d fixed on the gnarly pine by the stone marker. By some miracle, it was still operating and his phone receiving the feed.
No one coming.
Yet.
He carried Tot back downstairs, calculating. He had the gun he kept in his truck and a rifle on the premises.
With his free hand he began pulling things out of the duffel bag and staging them on the kitchen table. The empty bottle that needed washing, a clean diaper, and something that looked like pajamas with footie things built right in. He was surprised when he found Kit’s teddy bear that she must have shoved in at some point. His lips curved in a smile. All tough edges and angles, but Kit was attached to this raggedy toy. Gently, he stowed it back in the duffel.
When Kit emerged from the bathroom, he got a good look at her. Her clean face was heart-shaped with delicate features and graceful brows. Her intelligent eyes roved the room, soaking in every last detail of his home. He figured she didn’t miss much. The fringe of her bangs poked out from below her brown cap, which she must have tried to wipe off in the bathroom. Slight build, strong for her size. Her jeans were ripped at the knee and filth coated her boots to her upper thighs. The woman desperately needed a change of clothes.
“How are you feeling?”
She blinked. “Me?”
He arched a brow at that one. “You seem to be the only other person in the room besides me and Tot.”
“My head hurts. And I’m hungry and I don’t like being dirty.”
“That about sums it up for me too, minus the headache.” But his knee was hollering, and lots of other parts.
“Are they going to follow us here?”
“Eventually, but it’s all clear for now. I figure we have a couple hours before they fix the flat and locate the turn to my place. I’ll see them coming. I’ve got a camera.”
She nodded, and it seemed to cause her pain.
“Let me get a blanket to lay her down. I’ll wrangle us something to eat and find you some pain relief while you shower.”
She recoiled. “Shower? I don’t...”
“Rude to point out to a lady, but you’re a mess and so am I. Even if I’m wrong about the timing, I’ve got a sensor on the drive that will alert us if anyone drives up so we’ll have some notice.”
“What are we going to do if that happens?”
He felt the coiling again in his stomach. “You will protect Tot, and I will take care of the intruders.”
She pursed her lips. “That sounds ... intense.”
“Confronting killers usually is.” And the outcome was never guaranteed. He knew that all too well.
“You think they ... the people in the SUV are after the baby or Tot’s mom? Or maybe the dirt bike guy is?”
He shrugged off the question. No sense speculating. His gut told him they were going to find out sooner rather than later. He threw a quilt on the floor and set Tot in the middle with a ring of plastic keys from the duffel clamped in her tiny fist. Her limbs flexed as if she was relieved to be free of her raincoat cocoon.
“Five minutes,” he said, but this time he meant it. From the closet, he procured a set of lady’s sweats and handed them to her along with a clean bath towel.
She accepted with a raised brow.
“They belong to my sister-in-law who is a bit of a scatterbrain and leaves things here when she and my brother visit. Probably too big but better than my clothes.” He added a pair of men’s sweat socks. “Socks will be huge on you, but maybe you can hike them up. Dry at least.”
