Turning off the car alarm, she leaned against her car.Just for a second.
“Tara!” Jeff rounded a corner and jogged towardher.
A sigh of relief shuddered through her and she burst into tears.
Black running shoes appeared in her blurred line of vision. “Hey.” He crouched in front of her. “Hey. It’s okay. We’re okay.”
She nodded and wiped the stupid tears from her cheeks, probably smearing her eyeliner, but she didn’t care.
He helped her to her feet, looking down at her with those warm brown eyes so full ofconcern, his strong hands gently holding her forearms. She wanted to—
Nothing. When she got home, she’d call Jenna. Her friend would comfort and commiserate and say all the right things to make her feel better. Tara didn’t need a man for that.
Not anymore.
“What happened to the Unabomber twin?” she asked. Actually, Hulk might be a better moniker given how huge the attacker had been.
Jeff’smouth twitched as he dropped his hold. “He did have that vibe, didn’t he?” His amusement faded. “He got away. Fucker wasfast. Dropped his hoodie and blended into the foot traffic on the street. The security guards called it in, so we’re waiting on the cops now.”
“Damn.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “It’s notyourfault. I’m just thankful you were here at all.”
He rubbed the back ofhis neck and rolled his shoulders. “Thank my…uh, friend who called as I was getting into my car. We were on the phone when I looked into my side mirror and saw the guy holding you up.”
Too close for comfort. “Well, if yourfriendis ever in town, I’ll buy you both a drink.” What was with the hesitation? Did he have a secret girlfriend? Or boyfriend? The way he sometimes looked at her, she didn’tthink it was the latter, but who knew? “I owe you twice now,” she said.
His face blanked. “You owe me nothing. Any of us would have helped you.”
“Or any other woman under attack.”
“Exactly.”
It was true, and didn’t exactly make her feel special. Which was dumb. She was lucky to be alive—and she was disappointed that a man she didn’t want didn’t want her either? That was Old Tara thinking.She had no time for that crap. She was better than that now.
“What did he want from you, anyway?” Jeff asked.
Tara crossed her arms. Maybe if she held on tight enough, she wouldn’t fall apart. “I don’t know. He knew my name, so this wasn’t a random attack. And he wasn’t interested in my purse or car.” Whathadhe wanted? She shivered.
“So not a crime of opportunity,” Jeff said with a frown.
“Especially given the phone call I got earlier,” she said, as the memory resurfaced.
“What call?” he demanded, as if she’d been deliberately holding out on him.
“About twenty minutes ago, someone called work and asked for me, but we had a bad connection. At the time I shrugged it off, but maybe he was checking that I was still at the office.” She pulled her pea coat tighter as if that couldsomehow ward off the chill. Impossible when it came from the inside. “But why would anyone want to attack me? Mars is dead, so I’m not a threat to him anymore.”
Jeff rubbed his forehead. “Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe he hired someone before he committed suicide.”
Tara’s blood turned arctic. “Or maybe he didn’t kill himself at all.”
