Maggie nodded, pulling up a contact on her phone and showing her the information long enough for the officer to copy it down. She tugged her hat down onto her head and nodded at the two of them.
“Take care of her, Luke. I’ll get this to Alex immediately.”
His “Thanks, Mari,” came automatically. She gave them a grim smile and walked back out the door.
Looking down at the trembling woman in his arms, he realized what really mattered. No, she hadn’t trusted him with the whole truth, but anyone married to a man this insane was bound to have trust issues. After everything Luke had seen in the FBI, the pieces of that puzzle all finally came together and confirmed his worst fears. Maggie’s husband was the one that had hurt her.
As far as the two of them were concerned, she’d done the right thing, trying to end the marriage before sleeping with someone else. It wasn’t her fault the guy was clearly unhinged.
“Maggie… the oil burn. He’s why you didn’t want help, isn’t he?”
She gave him a single, shaky nod, then dropped her head. “You saw the scars, didn’t you?”
He pulled her in tighter, her back to his chest. “I’m an agent, Maggie. I’m trained to see these things.”
Her chest rose and fell. “Most of the time I had to patch myself up.”
Luke was glad she couldn’t see him scowl. He kept his voice even, though. “Most of the time?”
She raised her left wrist, the one he’d held when she got hurt. “After three days, he finally had to take me to the clinic to get this seen, but it was too late.” Maggie moved her hand back andforth, and a distinct click reached Luke’s ear over the hum of the kitchen. “That’s the only time I couldn’t patch myself up.”
“Maggie… baby…” He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “I’m so sorry.”
With that, Maggie seemed to come out of her trance. “Fuck, the customers…”
Luke shook his head. “I’m calling Shorty and Katya in. Hell, I’ll beg Felix to wait tables if I have to. You shouldn’t be working after that.”
She turned in his arms and pressed her hands to his shoulders. “I can’t… I can’t let him win, Luke. And if I go home, I’ll do nothing but worry myself into an anxiety spiral.”
He clutched her tighter. “He has a gun, Maggie. He threatened you by shooting those papers.”
“I know.” She looked up at him and cupped his face. “He’s a detective with the Oklahoma City PD.”
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, this was bad. An idea popped into Luke’s head and he blurted it out almost immediately. “You need a concealed carry permit.”
“Huh?”
Yes. This was the answer, this would let him sleep better. As well as not letting her out of his sight. “I’m taking you to the gun range tomorrow. You can practice with my gun, then we’ll get you a permit so you can carry your own.”
“Luke…”
“Please, Maggie.” He stared into her eyes, as color returned to her face.
“Okay. Okay, you can teach me.”
Luke pressed his lips to her forehead in gratitude.
“Now let me go check on my tables.”
He released her with a relieved laugh, watching her go through the swinging doors.
Yep, he was in trouble. And the future was not going to be his problem today.
Chapter 21
MaggiereleasedLuke’shandas he drove them up to the indoor shooting range and parked. It stood on a hill facing the mountains, a short, long gray building away from town. He picked up a small black case from the trunk and came around to her side of the car. Taking his offered hand, she stood and looked around. “The scenery here is beautiful.” Rolling green mountains as far as the eye could see, the ones in the distance turning increasingly blue the further away they were.
“I’ve always thought so.” Luke mused. He led her through the double door, where a man stood behind a glass case displaying various guns and even fancy knives. She gulped. She’d never been in a place like this before. Sean always did his marksmanship practice at the precinct. He’d never let her handle his gun, either.
