He tightened his grip on his service weapon but did not raise it. If it was the Oklahoma cops, that was the last thing he should do. He didn’t want to get caught on the wrong side of a “shoot and ask questions later” situation. Especially not with her stuck behind him.
The kitchen door swung open. A man stood there, half hidden in the shadow. The sun wasn’t fully up yet. It made it damned hard to identify the man standing there.
“Madison? Dr. McAlister? Are you okay?” the man asked. “Madison?”
But Dom didn’t miss the rather large gun in his hand.
“I’m armed.” Dom warned.
“I suspected as much. So we both are. But since this is my house, Acardi, I think I am the winner. Hang on. I’m turning on the hall light.” The man did just that. Heather’s brother-in-law stared right back at him. “So here you are.”
“Hello, Mr. Halson…I…can’t we put the guns away now, boys? So we can talk for a minute?”
“I can do that.” Halson holstered his weapon, apparently perfectly relaxed to find them in his house. “I really hate using this thing now. I far prefer a calculator actually. Madison, I am not sure why you are here. Detective, you were reported missing four hours ago. You were—not her. Major Crimes is apparently in an uproar—since your truck was found six hours ago andit took them too long to notify the chief and your teammates instead of immediately. Daniel was getting more heated than he probably should have—Samia had to calm him down. Bodily. Dr. Lake wasn’t too happy with that. I put it together when the neighbor called and told me he’d seen a car behind my barn when he was walking his dog. I recognized the license plate number—and figured I’d drive up here to see…just in case.”
“You know my plate number?”
“Yes. I tend to…remember…numbers. Considering. Are you both okay?”
“Dom was hurt and he was out for a while. I tried to take him to the ERs in Finley Creek, but there were TSP everywhere there and I just didn’t trust them. So I started driving. Hope told me about…here. And that you just had to take the first left outside of town and keep driving. So I did. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to break in, I just…somehow ended up here.”
“This house has always been here for those who needed it. I am glad you are both safe,” Halson said. “Let me guess—the end window on the front porch? Every time I fixed that, Hope would find another way to get into it. It was some sort of challenge for that kid.”
“Yes. I fit. We didn’t break anything, though.”
“Even if you had, it wouldn’t have mattered. Like I said, I am just glad you are safe.”
Dom cataloged the way the man moved. He strongly suspected that Halson could get in and out of places undetected without a problem. Just like Miguel Rodriguez. Miguel—who had spent a lot of time in the military special forces. Though Miguel never talked about exactly what he had done those six years he was in.
This guy was a very dangerous man. Dom was going to keep digging until he found out why. “We need to figure out what we need to do next. I can’t just drive her car back into Finley Creek.I’m sure someone has figured out that we are together. Do you know what they are saying?”
“I was with McKellen when he got the report. From what they are saying…carjacking gone wrong. And there was no mention ofherat all. Just an APB out on you. Details are very sketchy, from my understanding. Suspiciously so.”
“I need to get back. Before my mom freaks.”
“I got some things you can wear, Acardi. Grab a shower. Madison, there’s a bag of my daughter’s things in the girls’ bedroom. Maris came down with me last weekend to help paint. She’s about your size, just taller.”
“You go first, honey. I’m going to talk to Halson about what he’s heard from Dan. Go.”
Dom nudged her away.
“Just…no making plans without me. That is not going to happen. I suspect you’ll get in trouble that way.”
72
Madison knew enough “manspeak”to know Norm and Dom weren’t being open with her. And she’d allow Dominic Vincent Acardi to think he was protecting her for the next fifteen minutes. Mostly because she wanted a shower, and she needed to calm down from the adrenaline rush of thinking they were about to get caught.
And…she needed time to think about what she and that man had done on that couch.Oops.
She might have been a bit too impulsive last night. Considering.
They had changed absolutely everything between them last night. Talk about a total change in direction.
They had done things on that couchtwicethat would probably make her mama blush if she knew about them.
She didn’t regret it. Not for one moment. She really was tired of living her life afraid of what might happen, what change might come. She couldn’t do it any longer.
She wanted that man. For as long as she could keep him.
