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“I was a fool,” she finally said, weariness heavy in her tone. “I should have never answered the knock on my door. Even worse, I stepped out on my porch.”

“Daniel told me the box that was on your porch contained a message,” he said.

“A message? What was it?”

“It was a note that said you were warned.”

She released a deep sigh. “If the beating had continued, I don’t think I would have been alive to read the note.”

“I hate to tell you this, but you’re probably going to hurt more tomorrow than you do tonight,” he said softly. He glanced over at her. She looked so small, so achingly vulnerable.

Two cracked ribs. He knew what kind of force was necessary to crack a rib. She must be in tremendous pain, but right now she was remarkably stoic. Even if the doctor had given her something at the hospital, a mere pill or shot couldn’t take away all the pain.

“I’ll get through it. Besides, I have some pain meds to take if I need them,” she replied. “Before I know it, I’ll be right as rain.”

He admired her optimism, but he knew it was going to take a while before she fully recovered and didn’t hurt anymore.

They arrived at the swamp parking area, where he hurried around to the passenger side to help her out.

Once again, they fell silent as they slowly walked in to her shanty. When they reached it, she paused for a moment at the foot of the bridge and looked up toward the porch.

It was dark, but lantern light came out of her windows, illuminating the porch area. After a moment’s hesitation, she walked up the bridge, and he followed close behind her.

It had been long enough since the attack that the police had cleared out and apparently it was no longer a crime scene.

The front door was locked but she had a key hidden under a rock next to the porch. She told him where it was and he retrieved it and opened the door.

When they were inside the shanty, she pulled a bottle of pills out of the hospital gown pocket and set them down on the coffee table. She then sat on the sofa and released a small sigh. “Jacque, thank you so much for bringing me home.”

“Don’t get comfortable,” he replied. “I want you to go pack a bag. You aren’t staying here.”

She looked at him in surprise. “Then where am I going to stay?”

He knew this was just another mistake in a trail of mistakes he’d already made with her, but as a man who cared for the safety of another human being, he had no choice.

“As long as your attacker is still out there, you’ll be staying with me,” he said.

Chapter Six

Pain. It pulled her from her sleep as it slammed into her. Her legs…her ribs…even her face hurt. It was like she’d been run over by a very large truck. There didn’t seem to be any part of her body that didn’t hurt tremendously.

She opened her eyes to morning light streaming in the window. For a split second she didn’t know where she was. Then she remembered. The knock on her door…the beating. She was in Jacque’s spare bedroom.

She had been in no condition last night to notice much of anything, so she slowly sat up and looked around with interest. She was in a queen-size bed flanked by two dark wood nightstands. A large dresser was against one wall, and there was a closet on the other wall.

The bedspread was a pretty turquoise and matching curtains hung at the window. It was a very nice room, but she didn’t belong here. She’d been too frightened, too traumatized to protest Jacque’s plan for her to stay here. In truth, last night she had wanted to be here. She’d been afraid to stay by herself after the beating she had taken.

But this morning she wanted to tell him that she needed to go back home. There was no way he should be burdened with her staying here in his home. She should be safe in her shanty as long as she didn’t do anything stupid. She’d been incredibly stupid the night before.

With this thought in mind, she slowly pulled herself out of the bed. Her entire body protested the movement, and her ribs felt like they were on fire, but she couldn’t stay in bed all day.

It took her nearly fifteen minutes to get dressed in a pair of jeans and a pink T-shirt. She brushed out her hair and then stepped out of the room with her toothpaste and toothbrush in hand.

As she left the bedroom, the scent of coffee wafted in the air. After brushing her teeth, she returned to the bedroom and tucked her toothbrush and paste back into her bag.

Finally, she walked out of the bedroom and headed for the kitchen area where Jacque was seated at the table with a cup of coffee before him. He immediately stood at the sight of her. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please,” she replied.