Holiday Hideout (2 page)

Had Cal found himself in the middle of a domestic violence situation?

His jaw tightened as he stared in the direction of the long-gone taillights as another woman’s pleas echoed in his ears. Another woman he’d failed.

If this new stranger he and his mother had taken under their wing needed help, Cal would do everything in his power to make sure she received protection and care for as long as she needed it. And from whomever she was scared of.

Dylan gave a disgusted grunt and turned to walk the three blocks back to the clinic.

When he entered the door, his mother greeted him with a worried look. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“What made you think you needed to go check on things outside?”

Not wanting her to worry, Cal shook his head. “Just a feeling. But everything’s all right.” He changed the subject. “How’s our patient? Have you heard anything?”

“Not yet. I’m worried she might need—”

Dylan opened the door and Cal pounced. “How is she?”

“She’s sick.” The doctor’s brow furrowed. “I suspect strep and the flu.” He held up two capped tubes. “I took some cultures, so we’ll know something in a few minutes after I get them processed.”

Dylan walked into the lab and began the process that would read the cultures. Cal followed on his heels. “Did she wake up? Why did she faint?”

As Dylan washed his hands, he looked over his shoulder at Cal. “Yes, she woke up. I talked to her a bit, but she’s not making much sense. Talking about someone being after her?” Dylan lifted a brow. “Do you have any idea what that’s related to?”

“I might. In the bus station she seemed scared, then before she passed out she said, ‘Don’t let him get me.’”

Dylan frowned. “That doesn’t sound so good.”

“Exactly.” He hardened his jaw.

His friend gave him a knowing look. He knew exactly what Cal meant. “Well, I gave her something for the fever, so it’s coming down. She’s worn out and pretty dehydrated. As for your second question as to why she fainted, I think that was probably due to a combination of things.”

“So, does she need to be in a hospital?”

“Nah.” Dylan dried his hands on the towel. “Like I said, she’s a little dehydrated, but if someone will make sure she gets proper rest and care, she’ll be good as new in a few days. I can even come out there in a couple of days to check her over.”

Cal thought about the man he’d just chased. If he was after the sick woman, he was going to have to go through Cal to get to her.

And Cal wasn’t an easy man to go through.

TWO

A
bby blinked at the sunlight streaming in through the window to her left. Awareness came to her slowly, almost as though she were slogging through a fog. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the opposite wall where a collection of weapons hung on display.

Knives, guns, rifles, a slingshot?

And a Christmas tree on a small table in the corner of the room. Multicolored lights twinkled in a repeating pattern.

Where in the world was she?

Turning her head, she squinted to take in the rest of her surroundings.

“Ah, so you’re awake now?”

The voice with the soft Irish accent made her start. The smell of chicken broth made her stomach rumble. Abby felt a surge of fear, but in light of the yellow curtains, cream-colored walls and the very pregnant woman staring down at her, she managed to swallow that fear and ask, “What happened? Where am I?”

Bits and pieces of the past few days flitted through her mind. A woman helping her to the bathroom. A cool cloth placed on her forehead. Sipping some broth. A shot? Yes, she definitely remembered the shot.

She looked at the woman in front of her and decided she looked familiar, but she wasn’t the one she’d seen in her dreams.

Or was it all real?

“I’m Fiona Whitley. You’re in my home in our small basement apartment. My mom and my brother, Cal, rescued you when you passed out at the bus station.”

“Passed out!” Abby sat up and regretted the quick action when the room spun. Closing her eyes, she waited. When she opened them, things had settled, but she still felt as weak as a newborn. “When was that?”

“On Tuesday. Today’s Friday. Your fever finally broke yesterday. You’ve had a nasty case of the flu and strep throat. Dr. Seabrook came by and gave you some fluids by IV. After that, you seemed to start improving hourly.”

Abby remembered her self-diagnosis in the bus station. And with that memory came the vision of the man who’d been following her. “Oh, no,” she whispered.

The pretty woman with the red curls and green eyes frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Did she dare burden her? Abby looked around the cozy apartment and realized she couldn’t just blurt out she thought someone was following her.

A person who had evil intentions toward her. “Has…um…anyone been looking for me? Asking about me?”

“Not that I know of.” Fiona gave her a wry smile. “We live on a large ranch, not exactly a hub of excitement and information. Fortunately, we have all of the modern conveniences. Do you have someone you’d like me to call?”

“No!” At Fiona’s start, Abby softened her tone. “No. No one.”

“But surely someone’s missed you by now.” Fiona sat on the bed beside Abby. “We found your phone in your purse, but the battery’s missing.”

“I took it out.” She remembered thinking that somehow her whereabouts could be traced through the phone’s location, so she’d pulled the battery out and sewn it and her driver’s license—and the flash drive—into the leg of a pair of her jeans. An extreme measure maybe, but she just wanted to disappear. She didn’t want to be Abby O’Sullivan for as long as it took to find a slice of peace and put her life back together.

A guilty look flashed across Fiona’s face. “We went through your things trying to find out who you are.”

“My things?” At first she was alarmed, then calmed. She hadn’t had very much. “That’s all right.” They wouldn’t have found her identification. A fact that was probably weighing on the pretty woman’s mind. Abby said, “I’m Abby. Abby…um…Harris.” She picked at the comforter as she gathered her strength. “Thanks so much for taking care of me.” Her eyes landed on the woman’s belly. “I sure hope you don’t get sick.”

“Mom didn’t want me near you, either,” Fiona admitted with a small laugh. “She used to be a nurse and insisted on doing most of the caring for you. And Dylan came by a couple of times.” Fiona smiled. “So no worries, I’m fine and so is the little one.”

Abby swung her legs to the side of the bed and realized she had on a pair of strange pajamas. “Where did these come from?”

Fiona gave another light giggle. “They’re mine. I outgrew them quite a while ago—” she patted her distended belly with a loving hand “—but they looked like they might fit you.” She bit her lip. “I hope you don’t mind, but we couldn’t leave you in your clothes once your fever broke now, could we? Mom helped me get you into those.”

“No, I guess not.” She’d had pajamas in her bag.

As though reading her thoughts, Fiona offered, “We didn’t get your bag from the bus station until yesterday afternoon.”

That explained it. Abby pulled in a deep breath. “I really appreciate you all taking care of me. It was a very kind thing to do.”

Fiona smiled and something flashed in her eyes. Something Abby wanted to discern but couldn’t quite put her finger on. She ignored it and said, “I probably should get going.”

She tried to stand and another wave of dizziness almost knocked her down.

Fiona took her by the arm and helped her lie back down on the bed. “You aren’t going anywhere until you get better. You’re welcome to stay here until you feel well enough to leave.”

Abby wanted to argue but couldn’t summon the energy. She knew Fiona was right. But the problem was, she had someone after her.

The other problem was she didn’t have the strength to do anything about it. She lay on the bed and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to take everything in that had happened in the past several months.

Would Reese really go this far? Was he still after her? Or had the fever caused her to hallucinate in the bus station?

Even though he fully believed—as did she—that the deaths of his wife and her baby were her fault, would he really go to the extreme of following her this far?

She honestly didn’t know, but it sure looked like it.

But why would he search her apartment? Why would he try to get in her window in the middle of the night?

To keep her off balance? To make her so afraid of her own shadow that when he finally pounced, she’d be an easy target?

Possibly.

“What do you think?”

Fiona’s question made Abby blink. She realized she hadn’t heard a word the woman said. “I’m sorry. I was thinking… What’d you say?”

“I said I think it might be a good idea for you to stay here awhile. Unless you have someone—”

“No. Like I said, there’s no one.” No one at all. Her family had disowned her the minute her sister had taken her last breath.

Because it was her fault her sister had died. At least that’s how she felt. And so did her family.

Shuddering, she looked at Fiona, grief piercing her as she studied the large bulge under the woman’s blue maternity shirt. “When is your baby due?”

An excited smile curved Fiona’s lips. “Right after the first of the year. My due date’s January 2.”

“That’s wonderful for you. Just about three more weeks, eh?”

“Yes.” The word was more of a groan. “And it can’t come soon enough.”

As an obstetrician, Abby figured if she had a dollar for each time she’d heard those words from an expectant mother, she’d be a millionaire.

“I don’t—”

A knock on the door jarred her to a stop. Heart in her throat, she grabbed the blanket and pulled it to her chin. Like it could protect her from whoever was on the other side of that door.

Compassionate green eyes watched her, saw her fear. “It’s all right,” Fiona said. “It’s probably my mother or my brother, Cal. My husband sold two of our horses and went to deliver them to a family in Virginia. He’ll be home Monday afternoon.”

Feeling like an idiot, Abby relaxed her death grip on the blanket and nodded. Of course it couldn’t be Reese. If it was, he certainly wouldn’t announce his presence with a knock.

Fiona opened the door and a tall man with reddish-blond hair and blue eyes deep enough to swim in stepped over the threshold.

The man from the bus station.

The man whose strong arms had easily caught her when she’d dropped like a felled deer.

Abby couldn’t help the flush on her cheeks because, while he didn’t know this, she was embarrassed that she could remember what his arms felt like around her.

And flustered because she wished she could fall into the comfort of them once more.

How long had it been since she’d had someone hold her and offer—

She blinked the thought away. Right now she had to concentrate on getting well and leaving before she brought trouble to this sweet family.

Only then did his uniform register.

The gray shirt, black pants, black tie. And the gold badge placed just over his heart.

He was a cop.

Her heart thudded. She gulped and looked away.

“Hi, there, how are you feeling?”

His deep voice sent shivers all over her. Shivers that had nothing to do with a fever she no longer had. “Hi. Better, thanks.”

Fiona said, “This is Abby Harris. Abby, this is my brother, Callum McIvers.”

Cal smiled, revealing even white teeth. And twin dimples on his clean-shaven face. “But you can call me Cal. All my friends do. Nice to meet you, Ms. Abby Harris. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”

He was charming. Oh, my. Abby felt she might need to grab ahold of her heart with both hands before it ruptured from her chest. First he’d rescued her, now he flattered her. “I hear I owe you a thank you.”

“Well, I never could resist a woman falling at my feet.” He winked.

Her flush burned hotter.

Fiona slapped Cal’s arm. “Stop it.”

Cal laughed and cowered from his sister in mock fear. Abby watched their exchange and felt grief pierce her heart. She and Keira used to joke around like that.

“So, Ms. Harris.” His voice turned serious. “What are you doing here in Rose Mountain?”

Pulling in a deep breath, Abby ignored the flash of guilt at using a fake name and shrugged. Hoping she came across as nonchalant, she was seriously afraid she failed. “First of all, please call me Abby. And I…um…well, I decided to take a…vacation. Unfortunately, it looks like I took a little detour instead.”

“Where are you headed?”

Anywhere that took her away from the man after her. “Nowhere specific. I was just going to find a spot that looked nice and quiet and rent a little cabin. Have some time to myself.”

“So you have no reservations somewhere?” His right brow lifted like he had trouble believing her.

Abby sighed and told the truth—at least part of it. “Look, I’ve been working very hard. There’s no mystery here. I decided to take some time off. So I got on a bus that was going in the direction I wanted to go. I’d been traveling for about four days, sightseeing, enjoying the mountains and all that touristy stuff, before I took that header in the bus station.”

“Four days?” Fiona looked shocked.

Abby forced a little laugh. “I know. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?” Not too crazy, she hoped. After all, it was almost the complete truth. She
had
decided to stop and find a cabin. She just hadn’t planned on it taking her quite so long to lose her brother-in-law. At least that’s who she thought was following her.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t gotten a very good look at the man.

However, the man in the bus station definitely looked like Reese. That is, if she hadn’t been hallucinating. And if she hadn’t been hallucinating, then all of her evasive tactics had failed.

Cal settled himself in the chair in the corner and she felt his astute gaze on her. It made her want to squirm. He asked, “Do you remember what you said to me right before you passed out?”

Her mind raced. What had she said? “No, sorry, I don’t remember.”

He steepled his fingers under his chin. “You said, ‘Don’t let him get me.’”

Abby flinched. “Are you sure I said that?”

“I’m sure.”

Abby bit her lip and looked away. How should she respond? How could she explain without lying and yet protect herself at the same time.

“Are you in trouble, Abby?”

“Not with the law,” she blurted.

Compassion flickered in his eyes and he exchanged a look with Fiona. She wondered what it meant. Then he asked, “Are you involved in a domestic violence situation?”

Abby blinked. Domestic violence? “Yes, he’s—” She broke off and took a deep breath. “Yes, I suppose you could say that, which is why I probably need to leave. I sure don’t want to repay all of your kindness by bringing trouble to your doorstep.”

Cal’s jaw tightened. “Trust me, if trouble shows up on this doorstep, I’ll be ready for it.”

Abby couldn’t read the exact emotion in his eyes, but Fiona blinked fast like she was holding back tears. Wondering at the sudden tension in the room, Abby waited to see if one of them would enlighten her.

Neither did.

Well, she supposed that was only fair. She wasn’t sharing all of her secrets, either.

“When you’re a bit better, we’ll take you into town to get checked out again by Dylan—or he can come by here,” Fiona offered softly.