Chapter Fourteen

After grabbing the bat from behind the kitchen counter, I headed to the front door. George didn’t move, though he did seem curious about what I was doing. He cocked his head to the right.

“Great guard dog you are—why aren’t you trying to scare them off?”

“Ainsley? Are you up? I saw the lights on and thought I’d check,” Jake said.

I rolled my eyes, and then took a deep settling breath.

After opening the door, I motioned him inside, but he shook his head. “My boots are a mess. That’s why I’m here.”

Did he want me to wash his boots?

“Do you need to borrow my hose? It’s kind of late.”

“What?” He glanced down at his feet. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. I don’t think I realized the time. I don’t want to track mud in your place. Oh, hey George.” He held out a hand as my not so great guard dog tried to knock him down with a greeting.

“Why are you here?” It came out much harsher than I intended but he’d scared the crud out of me. “I didn’t mean it that way. Sorry, I’m tired.”

“My lights came on at my place, so I ran out to see what it was and ended up tracking them all the way to your place. Then I worried, when I saw your lights on, that you might think I was the intruder, so I decided to come let you know everything’s okay.”

“Them?” There was more than one person traipsing around the woods in the back of my house. A cold shiver ran through me.

“Yes. A mom and her two babies.”

Huh?

“It’s deer season. I’m hoping they find safer ground. But it could be what’s been upsetting George so much. I tracked them all the way here. There’s some high grass that they were chewing on before I scared them. I didn’t mean to; I was just running too fast to stop in time.”

“Oh. Well, that makes me feel a lot better. Not about you running—but the deer. I’m grateful you stopped by. I have pie.”

Why did I say that?

He grinned. “Is that an invitation?”

I cleared my throat because all kinds of frogs were jumping around in there. “It’s apple. Shannon’s been baking a lot and she gave it to me earlier as some sort of thank you. If you don’t help me eat it, I’ll probably down the whole thing myself.”

Shut. Up. Ainsley. Why did my mouth do this every time he was around? I wasn’t some schoolgirl.

He’s just a man.

Yes, but a very could-be-a-movie-star kind of man.

He smiled again, and for the life of me I couldn’t remember what we’d been talking about. Oh, pie.

I pointed to his feet. “You could leave the boots on the porch and come on in. That is if you want some. It’s the least I can do for you to thank you for running after deer bandits.”

Really, Ainsley. Deer bandits.

I sighed—internally.

“I never turn down pie,” he said. “If you’re sure it’s not too late.”

“Nope,” I said. “I really do appreciate you checking things out for me,” I said as I pulled the pie from the fridge, and then the ice cream from the freezer.

After heating up two slices, I held up the ice cream scoop. “One scoop or two?”

“Always two and are both those slices for me?” He chuckled. How could he have a body like that and eat like he did?

“Sure,” I said. “Actually, I’d be grateful if you took the whole thing home with you. The last thing I need to do is to eat pie.”

He shook his head. “Why do you say that? You have the—guys aren’t supposed to say this sort of stuff—but you’re perfect the way you are. I like women who aren’t afraid of food.”

All kinds of warm swirly fun stuff happened from my head to my toes. I might have blushed. My cheeks were hot for sure. “Uh. Thanks.”

“That was too much, right? You’re Greg’s little sister. It’s just a couple of times you’ve said things like that about your weight. I think you look great the way you are.”

Sigh. Ugh. Always the little sister. “Uh. Thanks again.” After handing the plate with two pieces and several dollops of ice cream, I cut some for myself. “Have you talked to my brother much?”

“It’s a busy time of the year for the city,” he said. “The fall festival is one of the biggest since it’s tied to homecoming at the college. He called yesterday. Said there were some developments with the case, and could I maybe keep an eye out at your place.”

“What kind of developments?”

Jake glanced down at his pie as if he’d said too much.

“He told you not to tell me because of the murder board, right?”

He stuffed his mouth full of pie and shrugged. He was good, but I needed to know what was going on.

“There are other suspects, right? Is Michael off the hook?”

I handed him a paper towel, because I’m fancy like that, and he wiped his face. “I honestly don’t know the specifics. I promise. But he did say they’re running down some leads, and he’s having to do a lot of the grunt work because they’re stretched so thin. That detective who was running the case is checking out some leads out of town.” He held up his hands in surrender. “I swear that’s all I know. But he was worried that if someone thinks you saw them… He just wants to keep an eye on your place for a while.”

Good shivers were gone, and bad ones were back.

“But I didn’t see anything. He’d been dead for a bit, even Kane said so, when I found him.”

“Right, but the running you heard, that could have been one of the suspects.”

“One of?”

He laughed. “You don’t miss much. I’m the fire chief—he doesn’t share specifics, even though we’re friends. But he did explain enough that he worries about your safety. That’s really all I know.”

If it was more than one person, the killer could have been hired. But that didn’t make sense with what I’d read on Kane’s computer. His notes indicated it was a spur-of-the-moment killing—possibly a crime of passion. Killing someone was impossible—nearly impossible. The killer had used whatever was nearest, which was probably why Michael was the number one suspect.

“That’s good, though. It means he really doesn’t believe Michael did it.”

Jake smirked. “Ainsley, we all know it wasn’t him. It’s Michael. I’ve seen him stop on the side of the road to help an injured animal, and he’s the type who runs across crowded streets to help old women. Honestly, one of the kindest men I’ve ever met. And I’ve known him a long time.”

“Preaching to the choir,” I said. “That’s why I was so mad at Greg and that detective.”

His eyes went back to his pie. “Lucy is just doing her job.”

“You say that like you know her.”

This time he was the one who cleared his throat. “We used to date. Uh—a few years ago. But then she decided to go back to school and—we were better off as friends.”

Interesting, though not surprising. The detective was beautiful, even if a bit annoying. “Is she the one who got away?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Everyone has the person who if maybe they’d made different decisions, they’d still be with.”

“Ainsley McGregor, you watch too many of those chick flicks.”

That made me laugh. “I’m just curious.”

“Yep. It’s one of the things I like about you.” He ate another bite of pie.

What did he mean by that?

“So, you have one of those?” He waved a fork in the air.

“Those?”

“Ones who got away?”

I laughed. “Uh. No. I’ve been too busy with school and then work. There was a time when I thought maybe I’d found someone… Let’s just say, me and relationships—I’m not so lucky in that department.”

“Now, that surprises me. I figured you’d been breaking hearts all over Chicago.”

I snorted and then almost choked on the bite of pie I had in my mouth. He jumped up and patted my back.

“I’m good,” I said through half-chewed bits of pie. Yes, I’m absolutely God’s gift to men.

As. If.

“You sure?”

I nodded and grabbed another paper towel to wipe my face and the counter.

“I guess, I should get going,” he said, as he moved to put his empty plate in the sink.

“Wait.” Why did I have to sound so desperate? “Obviously, this pie is trying to kill me. Why don’t you take it home?” I couldn’t blame him for wanting to run away. Lord only knew how attractive that had been with me snorting pie crumbs through my nose.

“You sure?”

“Yes. And sorry about that.” Just like I said, my track record with men is abysmal. As in, my ex cheated with the woman I thought was my best friend at that time. And that was one of my better stories.

I wrapped up the pie in foil and handed it to him.

“Do you need a ride back to your place?” I asked as I followed him to the door. George jumped off the couch, started to head toward us and then turned. He was much more interested in the floor by the breakfast bar where’d I’d just spewed pie everywhere.

“I don’t think I’ll ever need a vacuum again,” I said.

Jake laughed. “Not with George around. He really is a great dog.”

“That he is.” I’d give him an extra treat for making my guest laugh after I’d embarrassed myself in the worst way.

“I’m good. It’s a short walk if I cross behind the house. In fact, follow me.” I did around to the side porch. “See that light through the trees?”

Funny, I’d never noticed that before. “Yes.”

“Those are the new lights I just put on my back fence.”

That explained why I hadn’t seen them before.

“I wanted you to see that I’m never far, if you need me. Just pick up the phone and I’ll be here.”

He turned toward me and, in the moonlight, his smile—yep, so not going there. Even if he weren’t woefully out of my league, I’d still be in the friend category because of my brother.

“Thanks again for checking up on me,” I said. “And I can’t tell you how relieved I am to know it’s deer. I’ve had the weirdest feeling that someone, or I guess something, has been watching me. I know how paranoid that sounds. But it raises the hair on the back of my neck, every time George goes berserk. After what happened to me in Chicago, I felt a—”

“Like you were safer here?”

I nodded. “I guess my brother told you?”

“He did, but only because he wanted me to keep an eye on the guys at the station while he was with you at the hospital.”

“You’re good at the keeping an eye out thing—and thank you again. For everything from saving me from that dangerous apple pie, to the deer. Be careful.” I turned to walk back in the house.

“Ainsley,” he said. I turned to find him still standing there. “You are safe. This is a great town. I promise, I’m just right through the trees if you need me. And if ever you get those feelings again, don’t be shy about calling, okay?”

“Thanks.”

“Oh, and no. Lucy wasn’t my someone special.” He smiled and then waved.

From inside the house, I watched him through the window as he crossed the acreage separating our places. Then he was out of sight. Knowing he was close did make me feel safer.

But even better—deer were not scary. Possible suspects who may or may not have left notes on the back door of the store—I’d totally forgotten that.

I thought about telling my brother, but it was late. On the off chance he might be resting, I didn’t want to interrupt that. Besides, I had no proof. I was sure he’d believe me, but I’d kind of convinced myself maybe I’d imagined it.

After turning out the lights, I headed up to bed.

Desperately trying to forget what just happened, I put some soothing music on my phone and put my headphones on.

A half hour later, my mind had settled.

Right up until I was yanked out of bed.