Janet’s SUV sat on the road, the back-end inches from a flooded ditch. The driver’s side door hung open. A dog was howling. Callie. The sound was mournful, low, and sent shivers down Todd’s spine. He shoved his truck into park and got out. Rain tapped against the brim of his ball cap and drizzled down into his shirt.
Callie caught sight of him. She stopped howling and gave three short yips. Todd’s boots slid to a stop. Janet’s rain jacket lay in the middle of the road, a puddle of red against the dark asphalt. It looked like blood. His legs went weak, his feet faltering.
Lord, no. Please, not Janet.
He sucked in a sharp breath and held it as he moved around the side of the SUV’s door. Janet was hunched over the steering wheel. Her curly hair was tangled. Trails of blood crept along one cheekbone, the color exaggerated by her pallid skin. Her eyes were open, but she appeared to be staring at nothing.
A sharp stab of pain jabbed him in the chest, close enough to his heart to feel like it was breaking. He grabbed the SUV door as his military training kicked in. He scanned her and realized her chest was moving.
She was breathing. Thank you, Lord.
Had she been in a car accident? The SUV appeared undamaged. Was it just the bump on her head?
“Janet?” He placed a hand on her upper arm. Her sweater was sopping wet. “Are you okay?”
She jerked in her seat. A fist swung toward his face. Todd reacted instinctively by dodging it. She screamed and launched from the vehicle like a wild woman. He backed up, trying to deflect her attack while not hurting her.
“Janet, stop!”
She pushed him toward the other side of the road. Her eyes were open, but it was like she wasn’t seeing him. A knot tightened in his stomach. She landed two solid punches on his upraised arms, hard enough to bruise flesh. He didn’t care about his own, but she would damage her knuckles.
He caught her wrists, grasping them gently. “Janet! It’s me—Todd.”
She froze. Blinked. Blinked again. She inhaled a sharp breath as recognition flitted across her pretty features.
“Todd.” His name came out on a whisper. Her body sagged, and if he hadn’t been holding her, she would’ve sunk to the ground. “I—”
The word cut off on a sob. He pulled her against his chest and her soaked clothes wet his own. What had happened? Janet’s raincoat lay nearby on the road, and a sick thought occurred to him. His body heat rose, but Todd tamped down the anger when she trembled in his arms. He needed to stay calm.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you.” He wrapped the ends of his jacket around her, a shield against the rain and cold. “You’re safe now.”
She stiffened and pushed away violently, knocking him off balance. “Where is she?”
He frowned. “Where’s who?”
She raced forward a few steps. Todd followed, but she bounced around the road like a ping-pong ball in an arcade machine. Callie, still strapped in the vehicle, sensed her master’s emotional turmoil and started howling.
“Where is she?”
Janet stumbled and lifted a shaking hand to her head before bending at the waist and heaving. He closed the distance between them, lifting her hair out of the way. Todd had no idea what was happening, but his first priority was to take care of her.
“You need to go to the hospital.”
“No.” Janet sucked in a breath and pointed to her discarded raincoat. “She was right there. He took her.”
She wasn’t making any sense. How hard had she hit her head? Concussions weren’t anything to play around with and all the symptoms pointed to one.
Her gaze lifted. Met his. Hidden in their depths, amid the seaside-blue, there was terror. An icy cold finger touched the back of his neck.
“We need to call the police, Todd. Right now.”
Three
Beams of early morning sunlight streamed through the kitchen windows, making patterns along the tile floor and the new backsplash. Janet swallowed two painkillers and chased them with a sip of coffee. The warm liquid traced a path to her belly but failed to ease the coldness in her bones or the lingering sense of vulnerability and worry.
Yesterday had been a whirlwind of doctors and tests and questions by the police. They hadn’t found the woman. They didn’t even know her name, but the haunting image of her face appeared all night in Janet’s dreams. She sent up a prayer for the woman’s safety. Another one. What hours she hadn’t spent sleeping, she’d been talking with God.
She glanced in the backyard but didn’t see Callie. Carrying her coffee mug, she went to the windows overlooking the front of the house. A familiar beat-up truck with a dented driver’s side door and rusted chrome sat in her unpaved driveway. Her dog circled, sniffing the tires.
What in the world?
Crisp air stole her breath and her wading boots thudded against the wooden planks of the old porch. The front seat in the truck was tilted back. Todd’s eyes were closed, his leather jacket caressing his broad shoulders. Bristles covered his strong jaw and he was wearing the same flannel shirt from yesterday. She rapped on the window and he jolted upright, whacking his head against the handle over the door. Janet winced.
“Sorry,” she said as he opened the door. “I didn’t mean to startle you. What are you doing here?”
“Standing guard.” He rubbed his head and yawned. “You don’t have a security system yet, and with everything that happened yesterday, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have extra eyes on the house.”
Heat radiated through her chest. He’d stayed with her through everything yesterday and now this… “Todd, you didn’t have to.”
“I know.” He took the mug from her hand and drained it before flashing her a smile. The dimple in his left cheek winked. “You make the best coffee. Don’t suppose there’s more where this
