Deadly Christmas Pretense. Dana Mentink
She let go. The downward pull strained every muscle in his body, required every iota of strength he possessed not to drop her. Groaning with the effort, he began to command his body backward, pulling one excruciating inch at a time, the platform creaking in protest. Their combined weight added to the ledge already weakened by time and the salt air. How much longer would it hold? Sweat blinded him and he thought his shoulders would dislocate when at last he pulled back just far enough that her torso cleared the busted railing.
She crawled up next to him and collapsed. He rolled onto his back, sweat mingling with the cold winter air, sucking in painful gusts as he recovered. She breathed hard next to him, one shuddering gasp at a time.
Finally she managed to sit up.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Anytime,” he groaned, unable yet to attain a sitting position.
Several more minutes passed before he rustled up the strength to roll over and get painfully to his feet while she did the same.
He let the silence linger for a few more minutes while she stayed there, staring out at the ocean without seeing it, the beacon painting them in odd yellow light.
“Tam, why is that guy trying to kill you?” he said finally.
She jerked when he said her name. “I don’t know.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I think you probably have a general idea.”
“No.”
He rolled a tentative shoulder to make sure it was still in the socket. “All right. Well, let’s take a ride over to Danny Patron at the Driftwood Police Department, and you can tell him all the things you don’t know.”
“I have to go.”
He blinked. “When someone tries to run you down and knock you off a lighthouse, the correct countermeasure is to solicit the help of law enforcement personnel. They live for this kind of stuff.”
“Thank you. For what you did, I mean. I—I mean... I would have...”
“Fallen to your death were it not for the heroic actions of your ex-boyfriend,” he finished.
She startled then and a tiny smile shone on her face. Odd, it struck him. Tammy was a blurt-it-out, take-no-prisoners, impulsive woman. But maybe the trauma had subdued her mouth for the moment. “Thank you, Liam.”
“You’re welcome, now—”
She left him there, mouth open wide like a dummy’s, talking to no one as she jogged down the staircase.
“Hey,” he said, hurrying after her as best he could considering he’d probably pulled every muscle in his upper body. “You can’t just run off into the night.”
Apparently she had not pulled quite as many muscles as he had, since she made it out the front door by the time he caught up.
To his utter lack of surprise, Jingles was waiting. He barked once at Tammy and leaped for Liam, tail wagging.
“All right, all right,” he said. “Stand down, would ya?”
She’d used his distraction to make it nearly to the cliff trail before he caught up and stopped her with a hand on her wrist. She jerked around. He heard rather than saw her sharp intake of breath and regretted scaring her. Tammy had never been afraid of anything, to his knowledge, and he hated seeing it in her now. Her wrist was smaller than he remembered, more delicate. He let her go. “Sorry,” he said. “Let me take you to the police station. Please.”
She stopped at the word please. Aunt Ginny would be proud of him for remembering his manners, especially when dealing with a woman who was acting in a completely irrational manner.
She checked her phone, frowning at what she did or did not see there, and turned away, folding her arms around herself, taking in the long, lonely cliff trail, perhaps.
“Can you...would you give me a ride?” she said softly.
He leaned closer. “How’s that?”
“A ride,” she said louder.
“Sure, the police—”
“To my trailer?”
“Your trailer? I thought you moved away permanently.”
“Kept up the rental.”
He wanted to ask if she was planning to stay. He didn’t know exactly how he would feel about running into Tammy Lofton again in the small town of Driftwood, but he didn’t think the feelings would be good.
“The police—”
“My trailer,” she said, more firmly this time. “Can you take me? Otherwise, I’ll walk back to the Corvette and change the tire and drive myself.”
“Since when would you voluntarily get dirty, Tam?” And when had she learned to change a tire, for that matter?
She waited him out and he detested the fact that he already knew he was going to cave. Not like he would leave a woman, any woman, even the last woman on earth he wanted to see, alone in the dark, fixing her own tire, no less.
“Well, all right,” he said, “but I’m on record as saying this makes about as much sense as puttin’...”
“A screen door on a submarine?” she finished.
He goggled. “Was gonna say putting socks on a rooster, but same principle. Since when do you spool out the country witticisms? Thought that drove you crazy.”
She shrugged. “Never mind. I just want a ride, that’s all.”
“Fine,” he snapped, turning away and whistling for Streak. “But just so you know, you’re gonna be riding behind me, followed by a lunatic dog who doesn’t know a horse from a hula hoop.”
He thought he caught another smile as he climbed painfully into the saddle and lowered an arm down to help her up behind him. When he eased Streak into a trot, she circled her arms around his waist. Gently, he noticed with some appreciation. She seemed comfortable in the saddle. Puzzling, since Tammy stayed as far away from the ranch and horses as she possibly could.
He wanted to fire a couple of questions over his shoulder, but his sides were aching and he figured she was just as uncomfortable. He’d give her a ride to her trailer, but it wasn’t going to be the end of things. Not until he had all his questions answered, like who was trying to kill his ex-girlfriend and why?
Maggie clung to Liam’s narrow waist as best she could through the pain that pulsed through her ribs. He smelled of leather and hay, a heady combination. She didn’t even want to think about how much discomfort he was in after he’d put his own life in danger to save hers. The rocking motion of the horse aggravated her pain and she rested her head against his wide shoulders, trying to control her stampeding thoughts.
She’d almost been killed.
What’s more, the stranger—who had to be Virgil—had apparently been responsible for her sister’s accident, and now Tammy was on the run. Where? At least the why part was becoming clearer. Tammy had taken jewelry and he was bent on retrieving it. Maggie had no idea why Tammy would have done such a thing, but there had to be a good reason. There had been no messages from her sister when she’d checked. She desperately wanted to look again but she couldn’t do that without risking dropping her cell as the horse traveled along.
What exactly was she going to do next? Liam was right that she should talk to the police, but her sister had specifically asked her not to.
I don’t want to kill you...but I will if I have to.
Maggie had heard only a little about Tammy’s new job. Guilt licked at her insides. She’d been so busy