The Alvarez & Pescoli Series. Lisa Jackson

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СКАЧАТЬ a family, okay? Maybe not the traditional Leave It to Beaver type of family, but a family, warts and all.”

      “Leave it to what?”

      “You’ve never seen…or heard of…? It’s a sitcom from the fifties or sixties about a family that…oh, never mind—”

      His grin said it all. “Okay, smarty, so ya got me,” she said, realizing he had been pulling her leg.

      “And you call yourself a detective?”

      “Pinewood County’s finest.”

      “Poor Pinewood,” he said, but the twinkle in his eyes returned.

      Regan felt a moment of parental pleasure, fleeting as it was bound to be. “I’m going out for a while. When I get home, will you be here?”

      “I told you, I’m going over to Ryan’s.” He looked up at her. “He’s got some E and—”

      “Don’t joke with me about it.”

      “Okay, okay.” He shrugged as Cisco tried to find a place to lie down between his long legs. “We’re not doing any drugs. We’re just going to play video games.”

      “What about Heidi?” she asked, bringing up Jeremy’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. A sticky situation, since Heidi was one of Cort Brewster, the undersheriff’s, daughters.

      “Eh. We broke up.” He shrugged as if it didn’t matter and he, at least, didn’t seem heartbroken. This time.

      “Okay. I’ll see you later. Call Lucky.”

      He held up his cell phone and his eyebrows arched in reproach. “I’m on it, Mom. Got it.” He waved at her with the hand holding his phone. “See ya. And be careful.”

      “What?”

      Jeremy’s grin stretched wide. Full of the devil, he suddenly looked a lot like his father. “Hey, I’m just sayin’ what you always tell me when I go out.”

      “Smart ass,” she muttered under her breath but headed up the stairs feeling slightly better. Jer had his struggles, but didn’t they all?

      She left him at the house, and as she drove onto the county road, she clicked on her cell phone to call Nate. Tonight was suddenly looking up.

      As long as another dead body or wrecked car wasn’t discovered.

      Chapter Fifteen

      Jillian heard the sound of boots on the front porch and she tensed, training the barrel of her gun on the doorway.

      A few seconds later the lock clicked, the door opened and MacGregor stepped inside. Beside him, bounding joyfully, Harley swept past his long legs. Stopping at the fireplace grate, the spaniel shook his long coat, sending drops of water onto the fire and causing the embers to sizzle angrily.

      Jillian’s heart did a stupid little flip at the sight of MacGregor as he secured the cabin again, throwing the deadbolt back into its locked position.

      “You okay?” he asked as he ripped off his ski cap. His dark hair stuck up in awkward spikes, but he didn’t notice.

      “I guess.”

      “Then maybe you should point the gun somewhere else.” He motioned a gloved finger at the muzzle of her rifle, which, of course, was still aimed at the door.

      “Sorry.” She lowered the rifle, watching as he unzipped and shrugged out of his jacket, then hung it on a peg near the door. He was wearing a thick, bulky sweater, but even so, she noticed how fluidly his muscles worked as he moved around the cabin. He was earthy and male and…off limits. Why the hell did she even notice? She’d heard of captives who had become enamored with their abductors, who had even imagined themselves falling in love with the only person they were allowed to see, and she’d always thought the whole concept was ludicrous. But here, cut off from the world, the threat of danger at the door, she found herself attracted to this rugged man of few words and a very dark past.

      What a crock!

      Get over yourself.

      She dragged her gaze away from the intensity of his. “What did you find out there?”

      “I’m not sure.” His thick eyebrows pulled together and he double-checked that the door was locked.

      “What do you mean?”

      “I think I saw some kind of disturbance in the snow. Most likely tracks.” He shoved one hand through his hair, only messing the dark waves further. All the while he never let go of his rifle. “Looks like someone used a pine bough to scrape over the tracks. That might work in dirt or sand or dust. Not snow. Certainly not deep snow.” He took a position in front of the fire, warming the back of his legs. “And it would only work if whoever was outside wore snowshoes. Boots sink too deep.” Silhouetted by the firelight, he thought hard, his jaw sliding to one side as he scratched his chin. “But I didn’t catch him. The way I figure it, I took off out the back and didn’t find the front tracks for a while, until I doubled back. Since it was snowing pretty hard, I really don’t know what was going on out there, but nothing I feel good about.”

      Panic streamed through Jillian’s blood. All the fears she’d tried so hard to allay suddenly came into hard, sharp focus. “So what’re we going to do?”

      “Nothin’ to do but wait it out,” he said, as if he’d considered the limited alternatives. “We’ll lock all the doors and keep the guns ready, and the minute there’s a break in the weather and the roads are clear, we’re outta here.”

      “You make it sound like we’re in some bad movie from the fifties and the zombies are lurking in the woods.”

      He didn’t so much as crack a smile. “Whatever’s out there isn’t dead.”

      “You’re worried?”

      “Cautious.” He looked at her intently, with eyes that darkened in the half light. “Just…cautious.”

      “I’m worried.” She didn’t add that she was scared to death; he probably figured that already.

      He nodded and glanced out the window to the darkness that had gathered. “Why don’t you try and sleep? I’ll stand guard.”

      “You think you need to?”

      “Maybe not. But as I said, cautious. And I need you as strong as possible. The only way we’re going to get out of here is if you’re as strong as possible.”

      “I couldn’t sleep even if I tried.”

      One side of his mouth lifted in that disarming grin she found so damned charming. “Try. You can stay in here if you want or the bedroom.”

      “Here will be fine,” she said reluctantly, then worked her way to the couch, where she dropped down on the lumpy pillows.

      He settled into the chair with the ottoman and turned down the lanterns.

      The СКАЧАТЬ