Chapter Ten
“Hush, lass. Don’t make another sound,” he whispered against her ear, his weight suffocating as she squirmed to get free. “And do exactly as I say.”
Maddy went very still, alarmed by the tone of his voice.
“We’re going to get up and quietly walk to my truck. Understand?”
She nodded, willing to do anything he wanted if it would get her breathing again.
He hesitated briefly, his hand on her mouth easing, and then suddenly lifted off her. Maddy sat up, panting as quietly as she could, and groped for her clothes while he fastened his pants, even as she looked around for what had caused the sudden change in him. But he pulled her to her feet and started leading her away stark naked!
“My clothes,” she hissed, turning to find them.
“Hush!” he growled, swiping his shirt off the ground without breaking stride as he dragged her down the path through the trees.
Maddy didn’t protest, glad she at least was still wearing her sandals. And since he seemed to be able to see where he was walking, she spent her time trying to pierce the darkness of the woods, hoping to figure out what had spooked him.
She scrambled closer to William, bumping into him as she picked up her pace. Oh God, what if it was that bear-eating, hairless moose she’d almost hit on her and Eve’s ride back from Oak Harbor a couple of months ago?
“You’re safe, Maddy,” he said softly. “Just keep walking.”
Since he was talking, she decided she could, too. “Wh-what’s out there?”
“Hush,” he said, squeezing her hand.
Fine. She didn’t want to talk to him anyway. She grabbed her boobs to keep them from repeatedly bumping his arm, and concentrated on walking instead of watching the woods when she realized that every rock and stump looked sinister.
The truck came into view, and William stopped next to a large pine tree and handed her his shirt. Maddy immediately put it on, and then gave him a nudge with her shoulder to get him moving again as she fumbled with the buttons. He didn’t budge; instead pulling her against his side as he scanned the woods, his head tilted in a way that said he was listening more than seeing.
It was then she noticed the knife in his hand, as well as the way he was holding it; with the blade running back along his wrist, just like she’d seen Trace hold his knife once when he’d been home on leave. Like all fighting men did, he’d explained to her, when they meant business.
She took a shuddering breath.
William’s arm tightened around her. “We’re going to walk to the truck, and you’re going to get in the driver’s seat,” he said, bending to whisper in her ear as he continued scanning the trees. “Reach in my pocket and get the key, and when you get in, put it in the keyhole but don’t start the truck. Understand?”
She nodded, and then slipped her hand in the pocket he turned toward her and took out his key, making sure she didn’t press any of the buttons on the fob.
She tugged on his arm to get him to lean over. “Hey,” she quietly said in his ear. “I could hit the panic button on your key fob, and all the lights would come on and the horn would blast, and that would scare away whatever the hell’s out there.”
“No noise. Is there a way to stop the interior lights from coming on?”
“I’m pretty sure there’s a button that will shut them off.”
“Just as soon as you open the door, push it.”
“The lights are still going to come on when I open it.”
“Just get them off as soon as ye can. Then get in and lock your door but not the others.” He gave her another squeeze. “You’re doing fine, lass.”
Fine? She was too friggin’ scared to panic!
He took hold of her hand again and slowly approached the truck. Maddy heard a noise to their right and tried to run the rest of the way.
But William held her back. “Just keep walking,” he said, keeping his attention on the direction of the noise. He let go of her when they reached the truck and turned his back to her. “Get in, shut off the lights, and lock only your door,” he repeated.
A low, menacing growl came from the shadows off to their right, and every hair on Maddy’s body rose in terror. She stopped breathing completely when she heard another growl just off to their left.
“Now,” William growled with equal menace.
She yanked open the door, blinking against the sudden light as she fumbled with the buttons on the dash until they went out. She scrambled up into the seat and shoved the key in the ignition, but didn’t close her door. “William, get in!” she cried, trying to scoot over the console.
He closed the door for her, but before she could protest, he opened the back door and climbed inside. “Lock all the doors!”
Maddy groped at the buttons, and finally heard all four locks click.
William moved around behind her, bumping her seat, and she turned to see him reaching behind the back of the rear seat. Her eyes widened when his hand emerged holding a . . . sword?
“Can ye start the truck without the lights coming on?”
“I don’t know how!” she cried, gripping the steering wheel.
He squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay, Maddy,” he said calmly. “There appears to be enough room for ye to turn around without having to back up.” He continued scanning the woods surrounding them on three sides. “If there are any small trees in the way, just drive over them.”
“Wh-what’s out there?”
“I’m not sure, lass,” he said, giving her shoulder another reassuring squeeze. “I only caught the shadowed outline of what looked like a wolf.”
Maddy took her first full breath in twenty minutes. “You must have seen a coyote, then; we don’t have wolves in Maine.” She reached down to the key but didn’t start the truck. “But if it didn’t run from us, the poor thing could be rabid. Just as soon as we get to Eve’s, we’ll call the sheriff and report it.”
His hand on her shoulder disappeared. “Start the truck, and drive out the road.”
Taking another deep breath that went a long way to settling her nerves, Maddy started the truck, put it in gear, and drove in as tight a circle as she could, barely missing a tree she never would have been able to drive over. Not that there was any need to anymore. Coyotes, even rabid ones, couldn’t get them now.
“Um . . . William?” she said, driving up the narrow dirt road. “Is there any particular reason you keep a sword behind your backseat?”
“Because I don’t own a gun yet,” he said, leaning his arms on the two front seatbacks as he alternated between watching out the windshield and glancing behind them. “I hope to purchase a rifle, but even so, Trace told me that it can’t be loaded in a vehicle.” He snorted. “Which makes no sense; what good is an unloaded gun? And he said I can’t carry a handgun without a permit, either.”
“And you feel the need to be armed because . . .?” She glanced over at him briefly and then laughed softly, more from relief than amusement. “What? Are you afraid of the big bad bogeyman, Killkenny?”
“Are ye saying you’re not?”
“Hey, I told you; the bogeyman is in love with me. Maybe that was his shadow you saw, and he was growling at you. Maybe he’s jealous.”
But she suddenly slammed on the brakes when a large animal leaped off the road and into the woods in front of them.
“Don’t stop!” William snapped. “Step on the gas.”
Maddy did as he said, gripping the steering wheel fiercely. “That was one hell of a big coyote,” she whispered, slowing the truck to a less reckless speed when she hit a bump that lifted her off her seat.
“Speed back up,” he instructed. “And no matter what ye see, don’t stop.”
“Omigod, there’s two of them! Behind us!” she cried when she glanced in her rearview mirror and saw two monstrous coyotes chasing them. “No, three!”
She slammed on the brakes again when the headlights fell on another one standing in the middle of the road in front of them, its eyes reflecting like glowing coals. Its lips were curled back, exposing the biggest fangs she’d ever seen on any animal.
“Drive, Maddy!” William ordered, nudging her shoulder. “Run over it if ye have to. Just don’t stop.”
She pushed down on the accelerator and the truck lurched forward. Only instead of getting out of the way, the animal leaped directly at them, snarling so fiercely that she heard it over the revving engine. Maddy screamed, giving the wheel a jerk to avoid it, but just as quickly jerked it back when branches scraped her outside mirror. The animal slammed into the top of the passenger side of the cab and tumbled into the woods, the impact sending spider veins through the glass. She screamed again when not ten seconds later, the truck suddenly rocked violently, as if something had jumped into the back bed.
“Drive as if the hounds of hell are after ye, Madeline!”
She pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor and didn’t let up until she reached the main highway. She stomped on the brake to slow down only enough to make the turn—and screamed again when whatever was in the bed suddenly slammed into the rear window with enough force to shatter it into a thousand spider veins.
“Dammit, William, what are they!” she cried, tromping down on the gas again as they careened onto the highway. The tires squealed, and the truck fishtailed toward the ditch just as she heard a bloodcurdling scream—which hadn’t come from her!
She glanced in her passenger-side mirror to see whatever had been in the bed get flung out as she straightened from the fishtail, the taillights showing a large ball of fur rolling down the pavement and into the ditch.
“William! What are they?” she cried again, her eyes glued on the road ahead as she pushed the truck to a dangerous speed.
“You’re doing fine, Madeline,” he said evenly, patting her shoulder. “Just keep going as fast as ye can, and drive directly to Kenzie’s house.”
“No! We’re only a few miles from my home, and I need to make sure Sarah is safe from . . . whatever those things are! I have a couple of my dad’s rifles and a shotgun at the house. I need to get home.”
“Ye can’t, Maddy. You’ll be putting Sarah and Patricia in danger if ye do. The beasts have your scent now, and you’d be leading them right to your family. Drive to Kenzie and Eve’s.”
“M-my scent?” she whispered. Oh, God, what in hell was going on? “But for all we know, there could be more of them out there, and I need to get my daughter—Omigod!” she cried when she glanced in the rearview mirror. “They’re still following us!” She looked down at the speedometer. “I’m doing seventy!”
“I need ye to go to Maddy’s house,” William said, only it took her a moment to realize that he wasn’t talking to her. “And bring Patricia and Sarah to An Tèarmann.”
Realizing he was talking on his cell phone, Maddy sensed him turn away as he lowered his voice. “We have company, Gregor. Close the storm shutters. It’s best ye leave before we get there, so ye won’t be followed. I will be on watch until ye get back.”
There was a moment’s silence but for the sound of the laboring engine, before she heard William continue, only in a language she didn’t recognize. She glanced in the rearview mirror again, growing truly terrified when she didn’t see anything behind them.
She flinched when William’s hand came to rest on her shoulder again. “Kenzie will bring Sarah and Patricia to his house,” he told her. “When ye reach the road to An Tèarmann, don’t slow down any more than ye have to.” His fingers lightly dug into her. “You’re doing really well, lass.”
“No, I’m not!” she cried, taking a hand off the wheel just long enough to swipe the tears welling up in her eyes. “I won’t be doing well until I know my baby is safe. Give me the phone so I can call Mom. I can’t have Kenzie just suddenly show up at the house; she’ll think something terrible has happened to me.”
“You drive; I’ll dial the number and then hold the phone for ye.”
She gave him the number, and while he dialed, Maddy wracked her brain as to what she could say that wouldn’t give her mom a heart attack. “Hey, Mom,” she said calmly when Patricia picked up the phone. “No, everything’s just fine, except William and I just heard on the radio that the sheriff and state police are chasing some criminals in the woods around Midnight Bay. And, well, William said he’d feel better if you and Sarah weren’t in the house all alone. So he just called Kenzie and asked him to drive over and get you, and bring you and Sarah back to Eve’s house. What? No, it’ll be quicker if Kenzie comes and gets you; we . . . we’re heading back from Ellsworth right now, and we’ll meet you at Eve’s. Rick? Oh, don’t worry about him, Mom. He’s with his buddies, and . . . and I think they were all going to Oak Harbor tonight. He’s safe, but I just want to make sure you and Sarah are safe, too.”
She glanced in her rearview mirror and then back at the road. “Get Sarah dressed and be waiting downstairs for Kenzie. But stay inside and keep the doors locked, and don’t open them until Kenzie actually gets out of his truck and comes up onto the porch to get you, okay? Yes, I love you, too. I’ll see you soon.”
She pulled her ear away from the phone to let William know she was done. “Wh-what about Rick?” she asked when she heard him close the phone. “There’s a good chance they’re all down at the gravel pit.”
William’s hand returned to her shoulder. “I spent the afternoon with Trace, and he told me he’d be shadowing Rick this evening. And your cousin impressed me as a man who can handle any situation that might arise. I doubt our . . . visitors will head that far inland, anyway.” He gave her a squeeze. “Ye have my word, Maddy; Kenzie will keep Patricia and Sarah safe.”
“I don’t know what those things are, William, or why they’re chasing us,” she whispered, swiping her eyes with the back of her shaking hand. “I-I don’t know what’s happening.”
His grip tightened on her shoulder. “Ye don’t have to know right now,” he said softly. “Ye only have to deal with it. This will all be over soon, and when the sun’s shining tomorrow, it will seem to be nothing more than a bad dream.”
She instinctively slowed down when they reached town, and even put on her blinker! “Oh, God, I’m losing my mind!”
William actually chuckled. “Ye need to wait a little longer before ye do. When we get to An Tèarmann, turn in a wide arc so your side of the truck is right by the steps. Then shut off the engine, but don’t get out until I tell ye to. Understand?”
If he asked her if she understood one more time, she was going to scream.
No, wait; she’d already screamed so much her throat hurt.
She took a fortifying breath. “I understand.”
And then she put her blinker on again to turn into Eve’s farm! Squinting against the array of floodlights lighting up the dooryard like high noon, Maddy swung the truck in a wide circle, stopped it right beside the porch steps, and shut off the engine. “Okay, let’s get the hell inside.”
“Nay. You’ll be going in, but I’m going to keep watch outside.”
She snapped her head around. “You can keep watch inside, where it’s safe!”
He cupped her cheek in his palm, his deep blue eyes glistening in the floodlights. “You’re quite a woman, Madeline. I’ve known battle-hardened warriors who couldn’t have done what you did tonight.”
“Please come inside with me,” she whispered.
“I can’t find out what’s going on from inside the house.” He pulled her closer as he leaned in and kissed her, then disappeared.
Maddy heard his door unlock, and twisted to see him get out—taking his sword with him. She spun around and opened her door, and he helped her out of the truck.
“You’ll be holding your daughter in your arms soon,” he said, leading her up the stairs. “How long ago did Kenzie leave?” he asked Eve when she opened the front door.
“He called to say he just got to Maddy’s house, and everything is quiet there,” Eve said, grabbing Maddy’s other arm and pulling her away from William.
“And the pup?”
“She’s in the back room. Kenzie brought her in before he left.”
William nodded. “Lock up behind me,” he said, disappearing back outside.
Maddy pulled away from Eve and ran to the door—since that was her only view outside because all the windows had heavy metal storm shutters covering them. “I want him to stay inside!” she cried, watching him slip into the shadows beyond the barn.
“William can take care of himself,” Eve said, reaching around Maddy to lock the door. She took hold of Maddy’s arm again. “Come on, I bet you could use a drink.”
“How can you be so calm about this?” she hissed, pulling away. “Eve, there are wolves out there, huge, vicious, snarling monsters! They attacked the truck, and they chased us halfway here!” She hugged herself. “I’ve never even seen dogs that big; they were the size of ponies. And they had glowing red eyes and fangs larger than my fingers. And I was doing seventy miles an hour, and they were keeping up with us!” She pointed at the door. “And William is out there with only some stupid sword that looks old enough to be an antique, and you’re calmly telling me I need a drink? I need a shrink!” She suddenly stiffened. “No, I know what this is. Somebody slipped something into my drink at Rhapsody, and I’m hallucinating. This is all some weird dream. It has to be!”
“Shhh, don’t wake up Mom and Daar. It’s going to be okay,” Eve said, wrapping her arm around her. She led her to a chair at the table and made her sit down. “You’re safe now, and that’s all that matters. And Sarah and Patricia will be here soon.”
Eve went to the cupboards, took down a bottle of scotch, poured about two shots’ worth into a tumbler, and came back and handed it to her. “Sip this; it’ll calm your nerves. You can’t let Sarah and your mom see you like this, Maddy, or you’re going to scare them. I have no idea what excuse Kenzie came up with to get them over here.”
“I called them on William’s cell phone,” Maddy explained after taking a large swig. She wiped her chin with her sleeve, having spilled some because she was shaking so badly. “And I told them the sheriff and state police were searching the woods for criminals.”
Eve pulled a chair over and sat down facing her. “That was quick thinking.” She gently pushed the glass toward Maddy’s mouth. “Drink it all up, and you’ll be feeling like your old self before it even hits your belly.”
Maddy downed the rest of the glass, wiped her mouth again, and hiccupped. “Oh, shit,” she muttered, handing the glass to Eve. “I forgot I already had enough Long Island Iced Teas tonight to float a lobster boat.”
Eve reared back in horror. “But you were only supposed to have one! And you just let me give you two more shots?”
Maddy smiled at her and hiccupped again.
And then she giggled, already quite punch-drunk at being inside a brightly lit, storm-shuttered house that even Godzilla couldn’t break into. She hiccupped again. “Where in hell is William when I need him?” she muttered. “He has the perfect cure for hiccups.” She leaned toward her friend and lowered her voice. “You won’t believe this, but he can actually kiss hiccups away.” She flopped back in her chair with a sigh. “Man-oh-man, can that man kiss.”
“Um . . . where are your clothes?” Eve asked.
“Up on the bluff next to William’s new house,” she said, waving in that general direction. She suddenly sat up. “Omigod! His building crew is going to find them tomorrow morning when they come to work.”
“Don’t worry,” Eve assured her. “They can’t know who the clothes belong to—unless you left your purse up there, too?”
“No, that’s in William’s truck.”
Eve arched a brow as she leaned back in her chair. “So, he kisses good, he can cure hiccups, and he obviously knows how to get a woman to part with her clothes. Anything else I should know about concerning your manly man?”
“Yeah. The manly man tried to kill me with sex.”
Eve’s eyes widened. “Madeline Kimble, he did not.”
“He did. Why do you think they call it the little death? Well, guess what, my very best friend, I died three times in less than ten minutes! Or maybe it was four,” she murmured, trying to think back.
“Exactly how many Long Island Iced Teas did you have?”
“I can’t remember—four or five. Or maybe it was six. No,” she said, shaking her head. “I distinctly remember telling William that five drinks make me stupid, so it had to be only three or four.”
“We agreed on one, just to calm your nerves.”
Maddy snorted. “An entire fifth wouldn’t have calmed my nerves. And you agreed to only one; I didn’t agree to anything. Hey,” she said with a frown, “is that a pen sticking out of your cleavage?” she asked, squinting at Eve’s chest.
Eve looked down, then back at Maddy. “I was balancing the store’s bankbook when William called Kenzie, and I guess I just stuck it in there.” She laughed. “Being pregnant, it’s the first time I’ve ever had anything even close to cleavage. So let’s get back to William’s almost killing you. Was that before or after you parted company with your clothes?” she asked, arching a brow.
“Both. We had a couple of wrestling matches trying to determine who was blowing whose socks off, but because he’s bigger and stronger and . . . and hairier than I am, he won. I got embarrassed, and then I got so humiliated I wanted to throw myself in the ocean. Only William wouldn’t let me, and he told me there’s nothing I can say or do or think when I’m with him that should ever make me feel embarrassed,” she said, just now remembering that part. And how good it had made her feel at the time, and how . . . safe. “And then he tried to kill me with sex.”
“And of course you weren’t at all trying to kill him, were you?”
Maddy glared at her, just to let her friend know how serious she was, but then her mouth turned up in a smile all on its own. “Well, the first time was quite nice, thank you very much; and the second time was . . . well, quite surprising, actually. But then he insisted that I come a third time, and since I was still trying to catch my breath from the first two times, I kept trying to tell him no. But my stupid hormones wouldn’t listen to me, either. I think they were drunk, and didn’t want to stop partying.”
She leaned forward and lowered her voice again. “Honest to God, I swear I saw stars. And I really couldn’t breathe, and then William suddenly covered my mouth with his hand, and told me we were walking down to the truck. But I was naked. And he wouldn’t let me gather up my clothes; he just started dragging me through the dark, scary woods, and my boobs were flying all over the place!”
She grabbed her breasts through his shirt. “I think he cut my bra off with a knife,” she whispered. “I know he has one; I saw it in his hand. But not until later, when we were headed to the truck. And he looked like he really knows how to use it. Oh, and he keeps a sword behind the seat in his truck. Isn’t that weird?”
Eve shrugged, but then she frowned. “Why would William cut off your bra? All you had to do was unclasp it.”
“I think he was getting impatient because I wasn’t taking it off myself.” She made a face. “But more likely, he was mad at the damn thing for poking him in the eye.”
“You poked him in the eye?”
“I didn’t—my bra did. One of the underwires must have worn through, and when I shoved my boobs in his face because he’d lifted my skirt up over my shoulders during one of our little wrestling matches, the wire poked him just below the eye.” She nodded at her friend’s incredulous look. “It drew blood and everything. Didn’t you see the small cut just below his eye just now?”
Eve had both her hands covering her mouth, trying to hold in her laughter.
Maddy glared at her again. “You think his trying to kill me is funny?”
“No,” Eve said, now holding her protruding belly. “Honestly, no. But really, Mads, I can just see the two of you fighting over who was going to seduce whom.” She shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever met two better-matched people than you and William, especially when it comes to . . . oh, let’s call it your enthusiasm for the opposite sex, shall we?”
Maddy gasped so hard she nearly fell off her chair. “Are you calling me a slut?”
“No!” Eve said, still laughing. “Are you forgetting how determined you were that I jump Kenzie’s bones the first time you laid eyes on him? And I’m pretty sure William loves women just as much as you love men, especially women brave enough to wrestle him to the ground trying to blow his socks off.”
“Stockings,” Maddy corrected. “He calls them stockings. And I was half drunk at the time.” She smiled crookedly. “If I’d been just a little more sober, I would have remembered to take my panties off first.”
Eve was back to covering her mouth with her hands.
A horn tooted out in the dooryard.
Eve stood up, and Maddy panicked. “Omigod! What am I going to tell Mom about my clothes?” she cried, looking down at herself. “And Sarah! I can’t let my daughter see me wearing only a man’s shirt!”
“Calm down,” Eve said, going to the door to unlock it. “Tell them you fell off the pier in Oak Harbor or something and that William gave you his shirt to wear.”
“No, I told Mom we went to Ellsworth,” Maddy said, chasing after her. She switched directions, grabbed the bottle of scotch off the counter, and shoved it into the cupboard. “I know—I’ll tell her that as we were walking out of the restaurant, the sprinklers came on and soaked me.”
Patricia walked in, Kenzie right behind her, carrying Sarah.
“She fell asleep halfway here,” Kenzie said, continuing through the kitchen. “Which bed do ye want me to put her in?”
“Lay her down in the blue room,” Eve instructed quietly. She turned to Maddy and Patricia. “Maddy, you can sleep with Sarah, and Patricia, you can have the room right next to Mom’s.”
“Madeline, where are your clothes?” her mom asked.
“I fell off the pier, and William gave me his shirt.”
“What were you doing at the Ellsworth pier? There’s no restaurant down there.”
Damn, she’d gotten her stories confused. “Oh, William took a wrong turn, and when we ended up at the Union River boat ramp, I suggested we go for a moonlight stroll down on the docks. Yeah, that’s when I fell in; when I tried to feed a seagull some leftovers out of my doggy bag, and the ungrateful thing attacked me.”
“Where is William?” her mom asked, looking around.
Maddy tucked her hands behind her back and crossed her fingers, silently praying for forgiveness. “He’s in the barn. I think one of the animals isn’t feeling well.” She yawned. “Wow, I’m beat. And you must be, too.” She took her mother’s arm and started leading her toward the stairs in the living room. “I know it’s no fun having the phone wake you up and then being told you have to leave in the middle of the night, but I really thought it was better to be safe than sorry.”
Patricia stopped at the foot of the stairs and leaned away from Maddy. “Good Lord, Madeline, you smell like a distillery. And your eyes are bloodshot.” She grinned—one of those smug “I’m your mother, and you can’t fool me” grins. “So you had a couple of drinks at the restaurant, suggested to William that a walk down by the water was just the thing after dinner, and you fell into the river because you were more tipsy than you realized.”
Maddy dropped her head to hide her smile. “Jeesh, I can’t ever get anything past you, can I?” she muttered, walking up the stairs behind her laughing mother. “I sure hope you give me some pointers when I finally let Sarah start dating in another . . . oh, fifteen or twenty years from now.”