Page 4 of Christmas Under Fire

She started to turn away.

“You can’t leave!” He said. When her back stiffened, he hurried to explain. “We have to call the police. Someone attacked you.”

She turned to face him. “I’m not waiting out here in the cold to be attacked again.”

He could see her point. “Fine. Then let’s go to the police station. Please. That man, he was trying to kill you. You need to tell the police.”

Hesitation crawled over her face. Then she nodded. “Fine. I will. But you don’t need to come.”

That’s where things might get tricky.

“I do. Look, I have something to tell you.” He pulled his ID from his pocket. “My name is Brody Carson. I’m a private detective. I was hired to find you.”

She backed up a step. “Why? And by who?”

CHAPTER 2

Why would someone want to find her? It’s not like she had been hidden away.

His story didn’t make sense. But he did save her life and nearly got himself injured doing it. She glanced at his ID badge again. He was correct that they needed to go to the police. And she didn’t feel like going there alone.

But she also wasn’t about to climb into the car with a stranger.

She settled for a compromise.

“Look, I will go to the police. I will even follow you there. The station is only five miles down this road.” She wanted him to be aware she knew the exact location.

“That’s smart. Can I check around your car to make sure no one is hiding in it or under it?”

She shuddered. “I hadn’t thought of that. Yes, yes. Please.”

He removed his weapon again and carefully walked toward her vehicle, his eyes never still. Holding the weapon out in front of him, the muzzle pointing toward the ground, he swung his arms and upper body as he walked like a pendulum, sweeping the area for threats.

She’d seen that stance in movies. It looked really cool on police shows. Here, in person, it made shivers run up and down her spine.

Someone had tried to kill her.

She rubbed her gloved hands up and down her arms to ward off a chill. It didn’t work. The cold came from deep inside her soul and had nothing to do with the falling temperature.

Zane would want to know his baby sister was in danger. Maybe she should call him.

She immediately rejected the idea. Maya was in labor. No. His place was with his wife and unborn child.

This was one emergency she’d have to handle on her own.

Brody shone a flashlight into her windows, first the front seat, then the back, checking to make sure no one had hidden themselves in her vehicle. Jenna shook her head, unable to believe this was happening to her.

Jenna enjoyed a very quiet life. She’d had enough drama in her life and tended to avoid it when she could.

Sometimes, though, it was also a lonely life.

She didn’t often admit that to herself. Shoving the unwelcome thought aside, she thanked Brody when he said her car was clear.

She slid behind the wheel then shut and locked the doors. While she waited for the heat to turn on, she watched Brody jog toward his vehicle.

The second she realized he was going to go around to the front of the building, she put her car in Reverse and followed him. There was no way she’d stay in the empty parking lot like a sitting goose and wait for him. Besides, she didn’t know what his car looked like.

He headed toward a dark SUV parked along the curb across the street from the accounting office. He got in and soon pulled away from the curb, heading toward the police station, Jenna on his rear bumper.