Midnight Exposure (Midnight #1)(76)

“What is it?” Jed’s question broke the spell.

Reed blinked away. “I’d like to show you where I found Jayne and see if you can figure out where she was held.”

“Sure. I got maps inside.” Heavy boots clomped across the porch to the door. He held the door open for them. “Coffee?”

“No, thanks.” Reed stepped aside to let Jayne through first. Their arms brushed, and an empty ache throbbed through her chest. She wanted to lose herself in his arms again, which was a shame, because in a few hours she’d be with her brothers. Tomorrow she’d be back home.

Her time with Reed would be just a memory. Her old life felt as if it belonged to someone else. How could she have changed so much in only a few days?

“I’m good.” Jayne swallowed the emotion thick in her throat as she crossed the threshold. In the middle of Jed’s log cabin’s decor sat a computer desk and a heap of modern electronics. Surprisingly quiet in his thick-soled boots, Jed moved across the wide-planked floor to a filing cabinet and opened a drawer. He selected a map and spread it out on the thick oak kitchen table.

Reed measured the mile markers and tapped a forefinger on the approximate location. “Right about here. What’s within two or three miles?”

Jed rattled off a couple of names Jayne didn’t recognize. “And Aaron McCree’s place is over here.”

Surprise flashed across Reed’s face. “Really?”

Jayne stopped in front of the glass-fronted fireplace. “Who’s Aaron McCree?”

“Nathan’s uncle,” Reed said.

“Aaron has cancer. He’s living with Nathan while he gets chemo, so the place has been empty for a while.” Jed pulled a heavy coat off a wooden peg. “I’m gonna take a ride over and check it out. I’d like to let Nathan know if somebody is squatting in Aaron’s place.”

Reed nodded. “Good idea. We’ll ride along to see if Jayne recognizes the place.”

Unease skimmed up Jayne’s spine on the drive over. In the passenger seat, she picked at her bandages. Reed reached over and grasped her hand, stilling it. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

His palm was warm and solid, tempting her to latch on and never let go. But she didn’t. She lifted her gaze to his face. The fresh burns on his jaw reminded her that he’d already taken enough risks for her safety. She had to stand on her own two feet. No more relying on Reed’s strength to get her through. After tonight, she would likely never see him again. He pulled his hand away as if thinking the same thing.

“I know.” But, along with the skein of sadness, fear wormed its way into her belly. “But if this is the place, it’s going to be creepy to go back into it.”

If Jed’s truck hadn’t been in the lead, they would have missed the narrow private road. The entrance was tucked behind a thick stand of evergreens. The Yukon fishtailed with the turn. The road had been plowed but not scraped down to the base, indicating the road was dirt-or gravel-based.

“Who plowed the road?”

“Good question.” Reed straightened the SUV.

Without the haze of swirling snowflakes, the surrounding woods hardly resembled the nightmarish landscape of her desperate, panic-stricken flight. She scanned the ground ahead of the truck, but no footprints marred the snow’s smooth surface to indicate that she’d run down this road. The storm, and a plow, had erased all evidence of her escape.

The house appeared as they rounded a gentle bend. The square structure hunched against the winter wind in a large cleared area. Gooseflesh rippled up Jayne’s arms. She hugged her torso and waited for Reed to park the SUV next to Jed’s pickup.

Reed glanced down at the odometer in his truck. “You ran almost two miles in that storm.”

Jayne knew it wasn’t athletic conditioning or courage that had gotten her through. Sheer terror had carried her such an incredible distance.

“Does it look familiar?”

“Yeah.” Might as well get this over with. She reached for the door handle, her resolve collapsing like a Jenga tower.

Reed’s voice stopped her movement. “I’m right here with you. OK?”

Words wouldn’t form around the salty lump in her throat. All she could manage was a nod as she jumped out of the SUV.

Jed walked ahead, scrutinizing the ground. “Somebody’s been here.”

Jayne sucked in a breath of bitter wind. The bite deep in her lungs grounded her. In the approaching dusk, the shadow of the house stretched toward her. Oh, this was the right place. Three stories of malevolence were ready to reach out and touch someone.

Her.

“You OK?” Reed stepped up beside her.

The movement jarred her back from her horrific sense of déjá vu. She shook it off. “I’m fine. Let’s get this done.”

Logically she knew nothing bad was going to happen, but her heart banged against her rib cage as if it wanted out of the crazy body it was trapped in. She approached the door to her prison, the place where she had almost died in a most awful and terrifying way. Her thighs quivered as she paused at the bottom of the porch steps and looked up. Above the porch roof, a large branch had fallen, breaking several windows and ripping away a portion of the gutter like a jagged wound.

Jed tried the door. “Locked. I’ll go round back.”