“Ellie,” her mother said, “why don’t you and Max get settled in your rooms for the night. It’s been a long day, and I know you two would like some alone time to catch up. And just maybe, after a good night’s rest, you’ll reevaluate your position on the wedding.”
“I assure you that won’t happen,” she said, and before her mother could start in again, Ellie rushed ahead, “Are you sure you don’t want me to finish the dishes?” Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Max’s hand and headed for the back door.
Max made her wait while he thanked her parents for dinner, then followed her outside.
“I like your parents.”
She didn’t look over her shoulder as she crossed the yard at a fast clip to get to the steps.
“Uh-huh,” she agreed. “You’ve probably got a hundred questions about my family, don’t you?”
“No,” he answered. “Okay, maybe a couple.”
“Yes?”
She rushed up the stairs and waited for Max to unlock the dead bolts. He leaned around her, wrapping her in his arms as he slipped the keys in the dead bolts and unlocked the door. If she moved at all, her lips would touch his warm skin. He swung the door open and pulled back so she could go inside.
She walked to the center of the living room, turned around, and folded her arms in front of her while she waited for him to lock the door and give her his full attention. As soon as he was facing her, she said, “Okay, start talking. Why are you here?”
He leaned against the door and grinned. “I thought it was my turn to ask questions.”
She sighed in frustration. “Okay, I’ll give you two. Then you start explaining. Go ahead. Ask away.”
“What’s a plus one?”
SIXTEEN
They were on round three of the argument.
Max had taken a shower, put on a clean T-shirt and jeans, grabbed the channel changer, and now sat on the lumpy sofa with his bare feet up on an ottoman, trying to watch the late news on a television screen the size of a breadbox while he patiently waited for Ellie to calm down and be reasonable. He doubted it was going to happen anytime soon.
The remote kept falling apart in his hand. It had been duct taped together, but the tape was obviously old. He made the mental note to buy a universal remote tomorrow or another roll of tape. It was downright barbaric not to have a decent channel changer.
“Are you listening to me?” she demanded.
“Yes, I am,” he lied.
God, she looked good. He watched her resume her pacing while she ranted. She had also showered and was now wearing a pale pink-and-white-striped nightgown that barely touched her knees, and a matching long cotton robe that tied at the waist. The robe was too big for her, and the hem dragged on the floor, but to him she looked sexier than if she had been wearing a flimsy negligee. She looked hot in everything she wore, even the baggy scrubs he’d first seen her in.
Unaware of where his thoughts were, Ellie continued her tirade. She had every reason to be upset. She hadn’t said a word while he’d explained his reason for coming to Winston Falls and his intent to be her shadow until the two of them returned to her home, but when he’d finished explaining, she’d reacted. She hadn’t flipped out on him, though. She’d become outraged, and he much preferred that reaction. Furious was better to work with than terrified or weepy.
“You are not telling my father or my mother.” She was so irate her voice shook. She wasn’t a screamer, and he appreciated that, too.
“Yes, I am,” he calmly announced for the sixth or seventh time now. “They need to be aware of the danger.”
“You aren’t even certain the Landrys hired anyone to kill Sean or me.”
“Yes, I am certain. Ellie, we’ve been over this. I’m staying with you until you’re safely back home.”
“Then what?”
“If Willis Cogburn hasn’t been captured or killed, another agent will take over.”
“Killed?”
“If he tries to hurt you, damn right I’ll kill him.” Anger swelled up inside him at the thought of anyone hurting her.
“You have to capture him, not shoot him,” she muttered. “Then you can make a deal with him for a lighter sentence so he’ll testify against the Landrys.”
“You’re a physician, not an attorney,” he countered.
“It makes sense, doesn’t it? Ask a lawyer. He’ll agree with me. Willis Cogburn should stay alive to testify.”
“I am a lawyer,” he said. “And I’m telling you, hit men don’t usually testify. And if I have to shoot him, I’m shooting to kill.”
Hands on hips, she glared at him. “When did you become a lawyer?”
The conversation was becoming ludicrous. She was acting as though he’d pulled a fast one on her by going to law school.
“Right after I graduated from Vanderbilt.”
“Where?”
He smiled. “Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville,” he said.
“Then the FBI?”
“Yes.”
“So you’re smart, too.”
He shrugged. Tired of pacing, Ellie went into the tiny kitchen. She got a Diet Coke out of the refrigerator, got another for Max, and went back to the living room. She sat down beside him, handed him his drink, and swung her feet up on the ottoman next to his.
“You saw the look on my father’s face when you got out of your car and he noticed the gun at your side. In that instant, he went from happy to scared.” She put her unopened can on the table, sat back, and said, “I’ve taught him to expect the worst.”
Max put his arm around her and pulled her into his side. “Ellie, you know I’m right. Your dad needs to be aware, and I’m required to inform him of the possible danger. It’s just the way it is.”
“I’ve put him through enough.”
“You’ve put him through enough? You haven’t done anything wrong. You are not responsible for Evan Patterson’s obsession.”
“Intellectually, I know that’s true, but in my heart, I feel as though I’m at fault somehow. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but there it is all the same.”
“How old were you when it started with Patterson?”
“I had just had my eleventh birthday.” It was a full year of hell, she thought but didn’t say.
“Reason it through. You were a little girl. You didn’t do or say anything to encourage him.”
“I wasn’t the only one affected by his bizarre behavior. Some days, especially when my dad wasn’t home, he would walk up and down our street, staring at our house as he passed by. He would do it for hours and hours,” she said. “Annie was terrified. She had to have all the lights on in her bedroom at night, and I could hear her crying under the covers. That’s why she’s becoming a lawyer. She’ll end up doing something in criminal justice. Ava went the other way. She lashed out. She was angry all the time-angry at me.”
“Come on. You know none of this is your fault.”
“That doesn’t change how my family feels. My poor dad is quietly freaking out because no one can find Patterson, and now you want to tell him that there’s a killer out there hunting me.”
She stood, grabbed her can of soda, and put it back in the refrigerator. There was a door at the end of the kitchen that led down into the garage. She made sure it was locked, then checked the other door to make absolutely certain both dead bolts were in place, and headed to the bedroom.
She hadn’t even thought about the sleeping arrangements or a bed with Max in it until she opened the door to the room she’d slept in the night before. There was a queen-size bed her parents had gotten at a discount store. In the smaller bedroom was a double bed that used to belong to her aunt Eleanor, the woman she was named after. The bed had been in her aunt’s guest room, but when the older woman downsized, she’d donated the bed to the apartment.