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“We can’t go back to the house. The press will be all over it by now.” He answered her unspoken question as they headed in the opposite direction from his quiet neighborhood.

When he turned onto to the familiar street that she’d once called home in the Westminster area, she looked at him in surprise.

“What are we doing here?” He stopped the car in front of her former apartment building. “We’re going inside.” He smiled at her confusion but didn’t say anything further. Jack got out of the car and opened the door for her but Megan didn’t budge.

“Please, Megan. Just trust me.”

She took his hand and stepped out of the car. Painful memories of all the times they’d spent together in her tiny apartment crowded in. She couldn’t speak. She waited quietly beside him as he unlocked the door and held it open for her.

Everything about the apartment remained the same as the day she’d left it that last time. She walked through each room of her former home while Jack stood silently waiting for her by the door.

“Why?” She somehow managed to get the word out over the painful lump that formed in her throat.

His expression said it all. For the first time she truly understood how difficult her leaving had been for Jack.

“Oh Jack, I’m so sorry.” She ran into his open arms. “I’m so sorry.”

He held her as if he believed she might leave him again. “I know. It’s not your fault.”

“It is!” She realized she was crying. “I didn’t listen to what you were trying to tell me. All I heard was you were going back to Rebecca.” She pulled back a little so that she could see his expression. At the sight of her tears, Jack’s face crumbled.

“Don’t. Please don’t cry, Megan. Please.”

She brushed away the tears and tried to tell him the things she needed him to understand. “I’m okay. I’m okay, Jack. Please, just listen.”

“I’m listening.” And he was. He was hanging on every one of her words.

“I never stopped loving you. No matter what happened. No matter how hard I tried. Through the years. I never stopped loving you. And no matter what happens this time, I need you to know that I’ll never stop believing in you, or loving you until the day I die.” His lips claimed hers once more. At first, gently but then with each new touch, each whispered word of comfort, the passion they’d both buried deep within their hearts ignited into a need that could no longer be denied.

“Make love to me, Jack.” As she watched, he drew in shaky breath. His eyes darkened to the color of the sea after a storm. She pushed her fingers into his hair, bringing his mouth to hers once more. She couldn’t get close enough to him. Six years she’d waited for his touch. Longed for it. She would never be close enough. Her lips urged his apart. He still tasted the same. Her fingers slid to his chest. They shook as she found each button on his shirt. When the last button came free, she pushed it away from his body. Her lips broke free of his long enough to look at him. His body was beautiful. Lean. Hard. The same as she remembered in all of her dreams”¦

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He watched her carefully for a moment then closed the folder. “We can keep doing this if you’d like.”

She wasn’t expecting him to be direct. No doubt most people she’d made contact with in the past chose to ignore the clear evidence of trouble in her life that clung to her like a cloak. Most people wouldn’t want to get involved in her problems.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“I think you do. I was a detective for many years. Long enough to know when someone is running for their life. I see all those signs in you. I can help you but I need you to trust me.”

She was ready to reject his offer even before he finished giving it. “No, you’re wrong. I can’t”””

“You can. I know it’s hard but I promise I won’t let you down.” He got to his feet and knelt in front of her.

“No, you don’t understand. I”¦can’t.”

He’d expected this from her. People who were victims of domestic violence usually gave up on trusting their survival to anyone but themselves.

For the moment he let it go. “All right. But maybe I can help you out in another way.”

Her clear blue eyes met his. “I’m sorry but I don’t see how.” A little bit more of his resistance melted. He wanted to protect her. He couldn’t. He couldn’t let himself care about her. Caring about someone almost always led to pain.

“You need a job. I need a secretary. I think we can work something out, don’t you?”

“I’m sorry but I don’t think I can-can”””

“Can what? Can stick around long enough to learn the job? Can trust me? What are you really afraid of, Faith?”

“All those things,” she admitted at last. “I can’t give you promises. I can’t guarantee I’ll be here tomorrow much less long term. I can’t trust you. I’m sorry, I just can’t and it has nothing to do with you really. I’m sure you’re a good person. But you’re right. It’s all of those things.”

“I see.” His gut instinct told him to walk away from this woman’s problems before they became his but something that went deeper than gut-instinct urged him not to give up on her so easily. “Well, thank you for being honest with me. But I’d still like to help. We can take it one day at a time if you’d like. Just see what happens, okay? Don’t be concerned about the job. You’ll learn that soon enough. I’ll help you.”

“You just happen to have a position sitting around vacant waiting for me?” She sounded skeptical. He couldn’t blame her. He’d probably react the same way.

“No,” he acknowledged reluctantly. “But as it happens, my regular secretary left to have a baby and the girl whose been filling in for her walked out on me on Friday.”

She looked as if she didn’t believe him. She probably thought he was just being nice. She’d learn soon enough. Nice wasn’t part of his business decisions.

“I need someone who can start right away.”

“So you’re willing to settle for someone like me with very little experience?”

He considered his words carefully. “Look Faith, to be honest with you, I’m desperate. I know I’m not the easiest person to work for. If you have any doubts just ask the girl who quit. She said something about not being able to take the pressure anymore. Whatever that means. But I’m willing to give us a try if you are.”

She wasn’t. At least not right away. “Why are you doing this? You don’t even know me.”

“Maybe not but I do know some things about you that you probably don’t even realize. You have very expressive eyes. Did you know they give away so many things about you?” She didn’t like his answer. “For instance, I know you’re running for your life. I know you’re scared of something or someone. I know I can help you. And I’m hoping in time you’ll trust me enough to let me. This is what I do for a living. But for now let’s just concentrate on the present. Come into the office tomorrow and we’ll go over everything together. I’ll be patient, I promise. Ask me anything you have questions about. We’ll figure it out together.”

For a long time he believed she would refuse flat out. Probably keep right on running. When she slowly nodded, it felt as if he’d just passed some huge test with her. He’d won a little bit of her trust. Hopefully it wouldn’t be the last. Maybe she was just too tired to run anymore. She looked exhausted right down to her soul.

JT’s heart went out to her. “Good.” He got to his feet and pulled her up beside him. Before she had time to consider what she’d promised and change her mind, he started for the door. “I’ll see you in the morning, okay? The address for Wyatt Securities is on my business card. Don’t stand me up, Faith. I’m counting on you.”

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Because I loved Jezzie with all my heart, I forced aside the paralyzing fear that’d continued to challenge the small amount of confidence I’d managed to build over the past year.

It was all due to Bev’s disturbing call. It sent me back into the darkness I’d struggled to put behind me.

Since Aaron’s death, I’d worked hard to overcome the agoraphobia that my shrink told me was just a form of misdirected grief. Leaving D.C. and all the memories of Aaron’s tragic murder helped in the beginning.

I’d packed up everything that reminded me of the good things I loved about my husband and left the bad.

My first stop had been Manhattan. I’d wanted to be close to my big sister, with good cause. Bev had been more of a mother to me than our own. She’d fussed over me like a hen protecting her chick. So going home to the comfort of my second mother seemed as natural as breathing. I thought having family close would help me deal with the excruciating loneliness nothing could have prepared me for.

Watching Bev and Ed’s normal, day-to-day life only served as an agonizing reminder of all the things I’d never have again. Although both my marriage and my life with Aaron hadn’t been anything close to normal.

I’d lasted just shy of six months in New York. Then I’d packed up everything I owned, along with Jezzie, and moved south again.

My small, two-bedroom beach house had come fully furnished. I’d turned the smallest bedroom into a work area where I played at designing my own line of clothes. Big dreams. Different dreams. Safe dreams.

All the rooms of my new home were small and cozy because small spaces made me feel safe.

For almost a year now, I’d managed to get myself dressed, bravely walk out my front door, and pretend to function normally. Jezzie was the only one close enough to me to know what a complete phony I’d become.

Sometimes, in the dark, the memories of that night would slip into my dreams, unwelcome. No matter how hard I fought to keep them away during the daylight hours, at night, while sleeping and vulnerable, they came for me.

So you see, I knew. Long before Bev’s call. I knew something was coming. Something from my past would find me again. It was inevitable.

All that evil had to leave its mark somewhere.

Jezzie’s wet nose nuzzled my leg. She stared up at me with those huge baleful eyes. Jezzie’s way of reminding me she’d been waiting very patiently while I had my meltdown. It was now time to come back to the real world.

I had no idea how long I’d been sitting curled up into a tiny ball on my couch. As if by doing so, I could somehow make myself invisible.

“I’m sorry, baby. I’m okay. Really, I am. Don’t worry.” The dog crawled onto my lap and curled into her favorite spot in the crook of my arm.

Some days, Jezzie was the only thing keeping me from losing it.

I got to my feet, grabbed Jezzie’s leash from its drawer, snapped it into place, and searched for my house key, which was right where I’d left it earlier.

Because I loved Jessie and owed her so much more than I could ever repay, I stepped out into the cold world once more instead of retreating into that little spot in my closet where I spent far too much time during those first few months, hiding in a cramped corner where I felt safe.

The storm outside had passed. The one within me would never end.

The waters of the Gulf of Mexico churned with renewed power, thrashing wave after wave against the beach and belching up the contents of the ocean’s floor.

Jezzie yelped as if her tiny voice could somehow still the crashing waters.

“It’s okay, girl. It’ll settle down in time.” If only that were true of my own restlessness. I doubted there’d ever be a time when I could say with confidence I’d found stillness in my soul.

Somehow, I managed to corral Jezzie after only a short romp down the beachfront. She loved me, but she loved being outside as well and she hated having to leave her fun.

“This weekend we’ll spend as much time as you like out here, I promise.” Brave words. I’d have Bev here with me as a buffer against the phobia that lurked beneath my surface.

Even knowing the house was secure, it was still hard to walk into an empty place. Aaron’s murder had taught me you never knew what evil might be waiting for you. He’d gone into an empty building and confronted his worst nightmare.

“Don’t think of that now.” Something dark and unwelcome was trying to reach out to me, but I couldn’t open that door. Couldn’t let that nightmare back in.

It took a couple of deep breaths before I was able to close that door. And all the while Jezzie stood patiently waiting for me to unhook her leash.

“I’m sorry, baby.” I ruffled her ears then gave her new chew toy a squeeze, instantly capturing her attention.

With Jezzie happily doing battle with the squeaky shoe, I went about my nightly routine of securing locks and windows. I’d check them once, then one more time so that I could sleep at night.

Tonight, for reasons I couldn’t begin to explain to myself, I deviated slightly from the routine by pushing aside the thick drapes covering my living room window. The window faced out onto my quiet street. It was then that I spotted it. A car parked across the street, lights off. I quickly released the drape and ducked out of the line of sight, a learned trick from the past, as the world around me spun out of control. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. I dropped to my knees on the floor and tried to force air into my lungs.

Vaguely I was aware of things taking place around me. Jezzie’s bark. Her wet nose nudging at my arm. A car engine starting.

When I could breathe again over the pounding in my chest, it was a battle to keep from losing my threadbare hold on realty. I couldn’t fall apart. Not now. Not with Jezzie depending on me.

“It’s okay, baby. I’m okay,” I managed to say with some amount of normality for Jezzie’s sake.

I scooped my baby into my arms and slowly got to my feet, then forced myself to glance out the window, being careful to keep out of the line of sight of anyone looking in. The street was now empty. The car gone. Had it even been there or was it just another part of my delusion?

Even after I assured myself everything was secured, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that had been tailing me for hours. Since Bev’s call. If I were being honest, since Aaron’s death.

Unfinished business, it screamed. Unfinished business.