“Ah.”
She crossed her arms on her chest. Even with pain medication, any abrupt move hurt. The E.R. doctor had sewn her up with a layer of absorbable stitches in the fat and a layer of regular stitches in the skin. She had to go back in twenty-four hours to get the dressing changed, and in seven to ten days to get the top sutures removed. She was prescribed antibiotics as a precaution against infection. Pain medication she could take as needed.
“Nate called, too,” she said. “Having Carine in danger again scared him. She came upon a murder scene a while back, when she and Tyler North were still deciding whether or not they were meant for each other.”
“ Tyler is her husband?”
Mackenzie nodded. “He’s a pararescueman. He’s deployed right now.” She thought a moment. “Carine hasn’t told him about today yet, but when she does, he’ll want to know every detail. I’ll probably have to explain you to him, too.”
“If it’s any consolation, I’ve had to explain myself to people around here all afternoon. You have a lot of friends in Cold Ridge.”
“How did you explain your presence?”
“I said I was here to see you.”
“Rook.”
He smiled mysteriously but didn’t elaborate. He started toward the door, and she stepped back from the threshold. He joined her on the soft, cool grass. “Maybe you should call it a night.”
“As I said, I wouldn’t be surprised if the attack on me and your reasons for being here are connected,” she said. “You’re here because of an investigation.”
He didn’t respond.
“I’ve been thinking. I was in Georgetown the night we met because of Beanie Peacham. I had a drink with her before Cal got there, then I walked around outside, and it started raining and there you were.” When she tried to latch the shed door, her head spun. “And now here you are again.”
He pulled her hands from the door. “You’re cold.”
“I guess I got used to the heat in Washington more than I realized.”
“Did the doctors want to keep you for the night?”
“Yes, but I talked them out of it. I told them I had to come back here and toast marshmallows.” She found the padlock in the grass and started to pick it up, but decided she didn’t want to risk passing out in front of Rook. “It’s a little late to be locking the shed.”
Rook swooped up the lock. “Can’t hurt, in case our guy decides to double back here.”
“Of all places,” Mackenzie said quietly. “Beanie’s philosophy is waste not, want not. She wouldn’t have had this shed built if the previous one hadn’t basically fallen apart. She hired my father to do the job.”
“Mac -”
“He was working out here alone one day. His table saw malfunctioned. The blade -” She stopped, pushing back a wave of dizziness, then resumed. “I don’t know what happened, exactly. I was eleven. I found him. I was supposed to be helping him, but I was goofing off, chasing this toad that had caught my eye.”
“You were a kid.”
“He lost an eye, parts of several fingers. He had severe internal lacerations.” She cleared her throat, staring at the shed door. “It was a mess in there, I can tell you that much. I didn’t want to leave him, but I remember thinking that if I didn’t, he would die. I ran up to the house and called the police.”
“Where was Judge Peacham?”
“She was in town. It was just my dad and me here most of the day. When I hung up after talking with the police, I didn’t want to come back down here. I thought he was dead. I didn’t want to see the blood.”
“But you did come back, didn’t you, Mac?”
She nodded. “I stayed with him until the ambulance arrived. I was so covered in blood, the paramedics initially thought I’d been injured, too.”
“That’s a tough memory to have.”
“It could be worse. At least my father lived. He had a long, painful recovery, and he’s never really worked again. But he and my mother have a good life. They’re doing a house swap with an Irish couple – they’re in Ireland right now. All’s well that ends well, right?” She smiled. “That’s one of Beanie’s favorite sayings.”
“Today ended well, Mac. The police will find this guy -”
“I don’t like the shed. I used to have nightmares that monsters lived in there.” She snatched the padlock from Rook and snapped it into place on the latch. Dusk was coming fast now, and the lake was still, mirroring the darkening sky. “I should have nailed that bastard before he got near me.”
“Do you think he intended to kill you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. He didn’t hurt Carine, but he didn’t have his knife with him, either.”
“Thanks to you. Carine – she was fully prepared to defend herself and her baby with a rock.”
“That’s Carine. The Winters are all like that.” Mackenzie couldn’t summon the energy even to smile. “If anything had happened to her, because of me…”
“Nothing did,” Rook said.