Valerie Hansen - Explosive Secrets

If she’d looked the least bit upset, Jackson wouldn’t have laughed. However, when she squealed, “Eww,” and swiped at her damp cheek with her palm, he had to chuckle. “Sorry. I think he wants you to know you’re safe with us.”

“Safe, maybe. Wet, too. Is he always this slobbery when he wants to show affection?”

“As a matter of fact, no,” Jackson told her. “I guess he remembers you hugging him after the blast.”

“It’s a good thing I didn’t give him any treats, too, or he’d have drowned me!”

Pointing at the dog Jackson ordered, “Down. Stay.” And Titan plopped onto the backseat as if he’d had that pose in mind all along.

“He really is amazing,” Nicki said. “I’ve never seen such a well-trained animal. Do you get to take him home with you at night?”

“Yes. I have a little ranch east of here where he can run around and unwind.” He smiled. “Me, too.”

“That’s nice.” Nicki paused and sighed. “So, what shall I do about my car? I’ll need it if I’m going to go job hunting.”

“I’ll radio Arnie’s Garage for a service truck. If the driver can’t take care of your tires on the spot, I’ll have the car delivered to you later. In the meantime, suppose you let me buy you a cup of coffee and maybe a bite to eat?”

“Not here,” Nicki said quickly, eyeing The Truck Stop Diner. “Any place but here.”

“Fine.” He used his radio to order the roadside assistance, then started the SUV. “All set. How does the Sagebrush Diner sound?”

She smiled. “Wonderful.”

“Good.” And while we’re there, Jackson mused, we’ll relax and talk about a lot of things, including what your crooked cousin may have told you.

It didn’t matter how much he happened to like this woman or how smitten his dog was with her, there was no way he could believe she didn’t know more than she was willing to admit. Nobody her age could still be this naive, this innocent. Nobody.

This woman was hiding something. Something that was liable to get her killed if she didn’t confess soon.

FOUR

Nicki rolled down the SUV window and let the balmy April air caress her face as the K-9 cop drove her into town. Many businesses were located on or near Sagebrush Boulevard, as was the large, redbrick church where she had so recently become a Christian.

They pulled up to the familiar storefront diner. “While I’m here, I can ask if they need a cook,” Nicki said. “I need to find something that I can keep doing while I’m waiting for the baby.”

Jackson rolled down the windows partway to give Titan fresh, cool air before he circled to open her door. “Isn’t it going to be hard to be on your feet a lot?”

“I haven’t had any problems yet. The biggest drawback at the truck stop was that tiny, stuffy kitchen.”

She accompanied him to the diner and felt a rush of cool air as he opened the glass door in the brick facade. This place, too, smelled of cooking, but not in the way her former job had.

The booths along one wood-paneled wall beckoned, and she headed straight for the most distant one.

“I can’t let you pay for my order,” she insisted, scooting in. “This is not a date.”

“Of course not.”

“Good, because I don’t want you to think I’m trying to take advantage of your kindness.”

The astonished look on his handsome face almost made her giggle. It was ludicrous to suggest that anyone could take advantage of a man like this unless he permitted it. Still, she had to wonder why he was being so solicitous. Perhaps his motives were not as pure as hers.

As soon as Nicki had ordered a slab of apple pie à la mode and coffee she leaned back, folded her arms across her chest and spoke her mind. “Okay. Here we are. Now why did you really invite me?” The odd arch of one of his brows caused the beginnings of a cynical smile at the corners of her mouth. “Well?”

“I don’t suppose you’ll believe it was out of the goodness of my heart?”

“Nope. I’ve had my fill of manipulative men, particularly lately. Try telling me the truth.”

“Fair enough.” Leaning forward, his hands clasped atop the faux-wood table, Jackson spoke quietly. “My boss wants me to talk to you about what Arianna said with her last breath.”

“You mean that ridiculous code thing that Murke was screaming about before the shooting started? Forget it. I don’t know anything about any codes. I told you—my cousin and I hardly ever spoke. I am the last person she’d have shared an important confidence with.”

“Okay. Suppose I buy that.”

“What do you mean, suppose? It’s the truth. I don’t know a thing about her business or her criminal activities. She and I were at odds from the time we were teenagers. Arianna used to laugh at me for being too goody-goody. She made no bones about it.”

“Then why would she waste her last breath warning you?”

“How should I know?” Nicki could tell from the warmth of her cheeks that she was getting upset. “Maybe she was trying to get me into trouble for the fun of it. She did that lots of times when we were kids.”

“Okay.” Jackson unfolded his napkin and eased back in the booth to make room for their orders. “Eat your pie and then we’ll talk to the manager in case there’s a chance for a job here.”

“What about my poor apartment and my tires?”

“If the car isn’t ready soon enough, I’ll drive you home and the garage can deliver it later.”

“Assuming I have a home. You haven’t really told me what to expect.”

“It’s probably not as bad as you’re envisioning.” He paused to add cream to his coffee. “I didn’t get a detailed look at it, but they tell me your bedroom is still in pretty good shape so you can salvage your clothes and things like that.”

“Oh, spiffy. And I can sit in the middle of an exploded sofa to watch TV?”

To his credit, he winced. “No TV, I’m afraid. No windows, either.”

“What? I can’t even lock myself in?”

“Probably not, now that you mention it. I’ll have a talk with your landlord and see about getting you moved into another unit.”

“I don’t want another unit. I want my home back. I want my job back. I want my life back.”

“One step at a time. One day at a time,” he said so calmly she wanted to scream.

Who did this cop think he was, lecturing her? He probably had a family and a real home. That was all she’d wanted. To belong again, the way she had once, when her parents were alive and life had been so peaceful. It wasn’t fair that they had both been taken from her when she was in her teens and made her grow up overnight.

In retrospect, she could see that that desire for normalcy was what had gotten her into trouble with Bobby Lee, yet it had also ultimately led her back to church and had resulted in her recently renewed faith, so she could hardly complain. Now she understood how desperately she had needed God’s forgiveness, His unconditional love. She still did. And so did her unborn baby.

They would make a family of their own someday, just the two of them. Nicki knew she could handle being a single mother. Her fondest hope was that raising her child alone wouldn’t be too hard on the little boy or girl.

It was becoming clear that the Lord had been protecting her when He’d allowed her to glimpse Bobby Lee’s true character. Being deserted by a selfish liar like that had to be better than having him co-parenting their child.

The only thing she would have done differently, given another chance, was avoid listening to her biological clock and believing the sweet lies and so-called marriage proposal of that handsome cowboy-type in the first place. Anybody could look good in a Stetson. It took a special man to deserve to become a father.