Keeping Guard. Christy Barritt

of the man flashed through her head in sync with the lightning around her. Pictures of his shadowed face, his hooded profile.

      Her heart rate quickened. She tried to push the thoughts aside.

      The end of the alleyway neared. She picked up her pace. Sheets of rain plastered her hair to her face.

      She rounded the corner and spotted a black door with an alcove. She ducked into the space and pounded her fist against the door. Please be there, Nate! The thought of going through that alley again caused fear to slither up her spine.

      She waited. The only sound she heard was that of the rain hitting the ground like bullets. Occasionally, thunder shook the air.

      Nothing.

      She knocked again. Why wasn’t he answering?

      She needed a Plan B. Only she didn’t have one. She barely had a Plan A.

      She clenched her eyes closed. How could one person control her life like this? Why did she let him have this power?

      She waited in silence, hoping—praying—Nate would hear her.

      He didn’t. No one did. Not even God lately, it seemed.

      She’d have to run back to her car, her only shelter. She could do that. She had to. Once protected behind locked doors, she’d figure out a plan. She took a tentative step into the rain.

      A figure appeared around the corner from the alley. A hood concealed his face. A hood. It couldn’t be…

      He had found her.

      The man who’d haunted her nightmares for months had finally caught her. Alone.

      Nate Richardson spotted the woman at his back door. His relief instantly turned to a mix of worry and irritation. He’d been expecting her three hours ago and she hadn’t bothered to call or answer her cell phone. About thirty minutes ago, he’d called her brother, and now Bruce sounded ready to drive out to Virginia himself.

      “Kylie.” Nate stepped forward, keeping his hood over his forehead so his face would at least stay semidry.

      The woman’s eyes widened and she shrank back. “Stay away from me.”

      The rain poured onto his face, washing into his eyes. Nate stepped forward, trying to get out of the downpour. He needed to get her inside, to call her brother.

      “I mean it! Stay back!” Her hands shot out in front of her.

      “What are you—”

      Before he could finish his sentence, Kylie darted across the parking lot.

      Bruce had said his sister needed help. He didn’t tell him that the woman was a mental case. What exactly had he gotten himself into by promising Bruce this woman could stay here and help him at his restaurant?

      Nate watched her retreat for a moment while contemplating his next move. Chasing her might further freak her out. But allowing her to run across the pothole-filled parking lot in this weather could cause her to twist an ankle or worse.

      What would Bruce want him to do?

      He sighed and began a steady jog to catch her. Rain sloshed in his face. He let his sweatshirt hood drop behind him. Rain soaked his clothing now, so the covering did him no good.

      Nate saw Kylie glance back at him and then speed up. Her long hair appeared plastered to her blue blouse and her heels looked impossible to run in.

      Then what Nate had feared would happen happened. Her body lurched forward and she sprawled on the asphalt.

      He was only a few steps away from helping her. He quickened his pace.

      Kylie turned toward him, panic clearly written in her wide eyes and oval-shaped mouth. “No! Stay away!” She tried to army-crawl forward, away from him.

      The woman was a fighter. He’d give her credit for that. He just didn’t know what she was fighting against.

      “Kylie, stop freaking out. I just want to help.”

      “Stay away from me.”

      “Kylie, it’s me—”

      As soon as the words left his mouth, something hard came down across his head. His world began to spin and then went black.

      TWO

      Kylie glanced at the white-haired woman who glared down at her while slapping a rolling pin in her hand. Kylie closed her eyes as tension drained away. Maybe God was watching out for her after all.

      “Thank you,” Kylie whispered, before realizing she couldn’t be heard over the rainfall. She wiped some moisture from her face and said, a little louder, “Thank you!”

      The woman continued to stare down at the man, knocked out flat on the ground, and shook her head. “I looked out my window and saw you being chased. I had to help.”

      Kylie gawked at the man, seeing his face for the first time since this whole ordeal began. She’d never imagined the man who’d given her so many nightmares would be handsome. In her mind, he’d had a long, crooked nose, tangled teeth, hollow eyes. This man had square, even features, sandy-colored hair. Kylie couldn’t be sure in the darkness, but he might even be tanned.

      She pulled her eyes away—at least she tried to. She needed to call the police. Let them know that this man should be arrested. Maybe she could finally live again. Go back to Kentucky. Focus on her business. Rebuild her life.

      Kylie’s attention turned to the woman with the rolling pin. She continued to stand over the man, shaking her head as if she pitied the poor soul who tried to mess with her. The woman might have white hair but obviously she had an iron will.

      If only Kylie could be that strong.

      The woman glanced at her with a perceptive gaze that made Kylie instantly trust her. “I never thought Nate Richardson would be the type to do this,” the woman said. “He always seemed like such a nice young man. Of course, I guess that’s what everyone says about criminals.”

      Kylie sprang from the ground, adrenaline—and panic—rushing through each limb. “Nate Richardson? Did you say Nate Richardson?”

      “Why, yes, I did. Nate Richardson.” The woman nodded down to the man. “He owns the Revolutionary Grill. I was making pies for tomorrow’s dessert menu when I saw him chasing you. That’s why I had my rolling pin handy. A good thing, huh?”

      Kylie squeezed her eyes shut. What was wrong with her? Was she so paranoid that she’d just allowed her brother’s best friend to be assaulted? She might as well just leave her bags in the car and find somewhere else to hide. This man wouldn’t want her to be around anymore after this.

      “Are you okay, dear?” The kindly, grandmother-like figure peered at her.

      Kylie shook her head. “I’m afraid there’s been a terrible misunderstanding. This man was trying to help me. I just didn’t realize it.”

      “That sounds more like the Nate I know.” The woman nodded, not appearing the least bit ruffled. “He seems tough on the outside but inside, he’s sweeter than my shoofly pie.”

      Kylie’s hand clamped over her mouth, muffling the urge to cry in horror or let her mouth drop open in shock. She had no idea what to do next. Or where to go. Or how to break the news to her brother, Bruce.

      “Let’s get him out of the rain until he regains consciousness.” The woman tucked her rolling pin under her arm and bent down as if she were going to haul him away herself.

      Yes, they did need to get him out of the rain, but just how they’d do that perplexed Kylie. The man probably weighed two hundred pounds. The rolling pin mercenary couldn’t weigh half that, even out in this storm soaking wet, and Kylie’s own one hundred pounds wouldn’t offer much help.

      “I’m Darlene, by the way.” The woman seemed to think better