Northern Escape. JENNIFER LABRECQUE

Troy had refused to accept it.

      Merrilee had never pressed for details but she knew Troy had begun stalking Gus. Going to the police had proven useless in the face of his family’s power and influence.

      She’d switched jobs and moved. He’d followed her by tracing her credit card usage and he’d threatened that she’d never be free of him.

      It had taken careful planning but Lauren Augustina Matthews had dropped off the face of the earth. Troy had never found her here because Merrilee was unknown to him. Even though the story in Good Riddance was that Gus was Merrilee’s niece, she wasn’t. Gus’s mother, Jenny, and Merrilee had been friends since childhood. Jenny had died before Gus and Troy had met.

      Merrilee had been honored when Gus had contacted her for help. She’d assured Gus they’d keep her safe and help her start a new life in Good Riddance. But if Nick Hudson blogged about her or her restaurant in the Times all it would take was one sharp-eyed detective, or Troy himself, to put two and two together and once again he’d begin his terror campaign.

      “Merrilee, the way I see it, she’s got three choices.” When Bull spoke, she paid attention. He’d spent two years in a Viet Cong prison during Nam. She had no idea what he’d been like before. All she could attest to was he was now a man who considered every angle and said nothing lightly. “We don’t know this guy so trusting him with the truth is risky.” She and Bull were the only ones privy to the real deal.

      “We could kill him, but it’s damn hard to get away with anything like that these days, plus he’s just sort of stumbled into a situation, he’s not here with malice.” Bull was dead serious, which was just one of the things she loved about him. He weighed every course of action, even the outrageous ones. “And that leaves us with the third option, which isn’t good, but about the only thing she can do is ask him not to mention her or her restaurant in his posts.”

      She rubbed at the throbbing in her right temple. “He’s a journalist. That’s just going to make him want to dig deeper. How much can he find out, do you think?”

      Bull cocked his head to one side, considering, stroking his beard. “He’ll probably figure out pretty quickly that’s not her real name. It won’t take much digging to find out I own the restaurant and bar, not her—that’s a matter of public record, even though we’ve kept it quiet. Outside of that, I don’t think there’s much he can find.”

      “Why’d he have to turn up?” She was so frustrated with the situation she could scream. “Things were going so well for her.”

      Bull shook his head. “Come on, Merrilee. It was just a matter of time. Sooner or later everything comes to a reckoning.” She knew he was referencing the recent showdown with her husband … well, now ex-husband. “Have you talked to her?”

      “No. I came over here as soon as I got him out the door. I thought we should strategize first and then talk to Gus together. Although I’m sure she already knows because Teddy was gushing like a geyser.” Teddy was something of a dreamer but Merrilee had never seen her gaga like that.

      Bull pushed to his feet. “I’ll put a sign on the door and we’ll head over to Gus’s so we’re all on the same page.”

      “Are you sure you’re okay, honey?” Merrilee said as Gus ushered Merrilee and Bull to her apartment door.

      She was as okay as she’d been in the last four years. “I’m fine,” she said. “Thanks for coming over. You two have been lifesavers. Good Riddance has been a lifesaver. I hope you know how much you mean to me.” Her look encompassed both of them.

      “We do and you know how important you are to us.”

      Gus nodded, her throat suddenly clogged with tears. They were as close to family as she had, with her mother dead and her father having checked out of her life when she was a kid. They’d become surrogate parents.

      Merrilee caught Gus up in a quick hug. “It’s going to be okay.” She released her and patted her on the shoulder. “Just throw yourself into your work, honey.”

      “Shout if you need us,” Bull said, his manner gruff as usual, but the caring in his eyes evident.

      “I will.”

      They ducked out the side door of her apartment that lead to the outside rather than the stairs from the restaurant. She leaned her head against the door and the old feeling of being Troy’s prey again threatened to swamp her. The truth of the matter was it was never gone, she just managed to hold it at bay most of the time. Regardless of how far she’d run, his shadow was always on her doorstep. The worst was when she went to bed at night, when her mind was no longer busy, when the nightmares could come to her in her sleep. Without a doubt she was stronger for the experience. But he’d scarred her, permanently marked her somewhere deep inside.

      She’d never told Merrilee and Bull all of it. She’d never been able to bring herself to talk about coming home and finding her sheets slashed and covered in red paint that looked like blood. And still the police would do nothing. The Wenhams were to New York what the Kennedys were to Massachusetts.

      Gus breathed in through her nose, employing the technique she’d learned in yoga years ago and which she now taught on Sunday afternoons for a small group here in Good Riddance. She focused on her inhalation and exhalation, finally managing to center herself.

      Feeling calmer, in control, her thoughts turned to Nick Hudson. Her heart had dropped into her stomach when Teddy had come back over to the restaurant, truffle box in hand, dropping the bomb that a reporter from New York was next door. Gus even knew who he was—both she and Troy had loved Nick’s travel pieces. They’d even tentatively tossed around a couple of different places Nick had written about as potential honeymoon destinations.

      Nick’s writing had been witty and insightful. Once upon a time, in her previous life in New York, she’d even fancied herself just a little bit in love with him, based on his writing. She’d had the somewhat whimsical notion a person’s writing offered a glimpse into their soul and she’d liked what she’d seen of his. It hadn’t hurt that he was gorgeous to boot, according to pictures of him online and in the paper.

      She hadn’t read one of his columns since she’d moved here. What was the point? That life was dead to her. Her passport, her driver’s license were both useless, since they were in her real name. It had been too painful to read his columns or anything related to New York. Instead she’d immersed herself in her new world, thankful she’d found a haven and an opportunity to practice her craft.

      Oh, yes, she’d known exactly who he was when Teddy imparted the news. And like an idiot, rather than her instincts of how much danger he posed kicking in, her initial gut reaction had been a frisson of excitement. Anticipation had trailed through her, reminding her she was a woman who’d been more than four years without a man. She’d had date offers since she’d been here but she simply hadn’t been interested. However, one mention of Nick and that silly little crush she’d had years ago had reared its annoying head.

      She shook her head. Her best course of action was to fly as far below his radar as possible. And with the influx of people here for the Chrismoose festival, she was going to be so darn busy that should be easy to do.

      Squaring her shoulders and pushing away from the door, she headed downstairs. She had a restaurant to run.

       2

      NICK LAUGHED AS HE DODGED two kids playing a game of ice hockey using broomsticks and a chunk of ice for a puck. Beside him, Dalton Saunders grinned. “Everyone’s pretty jazzed up for the festival. I’m sure it’s nothing compared to New York but this is busy for Good Riddance.”

      “I like it. There’s a good energy going on here. I’ve been some places where the people aren’t as friendly and you just don’t feel it.”

      “So what do you do when you turn up somewhere and it’s a wash?”

      “You think, oh, hell, I should’ve done