“I think I can manage, just don’t shoot me if I collapse.” They started off.
Halfway there she jabbed him playfully in the sides with her knees.
“What the hell was that for?”
“I’m pretending, just like you said. So giddy-up.”
“Don’t push it,” he groused back and then smiled.
In the woods near the horse barn, Jackson repacked his sound wand and made his way through the woods to his car parked on a side road. He had watched in some amusement as Riggs carried LuAnn back to the house. He had also noted the rough footprint for the structure Riggs was apparently building for her. Considering how she was dressed, Jackson thought it likely that LuAnn and the handsome Riggs would probably be enjoying an intimate moment very shortly. That was good, since it would give her an opportunity to pump him for information. Using the sound wand, he had also recorded Riggs’s voice, an asset that might prove valuable later. He reached his car and drove off.
Riggs sipped on a cup of coffee in the kitchen while LuAnn munched on a piece of buttered toast. She rose and fixed herself another cup of coffee and freshened his.
Riggs couldn’t help but stare when her back was turned. She hadn’t changed her clothes and the clingy robe was making him think about things he probably shouldn’t be. He finally looked away, his face hot.
“If I get another horse, I think I’ll name it after you,” LuAnn said.
“Thanks bunches.” He looked around. “Everybody else still sleeping?”
She put the coffeepot back down and took a moment to sponge up a bit of spillage on the counter. “Sally has the day off. Charlie and Lisa went on a little vacation.”
“Without you?”
She sat back down, her eyes roaming the room before she looked back at him and spoke casually. “I had some things to take care of. I might have to leave for Europe soon. If I do, I’ll meet up with them and then we’ll all go together. Italy is beautiful this time of year. Have you ever been?”
“The only Rome I’ve been to is in New York.”
“In your past life?” She looked at him over the top of her coffee cup.
“There we go with that past life thing again. It’s really not all that exciting.”
“So why not tell me about it then?”
“So what’s the quid pro quo?”
“Ah, I assume you learned that phrase from your attorney ex-wife.”
“Assumptions are dangerous things. I like facts a lot better.”
“So do I. So shower me with them.”
“Why are you so interested in what I did before I came to Charlottesville?”
Because I’m doing my best to keep you alive, and it sickens me every time I think how close you came to being dead because of me. LuAnn struggled to keep her tone at an even level despite that painful reality. “I’m just a naturally curious person.”
“Well, so am I. And I have a hunch your secrets are a lot more interesting than mine.”
She tried her best to look surprised. “I don’t have any secrets.”
He put down his coffee cup. “I can’t believe you can actually say that with a straight face.”
“I have a lot of money. Some people would like to take it away from me any way they can. That doesn’t exactly qualify for shocker status.”
“So, you’ve concluded the guy in the Honda was a potential kidnapper.”
“Maybe.”
“Funny kidnapper.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about it. The guy looked like a college professor. He rented a place in the area and furnished it. When he attempted to ‘kidnap’ you he wasn’t even wearing a mask. And when I showed up on the scene, instead of hightailing it off, he tried to drive right through me even though he had no chance of catching you. And in my experience most kidnappers don’t work solo. Logistically, it’s difficult to go it alone.”
“In your experience?”
“See, I’m showering you with secrets.”
“Maybe he was trying to frighten me before he actually made the kidnap attempt.”
“Don’t think so. Why put you on your guard? Kidnappers kind of like the element of surprise.”