Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,25

pillow and a dirty looking blanket. I punched him again in the throat, and he put me down.

“We’re married now,” he said. He was crazy. I’d heard about how some people could go nuts and make up their own rules, and I think that’s what happened to this guy.

I ran toward the counter and grabbed a heavy pan to ward him off. It was heavy and hurt my shoulders, but I held on so tight my fingers hurt.

He laughed and walked toward me.

Panic caught me around the throat, and I swung, hitting him in the side with a loud thud. He fell back, and his face turned an ugly red. Then he jumped for me.

The door burst open, and a dark-haired boy ran inside, smashing into the man so hard they rammed into the opposite wall. The boy started punching Jareth Davey in the face, neck, and stomach, grunting wildly each time. Jareth hit back, and blood flew from both of them.

I dropped the heavy pan and screamed for help. The boy was from the high school, and I’d seen him around town.

He grabbed the pan and swung it, hitting Jareth right in the face. The bad guy fell back, and his eyes closed.

I gulped and tried to breathe. My legs wanted to run but I couldn’t get them to move. Everything froze.

“You okay?” the boy asked, breathing heavily. His blue eyes focused on me, and a bruise was already forming above one of them.

“No,” I whispered, my voice shaking.

“You will be.” He took my hand and pulled me toward the door.

I clutched onto him, holding as tight as I could.

“My dirt bike is outside. I’ll take you home,” he said.

I sniffed and hurried toward the door and away from the bad man. We had to get out of there before he woke up. I swallowed and tried not to cry.

The boy looked down and smiled. “I’m Aiden. You’re safe now. I promise.”

I jerked awake and sat up, noting the sunlight pouring through the sliding glass door that led to a small balcony. Tamarack Lake sparkled merrily this morning, the slight waves shining like diamonds. I sat up and pushed my hair away from my face, taking inventory.

My head ached a little, but my body felt okay and I no longer needed to puke. The paranoia was gone. What a crazy trip I’d taken. Yeah. I always reacted oddly to medication, so it wasn’t a surprise that I’d had the extreme trip of the night before. What had I been thinking to show up at Nick’s place?

Dishes clattered, and soft voices wafted up the stairway.

I used the bathroom, finding a new toothbrush already waiting for me. After taking care of my teeth and trying to finger comb my curls away from my face, I gave up and walked toward the stairway, noting the too-long sweats and roomy JAG T-shirt that covered me.

Pausing, I rolled up the bottom of the sweats so I wouldn’t break my neck on the stairs down to the kitchen. Then I descended, sniffing as the smell of breakfast hit me.

I was starving and had to hold the waistband to keep the sweats up.

Passing the living room, I gingerly walked into the kitchen where Tessa sat at the counter with Nick scrambling eggs at the stove. Both were smiling.

Oh yeah. I had a thought about them the night before.

Tess turned. “There you are. How was the trip?”

I grinned and took the stool next to her. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

She felt my forehead. “No fever. It figures you’d have a horrible reaction. Remember when you tried penicillin in kindergarten?”

I nodded. The allergic reaction had been very unpleasant. I leaned toward her. “Thank you for coming last night.”

“Of course.” She smiled and touched temples with me. Today her blonde hair was up in a ponytail, and she also wore a NAVY T-shirt with what looked like jeans she’d probably worn the night before. In fact, Tessa looked just right in Nick’s shirt. I returned her smile.

Nick dished up eggs and handed us plates already ladened with bacon and buttered toast. “How are you feeling?”

Basanelli looked good in the morning with wet hair curling around his ears, mellowed brown eyes, and barefoot. Yeah. I studied him with new eyes. There was so much potential with him. Plans started to form in my mind. “Much better. I think I owe you both an apology and a thank you.”

He poured orange juice into three pretty blue glasses that no