and not on the length of her legs that was bared by the shortness of her oversize black T-shirt.
As he tried to ignore Mary’s bareness and maneuver the slick roads, his mind also worked over the elements of the entire case. Three dead bodies, an abusive ex-husband who couldn’t be located and Mary. There was no question in his mind now that Jason McKnight was behind it all. But was he working alone or was he working with somebody here in town?
And where in the hell was he holed up?
His men had been working over the past week to check out every abandoned barn, shed and building. Any stranger walking the streets would be noted by somebody and brought to his or one of his deputies’ attention, but so far that hadn’t happened.
“Maybe you should just take us to the motel,” Mary said, breaking the silence that had grown between them.
“I’d feel better if you were at my place.” He’d wondered how long it would take for her to protest his plans.
“And I’d feel better if we weren’t.”
He shot her a glance of surprise. She stared out the front window, as if not wanting to meet his gaze. Was her reticence because of what had happened between them before?
“Mary, if you’re worried that I’ll somehow take advantage of you or you’re regretting what happened between us, then let me assure you that I will be a complete gentleman.”
“That’s not it.” She turned to look at him, her eyes shimmering in the illumination from the dashboard. “Don’t you understand? Jason is hurting all the people I care about. I don’t want him to think that I care about you in any way and put you in danger.”
Her words warmed him, but also made him more determined than ever that she and Matt would stay with him until this was all over.
There was no question in his mind that the end was near, that Jason had honed in on Mary rather than any of her waitress friends. The fire tonight proved that he was finished playing games with her. He wanted her dead and Cameron was determined to do everything in his power to make sure that didn’t happen.
He just hoped it was enough.
Chapter 13
There had been little conversation once they reached Cameron’s house. Cameron led Matt and Twinkie to a small guest room with a double bed covered with what appeared to be a multicolored handmade quilt and a chest of drawers.
Mary was taken to the guest room next door, one that obviously got more used than the room where Matt and Twinkie slept. It held a double bed and dresser with a mirror and the room was decorated in sky-blue.
Mary took a quick shower, pulled on a pajama top that Cameron had provided and then tumbled into bed. The top smelled vaguely of Cameron’s cologne and thankfully she immediately fell asleep.
She awakened at dawn, for a moment disoriented as she gazed at the room around her. The sun was just beginning to awaken behind the opened blue curtains at the window. She stared at them in confusion. She didn’t have blue curtains in her bedroom.
She sat up and memories of the night before tumbled through her head. The fire. The panic. Her utter, gut-wrenching fear for her son. Cameron returning to the burning rooms to rescue Twinkie.
She was surprised to see the closet door open and some of her clothing hanging there. Apparently at some point during the night somebody had brought clothes for Mary and Matt from the café to Cameron’s place.
She got out of bed and quickly grabbed a pair of jeans and one of her Cowboy Café T-shirts, then raced across the hall to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her hair.
When she felt prepared to face whatever the day might bring, she left the bathroom and instantly checked on Matt, who remained sprawled asleep on the bed with Twinkie curled up against one ankle.
She followed the scent of fresh-brewed coffee down the hallway and into the kitchen, where she found Cameron seated at the table, files and papers strewn before him. He looked up in surprise at her appearance. “Good morning, I didn’t expect to see you so early.” He shoved some of the papers aside and pointed to the empty spot. “Help yourself to the coffee and come join me.” He closed a couple of the files.
“I don’t suppose you managed to get Jason behind bars while I was asleep,” she said as