Then the pain and the blows were gone. Too quick, Maya thought. That couldnt have been the whole herd.
It wasnt, she realized moments later when she uncurled and looked around. Shed been struck by the offshoot group, the dozen animals who had burst through the livery after her. They had turned and galloped down Main Street.
The ground shook as the main herd bore down on her, no more than a city block away. The noise increased by the moment, hoofbeats overlaid with snorts and bellows and the sound of gunfire.
Maya saw white-rimmed eyes, red-flared nostrils and pounding, pulverizing hooves coming closer. Too close.
Knowing she was too late, that there was no way she was going to make it, Maya dragged herself to her feet, hauled the girl onto her hip and took two stumbling steps toward the stairs, toward safety. Her knee sang with pain. Her legs folded beneath her
And strong arms grabbed her, lifted her and half carried her across the road as the air thickened with dust and fear.
Rough hands shoved her toward the stairs and a mans voice shouted, Climb, damn it!
Disbelieving, heart pounding, Maya climbed, aware of being crowded, being hustled, being shielded as her feet hit the stairs. She stumbled, needing both arms to hold the girl, and felt strong hands grab her waist and boost her upwards.
The leading edge of the stampede hit them. A big male bison demolished the lower stairs, blasting through the two-by-four construction as though it was made of matchsticks.
With nothing holding them off the ground, the upper stairs sagged and began to fall.
Go! Mayas rescuer shouted. He nearly threw her up over the edge, onto the low roof of the building. Wood splintered and Maya screamed as the stairs peeled away from the building to fall into the sea of hairy bodies below.
Carrying the man with them.
She pulled Hannahs arms from around her neck, set the girl on a safe spot well back from the edge and yelled, Dont move! Then she scrambled back to the place where the stairs had been, lay flat on her belly and poked her head over the precipice.
She saw a hand. A forearm. The top of a mans head. Her rescuer was clinging to the edge of the building as the herd passed below in a deadly thunder of hooves and horns.
Hang on! Maya lunged forward and grabbed his arms, his shirt, anything she could get hold of to help him up and over.
His muscles were hard beneath her hands, his body powerful as he dragged himself over the edge and flopped down beside her, breathing heavily, one forearm thrown across his eyes.
You okay? he asked, voice ragged.
She took stock. Her body sang with the ache of bruises but not breaks, and when she glanced at Hannah, she saw that the girl was crying softly but appeared otherwise unhurt.
As the rumble of the stampede faded and human shouts and whistles took over, Maya cleared her throat of the hot, choking dust and the knowledge that without his help, she would have died. She swallowed hard and said, Were okay. I cant thank you enough She trailed off, wanting a name for the stranger.
Dont thank me. Lets just say this makes us even, okay? He dragged his arm off his face, sat up and turned toward her.
Without the sunglasses, his eyes were two different shades of hazel, one so light as to border on amber, the other darkening to green, giving his face a skewness that should have been lopsided but instead was arresting. Interesting.
Familiar.
Thorne! she gasped, voice sharp with shock and memory.
For an instant, she was back in the High Top Bluff Police Academy. Shed seen him across the cafeteria, where hed stood out from the others because hed kept his long, sandy hair tied back in a ponytail, and wore a burnished gold, almost auburn five oclock shadow at ten in the morning. Hed carried a casual air that was part poet, part surfer dude, and was the center of a growing throng. Maya later learned that people flocked to him, wanting to be included in the friendly, whiskey-laced charm that hid deeper things.
Darker things.
A murmur had run through the room, quick snatches of whispered rumor. He was out in the fieldundercover with Mason Falks mountain mencapturedtorturedthe drugs made him a little nutshes teaching psych while he heals
Uncomfortable with the sudden buzz, with the intimacy of knowing things about a complete stranger, Maya had gathered her things to leave, but when she passed the growing group, shed glanced over at the man and found him watching her, found him nearer than shed expected.
She had paused a moment, struck by the strangeness of his eyes, by the pull of him, by the click of recognition. No, she had never met him before, but shed immediately recognized something about him. Something inside him, something deeper than the faint tang of alcohol that laced the air between them, though that, too, was a connection.
With the bruises of her marriage still fresh on her soul, Maya had pushed past the man, and had hidden in the back of his criminal psych class. Hed taught with an uncomfortable sort of detachment, as though he didnt want to be there, couldnt be anywhere else. More whispers had buzzed about him, rumors that hed once identified a murderer by touching the victims hand, that he had visions.
That he drank to keep the visions away.
Maya had stayed away from him, wary of the reputation and the alcohol, but every now and then, when they had come face to face in the halls, or on the jog paths, or in the cafeteria, he would look at her, and those strange, knowing eyes would linger in her mind for days.
That had been the only contact between them, the only connection until that one stupid, stupid night, when Maya had given in to the temptation.
As much as shed told herself, then and now, that it was her fault more than his, that mistakes happened, that sometimes even the strongest person stumbled off the path, shed lost something that night, something more than the six charms shed plucked off her necklace the next morning, and flushed down the toilet.
Shed lost a piece of herself.
She felt the same strength drain from her as quickly as the blood drained from her face when she saw those eyes, when his features realigned themselves into those of the man she had known. His beard was gone and his hair cut short, and he was leaner now, fitter.
But he was still Thorne.
She thought she caught a whiff of alcohol on the air between them, though that could have been a scent memory, kicked up by the shock of seeing him again, the shock of the bison stampede that had nearly killed her.
His face creased into a wry smile. We dont need to pretend this is a happy reunion. We dont need to rehash why you took off before I even woke up that morning, and why you transferred all the way out of the academy to avoid me afterward. Frankly, I dont think I care anymore. Just suffice it to say I owed you a good deed. Now were even. Okay?
He rose gracefully to his feet and extended a hand to her, though she wasnt sure whether he intended the gesture as a peace offering or a challenge.
Hell, she wasnt even sure which was appropriate.
What would he do if she admitted she didnt remember anything about that night? That everything after finding the dead battery on her car was a blur, culminating in her waking up the next morning in his bed, with his arm thrown across her waist and his breath in her ear?
Fine. She stood on her own, strangely reluctant to touch him when her fingers still buzzed with the feel of his body as shed helped pull him to safety. Were even.
Fine. She stood on her own, strangely reluctant to touch him when her fingers still buzzed with the feel of his body as shed helped pull him to safety. Were even.
But her stomach twisted at the look in his eyes, which implied an uncomfortable intimacy. For years shed tried to block the memory of her single ignominious one-night stand, tried to tell herself that nothing had happened, that hed been gentleman enough not to take advantage. His expression now told her shed been lying to herself about him, about them.
Theyd gotten drunk, theyd had sex, and then shed run away.
Emotions shed fought off five years earlier rose up to swamp her, to slap at her with feelings of failure, of humiliation, of disappointmentnot with him, but with herself.
She drew breath to say something breezy, something that belied the turmoil within, but before she could speak, a small voice said, I want my mommy.
Startled back to the moment, to the case, Maya looked over at Hannah, who sat nearby with tears drying on her face.
Thorne crouched down near the girl. And who is this?
Shes Hannah, Maya answered. She bent down, picked up the girlthankful that she was small for her ageand balanced the child on her hip, needing the contact perhaps more than Hannah did. And shell need to spend some time with Alissa.
Thornes strange eyes sharpened. Why?
Maya took a breath and tried to figure out how to summarize the situation without upsetting the traumatized girl further. Lets just say she wasnt in the petting zoo by accident. She had help getting there, and my guess is that she was intended to draw more cops into the park before the stampede. She paused and fussed with Hannahs shirt so she wouldnt have to look at Thorne. I assume youre on loan for the Master She broke off as the obvious conclusion clicked in her brain.
Oh, hell.
She spun and glared at him, as anger, frustration and a strange sort of betrayal flooded her system. Tell me youre not my replacement.
BUT HE DIDNT TELL HER that. He couldnt. Instead, Thorne looked away, down to where a half dozen mounted ranch hands were driving the exhausted bison into a far pasture, while cops crawled over a section of downed fence, no doubt looking for clues that the stampede had been rigged.
When he spoke, his voice was low. Its only a temporary thing.
She narrowed her eyes, making him wonder what she saw in him, what she was thinking. But she merely said, Seriously? Youre just here to fill in until Internal Affairs clears me to get my badge back?
Im here to help bring down the bastard who set you up today, Thorne said. He hadnt answered her question, but the chief had urged him to keep quiet about the possibility of taking over the psych specialists role in the Bear Claw Forensics Department. The evasion burned, letting him know that even though hed saved her life, he still owed her.
Because the irony was that shed saved his life five years earlier, and she didnt even know it.
He jammed his hands in his pockets. Look, Maya. I
You two okay up there? a voice shouted from below. The top rungs of an aluminum extension ladder banged against the lip of the roof, and shook with ascending footsteps.
Were fine, Thorne yelled back, louder than hed meant to. He glanced at Maya. Lets talk about it later.
Her eyes grew wary, her expression shuttered. Theres no need.
Mayas friends were the first two up the ladder. Alissa and Cassie shot Thorne nearly identical looks of distrust, then rushed to assure themselves that Maya was fine. Homicide detective Tucker McDermott was next to gain the roof. After speaking with Maya for a moment, he took Hannah and carried her down the ladder.
Moments later, the sounds of a tearful mother-daughter reunion rose up from below.
The chief wants to see you back at the PD, Cassie told Maya. She had her back to Thorne, but her words carried.
Aware that their conversation remained unfinished, that their reunion had none of the joyful ring of Hannahs return to her mother, Thorne stepped forward. Ill drive her. We have things to discuss.
Maya didnt make eye contact when she said, Ive got my own wheels. Ill drive myself.
Realizing that he was the one without the wheels, Thorne grimaced. Then Ill ride with you. I came in with the chief.
Then you can leave with him, too, Cassie said. She stepped forward, leading with her chin as though daring him to throw a punch. Isnt it enough that youre using her desk and youve got all her notes on the Mastermind case?
Maya surprised him by stepping forward and laying a hand on her friends arm. Ive got it. She gestured toward the ladder. You two head down. Ill be there in a minute.
When Thorne and Maya were alone again on the roof, she turned to face him, arms folded across her chest. As though remembering his old lectures on open versus closed body language, she uncrossed her arms and hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her jeans, where a narrow green belt glittered with a faint gold pattern. Look, she began, I dont know how much Chief Parry told you about whats going on, but Ill be back on the job as soon as IA clears me.
Of course, Thorne agreed, though he noticed that she was still avoiding eye contact, and her fingers worked restlessly at her sides. She wasnt as confident as she seemed. He felt a slash of empathy as he remembered his own down time following his escape from Mason Falks compound. Hed been on medical leave for nearly six months, and sent to teach at the Academy in High Top Bluff for a year after that.
Hed worked his way back into active duty. Maya would do the same, if she wanted it enough. But based on what the chief had told him, it didnt seem likely that she would return to the Bear Claw PD. If that was a given, was there really any harm in him angling for her job?
Thorne wasnt sure yet. He hadnt fully processed the fact that this was Maya Cooper. Pretty, shy Maya Cooper from the back row of his psych class, who never raised her hand, but who aced all the quizzes and papers.
Pretty Maya Cooper who had cried in his arms over the whiskey hed urged on her, making him step back and realize what he was becoming.
What he had already become.
He might not have changed his life because of her, but hed damn well changed it because of what shed shown him about himself. That meant he owed her, but how much?
Let me ride with you, he urged, not completely sure why he wanted to spend time with her. Even if its only temporary, Im here to work the Mastermind case. Id appreciate your insights.
She looked at him for a long moment, as though judging his motives, or maybe his sincerity. Apparently she found one or both lacking, because she shook her head. Read my notes. Theyre organized and complete, such as they are. You want a hint? Have Hannah describe the guy who grabbed her, and let Alissa develop a sketch. She shrugged. Beyond that, youre on your own.
Come on, Maya. He took a step closer to her, then paused at the unfamiliar rev that sped through his body. Acknowledging the danger signal, he cleared his throat and said, Help me out, here. Were on the same team.
Funny that you should mention teams, she said, expression closed. I seem to remember that you were a player and a partier. Unfortunately for you, Im not either of those things anymore. A measure of tension left her shoulders, as though shed needed to say that aloud. Look, she said in a less brittle tone, if I thought I knew anything that isnt in my notes, Id tell you. But its all there, everything right up until I was suspended.