God, give me the strength to see clearly.
“It has to be Chaz. A tire iron? Interesting choice of weapon.” Piper gnawed her thumbnail. Had she made the right decision not calling Luke or the police in general? Her thigh throbbed.
Harmony laid a hand on Piper’s shoulder. “No way. Why now? It makes no sense.”
“He’s come to get even. He has to believe I knew Luke was undercover the whole time.” Which she hadn’t. By the time she found out, she was already in love with Luke. “He blames me for Sly getting caught and going to prison for assaulting Ellen Strosbergen. Or he thinks I took something from the house.”
“Did you?”
“What do you think?” Piper paced the kitchen floor. “I should call the police.”
Harmony sighed. “You said yourself Luke suspects you. Will he believe your story?”
“Probably not.” She had no one to blame but herself for that. She had no concrete evidence that she had even been attacked. Luke might accuse her of making the whole thing up to throw suspicion off her. Call her a liar. Again.
No way was it random. Not after the attack with a tire iron.
Harmony took Piper’s cold cup of tea to the sink and dumped it. “Maybe you should come with me to the Realtors’ conference. Get out of Dodge.”
“And leave Mama Jean? No way. I have to find out who this is.” With or without Luke’s help. Piper rubbed her chilled arm. “Because if Mama Jean saw the attacker, he might come back to finish off what he started. Could be why he came after me tonight—he might think she told me who it was.” Confusion twisted in her chest.
Harmony sank in a kitchen chair. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. But for tonight, I think it’s best if I sleep in your master bedroom. You’ll be safer upstairs. If he comes back, I want to be downstairs where I can hear.”
“You’re scaring me, Pipe.”
“I’m trying to protect you.” Piper was scared, too. And she had no idea what to do, but maybe by morning she’d have a clue. It was after midnight now.
Harmony grabbed Piper’s hand. “I’ll go upstairs. But I don’t suspect either of us will be sleeping.”
There was truth to that. Piper followed Harmony to the master bedroom. “Why do you need this house? It’s huge.”
Harmony switched on the light. “It’s my way of hoping for a family.”
A dream they both shared. But Piper had relationship paralysis. The few men she’d dated, she’d measured against Luke. Every single one came up short.
Hairs prickled the back of Piper’s neck again, as if a presence was in the house. Or outside. Watching. She switched off the light.
“Hey—!”
“Shhh.” Piper peeked out the window that overlooked the backyard and beyond into the woods. “Where does that lead?”
“A creek and then I don’t know. I’ve never taken a jaunt.” Harmony closed the blinds and then flipped on the lamp. “I think we’re safe. And if we aren’t, I’m counting on you being able to take down a grown man.”
Piper could. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t frightened.
Harmony left the room, and Piper hurried and unpacked then threw on a ratty pair of gray sweats and a Shotokan T-shirt with the tiger emblem on the front pocket. She’d been studying Shotokan karate since she was eighteen. Since Luke kicked her out of his life with one word. Run.
At twenty-nine, she’d worked hard and made it to the position of Shihan-Dai—fourth-degree black belt. She was still working toward professor of the art. But no amount of martial arts could fight off the past that seemed to be colliding with her present, choking her.
Piper slid into bed at 12:52 a.m. and stared at the clock until her eyes grew too heavy to hold open.
A creak pulled her from sleep.
Her eyes shot open as a cloth smothered her face.
A sickly sweet smell and taste filled her nose and mouth. She reached for the bulky hand and broke free. She gulped fresh air, but her head spun, and nausea swept over her.
He came at her again.
Couldn’t. Think. Clearly.
Piper punched him in the sternum, cutting off his air supply, and bounded out of bed, but whatever she’d inhaled had weakened her. Grabbing the lamp, she chucked it at him. It crashed into the wall behind the headboard. Barreling forward, the attacker tackled her to the floor near the bathroom. She reached up and grabbed his mask, pulling it from his face.
Not Chaz.
Drawing her knee up, she made contact with his groin, garnering a wail from him and giving her time to wiggle free.
Her head was still fuzzy and pounding, but she scrambled for the door. Needed a weapon. Her phone.
“Piper!” Harmony yelled.
The assailant turned toward the sound of Harmony’s voice and bolted. Piper raced across the bedroom, but she was off balance, shaky.
A door slammed.
Harmony stood midway on the stairs, a bat in hand. “What’s happening?”
Piper ran to the back door and turned the locks, panting. “It wasn’t Chaz.”
“Who wasn’t Chaz?”
“A man. Here. I saw his face.” Piper’s pulse hammered, dizziness flaring. “He put something over my mouth.” The rag. She rushed to the bedroom and retrieved it.
Harmony stood at the threshold. “What is it?”
“I don’t know. Some kind of drug. Glad I wasn’t sound asleep.” Piper bent at the waist, her mouth watering. “Get me a plastic bag for this. I’m gonna be sick.” She scurried to the bathroom.
Harmony returned with the bag as Piper flushed the toilet. She dropped the rag inside the gallon-sized Ziploc.
Piper leaned against the wall, eyes burning. It wasn’t Chaz. But whoever came after her at the hospital wasn’t working alone. Someone drove the van. “Chaz could have sent someone to kidnap me.” He could be outside right now, waiting. Her stomach churned.
“Kidnap! Why?” Harmony paced the bathroom floor.
“Why else drug me?”
“If it was the same guy from the hospital, maybe he wised up and knew he couldn’t take you without evening the playing field.” She froze. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
Piper rinsed her mouth, her vision clearing and nausea subsiding. A few seconds longer and she’d have been out cold. “No. You’re right.”
“I’m not going to that conference, Piper. I can’t leave you.”
Piper’s temple throbbed. “Now more than ever, you need to. It’s the only way to keep you safe.”
Harmony’s eyes pooled with tears. “What about you? Will you go to the police now?”
Piper wasn’t sure. But one thing was clear. Whoever was after her wasn’t going to stop.
* * *
Piper sat on Harmony’s bed as she scrambled around in a frenzy trying to pack. It was almost 6:00 a.m. “I have to call Luke. He may not believe me, but...”
“I