Page 14 of Yankee in the Wind

Stunned, she stared at him. “Who are you, and how do you know my name?”

“I’m Jack. Jack Porter. I was Thomas’s friend.”

“Jack?”

From the corner of his eye, he noticed that she shook her head.

“I knew Jack Porter. And you’re not him. Stop the car and let me out.”

“I can’t do that.”

8

Lilly’s heart beat into her throat. She’d been kidnapped!

She was still panicked about the shooting in the plaza. She would have gotten killed if it hadn’t been for the man who’d pushed her out of the line of fire. That much she believed. But had it all been staged, the shooting, the panic at the plaza, so he could abduct her without her putting up a fight? And the gall of the man to claim he was Thomas’s friend Jack Porter! As if she didn’t know what Jack looked like!

“Stop the car now! Or I’ll mace you!” she bluffed and reached into her handbag.

“If you really had mace on you, you would have already used it. Nice try though,” he said.

Was that a smirk on his face? How dare he!

Clearly the man wasn’t easily fooled. She glanced outside, gaging the speed of the car.

“I wouldn’t do that. You could get hurt.”

“Do what?” she spat.

“Try and jump out of the moving car.” He gave her a sideways glance and pointed to her legs. “You’ve already got bruises on your legs from earlier.”

She looked at her knees, and only now saw the abrasions and the blood on them. She hadn’t even felt the pain until now, too much adrenaline pumping through her.

“Why are you doing this? What do you want? A ransom? I have to disappoint you. I’ve got a mountain of student loans, and no savings.”

“If I’d left you back there at the plaza, you’d be dead now.”

“Can’t you at least slow down?” she asked. She pointed through the windshield. “That light’s already yellow.”

But he raced through the next intersection with the light turning red, killing her hope that she could escape while the car was waiting at a red light.

“Lilly, take a breath. I’ve gotta get us to a safe place before they can catch up with us.”

“Catch up? The shooter is back there at the plaza. You make it sound like I was the only target. I heard several shots.”

He looked at her, and for the first time she noticed the deep blue of his eyes. Jack had had eyes like that. They’d drawn her to him that day at the Reed family BBQ.

“Yes, and had the first one hit you, there wouldn’t have been any others. It was a sniper, and he had you in the crosshairs. I saw the laser on your forehead.”

“That’s ludicrous.” Though the knowledge that somebody had aimed at her made her shiver. “No… no… why would…” Then the events of the last few days sank in. What if it had something to do with Thomas’s death?

“Who are you really?” she finally asked and looked at him again. Had Henry Sheppard sent him?

He was handsome. She had to give him that. Tall, muscular, with dark blond hair, a straight nose and high cheekbones, a strong chin. Not a single ounce of fat on his frame.

“Like I said, I’m Jack Porter.” He suddenly unleashed a smile on her. “And you’ve grown even more beautiful in the last seven years.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Seven years. That’s how long it had been since she’d seen the real Jack Porter, the man in whose arms she’d spent a passionate night, only to wake up alone.