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“I don’t know that, either.”
“What are we gonna do with him?”
Jordan let out a sigh that shook with nerves. “I’m going to tie him up so he can’t get away, then call the police.”
“I’ll call. I know the number.”
Of course she did. Jordan had made sure Anne knew how to stay safe. Even though they lived in a small town with nearly no crime, that didn’t mean things couldn’t go wrong.
The man bleeding on her floor was proof of that.
Jordan prayed the man wasn’t acting. She prayed even harder that his appearance wouldn’t set Anne back in dealing with her nightmares.
She rolled the man onto his stomach and went to work taping him up nice and tight. He was heavy, and his limbs were thick with muscle, but she was still riding that adrenaline high and managed to get him trussed up, taped from wrists to elbows and ankles to knees.
He wasn’t going anywhere unless she let him.
Now that it was safe, Jordan pressed her finger to the side of his neck, feeling for a pulse. His beat strong and steady, and she let out a small sigh of relief. She hadn’t killed him.
Whether or not he deserved it, she didn’t like the idea of being the executioner any more than she liked the idea of having a dead man lying in her coffee shop.
Jordan heard her daughter tell the sheriff’s department what had happened. Her high, sweet voice sounded odd describing something as grim as facing off against an armed intruder.
“Mama, Cindy says she needs to talk to you.”
Jordan picked up the gun with two fingers, as though it were covered in acid, and set it on the counter. She took the phone from Anne.
“Hey, Cindy.”
Cindy was the dispatcher at the sheriff’s station, and they’d gone to high school together. Her voice was rough from years of smoking, but she’d always been calm in the midst of chaos, even during the days of high school drama. “I heard you caught yourself a robber.”
Something about the way the man had acted made Jordan wonder if that was what he’d been up to, but there’d be time to figure that out later. “Guess so. When can you send someone to come get him? I whacked him on the head pretty hard.”
“The roads are a mess. We’ve got several injury accidents and no staff to spare. If you’re not in danger, it’s going to have to wait until we get things back under control.”
“We’re fine, but he may not be.”
“Is he breathing?”
“Yeah.”
“That’ll have to be good enough. Call me if anything changes. I’ll send someone as soon as possible, okay?”
“Sure. I’ll be here.”
Jordan hung up and saw Anne inching closer to the unconscious man, leaning forward as far as she could without falling over. “Stop right there, nosy. You go upstairs and keep yourself out of trouble while I wait for the police.”
“I’m sure that’s the man from my dreams.”
“And I’m sure he’s not. Go on upstairs, now.”
“Can I go online?”
“Sure. You know the rules.”
Anne nodded and pounded up the stairs, sounding as though she weighed as much as a grown man.
Jordan sat at a nearby table to watch her captive, sipping the hot chocolate she’d made for him. Her hands were still shaking, but at least she’d gotten through the worst of this ordeal.
