The Highlander Next Door by Janet Chapman

quick glance before returning her attention to Shep. “I thought you were Misty’s father coming back to . . . to . . . I’m sorry I hit you.”
    “I’m not,” Niall said with a chuckle. “I was relieved ye came out swinging. What I’m referring to is the scare ye gave me when I saw your car at the brook but then got here and found the place empty.” He nodded at Shep when Birch looked up in surprise. “Ye have the pooch to thank for sniffing you out.”
    She looked down again, this time giving Shep’s ear a scratch. “I wouldn’t really ever spray him,” she said, finally relaxing into Niall.
    “Speaking of your bear spray, where is it?”
    “In my jacket on a peg upstairs. How did you know to come looking for me?”
    “Your mum got worried when you didn’t answer your cell phone, and she told Peg where you had gone this morning and why. May I ask where your phone is?”
    “In my jacket with the spray.” She finally looked up, and Niall felt the knot in his chest finish loosening when he saw a spark of fire return to her eyes. “Are you going to arrest Ike Vaughn for locking me down here?”
    “Did he hurt you, Birch?”
    The woman went from relaxed to deflated. “No. He certainly hollered a lot, but he never touched me. He just dragged Misty upstairs and locked the door.”
    “You were already down here, then?”
    “Mrs. Vaughn—her name is Sally—was alone when I arrived. She invited me inside when she saw my pants and boots were wet, and took my jacket and hung it on a peg by the door and made me tea.”
    “So Misty wasn’t home?”
    Birch pointed at a small bed in the far corner. “I didn’t know it at the time, but she’s apparently been locked down here for the last week. When I asked Sally where Misty was, the woman went deathly pale and asked how I knew her. Figuring I wasn’t disclosing anything she didn’t already know, I told her what Misty’s friend had told me this morning and explained that I could bring her daughter back to the shelter with me. I also told her that once Misty was settled, I could sit down with her and her husband and we could discuss their . . . options. Have you stopped shaking yet?”
    “Almost. So Mrs. Vaughn brought you down here?”
    Birch snapped her head up. “Don’t you even think about arresting her. Sally was hoping I could
help
Misty.” She took a calming breath and went back to fingering Shep’s ear. “While we were having tea, I explained what the Crisis Center is all about, and Sally asked if it was only for young pregnant girls. And when I told her it’s for any woman who feels threatened, I got the impression she wanted to come to the shelter, too. The three of us were down here when Ike came home. Sally had said he was working up back in the woods. You don’t feel like you’re shaking.”
    In truth, Niall was surprised she’d let him hold her this long, which had him believing that even though Vaughn hadn’t actually touched her, the bastard sure as hell had scared her. “Aye, I’m feeling much better now,” he said, pushing Shep out of the way and lifting Birch to her feet, only to realize that now his pants were damp, too. He stood up and walked to the corner, his gut tightening when he saw Sally Vaughn’s attempts to make her daughter’s prison comfortable, noting the colorful quilt and stuffed animals, the tiny radio on the nightstand, and the worn rug on the dirt floor beside the bed. “How long ago did the Vaughns leave?” he asked, remembering he hadn’t met a vehicle on his way in or seen any sign that one had driven out the road this morning.
    “About half an hour ago. They’re probably all the way to Turtleback by now.”
    “Did you hear a vehicle leave? There’s still a pickup in the yard.”
    Her eyes widened and she looked toward the stairs—even as she sidled closer to him, Niall couldn’t help but notice. “He’s coming back,” she whispered, hugging herself. “He’s stashing them in the