I moved close, slid my arms around his waist. “Don’t give up, Tucker. Maybe she’s still—”

Tucker’s jaw tightened, but he rested his hands on my hips. “I’ve got to get back,” he said.

I nodded, rested my forehead against his chin for a moment. “Thanks for saving me from the bad guy,” I murmured.

“I think I had a little help,” he said. He curved an index finger under my chin and lifted, and I looked up at him. Nodded.

“Nick came through in the crunch,” I told him.

“You miss him?” Tucker asked gently.

I thought for a moment. “Yeah,” I answered.

He kissed the tip of my nose. “That’s okay,” he said. “You are going to tell me what really happened, aren’t you? When things settle down and we have time to talk?”

I nodded again.

“You’ll go home with your sisters? I want you to promise me you will, Mojo, because I’m not going to be able to concentrate if you don’t.”

“I promise,” I said. “But it’s only temporary, Tuck. I need my own place.”

“Fair enough,” he replied. He kissed me again, this time on the lips, and I felt the familiar stir. “Gotta go,” he said.

I walked him through the living room, past Jolie and Greer, who were kneeling on the floor, absorbed in what was left of Lillian’s life and history. When I came back, sans Tucker, Greer looked up at me and smiled sadly.

“I could really use a cup of tea,” she said. “Too bad the police took all your groceries away, in case that maniac poisoned them with something.”

I plunked down on the couch. “What happened to your arm, Greer?” I asked. “And when did Alex leave?”

Greer and Jolie exchanged looks.

“Spill it,” I said.

“We stopped to buy gas on our way over here,” Jolie explained. “I was inside, getting us some coffee, and Greer was at the gas pump. This guy screeches up in an old van and grabs her—tries to throw her into the back of his rig.”

I was sitting up straight by then. “Can you describe him, Greer? Did you get a license plate number?”

“I’ve been over all that with the police,” Greer said, her voice thin with remembered fear. “They met Jolie and me at the emergency room. That’s why it took us so long to get here.” She paused, bit her lower lip. “I’ve never seen the man before, and the license plate was covered.”

“Thank God you got away,” I breathed.

“I had some help from Jolie,” Greer answered. “She came running out of the convenience store and poured hot coffee down his back. He yelped and let me go. The police are checking hospitals and walk-in clinics for patients with scalds.”

“He let her go,” Jolie clarified, “but not before he snapped her arm like a chicken bone.”

I winced.