Chapter Two
“There’s No Such Thing as a Flying Dinosaur”
Janice really wished she hadn’t had to come here.
The look on Theon’s face was a mix of confusion, disbelief, and something she couldn’t quite put a name to.
His bushy, graying brows knit closer together as he regarded her, and she could practically see the gears turning in his head, trying to figure out why the woman who’d ended things with him months ago was standing before him now so early in the morning.
She was wondering the same thing, too. Just being here, barely four feet away from him, was setting her nerves on fire, causing memories to surge through her mind.
“You...you look good,” she blurted suddenly.
It was true, anyway. He had on a plaid shirt and jeans, a white T-shirt stretching across his broad chest. His clothes hugged his thick arms, the sleeves rolled up just enough for her to make out the veins and sprinkles of hair that covered his forearms. She drew her attention to his face, which, except for the gray streaks in his dark, wavy hair, made him look almost seven years younger than he was.
He was square-jawed, with barely a wrinkle around his gray eyes.
He’d always been an amazing sight to behold. Why had she broken up with him, again?
Oh, right.
She’d done the right thing. At least, that was what she’d told herself over the next couple of weeks after the breakup.
He’d been pretty much emotionally unavailable, and Janice had had more than enough experience with men like that to want to put herself through that again. She’d done what she needed to do.
Not that it hadn’t hurt, anyway. Or that her feelings for him had somehow dissipated. Even now, as she gazed up at him, she could feel the emotions stirring in her gut.
Janice swallowed, trying to ignore the sudden flutter in her ribcage.
She hated to admit it, but she’d kept an eye on Theon over the past couple of months.
As much as she’d avoided him, ignoring his calls and texts after the breakup, she’d been aware of his movements.
She’d known when he left town two weeks after she ended things, presumably for work.
And she’d known when he returned. It wasn’t stalking, per se.
In her line of work, she’d gotten used to keeping up to date with everything going on around her.
Right.
“What do you want?” Theon wanted to know.
There was no hostility in his tone, no anger, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that she was the last person he wanted to be speaking to right now.
Not that she wanted to be here, either. If anything, she wanted to put as much distance between them as possible.
Heck, she’d have headed out of town if she could, if it meant not having to look into Theon Gardener’s handsome face again.
Coming all the way down to the sanctuary to meet him? Terrible idea.
But she was desperate. She’d hit a dead end working her current case, and right now he seemed to be the only person who might even be able to help her.
“It’s been a while, huh?” she heard herself say.
Feeling even more awkward, she averted her gaze, looking around for a moment.
The sanctuary was as peaceful as it had always been.
A gentle movement in her periphery made her turn.
Her car sat a dozen feet away, Charlie in the passenger seat.
And beyond that, she spotted the barns, one of which was draped completely in what looked like toilet paper.
“Guess Halloween came early for you,” she remarked with a smirk.
“Bunch of teenagers decided to pull a prank,” was all Theon said.
There was that tone again. Not angry, not frustrated, but almost completely bereft of any emotion.
As if he was forcing himself not to feel anything.
He didn’t even look upset. It had almost driven her nuts when she was with him.
He’d always seemed cold, distant. Practical, he called it. Janice found it nerve-wracking.
“Sorry about that.” She gestured toward the crates sitting on the porch. “Are you busy? Looks like I caught you in the middle of something.”
“I’m preparing for a Halloween party.”
She’d been to one of those in the past. It had been great, honestly, but after all that had happened over the past six months, she doubted she’d be getting an invitation to this year’s party.
She brushed the thought aside. If she should be worrying about anything right now, it was the case at hand, not the consequences of her latest botched relationship.
“You said you needed my help,” Theon pressed, and she thought she detected a hint of impatience in his voice. His arms bulged as he folded them across his chest. “What for?”
“Right.” She sucked in a breath. “There’s this case I’m working on. It all started a few days ago...”
She could still clearly remember the farmer, Ed, and his bloodstained overalls.
When he collapsed against her car and told her that there’d been a murder, Janice had feared the worst. She’d called for backup and rushed toward the ranch, expecting to find human bodies on the scene.
But all she’d come across were dead animals.
Still, the sight had been horrifying: over two dozen cattle and sheep lying on their sides in pools of their own blood, their throats all slit. Vegetables all over the farm had been ripped to shreds. It was as though some kind of whirlwind had swept through the ranch.
She’d scoured the property in search of the culprit and found nothing.
Ed, amidst his sniveling, had insisted that he’d seen nothing.
He’d simply come out of his house to inspect his barns and had found most of his cattle slain and his vegetables trashed.
Over the past three days, she’d worked tirelessly, trying to find some clue as to the perpetrator. So far? Nothing.
“Two more ranches have been attacked,” she concluded. “And it’s almost the same thing. Old Man Benny’s the most recent. Happened last night. Luckily, he didn’t take as much of a hit as the other two, but...” She trailed off, looking up at him.
Theon took his time before responding. “So how exactly do I come into this?”
Janice bit her lip, feeling as though she might melt under his steely gaze.
When was the last time she’d stood this close to him?
Oh, right: the day she broke up with him.
She’d resolved to never see him again, or at least put enough distance between them that they didn’t bump into each other in this small town.
Yet here she was, back at his sanctuary, asking for his help.
She was surprised he wasn’t laughing at her. In his shoes, she might’ve done just that.
She cleared her throat. “Well...I figure this is some kind of animal attack. I’m not sure what kind, but since an animal is involved and you’re an animal expert—”
“Animal rescuer,” he corrected.
“Right. Since you’re an animal rescuer, I thought I could use your help solving this case.”
The next few seconds slithered by in uncomfortable silence. Theon said nothing, but continued staring at her, and she could practically feel him forming his declination. He glanced over her shoulder, no doubt at Charlie sitting in her car, then back at her.
“No.”
She’d anticipated his response—who in their right mind would readily offer to help the ex who dumped and ghosted them for months?
Still, she couldn’t help feeling like a weight was settling in her chest at the sound of that word.
She’d already done everything she could to get answers on this case.
Nothing had worked. Theon was her last option.
A no from him was unacceptable.
“Theon, please,” she tried. “I just need—”
“I’ve got other things to do, Janice,” he told her. “This party isn’t going to organize itself. I doubt you really need my help.”
That wasn’t the real reason he’d turned down her request, she suspected. It had to do with their breakup. She’d popped up right out of the blue, asking for help. Not exactly ideal. Then again, she wouldn’t even be here if she wasn’t desperate.
“There are animals dying, Theon,” she insisted. Then, after a second’s breath, she added, “And I don’t think whatever did this is an ordinary animal. That’s why I came to you instead of just any animal expert—or rescuer, whatever.”
At this, his gray eyes narrowed slightly. “What do you mean?”
She seemed to have gotten his interest. Good. “I mean that these attacks are starting to seem supernatural to me. It’s the only thing that makes sense right now. Something supernatural is attacking animals and destroying crops, and I need your help to identify and stop it before it’s too late.”
She saw his eyebrows draw closer together and knew that those gears were turning again in his head. It was one of many things she’d admired about him, the way his brows furrowed when he was deep in thought.
It took him longer to respond this time. She watched him, her gaze traveling up and down his solid form. For a second, her eyes landed on his arms, those powerful arms that had wrapped around her so many times, almost protectively, whether they were merely hugging or in the midst of lovemaking...
Except making love wasn’t exactly the right word for it, was it?
Because Theon hadn’t really loved her. Sure, he’d wanted her, but if he’d loved her, he would’ve shown it.
He wouldn’t have hesitated to tell her he loved her when she said those words to him.
He wouldn’t have remained so guarded around her.
Hell, for most of their relationship, she’d felt like she was speaking to him through a pane of glass.
Breaking up with him had been harder than she cared to admit. She’d battled her own thoughts over and over before reaching that decision. And even after that, she’d been almost torn apart by regret.
“That’s not good,” he said finally.
“Your powers of deduction are really amazing,” she said, before realizing what she’d just uttered. Biting her lip, she added, quickly, “Sorry.”
If her sarcasm bothered him, he didn’t show it. He breathed a sigh. “Fine. I’ll help you.”
It took her every bit of willpower to keep from leaping at him and kissing him on the lips. “Thank you. I really just need your help with this, and then I’ll leave you alone.”
His jaw clenched slightly, and she realized she must’ve said something wrong. Before she could apologize again, he cleared his throat.
“When do we begin?”
“At noon. I need to drop Charlie off at school. Meet me at Old Man Benny’s farm. I already inspected it once, but I could use your input.”
He nodded. “Roger that. I’ll be there by noon.”
“Alright.” She turned and headed toward her Toyota, feeling his gaze on her until she climbed into the car.
***
As the Toyota rolled away from the house, Charlie piped up, “Are you and Theon getting back together, Mom?”
Janice almost slammed on the brakes in surprise.
She glanced in the rearview mirror. Sure enough, Theon was still standing in front of the house, staring after them.
A moment later, he turned away, picking up a crate as he headed into the building.
Letting out a sigh, she returned her attention to the road.
“No,” she said, feeling her gut twist a little as she did. “We’re not getting back together. I just need his help on a case I’m working on.”
“You’re not?”
“No, Charlie.”
She could feel her son’s gaze lingering on her as she exited the property and angled the car onto the road. Janice almost scoffed. How did a ten-year-old know so much about her love life?
Then again, Charlie wasn’t an average kid.
Janice didn’t think she’d been as intelligent as he was at ten.
The boy spent a lot of his time with his head buried in books well above his grade, for crying out loud.
For someone his age, he could handle a lot of intelligent, mature conversations, and it often took her a moment to realize she was speaking to a preteen.
A couple of years ago, when she explained to him that his father wasn’t in the picture, hadn’t been since before he was born, he’d understood and accepted the fact as though she’d merely told him that grass was green.
Janice had been stunned for days. Charlie hung out with his peers, watched cartoons on Saturday mornings, and sometimes he could be just as excitable as every other ten-year-old.
Other times, Janice couldn’t help feeling like she was talking to a grown man in a child’s body.
“That’s a shame,” she heard him say. “I really like him.”
You and me both, kiddo. The image of Theon arose in her mind, and she immediately brushed it aside. She decided to change the subject. “Have you figured out your costume yet? Halloween’s only a few days away.”
“Mmhmm.”
She cast a momentary glance at him in the passenger seat.
Charlie sat staring ahead, one of his dinosaur figures in his hands, his blond hair almost covering his blue eyes.
He took more after his father, and sometimes looking at her son was like looking at her ex-husband, but she loved her son regardless.
Charlie might be a handful sometimes, but he was all she had.
She pointed at the dinosaur in his hand. “Let me guess: you’re going trick-or-treating as a dinosaur.”
He shook his head. “That was last year. This year, I want to be a pterodactyl.”
Janice couldn’t help frowning. She wasn’t exactly a nerd, but she definitely knew one or two things. “Isn’t that just a flying dinosaur?”
Judging from the look her son gave her, she might as well have announced that the Earth was flat.
“Mom, there’s no such thing as a flying dinosaur,” he said, rolling his eyes. “They’re called pterosaurs. They’re reptiles that existed during the Mesozoic Era...”
He droned on, listing off a bunch of other facts that he thought the average person should know. Janice couldn’t help grinning to herself as she drove. Just another regular Monday with Charlie.
A thought crossed her mind suddenly, wiping the smile off her face.
Her day was about to be anything but regular.
In a matter of hours, she’d be working with Theon Gardener.
Her chest constricted a little, and she sucked in a sharp breath.
He’d agreed to help her. Somehow, that was starting to seem even worse than saying no.
Because now she would be working closely with a man she was supposed to be avoiding.
Relax, she told herself. Nothing’s going to happen.
Janice doubted that. It wasn’t like she was completely over him yet.
Just coming here and standing face to face with him had confirmed that.
And working with him just might complicate matters.
She’d need to do her very best to maintain a strictly professional relationship with him while he helped with this case.
Which, hopefully, wouldn’t be very long.