“University of Oklahoma. I’m applying to the US Forestry Service.”
Knight flashed a huge smile. “Nice. I love what they do. I hope you get in.”
“Thank you.”
“I heard your hikes were good. I’ll have to go on one once you get back to work.”
Mac’s cheeks turned red. “Thank you.”
Detective Knight turned to April. “I spoke with Brock. He said you were having issues with someone entering Myrna’s house?”
Heat washed over April as panic struck. She had no reason to distrust Detective Knight, but she felt weird after the police near her college had been so rude. “Um-I-I—”
“You don’t have to be afraid to tell me what’s happening. Brock also said the police where you’d been enrolled in college courses weren’t very helpful.”
She blew out a breath and shook her head. “No, they weren’t.”
“Do you think the stalker followed you here?”
She shrugged. “I drove from the University of North Texas to Savannah, Georgia, before heading this way. I didn’t stay on the interstate the whole way. If someone had followed me, I would have spotted them.”
Detective Knight nodded. “I’ll keep my eye out. We get a lot of tourists in town during the summer months, but we’ll keep the extra patrols going around here. Please don’t hesitate to call if you hear or see anything weird. Both of you. I like you two and don’t want to see anything happen to you.”
“Thank you, Detective Knight,” Mac said.
“Stay safe, and I hope you both recover well. If for some reason that woman is granted bail, I’ll tell you. It’s doubtful any judge would set a low enough bail she could get out, but sometimes weird things happen.”
“Thank you,” April said.
Detective Knight stood and shook both of their hands before heading out. April locked up after him, worry filling her. That woman could have killed Mac. She turned to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, holding on tight. This man was coming to mean more to her than she ever thought anyone would.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Mac closed his eyes, but he wasn’t asleep. He wasn’t supposed to be thinking too hard, but the news Detective Knight had delivered had blown his mind. How the hell could what he said be true? Why would someone make it up?
He wanted to know how the woman had found him. Not once had he looked into finding his birth parents, and now he was glad he hadn’t. An awful thought hit, and he flashed his eyes open and sat up.
April was right beside him and sat up, too. “What?” She sounded breathless and upset, which was the last thing he wanted.
“Sorry. I was thinking about my mom and dad. I need to call them.”
“Oh. Let me grab your phone.”
“Sure.”
He lay back down until April returned to the bedroom with his phone. She handed it to him and then kissed his cheek.
“I’ll be in the den.”
“You don’t have to leave.”
“I’ll leave the door open, and if you need me, just call out. I want to give you time to talk to them.”
He nodded, grateful she wasn’t clingy. He was glad she was giving him space, and if she had just sat down on the bed, he probably would have asked her to leave, but because she said she would go, he thought she should stay. It was weird, and maybe he was messed up because of the concussion.
He really liked April and didn’t want to lose her. Finding out everything had put his emotions in a tailspin. It was like every weird, totally unbelievably bad thing that could happen had happened. Even things he hadn’t considered happening happened.
He pressed the button to call his parents as emotions hit hard. He drew in a slow breath and let it go just as slowly. His mom answered when he was on the count of three for exhaling.
“Hello. Mac, is that you?”
“Hey, Mom.”
“You sound like a tire letting go of air,” his mom said.
“Sorry. Is Dad around?”
“Yes. Let me call him in. He’s tinkering in the garage.”
“Sure,” Mac said, glad he wouldn’t have to deliver this news twice. He wasn’t sure he could get through telling them the woman who was sister to his birth mom had come to Fallport to murder him, and he damn sure didn’t want to do it twice.
“Hey, son,” his dad said, sounding way too jovial.
Obviously, no one had stopped by his parents’ house to inform them their only child had almost been murdered. He was actually thankful no one had gone to them. It would have been difficult for them to hear last night, and then they would have wanted to talk to him.
“So, what’s up?” his mom asked.
He drew in another slow breath.”
“Son, is everything okay?” his dad asked.
“Well, it is now. I only have a concussion, and it is mild.”
“Did you fall down the mountain?”
Mac rolled his eyes at his dad’s question, which actually hurt a little. “No. The woman who is the sister to my birth mom showed up and tried to murder me last night.”
Silence greeted him, and he wondered if his parents had heard him. He was about to say something when his dad spoke.
“What the hell? We were promised that family would never find out who you were.” The anger in his father’s words came through loud and clear. Mac was glad they weren’t on a video chat because he flinched.
“Are you okay?” his mother spat out, obviously angry at his father for sounding mad.
Words spilled out as he fought not to react. “I’m okay. She ran into my truck, which is how I got the concussion. She had a gun and fired. I escaped along with the woman I was with. Neither of us was shot.”
“Damn, son, I’m glad you are okay,” his dad said quietly.
His father’s words made his throat thicken with emotions. If he revealed those emotions, he knew his dad would get flustered and walk away. It had happened more than once. His father had walked away when he’d begged his parents not to make him sign up for the military.
The words they’d said in the conversation rolled through his mind. What had his father said just moments ago? That family wouldn’t find out who he was?
“Wait, you knew what had happened all this time?” Mac asked.
His mother blurted out something, but she kind of mumbled so it sounded something like “Don’t bother with that,” but he wasn’t sure.
“Now, son, of course, we knew,” his dad said.
“But you didn’t tell me so I could defend myself if they came after me?”
“There’s no reason to get angry,” his father said.
He blew out a breath. “I need the information.” He loved his mom, and his father, though demanding, had always been available in a way. Maybe not available, but he’d been around, and Mac had enjoyed playing catch with him. His dad had taught him a lot of stuff like hiking and how to camp out in the wilderness, but he hadn’t taught him the important things like how to deal with emotions as a man. He’d been told to stuff them, ignore them, shove them into the back of his mind, and never let anything upset him. But he’d learned in the military how to deal with his emotions when he’d been forced to see a psychologist after an incident where one of the guys in his unit turned on everyone and killed a few guys.