When she exited the house she started to head back to her car. Then her curiosity got the better of her and she crept over to the barn door and peered inside. An overhead light illuminated the area well. It was set up as a workshop and storage facility. In front of two entire walls were sturdy work benches and tables and more tools than LuAnn had ever before seen in one place. The two other walls had shelving where wood supplies and other materials were stacked in precise configurations. As LuAnn moved inside she eyed the staircase at the rear of the structure. In former times she was certain it would have led to a hayloft. Riggs, however, had no animals in need of hay, at least that she could see. She wondered what it housed now.
She took the steps slowly. When she reached the top, she stared in amazement. The place was set up as a small study and observation area. Two bookcases, a beat-up leather chair and ottoman, and an ancient potbellied stove stared back at her. In one corner, an old-fashioned telescope was set up to look out a huge window in the rear of the barn. As LuAnn climbed up and looked through the window, her heart started to pound. Riggs’s truck was parked behind the barn.
As she turned to run down the stairs, she found herself staring down the barrel of a twelve-gauge shotgun.
When Riggs saw who it was he slowly lowered the weapon. “What the hell are you doing here?” She tried to move past him, but Riggs grabbed her arm. She just as quickly pulled it free.
“You scared me to death,” she said.
“Sorry. Now what the hell are you doing here?”
“Is this how you usually welcome company into your home?”
“Company usually comes in through the front door, and only after I’ve opened it.” He looked around. “This sure as hell isn’t my front door, and I don’t remember inviting you in.”
LuAnn moved away from him as she looked around the space and then returned her gaze to his angry features.
“This is a nice place to come and think. How would you like to build me something like this at my house?”
Riggs leaned up against the wall. He still held the shotgun in the down position but he could swing it up into a firing position in the matter of a second. “I would think you’d want to see my work on the fence before you hired me for something else, Ms. Savage.”
She feigned surprise at the sound of her name but apparently not enough to satisfy Riggs.
“So, did you find anything else of interest in my office besides my homework on you?”
She looked at him with even more respect. “I’m a little paranoid about my privacy.”
“So I noticed. Is that why you carry a pistol?”
LuAnn looked down at her pocket. A sliver of the .38 was visible.
“You have good eyes.”
“A thirty-eight doesn’t have such great stopping power. If you’re serious about your privacy, and your security, you might want to step up to a nine millimeter. A semiautomatic over a revolver is a no-brainer.” The hand holding the shotgun twitched for an instant. “I tell you what, you take the revolver out, muzzle first, and I’ll stop fussing with my shotgun here.”
“I’m not going to shoot you.”
“That’s absolutely right, you’re not,” he said evenly. “Please do as I say, Ms. Savage. And do it very slowly.”
LuAnn took the pistol out, holding it by the barrel.
“Now unload it and put the bullets in one pocket and the pistol in the other. And I can count to six so don’t try to be cute.”
LuAnn did as she was told, looking at him angrily. “I’m not used to being treated like a criminal.”
“You break into my house carrying a weapon, that’s exactly how I’m going to treat you. Count yourself lucky that I didn’t shoot first and ask questions later. Buckshot can be very irritating to the skin.”
“I didn’t break in. The door was open.”
“Don’t try that one in a court of law,” he fired back.
When Riggs had confirmed that she had emptied the revolver, he broke open the shotgun and laid it down on the bookcase. He crossed his arms and studied her.
Slightly unnerved, LuAnn went back to her original train of thought. “My circle of friends is very small. When somebody intrudes on that circle I tend to get curious.”
“That’s funny. You call it intrusion, but what I did this morning ordinarily would be called coming to the rescue.”
LuAnn brushed a strand of hair out of her face and looked away for a moment. “Look, Mr. Riggs—”
“My friends call me Matt. We’re not friends, but I’ll allow you the privilege,” he said coolly.
“I’d rather call you Matthew. I don’t want to break any of your rules.”
Riggs looked startled for a moment before settling back down. “Whatever.”
“Charlie said you were a cop.”
“I never said so.”
She looked at him, surprise now clear on her features. “Well, were you?”
“What I was really isn’t any of your business. And you still haven’t told me what you’re doing here.”
She rubbed her hand across the old leather chair. She didn’t answer right away and Riggs was content to let the silence endure until she broke it. “What happened this morning is a little more complicated than it appeared. It’s something that I’m taking care of.” She paused and looked up at him, her eyes searching his. “I appreciate what you did. You helped me and you didn’t have to. I came here to thank you.”
Riggs relaxed a little bit. “Okay, although I didn’t expect any thanks. You needed some help and I was around to give it. One human being to another. The world would be a hell of a lot better place if we all lived by that rule.”
“I also came to ask a favor.”
Riggs inclined his head toward her, waiting.
“The situation this morning, I would appreciate it if you’d just forget about it. Like I said, Charlie and I are taking care of it. If you got involved, it might make things more difficult for me.”
Riggs took this in for a few moments.
“Do you know the guy?”
“I really don’t want to get into it.”
Riggs rubbed his chin. “You know, the guy banged me up. So I already feel like I’m involved.”
LuAnn moved closer to him. “I know you don’t know me, but it would mean a lot if you would just drop it. It really would.” Her eyes seemed to widen with each word spoken.
Riggs felt himself drawing closer to her although he hadn’t physically budged an inch. Her gaze seemed to be pasted onto his face, all the sunlight streaming through the window seemed to be blocked out as though an eclipse were occurring.
“I’ll tell you what: Unless the guy gives me any more trouble, I’ll forget it ever happened.”
LuAnn’s tensed shoulders slumped in relief. “Thank you.”
She moved past him toward the stairs. The scent of her perfume drifted through his nostrils. His skin started to tingle. It had been a long time since that had happened.
“Your home is beautiful,” she said.
“It certainly doesn’t compare to yours.”
“Did you do it all yourself?”
“Most of it. I’m pretty handy.”
“Why don’t you come by tomorrow and we can talk about you doing some more work for me.”
“Ms. Savage—”
“Call me Catherine.”
“Catherine, you don’t have to buy my silence.”
“Around noon? I can have some lunch ready.”
Riggs gave her a searching look and then shrugged. “I can make that.”