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didn’t feel compelled to return to the scene of so many unhappy memories before Craig had offered her an escape hatch.
    She’d been taking classes at the local community college and working at the Star Bar and Grill when she’d met him. He’d come to town investigating an insurance fraud case in which a doctor had colluded with patients. Dr. Bradley had documented injuries after automobile accidents, injuries that he wrote up as much worse than they really were. The patient would get a nice insurance settlement, which he split with the doc.
    The moment Craig had walked into the restaurant, she’d been attracted to him. They’d gotten to talking, and he’dtold her he’d be in town for several days. He could have eaten at a lot of different places, but he kept coming back when he knew she’d be on shift.
    He’d been out of his element and lonely. She’d been friendly, and they’d ended up getting something going. They’d had a lot in common. He was from a small town, too. In Ohio. Only he’d had a scholarship to one of the state colleges.
    After he’d sewn up the case against the doctor, he’d had another job that had brought him back to town. And after that, he’d kept returning to visit her. She’d moved to Baltimore to be with him, and gotten a job in the shop at 43 Light Street with Sabrina Cassidy. Pretty soon after that, she and Craig had gotten married.
    Because she’d been ambitious, she transferred her credits to UMBC. She’d just gotten her degree in history when Craig had gotten killed, and she’d canceled her law school plans. Better to wait awhile before getting back into serious studying again.
    â€œI’m spending the night,” Mack said, totally disrupting her thoughts.
    Jamie blinked. “You certainly are not!”
    Mack kept his gaze on her and his voice even. “I don’t want to leave you alone tonight.”
    â€œBecause you suspect I’m up to something illegal?”
    â€œOf course not,” he answered, too quickly for her taste.
    â€œYou shouldn’t be alone. That’s all.”
    She stared at him, knowing that she wasn’t strong enough to physically run him out of the house. She wasn’t going to get Craig’s gun and point it at him, either, but she didn’t have to make this easy for him.
    In a voice dripping with ice, she said, “If you want to sleep on the couch, go ahead.” As she spoke, she remembered that the bed in the guest room had clean sheets, but she kept that to herself.
    â€œOkay,” he answered, his tone mild. “You go on up and I’ll stay down here.”
    The fight knocked out of her for the moment, she turned her back to him and without another word, she walked out of the kitchen.
    Â 
    M ACK WATCHED THE RIGID set of Jamie’s shoulders as she exited the room. He was sure she hated having him here, but that wasn’t going to make him back down. He was worried about her, and he was glad she hadn’t put up too much of an argument. Still, she was being as inhospitable as possible. When she had climbed the stairs, he walked into the living room and looked at the couch, which wasn’t exactly going to be comfortable for his six-foot-two frame. She hadn’t even offered him a blanket, but an afghan lay along the upper edge of the backrest. He kicked off his shoes and arranged several small, square pillows behind his head. Then he unfolded the afghan and lay down, trying to adjust the covering so that it would warm both his feet and his shoulders.
    Had Jamie taken her clothes off upstairs and gotten back into bed? Or was she lying on top of the covers in her jeans and plaid shirt? Craig’s plaid shirt, actually.
    He forced himself to stop thinking about what she was doing up there and focused on earlier in the evening. She’d been genuinely upset when she’d called the office. So what was going on?
    Perhaps she