"Come here," he said again. This time he moved into me, sliding his arm around my waist. "You can do this."

He didn't know me. He didn't know how I felt.

"Maggie, relax. Close your eyes and breathe. Just let me hold you."

I hesitated, staring at him, trying to figure out what he really wanted. But he looked so genuine, I started to feel foolish for not humoring him. I did it. I let Jack play his New Age games. I'm sure he knew I didn't like it, but he didn't give up.

"Okay, let your head rest on my shoulder." He was swaying softly, taking me with him. Jesse sang softly about Bowling Green. The wine was a tranquilizer, moving me with him. Jack smelled like exotic spices and I inhaled deeply.

"Mag, you're doing it. That's it." I swayed against him. He slowly whirled me around, gently teaching my feet to move. Then the song ended and the next one was faster. I moved to push out of his arms.

"Maggie, stay. You can do this."

"No, I can't."

He handed me my wine glass. "Take another sip," he instructed. I took more than one.

"Hey, girl," he sang along with Jesse, and whisked my glass away. He was moving, his arms holding mine, forcing my body to move along with his. My feet were actually going! I laughed, delighted.

"That's it! See!"

Jesse was singing about letting go and I did. I was someone else. I was a dancer. Jack was humming, smiling, his eyes closed, totally involved in the music. We danced. I don't know for how long, maybe an hour, maybe more. Suddenly I became aware that the music had stopped and we were still moving, slowly.

Jack opened his eyes and smiled. "See? You're a dancer. I knew you were a dancer." He brought his hand up and softly pushed my hair away from my face. His face was inches from mine. My heart started to race and I realized that Harmonica Jack was about to kiss me, and that furthermore, I was going to let him!

His eyes softened and he smiled at me, his face coming closer to mine. I closed my eyes, still not believing that this was really happening. Jack's fingers cupped my chin. Just as I felt the whisper of his lips upon mine, someone beat on the loading bay door, making us both jump.

"What in the hell?" Jack jerked back, alarm replacing tenderness.

"What time is it?" I asked, looking at the clock in the kitchen. It was just after six A.M.

Jack had moved to the door, grabbing a wooden bat that stood beside the refrigerator.

"Do you think we should open it?" I asked, but I meant, Are you nuts? Don't open that door!

The banging started again and Jack hit the garage door button. The door hadn't moved six inches when I called out to Jack.

"Put the bat down. It's the law."

Weathers was wearing black snakeskin boots this time, with silver tips on the toes. Damn his hide!

He was smiling, dressed in black pants and a crisp white cotton shirt.

"Good morning, folks," he said, smiling like this was a social call. "Saw your lights on as I was on my way to work." His eyes glided past Jack, over to the window. The sonofabitch had been watching us!

"Detective Weathers," he said, extending his hand to Jack. "How're you doing?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I need to borrow Ms. Reid for a little while, if I may?"

I stepped up between the two men. "I'm really tired, Detective," I said, "perhaps it could wait."

Weathers's eyes glistened. He loved this.

"Well, this is kind of time-sensitive," he said. "I find it best to move on these things while they're fresh in folks' minds." He took a step back, looking toward his car. "Do you need a coat or anything? It's kind of cold out there."

"No, I don't need a coat," I fumed, And you'd be the last one to know if I did, I thought. "Let's get this over with."

I walked past the two men, toward Weathers's car.

"Maggie," Jack called. I turned around. "Here," he said, tossing me the remote door opener.

It was his way of letting me know he'd be there, waiting.

Weathers was already cranking the engine when I reached the car. He didn't look at me, just put the car into reverse and backed out of his parking space.

"So, is this the big downtown talk?" I asked. We were headed straight toward the police station and I knew what that meant. Weathers was fixing to spend hours asking me questions. But instead of turning onto Eugene, he drove straight past, heading away from the municipal plaza.

"So where are we going?"

"I just thought we'd ride a little bit," he said, but I could tell he had a destination in mind.

It was an early fall morning in Greensboro; ordinarily I might've enjoyed it, but when Weathers turned onto Mendenhall, I knew where we were going. Weathers was taking me to my house. For a moment, I didn't know what to say. If I told him I didn't want to go to my place, then he'd be all the more determined. I was sure of one thing, Weathers wanted me to be uncomfortable. It just seemed to be his main goal in life.

I could tell he was waiting for my reaction. I could feel him watching me from the corner of his eye, so I settled back and tried to pretend I was enjoying the ride.

"What a pretty morning," I said. "Leaves are just starting to turn."

He grinned a little to himself. "Uh-huh."

He turned down the little back alley that ran behind my bungalow, made a sharp right, and pulled up into the tiny backyard, just like I always did. He cut the engine and turned to face me for the first time.

"Wanna go inside?" he asked.

"Aw, I'm sorry," I said. "If I'd known you wanted to come here, I'd have brought my keys." I shrugged my shoulders. "But I don't have them with me!"

Weathers pulled his keys out of the ignition and smiled. "That's all right," he said, "I've got a spare."

"A spare? How'd you get a key to my house?"

He pulled the door handle and started to leave, the keys jingling in his hand.

"Wait!" I said, but he didn't. He was out of the car, heading up my back steps before I could get out of the car and go after him.

"Detective, stop!"

He turned around and looked at me, his eyebrow raised in a question mark, his head slightly cocked.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't want to go in there!"

He turned away from the back door and the smug, cocky look was gone. He walked to the edge of the top step and sat down, patting a place next to him. I stayed where I was, at the foot of the steps, watching him the way you might eye a wild dog.

"Why don't you want to go in there, Maggie?" he asked.

"I don't know," I lied. A swirl of emotion surged up, encompassing me. It wasn't my home anymore. I knew that now. It wasn't safe. Jimmy's blood stained my grandmother's rug. How could I ever go back there?

"I just want to go back to Jack's and get some sleep. I've been up all night." The wine was wearing off, leaving me in a fog.

"Didn't look to me like you were thinking about sleeping a little while ago."

"Well, that'd be none of your business, now would it?" I snapped.

He shrugged and smiled slowly. I found myself staring into his blue eyes a little too long, long enough for him to notice.

"I'm just thinking you could do better," he said. He leaned back against the step, his elbows resting on the deck behind him.

"Oh, right," I snapped, "like you, I suppose?" I don't know how the words flew out of my mouth. I could feel my cheeks heating up, and I looked away.

Weathers grinned and raised his eyebrow again. He had me. He reached slowly into his shirt pocket, carefully pulling out what looked like a picture.

"I bet you could even do better than this," he said, handing the photo to me.

"Oh my God," I said, sinking down onto the steps, the picture clutched in my hand. How was it my life kept chasing me like a bad dream?

There I was, in my black bikini, six years ago, out on Holden Beach. Jimmy had his arms wrapped around me from behind, a mischievous grin on his face. We might've been any couple, anywhere. Only trouble was, we were just clowning around.