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“What?”

“STOP ALREADY!”

I thought over what I had just said. “I hadn’t told you about being almost run off the road, had I?” My tone was meek.

“No. No, you haven’t. You think you might want to back up just a minute and start over?”

I heard muttering in the background.

“You made me wake up Angie with my yelling. Steve is going to expect free babysitting from you in the future.”

“Okay. Done deal.”

“Okay, you’re driving along with Chaos as your co-pilot, and then what?” Sue asked.

“A truck rear ends me. You would have thought that would have been the end of it, but we were on this big downhill road with a cliff on one side and a rock wall on the other. The truck keeps trying to push me off over the cliff. Luckily, I got away, but Chaos is hurt.”

I cross my fingers that I’ve said enough to satisfy her. Kai didn’t let me get away with that tiny amount of detail. Oh no, he insisted on a blow by excruciating blow of what had happened. He got grumpier by the second. Come to think of it, he was probably over at the sheriff’s office wanting to know where that truck and driver were at this very minute.

“How bad was Chaos hurt?” Sue asked.

“Really bad. She needed surgery. She has to stay at the vet for another four or five days. I’m cooking her food and bringing it over. While my Jeep is impounded, Kai is chauffeuring me around and taking me over to the vet’s so I can love on Chaos.”

“Ohhh.”

Yeah, that scored Kai some points.

“Now tell me about the chloroform,” Sue demanded.

“Don’t you want to know about Greek God sex? Actually, he’s more Highland Warrior sex.”

“Woman, I have my own Highland Warrior…who happens to be within earshot, so we can dispense with that part of today’s story time. Instead, get on with the kidnapping.”

“What kidnapping?” Steve rumbled in the background.

“Somebody tried to kidnap Marlowe,” Sue said.

“Put the phone on speaker,” Steve demanded.

“Hey, Marlowe,” Steve greeted me.

“Hey, Steve.”

“Now talk.” That was Sue.

“The kidnapping was a big bust. I was waiting by Kai’s truck for him to come and meet me. It was a guy in a white panel van. No kidding, it was a for-real white panel van. Anyway, he pulls up, opens the door, and tries to pull me in.”

“And what, you’re just standing there, waiting like the Christmas goose or something?” Sue wanted to know.

“Actually, I was texting you.”

“Figures,” Steve mumbled.

“He puts a rag with chloroform over my mouth, and I start to pass out. The next thing I remember is seeing this guy on the pavement with Kai straddling him and beating the bejesus out of him.”

“Good man,” Steve muttered. “I like him already.”

“So, this happened to you within two days?” Sue asked for clarification. “Do you know why?”