Aiden sat back and stretched, not releasing my gaze. “I’m not very good at this.”
I perked up. He was taking it seriously. “At what?”
“This.” He gestured to the Christmas tree and then the presents. “Being completely in somebody else’s life and having somebody in mine. Being included with a huge-ass family that is involved in everything.” He held up a hand. “I’m not complaining, but I am saying that it’s all new, and I don’t know what I’m doing.” At the end, he sounded thoughtful—and surprised.
It figured Aiden usually knew what he was doing. In fact, so far, it seemed like he was doing just fine with my family. “I know they can be overwhelming, and you’ve handled it all perfectly,” I admitted, realizing the truth of the statement. I’d seen more than one prospective suitor run for the hills after meeting my family. In fact, I wasn’t entirely sure that wasn’t the reason that Rory’s love had dumped him. “I don’t know what I’m doing, either.” Sure, I’d dated before and even brought men home to meet the family, but never anybody like Aiden.
There was nobody like Aiden.
He stood. “Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow we’ll meet with the team and come up with a game plan to take out Jareth Davey.”
I loved that idea. We both got ready for bed, and I gingerly stretched out, wincing as my hips ached.
“You okay?” Aiden asked sleepily.
“Yeah.” Thank goodness for cotton batting.
His breathing evened out and soothed me, but I couldn’t sleep. My back hurt a little, and my face hurt a lot, and there was too much going through my mind to really relax. Finally, my eyelids started to close, and my body began to relax into the warmth created by him.
The first explosion had me jumping right out of the bed.
Chapter 38
I staggered on my feet, shoving my hair out of my face and nearly doubling over as pain slashed through my back from my earlier fall.
Aiden leaped from the bed, drawing his gun from the bed table, his phone already in his other hand. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know.” I yanked my weapon from my nightstand and followed him into the living room, where smoke was already billowing toward the kitchen. It looked like the front door had been blown open, and the sofa was already engulfed in flames.
An alarm blared high and loud, piercing the sound of the fire.
He grasped my arm and drew me back into the bedroom, locking the door. “Get dressed. Now.”
As I hustled to draw on jeans, a sweatshirt and boots, he called in the explosion and then called his team. Afterward, he drew on jeans and his boots, his face set in brutal concentration.
The smoke puffed beneath my door and I coughed, heading toward him. The smoke burned my eyes and they teared.
“We can’t wait for backup. We have to go out the sliding glass door now. Stay behind me.” He nudged open the door and looked outside, both ways, before stepping onto the snowy deck.
I followed, my gun at the ready, my heart thundering so hard my teeth rattled.
He moved swiftly and gracefully, positioning his body between me and any threat. “Keep with me,” he grit out. “Side of deck and then to the trees. We’ll evaluate from there.”
I nodded, looking out at the darkened lake, illuminated by a high moon that peaked through the clouds as they lazily dropped snow. I blinked flakes out of my eyes and edged along with him, reaching the end of the deck and the stairs. The wind blew like frigid blades against my exposed skin, and my eyes chilled.
He strode down, his gun sweeping the area.
I followed quickly, keeping to the house and then measuring the distance between the cottage and the forest.
Aiden didn’t move. The moon glistened across the sparkling fresh snow, lighting the area with an ethereal glow, even though lower clouds still managed to drop snow. “We’re too exposed. Keep to the cabin and the far side of the garage. Follow me.”
Gulping, I nodded, the cold seeping into my bones and already aching muscles. My legs shook, but I followed him to the edge of the house. Smoke curled into the sky and fire crackled eerily. Something crashed. We moved along the garage to the front, and Aiden paused, leaning around the side to look at the driveway.
Gunfire erupted around us, pinging up snow and ice.
He pivoted and took me down to the ground, his body unforgiving muscle over me. Ice smushed up my back and the wind blew right out of my lungs. My ears rang and my body pulsed in renewed pain. “Stay down.” He lifted up to a crouch, turned, and fired toward the nearest spruce trees. Snow crashed down from the boughs. A man yelled and then turned, becoming visible as he started to run toward the road. “Stay here,” Aiden said, jumping up and running after the guy, firing rapidly.
The guy jerked and fell to the snow, his legs kicking up.
Aiden hit the area between the driveway and the trees, and suddenly, everything around him exploded. He flew through the air and smashed into a tree, falling and hitting the ground hard.
“Aiden!” I screamed, leaping up and running toward him as fast as I could.
Somebody tackled me from behind and took me down. Snow blew up all around us. I landed hard, and my chin bounced off the ice beneath the snow. My gun spun out of my hand and I scrambled for it, coughing and trying to concentrate, my nails scraping the frozen ground.
The attacker flipped me around, straddling me.
I punched up as hard as I could, trying to find purchase with my boots to roll him off of me. His entire head was covered by a ski mask, and I fought him, my feet sliding on the ice and my head ringing. He tried to punch down, and I blocked by crossing my arms and taking the blow, my body shaking with the impact. I screamed and clawed for his face beneath the mask.
Ice and snow rippled up my back and my hips protested, but I didn’t stop.
He tried to punch again, and I blocked, only slowing his hit this time. The impact smashed into my injured cheek, and my vision blurred. Pain flashed behind my eyes and deep into my skull.
I punched him back, hitting him in the neck.
He hit me again, and the blackness took me completely under.
My last thought was of Aiden.
Then time became blurry and dark. I came in and out of consciousness, trying to hold on but losing to the darkness every time. The floor beneath me was hard like wood, and I rolled back and forth, my body protesting. Finally, the hum of an engine caught my attention right before it was silenced.
I sat up to find myself in the back of a van. My vision was cloudy so I blinked several times, trying to see. Bile rose in my throat, and I swallowed rapidly, burning my throat on the way down to my stomach. The two outside doors opened, and the man, his features still covered by a ski mask, reached in and grabbed my arm, yanking me into the stormy night.
I slid and stumbled outside, my boots sinking into the snow.
Confusion blanketed me, but the cold shot right into my ears and mouth, jerking me wide awake.
He dragged me through the snow to a log cabin set in front of the lake. I blinked several times, taking notice. We were on the southern side of Lilac Lake, not far from home. Maybe twenty minutes. He pulled me up the stairs and pushed me through the front door. I moved away from the door as warmth from an already lit fire heated the place.
I shook my head, trying to concentrate. It was freezing outside, and I needed to get the keys to the van. Or I had to take care of this guy and stay in the cabin. Even so, I slowly turned to face him, my body chilled and my muscles not working very well.
He shut the door and turned to lean back against it.
The cabin was small with a bed against the far wall, a kitchenette to the east wall, and a living area in front of a fireplace. That was it. No bathroom. The only way out was the door he was currently blocking—or maybe through the small window over the kitchen sink.
“Well?” I asked, my voice shaking.
He drew off the ski mask.
My knees wobbled but I lifted my chi
n. “Hi, Jareth. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Jareth Davey looked at me while I stared right back at him. The years hadn’t been good to him. His nose was even bigger than it had been before, his skin an ugly red, and his hair thin. Very thin. But he’d been working out, and it showed in the muscles beneath his black sweater. His skin sagged at the jaw and wrinkles cut lines to the side of his narrow lips. Even so, he wasn’t as big as I remembered. “You’ve been some trouble,” he said.
His voice shot through me with a jolt of painful memory. It was the voice I still heard in my nightmares.
I shook out my hands, trying to get feeling into them. My fingers were chilled, and my nails broken from my clawing the ground. Firing nerves erupted through my extremities, and I welcomed the pain, needing to be able to move. “Why now?”
He wiped snow off his face and scalp. “I saw pictures of you dating people in the paper, and I figured you were old enough to have children now. I want children.” A dresser had been placed near the door, and he opened the top drawer to toss in his ski mask.
“No,” I said. “Any other questions?” My hands were almost at full feeling, but my feet weren’t quite there yet.
He sighed. “You have always been such a problem for me.”
“I get that a lot.” I scrunched my toes in my boots to force blood back into them. “Where have you been all these years?” I had to keep him talking, but the terror racing through me wanted to run right out the door. I’d have to make it past him to the door, and then where would I run? There was a blizzard outside. “Jareth?”
He smiled, showing crooked teeth. “All over. I had to leave town, and then I just worked and lived my life, sending you cards until you were old enough to take again. I was wrong the first time. You were way too young. Everything was supposed to work out this way.” His eyes were a deeper brown than I remembered, but the insane light was still there. Bright and glowing. “This is fate.”
I exhaled slowly, taking control of my body and centering my breath. “Have you been following Aiden all these years?” Oddly enough, a couple of the cards from Jareth had come from places Aiden had been undercover. Not during the same timeframe, though.
“No. Didn’t find him until I came home last summer, and then I was on his trail.” Jareth preened, apparently wanting to show off. “Almost got the big bad agent killed, didn’t I? Guess I’ll have to try again. Once we’re settled.”
The moment was almost surreal. For so many years, I knew this was coming. Yet now that it was here, that he was in front of me, I was numb. My brain felt foggy. I shook my head to clear it, scattering snow across the uneven wooden floor. “Who helped you tonight? The guy that Aiden shot—who was that?”
Jareth shrugged. “Just a guy I hired out of Spokane. Didn’t think I’d get him shot, but oh well. He needed a job and I needed somebody to help, and it’s fate again. It’s always fate. How can you not know that by now?”
I set my stance. It was now or never.
He drew a gun out of the top drawer and pointed it at me. It was a Colt .38, and I only knew that because I’d seen one on a television show. It was a small revolver, and the hammer was already cocked.
I looked at the gun. “Mine’s bigger.” I wished it wasn’t buried in the snow at my cottage. Right now, I couldn’t think about Aiden, although my brain kept going to the sight of him unconscious in the freezing snow. I pushed the thought away and concentrated on right now. “What’s your plan here?” I subtly took a step toward him. If I tried for the window, he’d shoot me. There was only one way out of this.
“Take off your clothes.”
“No.” I took another step.
His face flushed and he huffed out air. “You are not listening to me.” Shaking the gun, he stomped toward me, and he pointed the barrel between my eyes. “We have to do this. Now.”
I couldn’t breathe. Then he was in my space. Full on, the barrel just inches away. I let instinct take over.
My body dropped, hunched, and I ducked beneath the gun and smashed my head into his stomach. We crashed to the floor, and I swept out, knocking the weapon out of his hand. I punched him in the groin.
Then I slid toward the gun, kicking his hands as they clutched onto my jeans over my ankles, and grabbed it.
Crying, spitting, coughing, I scrambled back, pointing the gun at his head.
He sat up to kneel, tears flowing from his face, his hand over his balls.
I slowly stood, my hands shaking on the gun.
He looked up, his eyes vacant. “Do it. Just get it done.”
Chapter 39
Everything inside me stilled and then went rock solid cold. My hands stopped shaking. For most of my life, I’d imagined what would happen in this exact situation. In every scenario, I shot him in the head.
Every. Single. One.
Nobody would blame me. He’d kidnapped me and terrorized me, and he deserved to die.
He smiled, showing one longer canine. “You can’t do it. We both know you can’t.”
“I can,” I said softly, widening my stance. “Oh, I definitely can.” It was shocking I hadn’t pulled the trigger yet.
He wiped snot off his face with his sleeve. “We belong together.” His chin lowered. “How can you treat me like this? I wooed you. I left you gifts.”
I gagged. “The flowers and the heart on my garage?”
“Yes.” He sniffed loudly. “I was trying to ease you into this. Why can’t you see that?”
“What about Crackle?” I asked, my voice trembling.
Jareth’s eyes blazed. “He hurt you. I was following you and I saw what happened. He deserved to die. I even wrapped him for you.”
My stomach lurched. This guy was nuts. “You need help.”
He extended both hands to me. “No matter what, I’ll never give up. I have friends, more than you know, and they’ll help me.”
I doubted that. “Bull,” I muttered. “You don’t have friends. You’re not capable of it.”
“Maybe not, but I have money and will hire myself some friends like I did tonight.” He smiled. “You and I are meant to be. I’ll come for you. No matter how old we are, you’ll never be free of me.”
One little squeeze. That’s all it’d take on the trigger. One small squeeze and he’d be out of my life forever. I promised Aiden if I pointed a gun, I’d use it. I’d prepared for this my entire life.
Jareth lifted one knee and planted his foot on the wood. “You can’t do it.”
I swallowed, serene in the moment. “I can. You deserve to die. To be gone.” Yet I didn’t pull the trigger. “I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve to have your blood staining my soul.” If I didn’t have to live with that, I wouldn’t. “You don’t get to win. Not in this.” I kept the aim at his head and angled to the side, toward the door. “Give me the keys.”
“I’ll never stop,” he said.
“You’ll never win,” I promised. “Now. Keys.”
He reached in his back pocket. “Fine.” Then he drew out the keys and threw them at me.
I backed up, trying to catch them.
He leaped toward me far faster than I would’ve expected, tackling me into the dresser by the door. Something popped in my shoulder, and I cried out, falling. The pain stole my breath. He elbowed me in the face, and I tried to swing the gun around, but my arm wouldn’t move.
He yanked it out of my hand and head butted me.
Lights flashed behind my eyes. I dodged forward, my only option to tackle him. We went down in a flurry of arms and legs, grunting and struggling to hurt each other. I landed on him and drove my chin into his mouth, splitting both his lips. He screamed and blood burst across my face.
The barrel of the gun pressed against the back of my hip, and I swung out to hit it away.
He grabbed my good arm with his free hand and squeezed.
I lifted a knee and smashed it into his groin, frantically trying to get away from the gun. Cold metal pressed against my side. He howle
d, trying to get away from my knee. I went on pure animalistic instinct, dropping my chin to his nose as hard as I could. A pop echoed and pain rippled through my head. He yowled and moved, his arm around me and his hand pressing the weapon to the back of my waist. My torso was smashed against his and I needed to get free.
The sound of the gun firing blew through the night. He’d pulled the trigger?
I stiffened.
Pain detonated in my abdomen. I cried out, my body short circuiting. Grasping for my stomach, I rolled off him and kept going until I hit the dresser. Then I shifted up so I could sit, my stomach on fire, my head ringing.
Blood covered his torso. He remained on his back, his eyes wide, his face stark white. His hand, still holding the gun, dropped to the floor. Blood gurgled out of his mouth. Taking one last wheezing breath, he went limp. His pupils dilated. Then the light, the small amount of light, wisped out of those eyes.
I panted, my hand pressed to my side. What had just happened? He’d shot me in the back, but the bullet had gone through me? His entire torso was covered in blood, so I couldn’t tell where the bullet had entered. But it had definitely hit his heart.
Groaning, I planted a bloody hand on the dresser and tried to stand.
The door burst open and Aiden rushed in, followed by Saber. The window over the kitchen counter shattered, and Chelli rolled inside. She was on Aiden’s team and apparently came in the smaller entrances.
Dazed, I slipped back to a seated position.
Aiden rushed for me, dropping to his knees. Blood flowed down his face from a cut above his eye, and bruises were already forming along his temple and down the side of his face. “How bad?” He grasped my sweatshirt and lifted it.
“Dunno.” I was going nicely numb, and I wasn’t fighting it. “He’s dead. Shot us both.” My voice sounded like it came from far away. Very far away.
He grasped my arms. “Angel? Hang in there. Just hold on. An ambulance is coming.” Then he pressed a hand against my side, and agony ripped through my entire body. I futilely tried to slap at his hand, but he didn’t move. The pain was too much. The smell of coppery blood filled my nostrils, and the room spun around me.
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