by Barb Han
Nate managed to grab an ankle. Travis used the butt of his rifle to slam Nate’s hand, trying to use the weapon to force Nate to let go. It landed on his index finger and hurt like hell. Travis kicked but Nate’s grip was steely. There was no way in hell Travis was getting away when Nate had the man this close.
He took another jab, this time to his wrist, and feared it might’ve fractured. Pain shot up his arm and his fingers went completely numb. Sheer force of will caused Nate to dig his fingers into the skin of Travis’s ankle deeper.
“Get. Off. Me.” The words came out through labored breaths.
“Give up, Travis. You’re going to jail. Why make it worse?” Nate growled as he pulled his left hand up to grab the man’s calf.
“Not. Happening.” Travis slammed the butt of the gun into Nate’s skull.
His vision blurred and pain shot down his neck, but he had the presence of mind to grab hold of the weapon. Now he and Travis were in a dangerous game of tug-of-war.
Nate doubled down and let go of Travis’s ankle. It didn’t take long to yank the rifle out of Travis’s hands but he stomped on Nate’s head.
Nate had had enough. Rising, he threw the rifle as far as he could, knowing full well where it landed.
And then he grabbed Travis, first by the wrist as a fist flew at Nate.
Nate brought his knee up at the same time he jerked Travis’s arm down. When knee met face, Travis screamed in pain.
Capitalizing on the moment, Nate threw Travis to the ground face-first and thrust his knee into the man’s back to pin him down. He grabbed Travis by the wrists and yanked his arms behind his back.
Nate’s cell was long lost, so he shouted for help. He didn’t have any wire or cable with him to tie Travis up. Hell, he’d leave the man tied to a tree and let hungry coyotes and cougars do the rest if it were up to him.
But then death would be too easy a way out for Travis. And there was always that rare chance the man might figure out an escape.
Travis needed to suffer. He needed to see what real justice looked like. Living the rest of his life behind bars for attempted murder, attempted capital murder and a host of other offenses, including domestic abuse and violence would teach him a thing or two about how to treat other people, especially someone who’d cared about him at one time.
Nate shouted for help again. His wrists hurt like hell and he was developing a massive headache. Thankfully, the cold was probably keeping his wrist from swelling.
He listened for a response but got none.
If he spent much more time outside, he’d freeze. Nate needed to get Travis to the road.
“We’re going for a walk.” Nate took off his belt with a yank and used it to bind Travis’s hands together.
And then Nate forced the man to stand and walk toward his reckoning.
Chapter Nineteen
“Get down. Face down,” Nate demanded as soon as he walked Travis back to the pickup.
“I can’t. My hands,” Travis complained.
Nate found it interesting the man could be a bully with someone smaller than him. With Nate, he was just a complaining punk. Of course, give the man an opportunity and he wouldn’t hesitate to capitalize on it. Cowards usually hid behind weapons.
“On your knees or I’ll help you,” Nate said. “Don’t test me.”
Awkwardly, Travis complied.
Nate gripped the back of the man’s neck and pushed him to the ground behind his pickup.
Travis grumbled some kind of complaint or threat that Nate couldn’t make out. He didn’t care, either.
In the rear of his truck, he located cable wire. He used that to bind Travis’s hands behind his back.
“What are you, a cop?” Travis asked.
“You wish. I have no rules keeping me from beating you until you drop,” Nate retorted as he tightened the bindings.
“Ouch. That hurts, man. Don’t be a jerk,” Travis said.
Nate didn’t bother to respond. He texted his cousin that Travis was in his custody and it was safe to come back to pick the scumbag up.
“Tell me one thing...” Nate said to Travis.
“Why should I?” Travis shot back.
Nate shrugged. “Be a man just this one time and tell me why you tried to burn down her restaurant.”
“Who said I did?” Travis countered.
Nate picked Travis up by his wrists.
Travis released a string of swearwords as he winced in pain.
“Why?” was all Nate asked.
Travis looked up at Nate. “Because she didn’t want me.”
“So you tried to kill her?” Nate asked.
“Scare. I only meant to scare her just like when I threw the rock in her window,” Travis admitted. A look of anguish crossed his features. “Thought it might make her want to give me another chance.”
“She could’ve died, you idiot.” Nate could hardly believe the man thought she’d want to be in the same room with him.
“Yeah, well, I got in over my head. I was blinded and figured if I couldn’t have her no one should.” There was a dead quality to Travis’s eyes now. Nate had seen it before in men who’d crossed a line they could never come back from.
“You almost made your daughter an orphan. That’s not just stupid and cruel, it’s criminal.” Nate had no sympathy for the man. He figured Chelsea would appreciate knowing that Travis hadn’t actually been trying to kill her. He was sick and twisted, but he hadn’t wanted her dead.
“I never did truly believe that kid was mine,” Travis stated. “I would’ve claimed her anyhow.”
Shock didn’t begin to describe the blow Nate took on that one.
“Really? Why not?” Zach’s SUV was a dot in the distance, growing bigger.
“She was on birth control and there was a guy she worked for that kept flirting with her.”
Was he kidding?
“Did you think to get a DNA test?” Nate asked, incredulous, though it explained why the man had ruined her business and abandoned their child.
Travis stood there, anger scoring his forehead as Zach made a beeline toward them.
“You’re going away for a long time, Travis.”
* * *
CHELSEA’S HEART SQUEEZED when she saw Nate. The thought of anything happening to him had nearly broken her in two.
An ambulance had arrived and loaded Deputy Long inside. The EMT gave a thumbs-up sign to Zach, who said that meant his deputy was going to be fine.
“Momma, it’s the fireman,” Skylar said, pointing to Nate.
“Yes, it is,” Chelsea said, fighting tears of relief.
“I’m hungry. Is it dinnertime yet?” Skylar asked.
Chelsea couldn’t help but smile at her daughter. Kids had a unique ability to live in the moment. That was most likely why they were so happy. Ten minutes after a stressful event, they moved on. Especially if a toy was thrown into the mix.
Zach forced Travis to spread eagle, his chest against the hood of Deputy Long’s SUV, before handcuffing him.
Nate walked toward Chelsea and her heart pounded her ribs.
“Momma, the fireman’s coming here.” Skylar clapped. Thankfully, they were warm inside the SUV thanks to Nate. If he hadn’t showed up when he had, she and Skylar might still be wandering around in those woods. Chelsea shuddered thinking about what might’ve happened. She didn’t care so much about what happened to her but thinking something might’ve happened to her daughter...
She couldn’t even go there hypothetically.
“I know, sweetheart.” Chelsea tried to mask her over-the-top reaction.
“I like him,” Skylar stated with all the pomp and circumstance of a four-year-old.
“I do, too,” Chelsea said softly. She hadn’t been certain that she could allow herself to really fall for someone again.
But there she was head-over-heels for Nate Kent. And now that this big mystery was solved, he’d go right back to his life and she’d go to hers. Why did that suddenly sound so empty?
Nate opened the driver’s side door of his truck as Skylar climbed in back. Chelsea she scooted over so he could slide in beside her.
“You’re freezing,” she said to him as he rubbed his hands together before blowing on them.
Nate leaned toward her and gave her a quick kiss.
“What did you think about being in a cruiser?” he asked Skylar, who was beaming at him.
“The policeman let me push a button to turn on the lights,” she said proudly.
Yeah, Chelsea was in trouble, all right. She had feelings for Nate, feelings that wouldn’t go away easily. Her daughter had taken to him the first time they’d met.
A weight pressed on Chelsea’s limbs.
“You should stop by and check out the fire truck someday. We have so many more lights to play with,” he said.
Skylar’s face lit up.
“You want a ride home?” he asked Chelsea. “We’ll get your pickup towed once the cold front blows over tomorrow afternoon.”
“That would be great,” she said.
“I’ll get Skylar’s car seat.” Nate hopped out of the vehicle before she could stop him. She had no idea what she was going to say to him. She just didn’t want him to leave.
* * *
THE RIDE HOME was quiet. Zach was transporting Travis to jail where he’d be locked up a very long time. Chelsea felt safe. Skylar sang in the back seat and played with the baby doll Nate had brought over from the ditched pickup. Chelsea and Nate sat in companionable silence.
At home, Chelsea checked on her mother then ate dinner with Skylar and Nate.
She put her daughter to bed, grateful that he’d waited around. He was standing in her kitchen, pouring two mugs of coffee, looking like the sexy man that he was.
“Thanks for hanging around tonight,” Chelsea said to him as he handed a fresh mug to her.
He didn’t respond and she figured he was choosing his words carefully. He’d been nothing but considerate and she assumed he’d let her down easy.
“I spoke to Travis...” Nate started to say.
“What did he have to say?” She rolled the warm mug in the palms of her hands.
“That he thought you were having an affair with one of your employees.” There was no suspicion in his eyes and she appreciated him for it. Thinking back, Travis had become a little fixated on her friendship with Collier Stead.
“He brought it up a couple of times before he disappeared, but I couldn’t believe he’d think that,” she said.
“He doesn’t know you very well, does he?”
“Not if he seriously believed I’d cheat.” She stared at Nate. “How do you know that I didn’t?”
“You’re one of kindest and most honest people I’ve ever met. You’re loyal to a fault. You wouldn’t have an affair.” His certainty caused warmth to rocket through her. “You’re also beautiful, but that’s a whole other conversation.”
Her cheeks flamed.
Being with Nate made her feel beautiful.
“How do you know all this when I’ve only known you for a short time?” she asked. He was spot-on, though. She’d never cheat.
“I’ve felt a connection with you like I’ve never felt before, Chelsea. I know you’ve been through a lot with men, and it might be hard to trust, but I know you. And I think you know me, too,” he stated.
“If anyone had told me that I could fall for someone this hard, this fast, and it would turn out to be real, I wouldn’t believe them.” It was true. “I feel like I know you from somewhere down deep. Is that weird?”
“I feel it, too,” he said. “But you have a lot on your plate. You’re building a restaurant almost from the ground up. You have a daughter who needs you every day, not to mention your mother.”
This was the part where he let her down easy. And it was suddenly hard to breathe.
“That’s all true,” she confirmed.
“I might be throwing you a curveball...” He walked to her and dropped down on one knee. “That’s why I think we shouldn’t wait to get married.”
“What?” She was pretty certain she hadn’t heard him correctly.
“We can go through the motions of dating, steal time here and there, but I love you and I want you to be my wife. I want you and Skylar to be my family. Forever. And I don’t see a good reason to wait. But if you do, I understand. I’m ready to do whatever it takes and if that means waiting, going slow, I will. I want to be in your life any way you’ll allow. I’m patient and I can hold off until you’re ready to trust me one hundred percent with your heart.”
Chelsea’s heart leaped for joy. Life had gotten really good at throwing curveballs at her. Finally, it tossed her one she wanted to catch and hold onto.
“I love you, too, Nate.” She did. She loved him with her whole heart. “I can’t think of one reason to wait to be your wife.”
“Is that a yes?” A wide smile broke across that beautiful face of his.
“Yes.” She set her coffee mug down as he stood. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I will marry you.”
Nate kissed her so hard it robbed her breath.
He pulled back and pressed his forehead against hers. “I’ve been waiting for you my whole life,” he said. “Linda felt like family from the first time we met. With you and Skylar, I’ve found home.”
Home.
Chelsea couldn’t think of a better word to describe the way she felt about Nate.
And she finally had a real place to call home.
* * *
Look for the next book in USA TODAY
bestselling author Barb Han’s
Rushing Creek Crime Spree miniseries,
What She Knew,
available next month.
And don’t miss the previous books in the series:
Cornered at Christmas
Ransom at Christmas
Ambushed at Christmas
Available now from Harlequin Intrigue!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Covert Complication by Nicole Helm.
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Covert Complication
by Nicole Helm
Chapter One
Moving back home to his grandmother’s ranch was not what Cody Wyatt had envisioned for his adult life.
Despite being the youngest of six, despite having five bossy, obnoxious older brothers, Cody had never excelled at people telling him what to do. He accepted it from his grandmother—she’d raised him and his brothers, had saved him and his brothers. There was no challenging Grandma Pauline.
But he was pretty sure he was going to punch Dev’s lights out if his brother kept criticizing the way he took off a horse’s saddle.
It wouldn’t be the first time he’d gotten in a physical fight with his brothers, but rarely did he get frustrated with Dev.
With six brothers, certain smaller relationships existed. The oldest, Jamison had saved all of them from their father’s biker gang and secreted them out to Grandma—their late mother’s mother. Jamison had tried to father him, and Cody had allowed it and chafed at it in turn. He looked up to his oldest brother, but there were so many years between them, and such a feeling of responsibility on Jamison’s shoulders that Cody hadn’t understood when they’d been younger.
Brady and Gage were twins, their own playmates and companions—operating on their own frequency. Cody loved them, respected them, but they were two sides of
the same coin who spoke their own darn language half the time.
Tucker, closest in age to Cody, idolized Jamison. Tuck shared that core goodness about him that Jamison had, with a little less martyrdom weighing him down.
But Dev had shared that angry thing inside of Cody. A darkness the other brothers didn’t have or didn’t lean into the way Dev and Cody did, or had. That darker side had almost gotten Dev killed years ago—and Cody had vowed to hone it into a different kind of weapon.
It was a little harder these days now that he was back at the ranch after his last mission with the North Star group. Too many truths about his involvement in the secretive operation had been revealed.
He missed North Star and his confidential work there. It had become vital to the man he’d built himself into. But he’d also been very aware his time with North Star was temporary, just as everyone else’s was. It was what made the group effective in taking down large, dangerous organizations.
Like his father’s.
The Sons of the Badlands hadn’t exactly disbanded last month when their leader had been arrested and their second-in-command had been killed. But they were weaker.
Cody had to let other people dismantle the remaining membership. While he sat on the sidelines herding cattle with his brother.
It just about ate him alive.
He glanced over at Dev, who was rubbing down his horse after an afternoon in the saddle moving the cattle to their new pasture, his two ranch dogs at his feet. Dev kept his expression carefully blank, but even if Cody hadn’t been around much the past few years he knew that meant Dev was in some serious pain.
“So, he’s really going to stay there?” Dev asked.
Cody didn’t ask for clarification. As weeks passed, they all waited for word that Ace would somehow wiggle out of a trial or sentencing. But he was in jail at least.
“For now.”
Dev made a considering snort. The dogs sniffed the air, cocked their heads, then both got onto their feet and loped out of the barn. Cody figured Grandma had put some scraps in their bowls.