“Thank you, God.”
Her smile stretched all the way across her face, and her heart felt ten pounds lighter.
“Now that we’re on speaking terms, I wonder if you would help me with this problem concerning Cooper. When I get home, I’ll dig out my old Bible and see if You’ll give me some answers.”
Trudging on, the trees opened up to reveal the back of her subdivision, and she pushed forward despite the burn in her legs. Confronting Cooper was foremost in her mind. She couldn’t wait until they met and had a serious talk. Now that she had God to give her strength, she was excited to have it all over and done with. She was ready to kiss and make up.
Out in the open, the snow drifts were higher than in the wooded areas, and she lifted her feet twice as high for each step. Staying at the edge of the woods, but walking parallel to the back fences of her neighbors, she finally saw the chimney of her house and made a beeline toward her backyard.
“Climbing the fence is going to be a problem,” she muttered—half to herself and half to her new Father. Once a rabid raccoon was after her, and she had sailed over the same fence, but without that rush of adrenaline, it would be harder.
Outside her backyard, she stood staring at the rows of chains separating her from her house.
“Here we go,” she said as she placed the toe of one boot into the largest opening in the chain.
“Please give me enough strength.”
Pulling herself up, she wedged the other boot into a chain link a foot higher. When she reached the top, she threw one leg over the metal bar and found a foot hold on the other side. Once both legs were on one side of the fence, she dropped softly into the snow.
“That wasn’t so bad after all.” She laughed at herself and wondered if God would ever get tired of her babbling.
The barbecue grill was still sitting in the middle of the yard, and guilt tickled her stomach. Now that she was over the initial shock of what she heard Cooper say, she knew he must have been talking about something else. He was too kind to ever harm anyone, much less do away with her. There had to be an explanation.
Should she take the Christmas box back into the house, or should she wait until Cooper came and open it with him?
A movement in the window of the house made her heart leap. Cooper was home.
She wouldn’t exactly call what she was doing running, but she unquestionably moved faster than before across the snow toward the house. Feeling Cooper’s arms around her after everything that happened was all she could think about.
She reached the back door and grabbed the handle. It was open. Cooper must have come in the back way. She rushed into the house.
“Cooper?” she yelled at the empty rooms.
When she moved toward the stairs, she saw a movement out the corner of her eyes, then a sharp pain in her head made everything go black.
CHAPTER TWENTY
The pain in her head blocked out her reason, but Paige was conscious enough to realize she was being dragged across carpet and lifted into a chair. A moan escaped her lips. Opening her eyes might be even more painful—it might be Cooper standing in front of her. Her heart felt like a piece of lead.
The man pushed her arms against something hard. She heard tearing sounds, and both arms were bound to the chair. The same thing was done to her legs.
Was it Cooper? She had to know.
Her eyes opened slowly. Standing in front of her was a man in jeans, a red flannel shirt and a black ski mask. She looked into the man’s eyes and tried to focus.
“Cooper?”
“All I want is the watch.” The man’s voice was low and raspy.
“The what?” she stammered.
“You heard me. Where is it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Shaking her head made firecrackers go off in her head.
When the man slapped her across the face, the firecrackers turned to a whole barrage of fireworks. Sharp darts of pain stabbed her temples and all she could focus on was the pain.
Her attacker leaned over close to her face and ground out, “I want the watch.”
Paige moaned and dropped her head to her chest. “I don’t … know anything … about a watch.”
He stood up and blew a quick breath through half-closed lips. “You’ve got five minutes to rethink your answer, then I’ll show you how tough I can be.” He raised a knife in front of her eyes. She recognized her antique Japanese kitchen knife from the collector’s frame in her kitchen, and she began to shake uncontrollably. She shrank back into the chair until the wood rungs pressed into her back.
“I … I …”
The man leaned away from her and held up four fingers. “Four minutes,” was all he said before he left the room.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Can’t you go any faster?” Cooper asked Dave as they crawled down Dave’s street.
“Look man, don’t you see all the ice and snow on the roads? I’m going as fast as I dare to in this stuff.”
“You have four-wheel drive, don’t you? Why aren’t you using it?”
“Are you kidding? Just because I have four-wheel drive doesn’t mean it keeps me from sliding in the curves or when I stop. I only have street tires, not off-road tires, and they don’t give as much traction. I just bought this truck, and I don’t want to wreck it. My insurance is high enough.”
“Well, if I knew you were going to drive at a snail’s pace, I would have driven my Tacoma. Come on, Dave. Think of Paige. She might be injured or something.”
“Don’t you think they would have called you if that was the case?”
“Not if nobody knows. She was by herself. I’m worried about her.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “I think I would have gotten home faster if I had walked instead of riding with you in this snail-mobile.”
Dave laughed. “Okay, my friend. I’ll see what I can do about speeding up a little.”
Cooper grimaced when he saw the speedometer jump five miles an hour. He swallowed a groan and pulled out his phone. If he couldn’t reach Paige on the phone, maybe he could get through to Rosie.
Rosie’s phone rang twice before she picked up, sounding out of breath.
“Rosie, I’ve been trying to get in touch with Paige. Is she with you?”
“No, not now. She has been, but … Are you at home?”
“I’m on my way there, but we’re not making much progress.” He gave Dave an irritated glance. “Why hasn’t she answered my calls? I’ve been worried about her. One of our neighbors said the fire department drove down our street last night, and I want to make sure she’s all right.”
“She’s okay. There was a gas leak at your house, but the fire department aired out the house, and everything is fine now.”
“Is that why she wouldn’t answer my calls or call me back?”
“I think you better talk to her about that, Cooper.”
“What do you mean?”
“I … I don’t think I should say, but she’s upset about something you said.”
“Oh brother, what have I said this time? I’m always sticking my foot in my mouth.”
“When you get home, you can talk it out, okay?”
“Thanks, Rosie. We’ll do that.”
Cooper hung up the phone and gathered his briefcase, gloves and hat.
“Dave, let me out. Paige is upset with me, and I have to get home.”
“What do you mean? We’ll be there soon. Don’t be so impatient.”
“No, I think I can make it faster if I walk through the woods. Let me out here.”
Dave huffed out a breath but stopped in the middle of the road.
“Okay, man, but I bet I’ll get there before you.”
“There’s no need for you to go any further, Dave. Thanks, but you can go back to your house. I’ll come get my suitcase as soon as the roads clear. I’ll make it from here.”
Cooper slammed the door and jumped over the two-foot snowdrift on the side of the road. He waved as Dave pul
led into a private driveway and turned his truck around. Cooper trudged through the snow toward the thick stand of pines.
Brrr … it was cold, but he was even colder on the inside. The snow made him shiver on the outside, but knowing Paige was angry with him chilled his heart.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Rosie searched for Paige’s tracks in the snow and felt a tightening in her chest. During the phone conversation with Cooper, she lost sight of Paige in the woods, and now she was lost herself.
Tree limbs and bare kudzu vines covered the floor of the thickly wooded area, and it was hard to choose which patch of packed dirt was the actual path. The trees were too thick to see the direction of the sun, and her sense of direction had never been that keen. She jumped as a twig snapped close by and twisted to search the woods behind her.
Nothing there but patches of thick evergreen bushes—a perfect place for someone to hide. She gently tugged her pistol out of her holster and pulled the slide back to load the bullet. Pointing the gun toward the ground, she searched the area once more. Satisfied there was no one following her, she turned to choose one of the three paths. The middle choice seemed more worn, so she headed in that direction.
Finally, Rosie saw light filtering through the trees ahead. She must be near the edge of the clearing. The question was, would it be on Paige’s side of the woods, or had she gotten turned around in her confusion?
When the trees thinned out, Rosie could see vague patches of brick and knew she was on the right track. All the houses in her subdivision had wood siding. She put the gun on safety and slid it back into its holster. The snow on the ground was much deeper here, and she leaned forward to push through the drifts. Squinting, she searched for Paige’s house in the midst of a subdivision containing cookie cutter houses, all with the same floor plan.
In the middle of the long row of houses, one house stood out, and she recognized it immediately. It was the only house that had a barbecue grill, covered with snow, standing in the middle of the backyard. A giggle bubbled up inside of her. Paige and her crazy ideas.
She crossed the chain-link fence without trouble and trudged through the snow toward the house. When she reached the back porch, she heard a man talking, and it didn’t sound like Cooper’s tenor voice. Her cold hands turned frigid, and she covered her mouth to keep from yelling Paige’s name.
She backed up against the bricks of the porch and listened. It wasn’t Cooper—of that she was sure. If it wasn’t him, who would be so angry at Paige?
Everything Paige had been telling her came to her mind, but it wasn’t Cooper trying to kill her. It was someone else.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Rosie backed down off the porch and hid under the utility room window. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed 911.
“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”
“Please send someone quickly. My friend is being attacked in her home at 155 Chester Center Road, here in Nashville.”
“Are you in the home, ma’am?”
“No, I’m outside, but I can tell she’s in trouble. Please, send someone.”
“I’ll send help, ma’am, but stay on the phone with me until help arrives. What’s your name?”
“Rosie Morrison.”
“Okay, Rosie, what’s the name of your friend?”
“Paige Collins. How long will it be before they get here?”
“It may be a while. The roads are treacherous and we’re doing the best we can. Does she—”
Rosie heard Paige scream, and she ended the call. Help may get here too late. She had to do something. Taking the gun out of the holster, she flipped off the safety again and crept toward the back door.
She heard voices in the dining room as she eased the back door open and cringed when the hinge scraped. She paused, but no one came running, so she slid through the small crack and into the back hallway.
Holding the gun with both hands in front of her, she took baby steps toward the kitchen. Her arms shook, and sweat popped out on her upper lip. Pointing a gun at the target of a man on the shooting range was a lot different than pointing a gun at an actual person. She trembled at the thought, but Paige was her best friend, and Paige was in trouble.
Everything was quiet in the dining room. Had the guy heard her come in, or had he killed Paige already? There was a connecting door from the bedroom hallway downstairs to the living room by way of a walk-in closet. If she entered the living room from that closet, she might be able to take the intruder by surprise.
Slipping under the stairs, she tiptoed into the back hallway and froze. A postcard tacked on a small bulletin board hanging on the wall caught her attention.
Panic forced beads of sweat onto her forehead when she realized what she had done. She gave the 911 operator Paige’s old address. How could she be so stupid? Now making another call was impossible, and that meant help would not be coming. It was more frightening than ever to know she was Paige’s only hope.
A glimpse around the edge of the stairs revealed a man’s boot standing in the doorway of the dining room.
Rosie inched through the hallway and gently opened the closet door. Shelves on either side of the closet were stacked to the ceiling with boxes. Scared to turn on the light, she tiptoed through the closet in the darkness. A sliver of light under the connecting door lit her feet as she touched the handle of the other door.
She stopped to listen. She could hear a man’s voice talking quietly. Should she burst into the room and surprise the intruder? Or should she quietly open the door and hope he didn’t see her before she aimed the gun at him? Either way might get her shot, but she had to do something.
Slowly, she turned the door handle until it stopped and gave the door a gentle push. She peeked through the sliver of light.
Before she knew what was happening, the door swung open, and a man jumped toward her. He knocked the pistol out of her hands, and it flew across the floor. At the same time, it discharged with a loud crack, and the bullet tore a hole through the ceiling. She screamed as the man raised a pistol and pointed it at her face.
“Well, well, another victim.” The ski mask on his face did nothing to disguise the anger in his voice.
Rosie didn’t know how to answer. She could think of nothing but that gun pointed toward her face.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Paige watched Tag wave Rosie into the dining room. She was still tied to one of the dining room chairs, and now her mouth was covered with duct tape. He motioned for Rosie to face the dining room wall then tore the tape from Paige’s mouth with no mercy. She bit her lip to keep from crying out.
Paige fisted her clammy hands and pulled harder on the ropes. When he cocked the pistol and pointed it at Rosie, her lips trembled uncontrollably.
“Now you have somebody else to worry about, little lady. Either you tell me where the watch is right now, or your friend here gets a bullet in the knee.”
Rosie turned to look at her, and Paige saw terror in her eyes.
“Please … please don’t hurt her. I’m telling you the truth. I don’t know anything about a watch.”
The room exploded around her. Rosie screamed and grabbed her leg, falling to the floor.
“No!” shouted Paige as she pulled on the ropes around her wrists. “Rosie! No!”
A rage she never felt before rose in her chest. She turned to the gunman with fury in her eyes and shouted at him. “You animal! I told you I don’t know anything about a watch. Leave her alone!”
The gunman laughed. She never heard such an evil sound.
“That’s just the beginning. If you don’t tell me where you’ve hidden it, I’ll do worse than that to her.”
He cocked the gun again, looked Paige square in the face and pointed the gun at Rosie lying on the floor. Tremors wracked her body in anticipation of the shot that was coming until something pierced the silence.
A cell phone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Cooper’s toe slipped on t
he fence, and he almost fell on his face in the snow. After landing on his feet, he turned toward the house and saw the barbecue grill in the middle of the yard.
“What in the world?” he asked.
He shrugged and turned toward the house but frowned when he realized his house keys were still sitting on the bedside table at Dave’s house. Maybe Paige was home and would let him in. As he walked toward the house, the first thing he saw was the back door standing partially open. Surprise and confusion filled his thoughts until he heard Paige screaming, “No! Please, leave her alone.”
Cooper ducked down to the ground. Flashes of Iraq and a hostage situation three years ago increased his awareness and exploded his adrenaline. He had no gun. He had nothing to use for a weapon. If he burst into the house unarmed, it would only get them both killed, but he had to do something to save Paige.
Then he remembered his gun hidden in the garage. One day last week, after a trip to the shooting range, he’d forgotten to take it out of the glove compartment. He was late for work the next morning and hid the gun behind the Christmas boxes until he could retrieve it later. Now he was glad he had forgotten to return it to the safe.
Cooper slipped up to the house and peeked into the kitchen window. Paige was sitting in a dining room chair close to the kitchen, and Rosie was lying on the floor across from her. A man with a ski mask covering his head stood over Rosie with a gun pointed toward her stomach.
“Please leave her alone,” cried Paige. “I don’t know anything about a watch,” she sobbed.
A watch? An icy wave traveled through Cooper’s body. The conversation with the pawn shop man came to mind. Was that what this was all about? The watch he bought for Paige?
He pushed himself away from the house and grabbed his phone. After whispering his address to the 911 operator, he ended the call and flew around the house toward the garage.
In the bushes next to the bricks, he found the tools he was looking for and hurried to the front of the garage door. He learned this trick on the internet last month when he locked his keys in the house, but he’d never used it in an emergency. Now he was desperate.
Holly, Ivy, & Intrigue Page 4