He came toward her, his gaze scrutinizing her face.
“You feeling better?”
After seeing that display? Hell yeah. She swallowed hard. Jennie tried not to stare at all those beautiful muscles. “A little.” She cleared her throat. “Are you hungry? I can fix some dinner now.”
“No.” He stopped before her, watching her closely, his hard chest mere inches from her face. “Let’s sit. You can tell me about your vision.”
She forced her gaze away from his beautiful chest and up to his. “O-okay.”
Max steered her out of the den and toward the couch. She went without hesitation. He waited until she sat, then sank down next to her. He looked at her, waiting.
Her gaze strayed to his naked chest again. Damn, if he didn’t put a shirt on, she wouldn’t be able to concentrate. Heat crept into her cheeks. Jennie cleared her throat.
“Gray was in the basement again with Emily. The man came down the stairs with a woman. It was me. So he already had Emily before he abducted me. He dumped me on a bed and shackled my wrist to the wall. I was unconscious. Emily was upset with him and told him he wasn’t supposed to abduct me. He said she’d dared him to and so he’d shown her he could do it. She looked horrified. She said to let me go, that I hadn’t done anything to him. He just laughed and said now he had three prisoners.” She slowly lifted her gaze to his. “And then the vision faded away.”
Max swore. He ran a hand roughly over his face. “Do you have any idea at all where Emily could be?”
Jennie closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. “No. But I don’t think it’s too far. If I was fleeing in a car in this weather, I probably wouldn’t have gotten too far, right? He’s got to be keeping her somewhere on the other side of the river.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing,” he murmured.
The phone rang.
Max tensed, then leapt up from the couch. He sprinted across the room and snatched up the cordless phone.
“Emily?”
He let out a breath and glanced back at Jennie, slowly shaking his head.
“Hi Sheriff. Yeah, we’re fine…”
Jennie got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. She hadn’t eaten much of her sandwich for lunch and now her stomach was growling. Max had cleaned up the kitchen. She found the cheese sandwiches in the fridge in a plastic bag. She removed one from the bag and stuck it in the microwave.
Max came into the kitchen about twenty minutes later. He was fully dressed now, hiding all those gorgeous muscles. What a shame. She’d be in heaven if he paraded around in shorts all the time. He’d obviously taken a shower. His hair was damp and he smelled delicious.
“The sheriff said they’ll be coming out tomorrow. Your dad’s getting real impatient to see you. He said they expect to have the roads plowed by early afternoon and that they’ll be showing up shortly after. In the meantime, he wants us to be careful. I told him about the guy breaking in last night and trying to abduct you. He said to hang in there, that he’s doing all he can, and he’ll get here as soon as he’s able. I told him I wanted protection for you because I didn’t think I could do it alone. He said he was bringing the FBI. They’ll take you into protective custody if you want.”
Jennie wasn’t going into protective custody. She was staying here with Max until they found Emily. She couldn’t abandon him now. But they had to survive this creep for another night. And most of tomorrow. What if he came back? Her stomach churned. The sandwich tried to ride back up her throat. She swallowed hard, forcing it back down.
“Will you give me a quick shooting lesson before the sun goes down? If that creep gets inside tonight, he’s not getting away this time.”
Max glanced out the living room window. He nodded. “Yeah. I can do that. We still have about an hour before sundown. Come on.”
They dressed quickly in winter clothes. Max loaded the pistol and stuffed the box of bullets in his coat pocket. He handed her the gun.
“Be careful. It’s loaded this time.”
Jennie carefully cradled the firearm against her, keeping her fingers away from the trigger. When they opened the door to go outside, both Lucky and Gray followed them out.
He headed for the shop first and came out a few moments later with a square piece of cardboard. He’d drawn a circle in the center with a black marker. He walked across the yard and headed back behind the barn with the cardboard. Jennie followed. Max leaned the cardboard against a small hill that rose up behind the barn, facing away from the house, then headed back toward her.
“When you shoot, see if you can hit the center of the bull’s-eye. If you miss, the bullet will lodge into the hill, so you can’t hurt anything.”
Jennie nodded. She lifted the gun.
“Wait.” Max came around to stand behind her. “Like this.”
His arms went around her as he helped her position the gun in her hands. Her fingers were cold, but she was determined to do this. Jennie glanced up into his face as he leaned over her. God, he was good looking. She’d never get tired of staring at him. She breathed in deeply, inhaling his clean masculine scent. He was yummy. She sighed.
“Focus, Jennie,” he said with a hint of irritation, his gaze snapping to hers.
She giggled. She couldn’t help it. “Sorry, your handsome face distracted me. And damn, Honey, you smell delicious.”
His cheeks turned pink. He made an exasperated sound in his throat, but as he stepped away, she witnessed his lips twitching.
She lifted the gun.
“Aim…Steady…Don’t fire until you’re ready.”
Jennie focused on the center of the cardboard. Aimed. Then fired.
“Nice job.” Max glanced at her. “That was only a few inches off.”
She fired again. And again. And once more, each time coming closer, but not quite hitting the center. Then, on the fourth shot, she hit the bull’s-eye dead center.
“I did it!” She spun around.
“Whoa!” Max jumped back. “Always point a loaded gun at the ground. Never at a person. Unless you intend to kill them.”
She blushed. “Sorry.” She held the gun out to him, butt end first. “I think I got it now. If that creep comes back, I’ll aim for his heart.”
Max took the gun from her. “I think you’ve shot a gun before. Either that, or your aim is just really good.”
Jennie nodded, rubbed cold hands together. “I think so, too. It felt familiar.” She had a sudden, overwhelming urge to learn more about herself. “Let’s go in. I’m getting cold.”
Max stuffed the gun in his coat pocket. They headed for the house. Gray was waiting near the back porch when they reached it. Lucky came bounding across the yard when Max whistled. They all went inside.
After putting their winter clothes up, Jennie headed for the den. “Can I use your computer again? I want to do some more research about myself.”
“Sure. Help yourself.”
Max’s default page was his email, which came up when she clicked on the mouse. Max came to stand behind her. She turned to face him.
“You want to check your email first?”
“Yeah.” He leaned over her and scrolled through the messages, deleted a couple of emails. Then he paled. Jennie glanced back at the computer screen, wondering what was wrong.
Then she saw it. The subject of the email at the top of the list.
Help me, Daddy.
Jennie sucked in a breath. She looked up at Max.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. He clicked on the email. It opened to a message that said, “Got your little girl, Max. I’ve had fun playing with her these past three years. Now you’ve got something I want. You give me Jennie back and maybe, just maybe, I’ll let Emily live to see another day.” A photo was attached. Max clicked on the link. When it downloaded and opened, Jennie gasped.
It was a close-up of Emily’s face. An ugly purple bruise was forming on her left cheek and she sported a nasty-looking black eye.
Jennie’s eyes welled with tears. This was all her fault. The man was punishing Emily because Jennie had escaped. He was punishing Max. From the tormented look on Max’s face, it was obvious the abductor’s plan was working.
She touched Max’s arm. His gaze bounced down to hers.
Jennie knew what she had to do.
“Give me up,” she whispered. “Maybe we can negotiate with him to get him to free Emily.”
Max made a sound in his throat and rubbed a hand over his face. “If I hand you over, he’ll kill you.”
Jennie swallowed hard.
“I know.”
She’d sacrifice her life for Emily’s.
She’d do this for Max.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“No, I can’t let you do it.”
Max’s response took Jennie by surprise. She stared up at him.
“This isn’t about you, Jennie. It’s about me. I don’t know exactly how you fit into it, but this guy has some sort of vendetta against me. I can feel it.”
“So let me go to him, Max. Maybe I can convince him to free Emily.”
“No. You said in your last vision that Emily had dared him to capture you, so he did. I’ve been thinking about it and I don’t think you were ever anything more than a dare to him. If I let him take you, he’ll kill you.”
He turned away from her, paced across the small room. “If he’s kept Emily all these years without killing her, then I don’t think he will suddenly decide to kill her now. He’s just pissed that you got away and he’s trying to get you to come back before you bring the cops to his door.” Max paused and faced her. Jennie could see from the flash of anguish on his face that this was killing him. “And because he wants to torment me.”
“I can’t let him hurt Emily because of me.” Jennie held his gaze. “I’ve got to remember somehow.” She couldn’t bear to see Max suffering so much. If she had to sneak out in the middle of the night and give herself up, she would. Her chest ached at the thought of leaving Max. At the thought of possibly dying. But she’d do it for him.
She should have gone with the man earlier that day. If she had, he wouldn’t have hurt Emily. But she might be dead now. She couldn’t be sure that he wouldn’t have killed her.
A plan slowly took shape in Jennie’s mind. She would set it in motion as soon as Max left the room.
Jennie clicked on the search engine browser and typed in her name. Max watched her for a moment. “What are you looking for?”
“Anything. Everything. Something to refresh my memory. When the cops show up tomorrow, I want to have something to tell them. Something that might help them find Emily.”
Max gave a quick nod. “All right. Let me know if you remember anything.” He turned and left the room.
Jennie clicked on the email page and reopened the email Emily’s abductor had sent. She glanced toward the doorway to make sure Max wasn’t coming back. She heard him moving around in the kitchen.
She quickly typed a reply and hit “send.”
Now all she had to do was await the man’s response.
And hope he replied before Max came back into the room.
* * *
Max was going insane. He had to do something. But what? He’d already pushed his muscles to the limit earlier, so a second workout was out of the question, even though working out almost constantly had been how he’d learned to deal with the pain before. Right now he was an emotional wreck, battling over what he should or shouldn’t do.
He groaned. He couldn’t in good conscience just turn Jennie over. But God, the man had Emily. He’d had her for the past three years.
He raked a hand through his hair, grabbed a handful and yanked. The pain shooting through his scalp distracted him momentarily. But it wasn’t enough. It couldn’t even compare to the pain that had slithered into his chest and wrapped around his heart. The thought of what that bastard had done to Emily was killing him. He closed his eyes, saw the picture again in his mind. Her bruised and beaten face. Her swollen eye. He sucked in a breath.
But she was still alive.
Max clung to that thought. Emily had obviously matured in the photo, so it had to be fairly recent. The face in the photo wasn’t the same face of the sassy, immature teen who’d disappeared three years ago. Emily’s face was older, more grown up, but haunted. It was apparent she’d suffered abuse. He wanted to kill the son-of-a-bitch who’d taken her.
He let out a loud sigh.
Stop tormenting yourself. You’re going to get her back.
He strode into the living room, paced across the carpet, then back. His gaze locked on the bottle of Tequila on the shelf.
Do it. It will help ease the pain. Jennie won’t even know. She’s too busy searching on the computer, trying to remember who she is.
Max hesitated. He couldn’t give in. He couldn’t go back into that downward spiral that had caused his family to desert him, that had nearly killed him before.
Then why had he kept the damn bottle?
It had been a sort of safety net. An escape if he needed it. But he’d resisted it at all costs. Mind over matter.
Max glared up at the bottle. He needed to get rid of it. Needed to remove the temptation. He refused to turn back into the pathetic drunk he’d been for two long years. Look what his addiction had done to him! He’d lost everything. He’d once been an accomplished veterinarian with a large clientele. Now he didn’t have shit. If it weren’t for the trust fund his mother had set up for him before she died, he would have lost his house too.
Max reached up and snatched the bottle from the shelf. He strode into the kitchen and headed for the sink. He was dumping the whole thing out.
All of it.
Every last drop.
Jennie strode into the kitchen from the den, a guilty look on her face.
He paused. He narrowed his gaze on her as suspicion crept in. What was she up to now?
She cleared her throat. “Are you having a drink? If so, will you pour me one too? We can wallow in misery together.”
He glared at her, deeply insulted. Because he’d been contemplating doing just that and he was embarrassed by it.
“No, I’m dumping it out. All of it.”
“Oh.” She eyed him as he twisted off the top and poured it down the sink. Blurp. Blurp. Blurp. Every last drop. He swallowed hard when the last bit dripped in the sink. It was gone. Temptation eliminated.
He glanced at Jennie.
Not all temptation. She was by far more tempting than any bottle of alcohol, any drug, anything he’d ever encountered. He longed to lose himself in her for a couple of hours. Take her to bed and get lost in her body, in her touch, in her.
Then what? Max knew if he touched her again, he’d never want to let her go. She’d be leaving tomorrow. And he’d likely never see her again.
“Well,” she said softly. “Guess we’re not getting drunk.” Her gaze lifted to his again. “At least not on alcohol.”
His face grew hot. Had she read his mind? He tossed the empty bottle into the trash. “Did you learn anything else about yourself online?”
She nodded. “I’m not married and I didn’t have a boyfriend at the time of my abduction.”
His gaze swept back to hers. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“It means I’m not attached, so I don’t have to feel guilty about my attraction to you. Not that I did,” she added quickly. “But I wanted to be sure. Just in case.”
The breath snagged in his throat. He shoved it back out. “Just in case what?”
“Just in case you decide to let down your guard someday.” Her voice softened. “I won’t hurt you, Max. I promise.”
Why was she so damned persistent? Did she think he’d give in eventually? He’d made it clear he didn’t want a romantic relationship with her. He didn’t want a romantic relationship with anyone.
Max recalled the guilty look that had been on her face when she’d entered the kitchen a moment ago. What was she up to? Somethi
ng told him she was planning something. But what?
He narrowed his gaze on her. “What are you planning, Jennie?”
Her face turned bright red. She lowered her gaze, turned away. “Well, let’s see, I’ve been planning your seduction since day one, but you haven’t been very cooperative.”
He choked out a breath, his gaze slamming into hers. “You’re joking, right?”
She smiled up at him. “Nope. You know I’m attracted to you, Max. You’re a beautiful man. What if I told you I’d give up everything to be with you?”
He hissed in a breath. Shook his head. “I wouldn’t believe you. And I wouldn’t let you do it. I have nothing to offer you.” He motioned around him. “Look at this. Look at me. I don’t have anything you could want. And you don’t truly know me. You can’t.”
“I know enough,” she whispered, touching his arm. “I’ve come to care a great deal about the man who rescued me, took me in, protected me, even though he didn’t trust me, even though he still doesn’t completely trust me…”
He made a strangled sound in this throat. “You’re just experiencing hero worship. It won’t last. And I wasn’t the one who saved you, Lucky was.”
She made an exasperated sound and shook her head. “You can deny it all you want, but we both know Lucky didn’t pick me up out of that car and carry me all the way back here. Lucky didn’t bathe me and care for me and sew up a bullet hole in my shoulder. Lucky didn’t lay me down in that warm bed and cover me with blankets to ward away hypothermia. Lucky didn’t save me, Max. You did.”
Max jerked his gaze away. He refused to admit she was right. He wasn’t a savior. He hadn’t been able to save Laura. He couldn’t even save his own daughter for hell’s sake. And he sure as hell couldn’t save himself.
He longed for that Tequila now with a desperation that clawed its way inside, scratching up his throat. He wished he hadn’t dumped it out.
“And another thing,” she went on. “Don’t tell me what I’m feeling, because you don’t know. What I’m starting to feel for you has nothing to do with hero worship. I care about you, Max. You’re a good man. If you hadn’t come after me today when you did, I would be dead now. I know that for a fact. That guy would have killed me. You went after me today even though you’re still suspicious of me. You saved me. Only a good-hearted person would do that. You care, Max, whether you want to or not. You risked your life to go out in that nasty storm to rescue me. Men like you are a rare treasure.”
Abducted (Unlikely Heroes Book 2) Page 14