Toby felt the whistle of the bullet rip through the air past his right ear. It shattered wood as it impaled the wall behind him. The world roared back into focus. The scuffle of bodies. The shriek of the chair leg being sent across the linoleum as Addy clung to Jonathon. For a long moment, Toby couldn’t move. His muscles had seized. He could scarcely catch his breath.
Christ, that had been fucking close. Too close.
Addy’s cry of pain brought him crashing back. Toby blinked out of his crippling numbness and watched as she was thrown to the ground a second time.
“You stupid fucking bitch!”
The gun was swung straight for her.
Toby lunged forward. All pain in his leg went forgotten as he launched himself at the bastard. The impact fired the gun, but Toby took Jonathon down. The gun went spinning out across the floor as they crumpled in a heap of arms and legs. Fists swung and connected in a series of jarring thumps and sickening crunches. Boots scuffled as Toby kept his place on top. His knuckles burned into the side of Jonathon’s rugged features, breaking skin and smearing blood. A punch caught him in the ribs, splintering pain up his entire side. Another exploded against his jaw, snapping his teeth together and showering his vision with stars. The blow momentarily dazed him, just long enough for Jonathon to try and roll Toby off him.
Bearing down, Toby drove his fist into the other man’s mouth. Blood splattered, staining teeth and chin. Toby followed the assault with two raised knuckles into Jonathon’s windpipe. The satisfying crunch was muffled by Jonathon choking on air and blood. His body seized and curled onto his side.
Toby relented. He dropped off the other man as he coughed and wheezed, spraying the floor with strings of red saliva. Toby was panting himself. His sides throbbed and he was sure a tooth or two had been knocked loose. But he pushed himself away from the other man and turned to find Addy.
He spotted her immediately, lying several feet away in a crimson puddle. Her dark hair fanned out around her head, contrasting harshly with the white tiles. Her face was turned away, but her unmoving state was enough to pound several million different moments of insanity into him.
“Addy?” He scrambled to her side, his heart a wild mess between his ears. “Addy!”
There was blood everywhere, coating everything. It soaked into her gown, turning the pale fabric to a garish red. Her hair was matted. Her skin smeared. It was impossible to tell where she’d been shot.
“Addy! Open your eyes!”
Unsteady hands fumbled as they moved over her, tearing at clothes and trying to find the hole. Terror buzzed in tendrils of fire that coursed through his veins. Every nerve ending in his body threatened to shut down. It threatened to ignore every second of his training reminding him he needed to stay calm. There were steps that needed to be followed and he needed to remember them if he was going to save her.
He found the bullet hole, a clean through and through in her right shoulder. While that saved him from having to dig bullet and fragments out, it was double the holes he needed to control. It was twice the blood loss. If he didn’t stop it fast, she could bleed out right there on the floor.
Moving quickly, he tilted her chin up. He bent at the waist and pressed his ear to her mouth. He willed his heart to slow its loud thumping just long enough to listen for signs of breathing. He held his own breaths.
It was there, faint, but enough to reassure him.
He tore out of his jacket and ripped off his shirt. He wadded it up and held it to the injury. He pressed down just hard enough not to cut off circulation.
“Come on, baby,” he panted, his voice choked even to his ears. “Don’t you dare leave me!”
Releasing one hand off the makeshift padding, he dug into his pocket for his phone. His eyes never left Addy’s ashen complexion, the pallor of her lips and how dark her lashes appeared against her cheeks. Blood smeared the screen as he fumbled to call someone. Anyone. Numbers refused to work under the wetness. Frustration welled up inside him.
“Come on, you fucking thing!” he snarled, barely restraining himself from smashing it into the floor.
Behind him, he heard Jonathon recovering. He heard the man moving and shifting. But Toby had no shit to give when Addy was about to bleed to death before his eyes. He didn’t even have the focus to flinch when he heard the click of a hammer being drawn back just behind his head.
“Drop the phone,” Jonathon croaked, his voice raspy.
“You better kill me,” Toby muttered. “Because when I get my hands on you, there won’t be any piece of you for the police to find. That’s a promise.”
He felt the whisper of the barrel brush the back of his hair. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing.
“Oh, I don’t think I can miss at this range.” Jonathon laughed.
Toby counted his heartbeats. At six, he jerked to the left, rotated his torso and, in that same fluid motion, grabbed the gun and twisted it flawlessly out of Jonathon’s grasp. He fired without pausing.
Jonathon struck the ground just behind Toby with both knees. At that angle, the bullet had torn through fabric and flesh to rip into his abdomen. Blood gushed almost immediately, creating a red blossom that quickly grew into a fountain. It rained down his front and stained the ground before he crumpled onto his side. His hands flew to his injuries, but Toby knew he wouldn’t make it.
“First rule of artillery, never hold your gun that close,” he muttered as he watched the man gasp for breath. “I hope it fucking hurts.” Leaving him to choke on his own blood, Toby turned back to Addy. “You better hang on. I’m not going to lose you. Do you hear me?”
Chapter 21 ~ Abby
Addy woke to the irritating beep of machines and the nauseating stench of antiseptic and medication. But it was the burn in her right shoulder that propelled her the rest of the way. The insistent throbbing was worse than any pain she’d ever felt, and she’d been fairly certain she’d felt them all. Her eyes flew open and she squinted at the baby blue walls and the harsh florescent lighting. A framed painting of a sailboat on clear waters greeted her eyes first. It was pinned to the wall right at the foot of the lumpy bed she lay on. On either side of her were machines and a table holding a fairly large stack of books, juice boxes, granola bar wrappers and a Styrofoam takeout container. But it was the three figures across the room that made her breath catch.
Toby sat in one chair with Hanna cradled against his chest. Sean sat curled in the one next to him, his head pillowed on Toby’s shoulder. All three were sleeping, their faces bathed in the pale fingers of dawn filtering through the window. Addy had never been so happy to see anyone.
“You’re awake.” Beth stepped into the room, a cup of coffee in hand. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired,” she whispered. “A bit fuzzy.”
Beth nodded like that made sense. “That’s probably the morphine. How’s the arm?”
Instinctively, Addy glanced at her left arm where a red tube was fed into the crock of her arm. The pipe itself wasn’t red. It was the liquid pouring down from the blood bag hanging on the rod. Another bag hung next to it. The end was taped to the back of her hand. This one full of clear fluid. On her right arm, the one she couldn’t move, she found it wrapped in heavy, white plaster. A blue sling held it securely to her chest. The sight of it had her eyes going wide.
“What…?”
“You were shot,” Beth said calmly. “The bullet went straight through, but it nicked your humerus … shoulder bone,” she explained at Addy’s puzzled expression. “You have a minor fracture. Nothing serious. But you will be sporting that pretty cast for a few weeks.”
“What happened?”
A brow arched. “You don’t remember?”
It took several seconds to wade through the heavy fog drenching her thoughts, but the memory resurfaced like a warship.
“Jonathon!” She struggled to sit up. The heart monitor behind her increased in tempo. “Where…?”
“He’s gone,” Beth promised evenl
y and quietly. “You’re safe now.”
That wasn’t possible, unless…
“Is he dead?”
The glance Beth gave the ground was answer in itself, yet it didn’t fill Addy with the joy she always thought she’d feel at the thought of Jonathon dying. She felt no remorse either. She felt nothing and that scared her.
“It’s okay,” Beth promised. “Give yourself time.”
“Mommy?” Hanna blinked open brown eyes and spotted Addy sitting up in bed. They widened. “Mommy!”
Toby and Sean jerked awake when she scrambled out of Toby’s lap and tore across the room. She made a running leap at the bed and still couldn’t make it up. She clung to the edge and flailed, her little legs kicking at air. Beth scooped her up and set her on the mattress. The girl stumbled up and threw herself straight into Addy’s chest.
The assault ripped through her in ribbons of unimaginable pain. It nearly tore a scream from her as every bone in her arm wrenched. Instead, all she could do was bite her lip and use her good arm to pull her daughter closer. Even as her eyes watered.
“You’re awake!” the girl exclaimed into Addy’s collarbone. “Toby said you’d wake up. He promised.”
Sean hurried to the bed and Addy hooked her good arm around him. She pulled him into the hug.
“Are you guys okay?” she asked.
Sean nodded, his eyes too bright. “It was him, wasn’t it?”
Hanna’s head popped up. “Who?”
Addy looked into her son’s gut wrenching expression and gave him a small smile. “It doesn’t matter.”
He looked like he wanted to protest, but he glanced at Hanna and snapped his mouth shut.
“Who?” Hanna demanded again.
“I think it’s time for you two to go to bed,” Beth cut in. “We waited until your mom woke up and now that she has, you two need to rest. Come on. We’ll come back later this afternoon.”
Addy stiffened. “Where are you going?”
“I was going to take them back to my place and let them sleep a few hours, but if you like, I can take them to Willa’s?”
“We don’t want to go,” Hanna whined. “We want to stay with you.”
After nearly losing them forever, Addy didn’t want them to go either, but Beth was right. They did need rest. Plus Addy was beginning to feel herself drifting again.
“Mrs. McClain’s right,” she told the children quietly. “You should get some sleep. I can see you again later this afternoon.”
“But, Mommy—”
“Come on, Hanna,” Sean murmured. “We’ll come back.”
Hanna hesitated, but she slid off the cot and took the hand Sean held out to her.
Addy looked at the woman waiting at the foot of the bed. “Thank you.”
Beth nodded once before leading the children out of the room, leaving Addy alone with the only other person there.
“Toby.” She peered at the man pushing to his feet.
Toby crossed to her and stopped when the bed got in the way. “Hey.”
“Are you okay?”
He gave a tight chuckle. “You’re the one in the hospital.”
Gingerly, she touched the cast weighing her right side down. “What happened?”
“Don’t know the full story yet. The sheriff came by while you were sleeping and took my statement. He said he’d be back later when you woke up.”
Addy shook her head. “No, I mean, what happened?”
He looked away. “Doesn’t matter. He got what was coming to him.”
Guilt pulled at her insides. It tightened the knots twisting her gut.
“I’m sorry.
Toby peered at her. “For what?”
“Everything?” She squeezed her eyes shut tight. “For you having to do that.”
“I would do it again.” The vibrating rage in those five words had her eyes opening to him. “The only thing I regret is that he didn’t suffer enough.”
She looked him over, searching for injuries and only finding the tears on his knuckles and the blossom darkening his jaw. Otherwise, he seemed unharmed.
“Were you hurt?”
Intensity darkened his features. “I would have been if you hadn’t saved my life.” He shook his head slowly. “What were you thinking, Addy?”
Addy started. “What?”
“Why would you jump at him like that?” Frustration and anger tugged at the corners of his mouth. “You could have died. He could have shot you somewhere that…” He broke off and turned away. The hand not gripping his cane lifted and scrubbed at his face.
“He was going to shoot you!” she protested. “I wasn’t going to let him—”
“I almost lost you!” He rounded on her, his eyes blazing. “It was so close that I … I can’t even think about it without wanting to lose my fucking mind. You have no idea how terrified I was to see you lying there, covered in blood, barely breathing. You can’t possibly imagine what…” His nostrils flared with his barely restrained emotions. His turmoil reflected across the dark surface of his eyes. “I don’t know what I would do without you, Addy. And I don’t ever want to know.”
Compressed in a warm ripple of affection, she reached for him with her good hand. Her fingers were captured and tangled through his. Their palms met.
“You won’t ever have to find out.”
His shoulders deflated with her quiet promise. His fingers tightened. He pulled closer and bent at the waist.
“Love you, Addy,” he murmured before his mouth met hers.
The hand holding hers released to cup her skull. He held her to him while his mouth moved in powerful, possessive strokes over hers. His fingers tightened in her hair once before releasing. He pulled back.
“You’re not allowed to play hero ever again, understand?”
Chuckling, Addy nodded. “I will try.”
Sheriff Bo Benson arrived promptly after the lunch trays were picked up. His deputy followed him into Addy’s room while she was struggling to get a few more minutes of rest. It was a little after one and no one had come to see her since Toby had gone to grab her a fresh set of clothes. The place had been quiet, the perfect sort of silence for a nap. But the moment her eyes had shut, Sheriff Benson walked in and knocked on her doorframe.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Nixon. Sorry to bother you.”
Pushing up on the pillows, Addy shook her head. “It’s all right.”
They moved to the foot of her bed and peered down at her. Only Deputy Wallaby pulled out a notepad and pen.
“We won’t take much of your time,” the sheriff said. “Just want to know what happened.”
What had happened?
The whole thing felt like a nightmare she had no desire to revisit. There were so many moments throughout the seemingly endless night that she’d sat in that chair and wondered if he would ever stop toying with her and just kill her already. She knew it was unlikely. More than anything, he’d wanted her alive, wanted her back to use as he wished. She had no doubt that was the reason he wanted Sean as badly as he had. He knew her children were the only things in the world that would keep her contained, keep her subdued, and at his absolute mercy. Otherwise, he had never had any interest in Sean. The boy had been a tool to use against Addy, a reminder that he and his family held all the cards and she had no choice but to fall in line.
“I don’t know what happened,” she whispered honestly. “I was sleeping and he … I don’t even know how he got in. I lock everything before I go to bed.”
Deputy Parker rapped his pen on his open notepad. “He broke through the laundry room window.”
Creases formed between her brows. “I didn’t hear anything. How is that possible?”
The sheriff rolled broad shoulders. “Could have done it when you weren’t home. We found his car parked a few miles down the road. A rental.”
Had he been parked down the road from her, watching her and the children’s every move? How had she not seen him? How could she have truly believed herself s
o safe that she no longer paid attention to her surroundings?
“If he was watching the house, then how come he didn’t know about Hanna? He never once asked for her.”
“We don’t have all the answers at this time,” Sheriff Benson said.
“Do you know why he was here?” she asked instead.
Parker immediately shook his head.
The sheriff shifted, elevating his weight off his right leg onto his left. “Not at this time, but we will. For now, why don’t you walk us through what happened.”
She pulled in a breath and told them everything. Everything from the moment Jonathon Montgomery first started showing interest in her right to the moment she snuck out the back door with Sean in tow. She left absolutely nothing out, knowing this was the time to put it all out there and let the law do its work.
“He made me sit in the kitchen like he used to when he was trying to punish me for something I’d done wrong and wait for Toby and the kids to come home.”
“He didn’t say anything?”
Oh, he’d said plenty.
“We’re going to work on our marriage, Addy,” he’d told her in that calm tone that barely concealed the ocean of rage she knew was frothing just beneath it. “You will learn to obey me once more. You will repent and beg my forgiveness for the last five years, and you will work relentlessly until I am satisfied that you have learned your lesson. Only then can we start over.”
“I won’t go with you,” she’d whispered. “I won’t let Sean grow up to be like you.”
The crack of his palm across her face had turned the skin numb. Her mouth had filled with blood and stars obscured the sight of him.
“And what is wrong with me, Addy? I may not be your bumpkin lover, but I am rich, successful and powerful, and I have the power to ruin your life. The decision is yours. Come back with me, be my wife again or face the rest of your life from a room lined with mattresses. That is if I only stop there. I will make sure you never see Sean again or the light of day.”
“Is he really dead?” She pulled out of her dark memories and focused on the pair watching her.
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