“Abby, too,” Cooper said, gaze dark with concern. “Hell, all the women, Lori, Loni, Mel, Lyndsey…and Rylee. She scares me the most, so you’d better spill.”
Mac continued to stare at him. “What’s going on?”
He blew out a breath. “She’s already upset with me for butting my nose in.”
Mac muttered a curse. “Hunter, if you’re concerned enough to butt into her business, then something’s wrong. You’re not the damn type to rock any boat unless it’s about to be blown the fuck up.”
His buddy was right, and Hunter knew it. But he was still torn. The memory of the pain tightening Christa’s face and darkening her eyes would always remain seared in his brain. “I can’t betray her trust. She already feels that I have.”
“Better than her ending up dead,” Mac said without missing a beat.
Christ.
Hearing that word out loud sent an invisible spear through Hunter’s heart. He sucked in a breath and rode out the pain. “I’ve forgotten what a bastard you can be.”
The guy had always been fair but brutal with the truth.
“And I’ve forgotten how stubborn you are.” Mac eyed him a few beats, muttered another curse and shook his head. “Coop, pull over.”
What? Fuck no.
Hunter leaned forward and grasped Cooper’s shoulder. “Don’t. I need to see her. I’ll tell you. Just keep going.” He released the guy and briefed them on what he’d found out about the little boy’s relationship to the kingpin of the Ackerman criminal empire. “I don’t know if Tate is aware that he has a grandson. But I have contacts checking his whereabouts right now. I just need to get to Christa. I can’t explain it. It’s a feeling. All I know is I have to get to her. Now.”
“Ah, hell,” Mac muttered, pulling out his phone. “A Hunter hunch. Pedal to the metal, Coop. I’ll warn Gabe that we’re coming in hot.”
“Roger that,” Cooper said.
Hunter felt the vehicle accelerate along with his pulse. “I hope I’m wrong.”
It was possible his gut was as screwed up as his heart. Nothing seemed to be in balance since Sunday afternoon.
He missed the feelings of warmth and family that enveloped him when they were all together.
“I hope you are too,” Mac said. “But Gabe is going to meet us there. We’re not taking any chances.”
Damn right.
Not with Christa or Dillan. Not with his fledgling family.
He missed the sweet woman. He missed her ready smile and her kindness. Her apple blossoms, the way she sighed and melted into him when he kissed her.
And he missed Dillan. Missed the little boy’s exuberance and eagerness to learn. The way he laughed uncontrollably while chasing baby goats. His acceptance and his capacity to love without question. The way he looked up to Hunter and trusted him to keep him safe.
And by God, he would.
“You try calling her?” Cooper asked.
Hunter’s chest squeezed. He’d tried several times since they left Houston. “She’s either not answering because she doesn’t want to talk to me or because she can’t.”
“Let me try,” Mac said. “I added her number to my speed dial on Friday when we took Dillan to my brother’s.”
Hunter nodded and his pulse hammered hard in his chest as he waited to see if Christa would answer the call.
Mac’s gaze met his and he shook his head. “Right to voicemail.”
Damn. It hadn’t done that for him.
“ETA, thirty seconds,” Cooper said, slowing down.
“Shit.” Mac growled. “Looks like we got hostiles.”
In the time it took Hunter’s heart to go from one beat to the next, he’d glanced out of the windshield and sized up the situation.
Three car-lengths ahead of them, a white van with no plates was slowing down and about to jump the curb in front of Christa’s house, where she stood holding Dillan while talking to a neighbor.
Turn around, he willed as Cooper started to blow his horn.
He prayed the men inside the van didn’t plan to use guns.
God, please. Not on Christa. Not on Dillan.
She turned and he watched as if in slow motion as all the color drained from her face. A second later, two large men jumped out of the van and tried to rip Dillan from her grasp.
Fuck.
Where the hell was Sinjin?
She held on to him and fought like a mother bear and Hunter cursed, along with Mac. They couldn’t draw their weapons and risk a bullet hitting Christa or Dillan.
Hunter had his seat belt off and had crawled to the door on her side of the street, and before Cooper stopped, he leapt from the SUV and barreled into one of the assailants, knocking him away from Christa. who was miraculously still holding onto Dillan.
But bleeding.
Fire, white hot and blazing, whooshed through Hunter’s veins and then everything inside him stilled.
He was aware of the sheriff and Cooper blocking the white van’s escape, of Sinjin taking out a sniper hiding behind the wooden fence on the side of Christa’s house and suspected there was more than one body in her backyard. He could hear Mac on his heels, so he dropped the asshole he’d just decked for his boss and charged at the dead man who had Christa’s blood on his knuckles.
Chapter Seventeen
Two hours ago, Christa’s very worst nightmare had come to life. She couldn’t believe how everything had happened in a blur and yet in slow motion at the same time.
Dillan screamed and clung to her as thugs jumped from a van and tried to pull him out of her arms. Her heart had thudded out of control. She saw one of them pull a knife, but it never pierced her skin because the man wielding it had suddenly been knocked out of the way.
She thought she’d seen a familiar blur at the time but had been too busy fending off the remaining abductor, who was using her face to stop his fist.
Then he was gone, too.
And she knew then. Hunter had stopped the goons. He’d saved them.
Then she’d become aware of the sheriff and Cooper and Mac. And her neighbor bringing a warm washcloth to wipe her cuts and an icepack for her cheek. Then Hunter was back, holding her and Dillan for a brief moment. God, she was so grateful to him for saving them, but couldn’t help but remember he was the reason the attempted abduction had happened in the first place. If he hadn’t gone digging into her past, none of it would’ve happened.
Then she’d been whisked away in an ambulance with Dillan, who’d thought it was cool to lay in a bed inside a vehicle.
Thank God for the resilience of children.
And miraculously, he was unharmed.
“So, how’s the headache?” Stef asked, handing her a glass of water as she sat on the large, oversized sectional.
For now and the foreseeable future, she and Dillan were currently holed up in a posh apartment across from Mel’s, above ESI.
Make that a posh safehouse.
The state-of-the-art security and fact a bunch of agents worked in the building and one lived across the hall, already made her breath easier.
“Okay.” She glanced up at her friend and winced at the sudden movement. “As long as I don’t do that.”
And of course, her son couldn’t stop talking about the large elevator or the fact that Lex was across the hall. Mel had taken him over there a few minutes ago.
She sighed and closed her eyes. At least he seemed okay. Happy, even.
The image of those burly men running at her flashed through her mind and her pulse kicked up. She opened her eyes and drew in a breath, and the open layout of the safehouse with Mac, Stef, Carter, Dex, Rylee, and Cooper occupying the sectional with her came back into view.
She exhaled and sipped her water. It was over. For now.
Her mind drifted to Hunter. It wasn’t lost on her that he wasn’t there. Pain flickered through her chest.
“Is there anything else you can tell us you think we can use to track Ackerman down?” Mac asked, sitting across
from her.
Christa shook her head and winced. Again. Dammit. “No.”
She’d told them everything. Left nothing out. Now that she and Dillan were on Tate’s radar, she wanted the man caught.
Stef sat next to her and placed an arm around her. “I can’t believe you’ve been living with this on your shoulders alone all this time. Chloe and I thought maybe Dillan’s father was abusive and that’s why you didn’t talk about him.”
Remembering not to shake her head, she placed her hand over Stef’s. “No. Jack treated me well. I was just naïve and dealing with my mother’s death, and just never suspected him of participating in any type of illegal activity.”
“So, he never talked about his family?” Carter asked.
“No. I thought he was alone like me.” A half-hearted smile tugged her lips. “It wasn’t until I told him that I was pregnant that he mentioned a family. He told me to run. That he couldn’t go with me because they’d track us down through him. Said I could never tell anyone about him. Not to give the child his name. To basically go on as if he were dead.” Her heart squeezed a little on that. “And sadly, it turns out he did die before I even had Dillan.”
Stef squeezed her arm and she appreciate the show of silent support.
Once again, her mind drifted to Hunter. Why wasn’t he here?
Oh, God…
Was he hurt?
Then logic returned to her muddled brain. If the guy had been hurt, no way would his buddies be here with her.
Relief eased some of the tightness from her shoulders. She sipped her water and forced her pulse to return to calm.
“I’m sorry to pull you all into this,” she said, feeling like a fool for no reason, even though they all reassured her it wasn’t her fault. “I still can’t believe Hunter went behind my back to dig into my past.”
“He was worried about you,” Mac said. “He cares about you, Christa.”
She cared about him, too. Still…
She swallowed. “I know. But he put my son in danger. Asking his contacts to find out about Dillan’s father…digging into my past has jeopardized my future. Our future.”
“You think Hunter’s the reason Ackerman found you?” Mac’s brows rose.
“Yes. There are computer programs that can alert you if you’re being traced, so he must have tripped one or something.”
Carter shook his head. “No way it was Hunter. We, uh, use backdoor tactics. What we use and how we use it can’t be traced.”
Mac nodded. “And he’d never, ever be that careless with the woman he loved.”
Christa inhaled and tried to find her voice. “Why…” She cleared her throat. “Why would you say that?”
Cooper leaned forward in his seat at held her gaze. “Because it’s true. You didn’t see how desperate he was to get to you today. Said he’d tried calling you, but you wouldn’t answer.”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “Dillan dropped my phone in the toilet, and I didn’t find out for probably a good two hours.”
Dex whistled.
“Ouch.” Rylee winced. “Guessing no amount of rice will save it.”
Carter shook his head. “Doubt it, but I’d be happy to take a look.”
“Thanks.” She sighed. “It’s at my house on the counter in a bowl of rice. “
He laughed. “Roger that.”
She frowned. “So…if it hadn’t been from Hunter’s digging, then how did Tate Ackerman find out about Dillan? It just seems too coincidental in the timing of it all.”
Stef stiffened, then removed her arm from around Christa’s shoulders to turn on the cushions and face her. “Uh, not if it also coincided with a photo uploaded to Facebook by my mother-in-law last weekend.”
Mac muttered under his breath, while Carter’s brows rose.
“Bingo,” Cooper said.
“That makes more sense,” Rylee said and Dex agreed.
Christa’s heart rock against her ribs.
It hadn’t been Hunter.
He’d tried to tell her, but she hadn’t known about the photo. Still. Her chest squeezed tight.
Mac’s cell rang and she watched as he spoke to whomever was on the other end, hoping it was Hunter, but then he said goodbye to the sheriff and hung up.
Gabe. Not Hunter.
She couldn’t blame him for not being here, though. Her distrust no doubt, had hurt deeply.
“Anyone know where Hunter is?” she finally asked. “I need to apologize to him.”
Even though she hadn’t actually accused him of causing today’s attempted abduction, she had thought it, and to her, it was bad enough.
“No,” Rylee said.
Carter shook his head. “Sorry. I would’ve thought he’d be here.”
Dex blinked. “We won’t see him until Ackerman is caught now.”
“Or found dead,” Cooper said, effectively stopping Christa’s heart.
Oh, God, she didn’t want him to do that.
Mac stood and… smiled?
Why would he smile after what Cooper had just said?
“No,” Mac said. “Gabe just told me that Ackerman was found duct-taped to the steering wheel of a car with twenty-two bricks of cocaine in the backseat and a trunk full of stolen weapons.”
Cooper laughed. “Oh, man. That’s too funny.”
“Yeah. He’s slipping.” Carter chuckled. “Surprised there weren’t any counterfeit money plates in the trunk too, since Ackerman’s organization it known for that as well.”
Mac rolled his eyes. “Don’t be dumb. They were in the glove compartment.”
He laughed with the others and she glanced around the room, her lips twitching.
My, God…were they talking about Hunter?
Before she could ask, the door to the apartment opened behind her. Stef grabbed her arm and smiled but Christa knew Hunter was behind her by the way the air crackled and sparks of awareness tingled down her spine.
She set her water on the coffee table in front of her but before she could rise to her feet, he was kneeling in front of her, grabbing her hands as his gaze devoured hers.
“God, Christa. I’m sorry I didn’t get to you in time today,” he said, releasing one of her hands to lightly touch her face near one of her bruises. “I’m so sorry.”
She cupped his face with her free hand and smiled at him. “It’s not your fault. And I’m the one who’s sorry, Hunter. For ever thinking you’d put Dillan and me in danger.”
“God…I’d never do that,” he said, closing his eyes briefly as deep emotions appeared to funnel into his gaze. And when he opened his eyes, those emotions were still there.
She inhaled and dammit, her eyes filled with tears and now she couldn’t see. Christa blinked rapidly, uncaring that tears ran down her face. At least she could see the adoration and something fierce and amazing that made her feel warm from head to toe.
Was he the one who’d hunted down the man who’d put her life and her son’s life in peril?
Yes. He definitely was…and the thought of him putting himself in harm’s way to give Dillan a safe life, a safe future, blasted away any and all misgivings she’d had about giving her heart to this man.
Although, truth be told, he’d had her heart since the first time he’d walked into her booth.
He lifted the hand he held to his mouth and brushed his lips across her knuckles. “I swear I’ll never let anything happen to you or Dillan again.”
She smiled. “Not even anything good?”
He smiled back. “I swear I’ll never let anything bad happen to you or Dillan ever again. I love you, Christa.”
Again, she sucked in a breath. Not only because he’d actually said the words out loud, but he said them with everyone in the room and he didn’t seem to care who knew it.
“I love you, too, Hunter.” She tugged her hand free so she could cup his face with both. “So much. So very much,” she repeated before touching her lips to his, uncaring that more tears ran down her cheeks.
They were happy tears.
He set his forehead to hers and held her gaze, his open and raw and full of every single amazing thing she was feeling. “Sometimes I’m afraid to go to sleep in case I’ll wake up to find you were just an amazing dream.”
Stef and Rylee sucked in a breath that time, and she heard Cooper mutter something about writing it down.
Christa drew back slightly and tried to talk but had to clear her throat again. “Then you’re my amazing dream. The man who taught me that I matter. I deserve to have a life and to be loved, too.”
“And you are loved, Christa. Very much.” He lightly brushed his lips over hers, mindful of her bruises. He was so sweet. “Thank you for letting me into your life, into your heart…into your family. Thank you for allowing me to spend time with Dillan. To get to know him and love him.”
She pressed her forehead to his this time. There were so many things she wanted to say to him but there was no way she could, since her heart had taken up residence in her throat at the moment.
“You’ve uncovered my heart and reintroduced me to my soul. I can never thank you enough for that,” he said, and smiled. “I’m going to need to book a few more sessions with you.”
Heat flooded her belly. “Okay.” She didn’t know if he meant for a tattoo or just the use of the wall. Either way, she was okay with it.
“I realized today that my tattoo isn’t finished,” he said. “I’d like you to add a heart right here,” he said, tugging his collar aside to point to his left pec. Right over his heart.
“Okay.”
“And can you make it look like the tiger is unleashing my heart?”
Her throat heated around her own heart still lodged inside. She nodded. “Yes,” she whispered.
“And can you add your name and Dillan’s to that heart? Because you are both in there. Deep.”
She sucked in a shaky breath and nodded again.
“And one more thing,” he said, and if she had a voice, she’d tell him she wasn’t sure she could take any more. She needed to start giving. He was taking care of her and she wanted to take care of him. “Can you leave some space on that heart so we can add more?”
Hunter (HC Heroes Series Book 8) Page 13