“You did this to yourself,” he yelled out. “You went after mine so I went after yours!”
The car door opened but before the newcomer stepped out he had a word of warning.
“If you hurt her, I’ll kill you.”
The voice was low yet booming.
And familiar.
“You need me,” her captor replied with vehemence. He shook his grip. Nina winced at the movement, her nerves more than shot at this point. “So let us leave.”
The man behind the wheel of the other car slowly got out.
He was grinning.
The man at her back readjusted his grip on her shirt to around her neck. It forced her head to tilt back, but she still could see the man across from them.
Every part of Nina split in two.
Half was in the present.
The air had cooled because of the impending storm. She smelled the promise of rain on the breeze and the sweet smell of Dorothy’s blooming flowers from her garden just beneath it. She could see the ranch and its green grass, bountiful trees and beautiful fields stretching out all around them. She could feel the dirt displacing beneath her shoe as the man behind her forced her to change her stance to keep steady.
The other half of her was in a much different place.
The asphalt burned her bare feet, her flip-flops long abandoned. The smell of the sea mixed with the wind that gently blew across the trees next to her. An acrid smell of burning metal was cloying.
A boy had his arms around her, a weight that kept her tethered to a world that was burning in front of her.
And there was that smile.
His father, staring at the wreckage, like he didn’t have a care in the world.
Then, all at once, the past and the present collided.
Thanks to that same smile.
This time, it was worn by the son.
Jeremy Bowling met her gaze without any surprise whatsoever. He even gave her a small nod of hello.
“Nina, why don’t you come over here?” he said, patting his hand against his leg like she was a dog. The man who had a grip on her neck didn’t want her to comply to the new command.
“If you even think about it I’ll kill the sheriff,” he seethed. Jeremy heard the threat. He tilted his head to the side, looking into the back of their car.
“You’re using the eldest Nash to control her,” he stated analytically. His eyes roamed back to hers. “I’m surprised it works, to be honest.”
With a speed that didn’t seem possible, Jeremy pulled his gun up and shot. Nina didn’t have time to scream. She didn’t have time to even move. The hand around her neck loosened and then the pressure was gone. Shaking like a leaf, Nina chanced a look behind her.
The man fell to the ground. His eyes were wide. He looked down at the bullet wound in his chest.
Footsteps crunched across the dirt, coming closer. Nina cursed herself for not scooping up the gun when she had the chance. Jeremy appeared at her shoulder, so close she could smell the spice of aftershave.
“Maybe you are a good girl, after all.”
Nina opened her mouth but, like the shot, Jeremy was once again painfully fast.
The blow against her head knocked Nina out cold.
Chapter Nineteen
The throbbing of pain let Nina know she was alive. That was her first thought. It wasn’t as comforting as it should have been.
Pain pulsed along every blink as she clawed her way out of unconsciousness. A gray room materialized through the fog, filled with odd, dingy white shapes. It took longer than it should have to realize they were pieces of furniture covered in sheets.
Nina was tied to a chair among them.
She turned her head to try and see behind her. The moan that escaped happened before she could stop it. Pain stabbed at her so quickly, the wave of nausea that followed nearly overwhelmed her. She closed her eyes tight and took long breaths. Waking up in a room she didn’t recognize, alone and bound to a chair, wasn’t a good situation. She didn’t want to add getting sick all over herself to that list.
The urge to vomit lessened. The pain didn’t. Nina took the small win and, this time, slowly turned her head. A window was set at the back of the room. She only saw dark skies.
“Not helpful,” she grumbled.
Next she tested her restraints. Rope dug into her wrists behind the chair. There was no leeway. No give. Jeremy had done more than a great job at that.
Jeremy.
Nina didn’t say the name out loud, but after she thought it a shiver ran through her.
His last words before he knocked her unconscious had rooted themselves in her memory. They echoed the email Daniel Covington had sent.
And everyone thought you were a nice girl.
Maybe you are a nice girl, after all.
Jeremy had been behind the email, she was sure of it, but why? And who was the man who had shot Declan? And where was the sheriff?
Fear was an emotion she was becoming desensitized to at this point, confusion and frustration not so much.
Why was Jeremy in Overlook?
What did he want from her?
A pang of longing nearly brought that fear to a new level, one where she could feel it again. Just last night she’d let her guard down and gotten close with Caleb. Sharing the burdens of their pasts had done more for her heart than she ever thought it would. Sharing that burden with Caleb had done even more.
Yet she’d never thought her burden, her past, would put him and his family in danger.
Nina moved her feet around, testing the restraints at her ankles. Surprisingly they weren’t as tight as the rope around her wrists. She pushed out her feet in opposite directions. The knot on top seemed to loosen.
A flash of hope burned through her.
She did the same thing again but moved each foot to a different spot before pushing out. The rope became more slack. She continued, rotating where she pushed out on the rope each time until it finally came untied.
Riding another jolt of adrenaline, Nina rocked forward and stood, thankful the chair was of the dining variety and not something clunky like a lounger. It was an awkward move but after a few moments she managed to steady herself, despite being hunched over.
Then she had to look around the room.
If she had to guess she was in an attic of some sort, much like the one at the ranch’s main house. There were no closets, only one light that hung in the middle of the room, and in between the pieces of furniture were several boxes labeled with names like Christmas, Halloween and Rider’s Graduation. Nina went to the Christmas box and set her chair down. With her feet she tried to finagle the box open.
It didn’t work.
She gave up and went to the closest sheet, sat down and pulled it off. Beneath it was a wide and narrow bookcase Short, too. The edge of it was just the right height.
Nina stood and turned around again. She stifled a yelp as she lost her balance and collided with the floor. Unable to stop herself, her face took the brunt of the fall. She almost got sick again as a new source of pain exploded along her right brow. Warmth immediately slid across her skin.
Nina didn’t have time to writhe in her mistake.
Wherever Jeremy was, if he was in the house he would have heard that.
She struggled back up to her feet and moved as close as she could to get the rope at her wrists near the edge of the piece of furniture. It looked like it was handmade, the top piece one long plank of stained wood. Its edge was what Nina was placing all of her hope on. It looked sharp, despite the rest of it seeming worn.
Whatever Jeremy had planned for her, it was nothing good.
A few minutes went by but no one came to the door. Nina was counting that blessing as she sawed. At first she felt like a fool, doubting she was doing anything at all, but then the tension
in the ropes lessened. It encouraged a more ferocious approach. Her legs burned and trembled as she supported the weight of the chair while hunching over so the ropes would meet the edge. Still, she didn’t stop. When the rope was finally slack enough to give her confidence, Nina sat back down. She took a steadying breath and then pulled as hard as she could.
Feeling that rope break was better than sex. Or, at least, a close second.
She brought her hands in front of her and shed the rest of her bindings. Then she moved to the one around her waist. It was tied on the side but not impossible to unknot. She hurried through it, ignoring the stinging in her eye that was only getting worse. Once she was completely untethered from the dining chair she wiped the blood from her brow and crept to the window.
Finally Nina knew something.
Looking down and into the distance she spotted the familiar river where there used to be a bridge.
Overlook Pass, she thought with more excitement than it probably warranted to finally know at least one part of the situation. Which meant she was in the house that was just behind it. The owner had moved to be with her daughter, according to Caleb.
She scanned the room again with new attention. Nothing just screamed out weapon. She ended up going through most of the boxes, hoping the owner had labeled them incorrectly. Nina imagined a box full of guns that could help her defend herself hidden in a box that said University Things.
Nina decided to not waste any more time. She didn’t even take a deep breath before she was opening the door as slowly as if a sleeping baby were right next to it. The motion was easy but a low squeak sounded. Nina bit her lip and opened it far enough that she could slide through.
Like she’d suspected, she was in an attic much like Dorothy’s. It opened into a slightly different layout but the important aspect was the same. She was on the second floor and the stairs were right in front of her. Theoretically she was closer to freedom than she had been. Two doors were on either side of the landing. Both were closed.
Declan.
What if Jeremy had taken him and he was tied to a chair in one of the other rooms?
Nina thought of Caleb and his obvious love for his family. It put the fire of courage in her belly, calming her quaking limbs. She hadn’t even realized she’d been shaking.
The first room was much like the attic. Things were boxed up, furniture was covered by drop cloths. There was no Declan. The second room was a bit trickier. The door was locked.
Nina froze for a moment, worried she’d alert Jeremy if he was on the other side. When nothing happened she pressed her ear against the door, hoping to hear the sheriff.
She was both relieved and disappointed. It was nice not to hear a man tied up and in pain but there was no guarantee he would be making any noise. The last time she saw him he’d been unconscious.
Which brought her to the top of the stairs.
Nina bit her lip again.
Her head was throbbing. Her face was bleeding. The closer she came to escaping, the more she realized Jeremy could be waiting for her downstairs. What did he want?
This time anger came to the forefront of the emotional gauntlet she seemed to have been running for the last two days. It cut through her nerves and worries and she hurried down the stairs, trying her best to be quiet while also ready to turn her walk into an all-out run for her life if necessary.
Once she was off the last step she took that energy and spun around to look down the hallway. It seemed to run through the middle of the house, ending at the back door. The urge to run burned across the soles of her feet but she refused to leave Declan. If something happened to him, she would never forgive herself.
She crept along the hallway, pausing to listen every few steps. It felt like just an empty old house. Had Jeremy left her there? What was the plan?
The kitchen, former dining room and living room were empty. No boxes, no furniture with sheets. No signs of anyone else. Did that mean Declan could be upstairs?
If Jeremy wasn’t in the house then surely she could go back and try to open the locked room without being caught, right?
Nina was about to turn around when a crack of thunder made her gasp. Like a scene from a horror movie, the back door opened. The man in its frame was for the briefest of seconds draped in shadows, blackened skies his backdrop.
Jeremy’s eyes widened a moment then he smiled.
“I was about to come get you but this saves me a trip up the stairs.”
Nina backpedaled so hard she almost toppled over. However, she refused to be the woman in most of those same horror movies who fell when she was being chased by the bad guy.
Yet Jeremy didn’t make one move.
He didn’t have to.
“You run, I kill Declan,” he said simply.
Nina froze, eyes now on the front door. On freedom.
“I won’t chase you,” he added, voice nothing but conversational.
“What do you want, Jeremy?” she asked, her voice low and angry. “What could you possibly want?”
Nina turned back to face him. His smile was gone. Somehow that was more unsettling.
“I want to talk and then I want you to make a decision.”
* * *
CALEB WAS SPITTING MAD. Hell, he was more than spitting. There was blood on the ground outside of the main house and not just in one spot. It started on the front porch, across the shattered living room window glass, and continued into the dirt. Then it disappeared, along with whatever car had been hit by the one he and Jazz had seen when they drove up.
Though that detail hadn’t filtered in as fast since his mama was hanging over Jay DeMarko’s prone body, cell phone on the dirt next to her, gun clearly sticking out of her apron pocket and hands covered in blood as she applied pressure to Jay’s gunshot wound.
“I called the department because your phone was busy,” his mother yelled as soon as he was out of the truck. Jazz was right behind him, pulling up in Delores’s SUV. They hadn’t wanted to leave her alone but hadn’t had the time to wait for a deputy or to take her to the department themselves.
“I was calling you,” he yelled, adrenaline making him lose control of his volume. Neither Nina nor Declan had answered so his mother had been his next call. Her phone had been busy. Now he knew why.
“After I broke down my own closet door I called an ambulance and Chief Deputy Murdock,” she kept on, eyes wild.
Caleb came to her side but didn’t remove his hand from his gun. Now he had more information. Jay wasn’t the only man he had to worry about. Yet his mother let him know with one look that the threat was gone.
And the woman threatened with him.
What he didn’t know was another kick to the gut.
“Caleb, a man took Nina and Declan.” The look that accompanied that bad news was darker than the sky ever would be. “And I think Declan was shot.” Caleb felt himself shift into work mode, detaching from the emotions broiling in his chest.
There was hell to pay and he couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.
Chapter Twenty
“I met Jeremy when he moved upstairs.” Delores stood at the head of the dining room table, chin up and voice strong. “We hit it off immediately and I even became friends with Jay. He seemed normal enough and Jeremy, well, he seemed perfect. I suppose that might have been on purpose now. He just had an answer for everything...until he didn’t.”
She directed her gaze at Caleb. Jazz stood at his side. His mother had gone to the hospital with a deputy and Jay at Caleb’s insistence. Chief Deputy Murdock was leading the charge across the county to try and find Nina, Declan and Jeremy. Since every second counted, Caleb had been authorized to do a more pointed search, running down whatever leads Delores might be able to give them.
Not that he’d asked permission.
“When you showed up asking about the articles I wrote
and the fires, I genuinely had no idea if or how they were important. Until you mentioned your house fire had been started by fireworks,” she continued. “See, Jeremy and I never hung out at his apartment. He said he liked mine better since he hadn’t had a chance to decorate his yet. But the week before you showed up I tried to bring him some dinner. The door was unlocked because he’d gone down to the mailboxes. I went into his room to see if he was there but found a bag of fireworks instead. I thought it might have been a romantic surprise but when I asked him about it he gave me the oddest answer. He said it was a means to an end and none of my business.”
Her jaw set.
“No one condescends to me without a fight. So I started digging. I looked past his Facebook and called a friend and finally found a news story about him. And Nina. I knew it couldn’t be a coincidence that, after all these years, both of them wound up in small-town Overlook, Tennessee. Then I remembered what I’d heard about Claire and the new girl in town teaming up to take down Daniel Covington. I know his girlfriend so I called and she said he’d been released from jail. So then I called him and said if he was connected to Jeremy or Jay and knew anything about the fires or Nina he better come clean. Daniel may be full of himself half of the time, but he genuinely seemed to have no idea what I was talking about.”
She managed to look sheepish. “Honestly, I was feeling so silly about it then, thinking I’d jumped to conclusions. So I was going to wait and call you in the morning—this morning—but then Jay woke me up.”
There was no denying the fear that skated across Delores’s expression at the memory.
“I never really talked to him but when he told me that I needed to hide because Jeremy was coming, I believed him with all of my heart. I ran into the bedroom, thanked God my Grandma Tildy gave me her larger-than-life wardrobe and stuffed myself into one of its cabinets. No sooner had I shut the door than they started fighting in the living room. I couldn’t make out what they were saying in the scuffle but they both cut out of there quick. You showed up shortly after. And that’s all I know.”
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