by Trish Loye
When he lifted it, a voice on the other end of the line asked if he needed 911 assistance.
His heartbeat sped up as he considered the situation. Dani was out there somewhere, in trouble, and he had no way of finding her.
His hand clenched on the jacket, his knuckles showing white.
“College?” Mike asked. “What’s your plan?”
Jake didn’t say anything for a minute as fear for Dani overwhelmed him. He forced it aside. Emotions could mean death on the battlefield. Dani needed him to be calm and logical.
“She’s left her jacket and a phone here. She wouldn’t have gotten rid of them unless she thought she was being tracked.” He thought for a minute and then looked around. “She wanted him to track the phone into the brush while she went into the open for help.” He nodded. His woman was thinking. “I’m headed to the road. Monitor all radio frequencies. She’ll find some way to contact either the police or us.”
“Wilco.”
Jake shoved his phone in his pocket and ran.
Chapter 7
Dani wiped either sweat or blood from her forehead. It was too dark to tell. She much preferred not to have that asshole breathing in her ear; her thoughts ran clearer.
The Ramble was a deathtrap for her. The darkness lay thick around her with no moon to help guide the way. She could barely see a few feet in front of her. The wind howled now through the trees, and she hugged herself against its icy blast. Snowflakes drifted down.
Fucking great.
She pushed forward, trying to protect her eyes from branches she couldn’t see. Someone could be hiding behind any of the trees around her and she’d never know it. She could stumble right into the Huntsman just like some stupid horror-movie heroine if she kept going like this.
She turned east, or what she thought was east. She would head back to the road and hope she could find someone with a phone before the psycho showed up again.
After staggering through the thicket for too long, she made it to a paved path. She hopped the little metal railing and followed the meandering path until it intersected with one heading in the direction she wanted. East.
She stretched her tired legs, pacing herself as she ran, trying to control her breathing. She didn’t let herself think of Jake as she went. Just find the road. Her feet hit a paved sidewalk, thrumming out a rhythm. Just find the road. Just find the road.
The trees started to thin out and bushes disappeared in favor of snow-covered lawns. The wind blew harder here, driving snow into her face. She was going to freeze to death if the Huntsman didn’t kill her.
A wide stretch of pavement lay up ahead. East Drive.
She couldn’t help it; she ran faster, not thinking about conserving her energy. She just ran, looking for anyone to help her. Everyone must be inside, hiding from the coming storm.
Up ahead, she saw a man walking down the sidewalk beside the road. Instinctively, she skidded to a halt before she recognized the brimmed hat, dark bomber jacket, and gun belt of a police officer. She started running again. There was no one else around. She had to have lost the Huntsman by now.
“Help me, please.” She skidded to a stop in front of him. The light from the streetlamps revealed a man in his thirties, with a long face and thin lips.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” he asked, his Jersey accent thick. He gestured to her arm, most of it covered in blood.
“There’s a psycho guy chasing me. He’s got a gun.”
“We’ve been looking for you.” The officer put his hand on his gun and scanned the area behind her. “Is it just one man after you?”
“Yes. I lost him. But he’s still in there.” She waved her hand in the direction she’d come from. “He shot my friend.” A zing of pain went through her as she spoke. Was Jake okay?
“Where did this happen?”
“Bethesda Terrace. We need to get back there.”
He nodded. “My car is back down the drive. Come with me and I’ll call it in.”
She caught her breath and nodded, following him as he walked at a good clip.
“Tell me what happened,” he said calmly.
She explained how the Huntsman had set her up with a phone in her purse.
“Where’s the phone now?”
“It’s under a bush in the Ramble.”
He nodded. “Smart thinking.”
She could see his car in the distance. “Don’t you believe me?”
He looked at her, his eyebrows raised. “Of course I do.”
She pointed at his radio. “You haven’t called it in.”
He gave an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, but my personal radio died. Must be the cold. I have to use the one in my cruiser.”
“We have to hurry,” she said.
“Don’t worry, ma’am. Let’s get you into the car where it’s warm. I’ll drive you over to the Terrace while I call it in.”
They were closer to the police car now and she shivered. She wanted out of this winter air, and to find Jake and make sure he was alive. She shook herself. No, she wanted to make sure he was okay. She couldn’t let herself think that way. Of course he was alive.
He’d been so still the last time she’d seen him, lying sprawled on the steps of the Terrace. But he couldn’t be dead, no matter what her brain tried to tell her.
The police car was parked under a streetlight and she hurried toward it, anxious to find Jake.
* * *
Jake was running toward the road when he saw odd tracks in the snow—two narrow ruts about six inches apart. He looked closer. The ruts started on the path near a large depression and then moved off into the woods. Snow had begun drifting down. Judging by the amount of it, the tracks would be gone by morning.
“I’ve got something, Mike,” he said into his phone and jogged after the ruts, into the trees. Smaller branches had been broken as if someone large had crashed through the brush.
The wood was silent around him. Not even the wind blew. He put his phone in his pocket without turning it off, in order to have his hands free. The trail led him deeper into the trees. A momentary thought crossed his mind, making him hesitate. What if this had nothing to do with Dani? What if he was wasting time?
He shook his head. Those ruts looked like heel marks from someone unconscious being dragged. He couldn’t chance that it hadn’t been Dani. The thought of her being at the mercy of whoever had shot him made him insane with rage. He would kill them—to hell with laws and justice.
He swallowed, trying to find control, to dampen the rage rising inside him. When he found her, he was never letting her go, no matter what she said. If she wanted to keep on living together and never get married, then that was okay with him.
As long as she lived.
Only moments later, he spotted a dark shape on the ground by a tree. He dropped to his knees beside the body, already noting the size was too big to be Dani, the shoulders too broad, the hair too short. He rolled the man onto his back.
Jake sank back onto his heels in relief and pulled out his phone. “I found a guy,” Jake told Mike. Leanly muscled, the Asian man looked to be mid-twenties and was only wearing a T-shirt, black pants, and oddly enough, a bulletproof vest.
Jake found a pulse. “Alive. Breathing is shallow. There’s blood on his head. He’s cold. Someone knocked him out. And I’m suspecting they took his clothes. The guy doesn’t have a coat or anything. But he’s wearing a vest.”
“College, I’m listening to the police band. They’re looking for an Officer Lee. He was on patrol in Central Park and hasn’t reported in.”
Jake took off his own coat and wrapped it around the unconscious man. “I’ve found him. He’s alive, but needs an ambulance. Call it in for me?”
“Wilco.”
“I’m going after Dani now.”
“Be careful, Jake. You know what this means.”
“Yes,” Jake said, pushing his way back out to the path. “The shooter is now dressed as a cop.”
He made th
e path and started to run just as the wind picked up, driving the snow toward him.
* * *
Dani strode with the officer to his car.
A sign about the Ramble caught her attention. She’d run in a circle, it seemed.
The officer turned and smiled at her. “It’ll be alright, ma’am.”
He opened the back door for her and motioned her inside. “Why don’t you hop in? I’ll call the situation in while you get warm.”
“Can’t I sit in the front?” The back doors of police cars locked automatically and could only be opened from the outside.
He shook his head, but kept his smile. “I’m sorry, ma’am. It’s policy.”
She tilted her head. “Because I could be a crazed killer?”
His brows drew together just slightly, but his smile stayed the same. “It’s just policy, ma’am.”
Once she went into the backseat, she wouldn’t be able to get out. She shivered in the cold air that blew against her exposed skin. Jake needed her now. What was she waiting for?
She couldn’t hold onto a thought. Everything tonight had been about running, surviving, and now that she was almost safe, she balked at entering the haven presented to her. Something had triggered her hesitation. Think, Dani. What was it?
She scanned the area, looking for whatever had disturbed her.
“Ma’am?” The officer moved closer to her. “Are you alright?” He rested a hand on the car roof by the open door, standing close to her, as if he would protect her head when she got into the back like cops did with criminals whose hands were cuffed.
“I’m fine, Officer…” She tilted her head to see his nametag.
Lee.
Her heart stopped. Their gazes connected for a split second. His narrowed at whatever he saw on her face.
She slammed the door on his hand. He yelled as his fingers caught between the door and the car frame. His right hand scrambled for the handle.
She kicked him hard between the legs and he went to his knees.
“You bitch.” A British accent now coated the words. His right hand reached for his weapon.
Her instincts screamed at her to run. To get away as far and as fast as she could.
But that would solve nothing. He would continue to chase her until he killed her. So she hit him as hard as she could with the heel of her hand to his nose. Something cracked and blood spurted.
He shoved her back and unlatched the car door. Before he could stand, she attacked again, aiming a roundhouse kick at his head. He ducked and surged to his feet.
She didn’t give him time to go for his weapon, throwing punches and kicks at him. But he deflected and blocked. With each block, he seemed to grow more assured as she grew more ragged and wild in her strikes, her limbs exhausted and trembling from exertion. Her one arm screamed at her each time she used it.
She staggered back, her breath heaving in her chest.
He smiled through the blood that stained his teeth, making him seem even more monstrous. “You can’t win, Danielle.”
Fear slithered through her. His confidence overwhelmed her, and her thoughts scattered. She took a step back and a vicious light entered his eyes. He wanted her to run, to scream, to beg.
If she ran, he would shoot her. There was no way out but to face him; to fight for her life. Tension coiled in her. She would not give up. She would not let this monster win. She’d told Cassie that she fought bad guys with Jake. Both Jake and Cassie would expect her to keep fighting. Thinking of the little girl gave her an idea.
Dani slumped her shoulders, but didn’t take her eyes from the Huntsman. “Please,” she whimpered as she reached into her back pocket and palmed the gift Cassie had given her.
He stepped closer. “I like to hear you beg,” he said. “It’s what they all do in the end.”
She had to force herself to remain still as he reached a hand toward her face, almost as if he were going to caress it. “I won’t kill you just yet,” he whispered. “We still have the—”
She swung an uppercut toward the back of his jaw, putting the strength of her legs into the punch. Cassie’s painted rock connected with his jawbone, near his ear. She followed through with the strike, having aimed not for his face but the other side of his head.
His arm dropped to his side and his eyes rolled up into his head. He thudded to the ground like a sack of meat.
“Merry fucking Christmas,” she whispered.
She nudged him with her foot to make sure he was out, then crouched beside him and pressed the button on the holster that would release the standard-issue Glock 19. She scrambled back up and away, keeping it pointed at him.
She looked around. Down the road, a couple with a dog approached. Not close enough to shout at yet, but the sight of other people calmed her racing heart.
She opened the front door of the cruiser and snagged the radio there.
“Help,” she said into it. “Officer Lee is down.”
“Who is this?” the dispatcher asked.
“A victim. The guy who did it is unconscious.” She looked back at him. His head moved and a groan came from him. “Shit. He’s coming around. Hurry!”
She dropped the radio and ignored the squawking of the dispatcher. Every cruiser had a GPS locator; help should come soon. She held her weapon on the Huntsman as his eyes opened and focused on her.
Sirens started in the distance, coming closer with each second. She smiled at him. “If you move, I will put a bullet in you. Consider it an early Christmas present.”
“Dani!” a deep voice yelled.
Jake ran toward her from inside the Ramble. He must have been tracking her. Relief surged so hard and fast that her arm dropped. He was alive. And he was here.
She took a step to him.
His gaze went beyond her. “Down!” he shouted.
She threw herself to the ground, trusting Jake implicitly. Two shots rang out. She looked up to see Jake standing above her, his breath fogging the night air and his Sig in his hand.
The Huntsman lay sprawled on the ground, a bullet wound to his chest and his sightless eyes staring up at the falling snow. Another gun, this one with a laser sight, lay not far from his outstretched hand.
She cursed herself. “I forgot to check for another weapon.”
Jake hauled her up one-handed and kissed her, his lips soft and warm. It felt like coming home. He ended it way too soon for her.
“I saw him shoot you,” she whispered.
He held her tight and she huddled into his warmth. Snowflakes swirled around them. “Alyssa gave me her vest.”
“She’s a smart lady.”
“See? I knew you’d like my family.”
Another police cruiser, lights and sirens going, pulled up beside them, an ambulance not far behind. Jake put away his weapon and put his hands in the air. Dani left the officer’s gun on the ground. She, too, showed her empty hands. Neither of them wanted to spook the police.
It was going to be a long night of questions. And all she really wanted to do was jump into Jake’s arms again.
Chapter 8
It was Christmas Eve day. Dani had spent last night getting her arm patched up in the ER before she joined Jake in the police station, going over what had happened. Thankfully, Officer Lee had woken up and corroborated their story for them.
And as much as she’d wanted to be in Jake’s arms when they’d made it back to the Bed and Breakfast, he’d gone into his protective mode—making her take a bath while he went and fetched a massive breakfast for her.
Now, she sat at the table, wrapped in a plush robe. She stared at a heaping plate of waffles, which Jake had insisted on cutting up for her while she’d scowled at him. Because of her arm, he’d said. Jake sat across from her and motioned for her to eat.
She picked up a piece of bacon. “I’m not breakable,” she muttered. “I actually beat the bad guy.”
“Just let me do this.” He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, the look on hi
s face left her speechless. “I almost lost you,” he whispered. “And I realized how much a part of me you are. I can’t lose you. It would destroy me.”
She had no words. Her throat was so tight, she couldn’t have spoken even if she’d known what to say.
Jake’s gaze was solemn. “No more talk of marriage,” he said. “I want you in my life any way I can have you.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but shut it without speaking. This was what she’d wanted: to be with Jake with no pressure of a family life that she wasn’t cut out for.
It had been proven to her over and over again as a child. Every time she loved a family, they would leave her or send her away. She couldn’t have a family. She couldn’t handle that pain again.
So why did she feel so hollow inside?
Jake gave a small half-smile. “It’s okay,” he said. “I get it.”
And he did, she knew. He understood her better than she did herself sometimes. That thought made her want to cry for some reason.
He stood up and moved closer to her. “You should eat, then rest. My family’s expecting us for dinner.” He put a finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. “Unless you want to skip it and just have some downtime?”
She shook her head. “No. We should go.”
He nodded and dropped his hand. “I’m going to grab a shower.” He went into the bathroom. It wasn’t long before she heard the water running.
She’d thought she lost him last night. She shivered and pulled her robe closer, but it didn’t help the coldness inside. Why did she feel so alone when Jake had just shown her such comfort, such love?
And that was it. He’d shown her his love and she’d withheld hers. And he hadn’t said a single word about it being unfair. He’d just understood.
She bit her lip. When was she going to finally trust him with all of herself?
* * *
Dani walked into the Harrison family home that evening and received hugs from each family member and Zach too, who’d managed to come down for the evening to spend time with Alyssa. But the best hug came from Cassie.