A bug hit him in the face. He slapped it away. The forest closed in around them. He had no idea where they were. The gunshots had been close. They couldn’t be far.
He cupped his hand around his mouth. “Lana!” His voice boomed through the trees. The sound echoed and bounced around him. He waited. His breath puffed quickly around him in little white clouds.
God, please don’t let me be too late.
“Cal!” Her voice split the air. His heart leapt into his throat. She was alive. He took off in a dead run in the direction her words had come from. Voices sounded behind him, and the glow of flashlights bobbed the night around him. He didn’t slow. His booted feet crunched over twigs and leaves. His arms ruthlessly slapped the branches out of his path. Lights moved into his line of vision—their flashlights. Rage slowed his pulse to a flatline. He couldn’t think about them. He needed to get to Lana, make sure she was safe…then he would let loose the beast inside him that needed to kill these motherfuckers.
“Cal!” Her voice trembled through the night. Her fear was raw and ragged. Ahead, the land pitched downward into a ravine. The lights from the flashlights moved quickly along the top of the slope. He charged at them.
One form grabbed the other. “Get her. I’ll take him,” a woman hissed. A tall form hedged down the slope—toward Lana. The woman’s other hand extended. The glow from the moon caught a metallic sheen. She pulled the trigger. He dove for her. His arms closed around her waist. The bullet whistled over his shoulder, missing his head by inches.
The woman screamed. The gun fell from her fingers as her fists collided with his shoulder. They tumbled down the ravine and landed with a splash, her beneath him. His fists clenched. He wanted to finish her. Every atom in his body pulsated with the need to destroy.
Lana’s scream tore through him. He shot to his feet. His boots splashed in the shallow water. The man stood about fifty feet away, but a small body hunched on the ground at his feet caught Cal’s attention.
Panic turned his veins solid. His chest ached with every breath. Cal pulled out his Glock and pointed it at his target. His steps slowed as he got closer. The man stood just feet away from Lana. Her face turned up to him, the porcelain of her skin reflected in the moon’s light.
“Let her go,” he breathed.
The man shook his head and looked down at Lana. “I’m sorry.” His hand trembled. Cal’s jaw locked. He held his hand steady, directed at the man’s head.
“Drop your weapon. This is your last warning.”
The man grunted. He turned the gun to his temple…and pulled the trigger. The man’s head snapped to the side, and Cal fired a second too late. Cal’s bullet connected with his chest, and he dropped to the ground like a bag of bricks. Without wasting a second, Cal rushed for Lana. His hands closed around her shoulders.
“Are you okay?”
Tremors racked her body. Her teeth chattered, and her lips shook. She nodded wildly. “I’m fine.” He pulled her against him. He ran his hands over her body, everywhere he could feel, searching for an injury. She was frozen. The sweater she wore was heavy and soaking wet. Her hair hung in damp tendrils down her back. He pressed his face into her neck. His heart pumped in his chest. The steady rhythm reminded him he was here. She was alive. They were going to be okay. Her body convulsed in his arms.
“I can’t believe you’re here. You found me,” she said against his shoulder. Her voice was small, unrecognizable. He smoothed his hands quickly over her back, trying to warm her. She pulled far enough out of his arms to look into his eyes. “How did you do it?” she whispered into the night. He wiped a streak of mud from her cheek.
He smiled. “You have my phone. Nate was able to trace it.” His lips quivered. “I was out of my mind, Lana. Losing you was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me.” Tension ebbed through his chest as he took a deep breath. “Lana, I love you so damn much.” He ran his thumb over her bottom lip.
Her eyes filled with tears, and a soft laugh bubbled through her lips. “You have great timing.” Her lips spread into a slow smile. “I love you, too, Cal.” She rested her head against him, and he cradled her neck in his palm. “I thought I was going to die here.” She spoke slowly, as if it took great effort to form the words.
“Shhh. Don’t think about it, okay?”
She nodded and pulled away. Her shoulders wriggled uncomfortably. “My wrists are tied.”
He pulled the switchblade from his pocket, found the plastic zip tie at her wrists, and cut them free. She moved her hands to rub the area. He rubbed his thumbs over the cut on her delicate skin, then traced his own hands over her thighs and up under the sweater. “You’re freezing. Take that sweater off. I’ll give you my shirt.” He pulled at the hem of his shirt, but her hands stopped him.
“No, it’s okay. Let’s just get out of here…please.”
He nodded. His hand closed around hers. “You’re sure you’re okay? I heard shots.”
Her tongue came out to wet her lips. “I’m fine. Just cold. They did shoot, but they missed.” Her gaze shifted over his shoulder to the man’s body. “Is he…”
Cal nodded. “Yeah, babe. He shot himself.”
“You shot him, too?”
“Hell, yeah. I couldn’t take the chance of him turning that gun around on you.”
“And Grace?”
“I’m right here.” The chilly, self-satisfied voice sounded behind him. Cal whipped his head around. His senses tingled. There, before him, stood the woman he’d just rolled down the hill with. She held a gun trained on them. Lana gasped in his ear. Her body tensed in his arms. He pulled her tighter against him, shielding her.
Shouts sounded from above them. “FBI! Drop your weapons!”
A hard glint crossed Grace’s face. Her finger moved on the trigger. Cal threw Lana to the ground and came down on top of her. A shot rang out.
Voices screamed around them.
* * * *
“Cal, are you okay?” Lana’s sobs filled his consciousness. Her hands ran over him. He pushed himself up to look down at her. The shot hadn’t hit him—or her. Flashing lights filled the night. Bustling people came down the slope. Grace sat on the ground beside Shawn, a bullet in her shoulder.
Cal grabbed Lana’s face, forcing her to look at him. “Are you hurt?”
“No. Are you?” Tears streamed down her cheeks.
A hand grabbed his shoulder. Ethan pulled him off Lana. “Are you guys okay? Anyone hurt?”
“You shot Grace?” Cal looked up at his friend.
“Fuck, yeah. She was going to shoot you, man. I just hit her enough to disarm her. That bitch is going to rot in jail.”
Lana threw herself into Cal’s arms. He lifted her against his chest and got to his feet. He followed Ethan out of the ravine.
When they finally reached the parking lot, Cal weaved through the squad cars that surrounded the two trucks. A police officer approached them.
“Miss Vanderpoel?”
In his arms, Lana nodded.
“We need to get a statement from you, please.” The officer was tall, almost Cal’s height, with dark curly hair. Lana’s big, tired eyes locked with Cal’s. She needed to rest. Or at least get out of her wet clothes.
“Can I have a word with you?”
The officer nodded. Cal lowered her to her feet. “Honey, go wait in Ethan’s truck and turn the heat on.” He didn’t have his damn keys, otherwise he’d have put her in his own vehicle.
He turned to the burly officer. “She’s had a hell of a night and is soaked to the skin. Can someone meet us at my house so she can at least get warm and changed first?”
He nodded slowly. “I can understand that. Let me check with someone, but I don’t see a problem.”
He disappeared to approach another officer, then came back. “Sure, let me get your address.” Cal gave him the needed
information and waited for Ethan.
Cal opened the passenger side door where Lana sat. “You holding up okay?” She held her hands splayed out in front of the vents. Her cheeks and nose were still tinted pink from the cold.
“I’m fine.” Her tone was even, strong. In her eyes, he read another story. Dark circles surrounded them, and her face was pale and ashen. His lips thinned. She kept saying she was fine, probably to keep from falling apart. He needed to get her home and let her have the space she needed.
“Do they need to ask me questions right now?” Her gaze wavered from his to land on the light sprinkle of rain that littered the gravel beneath his feet.
“They’re going to meet us at the cabin in a bit. Let’s get you home and cleaned up, okay?” Her shoulders dropped, and relief washed the tension from the lines in her face.
“Thank you.”
“No need. Let me find Ethan and we’ll be on our way.”
She nodded, and he closed the door to lock in the heat. Ethan stepped out of the woods; Grace, her hands cuffed behind her back, followed.
His fingernails dug into his palms with the need to take the bitch out. His chest tightened. He couldn’t do that. Not with all the uniforms here. Grace would be prosecuted. And he wanted her to live through the scandal and shame.
Ethan approached him. Cal dug his hands in his pockets. “They’re going to question Lana at my house. I need to get her home and changed. She’s freezing. I haven’t been able to find my keys, so can you give us a lift?”
Ethan pulled his keys from his pocket. “Here, you take my truck. I’ll go look for your keys. I bet either Grace or the guy in the ravine has them. If I don’t find them, I’ll get a ride from one of the cops.”
“Sure, thanks.” Cal accepted the keys and jogged the short distance to the truck. He climbed in. Lana’s attention was riveted to Grace being put in the back of the cop car.
He reached over, pulled the seat belt across her chest, and buckled it. He turned the truck around and drove down the mouth of the gravel drive toward the interstate. Lana tucked her knees in close to her chest and stared straight ahead.
He didn’t know what to say.
Her whole life had come crashing down around her ears. All he wanted to do was comfort her. He reached over and took her hand. Her fingers were as cold as icicles. His heart twisted at the memory of her sitting in the cold ravine, soaking wet, waiting for the bullet that would kill her.
He’d almost been too late. Another minute or two and things would have ended completely differently. Lana let loose a shaky sigh, jarring him from his dark thoughts.
“You were right about Shawn. That was him in the ravine.”
He squeezed her hand. “He got what he deserved.”
She cleared her throat. “I don’t feel sorry for him.” She threaded her fingers with his. “I can’t believe I lived among all those people. Grace, Tanner, Shawn… How could I have been so oblivious?”
Fire spurred in his guts. “You weren’t, Lana. They were stupid. Take a look at the outcome.”
She snorted. “I suppose you’re right.” She turned her head to look out the passenger window. “I really miss my dad.”
He lifted her hand to his mouth. “Do you want to call him?”
She nodded. “Yeah, as soon as I get out of these clothes.”
A little while later, they pulled into the garage. He came around the truck and lifted her out. “Cal, I can walk.” She swatted at his shoulder. He held her tighter against him.
“I don’t want you to.”
Her head rested against his shoulder in defeat. A small sigh sounded in her throat. He entered the cabin through the garage access, greeted by a very excited Rufus. Without pausing for a beat, he made a beeline for the bedroom and flicked the lights on along the way. Rufus danced at their heels, but Cal shooed him out of the room until he could clean the glass up. He set Lana down on her feet in the bathroom. Under the bright lights, he grimaced inwardly.
Leaves and twigs littered her hair. Streaks of mud and blood from small scratches smeared her face. Her cheeks were hollowed out, and her eyes dark and red-rimmed. Jesus Christ.
“Am I a mess?” She stretched the hem of his sweater out and looked down at herself. Instead of answering, he took the hem from her hands and pulled it over her head. Dirt and debris clung to the damp skin on her bare chest. He reached behind her and turned the water on. She shimmied her sweatpants down her legs and tossed them to the floor. His eyes raked over her. She was so slight and delicate, her body in such sharp contrast to her strength.
“Will you come in with me?”
“You really think you have to ask?” He yanked his shirt off and tossed it to the floor, then chucked his pants. She smiled.
“What about the officers? Aren’t they coming to talk to me?”
“They can wait.” He pulled her under the spray. She rested her cheek against his chest. The hot water beat down on her back. A shiver shook her body against him. “Still cold?” He rubbed his hands up and down her back.
“No, just can’t shake the chill.” He lifted her mass of hair in his hands and washed the debris out. She leaned her weight against him as if her bones had turned to spaghetti. He filled his hand with shampoo and began to work it through her strands.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Shhh. Just rest, okay?” He continued to wash her hair. When he finished, he grabbed the bar of soap and ran it over her skin. Her trembles slowed down until they stopped. A yawn broke through her lips, and she stifled it with the back of her hand.
Shit. “I wish you could go straight to bed.”
She shook her head. “I’m okay. I wouldn’t mind something hot to drink, though, and I’m actually kind of hungry.”
The corners of his mouth lifted. Anyone else would be a mess right now. He might be taking care of her, but only because he’d insisted. Lana was a force to reckon with. Admiration for her swelled in his chest.
He pressed his lips to her head. She smiled up at him. They got out together, and Cal passed her a towel. Once they were dressed, he led her out to the kitchen. She stayed close to his side, her hand curled into his.
“Sit.” He directed her to the island. “I’ll fix you a tea and something to eat.”
“Do you mind if I call my dad first? I know it’s late, but I need to talk to him.”
He plucked the cordless phone linked to his landline up from the counter and handed it to her. He would need to replace his cell phone tomorrow. “Of course, babe. Take all the time you need.”
She gave him a tight smile and took a seat in the living room. Rufus followed and kept her company. Part of him wanted to go to her and hold her hand, but he knew this was something she wanted to do on her own.
He filled the kettle and took some tea bags out for her. Shit, he was in need of groceries. All he had was enough for a couple of sandwiches. By the time he had the sandwiches on plates and her tea poured, she was off the phone. She set it down on the counter. Her eyes misted with tears. He pulled her against him and held her tight. She was so damn small, it made his heart ache that she was hurting.
She smiled up at him, then eased out of his arms. “Thanks.”
“Do you want to talk about it? If you’re tired, it can wait till tomorrow.” Before she could answer, the doorbell rang. Rufus charged for the front door. “Let’s get this statement over with and head to bed. You can tell me everything later.”
She slid on the bar chair, her chin resting on her palm, and his oversized sweater pooling at her elbow. “That sounds good.”
Chapter 26
Lana stretched. Every muscle in her body screamed in protest. She groaned and rubbed her eyes. God, she felt like death. The bed was cool beside her, telling her that Cal had gotten up long ago. She hated sleeping in. Especially today. Her family would be frantic to se
e her.
It had been after 2 a.m. when they had finally fallen into bed. The statement had taken longer than she’d expected, but considering the circumstances, they’d had to be thorough.
The memory of her dad’s tired voice sounded in her head. Her stomach flipped over. She could count on one hand the number of times she’d seen her father cry. Last night, she’d been able to hear the tears in his voice. She had suggested going to see him after the statement, but he had insisted she get some rest.
His last words before hanging up echoed in her ears: “I’ll see you tomorrow, honey. And be sure to bring your friend.”
They had gone to bed right after the police had left, so she hadn’t mentioned it to Cal.
Oh God. Would Cal be up for meeting her dad? Was that something he even wanted to do? She unraveled the sheets from around her and made her way to the kitchen. Only one way to find out.
Cal greeted her with a steaming mug of coffee. His arm circled her shoulders. “You’re finally up. Did you sleep well?”
She nodded. “What time did you get up?”
“A few hours ago. I’ve already worked out and eaten. Ethan just left, he brought my truck over and picked up his. Can I get you something to eat?” After her late snack last night and thinking about her chat with her father, she had lost her appetite.
“Not right now.” She leaned back against the counter and took a sip of the warm liquid, letting it awaken her soul. Cal crossed his arms and leaned back against the opposite counter. He smiled at her. The lines around his face crinkled.
“How are you feeling?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Like hell.”
He chuckled. “Well, you don’t look like it. But I can tell something is on your mind. What’s the matter, babe?”
Her insides tightened. He might not want to meet her father yet. If that was the case, she would have to accept it.
“Last night I told my dad I would go see him today.”
Cal’s eyes focused on hers. The light and laughter left like a cloud blocking out the sun.
“I’m sure he can’t wait to see you. We can leave whenever you want.”
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