Manhunt

by Lisa Phillips

  His lungs demanded air. Eric raced to the surface, sucked in another breath and forced himself back down, moving his search farther away. Had she drifted this distance?

  He kept searching the dark waters, not willing to lose her to the river. He wouldn’t let Kerry grow up motherless. You don’t want her to die either.

  That was true. Not because she was a focused and driven partner. She was more important than that, more important to him than that.

  Eric pushed through the water and finally found her, pale-faced, floating just above the ground. Her lips were blue and her hair hung around her head like a red halo.

  Was she dead?

  TWENTY-SIX

  It didn’t matter if he’d never found her—Eric would have kept searching the river for eternity.

  Emotion rushed through him, making his head swim with more than lack of oxygen. He grabbed her and made for the surface, knowing for sure now that he loved this woman. More than anyone he’d ever known.

  His head cleared the water, and he gasped for air. He hauled them both onto the roof and laid Hailey down. He checked her pulse, but there wasn’t one. She wasn’t breathing.

  Eric tilted her head and began CPR.

  Hands yanked him away from her. Eric spun around and saw Farrell a split second before the punch slammed into his jaw. Bright light splintered behind Eric’s eyes. He stumbled, recovered and hit Farrell back. Eric’s nose started to bleed again.

  Farrell punched at him, a vicious combination that dazed Eric. Wet clothes weighed down his arms and legs. Farrell’s arm closed around Eric’s neck and pulled him into a headlock. All he could see was Hailey, as good as dead on the roof with little to no chance of coming back from it.

  God, I have to get to her. She can’t die. She can’t.

  In the distance he could hear Kerry screaming and Charles yelling.

  He struggled against Farrell’s grip, reached up from the headlock he was in and grabbed the sides of Farrell’s face. He pulled with every ounce of strength he had left and managed to flip Farrell over.

  Farrell slammed his head on the roof. With him dazed, and hopefully unconscious, Eric ran to Hailey.

  Eric got through two rounds of chest compressions and breaths before a booted foot slammed into his side, knocking him over. He straightened, ignoring his assailant, and started up again, pumping Hailey’s chest and willing her to breathe. Farrell kicked him in the side of the head.

  Kerry cried out, the sound ringing in Eric’s ears. He couldn’t let her down. Eric ignored the throbbing in his body and leaned down to breathe life back into Hailey.

  Farrell reared back and kicked him again in the side.

  He breathed.

  Farrell kicked.

  Hailey jerked and began to sputter. Eric flipped her onto her side, where she coughed river water onto the roof. Farrell kicked him again, bursting fire in Eric’s ribs. He grabbed the escapee’s foot, twisted it and planted Farrell prone on the roof.

  He listened to the blessed sound of Hailey’s sputtering while he punched and kicked the man who nearly killed her.

  At the first opening, Eric flipped Farrell facedown and grasped the man’s hands behind his back. “Enough!”

  *

  Eric dumped Farrell at the far end of the roof, where he sat muttering something under his breath that Hailey was pretty sure was not complimentary to either her or Eric.

  Eric turned back to where she was sitting. The look on his face was like he hadn’t seen her in a decade. Hailey didn’t know what to make of it, especially when he sat with her and drew her into his arms. She rested against his shoulder and listened to the rise and fall of his chest while her head swam. His breath hitched.

  “What is it?”

  Eric looked out at the water. “Farrell kicked me in the ribs. I think he cracked one with his boot.”

  Hailey shot a glare at Farrell. As if the man hadn’t done enough damage to them. Thankfully, all they had to do now was bring the escapee back in and get him booked into custody. Then he would be out of state, finally serving his federal time in California, and they could get on with their lives.

  Hailey’s head throbbed. Had she hit it on something? She didn’t much care, snuggled into Eric’s side. What had happened?

  When Farrell was gone, Eric would go back to being her partner and Hailey would…what? She wasn’t sure who she would be. Not after this weekend.

  “You okay?”

  Hailey looked up at him. His face was inches from hers, and he didn’t look much better than she felt. But instead of seeing relief in his face, all she saw was unease. “Are you okay?”

  “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

  “Fall in the river?” She nearly laughed.

  “No. Stop breathing.”

  Hailey’s body went solid. “I…I wasn’t breathing?”

  Eric nodded. “I gave you mouth-to-mouth.”

  “But you said Farrell kicked you…”

  “I know.”

  “I don’t understand.” Hailey stared at him while she processed what he was saying.

  No wonder her brain felt like it wasn’t running at full capacity. Her muscles felt like water. Farrell could swim away to escape forever and she’d probably just sit there and not care. It would take too much energy to go after him. She was completely spent.

  Hailey lifted one hand, the extent of her physical capabilities, and rested it against Eric’s jaw. “Thank you.”

  He held her gaze with his. “You’re welcome.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I said you’re welcome.”

  Hailey nodded as much as she could, which was still only a slight movement. “I know. Thank you. For me, for Kerry. For my dad. For all of us. Really. Seriously. Thank you.”

  She didn’t realize she was crying until she felt the wetness on her cheeks. Eric swiped away the tears with his thumbs, leaned down and covered her lips with his. Lips that had breathed life back into her.

  Hailey’s breath hitched. She buried her face in his shoulder and held tight until the emotion subsided. Then she lifted her head and looked to where Charles and Kerry were sitting together on the roof of the church.

  There was no way to get to them, not without swimming while hauling Farrell with them. There was no way Hailey could make it that far without Eric’s help, and he couldn’t do that and keep Farrell contained at the same time.

  Her eyes locked with her daughter’s and Hailey raised her hand, palm facing out. Kerry shifted in the shelter of her dad’s arms and did the same. Hailey gave her a smile. However furious she was for what Charles had done and the danger he’d put them in, he was still taking care of Kerry, and the girl would always love her father. That was just the kind of person her daughter was.

  Eric’s hand rubbed up and down Hailey’s back and she huddled into his warmth. She tore her gaze from Kerry. “What are we going to do now?”

  Eric drew out his phone. “No signal. Jonah knew where we were—”

  “Jonah’s probably dead.”

  Eric’s arms tightened around her, as though he needed strength as badly as she did. “So no one knows where we are?”

  Hailey pressed her lips together. “Someone will find us. They have to.”

  “But how long will that take? We can’t last out here forever, soaking wet and exhausted.”

  A smirk curled Farrell’s lips. Hailey lifted her chin and glared at him. It was a feeble attempt to show him that despite everything he’d done, she might be down but she wasn’t broken. Still, it made her feel better.

  She turned back to Eric. “Don’t give up now. We need you to keep faith until the end. I need you to.”

  He studied her face but didn’t say anything.

  “You can’t quit now.” She pointed at Farrell, though neither of them looked that way. “We got our man. We’re safe. Kerry is safe. Everything will turn out fine. We just have to trust God, since He’s brought us this far.”

  Eric’s face softe
ned. “You’re right. He brought me to you.”

  Hailey grasped Eric’s cheeks in her hands and pulled his face down so that his lips touched her forehead. Her heart swelled with love, but she couldn’t tell him that. Not when it had happened so fast. Just days before this they had only been partners, and not even full partners who relied on and trusted each other. Now they were so much more.

  Hailey would fight for this. She couldn’t let things go back to the way they had been before. Acquaintances. Coworkers. She wouldn’t be able to bear it if that happened.

  It would hurt worse than never having found out what could be between them, if she let him go knowing what she had lost.

  Hailey tried to hold her grip on his face. “Don’t let go.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Not ever.”

  “I promise I won’t let go, Hailey.”

  Her breath hitched. Eric’s lips touched her forehead, and she squeezed her eyes shut, hardly caring that the escapee was seeing them like this.

  Eric’s head moved and his lips rested by her ear. “I—”

  A helicopter crested the mountain behind them. Hailey turned to see it fly toward them, her heart aching to hear what Eric might have been about to say. Could he really feel the same way she did? Wouldn’t that have been crazy? They’d only known each other a few days.

  Eric wrapped her up more tightly. Hailey started to ask what was going on when the spray of water hit her. The helicopter steadied itself overhead.

  The whomp of the rotors was deafening, making Hailey’s head swim. She was going to have to go up in that thing? It was going to weave around, dip and tilt, and she would have to hang on.

  She moved her mouth so she could speak directly in Eric’s ear. “Is it the National Guard?”

  Eric nodded. “And they brought a friend.”

  The tone in his voice brought her head up. Hailey looked through the spray at the man now strapping himself into a harness. He wasn’t wearing the fatigues the others in the helicopter had on. His jeans were getting soaked and the hood on his rain jacket had flown back. This man’s hair was a different shade of blond from Eric’s, but she could make out his features as he descended to the roof.

  Hailey looked at Eric. “That’s your brother.”

  He flexed his jaw. “Yep. That’s Aaron, all right.”

  It wasn’t the first time Hailey had seen and heard the tension in him when he spoke of his brother. She’d always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling. Now that she was seeing it in action, she realized it was a lot like her relationship with her dad.

  When they saw each other day in and day out, Hailey let her frustration get the best of her and took it out on him, knowing he would always love her. Then when he was gone she missed him—like now, when she desperately wanted to find out if he was all right and give him a hug.

  She was a horrible daughter.

  Eric glanced at her and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need to find my dad.”

  He gave her a squeeze. “We’ll find him as soon as we can, okay? He should be at the Falcons’ stadium with everyone else.”

  Hailey nodded. One by one they were loaded into the helicopter. Aaron looked at her with a fair amount of curiosity. He glanced between her and Eric, and his curiosity seemed to pique when Eric explained that she was his partner. But then he grinned with Eric’s smile and Hailey found she could relax a little.

  She ignored Farrell, who was being handcuffed to the bar on the ceiling of the helicopter, and gripped the seat belt strapping her in. Eric pulled her hand between both of his as they flew the short distance to where Kerry and Charles were. When Aaron moved to strap in and descend for them, Eric stopped him with a hand.

  “Let me. I want to be the one to get her.”

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  The helicopter landed in the parking lot at the Falcons’ stadium. The place was lit up and swarming with people.

  “Grandpa’s in there somewhere.”

  Hailey turned to Kerry and yelled back, “We’ll find him.”

  “But we don’t know for sure that he made it here. He could be at home, or stuck somewhere.” Kerry’s voice was thin.

  Hailey shifted Kerry’s face into her shoulder. She could try to convince her daughter everything would work out. After all, Kerry only had to look around the helicopter to see what they’d overcome together, to see how God had brought them all through the flood. But her strength had faded and at this point she doubted she could walk, let alone come up with a helpful answer.

  Still, Hailey knew nothing soothed a person better than touch. That’s why she didn’t mind being squished up against Eric in the chopper. Or the fact that he’d reached for her hand when he’d settled beside her with Kerry, and he hadn’t let go.

  He would let go eventually, but she wasn’t going to think about that.

  Once police officers secured Farrell and escorted Charles away, Eric climbed out of the helicopter. Hailey sent Kerry in front of her so Eric could help her out. His attention to Kerry warmed her, as did the way he reached again for her hand.

  Hailey scooted to the edge, but energy bled from her muscles until she suddenly had no strength left.

  When she stopped, Aaron stepped forward. “You okay?”

  She couldn’t even lift her head.

  Eric came over, still holding Kerry’s hand. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know,” Aaron said. “She just stopped.”

  “Hailey?”

  She tried to focus on his voice. The world tilted and hands steadied her. Eric’s voice floated in and out of her consciousness. She heard only the words “drowned” and “CPR.”

  A man’s arms surrounded her shoulders, hooked under her knees and lifted her. Hailey’s world vacillated between darkness and bright floodlights. People talked, their voices going in and out.

  When she blinked again, the ceiling was miles away. Hailey tried to sit up, but Aaron put his hand on her shoulder. “Easy.”

  The world spun. “Where’s Kerry?”

  “Eric took her to get hot chocolate and some breakfast.”

  “Breakfast?”

  Aaron gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’s morning. You’ve been out for hours.”

  Hailey’s stomach unclenched. “Did Eric get his ribs looked at?”

  A gleam of something flashed in Aaron’s eyes. “Care about my brother, do you?”

  “Of course.” Hailey didn’t like the suspicion on his face. She’d spent years trying to prove herself to everyone but no more. She was who God had made her to be, and that was all she could be. “He’s my partner. Why wouldn’t I care that he got treatment?”

  “Are you sure that’s all he is?”

  Hailey shifted on the bed. She was surrounded by rows of other beds in what looked like a back room of the stadium. She didn’t want to be evasive, but this was Eric’s brother. And she hadn’t even told Eric how she felt yet.

  “Eric and I work together. We care about each other.” She paused. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to rest, not get the third degree from you.”

  “I’ll let Eric and Kerry know you’re awake.”

  “See if you can find anything out about Jonah Rivers while you’re there.”

  Aaron glanced back and grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Hailey bunched up her pillows and managed to sit up. Kerry had seen her pass out, but she didn’t need to come back and see Hailey looking sick, no matter how bad she felt.

  “Hailey?”

  Her head whipped around to the source of that voice. Her dad shuffled over, his coat wrapped tight around his body by his folded arms. He grabbed her hand and pulled it to his chest.

  “Dad, you’re okay.” Hailey shifted over and he settled on the bed. “You are, aren’t you? Charles said you have cancer.”

  His face shut down, and it was then that Hailey knew.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I just…I tried. I had ever
y intention of telling you, but I’d open my mouth and…I just couldn’t.” He breathed, slow and quiet. “All I could think of was your face when your mom and I told you that your mom had it. That whole time she was sick, and then after she died, it was like you died, too. I mean, you were still walking around, but part of you was gone. So I started treatment and—”

  Hailey’s heart swelled with love for her dad. He’d been trying to protect her from the pain she’d experienced watching her mom die. She realized something. “When you had the flu?”

  Her dad’s eyes lifted, full of guilt and pain. “That’s what I told you.”

  “And I believed you.” She wanted to yell at him, but only because she felt a truckload of guilt herself for being so wrapped up in her own life that she took his word for it. Instead of digging a little and realizing something much bigger was going on.

  But that was before. Things were going to be a whole lot different now, starting with her relationship with her dad.

  “I’m so sorry.” She pulled him close and kissed his cheek. “I should have been a better daughter. I should’ve realized.”

  He kissed her back. “And I should have told you.”

  “Do you need anything?” Hailey glanced around, wondering if there was anyone nearby who knew anything about her dad’s condition. “Do you need any help right now? We could get you a bed.”

  He shook his head. “I’m good now, darlin’. Finished my treatment and got a clean bill of health.”

  “Really?”

  He grunted, which at any other time would have been a laugh. “Sure did, for now at least. I just have to keep an eye on things and get regular checkups. But my insides are clear.”

  Hailey smiled. One day she’d get him to actually say out loud the precise location of the cancer. But more likely he’d just leave some paperwork out, and she’d read it there instead. Because why wouldn’t they communicate that way, when the alternative was him saying something he thought was “delicate” out loud?

  Hailey sighed. “I’m glad you’re okay, Dad.”

  “Me, too, darlin’. Me, too.” He grinned. “Now tell me about this partner of yours. You tell him you like him yet?”

  Hailey tried to laugh but choked instead. “Uh, not yet, exactly.”