by Geri Krotow
Despair rose and she saw dark spots in front of her eyes. What was the point?
Nash groaned again, and the sound of his voice even in pain fortified Patience’s resolve. There were two tiny beings inside her. She had to do whatever it took to save her babies. Which meant she had to save herself. If she shot the Lake Killer, he’d fire back. Even with a reflexive shot from him, chances were good she’d be hit, too.
“Now. Put your weapon down.” She spoke slowly, constantly looking for a way to distract the killer.
“Drop yours or I’ll crush his skull.” The killer stepped on Nash’s shoulder to prove his point, eliciting another long groan from him.
“Patience, you there?” Finn’s voice came over the clinic intercom.
“I’m here. Suspect refuses to comply.” The killer’s eyes never left hers, and she sucked in a deep breath. She’d have to kill him. She briefly looked at her weapon, made certain her safety was off, but it was too much time. She looked back at the killer in time to see him lunge toward her with an object in his beefy hand. It wasn’t a gun or a knife.
A syringe.
She screamed and aimed her weapon at him, but not before the sting of the needle pierced her neck. As her world spun and began to drift, she heard the Lake Killer’s promise.
“I told you I’d be back for you, you bitch.”
Chapter 20
Nash came to on the floor of Patience’s office, his head throbbing, Greta’s barking annoying as hell. His first thought was to get up and run, but to where? He heard Greta’s barks, urging him to rise.
When he sat up the room spun, and he had to wait for it to stop. The Lake Killer... He’d knocked him out. Patience was gone, and the sight of her overturned desk chair and spots of blood on the floor terrified him. It also gave him the courage he needed to fight through the pain. Patience. He had to get to Patience. The bastard had her.
He moved as quickly as he could, which was too slow, too awkward. Leaning against the corridor wall, he caught his breath and remembered his comms unit, which he pressed with a trembling hand.
“Nash?” Finn’s voice, if his battered brain was correct.
“Yeah. Hit. On head.”
“Nash, stay there. We have eyes on the killer and we’re moving in. Repeat, stay there.”
Like hell. He pushed the kennel door open and Greta bounded out, but not to see if he was okay. She raced down the hall and disappeared.
She’d run out the back door. He leaned on the windowsill and saw her huge figure streak across the training field and through the open gate to the pier.
The lake.
Oh, God, no.
His plea wasn’t answered as he looked to the water and saw a small motorboat moving away from the pier, toward the center of the lake. Steered by a man with silver hair, with the unmistakable shape of a woman slumped next to him.
Patience.
Nash immediately half hobbled, half walked to the exit. He’d never get to her in time, but Greta would.
“Nash, you still with us?”
“Where. Are. You?” He gasped with each step, his head screaming in pain. When he got to the door he walked out onto the deck and hung on to the railing, fighting for air. Struggling to keep Patience in focus. She was so still. A strangled sob squeezed out of his throat.
“Nash, listen. Stay put. The killer booby-trapped the clinic so that we can’t move forward, not until we’ve cleared the area of explosives. You’ll trip a detonation wire if you try to leave.”
“I’m already outside.” He kept going toward the pier, his breath returning. “She’s in the lake with him. Greta’s there.”
“Copy that.”
He ignored Finn and kept going. Nash got to the pier in time to see an image no man ever wanted to. As he watched, the Lake Killer dumped Patience’s unconscious form over the side of his motorboat. It wasn’t more than two hundred yards from the shore. Nash pulled out his weapon and took aim. He’d kill the bastard now.
Except Greta was swimming across the lake, and he saw her disappear under the surface. Fortunately, the Lake Killer wasn’t interested in harming the dog, but only in escape, as he aimed his boat at the far shore and revved the engine.
Nash dropped his arm, knowing he’d never get a decent shot off now. He got himself into one of the RRPD launches, and as he started the engine, two officers and two EMTs jumped in next to him. The small motorboat rocked with their arrival, making Nash’s stomach heave.
“We’ve got it, buddy.” Juliette took over steering, and Finn shoved Nash onto the small bench as they raced across the lake toward where Patience had been dropped.
“Greta’s doing her job, Nash. We’ll get Patience out.” Finn’s voice was full of hope.
Nash clung to it. He had to believe she was still alive, that Greta would bring her up before it was too late. It was the single thread that held his sanity together.
They reached the site where she’d slipped beneath the water just as Patience appeared to float to the surface. But it was Greta, nudging her up.
“Good dog, Greta.”
“We’ve got her!” Juliette yelled, as she and Finn worked to bring her limp body aboard.
Nash’s hopes were crushed when he saw the blue tinge to Patience’s skin. It was the first Lake Killer victim all over again.
“No!” He pushed past them all, grabbed at Patience. Finn and Juliette pulled him back, giving the EMTs room to do their job.
“It’s okay, Nash. Let them work.” Juliette spoke as Finn held Nash’s arms. “She’ll be okay.”
“How can you say that?” His entire life had died in this lake today and—
A loud cough was followed by sputters as Patience’s lungs rejected the water she’d inhaled. Nash was afraid to look, but as the EMTs continued to work on her he saw her skin pinking up and hope crept back into his heart. When Patience asked for him with a raspy voice, Nash let the tears of gratitude fall.
They’d saved her.
* * *
Bright hospital lights and the smell of antiseptic greeted Patience as she woke up the next morning after a long night’s sleep. The events of yesterday returned, and all she cared about was that the twins were safe, healthy. They’d survived the knockout drug the Lake Killer had stuck her with. As had she. She turned to find Nash at her side, watching her.
“How long have you been here?”
He gave her a slow smile as he stood and stretched, then came over to the bed and kissed her. “Awhile.”
“More like all night?”
“Hmm.” He kissed her again and she wished they were back at the cabin, alone, with the whole day in front of them to do nothing more than make love. She reached up to run her fingers through his hair and found a large bandage.
“Nash? What’s this?”
He turned around long enough to let her see the large patch over the back of his shaved scalp. “I got a few stitches is all.”
“And a concussion.” She’d heard the EMTs talking on the ambulance ride to the hospital. Nash had ridden with her, and they’d checked him out.
“Minor. The outer swelling saved me from the worst.”
“You saved me.” She watched him as she spoke.
His face contorted into a grimace. “I wasn’t there for you, Patience. Greta saved you.”
She looked around the room. “Where is Greta, by the way?”
“She’s at home. The kids miss her and she needed a day off.”
“She saved my life.” Tears welled and Patience knew she’d never be able to repay the dog.
“She saved us both.” He kissed her forehead. “I’m going to go get some real coffee for us—there’s a café downstairs. How does a caramel latte sound?”
“Like heaven.”
“Be right back.”
She watched him as he left
, allowed herself the sight of his sexy backside. And realized she’d forgotten to ask if they’d caught the Lake Killer yet.
As she went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and tried to make herself presentable, all she thought about was how incredible it would be if they were finally free of both the Lake and Groom Killers. She and Nash and the babies might have a chance at a real life, without the constant stress of being under attack.
As Patience walked back to her bed she heard the door swing open, and turned to give Nash a big smile.
And looked into the cold eyes of the Lake Killer.
* * *
Nash used his back to open the hinged door of the hospital room, holding two lattes and a bag of doughnuts. He froze when he saw the Lake Killer there, and Patience’s wide eyes. To her credit, she didn’t give away that she saw him enter.
“You’ll never get away with this.”
“I almost did yesterday, you bitch.”
“There are more witnesses now, and you’ll have to kill them all. It’s not going to work.”
“Watch me—ahhh!” Nash threw the treats to the ground as he jumped on the taller man’s back and hauled him down. He vaguely heard Patience scream and call for help. The killer fought him, but Nash had the element of surprise and managed to subdue and hold him until security guards rushed into the room.
RRPD officers arrived ten minutes later and took the Lake Killer into custody. Finn was with them, and waited until the room cleared to speak to both Patience and Nash.
“You two have been through the wringer. I’m ordering you both to take a week off, no argument.”
Nash shook his head, still a painful move. The adrenaline from capturing the Lake Killer must have dulled the pain temporarily. “I can’t do that, Chief. The Groom Killer’s still out there, and I’ve got my kids to take care of.”
“It’s paid leave, Nash. No arguments.” Finn’s eyes twinkled. “And I understand congratulations are in order.”
Nash saw Patience smile, and more—he saw the relief in her features. The target on her back was gone, her stalker behind bars. “Thank you, Finn,” she said warmly. “I agree with you—we need a break. But like Nash said, this probably isn’t the time for it.”
“No arguments from you, either, Dr. Colton.” Finn nodded at them before he turned and left.
Nash looked at Patience, who sank onto the bed. “This has been too much for you.”
She waved away his comment. “I’m good. You heard the doctors—the babies are, too. I can go home later today.”
Nash knew this was the time to tell Patience where he wanted “home” to be. For both of them.
* * *
Patience saw the gleam in Nash’s eyes after Finn left. It was the look he saved for her, the one that made her know he was thinking of nothing, no one else. Only her. Patting the space next to her on the hospital bed, she waited for him to sit, then took his hands in hers. His strong, sexy, dear hands.
“Nash, what I was trying to say before, in my office yesterday, is that I love you. And it’s okay that you don’t feel the same—this isn’t my way of trying to get you to be more than you want to with the babies. But I had to tell you.” A keen sense of happiness unfurled from her center, as if her heart was exploding in fireworks. It was absolutely the best thing she’d ever felt or done. She loved Nash.
He gave her his signature wide, sexy smile that made all they’d been through the past month melt away. “Babe, you’re not getting off that easy.”
“No?”
“I love you, too. And you’re not going to raise these babies on your own.”
Delight and pure love washed through her. “I’m not?”
“No. These babies will grow up with four older siblings, and with both of us.” He touched her forehead with his. “Now’s not the time, Patience, but when you’re better, and my head’s not so messed up, I’m going to ask you to marry me.”
“You are?”
“Yes.” He claimed her lips, this time in a promise to last the rest of their lives. “What do you think about that, Dr. Colton?”
“I think that when you do ask me, I’ll say yes.”
* * *
Look out for
the next installment of the
Coltons of Red Ridge miniseries,
Colton’s Christmas Cop
by Karen Whiddon,
available November 2018!
And don’t miss the previous
Coltons of Red Ridge stories,
all available now from
Harlequin Romantic Suspense!
Colton’s Twin Secrets by Justine Davis
His Forgotten Colton Fiancée by Bonnie Vanak
Colton’s Cinderella Bride by Lisa Childs
The Colton Cowboy by Carla Cassidy
Colton and the Single Mom by Jane Godman
Colton K-9 Bodyguard by Lara Lacombe
Colton’s Deadly Engagement by Addison Fox
Colton Baby Rescue by Marie Ferrarella
Keep reading for an excerpt from Rancher’s Deadly Reunion by Beth Cornelison.
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Rancher’s Deadly Reunion
by Beth Cornelison
Prologue
Boyd Valley, Colorado
The loud, frantic pounding on the front door at 1:00 a.m. boded ill. Pam Summers belted her bathrobe around her and started for the door. Her husband followed at a slower, groggier pace, while their four-month-old yellow Lab gamboled around the foyer and barked excitedly. When Pam looked through the peephole and saw who was there, she gasped at the young man’s beleaguered appearance and snatched open the door.
“Brady? What are you doing here?” Pam studied her brother-in-law’s disheveled clothes, slumped shoulders and bloodshot eyes with concern. His showing up on their doorstep at this late hour was unusual enough to elicit worry, but his appearance as he stood on their stoop spiked her distress through the roof. She clutched the lapels of her terry-cloth robe closed near her throat. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
She heard her husband, Scott, walk up behind her, his slippers scuffing on the hardwood floor of the foyer. “Hey, little brother, what’s—Damn! You look like hell.”
“Can I come in?” Brady asked, his voice as rough as gravel.
Nerves jangling, Pam opened the door wider to let Brady into their Boyd Valley, Colorado, home. Kip, the puppy, ran out to the yard, while a warm, late-August breeze, redolent with the scents of cut grass and summer rain, followed Bra
dy in. As for her brother-in-law, Brady reeked of beer and something harder.
“Is it Dad? Has something happened to Dad?” Scott asked as his brother staggered to the couch and dropped heavily onto the cushions.
“Nah, the old man’s fine.” Brady scrubbed a hand over his bleary face.
Scott frowned and wrinkled his nose. “You’ve been drinking. A lot by the looks and smell of it.”
“Yeah, so what?”
“So...getting drunk is Dad’s thing. I thought you knew better.” He paused a beat. “Did you drive here?”
Brady said nothing and kept his eyes down.
“Damn it, Brady!” Scott barked, “You’re not even legal yet. But driving while you’re drunk...that’s unacceptable. It’s stupid and dangerous!”
Brady squeezed his eyes tightly shut and held his head. “I know.”
Scott huffed his disgust. “You can sleep here tonight and go home tomorrow. Jeez, I thought you had more sense than to—”
“I asked Piper to marry me.” Brady’s announcement silenced Scott’s tirade.
Pam settled on the love seat positioned catty-corner to the couch where Brady had slumped, dazed-looking. Scott eased down beside her, placing a warm hand on her knee.
“I’m guessing from your demeanor that she turned you down,” Scott said.
“She’s leavin’. Goin’ to Boston for college. Didn’t wanna be tied down to a good-for-nothin’ ranch hand.”
Pam blinked her surprise. “She said that? She called you good-for-nothing?”
“Didn’t have to. It’s kinda obvious. I mean, she’s smart. Got a full scholarship to that fancy school out east. All I do is shovel horseshit and rustle cattle.”
“Being a ranch hand doesn’t make you good-for-nothing, Brady,” Scott said. “This...feeling sorry for yourself bit isn’t like you. I know you really like Piper, but people leave for college all the time.”
“I don’t really like her. I love her.” Brady gave them a woeful look. “I want to marry her. But she turned me down. Flat. It’s over.”