by Jenna Night
Nate’s stomach clenched and his heart hammered so hard in his chest he could feel it in the base of his throat. Oh, dear Lord.
He drew in a breath and cleared his mind of every thought except for what was happening at this very moment. Imagining how terrified Lily felt or dwelling on the realization of how much he cared for her would not help, though that was the direction his thoughts wanted to go.
Adrenaline made his hands tremble slightly as he gripped his gun tighter and slowly stood up, setting his sights on Eddie.
He glanced around to make certain there were no innocent bystanders in his potential line of fire. The sidewalks were clear. The park was likewise empty. An alert adult had gathered the kids and the dog who were playing in the grass and ushered them out the park’s back entrance.
Rios turned off the bar lights on the roof of her cruiser. “We don’t want to hurt you,” she called out over her loudspeaker. “Let’s talk.”
Nate could see Eddie shoving at Lily with his free hand, his other hand still holding the gun pressed into the side of her head. She rolled down her window. “No talking!” she called out, her voice breaking. “Just let us go!”
“You know I can’t do that,” Rios answered. “Both of you get out of the car and we’ll talk.”
Nate took another couple of steps forward, hoping Deputy Rios would keep Eddie distracted until he could get close enough for a clean shot. Eddie must have murdered Sheila. That was why he’d snapped. Something had driven him too far, whether it was his organized crime bosses or his own greed. He’d obviously gone beyond rational behavior and there was nothing to stop him from killing Lily. It wasn’t just an idle threat when he’d said he had nothing to lose.
The passenger door flew open and Eddie slid out, dragging Lily with him. When she first tried to stand, her knees buckled. He yanked her back to her feet.
The street they were on was the next one over from Stagecoach Road, the shopping and dining hub for Painted Rock. There was a store-lined passageway between the two streets, forming an arcade. Eddie headed in that direction dragging Lily with him.
Rios got out of her car, gun drawn and speaking into her collar mic. She started after them.
A couple of patrol cars pulled forward from a side street and waited. With no further reason to stay out of sight, Nate took off running after Rios. Behind him, he could hear Bubba barking and whining in the back of Rios’s patrol car.
The arcade had been pieced together over the course of sixty years, with countless remodels turning it into a shopping maze. Several of the stores had open archways cut into their walls to allow customers free passage between them. There were communal storage spaces with their own exits and access to the roof. If Eddie moved fast enough, there was a good chance he’d disappear in the confusion of twists and turns and get away.
Running into the shopping arcade, Nate passed frightened shoppers who were running out. Some of them yelled that there was a man with a gun, but that didn’t help Nate narrow down Eddie’s location. In the midst of panicking people, reflections off glass storefront windows and shop display mirrors created an even more disorienting landscape.
Rios paused and Nate caught up with her. Both of them looked around and turned in a full circle, but saw nothing. Eddie could be anywhere. A couple of uniformed deputies hurried in from the Stagecoach Road side of the arcade. They hadn’t seen him, either. “We’re getting the civilians out of the way as fast as we can,” a sheriff’s department sergeant reported as he jogged up. “We’ve got everybody moving toward the park across the street. Keep searching and be careful.”
“Right,” Rios said. “I’ll get Bubba.” When she returned with the K-9, he determinedly led her toward a vintage clothing shop and then to a trio of simple frame dressing stalls in the back of the store. He strained toward the narrow gap at the bottom of one door and barked.
All of the deputies raised their guns.
Nate’s lungs tightened. Bullets could start flying any minute and Lily was right there. What if she got hit?
“Come out or I’ll sic my dog on you!” Rios called out. “He will bite you!”
Nate heard Lily plead, “Please, let me go.”
“It’s over,” Eddie screamed. “You’re too late! I’m not going to prison.”
Rios flashed Nate a worried glance.
Terrified that Eddie was about to start shooting, Nate yanked open the door to the dressing stall next to the one Lily and Eddie were in. The sides to the stalls didn’t reach the ceiling. Nate jumped, grabbed a narrow crossbeam and pulled himself up until he was crouched on top of it and looking down at Eddie and Lily.
Eddie was surrounded by the sound of his own screaming and Bubba’s barking, and he didn’t realize Nate had climbed up there.
Nate could see that Eddie’s shirt was completely sweat-soaked. It looked like he was crying. He still kept a tight grip on Lily, clutching her close to his body.
At least now Eddie held his gun pointed toward the ground. Maybe exhaustion was setting in. There might still be a chance he’d surrender.
But then Rios yelled out a final warning that she was about to release her dog.
“Do it!” Eddie screamed in response. He pointed his gun at Lily’s head. His hand began to tighten around the handle and the trigger.
Nate saw it all. The quarters were too tight. Lily was too close to Nate’s line of fire. It was the worst possible situation for him to try to shoot someone. But he had no choice. Nate took the shot.
Eddie dropped his gun and fell face-forward to the ground, crying out and gripping his shoulder where Nate had hit him. Lily screamed and dropped to the floor, covering her ears and desperately jamming herself into a back corner of the dressing stall.
Nate dropped down to the ground beside her just as Rios kicked open the door.
“Lily!”
She didn’t respond to Nate. With her arms now wrapped tightly across her midsection, she seemed to be staring at something on the ground Nate couldn’t see. He kneeled down and then sat on the floor beside her while Rios cuffed Eddie. Finally, Lily seemed to notice he was there and turned toward him.
“You okay?” he asked.
She straightened her glasses with trembling hands and shook her head.
“We have to get out of the way,” Nate said gently.
EMTs were already trying to get to Eddie, who was cussing and wailing.
Nate stood, held out his hand and helped Lily to her feet. Then he held her close, trying to block her view of Eddie as they stepped out of the dressing stall and into the store.
As soon as they were out of the way Nate wrapped his arms around Lily and held her tight. He could feel her trembling, could feel her tears as they rolled from her face and onto his neck. But she still hadn’t said anything.
The realization struck him that the story he told himself about not being family-man material was a lie. The truth was that he was just scared. Scared of failing someone who depended on him. Scared of losing someone he loved. Scared of loving and losing Lily.
He dropped his chin to the top of her head and let out a sigh. He was so very sorry she had to go through all this. And it still wasn’t over. The cargo-theft ring was an extensive criminal enterprise. Eddie was only one piece of the puzzle.
* * *
Lily let herself melt into Nate’s strong embrace. He had stayed with her from the moment this nightmare had started. She trusted him, and trusted he could chase away the dark imaginings that had formed in her mind after she’d heard the gunshot and seen the explosion of blood across Eddie Drake’s shoulder.
For the moment she also felt comfort in the peace that traveled alongside her faith. Thank You, Lord.
“Nate!”
Someone called out for the deputy and he slowly, reluctantly, unwrapped his muscular arms from ar
ound Lily. She was feeling pretty reluctant about ending their embrace, too. But he had a job to do. And thanks to him she was already feeling a little bit stronger.
Sheriff Wolfsinger arrived on-scene a short time later. Nate was suspended, pending a full investigation, as was routine with the Oso County sheriff’s department when one of their deputies was involved in a shooting.
“I don’t think the investigation will take long,” Sheriff Wolfsinger said. “But we’re doing everything by the book.”
Lily couldn’t help thinking of Nate’s enemies back in Copper Mesa. Everybody who was tied to the criminal element in the county and trying to undermine Nate’s career would be having a field day. Old accusations, no matter how unfounded, would be dredged up and repeated in the news headlines until people started to believe them. It was just the way things worked these days.
While Nate and the sheriff talked, Nate stood close to Lily. He didn’t exactly hold her hand, but he touched it a couple of times. Quietly. Unobtrusively. And Lily felt his concern for her wrap her from head to toe like a warm embrace. It didn’t matter that he was back to wearing that tough-cop face. She now knew what lay behind it.
There might be some aspects to Nate Bedford’s personality that he liked to hide, but he couldn’t hide them from her anymore. If he didn’t want to be a family man, that was one thing. But if he truly believed he didn’t have what it took, he was mistaken. And Lily would have to set him straight.
Nate had more questions to answer and more people to talk to. Lily realized she was in the way and, after giving him a reassuring smile, she drifted toward a small table, where the dress shop’s manager had set up a pot of coffee. She gave her statement to a deputy while sipping a cup, invigorated by the caffeine. Afterward, she reached into her pocket for her phone.
Oh yeah, her phone and purse were back at Nate’s apartment, where she’d dropped them when Eddie grabbed her. It would be a short trip there and back. Eddie was in custody now. There were still cops in the shopping arcade. She’d make it quick.
A flurry of snowflakes tickled her face as she walked along the street outside the arcade. Most of the patrol cars that had lined the street earlier were gone now. Eddie had been hauled away in an ambulance. A forensics team was in the arcade documenting the physical evidence of the chase and shooting.
She walked the short distance to Nate’s apartment, found her purse on the ground where she’d dropped it when Eddie grabbed her, picked it up and headed back. While she was walking, she dug her phone out of her purse. She’d better call her mom and let her know she was okay before she heard about what had just happened on the news.
The wind was picking up and Lily’s cute jacket wasn’t enough to keep her warm. Up ahead she saw Elijah’s truck where Nate had left it by the park. There was probably something she could wrap around her shoulders in there.
There weren’t many people on this secondary street now. Everybody was already back to visiting the shops and restaurants around the arcade and over on Stagecoach Road.
She got to the truck, reached for the door handle and felt someone trying to get by on the sidewalk behind her. She moved forward a little to get out of the way, heard a whoosh and everything went black...
The next thing Lily knew she had a horrible headache. The back of her head not only hurt on the inside, but it also felt like her skull was actually sore. But wait, when and where had she fallen asleep?
Some kind of cloth lay atop her. Must be blankets pulled up over her head. She was probably in bed. Her thoughts still groggy, she reached up to move the blanket. It wasn’t a blanket. It felt like a couple of coats had been thrown over her. She opened her eyes. They weren’t her coats.
A jolt of fear cleared the grogginess and she sat up. A wave of dizziness washed over her. Her vision was fuzzy as she felt around for her glasses. Even with her bad eyesight, she could see that she was in the backseat of a car. And she could feel the car moving.
“What’s happening?” The words felt heavy on her lips. She didn’t get an answer, so she repeated her question more loudly. She could see that a man was driving the car and that the two of them were the only passengers.
Still feeling around the seat for her glasses, she tried to think. What did she last remember? Nate. She remembered Nate. But that wasn’t Nate driving the car. She could tell that much by the man’s haircut. A sick feeling churned in her stomach. Something was terribly wrong. She tried to see the man’s reflection in the rearview mirror but her vision was just too blurry.
Fighting another wave of dizziness, she moved her body so she was facing forward and dropped her feet to the floor.
“You’re awake,” the driver said.
His voice was maddeningly familiar and held a hint of humor that felt disturbingly out of place.
“Who are you?” Lily asked, her voice still weak. “Where are we?”
“I’m your driver,” the man answered breezily. “And we’re going for a ride.”
She knew that voice. Gripping the seat in front of her, she pulled herself forward to get a look at him. “Bryan Torrent?” The owner of Torrent Trucking? But that didn’t make any sense.
“Sit back,” he snapped. Then he lifted up a handgun from the seat beside him. Even without her glasses, Lily knew what it was.
Numb with fear, she sat back. Dear Lord, what do I do now?
FOURTEEN
Nate felt uncomfortable without his department-issued handgun, but surrendering it was part of the shooting after-incident procedure. He’d given his statement, filled out numerous forms—both electronic and paper—and watched as deputies from the next county arrived to take a look at the scene.
Having an outside agency step in and participate in the investigation of an officer-involved shooting was common. It helped avoid the accusation of a departmental cover-up. Nate was determined to do everything he could to help. A clean investigation would bolster the prosecution. And it might help diminish those old unfounded accusations that Nate operated outside the law.
A crime-scene photographer handed Nate a cup of coffee as he walked by and Nate took a sip. He glanced around the store, where the owner had just been given permission to start putting her disheveled shop back together. He blew out a breath and felt his neck muscles relax a little. That oily red-headed weasel Eddie Drake would be locked up as soon as his shoulder was stitched back together. He wouldn’t be threatening Lily again.
“All right, Nate, now will you take a break? And by that I mean head back to the Blue Spruce for a couple of days. I’m not going to be able to put you back on patrol until then, anyway.”
Nate turned toward Sheriff Wolfsinger.
“I was just talking to our new county public information officer,” the sheriff continued, gesturing with his phone. “Bit of a high-strung young man, anxious for a press release. I gave him the bare minimum information. I’m not hiding the fact that you were involved in the shooting, though. There’s no reason to. You did a fine job.”
Nate nodded. Sheriff Wolfsinger’s praise was neither common nor elaborate, but it always felt sincere.
“I want to keep a lid on the rest of the story for now. The connection to Lily’s hostage situation at the Starlight Mart. The fact that Drake was an employee at Torrent Trucking. Those facts don’t need to be in the press release. Not with the cargo-theft investigation still ongoing.”
Nate wanted to believe the part involving Lily was over. Surely an organized criminal ring with a reach spanning several states had much bigger concerns than whether or not an innocent woman had accidently overheard some small-fry drivers talking about an upcoming heist. Drivers who were going to be out of the loop and in prison for a long time. Whatever they thought Lily might have overheard must be old, useless information by now.
But the truth was organized crime groups did not maintain their power by
letting troublesome people just walk away. Everyone would need to stay vigilant.
Sheriff Wolfsinger’s phone rang. He put it up to his ear and walked away.
It looked as if Nate was officially off duty. He walked out of the store into the arcade, where a chilly wind blew through the passage. The small restaurants were bustling and the scent of beef sizzling over a mesquite fire made Nate’s stomach growl.
Lily had to be hungry by now, too. Maybe they could have dinner together like normal people. Like a date.
He thought about their conversation in the truck riding into Painted Rock and inwardly cringed. She wasn’t wrong, she’d just been hitting too close to home. And maybe he was a little bit envious. After everything she’d been through, from her problems with that idiot boyfriend at college to multiple attempts on her life, she’d found the courage to decide she was going to move forward with her life. Take new chances. Dare to hope.
Nate wanted the courage to do that, too. To dare to hope for a family of his own. Not just someday, but now. And to focus on the likelihood that he would make it through his work days just fine and wouldn’t leave a family without their husband and father.
He walked around the arcade looking for Lily and those signature dark-framed glasses, but didn’t see her. He walked through to Stagecoach Road and went up and down the street for a couple of blocks in each direction. No Lily.
An inner alarm sprang to life in the center of his chest, making his heart speed up, and he tried to quell it. She was around here somewhere. She was fine. He walked back through the arcade to the street that ran by the park and his apartment building. He’d spent quite a while dealing with the aftermath of the shooting, maybe Lily had called someone to come and take her home.
Maybe she’d had enough of him. He had acted like a jerk when she’d tried to talk about a possible future together. He wouldn’t blame her if she was angry with him.