The other man sighed. “Tell me what you think is going to happen if I do that. That she’s simply going to turn and walk away? She knows everything that you know. She has a close, personal relationship with my only niece and her children. Even if she walks away this second, it won’t be forever. She won’t be able to run, like you did. My men would hunt her down in a day.”
Then Jordynn spoke up, too. “He’s just going to kill us anyway, Dono.”
Donovan’s teeth ground together. That much he did know was true. If he lowered his weapon, the other man might just shoot Jordynn straightaway. Or he might turn and fire at Donovan himself. He’d certainly proved both his creativity and ruthlessness already. And if he fired, he took the chance of Reed’s finger squeezing before the shot hit him. Or of the man simply using Jordynn as a shield.
Then an idea occurred to him. A risky one. But it might be his only chance.
Slowly—deliberately—he shifted his aim from Reed to Jordynn.
The other man’s eyes widened with surprise. His gun dropped. Just enough.
Jordynn’s eyes met Donovan’s, full of trust. Then closed.
And Donovan put his finger on the trigger.
* * *
Jordynn breathed in. The pistol clicked.
Jordynn breathed out. The pistol cracked.
Jordynn breathed in. And beneath her, the ground exploded.
Heat whipped across her ankles as the bullet severed the rope that held her. Little tendrils of the synthetic fibers melted and seared against her skin. She didn’t have time to think about the pain. She didn’t have time to think at all. Reed was already lifting his gun again, this time aimed at Dono, who was running forward, straight into the line of fire.
The self-defense tips.
Jordynn moved quickly, putting Donovan’s lessons into practice.
She lashed out with one of her newly free feet, slamming it straight between Reed’s legs. He groaned and stumbled, then spun toward her.
Then she brought up her hand—palm open—and drove it into his chin. He stumbled again, this time backward. And straight into Dono, who was ready. He slammed against her boss’s shoulders with his hands, and Reed went down. He pushed again, and her boss flattened to the ground. He gave the older man one of his signature one-punch knockouts and looked up at Jordynn.
“Still in one piece?” he asked, his voice gentle.
“Yes. Well. Except for that the fact you didn’t let me finish my girl fight techniques,” she joked weakly.
Dono offered her a grim smile. “Actually, I kind of thought we could try something I should’ve done a long time ago.”
“What’s that?”
“We could call the police.”
Jordynn exhaled. “Okay. Option B is it.”
Working together in silence, they pulled collected every pieces of rope they could find. They tied the four men up individually, then lashed them together. By the time they were done, Jordynn was shaking, and when Dono pulled her in close, all she could do was sink into him.
“Is it over?” she asked, her voice as wobbly as her body.
“I think so, honey.” He clicked on the phone he’d pilfered from Ivan’s pocket. “You ready to get this part over with, too?”
She nodded. “Definitely.”
He tipped up her face and gave her a tender kiss, then pulled away and smiled at her. “Good. Because once the bad guys are locked up, and we’ve taken a long nap... I’m will be so ready to give our second chance a running start.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “The last few days weren’t a fast enough start for you?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Well, I thought maybe telling you we should take things slow and steady lacked a certain...punch.”
She tipped her face up for another kiss. “Slow and steady actually sounds nice right about now.”
Dono cupped her cheek. “Good. Because I’ve got ten years to make up for, and with the exception of getting us off this mountain, I’d hate to rush a single second more.”
Epilogue
Eight weeks later
The chime of the doorbell lifted Jordynn’s attention from the legal forms she’d been staring at for the past hour. She let out a thankful sigh. Dono had asked her to go over the details—who knew there was so much paperwork involved in reclaiming the life of someone who’d come back from the dead?—but truthfully she’d be happy to sign whatever was needed so long as it brought them closer to that goal.
The two months that had passed felt like a very long time. The world around them certainly hadn’t slowed down.
Those eight weeks had been long enough for Reed to plead guilty and be sentenced to life in prison without parole. It had been long enough for his assets to be dissolved, and for Sasha to start some much-needed counseling. It had given them time to issue enough official statements to the press that most journalists had already moved on to the next big thing. And enough time for a few other things, too.
Jordynn ran her hands over her stomach affectionately. She hadn’t told Dono yet. She was waiting for the doctor’s appointment later in the week. But she was sure, just the same.
The doorbell rang again, making her jump a second time.
“Baby brain already,” she murmured, then called, “Coming!”
She hurried from the kitchen to the front door, where she automatically paused to glance through the newly installed peephole. Another small change. A new precaution. But her tension eased a little every day, and when Dono was home, she really did feel as safe as she ever had. And more settled than she’d been in ten years.
And it was him on the front step now, a bunch of grocery bags in one hand and a cardboard box in the other. Before she could lean back and get the door open, he lifted his foot and rang the bell a third time. With his boot.
Jordynn swung the door wide, a teasing chastisement on the tip of her tongue. It died on her lips, though, when she saw what it was that he had inside the box.
* * *
Even though he was pretty damned sure his arm was about to break off completely, he couldn’t help but laugh at the excitement in Jordynn’s eyes.
“You gonna help me or what?” he teased.
She was quick to grab the cardboard box first. “You went by the police station?”
“They called me on my cell while I was at the store. I couldn’t wait.”
He redistributed the grocery bags and followed her into the house. He barely had time to set them down on the countertop before she dragged out the badly warped metal container. He felt a twinge of nerves. He hoped she wouldn’t be too disappointed once she actually saw inside.
“It’s locked.” She sounded let down already.
Donovan shrugged. “Yeah. Well, the cops probably didn’t want it to look like rifled-through evidence. But you do have the key, right?”
“Yes. Wait here,” she said excitedly, then rushed out.
Donovan heard the thump of her feet as she ran up the stairs, followed by the creak of the bedroom door upstairs, and then the clatter of what could only be the key dropping to the floor. He fought another chuckle.
He ran his hands over the bullet-size holes in the top of the time capsule. He still thought it was remarkable that he’d found it at all, and he could hardly believe that it had saved his life.
“It’s pretty incredible, isn’t it?”
At the sound of Jordynn’s awed voice, he swiveled his head and found her standing in the doorway, her eyes fixed on the box.
“Miraculous,” he agreed. “I almost feel guilty opening it.”
“Oh.”
He caught her disappointed look, and he grabbed her hand to put her close, then draped his arms around her. “Not guilty enough to actually stop you from doing it.”
“Oh, thank God.”
She wriggled away, then stuck the key into the lock and twisted. Donovan knew she’d be expecting him to be looking at the items she was supposed to be pulling out, but instead, he was watching her face. Cataloging her emotions. Disappointment. Confusion. Then guarded delight, as she lifted out the tiny black velvet box.
“I’m sorry, honey. The other things were ruined. Between the bullets and the police and the moisture that was in there already...” He trailed off, then nodded toward the box. “But I thought maybe we could make new memories, starting with that.”
She flipped it open and stared down at the shimmery topaz. Her birthstone.
She lifted her eyes, and they were as bright as the rock. “What happened to slow and steady? And not rushing a single minute?”
Donovan popped out the ring, then slid it onto her finger. “Is that what I said? Maybe you misunderstood.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.”
“Are you sure? Because I’m sure I said I was in a giant rush to marry you and that I didn’t want to waste a single second.”
She shot him a narrowed-eyed glare that lasted about a heartbeat before her eyes went back to admiring the ring.
“So?” prodded Donovan.
“What?”
“Will you?”
“Oh! Yes.” She jumped into his arms, but pulled away quickly and leaned back to meet his gaze. “But...”
“But what?”
“There’s probably one little thing I should tell you about first...”
* * * * *
If you loved this suspenseful story, don’t miss
Melinda Di Lorenzo’s next exciting book,
coming in June 2017!
And don’t forget her previous book
WORTH THE RISK
available now from Harlequin Romantic Suspense!
An explosive new case...
A suspect with a hidden agenda...
and a Special Agent whose past could cost her everything!
Turn the page for a sneak peek at the first episode of
TOUGH JUSTICE: COUNTDOWN (Part 1 of 8)
by New York Times bestselling author Carla Cassidy
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Tough Justice: Countdown (Part 1 of 8)
by Carla Cassidy
Episode One
A year after FBI Agent Lara Grant put her past—in the form of a very personal manhunt—behind her, the Crisis Management Unit is called in to take lead on a shocking new assignment. A serial bomber is targeting some of the most powerful people in in the city, threatening to expose their deepest secrets.
And soon Lara will face a deadly foe—with an army of skeletons just waiting to fall out of her own closet...
Prologue
Dammit, he’d been so careful. And now this.
A trickle of sweat worked down the side of his face and he closed his eyes as fear tightened his lungs and squeezed his throat. He’d been in a simmering panic since he’d received the email.
He opened his eyes and reread the damned thing.
12:01a.m., from [email protected]:
I know what you did with all that money. I’ll keep your secret but it will cost the lives of innocent people. Or confess to the press and nobody gets hurt. The choice is yours. You have until noon tomorrow.
The lives of innocent people? What did that mean? His gut tightened as nausea overcame him.
Things like this weren’t supposed to happen to him. He’d done everything right in his life. He’d had high hopes. He had big ambitions. The New York Times was running a cover story on him next week that he hoped would launch him to a new level of success. Everything was in place and now this.
Somebody knew his secret.
He twisted his gold wedding band around and around his finger as he stared at the grandfather clock across the room. He had to make a decision fast. Time was running out.
Coming clean would destroy everything he’d worked for. Hell, it wouldn’t only destroy him, it would also destroy his wife.
How much could this anonymous person know? Did the emailer know about all the gifts, the secret hotel visits and the faux business expenses?
Just last weekend they had spent two days together at a luxury hotel upstate, ultimately paid for by taxpayer dollars.
Four minutes...he had four minutes left to make a decision. He should have contacted his brother when he’d received the email. But what could he have done to help? What could anyone do?
Three minutes. A rivulet of sweat rolled down the center of his back while his fingers poised over his computer keyboard. It was too late to call for a press conference. But it wasn’t too late for him to type something up on social media...confess to the affair and to the misuse of public funds.
If he didn’t do that innocent people would die. Jesus, what kind of a choice was this? What kind of a monster asked someone to make such a decision.
The back of his throat closed up again. He didn’t want to be responsible for anyone dying. He blew out several short breaths in an effort to calm himself.
Two minutes to go. Surely it was a hoax. It had to be some sort of an outrageous bluff. How could he take this seriously? More sweat dampened him as the acrid scent of his fear wafted in the air. His fingers trembled with indecision.
One minute...oh, God, what should he do? Was this real? Would something bad really happen?
Thirty seconds. His phone dinged with a text message. Quickly he grabbed it up and stared at the text.
Ticktock.
A sharp pain shot through his chest. This couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be...could it? The grandfather clock ticked off the seconds.
Five.
Four. His fingers hovered over his keyboard.
Three.
Two. Oh God. He hesitated. It was too late to type something now.
One.
As the clock began to chime, a ding indicated another text message.
With dread he looked at it.
Boom.
Don’t miss a single exciting installment of the new FBI thriller
TOUGH JUSTICE: COUNTDOWN
by New York Times bestselling author Carla Cassidy, Tyler Anne Snell, Emmy Curtis and Janie Crouch.
On sale February 2017 wherever Harlequin ebooks are sold.
Keep
reading for an excerpt from
COLTON’S SECRET SON by Carla Cassidy
Copyright © 2017 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Colton’s Secret Son
by Carla Cassidy
Chapter 1
Shadow Creek, Texas, held nothing but broken dreams, betrayal and heartache for Knox Colton. He had thought he’d never return to the small town where he’d grown up, but here he was again after a ten-year absence.
Forced to take a sabbatical from his job as a Texas Ranger, embarrassed and humiliated by his mother’s crimes, he’d really had no other place to go.
He now clenched his fingers around the steering wheel as a whisper of heated anger burned in the pit of his stomach. Nothing like being a Texas Ranger and having one of the FBI’s most wanted as a mother.
Livia Colton had created plenty of chaos and damage in his childhood, and now she was affecting her grown children’s lives once again.
He rolled down his window to allow in the sweet-scented early March air and drew in a deep breath. The last thing he wanted to do was to carry his simmering anger into the peaceful sanctuary his younger sister called home.
His anger eased at thoughts of his youngest sister, Jade. Despite the nine years difference in their ages, he’d always been particularly close to her.
A smile curved his lips as he turned into Hill Country Farm, Jade’s home. Ahead of him was her house, but around the house were her passions. Vegetable gardens were just beginning to awaken with what would be summer bounty. Stables and a riding arena were on the right, and a barn with chickens, goats and pigs was on the left.
The house itself was small, but exuded a sense of stability and welcome. Pots of purple pansies sat on the porch, dipping and waving their heads in the light spring breeze.
Before he’d stopped his car, Jade stepped out on the porch, a wide smile of greeting on her pretty face. He parked and got out of the car and she raced toward him, her dark brown ponytail bouncing as her sweet laughter filled the air.
She jumped into his arms and he picked her up and spun her around. His cowboy hat flew off his head before he deposited her back on the ground and gave her a firm kiss on the forehead.
Last Chance Hero Page 24