by Geri Krotow
“Where did he bring me in, do you know?” She spoke through puffs of breath, her body oxygen deprived and aching.
“He came through the back doors with you. I was out here, looking around. Thank God I was, or he might have—” Kit stopped. “I think he had you in that building. Where were you before the pool? Do you know?”
As Annie got to her feet and they slowly made their way to the pool house exit, she told Kit what she knew in as few words as possible.
“How much time do you think we have before he comes back?” She looked at Kit as they stood at the door, preparing to head out on the wooded path to the house.
“I’ve been so close and not able to help them.”
“Worry about that later. Let’s get out of here first.”
“Call 9-1-1.” She spoke through puffs of breath. It was easier to move and breathe while upright, but the pain was still considerable. Her thoughts kept going back to Josh. Was he okay or had Valensky got to him, too?
She was going to do all in her power to save Kit and the women. This would not be a repeat of what she’d lost in New York. And if she made it out of this alive, she’d tell Josh she loved him at the first chance. She’d been so stupid.
Physical pain kept her from losing focus.
“How many women are here?”
“Five, and he just brought more in.”
Annie stopped, as much as her body urged her to keep moving before she couldn’t take another step.
“I caught Vadim going to the building with cases of water. He shouted at me to go back to the house, so I couldn’t follow him in. There has to be a separate entrance there.”
“I didn’t see tools, but I’m pretty sure I was close to the women. I passed out right after he brought me in from the trail. Where did you see me first?”
“In the pool house.” Kit appeared puzzled. “Which doesn’t make sense. Why didn’t he just put you with the other women?”
Cold fear gripped Annie. “He wanted to use me as bait.”
“For what?”
Annie didn’t answer her. With clarity that she’d only ever felt once before, when she knew something was horribly wrong with Rick, she knew what she needed to do.
“We have to go back there. I think Valensky’s booby-trapped the pool house. To kill you and me. It’ll be a distraction while he gets the women out, and he can escape, too.”
Kit’s eyes widened. “Then why would we go into it? We’re not crazy!”
“We’re the only ones who can disarm it. Let’s go.”
* * *
Josh pressed the buzzer at Valensky’s front gate. No answer.
“I’m going around to the back.” He spoke to Claudia and the team in the trailer, as well as several TH agents, on his headset. He drove expertly around the perimeter of the property, the three-wheeled all-terrain utility vehicle he’d procured moving too slowly for him. Annie. He had to get to Annie.
“It’s clear.” Claudia’s confirmation that an entryway had been blown through Valensky’s wall. Josh saw it within thirty seconds of her reply, and drove through the opening. He raced to the front of the house and jumped off the ATV and onto the front porch. The front door stood open, and he entered the building. He cleared space after space, room after empty room, with no sign that Valensky, Kit or Annie was there. Until he made it to the back porch and saw a familiar scrap of material.
Annie’s bandanna. She’d had it around her neck in the campground. He picked it up and held it to his face, inhaling her scent. Where are you, Annie?
He looked at the ground surrounding the porch area, and saw several sets of footsteps in the graveled path leading to a wooded area in the back of the property, which he had memorized. Josh took off for the pool house.
“Talk to us, Josh. What are you doing?”
He relayed his position and intention.
“No, Josh, do not go in the pool house. It’s a setup. Valensky has Annie there. He wants you to show up. There’s no way of knowing what he’s done.”
Josh ignored what Claudia told him. Mostly.
* * *
Annie and Kit stood on the deck in between the lap pool and hot tub. “I need you to find the main power switch for this building and turn it off.”
Kit looked puzzled. “Why?”
Annie looked around for something metal. “Valensky was explicit that we stay right there.” She pointed at the space right next to the pool. “Give me that pool hook.”
Kit walked to the wall, grabbed the long-handled hook and brought it to Annie. “Now, don’t put it in the water, not while you’re touching it. Hold it in the middle and toss it into the water.”
Kit did as Annie asked, and they both jumped as sparks arced over the water and the plastic handle of the hook folded and wrinkled in front of them, sinking in the water.
“Oh my gosh. He wanted to electrocute us.” Kit stood frozen, and Annie needed her to move. To shut off the power. Before any agents, before Josh showed up.
Exasperation made Annie’s pain spike. “Just. Shut. It. Off.”
Kit walked over to a large utility closet, disappeared inside it for a few seconds, during which time the overhead lights shut off, as did the underwater pool lamps. Annie let out a tortured sigh of relief. At least the water was now safe.
She waited for Kit to emerge from the closet but when she did, Annie’s breath stuttered in an excruciating gasp.
“Do you want to tell me what you do besides run that crappy little yarn store in town?” Valensky stood with Kit next to him, a gun in his hand.
* * *
The windows that ran alongside an entire wall of the pool house were out as far as Josh was concerned. He’d be too visible if he tried to look inside. But the ladder at the corner of the building led to the skylight that Annie had talked about, and within minutes he was atop the building, on his belly, peering into the room where Valensky stood next to Kit. Annie was in front of the pool, and while he couldn’t see her eyes, he thought from her stance she looked pained. Yet her steely strength was evident in the way she didn’t back up, didn’t appear like she was going to run.
“Do not go in until we have the women out.” Claudia’s voice jarred his focus.
“Damn it, Valensky has her and Kit next to the pool and he has a weapon. SIG Sauer.” He wasn’t going to be able to wait much longer. Vadim Valensky wasn’t a man to corner.
“We’ve got the first five, and we’re waiting on the rest.”
Josh kept watching the three figures ten feet below him, preparing to jump before Claudia cleared him. He’d do whatever it took. All at once, Annie started shaking her arms at Valensky, yelling. He couldn’t make out the words but saw that Kit had disappeared. Valensky didn’t seem to care; his focus was on Annie.
“I’ve got to go in, Claudia.”
“Wait. We’ve got eyes on Kit. She’s coming out of a different doorway we hadn’t detected. Four women are with her.” He heard Claudia’s elation. They’d saved all but one.
“The last one is probably dead, or very sick.”
“Our team is going into the space to find the fifth. Stay put, Josh.”
As Claudia spoke, he saw Valensky look behind him and realize that Kit was gone, which had to have been Annie’s objective all along. Josh watched in horror as Valensky raised his hand with the gun. He didn’t wait for Valensky to turn completely back toward Annie, who was lying low to the ground, something clearly wrong.
“We’ve got the last victim, she’s okay.”
As Claudia’s words sounded in his ear, Josh jumped.
* * *
Annie heard the splintering glass a second before a loud groan left Valensky’s mouth and his weapon fired aimlessly in the pool house. As she watched from the pool deck, Josh’s feet landed squarely on Valensky’s shoulders, knocking both men to the floor
. The struggle seemed almost effortless for Josh, who sat on Valensky’s back. Within seconds, although it felt longer with the pain she fought, Josh forced Valensky facedown on the concrete deck and cuffed him. He’d saved them all. Except her. Annie tried to fight against unconsciousness, pain keeping her from whooping in relief.
Josh’s face, his dear face, filled her vision.
“Annie.” He spoke with conviction, but she didn’t hear what she’d hoped for. His voice was heavy with concern, brusque with his sense of duty. Like any other police officer.
“Kit. She’s safe now?” She had to know, fought the dark clouds to find out. “The sick woman?” Had they saved the one who had appendicitis or an ovarian cyst?
“Yes, and so are all the women. You did it, Annie. You saved them.” His voice wrapped around her, and she clung to it, knowing it was the last time she’d see him.
She’d done it. She’d been able to do her job this time, not erasing Rick’s and his wife’s deaths, but doing what they would want her to do. Save others.
She’d also lost the man she loved. Josh was a cop and Becky’s brother, unable to open his arms to more. As she slipped into unconsciousness, Annie tried to tell him she loved him, anyway.
Chapter 17
“The X-rays confirm you have a fractured rib, and your symptoms point to several more that are bruised. You’re fortunate that the fracture is hairline, so no risk of a punctured lung. Let’s see how your shoulders are.”
Annie gritted her teeth as the ER doctor assessed her injuries, moving her arms one at a time to their farthest range of motion. She’d really thought she was dying on the pool house floor. She’d regained consciousness on and off on the ambulance ride to the hospital, and the pain from her injuries confirmed that indeed, she lived. And she wanted Josh by her side, but he’d stayed behind at the crime scene.
“My shoulders are fine. It’s. The. Rib.”
“Bear with me. We’re almost done.” He pulled out her left arm, lifted it over her head while feeling the shoulder joint with his other hand. “Does that hurt?”
“No, not in the shoulder, anyway.”
“Okay.” He put her arm down and offered a smile. “You’ve suffered no other injuries. You’ll be sore for quite a while, and it’ll take about six weeks for it to heal. I want you in physical therapy in two weeks if the stiffness and pain haven’t begun to ease. But mostly you’ll be recovering at home.”
“How long before I can work again?”
“As a cop?” The civilian doctor had no clue about Trail Hikers.
“I’m a police psychologist, but I’m on a break right now. I’m running the yarn shop downtown.”
“Does that involve lifting merchandise?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’ll need to find someone else to do it for you, until you’re better. But feel free to go back to work for as long as you can handle it. I’d suggest an hour or two at a time, at first. Standing and sitting are going to be painful until that rib starts healing.”
A commotion exploded outside the examination room and Annie eyed the door. Within a heartbeat, Josh had burst into the room, two SVPD officers behind him, talking to two hospital security guards.
“Hey, this is a private examination.” The doctor faced off with Josh.
“It’s okay, I know him.” But what was he? “He’s my colleague.”
The doctor looked at Josh one more time, then at Annie. “You’re okay with him in here?”
“Yes, of course.”
Josh walked to her side. “How are you doing?”
“I’m okay.”
The doctor finished with her aftercare instructions, including prescriptions for physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medications.
“You’ll need help getting dressed.” He looked at Josh.
“Got it. Thanks, Doc.” Josh’s dismissal made Annie giggle, which sent her ribs into paroxysms of pain.
“Ow.” She held up her hand on the uninjured side. “It’s okay. Hurts to laugh.”
“I’m afraid that’s going to be the way of it for a couple of weeks, six weeks for total healing. If you have any questions, call the number on your discharge paper. Otherwise, you’re free to go. Thank you for your service.” The doctor left through the swinging door, and Annie saw the SVPD officers congregated in the hallway.
“It looks like all of SVPD is out there.”
“They’re worried about you. I’m worried. Are you really okay, Annie?”
Josh stood awkwardly in front of her.
“You heard him. I’m fine. Bruised ribs. One’s cracked. Hurts like hell but nothing permanent. How’s Kit?”
“Good. Now that Valensky’s in custody and the shipment of women was prevented, we’re all feeling pretty damned good.” His words caught her up on the operation but his eyes, they spoke of deeper things.
“How are you doing, Josh? You could have been killed. It’s not a dream—you jumped through the glass ceiling, didn’t you?”
He nodded. “And I’d do it again, as many times as I have to.” His eyes filled with tears. “If I’d lost you, Annie, my life would have no meaning.”
His words bolted through her, made her sit up straighter to reach for him.
“Ow.”
“Annie.” Desperation soaked his words. “I have to kiss you but I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Do it, Josh. Kiss me.”
He leaned in as she sat on the exam table, his legs in between hers, and touched his lips to hers. His arms at his side, she felt the shudders he suppressed at not being able to hold her. Her body, her soul yearned to be up against him but her ribs were party poopers. She opened her mouth to his kiss and expressed her love for him as best a woman with a cracked rib could. With her heart.
Josh pulled back and caressed her cheek, wiping a strand of hair from her face. “Annie, I have to be with you for the rest of my life. I’m in love with you and I was a fool to not recognize it sooner. I’m never going to take it for granted—being able to tell you I love you. I love you.”
“And I love you, Josh.” They kissed again, sealing their bond. “I’ve been thinking that Silver Valley is the perfect place for me to relocate, especially if I’m going to take Claudia up on a position with Trail Hikers. And, Josh, I’ll be the best sister-in-law to Becky. I’ll never come between you two.”
Josh shook his head. “Becky’s my sister, Annie, but you—you’re my life. I love you and need you. For the rest of our lives.”
They kissed again, until Annie’s ribs complained. “We’re going to have to figure out a work-around for making love. Because I can’t wait six weeks to be one with you again.” Their gazes locked as she spoke and saw that he needed to be with her, too.
Josh kissed her eyelids, her nose, her mouth. “Will you keep working in the yarn shop?”
“No, when Grandma Ezzie comes back, I’ll move out. Find a place of my own.”
“I happen to have a very large home with a free room for rent.”
“Do you?” She grinned at him. “How about helping me get out of this hospital gown and into my clothes? We can talk about our options on the way—”
What should she say? On the way to her grandmother’s apartment? Or to Josh’s house?
“On the way home, Annie. You’re coming home with me. To our new life together.”
* * * * *
Don’t miss the other thrilling romances in
Geri Krotow’s Silver Valley P.D. miniseries:
The Fugitive’s Secret Child
Secret Agent Under Fire
Her Secret Christmas Agent
Wedding Takedown
Her Christmas Protector
All available now from Harlequin Romantic Suspense.
Keep reading for an excerpt from Navy SEAL Cop by Cindy Dees.
&nbs
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Navy SEAL Cop
by Cindy Dees
Chapter 1
Deserted alley in the middle of the night when all sensible people were in bed? Check.
Famously haunted and badly lit location? Check.
Ground fog swirling thickly enough to create a spooky-as-heck mood and obscure everything? Check.
Either she was ready to start shooting the next episode of the popular television show America’s Ghosts, or she was about to commit a homicide.
Of course, if the show’s host didn’t quit trying to tell her how to do her job filming him, there might just be a murder out here tonight.
Carrie Price stared through the viewfinder of her digital movie camera at her boss and renowned ghost hunter, Gary Hubbard. For tonight’s episode he’d picked Pirate’s Alley in New Orleans. The tourists and foot traffic were long gone, leaving just their footsteps to echo weirdly off the brick walls and their grotesquely elongated shadows to freak her out a little bit.