by Chrys Fey
Blake is a cop, she reasoned rationally. And I am a fool for letting my emotions get the better of me.
She had read about women falling in love with their captor, but this wasn’t Stockholm Syndrome. Blake wasn’t her captor; he was her hero. Maybe she did feel gratitude toward him, not love. She could convince herself of that because it made sense. What didn’t make sense was falling in love with a man who she met two days ago.
Snow flurries fell from the clouds and danced past the window. She sighed. The sun was setting. Pink, purple and orange colors streaked across the sky. It was slowly turning gray when her cell phone went off, breaking her train of thought.
She pulled it from her pocket. “Dani Hart.”
A man chuckled on the other end. “Well, well, well. Who would have guessed Dr. Hart was a woman?” Her blood ran cold in her veins. She recognized the voice of the man named Red. “You’re a fast runner, and you’re lucky you got away because if I had caught you, I would’ve tortured you to find out the name of the man who tried to trick me.” Her heart stopped beating in her chest. “Mark my words, Dani, I will find out who he is and kill him. Whether or not I kill you is up to you.”
The line went dead, but she couldn’t pry the phone away from her ear. She stayed where she stood too shocked to move, to blink, or to breathe.
“Dani?” Blake turned her around in his arm. She didn’t say anything, just looked at him through wide eyes. “Give me the phone, Dani.” She didn’t move. He took the phone from her and put it to his ear. “Damn it.” He tossed it on the bed and framed her face with his hands.
“Who was it?” he demanded softly. “Who called you?”
Her voice was barely audible when she said, “Red.”
Chapter Five
Two a.m. and Dani was wide-awake with fear. She was sitting up in bed, her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs. She couldn’t sleep so she sat there in the darkness, her gaze flitting around the room. Every noise, every creek made her body tense. She eyed the door then her gaze jumped to the window where moonlight shone through the blinds.
Knowing Blake was downstairs asleep on the couch didn’t lessen her anxiety. Red and his men could sneak into the house, slit his throat in his sleep, and then come for her.
I’m not cut out for this. I’m a doctor for goodness sakes! She could handle gushing blood, protruding bones, and mangled bodies. She could deal with needles and scalpels, but she could not deal with cop killers and semi-automatic weapons.
Fear rippled down her spine and her skin turned into gooseflesh. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the door creep open. Her head whipped around with her heart in her throat.
“What are you doing awake?” Blake asked.
She shrugged. “Why are you checking up on me?”
“I do it a few times a night,” he admitted.
The claim made her relax. “I’m not a baby you have to make sure is still breathing.”
This time Blake shrugged. “It’s my job to make sure you’re okay. Are you okay?”
She shook her head. How could she be okay? “I’m not used to being scared for my life.”
Blake crossed to her. “You don’t have to be. You’re safe.”
She looked up at him. “What if they find me?”
“They won’t.”
“But what if they do?”
His eyes became dark and intense. “If they do, I’m here.”
“Blake, they know where I live, where I work, my real name, and my cell phone number. Can they track my cell phone?”
“Yes.”
She was ready to jump off the bed and get out of there, but Blake’s hand on her shoulder kept her still.
“Most cell phones now have GPS technology in them that can be used to track down a phone’s location. Cellular systems are also designed to track cell phones by triangulating the signal from a cell phone between two or more towers closest to the phone. And there is the possibility they have the equipment we use in the police force to track down a phone’s location, but the phone has to be turned on to transmit continuously. Even if they were tracking your phone, it will only give the general location of where you are. It can’t be tracked to my house. I talked to Chief Witten and he said the best thing is to keep you here. I’ve been allowed to take a week off, but when nothing happens, and nothing will, I’ll have to go back to work.”
“I heard his voice Blake. He’s not going to stop until he finds us.”
“Don’t think about that now.” How could she not? “Try to go to sleep.”
She shook her head like a child afraid of a monster under her bed. “I’m too scared to sleep.”
“What if I stayed with you tonight?”
She looked away. She stared at the silvery moonlight pouring through the window. “That’s not in your job description,” she answered flatly.
“I rewrote my job description,” he said and took her into his arms.
She closed her eyes and laid her head in the curve of his shoulder. The feeling of safety wrapped around her and squeezed her tight. As she drifted off to sleep, she heard him say, “Goodnight, Dani.”
****
She was sitting in the backset of a car, the leather soft and cool on her skin. Her arms were bare, her hair pulled into a stylish knot with a few loose waves falling down her back. She wore a delicate turquoise dress that swished around her ankles. A smile was on her face, a laugh was tickling the back of her throat. She was happy, happier than she had ever been in her life.
The car stopped at a red light and she fiddled with her fingers nervously. She couldn’t believe what day it was. She was excited and anxious. She closed her eyes. Oh, it was going to be so beautiful. It was going to be wonderful! She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. Yup, she was still there, still on the way to the biggest moment of her teenage life.
She looked out the window where a few stars were glistening. The car started moving again as she focused on the North Star and made a wish. She wished for the night to be memorable. Then a bright light caught her eye. She squinted and stared at the glare of headlights zooming toward her. Her eyes widened a split second before the truck plowed into her door.
****
Dani jolted awake. That was the first dream she had about the night of her accident. It was so vivid she had felt herself sitting in the car, but she still didn’t know where she was going, which aggravated her. She was so close to figuring it out, but her brain didn’t want her to know. Not yet.
She was a doctor; she understood the brain could erase traumatic memories it didn’t believe you could handle. She also knew brain trauma could cause you to suffer from temporary amnesia. But all of her knowledge didn’t stop her from wanting to remember the year leading up to the accident.
Outside, the sun was already rising. A pale, golden light came through the window. She peered down at Blake. He was sound asleep next to her. She slithered out of bed, tiptoed out of the room, and down the stairs.
An hour later, Blake found her sitting on the porch steps. She shivered in the cold with a layer of snow on her lap. Tears wet her face and snowflakes weighed down her long eyelashes. He pulled her to her feet, lifted her into his arms, and carried her into his house. As soon as she was on the couch, he pulled off the sweater he wore and slipped it over her head. She felt his body heat caress her skin instantly. She watched him throw a few logs into the fireplace and start the fire. Then he came back to her, kneeling at her feet. He wiped her cold tears away from her cheeks.
“You’re a doctor,” he said as he took her hands in his. “Don’t you know about hypothermia?”
“Y-y-yes.” Her teeth clattered together, obscuring her speech. She knew hypothermia was a condition when the body’s core temperature dropped below the temperature for normal metabolism and body functions. As a person’s body heat lowers, they suffer from shivers and mental confusion.
“So why in God’s name were you out there?”
“T-trying to aw-wa
ken my m-memories.”
“This has nothing to do with Red or his men, does it?”
She shook her head.
“What is it about?” He lifted her hands to his mouth. His lips touched her fingers as he blew hot air onto them.
She fought to control her chattering teeth when she answered. “The c-car accident I w-was in when I was eighteen.” His gaze silently probed hers for more. “I was in a c-coma for a y-year. W-when I woke up, I didn’t have any r-recollection of the accident or my whole s-senior year. I still d-don’t remember where I was g-going or why.”
The frown deepened between Blake’s brows. “No one ever told you?” She shook her head again.
“My d-doctor said it was because of the t-trauma and my memory would c-come back on its own time. He told my parents that trying to fill in the blanks would be useless, as my brain would dismiss it. S-so we never talked about it.” Blake’s warm hands were rubbing the feeling back into her arms. “I may not remember it, but the accident h-haunts me. It took four years of my life. The year I don’t remember, the year I was in a coma, and the two years I spent recuperating and rebuilding my life.”
She paused. “I had a dream, a flashback, like the memory of that night was t-trying to burst through a thick fog. I’ve had it before. I can see the moment the truck hits the vehicle I’m in, but this time it was more vivid. I could feel the s-seat and hear my thoughts.” Her eyes lifted to his. He was looking at her closely as though he were looking at her for the first time.
“I’m s-sorry.” She pulled her hands from his. “You’re not a shrink. You don’t want to hear this.”
“Let me take care of you.” He framed her face with his hands. “I want to take care of you.”
She stared at him, shocked and amazed.
“Your cheeks are cold.” His thumbs stroked her cheeks then his mouth touched her shivering lips and he kissed her.
Her fingers slid up his neck and into the soft curls atop his head. She sighed into his mouth and pulled him closer. He gave her what she needed. Comfort, tenderness, and a promise he probably wasn’t aware he was making.
He pulled away from her slowly. She swayed a moment and when she opened her eyes, he was still kneeling in front of her.
“You probably shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered, because at that moment she realized she was falling in love with him.
Chapter Six
After her body warmed up and she had a cup of coffee, Blake turned on the water in the bathroom, urging her to take a hot bath. She agreed because a bath sounded good, but the hot water was a shock to her chilled skin.
She soaked in the hot water with her eyes closed, her skin tingling, and she thought about Blake. She thought about his calm, evergreen eyes that never showed what he felt inside, except when they were kissing and a fire appeared. His masculine lips and the way he used them on hers. His body, his voice, and his heart.
She sank lower into the tub. Stop it, stop it, stop it! You can’t be in love with him. But it was too late. She knew she was in love with him.
It’s okay if he doesn’t love me back, she told herself, and at the moment, she believed it.
When she came down stairs, Blake was behind the stove again. She stood at the entrance, smiling. If he weren’t a cop, if they could be together, she would walk up to him and wrap her arms around him. She did walk up to him, but she didn’t touch him. She peered over his shoulder into the simmering pot.
“You’re making soup?”
He nodded. “Chicken noodle soup.”
Chicken noodle soup may be the medicine she needed to revive her soul. She ate two bowls with the gusto of a hungry child.
For the rest of the day, they didn’t talk about Red or his men. They didn’t mention her breakdown either. She was glad for it. She hated to be vulnerable, hated to be weak. She despised it! She liked being a strong woman, a woman of medicine, a woman who could handle anything, but there were limits to even what a super woman could handle, so she had a lapse. It wouldn’t happen again.
Later that night, they watched a horror film as logs crackled in the fireplace and the flames made long, quivering shadows in the corners of the room. She thought it was sweet when he questioned her movie choice, but she reassured him that even after what she had gone through, even after spending hours performing internal surgery, she could still enjoy horror films. She was curled on the couch, a blanket on her lap, and he was next to her. They were sharing the pint of coffee-flavored ice cream. Their spoons clattered together and they fought over the parts that weren’t melted as she laughed.
When the movie ended and the credits were scrolling up the TV screen, she couldn’t stifle a yawn.
“You should go to sleep,” Blake told her.
“Yeah.” She tossed the blanket aside, got up. Blake followed her. She took a couple of steps up the stairs then turned. “Blake.” He looked up at her. “Thank you for today.”
He nodded.
****
One week later, she stood at the living room window. Cabin fever was deteriorating her sanity. She had been locked up in Blake’s house for days and it was getting to her. She needed to stretch her legs, to breathe fresh air, to see the sky above her, to feel like she wasn’t hiding from a police-killing Mob.
During the last seven days, she listened to every song on every rock album, read all her books, and watched every horror movie. Together, they played every card game known to man and asked each other every question beginning with who, what, where, when, why, and how. Boredom weighed heavily on her. She was at the snapping point.
“Damn it, Blake!” She whirled away from the window. “I am going out of my mind. I can’t stand being in this damn house for another minute!”
“Then put on your snow boots.” What he said didn’t register right away. When it did, she wasn’t sure she heard him correctly. Surely uptight Mr. Police Officer wasn’t going to let her outside, in range of snipers.
She could sense something brewing in the air and she knew Blake could sense it, too. She could see it in his eyes, in his tense always-ready body, and hear it in his strained voice. Red hadn’t forgotten about them. He was plotting his next move and anticipating his revenge.
“What?” she asked dumbfounded.
“Put on your snow boots. We’re going outside.”
She blinked. “Really? You’re not toying with my sanity, are you?”
“Yes, really. And no, I’m not.”
She looked out the window longingly. “Do you think that’s wise?”
He shrugged, and she knew why. At this point, nothing was wise. “My men are positioned all over the area on the lookout for anyone suspicious. If anyone came down here, I would be notified immediately and my entire task force would surround the house in minutes. Besides, it snowed heavily last night. If anyone wants to get back here, they’d have to walk on foot. So what are you waiting for?” He was already pulling on his jacket.
She sprang into action. Free, free, I’m going to be free! She shoved her feet into snow boots, yanked on her jacket, and was outside in a flash. The air was bitter. The cold nipped at her nose and scratched her cheeks like frozen needles. Snow crunched beneath her feet as she waded away from the house. Blake waited for her at the porch and watched her. Her relief to be outside was so strong she stopped in the middle of the driveway and raised her face to the cloudy sky. She sighed and took a deep, cold breath. The sting in her lungs made her feel alive. She hadn’t felt alive since the phone call she got from Red.
If the Mob was after you, the last thing you felt was alive. If the Mob was after you, it was only a matter of time before you were as dead as a doorknob. But standing outside in the middle of winter, with the world in a coma, she felt alive.
She jolted, nearly stumbled when something cold and hard hit her butt. She opened her eyes slowly, turned to look at Blake who was innocently dusting snow off his hands. She glared at him. “You did not just throw a snowball at my ass.”
He grinned. “Actually, yeah, I did.”
Her response was slow and clipped. “You. Are. So. Dead.” She shouted the last word as she dove at the snow, scooped up a handful, and chucked it at Blake. It hit him in the shoulder as he raced to get a snowball. He threw it at her, narrowly missing her butt again as she ran for cover.
Behind his unmarked police car, she made a pile of snowballs. She picked one up, crouched behind a tire, and peeked over the car. Snow sprayed her face from a snowball that erupted against the hood. She fell straight back on her butt, sputtering. A few feet away she could hear Blake’s laughter.
So he wants to play dirty. She loaded her arms with ammo, sprang to her feet, and shot snowballs at Blake like a pro. When one hit him on the side of the face, she ran for it. After shaking the snow out of his ear, he was up and running after her.
She cut along the side of the house, across the backyard, and into the thick woods. She crisscrossed around trees and hunkered behind a bush. The icy arms of winter wrapped around her as she watched Blake. He was following her footprints in the snow. She stayed quiet, fighting the urge to giggle. She hadn’t had fun like this since she had beat Blake in three back-to-back games of Monopoly five days ago.
Her eyes were on him as he searched for her. It was a thrill to watch him, to see the way he moved with stealth and caution. She cupped a snowball in her hands and stood behind him, surprised he hadn’t heard her. Carefully, she placed a stick in front of her on the snow and slowly lifted her foot, snapping it in half with her boot. Blake spun and she let the snowball fly.
It smacked him in the face and she erupted with laughter. She bent over, clutching her stomach as laughter rolled through her body. All of a sudden, she was flat on her back, pinned beneath Blake.
She looked at him and his eyes were dark. She understood why immediately. “You can kiss me,” she whispered. “I won’t tell.” He traced her lips with his finger until her lips trembled with anticipation. When her mouth parted, he kissed her greedily.
The inside of his mouth was hot and his kiss warmed her entire body. She slipped her hands under his jacket, needing to feel him. The moment her hands touched his skin, they burned. She pulled him closer, melting into him.