Make You Feel My Love: A Small Town Romantic Suspense (Wishing For A Hero Book 1)

by Kait Nolan

  So their theory about a crazy stalker had been half right. But he hadn’t just randomly stumbled across the book to read. He’d invaded her privacy to do it.

  Bracing her hands on the side of the boat, she pushed herself into a seated position. “A sign of what?”

  “Easy there. You’ll be woozy for a bit yet.”

  She put a hand to her head. He wasn’t wrong, but the mental fog was lifting.

  “Anyway, it was a sign that I was the lucky one, the special one who could see behind the curtain. You’ve had to put up so many walls since the trial, and I’m the guy who saw beyond them. Because I see you, Autumn. The real you. And I’ve been trying to show you. I brought you the flowers because I knew how important they were to your past. That was just the beginning, but then you had to go and ruin everything by planning to move. I couldn’t have that. I worked too hard and too long to get here.”

  “So you burned down my house?” she croaked.

  “I was going to help you with everything after. So you could see how good we could be together. But you turned to the cop. I mean, he had a girlfriend. What were you thinking?”

  There was no good answer to that question. Apparently he took her silence as contrition because he continued. “All I wanted to do was prove myself worthy, and you just kept missing all the signs. So it’s time for a more direct approach.”

  “I don’t understand. What do you think is going to happen here?”

  His gaze slid over her with something like fondness. “You’re going to realize that we’re perfect for each other.”

  She opened her mouth to protest, but he just kept going.

  “You’re not meant to be with that idiot cop who couldn’t even keep you safe in his own house.”

  The trip-hammer beat of her heart was starting to break through the lingering lethargy from the drugs, adrenaline spiking.

  Escape. Escape. Escape.

  But where could she escape to? How? She needed more time for the drugs to wear off and maybe, maybe she could leap out and swim to shore. Maybe she could capsize the boat.

  Keep him talking.

  “That was you?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry about that. I know you were scared. I knew you wouldn’t be in there very long, and I had to make my point.”

  Autumn didn’t want to ask what his point had been. He’d ticked enough boxes on the crazy stalker list for her already.

  “You said we were going to the compound.”

  “Yep. Took me a while to figure out what you’d based it on, but I know I’m right. You’ll see.”

  Looking around, Autumn tried to judge where they were on the lake. She could only assume he was talking about the cult’s compound from Forged In Blood. But the place had been purely a product of her dark imagination. It wasn’t based on anywhere real around here. So where could he possibly have found?

  She didn’t recognize anything, but they’d gradually veered closer to shore. Her body trembled with the need to move, but she waited, looking for signs of habitation. Certain parts of the lake were more remote and difficult to access from town. Maybe that was why he’d brought them by boat. Or maybe it was because if the alarm had been raised about her disappearance by now, no one would expect them to be casually cruising on the lake.

  Maybe she could reason with him. “Mark, I can understand your frustration that I didn’t understand.”

  “It’s okay, love. There’ll be plenty of time for you to make it up to me.”

  Her stomach twisted, and she lunged for the side, afraid she’d be sick. The boat rocked, more spray hitting her face.

  “Careful there. I told you you’d be woozy.”

  Curling her hands around the edge of the boat, she looked back at him. “I’m sorry, Mark, but none of this is ever going to happen. If you truly read my books, you’d know that. I’m in love with Judd. I’ve always been in love with Judd, and him with me.”

  Something dark rippled over his face. “He’s wrong for you. He walked away from you.”

  “No. Cooper walked away. That was fiction. Judd has been there for me, always.”

  “He’s not here now,” Mark snarled.

  “But he will be.” She lurched to her feet, doing her best to rock and capsize the boat as she launched herself out of it.

  She hit the water with a painful crash. It closed over her head, stealing half the breath from her lungs as she fought her way back to the surface. Breaking through, she sucked in a lungful of air and struggled to make her wooden limbs work. But her clothes and shoes were waterlogged, dragging her under with every attempted stroke toward shore.

  It was so far. She’d miscalculated how well she could manage. The burst of energy from fear and adrenaline was already draining out. Was she really going to drown getting away from this lunatic?

  Suddenly her head was yanked up and back. She cried out as Mark dragged her closer by her hair. The pain of it bowed her backward, seeking any kind of relief from the screaming of her scalp. She willed herself to fight as he hauled her back, but her limbs were too heavy with water and fatigue, and she couldn’t make them work. The metal edge of the boat bit into her chest and belly as he dragged her over the side, and desperate panic threatened to choke her every bit as much as the lake water.

  Mark’s face was a thundercloud as he stared down at her where she lay, coughing, in a heap at his feet. “I tried, Autumn. I tried to give you the dream, but you don’t want a dream. You want a nightmare. So fine. I’ll give you a nightmare.”

  “I’ve already got a BOLO out on the dark blue SUV, with a description of the guy based on video from the reporters.”

  As Nash filled him in, Judd dialed Autumn’s cell. Straight to voicemail. Checking the friend finder app, she didn’t show up at all. Either location services was disabled or the phone itself was off.

  “We’re gonna find her,” Nash insisted.

  Yeah, Judd was going to find her, and when he got his hands on the son of a bitch who’d taken her, it was probably better he didn’t have a badge. On the short, fast drive to the station, he kept an iron grip on his fear and the rage that threatened to boil over. He had to keep a level head to do the job. Had to divorce himself from the personal so he didn’t make a mistake. But the moment he walked in and saw Jebediah waiting in interrogation, his control slipped.

  He stalked into the room, slamming the door behind him and looming over the other man’s chair, not laying a hand on him, but using his bulk to intimidate. “Start talking. And so help me, if you lie to me right now, you’ll wish you’d never been born. What did you see?”

  Jebediah didn’t cower. He barely so much as blinked. “I ran into her as she was coming out of the library.”

  “That was a violation of the restraining order.”

  “There’s been no hearing about the permanent one yet. And are you really going to get on that high horse right now?”

  Judd growled. “Don’t test me.”

  “I just wanted to talk to her, but all those reporters were in her face. I tried to get her away from them. Once she realized it was me, she wouldn’t go.” His pale face twisted into a disapproving scowl. “The girl was always willful.”

  Judd snarled. “Get to the point.”

  “Someone else intervened with the reporters. I didn’t know him but she seemed to. She went with him willingly enough and got into an SUV. Dark blue Explorer. As I already told the other officer, I didn’t get the tag.”

  “What makes you think she was taken if she got in willingly?”

  “He injected her with something.”

  “All those reporters and cameras around, and none of them caught that?”

  “I was at an angle where I could see past the shield of the passenger door. He leaned in to buckle the seatbelt and jabbed her with something.”

  The tiny, lingering hope that Jebediah was making all this shit up to screw with him died a swift death. He could see the conviction and the worry—unfamiliar as it was—in the other man’s
eyes.

  “And you just stood there and let it happen?”

  “He was moving fast and there was a mob of reporters in the damned way. In case you’ve forgotten, I’m dying.”

  “Oh, I haven’t forgotten. I’ve been counting the days.” Judd straightened, needing some space to keep from taking his frustration out on Jebediah. That wasn’t the way. “This was, what? An hour ago or more? Why the hell did you wait to report it? To give your accomplice a chance to get safely away?”

  Jebediah pointed one bony finger at him. “That. That’s why. Because you’ve been bound and determined that I’ve been behind all of this, assuming I’m working with someone else. I didn’t think you’d believe me.”

  Judd wasn’t sure if he did. Except what motive did Jebediah have for admitting he’d violated the restraining order if he didn’t see something? Chances were, Judd could use it to get him sent back inside for whatever days or weeks he had left.

  “Hate me all you want,” Jebediah rasped, “but if you love her like you claim to, you won’t waste more time on me.”

  With no other leads, Judd couldn’t risk not believing him. “What did this other guy look like?”

  “He was wearing a hooded jacket and a hat. I didn’t get a good look at his face.”

  “Height? Weight?”

  “A few inches shorter than you. Thinner, too, but not small.”

  None of this gave them more than they already had video of.

  “Anything else distinguishing?”

  Jebediah considered. “Glasses. He was wearing glasses.”

  Something niggled the back of Judd’s brain, but before he could follow the thought, Inez stuck her head through the door. “Livia’s here.”

  He’d likely gotten as much as he was going to out of Jebediah.

  Livia stood outside his office, hands knotted, face twisted with concern. “I shouldn’t have let her go alone. I should have insisted she wait until we could get someone to go with her.”

  “Come on into my office. Sit down.” It was easier to keep himself leashed with her. “What can you tell me? Why was Autumn even leaving the library?”

  “She got fired.”

  He absorbed that. “Of course she did. Because the last two weeks haven’t been shitty enough for her. What else?”

  “Before that we were talking about your theory from last night, about who could be doing all this stuff.” He listened as she quickly laid it out for him, filling in the possible motive. On a deep breath, she lifted her eyes to his. “I think it might be Mark Caulfield.”

  “The history professor?”

  “Yeah. I know he’s had a crush on Autumn forever. I mean, I always thought it was harmless. I’m even the one who told him where to find her that day he wanted to bring her flowers. But they were yellow tulips. She wrote about those in her book.”

  Caulfield was tall and slim. He wore glasses. He fit the physical description.

  Judd yanked open the door. “Somebody get me an address on Mark Caulfield. Contact HR at Wachoxee County Community College, if you have to. He’s a professor there.”

  He pulled out his phone, already searching the college’s website for a faculty photo as he marched back into interrogation. As soon as the image loaded, he thrust the phone at Jebediah. “Could this be the guy?”

  He stared at the picture something flickering in his eyes. “Maybe. I can’t say for sure.”

  It wasn’t the certainty Judd wanted, but it was the best he had to go on. If he was wrong, he’d apologize and buy the guy a beer.

  He was already walking back out again when Jebediah called out. “Am I under arrest?”

  Judd hesitated, looking back. Jebediah had violated the temporary protection order. But he hadn’t hurt Autumn and had put his own ass on the line to report her abduction, even if it had taken him too long to do it. He was still a grumpy, bitter old bastard. But maybe he really had straightened up some in prison and found some remorse. Maybe being on death’s door had made him reevaluate his life. If this was his attempt at some kind of atonement, arresting him would be a dick move.

  “Not at this time.”

  Surprise widened those familiar green eyes.

  “Don’t make me regret it.”

  In the bullpen, Inez waved a slip of paper. “Got the address, Chief. He lives in the county, out near Chapel Creek, about halfway between Wishful and Lawley. And he does have a blue Explorer registered to him.”

  There it was. The piece he’d needed. “Somebody find Judge Carpenter. We need a warrant. Inez, update the BOLO and expand to Tennessee and Arkansas. He hasn’t been gone quite long enough to leave the state, but I’m not risking nobody looking if he’s actually on the move with her. And call in Reuben. He wasn’t on duty until tonight, but we need every able-body to help. Put in a call to Sheriff Riggs, too. With the damned training day, we’ve got too few officers to help with a manhunt.”

  “I can help with that.”

  Judd turned to see the stranger he’d passed in City Hall. The competition, he realized. He noted the outline of a shoulder holster beneath the suit coat as well as the cowboy boots

  “Ethan Greer. U.S. Marshal Service.” He flashed his credentials.

  “What the hell is a federal marshal doing down here?” Nash asked.

  Why was a federal marshal applying for a position as a small town chief of police? “He had business in town.”

  Something like approval flashed in those steel gray eyes. “I heard about the trouble and wanted to offer whatever assistance I could.”

  A tall man, if not quite as broad as Judd, Greer exuded a quiet confidence. A man who could handle himself and didn’t feel the need to throw around his rank or his weight to prove it.

  “I’m not here to step on any toes, Chief Hamilton. I just want to help.”

  Judd extended a hand. “At this point, Marshal, I’d take help from the devil himself. Welcome aboard.” He made introductions to Nash, Inez, and the rookie who was still manning a desk.

  “Catch me up.”

  Judd gave him the overview, outlining the particulars Greer would need to know in order to tap his federal resources and expedite the coordination of agencies, should it become necessary.

  “And the victim, Autumn Buchanan, she’s your wife? Girlfriend?”

  Judd met the marshal’s steady gaze. “She’s my everything.”

  Sympathy flashed before Greer nodded. “Then we’ll find her. I’ll make some calls, get the ball rolling on the regional coordination.”

  “Got Sheriff Riggs on the phone,” Raines announced.

  Taking the receiver, Judd locked down his emotions and began to work the case.

  Chapter 18

  He’d drugged her again. It was the only thought Autumn could hold on to as she struggled toward consciousness. Her body ached, and her shoulders were rolled back into an awkward position.

  “Wakey, wakey.” Something cool and hard brushed her temple at the words.

  Inhaling a slow breath, Autumn gathered what energy she could muster and opened her eyes.

  Mark—or a very blurry version of him—crouched in front of her. His lips curved, and as his face resolved into a clearer image, she registered the cold fury behind the smile. How had she missed the signs of this in him all this time? She, who prided herself on being so attuned to others’ behavior, hadn’t seen. Maybe she hadn’t wanted to see.

  She licked her lips and tried to swallow, but her mouth felt full of cotton.

  “Thirsty?” He produced a bottle of water and held it to her lips.

  Autumn tried to turn her head away. What if he’d put something in it? She needed to come out of this stupor if she had a chance in hell of getting out of this.

  “There’s nothing wrong with the water. See?” He tipped it back himself and drank a quarter of the bottle.

  When he offered it again, she drank. The lukewarm water tasted flat in that way of something left in the car in the heat of the day. But it helped quench her pa
rched throat and made it a little easier to breathe.

  “Now, what do we say?”

  As much as she wanted to tell him exactly where to shove it, she knew the right response, knew she couldn’t afford to piss him off any further. “Thank you.” The rasp of her voice was barely above a whisper.

  “There. Was that so hard?” He reached out to push her hair back and there was that cold, hard thing against her temple again.

  Cutting her gaze to the side, she saw the gun in his hand and hissed in a breath. “Wh…what is that for?”

  “Consider it insurance. As is the rest of this, since you’ve proved yourself a flight risk.” He waved the gun as if to encompass the chair he’d bound her to.

  It was only as she looked past him that she realized where they were.

  Her blood ran cold.

  He’d promised her a nightmare, and he’d delivered. He’d brought her back to where it all began. Or ended.

  She’d never come back to her childhood home after the day Judd was shot. Someone else had been the one to retrieve her things. Someone else had dealt with the aftermath of violence. Her gaze skittered over old cabinets and worn vinyl floor, half expecting to still see the bright crimson pool of blood that had marked her memory.

  The kitchen wasn’t clean. Too many years of dust and decay saw to that. But the evidence of the shooting had been scrubbed away. Objectively, she’d known the bank had repossessed the house. They’d done the clean up, putting just enough effort into repainting the walls in this room, at least. But no one had wanted it. Why would they? The miasma of her father’s drunken delusions and hatred had seeped into the very walls. She could feel it, pulsing in the room like some living thing. Or maybe that was her own fear of this place coming out of hibernation.