“What is it?” He opened his own door. Then he smelled it. “Fire.”
Not just a fire, but a man running away from the building.
Ellie yelled, “Hey! Stop!”
And then took off after him.
Chapter 9
Ellie knew this town so well she could run through it blindfolded, though that wasn’t generally recommended as it tended to cause accidents. The man ahead of her raced around the corner of the building. His shoes slipped, and he nearly went down. One arm shot out in order to catch his balance and then he disappeared into the alley between the Main Street storefronts.
She pumped her arms and legs, forced to ignore the sting of the knife wound on her arm. Didn’t feel quite so superficial now that she needed to use that limb.
At the corner of the building she stopped. Pulled her gun, and took a split second to brace. Then she whipped around it, weapon first.
There was no sense in meeting an ambush without taking a second to be ready. Especially if this was the person who’d shot Natalie Benson and left her body in Drew’s childhood home.
This wasn’t the first time since they found her body that Ellie wondered if there was significance to leaving her there. It could be they’d purposely taken her somewhere they knew Ellie and Drew would go. But that was a long shot. More likely it was out of the way enough they figured Natalie wouldn’t be found for a long while.
They wanted her to be found.
Or they didn’t.
Ellie wasn’t sure which it was. Or whether it was significant that it had been Drew’s place. Depended on ballistics and any other evidence the sheriff had collected.
The sight of a car pulled her back to focus on the chase. Ellie ran toward it, following the guy through the beam of headlights.
He was shorter than her. Small frame for a man. Could be a woman, but she didn’t think so. More likely, she figured, he was a teenage boy.
Whoever he was, his hip glanced off the front corner of the car. The headlight went dark as he moved in front of it and headed for the passenger door.
“Stop!”
He was attempting to flee the scene of what she assumed was arson. Was this Simon? She didn’t know how tall he was, but figured Simon wouldn’t look like a teen boy from the back.
Or maybe Simon was back at the real estate office. Was he dead in there, his body about to become ash?
Ellie planted her feet and yelled, “Sheriff’s department! Stop!”
He needed to come to her. Most people surrendered when faced with an armed officer of the law. It was the rest of the population that were the problem. Not quite as inclined to cooperate. Where was Drew? She couldn’t hear anyone behind her. Had he gone to the office? Was he calling in the fire? That would be helpful.
Not to mention how it felt to know he was aware she could take care of herself. He trusted her. Believed in her. But that belief wasn’t going to get this guy to come in quietly. Or any other way. Overconfidence never ended well.
She said, “Walk back to me. Slowly. Hands where I can see them.”
He hesitated, one hand now on the door handle. Not armed. She figured he’d have shot her already if he had a gun.
He pulled open the door to the passenger…
He wasn’t driving.
Where was the—
A dark figured rushed her. The bigger frame barreled into her so fast and hard Ellie’s feet lifted off the ground. It felt like being hit by a semi-truck. Her arm swung up. She squeezed the trigger as she sailed through the air. The gun went off.
Ellie landed on her back on the concrete pavement. Her body exploded with pain. The gun skittered across the ground.
A suffocating weight settled on her chest. She tried to fight against it, struggling to breathe. She pushed, but her arms were pinned to her sides. She tried to kick, but he was massive. And right on top of her.
Anger burned in her stomach. She couldn’t handle weakness any better than she could handle things being out of her control. Both birthed hot frustration in her. It came out as a thick roar from her throat.
Hands banded around her neck. She blinked against an explosion of bright lights across the black of night.
The sound from her mouth cut off. Air got stuck in her throat. The squeeze of his hands on her neck was all she could think about. Her world coalesced to nothing but the feel of his thick fingers tight around her throat.
Drew.
She needed him right now. She kicked but didn’t have the strength to get the guy off her. She couldn’t even roll. He probably weighed close to two hundred fifty pounds. She had muscle—and more weight than she needed on her five-seven frame—but it wasn’t helping.
She wanted to scream but had no air in her lungs.
His hot breath brushed her face, and she heard a chuckle from somewhere far away. “…good for me. Means I don’t have to find you and kill you later.”
“Ellie!” Drew’s voice rang out as he approached.
Did he see her? She tried to call out to him the way she had at the cabin but no sound came out of her mouth.
The man pinning her down stilled.
The car engine revved.
“Stop!” Drew’s voice was clear even over the sound of horsepower surging. “Hey—”
A sickening thud. Everything in her went cold. Drew.
Lord…
She didn’t know what to say. Couldn’t think of the words to convey the situation to a God she’d abandoned at the lowest point of her life. Would He even want to hear from her?
Maybe he would, considering it was about Drew. Didn’t selflessness make it more valid? Like it wasn’t for her own personal gain, so God should listen.
Help him.
Unconsciousness rushed up on her. Ellie didn’t know how much longer she could hold out against the squeeze of his hands on her throat. Help…me.
Deep in her pocket, Ellie’s phone started to vibrate.
She wanted to scream out all the frustration boiling hot in her stomach. A single tear ran from the corner of her eye into her hair. She could hardly see. Strength surged from somewhere, she didn’t know where, and she kicked. Fought against him. Probably some last survival instinct coming to her aid.
The last of her strength.
“Ask too many questions, and you get dead.” Spit landed on her face.
Ellie kept up her furious struggle.
And then her arm was free. She had to shove away the surprise she had no time to acknowledge and jabbed her fingers out straight. Right at his face.
He cried out.
Now both her arms were free. His grip on her neck was still deadly. She couldn’t get his fingers off her. And she would end up dying while she tried to pry them free. Instead, she felt around her. Reaching for her gun, though she had no idea how far away it had fallen.
Her fingers grasped something hard. Sharp. Whatever it was, she grabbed it in a tight hold and swung it at his face.
The man cried out and fell off her.
Finally he let go of her neck, and she sucked in a full breath. As much air as she could through her constricted windpipe. Thank You. She tried to scramble up.
He crawled away, clutching his face. This homicidal maniac. Who was he?
“You’re under arrest!” The words came out no louder than a whisper.
He rolled over and hefted himself up to his feet.
And then he ran away.
Ellie tried to stand. She fell back to the ground in a thud. “Drew.”
. . .
“Ellie.”
The car had hit him. Drew tried to get his leg underneath him. The limb buckled, but he pressed a hand against the side of the brick building and braced his weight. He winced at the poke of brick and concrete. Hopped.
Tried to walk.
He cried out, forced to fight against the urge to fall back to the ground. “Ellie!” Focusing on her was the only thing that kept him from going down.
He couldn’t have broken his leg or anyt
hing else that serious. Otherwise he wouldn’t be able to even limp. Extreme stubbornness didn’t make a broken bone weight-bearing all of a sudden. Which meant it wasn’t that bad.
Not that bad.
He repeated it. Life-giving words that were going to get him to where he was going.
Sirens in the distance revived him. Forced more energy and determination into his screaming body. His hip. His knee. Maybe his whole left side would be purple tomorrow. Just promise me no internal bleeding. The last thing he needed was to be incapacitated, or in surgery, when he was supposed to be protecting Ellie.
And now it was clear she needed watching.
Except that it was precisely what he was supposed to have been doing and look how spectacularly he’d failed? So much pride. Thinking he had the skills to keep her safe just because of missions. The first chance he’d had to do what he said he would—and could—he’d totally messed it up by checking for victims in the real estate office first.
Both of them had nearly died.
“Drew!”
She was there in front of him, her hands grasping his arms. They nearly collapsed together to the ground. “Ellie.”
He forced his right knee to lock and hold most of his weight on that side.
“He tried to strangle me.” She sucked in a breath that didn’t sound good. “The car—”
There was no time to talk through everything.
He tugged her toward the end of the alley. “Fire department should be here by now.”
Drew wanted to carry her. He should have picked her up and taken her to meet them. Instead, the truck pulled up outside the real estate office, and the fire fighters poured out in time to see Ellie helping him walk.
“Deputy?”
“We need an ambulance.”
“Copy that.” He trotted back to the truck and got on the radio.
“Over there.” Drew spotted a bench, and they hobbled to it. Well, she wheezed and he hobbled. When he settled onto it, he couldn’t bite back the cry.
“I think you’re really hurt.”
Drew didn’t want to admit that, so he bit down on his molars. He tried to breathe through the pain enough he’d be able to see straight when the ambulance got there. No way were they going to push him on a gurney when he was conscious. He could walk. Mostly.
Turned out they didn’t agree with him. Ellie left him to go get her gun, ensuring they treated him first. When she walked back over, he was in the ambulance. That was something, at least. “Come on.” He waved her over so she could get in as well.
She shook her head and let out a little cough. “I’ll meet you there.”
“You need to get checked out.”
“The fire department guys are trained. I can have one of them look at my neck. I want to know if they find anything in the office.”
He didn’t have time to object. The EMT shut the ambulance doors. Then it was a blur of lights. The prick of a needle. Drew let out a long breath. He should call the sheriff and tell him Ellie was at the real estate office, and he couldn’t watch her.
Drew patted his pockets, but didn’t find… His phone was in his truck. The one they’d driven here together. He had his wallet on him but nothing else. Not even his keys.
It was hours before they were done with x-rays and tests—most of which involved the doctor poking him in places he was sore while muttering to himself.
Drew said, “Don’t even think about admitting me.” When the doctor looked up, he added, “And have someone get me a phone. I need to call the sheriff.”
The doctor left the room shaking his head. Two frustrating minutes later the nurse came in. “I hear you don’t love our company.”
“I need a phone.”
He swung his legs off the side of the bed.
“If your feet even touch the floor, I’ll tell the doctor you passed out and he’ll admit you overnight.”
Drew shot her a look. She wouldn’t.
But he held his feet off the floor. It took too much strength and, after a few seconds, he had to sag back on the bed. He blew out a breath. “I really do need a phone.”
“I’ll be back with your discharge papers.” Nurse Friendly flung the door open.
She left, but it didn’t shut. A man entered. Someone who looked slightly familiar, but Drew couldn’t place him. Not Simon Mills. Which was a shame.
“Not looking so good.” The man had silver hair, and he was dressed in a suit. Shiny shoes. Not a man who got dirty on his way up the ladder—this guy was at the top.
“I bounce back quickly,” Drew said. Who was he? “What do you want?”
“Cooperation. Understanding.”
“We can’t all have what we want.” This guy was one of them. Drew knew it like he knew Ellie was probably the only woman in the world who might understand how he truly felt about the town. Drew continued, “Like a phone to call the sheriff.”
“Not sure why you’d need to call the sheriff,” the man said. “Unless you think I’m a threat.” He bit off that last word. “And why would that be, when we can both benefit from an arrangement?”
From slashing his tires to getting recruited? They were feeling him out, and this guy was going to make an offer. But why? Was there dissension in the group, different people doing their own thing, or had someone changed their mind?
“The alternative is we kill both of you.”
“We leave you alone, you leave us alone,” Drew said. “Is that it?”
“It can be.” The man stood straight at the end of the bed. He had the guts—or confidence—to come in here and make this pitch in what was a public place. Like these people thought they were untouchable. Paying people to hurt Ellie. To shoot at her.
Who was this guy? “What do you want?”
“Information. You tell me what she knows, and who she’s told. In exchange, you are left alone.”
“Not good enough,” Drew said. “In exchange, no one else gets hurt. That’s the only deal I’m going to agree to.”
The man’s mouth split into a smile more like a sneer.
Drew tried to get his brain to process all of this. Before the guy left, before it was too late. Ellie would get hurt if he didn’t play this the right way. Drew hardly cared about his own life. Only a couple of people would miss him if he wasn’t here anymore. Ellie had more than that. She made Malvern County a better place.
“Work with us, and this will go your way,” the man said.
What was their endgame? Land…but for what?
“Keep her away from our business.”
Ellie was a threat to them. As though she’d gotten too close without even realizing it, and now they wanted to know what she knew. They wanted her contained.
Drew wanted her safe. He bit down on his molars, knowing he would regret this when he had to tell her what he’d done. But also knowing he would do next to anything to keep her safe.
Without thinking over why that was so strong in him, he said, “Just as long as she’s safe.”
It was all that mattered.
Chapter 10
“You did what?” Ellie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She could hardly talk around the swelling in her throat. They’d told her what signs to watch for and that she wasn’t in the clear yet, but there was no way she was staying in the hospital.
Everything she’d been through and a little sore throat could kill her? She hadn’t even known that swelling could come back later to do her in. Days later. There wasn’t time for that.
“Will you sit down?” Drew waved at the end of the hospital bed.
Ellie did, but only because she was exhausted and her neck hurt. It was a mass of red marks and bruises already. Tomorrow it was going to look even worse—bad enough she might have to dig out that old turtleneck from the back of her closet.
She sighed. “He could have killed you.”
Drew shook his head. “That wasn’t why he was here.”
“So he offered you a job instead?”
&nb
sp; “In a way. It’s a business arrangement, nothing more. They want to know what you know, presumably because you got so close to what they’re doing that they got spooked.”
Too bad she had no idea what exactly she’d stumbled on, or discovered. She had been trying to figure out what happened to Brad and Sheila. What—or rather, who—forced them off their land and made them feel they had to leave town and vacation in Mexico before starting their new life somewhere else?
She’d run some searches at work through the law enforcement databases they had access to. And she had called a friend at the state police to see if he had any reports or complaints logged. That could hardly have been sufficient to get them so worried. What had triggered all this?
“It’s better than them coming after you to kill you.”
“Again.” She couldn’t get the feel of that guy’s fingers around her neck out of her mind. His dark words, the need to kill her. It sent a wave of cold through her that she might be their target, even while she had to acknowledge that the fact she was a threat to them meant she was doing her job.
That she was good at it.
It might be twisted to feel like that just because someone was trying to kill her, but she knew herself well enough to know it was true. It meant something to her. She wanted to be good at her job. She wanted to be looked up to, the way her dad had been. Ellie wanted people whose opinion mattered to be proud of her.
And maybe that included Drew.
Yet, he seemed determined to fix this himself.
“Look, I’ll just put out feelers for now,” he suggested. “There’s no reason to jump in with both feet. They won’t buy that anyway, not if they know the first thing about me.”
She nodded. Anyone who knew he took federal contracts might assume that undercover work was part of his gig. They could even surmise he was skilled enough to play both sides in order to get a result. Which meant he couldn’t be fully trusted.
Ellie figured that at least she could trust him. Still, a tiny part of what was inside her—the part that had been destroyed through abandonment—worried that he might be playing her. Mostly she didn’t believe it, but the worry did nag at her even though she didn’t know why he would want to deceive her.
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