“Hey,” Ridge prodded, using his left hand to make sure the dishtowel stayed in place while he cradled her cheek with his right. He brushed his thumb over her cheek. “Stay with me. I need you to open your eyes, hazelnut. Don’t think I didn’t notice those pretty hazel eyes of yours. Look at me now. Keep talking.”
The Widow Taker.
He’d heard the moniker many times since he’d moved to Winter Heights. One couldn’t turn on the news without seeing coverage of the serial killer who had been preying on the widows of this town. If this woman thought that The Widow Taker had attacked her, then it stood to reason that she was a widow herself.
She struggled to focus her attention on him.
Her vision must be fading.
It was clear that she was fighting the pull of the darkness that would take away her pain, but he couldn’t allow her to do that quite yet. He wasn’t so sure that she’d be able to pull herself out of the void once she got sucked in.
Again, he found himself asking for her name.
“What’s your name, hazelnut? I can’t keep calling you that, can I?”
“The police—” The woman cut off what she was going to say when a slight movement caused her more pain. That didn’t stop her from continuing, though. “You n-need to be careful. He could still be—”
“You are a fighter, aren’t you?” Ridge murmured in admiration, realizing that the dishtowel was already half-soaked with her blood now. “My name is Ridge Killian, former MARSOC special operator for the United State Marine Corps…at your service. Basically, a sharpshooter in layman’s terms. I wasn’t half-bad, so I think you’ll be safe with me here until the police arrive.”
Ridge preferred to stay hidden in the shadows, and he hadn’t told anyone he’d recently met of his service or what his profession had been in the Corps. His parents had respected his wishes. With the serial killer taking up most of the headlines, a lot of the residents had missed the local news piece regarding his honorable discharge and retirement with a list of his decorations and a brief history of his service to date. He preferred his anonymity.
He’d served his country for twenty years, and now he was reacclimating as a civilian.
It was that simple.
Nothing more, nothing less.
“Listen, hazelnut,” Ridge said softly after the dispatcher relayed how far out the ambulance was from his residence. “I know you want to close your eyes, but I can’t let you do that quite yet. I told you my name, so now it’s time for you to tell me yours.”
A woman was bleeding out on his area rug in front of the fireplace after being attacked by someone who she believed to be a serial killer. Ridge shouldn’t be getting the sense that she didn’t want to give her name, but he’d learned almost twenty years ago to never ignore his gut instinct.
“How about just your first name then?” Ridge asked, brushing her cheek every time she attempted to close her eyes. Her innate desire to catch the son of bitch who had done this to her was strong, so he used that detail to extract the information from her. “Tell me something so that the police have information to apprehend your attacker.”
“Lily,” she whispered, biting her lip afterward when her pain intensified. “Lily Hudson. I-I live to the west of y-you. I stabbed him. I stabbed him, and I ripped off h-his mask.”
She attempted to hold up the black material, alerting him to the fact that she had indeed taken her attacker’s mask.
The faint sound of sirens could finally be heard in the distance.
“That’s good, Lily.” Ridge glanced at the front door of his cabin. “That’s fantastic. You can tell the police all the specifics, and they’ll be able to track down the son of a bitch who did this to you.”
Lily’s cold grasp began to loosen on his wrist, indicating her battle to stop the darkness from swallowing her whole was losing ground.
He cupped her face a little tighter so that he had her attention.
“You need to stay with me, Lily,” Ridge prodded gently while he rubbed her sternum briskly after lifting off his knees so that he was in a kneeling position. He’d need to flip the deadbolt the second the paramedics hit the front porch. “Come on, hazelnut. That’s right. Focus on me. Do you hear those sirens? Help is thirty seconds out. I’ll open the door the second they get here. They’ll transport you to the hospital, and then you can—”
“Don’t leave m-me.”
Ridge paused mid-stroke on upper chest, figuring she meant for the brief time it took to open the door. She was most likely still terrified that her attacker would return.
“Lily, you’re safe now,” Ridge reassured her once more, hearing the gravel of his driveway crunch under the wheels of the arriving ambulance. The police seemed to be right behind the paramedics, if their competing sirens were anything to go by. “He can’t hurt you anymore. Do you hear those sirens? That’s the sound of the calvary coming to your aid. I’m right here, but I have to open the door to let them in. Okay?”
Ridge went to stand when he heard the rapid footsteps walk across his porch, but she tightened her hold on his wrist. She surprised him with the strength that she still maintained after all she’d been through tonight.
He leaned in close with a promise.
“You’re safe, Lily. I promise you that you’re safe now.”
Lily gradually released her hold on him, and he was finally able to stand. He thanked the dispatcher, ending the call. He was finally able to throw the deadbolt so that it released the lock, opening the door for the paramedics. They were the first through the door, followed by a deputy in full uniform.
“Stab wound to the right side, below her ribcage,” Ridge informed them, setting his sights on the deputy. “Listen, my name is Ridge Killian. The victim’s name is Lily Hudson, and I’m relatively sure she lives to the west of me. She claims that she was stabbed by The Widow Taker. You’ll want to get someone over there right away, because she also mentioned that she stabbed him and was able to remove his mask. She has it on her person in her left hand. I’m not sure what went down, but her attacker could still be at her residence.”
The deputy quickly radioed in the information that Ridge had relayed, though the man was guarded as he looked Ridge up and down with suspicion.
He didn’t take any offense. He understood that the deputy had a job to do, especially under such high-stakes circumstances.
Ridge stood at six feet and three inches, much taller and heavier than the deputy and the paramedics. His imposing frame had a way of causing people to pause, and the fact that he hadn’t given up his weapon probably wasn’t providing the deputy any amount of comfort. The man had already been given a heads up by his dispatcher that the caller was armed, and he’d most likely seen the firearm when Ridge had turned around to monitor the paramedics as they worked on Lily.
“Sir, how did Ms. Hudson end up here?” the deputy inquired, widening his stance in front of the door. “I didn’t see a vehicle, and—”
“Ms. Hudson triggered my security system. She entered my backyard through the stretch of woods between our properties,” Ridge explained, not altering his tone in the slightest. “I went outside, pulled her in to safety, and then made sure that no one else was following her. I then brought her in by the fire and rendered first aid to keep her stable until the paramedics arrived. I did my best to keep her awake by asking her questions, which is how I know that she was attacked in her own home.”
Ridge purposefully didn’t ask why the deputy himself was not driving over to Lily’s residence in search of her attacker. It would come across as questioning the man’s courage and professionalism. Besides, Ridge had already heard him make the call to have another deputy secure her place.
Unfortunately, it might very well be too late, and Lily’s attacker was probably already gone or dead if she had gotten lucky with her defense.
“I wish I could be of more help, but no one followed her out of the woods.”
Ridge could hear more movement on his porch, but
the deputy had already turned around and opened the door. Two firefighters appeared with a gurney to help the paramedics who had only brought in a backboard with their gear and were still busy stabilizing their patient. It didn’t take them long to get her on the board and transfer Lily to the gurney from the carpet.
“R-Ridge.”
He stepped forward, ignoring the warning by the male paramedic who wanted Ridge to take a step back. Lily was most important right now, and she’d asked for him by name. The fact that she hadn’t fallen into an unconscious state after losing so much blood astounded him.
“You’re safe, Lily,” Ridge murmured, leaning in close so that she didn’t have to strain to hear him. “They’re going to take you to the hospital now, okay? Tell them what happened, and the police will be able to make an arrest. You should be really proud of yourself, hazelnut. You did really good.”
“You said that you’d s-stay with me.”
The paramedics had strapped her in, securing her arms for transport out of the house and across the small walk to the driveway. Ridge had done his best to maintain the area with salt, but there were still some slick spots that had been missed. He had reached down to hold her hand in support, but again he was taken aback by her strength.
She held onto his hand as if she were afraid of what would come next.
“Ma’am, I need you to let go of the mask,” the deputy said gently, having walked around the other side of the gurney. He’d gotten a bag from somewhere to store the crucial piece of evidence. “Special Agent Dean Malone will be meeting you at the hospital.”
Ridge was grateful that he had a moment to mull over her request. He was torn, because the bottom line was that he was a complete stranger to her. She wouldn’t want him anywhere near her once her family came into the picture.
Then again, he’d made her a promise.
It might not have been his intention to go to the hospital, but she’d seen it as otherwise.
“I’ll stay with you,” Ridge confirmed, feeling the weight of the deputy’s stare. “Let’s get you to the hospital now. Deputy, I need you to secure my place.”
Ridge managed to untangle his fingers from hers, motioning to the paramedics that they could roll her out the door. He snagged his jacket from the row of wooden pegs near the door, all but forcing the deputy to stand aside. It was clear that he wasn’t pleased with this turn of events, but the police could follow up with him at the hospital with any more questions.
“As you heard, I’ll be at the hospital.” Ridge waited for the argument, but he’d made sure there was no questionable tone in his voice. This was the way tonight was going to go down. “You or the sheriff are welcome to meet us there.”
Ridge stood still, not wavering his stare when the deputy seemed uncertain as to how he should handle the situation. Ridge would have preferred to have his side holster, but he had a spare shoulder holster hanging from a hook next to where his coat had been. He grabbed it without thought. He wouldn’t advertise he had a weapon at the hospital, especially since most medical facilities didn’t allow for citizens to carry firearms even if they had a concealed carry permit.
Regardless that he was proficient with nearly every type of weapon currently in use by the world’s militaries, he’d abided by the rules of obtaining his concealed carry permit. He would even go out of his way to request permission from the sheriff to remain armed if it came right down to it, because there wasn’t a chance in hell that he was going to leave Lily unprotected while he was in the vicinity.
He’d made her a promise, after all.
“Is the fact that I’m going to the hospital going to be a problem?” Ridge asked, dropping the niceties now that he was running out of time to ride in the ambulance. He would figure out a way to get home later. “Deputy?”
“No, there’s no problem,” the deputy said, relenting despite his ire. “I’ll let the sheriff know where you’ll be when he gets here.”
Ridge waited for the deputy to step out onto the porch before quickly walking over to the hearth and pulling the glass doors together. It was dangerous to leave a fire burning, but at least the glass would prevent any embers from escaping and burning his home to the ground while he was out.
He couldn’t allow the ambulance to leave without him. He’d given his word to Lily, and once she was settled at the hospital and surrounded by her family…well, he’d have a chance to leave.
Ridge quickly entered the four-digit code into the alarm panel next to the door, disarming the security system for the property and the house, forestalling any further triggering of the system until he arrived back home. The officers and the other investigating agencies would be all over his house and property before he got back home. He would just request that the deputy lock it up once the sheriff was done. If Lily’s attacker had somehow managed to come away with less damage than her, then he’d be looking for a safe haven.
It sure as hell wasn’t going to be Ridge’s cabin.
He was certain the police would thoroughly search the entire area before they concluded their investigation of the scene, anyway.
“Sir, before you leave,” the deputy said after Ridge had shouldered past him in the driveway to reach the ambulance right before the female paramedic could close the doors. “I’ll need your cell number.”
Ridge rattled off his phone number as he stepped up into the ambulance. The deputy definitely didn’t like the way the situation had all gone down, but there was no other alternative. Ridge had made a promise, and he intended to keep it.
He would worry about any consequences later.
Chapter Three
Thirty minutes later, Ridge found himself sitting in the corner of a waiting room full of family and friends of numerous other patients, wondering what he’d gotten himself involved in. It was the last place he’d thought he’d find himself tonight, and he had to suppress the overwhelming urge to ask for another update on Lily. Patience was needed in a situation like this one. The doctors and nurses needed to be able to do their jobs without being hounded every five minutes by someone who technically had no right to that information.
Lily had been taken back immediately, leaving him to be directed toward a waiting room full of strangers. He’d asked for a place to wash up and had spent a good five minutes scrubbing the blood off his hands. There wasn’t anything he could do about the blood-covered sweater he was wearing, so he ended up parked in an uncomfortable plastic seat to wait out what would no doubt be a long operation.
No one would see the stains, anyway.
He wouldn’t remove his jacket while carrying a firearm in a hospital. There was no sense in stirring up security for no reason. Technically, he shouldn’t even be wearing a firearm. Still, he always found it was better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
Ridge had taken a few minutes to give Lily’s name over to one of the administrators, hoping that she would be able to locate a family member. His thought process was that once Lily was in the good hands of a relative, he’d be able to return home. He’d also wanted to look around the property line to see if the police had canvassed the area properly.
No doubt they were professionals at their jobs, but it wouldn’t hurt to check it out all the same.
The military had taught him to inspect what he expected. It was only then that one would rarely surprise himself or herself by expectations that weren’t met. If someone had dropped the ball, it was best to catch it early on and correct the deficiency immediately.
There were currently a good ten people sitting around the waiting room for various reasons. Personally, Ridge hated the antiseptic smell of hospitals. It rarely meant good news in his former profession. He associated the nauseating scent with death. Battalion Aid stations smelled the exact same way. It didn’t matter if it was a civilian hospital, a military hospital, or a field expedient aid station—they all reeked of the same stench.
He could have spent time mulling over the fact that he’d somehow been pu
lled into a massive cluster-fuck in what was supposed to be a quiet town with no complications. He’d had his fair share of dealing with dangerous situations, and he certainly hadn’t been looking to get into another mess. All he’d wanted upon retiring from the service was to enjoy what little peace he could find in his life—a few moments of sanity that he could enjoy after spending the last twenty years behind the scope of his firearm or teaching others what he’d been taught by those who had come before him. It was a tradition in the service—one trained his or her own replacement, because one never knew exactly when he or she would have to step up and take command.
The sound of determined footsteps could be heard before the same administrator he’d spoken to earlier appeared in the doorway. She swept her gaze over the occupants of the waiting room before zeroing in on him. It was doubtful that she was here to give him an update, especially seeing as he wasn’t family, but he tensed for news anyway as he glanced at her nametag.
“Sir, I’m sorry,” Paula began in a low tone as she came to a stop in front of him. “I didn’t get your name. I’ll need it for the record.”
Ridge didn’t see how that was relevant, but the woman was just doing her job. He also didn’t really care if she used his name in the report.
“Ridge Killian.” He spread his hands wide to show that his identity wasn’t of importance. “I’m not related to the patient. There was an incident, and I’m just waiting here until someone arrives who can be with her when she wakes up.”
“Phone number?” Paula asked, her pen poised over a clipboard that she’d carried with her. She scribbled the numbers after he’d recited them, moving on to the next block on her form. “Address?”
Ridge reluctantly provided his contact information, having already noticed that he’d garnered an older gentleman’s attention. The man was wearing a baseball cap that indicated he was a Marine veteran himself, and there was sure to be a conversation that followed.
The Reclusive Widow (The Widow Taker Book 3) Page 3