by Kaylea Cross
“No.” She rushed over to grab hold of his wrist. “That line is there to give you medicine.”
He tried to snatch his arm back. “I’m not sick.”
“Mr. Brown, you’ve just had a major heart attack.”
His fuzzy gray eyebrows shot upward. “I had a heart attack?”
“Yes, and that’s why we need you to lie back down and rest.”
He stood there gaping at her in astonishment. “I had a heart attack,” he repeated.
“Yes. Now let’s get you back into bed.”
The news seemed to mollify him a little because he lost his belligerent edge and followed her over to his bed, docile as a lamb. “There you go,” she said, helping him lie down and tucking him in for what she hoped would be the last time. “We’re having a busy night here, Mr. Brown, so we would appreciate it if you would stay put until the doctor says otherwise. Your son is on his way right now to see you.”
His brow wrinkled. “My son?”
“Robert.”
His eyes flooded with tears and a tremulous smile quivered on his lips. “Robbie. I haven’t seen him in so long.”
“No?” she said, tucking the sheets around him and adjusting the flow of meds in his line. With any luck the dosage they were giving him would sedate him enough to keep him in bed this time.
“We had a fight a few years back. Stupid.” He shook his head, wiped at his tears and nodded his thanks at Molly when she passed him a tissue. His bleary eyes settled on hers. “You make sure you don’t have to live with regrets,” he warned her. “It’s worse than anything, including losing your marbles.” He tapped his skull with a gnarled finger.
Molly wasn’t sure whether the story was true or not, but his words were heartfelt and they resonated with her. She’d taken a huge leap of faith with Jase this weekend, but she could admit that she was still holding part of her back. She didn’t want to regret that later.
She smiled and put a comforting hand on the old man’s shoulder. “You know, you’re right. I have something I need to take care of, to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Mr. Brown mopped at his eyes and wiped his nose, then handed the soggy tissue back to her. Molly hid a rueful smile and put it in the trash. Her job was so glamorous. “Is it a fella?”
He still had plenty of marbles left upstairs if he could figure that out. “It is a fella, as a matter of fact. And he means the world to me. I need to tell him that.” She needed to give Jase the words, and ask that he be patient with her a little longer.
He’d had the interview today. It had gone well, and they’d made him an offer. With his service record, resume and personality, of course the company wanted him. It terrified her to think of him doing contract work. He’d asked for a couple of weeks to think about their offer.
Molly was working hard to overcome her secret fears about falling in love with him, but the truth was, she might already be there. Knowing he was considering contract work alarmed her, but she trusted him to honor his promise and not to take the job if they stayed together. More than that, she wasn’t going to jeopardize what they had by holding onto the miniscule chance that he would wind up like Carter.
Mr. Brown shook his finger at her. “You fix it.”
“I will. Now, you promise to be good and stay here while you wait for Robbie to get here?”
He gave her a gap-toothed grin. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Perfect. Try to sleep for a bit. If you need anything, just ring this call button.” She showed him where it was and closed the curtains around him for privacy before heading back to the nurse’s station.
The next few hours passed in a flurry of activity, but by the time her break rolled around, all she could think about was calling Jase. She hadn’t seen him since yesterday afternoon when he’d dropped her off at Noah and Poppy’s with Walter, but it felt like an eternity.
She texted him as she headed to the staff room to grab her late night meal. You still up?
It surprised her when her phone rang a few seconds later. “Hey,” she answered with a grin. “I guess this means you’re still up?”
“Better than that. I’m about a minute from the hospital.”
“What? Why?” she said, stepping out into the hallway, heading for the exit.
“Haven’t seen you in way too long, so I thought I’d bring something to eat together.”
She couldn’t help smiling as she pressed the release bar on the exit door. The air was cool and slightly damp, carrying the crisp scent of evergreen and turning leaves. “What is it?”
“Fattening.”
“Ooh, my favorite kind of food. I’m heading out back to the sitting area to meet Trisha.” It was around the far side of the building, and other nurses on break always hung out there when the weather permitted.
“What are you wearing?”
She chuckled and kept walking, the brisk air chasing away the fatigue she’d been feeling. “A really sexy pair of violet scrubs.”
“Hmmm, and what about underneath?”
“You’ll have to find that out later.”
“You mean in a couple minutes.”
Don’t take the job. Call them back and tell them no. “Well that depends on whether—” She gasped and jerked to a halt when a shadow suddenly detached from the side of the building and lunged at her.
A man. And he wore a chilling expression on his face.
Rafe Baxter.
Molly whipped around to run, but the exit door was shut now. To get back in she had to enter a code into the keypad and Rafe was too close, she’d never—
“Put the phone down.” His voice was ice cold.
Skin crawling, she spun back around to face him. “What are you doing here?” she demanded, the tremor in her voice betraying her fear. They were alone back here and it was dark, the closest light over by the eating area.
“Moll?” Jase’s sharp voice came from her phone, now at waist-level in her frozen hand.
Rafe paused a few feet in front of her and pulled something from his pocket. “Drop it,” he ordered. “I’m not gonna tell you again.”
Molly dropped the phone and her food. They clattered to the pavement. Jase’s muffled shout cut through the air a split second before Rafe lifted his foot and slammed his boot down on the phone, once, twice. Smashing it to pieces.
Molly started to turn but he was already advancing on her. She stumbled back two steps until her shoulders hit the brick wall behind her, her heart lodged in her throat.
Rafe lunged for her, wrapped his hands around her throat. She grabbed them. Couldn’t make him let go. “I tried to be nice,” he snarled. “I don’t want to hurt you. But this is your last chance to make a deal with me.”
She gripped his wrists, struggled to pull them off her, her pulse pounding in her ears. He was too close for her to knee him in the balls and her belly was in the way. “Get your hands off me,” she ground out, adrenaline exploding through her. There were security cameras but she wasn’t sure if anyone could see her and what was happening.
He increased the pressure around her throat, until she couldn’t swallow and began to fear he would cut off her airway. A new wave of fear rose inside her.
The baby. She had to protect her baby, would do whatever it took. She stilled, stopped struggling.
“You got the insurance settlement,” he said, his face inches away, his eyes boring into hers. “I need it.”
He switched his hands around, using one to grip the front of her throat. A soft snick sounded, and her eyes widened in terror when he raised his arm and the faint light caught on the switchblade in his hand.
Her entire body went taut, freezing in place, her lungs seizing as he lowered that evil blade toward her belly.
No!
She cried out and grabbed at his wrist, digging her nails in deep, trying to twist away, but couldn’t budge his arm. The tip of the blade pricked the side of her belly.
“You’ve got more than yourself to think about in this situation,�
�� he murmured, his eyes glinting like the blade, “and a lot more to lose. So, you’re going to transfer that money to my account while I watch, or you’ll regret it.”
Had the payment gone through? She hadn’t even known it had hit her bank account yet.
“Answer me, bitch.”
She opened her mouth to tell him yes, she’d do whatever he wanted, but he whipped his head to the side as the screech of tires came from the parking lot.
A white pickup was barreling toward the hospital.
Molly choked back a sob. Jase.
Rafe swore and swung his head back around to meet her eyes, his expression full of cold fury. “This isn’t over, bitch.” He shoved her sideways, sending her hurtling to the ground.
Molly swallowed a cry and twisted to land on her side instead of her belly. Rafe’s running footsteps pounded away in the distance to her left as she rolled onto her hip and slowly got to her feet, shaking all over.
“Molly!”
She looked to the right. Jase was running flat out toward her, but she wasn’t in danger anymore.
She held up a hand, shook her head. “No, I’m okay,” she gasped out. Oh God, oh God, he’d been about to plunge that knife into her belly. Kill her baby.
Jase kept running toward her. He skidded to a stop in front of her and grasped her shoulders. “Moll.” He cupped her face in his hands, ran them over her anxiously. “Are you—”
She pushed at his chest. “I’m okay, but he’s getting away,” she blurted.
He stopped, cast an uncertain glance in Rafe’s direction. “Get inside and call Noah. Tell him I’m going after Rafe.”
She grabbed for his shoulders. “No, don’t—”
“Get inside and stay there. I love you.” He planted a hard kiss on her mouth, broke free of her grip then turned and raced back to his truck.
Molly wobbled toward the door as fast as her jellied knees would carry her to punch the code into the pad with shaking fingers.
It was only after she’d called Noah that she realized Jase had told her he loved her…
And that she hadn’t said it back.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Fuck. Fuck, nothing was going according to plan.
Rafe raced down the pathway, jumped over the wooden barrier lining it, and veered across the strip of grass, heading for the road where the car was waiting. He risked a glance over his shoulder, relieved that guy was no longer chasing him, but the white pickup’s tires screeched as it reversed in the lot, the engine roaring as the driver raced away.
Coming after him. Rafe had no doubt Jase Weaver was coming after him. He and Carter Boyd had served together. On a fucking SF A-Team.
There were only two exits to that parking lot, and one of them led directly onto the road where Rafe’s driver was waiting. He raced toward the Lexus, the driver already leaning over to throw the passenger door open for him.
“What the hell happened?” Travis demanded.
Rafe jumped in the idling car and yelled, “Go, go!” even as he yanked the door shut.
Travis peeled away from the curb, cutting across a lane of traffic as he gained speed. “What the hell’s going on?”
“Just drive.” Rafe twisted around to look behind them. The white pickup burst out of the lot onto the street, its back end fishtailing, but Weaver controlled it expertly and sped after them.
Jesus Christ, talk about a nightmare. He had one day left to pay back the money he owed.
First, Molly had arrived early for her shift—escorted by the fucking town sheriff of all people—when Rafe had been planning to grab her on her way in. There was no way to get her quietly on the inside, so he’d had to wait and hope that she went outside on her break as she usually did when the weather was nice.
All he’d needed was another three minutes with her, tops, and he would have been able to get the money transferred. She’d been terrified. Would have done whatever he told her to.
Instead, he now had a former Special Forces soldier on his ass, and the cops would be on the way too.
“Where we going?” Travis asked, still trying to lose Weaver.
“Just lose this guy and get us to one of our warehouses.” He needed to regroup, come up with another plan. The deadline was tomorrow. He was almost out of time.
Travis swore as he veered around another corner and the pickup followed. “Who’s this asshole?”
“Former SF.”
“You shitting me?”
“Nope.” He pulled his Glock from the glove compartment and shoved a full mag into the base. “If you can’t lose him, I’ll take him out.” Molly Boyd wasn’t a typical mark, at all, and she was even friends with the local sheriff. Taking out Weaver would put even more heat on them, but if there was no other option, Rafe would take it.
He would do anything it took to buy more time. Because if he didn’t get Molly Boyd’s money by midnight tomorrow, he was a dead man walking.
****
Fury pumped through Jase’s veins as he raced after the speeding Lexus. “How far away are you?” he demanded of Noah through the phone.
The sheriff’s voice came through the truck’s speakers. “Ten. I’ve got Mac with me. I’m off duty and we were out together, but my deputies are a few minutes behind me.”
“Tell Mac to track my phone.” The company paid for their cell phones, and everyone in management had the custom tracking app activated. Mac could track his movements without Jase having to constantly update them verbally, allowing him to better focus on the task at hand:
Running these bastards down.
“You’re sure Molly’s okay?” Noah asked.
She wouldn’t have been if he’d arrived even a minute later. “I got there just in time.” Rage detonated inside him as he remembered the sight of that asshole holding a knife to her.
He flexed his jaw. “I’m not letting this son of a bitch get away.”
“Don’t do anything stupid, man.”
“I won’t.” Not stupid. But he’d do whatever it took to take these guys off the road and bring them in, and stop any other threats coming at her from the organization.
He whipped around a slower-moving vehicle and sped through a stale yellow light. Two more intersections and they’d hit the two-lane coastal highway. It was pitch dark out, and with no streetlights on the route, he had to be right on the other car’s ass because if the Lexus turned its lights out, he could lose sight of it. “You tracking me yet?” he demanded.
“Yeah, Mac’s got you.”
“Good. Gotta go.” He hit the button to end the call and gripped the wheel tighter, wishing he had Mac or Beckett with him now. That would have evened the odds nicely once Jase caught up to Rafe and whoever else was in the car.
Up ahead in the next intersection the light was red. The Lexus swerved to miss a car as it barreled through the light.
Jase set his jaw and kept his foot on the accelerator as he approached the intersection. An SUV started to turn left ahead of him. Jase yanked the wheel, narrowly avoiding T-boning the other vehicle and ignored the angry blast of the horn as he sped away.
The Lexus was pulling away from him with every passing mile. When they cleared the final intersection and finally reached the highway, Jase drove as fast as he dared given the curves in the road and the darkness.
He glanced at his cell when it rang again, the number unfamiliar.
Molly?
Jase nearly answered, then thought better of it. He couldn’t afford to be distracted right now. He had to stop these assholes and hold them until Noah and the deputies arrived to arrest them. It was the only way he could stop this. The only way he could protect Molly from the ongoing threat.
He wouldn’t stop. Because he wanted this over with tonight.
They played a dangerous, high-speed game of leapfrog as they darted in and out around slower traffic. The Lexus had lost some of its lead now, allowing Jase a chance to get closer.
He took it, keeping his foot hard on the accelerat
or as he flew after his target. He stayed right with the car until they hit some traffic as they neared the next town.
Jase pulled out over the double solid line to pass the car in front of him, swore when an oncoming truck was too close to give him the chance. He whipped back into his own lane, frustration pounding through him as he watched the Lexus pull away from him.
The moment he had room, he passed the slower vehicle in front and poured on the speed. Up ahead in the distance the Lexus suddenly veered right at a turn off the highway.
“Where the hell are you going,” he muttered, pulling onto the narrow shoulder and racing past the line of traffic keeping him from the Lexus, narrowly avoiding taking off the side mirror on the rocky cliff beside the shoulder. Was the driver merely trying to get away? Or was this some kind of ambush setup?
Jase had to play this carefully, but he couldn’t let them go. When he reached the turn he skidded around it, straightened out and hit the gas, speeding after the taillights in the distance.
This road was deserted, a side route that connected the outlying area of the small town to the highway. It was even darker here with no traffic. And it got darker still when the Lexus’s taillights suddenly went out ahead of him.
Muttering a curse under his breath, Jase put on his high beams and chased after it, determined to keep up. Crazy motherfucker was gonna get someone killed.
He barely caught sight of the Lexus as it took a sharp right ahead. He slowed as he reached the turn, took the corner as fast as he could without rolling his truck, his high beams cutting through the darkness. The road turned to gravel here, crunching under his tires. Forest surrounded him on either side for as far as he could see.
But the gravel gave him an advantage. The Lexus had rear wheel drive, making its back tires slip on the uneven surface. Jase switched on his four-wheel drive, triumph streaking through him when his truck began to gain on the car.
Sixty yards and closing. Fifty. Forty.
Thirty.
His high beams barely caught the flash of the deer as it leaped out of the trees ahead of the Lexus. The car slammed on its brakes and skidded in a wild fishtail, spraying up gravel.
