Harlequin Intrigue March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2

by Nichole Severn

  Madison increased the pressure on her right hand—her dominant—in hopes of taking advantage of the added strength, but her fingers immediately slipped from the steel. She held on with her weakest hand as desperation lightninged through her veins. The tendons in her wrists ached, threatening to give out at any moment. She couldn’t hold on much longer. One wrong move and she’d be lost to the falls forever. Her arm spun in the socket as her body swung away from the bridge. “Jonah!”

  “Hang on, Maddi. I’m coming for you.” His words were drowned from the gush of the rapids below. He disappeared from above her, and desperation turned to outright fear. He was going to try to get to her from the mountain of jagged black rocks and overgrown trees leading up to the bridge from the river, but she was still too far from the wall.

  “Please.” Numbness climbed into her fingers as circulation cut off due to her added weight. She still had to clear the divider before Jonah would be able to reach her, and it was now or never.

  Vibrations rumbled beneath her grip as the fight on the deck of the bridge went into overtime, but she couldn’t focus on Marshal Cove and her abductor right then. She was going to die if she didn’t get across the underside of the bridge. She kicked out in order to face the steel girder once again. Her shoulder screamed in protest as she engaged muscles she felt like she hadn’t ever used to shorten the space between her free hand and the other side of the divider, but she slowly inched her hand to the top of the girder. Latching on, she ignored the discomfort of the steel pressing into the top of her belly and locked her jaw against the pain tearing through her back.

  The trees to her right bounced as Jonah climbed out onto a small ledge created by the natural erosion of the falls. Water gushed across his boots and the bottoms of his jeans, but right then it seemed he had attention only for her. “I’m right here, Maddi. I’ve got you. You’re going to be okay. Just a little farther, and you’ll be in my arms.”

  A little farther. That was all. Madison tried to convince her left hand to lift from the steel, but her right hand was already slipping down the arch of the second girder. She couldn’t move. Not without letting go completely. There was nowhere for her to go but down. “I can’t. There’s too much water to get a grip.”

  “You’re going to have to jump to me,” he said.

  He was insane. “I can’t hold on any longer.”

  “Maddi, look at me.” The compulsion in his voice dived deep past skin and muscle, straight into her bones to where she didn’t feel she had a choice but to do as he asked. “You didn’t come this far to throw it all away now. I know you’re tired. I know you’re hurting, but you are the strongest, most intelligent and most stubborn woman I’ve ever known. I want our son to grow up knowing his mother doesn’t just put bad guys behind bars but that she stares fear in the face and tells it to go to hell. I want you to be the one he looks up to when he gets older, but to do that, you’re going to have to jump to me.”

  “Okay.” She nodded, more trying to convince herself than agreeing to his plan, but she didn’t have any other choice. Not if she wanted to get out of here alive. If she released her left hand and held on to the girder with everything she had with her right, she could swing herself toward him. And trust him to catch her. “Okay.”

  “That’s it.” Jonah braced to catch her.

  Prying her left fingers from the steel, she held her breath as she swung down and to the right, and at the last second released her hold altogether. Momentum propelled her straight toward Jonah, but she was dropping too fast. She hadn’t created enough of a swing to thrust her onto the rocks. Madison reached out for him, the world threatening to slow again as gravity took control.

  Jonah latched onto her wrist. “Gotcha!”

  Her feet dangled freely above the rapids as she craned her head to look up at her rescuer. The veins in his arm battled to escape from the pressure of holding on to her. Jonah hauled her up and secured her in the circle of his arms, and she collapsed into him. Minutes had felt like hours as death had closed in, but against his chest, time sped up. “I’ve got you, Maddi. You’re safe.”

  “Thank you.” She set her forehead against his chest, reveling in the rhythmic beat of his heart. Tremors racked through her, and he hugged her closer. Right where she needed to be. “You’re hurt. I saw him stab you.”

  “A blade wasn’t going to stop me from getting to you,” he said.

  A scream echoed off the rocks around them, and Madison twisted her gaze up to the bridge’s deck. “Marshal Cove.”

  Jonah’s grip tightened around her. “Come on.”

  They raced up the rocky incline and curved around the edge of the bridge. Hand secure in hers, Jonah maneuvered her behind him, using himself as a shield against the abductor who’d tried to kill her. Both Marshal Cove and Jonah faced off with the masked kidnapper. “Your sick game is over, you bastard, and you’re going to pay for every life you’ve taken these last few days, including the attempted murder of a deputy district attorney.”

  A deep laugh punctured through the exhaustion dragging Madison down now that she wasn’t struggling to save her own life. “The game isn’t finished, Marshal. Not by a long shot.”

  Her abductor threw himself over the side of the bridge.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Bright lights and pain increased the pressure at the back of his skull as the emergency room attending stitched the hole in his side. Jonah set his head back on the uncomfortable pillow and squeezed the edge of the mattress. He bit back a groan as the doc threaded the needle through the edges of his wound again. No painkillers. Nothing that would impede his decision-making and reflexes. There was too much at stake since he’d nearly lost Madison over the side of that damn bridge. He held his breath against the next wave as his stomach churned. “Any sign of him?”

  “PPB hasn’t come up with anything yet. No body. Not a single shoe to go off of. Remi is coordinating with Search and Rescue and their canines to see if the SOB managed to survive.” Deputy Dylan Cove’s voice softened at the mention of their chief deputy, but Jonah let it slide. Cove iced the split in his lip in his corner of the curtained section of Providence Point Medical Center’s ER. Setting the ice pack in his lap, he tested the swelling with his free hand. “Who the hell throws themselves six hundred feet into freezing water like that?”

  “Someone with a death wish, and when I find him, his wish is going to come true.” Jonah tried to relax as the attending sewed the last stitch into place and wiped the area clean of blood. He tugged his shirt into place after a fresh piece of gauze had been taped over his side. The attending slipped out of the curtained-off area, leaving him and Cove alone. “Whoever he is, he’s dangerous. Not only to Madison but also to civilians. He’s already set off three bombs and killed nine people. Who knows what else he has planned.”

  “You make it sound like our bomber survived that fall.” The marshal looked a little worse for wear than when they’d started their hunt for Madison at the Multnomah Falls trailhead, but if it hadn’t been for the deputy who’d let her slip out of his protection before, Madison wouldn’t be here. Jonah owed him.

  “I’m not going to discount the possibility.” No matter how slim the chances Madison’s abductor had survived that fall, Jonah wouldn’t take the risk of letting his guard down. Not until he was sure. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, the muscles around his shoulder reminding him to take it slow. “Have any of the victim statements, interviews of employees from the courthouse or neighbors around the second scene given us any new leads?”

  “Considering I was getting knocked around by a masked bomber on the deck of that bridge, I wouldn’t know. Forensics got their hands on the abductor’s vehicle abandoned outside the trailhead, but so far they’ve only confirmed it was reported stolen three days ago. Last I heard, Reed and Foster were still canvassing Harvey Braddock’s neighborhood on foot to see if anyone noticed suspicious activ
ity. I’ll check with them and the local cops for updates as soon as this room stops spinning.” Cove pushed to his feet, ice pack at his side as he rubbed his bristled jaw. Bruising had already developed across the swollen section of his cheek where Jonah had punched him at Harvey Braddock’s property. “Where’s Madison? Hard to believe you’d leave her side after what went down.”

  “I had Remi take her to get checked out by Madison’s doctor on the third floor while I got stitched up, and make sure everything is okay with the baby.” His insides still hadn’t gotten the message she was safe. They were coiled so tight it was hard to breathe.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be there for that?” Cove asked.

  He wanted to be. He wanted to make sure she was okay, that their son was okay. Wanted to hear the heartbeat and see the life they’d created kicking on the ultrasound monitor. All the things he hadn’t gotten to do when Noah’s birth mother had been pregnant with him, but the fact Madison had gone out of her way to ensure she would be the sole parent to their son knotted a thick band of hesitation inside. She’d spent the past five months keeping Jonah at arm’s length. A few hours of terror wouldn’t change her mind. He wasn’t sure anything could. A humorless laugh jarred the new stitches in his side, and he pressed his hand over the fresh gauze to keep the pain at bay as he set his feet onto the stark-white linoleum floor. “I’m pretty sure my face is the last thing she wants to see right now.”

  Someone had taken her right off a scene created to divide Jonah’s attention and thrown her over bridge. He almost hadn’t made it in time. If she hadn’t grabbed onto the girders, she would’ve died right in front of him and taken their son with her. He’d promised to protect her, and he’d failed. An apology couldn’t make up for that, yet part of him wanted nothing more than to be in that room to make sure she’d really survived.

  “You won’t know until you ask.” Dylan Cove slapped Jonah below his injured shoulder, then disappeared beyond the curtain.

  Jonah bit down on the sting exploding down his back. If the marshal hadn’t been there to hold off Madison’s abductor while he’d rushed to pull her to safety, Jonah would’ve given him a matching bruise on the other side of Cove’s face for that. But the deputy had a point. Assuming Madison wanted to shoulder on her own the emotional chain reaction of what she’d gone through was an excuse to protect himself against her constant rejection to be part of her life.

  Sweeping the curtain aside, he located the elevators to the left and hit the ascend button. Within two minutes, the car settled on the third floor and the doors parted. He stepped out onto the maternity ward floor, the most secure in the building, and flashed his badge to the two nurses at the front station before moving through the double doors. Remington Barton stood outside one of the rooms farther down the hallway, and she immediately turned to face the possible threat. That was why he liked her. Always aware. Always prepared for the next threat. No matter where or who it came from. He motioned to her with his chin in greeting. “How is she?”

  “Bruised, shaken, but she’s holding it together.” The chief deputy rested her right hand on her weapon as she studied the corridor before locking intense blue eyes back on him. “How’s Cove?”

  “Bruised, shaken, but he’s holding it together.” He couldn’t stop the smile tugging at his mouth. Of all the marshals under her watch, she wanted to know about Dylan Cove first. “And here I thought you’d be worried about me.”

  “You can take care of yourself. Cove, I’m not so sure about. Good luck in there.” Remi maneuvered around him, walking down the way he’d come. She’d made it only a few steps before she turned back. “Can I give you a piece of advice, Watson? Don’t let this one go. She needs you more than she’s letting on.”

  “Maybe you and Cove need to talk about your own problems instead of mine,” he said.

  With a fading smile, she gave him her back and headed down the hallway.

  Jonah wrapped his hand around the door handle leading into Madison’s hospital room. The past few hours had been the most desperate and terrorizing of his life. He set his forehead against the door, a soft, echoing rhythm reaching his ears. He pushed inside. His eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, instantly locking onto the bright glow of the monitor on the other side of the bed. Madison had pushed her shirt—torn and dirty—high above the roundness of her perfect belly. Resting both hands to her sides, she was the queen he’d built her up to be in his head. Stunning, regal. “Hey.”

  She turned caramel-colored eyes to him and smiled. “It’s the heartbeat.”

  The obstetrician shifted the jellied wand over Madison’s stomach and pointed at the screen. “And there’s the heart. No sign of brain trauma or heart problems. You’re going to have a completely healthy baby boy.”

  “No.” Madison turned back toward the monitor. “We are.”

  The movement on the blue-and-black screen compelled Jonah to close the distance between them. He automatically sought her hand with his as he crouched beside Madison’s bedside. Strong legs kicked out every few seconds on the monitor, insanely small fingers each outlined by thin lines of blue, and the tightness in Jonah’s chest released. “That’s our son.”

  “Everything looks great.” The doctor hit a couple of more buttons before a roll of shiny white paper fed from the machine. She handed the sonograms to Jonah with a smile. “I’ll give you two a few minutes. You’re welcome to get dressed when you’re ready, and I’ll see you in a few weeks for our next appointment.”

  “Thank you,” Madison said.

  He wasn’t sure if the obstetrician left, if she’d closed the door behind her or how long he sat there with the printouts in his hand. Jonah had focus only for the bandaged hand wrapped in his. Deep cuts crossed the undersides of her palms from holding on to the bridge. Because of him.

  “You figured out the password to my tablet.” She smoothed her thumb over the back of his hand in small circles.

  “Our baby’s due date. Didn’t think your device could’ve fallen between the seats from a struggle. You had to have placed it there, which meant you were trying to tell me something before he took you.” Jonah closed his eyes, the heat of rage stirring in his gut. “I’m sorry, Maddi. I almost lost you out there, on that bridge. If I’d gotten there a split second later—”

  “You didn’t.” She pulled her hand from his and raised both of hers to frame his jawline. Forcing him to look at her, she brushed her fingers along his beard. “I’m here. I’m alive. The baby is okay. You saved us, Jonah, and not for the first time. There wasn’t anything you could’ve done to stop him from taking me. Whoever he is, he’s planned this from the beginning, and we’ve been one step behind.”

  He slipped his hand over her belly, feeling warmth and movement and every ounce of emotion he had left after the hell they’d been through. “I don’t want to lose you again. Either of you.”

  Madison shifted across the bed and pulled him on the mattress beside her. Setting her head against his shoulder, she grazed her fingers down his arm. “You won’t.”

  * * *

  HE WAS ASLEEP beside her, and the big picture she’d had all these months of what the future would look like had slipped from her mind.

  Madison studied the strong curve of his eyebrows, the shadows cast across his cheeks from long blond lashes, the perfect shape of his mouth that’d molded to hers so easily. They’d come straight from the hospital and collapsed into sleep, but the last time she’d been in this position—waking up beside him in a tumble of sheets—she hadn’t realized she’d been pregnant. Now, with the fullness of her belly between them, his hand strategically conformed to the shape of her pregnancy, she was all too aware she’d made a mistake. She’d tried to keep him from being part of their son’s life. Only if it hadn’t been for him putting himself between her and that device at the courthouse or rushing to save her on that bridge, she wouldn’t be here at all.

 
The rise and fall of his back, the ripple of muscles across his shoulders, gave credence to a leashed strength she’d never witnessed before those horrifying minutes on the bridge. He lay facedown, his pillow forgotten on the edge of the bed. Reaching out, she lightly traced the patch of gauze on his bare shoulder, and her insides clenched with awareness. Heat seared her fingers and burned through her veins, but the attraction between them had changed over the past few days. Deepened. Strengthened. Chased back the nightmares.

  He’d been stabbed fighting for her life, yet the pain had slid from his features in sleep. No investigation. No life-or-death scenarios. No resentment for how their child would be raised between them. Right here, in this bubble they’d created away from reality, it was the two of them. She couldn’t remember the excuses she’d created to keep her from putting herself in her mother’s position as she studied him. Leaving her raw, vulnerable and exposed.

  “That tickles.” One startling blue eye opened, but she didn’t pull her hand away. He’d brought her back to the cabin in the mountains, a stronghold against the outside world, but that didn’t protect her from the danger gripping her heart in a vise. Didn’t stop her from stupidly wanting more than this...arrangement between them. “How long have you been staring at me?”

  “I lost track of time. For a while there, I thought you were dead.” His laugh rumbled through the mattress and past her defenses, raising goose bumps on the backs of her arms. She brushed his hair off his forehead and revealed a darkening bruise at his temple. Jonah had come for her when she’d lost hope in those last moments before her attacker had thrown her over the bridge. She shouldn’t have been surprised, but the thought of a man—her father—helping anyone but himself had colored her vision for so long. It almost made her feel as though the marshal who’d taken her into protective custody had done it for her. Not out of desperation to keep himself from losing another child or failing his assignment. Made her feel as though he cared. “I didn’t want to move in case I woke you, but now I can’t feel my legs, and I have to go to the bathroom.”