by Jane Blythe
He carried her quickly toward a building, a door opened and light spilled out into the dark night. He whisked her through it and they were back indoors, but it didn’t feel right. This wasn't her home. Laura kept her face tucked against Jack’s shoulder and her eyes tightly closed.
“Is she okay?” an anxious male voice asked. The voice was familiar, but Laura was too upset to try and place it. “Do we need to call an ambulance?”
“She’s in shock, she hasn’t been outside in ten years,” Jack replied. “The baby’s not here, right? If he manages to find Laura, I don’t want anything to happen to Sophie.”
“Relax,” the voice soothed. “She’s at Mom and Dad’s, they said they can keep her until we sort things out.”
“Can you get me some blankets? She won't stop shaking.”
Her relief at being back inside was being overshadowed by the presence of so many people. It had been ten years since she had last been around people and meeting so many all at once was overwhelming. Laura wanted desperately to be back in her apartment, but she knew it was impossible—a killer was waiting there to get her.
Jack sat, cradling her in his lap. “It’s okay, Laura, we’re inside now, try to calm down,” he soothed.
“Here you go,” a female voice murmured quietly.
Laura felt blankets being wrapped around her shoulders, and she pressed herself closer against Jack, trying to absorb his body heat.
“Are you sure we shouldn’t call an ambulance?” the male voice still sounded concerned. “She doesn’t look so good.”
“It’s just going to freak her out more.” Jack’s voice rumbled in his chest.
An ambulance was the last thing Laura wanted right now. A trip to the hospital would just bring back horrible memories. And the hospital would be full of people. Too full. She couldn’t handle that on top of everything else. She lifted her head to convince Jack she was okay, but his hand pressed her head back down to his shoulder.
“Don’t open your eyes right now, just rest,” he ordered gently. “I texted Mark in the car and he should be here any minute, he can check her out,” Jack assured the other man.
“How’s she doing?” Rose asked.
“A little better. Anything from the explosion?”
“Things are still pretty crazy over there,” Rose replied. “I told them we’d be by later today.”
“Did they find who was shooting at us?” Laura pried open her eyes, squinting at the bright light.
“No, I’m sorry, Laura.” Rose patted her shoulder apologetically.
“But you're going to find him, right?” she persisted desperately. She wanted her life back, only she wasn’t sure now what life that was. Did she want the life she’d been living for the last ten years back, or did she want the life she’d had before she’d been kidnapped?
“Yes,” Jack answered firmly. “We are going to find him.”
“How can you know that for sure?” Laura wanted assurances that this would soon be over, only she knew no one could give her that.
“Because I won't stop until I find him,” Jack replied, fierce determination in his voice. “I won't let anyone take you away from me.”
If anyone was surprised by his possessive tone, they didn’t show it. She’d known Jack wanted her back from the moment he’d first appeared on her doorstep, and he’d told her several times that he was still in love with her. The problem was, she wasn’t sure she wanted him back. He’d broken her heart once before and now her heart was a lot more fragile than it had been back then. She wasn’t sure she could cope with him breaking it all over again. For the moment, at least she was just going to let his forceful yet unfounded assurances reassure her. “Okay,” she whispered and wearily laid her head back down on his shoulder.
“Are you going to be all right?” Jack asked, voice gentle again.
“Yes.” She tried to sound as convincing as her pounding heart would let her.
“Are you sure?”
“No.” Laura chewed on her bottom lip to keep her tears at bay; she didn’t want to cry in front of strangers.
“Anything I can do to make things easier for you?”
“Just find him and arrest him,” she begged. Although what she really wanted was whoever was after her dead. Laura didn’t think she could go through another long drawn out trial.
“We will,” Jack promised. “And until we do, you should be safe here.”
“Where is here?” She lifted her head from his shoulder to finally take in her surroundings. They were in a cozy sitting room, the walls were a warm yellow color, the furniture was simple and well worn, but added to the homey feel.
“My brother Ryan’s house. He’s a police officer now, too, so one of us will stay with you at all times. I mean it, Laura,” he added when he felt her tense. “You are not to go anywhere alone until we catch this guy.”
Reluctantly nodding her acquiescence, since she knew he was right, she relented. “I don’t like it, but okay.”
“Good.” She felt Jack’s shudder of relief. “All right, you remember Ryan, and this is his fiancée, Sofia,” he made the introductions.
“Hey, Laura.” Ryan smiled at her. Of course, she remembered Jack’s younger brother. They had known each other all their lives, played together as children, gone to school together, gotten into trouble together. She had been so carefree back then, having no idea what life held in store for her.
Ryan held out his hand to shake hers. Laura was still apprehensive about physical contact, with anyone other than Jack, it seemed, since she kept finding herself in his lap. Still, she reached out a trembling hand to shake Ryan’s. “Hey, Ryan, so you and Jack both followed in your father’s footsteps. What’s Mark up to these days?”
“He’s a surgeon, married with four kids,” Ryan replied.
“And you're engaged, huh? With a baby?”
“Yep,” he grinned. “The wedding is next month, on Sophie’s first birthday.”
“That’s a nice way to celebrate her birthday.” Laura smiled back, hoping it didn’t come out all wobbly.
“Yeah, well, the day she was born wasn’t a good one, so we wanted to change that and make it special for her, for when she’s older.” Ryan’s blue eyes grew dark. “It’s a long story,” he added when he saw the confusion on her face. “Jack will fill you in once things calm down.”
Would he? She asked herself. Would he stick around long enough? Would she let him stick around long enough?
“You look like you could do with a nap.” Sofia smiled warmly. She had wavy red hair, sparkling silver eyes, and an easy manner that put Laura at ease. “The spare room is all made up.”
“No, thanks,” Laura answered quickly. The prospect of nightmares was too much to deal with right now.
“You need to rest, angel,” Jack reminded her gently. “You’ve barely slept in days.”
“I don’t want to,” she protested, and was saved from having to defend her position when Ryan glanced at his phone.
“Mark just pulled up in the driveway, I’ll let him in,” Ryan announced.
“You agreed to let a doctor check out your hand,” Jack told her in way of explanation.
She had, unfortunately, and since she knew Mark, it was preferable to a stranger. However, there were already more people here than she was comfortable with.
“Hi, everyone.” Mark walked into the room a moment later. “Hey, Laura, long time no see.” He gave her a warm smile.
“Hi, Mark.” She attempted to smile back.
He knelt in front of her and set down a small bag on the floor beside him. “Jack, pop her down so I can check her over.”
Laura nearly opened her mouth to protest the idea of moving out of the safety of Jack’s arms, but stopped herself and allowed Jack to slide her off his lap and onto the couch. Mark took her pulse and blood pressure, checked her temperature, then listened to her heart and lungs, before moving on to her hand. Carefully, he examined, cleaned and redressed the wound.
&nbs
p; “How bad is it?” Jack asked once Mark was finished.
“Second degree burn, full thickness in some areas. I know that you're agoraphobic,” Mark addressed her, “but if you can manage a trip to the hospital, I'd strongly recommend it. I'd say you're bordering on needing a skin graft.”
She turned panicked eyes on Jack. She could not manage a trip to the hospital.
“Shh,” Jack soothed before she even said a word, apparently correctly interpreting her panic. He sat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she leaned into him. “Does she have to go?”
“No, not yet. But she really has to have it checked out, as burns heal the skin can contract, on the back of her hand that could mean she wouldn’t be able to fully close it. I'm also concerned about infection, so I’m going to put her on antibiotics. Since I know she can't go outside, and since you guys are a little preoccupied with keeping her alive, I brought some with me.” He pulled a bottle from his bag. “I'm going to come and check on you again tomorrow,” he informed her. “Other than that, Jack, she needs rest. Make sure she eats and drinks plenty of water.”
“Will do.” Jack nodded.
“Call me if you need anything at all. If she starts having panic attacks, or she feels like she can't cope, I’ll bring some sedatives,” Mark said quietly to Jack.
No way would she be taking any sedatives. Although, the thought of deep, uninterrupted sleep was tantalizing.
“Thanks, Mark,” Jack said.
“Yeah, thanks, Mark,” Laura echoed.
“No worries,” Mark patted her shoulder. “Stay safe, guys.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Ryan told his younger brother.
“All right, now you get some rest,” Jack pronounced once Mark had left.
“I really don’t want to,” Laura almost begged.
Jack tucked her hair behind her ear, his fingertips lingering on her cheek. “You heard what Mark said, you need to sleep.”
“I don’t want to go up to bed,” she pleaded.
“Why don’t you just lie down on the couch here then?” Jack persisted. “Just close your eyes and rest for a little while? We’ll all be here with you, you won't be alone.”
“I …” she hesitated.
“Please,” Jack said softly. “You need sleep.”
“Okay,” she relented. “But only down here on the couch.”
“Okay.” Jack lifted her up, then laid her back down on the couch, covering her with the blankets. “Close your eyes and try to clear your mind,” he murmured, sitting on the floor beside her and stroking her hair.
“You're not going anywhere, are you?” Her eyes wanted to close but she was fighting it.
“I'm not going anywhere,” Jack assured her. “I’m going to be sitting right here.”
“Promise?”
“I promise. Try to relax.”
“I can't,” she whimpered. “Every time I close my eyes, I’m back in the woods.”
“Don’t think,” he told her. “Just get yourself comfortable.” He waited while she wiggled over onto her stomach and put her thumb in her mouth, then he began to rub slow circles on her back. “Now just focus on me.”
That was exactly what Laura was worried about. Her focus had become all about Jack Xander. He comforted her, made her feel safe, calmed her when nothing else could. How was she going to live without that when this was all over and she told him to go back to his life and forget about her?
* * * * *
10:59 A.M.
“We need to figure out who he is and how he’s connected to her abduction, or we’re never going to find him.” Jack was starting to feel desperate. This guy had come after Laura twice now, killed someone, abducted someone, attacked four others, fired a gun into a crowd of people, and they were no closer to finding him.
He cast a glance at Laura who was still asleep on the couch. Or rather, who was finally asleep on the couch. She had tossed and turned, half dozing in a fitful slumber for hours before exhaustion had taken hold and she had drifted off to sleep.
“Maybe who we’re looking for has nothing to do with when she was kidnapped,” Ryan suggested.
“Could be he’s just some psychopath playing with her,” Xavier Montague, a friend and colleague of theirs, suggested. “It wouldn’t be hard to look her up and find out what happened to her.”
Jack shook his head. “No, this guy was somehow involved in her kidnapping. He knows things about it that he couldn’t have known unless he was there.”
“How do you know that?” Ryan asked, raising a skeptical brow.
“The stars,” Jack replied, “that he left on the ceiling of the first victim’s apartment were to taunt her.”
“How so?” Xavier asked.
“When she was out there and they were assaulting her, she would lie there and look up at the sky and feel helpless and weak. Then at night, they’d put her in this hole in the ground, and all she could see was a circle of stars above her,” he explained. “So, he knew enough about her and what she went through to know that that would shake her.”
“All right,” Ryan nodded, “so she was twenty and in college, so it has to be …”
His brother never finished his sentence because Laura let out an ear-piercing scream and bolted upright. Jack darted to her side, grabbing her shoulders and giving a gentle shake. Laura swung her arms wildly, frantically fighting against him. “Laura, hey, it’s okay. It’s Jack. You were just dreaming,” he said as he tried to hold her still without hurting or scaring her.
Her arms dropped back down, and she was gasping, struggling to catch her breath. “Jack?”
“I’m here,” he assured her. He pulled her into a hug, and she leaned into him, pressing her face against his chest. “You were just dreaming, angel,” he repeated.
For a moment, she just rested against him, bringing up her thumb to suck on as she calmed herself. She’d had that habit since she was a kid; he remembered how hard her parents had worked to break her of it. Apparently, she had picked it up again following her assault. When she was ready, she gently pulled herself away, surprise and a hint of trepidation flashed through her eyes when she saw that there were more people here than when she’d fallen asleep.
“This is Xavier, he works with Rose, Ryan and me, and his girlfriend, Annabelle,” Jack made the introductions.
“Another babysitter,” she murmured.
“I need you safe, Laura,” he told her unapologetically. He couldn’t deal with the idea of anyone taking her away from him and he didn’t care if she and everyone else knew it.
“But safe from whom?” she pondered, nodding absently.
“We were just discussing that.” He took her hand and led her to the table where Rose, Ryan, Xavier, Sofia, and Annabelle were still seated and gently pushed her down into a chair. “It had to be someone you came into contact with back then.”
“But who?”
“You didn’t know the Garrett brothers, right?” Ryan asked. “You’d never seen them anywhere before?”
Laura shook her head and was unable to hide her repulsed shudder at the mention of the men who had ruined her life.
“Are you sure?” Ryan pressed.
Annoyed now, she snapped, “Don’t you think I would have told the police at the time if I'd met Frank or Francis Garrett before?”
“Sorry, Laura, I’m not trying to upset you,” Ryan soothed. “I was just confirming that this man we’re looking for is the middle man, connecting the Garretts to you.”
“Why does there need to be a middle man connecting the Garretts to me?” Laura challenged. “It was just random.”
“They killed your roommate and grabbed you as you were entering your house,” Jack reminded her. “They could have taken your roommate or anyone else, but they waited for you.”
Her face went pale. “It could still have been random,” she protested weakly. “This could be random.” Her violet eyes travelled the group seeking affirmation.
“You know it’
s not, Laura. This guy knows you, he knows specifics about you and what you went through.” Jack hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her face so she was looking at him. “He was involved; he knows enough to put stars on the ceilings of his victim’s home because he knew that would upset you.”
“You were in college then, since you never met the Garretts you probably met this guy before, maybe you even knew him well. Can you think of anyone from that time in your life who might have done this?” Xavier asked.
“No, of course not.” Laura looked indignant. “I would have remembered if I’d ever met a psychotic stalker killer.”
“He might not have seemed psychotic at the time,” Jack reminded her. “Try to think of anyone who stood out in some way. A boyfriend who didn’t take the breakup well. A guy who asked you out and you turned down. Someone who might have been hanging around you.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know anyone like that. I never knew anyone like that. I don’t know,” Laura said helplessly, tears brimming in her eyes.
“Okay, okay,” he calmed her, catching her flailing arms. “Let’s take things slow. Any bad breakups?”
She shook her head. “I only dated two guys while I was in college. I wasn’t ready to get involved in another relationship after …” She trailed off and stared at him uncomfortably and once again, Jack hated himself for cheating on her and ruining what they’d had. “So,” she continued, “I kept busy with work and studying; I always thought there was time later to date.”
“And things ended well with both of those relationships?” Jack persisted, pushing away his guilt as it wasn’t going to help Laura right now.
“Well, the first guy was cheating on me.” Her cheeks reddened. “So, I broke up with him. I guess that’s not ending well, but he certainly wouldn’t have had any reason to be angry with me about it. And with the second guy, it was mutual.”
