“You want me put a call in to local uniforms?”
Jonah had wanted his team to tail the killer, the ordered way they’d done countless times, chasing one fugitive or another. Explaining what he wanted to the police would take too long.
“I’ll take care of it from here.” Even if it meant he had no chance of pulling the guy over and arresting him all by himself. The cops would have to take care of that part. “Tell them we spotted the car.”
Officers would respond, but they would use the necessary caution. The be-on-the-lookout order he’d issued earlier included the fact that the suspect was likely armed and dangerous.
“Got it.”
Jonah hung up.
Elise glanced out the back window. “What are we going to do?”
“We have no backup, but cops will be here soon. I wanted my team to tail him, to hang back so we can catch him. Or follow him home if he breaks off.”
“Is he going to run us off the road again? Because if you do that turn with your parking brake again, I’m likely to lose my lunch.”
“So noted.” He smiled, his attention on the rearview where the truck was matching pace with them. Was the shooter going to make a move, or follow them home? “Seems like I recall Martin being the one with the nervous stomach, not you.”
She laughed. “He did like to complain when I brought him injured animals.”
“Or the time that bunny had babies.” Jonah was pretty sure it had been a bunny.
“Flopsy!” Elise laughed again. “I forgot all about her. Martin really didn’t like that, but I cleaned up his bathroom after even if it did make me miss my curfew. Your mom never even knew. Your housekeeper looked funny at me, though. She probably found a little pile of rabbit droppings under something.”
Jonah smiled. The housekeeper they’d had back then never liked mess of any kind. She never said anything, though. But she didn’t need to, considering how adept she’d been at glaring.
“I know you’re just trying to distract me so I don’t freak out.” Elise looked back again. “He’s still there. Can we do something?”
“Like goad him into losing his cool?”
She shrugged.
Jonah said, “Depends how much of a plan he has. Some people have a short fuse. Then again, I knew this one guy in the army, never got flustered. Not ever. He held it in so well, I saw him pass out once, but he never lost his cool.”
The truck got closer. Jonah braced for impact, but it never came.
He sped up. The truck matched his speed.
He slowed down, and the truck did the same.
Minutes later they were out of the busy part of town on the unlit highway.
The closer they got to his house, the more certain Jonah was that the driver was waiting for a particular spot.
And he knew exactly which one it was going to be.
“He’s closer now.”
Jonah gritted his teeth. “There’s a sharp turn coming up.”
“So do that thing.” Elise’s voice was desperate.
Jonah squeezed her knee, fast, then gripped the wheel with both hands again. “He’ll be expecting that. He’ll just ram us and run us off the edge, anyway.”
“A cliff?”
“No, into the river.” Ending up in ice-cold water would be a bad end to an all-around bad day. “All we have to do is stay on the road.”
But while his SUV was heavy, the other vehicle was more like a tank. Or a brick that sank. If the truck slammed them, they would go over.
“Pray the police get here soon.”
Fifty feet from the turn Jonah hit the brakes, halting them in an emergency stop. When the truck slammed into the back of them, Jonah pulled up the hand brake, praying his SUV was heavy enough to at least slow down the truck.
Tires screeched on the asphalt, drowned by Elise’s scream.
Police lights flashed in his side mirror, still a mile away.
The truck pushed against the back of his car, grinding the bumper, forcing them down the road. But they were still twenty feet from the edge.
The other driver backed off, probably because of the lights and sirens filling his rearview. The truck swung to the left side and pulled alongside Jonah’s car.
Before he even registered the machine gun, Jonah yelled, “Get down!”
Elise ducked. He slid into reverse as the gun fired. Bullet after bullet thumped into the car as they shot backward. The window beside Jonah shattered. He drew his gun, flipped off the safety and fired two shots out the broken window as the truck sped away.
Jonah hit the brakes just as a cop car stopped beside him, and another cruiser took off in pursuit.
Jonah exhaled. “He’s mad.”
Elise looked at him. Her face pale, her breath coming fast. “Ya think?”
“No, I mean the driver. That wasn’t a solid kill plan, not like at the mailbox. I bested him earlier with the hand-brake turn. I made him mad.”
Elise’s mouth curved in the facsimile of a smile that sort of scared him. “Maybe you should think about that before you pull one of those stunt moves again. I’m not sure my heart can take it.”
Detective Manners leaned down so his face was level with the broken-out window. “How are you folks doing?”
Jonah turned to him. “Reminiscing about your traffic-stop days?”
“You could say that.” He cracked the door. “Turn your legs out. I want a look at your head.”
“His head?” Elise got out her side and he heard her steps as she rounded the car. “What’s wrong with Jonah’s—” She gasped.
“I’m guessing it looks bad.” He deliberately smiled at Elise, but that made his face sting.
She swallowed. “You have cuts all down the side of your face.”
The younger detective came to stand behind Elise. “Ambulance is on its way.”
“And the truck?”
Elise scoffed at Jonah’s question. “You don’t need to worry about that right now.” She crouched beside him, her fingers twitching like she wanted to touch his head. When was the last time anyone had offered him sympathy like that?
Jonah smiled.
Detective Manners rocked heel to toe and chuckled.
Elise glared at him. “None of this is funny.”
Jonah was still smiling. “I know, darlin’.”
Elise snorted, the way she always did when he used his cowboy voice. She would know he was okay, however bad it looked. And his face stung something fierce. Jonah pushed out a breath, feeling like an invalid sitting in the car when everyone else was out.
Jonah braced his hand on the door and started to climb out.
Elise’s hands were there immediately. “No, no. Stay in the car. You should wait to get checked out. You look pale.”
“Bad lighting.” He settled back down, but she didn’t take her hands away. She smoothed them up his arms to his shoulders, turning his chin to survey the damage. Her face was close enough that if he leaned in he could kiss her.
*
Jonah had been about to kiss her. Then the ambulance had shown up, and she’d had to back up so they had room to wipe the blood from Jonah’s face and check that there wasn’t glass in any of the cuts. There hadn’t been, thankfully, and none had been so deep they needed stitches—just those butterfly bandages. The worst thing was a possible infection from the dirty glass.
Her hair wet, Elise settled on Jonah’s couch in her own clothes. Never in her life had she been so appreciative of her own worn-in pajamas and her comfy sweater that hung past her hips. The police had actually released her belongings back to her.
She sighed, eyes closed, probably smiling like a goofball.
Sure, they’d almost been run off the road. Again. But after that Jonah had been about to kiss her.
She was sure.
And it was the whole reason she was currently acting like her teenage self, massively crushing on the boy who only thought of her as “little Elise.”
Good thing no one was in the room except Sam. T
he dog sat at the opposite end of the couch, his eyes watching the room.
The floorboard creaked. Sam’s ears twitched, but he didn’t move. Elise spied Parker walking down the hall. Maybe he wouldn’t see her.
“I can see you.”
She glared at the dark hall. “How did you know I was watching you?”
He stepped into the room. “I smelled the dog. Figured you’d be wherever he was.”
Parker’s wide frame, and the scar she noticed on the side of his neck, added to the menacing figure the shadows tried to hide. He was totally capable of appearing as threatening as he wished. Like Parker could simply step into the darkness and she would never even see him go. Could a man really disappear like that? What if the killer had that kind of training?
Elise shivered.
Parker stepped out into the hall and then back seconds later holding a bundle. He flicked the blanket out and covered her with it.
“Thank you.”
He shrugged with his mouth. “No sense in getting a chill.”
“It’s my hair. It’s wet.” She even sounded like a teenager with more hormones than brains. Elise shook her head. “What is Jonah doing?”
She hadn’t seen him since before she’d gone into the bathroom. He was supposed to be taking a shower, but he should be done by now. Or so she thought.
“He only just went in his bathroom before you came out. He had a bunch of calls to make. Shelder is with your son. Ames and Hanning are watching your brother. Which leaves me with you, so Jonah can get some rest later.”
She glanced at the clock. “He was working?” Was she stopping him from doing his job because he was tied up protecting her?
Parker perched on the back of the couch, his upper body turned to face her. “He had to call his boss and give an update. The chief of police. The mayor.” Parker grinned. “His mother.”
Elise laughed.
“The man doesn’t strike me as a mama’s boy, but he seems to talk to her a lot.”
She asked, “You’re not close with your family?”
Parker shrugged one shoulder. Evidently that was all she was going to get out of him.
“I wouldn’t describe Jonah as a mama’s boy. He argued with her more than he toed the line, but their family was close. Always.” She wasn’t the only one who’d been grieving when Martin died, especially given it wasn’t long after his father’s death.
It was why she understood the way Bernadette had acted after Martin’s death.
The years had distanced Elise from any sense of betrayal she might have felt over money she should have received. She didn’t want to think about that now, not all these years later. As though she was owed, simply because her husband died. It wasn’t like she needed the money now—not when her job would cover the essentials, and Nathan’s college tuition.
“And then you stepped in, the usurper.”
She considered Parker’s words. “Yes, you figured that right. I was the epitome of everything they weren’t. Martin and Jonah, even their father. Still, none of them ever made me feel unwelcome. And when they were around and their mom was there, they provided a buffer.”
She smiled to herself. “This one time, Bernadette was having tea with some hoity society ladies. I’m pretty sure one of them was a senator’s wife. One of the baby alligators I’d rescued from the ravine, after someone dumped oil in the water, managed to get out of the bathroom. He walked right into the middle of high tea.” She chuckled. “Jonah ran in, scooped the thing up and kept walking, right to the patio door at the end of the sunroom.”
Elise laughed aloud. “They were all aghast. His mom said his name, in this total ‘mom’ voice.”
Jonah.
She could still hear it in her head.
“He turned back and said, ‘Maybe you should tell them about the alligators, Mother. They need somewhere to live now.’” She laughed. “Like his mom was going to organize a save-the-alligators fund-raiser.”
She could see the set of his shoulders in her mind. Jonah had been stepping up for her, trying to find a way she and his mom could establish a common ground. She hadn’t even noticed. All she’d seen was the hole when he left.
It struck her then how different her life would have been had she given the family space after Jonah left. Her broken heart could have healed in time.
Martin had insisted they carry on as usual. Then he’d declared his feelings for her in senior year. She’d always loved Martin in her own way. So she’d given up the dream of Jonah.
If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have Nathan.
Elise shook off the melancholy thoughts and settled down under the blanket. If she stayed there too long she was going to end up falling asleep.
*
Jonah rubbed at his damp hair and tossed the towel on the rail, not bothering to straighten it. He strode through the house and found Parker in the kitchen. “How long does Fix think this is going to take?”
His face hurt now, and he’d had to take an awkward shower, washing the cuts but not reopening them.
Parker said, “He’s waiting on a call.”
Jonah crossed to the coffeepot, knowing it was decaf, since Parker never had caffeine. Jonah even stocked it just on the off chance his teammate was at his house. He filled a cup. “Whoever killed the reporter couldn’t hit Elise at the mailbox. He tried again with the car, twice, and those attempts didn’t work. He’ll be gunning for us now.”
Parker said, “If it’s not tonight, I’ll have Fix put in a call. There’s a chance the trader will realize something is up, but Fix will just have to finesse it.”
“Thanks.”
“Your girl’s on the couch.” Parker walked to the door. “I’ll be on the perimeter for the next half hour.”
Jonah watched him go and then went to the living room. Elise was curled up on her side, one hand under her cheek. He lifted her as gently as he could. “Time for bed.”
It was past time for her to be in the guest room. Especially with cracked ribs.
“Thanks, Martin.”
Jonah shut his eyes as the words hit him like a blow.
THIRTEEN
Elise watched from the window as Hailey Shelder’s car pulled up out front. She wasn’t going to fly out the door and hug her son to death, even though she wanted to. With teenagers you had to play it cool and wait for them to let you know what they needed. Then you could ignore it and do what you wanted, after you’d respected their “needs.”
Shelder opened the door but kept her eyes on Jonah’s land while Nathan stepped inside. He dropped his backpack by the door.
Elise got in his space and wrapped him up in her arms. When had he gotten so tall?
“Uh-oh.” Nathan chuckled. He leaned back and put on a ridiculous high voice. “It’s been less than twenty-four hours, but you don’t care. I’m so big. You’ve missed me so much.”
Elise shoved his shoulder playfully. “Smarty-pants.”
It was laugh or cry. She hadn’t even seen Jonah yet that morning. He’d been in his home office—which technically should be the dining room—all morning, talking on the phone and basically ignoring her.
Elise turned back to Hailey. “Thank you so much.”
Nathan trailed straight for the kitchen, being a big fan of second breakfast. Hailey said, “He’s a good kid. Kerry seems to think so, too. My thirteen-year-old has developed a terminal crush on your son.” Hailey laughed. “Nathan seemed to take it pretty well.”
Elise smiled. “I bet that was interesting.”
“She actually stopped playing with her puppy for five whole minutes, just to stare at him.”
Elise chuckled.
“Shelder. In my office.” Jonah’s voice was a boom down the hall.
Hailey glanced at Elise, a frown on her face.
Elise whispered, “I have no idea. He won’t even speak to me.”
Hailey went to Jonah’s office, and he shut the door.
Elise sighed, figuring that was pretty much how the
ir whole relationship had been—one giant closed door. Is that what I’m supposed to think, God? Maybe he doesn’t feel the way I feel, and he never has. Jonah was everything I wanted for so long. Now that I have him back in my life, I don’t know if I can let him go again.
Maybe she just needed to be content with them being friends only. She didn’t think her heart could handle that, not considering the fact they were going to be in each other’s lives now. Forever linked by Nathan. The only question was exactly how hard it would be to continue to see him and never be able to tell him how she’d always felt.
Because despite the four years she’d been married to Martin, Elise had always been in love with Jonah. As horrible as it made her, and as bad a decision as that was, Martin had been good to her. Elise never deserved even his meager attempts at being a husband. He’d tried at least. He’d loved her, and she’d never reciprocated it the way he’d wanted.
She didn’t know what would’ve happened to them, had he lived. Perhaps she’d have grown to love him better, for their son’s sake. Or maybe she would have told him her true feelings—that her need for acceptance was so powerful, she’d been swept away by the first person who’d offered to always be there for her.
Whatever the outcome of her telling him the truth, it would have upended all of their lives. She probably would have lost Nathan to Martin and his family.
“Mom, you okay?”
She nodded but didn’t look at him. He would know she wasn’t fine.
Elise wandered to where she’d left her Bible on the coffee table and flicked again to the verse she’d read that morning in Romans.
But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Elise shut her eyes. Thank You. She wasn’t perfect, not by any stretch of the imagination, but she was loved by God. She’d found her worth not in chasing after the ease of riches the Rivers family had seemed to have, or in being loved and accepted by people—even though she did have that from Nathan. She’d found God’s love was powerful enough to fill all the empty, lonely places inside her.
She’d grieved her husband, loved her son and tried to forget about Jonah. To forget about the wrong she’d done. Finding God was a blessing she couldn’t even dream of ever deserving, and that was the beauty of it.
Love Inspired Suspense September 2015 #1 Page 48
