His heart pinched as thoughts of Emily plagued him. His little girl was out there somewhere, waiting for him to rescue her. Guilt slammed through him. While he’d been making love to Jennie, his daughter waited for rescue. He heaved out a sigh. He hoped the cops got here soon so he could send them out searching for Emily. He was going with them, of course. He would make sure they searched every house on the other side of the river. Jennie had escaped from somewhere over there, he was certain of it. Why else would she have been on the other side of the river?
Hell, if only this storm would pass…he’d be able to find his daughter. He ran a hand over his face. He had to get Emily back. He had to. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if that bastard killed her.
Jennie stirred against him. She lifted her head.
“Good morning, handsome.”
His heart softened, emotion filling his chest. “Good morning, beautiful.”
Her lips curved. She leaned up and kissed him. Long and slow. Desire spread through him, igniting a flame he knew wouldn’t be extinguished until he had her again. He growled softly and pulled her on top of him, kissing her deeply.
“I’m never leaving you, Max,” she whispered. “Never. I love you.”
Joy ignited in his heart, spreading throughout every nerve in his body. She loved him. His breath caught. It had been so long since anyone had said those words to him.
They stayed in bed for another hour, loving, touching, unable to get enough of each other.
Sometime later, Jennie sat up. She patted his chest. “I’m hungry. We need breakfast. It’s almost ten o’clock.”
He nodded. “And a shower.”
She raised her brows suggestively. “Together?”
A chuckle bubbled up his throat. “Hell, yeah.”
She grinned. “I’ll race you to the shower.” She leapt out of bed.
Max flipped the covers aside and swatted her ass. She squealed. Raced for the bathroom. He was right on her heels.
They stayed in the shower, washing each other, exploring each other all over again, loving each other, until the hot water ran out. They quickly emerged and dried off.
“I’ll braid your hair for you,” Max suggested. “If you want.” He’d braided Emily’s hair when she was little. He missed that.
Jennie smiled up at him. “Yes. I’d like that.”
She sat on the edge of the bed while he fetched a brush and one of Emily’s old scrunchies from the bathroom. Max gently brushed the tangles from her hair, then slowly began to weave it into a French braid down her back.
Jennie cleared her throat. “You said you stopped practicing veterinary medicine years ago.” She hesitated, then asked, “So what do you do all day?”
Max’s face flamed. “I write articles for a monthly veterinary journal.”
She turned her head and looked at him. “You should reopen your business. I can help you run it.”
For a moment, he was speechless, then he finished the braid and secured it with the scrunchy. The thought of her staying here with him, forever, filled him with unexpected joy. He’d never considered reopening his practice. People might not give him a second chance after he’d abandoned them before. But the thought now intrigued him. With Jennie by his side, he could do anything.
He rested his hands on her shoulders. “People might not come,” he admitted quietly. “I abandoned them before."
She turned to him with a smile. “They’ll come. I know they will.”
His heart swelled. He wished he had as much confidence as she did.
“What else do you do?” she asked, her gaze seeking his as she settled onto his lap on the edge of the bed, wrapping her legs around his waist.
He shrugged. “I work out for at least an hour a day, usually in the mornings. It keeps me focused so I don’t worry about other things.” His face grew hot again. He wondered if Jennie knew he was referring to the temptation to drink, that working out kept his mind off of painful things.
He cleared his throat. “I also work with the horses several times a week, I have to feed the animals, clean the barn, shovel snow, cook, clean, do laundry…”
“Ah!” she said, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Normal everyday things. I’ll do the cooking from now on if you want. And I can help with the other household chores.”
For how long? Until she left? And when would that be? Today? Tomorrow?
“I was wondering how you got such big muscles,” she went on. “And then when I saw you working out in the den yesterday, I was enraptured.”
Heat crept into his face again. Her comments about his body pleased and embarrassed him at the same time.
Jennie gently patted his cheek. “Next time you work out, can I join you?” Her lips curved into a seductive smile as she looked into his eyes. “Or have I already given you enough of a workout for a while?”
He chuckled, squeezed her against him. She made him feel good. She made him happy. For the first time in a long time. “And then some.”
Jennie giggled and slid off his lap. “Thanks for braiding my hair. I was about ready to hack it all off with a knife from the kitchen.”
Max lifted a brow. “Thank God you didn’t do that. It would be a shame to ruin such pretty hair.”
Her lips twitched. She leaned down and kissed him on the lips. “I’ll go start breakfast.”
She sauntered from the room. Max watched her leave, his chest swelling with happiness.
She was something special. And she was his.
She’d said she was never leaving him…
But would she really stay?
He had nothing to offer her. Nothing except himself. But how long until she grew tired of him? Would he be enough for her?
She’d been a celebrity before she was abducted. Not as famous as a Hollywood movie star, but she’d had her share of fans, including Emily. When she got her memory back, she would realize what she’d had before. She would want it all again.
Max could never give her that.
He knew she would leave him soon. Why wouldn’t she? Why would she stay here in the woods with him when she could go back to what she’d had before?
His heart cramped painfully. The thought of her leaving…he choked out a breath.
He couldn’t bear it.
But she would leave.
He groaned softly, ran a hand over his face. This was why he hadn’t wanted to make love to her. Why he’d fought his attraction to her, why he’d fought so hard to keep her at a distance. Because she’d managed to drag him all the way under just like he’d feared she would. She was so close to stealing his heart. He couldn’t allow himself to love her.
Because soon she would leave.
And Max was helpless to stop her.
* * *
Jennie hummed softly as she prepared breakfast. She loved being in Max’s kitchen, in his home, in his life.
In his arms.
She loved him. There was no other way to describe the way she felt about him. Max was special. Lord, the man had braided her hair. How many men did that? Getting him to let down his guard had been a challenge, but he finally had. Even though he hadn’t told her he loved her, she was pretty sure he did. She’d seen it in his eyes when he made love to her, felt it in his touch, in his kisses…
She sighed dreamily. She knew he thought she would leave when she got her memory back, but she’d never leave Max. She didn’t care who she’d been before. The woman she was now loved Max and wanted to be with him. Forever.
She hoped to convince him to reopen his veterinary practice. She would help him run it. She could be his assistant and use her telepathy to calm frightened animals so Max could help them. She could already imagine their future here together. Nothing could draw her away from Max. She aimed to show him that. There was still so much she didn’t know about him, so much she didn’t remember about herself, but she was making new discoveries each day. She and Max had a lifetime to get to know each other. She couldn’t wait for the
ir future to begin.
“I’m heading out to feed the horses,” he called. Jennie turned to see him striding for the back door. “Then I’m going to start the tractor and plow the driveway for when the cops show up.”
Both Lucky and Gray followed him out the door. The wolf was settling in nicely now, not so nervous around Max. Gray was learning to trust him. Jennie was glad.
She watched Max out the kitchen window as he shoveled a new path out to the barn. Several more inches of snow had fallen overnight. But today the sun was shining. The storm had passed. Which meant the plows were probably already out and it wouldn’t be much longer before the cops showed up.
With her father.
Nerves tingled along her spine. She was anxious to see her father. She wondered if she would remember him when she saw him. Wondered what he was like.
Sometime later she heard the sound of a motor running and glanced out the window to see Max on his tractor. She imagined living here with him and smiled. This was what it would be like. He’d go out to feed the horses, she’d prepare breakfast. Then they’d spend the day tending animals at the clinic and their nights making love, snuggling…
And she couldn’t forget Emily. They would get her back soon. Jennie would do her best to be a mother figure to Max’s daughter. They would all be a happy family…
When Max finished and came in for breakfast about twenty minutes later, he was more subdued than usual. Distant. Was he thinking too much? Worrying about what would happen when the cops showed up? She didn’t blame him. She was nervous too.
“Thanks for breakfast.” Max dumped his empty plate and silverware in the sink and turned from the room. He didn’t even look at Jennie as he walked away.
Jennie’s heart lurched. Was he having second thoughts about them? Did he regret making love to her? This morning he’d seemed happy. He’d actually laughed. More than once. He had a beautiful laugh.
As she got up from the table, the phone rang. She heard Max answer it in the den. Heard his voice murmuring a response. Then he hung up.
Jennie cleared the table and loaded the dishes into the dishwasher. She found Max in the den, sitting in front of the computer. He had his email open. Jennie came up behind him.
“Who was on the phone?”
He answered without turning to look at her. “The sheriff. He’s on his way out with your dad and the FBI. They should be here in about a half hour.”
“That’s good,” she said quietly, stopping behind his chair. “They can search for Emily now.”
“No.” His voice was emotionless.
The hair sprang up on Jennie’s arms. Her scalp tingled. She turned her head to look at him.
“No?”
“It’s too late for that.” He hissed the words out. “Can’t you see it’s too fucking late?”
Jennie’s heart dropped. She swung her gaze to the computer screen. To the email he’d opened.
A photo filled the screen. It looked like Emily laying on a bed. Naked. Covered with blood. Her eyes were closed, her neck twisted back at an odd angle. She looked…dead.
“No,” Jennie whispered, the breath hitching in her throat. She scanned the message that came with the picture.
You should have given yourself up last night, Jennie. Now see what you did? Emily’s death is on your shoulders. You’d better run hard and fast, bitch, because you’re next.
Max rose from the chair, snarling like a wounded beast. Jennie leapt back as he stormed across the room. He slammed his fist into the wall. Again and again. A picture fell, crashing onto the floor. Sheetrock crumbled. When he finally pulled his fist back and bowed his head, there was a huge gaping hole in the wall.
“It’s too late,” he whispered hoarsely, gasping for breath. “Too fucking late.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Emily was beginning to doubt her sudden defiance. All it had done was get her a severe beating. Jennie was much stronger than her. How many times had the man raised his hand to Jennie, how many times had he kicked her? And still she hadn’t cowered. Emily desperately wanted to be like Jennie. But she was weak. She wasn’t tough like Jennie.
When the man had told her to strip and pose naked on the bed, she’d told him to go to hell. He’d slapped her. Hard. So hard her ears had rung. Her left ear was still ringing. She’d quickly shed her defiance and done what he told her, trying not to cringe when he poured something that looked like ketchup all over her. He smeared it all around, then told her to close her eyes and cock her head at a certain angle. Emily had done exactly what he told her. She didn’t want him to hit her anymore. She just wanted to go home to her dad.
He took a bunch of pictures and told her to get up. He made her take a shower while he watched, then let her get dressed and chained her back to the wall.
He whistled as he climbed back up the stairs.
As Emily glared after him, tears filled her eyes. She knew what he was going to do with the pictures. He was going to send them to her dad. He wanted her dad to think she was dead so he wouldn’t look for her.
Despair slid in. Her dad would never find her now. He’d never come looking for her. He’d think she was dead.
I’m sorry, Dad.
She cried harder, her chest heaving. She cried and cried as sobs wracked her emaciated frame, cried until she had nothing left inside. Emily leaned back against the wall, drew in a final shuddering breath. She lifted her unchained hand to swipe at the tears covering her face.
Be brave, Emily.
Emily lifted her head.
Don’t let this bastard beat you down.
She swung her head toward Jennie’s bed.
If we’re going to escape, we have to be brave.
Emily hitched in a breath. Jennie wasn’t there, of course, but her voice rang loud and clear in Emily’s head. Though she was alone in the cold, dark prison, she heard Jennie’s words as clearly as if her idol had just spoken them from beside her.
Only you can save yourself.
That last thought came from Emily’s own mind. But she knew it was true. Only she could save herself now.
“I don’t want to die, Jennie,” she whispered to the dark basement. “Please don’t give up on me. Please bring my dad. Please.”
As she huddled in the dark in the thin blanket, trying to keep warm, Emily prayed they’d come for her soon. That they wouldn’t give up.
But she knew in her heart that if she was going to live, she had to save herself.
* * *
Max crumpled to the floor and put his face in his hands. Jennie hesitated. Should she go to him? Try to comfort him? Something told her he wouldn’t welcome her comfort right now, that he needed to be alone. That if she approached him, he’d just push her farther away.
She glanced back at the computer screen. At the photo of Emily. She leaned close. Something about the photo was a little off, almost as if it had been altered with one of those photo shop programs. She stared hard, scrutinizing the image.
Was that ketchup?
She dropped into the chair Max had vacated, leaned closer to the monitor. And the expression on Emily’s face…it wasn’t relaxed like she imagined a dead person’s face would look. Emily’s jaw appeared tense, as if she were clenching it.
Jennie sucked in a breath.
And her eyes…they were squeezed tight, as if she didn’t want to do what she was being forced to do.
“She’s alive!” Jennie leapt from the chair and spun toward Max. He lifted his head away from his hands, a dazed look on his face. “Max, she’s alive!”
He pushed to his feet, a stunned expression flickering across his face. “What? What do you mean?”
“Look.” Jennie pointed to the picture. “Doesn’t that look suspiciously like ketchup to you? And look at her jaw. She’s clenching it. And her eyes look like she’s squeezing them shut. He made her pose for this photo, Max. He wants us to think she’s dead.”
Max hissed out a breath. “So we’ll give up and won’t search for
her.”
Jennie met his gaze. “Exactly.”
Max’s eyes swam with tears. He blinked rapidly and lowered his gaze. “Thank you, Jennie. Once again, you’ve given me hope.”
Jennie wrapped her arms around him, squeezing tight. “We’ll get her back, Max. Have faith.”
The doorbell rang.
Max cleared his throat. He stepped back, a wary expression entering his eyes. “The sheriff couldn’t have gotten here that fast.”
Jennie agreed. “Maybe someone has an injured pet.”
Max snorted as he headed for the door. “Not likely.”
Jennie followed down the hallway after him. The front door opened into the veterinary clinic so that when clients arrived, they would enter into the animal hospital. Jennie wondered how long it had been since Max had had any visitors. Human or animal.
She stood back while he opened the door.
A man and woman stood on the porch. The man was about Max’s height, but even in his thick winter coat, Jennie could see he was much leaner than Max was. His hair was a silvery gray, his eyes a lighter shade of brown than Max’s. His facial features were similar to Max’s, and he sported a few creases around his mouth and eyes. Jennie guessed him to be in his late fifties or early sixties. Max’s father?
The woman was smaller, slender, red-haired and green-eyed. She was still stunning, even though she had to be around the same age as the man. She didn’t look anything like Max.
“How did you get here?” Max demanded, stepping back as they pushed forward and entered the house. “Why are you here?”
Jennie’s gaze flew to Max. His jaw tightened. He didn’t look happy to see them.
“We took the Envoy with the tracks,” the man said as he entered the house. “We passed a snow plow a few miles back. He was heading this way. You’ll be able to head into town later. That was quite the storm, wasn’t it?”
Max’s gaze flicked out the door. Jennie peered around him. A blue Envoy was parked in the driveway, but it wasn’t just a regular Envoy. Instead of normal tires, it had a set of triangular tracks, similar to the type of tracks used on military tanks. Wow. Cool.
Max slammed the front door. “Why are you here?” he repeated.
Abducted (Unlikely Heroes Book 2) Page 16
