If I Fall

by Lydia Michaels

  “Why didn’t you fucking do something?” Jeremy raged.

  “I tried! I was over a block away. I jumped out of the car and rushed toward them. She screamed and there was a scuffle. Before I reached them he threw her in the back of his car and sped off. I’m following them. It looks like he’s heading toward Ben Franklin Highway.”

  “What’s the plate number?” Jeremy yanked a pen and paper out of a drawer.

  “Looks like SUPDOC. Is this guy a doctor?”

  “Oh, my God. You said he was with a tall brunette?” His wide eyed gaze drifted to Kat. “That’s Lily. It’s fucking Philips! He fucking works with her!”

  Nathan cursed. “I think he knows I’m behind him. I don’t think he has any weapons, but Jeremy,” he paused. “He roughed her up a bit. I don’t know if she’s conscious.”

  He dropped into a chair. Fear, worse than anything he ever experienced in combat took hold.

  “You have to call the cops,” Nathan continued and Jeremy worried he’d missed something the guy said.

  Shaking away his dread, focusing on getting her home safe, he went into survival mode. “Keep your phone in your hand and don’t lose them. I’ll call you right back.”

  “You got it. And for the record, I never—”

  “I know.” God, he’d been so fucking wrong. “Just … don’t lose her.” Ending the call, he looked at Ty. “Philips has her. Call 911 and tell them it’s a black SUV plate S-U-P-D-O-C.”

  “On it.” Tyson’s phone was already at his ear.

  Jeremy dialed Trent. He answered on the first ring.

  “It’s not Lithe. It’s Philips, the doctor she works with! He’s got her. They’re heading toward Ben Franklin and Lithe’s following them. He’s got her friend Lily in the car with them, too.”

  “Is Lithe on our side or his?” Trent asked, catching up with no additional explanation like the security guy he was.

  “Ours.” And wasn’t that a kick in the nuts to admit.

  “You call the cops?”

  “Ty’s on the phone with them now.”

  “Okay. I’m on 422. I’ll pull over and wait until I hear anything. What’s the vehicle ID?”

  “Plate, SUPDOC.” He spelled it out. “It’s a black SUV.”

  “We’ll get her, Jer. We’ll get her.”

  ChapterForty-Two

  The world rocked and Jade heaved a dry sob as nausea churned in her belly, her head ponding with the rapid beat of her heart. She couldn’t breathe the second she regained consciousness. Fighting the urge to vomit, her eyes registered shadows moving over her skin and the vibration of her surroundings.

  Am I in a car?

  Her last moments of consciousness came hurtling back. She was in Bryan’s car, sprawled out in the back where a third row of seats would normally be. Oh, my God, it’s Bryan.

  It didn’t add up. How had she been so blind? He was so convincingly charming, yet the look in his eyes when she’d spotted the seal on his lighter told her she’d made a grave error in judgment.

  She pressed up on her elbows, the carpeted upholstery abrading her skin. The speed of the SUV was nauseating, each turn making the contents of her stomach swill. Unconsciousness tempted as her vision wavered.

  Keeping her head low, she peeked through the tinted glass and looked for a street name or mile marker. Everything was moving too fast. Her eyes struggled to track, but the motion sent a spike of bile up her throat. Her vision showed like a funhouse mirror. A sign for the New Castle Municipal Airport flashed in the distance and she collapsed, catching her breath.

  Fuck.

  Lowering her head to the floor she breathed through her teeth, fighting the urge to puke. Did she have a concussion? Peeking around the headrest, she repetitively swallowed as she tried to focus.

  Bryan hugged the wheel as cigarette smoke siphoned through the crack in the driver’s side window. Streetlights illuminated the interior in drifting flashes and Jade gasped as she spotted a silver high heel. Lily. Her friend’s hand swayed into the space between the back seats, as she lay hunched over and unconscious.

  Creeping forward, Jade searched for Lily’s purse. There, on the floor. Stretching her fingers under the car seat, she tried to navigate the obstacle of bars and gears. She couldn’t reach.

  Try again. You don’t quit. This isn’t a game.

  Her arm pressed along the side, her fingers stretching. She shut her eyes and tried to extend her reach as far as possible. Come on.

  The car hit a bump and something sharp scraped her shoulder. She winced and swallowed the pain. Gritting her teeth, she silently reached as far as she could. Her fingers brushed the leather strap and she blindly clawed for the bag. Her middle finger hooked on what she hoped was the purse and she pulled.

  Her arm would fit through the seat’s undercarriage, but not the bag. Feeling around, she found the zipper and tugged it open one jerking motion at a time. When her fingers closed around sleek glass, she sagged with relief. Fisting the cellphone, she extricated her arm and folded her body back to where she was when she first awoke. She caught her breath.

  Lying on her side, holding the phone deep in her lap, her fingers locked around the device, sweet relief making her dizzy, as she pulled it to her face. She shakily pressed the first digits of Jeremy’s phone number but winced and stilled as the phone faintly beeped.

  Smothering the phone against her chest, her attention jerked to Bryan. He stared ahead, apparently not hearing the beep.

  Wrapping the phone in her gown to muffle the light, she slid her thumb over the silence switch and dialed. As she entered the last number, she pulled the phone to her face, shading the light with her palm.

  Muffling the phone in the crease of her neck she hit send. The phone hardly rang and Jeremy answered, voice frantic, “Hello?”

  She breathed a sigh of relief so intense her eyes glazed with tears. Now what?

  Her mouth opened and she stilled. She couldn’t talk without chancing Philips hearing her.

  “Hello? Jade, is that you?”

  She whimpered quietly.

  “Baby, are you all right? Tell me you’re all right!” He spoke in a panicked voice she never heard him use before. “I know Bryan Philips has you. Please tell me you aren’t hurt. If you can’t talk press a button.”

  Jade pressed a key and Jeremy gave an audible sigh of relief. “Okay, baby. Good. You’re doing good. We’re coming for you. The police know he has you. He won’t get far. But you have to stay calm. Press a button if you’re still in the car.”

  She pressed a button again, her thumb lowering the volume as much as possible.

  “Okay, listen to me, baby. The cops are on their way. Nathan’s following you. You were right about him. I’m so sorry I didn’t trust your judgment.”

  Just then the car swerved and a phone rang on Jeremy’s end. He cursed and Tyson spoke Nathan’s name in the background.

  Ty’s deep voice spoke fast. “He’s taking the jug handle to Route 376. Nathan’s still on him.”

  “Good, tell him not to lose him,” Jeremy said to Tyson. “Jade, you still with me, baby?”

  Jade pressed a key.

  “Good. I need to pull up Trent’s number in my phone. Don’t hang up, okay?” As soon as she pressed another key she heard Jeremy fumbling with his phone. “Kat call this number and tell Trent they are heading north on 376. You still there, Jade?”

  She pressed a key, just as the driver’s side window closed and the car was submerged in unnerving silence. Her heart rate accelerated.

  “Do you know where he’s taking you?” She couldn’t answer and had no answer to give, so she remained silent. “Are you injured?”

  Her head hurt and her dress was torn, but she had no mortal wounds, so she stayed silent again.

  Just then Bryan said, “We’re almost there, my love.” She froze, terror piping through her blood like poison.

  “Was that Philips? Is he talking to you? Can he see you?” Jeremy frantically shouted into the
phone, “Jade? Jade!”

  Bryan’s eyes reflected in the rearview mirror, a frown flashing on his lips. “Are you awake back there?”

  Panicked that Bryan would overhear, she instinctively did the only thing she could do to protect herself and disconnected the call.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  “Fuck!” Jeremy roared as he shut the phone. He dialed Nathan.

  Without saying hello, Nathan answered, “He’s slowing down. It looks like he’s taking a road called Polaski.”

  “She’s awake.” Jeremy’s heart thundered painfully in his chest. “She called me, but she couldn’t talk. I don’t think she’s hurt too bad, but she’s scared. Do you hear any sirens yet?”

  “Nothing yet. Fuck, it’s starting to snow again.”

  “A friend of mine isn’t far behind you. Big guy. Trenton Cole. He’ll be driving a beat up, blue pickup. If you see him, stay out of his way. He’ll most likely try to shoot the fucker on the spot.”

  “Definitely would like to make it home without any bullet holes in me. Shit, he’s turning again. I didn’t catch the street name, but there’s an old white church on the corner.”

  “Which way did he turn?”

  “Left.”

  “All right, I’m calling Trent. Keep your phone on.” Jeremy disconnected the call and dialed Trent.

  “I’m on 376 now,” Trent answered.

  “They turned onto a road called Polaski. They were only on it for a minute or so before turning left. We don’t know the name of the road, but there’s a white church on the corner.”

  “I’m seeing signs for Polaski now. Should be there in about sixty seconds. How’s our girl?”

  “She couldn’t talk without him hearing, but I think she’s okay. Just scared.”

  “We’ll get her, man.”

  Nathan shut off his headlights and rolled to a stop about fifty yards away from where the SUV parked. A cluster of evergreens at the curve of the driveway hid his car.

  Turning off the engine, he quietly exited the vehicle. His dress shoes crunched over the brackish leaves, the leather soles sliding with the fresh dusting of snow. Pushing branches aside, he crept through the trees and walked toward the house.

  It was a large chalet, with a peaked front window formed from several smaller windows, each glass surface angling toward the roof. Pine needles littered the ground, protected by the canopy of evergreens, but the drive hadn’t been plowed from the last snowstorm, which told him this wasn’t the good doctor’s central residence.

  Hugging the frosted trunk of a pine tree, he watched the guy exit the vehicle and approach the side door.

  “What are you doing?” Nathan whispered, squinting as Phillips removed a bag and balanced it on his knee.

  He rummaged through the bag and held something between his finger and thumb, angling it toward the interior light of the car. He reached back in the bag and raised something to his lips, spitting away part of whatever he held. The moonlight glinted and the motions were familiar as the doctor popped the two things together. The action resonated. A syringe.

  Nathan stiffened as he leaned into the car. The passenger door slammed and the doc rounded the back of the vehicle, his hand still holding the syringe.

  Nathan’s phone vibrated, distracting him for a split second, but he couldn’t chance answering the call. His eyes watched, unblinking, as the doc reached for the tailgate.

  Jade’s small body catapulted out of the SUV. The syringe fell to the snow, catching the moonlight as she kicked him and bolted in a flash of white silk.

  “Bitch!” Philips cursed, snatching the syringe and trudging after her on the icy drive.

  She made it about fifteen feet when he roughly tackled her. Her scream bounced off the trees and Nathan tensed as she hit the ground hard.

  His legs bunched, ready to spring, but he hesitated. Jeremy said a guy was coming—with a gun. Nathan wasn’t trained in combat and could hardly throw a punch. He wouldn’t be much help to Jade—not yet. He had to be smart and keep his presence secret until the opportune moment.

  “Get off me!”

  Her panicked cry made him weak. He had to help her, but how? Glancing in the shadows, she searched for anything that might work as a weapon. A branch, a rock, he couldn’t see shit.

  His posture faltered as the sound of a fist smacking flesh silenced Jade’s voice. The bed of snow reflecting the moonlight defined their figures. Arms flailed as their breath echoed.

  Philips jerked her to her back and straddled her kicking legs, pinning her smaller body in the shadows of his much larger one. “Stay still! I don’t want to hurt you!”

  “No—”

  Everything stilled and the doctor eased back, one hand closed around her jaw. Jade’s form lay motionless beneath him in the snow.

  “Stop fighting me or I’ll gouge this needle in your throat and you won’t wake until dawn,” Philips threatened and she whimpered. “Are you going to cooperate?”

  She whimpered again.

  “Good girl. I just want to talk. Cooperate and I won’t hurt you.” Slowly, the doctor rose from the ground. Jade remained perfectly still and Nathan wasn’t sure if he’d changed his mind and drugged her anyway.

  “Up.” The doc reached and tugged her off the ground. She stood, but wobbled and nearly fell back into the snow.

  Retaining a tight grip on her arm, he tugged her back toward the car. She didn’t go easily, but the doc had her in too tight a hold and gave her no choice but to follow. The tailgate slammed, leaving nothing but dappled moonlight to cast inky shadows in the dark.

  Holding her wrist, he led her toward the house. She looked toward the woods and Nathan crept a step closer.

  “This way.”

  Her body jerked as the doc gave a hard yank on her arm. She stumbled under his prodding but didn’t fight. Then they disappeared inside.

  Nathan crept closer to the house. Reaching in his pocket as his phone continued to vibrate and lights illuminated the home. “I’m here,” he hissed quietly.

  “Where the hell were you?” Jeremy bellowed, irritation and panic evident in his voice.

  Breath coming fast, forming clouds of vapor in the cold winter air, Nathan didn’t waste time. “They’re in a house. He drugged the other woman, but I think he only threatened to drug Jade. She’s cooperating and he took her inside. He said he just wants to talk to her.”

  “Fuck!” Jeremy yelled. “I’m getting in the car. Where’s the fucking house?”

  “Just off a street called Norman Drive, about two miles after the church. It’s woodsy here, secluded. The driveways are hidden. My car’s at the edge of the property. What should I do?”

  Jeremy was quiet for several seconds. “Trent should be there soon. Approach the house. I’ll tell him to look for your car and meet you there. See if you can see what room they’re in, but don’t go inside. I don’t want him to know we have him cornered until Trent or the police get there.” He exhaled into the phone. “But Nathan, if he … if he does anything…”

  “I won’t let him hurt her.” He cursed himself, unsure how he could help without making things worse and also for not intervening sooner.

  Sliding the phone into his pocket, he rushed along the drive, staying close to the trees on the property line, keeping his footprints hidden in the shadows. Approaching the edge of the home, he crept around the perimeter, peering into windows and spotted Jade shivering on a couch in a large room. Her dress was wet and torn, with splotches of dirt marring the once pristine white silk.

  Her small form trembled, cold and clearly terrified. Her hair was a mess and there was either a bruise forming or dirt smudged on her cheek. He searched for Philips but didn’t see him.

  Her eyes scanned her surroundings as if looking for a way to escape. Taking a risk, Nathan tapped lightly on the window and she flinched. Their gazes met and she quickly looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching. He held up a hand. It was the only way he could think to comfort her and t
ry to warn her to remain calm.

  Help was on its way. He wished he could somehow tell her that. Hopefully seeing him there told her others were close. Her shoulders shook as tears trickled down her flushed cheeks. Her pain became his as he held her gaze and they waited.

  Bryan stood anxiously in front of the stove as the water heated. He needed to think. Fuck! It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. She was supposed to come to him. She was supposed to love him.

  If she wasn’t such a fucking whore, running off and eloping, things could have been different. Then she’d gone and tried to fight him. He didn’t like when she ran from him, but there was something to be said for her struggles. When they were rolling in the snow, his body pinning hers… His cock had started to throb. Yes, having her conscious was definitely preferable to the other option.

  The last time he’d held her she hadn’t fought at all. Her body accepted him beautifully. She’d been lax and malleable, nothing like the clawing bitch she turned into tonight. Yet… His cock swelled. She should be disciplined and he would enjoy every second of dishing out her punishment.

  His eye twitched, a ripple of tiny muscle spasms convulsing down to the corner of his mouth. He hadn’t meant to hurt her back at the house, but she wouldn’t stop screaming. She should be quiet. She was quiet now. Maybe a little too quiet.

  He stepped away from the stove and glanced into the open living room. Her back was stiff as she sat exactly where he left her. “I’ll be right there, my love.”

  Hmm. No reply. She’d come around.

  All she had to do was leave her husband. He would give her a good life. She could still work at the hospital. He liked seeing her during his breaks. She hadn’t been married that long. A divorce would be easy. She could marry him and he would give her back the baby she lost. That would make her happy. She just had to listen.

  The kettle whistled and he removed it from the burner. His mother’s heirloom teacups waited. As he steeped the tea, the steam from the kettle moistened his fingers.