At least he’d held her.
“Soon, Jus,” he said out loud. “I’ll hold you again soon. I promise. I’ll never let you go.”
Then, the dirt road leading to the cabin came into view. Dan turned, pulled in far enough to conceal his truck before he killed the engine. He’d walk from there and take the path through the woods. The last thing he wanted was for Deke to hear him coming.
Dan’s cell phone vibrated, bringing him back to the present. He looked at the caller ID. Jack Fillbrook. He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to be talking to any of his colleagues and possibly say something he’d not be able to remember later.
He thought briefly of Justine, how alone she must have felt these past weeks.
“I’m a foolish, selfish jerk,” he muttered out loud to himself. “And she may be a cheater, but I love her.”
The wave of dizziness that swept though his body took him by surprise. For a moment, darkness threatened to close over him.
He struggled to breathe. He struggled to think of a way to reach Justine and tell her what he needed to say to make things right again.
What if he never got the chance? No, he would get the chance.
Dan couldn’t accept things any other way.
Dan took a heavy breath and let it out slowly. He didn’t know how exactly to handle the idea of a baby, but right now he couldn’t worry about it. Getting Justine back was more important.
He knew the baby came with Justine. So be it.
He pushed the thoughts of the baby from his mind. He couldn’t think about now. He couldn’t let it cloud his judgment. Not now.
He had a job to do.
He checked his weapons one last time before he climbed out.
His heart froze at the sound that reached him.
Justine’s scream, followed by the loud crack of a gunshot.
He took off running through the woods in the direction of the cabin, in the direction of the scream and the shot.
He had to get to Justine.
Chapter 27
Justine could hardly believe her eyes.
“You—you—” was all she was able to stammer.
A tornado of emotions rushed through her. She boiled with rage at being so deceived. Cold terror pressed against her chest. She had really thought he was an injured officer. If she could find something, she would make his head bleed. Again. She looked down at the gun he held pointed at her. The rage won out again and she thought, not again, no one is going to point another gun at me and my baby. No one is going to threaten me.
But then like an ocean wave, terror swept over her as the reality of the situation hit her. All he had to do was twitch his index finger to kill her. Instinctively, she shielded her lower belly with her hands.
“Would you really have danced naked to save me?” The grin on his face was slightly crooked, droopy.
Perhaps his hit on the head had caused some major damage.
“That’s so sweet of you,” he said. “I was really hoping Deke would make you do it, so I could watch.”
“Looks like we get to head back to the cabin and let Deke know you really don’t know anything about the money, after all.”
Thomas lowered the gun slightly.
“You bastard!” The rage pushed beyond her fear, and she acted without thinking. She plowed herself into him with all the force she could muster. Her action took him by surprise and he stumbled away. There was clearly something wrong with him. His reaction time was slow and staggered. Yet at the same time, he was able to raise the gun toward her.
Justine screamed and grabbed at his wrist. Remembering what Dan told her—where the thumb went the rest of the hand had to follow—she pulled as hard as she could on his thumb. The gun went off, scattering dirt and leaves into a cloud a few feet away. Then, the weapon fell from his hand.
Thomas tried to shove her away, but Justine managed to kick him on the side of his knee, causing it to buckle beneath him. He let out a yelp of pain before he landed on the same hurt knee and yelled again.
Justine grabbed the dropped gun before she turned and dashed further up the path, determined to get away and shoot him if she had to.
The path was endless through the trees. At more than one place, Justine couldn’t help but wonder how Deke had driven through.
The path curved sharply to the left and Justine followed it around a large oak. Just as she passed the oak, a hand seemed to snake out of it and grab her. She would have screamed, but the same hand covered her mouth and stifled her scream.
She was held against a hard chest, a firm body.
All she thought about was fight then run as she struggled against the strong arms that held her. She nearly pulled the trigger on the gun she held, not that it would do much good. The man who held her grasped her wrist tightly and kept the weapon pointed at the ground.
“Relax.”
She stopped struggling and relaxed. He let her go and she looked up into the familiar eyes of her husband.
Chapter 28
“Are you all right?” Dan asked. “Did he hurt you?” They sounded like lame questions, but he was so glad and so shocked to see her whole and moving, he couldn’t think further. He wanted nothing more than to hold her and never let go. He fought the urge to grab her hand and get her out of her, take her somewhere safe where Deke Rynolds could never find her.
“I’m fine,” she said, her voice distant. For a long time, Justine stared at him. “It’s all true, isn’t it? That’s why you’re here alone?” Her voice sounded voice raw, the words little more than harsh whispers. “Everything Deke said about you robbing a bank? It’s all true?”
“It’s not what you think,” he said.
“Not what I think? I’ll tell you what I think. I think I’ve slept beside you and woke up next to you for five years. I think I’ve shared my every secret down to the pit of my soul. There’s a baby growing inside me, and I don’t even know who you are.”
Then heat of rage bubbled up his neck and made his face burn. “Don’t you dare judge me,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Don’t judge you? How can I not?”
Dan sighed and tried to push the frustration aside, grasping a sense of control, hoping that when this was over, there would be time to sort out all the other emotions. But he discovered after all the worry, all the pieces of the puzzle falling into place, all the work he’d done trying to keep his life on the right path, he couldn’t ignore everything. “You’re the one who cheated, Justine.”
She stared at him for a long, silent moment. The rest of the world, including the danger of Dan’s past coming up to bite him from the cabin not far away, faded away. “How did you know? I’m not even—” Her words were still whispered. Disbelief and pain filled her expression. Dan tried to ignore them both.
The last thing he wanted to do was spend the time to explain things now, now with Deke and danger mere yards away. But he also didn’t need Justine opposing him or fighting against him.
“It doesn’t matter how I know. None of it matters. Not now. What does matter is that you understand why I did things. You grew up with a loving family who stood beside you no matter what, with parents who supported your every action and praised your every move, with brothers who protected you and held your hand.
“I grew up with an aunt and uncle who did little more than make things clear that as soon as I turned eighteen, they were through with me and I was on my own. Do you know what it feels like to have your every inadequacy pointed out to you? Do you have any idea what it feels like to stand on the basketball court on senior night in high school holding a rose and be the only one without a parent or someone to stand beside you? No, you wouldn’t, but I do.”
He paused, but never took his hard gaze from hers. “And I know none of it is a good enough excuse, so how about this one. I knew Deke and Thomas were bad but I didn’t know how bad until they told me how they robbed a liquor store. I tried to stay away from them, especially for Dillon’s sake. I had no idea
they planned to rob the bank. I just waited in the car. Deke threw in a duffle bag a few minutes later, but then ran in the opposite direction. I sat there in the car with a bag full of money, and no one noticed. No one saw me. No one had seen Deke throw it into the back seat. The police were busy chasing two robbers on foot, two robbers that got away. What was I supposed to do?”
“Turn it in?” Justine said, judgment dripping from her voice.
“I was nineteen years old. I worked at a discount store trying to make ends meet while Dillon was studying driver’s ed. My only other family, my wonderful aunt and uncle who reminded me every single day how gallant they were to take us in, had just moved to Florida and left us. I couldn’t leave Dillon, too. I couldn’t take the chance the police would believe that I knew nothing about the robbery. Even if they held me for a day or two while they sorted things out, Dillion was sixteen. They might have tossed him in foster care. So I took Dillon and we moved to Chicago. I joined the police academy, doing everything to be the model citizen I wanted to be and to have a career that would make my dead parents proud, as well as support and help my brother and give us a life.” He knew he was babbling, but he had to make her understand.
“What about the money?”
Dan met his wife’s gaze squarely in the eye. “There was almost three million dollars in the bag. I took one third of it.”
“And what? Used it to send Dillon to flying school?”
“No, I gave it to my old partner Adam’s wife after his funeral so she had enough to raise his kids. If you want it back, you’ll have to get it from her.”
Chapter 29
“Now I’d love to stand here and tell you all the things Adam’s wife did with the money I gave her. I could also reminisce with you about all the fun times I had at this cabin. It is, by the way, the only good thing I have from my dear uncle. But I think we have more pressing matters to deal with, don’t you? So tell me, is Deke at the cabin?” Dan asked, pulling out his gun.
“Yes, Thomas probably managed to limp his way back there by now, too, since he doesn’t appear to have followed me.” She looked back down the path to make certain.
“Thomas is here, too?”
“Yes. He’s hurt, I think.”
“My truck is back that way, about a quarter mile. I want you to go, get in it, and drive back to Landston.”
“Not without you.”
“Justine.”
She reached up and placed two fingers on his lips to stop any further words. “We can stay here and argue all you want, but we’re wasting time, giving them the chance to get away. I’m not leaving without you.”
“I’m not letting you go back where you’d be near Deke Rynolds. The man is psychopath. And Thomas is worse.”
“I know, but I’m not letting you go in alone, either.
“Neither am I,” a new voice said.
They both turned to see Jack Fillbrook stealthily approaching.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Dan had to ask, hardly believing they were all standing there discussing things, but more surprised to see his colleague who was due to change his career in less than a week. What he noticed even more was the way Justine moved close to him and seemed to clam up as Jack stepped closer. She had shown more spunk and readiness to fight the bad guys from his past than she did to his own colleague.
The last thing he needed was to explain himself to another member of the police force. Inside he seethed. And it took nearly all his effort to keep a poker face.
Jack shrugged. “Watching over you. Helping my friends.”
Something still didn’t add up with Jack, but Dan couldn’t put his finger on it right then and he didn’t have the time. Maybe the Chief had assigned Jack to follow him and keep an eye on him, but he’d been especially careful not to be followed. He did notice that Justine said nothing and took his hand. He wanted to question her, at the very least look at her, see if he could see answers in her eyes. But he didn’t look away from Jack. “Watching over me? Just like that?”
“Both of you actually.”
Dan stole a glance to Jus. She bit her lip. Hell, she didn’t even do that when she had to face the toughest judge. Just what the fuck was going on here? He knew Jack was forever flirting with Justine, trying to kiss her or touch her. Was he actually ‘watching over her?’ Was he the guy she cheated with? Fuck it all to hell!
Dan went from seething to thinking his blood actually boiled. Maybe he should simply walk away, leave her with Jack and let them face the two prick bastards in the cabin. He could disappear.
He stole another glance to his wife. And what he read in her expression was nothing less than…
Fear.
Pure, unadulterated terror.
There was more to this than his wife cheating on him with Jack. Damn, she was all but breaking his fingers as she stood behind him.
He couldn’t walk away from her. He couldn’t disappear. He needed answers. He needed to follow this through and see it to the end. He’d vowed to save her and get her out of this mess, and by God, he was going to do just that.
He cleared his throat and took a deep breath to settle his racing heart. “How much did you hear?”
“Enough to know you had it rough growing up.”
Dan forced down a shudder that Jack knew about the robbery and the money. For a second, he wasn’t certain which move to make. Could he trust Jack to keep his secret? With the way Justine squeezed his hand, he didn’t think he could trust Jack at all.
Before Dan could decide which direction to take, Jack looked further up the path. “What do you say we get this taken care of so we can all go home?”
A few minutes later, the three of them hid around the corner of the cabin.
“Stay here with Jack,” Dan whispered.
In urgent whispers, Justine argued with Dan. “No! Don’t leave me!”
She had uttered those same words the night he found her looking lost in the kitchen. They tore his heart now even more as they did then.
“All right. Then just stay here while Jack and I go in.”
She seemed more open to that idea, but he had to pry his hand from hers. Dan kissed her quick and hard and moved to the front door. Jack followed him.
From inside the cabin came the voices of an argument.
“Do you really think he was going to just hand it all over after all this time?”
“Why not?”
“He probably hasn’t even got it anymore.”
“You’re right. I don’t,” Dan said from the doorway. He held his gun in his hand, and pointed it at them.
The three of them stared at one another. The tension in the room was so thick Dan thought he could almost see it like smoke.
Deke stood on the other side of the table holding a cold water bottle under his chin while Thomas sat on one of the chairs and propped his right leg up on the second.
Deke was the first to speak. “Nice to see you again, Danny Boy.”
“I can’t say the same thing about you, Deke. You should have never taken any of this out on my wife.”
Thomas giggled and then coughed.
“Oh, but taking your wife made things so interesting. She’s very pretty.” Deke’s grin left Dan fuming. But he kept his expression flat, refusing to let either of his former partners see how much they scared or angered him.
Then he noticed something else…
Jack hadn’t followed him into the cabin.
But Dan was caught in the midst of this game now, and he had no choice but to play it out.
“Deke was going to make her dance naked.” There was still laughter in Thomas’s voice, but his words were thick and dragging.
Deke suddenly grew serious. “And she might have escaped me this time, but who’s to say she’ll be so lucky next time. Unless, of course, you’re here to give me my money.”
“And mine…” Thomas chimed in as if he were nothing more than an afterthought.
“So where it is, Danny, my buddy?�
�
“You’ve had it all along,” Dan said evenly. He stepped further into the cabin.
“What?”
“You’re standing on it. It’s buried right beneath your feet.”
The shots were loud, sudden cracks of thunder that shook the cabin.
The first missed Deke and was lost in the wood counter. It gave Deke enough time to turn the heavy wooden table onto its side with a crash and duck behind it.
The second rang out less than a heartbeat later and knocked Thomas right off his chair.
He was probably dead before he hit the floor. Eyes still open, he stared at Dan as if to blame him for what just happened.
But Dan wasn’t to blame. He held his weapon, but hadn’t fired it. He took a split second to glance down at it in his hand to make sure. At the same time, he moved to duck back out the door, but someone blocked his way. There was nothing else to hide behind. The next two shots came from Deke on the other side of the table as he defended himself.
Dan wanted to yell out that he hadn’t been the one to fire, but there wasn’t time. There wasn’t even time for him to duck out of the way.
One of Deke’s shots hit Dan right in the chest, sending him stumbling backward off his feet. The second clipped the top of his right shoulder. In the next moment, he was flat on his back, cracking his head on the floor and fighting against the tight burning in his chest. His gun flew from his hand and out the open door behind him where it slid out of sight across the porch. Through a fog, he swore he heard Justine scream. Was she shot, too? Please, no.
His chest still burned and was so tight he couldn’t breathe.
He looked up into the doorway and saw Jack Fillbrook holding the gun Justine had when Dan caught her running in the woods. He grasped Justine by the arm with his other hand.
A Twist of Betrayal Page 19
