by Anne Rainey
Jonas returned to his car and for the first time in years, he prayed. Visions of Deanna lying in some gutter cold, hurt, and alone bombarded him. It made him sick to his stomach to think of her like that. The worst part about being an ex-soldier was moments like these. He knew bad things happened to good people every day. It wasn’t just an overworked imagination. It was reality.
Jonas grabbed his cell phone off his belt and called Deanna’s mother. A few rings later, her delicate voice came over the line.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Harrison, this is Jonas.”
“Oh, hi, Jonas,” she said in a cheerful voice.
“Is Deanna with you by chance?”
“No, I haven’t talked to her since this morning.” For a moment, there was silence on the line. “Is something wrong, Jonas?”
His hopes took a nosedive. Even as he talked, his eyes scanned the sidewalks on both sides of the street. As if she would really go for a walk or a jog in twenty-degree weather. Great idea, dickhead.
“Jonas?”
“When you talked to her, did she say anything about where she was going today?”
“Just that she had a few errands. She didn’t say what they were.”
He checked his watch. Nearly two o’clock in the afternoon. “She’s not home and I can’t reach her on her cell.”
“Did you two argue?” she asked. “Sometimes Deanna goes to work out when she’s stressed or upset about something.”
“No, everything was fine. Better than fine,” he answered as he recalled Deanna sitting on his table professing her love right before he’d had to leave for the hospital. Please, God, don’t let that be the last time I see her.
“This isn’t like Deanna. I’m worried, Jonas.”
“I’ll find her,” he promised.
“Hold on, that’s Dean on the other line. Maybe he’s talked to her.”
“I’ll hold,” Jonas growled. Twins. Dean and Deanna were twins. A sense of unease skated up and down his spine as he recalled the story Deanna had shared with him about Dean falling and breaking his leg. She’d known before anyone else.
A few minutes later, Deanna’s mom came back on the line. “She’s in trouble,” she said, her voice quivering. “Dean said he can feel it.”
Jonas started the engine and put the car in gear. “Has he talked to her?”
“No. He just knows something’s wrong.” She moaned and Jonas knew the woman was crying. “Oh, Jonas, not my baby girl. Not my sweet Deanna.”
“Shhh,” he soothed as he took off down the street. “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to find her and she’s going to be fine.”
“I’ll call the police.” She paused, then in a sturdier voice, she ordered, “Find her, Jonas.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After they ended the call, Jonas called Wade again. “I’m heading over to Valdez’s.”
“I was about to call you. I just got off the phone with Dean. We’re both headed there now.”
Jonas cursed and hit the steering wheel. “That bastard hurts her and I’ll kill him with my bare hands, Wade. One hair out of place and Valdez dies.”
“Chill out and think, Jonas,” he demanded. “Valdez is a drug-dealing piece of shit, but he’s small-time and he’s no killer.”
Would she have gone to see the man willingly? “I can’t figure it. She wanted nothing to do with him, Wade.”
“Deanna’s smart and she’s damned resourceful.”
“She’s also too damn trusting for her own good. I can see Valdez luring her there for some reason or another. Maybe he was pissed when she turned down the project.”
“Don’t start speculating. And she’s tougher than you think. Have a little faith in your girl, Jonas.”
He clenched a fist around the phone just thinking of what Valdez might do to Deanna. Wade was right; for Deanna’s sake, Jonas needed to keep a clear head. “Your mom is calling in a missing person’s report.”
“How far away are you?”
Jonas made a left-hand turn, then looked at the clock on the instrument panel. “I’m ten minutes out.” He sped up. “Possibly closer to five.”
“I’m at least fifteen and Dean is farther than that. You’ll get there before either of us.” He paused, then asked, “You have the monitor?”
He looked at the passenger seat. “Yeah, if she’s in there, I’ll know.”
“Only if she’s in the living room.”
“Yeah,” he gritted out. Neither of them wanted to consider the idea that maybe Valdez had her in one of the other rooms in the house—like the bedroom.
“Are we calling the police to the location?” Wade asked.
They both knew the minute Valdez heard sirens he could panic and kill Deanna. “We don’t know for sure she’s even there. If she is, I don’t want to spook him. I’ll go in quiet.”
“The second the monitor is within range, call me.”
“I will,” he vowed.
They ended the call and Jonas said one more prayer. She had to be okay; anything else simply wasn’t an option. He couldn’t lose her. She was his heart, his soul. He’d rather die than be without her.
In his entire life, Jonas had never found so much happiness as he had when he was with Deanna. She made him laugh and curse both. Her sarcasm sent his heart racing. Deanna loved with every part of her being, and he felt like the luckiest man alive because she belonged to him.
He wanted to marry her. To have babies with her. She made him feel capable of leaping tall buildings. Hell, she made him want to be a better man.
As he turned down the road that would take him to Valdez’s house, Jonas switched off his emotions and went into soldier mode. When he approached Valdez’s driveway, he slowed and turned. He drove up halfway, until the house came into view, then stopped and cut the engine. The first thing he saw was Ray’s dirty-ass pickup.
“What the hell?” Jonas muttered; then realization dawned. Vengeance, Jonas thought, and Ray wanted it.
When Jonas saw Deanna’s car parked next to Ray’s truck, bile rose in his throat. Somewhere in that house, Deanna was trapped between a drug dealer and a vengeful father. He frowned when he spotted something on the front porch, near the door. He was too far away to make out what it was. Jonas reached into the backseat and rooted around on the floor until he found his binoculars tucked beneath the passenger seat. He held them to his face and his heart sank. A pool of blood.
Jonas dropped the binoculars and grabbed the monitor off the seat next to him. He flipped it on and saw a nightmare unfolding before his eyes.
27
Jonas shoved a hand through his hair as he watched the monitor and tried to calm Wade. “Short of telepathy, there was no way either of us could’ve predicted what I’m watching right now.”
“Fuck!” Wade roared.
He heard Deanna’s soft voice through the speaker. “She’s trying to reason with Ray, but judging by his agitation, it isn’t working for shit.” He shook his head. “What are the odds of your sister showing up at Valdez’s at the same damn time that Ray chose to exact his vengeance?”
“One in a million,” Wade ground out. “Is she scared?”
“She looks shaken, but I don’t see any marks on her. She appears unharmed. Valdez is on the floor moaning and pleading. Sniveling bastard. Ray is pacing. Every once in a while, he stops and kicks the hell out of Valdez.”
“She’s alive,” Wade stated. “That’s what matters. I’m still five minutes out. I say you go in. You?”
“Ditto. Ray knows me,” Jonas said. “He trusts me.”
“Will he panic?”
Jonas had been wondering the same thing. “Not if I go in alone. He wants Valdez to suffer the way he’s had to suffer.”
“He’s got a gun and he’s way off the fucking reservation, Jonas. I don’t think reasoning with him is going to work.”
Jonas had already given that one some thought. “His son is the key,” he said. “If something happens to Ray, C
ade’s alone. I’m going to use that.”
“A distraught father can be damned unpredictable. Be careful. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Jonas couldn’t take his eyes off the monitor. The small device was his only connection to Deanna. The only way for him to see with his own eyes that she was alive. “I’m going in the back entrance.”
“Got it.”
Jonas opened the car door, then thought of something else. “What about Dean?”
“He may not be trained, but that’s Deanna in there. No force on earth will be able to stop him from attempting to protect her.”
“Just keep him from getting her shot, goddamn it.”
“Focus on getting Deanna out of there,” Wade ordered. “Let me worry about the rest.”
“I won’t let anything happen to her. You have my word.”
“I know,” Wade said.
They severed the connection, and Jonas took off across the yard. With Ray in the front of the house concentrating on Valdez, Jonas knew his best chance of getting in without incident was through the back door. He covered the last two hundred feet, then stepped onto the porch. He looked in a window to the right of the door. The kitchen was dark with no one in sight. Satisfied, Jonas turned the knob. Locked, but the alarm wasn’t activated. He took out his kit and went to work picking it. Friggin’ thing seemed to take light-years to open.
Once inside, Jonas silently made his way to the living room. He spotted Deanna on the couch, her hands folded in her lap. When she saw him, she nearly jumped up. Jonas held a finger to his lips and she stayed seated.
“You’ve destroyed my son,” Ray shouted as he pistol-whipped Valdez. “Why the hell should you live?”
“Please,” Valdez moaned as he clutched his chest. “I need a doctor.”
Ray laughed, and Jonas couldn’t believe the sound came from the same man he’d embraced just hours earlier. By all appearances, Ray had completely lost his grasp on reality. Jonas knew this was his only chance.
“Ray,” Jonas said in a low, calm voice as he stepped out into the open.
Ray swung the gun around, his eyes wide with fear and rage. When he saw Jonas, he frowned. “Jonas?”
“Yeah, buddy, it’s me,” Jonas said as he held his hands out to his sides. “I need you to put the gun down now.”
“Are you serious? This piece of shit nearly killed Cade!”
“I’m not saying Valdez deserves to live, but you’re scaring my girl there.” Without taking his gaze off Ray and the gun, Jonas pointed to Deanna.
Ray’s gaze darted her way, then back to him. “You know her?”
“That’s Wade’s little sister, Ray, and the woman I plan to marry.” He stretched out a hand. “I need you to take a deep breath and give me the gun.”
Ray paled and started visibly shaking as he looked back at Deanna. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
“She knows that,” Jonas said, directing Ray’s attention back at him. “But if you don’t give me the gun, then we can’t fix this. And Cade needs you—now more than ever.”
Ray swiped his forearm over his eyes. “He told me he was sorry. That he loved me and didn’t want to die.” His eyes, so full of anguish, locked onto Jonas’s. “Do you know what that does to a man?”
Jonas shook his head. “No, because I’m not a father, but I don’t think Cade would want you to do this, do you? He already lost his mother. Don’t let him lose you too.”
Ray looked down at Valdez and shook his head. “He’ll get away with it.” He bit the words out, contempt filling his tone. “He always does. He doesn’t deserve mercy.”
“Maybe not,” Jonas conceded. “But your boy deserves at least one parent to see him through high school. Don’t let him down, not after everything you’ve been through together.”
Valdez moaned again. Christ Almighty! Jonas wished he’d shut the hell up before he got them all killed. “Karen never would have let this happen,” Ray said. “She held all of us together. I miss her so much, Jonas.”
“I know you do. It hurts that she’s gone, but Cade is still here. He’s still very much alive and he needs his dad.”
“Oh, God, what have I done?” Ray mumbled as he dropped the gun and fell to his knees, all the fight simply evaporating at once.
Wade and Dean rushed into the room as Jonas closed the distance to pick up the gun. Wade took hold of Ray and brought him outside as Dean went to Deanna. Jonas watched the pair embrace and knew they needed a moment. After tucking the gun into his waistband, Jonas went to check on Valdez. He was still moaning, but Jonas could tell by the position of the bullet wound that he was going to live.
“If you don’t stop your blubbering, I swear to God I’ll shoot you myself and give you something to really cry about.”
It didn’t shut him up, but Jonas noticed Valdez’s wailing wasn’t quite as loud. When Jonas got to his feet and looked over at Deanna, her head lifted. Their gazes held. Jonas opened his arms, and Deanna stepped away from Dean and ran to him. Jonas wrapped her in his embrace, holding her tight. Dean sent him a nod, then went out the front where Wade and Ray were waiting.
“Jonas,” she cried as she buried her face in his shirt.
“Shhh, it’s okay now.” He pulled her tighter, needing to know she was safe. Needing to know she was alive. When he felt Deanna’s body shake so violently he thought she’d break something, Jonas looked over at Valdez and got pissed all over again. As far as Jonas was concerned, everything that had transpired could be placed at Valdez’s feet.
“I need you away from here,” Jonas said as he kissed her forehead. “I need to love you, kitten, to know you’re okay.”
“I was so scared, Jonas, but I knew you’d come. I ... I knew you’d figure it out.”
“Why were you here?” he asked, still bewildered by her presence inside Valdez’s home. “I thought you told Valdez to stuff it?”
She nodded. “I did. I’d only stopped by to get some fabric swatches I’d left here. That’s when Ray showed up waving a gun around.” She started to cry. “H-he shot him right in front of me. I don’t even think he realized I was standing there. He just shot him right in the chest. Oh, God, I’m sorry. I never should’ve come here at all.”
Jonas wanted to kill Ray, but he forced himself to stay calm. Deanna didn’t need another crazed maniac on her hands. “Shhh, kitten,” he murmured. “You couldn’t have known. It’s okay now. It’s over.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “You don’t understand. I could’ve gotten you killed.”
“Huh?”
“When he pointed that gun at you, I thought ...” Her voice trailed off, and she began to sob harder.
Jonas took hold of her face in both hands and forced her to look at him. “Listen to me, sweetness. You didn’t do anything wrong. Do you hear me?”
After a moment, she nodded. “I love you, Jonas.”
“I love you, Deanna.”
Suddenly the scene filled with cops and paramedics. An officer snapped cuffs on Ray and took him to a waiting cruiser as a couple of paramedics wheeled Valdez off on a gurney. Jonas could only stand by and watch as an ambulance drove off with Deanna, the woman of his heart. He’d never felt so utterly helpless.
“Shock, Jonas,” Wade said. “That’s all. They just want to make sure she’s okay.”
“I know,” he growled. Her life was so precious to him. It sickened him that she’d been so afraid. “I should’ve seen the signs.”
“Signs?”
“Ray. I should’ve known he wasn’t okay. He was too calm at the hospital.”
“Ah, hell,” Dean said. “No one could’ve seen this coming, Jonas.”
Jonas shook his head. “She could’ve died. If I’d only looked a little harder at Ray. Paid closer attention.”
“But she didn’t die,” Wade said as he slapped him on the shoulder. “She’s alive and she needs you.”
Jonas nodded. “You’re right. I’m heading to the hospital.”
“See you there.” Wade said as he and Dean started for their cars.
“Wait,” Jonas yelled. When they looked back at him, he asked, “Did either of you call your mom?”
“Yeah, she’s heading to the hospital now.”
Jonas thought of the last time they’d had to call Mrs. Harrison to the emergency room. It had been a few months ago, when Wade had been shot trying to rescue Gracie from a stalker. “Dude, your mom deserves a vacation.”
Dean nodded. “This is the second time in less than six months that one of her kids has landed in the emergency room.”
Wade cursed and shook his head. “We should send her on a cruise or something.”
“Good idea. Maybe she’ll meet some nice, handsome older man,” Jonas said, tweaking the brothers a little. “You know, a companion.”
“Go to hell, Jonas,” Wade growled as Dean flipped Jonas the bird.
Jonas laughed. “Love you, too, sweetie.”
As Deanna sat patiently waiting for the nurse to finish taking her blood pressure, she looked over at her mom and smiled. Her mother looked ready to cry, and Deanna quickly reassured her once the nurse finished and left to get the doctor.
“See? My blood pressure is normal. I’m perfectly fine.”
“The doctor needs to examine you still,” she chastised. “Just sit tight.”
Wade, Jonas, and Dean all stood around, staring at her. “I feel like an idiot with you all here. Ray never touched me, I promise.” She didn’t think they needed to know about him practically throwing her into the house.
Her mom’s lip quivered. “You could’ve been shot, Deanna.” She covered her eyes with one of her hands, her shoulders shaking as she let the tears fall. “Oh, God, I couldn’t stand it if I’d lost you too.”
Deanna stepped off the table and went to her mom, pulling her into her arms. “I love you, Mom.”
Her mother hugged her tight. “I love you, too, so much.”
