by Hope White
“Maddie?” Spence said.
She held up her smartphone that lit the way. Spence wrapped his arm around her and they went into the bedroom as ordered. If Adam wasn’t able to neutralize the attacker, this could go bad very quickly.
And Spence would not allow anything to happen to Maddie.
That’s when he realized she was trembling. The violence of the past few days must have finally caught up to her.
“Let’s hide you in the bathroom,” he said.
“But—”
He stopped her protest with a soft kiss. “I’m going to protect you this time, okay?”
“But I can help.”
“You’re helping by giving me piece of mind. Stay in the bathroom and lock the door. Call 9-1-1.” He encouraged her inside and pulled the door closed.
Hand on the bed, he felt his way back to the desk and grabbed the sturdy chair. A solid crack to the assailant’s head should do it. Hopefully Maddie had called for help and the police were on the way.
After a few minutes he feared that Adam had been assaulted outside, but Spence couldn’t both protect Maddie and help Adam.
The silence inside and outside of the cabin made him edgy. What he wouldn’t give for a peaceful evening alone with Maddie.
Instead, he hid in the bedroom. Waiting. He decided to use his intellect to outwit his attacker. Spence went to the window and scanned the property.
Someone kicked the bedroom door once, twice.
Spence opened the bedroom window.
The intruder kicked the door again.
Spence rushed across the room, standing beside the door. He gripped the chair, ready to strike.
Another slam.
The door flung open. Spence whacked the chair against the intruder’s shoulders. The guy stumbled a few feet.
Spence hit him across the back of the head. The guy went down, giving Spence the opportunity to draw him away from Maddie.
Spence climbed out the window and took off toward the resort, then redirected himself, not wanting to bring trouble to innocent guests. Floodlights shone from the storage barn ahead, where SAR held their meetings. Spence aimed for the barn, knowing there’d be enough places to use as cover inside until help arrived.
He cast a quick glance over his shoulder and spotted a man stumbling after him. Good. Protect Maddie. That was all Spence cared about. Draw the danger away from her.
Spence reached the barn door, relieved that as a SAR team leader he knew the code to unlock it. He darted inside, left the lights off and found a hiding spot up on the loft.
With a calming breath, Spence texted Nate his location. Surely Nate had returned to the scene. The wail of sirens outside confirmed his hope.
Spence stood flush against a storage locker, clutching a two-by-four in his hands. Deep breathing, he coached himself. He had to slow the adrenaline rush or it could make him clumsy.
The creek of wooden stairs echoed through the barn.
The attacker was closing in.
Bright lights suddenly flooded the barn.
“What are you doing in here?”
It sounded like Scott the security manager’s voice. Spence peeked out and saw the masked attacker dive off the stairs and land on top of Scott. The men tumbled, fists flying. Spence climbed down the stairs and tried pulling the attacker off Scott. The attacker slammed Spence’s back against a post and elbowed him in the ribs. Spence coughed and doubled over.
“This isn’t over,” the guy growled in Spence’s ear and scrambled away.
“Scott?” Spence went to assess the security manager’s injuries. “Hey, buddy, you okay?”
Scott cracked his eyes open. “Yeah. Who was that guy?”
“Same masked creep who came after me in the mountains.” Spence examined Scott’s face.
The barn door swung open. “Police!” Nate shouted.
Spence pointed. “That way!”
Nate and Red took off in search of the assailant.
“You should get ice on it as soon as possible,” Spence said.
As he helped Scott sit up, a terrible thought struck him. What if the guy went back for Maddie?
“Nate? Maddie’s still in the cabin!” he called out.
No one responded. Spence started to get up, but Scott stopped him. “Hang on.”
Scott spotted his radio a few feet away and winced as he reached for it. “Aiden, it’s Scott. Maddie’s still in the cabin. What’s your twenty?”
They waited. No one responded.
Spence grew more anxious.
“I’m at the cabin,” Aiden answered.
“Maddie is in the bathroom,” Spence said.
Scott repeated her whereabouts into the radio.
“Roger that,” Aiden said. “I found the bodyguard outside. He’s injured but okay.”
Spence sighed with relief.
Nate and Red rejoined them. “There’s another door in back. He’s gone but—” Nate interrupted himself, “Spence, you’re bleeding.”
Spence glanced at his hands, and then looked at Nate. “It’s not my blood.”
“Not mine, either,” Scott said.
“How is this guy still functioning with an untreated bullet wound bleeding all over the place?” Nate said. “Come on, we need to get back to the cabin.”
* * *
“Maddie!” someone called from the bedroom.
Maddie recognized Aiden’s voice. She unlocked the bathroom door and glanced past him. “Where’s Spence?”
“At the barn. He’s okay. They’re on their way back.”
As Maddie went to the kitchen table, she noticed the windows had been opened to clear the cabin of residual smoke.
“You okay?” Aiden asked.
She sat down. “Sure, fantastic.”
“I guess that was a dumb question.” Aiden shifted onto the arm of the sofa.
“I don’t mean to be snappy,” she said. “But I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Every time we think we’re safe, something blows up in our faces, literally. Speaking of which, what happened to the smoke bomb?”
“The bodyguard took it outside and was clobbered by the assailant.”
“Is he okay?”
“Yeah, but he’ll probably have a headache. He’s outside talking to Nate.”
The front door opened and Nate entered with Spence, Red and Adam. Spence reached for her and she went into his arms. The automatic hug whenever Maddie and Spence were reunited felt so natural. Someday she hoped the hug would be motivated by happiness, not relief.
“Where did you go?” she asked him.
“Outside to draw the guy away from you.”
“You get points for protecting Maddie,” Nate said. “But I’m afraid this means we need to move you again.”
Adam rubbed the back of his head.
“You need a trip to the ER?” Nate offered.
“Nah, just ice.” He went to the freezer.
“Do you want me to talk to Quinn about using his fortress apartment?” Aiden offered.
“Who’s Quinn?” Adam said.
“He owns the resort.”
“No,” Spence said. “I’d rather you stash me someplace where no one else will be in danger if he finds me again.”
“What about the farmhouse?” Maddie asked Aiden. She hadn’t let go of Spence’s hand, and he didn’t pull away.
“What, so I can put your aunt in danger?” Spence said. “No, that’s not an option.”
“But it gives me an idea,” Nate said. He pulled out his phone and made a call.
As Nate conferred with someone on the phone, Maddie led Spence to sit with her at the kitchen table.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For what?”
“Protecting me.”
“Protecting you? I’m the reason you’re in danger in the first place.”
“Stop it. I was out for a walk in the mountains. You didn’t ask me to join you, although that would be something to look forward to.” She forced a smile. “You and me out for a pleasant walk, enjoying the crisp air and the stellar views of the Cascade Mountains. What do you think, interested?”
“How can you bounce back so quickly after having your life threatened?”
Maddie squeezed his hand. “It’s this little thing I call faith. Besides, the image of us walking in the mountains gives me something to look forward to when this is over.”
“I... I’d like that, too,” Spence said softly.
“We’re all set,” Nate said, joining them. He glanced from Maddie to Spence. “Everyone okay?”
“That’s one word for it,” Aiden smirked.
He obviously heard them discuss their future romantic stroll.
“So, what’s the plan, Chief?” Aiden asked.
“We’ll use an Echo Mountain Rentals cabin as a safe house instead of keeping you here at the resort. It’s off-season so the company has plenty of available properties. Since Cassie works there I’ll have her make the arrangements. We’ll play a little guessing game with the cars to make sure you’re not followed to the safe house.”
“I’m sorry about all this, Nate,” Spence said.
“Not your fault, buddy.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell him,” Maddie said.
* * *
The next morning Maddie awakened fully clothed on a bed in the rental cabin. Someone had tucked a soft fleece blanket around her body.
Spence.
Maddie felt blessed that Echo Mountain Rentals had a three-bedroom cabin available to use as a safe house. Adam took turns with her brother keeping watch and sleeping, while she and Spence relaxed in separate rooms.
Not that Maddie slept much.
Events of the past few days filled her mind with anxiety as she relived the attacks. Only now did she fully appreciate how Spence must have been feeling since that first attack in the mountains: constantly on edge, afraid, nervous.
Somehow she’d been able to compartmentalize those feelings, at least until last night when she’d lost it and launched into an uncontrollable trembling fit after the smoke bomb crashed through the window. Her breakdown seemed so out of character considering she wasn’t the type to fall apart. As a paramedic she’d seen gruesome things and had never lost her nerve.
Perhaps she was physically spent and emotionally exhausted from the accumulation of attacks since that first assault in the mountains.
She decided to pray for strength, a coping mechanism she’d perfected since childhood. She’d been so resentful when her parents left, but prayer had eased that pain, and eventually she’d learned to accept that which she could not change.
Finally, and only recently, her prayers had focused on forgiveness, in her mind the most direct way to grace. And thanks to finding grace, she’d grown to embrace all the feelings involved with learning to forgive. She suspected Spence could use some of that forgiveness, especially for himself.
“Lord, why do we have such trouble forgiving ourselves?” she whispered. She sat quietly with the question for a few moments, and then she got up to start her day.
The men had offered her the bedroom with the private bath, which she appreciated. Splashing water on her face, she wondered how Rocky was doing. She dried her face and gave him a call but it went into voice mail.
“Hey, it’s Maddie checking in. Hope you’re feeling better. Wish I could do more, but I’ve been pulled down a rabbit hole. You don’t want to know. And I don’t want another lecture. Anyway, text me and let me know you’re okay, okay? Bye.”
She glanced at her clothes. They weren’t particularly dirty, but she didn’t relish wearing the same clothes two days in a row. Oh well, she’d have to think about that later.
She opened her bedroom door.
Spence looked up from a laptop on the kitchen table. “Good morning.”
“Hi.” She ambled toward him.
“Your cousin is picking up some fresh clothes and will drop them off at the police station for Nate to bring over.”
She was impressed that he knew what she’d been thinking.
Ryan came out of the guest bathroom. “How are you doing, sis?”
“Hungry.”
“We’ve got bagels and cream cheese in the fridge.”
“And fresh fruit,” Spence offered.
“Where’s Adam?” she said.
“Getting some sleep.” Ryan nodded toward a bedroom. “Coffee’s on the warmer.”
“Thanks.” She went and poured herself a cup, then shifted onto a chair at the table. “What are you up to?” she asked Spence.
“Going through emails and reports, trying to figure out what Danner and I had in common.”
“How’s that going?”
“Nothing so far. Might help if I could get into his email accounts.”
“We’ll put somebody on it,” Ryan said.
“You guys have got a lot on your plate,” Spence said. “Trying to keep me safe, while investigating whatever is really going on, plus Danner’s death. I’d like to do my part.”
“Let’s keep looking into your files,” Maddie suggested. She made herself a bowl of fresh fruit and pulled a chair close to Spence so she could also see the screen.
Spence froze.
“Wait, is there sensitive information I shouldn’t see?” she asked.
“No, it’s just, you smell good.”
She glanced at Ryan, but he hadn’t heard the comment.
“Sorry,” Spence said. “Another case of words slipping past the filter?”
“Actually, I thought it was nice.”
The way he looked at her, she almost thought he wanted to kiss her. Probably not a good idea in front of her overprotective brother.
“So, back to your emails,” she prompted.
Spence refocused on the screen.
As he scrolled through the emails, she spotted one titled Discrepancy?
“What’s this?” she asked.
He opened it. “I ran into Heather Finnegan at the grocery store and she asked about a billing error. We don’t get involved with billing so I forwarded it to Ruth, who sent it to Theresa.” They both studied the screen. “Ruth got an answer from Theresa, who cc’d me on the result.”
“What about this email from Danner?” Maddie pointed. “He sent this to all the doctors on staff.” She read the email, in which he complained about medical supplies being shortchanged, while profits soared. “Did you agree with him?”
“I never had a problem. I tended to delete a lot of emails I felt had been resolved or were a waste of time. Bill liked to stir things up so I may have deleted anything else with that subject line that came into my email box.”
“Hmm. It would be helpful to see those deleted emails.”
“But they’re gone.”
“Actually, my old boyfriend taught me a trick.” She glanced at Ryan, who narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s legal. I’m trying to access Spence’s trash, not anyone else’s.”
“Be careful,” Ryan said. “If you find something, we want to be able to use it in court.” He redirected his gaze out the front window, looking for signs of trouble.
“We’ll go into your settings to see if we can dig out the deleted emails,” Maddie said.
“Old boyfriend?” Spence said.
“Old jerk boyfriend,” Ryan clarified from across the room.
“Hey, you didn’t always think he was a jerk,” Maddie said, searching Spence’s settings.
“How old?” Spence said.
“My age.” She smiled.
“I meant how long ago did you break up?”
“About a year and a half ago. We dated for five years. I thought we’d get married.” She wasn’t sure why she said it, but for the first time it felt okay. Her chest didn’t ache, not even a little.
“That serious, huh?” Spence said.
“Very serious. Waylan helped me through some rough times. He was a computer genius and got into a prestigious school in California, center of the tech world. After a few months he stopped returning my calls, my texts. He had an exciting new life with no room for the old small-town girlfriend.”
“Idiot,” Ryan muttered.
Maddie smiled at her brother’s protectiveness.
“It’s challenging when your career takes you in a different direction than the person you love,” Spence said.
“Is that what happened with you?” she asked, not taking her eyes off the screen.
“What do you mean?”
“There was a rumor going around that you were married back in Portland.”
“Never married, but I had a fiancée.”
“And your career split you up?”
“Not exactly. It was shortly after Oliver Tomlin died in my ER and I felt that I needed a change.”
She looked at him, incredulous. Life got tough and people ran away, including her father, her mother and Waylan. She couldn’t believe Spence was one of them. “You abandoned your fiancée because of a work crisis?”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
“Sure it is,” she said in a sarcastic tone.
Oh well, she couldn’t expect his armor not to have a ding or two in it, could she? Better to know now, before she fell too hard and too deeply in love with him.
“I caught her with another man,” he said.
Maddie’s fingers froze on the keyboard. “Oh.”
“It was probably my fault. I was so dedicated to my work I didn’t have enough time to devote to my relationship.”
Maddie looked straight at him. “Do you blame yourself for everything that happens?”
He shrugged.
“Well, stop. Bad things happen, and they often teach us new coping skills. So instead of blaming yourself for your fiancée’s choices, feel the hurt of grief and move on.”
