Falling as he breathed a prayer that he would find his bride in time.
* * *
It was Kevin Wyatt, here in April’s hotel room, the stalker she’d been certain she’d put behind her more than a year before. The same guy who’d driven her half-crazy with his drunken, weepy 4:00 a.m. phone calls, hundreds of lovesick texts, and the flowers he’d piled in front of her apartment door until it looked as if someone had died there.
But never before today had she had any inkling the man she’d only dated a few times might turn out to be violent. Both a vegan and a pacifist, he’d left her more exasperated with his continuing attentions than afraid.
“Get out, get out, get out of here!” she cried, shaking uncontrollably as she fought to shove her unwelcome visitor back out the door. Though he had a working key card—she could only imagine that he’d found a way to hack into the hotel’s system using his computer skills—she hoped the chain lock could keep him long enough for her to call for help.
But in spite of his thin build, her former boyfriend had a wiry strength she couldn’t hope to match. And something in his gray eyes—open far too wide and glazed as if he’d taken something—sent raw terror cascading through her system.
“Stop fighting me, damn it!” he ordered, his jaws clenched as he made a grab for her wrists. Clamping down on one, he added, “And don’t be scared. Please, don’t be. I’m only here to save you from whoever’s—”
Her free left arm rising, she struck his jaw with the heel of her hand, then pulled away as his head snapped to one side. By the time he recovered to come after her, she’d run to the bed where she had left her purse. She fumbled for her pepper spray, but he was on her before she found it. Grabbing both her arms, he shook her, his shaggy, jet-black hair flopping as he shouted, “Why’d you do that, April? I want to help you. That’s all.”
“I’ll press charges. I swear I will. You’ll go to jail this time!” she warned as the purse spilled near her feet.
He kicked it out of the way and pressed her up against the wall, the anger in his eyes making her wonder how she could have been so completely wrong about Kevin’s commitment to nonviolence.
“You—you did it, didn’t you?” she asked him. “Tried to shoot me at my wedding.”
“I didn’t shoot at anybody. You know how I feel about guns,” he said, a face she’d once found handsome twisted in disgust. “When I heard about it on the news, though, I knew. Knew it was a sign we were meant to be together.”
“You mean, you were meant to be committed,” she said. “Because you’re crazy if you think I’d ever for one second—”
“They’re saying that you jilted him. That you couldn’t go through with it.”
Though her heart was pounding like a snared rabbit’s, she felt regret wash over her. And anger that the media would pick up on such a humiliating detail. Forgive me, Nate. Forgive me.
“Because you weren’t over me,” he said, his eyes swimming in deluded hope.
“That had nothing to do with you,” she told Kevin, wishing desperately that she hadn’t been so embarrassed, so inclined to blame herself for somehow encouraging his attentions that she’d never mentioned him to her friends. “Nothing at all, so get out of here. Go now, and I promise you, I won’t call the police.”
It was a lie, of course, but with terror pounding through her, she’d say anything to make him leave.
“But you need my protection. With someone out to hurt you—”
“How did you find me here?” she demanded.
“That was easy,” he said. “It was on TV that that Wheeler guy was flown to the nearest Level I trauma center, and when I called your aunt, she said you’d gone there.”
“How did you get my aunt’s number, much less convince her to tell you—oh, never mind.” April knew that Kevin had a knack for what he called social engineering. He’d bragged about his “mad skills” on their last date, until she’d informed him that she saw nothing admirable about conning people out of passwords and private information. And nothing to be gained by continuing to see him.
She thanked her lucky stars that he’d revealed himself for who he was before they’d slept together. As it was, her skin was crawling as he studied her like a butterfly trapped beneath a bell jar.
“I’m here to save you,” he repeated. “I drove through the night from Austin, staked out the hospital lot for hours—”
“If you want to help me, please, let go. You’re hurting my arms.”
He leaned in even closer. “But—but I’ve waited all this time to hold you.”
The unsettling gray eyes seemed to darken as his gaze traveled down her body. “You don’t know the things that I’ve imagined...how many times I’ve dreamed of us together. Me and you—it’ll be so perfect. You’ll see.”
Alarm rocketed through her, adrenaline sending her pulse soaring. She felt as if she would be sick, but she couldn’t afford to let her panic get the better of her.
“I’m pregnant,” she said, desperate to dissuade him.
He jerked back, letting go of her to look hard at her belly. “You’re—you’re pregnant? But we never—”
“Pregnant by another man,” she clarified, wondering again what on earth this guy was on. Or maybe he was off whatever medications allowed him to mostly pass for normal. “A man I—I care for deeply.”
It was true, she realized, in spite of the horrible scene she’d fled at the hospital and everything that had happened at the wedding. A part of her would forever be bound to Nate, no matter how big of a mistake he thought their child.
But Kevin Wyatt’s face told her she’d made a far bigger mistake just now. A mistake that left her terrified she was about to learn how very violent this so-called pacifist could be.
Chapter 6
Nate knocked lightly at the door first, figuring that after everything that had happened, he at least owed April the courtesy of a little warning.
“You in there, April? It’s me,” he said quietly. “I just want to—I’m so sorry. Let’s sit down and talk this through.”
From inside the hotel room, neither voice nor the sound of a movement hinted at her presence. Drawing a deep breath, he used his key card to let himself in.
Seeing no one, he felt a stab of disappointment. After checking the closet and the bathroom and finding all her things gone, he cursed, the slim hope that she might have only stepped out for a moment burned off in a puff of gritty ash. But was there still time to catch her if he hurried?
Racing for the elevator, he headed back down to the lobby, where he was relieved to see the same slightly built, meticulously groomed balding man behind the desk who’d checked them in yesterday.
“Do you remember me—Nate Wheeler? And the woman I came here with—about five-five and pretty, auburn hair and—”
“How may I help you, Mr. Wheeler?” asked the man, whose dark suit bore a brass tag naming him a Guest Relations Manager. The creases around his eyes and those that lined his forehead gave him a concerned expression.
“You can tell me where April’s gone,” Nate said. “It’s important that I find her before...before someone else does.”
Mr. Guest Relations pursed his lips, air hissing out his nostrils.
“What is it?” Nate demanded, his heart pounding. “Please. Someone tried to murder my fiancée only yesterday, and I—if something’s happened to April...”
Eyes flaring slightly, the balding man looked around the lobby, as if making certain no one was around to hear. “You should have said something when you checked in. That way, we might’ve taken additional precautions—or recommended a more secure hotel.”
“What’s happened to her, damn you? Don’t sit there and lecture me when I don’t even know whether she’s—”
“She seemed fine when she left here. And she certainly didn’t complain about the accommodations.”
“Left here how?”
“A woman from the rental car agency came to pick her up. I called
the room myself to let her know.”
A rental car. Nate’s hopes crashed. Had April already left town? “When?”
“The police were still here then, so that would have made it around one.”
“The police?” Nate burst out, leaning over the countertop, his fists clenched to keep him from grabbing the man behind it. “Why the hell—? What happened?”
Mr. Guest Relations frowned. “A man came down the elevator to the lobby. He was muttering and pacing. I didn’t recognize him as a guest, so I asked him if I could help him. He became belligerent, weeping and shouting all sorts of abusive language. Two of our employees were able to detain him until the police arrived and found...”
“Found what? Tell me all of it.”
“Let me just say that as far as I’m aware, this has never before happened at one of our hotels, and the matter will be investigated thoroughly—”
“What’s never happened?” Nate felt his face grow hot, and his hands itched to shake free the whole story.
“This intruder had a blank key card, no logo, but somehow, it opened—this person had a master, and he wouldn’t tell us where he’d gotten it. So naturally, we had him arrested for criminal trespass and whatever else the officers come up with.”
Fear slammed Nate like a freight train. Fishing out his phone with shaking hands, he showed the manager Dennis Cobb’s mug shot. “Was it this guy? Look carefully.”
The bald man stared for a few seconds before shaking his head. “Definitely not him. The man today had black hair, and he was thinner, like a distance runner. Kind of twitchy, too.”
Nate tried to take comfort in the fact it hadn’t been Cobb. “What about April? Did she report anything unusual? Anything that might have led you to believe she knew anything about this stranger?”
“She didn’t, but—” Once more, the manager looked around before lowering his voice. “She stood staring for a long time when they took this man to the police car, and she was rubbing her wrist. I would have gone to question her, but I had other guests to deal with who’d been frightened by the intruder’s ranting. By the time I had them settled down, your fiancée was gone.”
“You said before, a rental car agent had come for her. Which company?”
Mouth tightening, the manager said, “I’m afraid I’ve said too much already. We value guest privacy, and this is beginning to sound more like a police matter. Could I get you the address to the station, or would you care to call from—”
His patience at an end, Nate reached over and grabbed the man by his lapels, jerking him close enough to get in his face. “That man you let waltz right by you, the one with a skeleton key to all your rooms. That sounds to me like a lawsuit waiting to happen—or a reason to plant my size-thirteen boot up your—”
The name of the rental car company squeaked out in record time, along with the address of the office.
Thanking him, Nate sprinted for the door. As he headed outdoors, his thoughts swirled like the snowfall beginning to dust the vehicles. Once he climbed inside his truck, his phone started ringing. After checking the caller ID, he was quick to answer.
“Brady. Everything okay with you and Kara?” April had borrowed his phone last night to check in with Kara, but Nate needed to hear it directly from his friend.
“We’re fine, but my cell didn’t fare as well, so you might want to make a note of this new number.”
“Will do.” Nate started the engine. “And I’m glad you made it back in one piece.”
“Your father—how’s he doing?”
“Still critical but hanging in there. I need to tell you, though, April took off—it’s too complicated to explain why. I think she’s rented a car to head home or to her aunt and uncle’s.”
“What the hell?” asked Brady. “You swore to me you weren’t going to let her out of your sight.”
“Hard to manage when you’re doin’ the electric two-step on the floor.” After clicking to put the call on speaker, Nate gave him the short version of the security guards and the stun gun incident.
Under other circumstances, the two of them might have laughed about it over a beer. But the Trencher County interim sheriff’s reaction was deadly serious. “Get me the name of the rental car company she used, and I’ll start working on a court order to have them check the GPS location of the vehicle.”
“The company can do that?” Nate asked, checking for traffic before he pulled onto the street.
“Most of ’em do,” said Brady, “in case the car is lost or stolen, but in cases like this, where law enforcement believes an individual’s in imminent danger, they’ll cooperate— at least, if the right judge signs off on the paperwork.”
As Nate drove, he gave Brady the name and added, “I’m afraid I have some more news for you.” He gave a brief rundown on the intruder at the hotel and then added, “I don’t know that this guy had anything to do with her, but I don’t know for sure he didn’t, either.”
“Hotels get hit a lot with addicts looking to score an easy wallet or something they can pawn, but I don’t like the coincidence,” Brady said. “Let me put in a call to Lubbock PD and see what they’ve got. And change hotels, too, both of you, as soon as you find April.”
“Thanks,” Nate said, hoping it would prove unrelated. “One more thing. Before April left, she brought up something else here about my dad. She’s got it in her head that he might’ve been the target.”
“I’m more convinced than ever she was the one that Dennis Cobb was gunning for. That’s what I called to tell you. Austin PD’s telling me there’s an internal affairs investigation into one of their detectives, a Frank Vaughn, who made some threatening statements. Turns out he was the brother of the witness who was beaten half to death after the Chambers exoneration.”
“Are you thinking this detective might’ve had some connection to Dennis Cobb?”
“A serial thug like him would’ve crossed a lot of cops’ paths. And a cop like Vaughn would likely know just who to turn to if he wanted people taken out. And let’s not forget that Kara spotted Cobb at Martin Villareal’s funeral.”
Nate’s gut churned to think of it. “Any sign of Cobb around there?”
“Not yet, but we’re looking hard. And I’m keeping close tabs on our witness, too, just in case he makes a run at getting her out of the way.”
Something in Brady’s voice convinced him that his old friend had more than a professional interest in keeping Kara Pearson safe, but Nate had way too much on his own plate to say anything about it. After promising to keep each other posted, the two of them ended the call.
Before he reached the rental car agency, another call had him pulling out his cell again.
This time it was his mother, sounding terrified. “It’s your father, Nate. I need you to come back here. I need you to come now.”
* * *
Once April had the rental car squared away, she circled the lot to reassure herself that Kevin Wyatt hadn’t somehow talked the police into letting him go and returned to harass her. She was still shaking from their confrontation, worried out of her mind that at any moment she would look up to see him in her mirror.
“Please, let him be gone for good,” she prayed aloud, thankful that he’d been so disgusted to learn she’d allowed another man to touch her, he’d turned and stalked out the door after swearing he was done with her forever.
She should have reported the attack, but the idea of explaining the whole convoluted mess unnerved her. And as creepy as Kevin could be, she couldn’t imagine for the life of her that he had anything to do with Dennis Cobb.
After signing the paperwork at the rental car office, she’d gone to claim her car—her freedom—wanting only to put distance between herself and Lubbock. But on the way out, she hesitated, then asked for directions to a discount store. Having a phone on the long trip would be far safer, and she should at least let Nate know she was all right in case he was worried.
If he was so worried, he would have come after y
ou. Or at least called the room to check on you. Pinching her lip between her teeth, she blinked back the threat of tears.
As a few flurries spiraled downward, she parked the car and told herself not to be such a girl about Nate. If he didn’t want her—and had he ever?—she would find a way to live with it, solving her problems on her own. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible that he could cut her off, cold turkey, without even caring about what happened to their child.
That part didn’t sound like him at all, not after he’d threatened legal action if she tried to give up the baby for adoption. He’d said he loved her, hadn’t he? Even after her rejection.
After passing a bell-ringer in a Santa suit on her way into the store, April stopped and went back to him, then stuffed a few bucks in his red kettle. Perhaps it was too late to hope for instant karma, but April figured that it wouldn’t hurt to cover all her bases.
Inside, she picked up a cheap, no-contract phone before hurrying back to the small silver sedan. With the defroster melting the snowflakes that landed on her windshield, she activated her new purchase. But instead of calling Nate first, she tried her aunt and uncle’s house. When Aunt Sylvia answered, the sound of her voice—so similar to April’s mother’s—had her dissolving into tears.
“What is it?” her aunt asked. “Has poor Mr. Wheeler passed away?”
“No,” April said. “I mean, I don’t know. Everything else has gone so wrong.”
They spent the next few minutes talking, with April’s aunt doing everything she could to reassure her. Hearing that Rory was adjusting and her aunt and uncle were safe, April felt at least one weight lifted from her shoulders.
But when it came to her fallout with Nate, April’s aunt minced few words. “If you’re not sure, you shouldn’t marry him,” she said, “but you’re a fool if you don’t go back and try to work things out with that family. He’ll always be your baby’s father. You can’t cut him from your life.”
Cowboy Christmas Rescue Page 18
