“What in the world?” she muttered. Mom had been right, because it was Jim who was standing on the porch.
When she opened the door, Jim’s eyes met hers, and he smiled grimly. “Can I come in?”
“I…don’t think that’s a very good idea. Besides, Brand should be home any minute.”
Sneering, Jim pulled out a Beretta from his coat pocket and pointed it at her heart.
Sarah had never been so astonished in her life. Plus, it looked to be an M9, the same type of military issue weapon that she’d used during active duty.
“I know that your new boyfriend is in Virginia. You’d better let me in,” Jim growled.
“Alright. I…didn’t even know you knew how to use one of those, Jim.”
She tried to think. What could he possibly want from her? Brand probably wouldn’t actually be home until tonight.
Her hand slid down over her jean pocket, and she was reassured by the weight of what was there inside. This was the first time she actually felt grateful about being fearful for her safety since returning from Iraq.
“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me,” he muttered.
“Apparently,” she murmured, watching the position of the pistol through the corner of her eye as they walked into the kitchen.
“Sit. Sign this,” he ordered, pulling an envelope from his coat pocket and laying it in front of her on the island surface. A pen was attached at the top. “I’m watching you. Don’t try anything funny.”
“What is it?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just sign it,” he growled, digging the pistol into her shoulder.
“Be careful with that thing,” she muttered, glancing quickly at the paper inside the envelope. It appeared to be some kind of endorsement for Jim, addressed to her father.
After she thought about for a minute, she froze. That must mean Jim intended to actually go through with….
“It was you who weakened that brake line,” she said quietly. “Why try to kill me, if you needed me to sign this?”
“I didn’t know your father was withdrawing his support. In a way, I was lucky that the first attempt wasn’t successful.”
But Sarah was puzzled. Why had Jim wanted her dead? She could understand now, after signing this endorsement why he might want her out of the way.
But why before?
“Your father still expected me to marry you,” he snarled. “I could barely stand the idea of it before. But now?” His eyes traveled over her with distaste.
Sarah was shocked by the hatred she saw in his eyes. What had she ever seen in Jim? How had she been so easily deceived?
But, no, when they were young there’d been genuine fondness between them. Jim had actually been bullied himself but had overcome all his insecurities when he’d gone east for college.
Something had happened to Jim during the interim when she’d been gone on her final tour. Maybe even before that, she suddenly realized. His personality had gone through a major shift, like he’d had a breakdown.
But dwelling on it wasn’t going to save her now, she realized as he poked her again with the Beretta. “Stand up, and get your coat. We’re going to go for a little walk.”
Sarah arose and walked over to the closet, pulling out her winter coat and slipping it on.
“Go out from where I came inside,” Jim growled, nodding toward the back door.
Sarah walked outside in front of Jim, glancing across the property. She was almost glad that Abby wasn’t here since Jim seemed to be going off the deep end. If Jim saw the dog, he would most likely shoot her.
The driveway was empty, she suddenly noticed. “Where’s your car?” she asked as Jim shoved her toward the road.
“Away from here,” he answered, following Sarah as she walked on the road leading to the bridge.
When they reached the center of the soaring structure, Jim stood on the walkway, looking down over the side. “Perfect,” he murmured. “Now. Get over here, and climb over the rail. Right in the middle, cause it’s a longer drop. And don’t tell me you can’t do it. I was watching how well you were getting around back in Hayward.”
Sarah suddenly noticed movement near the edge of the road, and realized Abby was creeping up quietly behind Jim on the sidewalk.
Sarah turned her gaze to the lake so as to distract Jim, and inched up as slowly as she could to the guardrail of the bridge.
“Move it,” he growled.
Sarah slipped her hand into her pocket as Jim started to come closer.
Suddenly, Abby pounced on Jim and sent him sprawling against the guardrail.
Sarah’s knife went flying through the air, ripping straight through Jim’s wrist as he pointed the Beretta and fired.
Jim looked at her strangely for a moment, with real affection in his eyes.
When Jim went tumbling over the side of the bridge, emitting a piercing scream, Sarah watched in horror as he hit the ice down below and broke through.
* * *
Brand came rushing home as fast as he could when he got the call from Danielle. Luckily, his flight had just landed in Eau Claire, so he was back in Crystal Rock within a few hours.
Sarah looked unfazed when he saw her. Geez, the woman was amazing. Someone had made another attempt on her life, a man that she’d once obviously loved, and there she stood, answering questions calmly.
Despite someone attempting to hold him back, Brand shoved his way through the troopers and investigators standing along the edge of the property. “I’m with her,” he told one of the cops, who was trying to be more forceful.
The cop must’ve finally noticed the uniform. “Brand Reardon?”
Brand nodded firmly.
“Go ahead. I’ve got orders to let you through.”
Brand rushed to Sarah’s side, wrapping an arm over her shoulders.
She looked at him for a moment with relief, and suddenly seeming to have had enough, she laid her head against his shoulder.
Brand growled, “It’s freezing out here. Let’s go inside if we can. I think Sarah might be in a little bit of shock.”
The officer who’d been asking the questions seemed surprised. “Sure.” He looked around. “Sam?” And then he nodded his head at Sarah and Brand.
Sam was bent over the lifeless body of the man who must have once been Sarah’s fiancé. “Hi, Brand. Oops, sorry. Take her inside. We’re just about done here.”
“Where’s our heroine?” Brand asked dryly, walking Sarah toward the house.
“She’s inside, feeling pretty proud of herself since I gave her a bone.”
Brand smiled wryly. “How’re you holding up, Legs?”
She gave him a shaky smile. “Not as well as I was a few minutes ago.”
“Let’s get you inside on the couch, where you’ll be more comfortable. You’re probably in shock, although knowing you, you hate to admit it.”
She sighed. “I’ll start some coffee, first.”
“No. I’ll start the coffee. I want you to relax. Right now.”
“Alright,” she muttered. “I’ll admit, I’m feeling a little wobbly.”
During the next few minutes, Brand discovered exactly what’d happened as they all gathered in the family room with a roaring fire burning.
“I’m just glad you had Abby,” Brand said, shaking his head. “It was such a quick decision that day, to call Danielle and then take a ride to the shelter. What if we hadn’t taken Abby home?”
“But, thank God we did,” Sarah answered, smiling as Abby walked proudly through the room with the bone in her mouth. When she settled on the dog bed near the fireplace, Baby pranced over, snuggling beside her.
Sam stood up from the chair. “We’ll be doing an autopsy on Jim of course, along with a tox screen. If there’s anything unusual about the results, we’ll let you know. There’s a good chance he might’ve been on something, if you noticed such a drastic change in his personality.”
Sarah nodded her agreement.
“We fo
und the letter you mentioned, even though it isn’t exactly legible after getting wet,” Sam said.
“It was typed. I’d check his home computer.” Sarah recited the Hayward address.
Sam nodded, jotting down the address.
Brand stood up, walking Sam to the door.
Sam turned back before he walked through the doorway. “He doesn’t have any family?”
“Nope,” Sarah answered, shaking her head. “His mom died about five years ago. And his dad passed away when he was just a kid.”
“He’s a prosecutor though?” Sam grimaced. “That might mean some extra time to clear you since you were here alone.”
“I understand,” she said. “I’ve got nothing to hide.”
“Hey,” Brand added. “Sarah’s father’s a judge.”
Sam groaned, slapping his forehead with his hand. “Not what I wanted to hear, Brand. The press is gonna be all over Crystal Rock again.”
Sarah’s eyes met Brand’s, and he could tell she was thinking what he was. They really needed to google that information about Crystal Rock, and find out what’d happened here in the past.
Epilogue
February 14. 2018
Three weeks later, it was Valentine’s Day, and Brand was waiting for Sarah to finish getting dressed since he’d made reservations for dinner at the Dragonfly Pointe Inn.
He stared distractedly through the window at the bright vibrant sunset bedazzling the lake. It was puzzling how the details about what’d happened that day regarding Jim Fortner’s death had managed to be kept from the public. Something else was going on, Brand was sure of it. Maybe the government was still trying to keep any focus on Sarah quiet.
Some interesting facts had been discovered about Jim Fortner. Namely, his father had not died when Jim was ten years old as Sarah had thought, but had been admitted to an institution. Judging by Jim’s behavior during the past five years, he’d inherited whatever disorder his father had had.
Strangely, he must’ve known, because there were several medications discovered in his home.
But that’s all that Brand and Sarah had been informed of, other than Sarah was off the hook for Jim’s death.
Police Chief Sam Danielson had been ordered to drop the case, which had made him livid, and Brand hadn’t been too happy about it himself because there were too many unanswered questions he and Sarah were concerned about.
The most important being why had Jim been trying to kill her in the first place?
But at least Brand would be there watching over Sarah, if any other inconsistencies arose in the future. His commander still seemed to think that Sarah might be danger, but they couldn’t spend every day of their lives looking over their shoulders.
Besides, Sarah was a warrior, Brand thought to himself wryly, and she’d managed to defend herself very nicely when he hadn’t been around.
Brand nervously felt the weight of the jewelry box in his pocket as he stood downstairs waiting for Sarah.
Danielle and Jake were apparently the go to people in crystal rock whenever you needed any help with anything, and Danielle had sent Brand to a friend who designed custom jewelry.
Sarah came walking down the stairs in the sexiest black dress he’d ever seen. There was an exotic look to her tonight. Her shoulders were bare, but she was wearing a multi-facet necklace that fit like a collar.
His heart nearly burst, noticing the glitter and intensity in her eyes.
They were filled with love.
“Do you like it?”
He walked up to her and pulled her into his arms.
“How did I get so lucky?” he whispered into her ear. “You look stunning Sarah.”
“You look great too, Brand. I can’t believe I’ve never seen you in that dress uniform,” she answered softly. “We really don’t need to go out, you know.”
Brand laughed softly, pulling away to stare into her eyes. “Humor me.”
She looked at him suspiciously. “What’s going on?”
“You look so beautiful, I just want to show you off.”
She snorted.
“C’mon. Let’s go,” he said.
Abby came romping into the living room while Brand grabbed their coats from the closet.
“Oh, I forgot your music,” Sarah said, walking over to the radio in the kitchen and switching it on.
“You really think that helps?” Brand asked, walking toward Sarah carrying her black coat and earmuffs.
But as usual, Sarah was right, because the dog walked over to her bed, where Baby was already sleeping, and laid down beside her.
“It’s just for reassurance,” Sarah answered, with a smile. “We don’t often leave them alone in the evening.”
When Brand helped Sarah into her coat, for once, she didn’t give him any guff for doing it.
He walked her out to the garage, where he already had the garage door open with the truck warming up.
Twenty minutes later they were walking into the Dragonfly Pointe Inn. Danielle had reserved a section of the restaurant for Brand and Sarah, so they could be alone.
Live music was playing in the background, and chocolate kisses were spread around a vase with a dozen red roses centered on the table.
Sarah looked slightly overwhelmed. She must’ve guessed that the flowers were from him.
“I’ve never in my entire life been as close to tears as I am right now,” she said softly.
She allowed him to pull out her chair before sitting down.
Moving to the other side of the table, Brand dropped into his chair and grinned. “Danielle told me something interesting about Dragonfly Pointe the first day I arrived.”
“What’s that?” she asked, picking up the menu.
“Love lasts forever when you kiss at Dragonfly Pointe.”
Sarah blinked. “No. Not really?”
“Oh, yeah,” he answered with satisfaction, leaning back in his seat.
She scowled. “But that would mean…”
“That the walk we took that first night to Dragonfly Pointe might have been intentional on my part?”
She huffed. “It couldn’t have been. It was my idea.”
He shrugged. “It’s part of the magic, I guess.” Brand smiled widely. “We were drawn there, I think.”
She frowned. “Oh, come on. Let’s eat.”
Brand began to laugh. He was beginning to know her well. The more resistant she was, the better. He loved to see her flustered, because he was certain he was the only one that could make her that way.
Sarah looked happy after they’d finished their steak for two, although he caught her almost snorting a few more times when he tried to be romantic.
But Brand suddenly became serious. It was time. She wouldn’t want dessert and soon she’d be wanting to go home.
“Sarah?” He looked into her eyes.
“Brand?” She frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Not one thing. As a matter of fact, there’s never anything wrong as long as I’m with you.”
He stood up quietly, and her face became arrested.
“I love you, Sarah. And I meant it when I said I want forever.”
Digging into his jacket pocket, he pulled out the jewelry box, and opened it up.
Sarah’s jaw dropped.
From the corner of his eye he could see flashing lights, and Brand was pretty sure that Danielle was snapping a few pictures.
He was beginning to wonder if Sarah was ever going to answer.
Finally, she spoke. “I…I love you too Brand.” She swallowed. “Are you sure?”
“Sarah.” Reaching over, he pulled her from the chair and into his arms. “Wanting to marry you is the only thing in my life that I am one hundred percent sure of.”
She grinned wryly. “That sounds like pretty good odds.”
Brand snorted.
“Let me see that ring.”
Brand began laughing as he tugged the ring from the box and slipped it over her finger.
S
he held out her hand and stared. “It’s nice.”
Brand laughed harder. A two-carat diamond ring, and she thought it was nice?
She suddenly became serious, and buried her face against his chest. “I’m so glad you saved me. I never knew I could feel like this.” Her eyes held tears when she gazed into his. “I never knew I could love someone like I love you.”
He answered softly, “Sarah, you make me so happy. And proud, you know. I love you for exactly who you are. A warrior.”
She gave him a mischievous smile. “You know I’ve never celebrated Valentine’s Day before. I get to take home these flowers, don’t I?”
Brand laughed. “Of course you do. They’re from me. I’ve never been one to celebrate Valentine’s Day, either. Truthfully? I love doing things that are supposed to be romantic with you because your reaction is always so totally off the wall.”
Rolling her eyes, Sarah snorted, punching him in the shoulder. “Well, I guess we’ll be celebrating Valentine’s Day from now on.”
“Yep. You can count on it,” Brand answered.
And pulling Sarah back into his arms, Brand covered her mouth with his.
A Note from the Author
I hope you’ve enjoyed Two Hearts Unbroken, the sixth story in my Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Book series.
When I create my characters, they become so real to me, it’s almost like they’re sitting in the same room. And this was a breakthrough story for me. In Two Hearts Unbroken, we meet Sarah who’s returned home after being subjected to torture and assault after being captured by terrorists in Iraq. But she refuses to be broken, and finally after two years, it’s time to move on with her life. She’s never as surprised as she is to discover Brand, the man who assisted with her rescue, is more than ready to be there for her when her fiancé backs off.
And what about Russ Quinlan, another survivor? Watch for his story,
Two Hearts Under Fire, releasing later this year.
Happy Reading!!
Tammy
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