The Stranger Next Door
Page 18
“Now,” Danny sneered, “this little bitch is going to tell me where the money is.”
“Why should I?” Tess said weakly, and Jack felt his heart lurch.
“Because if you don’t, I’ll splatter your little fuck buddy’s brains all over the floor.
Without hesitation, Tess replied, “In the attic. The combination is—”
“Freeze.”
Jack was overwhelmed with relief when the sound of Captain Lewis’s voice met his ears. Looking toward the rear of the building, he spotted the older man and Officer Flynn standing framed in the rear doorway. They were dripping wet and obviously aggravated. Jack knew he was going to have a lot of questions to answer and possible jail time to serve, but he didn’t care. Tess was alive. He knew now wasn’t the time to dwell on their feelings for each other, but it was impossible not to feel his heart fill with love for her. Now, all they needed to do was free her safely before Danny took his vengeance out on her, ripping their future from their grasp.
Turning, Danny faced the captain and Officer Flynn, their guns trained on Danny. Holding his hand out to the side, he dropped his gun to the ground and then held his hands up in the air, but he didn’t move from Tess. He held his ground, less than a foot away.
“Well, you just never know, do you?” Danny said smugly.
“I can’t believe you boys. Grown men, officers of the law, going native and losing yourselves in that life.”
“Would someone shoot his ass and get me down? My shoulder’s killing me.”
“Why’d you kill Melanie?” Jack asked.
“I needed money. I made a deal with the wrong person, and I got a little in over my head. I knew Dean had left Melanie his entire estate and she could give me what I needed, but when I got there, all she had was some jewels and a handful of cash in the safe. She’d been smart, or stupid depending on how you look at it. She didn’t keep a lot of cash in her house.”
“So why did you torture her?” Captain Lewis asked.
“She didn’t have what I wanted, but I knew she would know someone who did and she’d tell me with a little persuasion. And she did. She told me about the life insurance money Dean left Tess. I know Tess’s aversion to banks thanks to her ancient grandmother, so I finished off Melanie and made my move on Tess.”
“That’s why you asked about money the night your goons tried to kidnap her,” Flynn said.
“That’s right,” Danny admitted.
Jack’s mind was filled to the bursting point with information, but what he focused on most was the fact that Captain Lewis knew all along Danny was dirty.
“You knew he was crooked and you did nothing about it?” Jack accused.
“I knew,” Captain Lewis admitted. “I suspected something had gone awry, but I didn’t know what or how bad it actually was. As far as I knew, they hadn’t harmed anyone.”
Jack hurried to Tess’s side, careful to stay out of Danny’s reach. Slipping a knife from the front pocket of his jeans, Jack reached up and cut the rope holding Tess to the rack. She cried out in pain, trembling, as he lowered her from the rack. Holding her injured arm close to her body, she sagged against him as Robbie knelt down and untied her ankles. Ripping his t-shirt over his head, he carefully helped her into it. Her back bled right through the thin material.
“Danny, I have to take you in and get your statement,” the captain said wearily as Jack watched two more cops enter through the front entrance and start to approach Danny.
Tess had been through enough; she didn’t need to see any more. All of this was more than Jack could handle, and he barely knew the people involved. He could only imagine how that was affecting Tess. Holding her against his side, he helped her walk on wobbly legs toward the main door. But before the officers reached Danny with their cuffs, he reached out and snared Tess by the waist then ripped her against his chest while pulling a gun from the inside of his jacket.
A shot ripped through the air.
Everyone froze. Jack felt as though someone had hit the pause button, and he was the only one able to move, to think.
Tess stood frozen as Danny’s look of shock turned blank before he crumbled to the floor.
Danny’s partner, Marty Flynn, stood mere feet from him, his gun still raised.
Danny slid to his knees then, with one final look at his partner, fell to the floor face down.
Jack knelt beside Tess where she slumped on the ground, tears streaming down her cheeks, then picked her up and placed her in his lap while the EMTs rushed inside.
“Tess, I'm sorry. I should never have doubted you,” he said as he wiped the tears from her face. “I should’ve never let you leave that house alone. I knew it was a bad idea the moment it happened, but I just let you go like some idiot.”
Tess smiled softy as she reached up and slid her fingers down his stubbly cheek.
“Don’t apologize. I knew there was a reason for you to be suspicious, even before I talked to Roman. I just kept praying you would find me.”
Jack smoothed her hair back from her face.
“I thought I’d lost you.”
“You almost did.”
She really was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, and as much as it scared him to admit it, he loved her. He knew this wasn’t the place for it, but he’d almost lost her once, and he wasn’t about to let that happen again. He couldn’t wait a moment longer.
“Tess, I love you. I think I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you. I know this isn’t the ideal place for something like this, but Tess, will you marry me?”
Tess blinked in surprise and gazed into his eyes for a long moment, so long in fact, he feared she wouldn’t answer. But as the EMTs reached them, she peered into his eyes and grinned. “On one condition.”
“Name it,” he said eagerly as he helped her onto the gurney.
“You love me as much as I love you, forever.”
“You got it.” He smiled and leaned down to kiss her with all the love he felt in his heart.
The End
About the Author
Chastity Bush is the author of several romance novels known for their spicy romance, suspense, and humorous edge. She’s completely addicted to Dexter and True Blood, and she loves to spend time with her husband and their two daughters. Chastity loves to hear from her readers and personally answers all email she receives.
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Table of Contents
The Stranger Next Door
Blurb
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One