by Lisa Childs
Clint was friends with both of those men. Had he told them about his cabin? Did anyone know about it?
Another chill rushed through her, and it had nothing to do with the early-morning air now and everything to do with fear. Maybe she didn’t want to be found—if whoever found her might be working for Luther.
Something snapped. Loud. It had to be, for her to have heard it over the rush of the river.
And it was close, too.
Then something else snapped. Twigs? Branches?
Someone had found her. Rosie just wasn’t sure who or what it was.
* * *
Clint knew Rosie was a city girl. He’d seen her uneasiness with the area when he’d pulled up to the cabin the evening before. There was no way she’d wandered off in the woods. She’d probably gone looking for the street instead.
So he walked down the muddy drive toward the street. As he drew closer, he noticed a glint through the trees. It wasn’t off asphalt. The road was more gravel and dirt than anything else. It was off metal.
He drew his weapon. And as he stepped closer, he identified the glint as belonging to vehicles. Two pickups were parked alongside the road, teetering precariously on the edge of those deep ditches.
They’d been parked there in a hurry. Then he noticed the trail going from them, down through the brush and weeds. Had they seen something?
Someone?
Were they even now chasing Rosie down?
He cursed himself for falling asleep. His job was to protect her. But protecting Rosie was more than an assignment to him; he’d made a promise to her brother.
And now he might have failed him.
Grasping his weapon tightly, he headed down that makeshift trail through the woods. It came close to the cabin. If Rosie had been running near it, why hadn’t she screamed for him, for help?
Maybe those vehicles had nothing to do with her. It wasn’t as if anyone would have known where to find him.
Sure, he’d told some people in the vice unit about trying to buy the place, but only one knew that the sale had finally closed. Landon...
Had his roommate told his principal? Had he mentioned anything to Jocelyn Gerber?
Clint worried that he might have. And he, for one, did not trust the assistant district attorney at all. She could have told Luther.
Hell, she might have even been able to find out about it without Landon mentioning anything. The sale had been a matter of public record.
Nikki Payne wasn’t the only one who could find anything online. Other people could as well.
Maybe bringing Rosie here had been a bad idea. It had given him a false sense of security, so much so that he’d fallen asleep. So much so that he’d crossed the line with his client.
He shouldn’t have made love with her. If he hadn’t, he probably wouldn’t have fallen asleep. He would have been as tense and frustrated as he’d been the night before. And if he hadn’t, Rosie might not have taken off on her own.
It must have rattled her so much that she’d wanted to escape him. He’d seen those tears she’d shed after.
It had affected her.
And it had affected him as well. He’d never experienced anything as powerful as that. But he didn’t expect to experience it again—even if he found her.
Where the hell was she?
He thought about calling out for her. But he didn’t want to alert anyone else to his presence. They weren’t alone in the woods. And since there had been two trucks parked beside the road, there were at least two possible shooters.
Maybe more.
He’d survived the attack the night before only because he hadn’t been alone. If there hadn’t been so many other bodyguards, he had no doubt that he would have died, and Rosie as well.
No. Taking her off alone had been a very bad idea.
He hurried forward along the path, but he was careful to make as little noise as possible. But someone else wasn’t being as cautious.
He heard twigs or branches snapping. Then he heard something else, something that chilled his blood and had his heart racing.
Rosie’s scream. Her voice was high and sharp and full of fear.
* * *
As with the television room, Luther had unlimited access to the weight room. But no matter how many weights he lifted, he couldn’t get the pressure off his chest.
For the first time since he’d put those bullets in Javier Mendez, he was worried that he might actually go to prison for the damn kid’s murder.
That wasn’t possible, though.
He’d committed so many other crimes and hadn’t even been prosecuted. He was untouchable.
Or he had been until that damn Payne Protection Agency had gotten involved. What the hell was the deal with those bodyguards? They’d taken out a few of Luther’s crew. It had been his guys in those body bags he’d seen on the news. And another had died at the hospital. In addition to the casualties, Payne Protection bodyguards had overpowered several more of Luther’s crews and turned them over to the police, who had them into custody.
He’d seen a few of them at the jail. They’d looked scared. Maybe too scared...
And then that damn ADA had started calling them down to the visiting rooms to talk to them. Probably to offer them deals to turn on him.
He hurled the weights, instead of lifting them. They went only so far before they dropped and clunked against the concrete floor.
Jocelyn Gerber was wasting her time, though. His guys would not talk to her. He’d already warned them that whoever did would die—slowly, painfully.
And their families would, too.
Nobody would dare betray him.
But then he hadn’t really thought Rosie would talk, either. He’d thought that she would have learned her lesson from what he’d done to her rat of a little brother. Now he’d have to do that to her—put some bullets in her.
He would just have to get someone to do it who was up to the job, unlike all those damn flunkies he’d sent after her. This time he would not fail to eliminate the witness.
Chapter 16
Rosie’s lungs burned with fear and exertion. She had never run as fast as she was now, not even when the ER had been at its busiest. But then she’d never had to run for her life before like she was now.
She had never seen anything as big or as fearsome as the monster she’d glimpsed through the trees. And the minute she’d seen it, that bloodcurdling scream had torn its way out of her throat.
So then it had seen her.
So screaming had been stupid.
And so was running.
From the nature survival shows Javier had watched, she knew she was supposed to lie down and play like she was dead so that it wouldn’t chase her. It wasn’t as if she could actually outrun a bear.
And that thing...
It must have been a bear. But it hadn’t looked like the ones she’d seen on TV. Its fur had been matted with burrs and buzzing with flies. It hadn’t looked regal or beautiful. It had looked like a beast.
And it was probably running her down right now to eat her. So she forced her feet to move. It was too late to lie down and play dead. And she was afraid that if she did that, the act would become real all too soon anyway.
Thorns clutched at her scrubs, tearing through the thin material. But worse than that, the bushes caught and held her, slowing her down until she managed to break away. She’d lost too much time, though.
She could hear it closing in on her, could hear branches snapping and breaking beneath its weight as it pursued her. Then another branch caught her, this one wrapping around her ankle, and she crashed to the ground.
She kicked out, trying to fight free of the tendrils of that thorn bush. But the thorns caught her skin, digging deep. She couldn’t escape.
And then she was suddenly plunged into the darkne
ss of the big shadow looming over her.
And she screamed again.
* * *
Rosie’s scream squeezed Clint’s heart in a tight vise. He leaned down and pushed her hair back from her face, but she flinched as if she’d thought he would strike her.
“Rosie, it’s me.” She wasn’t afraid of him, was she?
Because even after he identified himself, she kept trembling. She was still so scared. She pressed her hands against the ground and pushed herself up. And she seemed about to take off running again. But she reached out a muddy hand toward him, to pull him along with her. “We have to get out of here!”
Now her fear was his. His hand was already on his holster, but now he pulled his weapon. “Why?” he asked. “Did you see someone?”
Maybe the people from the truck had tracked her down, but she’d gotten away from them. She was strong and smart and resourceful.
She shook her head, and she looked all wild-eyed. “No. Not a human.”
Clint furrowed his brow as confusion gripped him. “Then what the hell was it?”
“A bear,” she said, and she glanced fearfully around them.
“I didn’t see anything,” he said, trying to reassure her.
But she shook her head again. “I did,” she said. “I saw him back there...” She gestured a shaking hand toward one section of the woods. Then she pointed in another direction. “Or maybe there...”
“I didn’t see anything,” he told her again.
She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “Are you telling me that I just imagined seeing that—that thing?”
He believed she’d definitely seen something. She was still trembling with fear. He wanted her to relax now, though, so he teased, “I’m telling you that your screaming probably scared him away.”
She shuddered. “I thought you were the bear when you were standing over me.” She blinked hard as if fighting back tears. “I thought I was going to die. I know I probably came closer before—at my apartment and the hospital and...” She gestured at his shoulder. “And when you were shot. But I think I’d rather get shot than eaten by a bear.” She shuddered again.
And he couldn’t blame her. While he hadn’t seen the animal, she had definitely seen one. He’d heard rumors about black bear sightings in the area. He shivered now, thinking of how she might have been attacked.
He reached out and pulled her trembling body into his arms. At first she tensed up, as if she didn’t want him touching her. Then she clutched his T-shirt in her hands and snuggled even closer to him. “You’re safe,” he assured her. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
Not while he was alive.
Her breath escaped in a shaky sigh. Maybe she believed him.
But he couldn’t protect her if she kept taking off on him. “What the hell were you doing all the way out here?” he asked. And he ran his hands over her back. She was cold, too.
“I told you—I was running from the bear.” She pulled away from him now and wrapped her arms around herself, as if unwilling to accept his comfort.
“Why were you outside?” he asked. “Were you trying to get away from me?”
Her face flushed, and it wasn’t from her run through the woods. She wouldn’t meet his gaze, either.
“What the hell were you thinking, Rosie?” he asked. “You know you need protection. Luther is determined to have you killed. Why would you take off on your own?”
“I wasn’t leaving,” she said. “I just wanted some air. You told me we were safe here.”
That was what he’d thought, too. But then he remembered the trucks parked on the side of the road. And he wondered if they would be safe anywhere.
“What?” she asked. “What is it?”
She must have seen the worry on his face. That was why Landon liked playing cards with him. Clint had no poker face; he couldn’t bluff.
“We need to get back to the cabin,” he said. Actually, they needed to get back to the SUV and get the hell out of there.
She glanced around the woods, her eyes wild. “Did you hear the bear?” she asked anxiously. “Is it back?”
“I’m not worried about the bear.”
“But you’re worried,” she said.
He didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was.
“Tell me why,” she implored him. “I hate secrets.”
He was already keeping one from her—Javier’s reason for becoming his informant. But he couldn’t burden her with the guilt of that, of her brother wanting to regain her respect. “I saw two trucks out by the road.”
Her eyes widened. “You think someone found us?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know why else they’d be here.”
His was the only cabin for miles.
She spun around in a circle again. “Then we shouldn’t go back to the cabin. They could be waiting for us there.”
They could. She had a valid point.
“There’s no way we can get that far from them on foot,” he pointed out, especially with bears in the woods as well. But he didn’t want to remind her of that animal she’d seen. “We need the vehicle.”
She nodded. “Okay.” She stared at the trees all around them. “I hope you know where the hell it is, because I have no idea.”
He chuckled. “You’re no survivalist, huh?”
She shook her head. “No, that was Javier. He loved those shows.” She uttered a shaky sigh. “Maybe he could have survived out here better than he had on the streets.”
Clint had bought the cabin because of her brother. Javier had talked often about wanting to learn to fish and hunt; he would have loved the place. If only Clint could have closed on the purchase of it before Javier had been murdered.
The guilt gripped him, weighing heavily on his shoulders. “It’s this way,” he told her, but as he moved through the trees, a low branch scraped over his shoulder. A curse slipped through his lips at the pain.
“You need—”
“I know,” he interrupted, and finished for her, “medical attention.” He’d rather have hers. But he could guess why she’d gone off alone in the woods. It hadn’t been to get away from the cabin; it had been to get away from him.
She grabbed his arm, her fingers squeezing. Maybe she just didn’t want to get separated from him and lost.
Or maybe she thought she’d heard the bear again. Clint heard something, too. But it wasn’t the sound of anything or anyone moving through the brush.
It was the metallic click of a gun cocking. And his was still in his holster.
Damn it!
The men from the truck had found them, and they were armed. Before he could react, shots rang out.
Woodrow had thought his years as a bureau chief for the FBI had been stressful. Taking this position with the River City Police Department would be almost like taking early retirement.
But this new job was a hell of a lot more stressful than any position he’d previously held. He hated that he couldn’t trust his own damn officers. He’d been able to trust his agents. And because he wasn’t able to trust his officers, he’d had to enlist people he had faith in to help him.
But now those people were in danger because they were helping him. And they were family.
He could see the concern in his wife, in the way her brow furrowed with worry, in the tension in her petite body. She often visited him at the River City PD to bring him coffee or cookies or just to give him a kiss and a shoulder rub. But he knew she had another reason for coming by his office today.
She was having one of her notorious premonitions. She didn’t even need to tell him.
“I’m sorry,” he told her. “I shouldn’t have brought the Payne Protection Agency into this.”
What the hell was this? It felt like war; it was certainly beginning to rack up casualties like war.
Nikki could have been shot the night before when all those bullets had been flying. Instead she’d taken out one of the gunmen.
Penny came around his desk and pushed him and his chair back. Then she settled onto his lap and wrapped her arm around his neck. “You had to,” she said. “You need protection for everyone involved in this trial. And there is nobody better at security than the Payne Protection Agency.”
“That’s true,” he agreed. “They are the best.” He rubbed his fingers over the furrow in her brow. “So you don’t need to worry...”
But she would—just like he was worrying.
“I’m a mother,” she said. “It’s what I do.”
But she didn’t worry only about her own kids. She worried about every one of those bodyguards just like they were hers. And they were. But they weren’t just hers now. They were his, too.
She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “You’re worried, too.”
He nodded. Then he summoned the courage and asked, “Who is it?”
“What?”
“Who did you have the premonition about?” he asked. “Who’s in danger now?”
She shuddered as the feeling overwhelmed her.
He could feel it, too, the fear and the dread. They were so attuned to each other. He’d never had a connection with another human being like he had with Penny. She was more than his wife. She was his soul mate.
“Who?” he persisted.
She clearly didn’t want to tell him, so it was someone he knew, someone he loved.
“Gage?”
His son-in-law worked for Logan’s team, but this assignment was so big Parker had brought in his brothers’ agencies for support. His daughter Megan had thought she’d lost Gage once, when he’d gone missing in action during a deployment. She couldn’t lose him again.
Penny shook her head, tousling her short auburn curls around her beautiful face. “No.”
“Nick?” Woodrow had a special bond with his former agent. He had always been like a son to him. But he’d actually been Penny’s late husband’s son.
