by Addison Fox
Focused on making it right, he continued walking toward the lab, oblivious to what was around him until he heard the simultaneous squeal of tires and Nova’s scream.
Registering them both at the same time, he took off at a run. As he moved, the building seemed to get farther away instead of closer, and he took in the image of a large SUV bearing down on her small frame, the whole scene like a tableau.
One that was about to become grisly as she stood all alone on the portico sidewalk.
* * *
Nova’s scream echoed in her head but as she stared at the SUV, nothing else but the noise seemed to register in her mind. A mixed sort of confusion gripped her, a mental cry between “what was happening?” and “move!”
Self-preservation finally won out as it became evident the SUV wasn’t just out of control, but purposely bearing down on her.
And Nova ran.
As quickly as she could, she bent her legs to manage her center of gravity and raced for the front door. Unless the manic driver was determined to actually drive into the walls of the building, all she had to do was get to the door and get inside.
She’d worry about what came after once she got there.
With a tight hold on her stomach, she moved. The engine kept getting louder and louder, but she refused to turn around.
She just kept going.
Like the day she’d run from Ferdy’s office, one foot in front of the other. Like that long drive to Arizona, one mile after another.
She didn’t think or give herself time to second guess.
She just moved.
Somewhere she registered shouting. She thought she might have been the one screaming. But she ignored it all, her sole focus on those doors.
The squeal of tires echoed once more and the backdraft off the SUV as it drove by floated over her skin, blowing her hair around her face.
But it never hit her.
As her hand grasped the door handle, she turned to see the SUV swerving as it took the last curve of the portico at top speed. Lurching once again when it came to a sharp left out of the parking lot toward the street.
And then Nikolas was there, his arms around her and his lips pressed to her ear as he held her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Physically she was fine. Whole and untouched, which meant the baby was whole and untouched.
Safe.
She wanted to take heart in that. And she wanted to believe that they’d be fine.
Only she couldn’t get past the understanding that safety was an illusion and any safety she had felt was a thing of the past.
“That was Ferdy. I know it.”
“How do you know? Did you see him?”
“I know, Nikolas.” She turned toward him, fisting her hands into his shirt before resting them against his chest. “I know it.”
“Shh now. We’ll figure it out.”
“He’s here. He found us. Me and the baby.”
* * *
The moment Marlowe arrived, Nikolas met her and got her settled with Nova in the lab director’s office and then went off to find the security team. So close to the building, they had to have video of the area under the portico and he was determined to get a visual on Ferdy Adler and make sure the whole damn town knew to look for the bastard.
There was still a chance it was just a confused driver, but Nova’s depth of conviction and his own view of how deliberate the move appeared had him falling on the same side she did.
Adler had found her.
How had it happened? He cycled through the past week. He’d managed every protocol he knew to work his searches. There was little chance an actual search would or could flag anyone’s radar, so how had the man found them?
He’d been absent and out of her life for five months. Then, suddenly, Nova shows up here and he finds her?
No way.
So he’d keep looking. Keep trying to figure out how they’d tipped the guy off.
And he’d do everything in his power to keep Nova safe.
* * *
Marlowe had taken charge the moment she walked in, sitting with Nova in the director’s office and calling for support from Colton Oil security.
“I’m just mad I didn’t think of doing this before.”
She’d berated herself since coming in, every comment some variation on that same theme.
“Marlowe. You couldn’t know. How could any of us know?”
The truth was that they couldn’t know. Couldn’t know Ferdy would find her and come for her.
But how?
She thought about her credit cards, untouched in her wallet. The cell phone that was still dark and unused in her purse. She’d been so careful. She hadn’t done anything that would have tipped him off or given him a way to find her. And find her so easily.
Yet he had.
Had Nikolas done something? One of his searches or requests for information.
Something dark settled in her chest as she ran that one through her mind. How easy it had been to leap to that conclusion. To assume it was him and the tools he used in his work.
And with that, their fight that morning came rushing back to her.
“What’s the matter, Nova?” Marlowe asked.
“Me. Nikolas.” She struggled to put it into words. She’d had a lot of time to herself these past months and had learned to keep her own counsel on absolutely everything. Did she dare let someone else in?
Ask for an opinion that wasn’t her own?
“Nikolas and I had a fight this morning.” Nova corrected herself. “An argument, really.”
“I can see things have progressed for you two.”
“They did. And I wanted them to. And then this morning, I messed it all up.”
“I find that hard to believe but why don’t you tell me.”
She described the brief note about Ferdy. The concern that Nikolas had betrayed her and, more to the point, the concern that his job had those frustrating dark places.
“Look, I don’t claim to be an expert on love. I am so grateful I found Bowie, but who knows what would have happened to me if he hadn’t come along?”
“You’d have found some other person who was right for you.”
A funny look came into Marlowe’s dark brown eyes. “I’m not so sure about that. Bowie Robertson was hardly ‘right’ for me in just about every way possible.”
“That’s hard to see when you’re together.”
Marlowe shrugged. “Maybe so, but it doesn’t change it. We were enemies from competing companies. We had different backgrounds and different paths in our careers. Moreover, we both saw the world through vastly singular lenses.”
“Yet you found a way to come together.” Although Nova more than appreciated the listening ear and the reality that no one’s relationships were as easy as they appeared on the surface, she couldn’t help but press Marlowe. “And you both make it work.”
“All I’m saying is that sometimes there are other forces greater than us that bring us together. If I hadn’t gotten pregnant with Reed... If that hadn’t put Bowie and me together...maybe we wouldn’t have found our way.”
Although it didn’t change her conviction that Marlowe and Bowie belonged together, her aunt’s comments did give her some food for thought.
The forces of the world acted on you in a variety of ways. That didn’t mean that they didn’t or couldn’t lead you to a wonderful outcome. In fact, sometimes it was the challenges in those forces that brought you where you needed to go.
Which was all well and good for the people who’d already found their way, but that didn’t mean things would work out for her. She cared for Nikolas. If she’d allow herself to think the word, she might even admit that she loved him.
But she’d leaped too easily with Ferdy and was now paying the price.
Quickly opened, and even more quickly dissipated.
Nikolas barreled into the director’s office. “Come on down to security. There’s something I want you to see.”
* * *
Nikolas took in the authoritative stance of Spencer Colton, sergeant for the MVPD, his faithful K-9 companion by his side, and hoped like hell the man could work off the slim information they had in order to put out an APB.
Spencer and Marlowe hugged and then Marlowe made quick introductions between Spencer and Nova, giving the two of them a chance to finally meet. Spencer’s work on Ace’s case had kept him busy the past few weeks and he was one of the few members of the Colton family whom Marlowe hadn’t yet wrangled for a visit to meet their newest family member.
His dog, Boris, also took an immediate shine to Nova. The canine seemed to sense her anxiety and had taken up a spot beside her, refusing to move.
“I’m sorry we’re meeting like this, Nova.” Spencer was calm and caring, but Nikolas sensed the impatience quivering beneath the surface. “Slater filled me in on what you think is going on but I’d like to hear it in your own words. Both what happened this morning and then everything you know on Ferdinand Adler.”
Nova recounted each piece to Spencer. Nikolas had been impressed with the MVPD lead’s help on the AAG situation, but his reassuring manner with Nova reinforced every good thing he’d ever heard about Spencer Colton. He asked questions confidently and without agitation, leaving them all with a sense that he had things firmly in hand.
“And you’ve had no contact with him since that day you left New York?” Spencer asked.
“No.” Nova shook her head. “None at all. I’ve deliberately lived in a way that I’d be hard to find, too. No credit cards. No bank accounts. I’ve broken contacts with my former job and all friends. I ran and disappeared.”
Until a few weeks ago.
Nikolas considered that, shocked to realize that the first moment Nova had attempted to put down roots, Adler had found her.
Spencer shifted everyone’s attention to the large bank of security screens filling one of the walls of the room. After a few taps on the control center keyboard, images filled several screens. He’d preset several camera captures and various angles were up on screen. Although it was hard to see anything from the side of the SUV, the tinted windows obscuring the driver to nothing more than a profile, the last camera in the portico got a clean shot of the driver through the front window.
“That’s him.”
Spencer moved into action, directing one of his officers positioned at the door to put out the APB. “Confirm that we have every reason to believe the suspect is armed and dangerous.”
* * *
Ferdy had always known that waiting to hear the sound of sirens meant you were too late. It was why he’d barely gone a mile from the squatty medical building when he dumped the SUV. He’d get farther on foot and he already had another car waiting for him in one of the parking lots in Mustang Valley. It was time to put the second part of his plan in motion.
He’d watched enough this week to know Nova would come back to town with that PI. He’d already set a little surprise for the guy at the office and once he sprang that, it wouldn’t be hard to snatch Nova away.
And then he’d be done with her.
The baby had given him some pause, he wasn’t gonna lie. The idea he might have a son was an awfully powerful motivator to keep her alive. At least until she had the brat. But in the end, he knew it was too risky. She’d formed some attachments here. Which meant people would be out looking for her and he didn’t have time to wait around. He needed to get back to New York.
And what was he going to do with a baby anyway?
Nope. Better to make a clean break and be done with it all. She’d been a blip in time. A relationship that had taken a turn for the worse. End it all and start fresh. His future was way too bright to get bogged down in a past that had been nothing but trouble.
The sirens got louder before passing him in a blur, racing back toward the lab.
The police didn’t seem to pay him any notice and that was by design. He had dressed in the same vacation gear he’d seen people around town wearing. Shorts and hiking boots as well as a T-shirt and hooded sweatshirt for climbing up into the cooler mountain air. A standard-issue backpack was slung over one shoulder, full of regular old hiking equipment. He’d bought it all a few towns away, satisfied that he’d look the part, even if he felt like a total loser. Who cared about this crap? He got all the fresh air he needed on a walk through Central Park and he had zero interest in climbing a mountain. But the hiking gear might come in handy. The rope seemed pretty sturdy and he was going to need something to keep Nova still. And the small pickax he’d picked up could make a wicked sticker if he needed extra backup for his gun.
While he’d like nothing more than to make her suffer, he simply didn’t have time. He’d get the information he needed out of her, enjoy scaring her as he did, and then get rid of her.
Revenge was sweet, but the money and prestige waiting for him back in New York were sweeter.
It was time to get this done.
* * *
Nova had to give him credit, Spencer Colton didn’t waste time. In less than fifteen minutes a bulletin was out for Ferdy’s capture and his picture had been circulated within a fifty-mile radius. No one going in or out of Mustang Valley was going to get by without some serious scrutiny from the MVPD and Spencer had shifted his attention to manage the matter personally until Ferdy was caught.
What came after... Nova knew they’d deal with that, too.
Ferdy was now a wanted man and she’d shared enough detail to contribute to a warrant. She’d have to keep sharing that information, ultimately testifying to what she knew.
It was inevitable.
“You doing okay?” Marlowe had sat faithfully beside her while Nikolas and Spencer worked, taking it all in but saying little to interfere.
“I think I am. It’s finally going to be over and that’s saying something.”
“You’ll get this behind you and have a chance to move on. To look forward to the baby’s arrival and all that’s still to come.”
Although Marlowe didn’t say it, Nova heard the rest of that sentence.
With Nikolas.
Was that possible?
She wanted to believe they’d find their way forward, but there were still so many unknowns. They had a lot to figure out and she wasn’t above questioning if they could see their way to the other side. Marlowe had meant well with her comments earlier about how she and Bowie had found each other, and there was a small, hopeful part of Nova that believed she and Nikolas could find the same.
With that hope beating in her breast, she smiled at Marlowe. “We’re here. Do you think we should look at the test results?”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
Marlowe had settled a large manila envelope on the security console beneath her purse and crossed to pick both up. “Here you go.”
Nova stared at the envelope, well aware her future was inside those thin sheets of paper. The truth of her past was there as well.
On a soft sigh, she settled it all in her lap and called Nikolas over.
“What is it?” He was in that serious mode she’d observed when he worked, yet his eyes were soft as he stared down at her.
“It’s time to find out.”
He nodded. “It’s time.”
Nova opened the package, surprised to see how very few pages it must take to change a life.
And then read the truth.
TEST CO
NCLUSIVE. SUBJECT A AND B ARE BLOOD RELATION, 99.9% CHANCE OF PARENT AND CHILD.
Parent and child.
Nova laid a hand over her belly, the truth of it all settling in.
She was Ace Colton’s daughter.
Her future had been decided.
* * *
Nikolas wasn’t sure how to comfort Nova. He’d suggested they stop for some lunch but she’d shook her head, uninterested in going anywhere public. Understanding, he then suggested they order in and go back to his office to wait for news from Spencer.
Marlowe had offered to come along but Nova had sent her on her way, directing her to spend time with baby Reed. Nikolas hadn’t missed their exchange and something had cratered deep inside him when he’d overheard Nova’s whispered goodbye to her aunt.
Hug him. Hold that sweet baby tight.
Those words had haunted Nikolas, proof that the morning had fundamentally altered Nova’s view of the world. Up until now, every discussion of Ferdy had been just that—discussion. But now, there was a reality that had sobered them all.
And had made it clear how dangerous he really was.
Because of that, Nikolas didn’t expect to see and hear Nova’s usual chatty countenance—and he well knew they still had to work through the implications of their argument that morning as well as the news of Ace’s paternity. Even knowing that, there was something in the wide-eyed ghost who sat beside him in the car that cut him deep.
Since the first moment she’d come into his office, Nova had radiated vibrancy and happiness She was bright and warm and in a flash of a moment, her ex had taken that away from her. He’d even taken away the joy of her learning about her father.
Ferdy’s intentions had been clear. Even if Nikolas hadn’t watched it with his own eyes, the various views on the lab’s cameras had shown it in multi-angle detail. That SUV was driven with the intention to kill Nova and her child.
Their child.
No matter how willing Nikolas was to embrace the child Nova carried as his own, the baby was biologically Ferdy’s. A fact the man was obviously unmoved by, considering his actions.
