Drawn to Vail Mountain (Vail Mountain Trilogy Book 3) Page 8

  Chapter 13

  Something woke her.

  She was still, lying on her side as the noise came again far to her right. She glanced out the window from her bed, and from the crack in the curtains, she could tell there wasn’t much daylight left. In fact, the sun was setting. She had fallen asleep as soon as they had returned.

  Connie turned her head away from the window, wondering about the noise she had heard. Suddenly, she froze, her heart starting to hammer and race. She struggled to calm her breathing, but it was hard.

  Someone is in here.

  Even though it wasn’t full dark outside just yet, her curtains were pulled, bathing her room in darkness. Terror was a new aspect for Connie, but as she lay quietly, barely breathing, she strained to hear, until suddenly, she heard it again.

  Closer. Oh God…

  She stiffened and opened her mouth to scream, but a hard hand came down, covering her mouth with a firm grip.

  “One fucking word and I’ll kill everyone here, you got it?” a dark voice whispered next to her ear.

  Oh God. Nina, Emily…

  She didn’t know if Rob and Jacob had made it home from their mission of finding the lost hiker, but Connie wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if anything happened to them.

  She nodded sharply and was jerked up with a hard yank that brought tears to her eyes. He said nothing as he led her from the room, the barrel of a gun in her back, prodding her forward and down the stairs.

  “The kitchen door,” he growled, his voice low and rough, his hot breath against her cheek almost making her gag.

  She didn’t know what he wanted with her, but it didn’t bode well for her, that much she knew. She didn’t know how late it was, but it was almost dark outside. Following his silent orders, she opened the door and headed farther away from the safety of everyone and the resort.

  Regret tightened her throat as she thought of Jacob. She knew he had been interested in her. That interest had been reflected in his eyes, in the gentleness of their dark depths and his kind smile. Even after what she had revealed about her miscarriage, his interest and desire hadn’t waned. She had even seen stronger emotion, but she hadn’t wanted to see it, hadn’t wanted it to be true.

  She was afraid to believe, believe that it was for her, but now she would never get to see that again, see where it could have led, and that hurt her worst of all. She didn’t know how she knew, but she knew the man behind her meant to kill her. It was the only logical explanation, and yet she didn’t know why.

  Her eyes widened, taking in the front yard. She didn’t see Rob’s truck. They hadn’t made it back yet, and the terror hit her hard, her whole body shaking.

  Almost tripping as they made their way to the tree line, she voiced it, voiced the fear, and her voice itself trembled.

  “Why are you doing this?” she whispered as the man nudged her again, this time harder.

  “I have to have a reason?” he returned darkly.

  A question with a question wasn’t an answer.

  “Please don’t do this. I have money. I’ll give you—”

  “Shut up, and keep walking,” he barked, shoving her in front of him.

  She tripped and went down, her knees hitting the hard ground. Crying out, Connie whimpered when he grabbed her hair and pulled her back up on her feet, pushing her in front of him again.

  They were past the tree line, walking farther into the dark woods. The lights from the resort were gone, swallowed up by the night.

  Owls hooted nearby, and she jumped, startled as a howl shattered the silence.

  “Scared a little, bitch?” he growled. “Keep walking, or I’ll shoot your leg, and then you’ll really know the level of pain that will be yours soon enough.”

  Choking back a sob, she put one foot in front of the other, praying with each ragged breath. If she had any hope of getting out of this alive, it was going to be up to her. No one else knew she was gone, not until daylight, and by then, it would be too late.

  Just as the resort came into view, Rob’s phone rang.

  “Hey, baby. We are just—”

  Suddenly, he slammed on the brakes, and Jacob stiffened at Rob’s tone.

  “I’m coming in. Calm down, baby.”

  He quickly opened his door and jumped out just as Nina ran outside, her phone still in her hand.

  Jacob didn’t know what was going on, but the terror on Nina’s face had his heart dropping to the pit of his stomach. The men ran over to her.

  “She’s gone,” she whispered. “She’s gone!”

  Jacob had a bad feeling, and fear tasted bitter as he jumped over the steps, Rob in front of him as he held his wife against his chest and rubbed her arms.

  “What happened, honey? Calm down and talk to me. What happened?”

  Nina took a deep breath and pulled back slightly, her eyes wide and glowing in the dim light from the porch, her face ashen.

  “Emily c-came to my room. She c-couldn’t sleep and was coming to c-crawl into bed with me, but she s-saw a man dragging C-Connie d-down the s-stairs. She ran to get me, but b-before I c-could get the g-gun, they w-were gone.” She wailed, sobs shaking her slender shoulders.

  Jacob was already on his cell phone, barking orders for backup as Rob ran inside and then was back within a minute with another pistol and ammunition.

  “And where is the man who checked in?” Rob asked grimly.

  Nina shook her head. “I don’t know. He wasn’t in his room when I went to check to make sure he was okay.”

  That was their answer.

  Son of a bitch.

  “Which way did they go?” Jacob asked, trying to calm down as he thought of the head start they had on them and what Connie was going through. He couldn’t think of that or he was going to go insane. If he was in terror, he could only imagine what she was going through.

  Nina pointed to their left, toward the woods.

  “We go on foot. Element of surprise,” Jacob said. He looked over at Nina’s pale face. “When my backup arrives, give them the direction. No vehicles. Tell them to come in on foot. How long of a head start do they have?”

  Nina gulped, and Jacob could tell she was trying to pull herself together. “Not long. Ten minutes maybe. It took me a minute to calm Emily down before I could find out what had happened. I’m so sorry.”

  Jacob didn’t answer. Together with Rob, they followed Nina’s direction and were soon enveloped in the darkness of the woods.

  For being his first rescue mission as a sheriff, this one sucked. His heart was on the line, and fear threatened to choke him.

  “We were set up,” Jacob growled. “There was no missing hiker. It was a ruse to get us away from the resort.”

  Rob cursed, and they picked up their pace.

  Hold on, baby. We’re coming. Hold on. Please.

  Chapter 14

  Connie didn’t know how far they had walked, but her legs trembled, and her knees were sore from the few tumbles she had taken. Her scalp ached from being yanked back to her feet, and her side pulled, her breathing coming in spurts and gasps the farther they walked. The man had refused to answer any of her questions, and she got a hard shove every time she asked, so she quit asking.

  The night cold bit into her thin sweater, but she was thankful she had fallen asleep in her clothes. Otherwise, she didn’t think the bastard would have let her get dressed, and she could have been in worse shape than she was now.

  She heard the rushing river not far, and fear hit her anew, wondering if this was it. Did he plan to drown her? Hit her over the head and throw her into the water? Her fate wasn’t uncertain, but it was the ending that was terrifying. She didn’t want to die, and yet that choice was taken out of her hands by the manic behind her, nudging and shoving her deeper and deeper into the woods.

  Finally, she had had enough. She wanted to know why, and she wanted to know right then. She stiffened and halted, swirling around before he could stop her.

  “Why?” she demanded, h
er fists clenched by her sides. Fear rode her, but there was nothing she could do about it. She could see her death in his dark eyes, and she wanted to know why, damn it.

  “You’re going to kill me anyway. At least tell me why!”

  He paused, a curious tilt to his dark head. His tall form was a dark shadow. She couldn’t see his expression, what he was thinking, only the outline of his body, but it was enough.

  He shrugged. “Your husband hired me,” he finally said blandly, the gun glinting in his hand from the small stream of moonlight that filtered in from the tall trees around them.

  She flinched, her heart sinking, unable to believe it. Adam? She wouldn’t have thought he hated her that much.

  “But why?” she whispered. “All I wanted was a divorce. I didn’t want anything else. He could have everything. Why would he do this?”

  “Money. Why else?”

  “Money? But I don’t have any.” Now she was confused as she stared at him. Her thoughts raced. How was money involved?

  He chuckled, the gun still pointed toward her, his hands steady. She had a bad feeling that this wasn’t his first kill.

  “Insurance, baby.”

  She saw the glint from his teeth as he grinned. “Your husband apparently took out a large policy on you last year before you split from him. He wants to cash in but can’t do that with you alive, which is where I come in.”

  Heart racing, she stared at him, stared at the monster in front of her. If she had believed that he would just let her go, that belief flew out the window as his eyes hardened.

  “Now quit stalling and move,” he barked, motioning with the gun. “It’s not much farther.”

  She turned, her heart heavy and hurting as she placed one foot in front of the other. She had seen her death. Jacob suddenly flashed through her mind, his grin and smoldering eyes, the desire making them almost black, giving her heart another lurch.

  Oh, Jacob, I’m so sorry I didn’t give you a chance—give us a chance. Please forgive me.

  Connie wasn’t going to give up. She wasn’t going down without a fight. There had to be an opening, and as soon as there was, she was taking it and running like hell.

  Jacob felt rage slice through him as the reasoning behind the kidnapping and intended murder of Connie hit him from where they crouched not far behind the bastard, hidden by the bushes and trees. He couldn’t see Connie, but he could hear her.

  The trembling and fear in her voice tore through him, and it was all he could do not to barge through the woods and tackle the son of a bitch hired to kill the woman he loved.

  He caught Rob’s subtle shake of his head from the corner of his eye, and he knew he couldn’t do that, not if he didn’t want to risk Connie getting shot in the crossfire.

  All they could do was follow and wait for an opening. He didn’t know where his backup was, and he prayed they weren’t far behind, but he couldn’t wait for them to show up, not if he wanted to get Connie out of this alive.

  So, all he could do was follow once they started again, staying back far enough to remain unseen and yet keep them in his sight.

  They walked for another few minutes before the two in front stopped on the bastard’s command. Jacob watched the son of a bitch order Connie to strip, the raging river behind them. They were hours from the resort, and the biting wind sliced through the trees.

  Rage threatened to choke him, and Rob grabbed his arm, stopping him from rushing toward the fucker. He understood his friend’s advice, but that didn’t mean he had to fucking struggle with the patience. They still didn’t have the opening they needed, not with the asshole’s gun still on Connie.

  He didn’t know how it happened, but the bastard was in front of Connie, and she was between them and him. She was in the line of fire, and Jacob felt helpless as he watched her shake and start to remove her clothing.

  “Please don’t do this,” she whispered, her voice breaking toward the last word, tearing Jacob up worse than he was already.

  “I can’t do this. There has to be a way to take the fucker out,” Jacob growled, keeping his voice almost silent.

  Rob nodded. “I’m going to go around, get to the side of the fucker. We have to have an opening. She’s between us.”

  With that, the other man disappeared, blending into the dark, and Jacob just prayed he knew what he was doing. Jacob was a detective, ten years on the force, but nothing had prepared him for this—for the moment that everything was on the line. The woman he loved was in danger. Jacob just hoped that he knew what the hell he was doing. If he didn’t, she would die.

  Chapter 15

  Connie slowly released her sweater from her shaking fingers. It fell to the ground, and she shivered in the cold, goosebumps rising on her naked arms and chest.

  “Now the pants,” the man growled, a hard glint in his dark eyes.

  Connie gulped, struggling to breathe past the lump of terror that threatened to choke her. Dizzy, the world spun as her trembling fingers went to the clasp of her jeans. The unsnap broke the silence, followed by the long unzipping.

  Her eyes wild and desperate, Connie had been looking for an opening to escape, but the bastard hadn’t given her one, almost staying less than a foot from her with the gun in her back.

  With a painful sob, she pushed her jeans down her hips and legs, stepping out of the pant legs. Shaking, trembling, her chest tight, she waited, tears streaming down her cheeks as the gun never wavered in his steady grasp. She turned toward him, facing her death in his dark eyes.

  “Now to have a bit of fun,” he said, a cruel twist of his lips breaking through the dark due to the bit of moonlight from the trees above them.

  Suddenly, he took a step to the right, and a few blasts shattered the forest. Connie jerked and flinched, expecting to feel the pain of the bullet. She stared as the man’s eyes widened in shock, and he looked down.

  Blood.

  Suddenly, voices came from a dark tunnel, fading in and out as she felt herself fall until blackness came.

  Jacob paced in the hallway, his face tight with strain and agony as he waited. The doctor was in with Connie. The bastard’s bullet had grazed the side of her waist, and Jacob would always remember the terror that hit him as he shot the fucker and then watched as the woman he loved flinched and passed out. He barely had time to catch her before she hit the ground. Their backup had arrived seconds before the shots, and he had carried Connie the whole way. With the forest as dense as it was, there had been no way to land a chopper or he would have requested one. Blood had dripped from her side, soaking his shirt. It had only been a graze but a deep one, slicing through the flesh. Jacob didn’t know if anything internal had been hit, and that terrified him. For all he knew, her ribs had been broken. Rob had called ahead to have a doctor waiting for them at the resort. The hospital was too far away and a difficult distance to travel. It was just easier to get the doctor up the mountain than try to get Connie down it.

  Jacob was a mess, but he had still done his job. He had her ex and his mother arrested at their house in Boston for attempted murder and attempted insurance fraud, and they both were turning on the other, proclaiming their innocence in the whole scam. They wouldn’t be bothering Connie again, and she would finally have her divorce and freedom. He would see to it.

  He heard the door open and swirled around just as the doctor walked out with a smile.

  Rob and Nina were beside him, just as worried.

  “She’s going to be just fine. I bandaged her side, and it’s going to be tender for a few weeks. I gave her something for the pain. She’s asking for you, Sheriff.”

  Jacob didn’t answer but walked in to her bedroom to see Connie sitting up in the bed, pale and uncertain as their eyes met.

  “Hi,” she said softly.

  He couldn’t talk past the lump in his throat, but he smiled as he sat down beside her, trying to get the words out. Finally, he managed it, barely. “How are you feeling?” he asked harshly.

  “I’m alive
thanks to you.”

  They stared at each other, both uncertain of their next move, but the awkwardness was thick between them. Jacob didn’t know how to break the silence. He hadn’t been able to shatter her wall, and for all he knew, she would be leaving for her old job within the next few days. He didn’t know if he could take it.

  “Kiss me,” she said suddenly.

  His eyes widened, and his heart hit the walls of his chest in a fast hammering beat. He wasn’t going to question it. Fuck no. He leaned over and lowered his head, taking her mouth in a passionate kiss that illustrated his fear and desire, a mix of emotions that he hoped never to go through again.

  She opened her mouth, and he sank into the kiss, their tongues tangling and their hot breaths ragged in the silence of the room.

  Finally, unwillingly, he drew back, gazing down at her, his heart full and yet hurting. His time was running out and—

  “Nina asked me to move here, to be her accountant,” she whispered.

  This time, his heart seemed to stop as their gazes locked.

  “And?” he asked cautiously, afraid to hope, afraid to dream.

  “I want to accept her offer. I want to see where me and you go… if you still want me.”

  Jacob heard her words, heard the meaning, but…

  He closed his eyes and lowered his head again, this time laying it gently against her forehead.

  “I love you, Connie. I know we haven’t known each other long, but there it is. I love you, and I can’t imagine my life without you.”

  The whispered words mingled with their heavy breathing, and he raised his head again and saw his heart reflected back at him in the blue depths of her eyes.

  “Even though I may never be able to have a child, your child?”

  There it was. The pain and insecurity.

  “Yes. I love you. If we never have children, I will still love you,” he whispered harshly.