Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Something was off.
Grant had stopped at the Eat Dessert First to grab something to bring home for the kids tonight. They’d both gotten great grades on their report cards, it was almost summer vacation time, and he wanted to do something to celebrate.
Then, as he’d been about to head inside, he’d noticed a woman in jeans and a bright pink sweater talking to a man in dark jeans and a black hoodie.
Their interaction looked tense, and he wondered if it was some sort of drug deal.
The guy could definitely be a dealer, and while the blonde looked too sweet and innocent to be caught buying drugs in a restaurant parking lot, if there was one thing he’d learned in his years as a cop, it was that looks could be deceiving.
Just because the blonde looked innocent didn't mean it was true.
When he saw the woman search in her purse and pull out money, he knew that something was indeed going on and realized buying treats for his kids was going to have to wait.
Today was his day off, but he was a cop, he always carried, and he wasn't going to walk away from a drug deal just because he wasn't supposed to be working today.
Only as he walked closer, he watched the man grab the woman as she tried to step away from him. The man yanked her up against his body, and while he couldn’t see what was happening from this angle, because now both their backs were to him, he’d seen the fear in the woman’s face.
Drug deal or mugging?
About to shout out an order for them to freeze, he could get them both in handcuffs and then sort out what was going on once backup arrived, he saw the glint of a knife catch in the sunlight, then press against the woman’s neck as they both started moving.
Kidnapping.
Picking up the pace, he darted around a couple of cars, hoping to come out in front of the pair, but they stopped in front of a Porsche, and the woman fumbled in her purse for keys.
Knowing this could go really bad, really quickly, Grant pulled out his cell phone, dialed 911, and then dropped his phone on the ground.
The open-ended call would have dispatch sending a patrol car to check things out, but while he waited for backup he was going to have to make his move.
“Going to need you to move the knife from the lady’s throat,” Grant announced, weapon held in steady hands as he moved in closer to where the man in the hoodie was trying to shove the woman in pink into the driver’s seat of her car.
Both of them startled, and when the woman’s light blue eyes met his, her mouth dropped open in shock, and his steady hands began to tremble.
Ashlyn Davidson.
No longer a redhead, the light blonde color suited her even better. She was paler than she’d been the night they spent together, and instead of happy with a hint of wistful jealousy, her eyes were now filled with pure, unbridled terror.
“Back up, this doesn’t concern you,” the man snarled, pressing the blade of his knife deep enough into Ashlyn’s neck to draw blood.
The sight of blood on her slender neck had protective rage bubbling up inside him.
He would have done everything within his power to save the woman, no matter who she was, even if she had just participated in a drug deal.
But now, knowing it was the woman he’d been unable to get out of his head for three very long months, there was not a chance in hell anything was going to stop him from saving her life.
“Actually, sir, it does. I'm Detective Bull, and I'm going to ask you again to remove the knife from the lady’s neck. Set it down on the ground, and get down on your knees, hands in the air.”
While he didn't expect the man to comply, he was going to give him a choice before he did something that couldn’t be taken back. Like blow the man’s head off for daring to lay a finger on Ashlyn.
Panic darted in the ice blue eyes that looked back at him, panic flared in Ashlyn’s baby blues as well, but along with that panic was a heavy dose of trust. Knowing that she trusted him to get her out of this alive, had his resolve hardening.
“Last warning, sir,” Grant said. Since Ashlyn was much shorter than her assailant, he had a clean shot at the man.
Killing him would get him a whole lot of paperwork and an investigation into the use of lethal force, but Grant found he didn't care in the least. So long as Ashlyn walked away today alive, nothing else mattered.
It was going to come to that, he could tell it was.
The man wasn't going to comply, he was going to do something stupid, something that would get Ashlyn killed.
Preparing himself to take the shot, he was unprepared for Ashlyn to suddenly ram her elbow back into the man’s ribs.
Her assailant grunted, but the knife dropped from her neck, and she was able to dart away from him, scrambling around her car, while Grant didn't hesitate to throw himself at the man, tackling him to the ground.
Despite his need to get to Ashlyn, confirm she was okay, not bleeding out, he didn't look for her until he’d slapped a pair of handcuffs on the man and kicked the knife well out of reach.
Only then did he look over his shoulder to find Ashlyn cowering against her car.
Dragging her into his arms was the most natural thing in the world. When her trembling body pressed closer against his, her fingers grabbing fistfuls of his T-shirt, he couldn’t help but feel it was fate that had led him here today.
Fate had brought him here to save the life of the woman he’d been obsessing about for months, and who was he to argue with fate?