Chapter 26 #2
“Hush.” Glenn’s expression was contained fury. “Got any more of those warmer things, and we’ll be on our way?”
She nodded and began to dig into the backpack again to pull out one more.
The dog, Trapper, stared up at the woods, and the hair on his back lifted in a thin line. He pulled back his lips and bared his teeth, a growl emanating from deep inside his chest.
Shit. He’d sensed the others.
Fear slid through her guts like jellied eel.
“Who’s that? Who’s with you, you lying bitch? I’ll kill you!” Eastman grabbed the top of her jacket, pulling her over Summer, across the sled.
Anger surged.
Lying bitch?
She’d only just reached a place in her life where she thought she might actually have a chance to be happy, and here was another man who thought he could take that from her.
The sour breath and rage-filled eyes made her freeze as memories bombarded her.
Glenn’s left hand started to rise as she came back into herself.
“Let go of me, asshole.”
But he didn’t let go. She jerked her head back as the black barrel of his gun swung toward her. She chopped at his wrist to make him release it. She was in the crossfire, but Summer was lying down and probably safe.
He dropped the gun with a cry of pain, but his face twisted into vindictive hatred as his hand dug into his pocket. He yanked out a hand grenade and released the safety pin with his teeth, keeping the lever pressed down.
Her breath stopped. A litany of oaths blasted her ear along with the word “Grenade!”
It was all happening too fast, but inside her everything slowed to half speed.
“Take the shot,” she murmured. If they didn’t, she was dead anyway.
Glenn’s eyes were mere inches from her own, and she watched his pupils flare for a split-second before a bullet hit him in the head.
The sharp crack of the rifle reverberated in the air and Eastman toppled sideways.
Summer screamed, but Nora kept her eye on that grenade and dove over the sled.
Rolling as she picked it up before drawing back to launch it out onto the frozen lake in one fluid motion.
She threw herself on top of the child as carefully as she could as Sebastian swore and the explosive detonated.
Shit.
She straightened, uninjured, and for one glorious moment Nora thought it was all over.
Sebastian was talking on the comms, but she couldn’t hear properly because of the blood rushing through her ears in a roar that wouldn’t quit.
The little girl pulled off her mitts and clawed at the blanket. Nora realized with horror that she’d found the handgun her father had dropped.
Nora held up her hand. “Do not shoot. I repeat do not shoot.” She would not be responsible for the death of this innocent, no matter what. “Summer, I need you to listen to me.”
The tiny fingers looked obscene as they shakily held the weapon.
“How do you know my name?” The words were a hoarse whisper.
“We are here to help you.”
“You’re the bad people.” The gun wobbled. “Papa told me you were chasing us. You killed my Papa!”
“I’m really sorry about your papa, Summer, but he was going to shoot me.
” Nora took a step closer, staring into those terrified blue eyes that were wide and bloodshot.
“We’re not the bad people. We’re police officers.
” Not quite accurate but something the child would understand and hopefully trust. “We’re here to save you.
I promise. No one is going to harm you. We need to get you to safety and out of this cold. ”
Sebastian swore under his breath.
The dog barked and danced around Eastman’s body in confusion.
Summer went as if to sit up to look at her father.
“Hey.” Nora shook her head and took another half step forward. “Don’t look. That’s not a memory you need in your head, sweetheart.”
Those bright blue eyes were huge in her pallid face. Flecks of blood stood out against the white of her skin. The girl looked to be on the edge of death.
“I know you must love your papa, but we were worried about you. Very worried. And now we’re going to get you back to safety. Are you feeling a little warmer yet?”
Summer nodded uncertainly.
Was that a shiver working its way up to her jaw?
The kid looked so damned lost.
Nora knew how that felt. She crouched beside the sled and pushed the black barrel aside, holding the weapon down firmly against the blanket before cautiously slipping it from the child’s fingers.
“Shit. Fuck. Bollocks. I may have just pissed myself.” Ryan was as colorful as ever.
“I was too busy having a cardiac event.” Sebastian sounded strained. “I may need CPR.”
She gently patted the girl’s cheek. “We’re not going to hurt you, Summer, I promise. We’ve come to save you. I’m sorry about your Papa. He shouldn’t have brought you out here.”
The man had made the wrong choices, but she wasn’t about to add to Summer’s burden by bad mouthing the guy.
The little girl seemed to lose the last of her energy and slumped back against the sled. Her lip wobbled and tears flowed. “I want my Mommy.”
Nora’s heart shattered anew. Her own tears welled up but she forced them back. “Let’s get you warmed up and back to civilization ASAP.”
The next thing she knew, she was engulfed by strong arms. Then her head was pressed firmly against a strong shoulder as the scent of pine, cedar, and gun oil surrounded her. Someone retrieved the gun from her hand, and Cas checked Eastman’s body to confirm he was dead.
She could hear Ryan murmur soothingly to Summer, while he checked the sled for any other dangers.
Nora pulled back and stared up into a face that had become so dear to her.
Sebastian’s beard had grown in these past few days and roughly framed a worried gaze and a strained mouth.
It was his eyes that drew her in though, those dark depths that seemed to heat only for her.
She cleared her throat hyperaware of the situation and audience. “I better get my dog. We need to get Summer a medivac ASAP.”
Sebastian shook his head. “Weather has closed in. I’ll call it in, but I suspect everyone will have to spend the night in the cabin.”
“We need to hurry then.”
Sebastian nodded. Sadness touched the edges of his lips, and she knew it was because of her.
She took a step away because they needed to hurry.
She wanted to tell him what he meant to her, but what if this was one of those relationships that blazed under extreme circumstances and then fizzled out during the mundane moments that made a life?
What if he only thought he loved her but next week changed his mind?
Was she even capable of committing fully to an enduring relationship? She’d always failed in the past, but it had never felt like this. Had never felt like a vital part of her soul.
She opened her mouth, but he touched her shoulder. Squeezed. “Hey, it’s okay. Go get your dog.”
She wanted to tell him how her heart beat frantically against her ribs whenever she caught him staring at her. How her thoughts were consumed by what each twitch of an eyebrow or turn of his mouth might mean.
But he turned away to get to work, and Summer’s sobs filled the air, and it was impossible not to be affected by the child’s grief.
She turned away, coming off the biggest adrenaline rush of her life and feeling as if she’d failed the last test.
Sebastian called Novak with the update. He’d never felt that kind of heart-squeezing terror before. Never in all his years in law enforcement. It must be like catching a thirty-foot wave on the first day of surf school and trying not to get crushed.
Far from his usual sniper cool, he’d been terrified as he’d looked down his scope, wanting to trust Nora’s abilities while knowing Eastman was about as stable as the half-century old dynamite the bastard had left for them back in the mine.
For the first time since he’d joined Gold Team, he’d doubted his own abilities, even doubted the weapon, which was like an extension of his own arm.
The stakes couldn’t have been higher. A child and the woman he loved had been at the mercy of a murderer, who’d dragged his kid on the run in conditions that could still kill them if they weren’t careful.
The selfish and egotistical motherfucker.
And then seeing Eastman pull that grenade, running every conceivable setup in his brain, and coming up with the exact same best-case scenario that Nora had, which could have seen her hit by his bullet or killed by the grenade—or both.
Then seeing Summer pick up that weapon with her tiny, delicate hands. Knowing Nora would never have forgiven him if he’d shot a kid—he’d have never forgiven himself, either.
But the thought of losing Nora? The thought of losing a fellow law enforcement officer on his watch? Both were too awful to contemplate, as had been the thought of shooting a child.
It had been an impossible choice. An impossible situation, but Nora had known what to do. She’d trusted him to be her backup, and he’d had to trust she could handle the situation.
Summer was traumatized, probably for life.
He might never recover himself if he were honest.
How often would that kid wake up screaming in the middle of the night?
But that was for later. For now, Summer was secure, as was Nora. And the fact Nora hadn’t told him she loved him back was okay.
He knew she had feelings for him. She was skittish and needed reassurance that this thing between them was real, but he’d never been so sure of anything in his entire life. He was willing to wait for as long as it took to win her over and hope he didn’t end up like poor, pathetic Max Pasdeckie.
He’d never looked at another human being and known he’d do anything to be with them and make them happy. If that made him a sap, so be it. Considering he’d just put a bullet in a man, he could live with being a sap.
He wished he felt more than a vague regret for killing Eastman, but there had been no other option, and the man had made his own choices. So different from Nora’s deep regret for the death of a predator who’d betrayed and abused her. It proved she was a better human than he’d ever be.