A Fresh Start for Two (18 page)

Jake ran toward the water, hoping to get a better glimpse of the boat or Julia. The trees and the houses blocked most of his view, but did get a quick look at the size of the boat.

He hadn’t thought he could hear a worse sound than Julia’s helpless screams, but then her voice cut off abruptly, as if she’d been silenced, and he realized he was wrong. Panting, he paused, trying to focus on anything but what might have just happened to Julia. Shit…now what? He couldn’t outrun a boat. Turning around, he headed straight for Lucia, hoping she had something for him—anything.

“Did you get anything on the boat?” He ushered her toward the front yard. By now, many of the other officers were rushing to assist him.

He spoke to his partner. “Call to the county sheriff, Bill. We need to get a boat on the water. Nye’s in a nineteen footer, white, heading south close to shore.” He turned to Lucia. “How many were with him?”

“He was alone,” she said through quick, panting breaths. “The boat’s name is The Good Life, and the first few numbers on the plate are 8423. I couldn’t read the letters. He has a gun.”

Jake radioed his information in to his sarge. “I had Bill call the county sheriff to get a boat on the water. Looking for The Good Life 8423, nineteen footer.”

His sarge added, “The guy in the car on East Lake Road owns 2846 West Lake Road cottage, and he admits to giving Nye the key. I’ll check the boat number. Take two units to the cottage with you, leave two at the Ramsays.”

Ryan got back into the squad car they’d driven to the house, and just before Jake joined him, he said to Lucia, “Get inside the house and stay there. Was anyone hurt by the bullet?”

“No, he shot at Maria, but he missed.” Her voice broke as she clutched her shirt in her hand.

“Make sure your sister is all right and I want everyone inside. Do not come out for any reason, okay? And call Julia’s mother to let her know what’s going on. Does Julia have her phone?”

“No, he made her leave it with me.” Tears flooded her cheek. “Find mi amiga, please, Jake.”

Ryan climbed behind the wheel and turned on his siren. “Where to?”

“2846 West Lake,” Jake said, “and please God, I hope we’re not too late.”

Another cruiser followed Ryan’s. “You want to go in with sirens on?”

“No, cut the siren when we get close. Let’s try for a few minutes of surprise. He’ll know soon enough if he’s back at the cottage. I just want a few minutes.”

Chapter Nineteen

Vincent cut the engine when he got close to the dock. Fortunately, no one was visible at either of the cottages next to his friend’s. Julia still hadn’t awakened. He tied the boat up, then crouched down next to her and lightly tapped her cheeks with the back of his hand.

“Julia, Julia. Come on. Wake up.” She was already developing a huge bruise near her eye and a goose egg on the left side of her head. Dried clumps of blood were stuck in her beautiful hair. “Julia, come on. Please? Wake up for me. I’m sorry I had to hit you.” He shook her shoulders, but she didn’t respond.

The sound of another boat nearby brought him back to reality, so he checked his surroundings to make sure they were still alone. There were too many people out on the lake. Unfortunately, he’d have to carry her inside, even though doing so might attract attention. He lifted her into his arms, swaying until his balance was steady, then stepped up onto the dock. Once he was steady, he headed toward the deck of the house. He’d left the door facing the lake open. He just had to climb the steps to the deck, and then head onto the porch and into the house.

Hell, but this wasn’t going to be easy. He started up the steps just as the sound of sirens registered down the road, though they were still a distance away. The steps were wide enough for two people to walk beside each other, with a railing on one side against the wild growth of weeds and underbrush. The steps ran all the way up to the road, with one landing at the top and one at about the halfway point, where the deck led to the porch.

Thankfully, the sirens stopped, so they weren’t headed this way. Just as he was about to reach the middle landing, a dog next door barked right behind him, scaring the hell out of him. His back swayed, but he could see only one more step separated him from the house. A loud noise caught his attention from the water and he jerked around, losing his sense of balance and his footing. Julia fell from his arms and catapulted back down the stairs, falling in a heap at the bottom. Even from where he was, he guessed her leg was broken. Her eyes flew open and she screamed in pain.

“Julia, Julia,” he ran to her side and bent down on one knee next to her. “I’m so sorry. That stupid dog startled me. Oh my God, you’re bleeding.” Blood pooled on the ground around her. He tried to touch her leg, but she screamed again. Shit, it was broken below the knee, so much so that there was a bump pressing against the skin, probably her bone. She bled just a bit from some scrapes there, but it wasn’t the main source of the puddle underneath her—there was a deep gash on the underside of her upper leg that was probably the cause of the problem.

But this wasn’t the time to stand around and allow in feelings of doubt. He ignored her screams and picked her up again with a newfound sense of purpose. He flew up the stairs and onto the deck before finally getting her inside the house. He settled her onto the leather couch just inside the door and covered her with a blanket, hoping she couldn’t see her injured leg.

Oh, how he had messed this one up. “Julia,” he fell to his knees next to her. “I’m sorry, but please stop screaming. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Her gaze finally connected with his and he saw the fear in her wide eyes. “No, don’t be afraid of me,” he said, desperate to make her understand. He cupped her cheek in his trembling hand. “Please. I messed up. My father’s right, I can’t do anything right.” But those words sent rage rushing through his system. He would disappoint his father again, after all.

Julia whimpered, “Please, Vincent. Just call an ambulance. The pain is so bad. My head hurts, and I can’t even begin to move my leg. I can’t tolerate it. Please help me.”

His hand caressed her face. “All I ever wanted to do was love you and have you in my house. But I wanted you to take care of me, too. And my father was so proud of me when I brought you home. Why did you have to ruin everything? Now what am I going to do?”

***

Julia knew she had to stay strong, but she could feel the blood leaking out of one of her wounds. The couch underneath her was sticky with it. “Vincent, get me a towel. I need to put pressure on my leg, or I might die soon. Please?”

She was surprised when he did as she asked. He got up and ran into the kitchen. She could hear the sounds of drawers opening and slamming shut until he found what he needed and returned to her side. He lifted the blanket. Julia glanced down and noticed her shorts were drenched with blood. He turned her leg and she screamed, the pain too horrendous to bear. Holding her head, she closed her eyes for a moment to ward off the nausea and the dizziness, but then opened them to search for the source of the heavy bleeding while Vincent held the blanket away from her.

“Here.” He placed the towel in her hand and held it against her upper thigh. “Press here. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen. Now I don’t know what to do. You aren’t even capable of walking out of here.” His tone changed from one of concern to one of anger.

Julie began to panic. What the hell was he going to do with her? She was helpless, completely helpless. She closed her eyes and pictured Jake’s face, telling her to trust him. Then Ryan’s face jumped in, telling her that they would follow her if it came to that. How she hoped he had meant it, and they needed to hurry. How much longer could she last?

Julia applied as much pressure as she could tolerate to her leg. Vincent got up and paced the house. After a moment, a loud voice interrupted his pacing. He stopped to peer out the window toward the lake. A sheriff’s boat sat in front of the house. “Vincent Nye, you’re under arrest for kidnapping. Please exit the house with your hands over your head.”

“Shit.” Vincent ran to the front window and looked up at West Lake Road.

“Vincent, please just let me go. I’m losing so much blood.” Her eyes fluttered shut, but she jerked them back open. She was getting tired, which she knew was a bad sign. She closed her eyes again, just for a second, and forced herself to open them again.

She could tell Vincent was losing all grasp on rationality. He was pacing like a caged animal. Whatever he had planned to do to her had completely changed now that her leg was injured. Her head hurt something wicked, and she could feel a large bump where he had struck her on the boat. One moment she had been screaming, and the next moment she had seen stars. The next thing she remembered was the sharp, gripping pain that had brought her back to her senses. She vaguely remembered bouncing on two steps before the torment descended. He must have dropped her the first time he tried to carry her up the stairs.

As she watched Vincent continue to pace, she prayed his solution wouldn’t be to shoot her.

Without intending to, she shut her eyes again.

“Julia!” Vincent shouted, shaking her, which sent a bolt of pain to both of her injuries. “Don’t fall asleep. I need you. Don’t you know I’ve always needed you? You can’t leave me. Keep your eyes open.”

“Vincent,
go
! Try to save yourself. I won’t say anything about what happened. I can’t testify against you—I was out for almost the entire time. Just leave me and run away.”

She tried so hard to keep her eyes open, but she just couldn’t. A cloud descended over her mind. “Just a few minutes. I’ll only sleep for a few minutes” She couldn’t even see where he had gone, so she closed her eyes.

Darkness was bliss indeed.

***

Jake and Ryan parked two doors down from the house.

“Ryan, you take this way with Wagner,” he said, pointing to the road in front of the cottage. “I want to come up from the lake. I’m heading down this set of stairs.” He pointed toward the cottage they were casing, which featured a staircase heading down to the lawn and the dock. In this portion of the lake, there were steep inclines from the road to the water, often with the rooftops of the cottage falling below the level of the road.

Jake crept down the stairs, gun in hand, praying he would get there in time.
Julia’s okay
, he assured himself.
She was just knocked out or tied up and gagged. He wouldn’t have killed her.

It felt like his heart stopped in his chest the moment he made his way down to the edge of the lake, but he forced himself to keep moving. The boat was there, tied to the dock of 2846, and it was The Good Life, but there was something else that was driving him crazy.

Blood. There was dark red liquid on the floor of the boat, but not much. At the base of the stairs, there was a concrete pad covered in blood. Julia’s blood. A sick feeling pooled in his belly, but he ignored it. He had to find her now. Sweat formed on his brow, and he could feel the hammering of his blood going through his vessels.

Hang on, Julia
. He climbed up the steps without making a sound. He was just about to make his move to the deck when the sheriff’s boat came along, demanding Nye’s surrender. Jumping out of view, he hid in the bushes. Nye peeked out the window before disappearing back into the house. He didn’t come back, so Jake continued to make his way toward the house.

The blood trail led up the stairs, across the deck and into the house, indicating that Nye had carried her up the stairs. She had to be inside, and based on the amount of blood he’d seen, she was probably lying flat on a couch, unconscious.
Fight, Julia, fight. Don’t give in.

He doubted Nye would be able to move her easily, which might ultimately be what saved her. Ryan appeared at the top of the staircase, and Jake motioned for him to come down. He didn’t want to wait—they needed to take him out soon, or Julia could die.

They just couldn’t wait.

He made it one more step before the door to the porch opened. Jake aimed his gun at Vincent Nye and kept it trained on him as he stepped out of the house, a bleeding, limp Julia slung over his shoulder, his gun aimed at Jake.

“I didn’t mean to hurt her. You have to take her. She’s dying.”

“Set her down in that chair, Nye—” he gestured to a white wicker chair on the porch, “—then continue to walk out onto the porch.”
Please, Julia, hang on.

Ryan reached him and stood by his side, and two other police officers moved toward them along the lake from the house next door. Four guns were aimed at Vincent Nye.

Nye’s face was covered with tears. “I really do love her. I just wanted to keep her for myself. It’s all your fault, Ramsay. If you hadn’t come along, this never would have happened.”

His movements were too erratic for anyone to take him out without risking injury to Julia. Nye turned just a touch, giving Jake a quick glimpse at Julia’s face. It was enough to tell him just how bad she was doing—pale, still bleeding, almost lifeless. He forced his eyes back to his target.

Nye swung his gun wildly as he moved over to the chair. He struggled to keep her over his shoulder without moving his gun off Jake. He leaned sideways and she slid into the chair. The fact that she didn’t stir set off alarm bells in Jake’s head.

“Drop your weapon!”

Nye jerked back into a standing position, his hand still holding Julia’s head, and put his finger on the trigger of his gun. “It’s your fault.” He fired, but the shot went wide.

Three guns fired at once and dropped him to the ground—a bullet to his heart, one to his firing arm, and one right between the eyes.

Jake returned his gun to the holster and ran onto the porch. He scooped Julia up in his arms and tore up the steps with her. Yeah, he knew he wasn’t supposed to move a person with severe injuries, but when someone was on the verge of bleeding out, time was of the essence.

He searched the area for an ambulance as soon as he reached the top of the steps, but there wasn’t one in sight. Ryan was right behind him. “Is she still alive?”

“Yeah, she’s breathing, shallow, but I can feel it against my neck.”

Ryan held up his hand, indicating he should stop. “Let me get the cruiser. We can’t wait for an ambulance.”

While he waited for Ryan, Jake looked down at Julia’s beaten face once more, and tears came to his eyes. Moments later, Ryan pulled up and another officer—a small part of Jake’s brain recognized it as his own partner, Bill—climbed out of the back seat. “The ambulance is ten minutes out, Ramsay. Your brother will get you there faster. She looks like she needs it.”

After helping position them in the back, Bill closed the door and said, “Move it, Ramsay. We’ll be pulling for you.” He slapped the palm of his hand on the roof of the car.

Siren wailing, Ryan sped toward Summerhill Hospital.

Jake got her settled as best he could, but the car jostled her injured leg and she didn’t flinch, not a good sign. Vivid memories of Ryan’s injury in Iraq found their way to the forefront of his mind, and Jake had to fight to maintain control. He placed his lips on her forehead. “Julia, come back to me,” he whispered. “I love you. I need you to know that in case… Please come back. We’ll have you in the hospital in a couple of minutes. I’m sorry I failed you.”

“You didn’t fail her,” Ryan barked from the front seat. “You’re saving her. You didn’t fail me or Dad either. Get that shit out of your head. If not for you, she’d still be with that psychopath. Maybe he would have beaten her until she was dead. You’re the one who knew he had the potential to turn unstable. You guessed he would be coming from the lake before any of us did. I never even thought of it. Because of your foresight, the entire department was at the ready. Who knew enough to call for the Sheriff to come in by boat?”