Love Inspired Suspense December 2013 Bundle: Christmas Cover-Up\Force of Nature\Yuletide Jeopardy\Wilderness Peril (12 page)

A car flashed past her then slowed. Her stomach clenched into a knot. She gripped the wheel tightly and kept her eyes on the guy. His brake lights winked at her just before she pulled up beside him.

She turned right on red. Cort's headlights disappeared for a brief moment, then were there again. Her phone rang. She glanced at the number on her caller ID. Jordan.

Katie grabbed the phone. “Hello.”

“Just checking on you.”

“I'm fine.”

“Where are you?”

“Holcombe Street. I'll be there in about ten minutes.”

“All right. Cort still behind you?”

She checked the mirror. Bright lights behind her about two car lengths back. “Right behind me.”

“Be careful, Katie.”

“I am. I'm going to check in with Gregory and get the latest on Mr. Young. I'll see you in a bit.”

He hung up and she bit her lip. Her heart was doing things it shouldn't be doing. Not for him. Jordan Gray was off-limits, but she couldn't seem to keep her distance. He was exactly the kind of man she wanted. And his parents would probably never be able to accept her.

And that was a big enough obstacle for her to put the brakes on her emotions. Shut them up tight and throw away the key.

Or at least try.

* * *

Jordan's phone rang. Cort. “What's up?”

“I lost her.”

“What? I just talked to her. She said you were right behind her.”

“I got cut off when she turned right on Holcombe. Some dude cut in front of me. By the time I got around him, she was gone. Which route would she take, left or right at Henry?”

Jordan thought but didn't know. “I have no idea which way she'd go. Let me call her and ask her where she is.”

He hung up and punched in Katie's number.

Then groaned when it went to voice mail.

TEN

K
atie ignored Jordan beeping in as she talked with her roommate on the phone.

“Unfortunately, I don't have a lot to tell you on Mr. Young. He had no defensive wounds, so he trusted whoever he let in his house. And that person took him by surprise and shot him execution style. He was killed sitting in his chair,” Mariah told her.

“Yes, I knew that. Do you have a time of death?”

“You said the house was cold when you entered due to the open doors, and that messes up my timeline. As best I can determine, he died the day of the wreck, but I can't be a hundred percent sure. The shooting at the diner happened at one-oh-four p.m. He was at the hospital for a good wait.”

“His neighbor saw him come home with his son. That was around five-thirty p.m.”

“As far as I can tell, he was killed shortly after that.”

“The killer was waiting for him,” she whispered. “But how did he get his information? How would the killer have known who it was?”

“Maybe he got the license plate and got someone to figure it out.”

“Or maybe when he raced off and lost the police chasing him, he circled back and watched everything.”

“And followed the man to the hospital.”

“And then home.”

“It could've happened that way.”

“Maybe.” Katie heard her phone beep again. “I've got to go. Thanks.”

“See ya.”

She glanced at the screen of her phone. Jordan. She'd missed him again. She smiled. It felt rather nice to have someone worry about her.

Then she frowned. She just wished he didn't have a reason to. She'd call him back as soon as she got on the straight road. He could wait sixty seconds.

Katie turned off the main highway and took the road that would lead her to Erica's home. Erica and Max had bought the property three months ago, shortly after they'd found Molly and brought her home. Max and Erica's wedding was in a few weeks, and Katie couldn't be happier for her friends.

Max had decided to give his house to his sister, Lydia, whom he'd bought it for, anyway. Katie knew he was anxious for the wedding so he could move into the new place and he, Erica and Molly could be a family at last. She started to dial Jordan's number when she noticed the lights behind her.

Cort seemed to be following a little too close. She tapped her brakes. The road was getting slick, and he needed to back off a little.

Cars passed her on the left going in the opposite direction. Streetlights were sparse and the darkness pressed in on her. She shivered and sent up a prayer for safety.

Cort backed off for a few minutes, then he was right back on her tail. What was he doing? Was he trying to get her attention?

She cleared the screen of Jordan's number and started to punch in Cort's when the device rang. Jordan. “Hello.”

“Katie, Cort got cut off and lost you. Do you have anyone behind you?”

A frisson of fear shot up her spine. Along with a surge of anger. “Yes, and he's riding my bumper.”

“Tell me where you are and I'll call for backup.”

“I'm on—”

The car slammed into her bumper and she lost her grip on the phone. It flew to the floorboard. “I'm on Sunset!” She prayed the phone was still on. She didn't dare lean over to retrieve it.

Katie tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she glanced in her rearview mirror and tried to get a look at the face of the person following her. This was not happening again. Hadn't her attacker learned his lesson the first time?

Apparently not.

Under one of the few street lamps, she caught a glimpse of the car. A late-model silver Mustang. It hung back and she slowed.

The Mustang slowed more.

Katie kept her foot on the brake and with her right hand made sure she could reach her weapon easily. She didn't want to remove it from the back of her waistband lest it end up like her phone.

She slowed until she was going twenty miles per hour. The Mustang stayed back. Then shot forward. Katie pressed the gas and the Mustang fell behind.

“Why are you playing with me? Who are you?” she whispered to the image in her mirror. Headlights approached and the car zipped past on her left. Still she kept her eyes on the Mustang.

Icy patches had formed on the road. With the additional rain and now below-freezing temperatures, the roads could be dangerous. She'd worked in this kind of weather for years and driving in it had ceased to bother her. Crime didn't care what the weather was like, and she'd had to learn fast how to drive on the slick roads. However, she'd never had someone trying to kill her while she navigated them.

Katie sped up again, praying she wouldn't hit a sheet of black ice.

The Mustang stayed right with her. Close enough not to lose her and far enough back not to be identified. Not that she would be able to see anything in this darkness.

She shivered as the cool evening air blew through her cracked window. She couldn't afford for the windows to fog up, so she'd lowered it slightly. December in the South. One year it would be in the eighties, the next, freezing. Apparently this was the year for the cold. She loved it.

What she didn't love was someone following her. Being a potential threat. The headlights fell farther and farther behind. Had he given up?

Keeping her eyes on the rearview mirror, she took the turn that would take her to Erica's house. Trees bordered her right and lined her left. Pastureland stretched behind a white picket fence.

Secluded. Peaceful. Serene.

Longing filled her. What would it be like to find that one person she would feel comfortable enough with to share her life?

Jordan immediately popped into the forefront of her mind. Handsome, strong, quiet. Mysterious. A man with a past. A man that made her blood hum a little faster, and her heart twist with something she refused to acknowledge. Her jaw firmed.
Stop thinking those kinds of thoughts. That's not your life.

She obeyed the mental order and pondered the strangeness of the Mustang, watching for it, wondering if she should turn around and go after it. She thought about stopping and retrieving her cell phone, but that would leave her vulnerable should her attacker still be back there.

Which he was.

Headlights zoomed up behind her. She pressed the gas pedal. And still they came closer. Katie took a deep breath, pictured the twists and curves to the road ahead of her. She came up with a plan just as the car behind her rammed into her once again.

She jerked into the seat belt, tightened her fingers around the wheel and brought forth all of the defensive driving techniques she'd ever learned.

Katie slammed on the brakes and spun the wheel to the left. The vehicle came at her again and this time caught her on the driver's side. She kept control, stayed on the road.

Until she hit the patch of black ice that sent her spinning, crashing toward the trees lining the side of the road. The seat belt tightened; her head hit the window. Her car bounced off the first tree, careened into the second and came to a stop, nose down, against the third.

Blackness threatened, her head throbbed. Nausea churned.

Don't pass out, don't pass out.

Katie took a deep breath, fought off the dizziness and encroaching darkness.

Get out of the car. Now. Now.

Night had fallen. A light drizzle dampened her broken windshield. Katie unhooked the seat belt and caught herself on the steering wheel. She pushed against the driver's door with no results.

Stuck. She'd have to get out the passenger side.

With effort, ignoring the throbbing in her head and the nausea churning in her gut, she released the seat belt. She gave a quick glance in the rearview mirror. Saw the headlights at the top of the gently sloping hill.

A shadow outlined by the lights.

A shadow headed her way.

* * *

Jordan paced the length of Erica's den. “Where is she? She was getting ready to tell me where she was and I got cut off. Why isn't she answering her phone?” Max came in and Jordan filled him in. “I'm going to look for her.”

“I'll go with you.”

Jordan slipped into his jacket and followed Max out the door into the frigid, wet weather. The foreboding in his gut bothered him and he offered up a short prayer for Katie's safety.

ELEVEN

W
ith a grunt, Katie shifted. Ignoring her shoulder's screaming protests, she'd managed to crawl over the armrest into the passenger seat and shove open the door. Her cell phone. Where was it? She turned back to the car and searched the passenger-side floorboard. Nothing. She glanced up. The shadow had disappeared. Her eyes darted from one side of the car to the other. Through the windows and behind her.

Where had he gone?

Leaves crunched, and she froze. Looking up, through the driver's window, she could see his head and shoulders, moving closer, slowly, as though he was hesitant to approach the car but compelled to do so.

Katie's stomach lurched and she swallowed hard. The throbbing in her head didn't help the nausea churning her gut. And it felt like the seat belt had left a permanent bruise across her left shoulder, exacerbating the already sore area. Absently, she wondered if she'd pulled her stitches loose. She rolled out of the car onto the frozen ground and bit her lip as pain raced through her.

The cold felt good at first, reviving her a bit, clearing her mind. Then the rain came harder, slithering under her collar, leaving a freezing streak down her back.

Cold seeped through her coat and into her bones.

Her teeth began to chatter as shivers wracked her. She kept an eye on the figure, listened to his footsteps as he crept closer. She wrapped stiff fingers around her weapon and then released it. She wasn't sure she'd be able to pull the trigger. And didn't want to. Yet. Not until she knew who the man was.

She slipped her right hand into her left armpit, desperate to warm her fingers. Shudders racked her. Shock, cold, adrenaline and fear. A combination that sent her body into a tailspin. Trying to control her shakes, she took another look through the window.

The man coming toward the vehicle was not her friend. He was not here to help her. She knew he was the reason her car now kissed the tree. Katie inched her way toward a large tree trunk.

If she hadn't been wounded and nearly frozen stiff, she would have been tempted to pull her weapon and confront him once her fingers warmed up. But right now she felt like fleeing and hiding were her best options.

Decision made, she scooted faster toward the tree. She worried the headlights would illuminate her like they did the man coming after her if she stood. Through the passenger window, she could see the shadow's head and shoulders. Familiarity tugged at her. There was something about his silhouette, like she should know him....

Ribs protesting, head throbbing, shoulder hollering, she kept her lips clamped against any escaping sound. The pain raged through her, but she figured pain was better than death.

And she had no doubt the man who'd run her off the road didn't plan to leave her alive. He was taking his time to investigate the car. Taking the time to make sure she was dead.

She reached the tree and shifted herself behind it. A curse reached her ears, and she clenched her teeth together to keep them from chattering. He'd just realized she wasn't in the car. Shivers racked her. Shock and cold. A deadly combination. But she'd be all right as long as she stayed conscious.

Katie peeked around the tree. Her attacker stood still, his head swiveling from side to side, as though undecided which way to search first. A hard fist slammed against the roof of the car and she flinched.

“Where are you? You're dead, Katie. It's time to give it up. Show yourself and I'll make it quick.” The harsh, guttural growl sparked more fear in her belly as reality and disbelief hit her. Having her house burn down around her had been horrifying and scary, but to have him come after her face-to-face with the full intent to kill her without hesitation...

That was just plain terrifying.

* * *

Jordan peered into the darkness, his head aching with the strain of trying to see. “You're sure this is the route she would take to get to your house?”

Max said, “It's the only route.”

Jordan supposed that was good. “What if she wasn't headed over to your house? What if she changed her mind? What if—” He clamped his mouth shut. No sense in what-ifs.

Max said, “It's possible, but I don't know what else to do except—”

“There. Headlights.”

“Yeah. Pointed into the woods.”

Max accelerated and flashed his lights at the vehicle. A figure darted through the beams and jumped into the car. Tires spun on the slick asphalt, but caught and sped away. Soon the vehicle's taillights disappeared from sight. “I don't like that,” Jordan muttered.

“What kind of car, could you tell?”

“No, it's too dark. This road needs some street lamps.”

“Let's check out what that guy was in such a hurry to get away from.” Max pulled near to where the other car had been parked and pointed his lights into the wooded area. “This is only about a mile from my house. I've got a flashlight in the glove compartment.”

Jordan had the flashlight and his door open before Max put the car in park. His feet hit the asphalt as a car approached, then slowed and pulled to the side. Jordan and Max exchanged glances. Jordan got a good look at the vehicle. “Cort,” he told Max.

Cort burst from the car, eyes frantic and furious. “Where is she?”

“That's what we're trying to figure out.” Jordan swung the high-powered beam around. “Look at that tree.” He pointed to a tree with limbs and bark torn off. “Something hit it pretty hard.” He started down the hill. “Katie? Katie, are you down there?”

He waved the light and noticed a rough path that had been cut by something heavy. The rain picked up speed, and the cold seeped through his heavy coat. He ignored it, his only concern for Katie.

“Katie?” Max added his voice from the top of the hill. No response. He called, “I'm going to call Gregory and see if he's had any luck.”

Jordan moved farther down the hill and his light bounced off metal. “Get down here, Max, Cort. I found her car.”

Within seconds, they stood beside him. Max held a second flashlight in his left hand. They made their way to the vehicle. Jordan felt his heart shudder at the sight. “That doesn't look good.”

“Is she in there?”

Jordan flashed the beam on the interior. “No. But I see blood.”
Lord, let her be okay, please.
“Katie?”

A low groan reached his ears. He paused. “You hear that?”

“Yeah. Back there.” Max aimed his light toward the trees on the other side of the vehicle. Jordan stomped through the soggy leaves and underbrush toward a large tree. Another sound.

He rounded the tree. And there she was.

Pale as death.

* * *

Katie was cold. So cold. She'd never been so cold in her life. She groaned and reached for the blanket she kept at the end of her bed.

“Katie? Katie, wake up.”

She tried, she really did. Her eyes wouldn't open, but she felt the sensation of being lifted, cushioned. Movement. Jordan murmuring in her ear.

A prick in her left arm. Warmth. Finally warmth.

“Let's get her to the hospital.”

She tried again to open her eyes. This time she managed to pry her eyelids up to half-mast. What had happened?

Memories rushed at her. The man in the Mustang. He'd run her off the road. Or had it been him?

She noted she was in an ambulance. A paramedic hovered over her. “Katie? You with me?”

“Yeah,” she croaked.

Relief relaxed the man's features a fraction. Slowly her muscles lost their rigid tenseness. A blood pressure cuff on her left arm tightened and released. Her nose itched. Heavy blankets weighted her down.

And everything hurt. She gasped.

A warm hand covered hers. She slid her eyes to the right. Jordan. “Hey, what are you doing here?” she whispered.

“Thought I'd come along for the ride.” The concern in his eyes stirred something within her. She tried to scowl but couldn't stop her heart from doing that little fluttering thing it did every time she thought about the man. Or heard his name. Or smelled his cologne. It was downright annoying. She did not want to be attracted to him. It would only lead to a broken heart.

But she was. And had been since she'd started to really get to know him almost six weeks ago. And now, with his gentle hold on her hand, she felt her heart slipping even further down the slippery slope she'd put it out on.

“Car. Ran me off the road.” It was almost too much of an effort to talk. Now that she was warming up, sleepiness invaded her body. Not the sleepiness like the cold where she knew if she went to sleep, she might not wake up. This was different. Comfortable. Welcoming. She drifted.

Jordan's voice jerked her back. “I know. Max and I think we came up on the vehicle.”

“He got away.”

“Yes. He did.”

She sighed. And frowned. She needed to think, to figure out who wanted to see her dead. Why the man's shadow had seemed so familiar. Later. She was so tired. Her eyes drooped.

Katie woke with a start. Her eyes popped open and awareness hit her hard—along with a headache. She ignored the pain and forced her brain to cooperate. Someone had tried to kill her. Again. Jordan had ridden over in the ambulance and she was in the hospital. Again. This really was getting to be a really bad habit.

And Jordan was now sitting in the chair next to her bed. Snoring softly.

Her heart stirred with an emotion she wasn't sure she could identify, but she found herself blinking back tears. She sighed. Just because he was good-looking and intense didn't mean she had to act like she'd never seen a good-looking and intense man before. She needed to stop thinking about her attraction and worry about who was out to kill her.

She blinked and licked her lips. Dry. She spotted the cup of water with the straw on the tray and tried to reach for it. Sore muscles protested and she couldn't hold back a gasping whimper as pain rippled through her.

Jordan stirred, lifted his head and leaned forward. “Hey, welcome back.”

Her heart ignored her lecture of only seconds ago and fluttered at his sleepy concern. “What are you doing here?” He handed her the cup and she took a sip of the cool water.

He smiled. “You already asked me that question.” Had she? Oh. Right. In the ambulance. He reached for her hand and squeezed her fingers. “You scared us all to death.”

She grunted. “Sorry. Scared myself pretty bad, too. Where are Max and Erica?”

“Keeping all of your cop friends from invading your room and demanding a statement.”

She almost smiled but was afraid it would hurt. “And Gregory?”

“Pacing like a caged tiger while he tries to track down who ran you off the road. Last time I talked to him, he had a crime scene unit on the way and a wrecker to pull up your car.”

“It's raining—or at least it was. I'll be surprised if they're able to find anything.”

“They'll give it a try. I called your insurance company. I'll be surprised if they don't total the vehicle.”

“Lovely,” she murmured and grimaced at the thought of dealing with everything that awaited her when she was released from the hospital. Again.

A knock on the door interrupted them. Jordan stood and went to open it while Katie closed her eyes and wondered why Jordan was allowing himself to care when he knew as well as she did that they didn't have a chance of working out romantically. But he did care. She could see it in his eyes. More tears surfaced because she was going to have to put the brakes on her emotions, the feelings that were rapidly developing for this man.

Because she just wasn't up to a broken heart.