Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles) (29 page)

research over the last two years since she’d been on her own, and she thought the most logical, safe move

was to leave the country. She just needed to decide where.

She turned onto Pine Tree Circle and everything seemed calm. She scanned the area. There was nothing

out of place. No strange cars.

She sped quickly up her driveway, threw the car in park, and ran to the door. She could hear Shadow

barking from next door. He had begun doing that every time she came home because he wanted to come

next door and see her.

Ignoring his barks, she unlocked her front door and rushed into her house, trying to think where Eric

would have put a bag. She checked the front closet. Nothing. The hall closet. Nothing.

As she stepped into the bedroom, she screamed when she saw that her window was broken and glass

was everywhere.

Turning to run, she felt arms come around her and drag her backwards.

No!

She screamed. She kicked. She would
not
go down without a fight!

Suddenly, she felt something covering her mouth, filling her nostrils with a rancid odor. She shook her

head violently, trying to escape the foul-smelling cloth, but soon felt the fight draining out of her. Her

movements became slower, and she sensed herself being lowered to the floor.

She felt hot breath on her neck and heard a low chuckle in her ear. Revulsion roared through her, but

she couldn't summon the will to do anything about it.

“Hello, Karla.” She heard the oily, smooth voice from the phone whisper in her ear. “I've been waiting a

long time for this. You and me? Oh, yeah. We're gonna have some fun.”

And that, mercifully, was the last thing she was aware of before everything went black.

---~---

Eric turned on his sirens as he raced to the Community Center. He knew Lily was teaching a class there.

He’d kept trying her phone but she wasn’t picking up.

He’d told Jill to call the US Marshal’s office and tell them that Rico Giordano’s son was here and that

Eric believed it was because he was coming after Karla Perez aka Lily Sotelo.

Eric screeched up to the front of the Community Center and looked for Lily’s Jeep but didn’t see it. He

ran into the building almost, blowing right past Karina’s security. “Smith, is Lily here?”

“No, sir. She left about thirty minutes ago. Said she wasn’t feeling well.”

Shit
!

Eric turned and felt like he was moving through quicksand as he ran back to his SUV. Everything

seemed like it was going in slow motion.

Speeding out of the parking lot, he called in an APB for both Lily’s and Rizzo’s cars.

This couldn’t be happening! He couldn’t lose her! He had so much adrenaline racing through his body

that he felt like he was going to explode. He knew he had to keep himself together.

He had to find her. She had to be okay.

Pulling onto his street, he saw that Lily’s Jeep was haphazardly parked in her driveway with the driver’s

door open.

Pressing the clip on his shoulder, he called out, “This is Maguire. I need backup at 435 Pine Tree

Circle.”

Blood pounded in his head as he slammed on his brakes, jumping out of the car.

The only sound Eric heard was Shadow barking his head off from his own backyard. Moving up the

brick path of Lily’s house, gun drawn, he moved stealthily inside her wide-open front door.

Hearing movement in the back bedroom, he crept down the hall, keeping his back pressed firmly

against the wall. He paused outside the room, knowing that if he made a wrong move it could cost Lily her

life.

He couldn’t get a visual of the room. He tried to use the bathroom mirror’s reflection but it only showed

a small corner area.

He had no choice he had to go in blind.

Pushing the door open and stepping inside, he saw Rizzo straddling a broken window, trying to drag

Lily’s unconscious body out through it.

“Let her go,” Eric commanded, his gun trained on Rizzo’s head.

“Oh shit.” Rizzo’s eyes flew to Eric's as he pulled Lily up higher and put a gun to her head. “Move and

she dies.”

Eric didn’t have a clean shot. “Drop the weapon, Rizzo.”

Rizzo’s eyes were wild, and the hand he held the gun with shook. “I mean it! I’ve wanted to kill this bitch for ten years. I’ll do it! I’ll kill her.”

“Drop the gun, Rizzo.”

Eric knew backup was on the way. He just had to keep talking to him. Maybe if he moved to the side he

could get a clear shot. He took a small step to the left.

“Don’t come any closer or I’ll shoot.”

Eric saw Rizzo’s finger shake on the trigger with the barrel pressed up against Lily’s temple. He had to

get that gun away from him. One twitch and Lily would be gone.

Rage rioted through him. She was so close and yet he
still
couldn’t protect her.

Eric heard distant sounds of sirens, and he knew his backup was close. But would they get there in

time?

Rizzo’s eyes widened at the sound of sirens getting louder. “Fuck it! If I’m going to jail, I’m killing this bitch first.” His hand tilted up and Eric saw his index finger tighten.

“No!” Eric lunged forward just as Shadow jumped through the window, biting Rizzo’s wrist. A gun

shot rang out. Eric landed on top of Lily, covering her body.

Looking down at her, he did a quick scan and saw that she wasn’t bleeding. Then, lifting his head, he

saw no sign of Rizzo or Shadow. Pulling Lily against the wall, he crouched below the window, rising up

slowly, gun drawn.

As he stood, he saw Rizzo lying on the snow-covered ground with what appeared to be a gunshot

wound to the head and Shadow standing on his chest, growling. Officer Simms came through the bedroom

door just as Wilson and Myers came around the back of the house on opposite sides.

Eric kneeled down next to Lily, feeling for a pulse. After finding a faint pulse in her neck, he leaned

down closer so he could feel her breath on his face. Pulling her into his arms, he cradled her as he slumped back against the wall, her head resting on his shoulder.

“The ambulance is on its way, sir,” Simms said.

Eric held Lily in his arms as his chest rose and fell. He felt numb.

“What the hell happened?” Simms asked, looking around the room and then out the window.

Eric couldn’t speak. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He could only hold Lily against him, feeling

her breath against his neck.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Lily tried to swallow but it felt as if her mouth were full of cotton. Her eyes burned as she tried to open her heavy lids, but they wouldn’t budge. Her head felt like it was in a vice and someone was twisting the

handle, squeezing her pounding head tighter and tighter.

Something was definitely wrong.

Once again, she willed her eyes to open, this time achieving a small slit of vision. Everything was

blurry. She couldn’t really tell where she was. The walls were painted blue and a television was mounted in the corner. Looking down, she saw that she was in a bed. A hospital bed.

Summoning much more energy than it should take, she rolled her head to the side. She saw a blurry

patch of brown hair slumped over on the bed beside her. Eric. It was Eric beside her.

“Eric,” she tried to say, but she couldn’t seem to make a sound.

Trying to lift her hand to get his attention, she realized that she couldn’t do that either. She spread out her fingers and realized that Eric was holding her hand. So instead of trying to lift it, she just squeezed.

When nothing happened, she squeezed harder.

His head jerked up, and for a moment, he just stared at her. She wanted to ask him what was going on.

What had happened? Why she was lying in a hospital bed?

The questions were clear as day in her mind but she just couldn’t seem to get them to come out of her

mouth. Before she had a chance to work that issue out, Eric’s hands framed her face as he began kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her nose, her whole face.

He kept repeating, “You’re awake. Oh, thank God, you’re awake.”

She felt moisture on her face and she wondered if she was crying. She didn’t think she was but it was

hard to definitively say.

Then, as Eric pulled away slightly, just staring down at her, she realized that it was his eyes that were

watering. Not hers. She tried to reach up and wipe his face. He looked tortured, and it broke her heart

seeing him like that.

He grabbed her hand as soon as it came off the bed and pressed it to his mouth, closing his eyes.

She tried to speak, to comfort him, but her voice was not cooperating.

He opened his eyes as she struggled to talk and immediately grabbed a plastic cup that was sitting beside

them on a tray. He held the white straw that was sticking out of the top in his fingers, bringing it to her mouth.

Placing her lips around the plastic tube, she sucked and the water trailed down her throat. It stung like

bee stings as it went. She flinched but continued trying to drink. After several sips, the pain in her throat subsided.

She turned her head, indicating that she was done. He returned the cup to its place on the stand and sat

beside her on the chair, running his fingers through her hair as he asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Horrible,” she answered honestly, but she tried to bring her lips into a small smile so he wouldn't

worry.

“The doctors need to see you, and Agent Stone is waiting to talk to you.”

Agent Stone?

Memories rushed back to her like lightning bolts flashing in her head. The phone call. Trying to leave

town. Going back to her house. Being grabbed.

Her eyes darted from side to side, trying to search her memory for what happened after that. She didn’t

know. She tried to remember who’d grabbed her. She had no idea. She felt her heart begin to race as her

breathing sped up. She struggled to move.

“It’s okay, I’m here,” Eric soothed her, scooting closer to her bedside. “Everything’s okay.”

No! It’s not!

She needed to get out of here. What if he came back? She couldn’t put Eric in danger. She tried to sit

up. To get out of bed. Horror and confusion were sweeping through her body.

“Lily.” Eric’s commanding voice cut through her hysteria. “Lie still.”

“I don’t… I have to… What hap…” She could not seem to get out what she needed to say. But she had

to make him understand.

“Do you remember what happened?” he asked in a calm, authoritative tone, his eyes fixed on hers.

His crystal blue stare calmed her nerves, and her heartbeat began slowing down. What was the last thing

she remembered? “I went home and then someone grabbed me. I don’t know…”

She didn’t know what to say—or how much Eric knew. She was sure he would have a lot of questions

for her. He’d said Agent Stone was here. She wasn’t even sure if she should speak to him. What if he had

something to do with them finding her?

Not knowing any of those answers, with fear and uncertainty overwhelming her, she was amazed that

just Eric’s touch, gaze, and voice could calm her down as much as they were.

“The man who was in your house was Giovanni Rizzo, Rico Giordano’s son.”

Her eyes widened.
Okay, so Eric knew a lot!

“How do you…know…or…find out…” she stammered.

He let out a breath of air. “Judge Pattinson ordered a background check on you when the one Lauren

ran only went back two years. When my department came back with basically the same information, I

called a buddy of mine in the FBI and he got back to me yesterday with a full report. Your birth name,

childhood, AKAs, the trial, WITSEC. All of it.

“I was looking over the file, saw Giordano’s arrest photo, and realized I had pulled over someone who

could have been him at twenty. I pulled up the information from the license and then used that to get his

birth certificate on file with the DMV. It listed Giordano as Rizzo's birth father.

“That’s when I went to look for you at the Community Center but you’d left. So I checked your house.

Your Jeep was outside. By the time I got to you, you were unconscious and Rizzo was trying to drag you

out of the window. They found his car parked in the woods behind the house. It was clear from what they

found inside that he planned on kidnapping you.”

“You saved me?” Lily whispered with tears in her eyes.

Eric’s mouth turned up into a half-smile. “I would love to take all the credit but Shadow definitely came

through with an assist.”

Then Lily remembered hearing Shadow’s barks as she’d pulled up into her driveway. But he’d been in

the backyard. How had he gotten out?

As if reading her mind, Eric answered. “He hopped the fence. Somehow he managed to hop a ten-foot

fence. And it’s a good thing he did. He got there just in time and bit Rizzo’s hand, causing him to lose his grasp on you just as the gun fired.”

“Oh, my handsome boy!” Lily felt tears falling down her cheeks.

“Are you talking about me or him?” Eric teased, easing closer to her as he wiped the tears from her face.

“Both of you,” she smiled. Then her chest constricted as a horrible thought occurred to her. “Shadow?

Is he… Did he?”

“Shadow’s fine!” Eric quickly assured her. “He’s been at my parents' house, giving their corgis, Laverne

and Shirley, a run for their money.”

“And what about…”

“Rizzo’s dead. When his gun discharged, the bullet ricocheted off of a steel beam in the wall and hit him

in the head.”

Lily didn’t know how to feel about that. On one hand, she was glad he was no longer a threat, but on

the other hand, she hated to take pleasure in the death of anyone, no matter how evil they had been.