Tidal Falls (Wounded Hearts Book 1) (24 page)
Read Tidal Falls (Wounded Hearts Book 1) Online
Authors: Jacquie Biggar
“Drop your weapons,” Tom snarled, “drop them now—or she’s dead.” He placed the barrel of his gun into her temple, causing a whimper of pain to escape.
The three
of them crouched there helpless, Nick’s leg laying awkwardly in front. Tom kicked their weapons out of reach before sidestepping them to reach the now empty doorway, which would have been covered if he had used his brains and waited the asshole out.
Jared and Frank, having taken care of business slid into the room
, and gauging the situation, froze.
“Well
, much as this has the makings of a great reunion, I think we’ll have to pass on our regrets and leave. After all, my
wife
and I have a lot of catching up to do, don’t we dear?” He leaned around far enough to grind his lips into the side of her exposed neck, laughing as hatred consumed Nick and he lunged forward, only to fall back into Adam’s arms as shots of fire rose up his body. A cold sweat broke out across his forehead and his vision tunneled until all he could see was Sara.
Staring into her beautiful face
, twisted now into one of loathing and fear, he could feel her desperation, and prayed she wouldn’t do anything to trigger the beast. A kaleidoscope of their time together raced through his mind even as he was working feverishly to find a way to stop Sheridan from getting out that door. Their first encounter, she’d looked so adorable standing up to him over that silly dog. Their first kiss where he had learned there were kisses, and then there was connecting on a level that he hadn’t even known existed. Holding her as she trusted him enough to confess her pain and confusion and cry out her absolution. The first time they made love, when he learned there was a very big difference between having sexual intercourse and becoming intimate with the right woman. The woman meant for him, the woman that meant everything to him.
Their eyes met, hers backlit by the streetlight outside, glowing with love and a thousand unsaid things
, and he couldn’t let her go out the door that way, without him ever saying those three all important words, “I love you.”
Her eyes widened and filled with tears, a look of such joy coming over her that his own throat closed a
nd his eyes became so misty he had to blink rapidly to keep her in focus. “I love you, Sara, forever and ever. We’re going to get out of this okay, be strong, baby, for Jessica and for me, we need you.”
“How touching,” Sarcasm dripped from the words. “T
oo bad she’s mine. Come on,
baby,
it’s time to move, we have a plane to catch.” He laughed at the surprise on the DEA agents faces, “did you really think you would catch me that easily? They need to teach you to think outside of the box. I had a feeling there would be a welcoming party at Sea-Tac, not to mention it might have raised a few eyebrows to see the lovely Ms. Radcliffe bound and gagged, even though it was for her own safety.” He glanced over his shoulder at Fiona, grinning mockingly. “I had my pilot land us at a nice and quiet, rustic little airfield, no questions asked. It’s called ingenuity, agents. I’d recommend it.”
“You won’
t get away with this. Our team is on the way, you have nowhere to go.” Maggie spoke quietly, evenly. “Why don’t you let her go and turn yourself in? It’ll go better for you. We can make a deal.”
Nick’s harsh denial,
“You’re freakin’ kidding me, right?” was almost drowned out by Tom’s bitter laughter.
“Of course she is
, Nickolaus. It’s her job to say things she doesn’t mean. As long as she gets her man, isn’t that right, O’Connor. Yes, I see you there, so the rumors were true. I thought I got rid of you ages ago. You’ve been a thorn in my side for more years than I can count, my boy.”
“Yeah, good to see you again too, you bastard.
Watch your back, ‘cause paybacks a bitch. I’m not stopping until you go down, one way or the other.” Adam growled from over Nick’s shoulder.
“Threats?
I expected higher of you. I should of known better. A man’s roots always shine through in the end, wouldn’t you agree, Nick?”
“Fucking rights
, they do. That’s how we always knew you were pond scum.”
“Tut, tut, you’re sounding a little bitter there
, my friend. Well, as much fun as this has been, we really need to be on our way. See you gentlemen on the other side.”
H
e gave Sara a rough shove through the doorway as sirens sounded down the block. The strobing of the blue and red lights lit the interior of the house and showed Grace as she rose from her spot on the floor, some kind of pipe in her hands lifted high over her head. Growls from outside coincided with Jared’s alarmed cry, “Mom!” and then pandemonium erupted as Sara took her chance, lifting her foot up and slamming it down on Sheridan’s instep, causing him to howl in pain, again jerking her off her feet by the neck. At the same moment, Grace’s rotund frame rushed forward and brought the pipe down hard on Tom’s back and shoulder, missing his head which surely would have killed him, but causing him to loosen his grip on Sara and fall hard on his right side.
Then Jake burst through the door, all fangs and slathering jowls, and locked his teeth around
Sheridan’s leg, shaking the bejesus out of it. Tom cowered away, face covered, crying and pleading for help. Frank and Maggie were on him, Frank pinning his legs with a flying tackle that caused the old floorboards to groan in protest. Maggie had his arms up and pulled tight behind his back as she used plasticuffs to restrain him and began to read him his rights.
Jared ran to his mother’s side where she had fallen to her knees from the force of the blow, gently prying the poker out of her hands before wrapp
ing his arms tightly around her. “That was the stupidest, craziest, bravest, fucking thing I’ve ever seen, don’t ever do that again. You scared ten fricken years off my life.”
“Don’t swear,” S
he wept from the vicinity of his armpit, the tension of the last hour catching up to her. “Nobody hurts my Sara Sunshine and gets away with it. I love you, son of mine.”
“It’s alright now
, Momma, it’s over. You rock by the way, and I love you too. After things settle down we need to talk.”
“Okay
, son.”
Sara
ran to where Nick had fallen, still cradled in his best friend’s arms and crumbled to the floor beside him. Her hands were shaking as she searched his body in the gloomy light, and he bit down on a groan when her fingers encountered a warm stickiness along his outer thigh. “Nick, oh my God, Nick, he shot you.”
He grunted from the pain as she n
eared the wound, then was shocked when she whipped her shirt up over her head and bundled it up to press it where she thought the injury was, cringing as he flinched away.
“I
t’s going to be okay. Help is on the way, hold on, baby, hold on,” she crooned, trying but not quite succeeding to control the quiver in her voice. Her free hand reaching brushed the hair back on his clammy forehead. Jake had curled up beside him, whining a little, sensing his pain.
He
rubbed his dog’s head and tried to reassure Sara, but his tongue was thick in his mouth, “Don’t worry, honey, it’s just a knick. I’ve had worse. I can’t believe you and Grace nailed him like that, you could have been hurt. I’m so effin proud of you, you did it. You’ll never have to worry about that jackass again, it’s over.”
He caught her hand in his, lowering it to his l
ips. “I was so freaking scared when I heard those gunshots, and then to see what he was doing to you…” He couldn’t control the shudder that swept over his body, “I felt so helpless.”
His moist gaze sought hers out,
“Promise me you’ll never take a crazy chance like that again. I can’t live without you, Sara. I love you more than I ever thought possible. I need you in my life or it wouldn’t be worth living. I never believed in love, never thought I would find someone that I couldn’t live without, until you. I can’t believe how much I love you.”
“Ah
, man, I love you too,” Adam’s deep voice coming from over Nick’s shoulder caused them both to start. They’d forgotten he was there. “Does this mean we’re getting married?” He grinned.
“Shut up
, Adam,” Nick said, his focus never wavering. “Well, you heard the man. Are we?”
There was only one answer she could give, “Hooyah.”
EPILOGUE
The next morning after everything quietened down and everyone had a chance to recoup, they all met up in the back booth at
Grace
and
Grits
to catch each other up.
Adam and Maggie had spent the rest of the night at the
Sheriff’s catching up on paperwork, making sure Sheridan and company had an uncomfortable night in lockup. They were both bleary-eyed but cautiously happy. “Sheridan isn’t talking—yet—but his two goons are spilling what they know. We hope to get enough from them to put the pressure on Sheridan. Either way with the papers in that file and what happened last night; he’s in a world of hurt.”
“Two? There were three others with Tom. Sam, Hit-man, and another guy, right
, Fiona?” Sara looked over at her friend, nestled in the corner between Frank and Jared, happy as a girl sporting a shiner could look with two hunks vying for her attention.
“Hmm?
Yeah, there was, two dark haired creeps, Tom, and his shadow.” The glance she shared with Sara was filled with remembered terror.
Maggie and Adam looked at each other,
“One got away then. We’re going to follow up. According to the last entry there’s a large shipment of methamphetamines expected soon along the Texas/Mexico border. We’ll be there, waiting.” Maggie was as determined as ever, arms crossed over her ample chest. Both Adam and Frank wore lovesick looks on their ugly mugs, and Nick hoped their friendship would not be tested because of a woman, no matter how beautiful.
H
e couldn’t believe Jake had managed to escape the house and show up just in time to help save the day. And Grace, he shook his head in bemusement, Jared came by it honestly. He tightened his hand engulfing Sara’s where it rested on the seat between them, his casted leg settled onto the chair across the way. He’d been lucky, the bullet had passed through the fleshy part of his thigh above the knee, a little lower and it would have shattered his kneecap. Sara had stayed with him the entire night, from the ambulance ride to the hospital, right up to the casting of his leg, and the overnight stay. He’d tried to talk her into going home, getting some rest, and she’d replied they had the rest of their life to rest. He liked that. The connection to her felt right. When she’d said yes last night to his lame-assed proposal all he could think was, thank God.
As soon as possible, he was going to talk to her about divorcing Sheridan, she had more than enough grounds, and then he was going to ask her properly to take a chance on him. Surprisingly
, rather than getting freaked out by the thought, he felt a calmness settle over him, a sense of completeness.
The bell above the door jingled
, and he looked up in time to see a little human tornado flying down the aisle towards them. He leaned back to let her at her mother, but instead she flew into his arms, her tiny ones wrapping tightly around his neck. “Nick. Oh, Nick. Annie told me you got hurt, are you gonna be ok? I’ll take care of you, don’t worry.”
Now he knew how the Grinch felt, he could swear his heart grew two sizes as he carefully hugged her back, tears springing unashamedly as h
e looked into Sara’s misty eyes.
H
e was home.
Fill Dutch oven with mixed bread cubes.
I save my crusts of white, brown and cinnamon raison and then rip them into bite size pieces.
Add a couple handfuls of raisi
ns for flavor.
In a separate large bowl, mix
6-8 large eggs
and approx.
4 cups of sugar
,
cinnamon
and shake of
salt
. Add can of
pumpkin puree
(not pie fill), mix. Slowly add
milk
until mixture is loose, approx. 1 litre.
Pour mix over bread and stir, should be soupy (not too loose though) Just so you see the liquid through the bread. If not, add a
couple more eggs and milk blended together to the mix.
When you have a nice consistency: sprinkle
brown sugar
,
cinnamon
and small dollops of
margarine
over the top.
Cook in pre-heated 350 oven for 1- 1.5 hours. Top will gain a nice crunchy golden look. Take a knife and spread the center apart to tell if done.
Drizzle some of your favorite caramel sundae sauce over the top and enjoy.
Note from the Author
Thank you for taking time to read Tidal Falls. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated.
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