Witness Protection (6 page)

The voice outside was familiar. “I know him.”

“Is it one of Grimes’s men?”

“Y-y-yes.” Her throat tried to close from panic. She refused to buckle and let them freak her out.

“I’m here. Nothing’s going to hurt you this time.” He slipped on his T-shirt and work boots, the motion pulled taut skin over thick ridges of pure hard muscle. His movements were fluid, almost graceful, as he found his way back to her and wound their fingers together.

Boomer growled his low-belly growl again. The rapid-fire barks bubbled just below the surface.

Nick’s gaze moved from her dog to her. “You think he’ll keep calm?”

“As long as my hand is on his back, he knows not to bark.” At least she prayed he would. It had worked in training, but this was real-world. And nothing about this situation could be simulated in training mode. Besides, he wasn’t some German shepherd or pit bull ready to lock jaws on an intruder the second they showed their face. This was Boomer, her sweet dog who was meant to be her companion.

“Then keep it there.” Nick slid her boots on for her.

“It’s okay, boy.” She hated that her hand trembled on Boomer’s back. Hated how helpless she’d felt when they’d abducted her the first time.

Not again.

Not now.

Not like this.

She was stronger now.

Besides, she had two very important assets this time that she didn’t have the first go round...Boomer and Nick.

He released her other hand and moved stealthily along the windows, his weapon drawn, checking each one for sounds outside.

“I’m not sure how many others there are to contend with. We know there are at least two,” he whispered.

“How did they find us?”

“That’s the question of the day.”

These guys were good. They knew how to track the movements of a U.S. Marshal. That couldn’t be a good sign.

A foreboding feeling came over Sadie, eating away at her insides.

Grimes was important, smart...but this savvy?

He was also devious, and that scared her almost as much.

She watched as a shadow moved around the room. Thankfully, her eyes had adjusted to the dark a long time ago so she could see clearly.

A blast shattered the window near the bed, sending shards of glass splintering in all directions.

Chapter Six

The plywood door blasted open, smacking against the wall. An imposing man burst through. The tall, burly figure aimed a gun at Sadie.

Boomer fired rapid barks, holding his ground in a low stance between her and the intruder.

Sadie scanned the room for Nick, didn’t see him.

The crunch of glass breaking sounded from behind. She spun around. A male figure framed the window, sealing the other exit. He had streaks of blond in his long hair and the build of an athlete on steroids. There was no place to run or hide.

Boomer surged, his collar slipped through Sadie’s fingers. He lunged at the man coming from behind, startling him enough to back him off. The reprieve would be short-lived and Sadie knew it.

Nick lunged from a corner. He disarmed the burly man breeching the door. Burly head-butted Nick, causing him to spit blood. A savage look narrowed Nick’s dark eyes as he shoved Burly’s face against the wall and twisted his arm behind his back. “I’m Marshal Campbell. And you’re under arrest.”

Burly twisted free at the same time a shot fired from the window area.

Sadie’s heart lurched.

Had the bullet hit Boomer? Nick? Her?

Relief flooded her when she saw a red dot flowering on Burly’s shoulder. The bullet meant for Nick had been a few inches wide. Boomer launched another attack toward the window. Steroids ducked.

Nick’s gun lay on the floor in between her and Steroids. Could she dive for it in time before he popped up again and got off another round?

She tried to move but her limbs froze. Doubting herself for even a second gave Steroids the opportunity to fire another round. She resolved not to let that happen again. Her body had to move, fear or not.

The second bullet lodged in the bricks near Burly’s head. He grunted and dropped to his knees. If Steroids had a second longer to aim, Nick would be dead. He cuffed Burly’s hands behind his back.

In one swift motion, Nick dove and rolled, coming up with his gun and firing a round before Steroids could pull the trigger again. Nick’s body was a shield between Sadie and the gunman. Nick took aim. Steroids disappeared under the window frame. Nick fired a warning shot and then motioned for Sadie to run.

She bolted toward the door.

Burly had managed to maneuver his hands in front of his body. He grabbed her foot before she reached outside. She twirled and kicked, but his grip was too strong to break away from by herself.

Boomer’s shackles raised and he stalked toward Burly, barking wildly and focused on his target. He bit, clamping his jaws on Burly’s forearm.

He grunted. “Get that mutt off me or I’ll choke him.”

Sadie pivoted. Burly released her boot and clasped Boomer’s throat. His yelp cut through her.

Her shrill scream split the air.

She gripped the doorjamb with both hands and thrust her boot at Burly’s face. The pointed tip connected with his jaw. A satisfying crunch, then blood spurted from his mouth.

Pivoting right, she stomped her foot on his face, her heel connecting with his nose. More blood spouted.

He grunted, “You bitch!”

Dismissing the nausea and pounding in her temples—the mother of all headaches raging at her heels—she stomped her foot another time.

Burly groaned and loosened his grip enough for Boomer to escape.

Sadie hopped out of reach, glancing back in time to see Nick firing his weapon. No doubt he was trying to keep Steroids from shooting again while she got away. She hesitated on the steps but Nick was already behind her, urging her toward the woods.

She made kissing noises at Boomer and he broke into a run beside her. Thank God he listened. Thank God he wasn’t hurt. Thank God neither were they.

Running in boots cramped her feet and rubbed her blisters raw, but protected her legs from being cut by underbrush.

Boomer easily matched her stride, sticking beside her as Nick set a blistering pace.

They ran until her thighs burned and her lungs screamed for air.

Nick halted at the sound of crunching branches in front of them. He pressed his index fingers to his lips and scanned the woods. More broken stick noises came from behind. Rapidly. Push forward and they’d run into whoever was there. Going back wasn’t an option, either.

“What do we do?” Sadie whispered.

“Follow me. We’ll find a hiding spot and wait them out.” Nick led them across a shallow five-foot-wide creek.

The sun had gone down, and the moon lit the evening sky filled with a thousand stars. A chilling breeze blew. There’d been no time to put on more clothing and the cold pierced through her T-shirt. Her teeth chattered.

“Wish I’d had time to bring something to keep you warm. I didn’t have a chance to grab my jacket,” he whispered, leading them farther east.

The memory of his smell mixed with leather assaulted her senses.

Another noise sounded ahead. More tree branches crunching under the weight of someone or something sizable. More people?

Nick stopped, listened. He looked as though he needed a minute to get his bearings. “This way.”

She followed him as he zigzagged through the trees, branches slapping her in the face.

Faint voices grew louder. For all she knew they were running in circles. In the dark, it would be impossible for Nick to know which way they headed.

He stopped running and she took a moment to catch her breath.

The voices grew louder.

Nick searched around for something. But what? Where could they hide? At this rate, they might walk into a trap set by the men chasing them.

He stopped twenty feet away and waved her over.

“This ditch should hide us. Jump in,” he whispered.

Boomer led the way into the four-foot-by-five-foot hole. Sadie hopped down and crouched low.

Nick disappeared, returning a moment later dragging several large tree branches. He used them to cover the opening. “This should buy us some time.”

“Any chance you have matches or a lighter in that backpack to make a fire later?” Sadie gripped her cold knees, her chest heaving. She rubbed her hands together and blew on her fingers to bring the blood flow back. At this rate, she’d have frostbite before the sun came up again. Her eyes were adjusting to the blackness and she could see the outline of Nick’s face.

Boomer’s panting slowed as she stroked his back.

The only other sounds came from the men closing in on them and the insects surrounding them.

The sound of footsteps came closer.

The three of them stilled. Sadie kept her hand on Boomer’s back to calm him.

One of the men muttered a curse. “When I find that bitch who kicked me, I’ll kill her with my bare hands.”

Burly? Hadn’t he been shot? Must not have been enough of a wound to stop him. Should slow him down, though. Even if he found them, maybe she could outrun him?

Another man, most likely Steroids, made a shushing sound.

Their footsteps came closer.

Sadie’s pulse raced. She bit her lip to keep from panicking. If Boomer so much as growled, he’d give away their position.

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing her teeth to stop chattering and him to stay quiet. Her hand didn’t move from his back.

Nick’s hand closed on her shoulder, radiating warmth and confidence she didn’t own.

“Keep moving. They have to stop somewhere. When they do, we’ll get ’em,” Steroids said, disdain deepening his tone. He spit again. She presumed more blood.

A full minute of silence passed before Sadie exhaled the breath she’d been holding. Washed-out, weepy and running through a whole host of other emotions, she leaned back against the cold hard dirt, wishing for safety, a cup of hot tea and a warm bed.

“Here. Squeeze closer. You’ll lose all your heat through the ground.” He scooted behind her and pulled her onto his lap.

His powerful thighs pressed to the backs of hers, sending sensual shivers rippling through her. A powerful urge to melt into him and allow his body heat to keep her from freezing surged through her.

Or was it something more she craved?

His body pressed to hers reminded her just how long it had been since she’d been with a man. Arousal flushed her cheeks. She was relieved he couldn’t see her face. Her physical response couldn’t be any more inappropriate under the circumstances.

His arms encircled her waist. Impulses shot through her. She pressed her back against his virile, muscular chest and all she could hear was a whoosh sound in her ears.

Boomer put his head on her leg. “You’ve been a good boy today,” she said.

“He’s special.” Nick’s words came out low and thick.

Sadie tried to focus on Boomer to distract herself from the sexual current rippling up her arms, her neck. On Nick’s lap, she could feel his warm breath in her hair and it spread like wildfire down her back. Heat moved through her body, pooling between her thighs.

* * *

S
ADIE
SHIFTED
IN
Nick’s lap, her sweet bottom pressed against his crotch, and his tightly held control faltered. Why did he already have to remind himself this wasn’t the time for rogue hormones?

Hell. It was as if he didn’t already know that. He was a grown man, not a horny teenager who got an erection every time he was close enough to smell a girl’s perfume. Sadie’s hair hinted of flowers and citrus. He needed to ask Walter why he had flowery shampoo at his man retreat.

First, he needed to get a message to his buddy about the cabin.

Nick made a mental note to circle back to this subject when he had Sadie tucked away somewhere safe. He liked the idea of taking her to the ranch even more when he thought about how much reinforcement he’d have there. Between his siblings, someone could keep watch 24/7.

She shivered and he instinctively tightened his arms around her. He expected her to move away from him, but she didn’t. Instead, she burrowed her back deeper against him. He didn’t want to get inside his head about why that put a ridiculous smile on his face.

The last thing he wanted to think about was how two thin strips of cotton kept them from being skin-to-bare-naked-skin. At least her teeth had stopped chattering. He didn’t care whether or not he was warm. He’d survive a few nights of cold. She wouldn’t. Not in those cotton shorts he’d given her to sleep in.

He could see through the tops of the branches. The winds had picked up and the temperature had dropped a good ten degrees in the past fifteen minutes. The sky was blue-black. Exactly the way it looked when a cold front blew in.

They needed shelter and food. Neither of which were in his possession. Nor were the means to get any anytime soon.

Sadie shifted position, her curvy bottom grinding against him. He half expected her to push him away, but she didn’t. Instead, her hands squeezed in between his. Her fingers were near frozen. He rubbed his hands over hers, warming them.

“Thank you. That’s better already,” she whispered.

She wouldn’t thank him if she knew he mustered all the control he could to sit there with her and not slip his hands inside her shirt and caress those pert breasts the way his fingers itched to do. Needed to do? She wouldn’t thank him if she knew how unholy his thoughts were about those taut hips. And she sure as hell wouldn’t thank him if she knew how badly he wanted to spin her around in his lap and do things to her to remind her she was all woman and he was every bit a man.

He needed to redirect his thoughts. What other home projects needed addressing when he got back to the apartment? Wasn’t there a small leak under the kitchen sink that needed attending to when he’d been called away last-minute for duty?

He was sure there were about a dozen other projects around the house that needed fixing, as well. And yet, his thoughts kept wandering back to how good Sadie felt in his arms. How he’d remember the scent of her—citrus and cleanliness—that was all hers long after this assignment was over. Didn’t take a rocket scientist to see she affected him. He just hoped she wasn’t offended by the growing erection he couldn’t contain. She had to have felt it. Because blood pulsed south every time she moved, and so did his ability to think rationally.

He dismissed it as going too long without sex.

He’d fix that when this assignment was over. He’d have sex with the first beautiful and willing woman he could find. Hadn’t there been a few? No woman from his past could erase the naked image of Sadie from his mind; the one where her legs were wrapped around his waist and he was buried inside her.

“Better now?” he practically grunted.

“Much. I can feel my fingers again.”

The sweet purr in her voice had him wanting to stay exactly where he was. But he couldn’t be sure they’d be alone for much longer. He couldn’t risk sticking around. “We’d better head out. I slowed those two down, but there could be more.”

“One of them was bleeding. He was shot in the shoulder. Won’t he need to go to the hospital?”

“Depends on how deep the wound is and how prepared they are. His injury might slow him down or buy us a few hours. Unless they sent more than two men. We don’t know how big the team is. Either way, they located us at the cabin, and that’s bad. We’re on foot and it’s getting cold out. We have limited supplies. They’ll expect us to camp nearby, which is why we have to keep moving. I disabled GPS on our phones for obvious reasons, so we need to keep moving until I see something familiar. If I can give our location to someone back home, they’ll come pick us up.”

“Okay.”

She made a move to get up and it took a minute for him to send the message to his arms that he had to let go. She felt a little too right snuggled against his chest.

No woman, not since Rachael, had felt more right inside his arms.