A Bridge Unbroken (A Miller's Creek Novel) (34 page)

"As far as I know Chance is okay. That's not why I'm here." His cheeks reddened, and he lowered his head. A sudden gust of winter wind tossed his dark curls. "I--uh--wanted to apologize for my behavior the night of the party. It's this weird habit I have of becoming slightly obnoxious when trying to impress a pretty woman."

Dakota smiled. "No need to apologize."

"Yes, there is. I was wrong. Please forgive me." His face held humility.

Her heart pinged at his plea for forgiveness. It hurt not to be forgiven, something she knew all too well. "No worries. It's over and done."

Relief blanketed his features. "Thank you so much."

"Would you--uh--like to come in?"

A smile blossomed on his face and revealed perfect teeth, brilliant white against his ruddy cheeks. "I'd love to." He stepped in the doorway as she moved back to let him enter. "Being the new guy in town has been kind of rough. And since I'm new to the job I don't have vacation time built up to go visit my family over the holidays."

"Where's your family from?" She moved to the living room and motioned for him to sit on the new-to-her chair she'd found at a thrift store in Morganville, while she took the couch. Daisy moved close to her side and plopped down to the floor, her head between her paws.

Jeremy eyed the dog. "East Coast. What about yours?"

Dakota shook her head. "No family." At least none that wanted anything to do with her.

"Sounds like we have a lot in common. Maybe we should make a holiday plans of our own."

She didn't respond, though his words held a certain appeal. Was there anything worse than being alone during the holidays?

Without warning, Jeremy sneezed, then sneezed again. He blinked rapidly, then released yet another sneeze.

"Bless you." Dakota passed him a box of tissues.

"Sorry about that. I'm allergic to dogs."

Her mouth fell open. "I'm so sorry. You should've said something." She stood, and Daisy did the same. "Let me take Daisy to her kennel."

He held up one hand and shook his head. "That's not necessary, but thanks anyway."

"It most certainly is. Besides, it won't hurt her to get some fresh air. I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, she re-entered the room.

Jeremy's eyes flitted to her momentarily and then returned to the thick crown molding she'd installed to accentuate the home's high ceilings. "Your home is beautiful."

"Thank you. If you could've seen it a few months ago, you wouldn't have thought so."

"Ah, so you're into renovation."

She laughed. "In some respects." A stray thought wiped the smile from her face. If only she could renovate her relationship with Chance.

"Would you mind giving me the grand tour? I'm a bit of a history buff, and I find places like this fascinating."

"Sure. I'd be honored."

Dakota showed him each room and discussed all that had been done to fix it up. Jeremy let her do most of the talking, but interjected comments or questions from time to time. Fifteen minutes later, they made their way downstairs, Dakota marveling at how comfortable she felt in his presence after such a short time, especially since their first encounter had been so strange.

Rather than the expected comment about time to leave, he moved toward the chair. A little odd, but maybe he was lonely. "Jeremy, would you like something to drink?"

"Sure. What do you have?"

"A few different kinds of coke--root beer, Big Red, and of course, Dr Pepper."

"I'll have a Dr Pepper, please."

She returned a short time later, two iced drinks in hand.

"So this place belonged to your grandparents, huh?" He took the drink she offered and sipped, his gaze on her over the top of the glass.

Melancholy squeezed her heart as she eyed the place she loved so much. "Yeah. I enjoyed spending time on the farm when my grandparents were alive. It's very special to me."

He cocked his head to one side. "You seem sad. Why?"

"I'm probably gonna have to sell the place soon."

Jeremy frowned. "Why?"

She shrugged. No way would she give him all the horrendous details. "Just time to move on."

"I was under the impression you moved back to Miller's Creek not too long ago."

"Yeah, but only to work on the house."

He peered at her with a sideways glance through narrowed eyes. "So you and Chance aren't an item anymore?"

"No." Nothing more to add. Just no.

He didn't speak for a long minute, and for the life of her, Dakota could think of nothing to say. She shifted in her seat, the air in the room growing thick, almost ominous.

Jeremy still said nothing, but just studied her, as though finding some weird enjoyment in her discomfort.

The hair on the back of her neck did that stand-on-end thing. What was with him anyway? "The weather was nice earlier in the month, wasn't it? It's just been in the last week or so that it's turned chilly." Her words seemed to bounce off him.

Still he said nothing.

Enough of whatever game it was he was playing. Dakota rose to her feet and moved toward the front door, praying he'd follow her cue. "Thanks so much for coming to visit, Jeremy. I hate to be a party pooper, but I have work to do."

He didn't move.

Now the hair on the back of her neck moved to full alert. Dakota frowned and cleared her throat.

With a creepy smile on his face, Jeremy stood and moved toward her.

Finally. Dakota released a quiet, but relieved breath. She reached for the doorknob, but his hand closed over hers and remained there.

Heart pounding furiously, her gaze jumped to his.

Gone was the earlier warmth, replaced now with a sadistic gleam. "You writing a new book, Amy? Or is it A.K. Aston?"

Sheer terror ripped through her insides, but she struggled to control it. Best not let him see her fear at this point.

"How'd you know?"

He studied her, like a scientist might study growth in a Petri dish. "You mask your fear right now, Dakota, but I promise that won't last."

Intimidation. She'd seen it enough in Kane to know the tactic. Dakota sent up rapid prayers to heaven for strength and wisdom.

"Impressive. I like a woman who can keep her wits about her in an impossible situation." He uncurled her fingers from the doorknob and locked the door.

Her heart zoomed to race car speed, her brain grasping for a solution to her predicament. She was here all alone, and he knew it. And with it being the weekend before Christmas, many had already left town to spend the holidays elsewhere. Who would remember her, especially now that everyone assumed she was safe, with Kane locked up? She swallowed involuntarily, a move not unnoticed under the careful scrutiny of Jeremy Gains.

"Ah, the facade slips with the realization of your predicament." His lips curled into a wicked grin. "I like that." He brought fingertips to stroke her cheek.

She pulled away from his caress.

His face hardened as he lowered his hand. "Pack anything you might want or need in that backpack of yours."

Time. She had to buy some time. "Where are we going?"

"Does it matter?"

"I have to know what to take."

He laughed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Quit stalling, but I do admire you for trying. You have five minutes. If you're not down here in that time...well, let's just say it won't be pleasant." His grip tightened.

Pain exploded in her shoulder and moved to her ribs beneath his eagle-like grip.

Just as quickly he released her, and she used her opposite hand to rub away the remnants of pain. "As you can see, I've mastered certain techniques in pain. Unless you want more--and worse--you'll do what you're told."

Thoughts racing, Dakota hurried upstairs, her eye on her wristwatch. Man, what she wouldn't give for her cell phone, but it lay on the coffee table downstairs. She had to do something in the off chance that someone came here looking for her. Dakota moved to her desk and scribbled a hasty note, then shrugged on her jacket and stuffed her laptop into the backpack. Time was ticking. What next?

Down the road, a truck engine sounded. She peered out the window to see Chance's pickup make the bend.

An electrical shock rampaged through her veins. Though relieved to see him, her fear escalated. Next to Jeremy Gains, Kane looked like Mother Theresa. Where Kane had been cruel, Gains was obviously both intelligent and cruel, a deadly combination. Chance would be in danger. Somehow she had to convince him to leave.

Backpack slung over one shoulder, she hurried down the hallway to the stairs. Below, she could hear Jeremy letting Chance in the front door with words of friendly greeting. Her gaze met Chance's as she descended the steps, and she forced the biggest smile she could muster. "Hi, Chance. Jeremy, honey, close that door before it gets cold in here." She gave a pretend shiver and dropped her backpack to the floor beside the coffee table.

Chance frowned and looked from her to Jeremy. Then his gaze landed on her backpack. "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah." Dakota kept her plastered-on smile carefully in place. "We're going to visit Jeremy's parents." She somehow found the strength to glance pseudo-lovingly at Gains, his eyes narrowed at her charade, before she turned back to Chance. "My first time to the East Coast." Dakota paused just long enough to hopefully sound convincing. "Did you need something, Chance?"

His gaze lowered to the floor, his forehead drawn up tight. "I--uh, just was--that is, I wanted to see how you were doing."

She used both index fingers to point to her smiling face. "I'm doing pretty well, wouldn't you say?" Time for the final blow.
Lord, let it work.
. Dakota ran to Jeremy's side and leaned against him with a one-armed hug. "And it's all 'cause of this sweet guy." She planted a kiss on the cheek of her deadly enemy.

Face still creased in a frown, Chance didn't speak or move. His gaze flitted from her to Jeremy as though trying to make sense of everything.

Jeremy moved toward the front door with a cynical laugh. "Nice try, Amy, but I don't think your attempt to save Chance's life is working well, do you? He's obviously not buying it."

Dakota exchanged a hurried glance with Chance and at the same time grabbed her cell phone and tucked it in the pocket of her jacket.

Gains locked the door, including the deadbolt, and then reached for the shotgun, which sat in a nearby corner.

"Sorry to have to do this." He leveled the gun at Chance. In what seemed like slow motion, his finger tightened on the trigger.

Fireworks exploded inside her. "No!" Dakota rushed toward Jeremy while Chance dove for his knees.

The gun exploded and tore a gaping hole in the wall where Chance had stood just a minute earlier. Jeremy slung her to the floor, and in one swift move, brought the butt of the rifle down against the side of Chance's head with a sickening crunch.

Chance slumped to the floor in a lifeless heap.

"Chance!" Dakota screamed his name and crawled to where he lay, cradling his head in her lap. Blood oozed from the scarred side of his face. The steel plate in his head. Had Jeremy done more damage than even he realized?

The monster knelt beside her and checked the wound. "Hmm. Too soon to tell. I was hoping to get past that steel plate in his head."

A gasp fell from her open mouth.

"What?" He released a soft laugh. "Surprised that I know that about him? Hospital records, my dear. They're all on the internet and easy enough to access if you know computers."

Her mouth went dry, as sudden understanding trickled through her. "You're the one who hacked my bank account."

"Of course. And your book payments and your credit card. I do it all the time. How else can I afford to live the way I do?" Jeremy once more raised the back of his fingers to caress her cheek. "It's how I found you." He rose and yanked her to her feet as Chance's head slid to the floor. "Get your things. We're leaving."

She stiffened, the Irish blood inside her starting to boil.
Easy, Dakota. Bring it under control.

One of Jeremy's eyebrow raised ever so slightly. "Are you sure you want to fight me?" He gripped her chin so hard that her lips popped open, his face close to enough to feel his hot breath. "Tell you what, I'll make you a deal. Come with me without a fuss and I might let him live." The threatening words were edged with ice.

In a heartbeat, she knew her course. She moved to the coffee table, hoisted the backpack, and pushed her arms through the straps. "I'm ready when you are."

One corner of his mouth lifted in a sneer. "How touching. Maybe some day I'll teach you to love me that way." He latched onto her elbow and yanked her through the open door and down the steps.

Never!
Every fiber of her being screamed the word in unison. Never would she love any man the way she loved Chance.

Chapter Thirty-Two

C
hance groaned, rolled to one side, and used his arms to push himself to a sitting position. His head throbbed. Where was he? He gazed around the empty room of the farmhouse, his memory slowly returning. Dakota!