Her Mistletoe Protector (14 page)

First, he needed to figure out which was the best direction to go. He waited for a long moment, listening to the sounds of the night. It was too cold for any insects, but at least the wind had died down.

As much as he wanted to use the car to escape, he couldn’t deny the possibility that the intruder had already found it and disabled it. At least, that’s what he would have done.

No, their best bet was to stay hidden in the woods for as long as possible. He didn’t dare use his cell phone yet, as the light from the screen would only broadcast their position to whoever was out there.

The closest grouping of evergreen trees was to the left in the nine-o’clock position, so he bent down to whisper in Rachel’s ear. “Follow me to the evergreens.”

He could feel her head nod, her hair brushing his face. Satisfied, he inched across the porch, praying the boards wouldn’t creak.

The trek to the group of evergreens seemed to take forever, but the moment they reached them, he felt himself relax. Thank goodness they were all wearing dark clothing, and, without the moon, he hoped their pale faces wouldn’t attract too much attention.

“Stay here, I’m going to take a look around,” he whispered again, right next to Rachel’s ear.

“No, wait,” she grabbed his arm in a tense grip. “I smell smoke.”

He paused and tried to estimate how long the scent of smoke would linger in the air after he’d put out the fire inside the cabin.

“There!” Rachel whispered urgently, pointing to an area behind the cabin.

He saw what had captured her attention. Orange flames flickering in the darkness.

Fire!

FOURTEEN

R
achel stared at the small flickering flames in horror. The kidnapper must have found them. Who else would do such a thing? She knew Nick thought Morales had been ordered to kill her and Joey, but they’d managed to get away. The kidnapper must have come back to finish the job. And what if she hadn’t woken up from the thunking noise? Would they have died inside the cabin? Had that been the kidnappers’ plan all along?

Cold fear slid down her spine.

Thank You, Lord, for saving us!

“I think the outhouse might be on fire,” Nick whispered. “And if that’s the case, I’m afraid the fire will spread to the cabin.” He paused, looking out over the trees. “Looks like the wind is blowing north. We’ll need to head south so that we’re heading in the opposite direction.”

“Okay.” She wasn’t about to argue. Joey’s hand was trembling inside of hers, from the cold or fear or both. She tightened her grip reassuringly, knowing she’d do whatever was necessary to keep him safe. “Lead the way.”

Nick stayed between the trees, moving slowly and silently away from the cabin. She did her best to follow in his footsteps, but it seemed like twigs snapped loudly beneath her feet and her clothing brushed and snagged against the tree branches with every step. The cold night air blew sharp against her face, but she knew the fire was the bigger threat compared to the stinging cold.

Although both could be deadly.

They hadn’t made it very far when a loud crack echoed through the night.

“Get down,” Nick urged.

Someone was shooting at them! She instinctively dropped low, ducking behind a tree while covering Joey’s body with hers, protecting him the best she could.

They waited motionless for what seemed like an hour but was likely only a few minutes. There was no further gunfire and she wasn’t sure if that was good news or bad.

Was the kidnapper tracking them through the woods right now?

“We need to split up,” Nick whispered, his mouth close to her ear.

“No! We need to stick together!” she whispered back.

“Listen to me.” Nick’s tone was harsh. “We need to get help. You and Joey are going to take my phone and head southeast. When you’re far enough away, call 911.”

“I don’t even know where we are,” she murmured anxiously.

“The address here is 472 and Highway MM.”

She silently repeated it to herself, committing the address to memory.

“I’m going to draw the gunman away from you and Joey. So you need to get moving, now.”

“I still think you should come with us,” she whispered again. She couldn’t help remembering the last time she’d tried to save her son by sending him out of the mangled wreck of their car only to watch him be captured and kidnapped. What if the same thing happened to Nick?

“Go!” he said, and he turned and fired in the direction from which the gunshot had originated. “I’ll hold him off long enough for help to arrive.”

She hesitated, torn between two impossible choices. She desperately wanted to get Joey to safety, but she also didn’t want to leave Nick, unable to bear the thought of anything happening to him. Yet she knew her son was depending on her so she did as Nick asked, staying low and easing back into the cover of the trees, keeping Joey close to her side.

Joey must have understood the acute need for silence since he didn’t say a word as they made their way through a particularly thick grove. When they’d gone about twenty yards, she crouched behind a large tree and took out Nick’s phone. She unzipped her coat, using the edges of her jacket to help hide the unmistakable glow of the phone screen as she called 911. The operator seemed to take forever to answer, and when she finally did, she hoped she remembered everything correctly.

“Please send help,” Rachel said urgently. “Someone is shooting at us and he’s also started a fire. The address is 472 and Highway MM.”

“Are you hurt?” the dispatcher asked.

“Not yet, but please hurry!” There was another loud crack followed by a cry of pain and she instinctively clutched Joey close, using her body as a shield to cover her son’s.

Even though she’d dropped the phone, she could still hear the dispatcher’s voice talking. She frantically searched the ground with her fingertips. The snow was cold, making her fingers numb, but she eventually found the phone and powered it off.

“Are you all right?” she asked Joey softly, fearing that the kidnapper had seen them despite her efforts to keep the screen hidden from view. “He didn’t hit you, did he?”

“No, I’m not hurt,” Joey whispered. “I’m scared.”

Her heart ached for him. “I know, but remember what Nick taught us? God is watching over us. God will keep us safe.”

Joey nodded solemnly. “I’m going to keep praying.”

Tears pricked her eyes. “Me, too.” She gave her son a quick hug and then glanced back over her shoulder searching for Nick. Panic swelled in the back of her throat when she couldn’t see him. What if he’d been hit? The orange glow from the fire was brighter, indicating that it was beginning to spread.

Dear Lord, please keep Nick safe! Please keep us all safe!

“I smell the bad man,” Joey whimpered.

Since all she could smell was smoke, she didn’t necessarily believe him. But at that moment, a bright spotlight illuminated the woods, blinding her. The light was only forty feet away! She shoved Joey behind her and tried to edge closer behind an evergreen tree.

“Stay right where you are, Rachel!” a voice shouted. “If you move, I’ll keep shooting.”

She froze at the familiar voice.
Gerry?
Abruptly, all the puzzle pieces clicked into place. Gerry Ashton always wore strong aftershave, very similar to the kind Joey had spilled in the cabin. And now she clearly recognized his voice.

Her mind wrestled helplessly with the truth. The man she’d trusted more than anyone else in the company had been the one who’d hired Morales to kidnap Joey. Had Gerry also kept her son locked up in his basement? The thought made her furious. To think she’d played right into his hands by begging him to buy her shares of the company. Had he sent the letters, too, pretending to be part of the Mafia?

Gerry was one of the few who’d known about how her father had helped her escape Anthony. Maybe he’d used the Mafia link on purpose to scare her. She wasn’t sure if he’d killed Josie Gardner, too, or if the researcher had really committed suicide, but it was clear he intended to kill her and Joey, right here, right now.

Everything suddenly made sense in a sick, horrible way.

How could she have been so blind? So stupid? How could she not have known? Edith must have suspected something wasn’t right with Gerry, which was why she’d quit.

She should have asked her assistant for more information. But it was too late now. She forced herself to keep facing Gerry even as she whispered to her son. “Stay hidden behind the tree.”

Joey soundlessly moved deeper into the branches. She lifted her arm to shield her eyes against the glare. “Don’t shoot!” she shouted. “I’m not armed.”

“No, but your boyfriend was.” She tried not to react to Gerry’s use of the past tense in reference to Nick. “You and Joey need to come back to the cabin, Rachel. Right now,” Gerry demanded.

The cabin? Was he crazy? No way was she doing that. What was Gerry thinking to suggest she take her son anywhere near a burning building? If the cabin wasn’t on fire yet, it soon would be. She’d rather take her chances getting lost in the woods. But how long could she hold him off? Gerry must know that she’d already called for help, especially if he caught a glimpse of the glow from Nick’s cell phone.

And where was Nick?

“Why?” she asked, stalling for time. “Give me one good reason why I should make it easy for you to kill us?”

Another crack shattered the night and she gasped and ducked, half expecting to feel the searing pain from being hit by a bullet.

“That was just a warning shot,” Gerry snarled. “Next time, I’ll make that kid of yours an orphan.”

She sucked in a harsh breath, feeling trapped. If they tried to run, Gerry could easily follow them with the light. She had no idea where Nick was, and she prayed he wasn’t lying in the woods, bleeding to death. As the seconds stretched into a full minute, she wondered why Gerry didn’t just shoot her and get it over with. What did he hope to gain in this weird cat-and-mouse game?

The glow of the fire burned bright behind Gerry, and suddenly it dawned on her that Gerry wanted them to burn inside the cabin. Maybe he thought that would make their deaths look like a tragic accident. Bullet wounds would be too obvious.

Grimly, she realized he had no intention of letting any of them live through this.

“Why are you doing this, Gerry? You have the money! And the company!” She thought it was best to keep him talking.

“Your father promised the company to me! That idiot Morales was supposed to kill you both. You’re too smart for your own good, Rachel. I knew you’d figure out that I was the one behind this sooner or later.”

She wasn’t about to admit she hadn’t realized that until right now. “Why did you decide to take over the company now? Why not back when my dad died?”

“Because Nancy was threatening to divorce me,” Gerry said in a vicious tone. “I signed a prenup so I get nothing. I needed that company. And you were going to give all that money to settle the lawsuit!” He released a ragged breath. “You didn’t deserve to keep it. But just taking over the company wasn’t enough. Everyone kept asking about what it would take to bring you back. Leaving me no choice but to get rid of you both once and for all.”

He was crazy, no doubt about it. How were they going to get away?

Another gunshot echoed, and this time she saw the spotlight waver, as if Gerry had ducked.

Nick! Nick was alive!

The next gunshot hit the spotlight dead on, shattering the bulb. But even with the spotlight off, there was too much light from the roaring fire that quickly engulfed the dry timber of the log cabin.

Rachel took the opportunity to move from their current location, urging Joey to stay shielded behind her as they darted around more trees. But then she froze when another crack of gunfire shattered the night.

She whipped around and, from the glow of the fire behind her, Rachel watched Gerry’s dark shadow stagger and then finally go down.

She hesitated, torn by indecision. Was Gerry dead? Or at least hurt badly enough that he couldn’t keep shooting?

And where was Nick?

She crouched beside her son for long, agonizing moments. She didn’t want to risk Joey’s life by taking him over to find Nick, but at the same time, she didn’t want to leave him here, alone.

“Rachel?” Nick’s voice was weak. “Are you and Joey all right?”

Her head shot over to the right, her eyes trying to pierce the darkness. “Yes, we’re fine,” she called back. “But where are you?”

“Over here.” Nick’s voice was definitely lacking strength—she could barely hear him over the roaring of the fire. “I’ve been hit.”

* * *

Nick kept his eyes glued to where Gerry Ashton’s body lay sprawled on the ground. If the man so much as twitched he’d shoot him again.

His eyes blurred and he blinked in an effort to bring the world back into focus. The smoke was getting thicker and he knew he couldn’t stay too long. His left arm felt like it was on fire, and the loss of blood was making him dizzy. Figured he’d got hit in the same area as when they’d saved Joey during the money exchange.

Only this time, the injury was much worse. Propped against the tree, he tugged on the string from the hooded sweatshirt he wore, until it came free. Using the string like a tourniquet, he awkwardly wrapped it around his arm and used his teeth to tie it tight. He wanted to drag himself over to make sure Gerry was really dead, but on the off chance that the guy was only pretending in an effort to draw his prey closer, Nick decided it was safer to stay far away.

Where were the cops and the firefighters? He’d heard Rachel calling 911, so he knew reinforcements had to be on the way. Wally’s cabin wasn’t going to survive the fire, but he was more concerned about the fire spreading through the woods. Drought conditions had hit hard the previous summer, and despite the thin layer of snow covering the ground, he thought the trees were burning too fast.

As if on cue, a large pine tree to the right of the outhouse went up in flames, the tiny needles glowing red as they burned. Knowing they didn’t have a lot of time left to get somewhere safe, he forced himself upright, using the tree for support.

“Nick!” He was caught off guard when Joey came running toward him. He opened his mouth to yell at the boy to stay down, when he realized that Gerry hadn’t moved, not even an inch despite the fire growing closer.

Joey’s second bad guy was finally dead.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he managed when Joey flung his arms around his waist, burying his face in his stomach. “I’m okay.”

“I thought you were dead,” the child sobbed.

Rachel looked upset at Joey’s statement. “Where are you hit?” she asked.

“My left arm same as before, but never mind that, now. We need to get as far away from the fire as we can. It’s been so dry up here that the fire will soon burn out of control.”

“Lean on me,” Rachel offered, slipping her shoulder beneath his injured arm and sliding her other hand around his waist.

He didn’t like the fact that he was so weak that he had little choice but to allow her to help him. Surprisingly, Joey went around on the other side of him, and together they moved as quickly as possible away from the fire.

“Joey, can you find the gravel driveway?” he asked, since his vision was blurry again.

“I think so,” Joey said. “This way!”

The three of them stumbled toward the direction of the driveway with a deep sense of urgency. Nick refused to look back over his shoulder, too afraid he’d see the fire nipping hotly at their heels.

There was another loud whooshing sound, and he knew another tree had gone up in flames. They had to get out of here, and fast!

When the gravel crunched beneath his feet, he let out a sigh of relief. Joey’s sense of direction had been perfect. They continued moving as fast as they could, putting more distance between them and the raging fire. The smoke was still hanging thick between the trees.