Christmas Haven (24 page)

Morgan awakened with a start, glancing around the room to get his bearings.

I love you, Morgan.

Julie’s voice. Great, now he was dreaming about her. Of
course he was, by this time tomorrow she’d be nothing but a dream, a distant memory.

That would tear him apart for months to come.

He sat up and groaned. Fighting back the pain of bruised ribs, he went into the kitchen for a glass of water. He flipped on the light and spotted a note on the counter. Julie’s handwriting. He couldn’t bring himself to open it, so he shoved it into his jacket pocket.

He placed his glass in the sink and headed back to the couch. If only he could stop thinking about her and get a few more hours of sleep.

Closing his eyes, her tender smile filled his mind.

Thump, thump.

Morgan sat up, waited, trying to determine where the sound was coming from.

Thump, thump, thump.
The back porch.

He pulled his firearm out of its holster and crept through the living room. He poked his head around the corner, but didn’t see anyone on the other side of the door.

Thump, thump.

He whipped the door open and spotted Dane sprawled on his back, pounding on the porch with a closed fist.

“Dane?” Morgan shoved the gun into the back of his jeans and kneeled beside him. “What happened?”

“Miss Burns…you’ve got to stop her. It’s a trap.”

“Come on.” Morgan pulled Dane to his feet and noticed a bloodstain on his shirt.

“Who did this?”

“Henson,” he said, gasping for breath.

Morgan pulled out a dish towel and ran it under water. “Where are you hurt?”

“Forget about me.” He gripped Morgan’s hand as he tried to get a look at his wound. “You’ve got to stop her.”

“She’s fine, she’s…” Then Morgan remembered her note. He dropped the dish towel and raced up the stairs, adrenaline numbing his aches and pains.

He whipped open her door…

The bed was empty.

“Morgan?” Edith said, wandering into the hallway. “What’s all the ruckus?”

“Get dressed. I’m taking you to Caroline’s.”

“Where’s Julie?”

“In trouble. We’ve gotta go.”

Morgan pulled out his phone and called his deputy chief. “Scotty, sorry to wake you. We’ve got a situation. Julie’s gone and Dane says it’s a trap. Meet me at the station.”

“Yes, sir.”

Morgan glanced at Julie’s mom, whose face paled with worry.

“I’m gonna get her back,” Morgan assured.

And this time he was never letting her go.

SEVENTEEN

J
ulie clung to her files and got out of the car, dread knotting her shoulder muscles. Feeling for the pepper spray in her pocket, she glanced to her left, where she could see the Squamish Police Department—she rememberedit from the time she and Morgan were questioned for being on the pier early in the morning. They’d gone out to watch the sunrise and had fallen asleep, being discovered by a patrolman starting his dayshift.

At 7:00 a.m. That’s why she picked this place. And this time.

She focused ahead and spotted two men standing at the end of the pier. Exposed, just as she’d planned. She felt safer being out in the open. As she walked down the pier, the planked wood creaked under her tennis shoes. She focused on William, the primary reason she was putting herself at risk.

It was the longest walk of her life, but it would be over soon. She’d toss the files at Henson and leave with William. In a perfect world.

Henson was short and stocky, wearing a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes, and a leather jacket. William wore an overcoat, his arms behind his back. Henderson held on to one of them.

She stopped fifty feet away.

“Let William go,” she ordered. “The files?”

She waved them.

“Toss them and I’ll let him go.”

She took a few more steps and dropped them onto the wood planks. Henson motioned for William to walk to Julie. A sinking feeling settled low. This felt too easy.

She noticed a speedboat at the end of the dock. Henson had his getaway figured out. Now if she could only dream up an escape route for herself and William.

William approached her and Julie studied his face. He didn’t make eye contact, worrying her. What had Henson done to him?

“William, I’m so sorry.” She reached out and touched his arm.

“Me, too.” He grabbed her locket and yanked it off her neck. She stumbled back.

“What are you—”

Henson raced across the dock and grabbed her arm, dragging her toward the boat. “William!”

He flanked her other side. “If you’d just given Dane the locket…”

“Why do you need the locket?”

“Get her into the boat,” Henson said.

“Henson!” a man called from behind them.

They spun around. Morgan stood at the other end of the pier, exposed, pointing his firearm at them.

“Put the gun down,” Henson threatened, pressing the barrel of his gun to Julie’s temple.

Clenching his jaw, Morgan slowly lowered his firearm.

“Morgan, no!”

A shot rang out as William flung Julie into the boat and jumped in next to her.

Morgan had figured it out, he’d come for her.

Henson sped away. The thought of him shooting Morgan arced panic through her chest. Julie realized the farther from land they went, the bigger the chance they were going to shoot her and dump her body. She whipped out the pepper spray and shot at William’s eyes. He jumped up.

“Ahhh!”

Henson glanced over his shoulder. “What the—”

Julie fired at Henson, but he deflected the spray. She shoved a blinded William into Henson’s back and dived into the frigid water. Shock flooded her body as she struggled against the weight of her clothes.

She was an excellent swimmer, but in these cold waters she had about a minute before her limbs grew numb, even with two layers of clothes.

A muffled shot rang out. Were they shooting at her? She couldn’t think about that. She had to get back to the pier.

Back to Morgan.

She fought back the panic swallowing her as surely as the frigid harbor waters. She wasn’t ready to leave this earth yet. She had more teenagers to help—to save.

I’m not done, Lord.

Fighting the cold and her tightening muscles, she stroked the best she could.
One, two, three.

Keep going,
she coached herself. But her clothes were dragging her down and her arms felt as if they were cutting through cement.

One, two…

Her arms cramped. She could barely reach out. She took a deep breath and let go. Drifted. Floated. Gunfire echoed across the water. She couldn’t tell if she’d been shot, her skin ice-cold, numb.

The water swallowed her, pulling her down, down…

This must be how Suzy had felt just before she’d died. Julie struggled against her own surrender. As she searched for hope, her mind flooded with despair.

Suddenly someone grabbed her, pulling her up, breaking through the water’s surface.

“I got you, Jules.”

She looked up at the bright morning sky. Then a voice said, “Stay with me. Don’t you dare give up.”

Morgan.

She closed her eyes and drank in the sound of his voice. Her love. The man who owned a part of her heart.

And she fell unconscious.

The past few hours had been a blur, Julie realized as she sat on Morgan’s couch being tended by her mom, Lana and Morgan. Mom kept adjusting her blankets, adding more, tucking them in just so. Lana rubbed Julie’s leg, and Morgan brought her a cup of hot tea.

“I’m okay, really,” Julie said. The fact that she didn’t remember what had happened after Morgan rescued her bothered her a bit.

“The doctor said to rest and drink plenty of fluids,” her mom said.

“You know what I could use?” Julie said.

The three of them waited. “Chocolate-chip-bacon cookies.”

Mom smiled and stood. “Coming right up. Lana, come help me.”

They went into the kitchen and Morgan sat on the coffee table. “Green mango, your favorite.” He offered her the tea.

“Thanks.” She took it, their hands touching.

She wanted to put the tea down and hold his hand, soak up his warmth, but he pulled away a little too quickly.

“So fill me in,” she said.

“Where do I start?” he sighed.

By telling me you love me?

“Dynacorp was behind this whole thing. Apparently Andy put the drug powder into the locket he gave you, which was proof they were into something illegal.”

“Which was what, exactly?”

“The drug they were trying out is a synthetic meant to get you high. It’s very expensive, marketed to white-collar professionals. But they had to test it out first to determine the side effects. Who better to test it on than street kids who wouldn’t be missed if they died?”

“Dane tried to steal it from me.”

“Because Henson said to get the locket and bring it to him or he’d kill you.”

“What about my files?”

“They needed to destroy evidence of any kids involved in the testing. Those kids happened to be in your caseload.”

“So this whole time they wanted my files
and
my locket?”

“Yep. Ethan and the DEA are making their case. Henson was arrested.” He paused. “As was William.”

“I can’t believe he was involved.”

“It was a big payoff for a guy making forty grand a year. He’d feed kids to Henson for testing. When Andy called from William’s office, William was using him to expose your location. And the other night when William spoke with Dane on the phone?”

She nodded.

“He told Dane to get the locket. That’s why Dane threatened you.”

“But he couldn’t hurt me.”

“No, he’s a good kid. There might be a spot for him at Horizon Farms once that gets off the ground.”

“That would be amazing.”

“Yes, it would.”

“What about Helen and the mysterious deposits in her bank account?”

“A gift from an elderly aunt who passed away. She only kept cash.”

“Oh.”

A moment of silence passed between them. Julie wished she could get into Morgan’s head and know what he was thinking.

“Now I have a question for you,” Morgan said.

“Sure.”

“Why didn’t you ask for my help when you got the call from Henson?”

“Because he threatened to kill you if I didn’t come alone.”

“You were trying to protect me?”

“Yes, of course.”

“You sure it’s not something else?”

“Like what?”

“That you didn’t think I could protect you?”

“Morgan—”

“It’s okay, Jules, I get it. I’m just a small-town cop.”

And not good enough for Jules. She knew that was his secret fear, even when they’d dated. Shame colored his eyes and she hated that she put it there.

She knew every time he looked at her he’d see his own failure, even though he’d saved her life.

She loved Morgan with all her heart, but couldn’t bear to see the pain in his eyes, his self-perceived failure.

“What’s next on your agenda?” he said. “Now that you’re safe?”

“Haven’t given it much thought. I guess I should probably return to Seattle.”

“The kids need you.”

“Yes.”

He nodded, glancing into the coffee cup he clutched between his hands. “Well, you know what’s best.”

Leaving me,
she heard. How many times would she hurt this man? She had to do the right thing and walk away, for good this time. Release him into the arms of a sweet woman like Anna.

“What will you do?” she said.

“Finish up the house, sell it.”

But that’s not what she was asking.

“How’s your dad?”

“As well as can be expected. They’re moving him to a facility where he’ll get twenty-four-hour care. He wants me to sell the house to help pay for it.”

“And your job as police chief?”

“I need to think about that.”

Her heart sank. He was an amazing chief, but was questioning his own abilities because of her.

“You belong here,” she said.

“And you don’t, I know. We don’t have to go through this again.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Mom breezed into the room and brought Julie the phone. “You’ve got a call.”

“Could you take a message?” she said, not taking her eyes off Morgan.

“I’d better check in.” He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. “Be well.”

Morgan turned his back on Julie and left. She stared at the spot where he’d just been sitting, regret tearing through her.

“Honey?” Mom said, offering the phone.

Julie took it. “Hello?”

“Julie, it’s Joe, with Horizon Farms. How are you feeling?”

“Tired.”
Devastated.

“Well, before you head back to Seattle, I was wondering if you’d have time to talk about the farm. I could use some more advice.”

“Sure, can I call you tomorrow?”

“Absolutely.”

“Thanks.”

She handed Mom the phone and leaned against the pillows. It probably wasn’t a bad idea to distract herself by helping others. At least she’d feel competent at one thing, because she surely felt incompetent at love.

“Sweetie—” Mom shifted onto the coffee table “—what’s happening between you and Morgan?”

“Nothing.”

“But he loves you so.”

“And I love him. Which is why I have to leave.”

EIGHTEEN

A
week later Morgan sat across from Sketch at the Turnstyle, going over Sketch’s business plan. The community had rallied behind Morgan to step back into the chief role, but he was taking his time, needing to reevaluate his life, his future.

Reevaluate? More like spin in circles. Without Julie in his life, he felt anything but grounded. He fought the darkness, the grief of losing the woman he loved. But she’d chosen to leave again, and he couldn’t blame her, not when he’d let her down. He could see it in her eyes.

“You’re an idiot.”

Morgan glanced up at Sketch. “What did you say?”

“You heard me.”

“I could arrest you for that.”