Her Mistletoe Protector (15 page)

He coughed and a spear of pain shot down his arm. He ignored it, more concerned when he heard Rachel and Joey coughing, too. How much time did they have before they succumbed to smoke inhalation?

Dear Lord, show us the way to safety.

“Come on, Nick, don’t give up now!” Rachel urged in a raspy voice. Obviously the smoke was getting to her, too. And what about Joey? He was so young that Nick was afraid it wouldn’t take long for the smoke to damage the boy’s lungs.

He hadn’t realized his steps were lagging behind, and he forced himself to move faster for both Rachel and Joey’s sake. They deserved a chance to get out of here, alive.

Within five minutes, Nick practically fell over the hood of the car, and he slumped against the metal frame gratefully. For the first time in hours, he allowed himself a flash of hope. “Maybe we can drive out of here,” he proposed, fumbling in his pockets for the keys. He found them and tugged them free. “Think you’re up to it?”

“I’ll try,” Rachel said, jumping eagerly at his suggestion. She stepped forward to take the keys, and she opened the driver’s door. But before she could slide inside, a man appeared out of the woods, holding a rifle.

“Don’t move,” he barked loudly.

“Karl!” Rachel exclaimed. Then, in a move that was so subtle Nick almost missed it, she pushed Joey behind her, probably intending for him to climb into the safety of the car. “What are you doing? Why do you have a gun?”

Karl?
Nick stared in shocked surprise as he realized that the stranger was Dr. Karl Errol, the researcher he’d suspected was secretly working for Global Pharmaceuticals. His instincts must have been right on. The researcher must have purposefully set up Rachel’s company to fail. But seeing him here, as if he’d teamed up with Gerry Ashton, didn’t make much sense. Why would the researcher who’d tried to destroy Rachel’s company work alongside Ashton, who clearly wanted to take over the company himself?

He didn’t know for sure, but obviously Errol wasn’t messing around. The way he held the rifle in his hands told Nick he wouldn’t hesitate to kill them.

FIFTEEN

N
ick gritted his teeth as Rachel tried to reason with Karl Errol. “Gerry is dead, Karl. You don’t have to do this. Just let us go.”

“I’m not working for Gerry,” Errol said finally. “And my boss isn’t going to accept failure.”

Nick tried to think of a way out of this mess. But he couldn’t come up with a safe option. Granted, he still had his weapon, but he didn’t dare try to take Errol out while the guy held the rifle pointed directly at Rachel. Maybe if he was at full strength he could rush the guy, catching him off guard.

But he’d lost too much blood to risk it. He was far more likely to fall flat on his face before he reached Errol. He seriously felt as if a strong breeze would blow him over.

“Who’s your boss, Karl? Why are you doing this?” Rachel asked, taking a step toward him. It was all Nick could do not to shout at her to stay back. “Have you really been working for Global Pharmaceuticals this whole time? Why? Why did you hate me so much you wanted to put me out of business?”

Errol shook his head, as if waging an inner war with himself. “I didn’t have a choice. I followed Ashton here and waited, hoping he’d take care of things for me. But he botched the job. Leaving me no choice.”

Nick tried to take heart in knowing the guy hadn’t shot them yet, even though he’d had time. Maybe there was a way to get through to him.

But how?

“There’s no point in trying to reason with him, Rachel. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself. I told you he killed Josie Gardener,” Nick told her in a scathing tone. “She stumbled upon the truth and was going to let you know what she’d found out. So he killed her and set the whole thing up to look like a suicide.”

“No!” Errol shouted. “I loved Josie! I would never hurt her. But she didn’t love me.”

A cold chill snaked down his spine. Now they were getting somewhere. “Who did she love, Karl?” he asked mildly.

“Ashton.” Errol’s tone reeked of loathing. “But that jerk didn’t deserve her love. He had an affair with her even though he had no intention of leaving his rich wife.”

“Ashton is dead. He won’t hurt anyone ever again, Karl.” Rachel’s tone was soothing. She took another small step forward, holding her hand out. “Just put down the gun and we’ll work this through, okay?”

“Stop!” he screamed. “You can’t fix this. Don’t you understand? I did it for Josie! I secretly worked for Global to make enough money to compete with Ashton. I told her I could afford to buy her nice things, and take her to fancy places. But she didn’t care! She wanted to live in sin as Ashton’s mistress rather than to give me the chance to make her happy.”

Slowly the picture became clear. “Are you saying that Ashton killed Josie?” Rachel asked incredulously.

“Yes, because she was pressuring him to leave his wife. Maybe he was afraid she’d tell his wife about the affair. And if he divorced his wife he’d lose all the big bucks he’d gotten accustomed to spending. But none of that matters anymore.” He blew out an angry breath. “I’m glad Ashton’s dead. You saved me the trouble of killing him. But, unfortunately, I have no choice but to kill you, too.” Errol tightened his grip on the gun.

“Wait! You do have a choice. What if I promise not to press charges against you?” Rachel asked in a desperate tone. “Then will you put the gun down? I promise I won’t turn you in to the authorities. All I want is to go home with my son.”

For a moment Nick thought she may have convinced Errol with her heartfelt plea. But then Karl slowly brought the rifle up to shoulder height and bent his head forward as if to take aim.

“No!” Joey came charging out from the back end of the car carrying a thick tree branch. His shout startled Karl enough that he jerked around toward Joey’s direction, shooting wildly.

“Joey,” Rachel shrieked.

The boy didn’t stop. He must not have been hit by the wild shot, because he swung the tree branch with all his might, aiming at Karl’s knees.

Nick made a split-second decision, gathering every ounce of his strength to propel himself across the small clearing toward Errol. As the guy fell down, howling in agony, Nick kicked the rifle up and out of the way and threw himself on top of the researcher.

Within moments, Rachel had the rifle safely in her hands. “Get out of the way,” she shouted.

Nick rolled off Errol and she quickly brought the heavy stock down on Errol’s head, knocking him unconscious.

The sound of sirens, hopefully from both ambulances and fire trucks, echoed through the night. Finally, there was hope that help was soon to arrive. He didn’t have the strength to move, so he stayed right where he was.

“Joey, are you all right?” Rachel asked.

“Yes. I was afraid he was going to shoot you.” Nick heard the boy’s footsteps creeping forward. “Nick? Are you okay?”

He tried to crack a smile. “Fine, buddy. Just tired. I’m going to rest for a minute, okay?”

Rachel dropped to her knees beside him. “Come on, Nick,” she pleaded. “You can’t stay here—you need to get up! Karl isn’t dead and we can’t be here when he wakes up.”

The panic in her tone pierced his soul, so he pushed himself upright with his good arm, biting back a groan of pain. He was still dizzy and knew he’d already lost too much blood. The artery in his arm must be nicked.

Somehow, with Rachel and Joey’s help, he managed to get back on his feet. The three of them staggered toward the car and he leaned against the frame gratefully. There was no telling how long Errol would remain unconscious, so he knew they had to get out of there, and quickly. “Rachel, do you still have the car keys? Let’s see if we can drive out of here.”

“Good idea.” Rachel slid behind the wheel and jammed the key into the ignition. He closed his eyes in despair when he heard a
click-click
as she attempted to start the car.

“I’m sorry, Nick,” Rachel lamented, and got out of the car. “Either Karl or Gerry must have done something to the engine.”

He opened his eyes and nodded wearily. “I shouldn’t be surprised. Guess we’ll have to try and make it to the highway by walking.”

“Nick, you’re bleeding!” Joey exclaimed.

He glanced down and winced when he saw the dark stain of blood smeared across the palm of Joey’s hand. “Yeah, but it’s just a scratch,” he said, downplaying his injury. “I’ll be fine as soon as the ambulance gets here.”

Joey still looked horrified, and he hated knowing he was causing the child to be afraid again. Hadn’t the poor kid been through enough? He’d never forget the way Joey went charging after Errol with the tree branch. The kid was a true hero. “Listen, Joey, can you hear the sirens? The police will be here soon. Everything’s going to be all right.”

“Let’s go, Nick.” Rachel slid her arm around his waist, putting her shoulder under his arm to help support him. He silently prayed for strength as they made their way down the rest of the gravel driveway. The hazy smoke made it difficult to see and to breathe. The three of them coughed as they walked. He could barely see a few feet in front of his face, so he had no way of knowing if they were anywhere close to the highway.

After about ten minutes, he could feel his strength waning, even with Rachel trying to take most of his weight. He stumbled on a large rock and knew he was going to fall. Instantly, he let go of both Rachel and Joey so he wouldn’t take them down with him. He groaned loudly when he hit the ground, hard. For a moment everything went black and he stopped fighting, stopped struggling, welcoming the darkness.

“Nick! Are you all right?” From far away, he could feel someone shaking him and calling his name. Rachel? He didn’t have the strength to reassure her.

Once he’d prayed for the Lord to take him so he could be with his wife and daughter again. But it hadn’t been his time. Was God going to take him now? Just when he’d found Rachel? He didn’t want to leave Rachel and Joey, but he didn’t have the strength to fight anymore.

“Take me home, Lord,” he whispered. “I’m ready to come home.”

* * *

“Nick!” Rachel tried not to panic as she stripped away his coat so she could look at his arm. Not that she would be able to see much in the darkness.

“Is Nick going to die?” Joey asked, his voice trembling with fear.

“Not if I can help it,” she muttered. Nick’s jacket wouldn’t come off and she soon realized he’d tied a string around the upper part of his left arm in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

“No, God wants me home....” he muttered, weakly pushing her hands away.

Rachel couldn’t believe Nick was just going to give up. She remembered him mentioning his wife and daughter were up in heaven. Was he willing to give up his life in order to be with them again? Didn’t she and Joey mean anything to him?

Maybe not, but that was too bad. She wasn’t ready to let him go. She untied the string and yanked the jacket sleeve off. His blood-soaked sweatshirt confirmed her worst fears.

He was hit badly, far worse than he’d let on.

Working quickly, she felt for the worst part of the injury, trying not to wince when her fingers sank into the open wound. Once she’d found it, she retied the string around his arm above the injured area. What else could she use to stop the bleeding? She shrugged out of her coat, took off her sweatshirt and then put her coat back on. Using the sleeve of her sweatshirt, figuring it was cleaner than the hood, she balled it up and pressed it against the gouged area across Nick’s biceps.

“Come on, Nick. Help me out here,” she urged as she leaned all her weight against him, hoping to slow the blood loss. But Nick didn’t move, didn’t so much as flutter an eyelash.

“Wake up, Nick,” Joey said, shaking Nick’s other arm. “You have to wake up!”

The sounds of sirens grew louder. “Hang in there, Nick. The ambulance is almost here!”

Still, Nick didn’t respond, not even when the ambulance and the firefighters arrived. Two paramedics came over to help Nick while the rest of the firefighters headed in with a huge water truck to the wooded area to douse the fire.

“He’s lost a lot of blood,” Rachel cautioned, when the two paramedics nudged her aside.

“Let’s get an IV in, stat!” the female paramedic said curtly.

“I’ve got it,” the younger man replied. “Fluids wide open until we can get the O neg blood flowing.”

“His blood pressure is low—I’ll get the packed red blood cells out of the ambulance,” the woman continued. She darted away and returned with a small cooler less than two minutes later. She quickly opened the cooler and took out what looked like packages of blood.

Rachel kept Joey close to her side as they watched the two paramedics work on Nick. Once they had the blood infusing into his veins, they brought over a gurney and began to strap him securely onto it.

“Could we go with you? Please?” Rachel asked, stepping forward. “Our car has been tampered with and we don’t have a ride out of here. There’s also a man who tried to kill us still back in the woods.”

The two paramedics grimaced. “I’m sorry, but that’s against the rules,” the younger man said.

“Besides, the police will want to talk to you, especially if there’s still a threat here in the area,” the female paramedic added kindly. “We’re taking him to Madison General Hospital and I’m sure one of the officers will give you a ride.”

Her heart sank, but she also knew they were right. She had little choice but to stand there with her arm around Joey and watch as they bundled Nick into the ambulance.

“Do you think God will listen if we pray for Nick?” Joey asked, after the paramedic jumped into the driver’s seat, started the engine and pulled out onto the highway.

She gathered him close and nodded. “Absolutely, Joey,” she responded. “Dear Lord, we ask You to please keep Nick safe in Your care. Amen.”

“Amen,” Joey echoed.

Tears burned her eyes as she realized that no matter what happened moving forward, her son was going to be hurt by Nick’s leaving. Because he already cared about Nick, already saw him as some sort of surrogate father.

And she couldn’t blame him, because if she were honest with herself, she’d admit she was falling for Nick, too. Maybe he didn’t feel the same way, but she couldn’t imagine a life without him.

Please, Lord, let him live!

* * *

“What do you mean you can’t find Karl?” Rachel asked, her tone rising incredulously. With the smoke growing thicker in the woods despite the firefighters’ attempt to douse the raging flames, the police officer had stashed her and Joey in the squad car while they went searching for the scientist. “He was lying on the ground about twenty feet away from the car. You found the car, right?”

“Yes, ma’am, we found the vehicle. And we looked all over but didn’t find any sign of the research doctor or the weapon.” The tall, dark-haired police officer had introduced himself as Sean McCarthy.

Rachel shivered and hugged Joey. The thought of Karl Errol being out on the loose in the woods with his rifle wasn’t at all reassuring. She wished now that she had taken the gun with her. She glanced through the passenger-side window, hoping that Karl had taken the opportunity to escape rather than to seek revenge.

She could still barely comprehend that Gerry Ashton had decided to kill her and Joey as retaliation for her father giving her the company. And because he thought she was onto him. She felt sick to her stomach, thinking about how she’d been duped by the man she’d trusted.

Once again, her instincts had led her wrong.

“You say you believe Karl Errol was secretly working for Global Pharmaceuticals?” Officer McCarthy asked.

“That’s what he admitted to. I’m still having trouble understanding how two people hated me enough to try and kill me.”

“Can’t say that I have much experience with corporate espionage,” McCarthy admitted.

“Me, either,” she murmured. She didn’t want to think about greed and corruption anymore. Right now, she wanted to see Nick. To make sure he was all right.

“Officer McCarthy, will you please take us to Madison General Hospital?” she asked, willing to beg if necessary. It seemed as if hours had passed since the ambulance had driven away with Nick. She wanted nothing more than to get far away from this place where Nick had almost died and where she and Joey had feared for their lives, too. “We’ve given you our statements. It’s not like we can’t discuss this in more detail later, right?”