Hunted, A Romantic Suspence Novel (7 page)

When she peeked out again, he’d turned his attention back to the dogs. She shook off the odd feeling of pleasure and gathered clean clothes, then headed to the bathroom.

If she stayed with him any longer, his life would be as forfeit as hers. While the shower heated, she stared at herself in the mirror.

The day she’d walked into the police station and asked to speak to a United States Prosecutor, her days on this earth became numbered. It was the price she’d paid to betray the devil. The sacrifice had been worth it to prevent the death of anyone else because she’d failed to act.

She wouldn’t ask it of Matt Edgars. Her problems belonged to her alone. Enough innocents had died.

Stepping beneath the warm water, a deep groan escaped her. She soaped up a washcloth and began scrubbing her skin. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t seem to wash off the stench of evil that settled like a shroud on her with just the thought of Jacob Strict.

Finally, the water grew cold. Shivering, Katie dried herself then dressed in her favorite jeans and black sweater. Their well-worn softness comforted her. She toweled off her dark hair and finger combed it off her face.

Time to face Matt and convince him to help her get on a bus out of town.

Downstairs she found him standing at the sink peeling an orange. Watching him pull off a slice, she licked her own lips as he slowly sucked on the end, then bit into the tender, succulent flesh. Her pulse quickened at the sight.

Could he look any more delicious?

She forced herself to step into the room, past the dogs milling about the floor. She retrieved a glass from the cupboard near the sink and poured herself a drink of cold water. She needed something to quench the fire that watching him ignited deep inside her.

Emptying the glass, she set it in the sink. “I need you to take me to the bus station today.”

“Nope. Can’t do that.”

“What do you mean, you can’t do that?” She watched him slowly devour another piece of his orange, unconsciously licking her lips. “I need to get out of town, before something else happens.”

“Can’t take you to the bus station or the airport,” he said as if speaking to a child. “There’s something else we have to do today.”

Katie fought the urge to hit him. “And what is it we have to do that’s more important than me getting out of town?”

“Christmas brunch at my parents.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Was he nuts?

“No, I’m not kidding. If I don’t show up, my mother will worry and insist my father call the Highway Patrol office to see if something happened. Then we’ll be paid a visit by at least one or more on-duty officers.” He finished the orange then leaned against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest. “And I’m pretty sure you don’t want that, do you?”

The idea of the State Troopers finding her didn’t sit well with her, and he knew it. “I’ll just stay here, while you go. There’s no need for me to accompany you,” she countered.

“Can’t do that either.”

His patient patronizing tone grated on her nerves. “And why not? You have three guard dogs to keep me company and keep me from stealing anything.” Said fierce protectors all lay in a lazy pile on the floor.

“Until we know who’s actually making these attacks on you, I’m not leaving you alone.”

“I told you who was trying to kill me. And believe me, they won’t stop until I’m dead.”

He tucked a damp strand of her hair behind her ear. A shiver coursed across her neck.

“I know your stepfather is Jacob Strict, Katie.” She started to interrupt him, but he stopped her with a finger to her lips. “Don’t deny it. I researched pictures on the internet and found yours in stories about Strict. I know you believe he’s behind these attacks on you. But think about it. He’s behind prison bars. There’s someone out there that’s doing his dirty work. Until we discover exactly who and where they are, you need protection.”

She stared into eyes that begged her to trust him.

“Since I’m your chosen protection, you either go with me or we both stay here and talk to my fellow troopers when they arrive. And believe me, they will.”

“You’re serious.”

“Deadly.”

How had she gotten into this? Spend a holiday with people she didn’t know and a man who did funny things to her heart, or go into custody in a system that had already betrayed her. He didn’t leave her much choice. The expression on his face suggested he couldn’t be persuaded to change his mind, either.

Great.
She’d spent her life getting around unmovable males. At least this one seemed to have her welfare at heart.

“Keeping someone from leaving against their will is tantamount to kidnapping and it’s against the law.”

He shrugged. “Report me to the police.”

Throwing up her hands in mock defeat, she stormed out of the kitchen.

“Damn him. He can’t force me to stay or to go to his parents’ home.” Katie stood in the back bedroom, still seething at his audacity.

Staring out the window, she studied the backyard’s terrain. It couldn’t be more than sixteen feet from the window’s ledge to the ground. Shorter than the easiest height on the scaling wall back at the bunker. From there to the back gate was a sprint of about twenty yards. If the distance to the ground were decreased with rope, she’d be gone before he knew it.

The problem was no rope.

Her gaze drifted around the room, landing on the bed where Rocky lay watching her. She could tie the bed sheets together. It was old and cliché, but it was the only answer she had. If she cut six feet off the distance, she’d drop the remaining ten feet without trouble.

Ignoring the animal sprawled out on the bed, she busied herself gathering her few belongings and stuffing them back in her backpacks. As she opened the window a big blast of frigid air blew in. Snow was on its way again.

Hanging halfway out the window, she swung the first backpack out in an arc, letting go so it landed out on a pile of leaves. She stopped to listen. No sound came from any of the exits below. Good. With another toss the second backpack landed beside the first.

Now to convince the dog to move.

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the corner of the comforter and gave a tug. “Get up, you.”

The dog didn’t budge.

Desperate, she gave a stronger jerk on the comforter, pulling it halfway off the bed. The dog jumped down, coming to sniff her legs, its tail wagging happily.

“I’m not playing with you, now go away.” She tossed the comforter to the floor then grabbed the flat and fitted sheets off the bed.

The dog sat at her feet, whining softly.

“Sh. If you won’t go away, then hush.”

She tied the sheets at the corner in a tight hard knot then tested her make-shift rope for strength. It only had to hold long enough for her to escape. Then she tied another knot at one end, so she’d know when she was close to the final length of her rope.

Now somewhere to anchor the sheets.

Twisting the sheet rope to give it strength, she tied one end around the bed’s corner post. She tossed the other end of the rope out the window, then climbed onto the window ledge and straddled it.

The dog patted around at her feet, whining a little louder.

“Sh! You’ll give me away. Now, quiet.”

Looking below, she swallowed. She’d always hated this training exercise. As least Matt wasn’t on to her plan.

Easing herself out the window until she held onto the sheets and the frame, she dangled precariously. She froze for a moment. The image of evil black eyes and white hair whipping in the cold breeze below her as she tried to repel off the bunker’s thirty-foot wall for that first time fifteen years ago, flashed through her mind.

Get moving girl. Don’t just hang there like a target. Or do I need to come get you and teach you a lesson about hesitating?

Strict wasn’t here.

She could do this.

Determination flooded her. Katie shook off the memory and wrapped her legs around the roping. Then gripping the cotton material with her hands, she slowly descended toward the ground. She hadn’t done this in years. Just as her arms started to ache from the unfamiliar activity, her foot touched the knot tied in the sheet’s end. She eased further down until her hands gripped the knot and she hung in midair.

Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes and released her hold.

Matt listened to Katie storm upstairs to the back bedroom. Her sudden capitulation didn’t fool him for one minute. As soon as his back was turned, she’d be gone.

The woman’s mistrust ran too deep for her to accept his help. Self-preservation seemed entwined with her very core. Would he need a sledgehammer to get through the protective wall she hid behind?

The memory of the kiss he’d given her the night before filled his mind. Heat surged straight to his groin. He’d only meant to comfort her. Nothing had prepared him for the intense desire for her it evoked in him, then or now. The need to protect her hit him hard every time he looked into her eyes.

For the first time since he was fifteen years old he’d put his devotion to following the rules aside for the need of someone else and she’d fought his aid every inch of the way.

A whining sound drew him to the stairs. Whispered conversation drifted down from the back room, but he couldn’t make out what Katie said to the dog. Something flashed in his peripheral vision. He looked out in time to see Katie’s backpack land in the backyard.

Damn.
The woman was going out the window. She’d kill herself before her assassins ever had a chance.

Grabbing his coat, he let himself out the side door. Perhaps he’d just give her a little surprise welcome when she came out the window. He stood at the corner of the garage watching the bedroom window. Both backpacks now lay in the wet leaves.

A long thick rope of material with a knot in the end dropped out the window. Even given its length she still had quite a drop from the end. Fool woman.

She stuck her head out the window and glanced around. He ducked back around the corner. When he looked again, she sat in the window with one leg hanging out. He held his breath as she eased herself over the edge and hung there.

Why didn’t she move? Damn, she wasn’t afraid of heights too, was she?

He started forward then stopped. She’d wrapped her legs and arms around the rope and slowly inched her way down. Her movements were as sure as any boot-camp graduate’s.

Shaking his head, he moved quietly across the wet carpet of grass and stood directly beneath her just as she reached the end of her rope. Seconds before she landed in his arms he braced his body for the impact.

A surprised squeak escaped her as she hit his body and he wrapped his arms around her.

“What? How did you know?” She wiggled around in his arms.

Matt held her still, turning and carrying her back into the house. Anger kept him silent. Once in the family room again, he tossed her onto the couch. “Stay.”

His body shook so badly with his own rage he didn’t trust himself if she started demanding he let her go. He marched back outside to retrieve her things. Inside, he tossed them all on the couch beside her.

Out of frustration he grabbed her Glock off the refrigerator where he’d put it the night before. He paced in front of the couch, trying to gain control of his anger.

“Are you trying to kill yourself before Strict’s people can do the job?”

“No.”

The despair in her one word answer caught his attention.

“What were you trying to do then?”

“Leave before you get killed along with me.”

“Katie, no one knows you’re with me. Until I know otherwise, I intend to try to keep you safe. But it’s hard to fight both the bad guys and you.” He growled in frustration.

She scooted back into the couch, trying to disappear into it. Her face paled and her eyes grew wide with fright.

She thinks I’m going to hit her.

Hunkering down in front of her, he laid one hand gently on her knee, and held the gun out to her. “Here. This belongs to you. I’m not accustomed to hurting women, Katie. That includes frustratingly stubborn ones like you.”

She hesitated a moment before taking the gun from him. Then her body relaxed.

“Now, let’s get something straight. Until we discover who’s tracking you, you aren’t going anywhere.”

“You can’t force me to stay.” A spark of anger filled her voice.

Good.
He’d rather have her angry with him than scared of him. “Actually, I can.”

“How?”

He stared at her. “In this state it’s against the law to hold a gun on a law enforcement officer.”

“You wouldn’t press charges on me for that.”

“Oh, ask anyone. I’ve locked up people for less.”

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What do you want of me?”

Matt fought the sudden image of her naked beneath him right there on the couch. If he told her what he really wanted, she’d probably pistol-whip him, then shoot him, before running off to who-knows-where.

He swallowed, hard. “Stick with me for a few days. Let me help you catch the person Strict has hired to kill you.” Then he smiled at her. “And have Christmas lunch with my family.”

Katie rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll stay a while.”

“And?”

“And I’ll go to lunch with you, but don’t expect me to have a good time.”

* * * * *

Matt watched Katie talking with his mother, sister and brother Luke near the fireplace of his parent’s family room, while he ate dessert with his father, brother Dave and brother-in-law Jake. Despite her promise not to enjoy herself, his family had made her so welcome she’d done exactly that.

While all the other adults in the house opened presents from each other, his mother produced a present of White Diamonds perfume for Katie. He suspected his sister had one fewer present to open today than she’d had under the tree the night before. His generous sister wouldn’t mind at all.

When Sami and his sister-in-law Judy found out Katie was a nursery nurse they’d cornered her on the couch to discuss newborns and Sami’s impending delivery. At first, Katie appeared a bit panicked. After a few minutes, she seemed at ease talking with the other women.