Page 30 of Stalked at Rescue Ridge

9

Bree tried to search out the sound of Kade’s voice. The only tether to reality was his strong, masculine hand holding her steady. “Kade.”

“I’m here, sweetheart…Bree.”

A few more blinks, and his dark features started coming into focus. That face, strong and chiseled. Those eyes, dark and intense. Those lashes, thick and black.

“Where am I?” She tamped down the panic rising inside her as she glanced around. The room was fuzzy, the lighting dim.

“You’re at Saddle Junction Memorial Hospital. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.” His voice was laced with a mix of anguish and relief. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you awake.”

“How long?” A headache threatened to split her head in two. She pushed past the pain, trying her best to focus her thoughts.

He glanced at his wrist. “Ten hours, give or take.”

She tried to sit up, winced, and then eased back down.

A young brunette scurried in with Travis on her heels. “I’m Cybil, and I’m your nurse this morning.”

A kind face came into focus, and Bree couldn’t help but notice the relief on the nurse’s features. The fog coating her brain was starting to lift, and panic struck her as she remembered what had happened to her. She gasped, and her free hand immediately dropped to her stomach. “What about the baby? Is my baby all right?”

Kade’s grip tightened on her hand.

“Yes. The baby is just fine,” Cybil reassured her. “How about you? Is there anything I can get you to make you more comfortable?”

“My throat is dry. Water?” Getting that many words out was a struggle. She tried to shake the fog and the current threatening to pull her under. The room was quiet save for the beeping noises coming from the monitors.

“Sweetie.” Cybil touched Bree’s arm. “The doctor will be in shortly to talk to you. You’re safe now. This fella has been with you since you arrived. He found you. You’re going to be okay.”

Those last two words, repeated, brought on an onslaught of emotion that had been bubbling up. Bree released the sobs building inside her. She was safe. The man who’d told her she was as good as dead couldn’t touch her here. She gripped Kade’s hand tighter, linking their fingers. She was going to survive. The baby wasn’t hurt. And Kade was there beside her.

A cell phone buzzed.

“Sorry.” Travis pulled out his phone and checked the screen. “Dammit.”

“What is it, man?” Kade asked.

“Both crime scenes were set on fire. Any evidence we might’ve gotten from there is up in smoke.”

“I was there,”Kade said, fishing for his cell. “I took pictures.” He pulled them up and sifted through them one by one. “I assumed someone from your office had already examined the scene since her purse was missing.”

“My cell,” Bree said under her breath.

“Grabbed it for you along with your purse,” Kade said, pointing to the drawer where it was being stored.

“Thank you,” she said. “I’d be lost without them.”

Travis was all business now as he took a seat next to Bree and pulled out a notepad. “Do you have any idea who did this to you?”

Bree shook her head. “I never saw his face, and his voice wasn’t more than a whisper in my ear. He didn’t say much. Just that he planned to kill me.” She paused long enough for her body to recover from the shiver that rocked her. Talking about her ordeal couldn’t be easy for her.

Kade squeezed her hand to reassure her. She was safe. He wasn’t going anywhere until this sick bastard was castrated or behind bars. At that point, Kade didn’t care which one.

“The only thing I remember clearly was his boots. They were work shoes, the steel-toed kind.”

Travis’s eyes widened like he’d had some sort of epiphany, but he seemed to have second thoughts when he refocused on the pad of paper and made the note. Steel-toed boots weren’t the norm in this area. The only ones Kade had ever seen were worn by an out-of-town construction crew brought in to build the convenience store by the highway last year when he’d been home on leave. He made a mental note to ask Travis what his reaction was all about later.

“Do you remember what color?” Travis asked.

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