Page 29 of Stalking His Prey

“Help him!” I scream out in panic.

“Hawk!” the leading officer shouts out as he rushes to his side. “That’s enough, buddy. You got him. You got him.”

It takes two cops to pull Hawk off of Mack, who lies on the floor out cold.

“Medic!” another officer shouts and my heart, once again, threatens to tear its way out of my chest. “We need a medic here now!”

“Hawk!”

I throw myself down on the floor beside him, my breath coming in short, painful gasps as blood spills from the bullet wound in his chest.

No! This can’t be happening!

I’m nothing more than a brutal collision of emotions, tangled together as I fight to somehow get it together. Terror, relief, concern, love. They all tear at me as tears spill from my blurry eyes.

I slip quickly out of my jacket and press it over the seeping hole in his body. I can feel his heart pounding out of control against my palms as I apply pressure.

“Help!” I cry out through the noise surrounding me. I lean in and tap Hawk’s cheek with my hand, forcing him to look up at me. “Hawk! It’s okay, you’re going to be okay!”

Even now, he fights to smile for me.

“Pen…” He’s struggling just to speak as he looks into my eyes. “Don’t…worry…you’re safe…”

Tears waterfall from my cheeks and down onto his chest as his head slumps to one side.

The sound of the world fades away into a distant murmur as the real possibility of losing Hawk slams into me.

How could I have ever doubted this man? It makes me sick just thinking about it.

“Don’t die on me, Hawk,” I plead. “Don’t leave me!”

EPILOGUE

PENELOPE

Four years later…

It’s latewhen I come home, and for some reason, all the lights are off. I flick the switch by the door as I set my bag down, but nothing happens.

“Great,” I sigh. We must have lost power again.

I grab my cell and quickly dial my husband. He should be home right now. But as I step carefully down the hall that leads to the living room, I hear his phone ringing in the kitchen.

What the heck?

I hang up and switch on my phone’s flashlight so I can see as I make my way down the hall. Sure enough, there’s his cell on the counter, vibrating and ringing simultaneously, belting out that silly triumphant march ringtone he’s been using for the last month.

As I go over to it, I realize I have no idea how to restore the power to the house. I’ve never been the one to flip a breaker that’s been tripped. My husband’s always done that for me.

That’s probably not a good thing. I should probably learn to handle problems like this myself, but it feels so good to be taken care of. Protected. To have my problems solved for me.

But for now, I guess I’m just going to have to sit in a dark living room until the power comes back.

“Or I could go for a drive…” I ponder out loud.

And that’s when I feel it.

A strong hand grasping my throat from behind.

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