Page 55 of Crossroads of Innocence
She fisted her hands around the dirt and pebbles and dust. Jumping to her feet, she threw the debris at his face and darted away as fast as she could. Her heart galloped in her chest, adrenaline mingling with terror and making her teeth chatter. She raced for the first row of cars and ducked, sprinting toward the back of the lot.
“You’re gonna regret that,” he screamed.
Gulping breaths expanded her lungs. The impulse to glance behind her to see how close her kidnapper was had her fighting to keep her eyes forward. Her focus straight ahead as she passed car after car on her way to the woods.
Her phone rang, the sound startling against the quietness of the day and the curses flying behind her. She bumbled around her pocket, her hands shaking so badly, until she found her phone and pulled it out. The sight of Wade’s name on the screen sent a wave of relief slamming against her.
“Jude? Where are you? Are you all right?”
Bang!
She screamed and covered her head with one hand while the other kept the phone pressed to her ear. “Wade! Help! I’m in the parking lot! There’s a shooter!”
Another gunshot splintered her ear drums, the bullet collided against the side of the car beside her. She jumped, the jerking motion causing her to drop the phone, which clattered to the ground and slid under the vehicle.
Another shot. Another bullet.
She had to move. Hesitating in the parking lot made her a sitting duck, and her would-be-killer was too good of a shot to offer him a motionless target. Regret tore at her chest as she pushed forward and left her phone behind. Wade knew she needed him. Knew she needed help. Not much time had passed since she’d left the hospital. Wade could get to her. She just needed to stay alive until then.
With a renewed sense of hope, she gritted her teeth and sprinted past the last row of cars. The asphalt ended and she leapt onto green grass. Mere feet separated her from the safety of the trees where a hundred hiding places waited to shield her.
Bang!
The sound of the gun reached her as a bullet lodged into her calf. Agony burned up her leg, and she swallowed a scream. She dropped to the ground. Determination surged through her. She’d come too far to give up—had too much to lose.
The sound of heavy footsteps coming closer was like nails on a chalkboard, making her spine tingle. She clamored to her feet and limped forward. Limped toward shelter.
“You might as well give up. You’ll never escape now.”
* * *
“Jude! Jude! Are you still there?”Wade screamed into the phone, terror spiraling higher and higher.
Distant gunfire echoed inside the hospital room, shooting bile up his throat.
Nicole lifted trembling fingers to her lips. “Oh, my God. Jude.”
Jenson coughed and shifted his weight. “I’m sure it’s nothing. She’s fine. She’s always fine.”
Laura shot to her feet. “She’s notalwaysfine. None of us are fine. But Jude is in trouble and that was the sound of someone shooting a freaking gun!”
Wade raced down the hall, pushing past startled nurses calming an older woman. He kept his phone pressed to his ear. “Jude? Can you hear me?”
Howling wind and the caw of a bird answered him.Shit.The thought of ending the only connection he had to Jude twisted his insides, but he had to call the police. He disconnected and contacted Cruz.
“Hey, man. Did you find her?” Cruz asked.
“She called. She’s in trouble. Said she’s in the parking lot. We heard gunshots from outside. I was by the front entrance earlier and she was nowhere around. Someone must’ve taken her out back.” His footsteps pounded against the linoleum, each hurried step sending another jolt of panic to his heart.
“Lincoln’s in town. I’ll send him that way, and I’m heading there now. It will only take a few minutes. Wait inside.”
“Seriously?” he shouted, rounding a corner. “You expect me to stay inside while she’s out there? Possibly shot or even dead?” His voice cracked, unable to imagine a world where Jude wasn’t there. Where she’d been stolen from him before he had a chance to tell her how much he loved her. How much he wanted her to stay—to stay with him.
“Dude, don’t do anything stupid.”
He snorted out his derision. “The only stupid thing I could do right now is leave her out there and do nothing to help her. Do nothing to let her know I’d die for her.”
“So what are you going to do?” Cruz asked. “Run outside and attack a gunman bare handed?”
