Page 76 of A Lonely Road
Halfway between the kitchen and the front door, I pretended to trip, propelling us into a little side table. Shawn’s hold floundered when his foot caught on the table leg, giving me an opening to wedge my hand further between his forearm and my neck.
Just as I was about to yank his arm far enough forward to bite down, the front door burst open and suddenly Jake was there, barely six feet away, looking strong and furious and so beautiful I would've wept at the sight of him if I hadn’t already had silent tears running down my cheeks. His chest heaved as though he’d run all the way here.
“Let her go.”
Though his jaw was tight, his demeanor was calm until he took in the sight of my tear-stained cheeks, then I felt waves of rage emanating from him. When his gaze hit the drop of blood pooling at my collarbone, his eyes darkened with fury for a split second before he raised his hands to show Shawn he was unarmed.
“Let her go and we can work this out.”
“Work it out,” Shawn scoffed. “The only thing you’ll be working out is whether there’s enough left of this bitch for you to identify after I’m done. Close that door and put your hands behind your head, or I’ll start slicing into her pretty flesh. We’regoing to take a little walk upstairs. You’ll lead the way, and if you try anything, she’ll be the one to pay for it.”
Jake lowered his hands and curled them into fists. With the interruption from the side table gone, all I needed was a distraction, just enough for Shawn to either move the knife or let go of my hair, and I could take him down. I wondered if Jake would be able to see the thought, either in my eyes or my expression, but he looked nearly as terrified as I felt.
Before he even moved to close the door, Shawn tipped my head back again with his death grip on my hair. He kept his cold eyes on Jake’s face as he ran the flat of the blade down my throat, over the swell of my breast, landing just above the neckline of my tank top. I could have sworn I saw Jake’s agonized gaze flicker to the kitchen behind me and wondered what the hell he was looking at, but it was back on me so fast I thought I imagined it.
Then the tip of the knife pressed hard and dragged along my skin, tearing a sharp cry of pain from my throat.
Somewhere between the cold metal of the blade and the warm blood welling up from the shallow cut, I saw Jake nod and threw myself into action. I brought my heel down on the arch of Shawn’s foot, drove my free elbow back into his stomach, and then heard Jake’s fist slam into Shawn’s nose, driving him backward with a sickening crunch.
The knife clattered to the floor as his hands left my body so abruptly that I stumbled forward. Jake swooped in to grab me before I fell, clasping me tight to his chest, but a distinctive buzzand the thud of Shawn hitting the tiles sent my gaze flying back toward the kitchen.
Like a grim avenging angel, my father stared back at us, holding a taser in one hand.
“Get Nora outside,” he ordered as he knelt down beside Shawn.
Jake didn’t need to be told twice. His arms wrapped tightly around me as we rushed out onto the front porch and down the walk. When we reached the driveway, he turned me to face him, searching my features frantically before his gaze dropped to my wounds.
“You’re bleeding,” he whispered. Not only that, I was shaking so hard my teeth were chattering, so he pulled me back against his chest, tucking my face into his neck. “Oh, Christ. I’m so sorry, Nora. So, so sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault. I thought he was going to kill you.” My head moved from side to side against him as a choked sob escaped my throat.
Jake drew back to look at me incredulously, though he didn’t let go of me. Even if he’d wanted to, my fingers were clenched in his shirt. I couldn’t let go of him, not yet. Not ever.
“Killme?You’re the one bleeding, honey. I shouldn’t have left. I should never have left you alone, not until that bastard was in police custody.” His voice broke when he said, “That wasn’t Scarpella.”
“It was Shawn,” I whispered. “He wanted to kill us all.”
The trembling had nearly stopped, but he yanked me back against him, ignoring the blood that smeared across his white shirt. I smoothed my hands across the stained fabric and shook my head again. What felt like a lifetime in there must have been only a few minutes, just enough time for Jake to speed home from The Mermaid.
“It’s okay. We’re okay. I’m fine, Jake.”
The words tumbled out of me like a chant, like a prayer. He looked close to tears himself, so I snaked my arms around his middle.
“We’re okay,” I whispered again, as though if I said it enough times, it might finally sink in.
“We’re okay,” he murmured into my hair. Then he gave a hoarse, shaky laugh. “Jesus Christ, Nora, your dad really does have a taser.”
Then we were both laughing, crying, kissing, clinging tightly to one another as the riot of emotions paraded through us. Three police cars with flashing lights pulled up out front just as my father marched Milton out of the house, his hands bound behind him with what looked like a dishcloth. Chief Roberts took one look at the three of us, narrowed his eyes at the blood streaking across my skin and Jake’s shirt, and passed Milton to Detective Hanson for arrest.
“I’ve got an ambulance on the way,” he said with a nod toward me. “You folks up for giving statements?”
All of us nodded, but I frowned and said, “I don’t need an ambulance. It’s only a scratch.”
Three pairs of eyes stared me down.
Neither my father nor Jake gave an inch no matter how I protested, so I threw up my hands and agreed to let an EMT clean me up while the two of them gave their statements. Reluctantly, Jake handed me off into my father's arms while he went inside with Chief Roberts. When the ambulance pulled up and Casey hopped out of the passenger seat, I narrowed my eyes at her, even though part of me was glad not to have to face another stranger right now.
“Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just doing my job,” Casey said with a wink, then her expression sobered as she glanced toward the house. “Everyone okay?”
