Page 81 of The Harborer
While Dalton flailed in rage, Benny left his post to check on him. Micky wrenched Amy to her feet, shoved the hilt of theknife into her bound hands, and hurled her through the front door.
“Run!” he roared.
She landed on the hard ground on her hip, off balance. A crunching noise sounded as pain shot down her leg. Unable to steady herself with her hands tied behind her, she lost her awkward grip on the knife. Her heart pounded in her ears, and her breaths came in staccato bursts of panic. Loud scuffles and grunts came from inside the cabin, the sound of things and men breaking.
Scrambling to her knees, she climbed to her feet, but they were numb, and she stumbled. She turned to crawl away, and suddenly there he was: Dalton, looming over her, yelling a string of curses, spittle flying. The knife glinted as he snatched it up from where she’d dropped it. She kicked out, and her heel struck bone.
He barked in fury. “You little bitch!”
Then she was scooting, scrabbling, trying to roll away from his monstrous frame as he lurched and righted himself.
“Oh no, you don’t,” he snarled. He grabbed her foot and yanked her back, scraping her leg across rocks. She felt every jagged point as it poked and tore her clothes. He grabbed her hair and yanked her to her knees. A primal yell tore from his lungs, and he raised the knife.
She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for impact. Her mind flipped through the faces of everyone she loved.
Shane’s was the first one she saw … and the last.
A shot boomed, reverberating off the mountainside before it was swallowed up by the trees. The knife clattered. Amy’s eyes flew open.
Dalton stood frozen, mid-stroke, clutching the knife poised to drive into her. He looked down at his chest, where a dark spot bloomed. The world was suspended in eerie stillness for one long beat of her heart.
Then chaos broke out.
Dalton grabbed his chest and staggered, his eyes and mouth wide with shock. Then his eyes snapped to her, as if he suddenly remembered his mission. He was like a wounded animal, a funnel of rage. Amy threw herself onto her side when another shot rang out. The sound was different this time, then two, three, four more. She lost count. Dalton collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. He sprawled, face down, his torso draped across her legs. Dark liquid oozed from his back, thick and wet, soaking into her jeans.
She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t scream. The air had been knocked from her lungs, and she couldn’t catch her breath. She was all jerky movements, kicking and writhing, as she tried to pull herself up and flee. The zip tie bit into her wrists, and the bandanna dug at the corners of her mouth.
A strong arm hauled her up and pulled her against the hard body it was attached to. A familiar smell engulfed her. The tie behind her head loosened suddenly, and a deep, soothing voice washed over her. “I got you, Barista Amy. I got you.”
Her knees liquefied, and she slumped against her safe harbor. Then she spiraled into darkness.
Chapter 27
Safe Harbor
“I’m fine,” Amy groused.Her arms were folded over her chest as she huddled beneath a blanket, and she wore a pout—so different from her usual smile—but it was so damn cute Shane wanted to kiss it from her lips.
Reece Hunnicutt lifted her lid and flicked his penlight across her pupil. “You’re as bad as my wife. How about we make this easy on both of us and letmedecide if you’re fine?”
She pointed an accusing finger at Shane. “He already checked me out. I don’t need you stabbing my eyes with that obnoxious light.”
Undaunted, Reece lifted her other lid. “Yeah, but he might have missed something. From what I hear, he was a little distracted.”
Shane refrained from raising his hand and admitting that Reece’s assessment was spot-on. “It happens when you’re busy cuffing bad guys.”And being terrified that the woman you loveis about to be knifed. And center-punching the motherfucker about to knife her.
Reece and he stood in an exam room in Neve’s vet clinic. It was nearly three in the morning, and they were here because Amy had refused to go to Urgent Care. The round trip and the time at the medical center would have meant even more hours awake, and she was drained. Though he wouldn’t admit it aloud, Shane was relieved she’d held out. He was beyond spent himself.
A door opened, and Neve walked in. “Hey, fellas, how about I take over?”
Reece turned sideways and looked at her. “But you’re a vet … who should be home in bed growing our baby.”
“I’m also a woman.”
He grinned. “I noticed that a while ago.” He eyed the tiny bump that was her belly and waggled his eyebrows.
She rolled her eyes at him. “I’m a medical professional. We ladies sometimes find it easier to talk to each other rather than to one of you Y-chromosome-carrying macho men.”
Reece whacked Shane’s arm. “Hear that, O’Brien? We’re macho.” He puffed out his chest.
