Page 12 of Christmas Wedding
“Jonathan, tell me what’s going on. I need to know that Piper is safe.” Lorna couldn’t help her tears. This pregnancy made her more emotional than she had ever been in her life. Sawyer looked hesitant as he crossed the room to sit next to her on the bed.
“Honey, I don’t want you worrying about anything but yourself and the baby.” He palmed her flat tummy where their baby’s heartbeat sounded strong and steady. She still couldn’t get over how wonderful that little ‘whoosh-whoosh’ sounded. She was so worried that she would lose their baby with everything Joe did to her.
“I am strong enough to worry about many things, including you and Piper. Please let me in on your plan. I know that you are worried. I see the way that you keep checking your phone,” Lorna said.
Sawyer sighed, “Piper is safe and at the station still. Tag is on his way down to get her, and she wants to come here to see you. She feels awful that Joe hurt you to get to her.”
“It wasn’t her fault. I should have never invited a total stranger back to our house for coffee. Honestly, I did it to make you a little jealous. We weren’t even talking at that point, and I didn’t know what else to do. I’m so sorry that I invited danger into our lives,” Lorna sobbed. Sawyer carefully pulled Lorna into his arms. He felt like such an idiot. All those wasted months of the two of them being complete fools. He wanted to forget the past and move into his future with Lorna and the baby, but he couldn’t do that until they caught Joe. Otherwise, they would constantly be looking over their shoulders, waiting for him to come after one of them.
“We’ll catch him, honey. He won’t be able to touch you or Piper ever again. I’m putting extra men on both of you, and Tag won’t be leaving Piper’s side,” Sawyer growled.
“You can’t guard us every hour of the day, Sawyer. What if he finds a way past your guards?” Lorna tried to hold back her sob since she knew that Sawyer had enough to worry about. She wanted to show him that she could be strong, but now she didn’t believe it herself.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong, baby,” he said. “I can and will be with you twenty-four-seven, honey. You don’t go anywhere without me until we catch this asshole,” Sawyer growled. “You and the baby are my top priority now. Tag and Torren will watch Piper, and I’ve hired two more guards to stay with her. You will also have two extra guards watching our home. He won’t get near you again.” Lorna sighed, knowing that there would be no arguing with Sawyer. He was her protector, and he would keep her safe; she did not doubt that. She just hoped that she could keep him safe until the threat was over.
Piper rushed into Lorna’s room with tears brimming in her eyes. “Lorna, are you all right?” She gently pulled Piper in for a hug, so happy to see that her niece was alive and well. She was soworried that Joe would make good on his promise to find Piper and hurt her.
“I’m fine, honey. Just a few scrapes and scratches. Are you okay?” Piper looked tired and worried. Lorna hated seeing her that way. Piper slowly nodded her head, her attention turning to the sound of the heartbeat that was filling the room.
“Is that the baby?” She smiled down at Lorna, and then the two of them burst into tears. “I’m so happy for you, Lorna! Why didn’t you tell me?” Lorna knew that Piper would be happy to welcome a new baby into the family, but a part of her was worried that she would feel like Lorna was replacing her.
Lorna shrugged, “I just wanted to keep him or her a secret for a bit. I needed to make sure that everything was okay, given my age. I also wanted you to be all right with a new little person being in my life.” Lorna wiped her tears and grabbed Piper’s hand. “You will always be my first baby, Pipe.” Piper giggled and sat down next to Lorna on the bed.
“So you kept this baby a secret to make sure that I wasn’t jealous? Lorna, I’m twenty-seven years old. I think I can handle a little sibling rivalry. Besides, I have always wanted a little brother or sister.”
Lorna pulled Piper in for another quick hug, relieved that she was happy about the baby. She didn’t miss the way Tag motioned for Sawyer to step into the hallway. She nodded at Sawyer. “Go. We’ll be right here.” The men left the room, and Lorna worried that they were about to hatch another plan to keep her and Piper safe. Her only concern was that they would walk right into Joe’s next trap, and she couldn’t let that happen.
CHAPTER NINE
Aweek passed with no sign of Joe. The local authorities were alerted and were watching for him, but that didn’t make Sawyer feel any better. He hired extra men and put guards at his house, Tag’s home, and Sunny’s. He wasn’t taking any chances that Joe wouldn’t go after one of Piper’s friends or family to hurt her. He also had a man posted at both Scrumptious and Sunny’s bakery. He, Tag, and Torren made sure that the three women were never alone if they went out. Torren oversaw Sunny’s security, and God help him, she was getting grumpier by the day. He wished like hell that they could get in touch with Aaron. He was still out in the field training forest firefighters, and he couldn’t be reached. Still, Tag left messages for him to call home ASAP.
Lorna was released from the hospital after two days, and she was ordered to rest. That worked for Sawyer—keeping Lorna in bed was one of his favorite pastimes. He took care of decorating for Christmas and even ran the errands while Lorna seemed content to do most of her shopping online. He couldn’t wait to give her the engagement ring that he bought for her. He thought about giving it to her early, but he had a romantic dinner for twobooked for Christmas Eve. He liked the idea of getting dressed up and taking her out someplace special. She wanted to try a new restaurant in the next town over, so he made reservations. Although she already said yes to his proposal, he couldn’t wait to get that ring on her finger and make it official. He was hoping that she would want to get married right away because he didn’t want to wait. The only thing he wanted for Christmas was to marry Lorna and make his little family official.
He had an idea, but he needed Piper’s help to pull it off. If everything went according to plan, he and Lorna would be married before the New Year. It was time to start planning for their future, and honestly, they could all use a little Christmas spirit to help them forget about the trouble that showed up on their doorstep. Lorna was napping, giving him the perfect opportunity to call Piper and set everything into motion. She would probably welcome a distraction right about now. His call went directly to voicemail, so he called Tag. It was his turn to keep an eye on Piper. Sawyer didn’t want to leave Lorna, and Tag wouldn’t let Piper out of his sight. His call to Tag went to voicemail too, and he had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that something wasn’t right. They wouldn’t ignore his call, not with everything that was going on.
He called the guard on duty at Piper’s cabin and got no answer. “Shit!” Sawyer knew that something was wrong. He needed to get up to Piper’s cabin because if his instincts were correct, he would find Joe there.
Sawyer called Torren, Tag’s twin brother, to fill him in and ask for his help. Torren and Sunny showed up at Sawyer’s house five minutes later. They would stay with Lorna and the extra two guards until Sawyer found out what was going on. He called the station requesting backup but there was no way that he was going to wait for help. He needed to get up the mountain and find Piper and Tag. He just hoped to hell that he wasn’t too late.
Joe pointed his gun at Tag, knowing that Piper would do anything to save her husband. He was smarter than any of them. He was a patient man, and that paid off big time. He knew that sooner or later, Tag would drop his guard and leave poor Piper unprotected. He went out to collect firewood, and Joe saw his chance. He killed the guard that they had surveilling their little cabin and snuck in to find Piper doing dishes. He had just enough time to tie her up and get her all comfy in a chair before her big oaf of a husband came barreling back into the cabin with his arms full of logs. Good old Tag knew that his muscles were no match for Joe’s gun, so he did as he was told. Joe just needed to get Piper to wire the cash to his account, and he could disappear again, this time for good.
“Now, Piper, I know that you are a smart woman. If you want your hubby to live, you need to wire my five million to this account number. And don’t give me any excuses. Just call your accountant and get it done.” He unbound her hands and shoved the cell already programmed with her accountant’s number in her direction. He wasn’t taking any chances of her calling for help. She snatched the paper with his account number from his hands and scowled at him. Joe liked a feisty woman, and maybe under different circumstances, he and Piper could have had some fun. He ran the barrel of the gun down Piper’s cheek, and she sobbed.
“You don’t fucking touch her!” Tag shouted from the corner where he was handcuffed to the kitchen table. “I’ll kill you! You keep your fucking hands off her.” Joe couldn’t help laughing. This turned out to be quite a show. He pointed his gun back at Tag.
“Dial the number, bitch, and make the transfer.” Piper’s hands shook as she dialed her accountant. “Put the call on speaker. I want to hear the conversation. And don’t do anything foolish, or I will put a few new holes in your angry hubby over there.” Piper nodded her agreement. The phone rang four times and then dropped the call. She cursed and tried again and then handed the phone to Joe when she couldn’t get through.
“I have no signal, and my phone is dead.” Her voice trembled, and Joe debated on what to do next. “We can use the landline,” she offered. Joe looked around the small cabin for the phone. He pulled the cord across the room to where Piper was still tied to a chair.
She took the phone and held it up to her ear, gasping as she held it up for him to listen. “No dial tone. It’s dead too.”
“Fuck, what is going on here?” Joe spat. Piper sat crying hysterically, and he wanted to knock the bitch out. He couldn’t think with all her whining. He needed to regroup and figure out his next move. Joe was sure that the service in town would be better. If all else failed, she would just have to accompany him to the bank to make the transfer. It was a little risky, but he came this far—he couldn’t go back now. He needed this money to make a fresh start. She owed him at least that much. He untied Piper and forced her to stand, pushing the barrel of his gun into her back and giving her a little shove towards the door.
“We’re going on a field trip to the bank, honey,” Joe insisted.
“You’re not taking her anywhere, you bastard,” Tag shouted. Piper’s husband was screaming at the top of his lungs, struggling to get to them. Hell, the man was so big that he just about upended the table. Joe didn’t want to stick around and wait for him to get free from his cuffs. He hustled Piper to the door, eager to get this over with. Joe knew that by going into town, he was taking the chance of being discovered, but he was out of ideas. Besides, no one was going to touch him if he had a gun in Piper’sback. She was his ticket to a better life, and he was about to cash in.
Sawyer found the extra guard that he posted at Tag’s—his throat was cut. Joe must have dragged him to the edge of the woods to quietly kill him. Sawyer’s blood ran cold. Just knowing that Joe was capable of killing someone upped the ante. They thought that they were just dealing with a guy who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. At least, that was what he claimed. But knowing that he was capable of murder took things to a new level. Sawyer carefully crouched a few hundred feet from the cabin, listening for any signs of Joe. His worst fears were confirmed when he heard Tag screaming at Joe, threatening to kill him. Joe emerged from the cabin’s front door with a gun to Piper’s back. She was as white as a ghost and shaking, trying to find her way down the front steps. Sawyer heard her sobs and whispered pleas and wanted to kill the bastard for putting Piper through hell again. Tag sounded like he was tearing the inside of the cabin apart, trying to get to his wife. Sawyer ran around to the back door and snuck in, signaling Tag not to give away his location. He freed Tag from his cuffs and handed him his spare gun.
