Page 128 of His True North (Shattered Cove 5)

“Right.” Finn sighed.

“Besides, as beautiful as this dress is, I’d like to get out of it. Get into something a little more comfortable.” She shrugged out of her coat and hung it up.

“Alright. I’ll be back in twenty. Lock up behind me anyways.” He kissed her forehead.

“Yes, sir.” She gave him a mock salute.

“Save that for the bedroom,” he teased before exiting.

Charli shut the door as her phone dinged from her jacket pocket. She turned around and grabbed it.

Damon: Brunch tomorrow before we head back to Colorado?

Charli smiled and typed out her response, heading up the stairs.

Charli: Sounds good. How about 11?

Damon: Perfect. See you at High Tide Diner then.

Charli walked into her bedroom, tugging at the bow tied behind her. She loosened it and breathed a sigh of relief. After slipping out of her flats, she put them back in the box discarded on her bed earlier. The sound of footsteps drew her attention to the doorway.

Shit, I forgot to lock it behind Finn. He’s gonna be mad. “Did you forget something?” Charli asked, standing as a man’s silhouette took up the space in the doorway. Charli froze, her blood turning to ice. Panic streaked through her as chills skated across her flesh.

“What are you doing here?” she gasped, reaching for her phone.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The barrel of a gun pointed at her. She backed up, hitting the side table behind her. The lamp wobbled and crashed to the floor. There was no way she could reach inside for the gun without endangering her and the baby. “What do you want, Stewart?”

“What’s owed.”

Her eyebrows drew together. “Finn is going to be back any second.”

“I’m counting on it, bitch.”

Charli pressed a hand to her belly protectively. Just when she thought everything was over—that she and her family were safe and she and Finn had found their happily ever after—fate had come once again to steal the rug out from under her. “Stewart, he’s your friend—”

The man laughed, deep and menacing. “Finnegan hasn’t been my friend for years. Not since you got in his head and pussy whipped him. You made him weak. Unlike him, I don’t have a soft spot. This is business.”

“What business? What do you mean?”

“Get on the bed.”

“Stew—”

“Don’t make me fucking repeat myself!” he yelled, stepping forward as he thrust the gun towards her belly.

She held out her hands. Panic drenched her shaky movements as fear imbedded deep into her marrow. “Okay—okay. I’ll do it.” Charli swallowed down the bile that rose. Her body trembled with the very real terror that her life, and that of her son’s, were in mortal danger. Horror for what this madman planned to do to her and dread that her husband would be walking into a trap lashed her skin like a whip with sharp barbs.

Please save us, Finn.

50

Finn

Finn paid for the takeout and made his way back to the Jeep. He set the food on the floorboard so it wouldn’t spill before he started the engine. Light snow drifted from the dark sky. The moon was obscured by the pregnant, grey storm clouds. The temperature seemed to have dropped ten degrees since he’d run into the restaurant.

Shifting the car into gear, his foot pressed the pedal as an unsettling feeling cinched tighter across his chest. He adjusted his posture, clearing his throat, unable to shake the heaviness. He checked the clock. He’d only been gone fifteen minutes. If he called Charli now, she’d laugh at him and tell him he was worrying over nothing. Maybe it would take some time adjusting to the fact that she was safe—that this was over.

Chiming bells interrupted his thoughts. He picked up his phone and answered on speakerphone as he turned into his neighborhood. “Hello?”

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