Page 65 of Yuletide Hero

When it came down to it there was no choice.

Hayley was in danger, but Jay wouldn’t kill her right away, so there was time to find her. Brian would be dead in minutes if he didn't do something.

With a growl that came from hating being backed into a corner, Brady ran to the car as the truck took off down the street. Thankfully, Hayley’s side of the car had taken the brunt of the impact and Brian’s door appeared to be intact. He yanked on it, and it opened. Inside the car Brian was fighting—fairly uncoordinatedly—with his seatbelt.

Reaching over, Brady unsnapped the buckle, wrapped an arm around Brian’s shoulders, and all but dragged him out of the car. Taking the other man with him, he ran from the car so they wouldn’t get caught up in the inevitable explosion.

“Hayley,” Brian muttered over and over, trying to stagger off in the direction the truck had gone.

“They’re gone,” he said. Rounding his SUV, he pushed Brian down and held him in place with one hand while he pulled his phone from his pocket and called in the cops and an ambulance. Then he called Adam and Jessica, he had to find out if they were okay. They would have noticed Jay breaking into the Turner house and kidnapping Maria, and yet neither of them had called to give him a heads up.

“Hello,” Jessica said when she answered.

“Jay and Maria Turner just rammed Brian and Hayley’s car with a truck, then abducted Hayley and tried to blow up the car with Brian still in it so I couldn’t chase after them,” he summarized.

“Is Brian okay?”

“I got him out before the—” he broke off as the car exploded behind them. “Before the car exploded.”

“Adam and I have been sitting here waiting for you guys since Maria called Hayley and then Brian called us. We haven't seen any signs of Jay.”

“Maybe he had already abducted Maria before she made the phone call. This whole thing could have been a trap intended to lure us in so he could get to Hayley. Since he didn't know where she was, he knew she wouldn’t be able to resist doing anything to protect Kinsley. The truck didn't have any lights on, he was waiting for them.”

“She was in on it.”

“What?” He looked down at Brian, who had stopped struggling to get up on his feet and had sagged back against his SUV. “Who was in on what?”

“Maria.” Brian looked up at him. While he looked like he was in pain his blue eyes were clear, it didn't appear he had a head injury that was impairing his judgment.

“What was Maria in on?”

“This.” He waved a hand at the burning car. “In the car, when Jay was dragging Hayley out, she apologized to me. She didn't call Hayley because she wanted to turn Jay in, she called because she wanted to get us out of the safehouse so her husband could kidnap Hayley. And now he has. He’s going to kill her.”

Brady wanted to say something reassuring, but he didn't know what.

The facts were that Jay Turner did have Hayley and they knew for a fact that unless they could find her first, he was going to kill her.

“We still have time, don’t give up hope just yet,” he said. He knew it was lame, but it was the best he could do. “Did you hear that?” he asked Jessica who was still on the line.

“We did, we’re coming. We can see the flames so we know where you are.”

He hung up and stared at the burning car, they’d made a mistake. All of them. They should have entertained the possibility that just because Maria had been abused by her husband didn't mean that she wasn't loyal to him or that she wasn't involved in this plan to kill Hayley. After all, she had lost both her daughters, just like Jay had.

Brady prayed Hayley wasn't going to pay the price for that mistake.

* * * * *

5:45 P.M.

“In and out, remember,” Jay said.

“I know,” Maria assured her husband. She knew what she had to do and was fully prepared to do it, no matter what.

“Don’t mess up,” he warned, his blue eyes shooting those familiar arrows at her.

She’d missed that.

She’d missed him.

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