Deceived (Free Indeed Book 2), page 19
“Yes, they got to the car without a problem and left to go get help.” Cara clutched his hand tightly. “Everything’s going to be just fine. You just focus on hanging in there. Don’t you dare leave me. After all we’ve been through, you are not going to leave me like this.”
His small grin appeared back on his face, and for a moment a soft look replaced the pain in his eyes. “I always knew you kinda liked me.”
Despite the fact that she wanted to bawl her eyes out, a choked laugh tumbled out of Cara at his words. “Whatever. I just like you for your hot bod, Deputy Badass, and you know it.”
A deep chuckle rumbled from Jake’s chest before the pain made him realize laughing was a bad idea. He hissed and clutched his chest even tighter.
“No more laughing. Laughing is bad.” Cara admonished eyes furrowed with concern.
“I’ll do my best not to find your sarcasm amusing going forward,” Jake grunted as his body sank against her in sheer exhaustion. He lay his head in her lap and let out a heavy sigh.
A loud bang from the other side of the car made them jump in surprise as the door to the station was thrown open. They both froze at the sound of footsteps pounding down the steps to the sidewalk only a few feet away from them. Only the car protected them from sight. Jake clenched her hand in his own as determination filled his eyes. If it came down to it, she knew he wouldn’t go down without a fight. Even in his wounded state, he would do whatever it took to make sure she was protected. God, she hoped it didn’t come down to that, though. He needed to remain as still as possible and keep the blood loss to a minimum. Having to fight for their lives would not help this plan.
“Which way did she go?” Paul’s voice was so close chills ran down her spine. Cara was afraid to even breathe for fear that he would hear her.
“She’s going to run,” Gideon’s evil voice was very matter of fact. “She’ll need her car. Since the sheriff brought her over from her job, she’ll most likely head there.”
“The shelter,” Paul agreed. “It’s not far. We can run there in a couple of minutes.”
Loud footfalls sounded as they ran down the sidewalk and faded as they hurried away. Cara sighed with relief that they were gone and didn’t find them huddled behind the car.
“You have to help her,” Jake squeezed out through tightly clenched teeth.
Cara looked down at the man who had become so important to her during this nightmare. There was no way she could leave him. Not when he was bleeding out and could die. If that meant Allie would have to suffer because of it, and Gideon would get his disk back, then she was just going to have to live with it. Because there was no way she would be able to live with Jake dying on her.
“I’m not leaving you.” The determination in her voice held no room for argument.
“Cara, Allie is innocent in all of this and has no idea what’s going on. They’ll kill her.”
“I can’t leave you, Jake. I won’t.”
He grunted in discomfort as he twisted his body so he could reach into the waistband of his pants. Cara watched as he pulled out a folding knife and then pushed it into her hands. She stared down at the five-inch blade for a moment before her gaze snapped back up to meet Jake’s.
“Take the knife and follow them. I’ll get help and be fine. You have my word.”
She was torn. Leaving him here all alone was just something she just couldn’t do. Cara looked around her to see if anyone happened to be in the vicinity who may be able to help. Her eyes turned down the street where they were sitting just in time to see a car turn the corner and head toward them. It was coming fast. And surprise of all surprises, it was a shiny, bright red Mini Cooper convertible.
Daphne. Damn, she was driving fast. Cara pushed herself to her feet and jumped into the middle of the street waving her arms wildly in the air to get her attention. At what seemed the very last possible moment, Daphne slammed on her breaks. The tires squealed as the car swerved to avoid hitting Cara for the second time in a matter of days. The car spun to the side and stopped barely managing to avoid impact. Cara breathed a sigh of relief at the near miss. God, she really didn’t want to get hit again.
The driver’s side door was thrown open, and an extremely pissed off face jumped out of the car. “You crazy fucking bitch!” Daphne screeched. “I can’t believe you! Do you have a death wish or something?”
“Daphne, I need you to calm down and listen to me.” Cara tried to take control of the conversation. They didn’t have time to waste. Pointing to Jake slouched onto the pavement beside them she continued, “This man has been shot. I need you to take him to the doctor and get him help.”
“Oh my God!” Daphne gaped as she took in the man next to them with blood covering his body. “What, do you just go around shooting people? I don’t want anything to do with this. I’m out of here.”
Daphne spun to head back to her car but was brought up short by Cara’s arm lashing out to grab hers. Daphne’s head snapped back to look into Cara’s determined gaze.
“Daphne, you need to focus. This man is hurt, and he needs help. And guess what? You’re the only one here, so that means you’re the lucky person who gets to help. Now shut up and help me get him in your car.”
At her words, the blonde woman actually stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. Like actually pouted as if her life sucked and was so unfair. Finally, with a toss of her hair she let out a deep sigh and grunted as she threw her hands up in the air, “Fine, I’ll help you. It’s a good thing the rush order I placed for my replacement interior leather hasn’t come in yet or I’d make him walk. What’s a little more blood in my car after all? We’ll just add it to the bloodbath you left behind.”
Cara breathed a sigh of relief at her words, “Thank you, Daphne.” The last thing she wanted was to be indebted to the woman even more than she already was, but this was a desperate situation. She spun around and crouched down to where Jake watched them silently. Reaching her arm around his back and under his shoulders, she managed to get him to his feet with his help.
“Help me, Daphne,” she grunted as she tried to lead Jake’s stumbling form towards the car.
“Ew, no. I’m not touching that mess, that is not part of the deal. That’s just nasty.”
A snort of disbelief came from Jake and all Cara could do was sigh. “Fine. Just get the door open then, ok?”
Daphne muttered something unintelligible under her breath and stomped over to the passenger side of the car to open the door. It was slow going, but they finally managed to make it to the seat and Jake basically flopped inside. A hiss of pain escaped his lips from the impact.
“I’m so sorry,” Cara winced. God, her heart hurt to see him in pain like this. It was like she literally felt his distress in her soul. Gideon was going to pay for all the damage he’d done.
“It’s ok,” Jake replied giving her what she was sure was a forced grin. At her skeptical look, his grin got bigger. “I’m serious. I’m alive, and that’s a hell of a lot better than what could have happened, so I’ll take it.”
Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes before she forced them back. No, there wasn’t time right now to think of what could have happened. She needed to stay focused on what needed to be done. And Jake was ok. Or at least he would be ok. Daphne had sucked it up and done what was needed to save her, so she knew the woman could do it again with Jake.
Leaning down into the car, Cara pressed her lips featherlight against Jake’s. She pulled back and stared into his amazingly beautiful eyes. Their eyes held and then with a soft smile Cara whispered, “You take care of yourself, you hear?”
“You do the same,” Jake countered, his face turning all serious and protective, and damn, but if that didn’t just make him look even sexier. “Seriously. Just stay out of sight and watch. Try and follow them if you can, but don’t do anything to get hurt.”
“I’ll be careful.” This time Jake had a disbelieving look cover the entirety of his face. “I promise.”
“You better.” A soft smile ticked up one side of his mouth, “I’ve kinda gotten used to having you around. It’d be a shame to lose you now.”
The blare of the car horn bellowed into the air making Cara yelp in surprise as she jumped back. She tried to get her breathing back under control as her head swung up to see Daphne sitting in the driver’s seat, her hand resting on the center of the wheel.
“What in the bloody hell, Daphne?” Cara gaped at the confounding woman.
“Hello. Man dying over here.” She waved her hand gesturing in Jake’s direction as she rolled her eyes at Cara. “Now get your ass out of the way, or I’m going to run you over again.”
A long-suffering sigh burst out of Cara’s lips as she stepped away from the car and pushed the door closed. One hand rose slightly to wave a soft goodbye to Jake. He looked back at her through the window and gave her a little wink making her smile.
Without delaying another moment, Daphne slammed on the gas and squealed down the street in a cloud of dust. Jake was out of her hands now. Like it or not it was all up to Daphne, and there was nothing she could do about it.
What she could do something about, though, was Allie. And Cara wasn’t about to let Allie face off against Gideon and his T-1000 sidekick by herself. Especially when it was Cara’s fault she was even in this mess to begin with. She didn’t have a plan, and she wasn’t sure what she could do, but she had to at least try.
Reaching down Cara felt the solid weight of the folding knife safely in her pocket. Granted, it wouldn’t hold up very well in a gunfight, but maybe if she could catch one of them by surprise, she could slit their throat. Unless it was Paul. A throat slashing was too good for the likes of him. Nope, if she came face to face with him, he was getting a knife straight to the balls. The filthy fucking bastard.
She tried to keep thoughts of Jake from permeating her mind and focus on the job at hand. From the recon she had done with Jake the day before, she knew the shelter was only a couple of blocks away. Gideon and Paul might be about to arrive any second if they hadn’t already, so she didn’t have any time to waste. Turning in the direction she knew she needed to go, she sprinted toward the shelter.
While running, she tried to brainstorm. What she needed was a plan. But what could she really do against two large douchey men with only a knife to defend herself? Of course, Allie would be on her side, but who knew how resourceful she would be in a fight after being sheltered her entire life. Cara sighed. Oh well, plans were overrated anyway. She’d just have to wing it.
As she reached the curb and was about to cross the street, a black truck spun up next to her and slammed on its breaks. The driver’s side window rolled down, and a man she didn’t know stuck his head out and asked, “You Cara?”
“Um, yeah,” Cara responded staring back in surprise at the ruggedly handsome cowboy in front of her. Of course, he wasn’t as handsome as Jake, but he was a pretty damn close second. And that Stetson on his head only made him look even better.
“I’m Jason. Amy called me and told me what happened. Where’s Allie? Is she safe?”
Jason. Well then he must be Allie’s Jason. After all, how many Jason’s could one small town have? Talk about a stroke of luck. If anyone was motivated to fight for Allie, it was the man she loved. Or at least Cara’s romantic side hoped they loved each other. Goodness knows Allie deserved it after all she had been through.
“She’s still in trouble,” Cara informed him as she rounded the truck to the passenger side. As she climbed into the seat, she continued, “Allie’s headed to the shelter and Gideon and Paul are on their way now. We need to hurry. As soon as Gideon gets her locket back, he’s going to kill her.”
Before she had even finished slamming the door shut, Jason had already hit the gas and flew down the road toward the shelter.
Well, yay. Her plan just got a whole heck of a lot more likely to succeed. Now she had a sexy burly rancher who looked like he would move heaven and earth to save the woman he loved, along with her own awesome resourcefulness, a knife, and possibly even Allie as a wildcard. Things were looking up in the rescue department.
Chapter 18
The truck screeched to a stop just around the corner from the shelter. Since pulling right into the parking lot would alert anyone inside that they were coming, they had to at least be somewhat out of sight. Jason and Cara both climbed out of the vehicle and met at the front of the truck before walking the remaining distance to the building.
There wasn’t much to keep them hidden if anyone was really looking, but hopefully, Gideon and Paul would both be focused on Allie. At least night had fallen, so they were able to stick to the shadows as much as possible and sidle on up to the front door.
Jason took the lead keeping Cara protectively behind him until he knew for sure what they were dealing with. He reached up and grasped the handle. Not surprisingly the door was unlocked. Since business hours were over, it only confirmed what they already knew—Allie had to be inside. Cara only hoped they made it in time to stop those monsters from killing Allie.
Softly pulling the door open, Jason entered the waiting room with Cara closely behind. The room was dark, but they were able to make out the chairs littered around the walls and the receptionist’s counter directly in front of them. The door connecting the two rooms was open, and Cara could see a hallway leading to the back area.
Irate voices clamored from the back, but they were too far away to clearly hear what was being said. Jason and Cara looked at each other before turning to head in the direction of the angry voices.
As they entered the hallway, the voices became more intelligible the further they walked. Everything was quiet for a moment just before Allie’s scream of anger broke through the silence from behind the closed door directly in front of them, “No! No, she’s just a child!”
Next to her, Jason’s body went rigid at the sound of Allie’s distressed voice. A sharp slap followed her outburst making them both tense even more.
“We need to split them up,” Jason whispered. “I’m going to draw one of them out here. Hopefully, that’ll buy us more time. We just need to keep Allie alive until Sheriff Donaldson can get here with backup.”
Cara nodded in agreement. If Jason could take care of Paul, maybe she could get the surprise on Gideon.
“Hide,” Jason commanded.
Keeping close to the wall, Cara silently crept the remaining distance to the closed door and crouched down into a squat underneath a small table. Hopefully, the hallway was shadowed enough, that Paul would be solely focused on Jason and walk right past her.
When Jason saw that she was secure, he backtracked into the waiting room they had just left and loudly called out, “Allie?”
The voices and mumbles from the other side of the door instantly stopped and time seemed to freeze as Cara waited in the darkness. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the door next to her slowly pushed open, and two jean-clad legs suddenly appeared inches away from her face.
Paul paused in the doorway right next to her and waited as if listening for any sound that was out of place. Cara held her breath afraid to move even the slightest muscle for fear it would give away her hiding place. Finally, just when she thought he was about to lean down and shoot her, Paul instead continued forward down the hall in the direction of where Jason waited letting the door softly close behind him.
Cara kept low to the ground and crawled through the doorway just in time before the door swung closed. Silently, she crept up to the large island directly in front of her, the only thing that separated her from Gideon’s gaze. Rows of cages lined the wall to her left. They contained agitated little dog and cat faces that stared out in confusion at the strangers that invaded their home. As if they knew danger was in their midst, a cacophony of howls and hisses filled the room.
One dog, in particular, was going crazy, growling and snapping at the bars in front of him almost as if he were desperate to break free and take care of the intruder. The large german shepherd noticed Cara out of the corner of his eye and turned his attention to her. The dog momentarily ceased his barking as he held eye contact with Cara. The look in his eyes as they stared into her own oozed intelligence like he was trying to speak to her.
Something on the other side of the island stole the dog’s attention, and he turned to growl once again while looking across the room. Still keeping low to the floor, Cara crawled to the edge of the island and peered around the corner.
Gideon stood at the other end of the room towering over Allie who trembled next to him. From one hand dangled the missing locket. Damn. Gideon had already gotten it back from Allie. There was nothing keeping her alive now that it was back in his possession. As if coming to the exact same conclusion, he stuffed the necklace into his pocket. Then both hands snapped up and encircled Allie’s neck. The bastard was trying to strangle her to death. Allie tried to struggle valiantly against him and fight him off, but was quickly losing any strength she had remaining. He was just way too big and much too strong for her to fight against.
A shot rang out from the front office making Cara jump in surprise. Barely suppressing her yelp in time, she almost accidentally gave away her position. Both Gideon and Allie’s bodies jerked at the sharp sound of a gunshot. It broke his concentration enough that he momentarily relaxed his hold on the girl’s throat.
Fear covered Allie’s face as her eyes darted to the door leading to the front. Oh God, Jason couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t. Please, don’t let that gunshot have killed him. If Paul killed Jason, then they were done for. Paul would be back in the room in moments, and there was no way Cara would be able to fight off both of them even with Allie’s help.
