Hannah was limp but breathing, the side of her head bleeding profusely. From the sirens, it sounded like help was close.
Hunter shrugged out of his jacket, positioned himself on the floor behind her and pressed the wadded-up fabric to her wound. Her eyes flew open and she gasped, her gaze darting fearfully around the room.
She started to sit up, but Luke crouched over her, holding on to her arms, not sure about the extent of her injuries. “Easy,” he said. “We’re here to help you. An ambulance is on the way. Are you injured anywhere else aside from your head?”
“Where’s Natalie?” she asked, her voice an urgent whisper.
“We’ll get her in here,” Hunter said, nodding to Nick.
“Tell us what happened,” Luke said, trying to redirect her focus.
“I need to talk to Natalie.” She’d started to tremble, likely the shock setting in. Luke radioed for Nick to bring a blanket with Natalie.
“She’ll be here,” he reassured her. “You’re safe.”
Seconds ticked by and Hannah stared up at him, but he wasn’t sure she was really seeing him at all. Then her eyes closed again, her body limp.
Seconds later, Natalie rushed into the room, a blanket in her arms. She leaned over Natalie and tucked the blanket over her. “I’m here, Hannah,” she said soothingly, but her fear was palpable. “I’m right here. The ambulance is pulling up now. You’re going to be fine.”
When Hannah didn’t respond, Natalie looked up at Luke, tears welling in her eyes. The truth was, they didn’t know if she would be fine. Thankfully, the paramedics had finally arrived. They burst into the shop, and Hannah was whisked away as police descended on the scene, dusting for prints, interviewing and taking photos.
Not for one minute did Luke believe the robbery had been random. Not when it was timed so closely with when Natalie dropped off her ring. He explained his theory to the police, but they were more interested in getting their hands on the shop’s surveillance videos than entertaining his theories.
It was hours before the police finished photographing and cataloging the scene. By the time the Shield team was given the go-ahead to start cleaning up, it was well after ten, the night pitch-black.
Natalie had left hours ago to spend time at the hospital with Hannah, who was still heavily sedated, but recovering, after undergoing surgery to stop a brain bleed.
Luke had almost volunteered to accompany her, but Julianna had beat him to it, Carson and Nick on transport duty.
“We’ll clean up the glass and blood,” Hunter said next to him as police cars began to disperse. “Hannah’s brother will be here soon.”
Her brother, Landon, had taken the first flight he could get out of Atlanta when they’d finally been able to contact him. It seemed like the right thing to do to clean up the shop a little so he would have less to deal with when he arrived.
Luke began to walk with Hunter back toward the shop when headlights turned onto the dark street, Carson pulling up to the curb. Nick hopped out of the passenger seat and opened the back door, and Natalie climbed out, with Julianna following.
Luke’s heart clenched at the sight of her. Her hair was limp, tucked behind her ears, a hint of mascara smudged under tired eyes. Every instinct told him to offer her a hug, but he forced himself to stand by his decision.
“How is she?” he asked.
“Still out,” Natalie answered, “but the doctors are hopeful.” She glanced toward the shop. “Are you done here?”
“Almost. Nick and I are going to clean up a bit before Hannah’s brother gets here.”
“I’ll help,” she offered.
“It’s been a long day. You should get back home.”
She was already marching up to the shop. “I’ll never sleep. I’d like to help.”
Julianna followed at her heels, and the two got to work alongside Luke and Hunter. Natalie’s determination didn’t surprise Luke, but Julianna’s did.
She had an air of superficiality about her on-screen whenever he’d seen her in the news, but in real life, she adapted to the situation. She tied her hair into a quick bun, helped sweep up glass and inventory jewelry and spent a significant amount of time talking with and consoling Natalie.
Even with Nick patrolling outside the shop, they still had four sets of hands, so the clean-up was going quickly, and by the time Hannah’s brother arrived, there was little left to be done. The repairs would have to wait until the Mason family could take care of them, but at least Landon hadn’t arrived to the sight of broken glass and his sister’s blood.
Landon was a young man of few words, nearly six-three with strawberry blonde hair a much lighter shade than his sister’s. He’d thanked the crew for their help and almost immediately pulled his laptop out of his carry-on and logged into the shop’s Wi-Fi.
His mission quickly became clear: he was logging into the security account. The police had confiscated the trashed computers, but there were other ways to access the footage from earlier in the day. “I’ll be out front with Nick,” Hunter said to Luke. “Radio when you’re ready to head out.” He left the room as the others in the room began to gather near Landon, anticipation thrumming as they waited for the surveillance video to appear on the screen.
Landon scrolled through the footage and started rolling it at 1:00 p.m., the screen showing Hannah in the back room, alone. She had taken Natalie’s ring and was using tools to inspect it. Her facial expression was hidden, her head bent down, focusing on her work. But at a certain point she seemed to freeze, and Luke watched the video, adrenaline rushing. Was this the point where she heard the intruder? Video from the front of the store stood silent, though, not a customer around. Did she just sense something was wrong?
Suddenly, she was moving again, but her movements were hurried, almost panicky. She grabbed her pen and started scribbling something on a pad of paper, then tore the sheet out and folded it into a square. Grabbing the ring, she carefully placed it inside a small lined ring box, and then crossed the room to a center display where ring orders and repairs were stored. She flipped up a small panel in the center of the workstation and made a motion that resembled punching numbers on a safe. Luke couldn’t see in great detail but sure enough, a small drawer rose up from the center of the workstation. Hannah placed the box and the paper in the drawer and then closed it again. Then she practically ran over to her cell phone on the opposite counter.
“She was in a real hurry,” Natalie commented, her voice hushed.
“But not at first.” Landon backed the footage up and they watched again, catching the moment when her methodical ring appraisal seemed to suddenly become an urgent mission.
It was difficult to watch the scene unfold after she’d secured the ring. Hannah had started to make a call when the front door opened and a man stepped inside, looking around the front room. He wore a business suit and a nylon mask, and he set a briefcase down just inside the door. In the back room, Hannah’s posture stilled, the phone to her ear. She seemed to know instinctively something was wrong, but how could she? The man locked the door behind him, switched the sign to Closed and shut the blinds.
“That must have been when she called me,” Natalie whispered, watching with horror.
The robbery lasted less than three minutes. Hannah’s brother sat rigid and emotionless as they watched the man burst into the workroom, Hannah dropping her phone and running for the exit. But she didn’t make it far. He leaped over the workstation and pounced on her slight frame, smashing her head into the ground and then into the corner edge of a cabinet.
“Oh, my gosh,” Natalie said, and Julianna gasped, her hand covering her mouth. Luke’s horror matched theirs as the man pushed up from where Hannah lay and ran back to the front of the shop for his briefcase. He pulled out a metal tool and began smashing glass with it, grabbing everything he could get his hands on quickly and stuffing the items into the briefcase.
He then ran to the back room, doing another quick smash-and-grab before making a hasty escape out the back of the shop.
Nearly a minute ticked by before Hannah started to move. It was painful to watch. She tried to stand, but seemed dazed and weak. Instead, she crawled, blood dripping from her head wound and down her shoulder, trailing alongside her on the floor. She reached up and locked the back door, then grabbed her phone and crawled to the place where they had found her nearly unconscious, but she seemed to pass out then, the phone falling from her hands. Minutes passed slowly and the shop stood still until the Shield team entered.
“That’s horrible!” Julianna said, clearly shaken. “He nearly killed her.”
Luke crossed the room to the broken display case, scanning the intact gray granite workspace in the center for the panel that Hannah had accessed.
Natalie appeared at his side, running her hand along the surface.
“Here,” Landon said, maneuvering around the group. He depressed a nearly invisible button in the granite countertop, which released a panel opening to a keypad. He punched in a code, and the drawer elevated out from the workstation.
Natalie reached in and pulled out the box with the ring, opening it as Luke pulled out the paper and unfolded it. Julianna and Landon hovered between them as they all looked at the appraisal together.
Luke skimmed the handwritten form and instinctively backed up, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
“What?” Natalie was the first to speak, looking up from the form to Julianna and then Luke.
Hannah had appraised the ring at $1.4 million. She had noted every technical detail of the stones, and then she had written a note in the comments section that the ring appeared to be not a replica, but the original ring owned by Julianna Montgomery.
Julianna’s olive skin looked suddenly pale, and she held out her hand, showing them her own ring. “Impossible.”
But she looked uneasy, more than surprised.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Natalie said, opening the ring box to take another look. “How would I have your ring?”
Luke’s mind circled back to the recordings on Kyle’s phone. Clearly a conversation between lovers. Had it been Julianna’s voice he’d heard?
“Let’s compare.” Julianna pulled off her ring and held it in her palm, holding her other hand out for the newly appraised ring.
Natalie started to hand the ring over, but Luke intercepted it, setting it back in the locked compartment for the time being, keeping his eyes on Julianna the whole time.
Her eyes seemed a little wild, unfocused. He had no idea what was going on, but he knew he needed to call the police back to the scene, and also turn over Kyle’s cell phone. “This is probably a matter for the police,” he said, pulling out his phone.
“Don’t do that.” Julianna’s voice was soft and pleading, her eyes suddenly filling with tears. “It’s my ring. I can—I can explain.”
He ignored her pleas as the phone rang and he spoke with the detective about the appraisal and the cell phone recordings. As he spoke, Julianna started to back away, one slow step at a time.
Then she reached into her purse.
The gun was in her hand before Luke could even register what was happening. She held it shakily, not aimed anywhere in particular.
“Get down!” Luke yelled to Natalie and Landon, but he didn’t have time to see if they’d followed instructions. He lunged toward Julianna, yelling for backup as she raised the weapon.
“Don’t come any closer,” she said, her voice shaky, tears streaming down her face. And she put the gun to her own temple.
“No! Julianna! Don’t!” Natalie screamed, suddenly rushing forward, but Luke maneuvered in front of her.
“Stay back.”
Slowly, he approached Julianna. “You don’t want to do this,” he said gently. “Think about your baby.” But her eyes were glazed over, and he wasn’t sure she was even hearing a word he was saying.
Behind her, Hunter and Nick had appeared in the doorway, and he made eye contact. Together, they would try to get the gun away from her before she could pull the trigger. When Luke stepped forward, they would act. It was an unspoken agreement.
Luke rushed Julianna as Hunter and Nick simultaneously dragged her down, an anguished scream ripping from her throat as she fell. But as Luke grabbed her gun arm to disarm her, she jerked wildly away and a loud blast filled the small shop.
Luke flew backward, sprawled out on the freshly mopped tile, every muscle suddenly heavy, time slowing down.
His vision blurred as Natalie’s face suddenly appeared over him. Tears streaming down her red cheeks, her voice sounded far away as she shouted for something or someone. Then she was pressing something to his chest, her face inches from his.
“Don’t cry,” he whispered, and somehow his hand came up to brush tears from her cheek.
“I’m not crying,” she said, more tears falling.
This wasn’t the way he wanted to die; those weren’t the last words he wanted to exchange. But his hand dropped, and his eyes closed, and the last words he heard were Natalie whispering, “Don’t die, don’t die, don’t die.”
Luke opened his eyes to darkness and the low whir of machines. He tried to sit up, but his muscles wouldn’t cooperate. He felt nothing. No pain, no nausea. He knew he was in the hospital, and in a flash everything came back to him. Fear struck all at once. He couldn’t feel anything. Had the shot paralyzed him? Gone through his chest to his spine? He wiggled his fingers, his hands. No, not paralyzed. But he couldn’t seem to move his larger muscle groups. He shifted his right arm to try to get leverage to scoot up in the bed, and realized he wasn’t alone.
His vision cleared as he looked down at Natalie’s near-white hair on the bed next to him. She’d pulled a chair up close, curled up and laid her head next to him. New emotions welled up as he remembered her tears and her pleading with him not to die. He set his hand down on her head, gently stroking the tangled waves as she slept.
The bullet could have just as easily found her, and the thought turned his stomach. He had a feeling Julianna hadn’t meant to shoot. Could see her face in his memory as he fell. She’d dropped the gun, screaming, but it had been too late.
Natalie stirred and sat up suddenly, her gaze finding his in the dark. “You’re awake,” she said, reaching for the nurse call button, but he set his hand on her arm.
“I’m okay. How long have we been here?”
She looked at her phone. “It’s almost seven in the morning. You were in surgery until three. Do you remember coming out of it?”
He shook his head.
“They said you’d sleep a lot. Are you in pain?”
“No.”
The room seemed lighter now that his eyes had adjusted to the dark, the glow of the machines playing on Natalie’s face. She had never looked more beautiful, even with mascara smudged, hair in disarray, T-shirt sleep-rumpled.
“Tell me what happened.”
“It was Julianna’s ring. She and Kyle had an affair. He was sneaky enough to record some of their interactions. Stole the ring from her one night after she’d been drinking, swapped it with the replica he’d originally bought for me. Then used the ring and the recordings as a bribe.”
“For money.”
She nodded. “He wanted a hundred grand and he’d destroy the recordings and return the ring. But she couldn’t get ahold of a hundred grand without her husband finding out. She fed him a couple thousand at a time. Hired some help to get the ring back. That’s what happened the morning of the wedding. The guys she hired showed up and knocked him around, tore up his apartment looking for the recordings and threatened to kill him if the ring wasn’t back by midnight.”
Luke thought about that for a minute. “So he got scared and skipped town.”
The look of disgust on Natalie’s face was all the answer he needed.
“Then the guys came after you.”
She nodded. “She didn’t want to kill me, isn’t that nice?” she asked sarcastically. “She just wanted to get rid of the evidence of the affair and make sure no one caught wind of the fact that I had her ring. That would be hard for anyone to explain.”
“Wow.” He had suspected all along Kyle had something to do with the attacks, but he never would have imagined a story like this one. “Wonder how he planned to swap the ring out later.”
Natalie shrugged. “I had told him it needed to be resized. My guess is he’d planned to find a way to swap it back then.”
Luke shook his head. “Too bad Julianna couldn’t have just come clean. She dug herself a much deeper hole.”
Natalie frowned, sadness passing through her eyes. “I don’t really know. I would guess that after spending years making a life for herself as a successful actress and a name for herself as a champion for mental health, she couldn’t bear the thought of losing it all. Plus, she announced publicly before Christmas that she’d be auctioning off her ring at the fund-raiser in July. She’d look like a fraud once the buyer took it to an appraiser.”
“What a shame,” Luke said, and he really did mean it. Julianna had had the world at her feet, and she had thrown it away.
“It really is. Especially because I don’t really think she was in her right mind. But she’ll still do jail time. So will Kyle—for extortion, bribery and obstruction of justice.”
“So Jordan really wasn’t involved?”
“Doesn’t look like he did anything but snoop in my room and exercise poor judgment. The reporter checked out.”
“Help me sit up a little?”
She pressed the adjustment arrow on the bed control panel, and he set his hand on the bed to push up a little, but it connected with something hard. A book? He looked down and saw what Natalie had fallen asleep on.
“Where’d the Bible come from?” he asked, surprised.
“I asked my dad to bring it.”
“What were you reading?”
“He suggested Psalms.” She smiled softly. “To be honest, I couldn’t tell you what I read. But there was something peaceful about reading it out loud.”
Then her expression changed, a wave of indecision passing through her eyes. The moment stretched silent and full of thoughts unspoken.
“What is it?” Luke asked finally, his eyes searching hers.
She hesitated a fraction of a second and then leaned in close, her hand settling on his cheek. His pulse quickened at her touch. “I have never prayed so hard in my life,” she said, her voice a near-whisper. “You almost died, Luke. She almost killed you.” Her eyes teared up, but then she grinned. “And I would have never gotten the chance to tell you how wrong you were.”
He laughed softly, surprised at her words. “Well, thank goodness for that.”
She looked straight into his eyes, fingers sweetly stroking the side of his face. “This...whatever this is between us...it’s not an illusion. From the moment we met, every time we’ve been apart, I’ve missed you.” He read uncertainty in her eyes, knew the vulnerability she battled.
He also knew in that heartbeat that what he’d thought about them had been all wrong. His connection with Natalie was special, forged through the intertwining of hearts and souls—not simply shared trauma.
He reached up and took her hand, gently moving it from his face to just over his heart, his other hand joining in on what felt like a promise.
“I have never been so wrong in my life,” he agreed.
Natalie smiled and laid her head on his shoulder, her hair tickling his chin. He turned toward her and kissed the top of her head, daring to hope for what he’d almost given up on: a future with this woman who made him smile, helped him dream and stood by him in the darkest moments.