No one needed to be told twice. Patrons dropped to the floor as one, shielding themselves with tables and chairs. Lindsey put her coffee on the counter and did a visual sweep of the room, making certain everyone was down, as she crouched low and hurried to Sully. She glanced over her shoulder and watched Ann Marie as she ducked behind the main desk with Paula.
Sully was hunkered low against the wall beside the open doors. He craned his head around the doorjamb, trying to assess what was happening outside.
Lindsey reached into her pocket for her phone. Darn it! She’d left it on her desk. The sound of an engine revving and the squeal of tires ripped through the quiet. Lindsey could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Sully pulled her down beside him, and Lindsey pressed herself against his solid warmth.
“What do we do?” hissed Paula. She was peeking around the side of the circulation desk. “Last time I checked, random gunfire wasn’t covered in the staff manual.”
Lindsey had just opened her mouth to answer when Sully, using the voice of command that she suspected he had perfected during his years in the navy, said, “Stay down. I’ve called the police. They’re on their way.”
As if he had cued it, the faint sound of a siren could be heard in the distance. It sounded far away. Lindsey wondered whether Emma had stationed her officers to watch over Theresa Huston and now they had to hustle back to the center of town to deal with whoever was shooting up Main Street.
Pop pop pop!
Sully pushed her up against the wall even while he moved to get a better look. Lindsey fought against his hold, trying to see for herself what was happening. She leaned against his back and peered over his shoulder.
The red sports car had spun around and was now charging down the center of the road, right on the back bumper of another vehicle. A tricked-out, high-end SUV was swerving and dodging, trying to lose the smaller sports car like a big dog shaking off a playful puppy.
As they watched, the SUV jumped the curb and sped through the park, tearing up the new spring grass in its race to get away. The driver’s-side window of the sports car was down, and Lindsey saw the barrel of a gun pointed at the SUV. A shot was fired, and the SUV swerved again, bouncing back onto the street with a bang and a thud. Amazingly, the tires didn’t blow, and the vehicle sped past the library.
As it moved under a streetlight, Lindsey gasped. The distinctive bright blond hair of the Norrgard brothers was visible, as was the pale and terrified face of Theresa Huston, who was wedged between them in the front of the vehicle.
The SUV executed a tight right turn at top speed, turning onto a side street. The muscle car missed it and sped past. Lindsey watched with wide eyes as the sports car pulled a U-turn in the center of Main Street to go after the Norrgard brothers. Just as it reached the side street and turned onto the road, the Norrgards came roaring out of the side street, passing the muscle car, which was now headed in the wrong direction.
The SUV raced through town while the sports car was left trying to turn around on a narrow side street full of parked cars. The sound of one bumper crunching another and of one car scraping up the side of another shredded the night air. There was a beat of silence, and then with another squeal of tires, the muscle car was in pursuit of the SUV once again.
Sully was up and moving toward the door as soon as the taillights disappeared. Lindsey was right behind him. She thought it spoke well of their relationship that he didn’t ask her to stay behind. Perhaps she had worn him down after their years together, or maybe he just didn’t want to take the time to argue. Either way, they were out of the building and running at top speed for his truck, which was parked on a side street beside the library.
They jumped in, and Sully jammed the truck into drive and rocketed out of the parking space. He shot out onto Main Street with a teeth-jarring thump, and Lindsey grabbed the handle that was built into the door, trying to steady herself as she bounced in her seat.
The road ahead was empty; the faint sound of the police siren still wailed in the distance.
“How are we going to find them?” she asked. “We have no idea where they might have gone.”
“True, but I don’t think whoever is after them is going to give up,” Sully said. “The Norrgard twins are better sailors than they are drivers. I am betting that they’re looking for a way out of town where the car won’t be able to follow.”
“They’re going to take a boat,” she said.
“That’s my hunch.”
“But the town marina is in the other direction.”
“Where there are an awful lot of boats to choose from. My guess is that Stieg and Stefan are planning to use a private vessel so whoever is chasing them will be stranded.”
“But they have to get to the boat first and have time to load Theresa and get out of there.”
“Exactly.”
“So your plan is to help stall whoever is chasing them, the person with the gun?” Lindsey clarified.
“I was really just thinking about getting the license plate to the sports car on the chance that they disappear before the police arrive,” he said. “But if stalling is required, I think we can manage that, too. Assuming, of course, that you’re in?”
“Oh, I’m in,” Lindsey said. “Do you really have to ask?”
“No,” he said. He cast her a quick grin as they shot down the road. “Which is why I didn’t.”
For some reason this charmed Lindsey silly. She liked that Sully knew her so well and had no desire to change her. She thought about his morning whistling and kicked around the idea that maybe Robbie was right. Maybe she was letting all of Sully’s quirks annoy her simply to keep him at a distance.
The deeper she got into this relationship, the more powerful the hurt would be if it didn’t work out. She didn’t enjoy it much the last time they’d taken a break. Now that they were cohabiting, it would be devastating and complicated. And what about Heathcliff? He was so attached to Sully; his little doggy heart would be crushed if he lost his best buddy.
She thought about Sully’s exuberant greeting of each day with whistling and a mug of coffee appearing on her nightstand just before she needed to rise and get in the shower. It hit her then that if he wasn’t there to whistle in the morning, she would miss it. She would miss him.
She glanced at his profile. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes were on the road in front of him. His hands gripped the wheel with total control while he navigated the turns of a road that had no streetlights, making it difficult to know what was around each curve. Lindsey knew that she should be afraid. She should be worried about what they might find on the road ahead, but she wasn’t. She trusted him completely.
“Hang on,” he said. He yanked the wheel to the right, and Lindsey gripped the handle on the door as she fought to keep her seat even while being belted in place. The dirt road, which was barely visible from the street, cut a narrow swath through the trees. The branches were reflected off Sully’s headlights and looked menacing with their nearly naked branches stretched out across the path, scratching the side of the truck if Sully veered too close.
They hit a patch of bumps, and her teeth clacked together. One rut sent her bouncing out of her seat. Sully reached across the console to steady her even as he continued to steer through the thick trees, turning the wheel with the palm of his free hand. Abruptly, they landed in a clearing. Sully’s headlights flashed on the SUV and the muscle car. He had to stand on his brakes to avoid ramming into them. As his truck lurched to an abrupt stop, he snapped off the lights just as Lindsey noted that both cars looked abandoned, with the doors hanging open and the headlights of the SUV still on.
The Norrgard brothers and Theresa had obviously made a run for it, and whoever was following them in the sports car had followed.
Sully put the truck in park and switched off the engine. The night surrounding them seemed to pulse outside their windows with the heartbeat of a predator just waiting, biding its time as it watched its prey, waiting for them to make one false move. Lindsey shivered.
“I’ll go first and do a sweep of the area,” Sully said. “When I signal, open your door slowly and carefully and slip down to the ground, or you could just stay here and wait.”
“All right,” Lindsey said. Then she dashed the hope that flickered in his eyes by adding, “I’ll wait for your signal.”
With a sigh, Sully carefully opened his door and crept out, closing it softly behind him. Lindsey held her breath, waiting for him to scout the scene and give her the all clear. It was dark in the woods, but as her eyes adjusted, she could make out Sully stealthily walking across the ground toward the cars.
He stopped at the SUV first and checked inside. He didn’t linger but moved to the muscle car. He disappeared from sight for a moment, and Lindsey could feel her heart beating in her chest as she waited for him to reappear. He popped up a few moments later and waved for Lindsey to join him.
She carefully opened her door and slid to the ground. It was hard beneath her feet. The few leaves from last season were damp and didn’t crunch underfoot. It was quiet here, surrounded by trees that towered overhead. No breeze rustled through the budding leaves; no birds chirped; even the insects were quiet. The night air was chilly, and she regretted not having brought her jacket.
She crouched down beside the truck and then hurried to join Sully by the sports car. Up close, she could see that it was a newer Camaro. The doors were open, as if the occupants had left in a hurry. She glanced inside. They had taken the keys, so obviously they were planning to come back. There wasn’t anything else in the car except for a bright yellow hooded sweatshirt tossed onto the back seat and some fast-food bags. The interior of the car had a lingering smell of a burger with onions.
The thought that the shooter could be on their way at any moment made the dark woods surrounding them seem even more ominous. Lindsey glanced into the trees as if she had the ability to pick out anyone hiding amid the thick trunks in the dark. It was a futile effort.
Sully was shining the flashlight app on his phone at the corner of the windshield on the driver’s side. He was snapping pictures of the VIN, and Lindsey knew he would be sending them to Emma. He hurried around the back of the car and snapped a picture of the license plate as well. He sent off a rapid-fire text and tucked his phone back into his pocket.
“Come on,” he said. “We need to get out of here.”
“Do you think they’re on their way back?”
Sully scanned the area. He gave her a somber look.
“Probably. There’s only one reason the Norrgards would take Theresa here. The hiking path through these trees gives back access to Milstein’s private dock, where he keeps his yacht.”
“Do you think they made it?”
“There’s only one way to know for sure,” he said. “Let’s go see if the boat is there.”
Lindsey raised her eyebrows in surprise. Now that they had the VIN and the license plate number, she had thought Sully would hustle them out of here. He must have been concerned that the Norrgards hadn’t made it.
He held out his hand, and Lindsey slipped her fingers into his calloused palm, letting him pull her into the woods surrounding the clearing. The undergrowth was thick, as they stayed off the path, opting to walk parallel to it on the chance they ran into whoever was chasing Theresa and her bodyguards. It was difficult not to make noise, as twigs snapped beneath their feet and gravel shifted. Branches impeded their progress, catching at their clothes. Still, they pressed on with Sully in the lead, taking the worst of the beating.
Lindsey knew he was hoping to avoid running into whoever had been driving the sports car; obviously they had a gun and were not afraid to use it. But like Lindsey, he must have felt they had no choice. They simply couldn’t leave without knowing whether Theresa and the twins were in trouble or not.
The trees became sparser, and the going was easier. The salty sea air of the ocean grew stronger as the ground became sandier, sporting tufts of tall grass and cattails. Lindsey knew they were getting closer, and she felt her heart hammer in her chest. Sully stopped abruptly, and she slammed into his back.
“Sorry,” she grunted.
“Shh,” Sully said. His big hands steadied her. “Listen.”
Lindsey stood utterly still, straining her ears for any sound of movement coming from the trees around them. There was nothing. And then she heard it in the distance: the sound of shouts just over the purr of an engine.
“This way.” Sully breathed the words in Lindsey’s ear.
He turned and led her back through the undergrowth and up a small hill. Lindsey followed him, eager to see what was happening. Did the twins get to the boat? Was Theresa safe? Who was chasing them and why?
Sully crouched down behind a thick patch of mountain laurel. Lindsey dropped down beside him. With his free hand, Sully parted the branches, and they glanced down the hill over the small inlet, where a large yacht was chugging its way out toward the sea.
Pop pop pop!
Shots were fired at the vessel, and Sully pushed Lindsey down, shielding her with his body. She would have struggled, but she knew it was just who he was, protecting anyone around him even at the risk of his own life. It was in his DNA, right next to the gene that made him a morning person who whistled.
His face was pressed against hers as he scanned the area, looking for the shooter. The smell of dirt filled Lindsey’s nose, and she was afraid she might sneeze, so she took small breaths through her mouth while Sully crouched over her. The bullets hadn’t struck the yacht, or if they had, they hadn’t hindered its progress at all.
Instead, the lights on the ship were shut off, making it a much more difficult target, and its engines revved as it churned up a wake and headed out into the deeper water of Long Island Sound. There were some shouts and a final popping noise, as if someone had fired their gun in a temper.
Lindsey hardly dared to breathe, as she could hear whoever had been shooting at the vessel off to the right, standing closer to the water’s edge, near the large wooden dock where Milstein kept his boat moored.
This was a deep inlet, one of the few in the area, and it allowed Milstein to keep his boat close to home. Lindsey glanced at the house beyond the dock. It was lit up as if expecting company. She wondered whether the shooter would go to the house, looking for another victim, or whether they’d leave since their prey had escaped. The waiting was excruciating.
Sully was as still as she was, as if he, too, was trying to track the shooter’s movements. Lindsey felt her pulse flutter with nerves when she clearly heard someone walking on the path just below where she and Sully hid.
“Don’t move.” Sully breathed the words into her ear, and Lindsey gave a tiny nod. She had no intention of taking on some bad guy with a gun, and she definitely didn’t want to put Sully at risk, given that he was on top of her and would likely be shot first.
They waited. Lindsey could feel Sully’s heat all along her back and was grateful for it, as it kept her from shivering. She could hear someone muttering as they stomped through the tall grass to get back on the hiking trail. They certainly didn’t care if they were making any noise, probably because they had no idea that they weren’t alone.
What would happen when they saw Sully’s truck? Would they come back and try to shoot them? Lindsey felt her heart pound in her chest and knew her flight response was kicking in. She desperately wanted to get out of here, but given that Sully didn’t move, she figured he thought their best bet was to stay put. Hopefully, the shooter would choose to run.
They waited, and then they waited a little bit longer. When Sully finally rolled off her and pulled her into a sitting positon, Lindsey knew they were safe, and she sucked in a deep breath, letting her lungs fill up with the sweet, cool air.
Sully motioned for her to stay down as he rose to his knees, checking to see that the shooter hadn’t doubled back. In the distance the sound of a car engine revving broke the silence, and Sully rose to his feet, pulling Lindsey up after him.
“I think that’s them,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”
They jogged through the trees on the same uneven terrain that had brought them into the woods. Branches swung at them, and trees popped up in the darkness, forcing them to slow down and work their way around the big trunks and long branches. By the time they got to the clearing, the muscle car was long gone, leaving only the faint smell of a puff of exhaust in its wake.
The doors to the SUV were still wide open, but Sully and Lindsey didn’t go near it. If the shooter had touched the bigger vehicle, they may have left fingerprints behind.
Lindsey leaned against the side of the truck, catching her breath, while Sully called Emma.
“Emma, it’s Sul—”
His words were interrupted by an irate Emma. Lindsey couldn’t hear the exact words, but she knew the tone, as she had been on the receiving end of that voice before. She gave Sully a sympathetic smile, and he shrugged.
“Emma, the suspect who shot at Theresa and the twins is headed your way. Now listen,” Sully said. His voice was firm, and Lindsey noted that she could no longer hear Emma yelling from his phone.
Sully told the police chief what had happened, that they believed that the twins and Theresa had gotten away, but there was a red Camaro headed toward town that was likely the shooter and that he suspected they could still be armed. Suddenly the sound of sirens came out of Sully’s phone, and his eyebrows went up right before the call abruptly ended.
“So, I’m thinking she caught sight of them,” he said.
“So it would seem,” Lindsey said. She glanced around the clearing, which seemed awfully dark and creepy. Not that she thought the bad guy would come back, but still. “Should we close the doors and lock the SUV?”
“I’ll get it,” Sully said. “You can start the truck.”
He handed her the keys, and Lindsey climbed into the cab of the truck and switched on the engine. She watched through the windshield as Sully used the hem of his shirt to hit the door lock and then his elbow to shut the doors of the vehicle. As he walked back to the truck, his eyes scanned the clearing as if he, too, were wondering whether Theresa’s pursuer would reappear.
He climbed in beside her and blew out a breath. “That was intense.”
Lindsey moved across her seat so she could lean against him. When he slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, she couldn’t resist. She planted a swift kiss on his cheek. When he turned to glance at her, they were nose to nose and Lindsey smiled.
“I’m having the best time,” she said.
She felt him shake as a laugh bubbled up out of him.
“Of course you are,” he said. “I have to admit; it does feel like old times.”
“Maybe we needed this,” she said.
“What? Chasing crazy hit men through the woods on a dark spring night, hoping we don’t get shot while we snap a picture of their license plate for the police?” he asked. “That’s your idea of a solid date night?”
Lindsey laughed. “Well, it beats bowling.”
Sully kissed her. It was swift and sweet, but it let her know that he understood what she was saying. It gave her courage.
The words, when they came, tumbled out of her mouth in a waterfall of insecurity and doubt that rushed out of her in an almost deafening roar, at least to her. Out in the air, they were more like a storm of whispers that took on substance when she said what she’d been dreading admitting for weeks.
“I need to tell you something. I’ve been freaking out for a while because I don’t know how you feel about marriage and children,” she said. She took a breath and continued. “I like children. I do. But I don’t want to have any. I know we should have talked about this more in depth before we moved in, but I didn’t know for sure until recently, and I know now that as adorable as a baby is, say, asleep across the room, that’s about as close as I like to get to them. I’m pretty sure I don’t want to have kids, and if you do, well, then . . .”
Her voice stalled from lack of oxygen. She blinked at Sully, awaiting his response while she tried not to pass out.
“So, that’s what’s been on your mind?” he asked. “Kids?”
Lindsey nodded. She’d seen him with Josie. He was the perfect doting uncle with endless patience, and he adored her. He must want children of his own, and he’d be such a great dad. How could she deny him that?
Plus, she’d seen the way he’d looked at her shoes when she’d dropped them on the floor. She wasn’t so sure he loved having her and Heathcliff in his house, so that was another concern. It was time that they were honest about it.
“Also, it occurs to me that you may not love having me and Heathcliff in your house as much as you thought you would. You probably feel as if we’ve invaded your space, and that has to be off-putting.”
“What?” He dropped his arm from around her shoulders and turned so they were facing each other. “No. Never.” He laughed and shook his head. “And all this time, I thought you were missing your old apartment and your own space and were reconsidering living together.”
“No, I love your house,” she said. “Heathcliff loves your house. We’re very happy there.”
“Except?” he asked.
“The whistling,” she said. She hid her face behind her hands and peeked at him from between her fingers. “You whistle very early in the morning.”
He looked confused. Then he ran his fingers through his hair. “I had no idea.”
“Now admit it—my shoes drive you crazy,” she said.
He blinked at her.
“No, don’t deny it. I’ve seen the look. I kick my shoes off wherever I happen to be, and it drives you crazy.”
“It does boggle me that you can’t seem to get them into the shoe basket,” he said. “But it’s so not a big deal.”
“I knew it!” she cried. “I will try to be better.”
“Me, too. No more early morning whistling,” he said. “So, are we good?”
Lindsey shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”
Sully tipped his head to the side as if he didn’t understand.
“Marriage and kids,” she said. “I wasn’t just saying all that. I don’t think I’m mom material.”
“What makes you think I’m dad material?” he asked.
“Josie—you’re so good with her,” she said.
“Well, yeah,” he said. “She’s my niece and I love her.”
“Imagine if she were yours, a child of your own,” she said.
Sully gave her a horrified look. “I’d never sleep again. Never ever. Not a wink.”
He turned and pushed open his door. Lindsey watched as he circled the truck and opened her door. He took her hand and tugged her out of the cab until they were standing face to face. The glow of the dome light in the truck cab shone on his face, and Lindsey was caught by the bright light in his blue eyes, which glittered with affection and nerves.
“Now as for marriage,” he said. “That is absolutely happening.”