December 23^rd

 

 

9:17 A.M.

 

“I can't believe we spent the whole night down here,” Hayley said, stretching. She’d never felt this good or this relaxed in her entire life. “You wouldn’t have thought sleeping on the couch would be this comfortable.”

“It’s not like we did a whole lot of sleeping,” Brian said, nuzzling her neck.

That was true. They’d made love—several times—explored each other’s bodies and laid curled up in each other’s arms talking. It was as close to perfection as a night could possibly be.

It still didn't feel real.

For pretty much as long as she could remember she had wanted this. Her feelings had gone from a childish crush on an older guy, to unrequited love that she had been sure would remain unrequited for the rest of her life, to finally having the man she loved love her back.

She wanted to stay here forever, in this special little bubble, where nothing else existed but the two of them. They could talk some more, sharing some of the personal things that you only shared with the person you loved, and make love a few more times.

This was perfect.

But she knew that perfection was always an illusion.

One that never lasted.

As amazing as last night had been, it didn't change the fact that Jay Turner was still out there somewhere and that he still wanted her dead. It didn't change the fact that he could go after another person she loved, or his daughter or wife.

Brian’s hand moved from her shoulder where he had been lightly massaging her now totally relaxed muscles, and trailed down her arm, over her hip, and settled back between her legs.

“I could really get used to this,” she said as he began to very gently stroke her.

“The sex is pretty awesome.”

“I meant the massages,” she teased.

“Oh yeah, how’s this for a massage.” Brian’s fingers were like magic, and it wasn't long before she was moaning, whimpering, and squirming, trying to get him to increase the pressure as he moved impossibly slowly, drawing things out for her as long as he could.

Eventually, he took mercy on her, increased the pressure and speed, and sent her flying over the edge into indescribable bliss.

“That was better than any massage,” Brian said smugly.

She would agree if she could talk, but she couldn’t, she was still hovering in that zone where her mind and body hadn’t quite reconnected yet.

Hayley had already curled her fingers around his impressive length, ready to return the favor when the doorbell rang.

Just like that, she was snapped out of her happy little bubble.

“Who could that be?” she asked—possibly in a borderline hysterical tone—as she scrambled out from under the blanket and off the couch.

“Let’s just—”

She cut Brian off, too scared to be able to listen to anything. “No one but Ryan and Brady know that we’re here. And they're supposed to call if something happens not just turn up here. Something must be wrong, right? Why else would someone be here? Do you think he went after my sister again? Or my mom or dad? Or maybe he managed to get to Kinsley. You don’t think he hurt Sawyer, do you?”

“What I think is that we should probably just open the door and find out,” Brian said with a calm she had no hope of matching.

“Right.” She nodded a little too vigorously, hurting her neck in the process.

“Uh, Hayley,” Brian said as she hurried to the door.

“What?”

“You might want to put some clothes on,” he said with an amused smile as he looked her over from head to feet.

She followed his gaze and saw that she was still naked.

She’d forgotten.

She was too scared to think properly right now. She wasn't even sure she was capable of remembering how to put on her clothes.

As though sensing her quickly growing panic, Brian picked up her sweatpants and sweater and brought them to her, gently easing the sweater over her head, then taking her hands and sliding them through the sleeves.

“Hold onto my shoulders,” he said as he knelt down.

She did, and he took hold of one of her ankles, slid the pants up one leg, and then repeated the process with the other.

He was so sweet.

As amazing as the hot sex had been, this was why she loved Brian because he genuinely cared about people and wanted to help them.

“Thank you,” she said when he stood.

“Anytime.” He leaned down and tenderly kissed her forehead.

Hayley waited for Brian to shrug into his clothes, then waited for him to join her at the door. She knew the drill, he was the bodyguard, and thus he was the one who opened the door, but it didn't mean she wasn't going to be right behind him waiting to find out what had happened.

“What took so long?” Arianna demanded when Brian finally got the door open.

“Ari?” Hayley asked, confused. Her sister looked fine as did Brady and Aurora Crowley and their twenty-one-month-old daughter Star.

“What’s going on?” Brian asked, ushering everyone into the apartment and closing and locking the door behind them.

“Nothing,” Brady replied. “Arianna is staying with us until the cops get Jay Turner in custody, and she wanted to come by. We thought you might feel a little un-Christmassy here without a tree, so we decided to bring you one and stop by for a visit.”

“What if he followed you here?” Brian demanded, probably a little more forcefully than he should have, considering he was talking to his boss.

Brady rolled his eyes. “As if I was stupid enough to let him follow us. Even if he did know about us, and even if he did know Ari was staying with us, and even if he did find out where we lived, and even if he did know that we were coming to the safehouse, and even if he did try to follow us, do you really think I wouldn’t have noticed?”

“Point taken,” Brian acknowledged.

He might be ready to accept Brady and Aurora bringing Arianna here, but she certainly wasn't. “Why did you bring my sister here? What if he did somehow manage to follow you? What if he knows Ari is staying with you? What if he goes after her again?”

“I'm fine, Hales, don’t worry.” Arianna shot her a wide smile, but Hayley saw the hint of fear lurking deep in her sister’s blue eyes.

“Really, Hayley,” Brady added, “everything is fine. I won't let that man hurt your sister, I promise. I’m watching out for her just the same way I would for Aurora or Star.”

“Cookie, Mama,” the toddler said, pointing to the box in her mother’s other hand.

“We didn't just bring your sister and a Christmas tree, we also have cookies,” Aurora said with a smile intended to smooth things over.

Hayley let out a long, controlled breath.

She supposed everyone was right.

No one would be able to tail Brady without his knowing, and she was glad that the couple had opened their home to her sister until this whole mess was sorted out, especially considering they had a little girl to worry about.

“Cookie, Mama,” Star said again, a little more forcefully, and she tried to squirm on her mother’s hip to get to the box of cookies.

Hayley couldn’t help but smile at the sweet little girl.

“Okay, I guess it’s nice that you came. I was missing having a Christmas tree, and I do love cookies,” she admitted.

“See, it was a good thing we came over.” Arianna beamed and came to give her a hug. Hayley squeezed her sister tightly and held on a little longer than was necessary for a hug. She was so unbelievably glad Ari was okay. If Jay Turner had managed to get her into his van, she never would have forgiven herself. As it was, she was struggling to.

“So, Christmas tree or cookies first?” Brady asked as he set the tree he’d carried with him down on the floor.

“Cookies,” Star screeched, her little face red, her fingers curled into fists.

They all laughed. “Cookies it is,” Aurora said, setting her daughter down and opening the cookie box, giving one to Star.

“Where do you want the tree?” Brady asked.

“Over there,” she and Brian said simultaneously. Hayley shot him a grin. Even in things like this they were in perfect agreement.

“Did you bring decorations?” Hayley asked as she followed Brady over to the corner on the far side of the room where he was starting to set up the tree.

“Did we bring decorations?” Brady echoed with mock horror. “Darlin’, we brought decorations, tinsel, garlands, the whole works.”

Hayley couldn’t deny she was becoming happier by the second that Arianna, Brady, Aurora, and Star had stopped by for a visit. Without any decorations in the apartment, it hadn't felt like Christmas, but now they could have their own little Christmas here even if she was stuck and wouldn’t get to spend the holidays with her family.

“What goes on first?” Brian asked, opening the box of decorations the others had brought.

“Lights,” she and Arianna said in unison.

Everyone laughed again, and she felt the tension that had built back up inside her when the doorbell rang begin to fade away. Spending the morning with her sister and friends would be fun, especially since they'd be decorating the tree, then maybe once they left she and Brian could make love again.

 

* * * * *

 

11:22 A.M.

 

Sawyer yawned as he watched the kids play.

Kinsley Turner was settling into the group home and was gaining some confidence. She had finally come out of her room and had spent the morning playing with another little girl her age. They’d played with a doll’s house and then built a castle with big wooden blocks. They’d painted pictures, and now they were busy making cakes and cookies with play dough.

So far, Jay Turner hadn't turned up here, other than the day he’d waited for Hayley and followed her and Brian, running their car off the road. Sawyer was starting to think the man was smart enough to know that coming here was only going to lead to his arrest. He hoped Jay was found soon though, so they could all go back to their lives.

As much as he was settling in here, he missed his wife, his kids, and his own house. Ashley called every day, and he always spoke to his twins, but Jackson and Janelle were only fourteen months old and didn't really get the idea of a phone. He was pretty sure it freaked them out hearing their daddy’s voice but being unable to see him. As soon as Ash put the phone to their ears, they went quiet, but he could hear them babbling away in the background when he and Ashley were talking. They’d tried video calling, too, but that seemed to freak out the kids even more, so he and Ash had video chatted after she’d put the twins to bed.

He was missing them though.

Forty-eight hours without hugging his kids or kissing his wife was a lot. This was the longest he had been away from the twins since they were born and the longest he had been away from his wife since they’d been married. He had worked bodyguard cases since he’d gotten married but no overnight ones. He’d mostly been doing private security work at events which meant that he was home each night, or more accurately in the early hours of the morning. He couldn’t wait to go home.

“Sawyer.”

“Yeah?” he asked as Kinsley and her little friend came running over. “What’s up, girls?”

“We’re hungry, are we allowed to have a snack?” Kinsley asked. Her little face was anxious like she wasn't altogether sure whether or not she was going to get in trouble for asking for some food. The other little girl looked even more afraid.

Sawyer hated that.

He hated that these children had been abused to the point that they were now afraid of the most simple and small things. He wondered if they would ever completely let go of their fear. He hoped that they could. Seeing the kids here at the group home had made him resolve to be an even better father to his own kids. Sawyer knew that he couldn’t prevent them from being afraid, or stop them from getting hurt, or disappointed, or anything else, but he could be there, right beside them, to hold them when they were scared and wipe away their tears. His son and daughter were going to know without a shadow of a doubt that he loved them more than he could ever put into words.

“Sure, we can grab a snack. How about some fruit?” he asked as he took the children’s hands and led them to the kitchen.

“Fruit?” Kinsley echoed, her nose scrunched up a little. “Can’t we have a cookie?”

“It’s going to be lunch in an hour. I think fruit now, and maybe you two can have cookies for an afternoon snack.” Neither of the kids complained, and he almost backtracked and told the girls they could have whatever they wanted. They certainly deserved it. But right now, when their lives were in turmoil, what they needed most was structure and consistency. They needed rules and all the same things that other kids their age got at home. “What about if we make banana people.”

“What are banana people?” Kinsley asked.

“Banana people are people we make with bananas for their bodies, and berries for their eyes, and maybe a watermelon skirt, apple arms, or apricot smiles,” he explained. His kids were only toddlers, but they loved making banana people. It actually got them eating something other than cookies.

“Can we use pears for something?” the other little girl asked, her voice barely more than a whisper, her eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

“If there are some in the fridge we sure can,” he said. “Hop up at the table, and I’ll see what fruit we have.”

The girls clambered onto chairs while he raided the fridge and the fruit bowl and grabbed some toothpicks they could use to attach the banana people’s faces, arms, legs, and clothes.

“Okay, girls, we have strawberries, nectarines, apples, raspberries, oranges, and peaches. Oh, and, Becca, you’re in luck, there were some pears in there too.” Sawyer was just setting all the fruit down on the table when something caught his attention outside the kitchen window.

Immediately, his bodyguard senses kicked into high gear.

His gut was telling him that something was wrong.

Without letting his concerns show, he didn't want to worry the girls, he said, “Kinsley, Becca, could you two please go straight into the office, tell Mrs. Kingston that she needs to get all the kids and take them into the playroom.” He hoped the woman would get the message that something was wrong and that as well as gathering the children into one place she would also call 911.

Neither of the girls argued or talked back. They both climbed off their chairs and hurried out of the room while he put his hand on the butt of his gun and unlocked the back door.

When he stepped outside, he didn't see anyone but sensed them.

Someone else was out here.

He hadn't seen anything more than a moving form through the window, but he was pretty sure it was Jay Turner.

That or one of the teenagers sneaking out, but he didn't think that was the case here. The older kids were allowed to do the same things as other kids their age, they had to make sure they told someone where they were going to be, and there was a curfew, but they were allowed to go to the mall, see a movie, or go to the park.

His gut said it wasn't one of the older kids out here.

Carefully he scanned the yard. It was a reasonable size. There were two swings, a slide, a sandbox, and a teeter-totter. There were also three large trees down by the back fence and a grassy area where the kids could toss around a Frisbee or kick a ball.

Since there weren't really very many places to hide, Sawyer headed toward the trees. If he didn't find anyone back here, he’d circle the house in case Jay Turner—or whoever was out here—had already gone around the side of the building. Hopefully, by then the cops would be here.

It wasn't that he didn't think he could handle this on his own. He was just afraid of what he would do to the man when he did find him. Jay had killed his daughter, beaten his wife, and tried on several occasions to kill one of his friends, he deserved a little of his own treatment.

And the man had been hard to catch so far, always seeming to manage to slip away.

Well not this time.

Sawyer circled behind the first of the three trees.

There was no one there.

He was so sure that he’d seen someone.

Had he just imagined it? He’d been on edge the last two days, determined to do whatever he could to make sure Jay Turner didn't kill another of his daughters. He was away from his family just a few days before Christmas and worrying that he wouldn’t be home in time to be there when his kids left milk and cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve and opened their presents Christmas morning.

He was just turning around when something dropped on him.

Not something, someone.

Jay Turner.

The man must have climbed up into the tree and been hiding there waiting for the perfect time to pounce.

Sawyer wasn't letting that man get anywhere near Kinsley.

Fumbling for his gun, he almost managed to get it out when Jay slammed something into his head.

He saw stars.

The shadow above him began to move away.

Ignoring the pain in his head, he managed to pull out his gun, and doing his best to aim it while seeing double, he fired.

Sawyer had no idea whether or not he hit his target, but he heard sirens, and confident that at the very least Jay Turner wasn't going to get a chance to get to Kinsley, he rested his head back against the grass and closed his eyes.

 

* * * * *

 

1:03 P.M.

 

Ashley set a file in the filing cabinet and closed the drawer. She loved when they finished a job, and could put the file away. There was just something about that sense of completion that gave her a little rush.

Yeah, she was that much of a geek.

It wasn’t that she was OCD about everything. She just liked that little burst of adrenalin when she could tick off a completed task from a list. And these days with two toddlers at home, she didn't get to finish off a lot of jobs. Most of the time it was like spinning in a circle, barely treading water. Dirty dishes stacked up so there was almost enough to fill the dishwasher by the time a load was done, and she didn't even want to think about the laundry, that was just a losing battle. Then there was the mess of toys that littered the floor, her house was pretty much a disaster zone.

But work was different.

At work she had a bit more control over her environment, so she kept her desk spotless. And maybe the rest of the offices too.

When she and Sawyer officially became a couple, she had wondered if it would be weird the two of them working together as well as living together. It wasn't like they had the same roles at the firm they worked for, Sawyer did bodyguard and security work, and she was the receptionist. Still, spending a lot of their days together as well as their evenings and weekends could have been a problem.

Thankfully, it hadn't turned out to be.

She loved spending all her time with Sawyer and now with their kids as well. She had missed him so much the last two days while he’d been working around the clock as little Kinsley Turner’s bodyguard. As soon as she put the twins down tonight, she was going to call him, maybe even give him a little peek at what he was missing while spending his nights away from home.

Ashley was smiling as she sat back down at the computer and didn't notice when one of her bosses walked in.

“Hey, Ash,” Brady said.

Immediately the smile faded from her lips. There was something in his tone that she didn't like. She got along well with her boss, she and his wife Aurora were great friends, and their kids were pretty close in age, Aurora’s daughter was only seven months older, so they often got all the kids together for play dates.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Can you come into my office for a minute?”

Fear filled her.

She wasn't worried that she was about to be fired. Not only was she good friends with Brady and her other bosses, but she was good at her job, reliable, prompt, and smart. Had something happened down in the daycare? She loved being able to bring her kids to work with her and pop down in her lunch break to see them. It was so much better than putting them in daycare somewhere else where she wouldn’t be able to see them all day long.

On shaky legs she stood and came out from behind her desk, crossing the room and following Brady into his office.

“Sit down,” he said, pulling out a chair for her.

She did.

He perched on the desk in front of her.

Her anxiety rose quickly.

Something was wrong.

Really wrong.

“Now, there’s no need to panic, okay?” Brady started.

Ashley shot to her feet. The only time anyone ever said that was when there was indeed something to panic about.

“I said there was no need to panic,” Brady repeated as he stood as well and took hold of her shoulders, gently pushing her back down into her chair.

“If you don’t tell me what's wrong in the next thirty seconds I’m going to explode,” she warned Brady.

He gave her a small one-sided smile that actually went a little way to calming her down. If Brady was smiling, then things couldn’t be too bad.

“Please,” she begged.

“There was an incident at the group home where Kinsley Turner is staying.”

And now she was back to full-on panic mode.

An incident.

At the place where her husband was working.

There was no doubt in her mind that Sawyer had been hurt.

“How bad?” She managed to force the words out of her throat that was quickly closing. She had only been this scared in her life once before. She had almost been killed by a serial killer a few years ago but managed to be saved before he strangled her. Determined he wasn't going to let a victim survive he had stalked her until he was able to make a second attempt on her life, coming far too close to killing her and two of her friends, including Brady’s wife, Aurora.

Knowing someone wanted to kill you, that kind of terror was indescribable.

As was the fear of her husband or children being hurt.

“Not bad, Ash,” Brady assured her. “Not bad at all. Sawyer is okay. Do you hear me? He’s fine. He thought he saw someone outside, so he made sure that the staff got all the kids together in one place and called the cops. He went outside to investigate. Jay Turner must have climbed up a tree, assuming that we would have someone on his daughter, and wanted to draw them out, intending to incapacitate them, then he’d have free range to get to Kinsley. He jumped down, knocked Sawyer over, then hit him over the head. Sawyer was able to fire off a shot, he hit Jay, but the man managed to get away again. He’s like a cat with nine lives,” Brady muttered.

Her husband had been hit over the head.

Head injuries were serious so how okay could Sawyer be?

And Brady had said that Jay got away even though Sawyer had shot him. Her husband was a perfect shot, if he hadn't incapacitated or killed the man then it was because he couldn’t.

Because he was hurt.

“Put your head between your knees. You look like you’re going to pass out.” Brady’s hand pressed between her shoulders, pushing her head down. “I told you he’s okay, Ash. He’s okay,” he said again, over-enunciating the words, presumably to try to get them to penetrate.

It wasn't his words that were going to convince her that her husband was okay.

Only seeing him could do that.

As if by magic, she heard the door to Brady’s office open and footsteps cross the room.

“Ash?”

It was Sawyer’s voice, and he sounded okay, but she was very afraid that her mind had snapped, and she had lost touch with reality and was now hallucinating.

“Is she okay?”

“I don’t think she believes you're okay,” Brady replied.

“Can I have a moment alone with her?”

“Of course. As long as you need.”

Brady’s hand lifted from between her shoulder blades, and then a moment later, someone knelt in front of her. A finger was hooked under her chin, and her face was tilted up.

Sawyer was before her.

There was a lump on the side of his head the size of a gold ball.

He was pale.

There were still faint traces of blood streaking down his cheeks.

He didn't say anything, just leaned in and touched the softest of kisses to her lips.

Before she even realized it, tears were flooding down her cheeks in a torrent. A sob built up in her chest and then came bursting out as she sunk forward into Sawyer’s arms.

He took her weight and eased them both down to the floor, settling her in his lap. He stroked her hair, rubbed her back, and held her as she wept.

“I’m sorry,” she hiccupped at last when her tears started to dry up. “You were hurt and I'm crying all over you.”

“Don’t be sorry. Holding you in my arms was all I've wanted to do since it happened.”

“Are you really okay?” Ashley lifted her head from Sawyer’s shoulder and stared into his eyes, seeking the truth.

“Really and truly okay aside from a headache, and even that is duller now that I took some painkillers.”

“I love you so much.” She took his face between her hands and kissed him again, deeper and more passionately this time like it was the last time she would ever kiss him.

His tongue pressed between her lips, and one of his hands dropped to her bottom, kneading one of her cheeks.

“Sawyer,” she said, breaking the kiss and putting her hands on his shoulders, lightly pushing him away. “What are you doing? We cannot have sex in our boss’ office. Brady is right outside.”

“Oh, I don’t want to have sex in Brady’s office,” Sawyer said, standing and bringing her up with him. “Brady said to take the rest of the day off. Let’s pick up the kids, go home, put them down for their naps, and then we’re making up for the last two days of being apart.”

Ashley couldn’t think up a single argument against that.

It sounded perfect.

 

* * * * *

 

4:43 P.M.

 

“What do you want for dinner?”

Hayley laughed. “Dinner? You're thinking about dinner already? It’s only quarter to five.”

“I like to look forward to dinner, it’s my favorite meal of the day.” Brian grinned, his blue eyes sparkling.

For some reason he seemed to look extra hot this afternoon.

Maybe it wasn't anything different about him, but just her that was different.

She’d had such a wonderful twenty-four hours. The beginning of her and Brian’s relationship as a couple and not just friends, making love all night, talking, learning things about him that she’d never known before, and sharing things about herself she’d never really verbalized even to herself. Then today hanging out with Brady and Aurora and her sister, they’d had so much fun decorating the little Christmas tree, laughing and talking, and watching little Star zoom around the apartment giggling and begging for more and more Christmas cookies.

It really felt now that she and Brian were a couple.

They hadn't worked out all the details, like if they were going to tell their families right away or wait until they’d been dating a while. Their families would be thrilled but it would kind of add pressure to their fledgling relationship because they wouldn’t want to let everyone down. She didn't know how fast they were going to move. If they would take things slow or if they would talk about maybe moving in together when this was over, and they could go home.

But what she did know was that she was one lucky lady. As much as she’d miss her family if they had to spend Christmas here it would be kind of fun, just her and Brian, laughing, talking, drinking hot chocolate, eating turkey, exchanging gifts, watching Christmas movies, maybe they’d even put on some Christmas music and dance. And she already knew how the day would end. The two of them in bed together.

“What are you smiling about?” Brian asked.

“Nothing,” she said, but she knew her cheeks were heating up, and that would tell him exactly what she had been thinking about.

“You're thinking about the two of us having sex again, aren’t you?” Brian teased, his grin growing bigger. He leaned over and brushed his lips across her neck, making her shiver that delightful shiver Brian was so good at giving her. Then he took her hand and entwined their fingers. “I can't wait to tell our families. I don’t think they're going to be surprised.”

“My mom won't be, she’s known about my crush since I was a teenager. She thought when we were older we would make a great couple.”

“I'm pretty sure my parents think the same thing.”

For now, she was glad they didn't have to make any decisions about their relationship beyond enjoying being in their own little bubble where they could just enjoy each other.

“So …” Brian started, “did you decide what you wanted for dinner?”

Hayley laughed again. She loved this, just hanging out with her friend who was now her boyfriend, he made her laugh like no one else could. The downside to being a serious person was you didn't laugh a lot. It wasn't that she didn't have a sense of humor or that she was a negative or pessimistic person, it was just that she didn't often relax and let go. But with Brian it was so easy. She didn't have to worry about slipping back into old habits and being overly emotional, so that removed some of the pressure she put on herself, and she could just be her. The her she might have been if her start in life was normal.

“What about we steam some vegetables? And I thought I saw some chicken in the fridge. I know an awesome sauce we can make for it,” she suggested. Hayley liked to cook but living alone she didn't usually bother to make much, it was too much work for only one person.

“Sounds perfect, then let’s make homemade pretzels for dessert. I haven't made those since I was a kid, but we used to make them every Christmas and eat them on Christmas Eve while we watched Christmas movies.”

“Sure, sounds fun. Then after dinner we can turn off the lights, turn on the Christmas tree lights, snuggle under a blanket with hot chocolate and the pretzels and watch all those old Christmas movies. Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I love all those old movies.”

“You’re adorable.” Brian kissed the tip of her nose then stood and headed to the kitchen.

Hayley stood, intending to follow him, but her phone buzzed with a new Facebook message. They’d brought their phones with them, although the location services and GPS tracking had been temporarily disabled, and they couldn’t use them to call or message family.

Without thinking she picked it up, then almost dropped it again when she saw who the message was from.

“Brian.”

The tone in her voice had him rushing to her side. “What’s wrong?”

“Maria Turner just Facebook messaged me,” she told him.

“What did she say?”

She hadn't even read the message yet. Putting in her passcode, she opened the messenger app and then the message from Maria. “She said she wants to talk to me about her husband. Do you think she’s finally ready to turn him in after what he tried to do today?” Brady, Aurora, and Arianna had left earlier this afternoon after Brady got a message telling him that Jay Turner had tried to break into the group home where Kinsley was staying, injuring Sawyer Watson in the process.

“Reply, don’t give away anything about where we are, but ask her what she wants to tell you about him.”

Typing in a message, immediately after she hit send, she saw the message had been read, and the little dots that said Maria was typing a reply popped up.

They waited in silence to see what the woman was going to say.

“Brian, did you see this?” Hayley held the phone so they could both read the reply that said Maria wanted to turn Jay in.

“Message her back and tell her to give you the address of where her husband is hiding out so you can pass it on to Adam and Jessica.”

Hayley typed that in, and then they both waited to see what Maria would say.

“She says she wants me to call her,” she read the reply, even though she knew that Brian was reading it too.

“I don’t like that,” he said.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” she protested.

“Tell her just to keep messaging.”

“It’s easier to talk to her. I feel like I have a better chance of convincing her she’s doing the right thing if we’re talking, I don’t want her to back out. Jay isn’t going to stop until I'm dead and he has Kinsley back. I don’t want him to hurt that sweet little girl.”

Brian exhaled slowly. “Fine, but call on one of the burner phones then we immediately turn it off.”

She knew Brian didn't really want her to do this, but he also knew that this could be the only way they could end this before anyone else got hurt. She typed back asking for Maria’s phone number, and the woman replied with it right away.

When Brian gave her one of the phones, she dialed, then waited nervously for the other woman to answer. She didn't want to mess this up.

“Hello. Maria?”

“Hayley?”

“It’s me. I'm so glad you decided to do this. It’s the right thing to do.”

“I don’t want Jay to hurt Kinsley.”

“I know you don’t. You love your daughter. If you give me the address, I’ll call Adam and Jessica and have them go and pick him right up. Or I can have them go to your house, and you can tell them the address.”

“No,” came the emphatic reply.

“What do you mean, no?” She exchanged a glance with Brian who was leaning over her shoulder to listen in on the call and looked just as confused as she felt.

“I … I don’t trust them,” Maria stammered. “I don’t want Jay to get hurt. I just can't let him hurt Kinsley. What if … couldn’t you …?”

“Couldn’t I what?” she asked when the woman didn't continue.

“Could you come here?”

“Come where?”

“To my house. I don’t want to talk to the cops. They just want to arrest Jay, they don’t care about Kinsley.”

Hayley knew that wasn't true, but she wasn't going to argue about it. “I suppose I can go to your house.” Hayley felt Brian tense beside her, but she ignored him. Right now, getting Maria to tell them where her husband was hiding out was her number one priority.

“You care about Kinsley I know you do. You really want to make sure she’s safe. I want to as well, but I'm scared. Jay is … well, he’s got a temper, especially when he drinks, and I … I … I'm not sure I can do this. But you, you're so strong, I don’t want to talk to anyone else, only you. I don’t think I can do this without you.”

“And you don’t have to,” she assured the other woman.

Hayley couldn’t imagine living the life Maria had. Her parents had loved one another, her dad had never laid a hand on her mom or on her and her sister, and she knew Brian would never do anything to hurt her. She wanted Maria to know that she didn't have to be afraid of her husband anymore. She wanted the woman to realize that she was worth more than what Jay had convinced her she was. She wanted Maria and Kinsley to have a happy life and a future where they could be and do anything they wanted.

The only way to do that was to take Jay out of the equation.

“I'm on my way.”

 

* * * * *

 

5:21 P.M.

 

“I don’t like this.”

“Everything will be fine,” Hayley said.

She’d said that already.

Several times.

And yet Brian couldn’t shake the feeling that things weren't going to be fine.

They were in his car on the way to Maria Turner’s house. They’d called Adam and Jessica to make sure the cops would meet them there, and he’d also called Brady because he wanted to have backup. Taking Hayley out of the safehouse felt like a mistake. She was safe there, Jay had no idea where they were, and since no one besides Brady and Ryan knew, there wasn't much chance he would find out.

But out here they were like sitting ducks.

“It’s getting dark,” he muttered under his breath.

“It’s winter,” Hayley reminded him. “We’re lucky there’s this much light.”

That was true. Although it was almost five-thirty, there was still the last lingering daylight, only because it had been a clear day and the clouds had stayed away meaning the last rays of the sun still touched the horizon. That wouldn’t last long though, they were still fifteen minutes away from the Turner house, and by the time they got there it would be pitch black out. There were streetlights and the lights from houses decorated for the holidays, but it wasn't enough. It felt like they were going into this blind, and he already felt like Maria had the upper hand.

“Brian, you don’t need to worry,” Hayley said, reaching over and covering one of his hands. It was tightly clutching the steering wheel as though that would somehow give him the reassurance that he needed. Hayley’s slender fingers curled around his, gently loosening his death grip.

“I don’t like this,” he said again.

“You can keep saying that, but it’s not going to change anything. You’re here, you’re not going to let anything happen to me. Brady, Adam, and Jessica are on their way to the house. What is going to happen with two cops, one ex-cop turned bodyguard, and you there?”

He was touched by her confidence in him, but it didn't change the facts.

Someone wanted Hayley dead, and he had just taken her out of the one place she was actually safe.

Brady, Adam, and Jessica had all agreed that this was their best move. Possibly their only move if they wanted to end this quickly. None of them believed they were bringing Hayley into a situation where she would be in danger.

None of them except him.

“We’re just going to talk to Maria,” Hayley continued. “She just needs a little reassurance. She wants to do the right thing for herself and her little girl, but she’s scared, the hold that Jay has on her is tight, but she’s trying to shake it off. As soon as she gives us the address of where Jay is hiding out, you and Brady will take me to the police station and Adam and Jessica will go and arrest Jay. Then this will all be over. We can go home, tell our families about us, and then celebrate Christmas with the people we love. Everything is going to work out just fine, there really isn’t any need for you to worry.”

He wished he had even an ounce of Hayley’s optimism.

Because he didn't want to worry Hayley, they needed her calm so she could get out of Maria Turner what they needed. He forced himself to relax, at least outwardly. He took Hayley’s hand, lifted it to his lips, kissed the back of it then set their joined hands on his thigh.

“I guess you're right,” he said. “This is the best way to end this, I just don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to. You just have to be here with me.”

Brian had to admit he loved Hayley’s fierce determination to do what she thought was the right thing. As worried as he was about her, he was also pretty damn proud. She was the one whose life was in danger, yet all she could think about was doing what she had to to make sure that little Kinsley Turner was safe.

How could you not love a woman like that?

“I am here with you, always,” he promised. There wasn't anything that would tear him away from her side.

“I know.” She squeezed his fingers tightly, letting him know just how much his support meant to her.

Adam and Jessica were already at the Turner house. As far as they could tell, Jay wasn't there. Cops had been posted on the house since Jay ran, and they hadn't seen him come back, so he knew they weren't walking into a trap, and yet still this feeling just wouldn’t go away.

Maybe if he stopped focusing on the next hour or so and on what would happen after he’d start feeling better. As soon as Jay was in police custody they could go home. Part of him was a little sad about that. He’d gotten used to having Hayley around twenty-four-seven and he didn't really want to see it end.

“So …” he said slowly.

“So, what?” Hayley asked with a smile.

“I was just wondering, once Adam and Jessica arrest Jay and we go home, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come and stay with me?” Brian held his breath as he waited for her answer.

She took her time giving it.

Seconds ticked by into a minute and still she hadn't said anything.

“You really want me to move in with you?”

“Of course.”

“What, like permanently?”

“Yes.”

“So, you want the two of us to live together?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Even though we’ve only been a couple for twenty-four hours.”

“Well technically, but it’s not like we don’t know each other.” If she wasn't ready, he would respect that. They’d live in their own places, have the occasional sleepover, he’d go to her house to pick her up for dates, and spend every spare second he had with her. But going to sleep each night with her in his arms and waking up each morning with her curled up beside him would be amazing.

He turned into the street the Turner house was located on. They only had four blocks to go before they got there and waited to hear Hayley’s response.

She drew in a long, slow breath, he could practically hear her mind ticking over.

“I think that—”

Hayley never got a chance to finish her sentence.

A car rammed into them on his side.

Brian lost control of the car.

It spun wildly across the road, which was luckily empty.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

The car turned in a circle.

Hayley screamed.

He fought the steering wheel.

They connected with a pole.

Pain splintered through his body.

His head bounced into the airbag—which deployed as the car hit the pole—and then snapped back into the headrest.

He saw stars.

Blackness brushed the edges of his mind, trying to soak into the rest of it.

He fought against it.

Hayley was quiet.

Brian turned his head.

Cursed at the resulting pain.

Kept turning it anyway.

Saw Hayley lying slumped, unmoving, in her seat, held in place only by her seatbelt.

Had he been distracted?

Not seen another car coming until it was too late?

Or was this another ambush by Jay Turner?

It couldn’t be.

Could it?

How would Jay know they were coming?

Maria was going to turn him in. He thought he had his wife completely under his thumb, there was no way he would expect her to do that.

It was dark now.

The Christmas lights of the nearby houses were blinding him.

Where was his gun?

He needed his gun.

He had to protect Hayley.

“Hayley,” he croaked as he tried to fumble with his seatbelt to get it undone. He had to get to her. He had to see if she was okay.

Her car door was wrenched open.

Help.

It had to be help.

“Call an ambulance,” he mumbled, or at least he hoped he did, but his pulse was drumming in his ears so loudly he could hardly hear anything else.

“We won't be needing an ambulance,” a voice smirked.

He knew that voice.

It was Jay Turner.

“No, stop,” Brian said as he tried once again to—unsuccessfully—undo his seatbelt. Where was his weapon?

There was rustling.

Moaning.

Then he thought he saw Hayley being dragged out of the car.

“I’m sorry,” whispered a voice.

A female voice.

Not Jay’s.

He thought it was Maria’s.

Why was she here?

She was supposed to be waiting for them at her house.

Then it hit him.

She’d tricked them.

Lured them into a trap so her husband could get Hayley.

She’d been wrong. Maria wasn't strong enough to break the hold her husband had on her.

He had to get to her.

If he didn't, Jay would torture and kill her.

He couldn’t let that happen.

He couldn’t lose the woman he loved.

The car door was slammed shut.

The noise echoed inside his head, then threw him into unconsciousness.

 

* * * * *

 

5:33 P.M.

 

“Daddy, almost Christmas,” Star said excitedly.

Brady smiled. He loved that his little girl was old enough this year to be excited about Christmas. She had been talking about it ever since they put up their Christmas tree on December 1^st. And Star talked a lot. A lot. She had started talking a full month before her first birthday and hadn't stopped since. She wasn't even two years old yet, and she spoke in full sentences and could carry on a whole conversation. She started speaking the moment her eyes opened in the morning and didn't stop until they tucked her in.

Already he was dreading Star’s teenage years.

His daughter wasn't anything like him—which was definitely a good thing—nor was she like her mother—although in looks she was definitely Aurora’s mini-me. He was a mostly reformed bad boy with a death wish, and Aurora was the sweetest woman on the planet. Star was a little firecracker, she was loud, and outgoing, and was probably going to make him go gray before his time.

“I know, honey. I have to go to work now. Can you put Mommy back on? Goodnight, I love you, I’ll come in and kiss you when I get home, but you’ll probably be asleep already.”

“Night, Daddy.” Star blew him a kiss, then he heard shuffling as she obviously handed the phone off to her mother.

“Brady, what time do you think you’ll be home?” Aurora asked.

“Hopefully not late, but probably not until after Star has gone down for the night. I’m almost to the Turner house, hopefully Hayley can convince Maria that she’s doing the right thing, then Brian and I are going to take Hayley to the station while Jessica and Adam go and arrest Jay. Once they have him in custody, Hayley and Brian can go home, and I can come home to my two favorite girls.” He couldn’t wait to get home and celebrate Christmas with his family. Christmas Eve was the day he and Aurora had first met, and while it had been a shaky start, he was so glad he’d found her. She had brought light to his dark life, and he now felt like he was actually living instead of just waiting to die.

“I’ll keep dinner warm for you, then you can help me wrap the last of the Christmas presents.”

“Wrapping gifts is definitely your department.” He chuckled. He wrapped his gifts for Aurora but wasn't very good at it. “Unwrapping is more my thing.”

She laughed, getting his meaning without him having to say it. Over the last few years, he had definitely started to rub off on her. When they’d met she’d been borderline afraid of sex, now she was even confident enough to come onto him. “I can't wait. I may have a little surprise for you when you …”

He stopped listening when he saw a truck come out of nowhere and slam into a car a couple of blocks ahead of him.

It wasn't an accident.

The truck had no headlights on.

It had been lying in wait.

“I have to go,” he told Aurora. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” she said. She was used to him having to abruptly end phone calls while he was at work, and she didn't take offense to his brisk tone. She knew firsthand what he was like when he got into the work zone.

Pulling his car to the side of the road as he jumped out, he saw someone pulling a woman out of the passenger side of the car. Brady didn't even have to be able to see properly to know that this was Brian’s car, that the apparently unconscious woman was Hayley, and the man from the truck was Jay Turner.

Gun in hand, he approached carefully.

“Let her go, Jay,” he called out. All he could see were shadows, but when you spent most of your adult life living in the dark you learned to see shadows pretty well.

“I’m not walking away without her this time,” came the snarled reply. “Maria, do it.”

Maria was here too?

How had Jay gotten to Maria?

Had he hurt Jessica and Adam?

“Maria, you wanted to do the right thing,” he called out to the shadowy figure that stepped out into the middle of the street, standing close to the mangled car. “Come over here by me, don’t let him take Hayley. Once he has her, he’s going to kill her, and then he’s going to try to get Kinsley back. Don’t let him hurt Kinsley like he did Leah.”

Jay laughed, that kind of laugh you gave when you knew you had the upper hand. “Do it,” he ordered.

A tiny speck of orangey red appeared where Maria was standing, a second later it dropped toward the ground, and then a larger flame burst up, moving slowly toward the wreck that had been Brian’s car.

“The bodyguard is still in there.” Jay laughed again, then climbed into the truck.

Brady had a choice, try to stop Jay from running with Hayley or get Brian out of the car before the line of fire hit it and blew it up.

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.

She didn't care what anyone said. She didn't care what anyone thought about it, she loved her husband. She didn't care that Jay beat her, she didn't care that sometimes he used her in the bedroom so roughly that she could barely walk for days, she didn't care that he’d broken her bones and shed her blood, she loved him with her whole heart.

“I won't mess up,” she promised.

Maria climbed out of the truck’s cab as did Jay and followed him as he walked around to the back and opened it, shining a torch on Hayley Hood who lay inside. The woman didn't move, didn't indicate that she was aware of their presence, but she wasn't sure if it was just Hayley playing possum or whether the woman really was still unconscious.

“I think I’ll spend a little time with our guest while we wait,” Jay said. That familiar glint in his eyes, the curl of his lip, the way his forehead crinkled, all of it sent an arrow of jealousy through her.

She didn't want him laying a hand on Hayley Hood.

Those hands of his were hers, they should be on her body, they should be hurting her, wrapped around her neck, hitting her, making her scream.

“Are you pouting?” he growled in her ear.

“N-no,” she said with a shudder. She was sure she had been, and she knew that meant he was going to punish her. She hoped he would. She needed him to. It had been days since she’d last seen him and the wounds he had inflicted had already begun to heal and no longer caused her much pain.

She needed it.

Pain was her drug of choice.

Without it, she felt like she was going to shrivel up and die.

“Come here,” he ordered, wrapping a hand around her arm so tightly his fingers dug into her muscle, and she winced.

Jay dragged her up into the back of the truck and propped one foot up against the door, bending her over his knee, he yanked her skirt up, exposing her bare backside and slapped her five times in quick succession. Her skin stung, but it wasn't enough, she needed more. So much more.

“Now go,” he said, roughly releasing her, causing her to stumble. “They know now that you're involved, even if they don’t know to what extent, they might have already called and told the group home not to let you near Kinsley.”

Maria nodded and climbed out of the truck. She wasn't going to let anyone keep her daughter away from her any longer. She was going to walk in there, ask to see her child, then grab Kinsley and run. If anyone tried to stop her then she was going to use the gun Jay had given her.

The street was clear of cop cars as she hurried further down the block and then down the path to the front door. She hoped they weren't hiding somewhere, she was ready to just get Kinsley and get out of here, start over somewhere else, somewhere where no one knew them, and no one knew what had happened to Leah.

She was shaking by the time she knocked on the door. Her hand brushed the gun hidden in the deep pockets of her jacket.

It felt like an eternity until the door was opened by an older woman with a pretty face and a huge mop of white curls.

“May I help you?”

“I’m Maria Turner. My little girl Kinsley is here. I was wondering … could I please … I just want … I know I'm not supposed to … I just want to tell her that I love her. Please,” she added for extra emphasis. Technically, the cops and child protective services had removed Kinsley because of Jay who they believed had killed Leah, and not because of her, so she was hoping that the social workers might have pity on her and let her see Kinsley.

“I'm really not supposed to,” the woman said, but her brown eyes were sympathetic, and she looked like she really wanted to say yes. It was the holidays, and she was no doubt saddened by the fact that a little girl wasn't at home with her family.

“Please. Just for a second. Could you call someone maybe? Ask for permission? The social worker assigned to the case is Hayley Hood, and the cops looking for my husband are Adam Abram and Jessica Spears.”

“If a judge has already signed to say that Kinsley should be removed then you’re not allowed to visit with her until you’re granted visitation or it’s deemed safe for her to return home.”

Maria was losing her patience.

She wanted Kinsley back, and she knew that Jay was out in the truck with Hayley Hood, she wanted to get to them as quickly as she could. And the cops could come at any moment. They knew she had helped Jay kidnap Hayley. They could be worried that the two of them might try to come here and get their daughter.

“You’ll have to leave, Mrs. Turner. The children are about to have their dinner, and I think it will be worse for Kinsley if she sees you here.”

She was about to yank out her gun and demand that the woman bring her daughter, but fate was on her side, and all of a sudden, a group of about ten children came running down the stairs, Kinsley amongst them.

As soon as her daughter saw her, she came running over.

Maria snapped her arms around her little girl before the social worker had a chance to grab her.

Then she pulled out her gun. “I don’t want to shoot anyone, but I will if you try to stop me.”

A man with a gun had come down the stairs with the children. She wasn't going to hang around and find out if he was going to use it.

She turned and ran.

She heard voices and commotion behind her but didn't stop to find out what was going on.

The truck’s engine was running, so she sped up and ran as fast as she could, shoving Kinsley in and jumping in after her.

“Shoot at them,” Jay ordered.

As she always did when he told her to do something, Maria complied. Opening her window, she fired off several shots, and Jay took off down the street.

“Mama?”

Maria pasted on a smile as she looked down at her terrified little girl. “We’re all together again. Isn’t that nice?”

Kinsley looked from her to Jay and back again, then nodded.

Her daughter would learn.

Kinsley would learn the same lessons that life had taught her. She would learn that pain could be a beautiful thing when it came from the man you loved. Maria had learned that from her mother, whose husband used to beat her daily. The man wasn't her father, her father had split before she was born, but he was the man who had been her male role model growing up.

Those early experiences had taught her that the husband ruled the house with an iron fist, and it was the wife’s job to cater to his every whim and attend to everything so he didn't have to. If you failed, you were punished. Could she help it if she enjoyed those punishments?

No, she could not.

Despite beating her mother daily, her stepfather had never laid a hand on her. The only person in her life to beat her was her husband.

One day Kinsley would find a husband of her own. And while her daughter had already had that first taste of pain from her father, it would be the man she loved who would show her just how precious pain could be.

“I don’t think anyone is following us,” Jay said.

“That’s good.” All she wanted was to get out of here and start their new lives. “Where are we going?”

“Back to where I've been staying,” Jay answered. “We’ll stay there for a few days, then once Hayley is dead and things have calmed down the three of us will leave.”

She wanted to argue.

To say they should leave now. Staying was too risky. As it was, they would spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders.

But she didn't.

Because it wasn't her place.

Her place was to obediently do whatever her husband told her to, regardless of how she felt about it.

So, Maria settled Kinsley on her lap, put the seatbelt around them both, and then sat quietly waiting for her next directive.