Christ, he was too damn far away to get to her.
Heart in his throat, Bowie raced to the wooden steps while the alarm screeched behind him, scanning the beach for Aspen. Frantic barking drew his attention.
He locked on her in an instant, a curvy silhouette outlined against the paler sand almost a hundred yards to the south down the beach. She was fighting with someone, Jack’s dog barking and running around them in circles.
He sprinted straight for her, his stomach twisting, fear coiling tight as a cable.
He was vaguely aware of Jack running behind him, his gravelly voice detailing what was going on to the 911 operator. But there was no time to wait for the cops. Bowie had to save her now.
He leaped off the fifth stair from the bottom and landed in a crouch on the dry sand, then shoved upright and sprinted at Aspen, his heart slamming against his ribs. He was too far away to get a good shot off at this distance, and Aspen and her attacker were too close together even if he could have.
He was so focused on Aspen that he only heard the running footsteps coming toward him an instant before impact. A heavy weight slammed into him, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying.
Bowie hit the sand hard, the guy’s weight and the impact driving the air from his lungs. His hand loosened on the pistol and it fell from his grip.
He shoved the guy off him and rolled to his hands and knees, unable to breathe, head spinning. The guy got up, a menacing shadow towering over him, and Bowie had barely tensed his muscles before a foot caught him square in the ribs. He grunted, anger blasting through him, and flung out a hand to grab the guy’s ankle, twisting hard.
The man went down with a curse. Bowie struggled to his feet, finally managing to drag in a breath. He could hear Aspen down the beach, her screams of terror shredding him as he glanced around frantically for the pistol. But the guy was already up, and he was aiming a weapon right at him.
On instinct, Bowie lowered his head and dove at him. His shoulder hit the guy in the stomach as he tackled him, this time Bowie on top.
The guy swore and swung his gun hand up but Bowie blocked it, managed to catch his wrist before the asshole could aim the weapon at him again.
They struggled to overpower each other, and as they stared at each other there was just enough light for him to make out his attacker’s face. Steven Northcott. Aspen had showed him a picture.
Rage tore through him. He clamped his fingers around the wrist holding the pistol and pinned it to the sand, straining to use his leverage and weight to hold it down.
Steven snarled and swung a punch at him with his free hand. Bowie blocked it with a forearm and drove his fist into the bastard’s face. Pain shot through his hand, but he barely felt it under the satisfaction of hearing bone and cartilage snap.
Running footsteps approached from his left. He jerked his gaze over just as Jack raced up and grabbed Steven’s other wrist, pinning it with his knee. “Flip him over,” Bowie growled, panting, desperate to subdue this asshole so he could get to Aspen.
Together they muscled Steven over, thwarting his efforts to fight them off as he bucked and shouted. Sinbad raced over and snarled, poised beside his master.
Jack straddled Steven’s back and sat on him, seizing the man’s wrists behind him. “Cops are on the way,” he panted. “Go, go!”
Bowie leapt up, grabbed the fallen pistol, and tore down the beach toward Aspen. She was near the water now, her attacker a step away. Run, baby. Run! he urged her, running flat out, frantically closing the distance between them so he could get within range.
But the attacker’s arm came up, the outline of a knife silhouetted for an instant. A wave of terror broke over him, a bellow of rage and despair trapped in his throat as the blade plunged toward her.
ASPEN STAGGERED FORWARD a step, gasping, trembling all over as she forced her rubbery legs to move. But Gina kept coming. Every time she dodged a strike and managed to dart away, Gina was right there.
The slices on her arm and shoulder stung. Blood slicked her arm and side, but her entire body was suffused with a raw, wild energy, survival instinct giving her a burst of strength to turn once again and try to run for it.
This close to the water the sand was damp beneath her bare feet. Her breaths sawed in and out of her lungs with each desperate stride. Then something caught her shin. She pitched forward, threw her arms out to break her fall, and skidded across the sand on her belly. She could hear Gina’s uneven breaths close behind her.
No!
She wrenched to the side, her gaze locking on the outline of the knife coming down at her neck. She lashed out with her foot, knocking Gina off-balance, and struggled to her feet once more.
“Aspen!”
A sob caught in her throat as her gaze snapped to the figure running toward her down the beach. Bowie.
“Help me!” she screamed, already tired and getting weaker by the second. Gina was already on her feet again. She drove her heel at Gina’s hand, desperate to get away. All she had to do was get to Bowie. He would save her.
Her heel connected with bone. Gina sucked in a breath and lost her grip on the knife. It tumbled into the water and was swallowed by an incoming wave. Her head snapped around, the raw rage on her face sending a spear of ice up Aspen’s spine.
Frantic to get away, she rolled to her hands and knees and shoved upward, but Gina was faster. The woman dove on her, knocking her flat. Cold water hit Aspen’s face as a wave rushed in. She sputtered, tried to turn over, unable to get a breath.
Gina was on her back, pinning her down. She shoved up on her hands, and her head broke the surface for an instant. She managed to drag in some air, then cruel fingers twisted in her hair and shoved her face back under the water.
Panic exploded. Aspen thrashed in the blackness, fighting with all her remaining strength to free herself. She bucked and twisted, trying to throw Gina off her, unable to wrench her head free.
She screamed inside her own head, a bellow of pure rage and denial. This bitch wasn’t going to drown her. Bowie was coming for her. She had to fight Gina off.
Locking her fingers around Gina’s, she wrenched upward and to the side, a blast of adrenaline giving her an added burst of strength. They flipped over in the water. Gina crashed into the waves. The hands in Aspen’s hair loosened.
Aspen clawed at Gina’s face, finally managing at last to break free. She shoved up on her knees, and her head finally cleared the surface. She heaved in a ragged breath, coughing, the salt water blinding her and making her cuts burn like fire.
Blinking fast, she staggered to her feet and staggered forward, her vision slowly clearing. Bowie was almost to her. She took a stumbling step toward him, shaking all over, frozen solid inside.
“Look out!” he shouted.
An arm locked around her throat from behind. She snarled and grabbed it, twisting to the side to escape.
“No!”
Her gaze shot to Bowie, the fear and despair in his voice sending her heart rocketing into her throat. She darted a glance over her shoulder, and her blood iced over when she saw the knife in Gina’s upraised fist.
That wicked blade arced toward her, fast and deadly.
“Gina, no!” another man screamed from somewhere down the beach.
Aspen threw up an arm at the last instant to block it, eyes squeezing shut as she braced, anticipating the moment the blade plunged into her chest.
Two rapid gunshots ripped through the quiet. She jerked, realized the knife hadn’t stabbed her and opened her eyes to look behind her. Gina was on her knees in the water, staring blankly past Aspen, both hands clutching her chest.
Aspen took a stumbling step backward, putting space between them as she fought for air. Gina toppled sideways and fell, the knife hitting the sand just out of reach of the waves washing in.
“Aspen.”
Jerked out of her shock, she whipped toward Bowie and tried to run to him as he closed the distance, a gun in his hand. Her steps were slow at first, then picking up speed. Her legs wobbled with each stride, her entire body shaking.
A sob caught in her throat when he finally reached her. He caught her hard and immediately hauled her to his chest, those incredible, strong arms locking around her. “Aspen,” he croaked, crushing her to him.
She couldn’t answer. Could only cling to his shirt and shove her face hard into his chest as the sobs worked free. Then he tensed, his entire body turning rigid. He whirled, placing her behind him, aiming a gun at whoever was coming.
Aspen froze as she spotted the two men running toward them, nothing more than silhouettes on the moonlight beach. Sinbad was running beside the second man. Jack?
The one in the lead had his hands up. “Don’t shoot! For fuck’s sake, don’t shoot!” he cried.
The blood drained from her face when the voice registered. Steven.
Bowie didn’t shoot. She cowered behind him as Steven raced past. Jack appeared right behind him, aiming a pistol at Steven, she guessed in case he tried to attack either her or Bowie.
But Steven didn’t even so much as glance at them on the way by.
He collapsed to his knees beside his wife. “Gina,” he croaked, lifting her limp body from the edge of the waves to drag her into his lap. Her eyes were still partially open, staring at nothing. “Oh, Christ, Gina,” he sobbed, burying his face in her neck.
Aspen shuddered and glanced away, the cold and shock sapping her exhausted muscles. Bowie stayed stock still in front of her, never lowering the pistol.
“I got them,” Jack growled, watching the couple as Sinbad stood beside him, wagging his tail. “Cops are almost here. You get her out of here now.”
Without a word, Bowie tucked his gun into the back of his waistband and scooped her up in his arms. “Just hold on, baby girl,” he said as he strode quickly up the beach. “I’ve got you now, you’re safe. It’s all over.”
She buried her face in his throat and held onto his broad shoulders, shivering, teeth chattering. Oh God, oh, God, she’d almost died. If he hadn’t shown up when he had and shot Gina, she would be dead right now.
Her mind kept replaying everything over and over in a hellish loop as Bowie rushed her up the beach. She kept her eyes shut, focusing on breathing in and out, her cuts stinging like hell but it had almost been so much worse.
She was vaguely aware of being jostled a minute or two later, and realized Bowie was carrying her up the exterior staircase leading to the main floor of her house. Soon after that his strides smoothed out. He lowered them onto something and pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms all the way around her as he hugged her close.
“Can you look at me for a sec, baby?” His voice was low. Calm. Reaching past the fear and the shock, penetrating the fog in her mind.
She forced her head from his chest and blinked, squinting against the light. They were on her back porch, on the settee. She was soaked and freezing, still trying to comprehend that she was alive.
He smoothed some of her wet hair back from her face, his gray eyes dark with concern. “You’re cut.”
She nodded, the motion jerky, her breathing the same. “Y-yeah,” she managed, shuddering again as she remembered the knife coming at her over and over, the burn of it as it sliced her open, anticipating the moment it would plunge deep.
He checked her over quickly, then peeled off his shirt and wrapped it against the wound in her upper arm, tying it tight. She hissed in a breath at the sudden burn. “I know. Sorry,” he murmured, kissing the top of her shoulder in apology. “Need to keep pressure on it.”
Slowly it dawned on her that there were sirens close by, getting louder every second. Bowie kept holding her tight and then the police were there, following his instructions to come around back.
After quickly explaining everything, he gently slid her off his lap and took her face in his hands as a female officer crouched in front of her. “I gotta go help Jack, but I’ll be right back.”
She nodded woodenly, shivering as the female cop draped a blanket around her shoulders. Steven was still down there with Gina’s body.
She shivered and pulled the folds of the blanket tighter around her, struggling to focus on the questions the woman was asking her, one thought blocking out everything.
Her cousin and his wife had just tried to kill her.