Another snowstorm brewed. Matt wished he’d stayed home with Krissy, but duty called. Memories of her skin against his burned in his mind. He couldn’t get the images of her out of his head. And didn’t want to, he decided.
He had loved her for the longest time, but he never realized how much until recently. He needed her. He ached for her. His heart soared thinking of her. And soon, he would ask for her hand in marriage. But first, he needed to sign the divorce papers. Debbie had finally sent them to him, and with his signature, he was free of her.
Now he could concentrate on helping Kristina get rid of Viktor Petrov. He shook his head and squeezed his eyes. How could that man hurt her? She deserved love and respect.
Matt let out a low groan. There was no way that man would take Kristina away from him. He didn’t want to lose her now that he had found her again. He needed her in his life, in his bed.
The day Kristina had left town, his insides had torn into a million pieces, even though he was getting married. But he never told anyone how much he missed Kristina. When he had lost his mother, Kristina’s presence was like a God-send. She made his days more bearable and filled with happiness. When she left, her absence created a big hole within him, a void no other woman could fill, he realized now. When he married Debbie, he thought he was making the right choice. If only he knew then how much Kristina affected him. What a fool he was!
“Matt!” Helen called on the other side of the open door.
“Yeah?”
She came in. “Charlie spotted a strange car driving toward your house.”
“Did he tell you anything more about this car?”
“Plates are from Vancouver.”
Matt made it his job to know every car owner in town, and when a stranger roamed around, he wanted—no, needed—to know who they were. He grabbed his coat and put it on. “Radio Charlie. Tell him I’m on my way. And Helen…”
“Yes?”
“Tell him to stay safe.”
She nodded. “You be careful too.”
“Always.”
With a racing heart, Matt jumped into his truck. He thanked the heavens the motor started in this weather. Different scenarios crossed his mind as he drove down the empty street in the early morning. Who were these people driving around his house? He’d soon find out.
Turning on his wipers, he cursed the snow coming down fast. Big snowflakes covered his truck and the road ahead, making the visibility poor. Dammit! He willed his nerves to calm down.
“Matt.” Helen’s voice came through his walkie-talkie.
He took the radio device. “Yeah, Helen.”
“Your brother Ryan called in saying he spotted a small plane at the airport. He swore he saw Kristina getting into it with two men. Apparently, she was screaming and kicking.”
Hot bile rose in this throat. Viktor’s men had found her. A roaring mixture of fear and anger grew in him. “Krissy,” he murmured. He banged his fist against the steering wheel and cursed under his breath, regretting not protecting her. “Did Ryan say anything else?”
“No. Except they left the airport about five minutes ago.”
All his blood drained from his body. He felt sick to his stomach. “Thanks, Helen.”
Matt laid his radio on the seat and headed toward the airport as fast as his truck could take him in the falling snow. He hoped to get a good description of the men who’d taken Kristina. He parked his truck and got out. He prayed his brother had information.
He spotted Ryan sitting in his snowplow near the hangar.
Matt knocked on the high door. “What happened? Did you see who took Krissy?”
Ryan shook his head. “Only noticed she kicked and screamed a lot. I got to the tarmac too late. Sorry.”
Matt imagined her fright. “Where is the plane heading?” he asked, looking up at his brother again.
“No idea. Check with Dan. Hopefully, he can tell you.”
“Thanks, bro.”
Matt pulled up his coat collar against the whipping gust of wind and headed inside the warm hangar.
“Dan.” He gave a slight nod and shook off the snow from his boots. “Any idea where that plane is heading?”
The older man handed him a piece of paper. “Here’s the pilot’s flight plan.”
Matt took the paper and wondered why the pilot had given him their destination. He read, London, England. He removed his hat and raked a hand through his hair. Now wasn’t the time to panic. He forced his head to think like a cop and not like a man in love. Why did they want him to know where they were heading with her? Dammit! Where in London would Viktor’s men take her? It was a big city. Maybe she left him some clues to their final destination.
Before he left the airport, Matt thanked Dan and then drove as fast as his truck and the piling snow let him.
Cursing under his breath, he wondered why he hadn’t stayed home today or at least gotten his partner, Charlie, to watch the house while he worked at the station. For now, he tried to recall every detail of his conversation with Kristina the day before. He remembered she said Viktor was a dangerous man who got anything and anyone he wanted. But one thing he would never have was Kristina’s love. She wasn’t his to take like some piece of art.
“Helen,” he called on his walkie-talkie.
“Yeah, Matt?”
“Tell Charlie to meet me at the house. And get a tracking with traffic control in London, England. Tell them to be on the lookout for a private jet coming from Elk Creek with code AF102M.”
“Will do.”
Matt parked his truck in front of his house. A heavy blanket of fresh snow had fallen in the last half hour, hiding any trace of footprints and car tracks. He got out of his truck and walked toward Charlie, who stood at the front door.
“Any news?” he asked Matt.
“They took her.”
Charlie laid a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “We’ll find whoever did this and get Kristina back.”
A mixture of anger and fear choked him. He swallowed the bile rising in his throat. “Any sign someone broke in my house?”
“Nope.”
“Dammit.”
“I’ll check around the house again to see if I can find any clues.”
Matt tried a smile. “Thanks, Charlie.”
“We’ll get her back.”
Matt hoped so—and soon.
He walked inside, warmth from the fire contrasting with his chilled cheeks. Kristina’s vanilla perfume lingered in the room. He felt a pang in his heart. “Kristina,” he murmured.
Again he thought like a cop. He climbed the stairs and went into her bedroom. Her sweet scent wrapped him like a soft blanket. He missed her. Focus. He hoped that somewhere in this room he could find clues to Kristina’s predicament. He scanned the area like it was a crime scene. And there on the night table, Matt noticed her diary .
He hoped to find something within the pages. He had to. Every fiber in his body hated going through her personal thoughts, but this was the only way he could get more information.
Before Matt opened the hand-sized diary, he held it between his thumb and fingers. Guilt knotted his stomach. He hoped Kristina would forgive him for reading her most intimate thoughts. Opening the small book, he read the first entry. She wrote about the fire and how frightened she was about losing her uncle. And she wrote how grateful she was for Matt saving her life and Jasper’s in the fire.
Awful memories from that night resurfaced. His heart broke into a million pieces at seeing her so frail and helpless. Since then, he’d had nightmares about not saving her.
He shook his head. Turning another page, Matt read again about her recovery at his house and how she hoped her presence wasn’t a nuisance for him. How could she think such a thing? She had never told him what she thought.
Growing up, they always talked. He knew everything about her, and she could read him like an open book. She was the only constant in his life besides his hockey games. With his father always gone, his mother’s death, and his older brother busy with other matters, he could always turn to Krissy whenever he needed to talk. And she listened, unlike other girls he knew in town.
He rubbed a hand across his face and took a deep breath. He needed to find her. Fast.
He flipped through the pages until a recent passage caught his attention.
I love Matt. But I’m not sure how he feels about me. Last night, in the pond cabin, we made love for the first time. It was wonderful. A dream come true. Better than my imaginings. Since we reunited, I had wondered what it would have been like to spend the night with him, in his arms. Now I know.
He read another passage.
This morning, I heard unusual noises outside. Not sure what or who was out there. Took Matt’s baseball bat in case I needed to defend myself. I still can’t shake the feeling Viktor’s men have found me. I fear if they have, they’ll take me back to London so I can give him my egg. He will never get my family’s Fabergé egg. I know Viktor killed my parents for this Russian treasure. I just need to prove it so he can pay for what he has done.
His breath choked him. He knew what it felt like to lose a parent. But she had lost both to a mad man. When she arrived in Elk Creek over twenty years ago, she barely talked about them, but he knew she loved them. Everyone in town knew Jasper had taken in his niece after her parents sent her away. They were always traveling for their archeological expeditions all over the world, she told him. One day, Kristina admitted to him how much she held their decision against them. She never understood why they had sent her away. He remembered seeing the pain in her pretty eyes and he did his best to create happy memories with her.
Matt closed her diary and rushed to his bedroom. He threw some clean clothes into his canvas backpack. Hurrying out of the house, he locked the door and looked for Charlie.
“I’m going to London,” he announced.
“You know where she is?”
“Not really. But it’s the most logical place to start.”
Charlie clapped Matt’s shoulder. “Bring her back.”
“I will.” Matt got into his truck. As he started the motor, he prayed for Kristina’s security. “Let me find her safe and sound,” he murmured through a tight throat.
After he rushed to his brother’s house to let him know about his last-minute trip, Ryan wished him Godspeed. His brother grinned. “Be safe. And give her a big hug for me.”
Matt raked a trembling hand through his hair. “I will.”
Matt hoped and prayed the snow would stop long enough for a plane to take off. As if the heavens above heard his prayers, the snow let up somewhat. He hoped again. He knew finding Kristina in London could be a long shot, but it was his only lead. Yet something inside his gut told him he was on the right track.
Dan greeted him at the airport and agreed to get the plane ready to fly him to Vancouver.
“Thanks for helping me, Dan.”
“Anytime. Let’s get going.”
Matt took one more look behind him and at the snowy sky above. “I’m coming, Krissy. I’ll be with you soon,” he murmured as the small cargo plane took off under a clearing sky.