He twined his fingers through her hair and tugged, sending paralyzing pain shooting through her scalp. Im trying to save you, you stupid bitch. He loosened his grip. Hes watching.
Hot tears spilled over her icy cheeks, but she stopped struggling as she spotted Jake scrambling down the incline toward them. She let Victor drag her the rest of the way from the water, scrambling to a sitting position as soon as she felt solid ground beneath her feet.
Seconds later, Jake was there, nudging Victor aside to wrap her in his warm, strong arms, pressing hot kisses against her cheek and brow. Mariah snaked her arms around his neck, relief pouring over her as strongly as floodwater.
Are you hurt? Jake held her away from him for a few seconds, his gaze moving over her in search of injuries.
She tested her stiff limbs. She ached from the cold, but everything seemed to be in working order.
Youre going into hypothermia. Jakes search-and-rescue training kicked in. He was an auxiliary deputy back in Chickasaw County, an experienced tracker whod rescued his share of lost hikers. Mariah knew he was good at what he did.
She glanced over his shoulder at Victor Logan, who stood with statuelike stillness, watching with malevolence that sent a shudder skittering down her spine.
Just get me to the motel, she said through chattering teeth. I want to go home.
Jake lifted her to her feet, wrapping his arm around her waist when her knees wobbled upon standing. As she regained her footing, he stopped to look at Victor, whose expression shifted to neutral immediately. I dont know how to thank you.
Victors eyes narrowed so slightly, Mariah wasnt certain she hadnt imagined it. Right place at the right time.
Well, however it happened, thank you. Jake started up the incline, his grip on her waist firm and supportive.
Need help getting her up the bank? Victor asked.
Im fine to walk, Mariah said quickly, moving closer to Jake. She forced herself to add, Thank you.
Her legs ached with exertion by the time they reached the top of the sloping embankment. They were at the end of another, unfamiliar cul-de-sac, in someone elses backyard. Mariah wondered how far the river had taken her. Where is this?
Not sure, exactly. I think its about five blocks down-river of the other place, Jake answered. We need to see if anyones home. You need to get somewhere dry and warm.
Cant we just go back to the truck?
Hypothermia could kill you before we make it back there. Jake half dragged her to the back door of the nearby house and knocked. After a few seconds, a man opened the door and stared at them, his expression wary but not unsympathetic.
My wife fell into the floodwaters and swept down here from about a quarter mile upriver, Jake explained bluntly. My name is Jake Cooper and this is Mariah. We were helping with the tornado relief. Mariahs becoming hypothermicI need to get her out of her wet clothes and warmed up. Ill need blankets.
The man seemed to respond to Jakes firm, no-nonsense tone. My wifes a nurse. Ill get her. You come on intheres a bathroom right there. He led them into a spacious kitchen and gestured toward a short hallway. First door on the right.
Jake closed them in the bathroom. Brave guy, letting us in. He doesnt know us from Adam.
Maybe the b-blue lips were a t-tip off. Mariah caught sight of her bedraggled state in the mirror over the sink. She looked horrid, her hair a stringy, tangled mess around her pallid face. Her lips had, indeed, turned a sort of sickly bluish-purple color from the cold.
Jake helped her strip off her muddy clothing and began rubbing her down with towels. In a moment, there was a knock and a womans voice sounded through the door. Is she okay?
Jake wrapped Mariah up in a large bath sheet hed found in the bathroom closet and let the woman in. Do you have a fireplace? We need to warm up some blankets.
Already warming. The woman checked Mariahs pulse with warm, gentle hands. Not too thready. Hows your headfeeling woozy or disoriented?
J-just cold, Mariah answered, trying to keep her teeth from clacking together too loudly.
Poor thing. I would offer an electric blanket, but the power will be out for a bit yet. The woman grabbed a towel from the sink counter and started squeezing excess water out of Mariahs hair. We should get you somewhere theres power.
If we can get a ride back to the rescue staging area, I can take her back to our motel. My trucks parked there.
Well drive you. Weve just gotten back from double shifts at the hospitalGarys a lab tech and Im a nurse. We were about to head out there to volunteer ourselves. The woman handed the towel to Mariah. Im Sophie. Nice to meet you. I wish it was under better circumstances.
She slipped out of the bathroom for a few seconds, returning with a small plastic bag and a folded set of scrubs. Lets get you into some warm, dry clothes. These may be a little short for you, but they should fit okay. As Mariah took the surgical greens from Sophie, the woman turned to look at Jake with a critical eye. Youre soaked, too. Im not sure anything of Garys would fit you, though
Im fine, Jake said firmly. Ive been running around so Ive stayed warm. Lets just get Mariah back to the motel.
Ill tell Gary what were doing. Sophie slipped back out of the bathroom.
Mariah finished slipping on the scrubs. Despite the thinness of the fabric, the clothes were impossibly warm.
Id hold you to get you warm, but Im still sopping wet. A hint of humor threaded through the lingering concern in Jakes voice. Mariah hadnt realized until now just how much shed missed that lighter tone. It hadnt made an appearance all day, banished by the horrors they were witnessing.
You can make up for it back at the motel, she promised.
If you still want to leave town, I understand.
She knew she should tell him no, that theyd stay and help. But the memory of Victor Logans malevolent gaze was burned into her brain, a reminder of why they had to leave as soon as they could get back to the motel and pack their things.
I want to go home, she said, hating herself a little.
Within fifteen minutes, they were safely back at the motel. Mariah took a long, hot shower that did wonders for her body temperature, then dried her hair, wrapped herself in a fuzzy robe and finished packing their toiletries for the trip home.
When she returned to the sleeping area, Jake was on the phone. He smiled at her. Yeah, were cutting it short here. We may overnight in Birmingham. Ill let you know. He mouthed the name Gabe. No, noshes okay. Just a little chilled.
Tell your brother I said hi and Im fine, she murmured, already eyeing the bed, where Jake had laid out warm clothes, including a cozy thermal undershirt and a sturdy pair of jeans. The rest of their clothes were packed.
So he talked her into it finally? Well, good for Aaron! Jake grinned at Mariah as she slipped off the robe and started donning her clothing. The appreciative look he gave her as she stripped naked did more to warm her than the thermal underwear. Tell him congratulations for us. Ill see you later.
Aaron and Melissa are engaged? she guessed. Jakes youngest brother had been trying to talk his girlfriend, Melissa, into marrying him for three months now, but Melissa was too pragmatic to jump into anything. Her history with men had made her a little cautious. To Aarons credit, hed been far more patient with her than he was with most things in his life. Good for them.
Aaron and Melissa are engaged? she guessed. Jakes youngest brother had been trying to talk his girlfriend, Melissa, into marrying him for three months now, but Melissa was too pragmatic to jump into anything. Her history with men had made her a little cautious. To Aarons credit, hed been far more patient with her than he was with most things in his life. Good for them.
He popped the question on her birthdaytalked someone at the high school into letting him borrow the gymnasium and set up their own private prom. Sappy devil.
Not nearly as romantic as your proposal, she teased, wrapping her arms around his waist. How did it go againHey, Mariah, wanna get hitched?
If I recall correctly, you were duly impressed.
She rubbed her cheek against his chest, her smile fading. He had no idea how desperate shed been at that point in her life to find some sort of security and family. She wondered if hed remember things differently if he knew the whole truth.
Would they even be together if she hadnt been at the end of her rope? Shed never let herself ask that question before, perhaps afraid of what shed discover.
Beneath her cheek, Jakes sweater was thick and soft. Hed dressed in clothing as warm as her own. She managed a teasing grin. Got colder than you realized?
He smiled back at her. My goose bumps have goose bumps.
Maybe you should have joined me in the shower.
He pulled her closer, kissing her forehead and threading his fingers through her hair. You were brave today. You saved that little girls life.
We didnt get to tell that poor woman Im okay.
We could stop there on our way out of town.
No, its not on the way, and it would just interfere with the rescue efforts. Mariah already felt guilty enough about leaving all those poor, suffering people behind. But she couldnt risk seeing Victor Logan again. Besides, she probably took her little girl to the hospital to be checked out.
Maybe I should take you to the hospital, too. Youre still shivering.
She couldnt tell him her chills had more to do with the cold-eyed man whod been seconds from tossing her back into that swollen creek before Jake arrived.
Not yet. Not until they were safely away, back in Gossamer Ridge, with Jakes big, capable family surrounding them.
But when they got home, she was going to tell Jake the truth. The whole sordid story.
It had been a mistake to create a fictional back story for her own life. Jake deserved better, and she was strong enough to face her past.
Shed survived seeing Victor again, hadnt she?
Barely, a cowardly voice whispered in her ear. You barely survived with your life.
THE SECRET TO GETTING away with something, Victor knew, was to look as if you know what youre doing. In his case, it was simple enough; Victor actually knew his way around the underbelly of a truck. Hed been a mechanic since the age of sixteen, working in garages and repair shops across three states. Hed been bitten with the wander bug at an early age. With his skills as a mechanic to sustain him, he began a twenty-year sojourn across three states to find where he belonged.
Twenty years to figure out hed never belong in this world full of cretins and imbeciles who were more interested in expanding their wallets and waistlines than improving their minds. It had taken Alex to show him the truth: he was better than all those people hed spent his life trying to impress.
After that, hed lived his life as he wished, taking the jobs that would best accomplish his particular needs at the time. Alex had been generous, as well, sharing his wealth with Victor in exchange for Victors keen eye for opportunities.
Alexs money had bought Victor the toolkit he was using right now under Jake Coopers Ford F-150.
Victor had followed Marisol and her husband from the disaster scene, seen him forced to park the truck many slots down from their motel room because of the bass boat hitched to the back. It had been easy enough for Victor to park nearby, bring out his tools and act as if he was there on business.
Victor was slender enough to slide easily under the truck and snip the serpentine belt without engaging the car alarm. He left just a thread of belt intact. It would snap within a few miles, and not long after that, the engine would start to fail.
He pushed out from under the truck and walked purposefully back to his van, securing his tools on the floorboard behind the front passengers seat. He stepped into the van through the side door and closed it behind him, quickly stripping out of his wet, soiled coveralls.
Then he left the parking lot and set up a couple of blocks down the service road. Cooper would have to drive past him to get to any of the three interstate access roads.
And Victor would be ready.
MARIAH WAS TOO QUIET. It reminded Jake, uncomfortably, of their first interactions three years ago. Shed showed up one day, looking for work, and his sister Hannah, always a sucker for a stray, had talked their parents into hiring the shy, pretty young single mother for the clerical job at the booking office of the marina and fishing camp the family ran.
Jake had found her stunningly beautiful from the start, but her quiet demeanor had almost nipped their relationship in the bud. Hed always preferred vibrant, fun-loving girls with lots of energy and lots of sass. Mariahs subdued, self-contained calm seemed just the opposite.
But as she revealed her past in painful little snippets over the next week, he began to understand that what hed seen as self-possession was really lingering sadness at the loss of her husband, Micahs father. Hed apparently died young in a tragic car accident, leaving Mariah pregnant and alone. Hed had nothing to leave them, forcing Mariah to fend for herself and her child with her own resources.
Pity had turned to sympathy, and sympathy to infatuation. By the time shed finally agreed to go out with him three weeks after they met, he was halfway in love. Their first kiss two dates later sealed the deal for him, and it hadnt taken long to convince her they were meant to be a family.
Theyd eloped to Gatlinburg within two months of their first meeting. Hed never doubted his snap decision to marry her, or be the father to her adorable son Micah, whod just turned three in December.
But at times like this, when she went quiet and insular, he was reminded there were still things about her history he didnt know. Things he hadnt thought important.
But what if they were?
Mariah looked up, her forehead wrinkling a little as she caught him watching her. Whats wrong?
He tried to shake off his doubts. Nothing. Justyoure so quiet. Youre not feeling worse, are you?
She flashed an unconvincing smile. Still cold, I guess.
He started to reach behind him to the bench seat when a sharp snapping sound caught him by surprise. Almost immediately, the steering wheel grew stiff under his hand, and the engine power dropped precipitously.
He fought the unresponsive steering wheel, bringing the truck to a shuddering stop at the side of the road. The engine idled unsteadily for a few seconds, then died. When he tried to crank the engine again, the starter struggled to engage.
What happened? Mariahs eyes widened with concern.
He reached over to touch her hand. He felt her hands trembling. I think a belt must have broken, he reassured her, although hed checked all the belts and hoses before they left home. Ill take a look.