Page 25 of Hotter than Wildfire

Ellen looked at Harry Bolt, then up at this Nicole woman. She was taking a huge risk. Maybe Nicole had no idea Harry was a killer. Maybe she was his girlfriend and thought he was an ordinary guy.

“That man,” she whispered as Nicole bent her head closer. “Be careful. He tried to kill me.”

She closed her eyes, exhausted. There, she’d said it. At least someone would know the truth before she died.

Nicole straightened, startled. She looked at Bolt then back at her. Bolt was completely still, the only thing moving his broad chest as he breathed. His face was taut, remote, completely emotionless.

Nicole laughed and Ellen jolted a little.

The laugh was genuine and so out of place in this room of pain and sorrow that it took Ellen a second to recognize it and process it. Nicole sobered as she looked down at Ellen, beautiful face suddenly very serious. Her hand passed lightly over Ellen’s hair.

“Harry didn’t try to kill you, my dear. Trust me on this. He saved your life. You were walking right into an ambush when he showed up. What’s the last thing you remember?”

Ellen’s hand opened, scraping lightly along the sheet, index finger pointing toward Bolt. “Him,” she whispered. “Running toward me with a gun.”

Nicole frowned and looked at Bolt again. “You didn’t see two—“ Harry Bolt held up a big hand, three fingers up. “Three men?” Nicole finished.

Ellen closed her eyes, trying to remember. It was all a blur. Getting out of the taxi, being slammed, shouts…shouts.

“Several men there. Yes.” Her voice came out a weak croak. What else? “A—a truck. Someone opening the back of a truck. Not a truck, a van.” It was all such a blur. Voices, shapes…

She opened her eyes.

“Yeah.” Harry Bolt’s deep voice was hard, rough. “They were going to take you away in that van. I got a chance to look inside it and there were restraints in there. Meant for you.”

Ellen’s heart skipped a beat at the thought of being in the hands of Montez’s men, in handcuffs.

“Did they follow you? Do they know where I am?” Ellen pushed the words out through the tightness in her throat. Maybe this Harry Bolt wasn’t after her, but Montez’s men were.

Silence. Nicole looked away uneasily. Harry Bolt just stared at her with his fierce eagle gaze. Finally, he stirred. “They’re dead,” he said roughly. “No one’s coming after you, not any more. Not ever again.”

Ellen tried to rise on her elbows but she couldn’t. She couldn’t hold herself up and felt panic rising at her inability to move. She was trapped in this house, with people she didn’t know. Her voice rose in panic. “He’s smart. He’ll have followed you, somehow, they could be coming right now, they could⁠—“

“No,” Bolt rapped out sharply, scowling. “No one’s coming. We left before the police came. I used a cold gun, untraceable. I blanked out all the security cameras beforehand. Even if by some chance one of the men saw my license plate and called it in, and there really wouldn’t have been time, it belongs to a shell company it would take a team of forensic accountants a year to trace down. You’re safe now and you’ll stay that way.”

He stated it like a law of nature. Gravity pulls toward the center of the earth. The sun rises in the east. You’ll be safe here.

She twisted slightly, and pain shot through her shoulder. A reminder that ‘safe’ was a relative term.

He noticed and reached for a bottle of pills on a table nearby. He took a pill, poured a glass of water from a pitcher and slid his hand under her head.

“Painkiller,” he said. “It’ll take effect in about ten minutes.” He lifted her easily, somehow not hurting her.

Ellen met his eyes as he gently eased her head back on the pillow. She was so weak it frightened her. Maybe she wasn’t in any immediate danger, but if she were, she’d be utterly helpless to defend herself. She needed help to swallow a pill.

It had to be asked. “What…what happened to me?”

Bolt’s mouth tightened into a grim line. Grimmer line. “You were shot, but thank God it was only a ricochet. Gave me a hell of a scare there, for a moment. You lost some blood but it wasn’t life-threatening. If it had been, I’d have had to take you to a hospital, and you can be sure Montez is monitoring all of them. And anyway by law, hospitals have to report gunshot wounds. I’ve had extensive medic training and I had everything I need here. You won’t have the most beautiful scar in the world, but you’re going to be fine. Maybe later, you can have plastic surgery on the scar.”

Ellen shook her head, her hair rasping on the pillow. That wasn’t important.

“How—" She coughed, to loosen up her throat. “How long ago? How long have I been…out.”

Harry’s mouth grew, if possible, even grimmer, long grooves appearing in his cheeks. “Three days,” he said, the two words falling like stones out of his mouth.

He looked…something. There was some strong emotion there. Anger? At her? Had she been keeping him from something important? Was he mad because she might have put him in danger? She couldn’t tell at all what he might be feeling, only that whatever it was, it was strong.

Nicole looked at Bolt then back at her. “He hasn’t left your side for three days and three nights,” she said softly. “He patched you up and stayed with you. We all offered to help but he refused.”