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The slight tremble of her words shook his core. He rested a palm on her upper arm, wishing he could do more to reassure her. “He ran. I need to call Cruz.” He pressed the button on the radio attached to the shoulder of his uniform. The line crackled, and he spoke into the speaker. “Backup needed in the parking lot of Crossroads Mountain Retreat. Attempted attack and possible abduction in connection with Officer Cruz Sawyer’s current case. Attacker fled into the woods.”
Wincing, Izzy pushed herself into a sitting position. Blood trickled from an open cut on the corner of her forehead, just below her hairline. She brushed the tips of her fingers against her wound. “Go after him.”
Beau set his jaw then pressed the button on his communicator once more. “Send an ambulance. Young woman, early twenties, has a head wound that needs examined.”
“I’m fine,” she said, attempting to raise to her feet. She swayed to the side.
He wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her back down beside him. “I won’t leave you. Not when you’re hurt and alone. Cruz and Brooke will be here soon. They won’t stop looking until they bust this guy. Not many places he can hide.”
She latched on to his wrist and leaned against him, securing him in place—not like her pleas could make him be anywhere but right next to her “I was about to get into my car. Then all of a sudden, he came running at me. He had a knife.” Her grip tightened on his skin.
“I won’t let anyone near you. I promise.” He spoke the words through clenched teeth, anger pulsing against his chest that she’d almost been taken again. This time, right in front of him.
A golf cart zoomed into view. Brooke was behind the wheel with Cruz beside her. The engine revved and tires crunched over stone as Brooke steered the cart toward them.
Once stopped, Cruz jumped out. “Is everyone all right? What happened?”
“After Izzy and I spoke in the trailer, she walked to her car. A man ran out of the woods toward her. When I saw him, I grabbed my gun and ran. Took one shot when it was clear he wouldn’t stop. He threw a rock at Izzy, hence the wound on her head, then ran back the way he came. I chose to stay with Izzy.” His voice threatened to crack, and he cleared his throat before he continued. “I couldn’t leave her injured and alone. Not when someone else could be lurking nearby.”
A vein ticked above Cruz’s eye. “You did the right thing. But we need men in those woods now. Brooke, is Grace around?”
“Grace?” Beau asked, the name not ringing a bell.
“Best tracker in the area and newest employee here,” Brooke said, her gaze fixed on the shaded land as if she could see through the thick foliage if she looked hard enough. “I’ll call her.”
Izzy loosened her hold on his wrist, moving her hand up to his forearm and leaning on him for support as she rose to her feet.
With a palm on the small of her back, he cupped her elbow and stood along with her.
“What does this mean?” Izzy asked. “Why would he come after me in broad daylight? When any number of people could see him?”
Beau met Cruz’s hard stare, an unspoken agreement passing between them.
“Whoever that was, he didn’t come here to find unsuspecting victims,” Beau said. “Izzy, he came here for you.”
3
The soft blanket draped around Izzy’s shoulders slipped down her arm. She let it fall, not wanting to unwrap her hands from the warm mug her mother had brought her moments before. As soon as she’d returned to her childhood home where she now lived with her mom and sister, her mom had swarmed in to do whatever she could to make Izzy feel better.
But nothing her mom could do would erase the memories of a stranger coming after her. Again. Thank goodness she’d turned twenty-one in the fall, or her mom would have never added the shot of sweet liquor to her hot chocolate.
“Are you sure you don’t want something to drink?” Her mom asked Beau. “If you don’t like hot cocoa, I can get you coffee. Or water. Or anything really.” She fluttered her hands around her face as she spoke like a nervous bird.
Izzy sighed and took a long sip of her warm drink. Her mom had always been an anxious woman, especially after her dad had been killed when she was only ten years old. It had taken years for her to learn to stand on her own two feet, and Izzy now realized, Sue had depended on Paxton way too much. The constant stress of watching her mother fall apart and her sister swoop in to put her back together was what had motivated Izzy to move out of Pine Valley. Turning her back on everything and everyone in an attempt to find herself far from home.
And now she’d returned, afraid to leave her house let alone resume college for her last semester—her mother once again an anxious mess who bumbled around the house. Trying to help but helpless to make a difference.
Beau sat across from her in the small living room. His muscular frame practically spilling over the floral armchair. “I’m fine but thank you Mrs. Sterling.”
Sue sat next to Izzy on the sofa, choosing the middle cushion to be right beside her. “I’m just so grateful you were there. I don’t know what I would have done if…” Her voice broke and tears filled her eyes.
Izzy bit back her irritation and patted her mom’s knee. She understood why her mother was upset but comforting someone else overhernear abduction wasn’t high on her fun list. “Don’t think about what could have happened, Mom. I’m fine. You should go to work. You don’t need to call off on my account.”
Sue gathered Izzy close and rested her head on her shoulder. “I can’t leave you alone. I’m here for you, honey.”
“Beau’s here,” she blurted out. Paxton wasn’t home to smother her with worry yet, and she needed space from her mom to sort through her own thoughts. Making it clear she wasn’t alone was the only way to get her mom to leave.
“But you need your mom, and I’m sure Beau needs to leave soon. I mean, you already gave your statement.” She squeezed Izzy tighter. “We can watch some good old fashioned rom com’s to take your mind off everything. Maybe order your favorite pizza. Come on, Iz. What do you say?”
