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Nervous energy zinged through my body as adrenaline flooded my bloodstream. I was here. The time was now. It was the same feeling I got before a big mission, only what was on the line was so much more personal than any war or skirmish or regional conflict we’d ever handled in the SEALs. When I stepped off the train, gravel crunched beneath my boots and damp, chilly air jolting me wide awake. I’d just started across the small parking lot adjacent to the ticket stall when my phone rang.
I glanced down at the screen, half expecting to see Charlotte’s name there. Like maybe I’d somehow telepathically communicated how much I missed her. But no, the call was from Chief Wharton. I coughed to clear the disappointment constricting my throat, then answered as I began to walk the short distance to Charlotte’s house. “Hey, Chief. What’s up?”
“Elijah Harris has escaped custody.”
That stopped me dead in my tracks, my stomach in free fall. “What?”
My brain froze. Stuttered. Then began to churn, processing information as Chief Wharton explained what had happened. The immediate, intense kick of even more adrenaline into my system made me shaky and light-headed. Shit, shit, shit. I needed to get home, get Charlotte and Savannah, get them to safety.Now. I took off at a jog, moving as fast as I could while still keeping the phone to my ear.
“We were transferring him to the county jail to await trial,” Wharton said, his tone hard and urgent. “Somehow he got a knife. It’s not clear whether he used his former LEO status to mislead one of the officers into assisting him, or what—that’s something I’m going to be looking into, but right now we’re in response mode. He attacked one of the guards, wounding him severely, then took off running in the ensuing melee. I’ve put out a BOLO and teams are searching, but we haven’t found any trace of him yet.”
“Jesus Christ.” I stared at the area around me as I ran, as if Harris might appear on the street in front of me.
“We’re doing everything we can,” Wharton said, in full chief mode. He was clearly trying to put a good face on a complete clusterfuck. “We’ve got everyone available on this, looking for him nonstop, but as of now he’s in the wind.”
Fuck. Fear stabbed hot and deep inside me. This situation would be bad enough with an ordinary criminal. But Harris was a different case altogether. He was former law enforcement, so he knew all the tricks of the trade and could anticipate the moves before they were made. It made him even more dangerous.
As if sensing my thoughts, Chief Wharton said, “Don’t worry. I sent a patrol car to Charlotte’s house, and they should arrive shortly. She and your daughter will be fine. We’ve got them covered.”
I wanted to believe that. I did. But I couldn’t trust it. My parents and brother had been fine, right up until a random accident took them from me. And this situation was far more threatening than going for a drive. The mere thought of something terrible happening to Charlotte and Savannah nearly stopped my heart.
What was more, while I liked Chief Wharton, his department hadn’t done much to bolster my confidence in their crime-solving abilities. They’d only investigated Harris to begin with because of evidence that Charlotte and I had provided to them. I got that they were a small force, doing the best they could with the resources they had, but there was no way in hell I was leaving the fate of the people I loved most in this world in their hands.
No. If anyone was going to keep Charlotte and Savannah safe, it was going to be me.
“Keep me posted,” I said, then ended the call so I could focus. I needed to get to the house. Find out what was happening there, then set up a proper security perimeter. My service weapon was at the hotel, and I didn’t want to take the time for a detour. I didn’t need a gun anyway. I’d do what had to be done with my bare hands, if necessary. I’d already lost one family. I couldn’t lose another one.
I was going to save my girls, no matter what it took.
TWENTY-SEVEN
“What should we have for dinner, baby girl?” I asked Savannah over my shoulder. She gurgled at me, then shoved her little fist in her mouth to gnaw on it.
Honestly, I had no appetite, but I knew I needed to get something into my stomach. It had been flip-flopping and twisting ever since I’d left my mom’s. I glanced over at my phone where it was charging in the corner of the kitchen counter. I’d silenced it as soon as I’d gotten home, not wanting to see any calls or messages from my mom—or, worse, from Gabe. The situation sucked, and I needed some time to process all the thoughts and emotions that had come up after that conversation with my mom.
I loved Gabe. I could admit that now without wanting to run away and hide. But did loving him mean I had to give up everything that was important to me and start over? I’d put roots down here in Harpers Ferry, and cutting them seemed wrong.
“Well,” I sighed. “Looks like frozen pizza it is.”
I’d just pulled one out of the freezer and set the oven to preheat when a huge crash sounded from the back of the house. I had no idea what the hell had happened, and it took me a minute to register the heavy footsteps echoing down the hall. By then it was too late.
Elijah Harris stood in my kitchen, eyes wild and mouth sneering.
My heart stumbled, stopped, then raced forward, slamming against my rib cage like a bird trying to escape a trap. Thoughts careened through my brain, juked up on adrenaline. Grab Savannah. Run. Get the hell out of there.
Unfortunately, right then Elijah was blocking all my possible exits.
Thank God that I was between him and Savannah. Thank God.
Throat tight, I forced out words, thinking maybe I could stall him until I had a plan. His hands were empty, fisted at his sides, but that didn’t make him any less dangerous. I’d seen the pictures Alexis had shown me. Those fists could smash bones and teeth, tear through flesh. They were weapons all on their own.
“W-what do you want?” I asked, knowing it was a stupid question, but it was all I had in that moment.
He was trying to look past me, to see Savannah. “I want my daughter.”
“You can’t have her.”
When he laughed at me I realized how pathetic I sounded. But Elijah didn’t know what he was up against. He had no clue how hard I’d fight to keep that baby safe from him. His gaze flicked from me to her, and any ideas I had about concocting some elaborate plan to trap him and keep him at bay until the cops arrived—ifthey arrived, seeing as how I hadn’t managed to call them yet—evaporated.
