Knocked forward? No. More like tossed forward.
She landed on the dirt-caked floor about the same time the shotgun, jostled from her hands by the blow, clattered a few yards from her outstretched fingers. It kept skidding until it bumped up against the point of a steel-toe boot, where it rested.
Her back screamed as if the spine had been snapped. She had landed on her stomach and one side of her face, and the pain was excruciating, though she couldn’t tell which hurt more — her stomach or face or, more likely, her back. But all of that was nothing against the voice screaming inside her head, telling her to Get up! Get up now, before it’s too late! You’re too close! Don’t let him get away!
But she couldn’t get up because something heavy had fallen on top of her, and it took her a moment to realize it was a man sitting down on her back. Large, strong hands grabbed her arms and twisted them backward, and she became aware of someone screaming.
Her. She was screaming.
Because the man was pinning her arms back in a way that the angle was all wrong, and she was certain both arms would snap at any second.
“Stop it!” someone shouted. One of the young women. “You’re hurting her!”
“That’s the point, Sabrina!” a male voice said. It was coming from the heavy thing sitting on her back. “Someone grab that shotgun!”
“I got it,” another male voice said.
No. No, not him. Not him.
She managed to lift her head despite every inch of her body protesting just in time to see the state trooper bending and picking the Remington up from the floor. He held the shotgun and looked down at her, meeting her stare. Her eyes dropped a bit to the nametag over his right breast pocket: “Beckard.”
There was a glint in his eyes — the same brown eyes from earlier in the woods when he was convinced he was the hunter and she the prey. Then, the corners of his lips began to curve slowly until they formed a smile. It was on the sly and meant only for her. And just like that it was gone, before the others in the cabin could see it.
“Thank you, guys,” he said. “You just saved my life.”
Chapter 6
Well, shit, this worked out pretty well.
He had to summon every ounce of willpower just to keep from grinning from ear to ear for longer than half a second at a time. It was hard. Even more difficult to keep the laughter from bursting out of him. Definitely one of those LMAO moments. Or maybe even a LMFBO.
Because this was funny. This was so goddamned funny.
“Is this her?” the brunette who had patched him up asked. She was staring at the woman as the big jock continued to hold her down. “She doesn’t look dangerous.”
“Trust me, she’s dangerous,” he said, turning the Remington over in his hands.
“Is that yours?” Wade asked, nodding at the weapon.
The kid (well, he was a kid to Beckard, anyway) stood protectively over his girlfriend, Rachel, while one eye remained fixed on the woman struggling on the floor. The big kid, Donnie, had her pinned in some kind of wrestling move. He had at least a solid hundred pounds on her and had both of her arms wrenched back. It looked painful.
“He’s dangerous!” the woman shouted, her eyes darting to everyone in the cabin except him. “You don’t know what you’re doing! He’s going to kill all of you!”
“You’re the one with the shotgun,” Rachel said, leaning around Wade just far enough to get a good look at the woman.
“He’s a killer!”
“Shut up,” Donnie said and put more pressure on her arms, making her cry out.
“Donnie, stop it,” the brunette said, walking over. She was a small thing, and too skinny. Definitely not Beckard’s type. “You’re hurting her.”
“I would stop if she didn’t keep trying to get up,” Donnie said.
“Just go easy, okay?”
The big guy nodded and relaxed his grip a bit on the woman’s arms. “Better?”
“Yes,” the girl said. She crouched in front of the woman and gave her an almost apologetic look. “Please stop struggling. You’re only hurting yourself.”
“He’s dangerous,” the woman said through clenched teeth. She was focusing on Sabrina, obviously having decided that was where her salvation lay. “He’s not who you think he is.”
“He’s a cop,” Donnie said.
“He’s a killer!”
“You’re the one who kicked in our door with a shotgun,” Rachel said. She had emerged out from behind Wade’s protective force field, apparently having decided it was safe again.
“I had no choice!”
Beckard almost felt sorry for her. He could see the strained expression on her face, a mixture of pain and irritation. Maybe mostly pain. She looked past Sabrina and glared at him, and Beckard, again, had to summon all his willpower not to grin mischievously back at her. He was close, so close, but he could feel Wade watching him and managed to rein it in.
“You still have that cell phone?” he asked Wade instead.
The twenty-something nodded and turned to his girlfriend. “Babe, go get it for him, will you?”
Rachel hurried off, disappearing into a hallway in the back. The bedroom was back there, Beckard guessed. He made a mental note of that for later.
“How’s the reception?” he asked Wade.
“Spotty,” Wade said, “but we’ve been able to connect every time we’ve tried since we got here.”
“Good to hear.” He let his eyes dramatically fall back to the woman squirming on the floor when he added, “I need to call for some backup. She’s a lot more dangerous than she looks.” He touched his bandaged side for effect. “I didn’t see it coming at all. One minute she’s in the back of my squad car, the next she’s gotten the handcuffs off.”
“How did she get your shotgun?” Donnie asked.
The woman had stopped struggling against Donnie, probably realizing she wasn’t going to get free. She was now listening, glancing from Sabrina to Wade and back to him. He could practically imagine her mind turning, processing, trying to get a grip on the situation. He couldn’t help but be impressed with her attitude.
We could so make beautiful music together…
…if only she’d stop trying to kill me.
“I wish I knew,” Beckard said. He let out a disappointed sigh. “I don’t even know how she got out of those cuffs. I’m just lucky she didn’t finish the job and that I found you guys first.”
“She took your gun belt, too?” Wade asked.
“Yeah. I was unconscious for a while after we crashed.” He shook his head. “She’s a lot tougher than she looks,” he said, directing that at Donnie. “You should be really careful with her.”
“She’s not going anywhere,” Donnie said. “I can sit on her all night if I have to.”
“Hopefully you won’t have to.”
Rachel came out of the back with a cell phone and handed it to him. He noticed her hand was still shaking slightly even though she was putting on a brave face.
“Thanks, Rachel,” he said. Then, with as much concern as he could muster, “You okay?”
She shook her head, and he decided he liked the way her long blonde hair flitted from side to side when she did that. “I’m just really freaked right now, that’s all. I’ll be fine.”
“You’re doing great, babe,” Wade said. He held out his hand and Rachel walked over, took it, and slipped back into his protective force field.
Ah, must be true love, Beckard thought. “Don’t worry, I’ll get her out of your hair soon and you guys can go back to enjoying your vacation.” He smiled at Rachel. “You’ll be all right, I promise.”