Page 19 of Been There Dragon That
Tears leaked down her cheeks, and she fought to keep her breathing even and silent. Maybe whoever it was wouldn’t find her. She tapped the screen of her cell again.
No signal.
She shoved the phone back into her front hoodie pocket.
Keep it together, Ry. You’ve come this far. He doesn’t have you yet.
The heavy footsteps were coming closer. Each step inched the proverbial stool further from beneath her. The noose continued to tighten.How was he going to kill her? Would it be quick? Was it Jeff himself? Was it the man from the car again? Was it someone else?
The closet door opened, and she couldn’t stop the scream that left her lips. Big arms were around her in an instant. Male arms. Strong arms.
“No! No! No!”
She screamed and flailed and tried to scratch at the man’s face, and he only hugged her tighter.
He was going to suffocate her!
“Rylee. Rylee Florence.”
The big chest she was being held against rumbled and vibrated with a deep voice. A voice saying her name. The arms holding her loosened the second she stopped fighting.
“Rylee,shuarra, please.”
Shush? He was shushing her? “Put me down!” Her voice came out ragged and broken and not nearly as angry as she’d imagined it would be. Her ribs ached from his firm hold on her. She might’ve been cleared for travel and past the worst of her concussion, but her whole body was one giant bruise.
He set her gently on her feet. “You’re safe now,shuarra.”
She took a deep breath and looked up at the deep voice that strangely made her insides melt a little, even through all the panic. Then her gaze met his. Those burning brown eyes. The same ones she’d seen outside the store.
This man wasn’t with Jeff. This was the deputy sheriff. The man Henrietta had gone on and on about.
This was the man that’d made her ovaries dance with one glance after she’d sworn off being a notch in his headboard.
His hands went to her shoulders again. “I need to get you out of the house.”
“Did someone break in? What’s wrong?” She winced and pulled away. His hand had grazed the healing wound on her shoulder and back.
“Forgive me, I didn’t realize you were injured. Did the tree hit you?”
She scrunched her face and peered around him down the hallway. “The tree?”
“Yes, the storm knocked the large tree beside the houseintoyour house.”
“There’s no one else here?”
The large man stared down at her, a hint of confusion in his whiskey brown eyes. “Did you see someone else?”
She shook her head and let her muscles relax slightly.It wasn’t an attack.Jeff wasn’t here. No one was here for her.
Except … she looked up at the deputy again. What had Henrietta called him? His name had been kinda strange sounding.
“We need to go. Now.” His body language said he was about to grab her again, and she was trying to decide if that was a bad thing or not. He didn’t give her time to decide before scooping her up into his arms and hurrying through the house, out the open front door, and across the lawn.
The wind bit into her face. It was so much colder than it’d been a few hours ago. Except he was warm. Like toasty sitting-next-to-a-fireside warm.
“I can’t just—”
“This is only the start of the storm. It’s not safe. The house and the tree are unstable. If there’s a ruptured gas line it could start a fire or worse.” He tucked her into a waiting vehicle. Placed her in the passenger seat like she was no more than a child, snapped her buckle into place and then went around, got in, and started the vehicle.
