Page 113 of To Believe In You
Matt kept his hands lifted. “Then, if I were you, I wouldn’t rack up any more debt. Put the gun down and get out of here before the cops show up.”
Shane shot a panicked glance over his shoulder toward the road.
“You did know she had a new security system installed, right? If the abandoned car I passed on the way here is yours, you’d better get a move on.” Reaching the field where the car had been left at the mouth of a tractor lane would take a couple of minutes.
Shane seemed to wrestle with his options, the gun lowering. If he lost focus, Matt might be able to take him by surprise. Then again, a close-quarter struggle with a gun wouldn’t end well, and he didn’t want to be on either end of it going off.
Shane turned, the weapon in his grasp.
Lina still hadn’t moved.
Shane started toward her, and Matt sprinted to catch up. If he laid a hand on Lina—
But Shane broke into a run as he continued out the garage door and into the sunlight.
Matt reached her, grabbed her in a hug with one arm, and held her head to his shoulder, shielding it as he pivoted to put his body between her and Shane in case the man changed his mind and doubled back.
“Inside.” Concern had roughened his voice, and his ribcage protested each movement with pulses of pain.
As she ducked toward the door, he checked over his shoulder. Shane had advanced halfway down the drive, still running.
Nothing in his hands. Had he holstered the gun or discarded it?
If Shane went free, what would prevent him from showing up again, perhaps when Matt wasn’t around to help? But if Matt gave chase now, would Lina wait inside, or would she keep exposing herself to danger?
He hit the button to close the garage door behind them, then ushered Lina into the house.
* * *
Why didshe feel like she was floating? Lina held one hand to her head and lifted the other to study it. Trembling. She ought to feel more.
Matt shut the door, and the lock snapped into place.
At least she had hearing.
He rubbed a spot on his side. An itch or an injury? He eyed the security panel. “I was bluffing. Is help actually coming?”
Bluffing? He hadn’t flinched when he’d seen the gun. She’d assumed such nerves of steel were based on unshakeable belief in imminent rescue.
A notification did flash on the control panel. Her phone sounded in the other room. “Should be.”
Although Matt himself had been helpful enough.
Dirt from the garage floor marred his T-shirt. A hand-sized red splotch circled his neck, and the first hint of rising bruises darkened his arms. His eyebrows pulled low as he studied her in return. “Are you hurt?”
“No. Are you?”
“What … ?” He pointed to his head, and it took her a moment to realize he’d ignored her question in favor of focusing on her.
Now that he mentioned it, the hand she held to her head covered a throb. A lump filled the hollow of her palm, but when she lowered her hand, she found no blood on her fingers. Exhaustion threaded through her muscles. Her lungs stretched with a breath. The ache in her head gained a sharp edge. She shouldn’t have been so quick to wish away the numbness. But she was still standing. Thinking. “I’m okay. You?”
“Fine.” If he kept peering at her with such concern, she’d fall into his arms.
The phone, still singing away in the bedroom, gave her a reason to step the opposite direction. “I need to tell them what they’re looking for. You saw his car?”
“Blue sedan parked by the field next door.”
She went to the bedroom, answered the call from Gannon’s security guard, and gave him a summary.
