Page 11 of Christmas Homecoming Secrets

Would she be doing the right thing in telling him about Mia when he clearly wasn’t interested in being a father? Would the knowledge do more harm than good? Just because he deserved to know didn’t mean it was the best thing for him to actually know.

Her main concern was what was best for Mia. She had to put her first. But she should at least introduce Bryce to Mia so she could see them together and then make a decision about telling him. She groaned. What an absolutely horrid plan.

A crunch of a footstep on snow from behind her brought her to a halt, and she turned.

The snow-covered path was empty. For a moment, she stood there, examining the area.

Only the row of trees greeted her, and the shiver that swept through her had nothing to do with the cold.

After the attack at the mill, then the shooting at the range, she was jumpy.

Jade picked up the pace and wished the office wasn’t so far away.

She replaced her wallet and slung the purse over shoulder, then removed the glove from her right hand.

She glanced around once more, noting the empty area.

It was late, and most families who’d visited had done so during the daylight hours.

Clay had been right. Not many people wanted to get out in this weather, not to mention the dark.

She reached for the weapon that rested in her shoulder holster.

Just as her fingers curled over it, the lights flickered, then went out. Darkness covered her. A rush of footsteps pounded behind her. As she turned, she pulled her weapon, and something wrapped around her throat. Squeezing. Warm breath panted against her right ear.

Panic flared. Her gun tumbled from her fingers and she grasped at the cord around her neck.

With no time to scream, her only thought was she didn’t want to die like this.

Jade kicked back and connected with a shin.

The person gasped and let out a low grunt.

For a moment, she could breathe and managed to shove a hand up under the cable milliseconds before it drew tight again.

Her frantic brain registered rubber. Not wire.

Adrenaline racing, she curled her fingers around the vise and pulled, but the person behind her was strong and using Jade’s own hand to press against her throat to cut off her air.

A squeak escaped from her and she jabbed back with her opposite elbow, despairing when she hit nothing.

Stars started to dance in front of her eyes.

Please God! I don’t want to leave the children. Please!

“Jade!”

Bryce!

“Hey, Jade! Where are you?”

Then she was free. She sank to her knees, gasping, dragging in deep breaths of cold air.

She scrambled to her feet, hand searching for her weapon.

Her fingers brushed over it, and she snagged it as a light bounced off the ground and into her face.

She held up a hand to block the glare and spun to look in the direction the person had gone, but the darkness was complete.

Dizziness hit her and she sank to the ground once more, coughing.

“Jade, what happened?” Bryce was there, hands on her shoulders.

“Attacked,” she wheezed. Her throat ached, but at least she could breathe. He grabbed whatever it was the attacker had wrapped around her throat and tugged it away.

“What in the world?” She recognized Clay’s voice. He ran toward her, the beam of the flashlight bouncing along the muddy snow. “What happened? Are you okay?” he asked when he reached her.

Bryce told him in clipped sentences what had happened.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Call an ambulance,” Bryce said, running his hands up and down her arms, then tilting her head to examine her throat.

“No, don’t need an ambulance. It’s okay,” Jade said. “It’s getting better.” She heard the harsh rasp in her voice and understood Bryce’s doubtful look.

“If you don’t need me,” Clay said, “I’m going to see if I can get the lights back on.”

“Yeah, that would be good.” Bryce turned back to Jade. “You could have serious damage to your throat.” The mixture of terror and fury in his words stilled her. Touched her.

“Possibly,” she croaked, “but I don’t think so.

I managed to get my hand up there and pull against it, minimizing the harm.

” She hoped. “Man, that was scary.” Tears gathered and she shoved them away, coughing once more.

“I just want to go home and crawl into bed.” The minute the words left her mouth, she wished she could haul them back in.

She sounded helpless and weak. But she’d just been attacked, so maybe she should cut herself a break.

“Come on,” Bryce said, “I’ll help you to the car.”

“I’ve got to write all this up.”

“Then I’ll wait on you.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t remember you being this bossy.”

He huffed a laugh that did nothing to erase the worry in his eyes. “It’s not bossy, it’s common sense.”

The lights came on and she blinked against the sudden brightness—and recognized her attacker’s weapon.

“I was almost strangled with a strand of Christmas lights? You’ve got to be kidding.

” She gave a humorless bark of laughter that sent pain racing through her throat.

She immediately cut it short and coughed once more.

“Jade, I really think you should see someone.”

“No. I just need to get some ice on it, take some more ibuprofen, and rest.”

“So stubborn.”

“Exactly. So, let’s go,” she whispered, unable to speak any louder at this point.

With Bryce’s help, she stood, gathered her purse and started walking toward the office.

She noted him favoring his left leg, but before she could ask him about it, Clay spotted them and hurried toward them.

“Are you sure you’re okay, ma’am? I went ahead and called the cops to report it, but I can still call an ambulance. ”

“I’ll be sore for a while, but I’m all right, I think. Thank you.” What was one more sore place on her already bruised and battered body?

“Well, it’s not much, but the tree is on us. And your friend can come back and get one, too.”

“That’s very kind of you, thank you.”

Three police cruisers pulled into the parking lot. She recognized Dylan. Abby Jones climbed out of the second car, and Tom Williams bolted from the third.

“Jade!” Abby rushed toward her. “You okay?”

“I’m alive. That probably wasn’t on the agenda for my attacker. The strand of lights is back there. Can you bag it and see if there are any prints other than mine and Bryce’s on there?”

“Of course. What happened?”

Her head pounded and her throat hurt. She seriously didn’t want to deal with this tonight.

“Save your voice,” Bryce said. He gave the woman the short version.

“I’ll sit in my vehicle and write up the report,” Jade whispered. “It won’t take me long.” A thought hit her. She turned to Clay. “Do you have a closed-circuit television? Security footage?”

“Absolutely, but I’m not sure how much you’ll be able to see in the dark.”

Jade nodded, then wished she hadn’t. She pressed a hand to her head. “We’ll want to try anyway. See if it picked up anything before the lights went out. Abby, can you get a copy of it so we can take a look at who was around?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.”

Bryce joined her while she worked on the report. When she was done, she hit Send. “Nice job on strapping the tree down.”

“The credit goes mostly to Clay, but thanks.” He reached for her hand, then lightly touched her throat. “That was scary, Jade,” he whispered.

She swallowed, and his eyes followed the movement, then lifted to her eyes. She cleared her throat and grimaced. “Yeah, it was. But I’m okay.”

“But you were hurt once again.” His hand lifted to cup her chin. “I don’t handle it well when you get hurt.”

The look in his eyes had changed. While caring and concern were still there, something else had crept in. A warmth and awareness she’d not seen quite as strong before. “I…well… I don’t know what to say to that.”

“It’s okay. I’m not exactly sure how to explain it.”

“Okay then.” She glanced away then back. “I noticed you were limping. Are you all right?”

A small smile flickered, then faded, and she let out a small relieved breath when he dropped his hand from her cheek to lean back. “I’ve just been on my leg too long. As soon as I get off of it, I’ll be all right.”

She raised a brow, finally able to breathe now that he’d put some space between them. “What’s wrong with your leg?”

He shot her a funny look. “Kristy didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“I lost the lower part of my left leg in that IED blast. I have a prosthetic.”

She gaped. Then snapped her mouth shut. “I had no idea. You can’t tell. Frank didn’t say anything about it, either.” Frank hadn’t said much of anything, apparently. “I’m so sorry. I’m…wow.”

He shrugged. “It took me a while to come to grips with it, but I have a buddy who lost an arm, and he’s been a big help.”

“I’m glad.” Very glad. The more insights into his life over the past six years that he revealed, the more her long-held anger started to fade.

“So, are we ready to do this?” he asked.

She studied him a moment longer, then nodded, wincing slightly. “Sure, but I’m hoping I can convince the kids to put off decorating the tree until tomorrow night.” It was a wimpy way to end the day, but her body was done.

“I understand. I’ll help you get it in the house, and Sasha and I’ll join you tomorrow, if that’s all right.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Her phone rang, and she activated the vehicle’s Bluetooth to answer it. “Hi, Captain. Just to let you know, I’m driving and you’re on Speaker. Bryce Kingsley is with me.”

“Got it. First, how are you doing? Are you all right? You’ve sure been having a tough couple of days.”

“It’s been rough for sure. I’m heading home now.”

“Take some time off. You need to heal. I’ve got two of our best detectives on this, so you can rest easy. I’ve also told them to keep you updated on anything they find out.”

Bryce kept his mouth shut at the words but nodded his agreement and made sure she saw him do it. She rolled her eyes at him. “Captain, can we just see how I feel in the morning? I’m not ready to quit looking for Frank just yet.”

“That’s up to you. I did want to let you know that I’ve got the shooting range security footage.”

“That’s good news.”

“I know you wanted to look at it, but in light of this recent attack on you, don’t worry about it for now. I’ll watch it and let you know what we find out—if anything.”

“I can come in and watch—”

“Hold on a second. Got a call coming in from the cadaver dog handler.”

Jade’s breath lodged in her throat. She drove in silence, every nerve on alert. Bryce had stilled, his only movement to curl his fingers into fists.

Two minutes later, the captain came back on the line. “You there?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Jade, I…”

“Sir? Just say it, please.”

“I hate it, but they’ve found a body out in the woods behind the mill,” he said, his voice rough with compassion. “According to the wallet next to the body, it’s Frank Shipman.”