Page 36 of Saving Jennifer
“Jennifer—” Jonah began.
“No, listen to me,” she cut him off. “Your family could be in danger because of me. I won’t have that on my conscience.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “Besides, this cabin is secure, right? You’ve said so yourself. Noah has shown me all the fortifications, and I know where all the weapons are kept. You must check on your family.”
Noah nodded reluctantly. “It’s as secure as I could make it.”
“And even if they somehow track us here, they don’t know the terrain. We do.” She straightened her shoulders. “I’ve been training with you since we got here. I know how to handle a gun now, and my self-defense has improved.”
Jonah looked at Noah, clearly torn. “What do you think?”
Noah studied Jennifer’s determined expression. The woman who’d walked into his life such a short time ago claiming she didn’t need a babysitter, but in truth had been terrified, jumping at shadows. The woman standing before him now had steel in her spine and wouldn’t back down from fight. He was so proud of her.
“We’ll manage,” Noah finally said. “Go check on the family. But I want you back here—or send reinforcements—as soon as possible.”
Jonah hesitated, then nodded sharply. “I’ll take the ATV down. Should reach the compound in about two hours.” He gripped Noah’s shoulder. “You keep her safe until I get back.”
“Count on it.”
“If I find anything, I’ll call.”
Noah easily read between the lines of what his brother hadn’t said. If he got to the homestead and found Amir’s men had gotten there first…he couldn’t continue that thought. Nothing had happened to his brothers, to his mom and dad. It couldn’t have.
They watched as Jonah gathered his gear, checking his weapons one final time before heading to the shed where he kept the all-terrain vehicle. The roar of the engine echoed through the trees as Jonah disappeared down the narrow mountain trail.
Noah turned to find Jennifer watching him, her expression unreadable. “You should have told me sooner.” Her voice held no accusation, just a simple statement of fact.
“I just found out, right before you woke up. I’m not hiding anything from you, I promise.”
“So, what now?”
Instead of answering, Noah gestured for her to follow him inside. He moved with purpose through the cabin to the hidden panel in the living room floor, pulling it open to reveal a stockpile of weapons and supplies.
“Now we prepare,” he said, lifting out a tactical vest and handing it to her. “We assume they’re coming, and we make bloody sure they regret it when they do.”
Jennifer took the vest, fingers brushing against his. “Noah, if something happens—”
“Nothing’s going to happen,” he cut her off, unable to entertain the alternative. “I’m getting you back to New Orleans to testify if it’s the last thing I do.”
Her eyes locked with his. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Noah paused, suddenly aware of how close they were standing. He’d maintained a professional distance, ignoring the tension sparking between them whenever they were alone. Now, with danger closing in, that distance felt pointless.
“Jennifer—”
She shook her head, breaking the moment. “We can’t. Not now. Show me what to do. If they’re coming, I need to be ready.”
Noah turned back to the weapons cache. For the length of a heartbeat, he considered moving them to another location but quickly dismissed the idea. The cabin’s natural defenses—steep terrain, rugged stone walls on three sides, limited approach vectors, strategic sight lines—it all made the cabin their best option. Any attempt to relocate now would only expose them on the road.
As he began outlining defensive positions, Noah pushed away thoughts of his family, of what Karim’s men might have done to secure their silence. He couldn’t afford distraction, not with Jennifer’s life in his hands.
He only hoped that when Jonah reached the family compound, he’d find nothing more sinister than a downed power line or problems with the cellular provider. If or when Karim’s mercenaries found the cabin, Noah vowed to keep Jennifer safe.
Because if he failed, there would be no second chances—for either of them.
Karim Amir staredat his phone, a smile spreading across his face as he viewed the grainy traffic camera footage. There they were—Jennifer Baptiste and her unknown accomplice, pictures captured heading north into Tennessee. His heart raced with anticipation and an almost maniacal glee. After far too many frustrating dead ends, he finally had something concrete in his search for the woman who’d caused nothing but trouble for his family.
“I’ve got you now,” he whispered to the image of Jennifer’s face, frozen in the still frame.
Pocketing his phone, he glanced at the heavy gold watch on his wrist, the one that had belonged to his father. The hacker his investment broker procured—an expensive but necessary outlay of money—was working to identify the man with Jennifer Baptiste. Soon, he would have a name for the face, another target to eliminate on his path to the evil witch who betrayed his family.