Page 28

HEATHER

H eather had no way of knowing exactly where they were, so she had no address to give the police, but she did her best in describing the warehouse and the buildings around them.

She named businesses as well as the thrift shop they were currently in.

They said they’d be able to trace her from the line she was using as well as her descriptions, and that she should just sit tight until they got there.

She told them she was going to leave the phone off the hook for a while but that she wouldn’t be talking into it anymore as she didn’t want anyone who happened to come into the building to hear her voice.

If the kidnappers did happen to find which building Heather and Cole had broken into, they would at least have to find the pair first, and then they’d have to break into the office. Every second Heather and Cole could give themselves mattered.

All there was left to do was wait. Heather sank down on the floor behind the desk and sat beside Cole, who was already there.

It felt like she was never going to actually catch her breath.

The last several hours… no, the last several days had been the most stressful she had ever experienced in her life.

She just wanted it to be over finally, but it wasn’t.

At least this time, the police wouldn’t tell them to hide and wait for days on end.

That level of inaction clearly hadn’t worked, and the kidnappers had come after Cole and Heather anyway.

If the police insisted they deal with this sort of thing themselves again, after the second kidnapping, Heather was going to pitch a gigantic fit and demand they do their jobs.

They ought to have offered some modicum of protection at the very least.

Then, Cole shook her out of her thoughts by saying the last thing she had expected him to say.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “You didn’t deserve for me to get that angry with you.

” He turned to her and took her hand in his.

“I drove you away, and I blame myself for this, okay? So, I don’t want you to feel guilty about it.

I can easily see it in your eyes. You’re blaming yourself, and you shouldn’t. ”

She felt like bursting into grateful tears, but she blinked them back instead. “I broke the rules without asking you, though. I made it dangerous for both of us.”

“You needed to talk to your mom. It was a risk worth taking, and we don’t know precisely why they even found us.

It could have been any number of mistakes.

I only blamed you out of frustration. You were right that I didn’t understand what it was like for you to worry about her, and you were right that whether or not to take that risk should not have been my decision. ” He squeezed her hand tighter.

In the dark, she nuzzled closer to him. She hardly knew what to say. “Thank you, Cole. That means a lot to me.”

“I figured you needed to hear it… you being such a delicate little flower.”

She playfully slapped his chest, and he let out a low laugh.

“But seriously,” he said, “you were amazing back there.”

“Leave no man behind, right?” she said.

“That’s right,” he agreed. “You would have made a great soldier.”

Heather laughed, not believing him but loving his over-the-top compliment all the same.

“I mean it,” he said.

Before she could respond, they heard the rumble of an engine outside the building, and they both froze at the sound.

There was no way of knowing whether it was their kidnappers or the police, so they just assumed the worst and fell silent.

Then they heard the sound of a door, and another, and another.

Whoever was outside the building wasn’t saying anything, and that wasn’t a good sign, Heather thought.

If it was the police, they would not be arriving so quietly.

The people outside hadn’t yet made their way into the building Cole and Heather were hiding in.

They were probably checking all the buildings around them first. But they were bound to notice the window that Heather had smashed to get into the building.

She hadn’t thought of that at the time, but now it seemed like a ridiculous thing not to have considered.

She tried to be generous with herself, though, and remind herself she had been making choices in a terrifying situation with limited time and resources.

Even now, as she thought about it, she could not come up with a better plan they could have executed more quickly in the spur of the moment.

Then she heard a sound that confirmed her worst fears — familiar voices in the thrift store, arguing with each other and shouting for them to come out. It was the kidnappers; no doubt about it.

Cole squeezed Heather’s hand even tighter, and she could have sworn she heard his teeth grinding. “Do you still have the gun?” he whispered.

She nodded and whispered back, “Yes. It’s right here.”

“Let me have it,” he said, “and stay down.”

The sound of heavy footsteps and those loud, irritating voices came closer and closer. In the dark, Heather felt herself tremble, though she wished she wouldn’t. She was angry at herself for not being braver.

Then she remembered how it had felt right after she’d come out through the warehouse door, knowing Cole was still inside.

It had been so easy to risk everything, to stay right there and shoot back.

When push came to shove, she had done the right thing without thinking twice, and she supposed that was exactly what Cole was doing now.

He had more experience with firearms than she did, and he apparently had even more of a protective instinct for her than she had for him.

Giving him the gun had been the right choice.

So she told herself they were both doing as much as they could, and she stopped herself from shaking so much.

There was risk involved, but they were minimizing it by making the best choices from here on out. That made her feel worlds better.

Suddenly, there was the sound of someone trying to open the door. Then she heard the psycho shout, “This door is locked! They might be inside!”

Cole cursed and then said, “Grab the phone. Tell the dispatcher what’s happening. I’ll hold them off.”

Heather grabbed the phone and sank back down behind the desk as she heard the voice of the muscle say, “Stand back.”

Then there was a loud thud on the door, and another. A cracking sound told Heather he was succeeding in bringing the door down. “They’re here,” she told the dispatcher on the other end of the line.

The dispatcher responded with a question. “Are they armed?”

“Most likely,” Heather said. “They’re breaking down the door.”

“Sit tight. The police are only a few minutes away,” the dispatcher said, but Heather wasn’t all that comforted.

The door finally gave way, and a shaft of light burst into the room followed by the shadow Heather knew would be the bulk of the muscle coming through. Then he flipped the light on, and Cole fired his gun.

He didn’t hit the muscle. Likely, he was blinded by the light.

But the sound of the weapon going off was enough to make the muscle and anyone else who happened to be at the door to back off fast. They hid around the outside of the door and shot once into the office — just to show they meant business, Heather imagined.

But Cole meant business, too, and though he had a limited number of rounds, Heather knew he would use them wisely. “I’ll take the first shot I can get!” he shouted to the men outside the office. “I’m through playing these stupid games! I mean it!”

His voice was so threatening, even Heather shuddered at the sound of it. She had to remind herself that it was him, in fact, who was the one protecting her. And as soon as she remembered that, she felt instantly more hopeful about her situation.

“They’re right outside our door,” Heather whispered into the phone. “They have weapons, but so do we. We’re in the office in the back. Please, hurry.”

“One minute away,” the dispatcher said, and Heather found herself holding her breath.

Without tearing his eyes from his target, Cole spoke to Heather. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you, sweetheart, just in case I don’t make it out of this.”

“We’re going to make it out,” she assured him.

But he wasn’t listening. “I love you,” he said. “I love you more than anyone else in the entire world right now. And if I give my life to protect you, it will be my honor.”

“Cole,” she said. She could barely breathe. Then she heard the sound of hope outside — sirens coming closer.

“Can you hear them?” the dispatcher asked.

“Yes,” she hissed. Then she glanced back up at Cole and said, “I love you too, you dork, so don’t go doing anything stupid.”

A grin grew on his face, though he kept his weapon pointed at the door. “I never do anything stupid.”

“That’ll be a point of disagreement between us for a long time, I think,” she said under her breath. “And it’s an argument you’re going to lose one day.”

“Are you suggesting we’ll be together for a long time?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”

“I’ll take those odds, then.”

Just then, she heard more voices. One shouted, “Police! Hands in the air!” And Heather knew it was finally over. Their kidnappers were definitely crazy, but they weren’t self-destructive or stupid. They dropped their weapons and showed their hands to the police, who rushed in to arrest them.

“How many of you are there?” the police demanded, but the kidnappers didn’t answer.

“There are four of them!” Heather answered. “Four!”

She heard a woman’s voice say, “Thank you.” Then one of the officers, the woman who had just responded, Heather thought, made her way into the office.

Cole laid his gun on the desk and put his hands up to show he had no other weapon. Heather also put her hands in the air because it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.

The police officer said, “You’re both good. It’s over.”

And for the first time in what felt like weeks, Heather breathed a sigh of relief.

Cole and Heather sat together at the police station, waiting for their ride to arrive. They had both been interviewed for hours about the two incidents they suffered through, and the whole time, neither one of them would let go of the other’s hand.

They clung together on the couch in that chilly room until the door finally opened, and Heather gasped to see her mom standing in its frame. She leapt up and threw her arms around her mother’s neck.

“Mom!” she cried. “You’re here!”

Her mom squeezed her so tight that Heather actually struggled to breathe for a moment. “My sweet baby girl,” Stephanie said. “I was so worried. Thank God you’re okay. I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, Mom,” Heather said, happily sinking into her mom’s arms. It was her safe place, but now, she realized, she had two safe places. “It’s all thanks to Cole,” she said, finally pulling away. “He rescued me twice.”

Cole stood at the mention of his name.

“Oh, is this the man you couldn’t wait to tell me all about this morning?”

“Yeah, that’s him,” Heather answered.

“Well, well.” Stephanie held out a hand and Cole shook it. “It’s wonderful to meet my daughter’s new hero. She had so many wonderful things to say about you.”

All of a sudden, Cole looked like he’d seen a ghost, and it didn’t take long for Heather to realize why.

He was understanding, for the first time, why Heather had been so anxious to speak to her mom that morning.

She had wanted to tell the person she loved most in the world about the man she was falling for.

She’d been so infatuated, so madly in love with him, that she had risked her life to share the news with her family.

And was that a tear in the corner of his eye? He wiped it away as quickly as it had appeared. “Thank you so much, ma’am. It’s been my pleasure.”