Page 22 of Valor (Long Hot Summer: Christian Romantic Suspense #2)

CHAPTER NINE

With deliberate steps, Heather separated herself at the local store from Allen’s side. She needed a minute to think about what had happened at the meeting. Not only what the townspeople thought, but what had happened with Allen.

He’d almost kissed her. She’d felt it down to her toes. So why was she so disappointed that he hadn’t? She’d stepped back in the moment, knowing her father would dislike him, yet she wasn’t completely certain why. She was not a teen anymore. In fact, she was more than halfway through her twenties and fast approaching thirty. She was old enough to understand whatever it was her father held against him.

The real question was, who would she side with when she found out? She was all her father had left. Mom was gone. There weren’t any relatives who lived nearby. If she went against her father—and there was no doubt in her mind that he would see her as a traitor—they would both be alone.

Except she now had Allen to turn to. Dad had no one. She glanced down the aisle at the man who had invaded her thoughts completely over the last two days. No matter how furtively he tried, she could feel him watching her and protecting her, even from the other end of the aisle. His hand was near his waist, ready to pull his weapon if needed.

“How did the meeting go?” The manager of the store approached them.

Heather jumped, but Allen had obviously been ready because he smiled. “I think there’s a pretty clear feeling among the townspeople that nothing needs to change. If those that want it have any hope for it to come to a vote, they have their work cut out for them.”

The store clerk nodded. He had to be new in town, since she didn’t recognise him. Heather grabbed up two wool blankets, a flashlight, two small kerosene heaters and some high protein bars. Her brain immediately went to the coffee Allen had given her at his office, and her stomach churned. She’d need a slightly less thick brew in the morning. She headed for the next aisle to get some instant coffee. It was her least favorite, but there was no way she’d invest in anything more extravagant that she wouldn’t need in a few days.

This had to be over soon, right?

Something cold lay against her cheek and a hand clamped over her mouth. She dropped everything she carried, hoping it made noise and tried to pry the powerful grip away from her mouth. In the next instant, her mind went fuzzy. They had to have put something on their glove. Heather focused on holding her breath, slowly going limp, faking a faint.

The man pulled her close to his body and dragged her toward the door. Heather caught her foot on the wire handle of the lantern and knocked it over, loudly crashing to the floor. Her attacker froze, then tried to run, but her limp bulk made moving difficult.

Allen raced around the corner. She heard him yell, “Freeze!” For a split-second her heart froze because she’d watched enough cop shows to know he had to do something with the gun that made a loud click before he could shoot anyone, unless he’d already done that beforehand… “I said, freeze.” Allen’s voice was cold and demanding.

In the next instant, she hit the floor, and her kidnapper raced away from Allen. She opened her eyes and pushed up, wanting to race after and help catch that man. He could take them to her father!

The store clerk gripped her arm tightly. “You don’t want to do that. Let him handle it.” He tugged her away from the center of the store to the front. “Just wait here until Allen gets back.” He dug under the counter and handed her a tissue. “For your cheek.” He pointed to the right side of his face.

Heather dabbed at her right cheek, and the tissue came away with a thick line of blood. He’d cut her, but the knife had been so sharp, she hadn’t felt it until now. “Thanks.”

“Come with me. You can sit back here instead of standing in the middle of the store.” He led her through a door behind the counter to a small breakroom. “There’s a couch and a vending machine. There’s even coffee if you want some. Help yourself.”

“Did you recognize who he was? I didn’t see his face.”

The clerk shook his head. “We get a lot of tourists in here. I don’t even live here, so I never know if people are local. I’m from Norris. It’s a long commute when I work, but jobs are few.” He shrugged.

Living in South Dakota often meant people had to drive long distances to do things. When she wanted to buy groceries for more than one meal, she drove to Rapid City. That was the closest place with a large grocery store. Rapid City was an hour each way. Such was life in a rural area.

There were no windows in the breakroom and Heather paced, trying to hear what was going on in the store. Had Allen returned? Where could he be? Had he caught the man who’d attacked her? She blotted at her cheek again, but it hadn’t stopped bleeding. She needed to find a bathroom and clean it up.

There were no other doors in the room, and she headed for the public restrooms. The door stuck, and she jiggled the knob. “Hello? I’m stuck in here.” She pulled on the knob harder. “Someone?” Her heart picked up speed.

Was that man working with the attacker? Was that why Allen hadn’t seen him? Had he been right back here the whole time? She pounded on the door. If anyone else was in the store, they would hear her. They had to.

“Help!” Her voice cracked. She looked around again, searching for a way to get out.

There was a long counter on one end, a refrigerator in the corner, and a microwave on one counter. A shallow sink was a few feet from the fridge, and one small table sat along the wall with two chairs. The room was narrow enough that she could probably pace from one end to the other in under ten steps.

The only way out was to let people know she was trapped. She opened the refrigerator and searched for something hard. There was an unopened 2 liter of soda tucked in the door. Hopefully, it wouldn’t burst all over her when the pressure built, but it would make a good bat in a pinch. She grabbed the bottle and headed for the door.

With a windup like she hadn’t used since high school softball, she swung the bottle with as much force as she could against the solid door. The bottle wasn’t harmed, but the noise was deafening. Someone had to hear.

A moment later, the clerk came back to the door and yelled from the other side. “If you keep that up, I’ll make sure you can’t make noise. Hold tight and you’ll see your cop friend soon enough.”

She slowly backed away, the bottle feeling much heavier than it had before. The first attacker had tried to drug her, and her head already pounded from whatever that was. Did the store clerk have access to the same drug? If she was unconscious, she couldn’t defend herself or remember where she was.

She paced back to the fridge and opened the door, careful to keep quiet. No sense in giving the clerk a reason to come back and threaten her again. Allen would come for her. Her chest hurt thinking about how she would explain this situation to her father.

In the next instant, the door swung open, and a person was shoved in with her. He grunted as he landed on the floor in a large heap. It didn’t even take a second for her to realize the form was Allen and there was blood dripping from his neck.

* * *

Allen’s world went in and out of focus as he laid with his face on the cold, hard floor. Blood ran in a steady hot stream from the gash in his neck. The only good thing was they hadn’t killed him. That would be their biggest mistake and one he would make them regret. If he could staunch the bleeding and keep some of his energy, he would get out of this. Somehow.

He opened his eyes as Heather kneeled at his side. The combination of the stench of his own sweat and blood and her sweet shampoo made his stomach churn. He didn’t want her to see him like this. “How?” His throat closed, and he flinched as she firmly pressed something to his wound.

“Shh, just lay still. Let me help you for a change,” she whispered, her loose hair falling over her shoulders. “I remembered the first aid kit was on top of the fridge. I don’t trust any of the ointments in there because there was a thick coat of dust over the outside of the kit, but the bandages work. They were sealed in plastic.” He could feel her hands shaking against his shoulder.

“Shock,” he tried to tell her to rest.

“I’m sorry. I’m trying to help you the best I can.” She added more pressure.

He forced himself to reach up and touch her hand. “Not me, you.”

Her body stilled. “Lord, help me do this. I’m not hurt nearly as bad as you. If anyone is going to go through shock, it’ll be you. But not if I can stop this.” She bit her lip. “There was a tube of glue in the kit, similar to what the ranger used on me. I’m no nurse, but do you want me to try that?”

That would stop the bleeding, but she would have to clean his wound first or she could be sealing infection in the gash. There was no telling what had been on the knife before her attacker sliced him with it. He took a deep breath and forced his words to be calm and clear, despite the pain and fear that he could die right there on the floor. “It needs to be cleaned first.”

She nodded. “Okay, do you have the strength to hold this while I find something to help?”

He couldn’t nod with the slice to his neck, so he blinked once, and she apparently understood, leaving him to head for the counter once more. Thank God they’d brought him back here. If they’d left him on the side of the road where he’d caught up to her attacker and been surprised by more than one person in the car, he might not have survived.

Heather returned a minute later with paper towels soaked in warm water. She gently blotted at the wound and applied a cold salve. She must have found something she trusted in the kit. He wanted to smile but knew the action would pull and this was the worst possible time to move.

“Hold very still,” she muttered, as she captured her bottom lip in her teeth and shifted her position so she could see better. “You can’t die on me now.”

“Don’t plan to.” He winced as she squirted a thick bead of the liquid stitches over his wound. It started to dry almost immediately and pulled on the surrounding skin.

Heather held her hands away from him, one full of bloody paper towel, the other clean. “I can’t touch it, or I’ll be stuck to you. Now we wait to see if that’s enough to hold you together.” She reached for his hand and slowly, carefully cleaned all the blood.

The tender act did something to his battered heart that had always longed for someone to care for him. He’d never had a mother, grandmother, or even an aunt who was part of his life unconditionally. Deep inside, he’d wanted to be cared for without a catch.

That type of thinking would not help him move on once Heather’s father was back in the picture. She wouldn’t be free to come anywhere near him if she chose Ed or if he told them Allen’s secret. His head pounded as he considered the options. He’d always assumed the issue was what his dad had done, but what if it was something else?

Heather’s soft voice penetrated his unwelcome thoughts. “I think it worked. It’s dried, and the bleeding stopped. It’s a pretty gnarly color though.” She laughed.

He attempted to sit up and regretted it equally fast. “I need a minute.”

She touched his arm, weakly holding him down, obviously intending to keep him from hurting himself. “Please do. I wonder how long we’ll be in here? Take advantage of the time to rest while you can.”

He couldn’t begin to know how long they would have to wait, but he wished he’d taken the time to eat before rushing off to the meeting. “I’m so sorry about this. I’ve seen that same store clerk in here for months and he’s always friendly to me. He must be connected to Oliver and Aaron.”

“Or the guy from the meeting. That was him.”

Allen again wanted to nod, but couldn’t. “He must’ve left shortly after us. I thought Tommy would detain him, at least for a while. That worries me about what happened to him.” He couldn’t call to find out because his attacker had stripped him of his duty belt with his phone and gun.

Heather pulled her phone from her coat pocket and handed it to him. “I don’t think that guy out there wants to be as hands on as the others. He threatened to quiet me down when I pounded on the door, but he wasn’t physical with me to get me in here. He acted like he was doing me a favor. Maybe he’s been paid, but isn’t a part of this completely.”

The theory made sense. “Good.” He took the phone and dialed Jackie at her dispatch phone.

“Hey, Jackie. This is Allen. Have you heard from Tommy?” He would ask for backup after he was sure Tommy was okay.

“Tommy’s phone location is still at the Civic Center. I have had no updates from him in over an hour. I thought the meeting ended twenty minutes ago.”

“Who else is on duty?” His mind grew fuzzier by the moment. He needed something to bring his blood pressure back to normal, STAT.

“Officer Daily,” Jackie replied. “But he’s out on a call. There was an emergency on I90.”

So, he and Tommy were alone, without backup. “Can you try to reach Tommy again? If you do, tell him he’s needed at the Wall Mart. Heather Sundin and I are being held in the breakroom. My weapon has been taken, and I’m injured.”

“I read you,” she answered. “Do you want to stay on the line while I try to reach him?”

He couldn’t keep talking anyway. “No, call this number with an update as soon as you know anything.” He ended the call.

“We’re handling this alone, aren’t we?” Heather adjusted her legs from under her to sit cross-legged on the floor.

“For now, yes.” He prayed Tommy wasn’t hurt and that he could get there before the attacker returned to get what they wanted from Heather. Once they had it, there was no chance the attackers would let everyone go without a fight.

* * *

Heather trudged to the sink again and washed her hands. They’d stopped shaking, but that didn’t stop her nervous insides. They were in a terrible predicament. Allen was hurt and pale. He’d lost a lot of blood and needed more doctoring than she knew how to give. She had no idea how to fight and couldn’t use a gun even if Allen still had one.

Tommy was their last hope.

Heading to the fridge, Heather tugged the door open and looked over the sparse contents. How could she get some protein into Allen and help him regain a little strength? In the back, near an expired carton of milk, was a resealable package of jerky. If he could manage to chew it with his neck injury, that was his best shot at feeling better.

She tugged the bag out. From this far away, Allen looked even worse. He laid there with his eyes closed, face pale, blood covering the collar of his uniform. How could she live with herself if she didn’t convince her father Allen was a good man? Look at all he’d done for her. Especially considering how her father had treated him.

She went back to his side, crouched, then sat next to him. “I found something in the fridge that isn’t expired. You should try to eat.” She dug a small piece from the bottom of the bag and held it to his lips. She’d expected them to be cool, but his breath and skin were warm.

He gently took the offering and grimaced as he tried to chew. “It really tugs, but I know I should.” With care, he rolled to his side, then leaned on his elbow, facing her.

For some reason, that felt a lot more intimate than when he’d been laying like a patient at her feet. Now, he was curled between her and the door, still shielding her even though he was weak.

“Thank you.” His gaze met hers, and something crackled between them.

“You’re welcome. Do you need anything else?” Not that she could provide much from what was in that room. Even the vending machine was empty. So, even if she hadn’t dropped her purse out in the middle of the store along with all the items she’d planned to buy, she couldn’t have made use of it.

“This is fine, though a glass of water from the tap would help if you can find a glass in here.” He half-grinned.

“I think there’s one by the sink. Let me wash it and get you some.” Moving was better than thinking about how being so close to him made her heart beat really fast or how her mind swirled with questions she couldn’t face.

Dad had always said that what was right was good and what was good would overcome. Defending Allen Pendleton was right. It was good. She had no choice. After she finished washing the mug and running the tap for a long time to get it as cold as possible, she took the water to Allen.

He finished it quickly and set it aside. “Thank you again.”

While she’d been busy, he’d eaten most of the jerky. He rested the package against her leg. “Take some. You need it too.”

She reached into the bag and ate one piece. Before she could finish chewing, the door swung open. The man whose image she’d drawn aimed a gun at her. “Get up. Hands up.”

She complied and helped Allen to his feet. The weaker she helped him to appear, the more they might be lax with him. That would give Allen an edge.

“Hold your hands in front of you, palms facing together.” He handed a zip tie to the store clerk. “Tie her hands, then his.”

The clerk’s eyes looked apologetic, but that wouldn’t help him when this was all done. He’d aided in their kidnapping and assault. Allen could’ve died. This wasn’t a small matter. Feeling sorry was great, but he shouldn’t have been helping in the first place.

Heather clenched her hands into fists and loosely held her wrists together. Hopefully, he didn’t know the trick to make your wrists as wide as possible. When she relaxed, she would have room to free herself from her ties. He clamped the tie shut, securing her, then did the same to Allen, except he had to have his hands behind his back.

“Now, take them out the back door and put them in my car. I have to take care of a few matters first, then I’ll meet you back there. Do not let yourself be seen.”

The man with the gun left them alone in the room with the clerk. Allen faced him. “You don’t have to do this. You’re not in deep yet. Help us escape and I can get any charges against you dropped. If you don’t, you’re facing some serious jail time.”

The clerk ignored him and turned Allen to face the door. He tried to drag his feet and fight against the clerk, but he was still weak, and his rapid blinking told her he was about to pass out. She wished she could grip his arm and lead him to the car. Hopefully, once they reached the place where they were holding her father, they would have some time to rest before they had to try to escape.

They got in the back seat of the car, and the clerk closed the door. He wiped his hands against each other as the man in the suit left the store. In one quick motion, he raised his gun and shot the store clerk. The gun made a noise slightly louder than a pop .

Heather screamed as the manager fell to his knees, then face first onto the pavement. She’d always assumed silencers made no noise. That was how the movies portrayed them. The truth was, she had heard it, but it was muffled. Yet that didn’t matter because no one would’ve heard such a small sound.

“Where’s Tommy?” She searched the lot, praying to see the swirling red and blue lights. “Did you hear from Jackie?”

Allen made a noise for the negative. “No, she never called, which means she was rounding up Officer Daily to find him. She knows what happened to us and that we need more than one officer. Hopefully, she put a trace on your phone number. But that could take time because it has to be approved. You had about 40% battery life and that guy doesn’t know you have it. Keep it that way.”

She nodded, swallowing her fear as their attacker got in the car. “I’m so glad you’re still alive to make it to our little party.” The man snickered. “It’s our move-in celebration. Wouldn’t want either of you to miss it. Where is my drive?” He held out his hand.

“We don’t have it. I gave it to the FBI,” Allen said.

The man laughed. “Then it’s destroyed. That’s all that matters. I don’t want that information getting out into the world just yet. There’s too much to cover up otherwise.”

Heather glanced over at Allen, hoping he would convey some type of plan in a glance. He’d known what she was thinking before. Now would be a good time for that to happen again.

“How are you connected to Oliver and Aaron?” Allen asked.

The man shook his head. “Now is not the time for questions. Now is the time for you both to shut your mouths. Don’t make me use the tape. As much fun as it is to yank off, the screaming really does cause a distraction.” He grinned. “But it’s up to you how you want this party to start.” He held up the roll of duct tape.

Heather shook her head. She wanted nothing to do with that over her mouth. Allen remained silent in the corner, but his presence alone made her feel like there had to be a way out of this. If only she could think of it.