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Bree was in trouble. The fact she’d been missing for hours in the cold wasn’t lost on Kade. Her belly was still big, so she hadn’t gone into labor.
“Come on, sweetheart.”You can’t die on me, too.
Bree blinked.Movement hurt. She heard a familiar voice, a calming voice,hisvoice. Kade. Was it a hallucination? She had no idea what day it was, and her head hurt. Everything hurt.
Her heart wanted the voice to belong to him even though, logically, she realized it was impossible. The memory of being assaulted while heading to the ranch crushed through her thoughts.
Then, the silence.
She’d felt strange ever since. Bits and pieces came together. When she’d come to—she had no idea how long she’d been unconscious—her brain had been fuzzy, off balance, and it had been that way to varying degrees ever since.
Bree couldn’t seem to break the heavy fog coating her brain.
The baby?Was her child still alive?
There’d been a man. Icy fingers gripped her spine as she remembered him. They squeezed. Her body shivered. It had been so cold.Shewas so cold. Lying on her back hurt.
Her thoughts bounced back to the man who’d attacked her. Did she know him? He’d seemed familiar. She couldn’t put a finger on how she knew him. His face had been hidden the whole time.
She racked her brain, trying to pull a description. Nothing. Only blankness and blackness where there should be something besides fear. Blackness and pain. Her heart still hurt. Her ankle felt raw.
Bree had summoned enough energy to scream before she’d blacked out again.
And then there’d been warmth and lights. Voices.
A warm, masculine—familiar?—hand held hers, tethering her back to reality. It felt like a lifeline and kept her a notch below panic. She tried to move her fingers, to connect to the life force she felt so strongly against her fingertips.
Sirens made her skull pound.
Bree tried to force her mouth to move, to form words, but exhaustion dragged her under again. And, again, everything faded to black.
7
Kade stood guard outside Bree’s door, arms folded across his chest. No one was getting in or out without going through him.
He fished his phone from his pocket. His first call was going to his sister. Chloe answered on the first ring.
“Sorry, I know I’ve been gone longer than I expected—”
“Are you okay?” The concern in her voice gutted him.
“It’s Bree. I found her and not in good shape. I’m at the hospital.”
An audible gasp came across the line. “What about the baby?”
“Seems okay so far,” he said.
“What happened?” Chloe asked.
“She was unconscious in an old barn not far from the Hollow. I stopped by the old spot to say my goodbyes when I heard a scream.” He kept the rest of the details to himself, but the desperate sound Bree had made would haunt him for a long time to come.
“Oh, God. That’s awful. Is she…? Will she…? Have you spoken to a doctor?” Chloe was trying to process. This kind of thing never happened in a bedroom community like Saddle Junction.
“I’m sticking around until I find out. Doubt I’ll be back tonight.”
“Of course. I’ll get Annmarie to watch Grayson and meet you—”
“There’s no reason for both of us to be here all night, and Grayson needs you. I’ll text you with updates.” Chloe was grown, but that wouldn’t keep Kade from trying to shield her from being exposed to the pure evil that was possible in the world. The pure evil that had somehow made its way to Saddle Junction. Thinking about what had to have happened to Bree for her to end up inthatbarn inthatcondition caused him to white-knuckle his phone out of lack of a better outlet for his anger.
