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Sensing a job to do, Luna sat at attention by the front door as he yanked on his boots, donned another layer of gear. He didn’t know how long he’d be wandering in the wilderness, but he didn’t plan to freeze to death while doing so.
With several inches of padding on his frame, Connor grabbed his rucksack from the cupboard tucked beneath the stairs and began to pack whatever he imagined he’d need. Hot drinks in two large thermos flasks, sugary food, extra gloves, a spare hat and scarf. If he thought of it, in it went.
“What are you planning now?” Dressed in the same bulky layers of clothing, Sarah was ready to go. Her eyes were suspicious when he zipped the rucksack closed and grabbed Luna’s leash off the side. “Connor, you can’t go out there by yourself.”
“I’m taking Luna.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“I know, but I have to do something, Sarah. Maybe the trail’s stone-cold by the time I get to the scene. I need to see it.” He swung the rucksack over his shoulder. “My Jenna, Sarah. The motherfucker has my girl, and I’m not leaving her with him any longer than necessary.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No. You have two little boys who need you. A husband who’d be lost without you. We’re not taking that risk with you.” He remembered his keys as he passed the hook on the wall where they lived. “You’re staying out of the way, safe, where Zeke can run the geek side of things and keep an eye on you.”
Luna stayed perfectly sat when he draped the leash loop over her head. Within a minute, they were standing outside under a heavy sky, and Connor was eager to hunt.
“You might need a spare set of hands.”
“Not this time.” He didn’t want witnesses to the carnage he was going to bring down on top of the prick when Connor got his hands around the sadist’s throat. “I don’t want you in harm’s reach.”
“Connor, I think you’ve lost the plot,” she said worriedly as he locked the door and handed her his house keys. She gave a good attempt at stalling when he ushered her toward his snowed-in truck, but her feet slid along the path.
Passing her the leash, Connor started digging at the snow around the driver’s door with gloved hands until he could yank the frozen portal open. Luckily, with the neighborhood being a community and relatively crime-free, he hadn’t locked it. He was in the freezing cab within minutes, coaxing the cold engine to rev to life. As soon as it roared into action, he set the heaters on full, climbed out, and went to attack the passenger door.
“I’ve lost the girl, not the plot,” he corrected belatedly as he kicked a chunk of solid snow clear. “That fucker might think he’s won, but he’s started a goddamn war. Did he think I’d just sit back and let him take her without a fucking fight?” He slammed his hand against the side of the truck viciously, sending snow avalanching to the floor. “Arrogant sonofabitch!”
Sarah took a wary step back. “Maybe Zeke should go with you.”
“No.” Connor hauled the door open with a brash squeak of hinges, gestured her in. While his friend hesitated, Luna did not. The snow-dusted Shepherd leaped onto the front seat, bounced confidently into the back with her leash trailing behind her, then sat proudly as if to saywell let’s go get this shit done, boss.
Defeated, Sarah brushed the scatter of snow off the seat and jumped in, wincing as Connor slammed the door shut. He jogged back to the driver’s side and got in, remembering to fasten his belt before he stuck the vehicle into reverse and backed slowly out of his drive.
“You don’t even know where the scene is,” she pointed out, shivering as the air in the cab slowly warmed. “Montana is a big place, Connor, and there’s any number of routes Hadley could have taken to get to the hospital.”
Connor drove slowly despite the urge to ram his foot down on the gas pedal. He wouldn’t forgive himself if he put Sarah’s life in danger, and neither would Jenna. “There’s any number of routesif you know them,” he corrected. “Hadley’s an outsider. More than that, he’s city. The most direct route is the one he’ll have followed. I go that way, I’ll find where Sire took Jenna, and I’ll go from there.”
“This is a suicide mission!”
He didn’t care. Giving up, letting Sire take Jenna without a protest, without retaliation, was worse than death. Because Connor knew what he’d done to her before was nothing compared to what he had in mind for her now. Sociopathic homicidal sadists didn’t take kindly to being thwarted by their victims.
Someone would die when Connor found Sire. He vowed it would be Sire because if Connor died, if he fell, Jenna wouldn’t be far behind. As much as he liked the idea of spending eternity with his woman, he wanted a rich, full life with her first—marriage, children, the works. Love, laughter, tears and spats.
Connor’s thoughts slipped to the Du-Ha storage box he’d had installed under the back seat for his hunting trips with Cain. Never one for having guns in the house, Connor preferred to keep his Winchester XPR locked in his truck. The only other person who knew where it was stored, was Cain.
Daddy was hunting bigger prey than deer tonight.
“Documents for the house, my will, everything the lawyers will need in the event of my death, are in the bottom drawer of my desk. God willing, you won’t need them, but if you do, that’s where they are.” He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he turned the corner onto Sarah’s street. “I want it known that Jenna gets the house, Sarah. Cain won’t contest it, but Caleb might. She gets everything she needs to start her life again. And the dog. She gets the fucking dog.”
“Don’t, Connor.” The words were a pained squeak. “Don’t put this on me. Wait for the police, for the FBI. Let them do their fucking jobs!”
“You’re the only one with the balls big enough to knock Caleb off his perch if he makes a scene over this, Sarah. If I don’t make it through this and Jenna does, I want her protected. I want her safe and loved, and I know you’ll be there for her. You love her as much as I do.” He reached out and grabbed her hand. Her nails bit into his skin as she held on tight. “You, Zeke, and Cain are the three people in this world I trust with her. Theonlypeople I trust to see her through this if I…if I can’t.”
It must be a curse, he decided, to have the power to make the women in his life cry so often. He was a master, evidently, because the strongest woman he knew aside from his little girl was almost inconsolable.
He pulled up outside her house and let the truck idle as she cried. Movement caught his eye and he turned his head to watch Zeke come out onto the porch. The front door was open and twin faces peered out with glee, cherublike and giddy at the sight of snow. Zeke trudged down the shoveled path.
“That’s your family, Sarah. That beautiful portrait staring back at us.Iwant that. I need that. Without Jenna, it’s never gonna happen for me. So I have to do this.” Words wouldn’t stop tumbling from his mouth. “Promise me you’ll take care of her if she makes it through. I know I’m a selfish bastard for asking it, but I need you to promise me she’ll be part of what you have if I can’t give it to her. Jenna needs to live,” he said emphatically as Zeke rounded the hood of the truck. “She needs to be shown how to be a person again once the grief passes.”
