Page 112 of Lucky Haven

And they’re going to drive right past me.

“Stop!” I wave desperately, my wrists raw from the zip-ties, my heart in my throat.

I wanted to get to the truck and drive it back to the cabin before Cash did something he might regret.

That I’ll regret him doing for me.

And now it’s too late.

The car comes to a stop and Jasper Lane jumps out. “Haven!”

“Don’t hurt Cash, he saved my life,” I gasp.

“Where is he?”

I cling to Jasper’s shirt. He’s in civilian clothes, but he’s put a badge on his pocket. It glares at me.

This is the man who arrested Cash once, for coming to a woman’s rescue and taking it too far.

“Jeb was going to kill me. You have to believe me.”

He pulls my hands off his shirt. “I do. I believe you.”

Two more cars approach, red and blue lights whirling.

They park behind Jasper, and uniformed officers come to join us.

I barely hear them as they introduce themselves to him, deputies from a detachment nearby. As he gives them the brief of what—of who—is inside the cabin.

One of them tries to get me to go sit in the back of their car, but I can’t move. I can’t let them⁠—

“We’ve got movement,” one of them says.

Jasper pulls me behind his car with him.

Cash comes into view, frog-marching Jeb in front of him.

“I’m not armed,” he calls out.

“He saved my life,” I repeat on a loop, as loud as I can. Needing them to put their guns away, to trust him.

It feels like a lifetime until they get to where we are and step into the white glare of the headlights.

A dark, wet circle is visible on the front of Jeb’s pants.

His face also looks pretty banged up.

But he’s breathing. He’s even walking.

Whatever Cash did to him in the cabin, it was a mercy.

I pull away from Jasper and run to Cash.

He lets go of his hold on Jeb, who falls to his knees, and I throw myself into Cash’s arms.

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper as he presses his face into my neck and pets my hair. “I⁠—”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” he grinds out. “Haven, I⁠—”