Wyatt (7 Brides for 7 Soldiers #4) Page 17

  Logically, Joshua Kingsley wouldn’t be here. They’d only admitted Paige’s identity today—and besides, Kingsley had a restraining order against him. Even if he knew where she was, he’d be crazy to come.

  “Maybe we should get out of here. I’ll call one of the guys—”

  “No. Sit down. Enjoy this with your grandmother. She’s made all this food, and she’s so happy you’re here.” She pitched her voice low so Gran couldn’t hear.

  Gran’s attention had been caught by Amy Wells and her toddler. They’d stopped to speak to Gran—or Amy had—and the kid was wearing an Uncle Sam outfit that had Gran exclaiming over him.

  “She won’t mind,” he began.

  “Wyatt, listen to me. It means so much to her that you’re enjoying this with her. Besides, you’re a badass Navy SEAL. Nobody’s getting the jump on you.”

  He looked around again. As much as he hated it, they had to stay until the show was over. The logistics of getting out of here right now were insane. Another half hour and the fireworks were happening. Kids were already lighting up sparklers. Dusk was falling fast, and darkness would be here before he could maneuver them out of traffic and get back up the mountain.

  “Don’t leave my side, Paige. Not for anything.”

  “I won’t. Not tonight anyway.”

  Chapter 24

  As darkness settled, Paige grew more relaxed. She hadn’t really seen Joshua Kingsley. She’d seen a man that reminded her of him. Her imagination was strained because she was so stressed. Stressed that she was leaving tomorrow, that she was in love with Wyatt Chandler, and that he didn’t feel the same way.

  She kept hoping it would happen. That a lightning bolt would strike him and he’d realize the truth. But he never did. He stayed near her as the fireworks started, but he didn’t reach for her hand. At least when he’d been pretending with her, he’d touched her. Now that everyone knew she was a client and not his ex from Virginia, he didn’t even make the effort.

  She had to wonder if he would spend the night in her bed tonight or if he’d go to his own room and sleep alone.

  The fireworks boomed and popped, and the crowd oohed and aahed. The show truly was spectacular. Paige glanced over at Mary Beth, who seemed to be having a good time.

  But then Mary Beth put her hand to her heart and grimaced. Paige touched her arm and leaned in.

  “Mary Beth, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, honey,” she said. “Just a little tired.”

  But her breath sounded labored. There were beads of sweat on her brow and her skin was cool when Paige touched her. Panic flared.

  “Wyatt,” she shouted over noise, grabbing his arm and shaking him. He was watching the crowd and the fireworks, but the second she touched him he was on his feet, reaching for his weapon.

  He didn’t draw though. He was too well trained to draw in this crowd unless absolutely necessary.

  “It’s your grandmother,” she told him.

  Mary Beth waved a hand. “I’m fine. Fine.”

  Paige had been sitting between them, so he hadn’t seen his grandmother looking ill. He saw it now. The anguish on his face pierced her to the core.

  “Gran,” he said, dropping beside her. “What is it? Is it your heart?”

  Paige couldn’t hear what was said over the fireworks, but several of the people sitting nearby began to get the idea that something was wrong with Mary Beth.

  They cleared a circle as Wyatt picked his grandmother up and laid her back on the ground.

  “Call 9-1-1!” he shouted. Several people were on their phones in an instant.

  Paige backed away to give him room, her heart pounding, tears scalding her throat. Mary Beth couldn’t die. She just couldn’t. Wyatt would be devastated—and so would she, though not in the same way since she hadn’t known his grandmother as long.

  Sirens sounded in the distance, and someone said they’d go and wait for the paramedics on the street so they could direct them to the spot beneath the tree.

  Paige dashed tears from her cheeks and watched as Wyatt bent over his grandmother.

  No, no, no! This couldn’t be happening. It just couldn’t.

  The paramedics arrived soon after and pushed the crowd aside as they raced to the scene. Paige was thrust farther from the circle. She stumbled but righted herself, catching someone’s arm as she did so.

  Whoever it was helped her stay on her feet. She didn’t have the ability to thank them as she continued to watch the crowd around Mary Beth for signs that she was going to be okay.

  But then strong arms went around her and yanked her back against a broad chest. She started to struggle, but something hard and round poked her in the side.

  “Don’t fight it, my queen.”

  Wyatt’s heart stopped for the few minutes when Gran was prone on the ground, looking pale and deathly ill. But the paramedics arrived and took over from him, and he straightened, his eyes blurred and his heart hammering.

  Words floated up to him as they worked on her.

  “Diabetic,” one of the paramedics said, checking the medical ID bracelet that Gran wore.

  “Hypoglycemia,” said the other. They worked rapidly, checking Gran’s blood levels and then injecting her with something. Then they put her on the gurney and cleared a path.

  “We’ll need to take her to the hospital for observation,” the first paramedic said to him.

  “Is she going to be okay?”

  Gran was awake, but her breathing was shallow and rapid, and she seemed unaware of what was happening around her.

  “She should be. We got to her in time. The doctors can tell you more. If you’d like to ride with us, sir, you can.”

  “Yeah, I’d like that.” He turned to Paige. She wasn’t behind him. He scanned the surrounding area. There was no familiar blond head. Knives stabbed at his insides.

  The paramedics were already wheeling Gran toward the ambulance. Shit.

  There was no way he could go with them though. Not without Paige.

  Zane and Harper came running up. “We heard something was happening with Mrs. Chandler,” Harper said. “Can we help?”

  Wyatt had never been so lost in his life. How could he choose? But he had a duty to perform. A duty he took seriously. Gran was okay right now. He had to believe she would stay that way.

  “Can you go with her? I have to find Paige. She was here, and now…” Where the hell was she?

  “We’ll go,” Zane said. “I’ll call you, okay?”

  “Thanks, Zane.”

  Zane squeezed his shoulder. “It’ll be all right. Find your girl.”

  “She’s not my girl,” Wyatt said as if on autopilot.

  Zane gave him a serious look. “Right. I’ve seen you with her. I know better.”

  He and Harper took off for the ambulance before it left, and Wyatt began to search for Paige. The park was so jammed it made it difficult to maneuver, but the good part about that was that it would also be difficult to maneuver for Paige and her assailant.

  Because there was little doubt in his mind that she’d been taken. Paige wasn’t stupid. She wouldn’t have left his side. And certainly not when Gran was so ill. The two of them had formed a bond already. She cared about Gran, and she wouldn’t take off like this.

  The fact she had? It set all his senses to tingling—and that wasn’t a good thing at all.

  His phone rang and he grabbed it from his pocket. “Chandler.”

  “I just got word that Joshua Kingsley disappeared off the radar,” Hawk said. “He was supposed to check in with the PD this morning, but he missed the appointment. Someone just called me.”

  Rage rolled through Wyatt like a steam engine. “They just now called? He’s been missing for hours.”

  “Yeah, I’m not happy about it. There’s no indication Kingsley knows where to find Paige though. He probably ran to avoid the hearing. This isn’t the first time he’s harassed a woman.”

  Wyatt’s heart throbbed. If he lost Paige now.
If he lost her over his own stupidity—

  Dammit all to hell, why had he brought her here tonight?

  “He’s here.”

  “Kingsley is there? In Eagle’s Ridge? Are you certain?”

  Wyatt hadn’t stopped searching since he’d answered the phone. He was beginning to get frantic as he methodically made his way across the park. “Paige is missing. I’m on the hunt now.”

  “All right. Shit. I’ll see what I can mobilize from this end. Keep me informed.”

  “Yep, will do.”

  The gun jabbed into her ribs was sobering. Paige had never experienced such a thing in her life. It made her wonder how Wyatt had survived twelve years in the Navy. He’d been a SEAL, fighting terrorists and performing acts of heroism she couldn’t begin to imagine. He must have faced down a person with a gun before. How had he done it?

  Because she was torn between being a mess and being brave, and she hadn’t even seen the gun. Joshua Kingsley kept her moving forward relentlessly. Navigating the crowd was enough of an issue to keep her partly distracted from her dilemma.

  Partly. Because the rest of her was fully aware there was a gun in her ribs.

  Her eyes still stung with tears over Mary Beth. She had no idea what had happened, but she’d heard the ambulance scream away from the park. She hoped that meant that Mary Beth was alive and headed toward the hospital.

  “Paige,” a female voice called. “Paige!”

  “Keep moving,” Joshua growled, “or I’ll shoot the bitch.”

  Paige dashed the tears from her cheeks as she tried to see who had called to her. Maybe they could get a message to Wyatt. Maybe Wyatt would come and save her.

  But how could he when he was taking care of Mary Beth?

  “Paige!” It was Hildie Fontana who came bustling up to them. Her expression fell when she saw Joshua. He held Paige close, his gun wedged tight to her body. But to Hildie, it probably looked like they were romantic.

  “Get rid of her,” Joshua said in her ear.

  “Hi, Mrs. Fontana. Did you need something?”

  Hildie looked a little perplexed. “Well, I heard that Mary Beth had a heart attack. Is it true?”

  “I don’t know if she did or not. I had to leave.”

  The gun in her side jabbed harder.

  “I mean I’m leaving. I don’t know anything. This is my, uh, friend, Joshua. He came to pick me up and take me home.”

  “Oh, how lovely.” Hildie smiled.

  “We need to get going,” Paige said. “It’s a long way back to Seattle.”

  “Oh, of course. It was so nice meeting you, Paige.”

  “You too.”

  Hildie peered around her to Joshua Kingsley. “Pleasure meeting you, young man.”

  “Yeah, you too,” Joshua said. “We’ve got to get going now. Bye.”

  Joshua pushed her forward. Hildie didn’t stop them, and they started moving through the crowd again.

  “You should let me go,” Paige said. “Just let me go and get out of here while you can. Nobody knows you’re here—”

  “Shut up!” He sucked in a breath, as if trying to retain control. “You got me fired. I loved you, and you treated me like dirt! You need to be punished for that. If you’re lucky, I’ll take you back once you’ve groveled enough.”

  “I didn’t get you fired,” she said, digging down for strength, trying to buy time. Wyatt would save her. He would.

  Except he’d been pretty preoccupied with Mary Beth.

  Oh God, Mary Beth. Please let her be okay.

  “You told them to fire me. I couldn’t pay my rent. I got evicted.”

  “I’m sorry, but I swear it wasn’t me.”

  “Rich bitch. Sitting in that fancy penthouse, eating off gold plates and burning hundred-dollar bills while I searched for a place to live. I loved you and you did that to me.”

  He was unhinged. Seriously unhinged. Panic swelled in Paige’s throat as they reached the edge of the park and Joshua shoved her along faster. The crowd was thinner here, so they moved more quickly. Paige tried to think of how to distract him, how to get away, but her mind was blank. She wasn’t a commando, had no idea how Wyatt did what he did. She wished she’d asked. He could have taught her self-defense moves, but she’d been too busy thinking about sex with him to think about anything else.

  Joshua shoved her through a gap in the bushes, and she stumbled out onto the street. Headlights flared brightly in front of her, and she raised her hands to shield her vision. The car screeched to a halt and the driver yelled something, but she didn’t know what because Joshua pushed her across the street and jerked her onto the sidewalk.

  He finally stopped beside a beat-up old Jeep and wrapped his arm—the one with the gun—around her throat while he reached for the keys to unlock the vehicle. Paige sucked in her breath and told herself to think. Just think. The gun wasn’t trained on her now. If she could stomp his instep or kick him in the groin, maybe she could buy enough time to get away.

  Paige lifted her foot, ready to slam it down. But she was jerked backward before she could do it. She thought maybe he’d realized what was happening, but instead they were falling. She reached out, tried to catch herself, but she hit the concrete with a hard thud. Her face bounced against the rough sidewalk, her cheek taking the brunt of the blow.

  Her brain told her to get up. Get moving. Run while she could. She pushed herself over onto her stomach so she could lift her body and run. Joshua wasn’t holding her, but she didn’t know when he’d grab her again, and she didn’t want to be there when he tried. He must have lost his balance somehow. Maybe he’d hit his head harder than she’d hit her face and he was knocked out for a few moments.

  Paige got to her feet, her knees and face hurting, her hands stinging from the scramble to get upright. That’s when she saw Joshua. He was on his feet, his eyes wide, his throat exposed as his head was wrenched back.

  Someone had a hand in his hair and a gun against his cheek.

  “Wyatt!”

  He glanced at her. His eyes were hard, cold. Determined. Her heart throttled into the danger zone.

  “Don’t come any closer, Paige.”

  Joshua’s nostrils flared as he started to curse. “I’m going to kill you both,” he spat out.

  “Oh really?” Wyatt asked. He sounded gleeful. Like he was looking for an excuse to unleash his rage. “You’re going to kill us both, huh? When will that be?”

  Joshua’s eyes gleamed as they landed on her. “You’ve disappointed me, my queen. I thought you were pure. The one. You’re nothing but trash. You have to be sacrificed.”

  He still had the keys in his hand. He lifted them and pressed something. There was a click. An audible click from behind her. Paige turned.

  Wyatt shouted something. She didn’t hear what, precisely, because she was focused on that click. It wasn’t the doors unlocking. It wasn’t anything she’d ever heard.

  “Paige, run!”

  Belatedly, her brain kicked into gear and she started to do as Wyatt ordered. Her skinned knees screamed in pain, but she shoved one foot in front of the other as hard as she could. Her breath razored in, her heart pounded like mad, and her legs churned.

  But it wasn’t quite enough. There was a blast—and then she was thrown into the air, screaming. She came down on top of a car—and everything went holy-shit black.

  Chapter 25

  Wyatt clawed his way to his feet and ran toward where he’d last seen Paige. Flames leaped from Joshua Kingsley’s Jeep, climbing into the air and threatening the trees overhead. Kingsley’s body lay on the sidewalk. Unmoving. A piece of metal jutted from his throat as blood pooled around him.

  Wyatt couldn’t spare any time for the scumbag. His body ached from where he’d dived behind a cement planter. It had sheltered him from the blast. But if the explosion had been any stronger, it would have been lights out for him as well.

  He skidded to a halt two cars away. Paige lay partly on the roof, partly on the trunk an
d back window. The glass had spider-webbed but not broken. She was still. Too still.

  He couldn’t move her in case her back was broken, but he checked her pulse. It was still beating. He checked for rapidly filling pools of blood.

  There were none. Her cheek was scraped up from where she’d hit the concrete earlier, but she wasn’t bleeding out.

  Didn’t mean she wasn’t bleeding internally. She’d been thrown into the air and then come down hard on this car.

  Inside, he was a shaking, screaming mess. Outside, he went into commando mode and stayed there.

  Please, please, please.

  “Paige, baby, are you with me? Can you hear me?”

  In the distance, sirens flared and screamed. Vaguely, he heard the shouts of people across the street in the park. A crowd would be headed this way in about two seconds.

  “Wyatt.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  He bent down to her. He wanted to drag her into his arms and hold her, but he couldn’t risk that. He had to leave her like this until the paramedics arrived. He was trained in combat medicine, of course. But they were coming and they had the proper equipment. He had to let them get here and do their jobs.

  Gran flitted through his mind, and a wave of nausea hit him in the gut. Gran and Paige. The two women he adored. Both could be dying, and there was nothing he could do.

  He hadn’t protected them at all. He’d tried, but he hadn’t.

  Paige reached out and fisted a hand in his T-shirt. It was a surprisingly strong grip. That gave him a measure of hope.

  “Not your fault, Wyatt. Don’t go there.”

  He blinked. How the hell did she know what he was thinking?

  “I should have taken better care of you,” he said, his face close to hers. He stroked her hair, kissed her forehead. If he lost her—

  God, he couldn’t think like that. He just couldn’t.

  “No,” she said, her voice a little stronger now. “You did your job. You did everything you were supposed to.”

  He didn’t feel like he had. Not at all. He’d gotten distracted in the park with Gran, and he’d let that take precedence over protecting Paige. But hell, what could he have done differently? Gran had been critical, and Paige had been fine.