Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
“I didn’t really want to die.” He smiled. “However, you are going to meet your maker.”
She considered viable plans of action and pivoted her hips twenty degrees, driving her knee up to his groin, impacting soft tissue. He instinctively bent over and emitted a low groan. She struck toward his eyes, trying to blind him. He dodged to the side, and she hit his mouth, his teeth scraping her knuckles with a painful slice.
Taking advantage of his movements, she retrieved her gun from the back of her waist.
He punched her wrist, and her hand smashed against the wall, pain careening up her entire arm. She dropped the gun.
Grunting, she rotated and punched him in the eye, and he fell back. Then she kicked him in the groin again. She started to yell, but he smashed her in the cheek. She flew toward the bed, impacted the side, and crashed down, screaming for help. Then he kicked her under the jaw. Her head snapped back against the bed again, and darkness fell across her vision.
“What is going on here?” a female voice yelled.
A body landed next to Laurel. She couldn’t see. Her vision blurred.
“We aren’t done.” Jason Abbott’s voice came from very far away.
A high shriek next to her made Laurel jump, and she blindly scrambled for her gun. Jason kicked her shoulder, and she careened across the room, slamming into the wall head first.
Then darkness fell.
* * *
“I’m relatively unharmed,” Laurel protested again, sitting on the hospital bed as Fish and Wildlife Captain Huck Rivers ducked to look into her eyes.
The doctor tapped notes on a tablet while leaning against the wall. “You’re going to be a little sore.” He looked up, his blue eyes bloodshot and his grizzly gray eyebrows bushy. “You took a good hit to the cheek and the jaw, and your shoulder and forehead are bruised, but from the look of your knuckles, you inflicted damage as well.”
She had kicked more than she’d punched, so her foot should hurt more than it did. She made a mental note to buy more of these type of boots. “How is the nurse?” Thank goodness the woman had arrived and screamed so loudly for help.
The doctor’s lips tightened. “She has a broken jaw, unfortunately. Nurse Wallentrout isn’t going to like that.”
Huck winced. “No, she isn’t.”
“I owe her gratitude for her intervention.” Laurel stared down at her phone, fighting panic. “We have a felony arrest warrant out for Jason Abbott, and all agencies are on the lookout for him.”
Huck stood tall in front of her, his expression calm, but his eyes a glittering brown. Heightened color showed along his cheekbones, and his shoulders appeared an inch higher than usual, showing extreme tension. “Do you think he’ll leave the state?”
Laurel rolled her neck from side to side in an attempt to ease the residual pain. “I’d like to think so, but he’s angry. He’s been locked up for months, and he wants revenge.”
“On you?” Huck asked shortly.
She nodded. “On me, and most certainly on Abigail.” On any professional woman who’d crossed him, which included Abigail, Laurel’s half sister, who had experimented on Jason Abbott and probably pushed him into killing sooner than he would have otherwise.
“Do we have to warn her?” Huck asked wryly.
An unwilling smile tickled Laurel’s lips. “I’ve already notified FBI Special Agent in Charge Norrs from the Seattle office.”
Huck’s dark eyebrows rose. “Are they still dating?”
“According to him, yes, they are. He unfortunately believes they are becoming serious and once again requested a dinner date with us.”
Huck shoved his hands into his Fish and Wildlife jacket, his rugged face set in harsh lines. Tall and powerful, he looked ready to take on all attackers. “Not in a million fucking years.”
She could not agree more but focused on the doctor. “I’m ten to eleven weeks pregnant, but I wasn’t hit in the abdomen or lower extremities tonight. I feel well, except for an ache in my face. We have an appointment with an OB-GYN in two weeks to hear the heartbeat.”
The doctor made another notation. “We can schedule you for an ultrasound tomorrow if you like, but if you’re not spotting or feeling any ill effects, it probably isn’t warranted. But peace of mind does matter.”
She had a serial killer to catch. “Thank you, Doctor, but we’ll wait for the regular appointment.” She felt fine, and at this early stage, if something went wrong, there wasn’t much that could be done about it.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Huck placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, swiping his thumb along her jawline and the slight ache there. As the father of the child, it was natural he’d be concerned.
“I am, and we need to find Jason now.”
Huck looked over at the doctor. “How’s the officer Abbott put into the hospital bed?”