“Jaxon, look!” I shouted. The flames spread across the rug on his floor up the curtains at one of the windows. My wrists were spread apart enough that I could break free.
Jaxon rushed to my side and since my arms were numb, he took the knife and worked on the restraints at my ankles. My wrists looked horrible, all blue and bloody. “I couldn’t hold out any longer,” he growled, the pain evident in his voice. “I wanted to rip out her goddamn throat.”
“Trust me, I know. But we need to hurry. The flames are spreading fast.” Panic started to settle in as the room filled up with black smoke. The bed was now taken over and the fire had spread to the hallway, blocking the door. Sadie started to move and I gasped. “Behind you.”
It was as if everything moved in slow motion. Jaxon cut the final restraint and my legs were freed, but I couldn’t move them fast enough. Sadie got to her feet and pointed the gun straight at me. She fired, and then so many things happened at once. Time sped up and I fully expected to feel the shot, but then Jaxon jumped in front of me.
“No!” I cried, watching him fall to the floor.
I couldn’t see if he was okay because Sadie lunged for me, screaming, “This is all your fault!” My back hit the floor and the breath whooshed out of my lungs. It didn’t help that they were filled with smoke. Gasping for air, I tried to fight Sadie off, but she pointed the gun down at me and I smacked her hand, the shot firing into the wall. I punched her in the face and her head snapped to the side. It gave me enough time to see Jaxon on his feet, his eyes glowing with rage. His shoulder was bloody, but it didn’t seem to bother him. He grabbed Sadie’s arms and hurled her into the fire, her screams excruciatingly loud as she rolled around on the floor, covered in flames.
Jaxon grabbed the chair I had been sitting in and tossed it at the window. The glass shattered and the smoke found an escape, but it intensified the heat. “Hang on!” Jaxon shouted, lifting me in his arms.
“What are you doing?”
He stood by the window and peered down. “I’m getting you out of here. When we hit the ground, roll your body so it’ll soften the fall.”
“Jaxon, no!” Only he didn’t listen. He glanced back at Sadie’s burning body and then jumped. We flew out the window, and it felt like an eternity as we fell through the air to the ground. When we hit, I rolled out of his arms and sucked in the clean, crisp air.
The next thing I knew, I was in Jaxon’s embrace, his heart pounding in my ears. “Thank fucking God you’re okay. I was so worried about you.”
Tears fell down my cheeks. “I didn’t think I’d make it out of there.”
He kissed my head. “You’re safe now.”
A chuckle escaped my lips, but there was nothing humorous about what had happened. “So are you,” I told him. Now he wouldn’t have crazy-ass Sadie sabotaging him. I jerked back and looked at his shoulder. “How bad is it?” There were no spurts of blood exiting the wound, so that was a good sign.
Sirens blared in the distance and the lights could be seen coming down the street. Jaxon helped me to my feet and he hobbled on his leg. Gasping, I stared down at it and then up at him. He’d hurt it jumping out the window. “I’ll be fine,” he promised, pulling me into his side. “It’s all over now.”
I wanted to believe that, but I had a feeling it had just begun.
—
The pain meds the doctor put me on had me in a haze. I remembered having a gazillion tests done and then being put in a hospital room. After that, it was all a blur, except for the doctor coming in and telling me that Jaxon was headed off to surgery. I had yet to see him.
“How’s your head feeling?”
I smiled and opened my eyes. Ryan held my hand, and he didn’t even attempt to mask the pain on his face. “Feels like I got hit with a baseball bat.”
“You did,” he said matter-of-factly.
I squeezed his hand. “I’m fine, I promise. Have you heard from the doctor?”
“Yep. Luckily, you just have a slight fracture in your skull where that cunt hit you. But on top of that you have a concussion.” He closed his eyes and I could tell he was hanging on by a thread. “I told Reed if you got hurt I was going to kill him.”
“Ryan, it’s not his fault. You can’t—” I didn’t get to finish what I was saying because a knock sounded on the door. Ryan and I both turned to find Jason Avery strolling through the door with his badge displayed on his belt. He had dark hair like Jaxon and even resembled him a bit. He’d introduced himself last night after everything happened, but I couldn’t remember a single thing I said to him.
“Hey, I hope I’m not interrupting,” he said. “I’m Jason Avery. I didn’t know if you’d remember meeting me after everything going on last night.”
I waved at him. “I remember you. Unfortunately, I don’t remember anything I said to you, though.”
He glanced at Ryan before focusing on me. “Is this a bad time?”
“No,” I said, pointing to the chair on the other side of my bed. “Have a seat. You probably need a statement, right?”
He nodded. “We can always do that later when you’re better rested. I wanted to stop by and give you an update. By the time the fire was under control, it destroyed over eighty percent of Jaxon’s home.”
“Did you find Sadie’s body?” I asked. I remembered watching her go up in flames, but I had to know for certain.
“What was left of it,” he informed me. “She won’t be bothering you anymore. With everything that happened, it was enough for the Nate Bryson case to be reopened. I’m hoping the gun Sadie had was the one used to kill Nate and his wife.”
I gasped. “Yes. She admitted to killing them.”
His eyes went wide. “Are you serious? Would you be willing to testify?”
“Of course. That girl was a piece of work. I can’t believe she pretended to be someone else so she could get to me. She was probably planning on killing me from the very beginning.”
“I have no doubt,” Jason agreed sadly. “We found Jaxon’s portfolio in her house. It pretty much confirms that she was the one responsible for the break-in.”