“Are you really my parents’ neighbor?” I asked, stalling the inevitable.
“No, I saw you leave your apartment with the suitcase. I already knew where your parents lived, and since you weren’t driving toward the airport, I took a chance you came here. I’d heard last night on the radio that this neighborhood was one of those hit by the power outage.”
I was about to ask how he knew where my parents lived when Nolan spoke, his voice oddly calm. “Why don’t you put the knife down and we can talk?”
Surprise, relief, and hope surged through me, and I silently prayed I wasn’t imagining things. That Nolan really was here and wasn’t a delusion brought on by intense fear.
The knife plunged a little deeper into my back and I gasped. The trickle of blood became heavier, streaming down my back, soaking into my jeans, taking with it what little hope I had left. Lindsey’s stepfather tightened his hold on my hair and twisted us around to face Nolan.
Nolan’s face was pale, and I could only imagine how this was for him. His mother and sister had been stabbed to death, and he hadn’t been able to save them. And now the likelihood of him saving me was nonexistent. Instead, he’d be forced to watch me being killed. Or worse yet, Nolan could be stolen from me. Murdered like he was almost murdered the night his family died.
I couldn’t let that happen.
“Don’t come any closer,” Lindsey’s stepfather barked, the hand holding the knife in my back trembling—and I started piecing things together. This guy wasn’t used to hurting people. As a firefighter, he was used to saving them.
This revelation was of little comfort with the knife cutting into me. Tears leaked from my eyes at the burning pain.
“Okay,” Nolan said, hands up to show he was unarmed. “I’ll stay right here if that makes you feel better.” His gaze darted to mine. For a second, pain flashed in his eyes at the sight of me.
“No,” Lindsey’s stepfather grunted. “I want you to back away. Slowly.” He backed away too, pulling me with him, cornering himself further in the room. No longer was I just someone he wanted to kill. Now I was his human shield.
The shakiness in my legs increased, helped along by the blood loss and pain. If he hadn’t been holding me with his arm tight against my chest, I would’ve collapsed. But his arm was also making it hard for me to breathe. Each gasp was a struggle for oxygen.
Afraid that this was the last time I’d see Nolan, I kept my eyes on him. And maybe that’s why I noticed his body jerk. The movement was so slight, it was only noticeable if you were paying attention to him and nothing else.
“All right,” Nolan said. “Just don’t hurt her, okay?” He stepped backward into the hallway, then moved to the side. I could still see him, but it was as if he was giving the man room to escape.
As soon as Nolan was away from the doorway, Lindsey’s stepfather shoved me forward. But my strength was rapidly fading and I stumbled. The knife shifted in my back and I screamed from the intense pain.
“Hailey!”
I didn’t know if it was my scream or the unexpected movement, but Lindsey’s stepfather loosened his hold on me and I tumbled to the floor, the knife jerking out of me.
The world faded slightly. Black dots shifted in my vision.
Drawing on everything inside me—the fear, the determination, the love—I fought the desire to close my eyes. I didn’t want to go to sleep. I wanted to be in Nolan’s arms. I wanted to tell him I loved him.
There was a sudden movement in the doorway, and for a moment I thought it was Nolan.
“Police,” a deep male voice yelled, the sound of it reverberating in my head. “Put the knife down…I said, put the knife down!”
A muffled thud near me on the floor almost made me cry out in relief. Needing to get as far from Lindsey’s stepfather as possible, I dragged myself forward, biting my lip against the pain.
The cop entered the room, his gun pointed at the man.
Another cop came in after him and crouched down beside me. “We need a medic up here.” He’d barely had a chance to finish the last word before Nolan was by my side.
As the cop coaxed me to lie back down, Nolan whipped off his T-shirt. Normally I would’ve appreciated the sight of a shirtless Nolan. What girl wouldn’t? But right now he could have been completely naked and I wouldn’t have cared. Much.
“Hey, Forget-Me-Not.” The smile in his voice that was usually there whenever he used my nickname was missing. He pressed the T-shirt against my side. “I’ve got you.”
Gasping, I jolted at the sharp pain.
I vaguely heard someone informing Lindsey’s stepfather of his rights as Nolan brushed the hair from my face.
“I’ve got you, Forget-Me-Not, and I’m never letting go of you again.”
I focused on Nolan’s voice and only on his voice. If I could help it, I’d never let go of him again either.
I replayed his words in my head as the paramedics arrived, as they examined me, and as they drove me away in the ambulance. And true to his word, Nolan stayed with me.
Chapter 47
Nolan