Читать книгу Stormy Haven - Elizabeth Goddard - Страница 16

FOUR

Back in her room, Jonna grabbed Chop Suey to snuggle beneath her comforter. The beast of a cat squirmed out of the covers and found a spot on the bed—his choice. When she’d first gotten him as a kitten, he’d jumped into her plate of Chop Suey, hence the name.

“It always has to be your idea, doesn’t it?” She tucked the comforter under her chin. “Suit yourself.”

For the first time she could remember, Jonna wished for a storm to end. The unceasing cacophony of crashing waves only stirred up the images from today like a reel-by-reel play. Vivid cinematography played across her mind.

A man pointed a gun at her, intending to kill her.

Add to that, that scenario had happened twice in her life. She wanted to know who that man was on the beach today.

She tossed and turned for what felt like hours. She even kept the cat awake. Eventually, Chop Suey jumped off the bed and found somewhere else to sleep. When Jonna woke up, it surprised her that she’d finally fallen asleep, but something had woken her.

What was it?

She remained still and listened.

It was quieter outside now.

The wailing gusts had moved on to torment another innkeeper up the coast. Another storm would replace it within the next few hours. Still, even now, sporadic gusts buffeted the cabin. The door creaked.

Probably nothing. Chop Suey didn’t stir.

If she had known she would have to worry about the past, she might have gotten a dog. As it was, if she tried that now then Chop Suey would probably chase away any canine Jonna brought home.

Jonna grabbed her trusty Sig. She crept to the door and peeked through the peephole. She had a front entrance that didn’t connect to the lodge to give her more privacy in case she ever went on, say, a date. Right. Through the hole, she saw nothing but darkness. She switched on the porch light. No one suspicious lurked near the door. She flipped the light back off.

Another creak.

This had to be the logs of the cabin shifting, but Jonna would take no chances after today.

Scritch, scritch, scritch.

The window this time. She rolled her shoulders and approached the window that faced the ocean. Now she wished she had closed the mini blinds and curtains.

Standing against the wall, she peered out and gasped, nearly screaming. She stepped back and pressed herself against the wall. She’d seen a shadow, the silhouette of a man. Hadn’t she? Heart palpitating, she lifted her weapon and peered out again.

A tree branch morphed into the shape she thought she saw, then scratched the window. She was becoming entirely too paranoid. She couldn’t function if she couldn’t get any sleep.

In the meantime, she shut the mini blinds and tugged the curtains closed. Set the Sig aside and rubbed her arms. Pulling on a hoodie, she sat at her desk. It was much too late to call her old boss Gil, and besides, she dreaded that call with everything in her. But she had to find out if there had been more chatter.

What specifically had the chatter been when her name had come up? So she opened up her laptop, found his old email address—the one she hadn’t used in three years—and typed up her question.

But she didn’t send it.

This couldn’t be about Florida. The guy thought he’d killed her—just a cop snooping around in a warehouse. She hadn’t been targeted specifically.

Or had she?

She didn’t know anything that would make her, personally, a target. There was no reason for anyone to think about her, much less say her name.

Jonna folded her arms on the desk and pressed her head into them. She was lying to herself. She tried to forget what she knew, which was very little. She suspected that not everyone involved in the human-trafficking ring had been taken down.

The mayor had wanted the case closed quickly. So the powers that be had conducted the raids and arrested the people involved. But not everyone had been caught in the net. Jonna had suspected someone higher up had been pulling the strings and had managed to avoid capture.

She was looking into that when someone had shot her and left her for dead.

Why would someone want to target her again? If they did, that would only bring attention to the earlier attempt to murder her and the motive behind it. No, this simply couldn’t be about Miami. She willed it to be so. Another lie. When had her will had anything to do with it? Jonna sent the email to Gil. She could trust him to be honest with her. He’d been good to her. Let her slip into obscurity quietly, the way she wanted.

If she learned one thing from today—it was that she was out of practice. At least she’d been jogging every day, but she was getting rusty to let that man pacing her get the upper hand.

She probably needed to hit the shooting range again, a place she’d avoided for much too long. She’d been foolish to think she could just walk away, start a new life. But it had been so very tempting, and Jonna hadn’t wanted to work in law enforcement anymore. She wanted to live a peaceful life running a lodge on the Washington coast, and thanks to her aunt Debby’s help, she’d been able to do just that.

Jonna had grown up in Coldwater Bay. Her aunt had raised her and her three siblings after their parents had been killed in a tragic accident. She’d been restless after her parents had passed away. They had been good people who were making a difference in the world when they’d died.

Jonna couldn’t make sense of their deaths or her own life—what she should do with it. Aunt Debby had been the one to encourage Jonna when she said she needed a complete change of scenery. So Jonna went off to school in Miami. Maybe she’d ended up on another coast, but it was a coast at the opposite end of the country with completely different scenery and culture.

There she’d attended the police academy, following in her mother’s footsteps in law enforcement. She ended up working for ICE. It was brutal work—the horrors of humanity came to light every day—but she was proud that she made a difference in the lives of others.

At least that’s what she’d told herself. Hadn’t her parents been about making a difference? They would have wanted no less for her.

But in the end, she’d run from it all. Now she was glad to be back and closer to her siblings. Sadie, a marine biologist, and Cora, an underwater archaeologist, had taken the road of science after their father’s example, and Quinn went into law enforcement like Jonna and their mother. He was a DEA agent. Unfortunately, she hadn’t seen Quinn in years. He was on a deep undercover assignment—he’d dropped off the face of the earth. She hoped he was okay. She knew from personal experience just how dark the criminal world could be.

Drowsiness finally claimed her with only maybe a half an hour before twilight. But Jonna would grab what sleep she could. She slipped back into bed and Chop Suey joined her this time, snuggling up against her back. I feel loved.

She smiled, but with the thought of love came the sudden sense of loss, of what she was missing. Sadness pricked her heart. Of course Ian’s pensive blue gaze, strong jaw and diplomatic security service skills had to fill her thoughts.

Now she would never get that sleep.

* * *

Ian had learned long ago through rigorous training how to survive on little sleep. Good thing. After the intense conversation with Jonna, his mind wouldn’t shut off. And when the storm died down—just a reprieve before the next storm bore down on them—he knew what he could do to put his time to the best use.

He’d donned dark clothing and climbed out the window. Jonna had a night clerk at the desk in case the guests needed anything, but the door remained locked after certain hours. He didn’t want to raise suspicions or alarm by leaving that way. He slipped out the window, careful to remain near the lodge so he wouldn’t stumble too near the cliff’s edge.

What a perfect place to watch the winter storms. Icy cold bit his cheeks. He couldn’t stay here long. But he might as well walk the perimeter. Ramp up his task of watching over Jonna.

Now, if only Uncle Gil would call him back. Maybe the man was in the middle of a serious investigation and hadn’t had the chance. But still, it wasn’t like him not to check in.

Clouds rushed quickly across the sky, and silver moonlight broke through, making the whitecaps look almost fluorescent.

Wow.

He could watch that forever.

But he was on a mission. Ian tugged out his weapon, prepared to use it. His footfalls couldn’t be heard over the waves or the gusts of wintry wind. If he couldn’t be heard, neither could Jonna’s attacker should he try to approach at night.

Would the man return? He’d asked the sheriff’s department if they could put a deputy on watch at the lodge, just to keep Jonna and her guests safe until the threat had been neutralized. But they were already pressed for personnel and couldn’t spare anyone.

After he’d walked the length of the lodge and around the front—the part facing away from the ocean—he spotted Jonna’s cabin. Though connected to the lodge, it stood off on its own. An easy target for someone who knew where to look.

Ian waited in the shadows of the woods and let his gaze search the area beyond the parking lot. A copse of trees stood between the lodge and the road, thick on that side of the building. Someone could get close to her that way if not through these woods on the south side. He didn’t like it. Ian gave a wide berth as he walked around her cabin, hoping, praying to God he wouldn’t find anyone.

Or if someone truly had come to go after her again, that God would help him stop them. He wondered if it would feel like redemption, to succeed in this case. But success, saving Jonna, wouldn’t bring Serena back.

His soul cracked a little. He couldn’t let the past distract him if he wanted to protect Jonna.

God, help me. Help me forgive myself.

Steeling himself against the onslaught of anxiety, Ian closed in on her cabin, then hesitated. A nuance, a sensation, prickled over his skin.

Someone else was here.

He waited in the shadows of a large evergreen, the branches and needles scratching the cabin window with each gust of an angry ocean breeze. Sea spray blew over his skin, even from this height.

And still he waited.

That sensation was unmistakable. He’d learned to listen to it and it had never failed him.

Fifteen yards out, another dark figure in the night also wearing black moved catlike toward the cabin.

Jonna’s cabin.

His breath came hot and fast, but Ian steadied it, reminding himself to stay focused and calm. He had to end this tonight. As the figure crept toward the cabin, keeping to the shadows, Ian waited for the right moment. No longer a DSS agent, he couldn’t officially arrest anyone, but any citizen could stop someone from committing a crime and hold them for the authorities.

The creeper approached and positioned himself in front of the door. He was hunched over, his back to Ian, who could only assume the man intended to pick the locks.

Jonna was in danger.

Ian acted on instinct and, remaining in stealth mode, rushed forward, then snuck up behind him. His thick, black coat and hood left no exposed area. Not that that mattered. Ian didn’t have to see skin to know where to thrust his weapon.

He lifted the Glock and jabbed the muzzle into the base of the man’s skull. The perpetrator instantly stiffened.

“Hold it right there.” Ian forced the threatening words out through gritted teeth, remembering earlier in the day when someone had tried to kill Jonna. Was this that man?

Ian’s nerve-endings prickled, aware the trespasser prepared to make a move.

“Don’t even think about it. I’ll put a bullet in your brain before you can move.” Ian stepped a few feet back, putting space between him and his target so the man couldn’t go on the offensive with a head butt or a kick. “Now, slowly back away from the door.”

Suddenly it swung open.

Jonna!

Ian couldn’t fire his weapon or he’d risk shooting Jonna. The criminal ducked into the shadows, leaving Ian standing with Jonna pointing her weapon at him. Hadn’t she seen the intruder at the door?

“Put your weapon down or I swear I’ll shoot you.” Her voice sounded every bit as threatening as his had sounded moments ago.

“Jonna. It’s me. Don’t shoot me, please. I’m lowering my weapon. In the meantime, the guy I found breaking into your cabin is getting away.” Ian slowly lowered his weapon. She could have killed him.

“Ian?”

“Yes, it’s me. Didn’t you see him? He was picking your lock, Jonna. He slipped into the shadows when you opened the door. I’m sorry but I have to go after him. Stay inside and lock your door!” Ian backed away and then sprinted after the invader.

He feared he was too late, except for the footfalls pounding the ground resounded along the parking lot and indicated the man headed across the street.

Ian gave chase.

Behind him, Jonna shouted. “Ian, come back!”

Ignoring her, he headed across the street. A bullet whizzed by him. Uh-oh. From the dark forest, the criminal had the advantage now. Ian ducked behind a car. Jonna ran toward him as if she would crouch next to him. “Ian!”

But she wouldn’t make it.

“Jonna, get down!” Ian dashed toward her and shoved her to the ground. A bullet grazed over his back, shredding his coat. He covered her body with his—an instinctive reaction. He hoped she understood. “It’s not safe. Whoever this guy is, he fired a couple of shots using a silencer. You didn’t hear them?”

“Not over the surf, no.” Her breaths still came fast—she was like a frightened bird beneath him. She could definitely handle herself, but someone had targeted her tonight. Again. That was enough to rattle anyone. Ian’s protectiveness kicked in, and this had nothing at all to do with the job his uncle had hired him to do. He felt personally compelled to keep her safe.

You can do this, Ian. You’ve got the skills. I trust you to protect someone special to me. Uncle Gil’s vote of confidence rang in his ears now. Ian realized this assignment might have had something to do with building Ian’s confidence again to begin with, but today, everything had changed.

Jonna’s life was in danger. Ian was back in the line of fire. Would he be enough to protect her?

“You can get off me now, Ian.”

“What?” He peered down into her gorgeous eyes and stunning features. Not what he needed to be thinking about.

“I’m safe now. You can stop covering me.”

He shook off the daze. “Right. But let’s stay down in case he hasn’t gone.”

“I don’t want him to get away.” She tried to free herself from Ian’s protective cover. “Let’s go after him.”

Ian refused to release her. Not yet. “I’m not getting up unless you promise me you’re not going to follow him. It’s dark and dangerous. It’s too risky. Our only option now is to call the sheriff again and tell him the guy returned for you.” Looked like she was a deliberate target after all, and not necessarily a random victim on the beach earlier. He wasn’t sure which was worse.

“What? You want me to have the sheriff come out here and wake my guests? They’re not in trouble. I am. Besides, the sheriff won’t be looking for him tonight either.”

“Promise me.”

Jonna jabbed him in the solar plexus and pushed him off. Ian groaned. He grabbed her arm. “You’re not going to chase him.”

She stiffly nodded her agreement and he slowly removed himself from protecting her. “You shouldn’t stay in your cabin tonight. It’s too exposed. Move into one of your guest rooms.”

“I’m booked.”

“You can take my room. I’ll stay in the cabin.”

She shook her head. “I won’t put you at risk.”

“We’ll figure it out tomorrow. Just for tonight, I’ll sleep on the couch in my suite.”

Jonna hung her head. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“We can talk about it inside,” Ian said. “Let’s get you out of harm’s way.”

“I’m sure the guy is long gone by now.” She crouched behind a vehicle as if uncertain of her words.

“We can’t be sure.” He peered into the woods.

“We can be sure of one thing,” she said. “He wants to kill me.”

Unfortunately, he agreed. He wanted to go search for the man and end this, but Jonna would insist on coming too. He wouldn’t be in a good position to protect her if that were the case. “How about it, then? I’ll watch your back tonight and sleep on the sofa.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“How about yes?” Still wary of the dark woods across the street, Ian climbed to his feet, weapon at the ready. “Besides, it’s almost morning.”

After the day they’d had, Ian suspected that daylight wouldn’t chase the bad guys away, and Jonna would remain in danger.