“Don’t move, Michael,” she ordered. “You’re under arrest.”
He laughed menacingly, unthreatened by her choice of weapon. Still trying to gulp air into his lungs, he staggered toward a small table. Seeing the revolver resting there that he was after, Jo automatically dropped her Mace and withdrew her gun at the same time he picked up his and pointed it straight at her.
Adrenaline rushed through her blood. She started to sweat and her whole body trembled as old memories washed over her. She blocked the awful recollections the best she could and amazingly enough managed to keep her revolver leveled on Michael’s chest.
She chanted the words Dean had left her with and she now drew strength from, believe in herself. Believe, believe, believe.
Her finger curled around the trigger. “Drop your gun,” she told him, hating the slight quiver that found its way into her voice.
He gripped his pistol tighter, though his aim wasn’t at all steady. “My wife has taken everything away from me, and I’ve got nothing left to lose.” A malicious smile curved the corners of his mouth. “So, you shoot me and I kill the girl.”
Believe, believe, believe, Jo’s mind screamed, knowing the test she was about to face. A test she’d failed before. Before he could fully train his gun on the little girl in the corner, Jo fired off the first shot, the blast of sound deafening in the small room.
Her bullet hit Michael in the right shoulder, knocking him on his backside from the impact. He hit the ground with a hard thud, and the gun in his hand flew across the carpeted floor. She kicked the weapon aside, far out of reach, and unclasped her handcuffs from her holster to restrain him.
Wounded and in pain, Michael didn’t have much strength to struggle, and she manacled his wrists and left him lying on his stomach. She hadn’t killed him, but she’d saved Lily’s life, and that’s all that mattered to Jo. She’d leave Michael’s fate up to the authorities.
She moved to the little girl and unbound her hands and untaped her mouth. Lily let out a sob and hurled herself into Jo’s embrace, wrapping her arms tight around her neck and clinging with all her might. She held the frightened girl and rocked and soothed her with comforting words; her own emotions just as raw.
She’d believed. And she’d proved to herself, no one else, that she had the internal strength and ability to make right choices and follow through.
She’d fought the good fight here, and now she was ready to confront another fear. Life was too damn short and too uncertain, and she wasn’t about to give up the one person who’d given her every reason to believe in herself.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
After a delayed flight to Seattle, she finally brought her rental car to a stop at the curb in front of Dean’s house late Friday night, trying to calm the sudden nervous flutters taking flight in her belly. She’d had plenty of time to give herself a pep talk and prepare for this moment of reckoning. While she felt confident of her own personal decision, she had no idea what to expect from Dean with her impromptu visit—a warm welcome, or a cool reception?
Ultimately, his initial reaction didn’t matter, because she wanted Dean, and she was willing to fight for him. For them.
Exiting the small compact, she made her way up to the door. A light shone through the front window, and she hoped that he was home, though the possibility existed that he’d be out celebrating his birthday. And if that was the case, she’d camp out in the car until he arrived home, because she intended to be his birthday present. Luckily, he answered on her first knock, looking completely surprised to see her.
“Jo,” he said, his gaze taking in her presence as if he couldn’t believe it was really her.
He looked so damned sexy and appealing in nothing but his pair of soft cotton sweatpants that it took all her effort to refrain from throwing herself into his arms and letting his solid warmth envelop her. She’d missed that special connection they shared. She’d missed him.
She summoned a bright, hopeful smile. “Happy birthday.”
His dark brows lifted skeptically. “You came all the way to Seattle to wish me a happy birthday?”
She nodded, unable to blame him for being cautious about her sudden appearance when she’d given him no reason to believe that she’d come around. Especially after the way she’d rejected his declaration of love. However, after everything she’d been through in the past few days, she refused to let any uncertainties get the best of her.
“And I’m here to give you a birthday present that can only be appreciated in person.” When he said nothing else, just stared at her with those searching green eyes, she swallowed the tight knot in her throat and asked, “Can I come in?”
“Uh, yeah, sure.” He stepped back, waving her inside as if she was an old acquaintance stopping by for a casual chat, not the lover she’d recently be
en. “I was just having a slice of the strawberry pie my mother brought over for my birthday. Care for a piece?”
She followed him into the kitchen and spied the half-eaten dessert at the dining table. “No, thank you.”
He slid back into his chair, picked up his fork, and resumed eating the pie, a small smile teasing the corner of his mouth. “I bet if they were chocolate-covered strawberries you wouldn’t have refused.”
She was encouraged by the fact that he was flirting with her, despite being as distant to her now as she’d been with him days ago. “You’re probably right.”
She stood across the small room, unable to gauge his mood, or even where she stood with him anymore. He wasn’t making her visit easy, but then he had no idea why she was there or what she wanted.
Leaning against the low counter behind her and bracing her hands on the edge, she inhaled a deep breath. “Dean, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Okay.” Finished with his dessert, he set his fork on his plate and pushed the dish aside. Reclining in the chair and crossing his arms over his bare chest, he gave her his undivided attention.