He’d been so sure when he’d seen the Suburban following them…One like the silver vehicle Chase’s parents owned.
Hell. The realization exploded in his head. He had to trust that Emily would be safe with Grace’s family because he didn’t have the luxury of placing a timely call at the moment.
“Wait!” Dee reached up, her palm poised as an ineffective plug for the gun. Her eyes darted frantically between them. “Jacob, take Evan.”
What the hell was she up to? He only knew he wanted her away from the barrel of that weapon. She really couldn’t expect the man would let Jacob leave with the boy.
Jacob glanced at Evan. The sweet-faced kid had snuggled against Dee’s breast. A sight so damned beautiful, Jacob struggled for air. Beautiful—except for the fact the kid was trembling, his confused eyes darting back and forth between his parents.
Dee inched away from Lambert and carried Evan toward Jacob—without a protest from Lambert. Why wasn’t the guy stopping her?
Suddenly Jacob understood. Lambert honestly didn’t want to frighten his kid. He didn’t want his child seeing him shoot the boy’s mother. This psychopath did love his son in a warped sort of way, and Dee had bargained on that to buy them time.
How long would it keep Dee safe? Only as long as she had Evan in her arms. The way the kid clung to his mother’s neck, it didn’t appear that he would let go anyway.
Jacob had to predict Lambert’s next move, or he’d be left flatfooted and Dee could die. The fog of rage threatened to swallow him.
Concentrate. At least Lambert seemed content to keep up appearances for Evan and pay lip service to civility.
Where were the police? Spike had been leaving from the base, which meant he could be as much as forty-five minutes behind.
Jacob backed away from Lambert, his eyes never leaving Dee.
Dee pressed a kiss to her son’s cheek. “I love you, sweetie.”
“Love you, too, Mommy.” His smile spread from ear to ear.
Dee’s eyes met Jacob’s and held. In the warm chocolate depths he saw trust and, God yes, love. Both directed at him at a time he couldn’t afford to soak up the amazing beauty of the moment.
Then he saw a firm resolution that chilled him clean through. He could see she planned to—
Shove Evan toward Jacob with a twist of her body that placed her back completely to Lambert. She flung herself backward. Toward her ex-husband.
Directly in the path of his gun.
“No,” Jacob shouted even as he wrapped his shoulders around her son, covered his face.
The gun exploded. Dee’s body jerked, her eyes wide. Blood staining her coat collar, she crumpled to the ground.
A roar of denial rolled through him. Jacob thrust Evan behind him and launched himself onto Lambert, throwing all the fury inside him into the charge. They stumbled backward, boots stamping for purchase on the packed ice. He rammed the bastard’s arm against the camper with a satisfying snap. The gun dropped into the snow a second before Jacob downed Lambert. Their bodies slammed into a frozen snowdrift. It hurt. Not enough.
Lambert landed a gut punch with his uninjured fist and Jacob welcomed the reverberating pain that narrowed his focus. He steadied his vision. “This is for Dee, you son of a bitch.”
He plowed his fist into Lambert’s face. Twice. Lambert’s eyes rolled back into his head as he sagged into unconsciousness.
Jacob held his fist aloft and resisted the urge to beat Lambert into a pulp. His rage demanded more than justice. He wanted revenge for Dee.
Dee. Reason pushed its way through the haze of fury.
He had to check her, get her to a doctor, but he couldn’t risk Lambert coming to. Wasting a critical minute, Jacob hefted the man up and tossed him in the back of the camper. He jammed a branch across the back to lock him in.
“Dee?” Jacob shouted, racing to where she lay in the snow, Evan kneeling beside her, patting her face, crying, shell-shocked.
Jacob’s hands skimmed her body. Where was the gunshot wound? His fingers settled on her neck. He found a pulse. Faint, thready, but beating.>This could be it, a sliver of time to regain her child. If she waited for Jacob, Blane might come retrieve Evan before they could stop him. He could step out at any second.
She couldn’t afford to wait. Tears froze on her cheeks as she sprinted from behind the tree trunk’s protective cover. Her heart slammed against her ribs with each pounding footstep. Only a few more yards and she would have him.
Evan turned. His laugh rose into a squeal. “Mommy!”