Chapter Ten

Jocelyn was afraid to lift her head. If they came for her, she didn’t want to make it easy for them to find her. She didn’t want anyone else hurt, either. She heard a low hum on the mic in her ear. But it was the beating inside her ears that had her concerned. She could barely think over the incessant pounding.

The temptation was to turn this over to Ben and let him figure a way out. He was the professional and she was a nurse who kept landing in trouble. But the idea of waiting and hiding no longer appealed to her. Those days were behind her. Ethan Reynolds could not hurt her anymore.

And after the past few days, she no longer feared a little man with a big ego and even bigger fists. She’d outlasted and outrun men with guns who could crush Ethan. She used her wits and depended on the right people to help her through.

She would make it through this, too. She had to believe that.

One of the attackers crouched down and started looking through the wallets. He didn’t take money. He flipped them open and...checked IDs. The pieces fell into place. Ben guessed this wasn’t a robbery and he was right. It was a hunt—for her.

She watched the attacker scan photos and faces. He dumped purses and shifted the contents around until he grabbed only the licenses.

“They don’t know what you look like.” Ben whispered the words into her hair.

It took all of her control to hold her body still and not jerk at the impact of those words. “Yes.”

“How can that be?” he asked.

Probably had something to do with her name-switching and lack of a background trail. She had a license stuffed into her front pants pocket. No purse and no wallet.

She’d come in and out of here every week since she took the job down the street. Pamela had stopped looking at her license long ago. Jocelyn only took it with her as a precaution and she kept it tucked away now.

“Anything?” The leader glanced at his watch when the other attacker shook his head. “Okay, I need all the women on the right side and men to the left. Be quick and don’t try anything.”

One man got up and tripped and the gun swung right to him. “Please, no,” he pleaded.

“Enough stalling. Everyone move.”

Her knee banged against the hard floor as she tried to get her weight under her so she could stand up. She hated the idea. The thought of being separated from Ben started a shiver racing through her that the warm day and Ben’s hard body over her couldn’t slow.

This manhunt was about her. She had no idea what they wanted or how they intended to get it out of her, but there was nowhere else to hide.

She shifted to get up before the attacker got upset and took it out on Ben. She attempted to stand, but Ben pressed harder, flattening her against the ground again. No question he wanted her down.

When she peeked at him over her shoulder, he shook his head.

Do not move. He mouthed the words this time.

“You’ve got two,” Joel said through the mic.

She had no idea what that meant. She couldn’t ask, so she hoped Ben understood the clue.

The lead attacker stuck his gun right in a woman’s face just a few feet away from Jocelyn. “I said, move.”

People started shifting. A woman sobbed as the other attacker dragged her off the floor and threw her where he wanted her. “Let’s go.”

The room exploded into movement. Most people crawled on the floor rather than stand up, but the game of musical chairs with people had begun. Men filed one way and women the other. Only she and Ben stayed still on the floor.

If the plan was for him to cover her and take the bullets while Connor stormed in the front door, she voted for another plan. Suddenly her fears switched from what these men might do to her, to what they would do to Ben if he didn’t listen.

She tried to think about how she could cause a diversion, at least give Ben a chance to launch an attack of some kind.

“No.”

That was it. One word whispered against the back of her head. She hadn’t said anything out loud and there was no way he could feel the anxiety churning and bubbling inside her. Yet he knew.

“Hey, you two. Get up.” The lead attacker stood right in front of them now. No more than five feet away.

She ducked her head and tried to peek up without the lead attacker getting a good look at her face. She saw his shoes, work boots of some kind. Saw him lift his weapon.

“You have two seconds before I start shooting.”

“We’re going.” Ben’s voice sounded thin and wobbly, as if he were terrified and too shaken with fear to get his legs to move.

No way. She knew it was fake. All fake. Whatever the plan, he’d put it in motion. She heard a countdown in her ear and knew Joel was helping from the outside.

Tags: Helenkay Dimon Romance
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