The Defender (The Carrier Series Book 2) (2 page)

Harper laughed. “Oh, Hill. It’s not what she’s done, it’s what she
is. If you only knew…”  

And then I heard a metallic clink on the floor, a hiss, and
suddenly my eyes and lungs were burning. Harper broke my hold, and I wildly
threw my hand through a cloud of gas and smoke, trying to find him.

Dammit! He escaped
!

I bent over, coughing, trying to find my way out when I felt the
door.

I pushed my way through and emerged into a stairwell full of clean
air. I stopped to take two deep breaths, and then took the stairs two at a
time, bursting through the door at the bottom. Drew was there talking on a
company-issued cell phone. He hung it up just as I arrived.

“Where’d he go?” I gasped. “Did Harper just run through here?”

“No. No one has come through here.”

“Where the hell did he go?” I started to approach the exit door,
but Agent Smith grabbed my arm. “Nolan, we successfully brought down the CBB.
The building and all its employees have been secured.” He dropped his arm since
I stopped my forward motion. Then he took his time before he said the next bit
of news. “But no sign of Myers. I’m sorry, Nolan. ”

I put my hands on my knees, trying to steady myself. “Dammit!
No…no!” My breathing was hoarse and quick and my heart was beating wildly. It
was all my fault! I had Harper and Myers within my reach tonight and I let them
both slip away. I kicked the wall in frustration, putting a hole in the
drywall.

“Get me the hell outta here.”

Nolan parked his silver Audi near the baseball fields behind the
community pool. He pushed the button on the dash to turn off the engine, and
then reached over to grab my hand. My insides felt like there were a thousand
tiny daggers poking my organs. I squeezed Nolan’s hand for comfort. It was his
idea to visit the place where our lives drastically changed a bit more than six
weeks before, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready just yet.

Nolan let out a deep sigh. “Are you ready for this?”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to suppress the
horror of that night, but I couldn’t keep the thoughts from my brain. I was
stabbed and left to die right on that rock in the distance. But I knew Nolan
was right—visiting Make Out Rock was part of our healing.

Nolan narrowed his eyes with concern and then placed his other
hand on top of our already interlaced fingers.

I smiled weakly. How does he always make me feel so safe?

“Yes. Ready or not, let’s do this.” I let go of his hand and
reached for the door handle. I rubbed my stomach—the daggers were still poking.

Was this really a good idea?

Nolan met me around the front bumper with his arms open wide. I
walked right into them and they closed around me like safety gates. I snuggled
the side of my head into the crook under his shoulder. It was my favorite spot
to be.

Nolan lowered his face into my hair, inhaled deeply, and loudly
exhaled. I knew he was smelling my hair—a habit of his that I treasured. “Let’s
go over there before I chicken out,” he said.

Ah ha.
So he felt a little nervous as
well.

Nolan let go of my back, grabbed my shoulders, and held me at
arm’s length. “Ava Gardner, you are the reason for my existence. I swear to
heaven above that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe from evil.”

I giggled a little. “Safe from evil? Sounds like a comic book
line.”

“You’d be surprised how much this life resembles the world of
comic books.” He gently kissed my lips, making my knees wonderfully weak, and
then grabbed my left hand and led me off in the direction of the train tracks.

Today the sky was a brilliant blue backdrop to the fluffy white
clouds. A gentle breeze with a tiny bite of cold Wisconsin air blew the hair
from my shoulders. It was a beautiful fall day by anyone’s standards. The
trees’ leaves were just beginning to display their gorgeous colors, and I could
faintly hear a tour boat chugging its way down the Wisconsin River off in the
distance.

As we crossed the train tracks, I could feel Nolan’s hand begin to
shake in mine. He was the one who stabbed me, but it was a warranted part of a
desperate plan to save my life from a sinister man who thought I was a hardened
criminal. Messed up? Yes, I knew. But even so, last summer was a chapter of my
life that I wouldn’t change for anything. It was one that helped me find the
love of my life. I wanted nothing more than to be with Nolan Hill for the rest
of my days, and I was pretty sure he felt the exact same way.

The thick, green screen of trees and bushes that hid the entrance
to Make Out Rock in the summer was now lying in heaps of red and yellow leaves
at the foot of bare branches, leaving the entrance exposed and open. We easily
found the deep-cut pathway and scaled our way down to the top of the towering
rock ledge.

Partway down I stopped dead in my tracks as my mind quickly
flashed back to that dark night. Nolan felt me draw back, and stopped his
momentum to wrap his arms around my body. My knees began to shake and my
stomach turned over, but at the same time I knew this was a mental hurdle I’d
have to jump over.

Nolan began to rub the side of my arms and kissed my forehead
sweetly. “Maybe I was wrong. Let’s get out of here. We can visit in a few
months.”

I looked up through the tears forming in my eyes. How was I lucky
enough to love someone who loved me even more in return? I wanted him to understand.
“No, Nolan. I want to do this.” I looked down at the ground, gravity pulling a
tiny tear out of my eye. “Although that was the worst night of my life, I need
to be here with you now. To prove to myself that I can move on.” The daggers
were still dancing in my stomach.

Nolan’s blue eyes glittered in the autumn sunlight. He placed his
fingers on my jawline, stroking my chin with his thumb. I felt like melting
right into his hand. He opened his mouth to speak a few times but said nothing.

Finally he said, “I would feel humbled and gracious if you could
find it within yourself to someday forgive me and trust me once more. I know it
will take time, but I am willing to wait as long as it takes.”

Then before I could answer, he slowly pulled me in and held his
lips half an inch from mine. His warm breath lingered on my mouth, and I wanted
so much for him to go the rest of the distance, but he held his position,
teasing me carefully. Right as I was ready to go in for the touchdown myself,
he sensed my impatience, and kissed me with a lot of emotion.

I led Nolan by the hand to the middle of the rock ledge, and we
both sat down. The familiar beauty of the Dells had calmed my breathing, and I
could feel the daggers backing off. A deep, cleansing breath of the natural air
refreshed my lungs. I watched the gentle, swirling brown water flow down river
and my mind was flooded with memories of a summer filled with adventures with
Nolan. Falling in love with him had been easy and natural.   

Nolan looked upriver toward the docks. “I realized that night that
you were the most important person in my life. I knew I needed to do whatever I
could in order to protect you, even if that meant harming you in the process.”

Did he know I felt the same way?

“That day,” I began, “when I knew something was wrong and I was
sure you were going to break up with me, I felt like my life was over. I had
been through heartbreak before, but nothing compared to the pain I went through
that night. That’s when I knew, I had given you my heart.”

I leaned my head onto his shoulder and we continued to look
around, taking in the beauty of the environment around us. I looked down toward
the end of the rock ledge and couldn’t help but imagine the exact position I
was in when I lay here waiting for death to take me away that night. Then I
noticed a dark stain on the rock where I had lain.

My blood.

Of course, my blood had stained the rock. All of a sudden I
flashed back to that moment when I truly thought my life had ended. When
someone I loved and trusted purposely shoved a knife into my belly.

I stood up, shaking. “Let’s get going. I think I’ve had enough for
one day.”

“Absolutely.” Nolan rose and turned to leave. “Are you alri—” He
stopped abruptly, made a weird face, and scanned the area around us.

“What’s wrong?”

He put two fingers over my lips to silence me and whispered, eyes
on heightened alert. “Shh…Listen.”

I heard it, too— a very faint beeping noise. Its high-pitched
warning tone was rapidly getting faster and faster.

“Run!” he screamed, and pulled my arm toward the railroad tracks.
I begged my feet to go faster but I couldn’t seem to make them keep up with
Nolan’s. A wild scream escaped my lips as he leaped over the tracks and dove
into the ditch behind them. I followed his lead and right as I landed, Nolan
rolled over my body and an ear-splitting BOOM echoed out over the river and
through the baseball fields. My hands instinctively covered my ears and I
screamed again.

Nolan waited a few seconds and then rolled off of me. We sat up on
our elbows and looked toward the rock. The whole cliff top had been blown away.
Thick, angry smoke took over the air, and fire began to eat the bottom of the
trees. My jaw was stuck in the open position.

My Dells! My beautiful Dells blown away!

Nolan stood up. “Are you okay?”

My ears were ringing but I could still hear Nolan. I took a quick
inventory of the rest of my body, running my hands up and down my legs, torso,
and arms. All parts were accounted for and I could see no blood. “Yeah. I think
I’m fine.” My head stayed focused on the scene before me.

“We have to get out of here!”

Nolan held out his hand to help me up, but I was still in awe of
what had happened. My shock prevented me from realizing that Nolan was right:
We had to get away from there immediately.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the scene at hand. “We have to call
911.”

Nolan began yelling, “They won’t be far away! We have to go
now
!”
 

“Who won’t be far away?”

Nolan yanked me onto my feet and pulled me in the opposite
direction of his car, toward a grassy pathway parallel with the train tracks. I
kept looking over my shoulder, causing my body to twist and my legs to flail,
not being able to keep up with my top half.

Nolan stopped and grabbed my face in his hands. He looked deep
into my eyes and said with great authority, “Ava Gardner. You have to trust me.
We need to run down this path as fast as we can.
Now
!”

I stared with disbelief. Was I dreaming? It wasn’t until I heard
the police sirens behind us that I snapped out of my trance and began to run.

Nolan led the way, sprinting through the forest. My heart was
beating out of my chest, and I didn’t think I could go much farther. We must
have been running at full speed for at least five minutes. I was not used to
such nonsense.

Finally he stopped and surveyed the scene. “This will do,” he
said.

I bent over with my hands on my knees, breathing like I had just
given birth right there on the forest floor. He told me to climb halfway up the
tree and sit on a sturdy limb.

“No! Not until…you tell me…what’s going…on!” I could barely get
the words out between my heavy breathing. I was beyond frustration.

Nolan quickly walked over to me. He pulled me up from my crouched
position and stared deeply into my eyes. “My sweet Ava. Please. I know this
must be hard, but you have to trust me. Do as I say and this will all be over
in a few minutes.” Then he kissed me passionately but quickly. “Please.”

I wanted to protest, but instead I surrendered to those damn baby
blues. I was helpless against their power.

I turned around and climbed the tree up to the third limb. I was
lucky my sister and I had had trees to climb in our backyard as kids. Who knew
that skill would come in handy as an adult? I looked down. I was probably about
forty feet up the tree and glad that heights didn’t bother me.

Nolan nervously paced the forest floor under my hideout tree. He
took out his cell and dialed a number. Then he turned his back away from me.
Normally I would be able to hear what he was saying, but my ears were still
ringing from the blast. My stomach had turned inside out again. I was nervous
and anxious and sure of one thing—I would
never
go near that rock again.

I could see the smoke rising from the site a few hundred yards
down the pathway. There was a fire truck there now, with men pointing long
hoses at the fire.  

Nolan’s voice grew louder. “Dammit! I need a reconnaissance team
in here now!” He began to pace quicker. “What do you mean my field rating is
unsatisfactory?” He paused and I could tell he was angry. “A civilian’s life is
at risk!”

Nolan suddenly slammed a finger at the phone’s screen to hang up
the call, letting out a grunt of frustration. He quickly and intensely scanned
the tree line. Had he heard something I didn’t? Then out of nowhere the crack
of a gunshot echoed through the woods, and Nolan dropped to the ground with a
groan.

I gasped.
No…no…no…no!
My mouth opened to let out a scream
but nothing came out.

Nolan rolled over to his side, looked up at me, and said in a
raspy voice, “Greeeeeeeeen. Trust green.”

I whispered back through my tears, “What? Sweetheart…?”

I was about to jump down from the tree when I heard footsteps. I
looked out into the forest and saw three men in dark suits carrying guns. They
ran towards the unmoving Nolan. I held completely still. They hadn’t seen me up
in the tree yet.

One of the men pressed something in his ear. “We got him. No sign
of the girl.”

They knew I had been with Nolan. Chills sped down my spine.
Another man picked up Nolan and threw him over his shoulder, and then they all
ran out of the forest the same way they entered.

Uncontrollable tears began to fall from my eyes. What just
happened? This couldn’t be real! A nightmare, this had to be a nightmare.

Wake up, Ava!

I slapped myself in the face, but lost my balance on the tree limb
and fell backwards, narrowly missing all the branches on the way down. My body
landed with a thud on the grass and weeds below, and I let out a groan as I
rolled to my left. My right arm radiated intense pain.

Oh no! I probably broke it.

I knew I had to get out of there before someone else came. But
should I run after Nolan’s captors or toward my parents’ house? I wasn’t
prepared for any kind of fight, so I painfully set off in the direction of
Capital Street. I scrambled about four steps forward before I heard a loud
crack and felt a sting in my back, sending me instantly to the ground.