Authors: Elle James
Daryl disappeared into the haze.
Chance shone his flashlight, the beam bouncing back at him, reflected by the moisture in the air. He almost walked into a rocky bluff before he saw it. “Daryl?”
“Here,” he said from somewhere in the maze of jagged boulders.
Chance wove his way between them and found Daryl rolling a boulder to the side. Beneath it lay a solid metal trapdoor.
A dog's bark sounded from beneath the door.
Daryl grinned. “That's JT. She likes it when I bring her food.” He pulled on a metal ring and flung the trapdoor open.
A set of wooden stairs led down into an underground cave nestled into the rocky hillside.
JT, the dog they'd rescued from the animal shelter, bounded up to Daryl, tail wagging and happy to see her master.
Daryl grabbed a battery-powered lantern from a hook near the top of the steps and led the way into the cave.
Chance followed, amazed at all the stuff the man had accumulated in the cavern. An old wingback chair sat against one stone wall with an area rug in front of it. A fold-up cot with a thin mattress was completely made up with sheets, several blankets and a pillow. Stacks of boxes lined another wall farther back.
“This is my pirate's treasure cave. Do you like my treasure?” Daryl turned toward Chance, a smile on his face, proud of his collection.
“It's very impressive. What about the rope?”
“Oh, yeah.” He hurried to the back of the cave and dug into a box. He lifted a huge coil of rope out and carried it across to Chance. “Will this be long enough?” he asked. “We should go. Miss Jillian and Mama need us.”
“Yes, they do.” Chance started for the stairs and stopped with his foot on the first one. “Daryl, did a little girl ever live in this cave?”
Daryl nodded. “JT. I found her in the woods, all cold and shivering. I brought her here and warmed her up. I would have taken her home, but she was lost and couldn't remember how to get there. So I let her live here until she left.”
“Her name was JT?”
He nodded and hurried to the makeshift bed, reaching beneath it to pull out an old cookie tin. He opened it and sifted through buttons and old coins and finally found what he was looking for, a pendant with the letters
J
and
T
engraved on the back. “See? JT. I named my dog after her.”
“Had you met JT before she came to live here?”
Daryl shook his head. “No.”
“Why didn't you tell someone that JT was living here?”
“Mama doesn't like me to talk to anyone, especially little kids. She doesn't like me to bring anything home with me either. She would have been mad. She
was
mad when she found the music box JT gave me. She took it and wouldn't give it back.”
Chance's chest tightened as Daryl told him the story of the little girl who'd come to live in his pirate's treasure cave. Sweet heaven. Julia Thompson had been here for thirty days. Daryl had been the one who'd unwittingly hidden her.
He couldn't dwell on the past. Jillian and Mrs. Sims needed his help now.
“Daryl you did such a good job getting us to this place, can you get us back to Miss Taylor's house?” Chance hurried up the stairs.
“Yes, sir.” Daryl climbed out of the cave. “Stay, JT. I'll be back in the morning.” He closed the trapdoor and rolled the boulder back over the top of it, effectively hiding it from view.
Then Daryl headed back to Jillian's house.
Chance kept his flashlight trained on the ground, searching for the little nuts and bolts. He wasn't sure where he was, but if he found the nuts and bolts, they would lead him to the cliff Jillian and Mrs. Sims had fallen over.
After what felt like forever, Chance caught the glint of metal in the mossy ground. “Daryl, wait!” he shouted. “Come with me. I know where they are.” He turned and let the little pieces of metal lead him back to the point at which he'd left Jillian.
“Jillian?”
For a moment she didn't response. Then the sweet sound of her voice drifted up to him. “I'm still here.”
“Hang on, I have a rope.”
He tied the rope to a tree trunk near the edge of the cliff. Then he tied a loop in the other end and tied the flashlight to it. “I'm going to lower the rope. It has a flashlight on it. Help me guide it to you when you see the beam.”
“Will do.” Jillian's voice shook. “Hurry. I can't see Mrs. Sims. I don't know what happened to her.”
“Lowering the rope now.” Chance fed the rope over the edge of the cliff, releasing ten, twenty, thirty feet. “Can you see the light yet?”
“Maybe.”
He lowered another ten feet, then another.
“There! I see the flashlight.” Jillian's excitement gave Chance renewed hope. “Move it to your left and down another five or ten feet.”
He moved the rope to his left and lowered it another eight feet.
“Another four feet to your left,” she called.
Working blind, he could only hope he was getting close enough for her to catch it.
“Got it!”
A rush of joy washed over him, but he reminded himself she wasn't up yet. “Are you hurt in any way?”
“Bruised a bit, but nothing's broken.”
“Slip the loop over your head and beneath your arms.”
“Okay.”
“We're going to pull you up.”
“Wait,” Jillian said. “Can you lower me first? I think Mrs. Sims is just another twenty feet below me. I can't be sure.”
“Let us bring you up, then I'll come back for Mrs. Sims.”
“No. If she's hurt, I might be able to help immediately. Please, lower me. If she's not twenty feet down, you can bring me up and come down yourself,” Jillian called up to the top of the cliff.
“Daryl, I'm going to need your help,” Chance said. He instructed the man how to wrap the rope around his waist and take the weight of the person below by leaning back. When he was sure Daryl was ready, he backed twenty feet from the edge, held on to the rope and called out to Jillian. “Okay, going down. Walk backward down the cliff.”
“Walking.” Jillian's weight tightened the rope.
Chance and Daryl eased toward the edge until they'd used all twenty feet of slack.
“I found her,” Jillian called up and the rope loosened. “She's unconscious, but alive,” she said. “Leave me here and go for help.”
“Are you in a safe place?” Chance called out.
“I am. Go!” Jillian shouted, the sound seeming to come from a long way down.
Too far down for Chance's comfort. “Daryl, stay here and talk to Miss Taylor. I'll be back with help.”
“Okay.”
Chance followed the metal trail back to the house. As he emerged into the yard, he spotted an SUV pulling up next to his. He almost cried out in relief when he saw the emergency lights on top.
Gabe McGregor stepped out and shone a flashlight in his direction. “Chance? Is that you?”
“Thank God you're here. We need a rescue crew and an ambulance here, ASAP.”
“What's going on?”
Chance gave him the necessary information and waited while Gabe called it in. “How in hell did you find your way in and out of the woods?”
“Jillian left a trail of nuts and bolts.”
“Well, let's make it a little easier to see.” Gabe reached into the back of his vehicle and pulled out a roll of yellow police tape. “Lead the way.”
Between Chance and Gabe, they marked the trail to the cliff and stayed to talk to Jillian until the first responders arrived with mountain-climbing equipment and a stretcher.
Chance waited a few steps back, a lump lodged in his throat, struggling to breathe normally until a member of the rescue team popped up over the top with Jillian in front of him.
His knees nearly buckled in his relief.
They wanted to put her on a stretcher and carry her out, but she refused.
Chance chuckled and wove his way through the people working the rescue efforts until he stood in front of Jillian and opened his arms.
She fell against him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Thank you for coming to find me.”
“I wouldn't have stopped looking until I did.”
The team brought Mrs. Sims up from below and carried her back along the police-tape trail. Gabe hooked Daryl's arm and walked with him back to the house.
Chance slipped an arm around Jillian and helped her over the rough ground. Whatever reservations he had about being a part of this woman's life were pushed to the very back of his mind. When he thought he'd lost her, his world felt as if it had come completely apart. Now that he had her back, he didn't want to let her go. Ever again. He'd find a way to overcome his nightmares. Hopefully, Jillian would be willing to work with him as he resolved his issues with PTSD.
Chapter 20
W
hen they emerged beside the
house, Molly and Nova were there. They enveloped Jillian in hugs, shocked at
what had almost ended in disaster.
Jillian returned their hugs but then pushed through to the
ambulance, where Daryl stood as they loaded his mother in the back.
“Daryl, are you okay?”
“Yes, JT.”
Jillian's eyes rounded. “You knew?”
He nodded.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Daryl shrugged. “You didn't remember me.”
“I do now.” She touched his arm. “Thank you for helping me when
I was a little girl.”
“Mama said if anyone found out I helped you, they would take me
away.”
Jillian hugged Daryl. “No one is going to take you away. You
saved my life.”
“I did?” His face brightened.
“Yes. You're my hero.” She kissed his cheek.
The medical technicians nudged them aside and lifted Mrs. Sims
into the ambulance.
Gabe joined them. “Daryl, I'm going to take you to the hospital
and see that you get home afterward.”
Daryl nodded. “Can I come visit you when your house is all
done, JT?”
“You bet.” Jillian hugged him again and then turned toward
Chance, Molly and Nova, her heart swelling. Her friends were her family, and she
was damned lucky to have them. They looked out for her and made sure she was
happy.
As exhausted and banged up as she was from the stress of the
day and the fall over the cliff, she refused to let it get her down. She squared
her shoulders and marched toward her future. Whether it included Chance or not,
she wasn't afraid. She could handle anything.
Two days later
“Everyone line up! They're coming!” Jillian shouted. She
rushed down the two rows of guests, handing out bags of birdseed. The bruise on
her cheek was barely noticeable beneath her makeup.
Chance smiled and snagged her around the waist, pulling her up
beside him as Molly and Nova emerged from the McGregor B and B as Mr. and Mrs.
Casanova Valdez.
Molly's cheeks glowed and her eyes sparkled with excitement.
Every time Nova glanced at his bride, Chance could see the depth of his love for
this woman. He'd been happy and proud to stand beside his friend as he married
the woman who had become a part of his heart.
Chance glanced at Jillian tossing birdseed and laughing, her
joy for her friends, for her life and for the town she called home shining
through like a beacon.
Over the days he'd been in Cape Churn, Chance had found a
community of people who cared about one another. Old and new friends came
together to help each other.
Since the night Jillian had learned she was the little lost
girl, Julia Thompson, she'd pushed aside the drama of her life to focus on
bringing Molly and Nova together in holy matrimony, refusing to dwell on the
secrets, the trauma and the revelations of what had occurred.
Molly and Nova climbed into his SUV decorated with Just Married
across the back windshield and strings of tin cans tied to the bumper. They
pulled away amid shouts of well wishes and showers of birdseed.
The local members of the SOS team had all been there, including
Nicole Steele, who'd flown in from her assignment in Guatemala, arriving in time
for the rehearsal dinner and bachelor and bachelorette parties. Creed Thomas
stood with Emma Jenkins. Once the bride and groom left, they gathered around
Jillian and Chance.
“Now that you've been here for almost a week and had a chance
to look around and get to know some of the locals, are you going to join the
West Coast office of SOS?” Nicole asked. Dave Logsdon stood beside her, his hand
resting on her waist.
Chance had been with Jillian for the past couple of nights,
sleeping in her house and her bed. He'd had dreams of his tours in Afghanistan,
but he hadn't had any violent outbursts, and Jillian had been more than willing
to risk the effects of PTSD.
Mrs. Sims was recuperating in the hospital, soon to be
transferred to jail to await her trial for attempted murder. Even if she ended
up with a light sentence, at least she would get the mental health care she so
badly needed.
Jillian empathized with the older woman and had actually
visited her in the hospital, reassuring her that Daryl would be all right and
she wasn't going to press charges against him for holding her in his pirate's
cave when she was a child. The community would look after him.
With the threat against Jillian neutralized and Mrs. Sims in
custody, everything was quiet in the small town of Cape Churn.
He had nothing to draw him back to Virginia, and his
assignments could take him anywhere in the country or the world.
“Well, are you?” Jillian asked.
He leaned close to her and whispered, “Remember when I said you
were making it really hard for me to walk away?”
She smiled up at him, beaming like a ray of sunshine on a foggy
day. “I remember.”
“I'm not walking away.”
She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the
lips. He held her close, deepening the kiss until Nicole cleared her throat next
to him.
“I'm staying,” he announced to the others.
His teammates hugged him and pounded him on the back, welcoming
him to life on the West Coast. He'd never felt more at home and accepted than he
did at that moment.
When the party broke up a couple hours later, Chance drove
Jillian home to the house she'd grown up in and that had been in her family for
years. Jillian sat back in her seat next to him, a smile playing across her
lips, her eyes half-closed with exhaustion. “It was a beautiful wedding.”
“Yes, it was. And you did a great job organizing it.”
“It was an honor to help. Molly and Nova are my family. Molly
was one of the first people I met when I came to Cape Churn. That was shortly
after my parents died. I thought I was alone in the world, and I was sad. She
helped me see Cape Churn as my home, and she and her brother welcomed me.”
“Now that you know you're Julia Thompson, you realize you have
a father still living?”
She nodded. “I do.”
Chance cast a glance her way, watching the play of emotion
across her face.
“When everything settles down, I want to make a trip down to
see him. I think I'd like to get to know him.”
“You know, I feel like we skipped some parts in our
relationship.”
She turned to look at him. “Have we?”
“Yes, ma'am. And now that I'm going to be around for a while, I
feel like I need to remedy that oversight. I don't believe we've had our first
date.”
Jillian laughed, the sound pure joy. “You're right.”
“I'll make a reservation at the Seaside Café for tomorrow
night. I'll pick you up at six.”
“I'd like that.” She reached across the console for his
hand.
“If you want, I can get an apartment in town and let you get
used to idea of having me around.” He squeezed her hand. “You might decide I
crowd you.”
“No way,” she said. “Jack and Jill are a joint responsibility.
Besides, they like how you feed them better.”
Chance winked. “All you have to do is add a little tuna juice
to sweeten their cat food.”
“You do it so much better. And no, I don't want you to move
into an apartment. I kinda like having you around.”
“Good, because I like being around.”
As he pulled up to the old house still in the throes of a
massive overhaul, Jillian sighed. “Chance?”
“Mmm?”
“Do you believe in love at first sight?”
His hand tightened on hers and then he released it to shift
into Park. “No.”
She shot a worried glance his way. “No?”
He shook his head. “If you recall, you didn't like me when you
first met me.”
“I remember.” Her lips twitched. “Do you believe two people can
fall in love in less than a week?”
He got out of the SUV and rounded to the passenger door,
opening it for her. He helped her down and pulled her into his arms. “Darlin', I
believe if we aren't already there, we're well on our way.”
* * * * *
If you loved this novel, don't miss other suspenseful titles by
New York Times
bestselling author Elle James:
PROTECTING THE COLTON BRIDE
HEIR TO MURDER
DEADLY ALLURE
SECRET SERVICE RESCUE
DEADLY LIAISONS
DEADLY ENGAGEMENT
DEADLY RECKONING
Available now from Harlequin Romantic Suspense!
Keep reading for an excerpt from
BODYGUARD'S BABY SURPRISE
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Lisa Childs.
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