Yuletide Defender (18 page)

She waited until the water was at chest level before she took several deep breaths and rolled down the window. Water surged into the car and pounded at her face. Within seconds the interior flooded, submerging her. She held her breath and willed herself to be patient until the car was completely flooded. The door wouldn't open until then.

After what seemed an eternity, she reached for the door handle and pushed the door open. Unbuckling her seat belt, she used the leverage to propel herself from the car.

Once outside the car she pushed off the side and swam upward. When she broke through the surface, she gulped air into her burning lungs. She could see the shore a short distance away and began to swim in that direction.

The water grew shallow and she realized she could stand. She rose to her feet and waded forward toward the beach. Her breath caught in her chest but she pushed her legs to move to safety.

She had almost reached shore when a figure on the beach came into view. “Are you okay?”

She tried to answer the man but her chattering teeth blocked her words.

He waded into the water and splashed toward her. She stopped. Something was wrong.

The man advanced. She gasped at the heavy jacket and the knit cap he wore—the clothing of the person who drove the car with the dented fender and chipped paint. Had she only escaped death by drowning to be murdered so close to safety?

A scream tore from her throat and she backed away. The lake's muddy bottom sucked at her feet and she fell backward. The water closed over her face again. She thought of Matt and the last words she'd said to him. How she wished she could take them back. For the first time in years, Rachel prayed.

S
trong hands clamped around Rachel's arms and pulled her up. Water trickled from her nose and she gasped for air. Even in the darkness she could make out the features of the person holding her by the arms. She stared into the face of the young man she'd seen in the lobby the day the Santa stole her purse.

He held her arm with one hand and put his other one around her shoulders. “Let's get you to shore. You're freezing.”

Too tired to fight back, Rachel allowed herself to be led to the bank. Once on land she sank to her knees and panted for breath. The young man stooped beside her and spread his heavy jacket around her shoulders. “I was scared to death. I couldn't believe it when I saw that guy force you off the road.”

His words drifted into her foggy brain and she frowned. “What?”

“The guy in the black SUV that forced you off the road. I couldn't believe it.”

Rachel pulled the jacket tighter and shook her head. “Black SUV? You mean it wasn't you?”

His eyes widened. “Oh, you thought I was the one? No, it was somebody else.”

Rachel put her hand on the side of her head. “But who?”

He shrugged. “I don't know. He pulled out when you left the lodge and I followed him.”

New fear rushed through Rachel. “What were you doing following me?”

He glanced up at the road where his car idled. “Look, can't we talk about this in the car? You're freezing and I need to get you to a hospital. Then we need to call the police. I'll explain everything on the way.”

Rachel hesitated. Should she go with this man who said someone else ran her off the road? She glanced at the highway but there wasn't another car in sight. It seemed she didn't have a choice. She needed to get where it was warm, and his car, even with the dented fender and chipped paint, looked inviting.

She pushed to her feet and tried to smile. “Then let's go, Mr…. I'm afraid I don't know your name.”

“Hunter Ward. I'm a journalism student at the university.”

He put his arm around Rachel and steadied her as they walked up the bank to his car. He pulled the door open but she stopped before she climbed inside. She turned to Hunter. “A journalism student?”

He nodded. “Yeah. There's a spot open on the school newspaper and I want it. I thought if I could work with you on those vigilante stories it might give me one up on another guy who's after the job. I've been trying to get my nerve up to ask you if I could hang out with you at work. Maybe act like an assistant so I can learn from you.”

Rachel shivered in the cold again and got into the car. The heater blew against her feet, which felt like blocks of ice, and she pulled the jacket even tighter.

As Hunter drove toward the hospital, she studied his profile. “So you came to my office and my apartment and followed me to the lodge tonight just to ask for a job?”

He glanced at her. “It sounds stupid when you put it that way, but that's the truth.”

Rachel shook her head in disbelief. “Did you ever stop to think that you could be accused of stalking? Why didn't you just make an appointment and come to see me?”

“I know I should have. That's why I went to your office. I was waiting for the elevator when you got off and stepped into the lobby. You looked so professional and almost unapproachable. I was afraid you'd laugh in my face.”

Rachel turned in her seat to face him. “How did you find out where I live?”

“You can find anything on the internet.” He glanced at her, then back at the road. “It was wrong of me to come to your apartment. I wasn't going to do anything but talk to you. When I saw you leaving with a man, I got out of there as fast as I could.”

“And what about tonight?”

“I was waiting across the street from the newspaper office and I followed you out here. I was going to catch you when you came out, but you ran to your car so fast I didn't have a chance.”

Rachel shook her head in exasperation. “You could have saved us both a lot of trouble if you'd just told me that first day what you wanted. I thought you were the vigilante.”

The car swerved toward the road's shoulder with the sudden jerk of his hands. “What? You thought I was the vigilante?” He regained control of the car and sighed. “I sure messed things up, didn't I? Are you going to have me arrested for stalking?”

Rachel peered out the window at the stars twinkling in the sky. Peace flowed through her. A few minutes ago she'd thought she was dying. But she had lived. After being spared, she couldn't find it in her heart to condemn a young man who had dreams the same as hers of working on a big story.

She smiled at Hunter. “I may not like your method of doing
things but I understand you wanting to work on your paper. Besides, if you hadn't been there tonight, I might still be on the road waiting for a car and I could have frozen to death before one came along.”

He straightened and smiled. “Then maybe you'll come to know I'm not such a bad guy after all.”

“Maybe I will.”

Rachel snuggled down in the seat and stuck her feet closer to the heater. Her tired body cried for sleep but she couldn't give in just yet. There were other things to be done.

When she'd thought she was dying, her thoughts had been on Matt and she'd prayed for the chance to tell him she was sorry for saying she didn't want to ever see him again. Right now that's all she did want. His calls today might mean that he felt the same way. Maybe God was going to give them the opportunity to mend what their angry words had torn apart.

 

Matt tossed the half-eaten piece of pizza back in the box on the coffee table and drained the last drop from the soda can. He reached for the television remote and muted the sound as a commercial filled the screen. For a week he'd looked forward to seeing the basketball game on TV tonight, but when he tuned in, he couldn't concentrate.

All he could think of was Rachel. He'd lost count of how many times he'd dialed her number today. Had she listened to any of his messages? She hadn't given any indication of it, because she hadn't returned his calls. If she didn't call by tomorrow, he was going to go to her office. She wouldn't be able to avoid him then.

He stood and reached for the pizza box just as his cell phone rang. Picking it up from the coffee table, he saw David Foreman's number displayed. Matt frowned. David never called him at home. He hoped there wasn't a problem at the Youth Center.

Matt flipped his phone open. “Hi, David. What's up?”

“Good evening, Matt.”

There was something strange in the tone of David's voice. “Is something wrong?”

David cleared his throat. “I'm calling from the hospital to tell you Rachel has been in an accident.”

Matt's heart thudded in his chest and he gripped the phone tighter. “What kind of accident?”

“She had taken some papers to her boss Cal out at Moon Lake Lodge. On the way back a car forced her off the road. Her car went into the lake. Thank goodness she was able to get out and swim to shore.”

Matt rubbed his hand over his eyes. “Is—is she all right?”

“Physically she's going to be fine, but I'm not so sure about emotionally. She broke down when she saw her mother and me. She had trouble answering the police's questions. She's settled down some now.”

Matt couldn't believe what he was hearing. He began to pace back and forth across the room. “Did the car get too close when he passed? Is that why she ran off the road?”

David took a deep breath. “No, Matt. Somebody tried to kill her. The police think it was the vigilante.”

Matt stopped pacing and pounded his fist against the wall. “This is my fault. If we hadn't quarreled Friday night, I would have been with her.”

“I didn't call so you could start blaming yourself. I called because Rachel asked me to.”

Matt's mouth dropped open and he gulped. “She wanted me to know?”

“Yes. She wants to see you. We're in the emergency room. Can you come to the hospital?”

“I'm on my way. Thanks, David.”

Flipping his phone closed, Matt grabbed his jacket off the chair where he'd thrown it when he got home and rushed to the door. As a policeman he was already planning how he would proceed with the investigation into finding the person
who had tried to kill Rachel. But right now, he didn't want to be a policeman. He wanted to make sure that Rachel was all right and ask her to forgive him for the cruel words he'd spoken the last time he saw her.

Twenty minutes later, Matt rushed into the waiting room of the Lake City Hospital's emergency room. Rachel's mother, David and a young man Matt had never seen before rose from their chairs when they saw him.

Matt hurried toward them and wrapped his arms around Rachel's mother. “How is she?”

He could feel the tremors in her body as she hugged him. “She's going to be all right.” She pulled back and blinked at the tears in her eyes. “Oh, Matt. I almost lost her tonight. I still can't believe it.”

“What happened?”

Emily Long pointed to the young man standing beside her. “This is Hunter Ward. He's the one who brought Rachel to the hospital. I'll let him tell you.”

Matt listened as Hunter repeated the events of the night. As Hunter told of his reasons for following Rachel, Matt clenched his fists and fought the urge to throttle the young college student. When Hunter finished, Matt took a deep breath.

“You made some mistakes, Hunter, but I'm glad you were there to get Rachel to safety.” He glanced back at Emily. “Can I go see her now?”

Emily nodded. “You'll have to ask the receptionist at the desk if they'll let you into the emergency room area. They still have her back there, but the doctor came out and told us he thinks she'll be able to go home in a few hours.”

Matt pulled out his badge and strode toward the receptionist. He flashed it in front of the woman. “I need to see Rachel Long.”

The woman nodded and pointed to a set of swinging doors beside her desk. “Go through there and straight down the hall to the last room on the left. She's in there.”

“Thanks.”

Matt pushed through the doors and hurried inside the emergency room. A man in blue scrubs came toward him as if to stop him but Matt held up his badge and pushed around him. Nobody was going to stop him when he was this close to Rachel.

When he arrived at the last room on the left, the door stood open. Instead of rushing in, he hesitated. What if she really didn't want to see him?

Taking a deep breath, he stepped into the room and walked to the foot of her bed. Her eyes were closed and her blond hair lay spread out on her pillow. He'd never seen her face so pale. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. She'd barely escaped death tonight. She looked so vulnerable lying there, but he'd never thought her more beautiful.

He reached for a chair, pulled it next to her bed and sat down. Her hand rested on top of the blanket that covered her and he grasped it in both of his. “Rachel.”

Her eyelids fluttered and she turned her head to stare at him. “Matt. I was afraid you wouldn't come.”

Tears stung his eyes and he blinked. “Of course I came. Why wouldn't I?”

She frowned and swallowed. “I told you I didn't want to ever see you again but it wasn't true. Then you begged me to forgive you and I refused. I wouldn't even answer your calls.”

He squeezed her hand tighter. “You had every right to put me in my place. What I said to you was unforgivable.” He cleared his throat. “I know there's no excuse for how I acted. But I want to explain if you'll let me.”

“All right.”

For the next few minutes he told her how he'd grown up with only his staff around him, never his parents, and how every woman he'd ever dated had seen the money his family
had as more important than a relationship with him. When he finished, she didn't say anything and he held his breath.

“In my heart I knew you weren't like that but I let my head take over. I'll do anything if you'll forgive me for the awful things I said.”

She reached her free hand to rest it on top of his. “Tonight when my car went in the water, all I could think about was how I wanted to see you again. I prayed, Matt, for the first time in years. And God gave me some answers.”

“What kind of answers?” Matt flinched not knowing what to expect.

She took a deep breath. “I thought you'd be like every other man I ever dated and end our relationship after you met Cara. When you didn't, I began to hope I'd found someone different. I love my sister and I'll do whatever I have to in the future to take care of her. But I don't think God wants me to put my life on hold. If He intends for me to provide for Cara, He'll take care of us. So I hope you'll forgive me and still be my friend.”

A new sense of hope filled him. “I do forgive you. But I have to warn you. I want more from you than your friendship, Rachel. Do you think you can forgive me and let us see what the future might hold for us?”

She nodded. “I can.”

He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingers. “I'm so thankful you're all right. I'm not letting you out of my sight until this crazy killer is caught.”

The door opened and Matt turned to see Rachel's mother entering the room. She smiled at the two of them and walked to the side of the bed. “The doctor says you can go home now. I brought a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt you left at my house when you spent the night. I'll help you get dressed so we can leave.”

Matt rose but didn't let go of Rachel's hand. “Is she going to your house?”

Emily shook her head. “No, we'd talked about that before you arrived. A neighbor came over to stay with Cara and I'm going to stay with Rachel at her apartment.” She put her hand on Rachel's head and stroked her hair. “I want to make sure that she's all right. Then we need to figure out the best way to protect her.”