Chapter 9

ABU DHABI, UAE

A whole new level of terror seized Davis when he saw more than just the dirt road ahead.

Hollyn's BMW.

Crunched into an embankment, resting precariously in a grove of bushes just this side of falling into the ocean. Smoke billowed from the hood of the car.

Haunting memories of an equally smoky car in A-stan flashed across his mind. Of unseeing eyes. Bloodied faces. Shouting voices.

Singed fur and the acrid scent of burning gas hit his nose like no time had passed.

Davis's stomach pitched. Sound hollowed. Vision tunneled.

If he'd failed to protect her . . .

Let me be in time.

"Sir," the emergency operator prompted from the other end of speaker phone. "Are you still there? Police and ambulance en route."

Davis blinked. Shifted down as he approached. "I'm on scene. From what I can see, it's a single-vehicle crash." He rattled off the coordinates listed on the GPS. Slammed on the brakes. Shut down the Chevelle. "Checking on the driver."

He launched himself out of the driver's seat without a second thought.

Fury followed closely through the open door.

"Hollyn!" Davis raced toward her vehicle, but a plume of smoke billowed out, pushing him back a step.

In the distance, emergency sirens howled their response.

A figure stumbled through the smoke, hand on their head. Slunk his direction.

Instinctively, his hand swung to the SIG at his stomach. Drew down. Then recognition flared.

"Hollyn." Thank God! Davis holstered his weapon inside his waistband. He'd never been more grateful to see anyone in his life.

Fury shot past her in favor of searching the car as he shifted closer, assessing her physical condition. "You hurt?"

She neared. Grabbed his arm.

There was blood spatter on her shirt. Looked like it was dripping from her nose. That was concerning. He felt her head. Arms. Ribs. She didn't flinch, but that didn't mean much right now. Adrenaline was an expert at masking serious issues.

Hollyn squinted up at him, then shook her head. "No . . . I don't think so." She wiped at the trailing liquid with the back of her hand. Groaned. She swayed forward.

Davis's hands shot out to steady her. Where was the freaking ambulance? "What happened?"

Hollyn pinched the bridge of her nose. Winced. Her hand shook violently. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I . . . I . . . " She was looking around, eyes wild.

Davis felt her head again, afraid he'd missed something. Concussion was at the forefront of his thoughts. "Do you remember losing consciousness?"

"H-he tried to kill me!" Her bloodied hand grabbed a fistful of his shirt. Continued the adrenaline shake Davis knew all too well.

Davis stilled. "He? You saw the driver?"

Germaine?

Her lids squeezed closed.

Davis clenched his jaw at the sight of her so visibly shaken. He thumbed her tears away. "What'd he look like?" he tried softly.

"I didn't g-get a close enough look." Anguish filled her blue and green eyes. "All I remember was he kept l-lifting his arm to his face like he was talking into a watch." She dug her fingers into her hair. Sobbed.

The sirens grew louder.

Davis looked over at Fury, heart launching in his throat at the sight of the shepherd sitting statue still, focus pinned to the back of her car. Was it explosives? Electronics? The RMWD was trained to find a lot of things.

He needed to check it out.

"Stay here, okay?" He gripped Hollyn's shoulders till she made eye contact. Nodded.

Davis hoofed it to the wreck. Thumped his hand against the shepherd's side a few times. Wished he had the landshark's tug for a reward. "Good job, buddy." He knelt. Carefully inspected what he could see of the back bumper.

Fury's tail swished back and forth in the sandy dirt. He didn't stand.

Waves of the Persian Gulf crashed against the shore below. From what Davis could tell, the BMW seemed secure, but it was hard to be positive. This kind of ground might give way at any time. He shot a glance over his shoulder at Hollyn. She watched him, arms wrapped around her middle. Loose hair swished in the breeze.

Attention back on the car, Davis ran his hand along the backside of the bumper. Could hear EMS coming up on scene, stopping not too far away. Emergency personnel rushed their way.

Davis frowned as he kept feeling around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so—wait. His finger touched something small. Almost missed it.

Slowly, he ducked under the car for a better look. Prayed he wasn't about to get crushed or blown up.

"Ma'am! Are you all right?" an unknown female voice asked. "We got a call?—"

The rest of the conversation faded when Davis saw what was attached to the car.

A tracking device. He'd seen ones like this before.

"Davis!"

He jerked at Hollyn's shrill tone. Forehead hit the underside of the car. "Freakin' . . . " he growled as he scooted out. Rubbed his head.

"Did you find something?" She had a small grey blanket around her shoulders now, and one of the EMTs was addressing her nose injury.

Uniformed police officers formed almost a barrier between him and Hollyn. He had their full attention.

"Found a tracking device." He nodded to the bumper.

But instead of coming closer, they solemnly watched Fury, hands on the weapons at their sides.

It was then Davis realized his partner was growling at them.

"Easy." He spoke calmly as he stood. "Fury, heel." With no sudden moves, he held up his hands to the officers. "It's okay. I'm the one who called this in. This is my retired military working dog, trained to detect explosives and EMDs. He alerted on the car."

"It's the truth," Hollyn interjected. "He isn't the one who ran me off the road."

The officers looked reluctant to believe them but finally dropped their hands from their sidearms. "We'll need statements from you both," one of the officers spoke up. Took a couple steps closer.

"Fair enough," Davis replied. But shoot his dog and they were gonna have a problem.

"Step away from the vehicle," the officer instructed. "Slowly."

Davis nodded. Did as they asked. Fury stuck to his side but made no effort to hide the way he scrutinized every move the officers made.

When he neared Hollyn, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Davis slid his arms around her waist. She clung to him like she had no intention of letting go. Fine with him. He'd stay like this as long as she wanted to.

"I'm so sorry." She cried quietly into his bum shoulder. "I never should have left the house."

Davis had royally screwed up by leaving Hollyn at the house. He wouldn't make that mistake again. She was going to get sick of how close an eye he was about to keep on her.

"Just glad you're safe," he said for her ears only.

Fury pawed his leg. Pushed his giant head between them.

Jealous much?

Davis reached down to pet the lug's head.

"Thank you for coming." Hollyn sniffed.

"Always."

The word was out before he even had time to examine it. But it was the truth. Didn't matter how much time or distance had come between them over the years. She was the one person he'd drop anything for. Always had been. Always would be.

What're you doing, man?

It felt too good to have her in his arms. This was dangerous ground. And not just physically.

Davis could see the officers checking Hollyn's car now. They motioned to each other, and one of them was radioing for something.

Slowly, Hollyn pulled back. Wiped at her eyes. Her other hand gripped his bicep.

Her brow furrowed. "They aren't going to stop, are they? Whoever's behind this. Not until I'm dead too."

The way her chin quivered was like a KA-BAR to the gut. But he refused to entertain the thought of her dying. Forced a grin. "Well, then, their mission is scrubbed. 'Cause they're gonna have to go through me from now on."

* * *

Hearing him say that made Hollyn's heart skip a beat. But just as quickly as the feeling came, she admonished herself. Davis was just being protective of her. Nothing more. It was how he was built and what he'd been trained to do for the last decade. He saved people. Protected people. It didn't mean he loved them or felt anything other than a sense of dedication to the mission.

She was just the most recent mission. She could not let herself be swept away by romantic frivolities based on feelings from their past. Her chest ached from an erratic heartbeat that hadn't stilled since the chase began. Now it was freaking out for a completely different reason. She rubbed her sternum. Willed the thumping to slow, but it didn't. Especially not with his close proximity.

"Ma'am, I need to take your statement." A tall officer nodded for her to join him. He didn't come too close, and Hollyn had an idea that it was likely due to the furry beast currently panting at her side.

Regretfully, Hollyn broke contact with Davis to step away with the officer. But even as she answered question after question, she couldn't stop her gaze from lifting over the guy's shoulder to Davis every few seconds. Each time she did, it confirmed that he hadn't taken his eyes off her. It was unnerving. Electrifying.

Tugging the blanket tighter around her body, Hollyn tried to focus on talking about the chain of events before her crash. A sneeze crept up, and she sucked in a sharp breath, trying to stop it. A sneeze would be murderous with her injured nose.

"Are you okay?" The officer looked concerned.

"Yeah," she replied, relieved when the urge to sneeze passed. "Just in a little pain."

That was an understatement. Her face was killing her right now—more like her whole body was killing her—and the thought of rattling it made her cringe. But at least whatever the EMT—who'd said it wasn't broken—had swabbed into her nostrils had stemmed the bleeding. Her shirt was history, though. Same with her car.

But she was alive.

Something she'd be thanking God about for the rest of her life.

"Can you describe the vehicle that was following you?" The officer's Middle Eastern accent was thick.

Hollyn's body trembled with subsiding adrenaline. She couldn't stop playing the last half hour over and over in her head. She was so stupid for driving to Bongani's alone.

"Ma'am?" the officer asked again. His dark eyes pinned her.

"Right. The car. It was . . . black." Hollyn pictured it in her mind. "An SUV. I don't know about the make or model." She rubbed her forehead. Images of the car getting closer in the rearview mirror sent chills down her spine. Panic started pricking her stomach. Then she recalled seeing circles on the grill. . . "Maybe an Audi?"

The officer jotted down some notes. "Any distinguishing characteristics? Dents or stickers?"

"It was behind me." Hollyn's brow furrowed, but she swallowed down her irritation. The guy was just doing his job. "No. I . . . don't think so. I'm sorry, it all happened so fast."

The officer nodded, the tan-colored beret on his head remaining securely in place. "That's okay." He tugged a business card from the chest pocket of his uniform. "If you think of anything else, even the smallest of details, this is my number."

The small card was cold in her hand.

"The EMTs will take you to the hospital to get checked out and?—"

"No!" Her refusal was so instant, so intense, it surprised even her. She took it down a notch. Stepped back. "No, I'm fine. Thank you, but?—"

"I'll take her." Davis and Fury stepped up to them. The hand he placed on her back was so unnerving she almost came out of her skin. "Come on."

Fury pressed into her leg like he was trying to herd her.

It was all too much. "No!" She jerked away from him. "I'm not going to the hospital."

Suspicion darkened the officer's eyes as he frowned at Davis. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked Hollyn.

"Yes. I'm—everything is okay."

With one last assessing look at Davis, the officer stepped away to join the others still working the scene. No doubt he'd be keeping a close eye on them from a distance.

"Hol—"

"I'm not going, Davis. I'm fine."

"It's just to make sure?—"

"No." Hollyn felt her resolve lock into place. She narrowed her eyes. "You will literally have to drag me kicking and screaming."

He scowled. "What's the deal with you and hospitals?"

She couldn't completely blame him. He didn't know her why. She'd kept that vulnerable piece of her past tucked away all these years.

"You were just in a car accident." Davis gripped her elbow through the blanket. His gaze was urgent. "Could be bleeding internally or any number of other things you can't feel yet because adrenaline is masking it."

Hollyn didn't back down on this. "No hospitals."

"Why?"

"Because!"

"Why?" he demanded.

"Because it's the last building I was in with my birth parents!" Hollyn spat. Her heart raced for an entirely different reason now. She was shocked the words had actually come out of her mouth this time.

Well, she was in this now. He wanted the truth? Fine.

"My parents had a lot of issues, but they always made me breakfast before I went off to school. One morning, I woke up and the house was just . . . still. I could feel something wasn't right. I raced out to the living room, and that's when I"—her chin quivered as the images beat her—"found them." She shook her head. Swallowed a lump in her throat. Didn't dare look up at Davis, or she'd lose her nerve.

Fury tilted his head as he watched her, amber eyes warm and almost caring.

"They were on the floor." Her voice cracked. Apparently, it didn't make a difference how far from that day she'd gotten. It was still a vivid scar in her psyche. "Almost like they were sleeping. But when I saw the bands wrapped around their arms, I knew—could feel it in my gut." Shame curtained her. Would he think less of her because of them? "They'd overdosed. I called for an ambulance, and they rushed us to the hospital. I sat alone in those plastic chairs for hours before anyone finally talked to me." Curse the man for making her think about this! The memories were going to crush her.

She felt Davis shift. He crossed his arms. Though she didn't look around, she could hear the police radios going off intermittently as they worked the scene. The ambulance drove away.

"A doctor came out and told me they'd done their best but my parents were dead." Hollyn could still picture the way the doctor's nametag had been clipped at a weird angle on his white lab jacket. How it'd kept tapping the side of the pen in his breast pocket every time he moved his arm. The metallic scent of blood had lingered on him despite having washed up, and strongly contrasted with the hypochlorite and peracetic acid used to keep the hospital clean.

This time Hollyn dared to meet his gaze and saw Davis's Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. "He said it so callously. Like. . . because I was nine, it somehow wouldn't hit me as hard as it would an adult, and I could just move on. Just get a new family, you know?" She shrugged. Gripped the blanket tighter. Her fingers brushed her necklace. "He acted like my parents' struggle with drugs made them less worthy of mourning or compassion somehow. But I didn't care about any of that. They were my parents! I just wanted them back!"

Davis shook his head, sympathy washing his handsome face. He ran a hand over his jaw in thought, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, but for the first time since he'd come here, he looked rattled.

A warm breeze tugged at the edges of the blanket currently trapped between her clenched fingers. It was filled with the salty scent of the Persian Gulf waters and rustled through nearby palms.

"I'm sorry, Hol."

"Then CPS came and took me to my first group home." She shook her head, tears welling. "I didn't even get to say goodbye to them. For months I was convinced that they weren't actually dead and would come get me."

Davis didn't say anything else. Just released a weighted breath and closed the distance between them. He gently slipped his arms around her.

When he pressed a kiss to her forehead, it was nearly her undoing.

Hollyn sank against him. Relished the way his strong arms were like a shield from the nightmares raining down on her. For the first time in years, she allowed herself to relax. Her nose hurt where it pressed into his chest, so she turned her head to the side. Clung to his firm waist.

Maybe she should've told him this years ago.

Pfft. Right. Nobody had been ready for that back then, especially her. And though she hadn't planned on telling him at all, she was so thankful no secrets stood between them anymore. It was . . . freeing.

Fury pawed at her shoe and pressed his weight into her leg. She smiled at the pressure. The three of them felt like a family.

Wait, wait, wait. No!

Hollyn chided herself.

A hug and innocent kiss, and she'd been swept off her feet again without so much as a mild protest! Emotions couldn't be trusted! It was just the car accident messing with her. She wasn't thinking clearly. She thought she'd done a good job reining them in over the years. But Davis hadn't been in her everyday life then. Now, he was throwing her for a loop. She needed to snap out of it.

Seriously.

It was nothing more than a surge in endorphins from his comforting reaction to her story that had her hurtling down the path toward Happily-Ever-Afterville.

However, the moment her gaze met Davis's, an overwhelming surge of something—call it bravery or insanity—washed over her, and Hollyn threw caution to the wind. Forgot about emergency personnel still going over the crash. Ignored all the screaming warning bells blaring in her head and pressed up onto her tippy toes . . . and kissed him.

She, Hollyn Reinhardt, kissed Davis Ledger.

He went rigid beneath her hands as they slipped up and over his shoulders, then his arm came around her waist. Tugged her close as gloriously, shockingly, he returned the gesture. For a moment, all her starry-eyed dreams came to fruition. However incredible she'd imagined this would be, real life blew it out of the water. In the arms of the man she'd loved for so long, she felt perfectly at home, and he was drinking her in like she was water in the desert.

But then he pulled back. Held her at arm's length. "Hold up," he said breathlessly.

Hollyn slanted forward in the wake of pressure.

Davis's heavy gaze raked over her face, looking like he wanted to do anything but stop.

"I'm sorry," she heard herself say, suddenly very aware they had an audience. "I didn't mean . . . "

He just stared at her for seconds that seemed endless. "I can't," he finally replied. "We can't."

Right. She knew that. "Of course." She stepped back, gathering the blanket tighter. "I just . . . I was caught up and . . . adrenaline, you know?" Her excuse was weak. Even she could hear it.

Davis just gave a small nod, jaw muscle popping.

No. They'd never be a family.

"I'm sorry, Hol." His tone was quiet, and the way he was looking at her—like he thought he'd broken her—twisted her stomach.

Fury watched her with keen interest, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. He almost looked like he was laughing at her.

She just wanted this day to be over already. "Let's just go home, okay?" she said to Davis.

Did he just stiffen?

Her home! She didn't mean their—she understood! They were two separate, non-romantic people who would never be together in that way. Inwardly, she groaned. Would she ever get this right?

"Sure thing." Davis released his hold. He lifted a hand to get an officer's attention. "Good if I take her home?"

"I just need your statement first," the tall officer said to Davis, who provided it in record time. "The car will be towed," the officer told them when Davis was done. He handed them a slip of paper. "You can make arrangements by calling this number."

Hollyn would worry about that later. All she wanted right now was a hot shower and sleep. As they pulled away from the crash site, Hollyn felt something buzz in her back pocket. Her phone. She shifted to the side to pull it out, thankful she'd thought to grab it as she escaped the wreck.

Fury poked his head out between the front seats. Slobber flicked off his tongue as he panted. Hollyn wrinkled her sore nose and scooted away from the droplets.

"Get back," Davis commanded the furry giant.

Fury disappeared into the backseat.

Hollyn looked down at her phone. A text from Leila lit up the screen:

Lei

SOS. They've got me and Archie. Don't know I have my phone.

Hollyn gasped. Her blood ran cold.

"What's wrong?" Davis asked firmly.

She stuttered but couldn't form actual words. Below the text, it showed Leila had shared her location. Hollyn quickly typed a reply.

Hollyn

Who has you? Are you hurt?

Lei

. . .

She watched the dots bouncing on the screen. They disappeared but no text came through.

"Talk to me, Hollyn."

"They've got her!" She could hardly hold on to the device. Oxygen fought her efforts to draw it in. "It's Lei. She just texted SOS—Davis . . . they've got her and Archie!" She clamped a hand over her mouth.

This was the nightmare that wouldn't end!

Davis was quiet. A scowl had etched itself deep into his face.

"She shared her location. We need to get to her. Now!"

He didn't speak for an agonizing minute.

"Now!" She was just about to start yelling at him when he nodded.

"Route us. And send me the location." Without slowing, he pulled his phone from his tactical pants. Tapped the screen.

Hollyn sent him the location before starting directions. Leila and Archie's location was a solid forty minutes away. It'd be dark by the time they got there. Would that help or hinder things? She clipped the phone to the dash holder, then tugged her seatbelt tighter and started praying.

A shrill ring filled the car twice before a man answered Davis's call. "Speak of the devil." His voice was deep and gruff. "I was just about to call you. Hope your death antigen is up to date, because you've got some serious stuff coming your way."

"Tell me about it," Davis answered the guy.

"Did your girl just have a run-in with someone?"

His girl? Hollyn's head snapped to Davis in time to see his jaw flex. And how on earth did this guy know about the accident?

"You're on speaker, Chapel."

The guy cleared his throat. "Afraid I'll spill your secrets?"

Davis looked something akin to a caged animal right now. "Someone just ran her off the road. Same way her parents' accident happened." His gaze skirted to her before he looked to the road.

In the backseat, Fury whined.

Hollyn turned to him. "It's okay," she whispered, though it dawned on her that the military working dog was probably just excited, not worried like she was. Did anything scare him? Sure didn't seem like it.

Take notes, Hollyn.

Their bodies swayed as the car veered left. She squeezed her eyes closed and whipped back around. Clung to her seatbelt.

"With Germaine's interest in your girl, we've been prowling the dark web. Found something," Chapel continued.

Hollyn's gut twisted. Dark web didn't sound good. Who was Germaine?

"Seems he put out a bounty. Chatter suggests someone just took a swing at the prize and missed."

Her jaw went slack. A bounty? On me?

Davis muttered a curse.

Chapel. "To the victor go the spoils—to the tune of three mil." He sniffed. "That's a lot of green. What in Sam Hill does your girl know?"

Davis glanced at her, eyebrows raised in question.

She leaned toward the phone, chewing her lip nervously. "I, um, don't know what they think I . . . know." She scrunched her nose. Did that sound as pathetic as it felt to say?

"Might wanna figure it out." Like Davis, his tone was all business. "You're about to have a ton of unfriendlies breathing down your neck."

Dread slithered across her shoulders as if Death itself traced its bony fingers there.

Davis gripped the wheel with one hand. "Hollyn just got word that her friends were allegedly kidnapped?—"

"Alleged—" Hollyn stopped mid-word. Scowled. "Are you serious?" she whisper-seethed. Was there anything that could clear her friends' names in his mind?

Davis threw her a hard look. "Sending you the coordinates," he said to his friend. "Gonna need backup, if you can spare anyone."

"Copy. Send me your twenty. Stay frosty."

The line went dead.

Davis handed off his phone. "Send him our location. Under Chapel." He guided the car around a sharp curve in the road.

One of her hands had a white-knuckle hold on the door while the other gripped the phone. The tires of the Chevelle screeched on the pavement they'd just reached as Davis floored the accelerator.

Fresh flashbacks from her recent car crash flooded her senses.

Keep it together. For Lei and Archie. They need you.

With trembling fingers, Hollyn opened his texts. Found Chapel's name and sent the location Lei had shared with her. There was no reply. But copy meant they were going to help . . . right?

"Shouldn't we call the cops?" she managed to ask.

"I trust Chapel and his team."

Meaning he didn't trust the police?

Clinging to her seatbelt with one hand and her necklace with the other, Hollyn pressed back into her seat, eyes closed. Prayed they'd be in time.

Hold on, you guys. We're coming.