Chapter 13

13

F atigue clawed at the insides of Calvin's closed eyes, demanding sleep, but his mind refused to shut off. Images of Jenna asleep down the hall plagued him, refusing to let him relax. Refusing to let him drift away for a few blissful hours where his ex-girlfriend couldn't taunt him.

Muffled footsteps on the other side of his door chased away his exhaustion seconds before Jenna burst inside, Oliver in her arms. Boo stayed glued to Jenna's legs with his ears pinned back.

"What's going on?" He scooted to a seated position, confusion furrowing his brow.

"Someone's in the backyard, sneaking up to the kitchen door."

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and Calvin dashed out of bed.

Oliver pressed his face against Jenna's chest and squeezed his eyes shut. Low growls continued from Boo, who now stood at the foot of Calvin's bed.

"Stay in my room with Oliver and Boo. Call the police." He unlocked his phone and tossed it to Jenna before throwing on a pair of joggers and t-shirt he'd left in a pile on the floor. "I'll be right back."

Jenna's fingers flew over the screen. "What are you doing? Stay in here. The police will be here soon."

Ignoring the desperation and fear in her voice, he dropped to the gun safe stored under his nightstand. He twisted the dial and the door swung open. A Glock sat on a black velvet lining. Grabbing the weapon, he checked the chamber, satisfied with bullets found, and dropped his arm to his side with the barrel pointed toward the ground.

"No way. You're not going out there." Jenna held up a finger, silently asking him to wait, and spoke into the phone. "We have an intruder at 621 Ridge Road and need police assistance immediately."

Calvin took a deep breath to calm his nerves and hurried out of the room. He closed the door, blocking out the sound of Jenna's protest, and crept down the hall toward the kitchen. The gun hung heavy in his hand. He tightened his grip, resting his index finger against the trigger.

Crash!

Calvin jumped, fear mixing with adrenaline. There was no mistaking the sound of shattering glass. He forced his feet to keep moving. The doorway to the kitchen loomed. He sucked in a silent breath of air. Training the gun in front of him, he supported the weapon with both hands and swung around the corner to face the kitchen.

The back door stood open, the windowpane smashed, and a cool breeze whipping into the room. Broken glass scattered around the wood floor. A man stood in the moonlight, dressed in black with a handgun pointed at Calvin.

"Drop your gun. Police are on their way." Calvin moved his finger to the trigger.

Bang!

Pain erupted on Calvin's side. He leapt behind the island to take cover. Every move, every breath, every thought running through his mind made his injured flesh scream in agony. He pressed his free hand against his ribcage and blood coated his palm. His pulse spiked and terror seized his movements. The bullet had grazed his side. He just had to fight through the pain and make sure this asshole didn't get off another shot. Didn't get a chance to come through him and hurt Oliver or Jenna.

Footsteps pounded against the floor. Calvin scurried around to the back side of the island, closest to the open door, hoping to catch his assailant from behind. He steadied his gun in his sweat-slicked palm.

A ski-mask clad face met him at the corner, standing over him.

Calvin squeezed the trigger as the man dove to the side. The blast pierced Calvin's eardrums. He staggered to his feet and trained his gun to the man's heart.

The mask over the man's face muffled his curses.

Ruff!

He turned toward the loud bark. Boo dashed through the kitchen.

The man fled for the door, the hood of his sweatshirt flapping from the motion as he ran over the threshold. Calvin squinted, trying to make out any distinguishing features, but he was gone too fast, vanishing once again into the night.

Sirens called from a distance. Calvin slumped against the cabinet doors, and the hard metal knob dug into his back. He concentrated on regulating his ragged breaths—in slowly through the nose, out through the mouth. His teeth chattered as the adrenaline left his system. He kept his hand pressed firmly against his wound.

The click of claws clattered on the floor. Boo rested his head on Calvin's leg and whined. The wail of sirens screeched through the open door. The nasty wire of fear loosened, but the scars of the jagged barbs remained. The police may be here, but the lunatic terrorizing Jenna was still loose. And until he was caught, none of them were safe.

Pounding thumped against the front door. "Police. We received a call. Open the door, please."

Calvin pushed his feet against the floor to stand but collapsed back to the ground. "Jenna!" The word came out weak, the effort behind saying her name taking too much energy. He gritted his teeth. "Jenna! Door!"

The sound of the front door creaked open. Muffled voices filtered into his hazy mind. He tuned his ears to make out the noises, but energy leaked from his body until his eyelids dropped. The only thing his pain-addled mind could focus on was the warm fur against his leg and Boo's gentle whines.

"Calvin? Are you injured? It's Deputy Pennel."

Calvin opened his eyes and stared into the blurry outline of Sadie Pennel's worried face. The splatter of freckles across her nose and chestnut hair pulled back made her look much younger than her thirty years.

"Did you find him? Are Jenna and Oliver all right?" Nothing else mattered. Not the blood seeping through his T-shirt or the brutal burning sensation climbing up his body.

"Everyone's fine. We haven't found the intruder, but the house is clear. Right now, I'm concerned about you." At the sound of advancing footsteps, Sadie glanced over her shoulder as Deputy Tommy Wells entered the kitchen. "Calvin's shot and needs medical attention. Intruder left through the back door."

Tommy jogged to Calvin and crouched. His sandy-brown hair was cut short, which highlighted the youthfulness of his face. He kept his gaze locked on Calvin. "What happened?"

"He broke in. Shot me," Calvin said through gritted teeth. "I got off a shot, but I don't know if I hit him. He ran out the door. Has anyone searched the woods at the back of the house?" He'd give a statement later. Right now, someone needed to be looking for this bastard. With every second he fled further and further away.

A sharp gasp lifted Calvin's gaze.

Jenna stood with her hands pressed against her mouth and tears shining in her eyes. "You were shot?" She hurried to his side, crowding in beside him, and throwing her arms around his neck.

The weight of her body against his spiked his pain level as high as the damn ceiling, but he didn't care. He'd get shot three more times if it meant holding her in his arms again. He buried his nose in her hair and breathed in the familiar scent of her lavender soap and mint shampoo—a scent that took him all the way back to high school. She smelled like home, and dammit, he'd do everything in his power to not only keep her safe, but to keep those arms secured around him for a long time to come.

Relief pushed down the terror climbing up Jenna's esophagus—adding to the already muddled mix of emotions clogging her brain. But one thought circled round and round. Calvin had risked his life to keep her and her son safe. She'd almost lost him.

Again.

Calvin's muscles tensed, and she pulled away. Pain etched fine lines in the tightness around his mouth and the corners of his eyes.

She skimmed her knuckles along his jaw. "How bad is it?"

A sound of discomfort escaped his firmed lips. "Where's Oliver?"

"Somehow, he managed to fall back asleep in your bed. Safe and sound without a single worry." She wouldn't mention her own fear that had been almost paralyzing. When she'd heard the gunshots go off, her soul had shivered with the unknown. "But we need to focus on you." She dropped her gaze to the blood oozing from his side. Bile pitched in her stomach. Her breaths hitched in her throat, dizziness spinning her brain.

She'd seen countless, more dangerous, injuries in her time at the emergency room. But nothing compared to seeing the man she loved laying on his kitchen floor with blood seeping from his side.

"Look at me." Calvin's stern voice snapped her focus back up to meet his wide eyes. "The bullet grazed my side. It looks worse than it is. I'm fine."

She nodded, but the rush of fear and gratitude and affection made the motions jerky and uncontrollable.

"An ambulance is here, Calvin." Tommy said and rose to his full height.

Tommy frowned. "We'll get to the bottom of this. I promise. I'm going to meet the sheriff outside and secure the perimeter of the house."

Boo barked, announcing the arrival of Sheriff Mike Wells. "The ambulance pulled in behind me, Calvin. They'll look at you. Deputy Pennel, you take his statement, as well as Dr. Simon's." He dipped his head then stormed out the back door.

Sadie nodded. "Do you want to wait until the paramedics look you over before you give your statement?"

Calvin opened his mouth, but Jenna cut in. "He needs medical attention first," she said, snapping into doctor mode.

Oliver padded into the kitchen, his ratty blankie trailing on the floor behind him. "Mama?"

The mist in Jenna's eyes intensified. She pressed her lips to Calvin's cheek then jumped to her feet to steer Oliver away from the blood-filled view of Calvin on the ground. Even if he would be okay, it wasn't a sight her little boy should witness.

She set Oliver at the kitchen table and smoothed down his wild curls she didn't have the heart to cut. "Someone's coming in to look at Calvin's wound. We might have to go to the hospital. But everything's fine."

"Boo." The name came out on a yawn.

The dog hustled to Oliver's side and sat, resting his head on his lap.

A paramedic rushed into the kitchen with a medical bag. "What are we looking at, here?" The young man kneeled beside Calvin and kept his lips pressed together and eyes narrowed as he lifted the hem of Calvin's shirt to assess the damage.

"The bullet grazed my side. Shouldn't be too deep."

Jenna tapped the tip of her bare foot against the cool ground and every nerve in her body trembled. She wanted to be the one to tend to Calvin, but she couldn't leave Oliver's side. Calvin might say the bullet only grazed him, but the puddle of blood on the floor told her it could be worse than he realized. Tears streamed over her cheeks.

Sadie stepped up beside her, pen and notebook in hand. "Jenna, you made the call to dispatch. What happened?"

Jenna kept her gaze fixed on Calvin, who winced with every movement. Her heart screamed at her to drop to her knees, to bust down all the damn walls she'd built—to tell him how much she still cared for him.

"Jenna?" Sadie's voice broke through her thoughts. "I know this is hard, but I need to know what happened."

"I'm sorry." She faced Sadie and wiped away her tears, trying to pull together her wits. She blew out a shaky breath and concentrated on the deputy who'd become a friend over the past few months, both of them giving their time at the Safe Haven Women's Shelter. "I woke up and saw someone in the back yard. I went to Calvin's room, and he told me to call the police. While I was on the phone with the dispatcher, he grabbed a gun and left the room. I heard two gunshots…" She closed her eyes and replayed the moment in her head, her heart rate spiking. "The dog ran to the door, whining like crazy. I opened the door and he ran out."

Jenna had never felt so helpless in her whole damn life. She couldn't have left Oliver without knowing if the intruder was still in the house. But the need to get to Calvin and make sure he was all right was so deep, so strong, she'd thought her entire body would tear in two.

A warm touch settled on Jenna's bare forearm, pulling her back from the nightmare. "He's going to be fine. Right, Calvin?" Sadie infused a lightness to her tone that calmed the jagged edges of Jenna's nerves.

"Just a few stitches." The paramedic anchored a firm hand under Calvin's elbow and assisted him to his feet.

Calvin hissed. "Why don't you stay here while I get this taken care of? It won't take long. I'll give my statement either on the way to the hospital or once I get there."

"No. You're not going anywhere without me. You came to the kitchen alone to take care of a break-in and ended up shot. I'm not letting you do any of this alone anymore." Jenna steadied him with an arm behind the small of his back. The scent of blood mixed with the masculine smell of his sweat.

The pain in Calvin's eyes dimmed as he stared at her, a small smile lifting his lips.

Sadie crossed to the table and scooped Oliver into her arms. "Why don't I stay here and get this little guy back to sleep?"

Oliver giggled and threw his arms around Sadie's neck.

Jenna pulled in a shaky breath. "Thank you."

Mike strode through the door with his sheriff's hat in his hand, Tommy following along behind him. The grim set of their mouths and tension in their shoulders spoke volumes.

"Did you find him?" Calvin asked, hope lifting his deep baritone.

Mike shook his head. "I called in a search party to cover the forest. There's too much acreage back there to wade through just the two of us, and we need more light. Y'all should find somewhere else to stay after tonight. No use being a sitting duck until we find out who's after you and put him behind bars."

Jenna wanted to argue, but what the sheriff said made too much sense. She'd worry about it later. Right now, she needed to focus on Calvin getting the help he needed. Besides, that was the only problem in her world she could do something about right now. The rest would be there tomorrow—whether she wanted them to be or not.