Chapter 7

Blaze’s wordsate at her while they worked to unhitch the boat and get it into the water. The police-issue rain jacket and boots that he’d given her hadn’t helped much. They were both soaked to the skin by the time they got into the boat and Blaze started the engine.

She didn’t have the luxury of coming from a place that provided an instant family. Blaze was right—he had more family than he knew what to do with. Her time in Laurel Valley was limited, but she’d been tripping over O’Haras since she first stepped foot there. What would the O’Haras—pillars of the community and the original founders of the town—think when Blaze introduced her as his wife?

She was a bounty hunter. She was good at her job, but money came and went depending on how high bonds were set for her skips. She’d learned to be frugal and stretch out her pay so she could have a roof over her head. Sometimes the money was very very good. And sometimes it wasn’t. What kind of prospect was she to bring home? Her brother was in prison and her parents were dead.

But he was the only person she’d ever felt this connection with. A soul connection that was so deep she couldn’t shake it if she tried. Her great-grandmother’s words were always in the back of her mind. Lily recognized Blaze as her equal, her perfect match, and even if she tried they wouldn’t be kept apart. And she’d tried over the last year. But fate had crossed their paths once more, and she was back in Laurel Valley. And back with him.

Maybe what Blaze said was right. Maybe the dreams wouldn’t be so hard to bear if there was someone to hold her when she woke from them.

Blaze steered the boat with expertise, and she had to admit she was glad he’d come along. She wouldn’t have gotten very far in unfamiliar territory in these kinds of conditions. Limbs swirled in the fast-moving brown water where the road had once been.

“Look there,” she said, pointing through the trees some distance away. It was hard to be sure of the color, but a vehicle had been overturned by the water and only the tail end was visible.

“Let me see if I can get closer. There are too many trees to maneuver through.” Limbs scraped along the bottom of the boat, and Lily pulled her hood around her face to keep the rain out so her vision was clear.

“Could be it. I think it’s dark blue, but it could be black.”

“Close enough for us to check it out. The first cabin is just up the way.”

He put the boat in reverse and headed back to the main road, and Lily dug in her bag for her extra cuffs and the homemade weapon she used to stop the skips who wanted to run.

“Whoa! What is that?” Blaze asked.

Lily grinned and held up the modified sawed-off shotgun. “It shoots sandbags,” she explained. “It doesn’t hurt the skips too bad, but it doesn’t feel real good either when one hits them in the chest with that much force.”

“I can imagine. I’ll pretend I didn’t see that. I’m almost positive it’s not legal.”

“Sure it is. And pretty effective too. I only have to shoot once and it knocks them down. Then all I have to do is slap on the cuffs.”

They almost missed the cabin because of a tree that had been knocked over, blocking it from sight.

“Well, I don’t think he’s staying there.” Blaze idled the boat a few feet away. “This is residual from the lake runoff. This is a hunting cabin and not residential, but it’s in the flood zone. Which is why no one uses it anymore. What you see is what you get.”

Water rushed through broken-out windows and the door hung on one hinge, banging back and forth against the cabin as the water pushed past it.

“Let’s head to the next one,” she said, starting to feel the prickle of unease at the base of her neck. She gripped her weapon tightly as Blaze nodded and drove the boat farther up the road.

“We’ll have to get out here and walk to land level,” he said, docking by a tree. “The next cabin is on higher ground.”

Lily was glad Blaze had loaned her the boots when she rolled out of the boat and into water that hit just below her knees. The temperature had dropped steadily and it didn’t help that her jeans were soaking wet and her hair plastered to her head, snaking beads of frigid water down the collar of her shirt.

Blaze took her arm and they waded to higher ground. Their boots sucked at the mud and the slight incline was slippery enough that she lost her balance a couple of times and had to grab Blaze’s shoulder to keep from falling.

“Stay low here,” he whispered. “The cabin is just over this rise and there isn’t a lot of cover if you come at it direct. We’ll split off in either direction and come at it from the sides.”

It was easy for her to picture him as a commander. His orders were precise and direct, and he had no doubt that they’d be followed to the letter. She nodded and watched his fingers as they counted to three and then gave the “go” sign. Lily crouched low and moved from tree to tree, using them as cover, though she wasn’t sure anyone would be able to see that far from the cabin because of the heaviness of the rain.

Her heart thudded in her chest as the little cabin came into view. He was in there. She knew it. Could feel it. No lights showed from the inside, but Coltraine would keep it dark if he suspected someone was outside trying to look in.

She’d be the most exposed on her run from where she was hidden to the side of the cabin. The rain made everything more difficult—more dangerous. She caught movement on the opposite side of the cabin and saw Blaze move into position similar to hers. And then he gave the signal to go and they both ran up to the sides of the cabin, staying low and against the wall once they got there.

The water from the river was almost to the back porch, so they had no choice but to go through the front. She crept around the side of the house and met Blaze at the front door, his weapon down at his side. Visions of the last time she’d stood in front of an unknown threat with someone she cared about flashed through her mind and she grabbed Blaze’s arm, squeezing so he would know to let her go in first.

He looked down at where her hand rested and then back at her face and shook his head. She could see the compassion, but also the steel behind it. Blaze would never let someone walk through the door in front of him. It wasn’t in his nature.

“On three,” he mouthed. “You go low. We’ll be fine.”

He started the count and on three his foot slammed into the door, knocking it back on its hinges. She went in low, her makeshift weapon ready to fire if need be. The first thing she noticed was the smell. Bitter sickness filled the air and she brought her arm over her nose and mouth to block it.

A low moan sounded from the corner of the room, and she and Blaze both turned in unison and pointed their weapons at Jackson Coltraine. He was at least twenty pounds lighter than he’d been when he’d left New York a month ago. His face was gaunt and dirty and his clothes ragged. He lay huddled in the corner, and his eyes burned bright with fever.

“Just take me,” he said, holding out shaking hands in surrender. “I’m sick. Get me a doctor. Take me in.”

“Wow,” Blaze said, his mouth tightening in a thin line. “That’s just pathetic. Let’s get him back to the boat and into town. He can spend the night in jail while we get Colt to come out and take a look at him. It’d be a shame for him to die before he was able to go to trial.”

“It’d at least save some taxpayer money.”

“Are you two going to shut up and arrest me or not? I think I might need to throw up again.”

“I’ll let you take point here,” Lily said, elbowing Blaze in the side. “You’ve got the badge.”

“You’ll owe me one.”

“That has yet to turn out to be a bad thing,” she said, arching a brow.

“I said arrest me already! This is police brutality, having to listen to you two yammer on.”

“Shut up, Coltraine,” Blaze said, pulling him to his feet and slapping cuffs on. “And if you throw up in my boat, you’re going to be sorry.”