Chapter 1

1

Avery

Few Days Earlier

" M omma?" my daughter calls out from the backseat of my car, now deceased car, to be specific. "We're cold!"

"I know, honey," I reply, trying to make myself heard over the howling of a raging winter storm. "Keep your sister close and stay under the blanket!"

Miley is only five years old but smart enough to know when to listen to me. Annie is three and doesn't understand what's going on. Hell, I'm even baffled as to how we got to this point, but I had no other choice. This is what I get for trying to work things out with a narcissistic psychopath. I never should've married Daniel. I never should've stuck around for as long as I did. That's all part of the past, though and that's where it will stay. Besides, there is nothing I can do to change it. All I can do now is look forward and make a better life for my kids.

We're a few feet away from Johnson Lake, stuck on the side of the road with too many miles between us and the next town. My car died, and I am nowhere near capable or equipped to fix it myself. To top it all, this snowstorm has me stranded and unable to walk all the way to Lexington with my daughters to an overnight shelter. The snow is too heavy, the wind is biting cold, and I can barely see ten feet ahead of me.

It's the middle of winter in Nebraska. What did I expect?

"Mommy is trying to find a way to get us somewhere nice and warm," I tell my daughters, hoping they can hold on for at least a couple more hours.

We only have what little heat the engine delivered before the car died, so I told Miley to keep the windows up so we can preserve that for as long as possible. I keep looking around, praying for a pair of headlights to appear from either direction but even that could end up being a double-edged sword. What if it's Daniel?

I smacked him over the head pretty good with that lamp. I would've bashed it all the way in, but Miley and Annie were screaming, terrified of their own father. He wasn't supposed to be able to find us and I don't understand how he did. The restraining order didn't faze him in the least. He just wanted to hurt me, to make me suffer for having had the audacity to divorce him.

Shuddering, I check my phone again. The battery is drained, and the screen is black. We're stuck out here on the side of the road in a Nebraska snowstorm, and I don't know whether I can rely on the kindness of strangers. With this low visibility, it could be Daniel who finds us. And then it'll be over. I've no doubt he will kill me. I hit him with the lamp, I grabbed my daughters, and then I drove off as fast as I could, not caring about the thickening snowstorm at that point. I had to survive. I had to put some distance between us and him.

My girls are huddled together, shivering under the blanket. I reckon most of the warmth has faded by now and they are relying on one another's body heat. We've been out here for maybe half an hour, and I haven't seen a single car or truck drive by. Who would be nuts enough to drive in this weather? Well, me, obviously. I would've tolerated Daniel hitting me. I would've tried to talk some sense into him, at least until I could call the cops, but when he laid his hands on Miley, I just snapped.

"I didn't have a choice," I mutter through gritted teeth, my jaw clenched as my whole body involuntarily bucks against the freezing cold.

All I have to keep me relatively warm is this hooded winter parka of mine and the boots I managed to slip into before I ran out the door. The three of us were in our jammies when the bastard broke in. Everything happened so fast. My arm still hurts from where he grabbed me and my cheek stings from where he slapped me so hard I saw stars. I'll take the cold of winter over being anywhere near Daniel ever again. But my babies… we won't last much longer if we aren't rescued soon.

Eventually, I'll have to get in the back with Miley and Annie so I can give them what's left of my own dwindling body heat. It'll drop dramatically below zero later in the night, and I doubt we'll survive until morning if the weather reports turn out to be accurate. But I will do whatever I can to give my daughters a chance to make it, even if I don't.

Less than four hours ago, we were eating mac and cheese and watching a Tom & Jerry marathon on TV. We'd only just moved to Campbell. I liked that town. It was small, quiet, and far enough away from Daniel to allow me to sit comfortably in the evenings while planning for the weeks ahead of my already frazzled life. Damn Daniel for ruining things again.

My breath gets stuck in my throat as I see a pair of headlights approaching. For a moment, my heart stops beating altogether. Terror grips me until I realize the car is coming from Hershey, not Campbell. Daniel would be coming from Campbell, where I left him bleeding on the floor.

I start honking my horn, my muscles heating up with every frantic motion. I hope the driver can see me through this dense snowfall and hear the horn blaring over the wind. The lights get brighter, and the car starts coming to a slow halt. A heavy sigh leaves my body as I recognize the Sheriff's red and blue lights glowing overhead. I can hear the tires sliding on the snow as the car gets closer. "Thank God," I mumble as I cautiously open my door.

I freeze again when I see this mountain of a man getting out from the driver's seat. Holy hell, he's massive. Tall and broad-shouldered, made even bigger by a thick winter jacket with a brown fur collar. I see the badge on his leather belt. The woolen cap with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department logo just above his forehead. Then the piercing green eyes that seem to be able to look right into my soul.

"Are you alright, ma'am?" the man asks as I open my door a little more to talk to him.

"No, I am anything but alright," I reply with a trembling voice. "My car died."

He looks inside the car and spots my girls in the backseat. "Are they your children?"

"Yes. We've been stuck here for a while. Not a car in sight," I say.

"Where were you coming from?"

I have the sudden fear that Daniel has woken up and called the police to say I've kidnapped my own children.

"Ma'am where were you coming from?" he asks me again, this time more sternly.

"Does it matter?" I shoot back, my shoulders squared. I have no idea what I'm trying to do here other than protect my children. "Officer, we just need some help, please. Maybe a jump start."

The man looks at me with the kind of intensity that has my skin tingling all over. He's handsome and then some. Olive skin, soft lips, just enough stubble to make my fingertips feel ticklish. I can imagine layers of rippling muscles underneath that uniform. Snap out of it, Avery . "Where were you coming from?" he insists, speaking more slowly this time, enunciating each word.

"Does it matter?" Two can play this game.

"Momma, we're cold!" Miley cries out from the backseat.

"Dammit," I curse under my breath. "Campbell. We were coming from Campbell."

"Alright," the man replies. "And where are you headed?"

My shoulders drop. I'm exhausted from constantly being afraid all the time, so wary of danger because of Daniel. This truly could be just an officer of the law doing his job. He's supposed to ask questions. He's supposed to get as many details out of me as possible in order to make an informed decision. I'm seeing Daniel's flying monkeys everywhere these days, and it's hindering my efforts to keep my own daughters safe. My eyes sting as tears threaten to make everything worse.

"As far away from my ex-husband as possible," I say, a knot tightening in the back of my throat.

The man stills and narrows his eyes at me. "Did he hurt you?"

"My daughter, too," I nod slowly. "Listen, if you can't help me out with the car, could you at least give us a ride into the next town? My phone's dead, but I've got some cash, just enough to keep us in a motel or something until the morning."

"There are no motels anywhere nearby. The closest one would be in North Platte," the man says.

"Could you take us there?"

"I need to know your name, first."

I scoff. "Do I have to get arrested in order to put a roof over my daughters' heads tonight?"

"That's not necessary," he says. "I just need a name."

"I could try and punch you. That'll get us an overnight stay in jail, right?" I'm willing to do whatever it takes at this point. Either the snowstorm caused my brain to short-circuit, or I really am that desperate.

"A name."

"What's yours?" I reply instead. "How do I know Daniel didn't send you? He's probably looking for me right now."

"Ma'am, I'm Kellan Cassidy, Sheriff of Lincoln County. No one sent me," he says firmly, sounding somewhat offended. Not that I can blame him. "I knew there might be trouble on the roads tonight on account of this weather, so I decided to do a slow and steady tour of the main roads before I head back home for the night. It seems as though my instincts served me well since I found you. Chances are you won't get another car driving by at least until the morning. Entire sections of this road have already been closed, blocked off by snow."

I look around, and all I see is a sea of white underneath a gray sky. Somewhere beyond, I know there's Lake Johnson. It's close enough, but the constant snowfall makes me feel cut off from anything and everything. I'm alone out here, alone with two babies who depend on me for their safety.

"Can I see your badge, Sheriff?" I ask politely. "I just need to be sure."

The sheriff nods and takes the badge off his belt, then brings it forward with cautious steps. I notice his other hand is resting on his weapon. I inspect it quickly and allow myself a sigh of pure relief. "I would like to help you," he says. "The temperatures are set to drop well below zero before dawn."

"Thank you, Sheriff. Can you take us to the police station at least? Or a motel in North Platte?"

He comes closer as he replaces his badge, his gaze softening as it settles on my face. I must look like crap.

"Is Daniel your husband?" the sheriff asks.

"Ex-husband. I have a restraining order against him. But he came after us anyway."

"Did that happen tonight?"

"Yes, sir."

Miley pipes up from behind me. "Momma! Are we going home?"

"Oh, God, I need to get them out of this cold," I burst into tears. This is it. My breaking point coming at the worst possible time. I can't control my body from shuddering as I drop my head on the steering wheel and start crying my heart out. "I had to get away from him but the car… I knew I'd need to get a mechanic to check it before I took it out on the road again but Daniel… my girls… we need help." And then it hits me. "Oh, no, no. NO!" I cry out as I frantically pat my coat's pockets.

"Ma'am, you need to calm down," the sheriff says, crouching down beside my car door.

"I left my wallet in Campbell. Daniel has my wallet! My ID, my driver's license… oh, no, no, this can't be happening. My bank cards. Whatever cash I had left. Oh, God, I think I'm gonna be sick."

The sheriff opens the door a bit wider and takes me by the shoulders. "What's your name?"

"Avery, Avery Madison," I manage between sobs.

"Okay, Avery. Can I call you Avery?"

"Yes."

"Avery, I need you to listen to me very carefully now," the sheriff says. "You need help, you need a place to stay, and it is more than an overnight stay at the police station could provide." I look up, barely able to see him through the rivers of tears constantly flowing from my eyes. "I'd like to help you, if you'll let me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you don't have any cash or cards. You said it yourself. You left your wallet behind when you were understandably fleeing for your safety," he says. "You need a warm place to stay, at least for a few nights until you sort out a new driver's license, new bank card, and anything else you'll need. Shelter and food for yourself and for your daughters is first and foremost. Do you agree?"

I nod slowly. "Yes, sir."

"Please, call me Kellan," he replies, a warm smile sketched across his lips. "I can help you. There's a place I know where you would be the safest. Will you let me take you and the girls there?"

Blinking the tears away, I try to process every word coming out of his mouth. "Where is that, exactly?"

"It's just outside North Platte," Kellan says. "It's a big house, top notch security. It's the HQ of a security firm, but one whole wing doubles as a private residence. There's a room available for you and your girls. And once we get you settled in, we can work on getting your life back, one step at a time."

All I can do is stare at him in sheer disbelief. My mind draws a repetitive blank as I try to think of something to say but nothing comes. What's the angle? Maybe there isn't one. Maybe the sheriff of Lincoln County is honestly offering me much needed help. I can hear Miley weeping behind me, Annie crying next to her. I can't falter. I can't hesitate.

My babies depend on me.