Chapter 5

Ensuring all interior lights were off, Dominic raced to the duffel bag of surveillance equipment he'd borrowed from Soren Security.

When he'd walked downstairs to fetch them glasses of water, a glint outside on the street caught his eye. A reflection of something that shouldn't be there.

He hauled out the impressive camera equipped with long-distance vision. He stood at his living room window and followed up on his hunch—tracking the glint of a streetlight that reflected off a car hovering on the street near his driveway.

The camera lens brought the vehicle into focus like a microscope.

Yeah, someone was hovering. Damn it.

His first thought was to call Detective Rally. The moment the man picked up, Dominic demanded, "Did you send someone to watch us?"

The detective huffed. "I don't even know where you are, you never said. How could I have sent an officer to guard you? Why, did you spot someone?"

Dominic grunted. "Thanks for confirming. Yeah, I've got someone on my radar who shouldn't be here."

"Did someone tail you?" Rally asked.

Do you take me for a rookie?"No, I'm certain we didn't pick him up on the drive here. He found us on his own, long after we arrived. That means?—"

"She's got a tracking device planted on her."

Dominic exhaled. "Yup."

"Give me your address. I'll come to you."

"That would help, but I'm not waiting around."

Rally's voice dropped. "Don't go rogue on me, man. I know you used to have my role in the military, but you're a civilian now."

"I know my limitations," Dominic muttered. However, he also knew his freedoms, and he could take matters into his own hands if he could prove self-defense. He rattled off his street address. "Send reinforcements. I'll call you if I find out more."

Rally's pained sigh echoed through the phone. "Why do I distinctly not like the sound of that?"

Dominic was glad the detective couldn't see his crafty smile. He planned to use this pursuer to lure the mastermind out of hiding once the asshole made bail.

He needed to nail the source of the threats, or Lara's boss would prove a menace, forever looming over her. She'd never feel truly safe—and that wasn't an option for the life he wanted them to share.

His best recourse was to take down her boss by using his own methods against him.

They'd start by figuring out how her location had been discovered. Dominic had a pretty good idea, and the level of sophisticated plotting turned his blood to ice. Someone had gone to extreme lengths to ensure Lara didn't see the sunrise.

Dominic clenched his jaw. He didn't see me coming. I'm the one who'll make sure Lara sees every sunrise and sunset…with me.

"Are you about to set up a trap without me?" Rally demanded.

Yep. "No, why would I do everything in my power to keep my girl safe, no matter what it takes?"

"Damn." Rally exhaled. "It's my duty to send officers to support you?—"

"Can you get here in forty-five minutes? I don't trust this guy to stake out longer than that. Based on everything that's happened tonight, I'm betting he's a hit-and-run type."

"Well, I–I can?—"

"Get here as fast as you can," Dominic stated before he ended the call.

* * *

Lara dragged on her clothes before she hurried downstairs. "I heard you talking to Rally."

He cupped her shoulders. "What did you bring with you to my house, that could contain a tracking device?"

Stunned, she blinked. "Nothing. Maybe my purse?"

They emptied her purse and found zero evidence.

"What about your coat?" Digging through the garment, Dominic held up a pen he withdrew from the right pocket.

Shocked, she shook her head. "I've never seen that before. That doesn't belong to me."

Dominic pulled the pen apart and found a small electronic device hidden inside. "It looks like when that guy tried to abduct you, he left a calling card."

She swallowed. "Oh, my God."

"Yeah," he said, pausing to kiss her forehead for reassurance. "This guy means business." His calculating mind thought fast. "Do you know how to use a gun?"

She recoiled and shook her head.

"No time like the present," he said grimly. "You might need that skill before tonight is over."

"Okay," she said without hesitation. "Teach me. Detective Rally is sending backup, right?"

"Help is on the way."

Lara knew in her bones she'd never be safe if they didn't draw out her attacker. While they still had the chance. "We can't wait for Rally's officers to get here."

Dominic sent her a concerned glance. "My military instincts agree."

"What if we set up a controlled environment? Draw him into a snare?"

As he rubbed his jaw in contemplation, she could practically hear the gears turning in his mind.

"I could take the tracker and lead him on a chase through the woods," he suggested.

"No way. He could evade us if the cops arrive before you take him down. Too many escape routes. What if I draw him out, and then hide somewhere we lure him into?" she suggested.

"I could corner him here. I know my house, he doesn't?—"

"And risk having a fight here, where he would damage your beautiful home? Not my first choice."

The notch between his eyebrows revealed his distress. "Collateral damage is nothing compared to keeping you safe, Lara."

She thought for a moment. "How big a risk are you willing to take," she asked? "What if a small one could guarantee his capture?"

His stubborn chin jutted out. "Not one that puts you in jeopardy."

"The end justifies the means." She took a deep breath and said, "I'll be the bait."

He sent her a fearsome glower. "No."

"We need to act fast, Dominic. We could lose our shot at cornering him?—"

"Absolutely not." His features hardened. "You're too precious to me. I won't put you in danger."

"In case you haven't noticed…" She swung her hand in an arc above her head to encompass her day. "I've been facing danger this entire night. We've survived by working together."

"I won't allow it."

She huffed at his overbearing attitude. "Allow it? Seriously? Does that mean you prefer he gets away?" Desperation leaked into her voice. "If he does, he'll take with him our best shot at pinning this on the real threat—my boss. If we let him go now, I'll never be free. Always looking over my shoulder. That's no life."

"What if something goes wrong?" His eyes flashed with a startling depth of emotion. "I haven't waited all these years to find you, only to lose you."

She settled her hand on his chest. "Then we'd better come up with a foolproof plan—and time it with Detective Rally's arrival."

Revealing a pained look, Dominic sighed. Then his eyes took on a hard light as if he'd accepted her challenge. "Do you trust me?"

"With my life," she whispered.

He cupped her face and kissed her deeply.

When he drew back, she watched resolution settle on his face. "You mentioned a controlled environment. We'll set the trap in my barn. I have rope, tools, and I can wait in the shadows until the moment he strikes."

"I have an idea…"

After she shared her thoughts about creating the lure, he nodded.

"That's solid, sweetheart. This had better work," he muttered through clenched teeth.

Determined, she threw her shoulders back. "I'm ready to take back my life so I can share my future with you."

His face softened with a glow of unspoken emotion. "I'll take those odds. Any day. You ready to do this…together?"

She tucked the tracker pen into her coat pocket. "Ready."

* * *

On silent feet Dominic crept out to his barn.

He hated the unknown.

He'd spent his life guarding against them, creating outcomes where action met certainty. And he'd never forgive himself if anything happened to Lara.

Then make sure you're ready so this doesn't go sideways.

Maneuvering within the shadows, he used muscle memory, instinct, and the light of the moon to guide his movements.

He gathered convenient weapons throughout the barn. Rope. Car chains. Tools that would inflict serious damage he'd hidden beneath tufts of straw. He rigged two heavy hay bales above the partially open front entrance. Then he balanced a bucket of cast-off bolts, nails, and sharp metal parts above the slight gap in the side door.

He attached a piece of rope to the bucket handle, allowing for some slack as he headed to a dark corner, blending into the shadows as he lay in wait.

The sound of Lara's beautiful voice carried from his front porch. She spoke in frustrated tones, holding a pretend conversation on her phone. She yelled at her invisible listener. She gave an angsty shout of frustration. Then she slammed the front door of his house.

She sounded damned convincing.

Her stalker must've thought so, too, because in less than a minute, footsteps came crunching down his gravel driveway.

A moment later, the back door of his house burst open with a loud smack and then Lara pounded down the steps, heading toward the barn.

"Why won't anyone believe me?" Her frustrated words let Dominic know exactly where she was.

The sound of the intruder's creeping footsteps paused.

"It's not like I made this up!" she shouted to the trees. "I'm not some drama queen with nothing better to do than tell the cops I'm being targeted."

She let out a loud groan of frustration.

Pacing toward the barn, she announced, "Even Dominic thinks I'm overreacting. Fine. I'll sleep in his stupid barn. At least there I'll find some peace from all these accusations."

Her slim form slipped into the narrow opening between the barn's large double doors.

The hay bales swayed precariously. Dominic held his breath—but they didn't collapse.

Once inside, she darted to the pitch-dark corner where they'd agreed she would hide.

Stealthy footsteps approached the main barn doors from outside. They paused. The man was calculating his next move.

Dominic watched the guy's shadow, faintly outlined by an exterior spotlight, as it merged into the darkness, indicating he was doing recon.

The night went terribly silent.

Would their menace try to enter through the side door instead?

Even better.

Dominic tested the tension of the rope in his hand. He had 0.03 seconds to make this count.

The side door creaked open. The bucket wavered.

The man pushed another inch inside.

Dominic tugged. The bucket dropped.

Crash!

Following the rope's lead, its payload cascaded onto the man's head. Startled, he yelped in surprise as the heavy bolts and sharp metal rained down, leaving him disoriented and howling in pain.

Dominic lunged, snatching the heavy chains from the floor and looping them around the intruder. He used the full weight of his body to bring the man down, but the intruder rolled violently, attempting to free himself.

Dominic's grip held firm. He dug his heels into an upraised floorboard like a cowboy reining in a stampeding buffalo.

Lights flickered on overhead. Under the sudden glare, the menacing intruder went still.

"Don't move." Lara stepped forward, holding Dominic's nine-millimeter in her hands, aimed at the center of the guy's chest.

She hadn't switched off the safety, following Dominic's instructions precisely. Despite her bravado, the tremor in her hands didn't diminish the powerful impression she made.

The wild-eyed, unblinking stare of their captive told Dominic he hadn't noticed those details.

A curse scraped from the man's throat.

Moments later, he heard the approach of cars, and soon after, three sets of headlights beamed through the barn slats.

A groan of surrender from the chained heap on the floor told him the assassin had given up the fight.

Dominic's phone buzzed in his pocket. He shifted the chains to one hand to answer Detective Rally's call. "Yep. We've got him. We're in the barn."

He watched as visible relief etched Lara's face.

Then he sucked in a breath. "Wait!"

Lara froze, pure terror in her eyes. He never wanted to see that look in her eyes ever again.

He instructed, "Lara, pull open the front garage doors now. We don't want hay bales dropping down on the detective's head."

When she did, two heavy hay bales pounded the barn floor in front of Rally and his two backups. Straw and dust plumed in the air like confetti caught in the beams of their headlights.

Rally coughed and swatted the debris from the air.

Lara raced toward Dominic and dove into his chest. "I'm sorry if I did anything wrong."

"You were perfect, sweetheart," Dominic murmured, hugging her close.

Setting his hands on his hips, Rally surveyed the scene. "Not as sorry as you could've been, taking the law into your own hands. You ignored my instructions to stand down."

"We couldn't risk the stalker getting away," Lara insisted.

As he waved his deputies to collect their captive, he shook his head. "Can't say I blame you." Then he narrowed one eye. "That doesn't mean I'm good with the two of you playing cop."

The deputies dealt with the prisoner, hauling him up, replacing the chains with handcuffs.

Dominic cradled Lara protectively, his soft exhale stirring her hair. "You were amazing." He shifted her in his arms, nudging up her chin until their eyes met. "I think you're my perfect partner in crime. I'm just glad we found ourselves on the right side of the law."

Dampness clung to her lashes, evidence of the emotional intensity of these past few minutes—not to mention the turbulence of her entire day. Despite it all, she'd shown remarkable strength.

He lovingly smoothed his fingertips along her hairline before he tucked the soft tresses behind her ears. "How about waking up tomorrow to the first day of the rest of our lives together?"

Stunning hope filtered into her eyes as she gazed up at him. "I'd say…it's about time."

A gentle laugh rumbled in his chest. He leaned his forehead to hers. "I agree. Let me make it up to you."

"I'm listening…"

Behind them, headlights bobbed as the police cars backed down the driveway, leaving them in semi-darkness. Only the moon and stars illuminated them.

"First, we'll kick things off with a champagne brunch, toasting your freedom. Followed by a leisurely ride in my convertible, feeling the wind in your hair."

"And then?"

"We'll need to get the dust out of your hair. I'll lower you into my tub and bathe you in a bubble bath."

"And then?"

"I'll lay you down in my bed and kiss you head to toe. Before I make love to you."

"And…then…?"

He loved that she kept him honest. He would honor her for the rest of their lives together. He smiled into her hope-filled gaze.

"And then I'll ask you to marry me. You'll protest. Say it's too soon. And I'll tell you I've waited my whole life to find you again. What would you say to that?"

"Yes," she whispered, smiling up at him. "Yes, to everything."

"You're my everything."

His lips sealed over hers in a kiss that would begin the rest of their happily ever after.