fine now. It was just kind of nerve-racking at first, afraid I’d do the wrong thing after they turned me away and told me I needed more paperwork last time.” She reached to give Jessica a sideways hug, then stopped, opting for a small wave instead. “Thank you, Staff Sergeant Dylan. You’re a lifesaver.” Ellen was gone before the words were fully out of her mouth.
Not for the first time, a sparse loneliness brushed Jessica’s heart. She felt so out of place sometimes as a woman on an Army post. Pulling her beret from her side leg pocket, she ran it through her fingers and headed up the hallway toward the exit. Sure she had friends, but whenever she put on the uniform, something seemed to happen. Other women never seemed to know how to react around her, seemed to forget she was a female who’d appreciate a hug and girl talk just as much as the rest of them. Just because she was a soldier, it didn’t make her any less of a woman.
Though the balance was tough. She had to be strong enough to hang with the boys but woman enough to be one of the girls. She pressed her lips together as she pushed out the door into the cold, gray fall afternoon, grinding her black beret tight onto her head. On days like today, when her life was spinning in strange directions and she wanted to do the perceived “girl” thing and break down over all that had happened, the tightrope was even harder to walk.
At the end of the duty day on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, the parking lot was virtually empty, only a handful of other cars filling the spaces. It appeared everybody else wanted what she wanted. Home.
She checked her watch again as she headed for the far end of the parking lot. If she could get there in the next half hour, dinner for her Bible study girls would be right on schedule. It would take a run of green lights to get her that far that fast, though. Some days, living closer to post would be a blessing.
Pulling her keys from her pocket, Jessica clicked the door locks on her small gray sedan, her steps slowing as she drew closer. The car click of the locks was muted, the sound it made when it was already unlocked. She vividly remembered locking it because a young private had jumped ten feet in the air when the horn blasted as she did. Normally, she wouldn’t think twice but today—something seemed off, that gut feeling she often got when things in her world just weren’t right.
Then again, her radar had to be out of whack with Sean Turner feeding her ghost stories. That man was messing with her head in more ways than one. Shaking off the chill that tried to claw up her spine, Jessica pulled open the car door and glanced into the backseat as the lights illuminated the interior.
A man crouched low behind the driver’s seat. Dark eyes glittered at her, more chilling than the air, the same eyes that had been locked on her in the waiting room. He lunged over the seat toward her, grasping the edge of her sleeve and pulling her forward.
Jessica’s shoulder collided with the side of the car, the jolt to her already-injured muscles arcing through her to steal her breath. Her throat closed, trapping the scream that swelled and fought to escape. Digging in her heels, Jessica used her height advantage and threw her body backward, momentum causing her to stagger to the ground as the rough fabric of her uniform slipped through the man’s fingers. She hit hard, jarring her teeth together, scrambling to get up before the man could exit her vehicle and keep her down for good.
The car door pushed open as Jessica rose to her knees, but another body charged in from her left, foot clipping her knee and buckling her helpless to the ground.
* * *
Sean dove at the door, catching it with his hands and landing on his side as it slammed shut on Jessica’s attacker. He rolled to his feet as the man in the vehicle scrambled out the passenger door and got a running start, Sean’s boots skidding on loose gravel as he scrambled up to pursue.
The man leaped into a small SUV that sat waiting, door open and engine running, and skidded out of the parking lot as Sean pitched sideways to keep from being hit, sliding along the ground on his still-healing shoulder. He fought the intense desire to curl up against the pain, struggling to read the license plate of the fleeing vehicle. He was on his knees when Jessica thudded up beside him.
Sean reached for his phone to call the military police, and then abandoned the idea within the next second. The gate to get off post was too close to their position. Before he got through to anyone, that vehicle would be long gone, and all he’d have was more attention turned on Jessica when this investigation still needed to be under wraps. Without knowing who was involved, he couldn’t call in help unless he needed backup or had a suspect in custody. He abandoned the idea and turned his attention to Jessica.
She was pale, the hand she held out to him shaking.
He wanted to ignore the help, to prove that he could do this all by himself, but he knew it would insult her if he didn’t accept it. The thread that held them together was tenuous enough already, and protecting it was worth the perceived bruise to his ego.
She helped haul him to his feet as he winced against the pressure on his shoulder. Her gaze went there immediately, her hand following to rest on his upper arm. “Are you hurt?”
“Old injury.” He shook off the warmth of her fingers before he could decide he liked it and turned the focus back where it belonged—on her. “Are you okay? What just happened?”
“I opened my car door, and he was in there.” The statement might have been matter-of-fact, but the tension around her mouth telegraphed that this had upset her more than she was letting on. “I had the situation under control. Where did you come from?”
From his car five spaces away from hers, but that probably wasn’t the right thing to say at the moment, not with Jessica bound and determined to take care of herself.
He didn’t have to say a thing anyway. Her expression hardened. “You’re following me?”
“And aren’t you glad?” Seriously. She could at least be a little bit appreciative that he’d saved her life. Again.
“I’d be happier if you hadn’t let the guy get away.”
The words were born more out of adrenaline than malice and Sean knew it, but they still cut. Had he been more vigilant, he’d have seen the warning signs. Had he been quicker, he’d have arrived in time to see the guy crawl into her car, not three minutes before she left the building.
Then again, had he been three minutes later...
He shook off the thought of Jessica dead in the parking lot with a broken neck, a stab wound or worse. He’d made it in time. She just needed to understand how vital it was for someone to have her back. If this didn’t convince her the danger was real, protecting her and getting to the bottom of this mess was only going to get harder.
Reaching out to lay a hand on her arm, he turned her toward his car. “Let’s get out of the middle of the parking lot. You can wait in my truck while I clear your vehicle.”
She stopped, pulling away from his grasp. “Wait?” She threw a hand out toward Clarksville. “No. I have dinner tonight for the college girls in my Bible study. We get together before Thanksgiving and—”
“Whoa.” Sean held up a hand to stop the flow of words. She’d lost her mind if she thought she was going to up and leave a crime scene before they’d done all they could do to catch the man who likely would have killed her. “No leaving until the techs get here. And no Bible study at all, not until we know you’re safe.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head. “Cancel
