Christmas Double Cross. Jodie Bailey

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       THREE

      Danielle’s head pounded.

      No. That wasn’t it.

      She squeezed her eyes shut tighter. It wasn’t just her head. It was every part of her body. Even her hair hurt. For sure her head took the prize, though. Every time she managed to crack her eyes open, the light in the hospital room drilled into her skull. But mixed in with the pain was fear.

      What had happened to the man who had manhandled her to the ground? Was he still here? Waiting for her? Lurking in the hallway? Her memories were too muddled to make any sense. She remembered darkness. Chaotic, whirling darkness. Slamming against objects. A dull roar that rose and fell until it lapsed into eerie, shuddering silence with a final crash. Then...light. And a face she recognized, arms lifting and cradling her as she tried to bring reality back into focus.

      The man from her shop. He’d spoken very little, only a few words she couldn’t piece together. He’d brought her to the hospital.

      He’d saved her life.

      Why?

      Her breaths came faster. Maybe he was in on the attack against her.

      But no. His face when he’d spoken of her mother... No. He wasn’t that kind of man. Haunted maybe, but not evil.

      Not like the man who’d apparently tried to kill her.

      She fought to sit up, wanting to feel less vulnerable and helpless, but her muscles protested. Her whole body was too heavy to move, the pain amplifying her panic.

      Gentle hands on her shoulders eased her back, and someone laid a hand on the top of her head. “Dani. It’s okay. You’re safe.”

      Dani. Only one person was allowed to call her that.

      Relaxing into the pillows, she turned her face toward the voice. “Lights?”

      “Want me to see if I can turn ’em off?”

      She nodded slightly and the sound of his feet in those ever-present Vans padded across the room, then the light in front of her eyelids dimmed considerably. She eased them open as her brother sat in a chair beside the bed and slouched against the back, stretching his legs out.

      Danielle almost smiled, and would have if her jaw didn’t ache so badly. Now that he knew she was awake, all signs of concern or affection from Justin would probably cease. They were in public, after all.

      The twinge of amusement didn’t last long. His brown eyes were dark with something that had to be fear as he stared at her. His too-long brown hair fell over the creases in his forehead. He was upset, even if he’d never say it out loud.

      “I’m fine. Really. Don’t look at me like that.” Even though it was painful, Danielle pressed the button to ease the bed up, trying to prove to both of them that she’d survived the ordeal mostly unscathed. Still, if she hurt this bad tonight, what would tomorrow feel like?

      “Somebody tried to kidnap you. They stuffed you in a trunk, Dani. And when that car wrecked, you could have been...” He shoved out of the chair and paced to the window, shoving his hand through the mop of hair she kept begging him to cut. “Somebody has to look out for you. I should have been at the shop tonight.”

      Fear threatened to rip Danielle’s chest open, but she managed to keep her voice level. In spite of her own trauma, she had to stay strong for her brother. He’d been through enough, losing both parents when he was younger. Nearly losing his sister in a car accident had to be weighing on him now. But she was entitled to her fear, too, and the thought of those dangerous men anywhere near her brother twisted her stomach into knots. “What were you going to do? You’re fifteen, and those guys had guns.”

      “Maybe I should start carrying.”

      “Absolutely not.”

      “All I’m saying is—”

      “No.” СКАЧАТЬ