Silent Night Pursuit

Wade read the name written on the envelope. He lifted his head and showed it to her. “Except this is to you. Not me.”

“Me? But how would I know to come here for it? He left me the key and a piece of paper with your name on it. But there were no directions for the locker. If I hadn’t gone to find you, I wouldn’t have ever known it was here.”

“Acting first must be a pattern of yours he knows well.”

Lacey snatched the envelope. “So what? I’m driven. Some would say that’s a good quality to have.”

“If you have a death wish, sure.”

Lacey barely heard his remark because seeing her name scrawled on the front of the envelope written in Jeff’s handwriting nearly undid her. Tears sprang to her eyes as she realized this was the last letter Jeff wrote to her and would ever write again.

“Would you mind if I read this in private?” She looked at Wade over the paper, the feeling of moisture in her eyes.

Wade gave a quick nod. “I’ll be over by the stairs. Don’t take too long.” Promise followed her soldier, and as soon as Lacey heard the tap of his boots and the click of Promise’s claws fade away, she ripped open the envelope and withdrew the single-page letter.

The first words brought more tears to her eyes and clouded her vision so much she could barely read on. Her hands shook as Jeff stated that if she was reading this then he was dead. But nothing could stop her from reading on, not her tears and not the goons out there hunting her.

His words lectured her on getting along with Mama, but also told her to stay strong, and to remember everything he taught her. She wasn’t one of those dainty pieces of lace, he reminded her for the millionth time in her life. Lacey smiled at the words of her champion. What would she do without him cheering her on?

She exhaled and glanced at Wade, who was getting antsy by the stairs. Promise pushed against his thigh.

Lacey went back to the letter and read a part meant for him. Jeff wanted Wade to know he didn’t regret a thing. She read on, then dropped the letter to her side when the words ended too soon. Her brother signed off with a message for Wade to go home and to always remember words were powerful. Whatever that meant. Maybe something to do with his healing, Lacey thought. It would make sense that Jeffrey would encourage Wade to talk about his pain. The man seemed to keep everything in, especially whatever those images were that he’d mentioned.

Lacey gazed down at the bottom of the letter. A long line of numbers was scrawled there, but she had no idea what they meant, either.

“What does it say?” Wade caught her unaware. She hadn’t even heard his footsteps return.

Lacey held out the letter and held her breath as he read. He wasn’t going to like what Jeff had to say to him. After a minute of his own perusal, he looked back at her, befuddled.

“He wants me to go home and give up? I don’t believe it. We were getting so close.”

“And he got too close. Jeff obviously doesn’t want the same thing to happen to you.” She pointed to the letter. “What are those numbers at the bottom of the page? I don’t understand them.”

“They’re coordinates.” Wade handed the letter to her while he pushed some buttons on his watch. “Huh.”

“What? What did you do to your watch?” She stuffed the letter into Clay’s interior suit-coat pocket.

“I input the numbers to get the location.” He turned his wrist to show her the address that came up. “It’s my family’s racetrack.”

“Maybe it was Jeff’s way of telling you this was your home.”

Wade shook his head. “It’s best if I stay away from there.”

“Why?”

“You won’t get it.”

“Try me.”

Wade sighed and looked ready to bolt. This question affected him. Just when she thought he would take off, he surprised her and said, “I’m not whole, and that’s all I’m going to say. Now let’s get out of here.”

“Back to New Hampshire?”

“Back to square one.”

They retraced their steps in silence and exited the station with caution.

“It’s too quiet,” Wade whispered more to himself. “We should have heard or seen someone by now.”

“You sound disappointed.”

“I like being in control of the situation.”

They reached the halfway point to the car when Wade put an arm out to halt her and Promise. “The tires are flat. It’s a setup. Get back in the station now.”

Lacey and Promise turned tail on a dime and followed his orders. Wade went right up to the teller. He bought two tickets for the next train leaving the station in two minutes—going south.

“You better hurry or you won’t make it to the platform in time,” the teller said as he passed the tickets through the glass opening.

Wade didn’t wait for his change or to reply, but rushed them all through the station and out to the correct track.

The train waited on the empty platform; its doors would close on them any second. Lacey’s breath panted loudly in her ears. All their steps hit the walk like a stampede, but it was Wade who rushed ahead and made it to the door. He stopped it from closing with his hand. With all his might, he pushed it wide with one hand while he reached for Lacey with his other.

“Hurry!” he shouted. Quickly, his gaze went past her shoulder, his eyes narrowed and darkened. “Lacey! Run!”

Just then, Lacey felt a strong, beefy hand cover her mouth and yank her back into a hard chest, her feet dangling above the concrete. With her eyes on Wade, she never saw him coming. She’d been completely blindsided.

Lacey couldn’t see the man, but she could see Wade—and the look of conflict that washed over his face. He had two choices. Let go of the door, or let go of her.

She would tell him to hang on to the door if she could. She figured she would get out of the hold in just a second. A race-car driver had to be in top body shape to handle the strength of the cars and crashes. In the past, she’d climbed out of wrecked vehicles that were more constricted than this guy’s arms. But struggling in his grasp now did nothing to loosen his hold or stop him from dragging her back into his hiding spot, out from everyone’s view. She screeched from behind his sweaty hand, ignoring the awful salty taste and searching for a glimpse of Wade. She could no longer see him on the other side of a support beam. Her screeching was cut off when the guy moved his arm down to a choke hold. With his forearm at her throat, the only sounds she heard were the gurgles of the last of her air.

She thought of Promise. Did the dog know how to attack? Lacey had only seen the service animal offer tender care. Perhaps if it was Wade who needed the assistance, Promise would bare her teeth, but Lacey wasn’t her handler. And since the dog was trained not to leave her handler’s side, Lacey couldn’t depend on the dog to help her.

“Give me what was in the box, and I’ll make this quick and painless,” the gruff voice spoke in her ear.

Lacey forced her mind to think clearly. Panicking now would only get her killed. How many times had Jeff told her that? She pulled from Jeff’s training to help her out of this situation. Her army brother had instructed her not only on the track, but also in the gym. Getting out of a choke hold had been covered on the first day. Jeff had spent hours grabbing her from behind, calling her names like Frills and Ruffles. He’d really known how to make her head steam.

Lacey pictured her taunting brother and used her anger to push the beefy arm up and out. The break of the hold allowed her to turn toward the man and take his arm with her. She twisted it behind him and kicked the back of his leg just as the train’s whistle blew. He let out a scream of pain as she brought him to his knees and elbowed his nose straight back into his head. Not a person heard him over the train, but she heard her brother’s praises as though he called to her from the side of the mat. She would have loved to reminisce longer over the memories, but the train was leaving.

The green flag in Lacey’s mind’s eye waved. This was no time for a pit stop. She had to scram or be left behind. She hated being left behind.

She stepped around the brick wall and found the train car door closed and Wade and Promise gone.

It appeared Wade had made his decision.

He’d decided to let her go.

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