Author: Jane Blythe

His body hit something hard.

The jolt of pain jarred him out of unconsciousness, and he lifted his head and looked around him. Cooper felt groggy, his head was spinning, and his body wouldn’t cooperate properly.

He was in a what looked like the back of a van, the light was dull but he could make out three bodies lying beside him.

Sarah, Walt, and Becca.

His wrists were bound behind his back and his ankles were tied together but he was able to wriggle across the space until he was beside Sarah’s too still body.

“Sarah,” he called nudging her but she didn’t stir.

“Coop?”

While keep his body in contact with Sarah’s he looked over at his partner. “Walt? You okay?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Sore but alive.” Given that they could have been inside the cabin when it exploded instead of beside it they were all lucky to be alive.

“Becca?” Walt called, and he moved across the van in the same awkward manner Cooper had given that he too was bound. “Becca, answer me.”

“Walt?” came the groggy reply.

“Are you okay?” Walt demanded, fear evident in his voice.

“I think so,” Becca replied.

They were all awake and appeared to be okay, although he knew his body was covered in cuts and bruises, he was sure the others were too, all except for Sarah.

“Something’s wrong with Sarah,” he said as he gently jostled again, trying to invoke a response of some sort. As he moved closer to try to brace her body with his own to protect her when the vehicle started moving he felt something wet soaking into his clothes.

Blood.

She was soaked in it.

Leaning over he found the source of her bleeding and his heart felt like it stopped beating.

“She’s been shot,” he told the others.

“Breathing?” Walt asked.

Cooper leaned down so his cheek was above her mouth. “Yeah. I’m sorry, you’re all in this mess because of me.”

“Not your fault someone is targeting you,” Becca reminded him.

Maybe so, but the facts were his partner, his partner’s girlfriend, and the woman he was attracted to were currently sitting tied up in the back of a van.

Three loud pops echoed outside.

He threw himself over Sarah, and she woke to another gunshot being fired. “Its okay,” he soothed, knowing it was anything but but wanting to keep her calm. Four people had just been killed and he still had no idea who was after him or why.

The van door opened and someone stepped up through it.

Cooper gasped when he saw who it was, Walt let out a muttered curse, and even Becca sucked in a shocked breath.

For a moment all Cooper could do was stare. This wasn’t possible. Why on earth would this man go to so much effort to try to destroy him?

A smirk lit his face and he took a step towards them. “Surprised to see me here?”

“I don’t understand,” Cooper replied.

His boss nodded, smirk still in place. “I know but you will.”

Heat.

Pain.

Crackling.

Dazed and confused, Sarah lifted her head, wincing at the resulting stab of pain bouncing around inside her skull.

What had happened?

Flames danced around her, pieces of burning debris lay scattered about, and she could see bodies.

Fear for Cooper surged through her, giving Sarah the strength to stagger to her feet. She hurt all over, she could feel wet blood coating her skin, and she was sure she was covered in bruises, but she had to get to him.

“Cooper?” she called out.

There was no answer.

She headed for the nearest body, but when she knelt beside it and rolled it over she found it was Cooper’s partner Walt. She touched his neck, saw he was still breathing, and quickly checked him for major injuries. Seeing nothing immediately life threatening Sarah spun in a circle looking for another body.

Spotting feet sticking out from under a piece of wood she headed there next but when she shoved the piece of the destroyed cabin aside she found Walt’s girlfriend Becca. Again she checked to make sure the woman was alive and not in need of immediate first aid, then she stood and surveyed the scene.

Where was Cooper?

Was he dead?

The sound of a car drew her attention and she turned to see a large black SUV driving towards them.

Relief made her weak but she managed to stagger towards it.

“Help,” she screamed, “we need help. Please,” the last came out as a desperate sob.

The car stopped and as she approached she saw a man dressed all in black step out.

A warning swirled in her stomach too late.

Still the gunshot caught her surprise.

As did the searing pain in her leg.

She swayed then hit the ground hard.

The man came towards her, she tried to get back on her feet but darkness was closing in on her.

Soon it consumed her.

Cooper was finally warm. At Walt’s car he and Sarah had stripped out of their soaked clothes and wrapped themselves in the emergency blankets Walt kept in his first aid kit. They’d stopped at a Walmart and Walt and Becca had gotten them something to wear, and now they were sitting in the back of the car, the heaters blaring, and the last of chill had melted away.

At least for him.

In his arms Sarah shivered and he pulled her closer, tucking her head under his chin, and rubbing his hands up and down her arms.

“We’ll be there soon,” Becca said, twisting in her seat to look back at them.

“And you’re sure nobody knows about this place?” Walt asked.

Becca rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. “Yes, Walt. My grandfather owns the cabin but he’s in the hospital right now. No one will be there, and no one would connect it to Cooper.”

They all lapsed into silence, it was only adrenalin that was keeping him awake.

The sound of gunshots startled him awake, he hadn’t even realised he was asleep. “What’s going on?” he demanded.

“Someone is following us,” Walt replied.

“How?”

“Must have been following me because I’m your partner,” Walt replied. “They want you bad.”

“Duck for cover,” he said to Sarah as he set her on the floor of the car.

“The cabin is just down the next road,” Becca said.

“Want to try to catch him?” Walt asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Cooper agreed, he wanted to know who was after him and hurting the people he cared about in the process.

“Be careful,” Sarah said as Walt pulled into the driveway.

“I will,” he assured her. “You two stay here.”

As soon as the car stopped he jumped out and started running, hoping the shooter would follow. All he had to do was draw the guy’s attention while Walt circled in to catch him.

A bullet whizzed past him, hitting a tree trunk inches from his head.

“Freeze,” a voice demanded.

Cooper did. He put his hands on his head, allowed the guy to focus on him, then a moment later he heard his partner.

“I don’t think so,” Walt said. “Don’t think about doing anything stupid, we’re taking you in.”

“Don’t test me, I would love nothing more than to let out some of my anger by shooting you,” Cooper growled.

They led their prisoner back towards the cabin, he couldn’t wait to get this guy to the station and find out just what was going on.

“You’re okay,” Sarah said as she ran towards him, hugging him hard.

“Yeah, darlin, I promised you I would be,” he said hugging her back.

“Lets get him inside and we’ll call our boss, get to the bottom of this,” Walt said.

They were all on the cabin’s porch when suddenly the cabin exploded.

Everything was fuzzy.

Sarah felt like she was still underwater but she knew she wasn’t. She had hazy memories of water gushing from her lungs, and warm hands on her.

Cooper’s hands.

Somehow they penetrated the bone deep cold with their heat. Right now those warm hands had picked her up and he was holding her against him.

Light flashed over them and she felt Cooper tense.

“Coop, its just us.”

Sarah didn’t recognise the voice but it was clear Cooper did because he immediately relaxed. “Walt, what are you doing out here, and why is Becca with you?”

“We were on our way to Sarah’s house, we heard you guys leave so we followed, we saw that car run you off the road, we’ve been trying to find you ever since,” Walt replied.

“Someone else is out here,” Cooper said. “Someone is after me and they’re willing to take out other people to get to me. We have to get Sarah someplace safe.”

“I know the perfect place,” Becca said.

“Lets go. Put her down,” Walt said.

Sarah was having a hard time following what was going on but when Cooper tensed she could almost feel what he was feeling and it was no surprise when he said, “I can’t let her go.”

She felt the same desperation inside her. In the couple of hours she’d known him Cooper had managed to get a grip on her heart. She had no idea how, she didn’t believe in love at first sight, barely believed in love at all after the example her parents had set. Of course she didn’t love Cooper, you couldn’t love someone you just met, but she felt a connection to him unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

“I meant I’ll carry her back to the car,” Walt explained.

“Don’t let me go,” Sarah whispered, lifting her head from Cooper’s shoulder.

He smiled down at her. “Wouldn’t dream of it, darlin.”

Her entire being settled despite the apparent danger she was in because of him. “Thank you, I mean I know its just until this is over but …”

“Darlin, when this is over and I find who’s trying to set me up for murder and kill me, I’m going to take you out of a date.”

“Really?” she asked, wondering what this strong, sexy guy saw in someone like her.

“Unless you got a problem with that?”

“No, no problem, I can’t wait.” Sarah was positive that it would be the best date of her life.

“Good. Here’s a little preview of what you can expect.”

Cooper dipped his head and swept his lips across hers in a sweet, sensual kiss that had her insides turning to fire at the promise of what would be coming.

One second Sarah was safe in his arms as he swam them towards the riverbank, the next she was ripped from his arms by the strong current and he saw her being dragged underwater.

Muttering a curse Cooper started swimming in the direction she’d gone, allowing the current to do most of the work so he didn’t tire himself out. Sarah had been barely conscious after the crash there was no way she could battle against the water and win.

It was dark out making it even harder to spot her but there was no way he was leaving the river without her. There was something about Sarah that drew him in and he couldn’t stomach the thought of leaving her to fend for herself. Or of not being able to find her in time.

Every second they spent in the icy water their body temperatures dropped, and if Sarah was unconscious and taking in water she wasn’t going to last long out here.

Just up ahead he spotted a glimpse of something pale. Praying it was Sarah he swam quickly towards it. Thankfully the current worked for him this time and it literally threw him into a now limp Sarah.

Wrapping an arm around her chest he kicked his legs, fought through the exhaustion weighing him down and somehow managed to make it to the riverbank.

Swinging Sarah into his arms he stumbled onto the grassy bank and then dropped to his knees, laying Sarah out beside him. She was deathly pale and unmoving, and when he touched his near numb fingertips to her neck he couldn’t feel a pulse. Unsure if it was him or her, he placed his cheek above her mouth but neither felt any puff of air or saw her chest rise and fall.

Cooper started CPR, delivering two breaths before counting aloud as he pumped thirty times on her chest. He repeated the cycle three times before she finally came back to him.

As he rolled her onto her side so she could cough up the water that had tried to steal her life, Cooper felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Someone was watching them.

Whoever had run them off the road?

He had to assume it was, because anyone else would have immediately come to see if they could render aid, but this person was like a shadow, watching from the trees.

Someone was out to get him he was sure of it.

Keeping half his attention on Sarah as he eased her onto her back again, and the other half on their surroundings he debated his next move. He wasn’t sure how far down the river they’d gone, or how far the nearest road was. Sarah wasn’t walking out of here on her own two feet, and they couldn’t stay, Sarah might be breathing again but she was still hypothermic and he had nothing warm to cover her with.

He was going to have to carry her and start walking, hope they made it to a road soon. Carrying Sarah meant that there was little he could do to defend them, but it was really the only option.

Cooper scooped her up but as he turned to head into the trees in the direction he thought the nearest road would be a flashlight suddenly blinded him.