Tag: romance

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.

Sarah screamed as the far flew through the air. 

It seemed to take forever for the inevitable impact to come.

When they finally collided with the river it felt like they’d hit concrete.

The pain was so jarring that for a second Sarah could think of nothing else. Her entire body throbbed, breathing hurt, her head pounded, and the ends of her vision grayed. 

This was how she was going to die. 

Actually, she was surprised she had survived the impact, she and Cooper really ought to be dead right now. 

Cooper. 

Groggily she fought through the fog of pain, she had to find out if he was okay.

By the time her brain had figured out how to function again, Sarah found herself already being dragged from the car. 

“Cooper?” she murmured weakly. 

“Hold on, darlin, we have to get out of the car before it becomes out tomb. The water is going to be freezing and the current will be strong, all I need you to do is hold on to me and don’t let go.”

Sarah blinked, willing her body and brain to cooperate and follow Cooper’s instructions. It was clear he was in better shape than she was because he’d gotten them both unbuckled, his arm around her chest, and hauled her across so she was practically in his lap. 

He’d done the hard work all she had to was hold on. She could do that, she wasn’t going to let him down. 

“Her we go,” Cooper said, and a moment later water that felt like ice was rushing over them. 

Her entire body seized at the sudden cold, and if it wasn’t for Cooper pulling her out along with him she wouldn’t have gotten out of that car.

It was dark, the water raged around them, she was cold and hurt, and terrified out of her mind. But Cooper seemed to have everything under control. He was swimming them steadily towards what she assumed was the bank. 

Just as Sarah started to believe that everything was going to be okay, the current yanked her out of Cooper’s grip and washed her away.

“What was that?” Sarah gasped beside him like someone jumped up from the backseat.

“Someone’s following us,” Cooper replied, “trying to take us out.”

“Take us out? Why?”

“That, darlin, I don’t know, but I can tell you one thing.”

“What?”

“I’d love to find out.” It felt like somebody was targeting him, the body at the haunted house, the break in at Sarah’s, now someone running him off the road. Someone wanted something from him, but he had no idea who or what they wanted.

The car behind them slammed into them again, and he tried to figure out a plan.

“What should I do?” Sarah asked.

That made him smile. She might describe herself as a scaredy cat but she’d protected herself from the intruder in her house, and now here she was offering to do what he needed to help get them out of this situation.

“Ever fired a gun?”

“N-no,” she stammered.

“Point and pull the trigger,” he explained, she probably wouldn’t hit anything but she could at least distract the driver enough that they could hopefully get away. “Call 911 first,” he said handing over his phone and weapon. “They’ll be able to trace us so leave the call connected but put the phone back down and take the gun.”

Sarah did as he’d asked, she called 911, put the phone down in the center console, then took the gun and twisted in her seat. “Should I fire it?”

“Yes, put the window down and just shoot at the car, aim for the tires.”

Again she did as he asked, opening the window, aiming the weapon, firing it at the other car.

It didn’t seem to slow it down.

The car came at them again.

Hitting them harder this time and the gun flew from Sarah’s hands, falling out the window.

Another hit sent the careening towards the edge of the bridge.

They were going to go over.

Cooper fought the car, almost had it straightening but another ram from the car behind them had them crashing through the guardrail.

For a moment they seemed to hover in the air.

Then they were falling.

Sarah screamed.

And then they hit the river.

“Hey, Darlin, you can come out now.”

The sound of the voice had Sarah sobbing in relief, and she ran to the door, threw back the locks, ripped the door open, then threw herself into the arms of the one person she seemed to trust.

“You came,” she said, pressing her face against his chest.

“You called,” Cooper said, his voice light and soothing despite the fact she knew he had probably been at the police station as long as she had, or perhaps longer, and he had to be exhausted. Yet he’d come here because she’d refused to open the bedroom door for anyone else.

She hadn’t meant to cause him extra trouble, she knew she was nothing to him, but she had been thrown into some nightmare and Cooper was the only person who made her feel safe.

“Thank you,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him hard.

“You’re welcome.” He hugged her back, and didn’t seem in a hurry to release her so she didn’t move away. “Someone broke in here, huh?”

“He was here waiting for me,” she said with a shudder.

“I don’t like it. Thats twice today you’ve been caught up in something dangerous.”

“I don’t like it either,” Sarah said with another shudder.

“You need to tell the cops what happened and then I’m taking you to a hotel. Something feels … wrong,” Cooper said.

She had the same feeling.

Like somehow what had happened at the haunted house was related to someone breaking into her house. Did the killer think she’d seen something incriminating?

An hour later, with a bag packed with clothes to last her a few days, Cooper helped her into the passenger seat of his car.

“So, Sarah, tell me something about yourself,” Cooper said, shooting her one of his easy smiles.

“Well, I’m a bit of a scaredy cat, but I love my job as a teacher, and candy, I love candy, oh, and I absolutely loathe shopping, I buy everything online so I don’t have to go into a store if I can help it.”

Cooper chuckled. “I’m with you on the loathing shopping.”

“Thank you for coming, I know I shouldn’t have asked for you, but I trust you,” she admitted.

“Its really no worries, Sarah, I couldn’t stop thinking about you anyway.”

She gasped. “You couldn’t?”

“Nope.”

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you either.”

Coop sighed, then took his eyes off the road to meet her gaze. “I don’t think it was a coincidence that I found that woman’s body,” he told her. “And I don’t think its a coincidence that someone was waiting in your house to kill you.”

“What do you think is going on?” Sarah asked even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the question.

“I think someone is messing with me.”

Before she could say anything else headlights flared behind them, and then something rammed into Cooper’s car.

Cooper groaned as he rolled over, his ringing phone had woken him. It felt like he’d been asleep no more than an hour and a glance at the glowing clock on his nightstand confirmed it had only been fifty minutes since he’d climbed into bed.

He debated ignoring the call, but it could be work, and he couldn’t do that. Stifling a yawn he reached over and snatched up the phone. “Hello?”

“911, What’s your emergency?”

“Huh? You guys called me.”

“Oops, sorry, been a long night,” a tired woman’s voice came down the line. “Is this Detective Mark Cooper?”

“Yes,” he replied, wondering why the 911 call center was calling him.

“I have a Sarah Sundra on the line, she called to report that someone was in her house, we have officers on the scene but she’s refusing to open her bedroom door for them, says the only person she trusts is Detective Mark Cooper.”

Panic coursed through him at the thought of Sarah in danger and he was already climbing out of bed and searching for clothes as he asked, “What’s her address?”

The 911 operator rattled off an address. “I’ll tell Ms Sundra that you’re on your way.”

“Thanks,” he said, then hung up. Sarah lived just two streets over from him, and less than five minutes later he was pulling up outside her house. There was a cruiser sitting on the street, lights flashing but sirens turned off, and a middle aged male officer met him at Sarah’s front door.

“You the Detective she’s asking for?”

“Yes. Is she injured?”

“She says no, she’s locked in the bedroom, looks like someone tried to break down her door.”

The officer nodded at the stairs and Cooper took off up them. “Sarah? Its Coop,” he called out as he approached the battered door.

A second later it was flung open and the small blonde was throwing herself into his arms. “You came,” she said sounding somewhat surprised.

“You asked for me.” In his mind it really was that simple, he hadn’t been able to get Sarah out of his mind, there was something intriguing about her, something that filled him with a desire to get to know her better. While he hated that it was under these circumstances it seemed like he was going to get the opportunity to do just that.