Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Dana Mentink (novels to improve english txt) 📗

“We’re on our way,” Jude said.

“They’re after her…”

“I know. I called her back, but she’s not answering.”

He hit the speaker button and dropped the cell onto the passenger seat.

“Where’s Kenny?” Jude asked.

“Heading north after Laney. He had backup. I’m following.” He rammed the gas pedal down and the wrecked van surged forward, wind blowing through the open cargo doors.

“Beckett, I’m two minutes from your location. Clouder’s got a paramedic responding too. Wait right there.”

“This is a satellite phone.” He quickly shared his coordinates. “You can track me.”

“Wait.”

He didn’t answer. The phone skidded off the seat as he lurched out onto the road.

“Beckett,” Jude shouted.

Beckett rolled out, his headlights scouring the shoulder on each side of the road. He knew she would have kept to the road, her best chance at help. Kenny must be ahead of him by a matter of minutes.

Scared… What had he done allowing Kenny to find them so easily? And then he’d sent Laney off and running, oblivious to the fact that Kenny had brought a cohort.

Dumb move, Beckett. She’s smart not to trust you. You led her right into a trap.

A fox darted across the road and he swerved to avoid it. A predator out stalking prey, just like Kenny and his helper. Kenny’s smile had been satisfied, as he sped from the borax works. Why hadn’t Beckett recognized the diversion?

“Focus,” he snarled at himself. Self-recrimination could wait until after he found her.

Found her…but what if he was too late? His petite, pregnant wife, desperate, alone, terrified. She would not last long against two men intent on murdering her.

He slammed that thought down tight and punched the gas. He stared into the darkness for any sign of movement. She had no flashlight except for her cell phone, and that was pretty useless against the vast Death Valley darkness. To escape Kenny’s partner, she might have headed for the foothills. Too far, he thought. Too much exposed ground to cover without being seen.

Stopping for a moment, he stuck his head out the open window, listening. Ahead, a pile of tumbled rocks partially concealed the turn in the road. Was that the throb of an engine? He goosed the gas. The van lurched ahead with a roar. When Beckett cleared the rocks, there on the straightaway was Kenny’s damaged sedan.

It was pulled to the side, passenger-side door open, headlights off, engine running. A thick-bodied man was lumbering toward it. Uncle Leonard. No surprise. Where was Laney?

Had they subdued her, gotten her into the sedan with them? Locked her in the trunk? He cranked the van. Fifty yards and closing. There was a loud pop and the van began to buck. The blown tire sent Beckett skidding into a lazy spiral across the road. Sweat beaded his forehead. He turned into the skid and wrestled the car to a stop. In his peripheral vision, he saw Kenny and his uncle leaping into the sedan and slamming the doors.

By the time he brought the van back under control, Kenny was already speeding out of sight. Strobing lights and sirens announced the approach of the NPS or Jude or both from a half mile behind him.

He forced the van back out onto the road, slowly now, ignoring the grinding sound where the tire rim hit the asphalt. Indecision clawed at him. Had they taken her? Or was she hiding someplace nearby? Or… He gulped down the acid taste in his throat.

“Laney,” he shouted out the window. There was no answer but the squeal of the damaged tire as he idled along the roadway. Leaving the engine running, he grabbed a flashlight from the van and stalked along the roadway, light scanning for any telling signs.

The light shook in his hand as he saw the disturbed dirt, puckered into trails. Had she been dragged? He shouted again, his cry a minuscule blip in the wide-open space.

No sign of her.

Desperation crawled up his spine, digging claws into his stomach. They must have her, and he’d let them get away. He had to follow, as best as he could, for as long as the van could still move.

He leaped back inside and his foot hit the gas. He was flying after them, futility making him shout aloud. “This isn’t going to happen,” he hollered into the inky night air, the breeze snatching away his desperation. Laney would often tell him that God wanted to hear the sorrow as well as the celebration.

Right now, he thought he would be swallowed up by the yawning fear inside. When he thought the feeling would cause him to explode, he shouted the words. “Lord, help me. I can’t find her.”

Again, the night greeted him only with emptiness. The sirens were closer now and he plowed on, not knowing what else to do. A figure hunched next to the road not ten feet ahead of him. One pale hand outthrust to shield her eyes from the glare of his headlights. He nearly stood on the brakes, the squeal of tires sickening. He exploded from the car.

“Beckett?” The word was so soft and weak, he almost didn’t hear it. His heart surged full force against his ribs as he grabbed her up. The relief was a trail of silver light that filled him from toes to the top of his head. It was several seconds before he could breathe.

She sobbed in his arms, tears wetting his shirt. “They were going to kill me. They heard you coming and I ran. They would have killed me, Beckett.” She was wobbly, trembling. “They would have killed our baby.”

Her legs shook and he scooped her up, carried her to the passenger seat of the still-running van. For a few moments he simply held her, as tight as he dared, showing her with his touch that she was safe.

Her shuddering cries took over and left her unable to speak.

He stroked her shoulders, touched her hair, cradled her close. “It’s okay, honey. I’ve got you now. They’re