She needed to get his attention to make him stop.She fired to the left of the fighting men, the sound so loud it nearly deafened her.But it had the desired effect.Nathan froze, knife-wielding arm mid-air, staring at her with glazed, red-rimmed eyes.
“What the fu—” but he never got to finish his question.In one swift move, Mårten snapped a hand up, dislodging the blade from Nathan’s grip.Before Summer could even blink, Mårten had twisted sideways and rolled Nathan onto his back, so that now he was sitting astride the man.
“It’s over, mate,” Mårten said, breathing heavily.“You heard the lady.If you move, she’ll shoot you.”
Her hand shook, and she lowered the weapon.Thank God she hadn’t had to pull the trigger.She liked to believe that she would have if the need had been desperate enough.If Mårten’s life depended on it.But now she would never have to know what it felt like to shoot another human being.She watched as Mårten pulled out a set of handcuffs and secured Nathan, who was still struggling hard to get free.
“Give me the gun,” Mårten commanded as he stood and backed away from Nathan.Summer was only too happy to comply, limping over and handing it to him.He took the weapon, unlatched the safety and re-holstered it at his hip, watching Nathan like a hawk.“Backup will be here in a few minutes,” Mårten continued, probably saying it as much for her sake as for Nathan’s.At his words, Nathan stopped struggling, emitting a large howl of rage and anguish.Of defeat.Then he closed his eyes and lay completely motionless as if by doing so he could pretend that none of this was happening.
Backup couldn’t get here fast enough, Summer decided.Her bones were suddenly all doughy, as if they might not hold her up anymore.It was hard to believe this nightmare could be over.Then she remembered the scream.Paige.“We need to see if Paige is hurt,” she said, turning toward Mårten.
“Yep, I will, just give me a second,” he replied with a grimace.
What was wrong?Why did he look as if he were in pain?
Mårten was standing in the stream of light extending through the open door.Summer took three steps nearer as Mårten bent over and pressed a hand to his abdomen.Now that she was close, and now that he was no longer in the dark, she could make out a mysterious stain on Mårten’s T-shirt.
Oh.No.
Blood seeped from between Mårten’s fingers, and he winced again as he applied pressure to the wound.Mårten had been injured.He was bleeding.Now she could see how pale his handsome face had become.How he was gritting his teeth against the pain.
All Summer could do was stand and stare.She hadn’t saved the day after all; Mårten had still been stabbed.He was still going to die.He was going to bleed out, and he was going to die.
“You’re hurt,” she whispered through numb lips.
“I’m okay.It’ll be fine.I’m pretty sure it’s only a flesh wound,” Mårten said, straightening up slowly, and trying to smile at her.
But he couldn’t make this go away with a smile.He couldn’t pretend he wasfinejust for her sake.Summer took a step backward.How could he possibly know he would be fine?He wasn’t fine; this was very, very bad.
“No, noooo,” Summer wailed, almost beyond coherent thought now.“You’re going to die.Please don’t leave me.
“I’m not going to die,” he replied, shock and confusion replacing his attempt at a reassuring smile.
“Yes, yes, you are.Marco died.And you’re going to as well.”
She needed to get out of here; she couldn’t deal with this.Not again.She couldn’t bear to have someone she cared about perish again.
“Summer, it’s okay.”Mårten reached out to hand toward her.
“No!”She turned and ran.
CHAPTER TWENTY
MÅRTEN’S GAZE STAYED anchored on Summer, who sat curled up in a chair in the corner of the hospital room, even while a nurse continued to fuss around him.She looked small, diminished somehow from the woman he had come to know.She kept her eyes averted, refusing to look at him.
Mårten still couldn’t unravel everything that’d happened out at the farm tonight.Of course, he reported everything matter-of-factly in his statement.Stated that after he called for backup, he’d entered the building through the rear because he was afraid for Summer’s life.He’d overheard the two perpetrators talking about killing her, and they were occupied out the front, so he took his chance, not prepared to wait for the other units to arrive.He’d reported that they’d heard a scream—which must have been Nathan attacking Paige—and then Nathan had ambushed him.It was with some discomfort that Mårten had also admitted to dropping his weapon.That Summer had picked it up and kept it pointed at Nathan long enough for him to subdue the suspect.
There was an entire week’s worth of paperwork in just that single incident.A police officer losing his firearm was unsatisfactory and unprofessional.But a civilian picking up that same gun and using it—even if it was to help him—was not only highly undesirable, it was humiliating and humbling as well.Summer had probably saved his life, or at least saved him from serious harm, and he made sure that everyone knew that.The last thing she needed was to be scolded for retrieving the weapon, which Rydberg was likely to do.She was one brave, kick-ass woman, and needed to be reminded of that, not admonished for it.
But he left out a crucial fact.Summer had flipped out when she’d seen him bleeding, but he didn’t know why.She’d run away like she’d seen a ghost.At least she hadn’t gone far, only to the front of the house, where she’d stumbled across Paige, where he found her a few moments later crouched over the body.
Everything had happened quickly then, with sirens and flashing lights filling the air as first one, and then a second unit arrived, taking charge of the scene.An ambulance had shown up shortly after, paramedics fussing over him and Summer, making sure their wounds weren’t life-threatening.Which he already knew his wasn’t, because it was what he’d been trying to explain to Summer before she took off.Yes, Nathan’s blade had punctured his skin, but he was able to deflect the blow enough that it wasn’t deep, and had pierced none of his major organs.But even after this explanation, she’d refused to make eye contact for the rest of the night.It was all plain weird, and he was hoping to get the truth out of her once everyone had left.He wanted to understand how she could go from being so lionhearted one minute—ignoring her own pain to pick up a gun and point it at her abductor without a second’s hesitation—to a blubbering, terrified wreck of a woman the next.
She’d refused to go into a hospital bed of her own, preferring to sit in his room with him after his wound had been cleaned and stitched, while he was being debriefed.Rydberg had tried to have her removed, but Mårten had made it clear she was to stay; otherwise, they would get nothing from him.
At last, the nurse stopped fussing and left the room.They were finally alone.It must be nearly two in the morning.It’d been an endless day, and the pain meds were making him drowsy.But there was no way he was going to sleep just yet.Not without talking to Summer first.
She was still wearing her Lycra suit, but someone had draped a police-issue jacket over her shoulders.Summer was beautiful, despite the fact that her hair was a mess of tangles, her right eye was bloodshot, and her left eye was bruised and swollen shut where Nathan had beaten her.Her left arm was indeed broken near the wrist; it’d been splinted and was resting in a sling tied around her neck.His gaze traveled down her body, documenting her long, lithe legs pulled up into her chest as she sat staring out the window at the city lights below.No matter how damaged, she was still the most gorgeous thing he’d ever seen.He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her until the world stopped spinning.Until she looked at him like she had the other night when they’d made love under the stars.
