April was back in her town house and Jonah was back in his apartment. He missed her. He hadn’t expected his feelings could grow so strong so fast. He wanted to see her. The bad news was, she hadn’t returned any of his phone calls.
You win some, you lose some, he’d learned.
Recently, he’d learned he really hated losing April Vale.
APRILREPLAYEDJONAH’Slatest phone message for the third time that night. “I want to see you, April. I don’t want us to be over. If you don’t call me back, I’m coming to your house. One way or another, we’re going to talk.”
The message ended and April felt the same hollow ache in the pit of her stomach she’d felt the first time he had phoned. She had convinced herself to play it safe, stay away from Jonah.
But she didn’t want to. Being with him felt right. He made her hungry for life, hungry to experience the feelings he stirred, see where the future might lead. He made her start thinking it might be worth taking a risk on another man.
She had just picked up her cell phone to return his call—at least listen to what he had to say—when an odd sound came from the kitchen.
April frowned. Had she locked the back door? She usually did, but not always. Her little .380 was evidence in a homicide, so it was still in police custody. She had returned Jonah’s pistol. When the sound came again, she wished she’d kept it.
She still held her phone in her hand. She brought up 911 in her contacts and carried the phone into the kitchen, her finger on the Call button just in case. She’d only taken a couple of steps into the room when a man’s thick arm locked around her neck, sending fear sliding through her and freezing her in place. He knocked the phone from her hand and it landed with a clatter on the floor.
She managed to drag in a lungful of air, but it was hard to breathe. She tried to pry the man’s arm loose, tried to scream, but only a muffled cry escaped. She couldn’t see him behind her, but when he spoke, she recognized the voice.
“Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused?”
Confusion slipped through her, followed by a shot of anger. Brad Schweitzer. What the hell?
She tugged on the arm that held her immobile and it loosened enough for her to catch her breath. “What do you think you’re doing? Let go of me, Brad.”
He released his hold and spun her around to face him. Her heart jerked at the sight of the big semiautomatic pistol he pointed at the center of her chest. April fought not to cringe at the look of hatred on Brad’s handsome face.
“You managed to put Collin in jail for murder,” he said. “But all he did was steal a little money. He never would have had the guts to kill David.”
Her pulse was throbbing, her heart thumping wildly. “You did it? You were the one who killed him?”
“That’s right. Collin means everything to me. He’s the only person who ever gave a damn about me. And you destroyed him. You destroyed both of us.”
Her mind was spinning, trying to connect the dots and at the same time figure out a way to get control of the gun.
“So you and Collin...you’re together? Not Collin and Peggy?”
He grunted. “People are so easy to dupe. ‘If David was murdered, his real killer needs to be brought to justice,’” he mimicked, repeating the words he had said at the fund-raiser. “What a load of drivel. Collin always had a weakness for the finer things. I didn’t know he was stealing until it was too late. When David found out, I knew it was him or Collin. I chose Collin.”
She stared at the gun and tried to stay calm. “Why did you come here, Brad? Collin confessed to the murder. He told the police he did it alone. You were safe.”
“Thanks to you, he’ll be in jail for years and I’ll be alone. I want you to pay for what you’ve done.” He lifted the pistol, pointed it at her head. It was now or never.
When a noise outside drew Brad’s attention for an instant, April sprang forward, knocking his hand into the air, the pistol discharging with a roar, the bullet smashing through the window above the kitchen sink. The blast echoed in her ears as she and Brad crashed to the floor.
April gripped his wrist with both hands and fought for control of the weapon, but he was bigger and stronger and she could feel him gaining the edge. She gritted her teeth and held on with all of her strength, but he was winning, forcing the gun around, pushing the barrel toward her heart. She had seconds to live.
She clamped down on her fear and continued to fight, heard the back door crashing open and saw Jonah rushing into the kitchen. He grabbed Brad by the back of the neck and jerked him off of her, kicked the weapon out of his hand with a big black motorcycle boot, and smashed a fist into Brad’s handsome face.
Brad went down hard, blood spurting from his nose and mouth. He managed to roll to his feet, lowered his head and charged, his shoulder hitting Jonah in the stomach, carrying him backward into the refrigerator. Jonah jerked him up and threw a punch that sent Brad flying. He slid down the wall, slumped on the kitchen floor, and his eyes rolled back in his head. Unconscious, he didn’t get up.
April’s heart hammered as Jonah knelt beside him. Turning him onto his stomach, Jonah cuffed Brad’s hands behind his back with a plastic cable tie Jonah took out of his jeans pocket. Brad groaned but didn’t move.
Rising, Jonah strode the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. “You okay?”
She clutched his shoulders and managed to nod.
“You scared me to death,” he said, burying his face in her hair. “I heard the gunshot. As I ran around back, I saw him through the window.” A shudder ran through his tall frame. “I was afraid I’d be too late.”
