Unbreak the Woodsman

  How a baby could sleep in a contraption like that, I had no idea.

  Natanael didn’t even seem aware of the restraint limiting his movement, just went on with his stretch then relaxed, quickly sliding back into the embrace of sleep.

  I should have asked DeLaria how long he usually napped for.

  I thought about shooting her a text, but I didn’t want to disturb them while they were in their meeting unless I had to.

  He slept for another twenty minutes, then woke up. He didn’t do it slowly either.

  He went from a dead sleep to wide awake in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

  He caught sight of me standing next to him, and he kicked his legs and squealed. “Aren’t you a happy little thing?” I asked him.

  He kicked his feet again and blew a raspberry at me.

  I blew one back at him, and he laughed.

  He started to fuss a little, and I reached out to free him from the restraints. “It can’t be comfortable sitting like that,” I commiserated with him.

  He babbled at me as I pulled him out of the carrier and settled him on my hip.

  Something caught his eyes, and I watched, amused, as he pointed a small finger toward one of the trees.

  Birds sat in it, chirping.

  He shrieked abruptly, and the birds fell silent for a moment as the sound echoed off the buildings around us.

  “Not so loud,” I told him.

  He shrieked again and waved chubby arms and legs.

  I lowered him to his feet, still holding his hands as I checked to see if he could walk.

  He most certainly could.

  I grinned at him as he led me over to the tree. It was behind a wrought iron fence, and he tugged his hands free and grabbed the bars of the fence, squealing again.

  A couple of birds swooped out of the tree, and he laughed, pointing at them.

  “You like birds, I see,” I said in a sing-song voice.

  “Buh,” he said.

  “Birds.”

  “Buh!” Natanael grinned up at me, pleased with himself.

  He watched the tree for another minute before he got bored and spun away.

  I caught his hand as he started to walk.

  His little palm felt so small in mine.

  We reached the end of that square of pavement and Natanael made as if to go through the dry grass.

  “Oh, no…let’s stay on the path,” I told him, gently guiding him around until his feet were back on the pavement.

  I glanced up, looking for the car seat.

  That was when I saw him.

  It was the same dark-haired, dark-skinned man who’d been watching me just outside the lawyer’s office building.

  My heart lurched up into my throat, but I shoved the instinctive panic down and calmly averted my gaze as if I wasn’t even aware of it.

  I was, though.

  I was terribly aware.

  21

  Breanna

  Deliberately, I kept my pace unhurried as I started to guide Natanael back around, leading him over to the car seat.

  When I swung him up into my arms, he jabbered at me right up until he realized I was about to put him in the seat, then he stiffened his body, fighting me the entire time.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw the man and realized he’d gotten closer to us.

  Don’t panic, I told myself.

  I looked around the small park, but there was nobody else there.

  It’s not a big deal. You’re in the middle of Denver, in broad daylight. Nobody in their right mind would try to mess with you right now.

  That just left the people who weren’t in their right mind.

  The thought occurred to me as I swung Natanael’s carrier up and hooked it over my left arm.

  It was almost immediately on that tail of that thought that I had another.

  Ryder had mentioned that the baby’s mother had a brother – one who had voiced his plans to kill Nathalie.

  What if this was him?

  What if he didn’t know Nathalie was dead and was still looking for her?

  And worse yet…what if he realized the boy with me was his sister’s son?

  The panic that rose in me was enough to choke me, but I swallowed it down and forced it into submission.

  I had a small baby who was counting on me to take care of him, and that was exactly what I planned on doing.

  I’d walked through a small copse of trees to get to the park, and they stretched out ahead of me with Ryder’s car parked maybe twenty feet away.

  I just had to get to the car.

  Everything would be fine.

  Once I got to the car, I’d called Ryder – forget my initial plans to avoid bothering him or DeLaria unless it was necessary.

  I was being followed. Of course, I needed to let Ryder know.

  And the cops, maybe.

  I had no idea what the proper procedure was when you found yourself being followed by a stranger.

  I walked quicker, panic wrapping around me as I stepped into the small area that had been landscaped with fir trees on either side of it. It hadn’t seemed at all threatening earlier, but now I felt like those trees were closing in on me. I couldn’t make out much of anything on the opposite side of the trees. It was just the branches of fir trees on both sides.

  I darted a look behind me.

  And the same guy was there. As I watched, he lengthened his stride to close the distance between us.

  I walked faster and broke free of the confining screen of the trees. I darted another look back.

  He was staring at me with intent, dark eyes.

  And there was no question about it – he was following me. A faint smile curled his lips as our gazes met.

  Terror bloomed inside me.

  I moved as fast as my heeled boots would let me, breaking onto the sidewalk with a feeling of relief. A passing group of businessmen separated me from the man at my back, and I hurried to the SUV, fishing the keys out of my pocket as I walked.

  I unlocked the back door and dropped Natanael’s carrier into the base before spinning around to see the man rushing toward me. He was less than twenty feet away now.

  I all but ran to the driver’s door and climbed inside. I hit the lock button just as he drew even with the passenger side door.

  Through the glass, his eyes met mine, and while my heart pounded in my throat, he shifted his attention to the baby’s car seat.

  He couldn’t see Natanael from where he stood, but I had no doubt his entire focus was on the little boy strapped in his car seat.

  I started the car.

  He reached up, but I whipped my head around and threw the car into reverse, before slamming it into drive as I pulled out of the parking spot.

  Blowing out a slow breath, I told myself to calm down. I needed to breathe, and I needed to be calm.

  I might have managed it if I hadn’t looked back at that very moment and saw the guy who’d been watching me raise an arm and flag down a passing taxi.

  The light in front of me turned red, and I had to slam on my brakes to keep from hitting the car in front of us.

  Dread curdled in my gut, and I once more shifted my attention to the rearview mirror.

  I watched the whole thing unfold with terror pulsing in my veins.

  22

  Breanna

  I felt like I was watching a bad attempt at a thriller flick, one that was trapped in the slow-playing mode.

  Noises seemed muffled and far away.

  I shook my head, not even entirely certain I trusted what I saw with my own eyes.

  The guy who’d been following me had stepped out into traffic, flagging down a taxi. Then, with a casual disregard, he’d jerked open the passenger door and reached inside. I gaped as he hauled the driver out from behind the wheel, and with the ease of the ridiculously strong, he hurled the older man onto the ground.

  He climbed into the car while all around him, drivers honked their horns.

  At least he had
n’t gone unnoticed.

  I gulped as he slammed on the gas.

  The light turned green, and I darted into the next lane of traffic, my mind racing.

  I had only one conscious thought – I had to get to Ryder.

  The driver was just one or two cars away from me now, and I nervously pushed on the gas as I wove in and out of traffic.

  People blared the horns.

  I didn’t slow down.

  I didn’t dare.

  A huge crashing noise came from behind me, and I jerked my gaze to the mirror for a moment, trying to process what I had missed. A truck had rammed into a car in the nearby lane. The taxi was now right behind me.

  I whipped onto the next street.

  It wasn’t as busy, and I stepped on the gas. Ryder. I needed to get to Ryder.

  A heavy work truck lumbered across the intersection ahead of me, and I hit the brakes as I caught sight of the stop sign.

  The taxi was barreling up on my back bumper.

  Sucking in a breath, I darted into the traffic just in time to avoid being hit by an older woman driving a sedan.

  She opened her mouth, and through the glass, I could see her ranting at me.

  “Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “Save it for the asshole in the taxi.”

  The asshole in the taxi was trapped by the flow of traffic, and I took advantage of it to weave through the cars surrounding me before turning left.

  The moment I did so, I realized I should have just stayed where I was.

  I was now in a narrow alley that ran between the tall buildings.

  Up ahead, I saw a road intersecting with the alley, and I pushed down on the gas. I did not want him to find me here when I was all but trapped.

  I turned left the first chance I had, still focused on getting back to Ryder.

  The car slammed into the back bumper out of nowhere.

  He hadn’t been behind me. I’d been watching.

  As I struggled with the wheel to keep the SUV straight, I saw the mouth of the road where the taxi had emerged from.

  He’d turned down one of the alleys too.

  I gunned the engine, and the car lurched forward.

  Natanael was crying now, but I couldn’t do anything to console him other than croon to him.

  My voice warbled, and I wanted to cry.

  The SUV resisted me when I tried to turn onto the next street, and I swore. “Please,” I begged the car. “Please…”

  The engine revved as I pushed down on the gas, and I breathed out a sigh of relief as it lurched forward. I pulled into the oncoming flow of traffic and made my way to the far side of the road.

  The yellow taxi erupted from the alley just as I whipped the wheel to turn right. The front end was smashed from where he’d crashed into me, but he just kept on coming.

  My hands were slick with sweat as I gripped the steering wheel. I’d lived in Denver for years, and I knew these streets, but just then, I felt like I’d been dropped into alien terrain and I had no idea what to do or where to go.

  Natanael wailed.

  “I’m sorry,” I told him, my voice shaking. “I’m sorry.”

  I took another right, then another, thinking that maybe I could get behind him somehow. If he couldn’t see me, maybe he’d give up.

  But he’d closed the distance and was right on my bumper.

  Somewhere off in the distance, I heard sirens.

  Please be coming for us, I thought, desperate.

  But they were still too far off, and the man in the taxi slammed on his gas and sent the yellow car ramming into my tailgate.

  “This isn’t happening,” I told myself. “It’s not. You’re having a nightmare, and you’ll wake up soon, and everything will be fine.”

  I almost bit my tongue on the last word because my attacker chose that moment to ram into the back of the car again.

  I jolted under the impact.

  Natanael wailed, pissed off and as terrified as me.

  I didn’t blame him.

  I caught sight of a familiar street name and groaned in relief.

  Almost there.

  I had no idea what I was going to do when I got to the office building, but I knew Ryder was there.

  Ryder.

  I should call him.

  I shoved my hand into my pocket seeking out my phone. I couldn’t find it.

  “Shit,” I muttered. “Shit, shit, shit!”

  The guy in the taxi whipped onto the street. Panicked, I looked ahead, staring into the endless flow of traffic. The cars in front of me were at a standstill now, and the taxi was fast approaching from behind.

  I did the only thing I could think of and whipped the car into a three-point turn, nosing it in the other direction.

  The driver of the taxi slammed on his breaks just seconds before I whipped the wheel to the right to avoid the him.

  Steam rose from the engine. I deliberately didn’t look at the driver as I pulled past him, driving as fast as I dared.

  He turned around and came after me.

  I started to shiver.

  When was this going to end?

  No sooner had I thought that then a big, white paneled work van pulled up to the stop sign at the side street ahead of me.

  I could see the driver.

  He looked right.

  He didn’t look left.

  There was no reason to…this was a one-way street and I was driving the wrong way down it.

  The two vehicles collided.

  Another hard jolt hit us from behind, throwing me into the seat belt.

  Everything happened so fast, I couldn’t make sense out of it. Sirens were flashing.

  People yelling.

  And above all of it, I could hear Natanael crying.

  Adrenaline burned through my veins, and I struggled to get the seat belt off.

  I had to check on Natanael.

  But I couldn’t move.

  The seatbelt freed easily enough, and the driver’s side door screamed as I opened it. But as I went to swing around the seat, so I could jump down, pain shot up my right leg.

  I looked down, the pain making my mind go blurry.

  But I couldn’t see anything past the pale mass of the airbag that had deflated in my lap.

  “Natanael…”

  23

  Breanna

  Blood roared in my ears.

  Something wet trickled down my face.

  I tried to speak and ended up coughing. The taste of blood filled my mouth, and I reached up to touch my face. Pain exploded when my fingers brushed my nose.

  The airbag, I thought dimly. The airbag had been deployed, and I’d slammed into it.

  My nose could be broken.

  I sat there, dazed, my mind processing all of this.

  The car door wrenched open, and I screamed instinctively, slapping at the hands that reached in.

  “Ma’am calm down! I’m with the Denver Police Department!” a hard voice shouted at me.

  I froze, then blinked, locking on the face of the man staring in at me.

  Stunned, I started to babble.

  “He was chasing me,” I said, wheeling my head around. “The guy in the taxi…he grabbed the taxi driver and pulled him out, and he started chasing me.”

  The cop held up a hand. “Relax…okay? Just relax.”

  Behind me, Natanael wailed.

  I flinched at the sound of it and wheeled my head around, trying to see.

  “The baby,” I said. “I think the guy wants the baby. Don’t let him take the baby.”

  The cop still held his hands up. “It’s okay. There are two other officers here and whoever is in the taxi is pinned in. He’s not going anywhere.”

  “The baby.”

  The cop nodded and went to the door behind me, wrenching it open. I held my breath as he climbed inside.

  “Hey there…”

  At the sound of his voice, or maybe it was the sight of somebody he could see, Natanael’s wails subsided a little.

&nbs
p; “You look like you’re doing okay there, big guy,” the cop said in a friendly voice. He directed the next words at me. “He’s pretty angry, but it looks like he’s okay.”

  I lapsed into relieved silence, letting my head sag against the padded seat.

  “You won’t let him hurt the baby, will you?” I whispered.

  My head was starting to spin.

  “No, ma’am. You and the baby are safe. There were witnesses…”

  I didn’t hear anything else.

  Darkness swarmed in, and I fell away.

  “Ma’am? Ma’am! Can you hear me? I need you to open your eyes.”

  I didn’t know who was yelling at me, but it was annoying.

  I opened my eyes, though, so I could snap at him to leave me alone.

  Immediately after opening my eyes, I regretted it. A bright light was shone into each eye as somebody loomed over me.

  Instinct had me balling up my fist and swinging out.

  Something was wrong.

  Somebody was after me–

  “Easy there,” the man bent over me said, catching my hand. “You don’t want to go hitting the guys who are trying to cut you out, now do you?”

  “Cut me…” I blinked and shook my head. Pain streaked through me at the movement, and I stopped, sucking in a breath.

  Just that hurt.

  “Easy, ma’am. You were in a car wreck,” the guy said.

  Dimly, I realized he was dressed in a firefighter’s uniform and that more people like him were milling around outside the SUV.

  It wasn’t my SUV either.

  I was confused and looked up at the firefighter. “I was in a wreck,” I said, echoing his words.

  “Yes, ma’am. Can you tell me your name?”

  I had to lick my lips and clear my throat twice before I could do that. “Breanna,” I told him.

  “Okay, Breanna. Here’s what we have to do…your right leg is trapped under the dashboard. We’re going…”

  I couldn’t concentrate on his words and closed my eyes to block them out.

  He touched my shoulder. “Ma’am, did you understand me?”

  I blinked and focused on his face. Now that he wasn’t shining that light in my eyes, it was easier. “I think so,” I told him. It was a lie. I had no idea what he was talking about or what was even going on.