Loe raamatut: «Vanished In The Night»

ONE

Joshua Crawford gripped the steering wheel and hoped he could keep his cool when he confronted his mother about her lousy idea to marry the town drunk. “Hoped” being the key word. He drove with precise, automatic movements, each mile taking him closer to home and to the woman who’d loved and raised him and taught him right from wrong.

Which was why he was not going to allow her to throw the rest of her good years away on a man who could take advantage of a widow. Because that was just plain wrong. Of all the people—no, of all the unmarried people—in Wrangler’s Corner, she’d picked Garrett Martin?

Joshua was actually worried about her mental state. No matter that she insisted the man was changed and treated her like a “precious jewel.” Her words. Nope, not his mother. No way. His deceased father may have been best friends with the man, but that didn’t mean his mother had to marry him.

As Joshua rounded the next curve that would take him into Wrangler’s Corner, he slammed on the brakes. Rubber screeched on asphalt but his SUV responded well.

A black van sat in the middle of the street, blocking both lanes, its hazard lights flashing. A wreck? Was anyone hurt? His hand went to the door handle.

At the sound of a woman’s scream, he bolted out of the SUV and ran toward the black van. Only to skid to a stop. It was one inch from being T-boned up against the front of a light gray sedan.

A blond-headed woman struggled against a man’s grip.

“Hey!” Joshua started toward them.

The man spun, freeing the woman who dropped to her knees and clutched her very pregnant belly. Her tentlike dress billowed around her as tears dripped down her cheeks. He met her attacker’s gaze. “Get away from her. I’m calling the cops.”

Joshua pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed 9-1-1. The man cursed, raced at Joshua and threw a right hook. If it had connected, it would have hurt, but Joshua easily deflected the intended blow.

With expert precision, he flipped the man, who landed on his back, gasping and blinking. The attacker rolled to his stomach, still trying to draw breath. Joshua started toward him to move him out of reach of the woman and found himself staring at the muzzle of a black pistol.

Joshua held his hands up and stepped back slightly. Even his extreme skills were no match for a bullet. “Whoa. There’s no need for that.”

The man rolled to his feet, keeping the weapon trained on Joshua. The woman let out another low cry, but Joshua couldn’t do anything to help her. Not yet. His adrenaline spiked in a way he’d never felt before. “Get in your van and drive away,” Joshua said.

“She’s coming with me.”

Joshua glanced at the puddle of water on the ground at the woman’s feet. “Actually, I think she’s getting ready to have a baby. Have you ever delivered one?”

Before the attacker could respond, a blue truck approached and slowed. The older man behind the wheel lowered his window, his brow furrowed in concern. “Hey, y’all need any help?”

“No, we’re fine, thanks,” Joshua said. “It was a close call, but no one’s hurt.” He sure didn’t want to involve an innocent bystander. From his position, the newcomer couldn’t see the weapon in the other man’s hand. Joshua planned to keep it that way.

“All right, then.” The driver gave a wave and sped off.

“The cops are on the way,” Joshua said. “That man saw your vehicle. You shoot me or hurt her, you’ll be found.”

A low growl escaped the man as he backed toward his van, never moving his weapon from Joshua. “You’ll regret interfering. I’ll be back.” He climbed in and slammed the door then peeled away as he headed toward the highway.

Joshua let out a low breath and rushed to the woman’s side even as he barked orders to the dispatcher still on the phone. He gave her the make and model of the van and the direction it was headed, but couldn’t get the plate. However, he was able to describe the gun. He turned his attention to the moaning woman. “What’s your name?”

“Kaylee...Martin.” She gasped. “Oh-hh, it hurts.”

He froze for a split second. Kaylee Martin? As in the daughter of the man his mother planned to marry? Great. Just great. With a tight smile, he took her arm and led her to his SUV. “Get in the back. How far apart are your contractions?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t exactly had a chance to time them.” She let out a low gasp and closed her eyes. He waited for the contraction to pass. She looked up. “I need to get to the hospital. I was on the way when he pulled in front of me. I barely managed to stop without hitting him.”

“I don’t think there’s time to get to a hospital. I’m a doctor, let me help you.”

“No. I want my doctor and my hospital. Please, drive me.”

Joshua hesitated.

She gave another low groan and bent, clutching her belly, still standing on the side of the road next to his SUV.

“Breathe through it,” he said. “As soon as this contraction stops, you need to get into the back of my truck and I’m going to deliver your baby. Your contractions are coming too fast to make it anywhere. Where’s your husband? You want me to call him?”

The contraction passed and she gripped his hand. “My husband is dead—and I wouldn’t call him if he weren’t. Now. Take me to the hospital.” She panted a bit then caught her breath. “Please. I can’t have this baby on the side of the road. What if something goes wrong? What if—?”

“All right, we can try. Just promise me you’ll holler if you have to push. Understand?”

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

She made it into the back seat before the next contraction hit her. He talked her through it. “I’ve got to move your car out of the middle of the road, okay? I’ll be right back, I promise.”

“Okay. Okay. It’s fine. I can do this.”

The compassionate doctor inside him took over. “Of course you can, Kaylee. I’ll be there to help.”

“The keys are in the ignition,” she whispered. “Hurry.”

* * *

Kaylee watched him leave and breathed a prayer to the God she wasn’t sure was even listening. But just in case he was... I don’t know why stuff like this happens to me, but, please, get me through it. Help me. Let my baby be all right, healthy, whole and fine...

“I’m back.”

“Drive. Please drive. Fast.”

Still, he hesitated. “Kaylee, we’re an hour away—”

“Get in and drive! Please.”

Joshua sighed and climbed into the driver’s seat. “All right, but I can guarantee you we’re not going to make it.” He cranked the big Suburban and pulled onto the road that would take them toward Nashville’s hospital.

“We’ll make it,” she said. “We have to make it.” After all she’d been through, delivering her baby on the side of the road would just be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. No, she could do this. She was strong. She’d survived marrying into a mafia family—unbeknownst to her at the time—then being thrown out of said mafia family when her husband’s parents disowned him. She’d lived through visiting her spouse in prison, learning about his affair, then being tossed out of her home, pregnant and penniless, by the very man who’d promised to love her forever. She was a survivor. If she had to have her child on the moon, she would do it, and they were going to have a wonderful life together. Her baby deserved it.

“What were you doing driving yourself?” he asked just as another contraction hit.

She panted her way through it before responding. “Dad wasn’t answering his phone. I called two other friends, and they didn’t answer. I waited to see if one of them would call me back. Obviously, I waited too long. I didn’t want to spend the money on an ambulance—” Another contraction hit and she couldn’t get another word out. Kaylee clenched her teeth and tried to breathe at the same time. She really should have done the classes, but—“Ah!”

“Breathe, Kaylee. Breathe through it.”

“You breathe through it! I don’t want to breathe through it. I want it to stop!” Then the pressure was just too much. “Oh, no. I have to push. I have to!”

“Don’t push!” The SUV slammed to a stop and then he was there with the back door open. He rested one hand on her right ankle. “Look, let me help you.”

“I don’t know you. You can help me by getting me to the hospital.”

“Don’t you recognize me?”

She blinked at him, trying to focus. “No.” She’d been in pain and fear for the last ten hours. Everything was kind of blurry. And the pressure...

“I’m Joshua Crawford. Dr. Joshua Crawford.”

Another wave of pain hit her even as she processed his name. Joshua Crawford. Oh, no. Not the son of the woman who planned to marry her father. The gold digger who’d sunk her claws into him.

She remembered Joshua now. And wished she didn’t. But she had heard that he was a doctor. Hadn’t she? Or was he some mixed martial arts fighter? The pain eased, the pressure lessened. But she knew it would be back. “I thought you were on the MMA circuit. When did you become a doctor?”

“I became the doctor first. MMA was later. Or rather, during.”

“What?”

“Never mind. I’ll explain later.”

More indescribable pain hit her. She couldn’t speak for the next couple of minutes, but once the contraction passed she looked at him and nodded. “Okay. Just make it stop.” At least she had a doctor to help, so maybe God did care about her just a little. At the moment she didn’t care, she was just thankful.

“Don’t push.”

“If you tell me not to push one more time—”

Joshua ran to the back of the SUV. In the midst of the contractions that seemed to come one after the other in a never-ending wave of pain, she heard him rummaging.

He returned and set a bag on the floor. “Try to relax. I’ve done this before.”

“You’ve had a baby before?” She gritted the words. “I doubt it. If you had, you would never tell me to try to relax—or demand I not push.”

He gave a low laugh. “No, I’ve never had a baby before, but I’ve delivered a few. Okay? How about try to take comfort in knowing that I’m going to take care of you and your little one?”

“That’s better.” She breathed through her mouth like she’d seen people do in the labor room where she’d worked a rotation. Surprisingly, it helped. A little.

“I don’t have everything I would like, but I’ve got a large tarp and a medical bag. It’ll have to do.”

“I’ve got towels in my car. In case my water broke. I was sitting on them in the driver’s seat.”

“Okay, be right back.”

He took off again and she did her best to breathe through the next contraction. When it was over, she sucked in a deep breath. “Whoa.” She had a new appreciation for mothers who chose natural childbirth over having an epidural. She hadn’t planned to do it this way.

She really wanted the epidural.

But it wasn’t to be. Now she just wanted her baby here, whole and healthy.

Joshua returned, towels in hand.

“That was fast.”

“I didn’t have to go very far.” He grinned. “I was driving really slow because I figured this was going to happen.”

She’d take that up with him later.

“I’m ready when you are.” He covered her with two of the towels and his respect for her privacy nearly made her cry. Then another wave of pain hit and she just plain didn’t care anymore. She just wanted to be done. And to sleep. Yes. Sleep would be amazing.

“Fine. Just do it.” She let out another yell and lost herself in the process of giving birth.

Kaylee wasn’t aware of time passing. She was mostly aware of the pain, but also the excitement that the end was finally here. The end...and the beginning. The beginning of a new life with a new life.

And then Joshua was placing him in her arms and everything faded once more. Only this time there was no pain, just awe. She touched the baby’s face. Her baby’s face. And he was just perfect.

She looked up to find Joshua staring at her—at them. His eyes met hers. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“You’re welcome.”

* * *

Joshua stripped his gloves from his hands and tossed them into a trash bag. He never traveled without his bag of medical supplies and, once again, it had paid off to have it.

He let his gaze travel the area, looking for the van used by Kaylee’s attacker. While he’d been focused on delivering the baby, he couldn’t help throwing glances over his shoulder every so often. He was almost surprised the man hadn’t shown up. Grateful, but surprised.

For now, Kaylee and her baby were safe, and that was all that mattered. He glanced at her and found she was still enamored with the infant in her arms. Her son.

His heart thudded at how beautiful he found the sight. Her long, blond hair feathered around her face. She’d pushed some strands behind her right ear but they didn’t want to stay there. Vivid blue eyes were now trained on her child, but Joshua remembered the fire in them when she’d tried to fight off her attacker and then again when she’d realized she was going to give birth in the back of his SUV. He drew in a deep breath. Beautiful or not, she was off-limits.

The ambulance had arrived five minutes after the baby boy had slid into his hands. Now the paramedics were waiting to take Kaylee and her son to the hospital to be checked out. His cousin, Sheriff Clay Starke, was also waiting. “Be with you in a minute.”

“Sure.”

Joshua approached the nearest paramedic, a blonde in her midthirties. “I think she’s ready.”

“Great.” She and her partner, an older guy, grabbed the gurney and rolled it over to the SUV. They gently helped Kaylee and the baby out of the back seat and onto the gurney.

Joshua re-gloved, rolled up the soiled tarp and disposed of it in the ambulance’s hazardous waste bag. He turned to find Clay talking to Kaylee. “...you know the man? Can you describe him?”

“No. I’ve never seen him before, I’m sorry. I...” She gave a small shrug and shook her head.

“Did he say what he wanted?”

“He wanted me to get in the van and, when I refused, he grabbed my arm. That’s when Joshua drove up and fought him off.”

At Clay’s raised brow, Joshua shrugged. “I did some mixed martial arts training to help deal with the stress of medical school. I picked up a few moves.”

She met his gaze. “I’ve never seen anyone fight like that. You made it look so easy.”

“At least until he pulled the gun, huh?” He could have disarmed the man with a few simple moves. And if Kaylee hadn’t been standing in the path of a possible bullet, he would have.

“Well, yes, but still, that was pretty amazing.”

He smiled. “I’ve had some practice.”

She bit her lip. “Thank you for being there. I don’t know what I would have done—with him or the baby.” She blinked back tears and he thought one of the walls around his heart might have just cracked a little.

He cleared his throat and backed up a bit. “It was good timing.”

Clay slapped him on the back. “Nice work. Glad to have you back home. Mom and Dad are looking forward to seeing you.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing them, as well.”

Clay turned to Kaylee. “Is there anyone we should call?”

“My father. I suppose.”

“I’ll call him now.”

“Thanks.”

“We’re ready to roll.” The paramedic shut the door.

“Should I follow her?” Joshua asked.

“Why?”

“Because whoever came after her just a bit ago isn’t done. He said he’d be back.”

And no matter who their parents were or the conflict that might wind up generating between him and Kaylee, he was worried her attacker might return—and he wasn’t about to leave her and her son unprotected.