“I’ll never let you go, sweet Scottie.” The man’s claim contradicted his most recent act. “But yes, you should get dressed. And hurry. Just in case your worthless bodyguard decides to change his mind and come back.”
That’s exactly what I’m counting on, you sick son of a bitch.
Knowing her situation was still far too volatile to risk exposing her true intentions to escape, Scottie forced herself to take a single step forward. Then another. And another.
By the time she’d almost reached the bathroom door, the fear that Mitch had misunderstood what she’d really wanted him to do was so great it was all she could do not to give into the overwhelming despair. But then?—
“Scottie, get down!”
Mitch’s imposing form appeared suddenly in the doorway. Without question, Scottie dropped down to the floor, her arms flying over her head in an attempt to protect herself as she curled into a tiny ball.
Two gunshots blasted through the tense air, the deafening sounds so close together they were nearly succinct. Half a heartbeat later, she heard the dull thud of two bodies hitting the carpet. First one. Then the other.
Scottie’s head flew up, her eyes frantically scanning the terrifying scene. She gasped with shock when she saw both Dustin and Mitch lying motionless on the floor. Their eyes were closed, and both men were bleeding from their chests.
A terrified scream filled the entire room, and it took her a moment to realize it was coming from her. The screaming stopped, and though shock ran rampant throughout her entire system, she had enough wherewithal to grab Dustin’s discarded weapon from the carpet nearby before rushing to Mitch’s side.
“Mitch!” She fell to her knees beside him, her attention split between her attacker and her savior as she slapped her palms against the fresh wound in his shoulder. “Oh, God! You’ve been shot!” she blurted out the obvious.
Scottie wasn’t sure if Dustin was still alive, but another quick glance his way confirmed he still wasn’t moving. So she had to at leasttryto help Mitch while she still could.
Mitch’s eyes fluttered open, pain filling his unfocused gaze. His lips parted, the man’s strained voice like music to her ears.
“Nothing…v-vital.” He spoke through a set of clenched teeth. “Pretty sure…bullet went…clean…th-through.”
Tears flooded her vision, distorting the man’s fallen image as his warm, sticky blood coated her fingers. “Oh, thank God!” Her chin quivered as she sent up a real, silent prayer of thanks.
“Need to…call...the cops.” Mitch instructed as he attempted to push himself into a seated position.
The door to her room flew open for the third time, and just like that, two security guards were there.
“I don’t think we have to worry about that,” a very relieved Scottie told the wounded man.
Within seconds, the entire hallway was filled with people. Guests and hotel staff alike had all rushed to the scene to see what had happened.
Chaos ensued as they stood in and around the propped-open doorway while staff rushed to where she and Mitch remained. The guests standing around outside—and even a couple of the hotel staff—had their phones in their hands, their cameras recording her every move.
And as Scottie lowered Dustin’s weapon, which was still clutched tightly in her hand, she realized…
I never want to be in the spotlight again.
1
Present Day…
“Where doyou want this stuff, Boss?” Chase Boyer adjusted the box in his arms as he spotted the woman in charge.
Natalie Hayes turned and looked his way. “Chase! You made it!”
The petite brunette smiled wide as she abandoned the donated items on the table before her and began walking toward him. Dressed in dark jeans and a forest green, long-sleeve maternity shirt, her noticeable baby bump was as adorable as the woman herself.
“Said I’d be here, didn’t I?” he quipped without any real heat. Small bits of displaced gravel crunched beneath the rubber soles of his boots as he crossed the last stretch of the shelter’s asphalt parking lot.
“You did.”
“So…what?” Chase challenged playfully. “You suddenly don’t trust that I’m a man of my word?”
“I trust your word as much as I always have.” Natalie led him over to the table where she’d been working. “It’s your track record of sleeping through your alarm when it’s set for something non-work related that had me second-guessing your appearance.”