He just wished she’d waited and talked to him before she’d surrendered to the police.
“I love you, Caroline,” he screamed into the night. The sedan picked up speed around the turn at the end of the parking lot, but paused at the exit to the road. And he could have sworn he saw the Marine in front crack his window.
“I love you,” Josh called again. And then in a lower voice, “Please believe me . . . have faith in me, and in us . . . I won’t let you down.”
The car pulled onto the quiet two-lane road lined with street lamps. He watched until the sedan disappeared from sight. Then he turned and headed back to his truck. And he raised his fist, bringing it down hard against the driver’s side window.
Watching the woman he loved be led away in handcuffs, he’d never felt so damn impotent. Like such a fucking failure. What the hell had gone wrong? Of all the time bombs waiting to blow up their relationship, he’d never imagined this. Why couldn’t she have waited for him to come back? Talked to him? Trusted him with her fears? Believed that he’d stand by her and help her? Why did she have to make up her mind all on her own that this was the only way forward?
Slowly, he raised his head. He couldn’t stay here. There was a terrified woman who’d been hurt badly waiti
ng for him back at the hotel. And there was his life—and his family—back in Oregon.
He took one last look at the empty road.
And there was Caroline . . .
He pulled open the driver’s side door and reached for his cell. It was two in the morning, but he knew someone would pick up.
“Big Buck’s,” Noah answered in a calm, collected tone that suggested the night’s rush had come and gone.
Damn good thing because Josh needed the former Marine to jump into action.
“Caroline’s in custody,” he snapped. “I’m at the station now. The police just handed her off to the military. Marines, army police, I don’t know who the hell they were, but they led her away in handcuffs.” And yeah, his voice broke at the end. But dammit, the image was still too raw in his mind.
“You—”
“No, I didn’t turn her in,” Josh said, running a hand through his hair. “But you bet your ass I’m going to get her out.”
He’d been right all along. Her problems were too big for him to tackle on his own. “Noah, I need you to do me a favor and call my brothers. I’m going to pick up Helena back at the hotel—”
“She agreed to come with you?” Noah said.
“She broke herself out,” Josh said. “I’ll give you the full story—or she will—when we get back. But Mr. Ashford Watterson is in custody and while Helena will probably still have to come back here to sort things out, I think you can go ahead and call Ryan. Tell him not to worry about her.”
“I will,” Noah said.
“We’re heading back. Tonight,” Josh continued as he climbed into his truck and put it in gear. “We’ll be there in about nine hours. Can you have everyone at the bar?”
“You have a plan,” Noah said.
“Not yet. But I’m not leaving Caroline to face this on her own. She doesn’t believe me. Hell, I don’t think she trusts that I can pull it off”—and she might be right to doubt me—“but I’m going to get her back. What’s happening to her, it’s not right.”
“No, it’s not,” Noah said. “And Josh? You don’t have to do this alone.”
“Thanks.” He ended the call and focused on getting back to the hotel. The sooner he picked up Helena, the sooner they could get on the road to Oregon.
And find a way to get Caroline out of those damn cuffs.
No escape.
Her words echoed in his memory. Maybe she believed that, but he wasn’t going to give up. He’d find a way to get her out. He’d get her another shot at freedom.
Chapter 18
CAROLINE STARED STRAIGHT ahead. She blocked out the sounds around her—the radio, the soldiers’ voices, the click of the turning signal as the car merged onto the highway. None of it mattered. All she had to do now was focus on getting through this.
She had narrowed her focus and shut down her senses on the taxi ride to the police station. Her heart, her feelings—she’d spelled those out for Josh and handed the slip of paper to Helena. Then she’d taken her wallet with her identification and she’d walked out the door. Her gun, her backpack, and everything else she’d carried with her on this trip, including her black lace undies, had stayed behind.