three shots to the chest still hurt like a motherfucker.
As did the back of his head.
Scuffling and grunting noises pulled him back into the moment. Lindsey!
He pushed to his knees, head spinning, and squinted into the dim hallway. Lindsey was kneeling on the floor in front of Megan, a gun aimed at her forehead.
Nononononono. Why were his hands empty?
He twisted and scanned the asphalt. There!
Todd lunged for his weapon.
“Fuck the money,” Megan said. “I’ll find another way.”
He snatched up the gun and rolled to his side, getting a bead on Megan’s pale shirt in the shadows.
Megan smiled. “Goodbye, Lindsey.”
Lindsey flung her arms up.
Todd pressed the trigger, firing again and again and again, until the gun clicked empty.
Megan slumped against the wall and slid to the floor.
Lindsey looked on, wide-eyed, mouth open in a silent scream, but still alive, thank God. Scrambling to get away from the other woman, she threw herself toward Todd.
“Are you okay?” His ears rang in the sudden hush as he charged into the narrow space, dropping to his knees to scoop Lindsey’s trembling body into his arms. “I’ve got you.”
They clung to each other as if tentacled, twined so tightly he could hardly breathe. Or maybe that was the latent fear, the discharge of adrenaline. He’d come so close, so close to losing her.
Never again.
He gripped her tear-stained cheeks and met her gaze. “I love you, Lindsey.”
His ears were so cottony he could hardly hear his own voice, but he could read her lips when she responded, “I love you, too.”
Then she kissed him with all the desperation, residual fear, and frantic desire pulsing through his own veins. And underneath it all: love.
So much love.
The only thing that mattered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ON TUESDAY MORNING, three days after killing Megan, two days after the docs cleared him and the police released him, Todd stood on the balcony of Lindsey’s Hermosa Beach apartment. His body wrapped around hers from behind as they watched the first light of the day wash over the rooftops below and the Pacific Ocean beyond. The cool, humid air ruffled their hair and encouraged her to snuggle deep into his embrace.
The moment was about as perfect as it got.
And they’d almost never had it.
A tight band squeezed his chest. The memory of a gun in Lindsey’s face made it hard to breathe. He’d come so close to losing her…
She had lost him. Or thought she had. Thank God his vest had worked as advertised, or they’d both be dead.
Thank God it was over.
For Megan too. Her death brought him no joy, but it did bring relief. It meant Lindsey was safe now. It meant she and Todd had a chance to move forward without the threat of reprisal hanging over them like a teetering boulder.
They’d spent the last two days making love and traveling, both of them avoiding talking about the nightmare they’d barely survived.
“This view is amazing,” he said, focusing on the woman still very much in his embrace, soaking up every moment. “I can see why you like it here.”
Her one-bedroom apartment was small, but bright and airy, with plenty of light and vaulted ceilings. Her furnishings were cozy and inviting, the space neat but not sterile. Framed watercolors of ocean scenes kept the white walls from being too stark.
His townhome was dark and cramped in comparison, despite being larger. And he couldn’t even dream of matching her view.
“This little sliver of blue is all I can afford right now, but I love it. And I’m only about half a mile from the beach. We should go down.”
After dressing, they walked through hilly, tightly packed neighborhoods with a mishmash of homes from different eras, all vying for ocean views.
When they reached the Strand—the concrete path that edged the beach—it was already busy with walkers, joggers, and bicyclists. Out on the sand, volleyball players staked out boundaries around tall nets, or toted large mesh bags full of practice balls. Two middle-aged men wearing wetsuits and holding surfboards studied the waves.
Lindsey led Todd through a break in the low stucco wall, and they stopped to remove their shoes.
Once they reached the shoreline, Todd dug his toes into the soft, cool sand and watched the waves roll in. Endless, mesmerizing, meditative. “I haven’t been to the beach in years.” Not for vacation anyway. “I almost forgot how nice it is.”
“Well, now you can stay with me anytime you need some ocean in your life.”
He tugged her closer and brushed his lips across her cheek. “This is great,