Love at First Sight - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,74
the chairlift. She scrambled back up on hands and knees toward them.
She didn’t hear the chair behind her. Forgot about it until it hit her, flattening her to the ground.
She lay dazed for a moment, then looked up to see it inching toward Jack and the killer. The chair struck one of them in the back. She watched in horror as the corner of the chair seemed to catch on a piece of his clothing, dragging the man along as he fought to free himself.
It wasn’t until the chairlift rose, the ground falling away again beneath the chair, that she saw the man dangling helplessly wasn’t Jack.
The figure hanging from the chair wore a sweatshirt. It was the hood that had hung up on the chair. He now clung to the chair with one hand. The other cradling his ribs as he tried to tear his hood loose.
She watched in silent horror as the man’s efforts failed and he finally dropped his arm. The chair jerked along with him hanging by his neck, his arms at his side.
The body continued on up the mountain. She watched. Time suspended. The chair came through the bull pen and headed back down, slowly, painfully.
She saw Jack get to his feet. The rain began to lessen. In the dull light of the passing storm and the approaching night, she stood a few feet from him, the two of them just looking at each other. Jack Adams. More of a stranger than he’d been before her memory loss.
A cop. A man who went around saving damsels in distress. That’s why he’d pretended to be married to her. Why he’d pretended to love her. Just to keep her safe. To protect her. That’s what cops did.
And he had saved her. If only he’d saved her from this heartache, as well.
She stood in the drizzling rain and cried as overhead the sound of a helicopter drowned out the gas generator and the grind of the chairlift. A spotlight splashed down from the chopper as it hovered above her.
She dragged her gaze away from Jack and looked up at the corpse hanging from the chairlift as the chair crept closer.
The spotlight shone on Dr. Carl Vandermullen’s face as he dangled lifelessly against the passing storm clouds.
KAREN’S MEMORY had returned. Jack saw it in her eyes. In the silent accusation there. In the hurt and betrayal.
But it was the pain in her gaze that was his undoing. His heart broke. Snapped like a twig. Leaving only an unbearable ache that tore at his insides.
He knew his pain was nothing compared to hers. She looked more devastated by what he’d done than by her encounter with a killer.
He’d destroyed the best thing that had ever happened to him. Why would she ever trust him again? He’d used her love and trust to fool her. All in the name of protecting her. It wasn’t enough that he’d lied about the marriage. He’d bought into it himself.
He felt weak as he stumbled toward her, searching for words that would take away the pain. His Girl Next Door. God, what had he done?
Below them on the mountain, he saw Denny. He had Baxter. Baxter’s hands were cuffed behind him. Annette stood nearby.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The hours that followed passed in a blur of pain and confusion. Paramedics and police. A rush of uniforms and questions. So many questions.
Jack had tried to talk to her, to comfort her, but she couldn’t bear to look at him, couldn’t bear to hear his explanations.
“Jack, I understand,” she’d said. “You were just trying to protect me.” That’s what cops do.
“Karen, there is so much I need to say to you.”
But she hadn’t let him. She’d felt too fragile. Too afraid she’d shatter if he touched her. Break into a million pieces if he told her it had all been a lie. Even the love she thought she still glimpsed in his eyes. Just looking at him hurt too much.
Jack was flown out with Howie and Denny for medical treatment, his chief insisting he go. Karen could tell that Jack didn’t want to leave her, as if he still felt responsible for her—the last thing she wanted.
Later, when she reached Missoula, she’d called the hospital just to make sure he was all right. They were keeping him overnight for observation.
She went to her mother’s. Jack phoned. She didn’t take his calls. When he stopped by to check on her, her mother turned him away at her request.
She couldn’t bear to