My Deadly Valentine - By Valerie Hansen & Lynette Eason Page 0,71
his hands when he saw Eli’s gun. “I didn’t know what he was going to do. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
Joel stepped forward. “We’ll figure that out later. Where’s Alex and Holly?”
“I don’t know. Holly sicced her dog on Alex and then ran out the door.” The man’s throat bobbed and sweat poured from his brow. “I didn’t know what he was doing, I swear I didn’t. I…I think he’s going to kill her.”
Eli bolted from the cabin yelling behind him, “I’m going after Holly. Get a doctor out here for Mrs. Maddox.”
Not bothering to wait and see if his orders were followed, Eli took off, his feet pounding the hard earth. Absently, he registered the snow that had started to fall while he’d been in the cabin. Wind whipped around him, digging under his collar and stinging his neck. His eyes searched the ground and saw the scuffed earth heading in the direction of the trees.
Where would she go?
Distant barking reached his ears as did the sound of the rushing waterfall. Duster?
Gun held in front of him, Eli headed for the waterfall. A siren sounded behind him and when he looked back, he could see two other cruisers pulling up to the house.
Joel had Jarrod Parker cuffed.
Eli resumed his run toward the waterfall. Duster’s barking increased in volume.
“Duster? Holly?” he yelled, not really expecting Holly to hear him.
Duster crashed from around a tree and yipped at him then took off back toward the falls.
Eli noted the dog’s wet fur and spurred his feet to move faster over the uneven ground. He tripped once, caught himself and kept going.
Fear flooded him. Was Holly even still alive? He had to believe that. His heart wouldn’t let him think otherwise. Had she fallen in the water?
Eyes roving, Eli took in everything, noting the freshly crunched path his feet now trod. Thankfully, the snow hadn’t started earlier. Their trail would be completely covered in about thirty minutes.
They’d gone to the left. No doubt Holly trying to take cover in the woods. Hurrying, he made his way forward, to the sound of the river greeting his ears. The crashing falls were just up ahead.
And so were Holly and Alex.
Bursting into the clearing beside the water, he saw the two locked together in a struggle in the middle of the waist-deep river. Holly looked ready to lose at any moment.
Fortunately, the water didn’t flow so fast that one couldn’t stand up in it, but it was frigid cold and that meant almost more danger than possible drowning.
Forging a path in that direction, Eli yelled, “Let her go, Alex!”
The man either didn’t hear him or ignored him.
Alex swung Holly to the side and shoved her under.
And held her.
Eli’s heart dropped into his toes. “Alex!” The scream ripped from him and he trained his gun on the man’s heart. Alex finally looked up and spotted Eli.
Fury and desperation flashed across his features and his grip must have loosened as Holly managed to get her head above water. Then Alex went down.
Holly had pulled his legs out from under him.
Good girl, Holly, keep fighting, honey. God, help me out here, please!
Eli hit the water running. The cold sucked the breath from him and nearly knocked him off his feet. But he had to get to Holly.
The water churned as it shoved Holly and Alex closer to the edge of the waterfall.
“Holly!”
She heard him and whirled. Her feet went out from under her again and for a few heart-stopping moments, Eli couldn’t spot her. Then he saw Alex with a grip on her jacket. She slid out of it before he could get a better grip and slogged her way toward him. He could see her teeth chattering and her lips were blue. He had to get her out of the water now.
“Come on, Holly, you can do it.”
Duster now stood on the banks of the river, barking nonstop.
“Eli!” she called and held her hands out toward him.
“Come on!”
Making his way toward her as fast as he could, he saw her strength ebbing.
And Alex’s furious strides rapidly closed the distance between them.
Everything in her said to give up. She could hear Alex cursing behind her, the falls rushing just ahead and Eli shouting at her to come on.
Exhaustion pulled at her. She wanted to sink into it, let the water take her wherever it would.
But she couldn’t. Her mother needed her. She wanted a future with Eli.