Billy was cursing the traffic and wondered if he was better off leaving his pickup on the freeway and continuing on foot. He left the truck running and stepped out, trying to see what was going on up ahead. A commotion to his left caught his attention and he looked over into the three lanes on the other side of the freeway. They were almost at a standstill too and people were honking and yelling. His first thought was that tempers were flaring because of the traffic, but then he caught sight of the orange van. It was about ten cars down in the center lane. There was black spray paint along the side and the windows were blacked out. He couldn’t believe it. He had found Trent and Joy.
Without even thinking to move his truck over or turn it off, he vaulted the cement divider and pulled his gun out of the waistband of his jeans. He started jogging toward the van and was almost there when he saw the man wandering through traffic. He was about six feet tall with dark hair. He had his back to Billy so he couldn’t see his face, but he could see that he was looking under and around the cars like he was searching for something. One of the cars honked at him as traffic began to crawl forward. Billy saw the gun come up and his instincts took over. The man was about to shoot the lady behind the wheel of the car. Billy took aim and a split second after he pulled the trigger, the man’s body hit the hood of the car.
The woman in the car jumped out, screaming bloody murder. Billy was going toward her with the intention of calming her down when he saw the dark head peek out from behind another car about three cars back in the next lane.
“Joy? Oh, my God! Joy!”
Joy’s head came up again and her eyes fell on Billy. He could clearly see the relief on her pretty face as she stood up.
“Billy!” she cried out.
He ran toward her, dodging the slow moving cars as he did. He passed the car with Trent’s body slumped across it and kept going. He’d deal with that later. Joy came around the car and he swept her up into his arms. She pressed her face into his chest and he held her there. He could feel her shaking and he pulled her in tighter.
“It’s okay, I’m here. He can’t hurt you anymore. It’s okay…”
She looked up at him with her tear-stained face and that was when he realized that she had a bruise across one side of her face, her nose was red, and her lip was split. Hot, seething rage boiled in his veins and he wanted to kill Trent all over again.
“Are you okay?” she asked him, looking all over his body for any wounds.
Billy smiled down at her and almost laughed. She was bloody and bruised and had been kidnapped by a maniac and she wanted to know if he was okay. “I’m okay now. God, I’m so glad I found you.”
Her eyes moved over to where Trent’s body lay unmoving. Billy knew that she’d feared him and she might have even hated him…but he was still her brother, her twin. He wasn’t sure how she was going to react to seeing him like that.
“Is he dead?” she asked in a whisper. Billy hadn’t checked, but he didn’t have a doubt. He never shot to kill and failed. He’d hit Trent square in the heart. He was dead.
“Yes,” he said quietly, unsure how she’d react. “He’s dead. I’m sorry.”
It was her turn for a nervous giggle. She laid her head back into his chest and the giggle turned into a sob. Her legs finally gave out and Billy gently crouched down with her on the ground. They sat there like that on the side of the freeway, with her sobbing into his chest, until the police arrived. Billy hated what she was going to have to endure because of all this…but the bottom line was that she was finally safe, and that was all that really mattered.
********
It was late by the time they finished up with the police, but they still stopped by the hospital to see Marcus. Joy had insisted on that. Although Billy wanted to see him badly and make sure he was going to be okay, he was worried that she was too exhausted. She hadn’t taken no for an answer, however.
Marcus had gone through surgery and was in the ICU by the time they got there. They didn’t get to see him because only immediate family members were allowed, but Grant told him that when the doctor had come out to talk to Sadie, he’d told her the wound was clean and it had only nicked his liver. They had replaced the blood he lost and repaired what they could and, barring any unforeseen events, the doctor thought he was going to be just fine. Billy had gotten a kick out of listening to Grant and Joy apologize to each other. He could tell Grant felt guilty about Trent taking her on his watch, but from what Billy heard about what happened, he hadn’t had a choice. Joy felt guilty too, as if Trent’s actions were somehow her fault.
It was almost midnight by the time they got back to Joy’s cabin. Billy was dead on his feet and aching for a shower, but despite Trent being gone, he was still reluctant to leave her alone.
He walked her up to the door and as she unlocked it he said, “I’m not sure if you feel like being alone or…” She cut off his words with her lips. She had to stand up on her toes to reach his, but she managed it. Billy was paralyzed by the sensations her body pressing into his caused and he suddenly forgot how tired he was. His blood turned to liquid fire as her tongue traced his bottom lip and met his own. He tightened his hold on her body and pulled her up so that her feet were lifted off the ground. The kiss went from soft and sweet to urgent and passionate. He could barely breathe before finally grudgingly pulling back and lowering her down to her feet. She swayed slightly and he reached out to steady her.
“I really hate to break this, but you need to get some sleep,” he said. He looked at her red, slightly swollen lips and wanted nothing more than to pick her back up and continue this inside.
She smiled up at him and nodded. “So do you. I hate to put you back on the couch after you’ve had such a long day, though…”
He nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll go up to my own cabin.”
“Oh…okay. If that’s what you want.”
He took her hands and looked down into her clear green eyes. “What do you want, Joy? Do you want to be alone?”
She shook her head. “Is it too much if I ask you to just stay with me?”
He smiled and softly brushed his lips against hers. “Not even a little bit too much. I’ll need to borrow your shower though.”
She giggled. “I wasn’t going to say anything…”
Laughing, he said, “Yeah, I can’t imagine why I would stink after a ten mile hike up a mountain, another five mile hike down, a dirt bike ride through the forest…”
“A dirt bike?”
He nodded. “Like I said, it’s been one hell of a day.”
Once they got inside, Billy sent Joy to shower first and he called Cade. He’d already been filled in on most of what happened, but Billy filled in the blanks.
“How are you holding up?” Cade asked him.
Billy looked down the hall toward where he could hear the shower running. Joy was safe and the threat that she’d run from her entire life was gone. Despite pain he felt in his heart for Marcus and Sadie, he felt pretty damned good knowing that Joy was safe. “I’m doing alright. A shower and a good night’s sleep and I’ll be as good as new.”
“You did a good job today.”
Billy chuckled. “Thanks for saying that, but if I’d never left her in the first place…”
“Trent would still be out there running around, hurting people.”
“Thanks, Cade.”
“Get some rest.”
Joy came out of the bedroom a few minutes later wearing black, cotton pajama pants, and a white thermal, long-sleeved shirt. Her face was scrubbed clean of any makeup and the bruise on her cheek was beginning to darken. Her hair was wet and she was braiding it as she came out into the living room. She stopped when she saw Billy watching her. “The shower’s free.”
“Thanks.” He knew he was staring, but his feet felt like they were glued to the floor. She was so damned beautiful she took his breath away.
“What?” she asked him. He shook his head and started toward the bedroom. “Hey, Billy?”
“Yeah?” He turned back around to look at her.
“Normal, please. Tell me what you were thinking?”
He smiled. “You’re gorgeous. I was thinking that I can’t believe how lucky I am to be here with you.”
She smiled and walked over closer to him. “You do realize that I’m the lucky one? If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t even be here.”
He shrugged. “You got out of the truck on your own, which was a very brave thing to do. You would have made it.”
She shivered and he pulled her into another hug. “I hate to think what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up.”
Billy kissed the top of her head. The fragrance of her hair went right through him and settled below the belt.
He finally pulled her back gently and said, “I don’t want to think about anything other than you being safe. I’m going to hit the shower.”
Joy smiled and nodded. Billy’s shower took a long time, thanks to his aching muscles and how amazing the hot water felt against them. After he finally got out, toweled off, and slipped back into his boxers, Joy was fast asleep in her bed. He climbed in next to her and draped his arm over her slim waist. He closed his eyes and smiled. He would sleep well tonight. He was sure of that because he had everything that he’d ever dreamed about in his arms already.