A preview to get you ready!

Preview #2

_______________________________________________________________________________

Evan sat up when someone starting touching him.

“What the hell?” he said.

“Sir, lay back and let us help you,” a man said and tried again to do something to him.

“My wife! Where is my wife?” he sat up and looked around. He was in the parking lot of the ice cream shop and there were a bunch of people standing around him. He got up and almost fell over.

“You didn’t come in with a wife. You were alone, don’t you remember?”

“She was in the car. I walked out and someone got into the car and drove away and someone else hit me over the head,” he said and looked for his phone which was missing. Did he leave it in the car?

“Can I borrow a phone? Please?” he looked at them and knew he was wasting valuable time. He grabbed a piece of paper from the worker and wrote a number down.

“Please call this number and tell them Liz was taken and I’m going after her.”

“Sir, you can’t leave. The police will be here soon,” the man said.

“Call the number, please,” Evan said and looked at the older man. “Please. I need your car. I promise I’ll bring it back.”

The man shook his head no and Evan raced to the back of the building. He saw the ice cream delivery truck and he got inside, grateful the keys were there. He sped off down the street, not really knowing where he was headed.

*******

“If you don’t let me out of this car, I’ll kill you,” Elizabeth said to the man who was driving way too fast down the road.

“Shut up already,” he said. “I’ll crash this car if I have to.”

Elizabeth took a deep breath and tried to figure out a plan. She wasn’t about to do anything to harm her son, but there was no way in hell she was going to let this asshole hurt them.

“If you just let me out, I’ll be out of your hair. You can have the car.”

“I don’t want the car,” he grinned at her. “I want something more.”

“If you hurt me, you’ll be sorry,” she said, her heart racing and her window for escape dwindling.

“I’ll take my chances,” he said and reached to touch her stomach.

Elizabeth shoved his hand away and the car swerved.

“Don’t you touch me,” she said angrily.

“I’ll do whatever I want and you won’t stop me,” he said arrogantly. “You think I don’t know who you are? Your brother will pay handsomely for your safety.”

“Seriously?” Liz said. “This is over money?”

“No, it was over a baby, but I researched my victim and I know where the payout is. You are way more valuable than the doctor’s wife.”

“What are you talking about? What doctor’s wife?”

“Don’t act like you know nothing. My boss has a hard on for Stephanie and he has spent the last five years plotting his revenge. He will get her and I’ll get paid.”

Liz wondered where they were going and how she was going to get away. She remembered that Evan always kept a gun in the glove box and she needed a way to get it. She didn’t think. She simply reached up and pushed the emergency button from the onstar and when he swerved at the noise, she quickly opened the glove box and grabbed the gun, hiding it at her side.

The voice came on, asking if they needed help.

“Yes! I’ve been kidnapped. My name is Elizabeth Thrushcross and I’ve been carjacked. I’m 8 months pregnant and I need help!”

“Shut up you bitch,” the man said and punched her on the side of the face.

“We’re tracking your location,” the voice said and Elizabeth tried to answer, but she was a little out of it from the punch.

“You just made a grave mistake,” the man said and grabbed his own gun from the side. She unbuckled her seatbelt and watched as he slowed the car while he tried to multitask.

“Let me out of the car,” she said, her head pounding. She made sure the door was unlocked and she worried about jumping, but she didn’t know if she’d have a choice.

“First I need to get rid of dead weight,” he said and pointed the gun at her. She picked up her own gun and fired into his leg before the door opened and when he swerved, she fell out of the car, landing and skidding on her back and protecting her baby the best she could. The car swerved and flipped a few times before hitting a tree and bursting into flames. She lay on the hard concrete and began to cry.

“Evan? I need help!” she sobbed and quickly realized she needed to get out of the street. It was pitch black out and she wouldn’t be seen by a car until it was too late. She felt her back was bruised, but she crawled backwards on her butt to the opposite side of the street and passed out.

*****

Elizabeth woke up when the drops of rain hit her face. She was laying half on the asphalt and half on the grass. She went to get up when terrible pain ripped through her back.

“You’re fine. This is nothing,” she said to herself and was relieved when she felt the baby moving. “That’s a good boy,” she rubbed her stomach. “Mommy is going to get help.”

She ignored the pain and sat up a little, her large belly making it difficult enough. She looked around and smoothed her damp hair away from her face.

“Nice job Lizzie. All for some ice cream,” she muttered to herself. She had learned long ago to calm herself with talking and distraction. As a pilot, she had a lot of tools at her disposal to get through a tense or difficult situation. She also learned a lot during her two years without Evan. It didn’t always work, but she continued to try and talk herself into calming down.

“Your daddy has to be so worried,” she continued. “But he should know that I would protect you with everything I am. Some turd getting in our car isn’t going to take you away from us. We are stronger than that. We are a family.”

She tried to get up, but her body wasn’t cooperating. She worried there was something wrong with her back, but she could definitely feel her arms and legs. Maybe something was broken?

“I’ll just crawl a little closer to the side of the road and when someone drives by, I’ll throw a rock at them to stop them. Okay, maybe I’ll try something else. I don’t want to cause another accident,” she smiled and moved more onto the street.

“Please find me,” she said to the darkness. “Please.”

*****

Evan wiped his tears as he drove aimlessly. This was their time to have it all. Moving here and finding Brittany was like a miracle. What she had done for them by helping them get pregnant was something they could never have imagined. Now it was just about time to meet their son and Evan couldn’t imagine anything more amazing.

Now he was out in the rain, driving in a stolen truck to find her, hoping he wasn’t too late. How did he let something like this happen? He was furious with himself for letting her down and he realized he let his son down before he was even born.

What kind of father was he?

He had been driving aimlessly and he had no idea what to do. He knew he was on the road they had gone, but he had no idea if they were still driving. He needed help but he was afraid to leave the trail.

He saw there was chaos and commotion ahead and the flashing lights of the police and ambulance terrified him. He sped faster down the street towards the far away lights and prayed something terrible hadn’t happened to Lizzie.

He didn’t see what was in the road.

He didn’t know how close she was.

His eyes flew open when he saw something lying on the street and he could do nothing as the truck ran over the lump in the road.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Don’t forget to preorder your copy today!