Paradise Falls (Paradise Falls #1-5)(30)

“There’s no one but me. I know you’re scared. Focus on my voice. You’re going to be okay.”

“I’m having a heart attack.” Her throat felt like it was full of sand and she couldn’t swallow.

“It’s going to pass.”

“My purse. I need my purse. Get my purse.”

Without putting her down, he grabbed the strap.The purse dangled from his hand as he carried her through the open front door.

“Faisal, pick us up on the back street. Move.”

Who was Faisal? Why were all these people in Franklin’s bedroom?

A dark car rolled up. He lowered Jennifer into the back seat and crawled in beside her and slipped off his mask.

“I’ve got you,” said Jacob.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed. Her chest hurt.

“I’m dying,” she whimpered. “I’m gonna die. I don’t wanna die.”

“You’re not dying. Look at me.”

She looked at him.

“That was then. This is now. It’s just a memory. It can’t hurt you right now.”

She shook her head. “He’s here.”

“It’s just us.”

The driver pulled away from the house.

“Mrs. Carmody…“ She couldn’t manage more than a whimper.

“The police are coming,” the driver said. He had a strange accent.

“Jennifer, look at me. You’re not breathing. I need you to breath. With me, okay? In, out.”

In, out.

In, out.

Her chest didn’t hurt so much now, but it was still hard to breathe. Every motion and jolt of the car made her clench up again. He put something cool on her forehead.

“I’m cold.”

“I know it feels that way, but you’re burning up. You’re safe here. Just look at me and breathe.”

“Where are we going?”

“Someplace safe. Keep breathing. In, out.”





12.





“Clear the house.”

Jacob’s voice resonated clear through her muddled mind.

Other dark haired and olive-skinned men busied themselves with various activities around the house. Jennifer put her arms around Jacob’s neck and pulled close to him as she met their gaze.

“Who are those people?”

“My friends. They work for me. Faisal, you heard me. Everyone out.”

The driver nodded. Faisal spoke to the other men in another language that sounded like Arabic. The way Jacob effortlessly carried her up the stairs gave her a sense of floating. The world passed under her until he lowered her onto a huge four-poster bed and pulled up a heavy blanket. She grabbed at its edge, tucking it under her chin.

Jennifer yelped when Jacob sat next to her and the bedsprings gave under his weight. She curled up in a ball and her chest tightened.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Why did you bring me here? What’s going on?”

“You’re hurt. You have a cut on your head and I need to ice up your jaw. It’s going to bruise. I’m going to have Faisal help me. It’ll be just us.”

His friend entered the room with a first aid kit he deposited on the bed. Jacob peeled back Jennifer’s hair and she winced at the sting of antiseptic on her scalp.

“You bled a lot, but I don’t think it’ll scar. Here, hold this.”

He held a cold pack on the spot where Grayson hit the side of her head. The pain dimmed as panic took over. Jacob gathered more pillows and placed them under her head before lifting her calf. She reflexively pulled her leg out of his grasp.

“I need to see your ankle. That’s all.”

She nodded, forcing herself to relax. The swollen joint was tender, and Jennifer forgot how much it hurt until he touched it. She winced as the pain tore up her leg.

“We’re going to have to splint it.”

Faisal returned with an inflatable sprint. Jacob carefully covered her ankle, keenly aware each touch each time she groaned in pain until it was secure. Jacob balanced an ice pack on the splint before examining her arm.

The scrape from the other morning was mostly scabbed over, but he cleaned and bandaged any open cuts. Jacob found more pillows to elevate her hurt ankle, then took checked her pulse from her wrist.

“Go get my pills and a glass of water,” he said to Faisal.

Jennifer rose up on shaking elbows. “What pills?”

He gently nudged her back down by her shoulder. “It’s a mild sedative to help with panic attacks.”

“You have panic attacks?”

“Sometimes,” he nodded.

When his friend came back, Jacob showed her the pill bottle with his name on and shook one out into her cupped hand, and then offered a big glass of water. She took a small sip and swallowed the pill, then collapsed into the pillows.

“Drink more.”

She scowled and sat upright long enough to drain the glass, and then finally relaxed. Her head still hurt but she didn’t feel so dizzy, and the pain in her chest had faded to a cold burn.

“What’s happening?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I heard someone was breaking into your house.”

Her head was heavy. When she moved, it felt like her skull was packed with rubber.