Wicked Need (The Wicked Horse Series Book 3)(57)

Dark, greasy hair that comes down to his shoulders and parts in the middle. A long, wiry beard. Dirty face smudged with oil and sweat. The light surprises him and his eyes flare wide as they turn toward the source, which I know is a car that’s just pulled into the driveway.

Either Lorelei or Jake, but I can’t tell because I can’t turn my head without causing the blade to go in deeper.

I have no clue if they can see us, but my attacker must not think so, even though I can see his eyes are pale blue from the shimmer of the light on him. He presses the blade in tighter and doesn’t say a word, seemingly unsure of what to do. For the first time, I feel a small trickle of blood that rolls down past my collarbone to my chest.

The engine is cut off, and I hear the ticking of the motor. The lights don’t go out and the car door opens.

All of this happens in just seconds, and without any thought as to whether it’s the right thing to do or not, I open my mouth and let out the most piercing shriek I can muster. It startles the man so much that he actually jerks backward from me, my neck suddenly free from the knife. I turn and see Lorelei standing beside her car with the door still open, not even fifteen feet away. She’s staring straight at us, the headlights showing her exactly what the situation is. I haven’t met her yet, but I did see her getting in her car one morning from the upper window in the garage apartment. I wonder if she knows who I am.

Because she’s standing in the glow of the sconce lights, I see clearly the look of shock cross her face, then her eyes narrow in recognition of me and a scary, greasy man standing there with a knife.

Oh, f*ck… what was I thinking? Lorelei is pregnant. She might even have her daughter in the backseat. She’s now in as much danger as I am.

“Lorelei… run,” I scream, my back still pinned against the wall, not by my attacker but merely by my terror.

But she doesn’t. Instead, she calmly reaches into her purse and pulls a gun out. My gaze goes to the man, watching his eyes widen in surprise. I’m sure mine look the same.

“You get the hell away from her,” Lorelei says as she holds the gun aimed at him in a sure, two-handed grip. She looks completely confident in her abilities, and I think that might be because everyone in Wyoming owns guns and knows how to shoot.

The man doesn’t move one way or the other. He stands frozen to the spot, his eyes riveted on Lorelei and the gun, his hand holding the knife loosely by his side. My gut instinct—no, my internal sense of self-preservation—tells me to run—but I stand frozen to the spot as well, afraid any movement from me might provoke him to attack.

“Only going to say this one more time,” Lorelei says, and I hear the unmistakable snick of the gun cocking. “Get the hell away from her.”

He only hesitates for one, maybe two seconds before he bolts off into the darkness, the sound of his feet thumping on the hard ground and eventually receding into the distance.

“Get over here, Cat,” Lorelei says, her gun now swung slightly toward the way in which my attacker just ran. Well, that answers the question… she knows who I am.

I bend to grab my purse, but Lorelei barks at me, “Over here now. I can’t see much past you and I don’t know if he’s still out there.”

There’s no hesitation because the thought he might be back propels me as much as Lorelei’s commanding voice. I run straight at her, confident she won’t shoot me.

She nods at her car and says, “Get in the back with Amber.”

I don’t argue but do exactly as she says. When the door is closed, she slowly backs into the driver’s seat and shuts the door. With amazing efficiency, she sets the gun on the dashboard, reaches into her purse to grab her phone, and manages to start the car. Handing the phone to me, she says, “Call 911. Tell them what happened and the address. Tell them I’m leaving and going to drive the block until they get here.”

“Why?” I ask as I take the phone.

“Because I have no clue if there are others, possibly in the house or apartment,” she says as she shifts the car into reverse.

Brilliant. Would have never thought of that.

I turn to look at Amber sitting beside me in the car seat. Beautiful little girl with golden blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, clutching a teddy bear. I give her a tremulous smile. “Hi.”

She looks at me with solemn eyes, understanding that something scary is going on here.

Then I turn back to Lorelei’s phone to call the police.





“Can you remember anything else?” Detective Blanton asks as he sits beside me on the couch in Lorelei and Jake’s living room, typing notes on an iPad. He’s a nice-looking man… tall with dark hair peppered lightly with gray, which tells me he’s been a cop for a while.

“I think that’s it,” I say, my brain trying to sift through all the details, but I feel they’re all muddied from the fear and adrenaline. It took me no more than five minutes to recount to him what happened the first time, and that’s only because the entire thing couldn’t have lasted more than two minutes, although it felt like twenty.

He had me go through my story three more times, each time managing to pull out some other detail I had forgotten. It makes me wonder what else I’ve failed to tell him.

He doesn’t say anything, just continues to type in some notes.

The front door opens, but I don’t flinch as police officers have been coming in and out as they search for evidence, making sure that no one was inside the house. I turn my head, surprised to see Rand standing there, his face pale and his jaw locked. He sidesteps a cop, rounds the loveseat, and heads straight toward me. I stand up, shuffle to the side of the coffee table, and meet him at mid-room where his arms are around me and he’s pushing my face into his chest.