Jaci Burton - Hope Flames

Ellen looked a wreck, her cheeks streaked with tears. She was shaking as they brought Nina to the exam room. Emma gloved up and removed the towels Ellen had wrapped her in so she could examine her.

Yeah, some dog had bitten Nina pretty badly.

“I’m going to clean her up and get her stitched,” Emma explained. “Why don’t the two of you go out to the waiting room. There’s a coffeepot out there, and water in the nearby kitchen off to the right. You can make yourself a pot if you’d like.”

Zane put his arm around Ellen. “I’ll take care of that. Thanks, Dr. Emma.”

Emma scooped up Nina and took her into the OR, anesthetized her, then started prepping her. Once Nina was out, she shaved the areas that needed suturing and got those spots cleaned up, much easier now that the poodle wasn’t quivering in pain.

“Poor baby,” Emma said, running her gloved hands over the dog. “Some dogs are just mean, aren’t they?”

Emma got Nina sewed up, checked her for any other signs of injury, then gave her a shot to ward off infection.

She went out to the waiting area. “She’s going to be fine, but she’s still anesthetized, and I’ve got her hooked up to fluids. I’d like to keep her here overnight.”

“We’ve warned the neighbors about their dog, but they ignored us,” Zane said. “We called the police, and the dog has been confiscated. At least he’s updated on shots so we don’t have to worry about rabies.”

“That’s good news. And don’t worry about Nina. She’s going to be okay. She’ll sleep all night, and you can come by in the morning to pick her up.”

Ellen took her hands. “Thank you for saving her life.”

“You’re welcome. Now both of you, go home and get some sleep. Your baby will be okay here.”

After Ellen and Zane left, Emma stretched and looked up at the clock over the reception desk.

Ten thirty. She blew out a breath and went to check on Nina. In her cage, she was asleep, her vitals normal. She went into the OR to start cleaning up the mess from the surgery, not wanting to leave it for Leanne to deal with in the morning.

When she heard the bumping noise, she thought maybe it was Nina waking up and fighting the anesthesia, so she went to investigate.

And came face-to-face with her worst nightmare. Someone she’d hoped to never see again.

Vaughn.

SITTING IN THE dark in a tiny pharmacy for hours was boring as hell. At least Luke wasn’t alone. Evan was on the inside with him, and they had the four guys staked out on the outside in constant communication.

They couldn’t even get up and wander around. The pharmacy was well lit from the outside lights, and they’d cast shadows if anyone was looking inside. They wouldn’t want the suspect to peer inside and see movement, which meant they either had to crouch and move, or crawl around on the floor.

Damned uncomfortable. And they’d been there for two and a half hours already.

“Anything?” he asked.

“Nothing here,” Steve said. “Someone just sped down the highway. Clocked him doing twenty miles over the limit. Too bad we can’t go after him.”

Luke looked over at Evan, who rolled his eyes. “Steve lives for writing tickets.”

“Who the hell likes to write tickets? It’s a pain in the ass.”

“Steve does,” Evan said, unwrapping a candy bar he’d stuffed into his pocket. “Don’t ask me why.”

“We have movement out here.”

“What kind of movement?” Luke shot back.

“He came from behind the housing addition. Skulking up the street. Wearing a backpack, staying in the shadows, hands in his pockets. He’s heading for the back of the shopping center.”

Tensing, Luke was on full alert now. He looked at Evan. “Let’s head to the back of the store.”

Evan gave a short nod and they crouched low, staying out of sight of the windows.

Evan took up position just inside the drug-supply area, while Luke stood right by the counter, ready to surprise the would-be burglar. Boomer was with him, staying right by his side, not making a sound.

“Oh. False alarm. He’s just walking past the store.”

Defeated, Luke’s shoulders slumped. He gave Boomer the stand down command, and Boomer lay down.

“Well, that was a letdown,” Evan said.

“No shit.”

An hour later, they decided to call it a night. The suspect’s typical MO was to hit early, and it was almost eleven.

“Sorry, guys. I thought this one would pan out,” Luke said on his mic.

“We’ll get him at some point,” Steve said.

Luke wrapped everything up, locked up and rearmed the store, then headed to his cruiser. He drove to Emma’s, surprised to see all her lights still on.

Daisy greeted him at the door, and Annie was out of her cage. Boomer greeted the other dogs.

“Where is she, girls?” he said, petting them both and heading to the bedroom.

“Emma?”

No answer. He went into the bathroom, but she wasn’t there.

Huh. She wasn’t in the house, but the dogs were. That was unusual. He took out his phone to call her, but it rang, and she didn’t answer.

She must have gotten an emergency call at the clinic. Still, she would answer if he called.

He shouldn’t worry about her. She was fine.

Still, it was late. Maybe if she had a call, she’d be tired. And maybe hungry. He was sure hungry.

He let the dogs out, put Annie in her crate for the night, then changed clothes, and headed for the clinic.

He’d talk Emma into going to Tulsa and eating at Denny’s. A late breakfast sounded great to him about now, and if she’d worked late, he knew she’d be hungry, too.

EMMA STARED AT Vaughn for what seemed like hours. He looked . . . older. But still vital. Still as powerful as he always had. Tall and lean, but with sharp dark eyes and salt-and-pepper hair, with a goatee.

She’d once found him so handsome. Now? Now he just represented misery. Fear. Mistakes. Horror.

He took a step forward. She took a step back. He halted.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” she said, hearing the crack in her voice. He’d use that against her.

He held up his hands. “I just want to talk.”

“We have nothing to say to each other. And you need to leave.” Her heart hammered in her chest, that old fear resurfacing. She’d fought so hard to get past it—to get past him—and now it all came rushing back.

Why was he here?

“I just wanted to apologize for . . . for everything.”

His words were empty, devoid of any real emotion. How could she have ever believed anything he said to her? Had she really been that naïve? The man had no heart, no real feelings for anything or anyone other than what made him happy, what suited his purposes.

She kept moving backward, needing the safety of the reception counter, a barrier between the two of them. “Vaughn. You need to leave. Now.”

“Not until you listen to what I have to say.”

There was something in his eyes, something she’d never noticed before. A disconnect, as if he wasn’t really even speaking to her, or even seeing her.

“I thought you had moved out of Oklahoma.”

He looked past her and let out a short laugh. “Yeah, after I lost my job, I did for a while.” Then he lifted his gaze to hers. “Did you know that you cost me my job, Emma?”

He would blame her for that. For what he’d done. He’d always blamed her. And for so long, she’d accepted the blame. Not anymore. She straightened, refusing to cower in front of him.

Never again.

“You didn’t lose your job at the university because of me, Vaughn. You have to take responsibility for what you did.”

He moved suddenly and the reception desk was blocked. She backed toward her office, where her purse was. Where her gun was. She needed to get to her gun. Vaughn wasn’t being reasonable. Had he ever been reasonable? Had she ever been able to stop him when he was determined to have—to take—whatever he wanted?

She wasn’t the person she was back then. She wasn’t under his thumb, under his control, any longer. And she’d never be again.

She took a deep breath, centering herself to find the calm balance she needed to confront him. “Let’s go sit down, have something cold to drink. Then you can tell me whatever it is you want to tell me.”

He tilted his head to the side and studied her, and once again she was struck by that faraway look in his eyes.

“Okay.”

She waited while he caught up to her, and it took everything in her not to run from him. Just being this close to him made her nauseous as the past rushed back to her. She forced it away, staying in the here and now.

“So you work here?”

“Yes.”

“It’s what you always wanted to do.”

“Yes, it is.” She had to fight to keep her voice under control, not to tremble because he was so close to her.

She opened the door to her office. He walked in and looked around. Picked up a few files, then walked to the window before turning around to face her, his hands clasped behind his back. It reminded her so much of him standing at the front of the classroom. He’d been so commanding back when she was a lovestruck freshman. She’d hung on his every word, and he’d hooked her like a starving fish.

“So . . . you have an office. You’ve really come up in the world, Emma. You’re a success.”

“I’m just starting out.”

“Still, you’re on your own. Do you think you can make it without someone to take care of you?” He came around the desk and this time, she refused to cower or step back. “You always needed someone to look after you. You liked it when I did.”

No, she hadn’t, but she had no idea of his current state of mind, so she kept her opinions to herself.

She tilted her head back, met his gaze. “How about we have something to drink?”

“I don’t suppose you have wine in that mini fridge of yours,” he said, taking a seat.

She managed a smile. “No. Soda or water.”

“Maybe we can go back to your place. I stopped there first looking for you, but you weren’t home, so I came here.”

He knew where she lived. She wondered how long he’d been stalking her. “So . . . soda or water?”

“You’re not inviting me back to your home. Is your boyfriend there?”

She shifted past him and reached into the refrigerator for a bottle of water, unscrewed the top and held on to the bottle to keep her hands from shaking. Now she was next to her desk, inches away from the drawer that held her purse. And her gun. “That’s none of your business. Just like my life is none of your business anymore.”

“You’re brave now, Emma. Braver than you used to be. You used to let me control everything.”

She took a seat at her desk, using her knee to nudge the drawer. “That was a long time ago.” She took a sip of water.

“Not so long ago. What changed between us?”

“I think you know what happened.”

“Yes. You betrayed me.”

“I didn’t betray you, Vaughn. I ended our relationship. Now I’d like you to leave.” She nudged the drawer open farther.

He laughed, his tone growing more menacing. She didn’t want to have to take out the gun, but so help her she would if he made one move out of that chair.

“That didn’t work out too well for you before, little girl. You trying to tell me what to do. What makes you think it’ll work out so well for you now?”

“Because I’m here to back her up. Now get the hell up out of that chair before I kick your ass.”

Emma’s gaze shot to the doorway.

Luke.

LUKE DIDN’T KNOW what the hell was going on, or who this guy was making threats against Emma, but based on the bits of conversation he’d picked up as he walked down the hall, he’d already figured out two things. One, Emma knew the guy, and two, she didn’t like him and wanted him out of her clinic. That was enough information for him to know he had to get this guy out of there in a hurry.

Seemingly unconcerned about Luke’s arrival, the guy stood. He was tall and lean, with a graying goatee. Looked like an academic type to Luke, and he had a sneaking suspicion it might be Vaughn, which sent his radar up to high. He laid his hand on the butt of his gun.

“You must be the boyfriend. I’m Vaughn Castille.” Vaughn extended a hand that Luke ignored.

“I’m pretty sure Emma asked you to leave.”

Vaughn resumed his seat with a smirk. “Emma doesn’t always know what she wants.”