The Heart of a Hero by Janet Chapman Read Free Book Online Page B

ribs, apparently. “Works for me.”
    They both fell silent with their deal struck, Nicholas figuring Julia had quickly agreed because she didn’t think she’d run into him for at least another six months. She was wrong, of course, but he saw no need to enlighten her. They sped past the limo pulled off the road next to a timber bridge, the driver leaning against its front fender and giving Nicholas a wave on their way by. Several minutes later he shot past the lower gatehouse with a nod at the grinning guard, then slowed to a less reckless speed now that he had no control over the traffic for the remaining mile of resort road.
    “I wondered why we only saw two cars,” Julia said, glancing over her shoulder at the three cars waiting at the entrance gate before looking at him, her large hazel eyes widened with surprise. “You called ahead and had the road closed?”
    He nodded as they passed the resort’s entrance to the Nova Mare marina. “I also had the guards at both gates tell me the number of vehicles already on the road so I could watch for them, although the drivers were warned by radio to pull off and wait until after we passed,” he explained, gesturing at the radio permanently mounted on the dash of Olivia’s truck. He stifled a grin when he heard his passenger sigh as she stared out through the windshield again. “I’m impressed, Julia. You didn’t scream once.”
    She snorted. “I’m pretty sure that’s why it’s called
frozen in fear
.”
    Nicholas checked his watch when he pulled onto the main road, pleased that he’d made it down the mountain in nearly record time. They soon reached the Campbells’ mailbox, and he saw Julia stiffen when they passed Trisha’s SUV parked on the edge of the long driveway halfway in from the main road.
    “Stay in the truck,” she suddenly said into the silence when they reached the house. “Better yet, just leave.”
    Nicholas jerked the vehicle to a stop and looked at her, incredulous. “You expect me to sit out here while you walk in
alone
on a drunken man in a rage?”
    The woman unfastened her seat belt and looked at him, her eyes narrowed and direct. “This isn’t your business, so stay in the truck
or leave
.”
    She was out her door and halfway to the house before he recovered enough to scramble out and chase after her. By the gods, if he wasn’t in a bit of a rage himself, he’d be tempted to laugh. He turned stone-cold sober, however, when he saw Julia grab a stout stick leaning against the house before she yanked open the door and stormed inside. He scaled the steps and slammed inside behind her, only to pull up short when a heavily pregnant woman spun toward him with a startled scream.
    “Oh, thank God you got here fast, deputy,” she cried, rushing over and pulling him toward a staircase at the far end of the kitchen. “My husband’s up there but he’s hurt, and the girl’s father is trying to break down the bedroom door with an ax. Where’s your gun? Aren’t you supposed to have a gun?”
    Nicholas took the woman by the shoulders and sat her on one of the kitchen chairs. “Stay put,” he growled, rushing up the stairs just as something struck wood with enough force to shake the house, followed by a muffled scream—which was followed by an outraged feminine growl. He rounded the corner in time to step over a body and snatch the stick away from Julia as it was descending toward her father, then pluck the startled woman off her feet and set her behind him just as her father wrestled the ax out of the door and swung it toward him.
    Nicholas caught the ax in midswing and yanked it out of the bastard’s hands, effectively pulling him off balance as he drove a shoulder into the man’s stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Nicholas then straightened with him over his shoulder, turned and strode past Julia, stepped over the fallen body, and walked down the stairs past the gaping woman, through the kitchen, and out the front