Chapter Five

Jim Alden stood in the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee for Beth. Ten minutes earlier, after talking to Dallas, Jim had woken her up and told her about what was going down in Utah. She’d stared at him, unblinking and pale, then climbed out of bed and settled on the living room sofa without a word. She was now waiting for the phone to ring: Dallas had promised to call as soon as anything happened.

Jim turned a bit too quickly to grab the sugar from the counter, and his head spun. He grinned ruefully to himself, thinking that he was probably still feeling the effects of the drug that Beth had slipped him the day before. She’d roofied him, basically, and she’d done so since she’d planned a quick escape out of Denver. She’d intended to run again… but at the last minute she’d changed her mind. Jim was happy to take the dizzy spells and nausea if it meant that Beth was still here with him. He’d take anything if it meant that he still had her.

Jim brought her the coffee, handed it to her carefully. “Here you go.”

She smiled up at him and he was relieved to see it. “Thanks.”

He sat down next to her and took her hand. “You want to talk?”

No.” Her moss-green eyes were warm as she met his golden ones. “Not yet, Jim. Right now, I just want to… to breathe.”

“Can I sit here and breathe with you?”

She cocked her head at him, almost relaxed now. “You’d better. I can’t do this without you.”

He nodded and leaned back a bit. Right away, she moved closer to him, curled her legs under her small body, nestled against his broad chest and pressed her ear to his steady heartbeat. His arms went around her, and they sat and gazed out the window at the Rocky Mountains in the distance. For the next forty minutes, they didn’t say anything much: they just drank their coffee, and let the connection between their bodies speak for them.

When Jim’s cell rang, he glanced at the number before handing Beth the phone. “Dallas.”

Suddenly terrified, her breath caught. Jim saw the flash of panic cross her face and he held her closer.

“You want me to take it?” he asked, rubbing her back. “You want me to talk to him?”

“No, it’s OK.” Her voice came out as a squeak, and she cleared her throat. “No, babe. I’ll take it.”

Beth swiped the cell and answered calmly enough, though she had Jim’s hand in a death grip. “Hi, Dallas.”

Jim watched her face as she listened to Dallas. The panic was replaced by shock, then, relief, then worry.

“And the hostages?” she said. “Are they OK?”

She listened some more, nodding now.

“Thanks, Dallas.” A pause. “Yeah, I’m alright. Please thank Sully and Mark for me.”

She disconnected, and set the phone on the coffee table. She looked at Jim, and he saw that her eyes were full of tears.

“It’s over,” Beth said softly. “He’s dead.”

“Oh, baby. Thank Christ.” He tugged her into his arms again. “You doing OK?”

She nodded against his chest. “I can’t believe it. I can… I can stop. For real.”

Jim wasn’t at all surprised when she started to shake, holding on to the front of his t-shirt tightly. It had to be a shock to be safe and sound after more than five years of hell: one year of abuse and violence at the hands of a monster, then more than four years of living like a hunted woman. Beth had been on the run for a long, long time, always looking over her shoulder, always planning her next escape, never letting anyone too close.

To stand still, to stay put and choose to defend a life that she’d come to love fiercely – these things had taken phenomenal courage, and Jim damn well knew it. But it didn’t mean that she wasn’t going to struggle with living a whole new way… she’d have to learn to live without fear, without waking up gasping for breath in the middle of the night. He’d be there for it all, though. They all would.

He stroked her hair, kissed her temple. “You’re safe, Beth.”

“Yeah.” She sounded hesitant and uncertain, still, and it broke his heart.

Damn you straight to hell, Ferguson, for coming so close to totally demolishing this woman. You were close, asshole, but you didn’t succeed. She’s here and she’s fighting and fuck you.