All Chapters of Enemy From The Past (Unseen Enemy 4): Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The soft sound of buzzing woke up Jim Alden from a deep sleep. He turned over in his bed, blinked over his shoulder at the cell phone vibrating on the bedside table.What the hell? It’s two o’clock in the goddamn morning.He stretched out one heavily-muscled arm, picked up the phone. When he saw who was calling, he sat straight up in bed, wide awake and already angry.“Kat?” His voice was full of fury. “Where the fuck are you, girl?”There was a pause at the other end. Jim heard loud music in the background.“Don’t you dare hang up on me, Kat.”“Ummm. Is that J. Alden?”Jim’s heart stopped, then started up again at double-time. It was a man’s voice.“Yeah. Who the fuck’s this? And why do you have Kat’s phone?”“I’m Jax Hamill. I own Dangerous Curves… the bar out on I-36.”“Yeah, OK. I know it.”“Your friend is here, and she’s not in great shape, man. Can you come and get her?”“What’s going on?” Jim got to his feet now, and yanked his dresser drawer open to find a t-shirt. “Why’s she

Jim carried Kat off the elevator in her building, down the dark hallway to her apartment. She had briefly come to in his truck, and she’d stared at him in total confusion. He’d soothed her as best he could when he wasn’t able to touch her, and she had passed out again. Now her head lolled against his muscular chest, and she lay in his arms, totally helpless. He held her tighter as her breathing hitched and her body tensed up a bit.Jim lowered his lips to her ear. “It’s OK, Kat, I’ve got you. It’s me, honey.”Kat muttered something unintelligible, but she relaxed again. He took her key from his jeans pocket and unlocked her door, kicking it open with his booted foot. He flicked on the lights and stood for a minute, blinking, letting his eyes adjust. He carried her to her bedroom, set her down on the bed carefully. He stared down at her for a few seconds, waiting to see if she’d wake up. When she remained out cold, he sighed, then took off her shoes. He bit his lip, considering, then

Gently, slowly, he guided her hand up and down her body, ran their fingers along each and every scar. He left the largest one for last, knowing that this was the one that frightened and disgusted her the most. That asshole had sliced her from her breastbone straight down the middle of her body, all the way to her navel. The scar was thick and raised, an angry, vivid purple, and every time she looked at it, she remembered how terrified she had been at that moment. She'd truly thought he was going to gut her like a fish; she'd thought she was going to die.Dallas paused at the top of the scar. “OK?”She nodded again.He took her small hand in his large one and carefully traced the scar down. A sob caught in her chest, and he stopped.“Olivia?”“Don’t stop,” she said. “I’m OK.”“You sure?”“Yes.”Dallas turned her face to his, pressed a tender kiss on her lips. She closed her eyes, just for a second, drawing strength from him. “I love you,” he said again.“I know.” Olivia smiled at him.

Jim poured himself a third cup of coffee and grabbed his cell phone from his jacket pocket. He called Dean Jessop, his friend, boss, and former Ranger unit LT. Dean picked up on the fourth ring.“Jim?”“Yeah, man. How you doing?”“OK. I’m just getting ready to take Emma to her doctor’s appointment.”“Yeah, I know. She nervous?”“Hell, I’m nervous,” Dean said. “We find out if she’s moving closer to remission… if the transplant and last few rounds of chemo have had any effect.”“You’ll give her my love?”“You know it, man. Anyway, is this why you called? Or is something else up?”“Both.” Jim sipped his coffee. “I wanted to wish Emma luck, but also, I wanted to ask if Mitch or Jase could cover my shift this afternoon.”“You OK?”“Yeah. It’s Kat.”Dean’s voice sharpened. “You have her?”“I’m at her apartment now.”“Where the fuck has she been for the past week? Emma’s been going out of her mind with worry.”“I know. Olivia and Jenny too, from what Dallas and Chris have told me. I picked h

Emma Cartwright clutched Dean’s hand tightly, her nails almost digging into his skin. He was so nervous and tense that he didn’t mind. He barely noticed, actually.They were in Doctor Fife’s office, and they knew it as well as they knew their own bedroom. Emma had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia the previous summer, and had been ill for the entire duration of their relationship – although for the first three months that they were together, Dean had had no idea that she was sick. He had discovered her cancer by accident, and he still shuddered when he thought about finding Emma that way.He looked at Emma now, saw her biting her full lip. Her eyes were almost purple with worry, and her beautiful face was pale.“Hey,” he said softly.She looked at him.“Deep breaths, angel. We’ll get through whatever it is, right?”Emma nodded.The door opened and they both sat up straighter. Doctor Fife breezed in and grinned at them, and they both relaxed right away. He didn’t belie