All Chapters of Solid Heart (Unseen Enemy 7): Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

So they did, and Jim told her the truth, all of it. By the time he’d finished, Beth was pale and shaken, gripping his hands tightly. He held his breath, waited for her reaction. When she stood up, he jumped to his feet too.“Beth?”“We need to go back,” she said, her voice scarily flat. “We need to be there.”“Sweetheart.” Jim carefully reached out, watching her eyes. “You need to think this through.”“Why?”“Because we came here for you to face something down at last. We came here for you to do something, something big and important. You think it’s done?”She bit her lip, looked down at the floor.“Beth?” He lifted her chin with his finger. “You think it’s done?”“I – no. No, it’s not done.” Tears were in her eyes again, and he hated to see them. “I’m getting there, but I’m not done. Not yet.”“Then we stay.”Startled, she sucked in breath. “Jim –”“No, baby. We stay.”“But… Emma…”“Emma is a trained psychologist, and she knows better than anyone what you’re doing back here. Hell, sh

“Because we’re gonna do exactly what Francine told us to,” Dallas said calmly. “We’ll find Mary-Anne, and we’ll find the cabin, and we’ll find Francine.”“How?” Alexandra echoed Liv. “It all happened up in Canada. How can we get hold of records like that?”“What’s worse,” Mark said, the penny dropping suddenly and horribly. “Is that I think the ex-wife is in the witness protection and relocation program.”Now they all stared at him, mouths agape.“So you know who this guy is?” Dallas demanded.“I didn’t think that I did, but now I think that I do.”“Fewer riddles, man,” Dallas said, rolling his eyes. “More clarity, OK?”“Francine told me about this one case,” Mark said, remembering the conversation clearly. “The guy was abusive as hell, and she got the wife and kid out. The guy was so incensed, he came after her, first at her house one night, then in open court.”“He attacked her in court?” Liv said, disbelieving.“Not physically,” Mark explained. “He was a lawyer and he represented h

The only saving grace in this whole fucking disaster was that she was with a monster who wanted her, who’d waited for her, who’d sought her out. That meant that he wanted time with her – he wanted her. No way he was going to kill her, not as long as he truly believed that she loved him back and beyond that, Mark wouldn’t permit himself to think what time with Henri Delacroix was going to look like. Anything that happened, they’d heal. All Mark cared about was Francine coming back to him, breathing, moving, talking. In one piece.He shut his eyes, called Francine to mind now. Not surprisingly, the first image that came to him was of her in his bed, but maybe surprisingly, it wasn’t a sexy, steamy memory. No, it was of Francine sleeping just a few hours ago, all curled up against him, her beautiful face relaxed and sweet. Francine safe, and calm, and protected. Francine in his arms, where nothing and nobody could hurt her. That was what Mark thought of and he held on to that image of h

“King has news.” Dallas’ voice was angry in Mark’s ear, and he held the cell phone tighter. He prayed with every inch of his body that the news wasn’t that Mary-Anne was dead, or in a coma, or just impossible to find.“OK.” Mark dragged in air, thinking that that had been shockingly fast, even for a guy like King. A glance at his watch confirmed it: King had made the call to Canada less than an hour before. He wondered if the response time was a good thing, decided that Dallas’ tone in his ear suggested otherwise. “What is it?”“His friend found out why Francine had no heads-up about Delacroix’s release from prison.”It took a few seconds for Mark to understand what the hell Dallas was on about. He was so wrapped up in King’s friend finding Mary-Anne, then finding the cabin, that he’d completely forgotten that somewhere, somehow, someone had fucked up. Big time. Someone had failed to tell his girl that danger was coming her way and as a result, Mark had failed to protect her.Thrille

“I’m sorry.” Her blue eyes were almost purple with memory. For as long as she lived, she’d never forget the look of fear and worry on Dean’s face as he stood in the doorway of the medical room. “I’m so sorry, babe.”“Don’t be,” he said sharply. “It wasn’t your fault, none of it.”“How’s Liv?” Emma asked quietly. “After seeing me get cut up like that?”Dean paused, not at all surprised that Emma would have figured out this part. She was a therapist but she also an amazingly compassionate and smart woman – she’d have known immediately that Liv was going to be left reeling from the day’s events, and for more than one reason.“She’s shaken.” Dean exhaled. “Had some flashbacks. Held it together for a while, came here to see you and Junior… but she started to fall apart about ten minutes ago.”“Is Dallas here?”“Yeah. He’s got her and he’s talking her down. I think he’ll be taking her home soon, so you’ll see her tomorrow.”“Good.” Emma sighed. “He’s what she needs, but I wish Francine was