Our Little Secret by Starr Ambrose Page B

very tight. Perhaps he’d expected fear to make her to do as she was told. The force of her efforts jerked herforward, feet skittering on ice. Unfortunately, the slippery black pumps were made for looks, not traction, and Lauren landed with a jarring thud.

    Several feet away, Gerald wiggled frantically under his captor. “Get off me, you overweight ox! This is an Oscar de la Renta suit!” When his squirming had no effect, Lauren saw him reach out and grab a handful of hair.

    “Ow! Damn it, he bit me! Hurry up with the woman!” Hawknose yelled, grappling with Gerald as he pried at the fingers clutching his hair.

    Lauren scrambled to her feet. Several people stopped to stare at the spectacle, and she felt one of them assist her from behind. She turned to thank him as her feet regained purchase and stared into the face of the trench-coated driver. It was the first time she’d looked at his face, and she gasped with recognition. It was the man who’d bumped into her at the bank.

    “You!” she said.

    “Get in the car, Mrs. Creighton!”

    “What? No!” She pulled her arm from his grasp as they both slipped and dropped like stones.

    Fear mixed with confusion, but one thought was inescapable: Her assailant had mistaken her for Meg. A horrible possibility skittered through her mind. This was what Meg had run from, and if Drew was right, it was what she’d known would happen to Lauren in her place. Lauren didn’t want to believe it, couldn’t believe it, but had no time to reason it out while some strange man tried his best to kidnap her.

    With four people down, bystanders seemed reluctant to risk ending up on their backsides. No one made a move to help, but Lauren noticed a couple of peoplehad pulled out cell phones. She hoped they were calling the police. She placed her bare hands on the cold pavement and rose cautiously. Trenchcoat would have the same disadvantage and wasn’t likely to be any quicker getting to his feet. She turned, noticing the man was on hands and knees, attempting to stand, when something crashed over the hood of the car behind him and landed on his back like a panther pouncing on prey. He flattened with an audible “
Oof.
”

    Lauren stared at Drew, spread-eagle across Trenchcoat’s back, forcing him to the pavement, and took back all the bad thoughts she’d had about him. No matter what doubts he’d voiced about her sister, he’d just turned her kidnapper into a Burberry pancake. She tried to imagine Jeff leaping to her defense, but couldn’t. Pulling out his cell phone and calling 911, yes. Hurdling parked cars and smashing bad guys to the ground, no.

    Drew looked up from atop Lauren’s assailant, hair mussed and concern puckering his brow. “Are you all right?”

    She did a mental inventory of body parts, all of which seemed to be in working order. Discounting her bruised tailbone, she nodded.

    Trenchcoat raised his head. “You fuckin’ asshole, I’m gonna—”

    His words ended with a loud smack as Drew’s fist connected with his mouth. The man’s head hit the pavement. Lauren saw his eyes roll upward. If he wasn’t knocked out, he was at least badly stunned. She was liking Drew more every second.

    “Hey!” Hawknose looked in horror at his crumpled partner and let go of Gerald. “Get away from him!”Planting a knee on Gerald’s back to keep him in place, he reached into his coat and came out with a gun. With a two-handed grip, he took dead aim at Drew’s chest. “Don’t move, asshole!”

    Lauren froze. Barely aware of the stinging pellets of sleet hitting her face, she stared at the gun. It looked even more terrifying than the ones she saw on TV. As unreal as this whole situation was, that black cylinder pointed at Drew was too real, too horrifying to comprehend.

    “Lauren!” Drew’s yell penetrated her dazed mind. His gaze was on the gun, but his words were aimed at her. “Get out of here, now!”

    Was he kidding? Run, and make herself a target? Or