Harlequin Holiday Collection - Four Classic Seasonal Novellas

his seat belt and floored it, pointing it toward the wall of glass.
    The crash exploded around him. The airbag deployed, knocking the breath out of him. He shook himself. Unfastened his seat belt and scrambled out of the damaged car. Glass crackled beneath his shoes.
    The fact that the security system didn’t sound sent off another set of alarms inside him. He punched 9-1-1 into his cell.
    “This is Jacob Webster. I’m at the Kenner City Crime Lab. There’s been a break-in.” He glanced around the lobby. “Security personnel are down. Send help.” He didn’t stay on the line to answer any of the dispatcher’s questions.
    He had to find Olivia.
    He double-timed it back to his SUV for a flashlight, then headed at a full run to check the first floor.
    By the time he completed his round of the second and third floors, panic had started to set in.
    The echo of a gunshot from above sent ice splitting through his veins.
    The roof.
    He ran for the fourth-floor access, made it to the top of the stairs and hesitated. He needed two things. The element of surprise. And a weapon.
    On the fourth floor he found one item that could loosely be called a weapon—the ax located next to the fire alarm. The alarm was dead, too; he’d tried it in an effort to startle whoever had Olivia on that roof.
    Ax in hand, he headed for the stairs to the roof. He moved more slowly now. Listening for screams, cries, anything.
    As he moved cautiously onto the roof, he did one more thing he hoped would help. He prayed.
    His heart stumbled at what he saw when he cleared the final obstacle between him and the wide-open rooftop.
    Olivia was on her knees. Some scumbag had a handgun pressed to the back of her head. He was ranting at her.
    Moving a scarce inch at a time, Jacob eased closer and closer, the ax ready to swing.
    Sirens abruptly split the air.
    The creep with the gun jerked his head toward the highway. The distant throb of lights confirmed that the police were closing in.
    Jacob had to act now.
    Olivia suddenly twisted at the waist, hitting the man at pelvis level. The gunman stumbled back. Olivia dived for his right leg.
    The weapon discharged into the air.
    Jacob slammed the broad side of the ax square into the middle of his back. The gunman flew forward, stumbling over Olivia. Jacob dived onto him, crushing him with his full body weight. The gun slid across the roof. The perp went crazy, bucking, screaming profanities. It was all Jacob could do to hold him down.
    “Stop!” Olivia shouted.
    Jacob looked up. She had the gun. Jacob didn’t know what kind of marksman she was, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He scrambled up and backed out of the crazy bastard’s reach.
    The fool made a dive for Olivia.
    She squeezed off a warning shot in the air. He cowered on the ground.
    The sound of running footsteps announced the arrival of backup.
    Jacob’s and Olivia’s gazes met for the first time.
    And he suddenly understood that deep, emotional connection he’d never quite gotten before. It had taken him two months to understand the feelings growing inside him, but now he knew.
    He couldn’t ever lose her.

Chapter Twenty
    Christmas
    Olivia snuggled more deeply into Jacob’s arms. He hadn’t let her out of his sight since Friday night…except for those few hours on Christmas Eve when they had done their shopping. He’d driven her to town and they’d gone their separate ways until the job was done.
    It was Christmas, she was with Jacob and all her worries were behind her.
    She shuddered when she thought of her former neighbor. The police had discovered that Gerald had been diagnosed as bipolar with violent tendencies years ago. Somehow he’d managed to keep it out of his official records. The guy had been bullying his way through life since he was sixteen. He’d gone completely over the edge with his obsession with Kenner City’s crime lab.
    He’d drugged Olivia with a light sedative the night he’d brought over the brownies. He’d done it more than once so that he could access her home computer at a time when she was also home. He’d wanted to make her look incompetent or perhaps even like a traitor.
    Callie and Flemming had been suspicious for several days, but they’d had no proof or clear-cut conclusions on what was going on. So they’d waited and watched.
    Olivia was glad the whole thing was over. She’d called her parents and wished her family a merry Christmas. Jacob had done the same.
    Other than that, they had