Crossfire by Jodie Bailey

Author:Jodie Bailey
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780373445813
Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense
Published: 2014-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

Two o’clock in the morning. The numbers on the microwave shone brighter than usual in the darkness of his kitchen. How many times would Josh see that number creep around on the dial before this was all over? He chased two ibuprofen with milk and leaned against the counter, cradling his arm against his stomach. Still, the pain in his arm couldn’t compare with the one in his heart. That pain shot fire along every nerve ending.

The few times he’d managed to catch sleep tonight, he’d sat straight up gasping out of nightmares painted with burning vehicles and futile efforts at salvation.

In the fiery visions, unlike reality, Andrea was trapped in the flames while he fought helplessly and failed.

The real Andrea, the one who lived and breathed and tapped on the locked door of his heart, knew he was a failure. She’d reared back and slapped him full force this afternoon by asking for protection. She knew he couldn’t do it, didn’t trust him to keep her away from harm.

Josh winced against the dual pain. Smart girl.

He hadn’t done her any favors by violating their agreement to remain silent about what they knew, either. In hindsight, not taking the panel to the police in the first place was one of their bigger mistakes, but he couldn’t bear to think they’d turn accusing eyes on her again.

He’d messed up. There hadn’t been a moment since he’d laid eyes on her that he’d done things right. Josh ran his left hand over two days’ worth of stubble, and groaned. If he was so bad for her, why did he want to pick up the phone and hear her voice?

Because he was long gone over her. Seventeen years long gone. His inattention on the baseball field because of her presence had gotten him into trouble more than once. Time hadn’t diminished her ability to distract him from what was important.

Tight, aggravated muscles pulled all the way into his neck as Josh stretched his arm. He had thanked God more than once over the course of this long night that he hadn’t broken it again. That kind of re-injury probably would have ended his future in the army the same way the first go-round had tanked his baseball career and shattered his childhood dreams.

Crazy thing was, as much as the sport had been the air he breathed all the way up into college, once he joined the army he’d never missed it. Pickup games were enough to satisfy the itch to get a glove on every once in a while, even if he couldn’t throw the way he used to. That was the kind of healing only God could do.

When Brendan died, he realized alcohol wouldn’t kill the pain and turned back to Christ, had let Him come in and heal him. Forgiveness had been easy to find. Release had not. While the pain had eased, the knowledge that he’d let two people die never left. He could never let his guard down or the same thing might happen again.

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