by Karen Rose
‘No,’ he drawled. ‘Say it ain’t so.’
She grinned tightly. ‘’Fraid so.’
‘What did you do when you turned eighteen?’
‘It turned out I didn’t have to wait that long. I went to school the next day with a swollen lip and a broken tooth. My mother had tried to keep me home, but I snuck out the window. I had an English test that I didn’t want to miss. Besides, I figured I could hurt my father more by showing my face all banged up than by defying him under his own roof.’
‘And did you? Hurt him more?’
‘Not like I’d hoped. My English teacher took one look at me and called Children’s Services. They listened to what I had to say and said they’d investigate, but I’d overplayed my hand. I thought I’d go to foster care, but nobody wanted to make my father mad. Still, it wasn’t anything compared to what you went through. Your mother was an addict who sold her own child.’
‘Abuse is abuse,’ he said sharply, then rubbed the back of his trembling hand over his mouth. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have used that tone. What did happen?’
‘My last class that day was chemistry. My lab partner – who was one of my best friends – realized what had happened and marched me to his mother, who was the school’s drama teacher. She took me home with her and I never went back to my father’s house. She sent her husband to collect my clothes. He was the wrestling coach and nobody fucked with him. Not even my dad.’ She shrugged. ‘Wrestling is big in Iowa and we had a championship team.’
‘That was kind of them. I’m glad you had someone on your side.’
She nodded, but didn’t look at him. She was staring at the countertop like it held the secret of life. ‘My friend’s name was Jack Morrow.’
‘Oh,’ he breathed.
‘Yeah. His mom became like my mom. Then Thanksgiving rolled around and her older son came home from college for the long weekend.’
Jealousy welled to take the place of the rage and wasn’t as easy to shove aside. ‘Johnnie.’
‘Yes. I was too young the first time I saw him, but it didn’t change the fact that I fell hard. So did he. Christmas was a real temptation, but Johnnie wasn’t going to touch me until I was eighteen.’ Her lips curved, a true smile. ‘I made it difficult for him, though. I was a brat.’
The thought of Kate at seventeen made him pity Johnnie and respect the man’s self-control. But mostly pity him, especially because John Morrow hadn’t been allowed to grow old with her. I can be magnanimous in this case. Maybe. ‘Again, say it ain’t so.’
Her smile broadened. ‘Even I am not capable of telling such a whopper. I turned eighteen about a month after I graduated from high school.’
‘Did your parents come to your graduation?’
‘No. Neither did any of my brothers, but that was okay. The Morrows were all there, including Johnnie. I didn’t have any money, so I joined the army to pay my way through college. Johnnie was so angry that I signed up without telling him.’
Decker’s brows rose. ‘I would’ve been angry too.’
‘The Morrows had planned to pay for me to go to college, but I wasn’t going to let them. They were barely making ends meet as it was, and they did suffer for taking me in. They kept their jobs, but they were shunned. They said they didn’t care, but I know they did. They had deep roots in the community, but it was a fickle place. And nobody wanted to get on my father’s bad side.’
‘So you joined up.’
‘Yeah. Served in the Gulf, two tours. I was an MP.’
‘Why?’
‘I wanted to be a cop. I wanted to be more than my father. So I put in for an MP track.’
‘And Johnnie forgave you for joining up?’
‘Eventually. But even though he was mad, he wrote me letters. Every month, without fail. I was just a kid in lust before, but I fell in love with him through his letters. He was a good man.’
‘I know. I read his obituary and all the tributes. “Seize the day . . .”’
‘“. . . and make your lives extraordinary”.’ She finished the quote softly. ‘Those students loved him. He loved them.’
Decker thought about the timeline. ‘You two dated a long time.’
‘We did. When I came home, I went to college on the east coast and he was teaching in Iowa, so we did the long-distance thing a few years more. He wanted to give me the time to be sure that he was the one. Like I needed it. It was always him. But it did light a fire under my butt so that I finished my degree a year early and got accepted to the FBI academy, and we got engaged. We didn’t want to get married until I’d graduated from Quantico and worked for a few years, because we were saving to buy a house. My first posting was Chicago, so he left his teaching position in Iowa and got a job on the South Side, which I was so against. I thought he’d get hit by a stray bullet, but . . .’
‘But he got cancer instead.’
‘Yes. Our plans changed, because he got sick so fast. I pushed up the wedding so that I could take leave and care for him. The family leave act only covers husbands, not fiancés. And then . . .’ She closed her eyes.
‘And then he died,’ Decker supplied quietly. ‘I’m so sorry.’ And he was.
Her smile was sad. ‘Thank you. I went back to work afterward. I got posted in Baltimore. Worked my ass off, and now I’m here.’
She hadn’t mentioned Jack’s suicide or why she felt she was to blame. He wasn’t going to push it for now. ‘I’m sorry for all the things that brought you here, but I am very glad you’re here.’
She draped the scrub rag over the sink faucet and came back to straddle his lap. ‘Thank you. I’m glad I’m here too. I’m glad I jumped out of that tree and shoved a rifle in your back.’
He wrapped his arms around her waist. ‘Best introduction ever.’
‘I have to agree, Agent Davenport.’ She rested her forehead against his. ‘You’ve been sitting here a while. You should go to bed.’
He gritted his teeth when his cock rose at the mention of bed. Her eyes widened in surprise. ‘O-kay,’ she said with a blink. ‘Hello there to you too.’
He had to laugh. ‘I want to wait for the brownies.’
‘If you let me walk you to bed and tuck you in, I will bring you a plate as soon as I take them out of the oven.’ She slid off his lap and helped him to his feet, shoring him up when he swayed a little. ‘Take it slower tomorrow, okay? I want you healthy.’
‘I want to get out of here,’ he muttered, sweat breaking out on his brow. He was far more tired than he’d thought.
‘I know. But this Professor asshole tried to kill you today. If you cross paths again, I want you strong enough to return the favor.’
Damn. He bit his lip as his body responded yet again. Bloodthirsty, a crack shot, a kind heart, and she could bake. He could definitely fall for this woman. ‘Yes, ma’am.’
Cincinnati, Ohio,
Thursday 13 August, 11.15 P.M.
Dammit. He’d arrived at the meeting place forty-five minutes early, but Rawlings was already there, the asshole. It made him squirrelly when he didn’t have time to get his zen on. Bastard. He couldn’t get into position this way, but he’d made a plan B. He always had a plan B.
Which did not allow the prison guard to see him until he was ready. He brought his dart gun out from under his seat and made sure it was set up and that the dome light wouldn’t go on when he opened his car door. Sliding out of the car, he wriggled on his stomach across the wet ground until he had a clear line of sight, silently cursing the rain the whole time. The range of the dart gun was only a hundred feet, so he had to get closer than he liked. He needed Rawlings out of the car, too. And if he missed, the man would be really pissed. So he drew his pistol from his holster and put it on the ground beside him. Just in case.
Taking his cell phone from his pocket, he
turned it on, covering the screen with his hand so that it wouldn’t give his position away. I’m here, he typed. Want to see ur hands. Pls get out of ur car. Want no surprises while I deliver ur payment. He hit SEND and waited.
It took Rawlings less than thirty seconds to respond. Not getting out. Not stupid.
Neither am I. Shld I drop your payment off w/ur boss @ the jail?
Fuck you.
No thx. Ur not my type. U want the stuff or not?
Fuck you, came the repeated reply, but Rawlings got out of his car.
Hunkering down into the slimy grass, he lined up his shot and gently squeezed the trigger. Then held his breath until . . . Yes.
Rawlings slapped his neck like he was going after a mosquito, then pulled the dart from his skin with a scowl. With a glare, the prison guard began to charge in his direction. But he’d expected that, so he had his next shot lined up. The dart hit Rawlings’s shoulder. The man kept running, but then he stumbled, then staggered, then went down to his knees. He crawled another few feet, then fell face down in the dirt.
The sedative wouldn’t last long, so he gathered both his weapons, got up and jogged to Rawlings’s car. He dropped the package on the driver’s seat, then jogged back to his own car and drove a safe distance away before pulling off the road into a darkened parking lot.
He sent one more text. Paid in full. Sorry for the nap. I couldn’t trust that you’d keep your word. He hit SEND and pulled out of the lot and back into traffic.
He hadn’t even considered dragging Rawlings back to his car. The man was a bodybuilder with solid muscles that had to weigh a ton. No, definitely not his type. His son, now? Totally different matter. Not for his own pleasure, of course, but Rawlings’s son was a real cute boy. He’d look good on camera. If it came to that, it was one way to keep Rawlings in check.
Fucker. Put my name on his list of favors? Threaten to turn me in?
After tonight, Rawlings would be a little less cocky. And if not . . . then filming his son would be the next step. It was a mighty hammer.
Turn me in, will you? Then your kid will be a star. Forever. Because once on the Net, always on the Net. Forever. Just ask Mallory. She’ll tell you.
Fourteen
Cincinnati, Ohio,
Friday 14 August, 12.55 A.M.
He pulled into his driveway and parked behind the house in his customary spot next to the car he’d procured for Mallory to drive. A car that he’d fitted with two separate tracking devices. Just in case she decided to get brave and take one off. She never had, but he would continue to be careful with her. He was always careful with his best toys.
He got out of the car, still soggy from his commando crawl through the mud. The rain had stopped, but the air was heavy with humidity. Felt like breathing goddamn water.
He had his hand on the doorknob when he realized that he couldn’t see JJ’s car. Momentary panic speared him. She’s gone. How can she be gone?
Mallory. Fury rose to supplant the panic. She’d helped JJ escape. Hold on. Just wait.
In return for what? Not out of the goodness of her heart – Mallory hated JJ as much as JJ hated her. So Mallory helping JJ escape didn’t make sense.
He calmed himself and realized he didn’t remember seeing JJ’s car when he got home earlier. He’d been so surprised to see her here that he hadn’t even thought about it.
Now he was thinking about it. The bitch. She’d hidden her car. Where, he could easily determine. He’d slipped a tracker under its frame the first time they’d fucked. It was a trick he’d learned from Alice, because she’d done the same the first time she’d taken him to her bed. He’d found the tracker and confronted her, but Alice had been unrepentant. She liked to know where her customers – and lovers – were at all times.
And so do I. He’d find JJ’s car, then send it and its owner’s body far away from here. He didn’t want anyone to miss her so soon after Eileen Wilkins’s death. Two nurses killed on the same day would raise a lot of questions that he didn’t want asked or answered.
Calm and composed, he entered the house and walked up the stairs to Mallory’s room. She was in bed, already asleep. He crossed the bedroom and shook her.
‘Mallory. Wake up,’ he commanded.
She rolled over sleepily, her eyes widening when she saw his clothes. ‘You’re muddy.’
He ignored her statement of the obvious. ‘How is JJ?’
‘Loud. She woke up a little while ago. I came up here so that I couldn’t hear her.’
He frowned. He’d left JJ gagged. She shouldn’t have been loud at all. ‘Did you go in there?’ But she couldn’t have – he’d locked the door and only he had the key.
‘No. You told me not to. Should I prepare her dinner? She never did get to eat.’
‘Was there any food left from what she brought? Other than what you gave me?’ Because if there was, he’d make JJ eat it. Try to poison me with digitalis. Bitch.
‘No. That was all of it.’
‘Then no. She won’t be needing any dinner.’
A quiet nod. ‘Roxy is due for her evening meds. Should I give them to her?’
‘Yes. I don’t know when I’ll be back.’ He slid into the bed beside her, drawing her to him so that he could nuzzle her neck, smiling when she went stiff. It was necessary, showing her who was the boss. It was also fun. She lay there, frozen as an ice sculpture, her breathing even. He tipped her chin up so that he could see her face and scowled. She’d wiped her expression clean. Other than stiff shoulders, she showed no reaction whatsoever.
Suddenly annoyed, he shoved her away. It was no fun when they didn’t show they were scared. Maybe Mallory was nearing her expiration date earlier than he’d anticipated.
Still scowling, he went back downstairs to the guest room, briefly detouring to retrieve his scalpel set, but his good humor was restored when JJ met him with a glare. She’d managed to spit out the gag and roll over so that she was facing the door, but she was still hogtied firmly.
‘What the fuck, Brandon? What kind of sick kink is this?’
‘No sick kink.’ He smiled at her pleasantly. ‘I’m going to kill you.’
She went instantly pale. ‘What? Why?’
‘Because you tried to poison me.’
She shook her head hard. ‘No. I didn’t. I wouldn’t. It was the girl. The girl did it.’
‘No, she didn’t, because Mallory knows what would happen to her if anything happened to me.’ Mallory had been told over and over that if she tried to escape or told anyone, her little sister would suffer. And that if anything happened to him, his partner would take over – and that his partner wouldn’t wait until little Macy was of age.
Mallory had tried to get away one time. Only once. He’d shown her how easily he could make good on his threat. He’d been pleased to see that she was smart enough to learn from her mistakes. He’d also been very careful not to let her know that his partner had died in jail. In Mallory’s mind, the threat was still very real. He had no worry that she would poison him.
JJ was trembling. ‘But she did it. I swear she did.’
‘You can swear all you like. I’ve got security tapes of everything that goes on in my house.’
She went even paler, so much so that he thought she’d pass out. ‘You’re lying.’
‘Why would I do that?’ He wasn’t lying. He did have video cameras everywhere, but he hadn’t yet checked the tapes. He didn’t have to, because JJ clearly was lying. ‘You know, you get this little line right here when you lie.’ He pointed to his forehead. ‘It’s an easy tell.’
She lifted her chin and stared daggers. ‘I told people I was coming here. They’ll be coming here to find me if I don’t call in.’
He regarded her evenly. She was still lying. Ignoring her, he accessed the tracking softwar
e on his phone. Her car was less than a mile away, parked in the lot of a motel.
‘Did you hear me?’ she screeched. ‘People know I’m here!’
‘Which people?’ he asked calmly.
‘I’m not telling you. You’ll kill them.’
‘Of course I will. Tell me who. I want names.’
‘No. I won’t.’
He smiled then. A challenge. ‘Yes you will. Although it doesn’t really matter. When they come to save you, I’ll be waiting.’
‘They’ll bring the cops.’
‘Oh, I don’t think they’ll do that either, because that means they’d have to explain why you were in danger in the first place. Unless they tell the police that it was an affair gone wrong, and in that case, I’ll write up some notes that make you look like a deranged, drug-addicted spurned lover and sign your name. The police won’t believe a deranged woman over me.’
‘I hate you.’
‘Feeling’s mutual, sweetheart. I don’t like being double-crossed and I don’t like being poisoned. It makes me cranky.’
‘I didn’t drive myself. My friend drove me.’ She gave a little nod, pleased with herself. ‘That’s how he’ll know where to look for me.’
‘You realize I have cameras around the exterior of the house too, right?’ he said, playing along on the off chance she had told someone. ‘If he dropped you off, I’ll have a photo ID of him and a picture of his license plate. I’ll find him. And I’ll kill him.’
She opened her mouth, then closed it. ‘He didn’t drive me here directly.’ She licked her lips, her desperation plain. Her pupils were dilated, her eyes wild. She was experiencing withdrawal. He’d be able to use that. ‘He dropped me off at the end of the road. I walked.’
That was close to the truth. She had walked. But from the motel parking lot where she’d left her car. She didn’t have a partner after all.
‘Look, JJ, we had some fun in bed. You were useful to me and in exchange you got some high-quality blow for free. But you got greedy and tried to double-cross me and I caught you in the act. Surely you knew there would be risks. You came into my house and tried to poison me and steal from me. You must have considered the consequences.’
