Deadly Past

by Reus, Katie

  “Not a vegetable man, are we?”

  He lifted a broad shoulder. “I prefer meat and potatoes, but I still try to be healthy.”

  “I’m fish and veggies all the way.” He’d asked her what she liked and she’d told him seafood and pasta, so it was clear that he’d made this with her in mind. So sweet. “Though I also eat anything Italian and with pasta, as you know.”

  He gave her another one of his panty-melting smiles and she had to remind herself to breathe. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you that you look stunning tonight.” Leaning over, he brushed his mouth against hers and a rush of pleasure speared through her.

  “Thanks,” she murmured. She’d worn slim-fitting jeans that rolled up at her ankles, gold kitten heels, and a bright red strappy top with lots of gold bangles and chandelier-style earrings. Her pants were already starting to pull just a bit at her waist and she knew that in roughly three weeks, she’d likely “pop” according to everything she’d read, so she was taking advantage and wearing her pants while she still could. “You look pretty good yourself.”

  “Thanks.”

  “So how was work today?” she asked.

  “Very low-key thankfully. Just a lot of stupid calls.”

  “Stupid?”

  “Yeah, and they always come in batches. One call was because someone was mad their neighbor was watching them out of their kitchen window. I don’t know what they wanted us to do. And it turned out they weren’t even watching their neighbor, they were simply washing the dishes and their window happens to face their neighbor’s yard. Someone else called because their cable went out. That’s pretty normal though.”

  She blinked. “That’s normal?”

  “Oh yeah, we get calls like that all the time. If the internet or satellite or cable go out in the area, we can count on at least half a dozen calls related to it. Apparently some people think we fix stuff like that.” His tone was dry. “We also got a call out on Industrial Road where someone swears they saw a UFO.”

  “It would never occur to me to call the cops because my internet went out.”

  “I can’t tell you how happy that makes me,” he said on a laugh as he stirred the simmering sauce.

  “You want me to put a salad together or anything?”

  “It’s all ready. It’s in a covered container in the fridge if you want to grab it.”

  “This is a pretty nice date so far.” She pulled out the oversized red container, served the salad into the two white bowls he’d already laid out on the island. He’d also already set out drinks for them, as well as lit a couple candles. The atmosphere was inviting and it meant a lot that he’d gone to this trouble for her. Tonight was…more than nice. She loved being here with Lincoln, seeing what things could be like between them. While she didn’t want to get ahead of herself, things felt so right and she was almost afraid to enjoy it.

  “I’m more than just a pretty face.” Humor laced his words.

  “You definitely are. So I know this is kind of a stupid thing to ask, but I also want open communication…”

  He turned the stovetop off and moved the pan as he turned to look at her. “You can ask anything.”

  “I know this is officially a date for us, and since we’re having a baby together this feels dumb to say but… Are you dating anyone else?” She was ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure the answer was no but she needed to hear him say it. Some deep-seated part of her absolutely needed to know that she was the only woman in his life right now. That she wasn’t going to get a surprise later down the road and be blindsided.

  He blinked at her, clearly stunned. “You think I’d be dating someone else?”

  “Honestly no. But maybe I just need to hear that you’re not.” Oh God, she sounded so damn needy, but whatever.

  He covered the distance between them, his big hands settling onto her hips. “Even before that night nine weeks ago, I hadn’t dated anyone in ages. I’ve had my eye on someone for a long time—a sexy neighbor who seemed to want nothing to do with me.”

  The band of tension around her chest eased as she wrapped her arms around him. She was glad she had the right to touch him now, that they were taking this next step. “Okay good. I guess I’ll give up dating now too,” she said lightly, clearly joking.

  He narrowed his gaze slightly, though she saw that he was fighting a laugh. “Good.”

  “I really want to kiss you now, but I’m also starving and I’m pretty sure the baby is hungry too.”

  He groaned softly and stepped back. “If we start, I don’t think we’ll stop. So sit and I’ll serve you.”

  “I could get used to this you know,” she said as she sat at the island while he scooped food onto their plates.

  “Good, I want you to get used to this. I’m not changing, and I’m not going anywhere.”

  The little girl inside her who had always known there were decent men out there, the kind who wouldn’t treat her the same way her mom had been treated, desperately wanted to believe his words. But it was hard to change old habits, old thought processes. Although he’d shown her who he was in everything he did, and she believed his actions as well as his words. She just needed to get her head on straight, to make sure her head and heart lined up with each other—because her heart wanted everything Lincoln had to offer.

  “That was incredible. Your mom gets five stars for teaching you guys to cook,” Autumn said after they’d finished dinner.

  Lincoln grinned as he leaned back in his chair. He’d polished off all of his food and she’d managed to eat half of hers. She might not be getting full-on morning sickness, but she couldn’t eat too much or she got nauseous. It was like this weird, delicate balance lately, making sure she ate enough to be satisfied but not too much that the baby revolted.

  “She liked you, by the way,” he said.

  “Yeah?”

  “Oh yeah. She thinks you’re sweet and said I better not screw this up.”

  She laughed and took a sip of her drink. “She seems like the right type of mom for boys… Speaking of, do you care what we have? We haven’t even talked about that.” They’d vaguely discussed potential childcare options, but she wasn’t even through the first trimester so they’d decided to hold off on any real decisions yet. Which was fine with her, she didn’t need the extra stress.

  “Nope.” The answer was immediate, making her smile.

  “I don’t care either. Healthy is all that matters.”

  As he started to respond, his police radio went off.

  She winced even as he groaned. “I’m on call tonight,” he muttered as he stood and went to grab it.

  He’d warned her that this might happen, but she’d been hoping that he wouldn’t get any calls.

  She sat back as he talked into his radio and by the time he was done, she knew that he was going to be leaving. She shoved down her disappointment because she understood that this was his job. And if she was going to be with him, she had to accept all of him. Starting now. It didn’t squash her worry, however. She had a feeling that she’d always worry when he left.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said as he set his radio on the countertop. “Will you stay until I get back? This shouldn’t take too long.”

  “Of course. If you don’t mind, I’ll grab Shadow and then come back here and at least clean up for you. I’m assuming you have some kind of dessert or something?” she asked hopefully. There’d been a white box in the fridge with a sticker from Sweet Spot on it.

  He grinned at her, and butterflies took flight in her stomach. “I might happen to have your favorite chocolate cake in the fridge.”

  “You know the way to my heart. It’s definitely through my stomach.” She grabbed the front of his shirt and tugged him down to her. Worry rose sharp inside her, threatening to cut away at her, but she ignored it. Yes, she might worry about him, but that was okay.

  He brushed his lips over hers, then groaned as he pulled back. “I really do have to run. But I’ve got my phone on me.”


  “Don’t worry about me. I’m going to bring Shadow over after you leave and this place will be all cleaned up by the time you get back. Maybe you’ll get lucky tonight too.”

  “I don’t like the thought of you cleaning up the kitchen. This was supposed to be a date.”

  She shrugged. “I’m not leaving a mess for you. I’d be a pretty bad date if I did.”

  He looked like he still didn’t like the idea, but kissed her again and then grabbed his keys, duty belt and a jacket that said sheriff on it. Apparently he was going to be heading out in mostly plainclothes. Hopefully that meant he wouldn’t be long.

  Once Lincoln left, she headed to the front door, her own keys in hand. She’d left Shadow at home because she’d forgotten to ask Lincoln about bringing her, but she didn’t like leaving her alone for too long. Even during the week she had a service that came by and walked her during the day.

  As she made her way across the front yard toward her house, she shivered at how dark it was. The street light must be out, and even with her front porch light on, everything felt darker than normal.

  Picking up her pace, a tingling at the back of her neck made her turn around. As she did, pain exploded in the back of her skull and she fell forward onto her knees and hands.

  Blinking, she tried to crawl forward, her fingers digging into the grass. What the hell—

  Another blast of pain exploded, then darkness overtook her.

  Chapter 28

  Pain fractured through Autumn’s skull as she struggled toward consciousness. Her eyelids felt as if they had weights on them as she tried to force them open. Oh God, her head. A steady pulse of agony beat against her skull.

  As she opened her eyes, a blue and gray rug came into view. Dark wood floors. A dresser. Where the hell was she?

  “Took you long enough to wake up,” a male voice said calmly.

  She blinked, trying to open her eyes despite the pain. She was in a bedroom. It smelled like Lincoln but the man peering down at her with a sick grin on his face was definitely not Lincoln.

  Fear punched through her when she recognized Tom Coventry.

  Rand’s father?

  She wanted to ask him what the hell he was doing, but it was pretty clear what he’d done and why he was here. He was here to kill her. He’d somehow knocked her out and now she was… She tugged on her hands, which were bound behind her back. She was tied up in Lincoln’s bedroom! Oh God, the baby.

  Adrenaline punched through her, shoving away some of the cobwebs in her fuzzy mind. “How’d you find me?” The question came out more as a raspy whisper. She winced at the mere sound of her own voice, the pain in her head making it hard to think, let alone speak. There was a dull throb of blood rushing in her ears as she struggled to sit up against the dresser. Her hip hurt. He hadn’t even bothered to dump her on the bed; he must’ve just tossed her onto the hard floor.

  “By being patient and having a lot of money,” he spat at her as he crouched down, a wicked-looking blade in his hand.

  It took everything in her not to stare at the knife. She knew if she did, the fear would overtake her and she would start panicking. If she was going to get out of this alive—and she had no idea how that was possible—she had to be smart. She had to survive.

  Fear was a staccato beat in her chest, but she took a steady breath. “If you kill me, the marshals will know it was you.” If he’d found her, he obviously knew she was in WITSEC.

  “Oh, I’m going to kill you, but it won’t be an easy death. I’m going to kill your boyfriend too. And the marshals won’t be able to do shit about it.”

  She glared up at him, fighting past her fear and the nausea shoving at her throat. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

  He brandished the knife inches away from her face. “You took everything from me,” he snarled. “And I’m going to take everything from you.” He shoved up then, his boots pounding against the floor as he stomped away from her. “My wife left me! My son was stuck in jail for ten years! And I lost my chance at making it to the Senate. All because you couldn’t mind your own business.”

  She knew that no matter what she said, it wouldn’t matter. Still… “I didn’t kill that girl.”

  “She was a nobody,” he snapped. “Absolutely worthless. A stupid drug addict who would have died anyway.”

  That was the way the defense had tried to spin it, putting the victim on trial. But they’d never been able to prove that she was actually an addict, not that it should have mattered anyway. Maybe it was true, or maybe Tom Coventry had started to believe his own narrative.

  “You and I are going to have a little fun before I kill you. Your carved-up body is going to be the first thing your pathetic boyfriend sees when he walks in the door.” An evil gleam glinted in his eyes as he stalked toward her and crouched down again.

  As he did, she heard the front door open downstairs.

  Panic a live wire inside her, she opened her mouth to scream but he slapped his hand over it. She bit down on one of his fingers. Teeth bared, he winced but didn’t cry out as he yanked her to her feet and twisted her around, pulling her against him and cutting off her breathing with his forearm over her throat.

  Lincoln! she silently cried out.

  She tried to struggle against him, but he held his knife right to her abdomen as he choked her. She froze on instinct, not wanting him to stab her in the stomach. But spots swam before her eyes as she tried to drag in a breath. Ohgodohgodohgod!

  Chapter 29

  Lincoln couldn’t believe he’d left a date with Autumn for such a dumbass call. Originally the operator had told him it was a domestic incident, something he would never pass off to anyone else.

  But it turned out it hadn’t been domestic at all, but a very amorous couple who’d simply been loud. Their neighbors had called the cops, thinking the husband was hurting the wife. Nope, the exact opposite. They’d been confused and then embarrassed when he’d shown up. But at least no one had been hurt, and he hoped that he and Autumn got to the “dessert” part of the evening soon.

  Desperate to see her, he took off his duty belt and jacket as he entered the kitchen. Frowning, he looked at the dirty plates and the food still uncovered. This…felt wrong. No way would Autumn have left his place like this. And her phone was still on the countertop, a little green light blinking. He glanced at it and saw she had an unread text from him.

  In that moment, instinct kicked in—and he knew he wasn’t alone in the house.

  Something was wrong.

  There was a soft squeaking sound and a slight shuffle coming from upstairs. Autumn had told him that she was going to get Shadow, but her dog wasn’t here either. He didn’t like any of this.

  Withdrawing his weapon, he moved to his radio and turned it on, hoping the noise would cover his movements. Then he turned the dishwasher on even though there was nothing in it. It started with a whoosh. The extra noise should hopefully give the appearance of him being in the kitchen as he silently hunted down whoever was in his damn house.

  He silently prayed that Autumn had made it home, that whatever was going on didn’t involve her. But the dread spreading through his veins told him otherwise.

  On silent feet, he eased up his stairs, his weapon in front of him as he eyed the landing above him. Through the railing, he could see into one of his guest rooms and see the door open to his own bedroom. The light was on, and not because of him. He turned off the light of any room he left—it had been drilled into him as a kid.

  Maybe… Autumn was waiting for him in his bed? No, she hadn’t called out or anything. Fear sank its claws into his spine, gripping tight.

  He skipped over the fifth stair because it squeaked and tried to steady his breathing as he reached the top. Before he made it to the landing, he texted the deputy on duty, telling him he needed backup.

  Hopefully this was all a mistake and Autumn was simply naked and in his bed, but his gut was telling him something else was going on here.

&nbs
p; When he heard a shuffling and then what sounded like a cry, he moved quickly to the landing, blood rushing in his ears.

  Crouching low, he had his weapon out as he swept into his room.

  The sight that greeted him froze the blood in his veins.

  An older man—Tom Coventry, from the image he’d found of the guy when he’d looked him up online—had a knife pressed to Autumn’s neck as he used her as a shield.

  “Drop your weapon now,” he snarled, only his training preventing him from pulling the trigger.

  “You’re going to drop your weapon.” Coventry’s hand shook but he didn’t move, didn’t give Lincoln the opening he needed to end him.

  “You haven’t hurt her yet.” Or he prayed he hadn’t. Lincoln kept his gaze off Autumn, because he knew that if he looked at her face, made eye contact, it would do more than distract him. He had to stay as detached as possible, had to save her and their baby. That meant listening to all his training when all he wanted to do was attack this bastard. “Just put your weapon down and you can still recover from this. You can still walk away.”

  “You’re going to put down your gun, and then you and I are going to talk,” the man said, his hand trembling again slightly. When he did, he nicked her, blood trickling down her neck.

  Lincoln’s saw red in that moment, barely controlled himself. The only thing holding him back was that his actions could get her hurt. “Listen to me—”

  “Behind you!” she suddenly screamed.

  Moving on instinct, he spun, and tackled a hard male body.

  A man snarled and a fist slammed against his back as Lincoln tackled the guy, flying through the doorway and crashing into the banister railing.

  It gave way under the impact and they flew through the air. Autumn screamed and the man let out a short cry as they slammed against the stairs with a sickening crunch.

  Chapter 30

  All the air left Autumn’s lungs as Lincoln dropped out of sight. In the same instance, rage like she’d never known took over. She screamed and kicked backward as hard as she could. She had to get to Lincoln, he had to be okay!