Imperfect: (McIntyre Security Bodyguard Series - Book 5)

by April Wilson

  “Not so tough now, are you?” I say, panting from the exertion of holding him down. I figure I have fewer than five minutes before the cops arrive.

  I reach for the knife with the intention of relieving Todd of his weapon, but he grabs for it with his other hand. He swings his arm toward me with the intention of stabbing me in the back. It’s a classic mistake in close-contact fighting – don’t let your own weapon be used against you. He’s not taking into consideration that if he follows through on his intended arc and misses my back, he’ll bury the knife in his own chest.

  Yep, classic mistake.

  As he takes his swing, throwing all of his strength behind it, I roll away at the last second. His hand continues on its path with enough momentum to bury the knife deep in Todd’s chest.

  He grunts when the knife pierces his ribs and tunnels into his heart. His desperate gasps for air sound wet as his lungs fill with blood. I think he’ll suffocate before his heart stops beating.

  I sit back on the floor, breathing heavily myself, as I listen to his labored gasps.

  “You should have left her alone, asshat,” I say, feeling no remorse. “You have no one to blame but yourself.”

  He tries to speak, but his words are garbled by the blood filling his throat. He grabs at the knife in desperation, trying to pull it out, but it’s lodged in there firmly.

  I can hear the sirens now, wailing in the distance, as the police descend on our location. I pull my phone out of my back pocket and voice dial Shane.

  “Hey, brother, what’s up?” he says, sounding a bit groggy.

  “Did I wake you?”

  “Yeah, but no problem. You wouldn’t call this late unless it was important. What do you need?”

  “A little help would be nice. I just killed Molly’s ex-husband. Well, technically, he killed himself. Basically, he fell on his own knife. Classic beginner mistake.”

  There’s an ominous silence over the phone line as Todd’s gurgling breaths slow. I give him two minutes, tops.

  Shane’s voice is impressively steady and calm. “Did you just say – ”

  “Yeah. I did. Can you send Troy over to our building? And a coroner. We’re going to need a body bag.”

  Shane exhales heavily. “I’m on my way. Hold tight.”

  Ferguson didn’t even make it two minutes. When the gurgling breaths stop, I reach over to feel his carotid artery. Nothing. No pulse. No breaths. Nothing. He’s gone.

  A moment later, I hear Molly’s footsteps coming down the hallway. She’s moving cautiously.

  “It’s okay, honey,” I say. “The coast is clear.”

  She hovers in the doorway. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Are you okay?”

  She laughs shakily. “I am now. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  I climb to my feet and blow out a heavy breath. “Yeah, I’m sure.” I meet her in the open doorway. “We should probably turn the power back on. The cops will need the lights on to do their jobs.”

  It’s pitch black in the apartment, so I lead Molly by the hand back into the living room. I sit her down on the sofa, then head for the breaker box to flip the breaker back on. Immediately, the refrigerator starts humming again, and the furnace starts back up. Molly switches on the lamp on the end table beside the sofa.

  I take a seat on the coffee table directly across from her so I run my hands over her body. “Are you hurt?”

  She lifts her fingertips to her face and hisses a pained breath. “He cut my face, but I don’t think it’s bad. There’s not much blood.” She takes a deep breath. “What about Todd?”

  “He’s no longer a problem.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. He stabbed himself in the chest.”

  Police officers sweep into the apartment, yelling at us to freeze.

  “It’s okay,” I tell them. “It’s over. The intruder’s body is in the bedroom.” I point down the hallway. “The only door on the left.”

  I’ve got hold of Molly’s hands, and they’re trembling. I move to sit beside her on the sofa and pull her into my arms.

  “I’ve called for an ambulance,” one of the officers says. “She’s going to need medical treatment.”

  “How bad is it?” I ask, dreading the answer.

  “Well, I’m not an EMT, but it doesn’t look too bad to me. She may need stitches. Her throat is badly bruised too. The squad’s on its way.”

  Molly’s apartment turns into Grand Central Station not long after that. Two Chicago detectives arrive, along with a forensics team, and finally the coroner.

  Then Shane walks in, in the middle of a heated phone conversation with Troy Spencer.

  Apparently he brought Jake with him as well.

  “Jamie, what the hell?” Jake says as he walks into the apartment. Jake sits on the other side of Molly. “Let me see your face. Jesus, you’re lucky. One inch higher, and he might’ve taken out your eye. That’s going to need stitches. But don’t worry, it’ll just add character to your face – make you a little more bad ass than you already are.”

  She laughs nervously. “I’m not a bad ass. Jamie’s the bad ass.”

  “Hey, bro, how the hell did Ferguson get in?” Jake says.

  “The tenants downstairs are moving out, and they kept propping the door open. I closed it when I left to walk Gus, but the kid must have propped it open again once I was gone. Ferguson must have slipped inside when I was walking Gus.”

  “We’re going to have to do something about the security in this place,” Jake says. “Having other tenants is a problem without proper door security. It seems silly to add a doorman twenty-four-seven. It would make more sense to move you guys to a secured building.”

  While Jake’s talking, Molly leans into me. I can feel her body shaking, and I’m afraid she’s in shock. I put my arm around her and draw her close, kissing her temple. “Just rest.”

  Chapter 43

  Molly

  The EMTs check me out and assure Jamie my injuries aren’t serious. But it looks like I’ll need to go to the ER for treatment.

  Shane gets the okay for Jake to drive us to the hospital, rather than having me ride in the ambulance. We all get in Jake’s SUV, which is parked a block down the street, and head to the Cook County Hospital ER. Shane and Jake are in the front seat, and Jamie and I sit in the back. I’m absolutely exhausted, dead on my feet, and I find myself falling asleep in the backseat leaning against Jamie. His arm’s around my shoulders, warm and solid, and I feel safe.

  It still hasn’t sunk in that Todd’s dead. I suppose I should grieve that my former husband met a violent end, but the man he’d become lately bore little resemblance to the young man I married in college. I don’t know what happened to him over the years. I guess he changed so gradually that I didn’t realize that monster he’d become until after the divorce, when he insisted that I come back to him.

  I sigh heavily, feeling a little overwhelmed by the evening’s events. Jamie tightens his hold on me and leans over to kiss my forehead.

  “How’s your cheek?” he murmurs, his lips pressed against my brow.

  “It stings. And it feels hot.”

  “It needs to be cleaned. God knows where that knife has been.”

  When we arrive at the hospital, Jake pulls up to the entrance to the emergency room. Shane gets out of the vehicle, and Jamie helps me out.

  “You two go sit down,” Shane says. “I’ll sign Molly in.”

  Jamie and I find seats in the waiting room. Jake joins us before long and offers to go get us coffee.

  Lia and Jonah arrive at the ER not long afterward and spot us across the room.

  “Are you all right, Molly?” Lia says. She gets a good look at my cheek. “Damn. And your throat, too. Did that fucker choke you?”

  “Yes.”

  Lia shakes her head in disgust then looks at Jamie. “Please tell me you took care of that.”

  Jamie nods. “I did.”

  “Good,” Lia says. “Beth
sends her love. She wanted to come, too, but Shane put his foot down and said she needed to stay home and rest.”

  Troy Spencer arrives wearing jeans and a University of Chicago sweatshirt, and carrying a slim black briefcase. “Jamie, when you get a chance, we need to talk.”

  For the first time, I wonder if Jamie could get into trouble for what happened. Todd was the intruder. Jamie was my rescuer. Surely he’s not in legal trouble because of what happened. Todd stabbed himself.

  When the receptionist calls my name, Jamie accompanies me to the registration desk. I check in, and then an attendee takes me back to the treatment area where a nurse cleans and sterilizes the cut on my face.

  I’m seen shortly afterward by a doctor, who applies some type of adhesive to the cut, to hold the edges together while it heals. Jake was right. I was lucky. Very lucky. It could have been so much worse. And I’m not just talking about the cut on my face. If Jamie hadn’t arrived when he did, Todd would have raped me. And worse yet, Jamie might have gotten hurt. He grappled bare-handed with a man holding a knife.

  The ER doctor sends me home with a prescription for pain medication and ointment to put on my cut, to help minimize scarring while it heals. My throat is badly bruised, but he doesn’t think any lasting damage was done to my vocal chords.

  “Your throat will be sore for a few days, and your voice will be a little hoarse until the swelling goes down. Just get lots of rest and drink plenty of water. You’ll be good as new in no time.”

  * * *

  I was dead on my feet by the time I was finally discharged.

  “Do you guys want to come back to our place tonight?” Shane says. “We’ve got plenty of room. Or, if you’d rather, I can let you use one of the guest apartments in my building.” Shane pauses for a moment, as if delivering bad news. “Molly can’t go back to her apartment. It’s an active crime scene, and it’s off limits until the police complete their investigation. And once they’re done, her bedroom will need to be professionally cleaned before she can enter that room.”

  “What do you want to do?” Jamie asks me. “We could go to my apartment. Or, sleep in one of Shane’s guest apartments. What would you prefer?”

  “Charlie. I don’t want to leave him in the apartment alone tonight.”

  “We could take him with us to my apartment, and sleep there tonight. Then, in the morning, we’ll decide what to do next.”

  I nod. “Let’s do that. I don’t like leaving him alone in that apartment. He’s probably traumatized.”

  “Are you sure, Molly?” Shane says. “I’ve got an apartment you can use for as long as you need it. I can send someone to retrieve your cat and bring him to you.”

  “I’m sure. Thank you, Shane. I just want to go home, and Jamie’s apartment is the closest thing I have to home.”

  Jamie smiles and reaches for my hand, lacing our fingers. “Let’s go.”

  Jamie and I practically carry each other out to Jake’s SUV, which is waiting for us outside the automatic doors. Jamie helps me stay upright, and I do the navigating, steering us clear of any pedestrians and other obstructions.

  “We make a good team,” I say.

  “Yes, we do.”

  * * *

  My apartment’s not very big, but it takes us fifteen minutes to find Charlie. At first, the furry little orange guy is nowhere to be seen. When he doesn’t greet us at the door, I panic a little, fearing that he might have slipped out of the apartment during all the chaos tonight.

  “Charlie?”

  We step inside the apartment, and I turn on a light. “Charlie? It’s okay. You can come out.”

  Nothing. My heart starts pounding at the thought that he’s lost.

  I check everywhere… the kitchen, the pantry, the spare bedroom, the bathroom. I check all his favorite hiding places. Nothing.

  I’m just about to break the police seal on my bedroom door to see if he got trapped in my room. Perhaps he was hiding under the bed or in my closet when the police sealed the room. I really don’t want to go in there to look for him because I know what I’ll see... a huge pool of blood on my wood floors, where Todd died.

  I knock quietly on my bedroom door, putting my ear to the wood panel to listen for a meow. Nothing.

  I’m really starting to panic now, thinking that he must have gotten out of the apartment.

  I knock once more on my bedroom door and call him, but there’s no response from inside the room.

  “Looking for this little guy?” Jamie says, coming down the hallway with Charlie cradled in his arms.

  Jamie’s scratching Charlie’s ears, and Charlie is obviously in heaven, turning and twisting his head to soak in all that attention.

  I burst into tears as I reach for Charlie, surprising even myself. It’s all just been too much. “Where did you find him?”

  Jamie wraps one arm around me and pulls me close. “I found him hiding under the sofa. It took a bit of coaxing to get him to come out.”

  “He must have been scared to death, with Todd coming into the apartment, and then all those strangers.”

  While Jamie entertains my cat, I gather up what I’ll need tonight and tomorrow… my toiletries, a few cans of cat food, and the little package of cat treats. I dump the litter box and pour fresh litter into it. I can’t grab a change of clean clothes or any pajamas as I can’t go into my bedroom. I’ll just have to make do with what I have for now.

  Jamie carries the cat litter box – which is heavy – and I carry Charlie and everything else. When Jamie opens the door to his apartment, Charlie jumps down and runs inside to be greeted by an exuberant Gus, who’s clearly very happy to see his little buddy.

  “Where should I put this?” Jamie says, holding up the litter box.

  “How about in the laundry room? That’s where I keep it.”

  Jamie sets the cat litter box down in his laundry room – in the same spot where I keep it in my laundry room. We’re hoping the similarities will help Charlie settle in to the strange place easily. While I spoon Charlie’s food into a dish, Jamie refreshes the water in Gus’s bowl, then offers Charlie a few of the cat treats and gives him another scratching behind his ear.

  As I watch Jamie going out of his way to make my cat feel comfortable, I’m reminded of the fact that in all my ten years of marriage, Todd refused to even once consider getting a pet, no matter how much I wanted one. And here’s Jamie going out of his way to make my cat feel welcome.

  “You’re amazing,” I say.

  Jamie looks up and grins. “Why is that?”

  “Because you’re nice to my cat.” Once again, I burst into tears, absolutely mortified at how short my emotional fuse is tonight.

  He rises to his feet and pulls me into his arms. “It’s late, and you’re tired. Let’s get you to bed.”

  “That sounds wonderful.”

  I head to the bathroom to get ready for bed while Jamie locks up the apartment and turns out the lights. Just as I’m wondering what I should wear to bed, he raps on the bathroom door.

  “I’ve got a T-shirt for you to sleep in,” he says.

  I open the door to see him standing there holding a T-shirt, looking a little sheepish, I might add. “Thank you.” I strip out of my clothes and remove my bra – and my breast forms along with it – and slip his big T-shirt over my head.

  He follows me into the bedroom and pulls back the bed covers so I can crawl into bed.

  It feels so good to be lying down. I stretch and moan. “I’m so tired I can barely think straight.”

  Gus drops down on his dog bed in the corner of the room with a heavy sigh. Charlie jumps up onto the bed and curls up next to me.

  “Aren’t you coming to bed?” I say.

  “I need to wash up first. I’ll be back soon.”

  Jamie switches off the bedside lamp and heads for the bathroom. I relax into the comfortable bed, snugging with Charlie, listening to the shower in the other room.

  Just relax. Todd’s gone. He can’t hurt yo
u or Jamie anymore.

  I’m tired, and my energy wanes quickly. I’m half asleep when Jamie crawls into bed beside me, his skin warm and slightly damp from his shower. I roll to face him, and he draws my arm across his chest. One of my legs slips in between his and I press a kiss to his chest. He smells so tantalizingly good, so male. He runs the fingers of his free hand up and down my bare back, gently stroking me, setting off tingles wherever he touches me.

  Part of my mind is focused on Jamie’s touch, but the other part is still fixated on what happened this evening. “He’s really gone?” I say, my voice little more than a whisper in the quiet darkness.

  “Yes.” Jamie’s hand slides up to massage the nape of my neck. “Are you okay?”

  I swallow hard. It’s difficult to answer that question when my mind is reeling with all the what-ifs. “He cut me. On purpose.”

  “I know. I’m sorry, Molly.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

  “If I’d gotten back from walking Gus sooner, I might have prevented him from getting into the building.”

  “Jamie, you saved me.”

  “Yes, but he still managed to hurt you.” Jamie’s hand tightens on my neck. “It makes me nuts to think what he might have done to you.”

  The only thing I’m worried about now is Jamie. “What happened with Todd – that was self-defense, right? You couldn’t be charged with anything, could you?”

  “You don’t need to worry. Troy says he’s already reviewed the police reports, and he says there are no charges pending against me. It truly was self-defense, Molly. I never even touched the knife. He stabbed himself.”

  My cheek is throbbing, both from the cut and from where Todd backhanded me. I’m sure I’ll have a lovely bruise for quite a while. I gently examine the area around the cut. “What’s one more scar, right? I already have so many.”

  Jamie rolls me to my other side so he can press up against me from behind. His arm comes over me, lying protectively across my chest. “You’re beautiful, Molly. One tiny scar on your cheek won’t change that. It will just add to your allure.”