by Jaci Burton
“Obviously. I won’t tell a soul. I do want you to be careful. I never saw the guy with a gun, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have one.”
“And I won’t be the only one inside the pharmacy. Trust me, we’ll be well protected.”
She laid her head on his chest. “I hope so. I’ve kind of grown accustomed to seeing you here every day.”
He put his arm around her and stared at the TV. “Yeah, I’ve kind of gotten used to being here.”
And once again, the conversation stopped, neither of them willing to have that oh-so-important talk about oh-so-important things.
One of these days, though, all those critical topics were going to get discussed.
Chapter 25
EMMA WAS SCHEDULED to have a late girls’ night with Jane and Chelsea on Thursday, but she was a nervous wreck. She knew all she’d be thinking about was Luke, holed up at the pharmacy, lying in wait for the suspect, and she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything Jane and Chelsea said. Then they’d ask her what was wrong, and she’d have to lie.
She hated lying. So she called them up and . . . basically lied, telling them she had a lot of paperwork to catch up on, so they’d have to reschedule. After the clinic closed at eight, she came home and snuggled with the dogs, trying to concentrate on television, though she found herself repeatedly getting up to pace. So she decided to read a book, but she couldn’t concentrate and kept reading the same paragraph over and over, which ended up frustrating her. Putting the book aside, she took the dogs outside and let them run off some energy, which did nothing for her own stress level.
She knew she wouldn’t hear from Luke for a while yet. He wouldn’t call while they staked out the place. And if they did manage to catch the guy, he might not call, because he’d be too busy wrapping up the case.
Which meant she had nothing to do but sit at home and . . . stress.
Ugh.
When her phone rang, she ran to answer it.
It wasn’t Luke. It was Ellen Andrews, whose poodle, Nina, had gotten attacked by a much larger dog. Ellen was hysterical because Nina was bleeding and weak.
“I’ll meet you at the clinic in ten minutes, Ellen. Do what you can to stop the bleeding by putting towels or bandages on the wounds and compressing on them. Do you have someone to drive you?”
“Y-yes. My husband Zane will drive.”
“I’ll see you there shortly.”
She slid into her shoes and grabbed her keys, then ran out the door to her truck. Within less than ten minutes she was at the clinic. Ellen and Zane were there with Nina a few minutes later.
Ellen looked a wreck, her cheeks streaked with tears. She was shaking as they brought Nina to the exam room. Emma gloved up and removed the towels Ellen had wrapped her in so she could examine her.
Yeah, some dog had bitten Nina pretty badly.
“I’m going to clean her up and get her stitched,” Emma explained. “Why don’t the two of you go out to the waiting room. There’s a coffeepot out there, and water in the nearby kitchen off to the right. You can make yourself a pot if you’d like.”
Zane put his arm around Ellen. “I’ll take care of that. Thanks, Dr. Emma.”
Emma scooped up Nina and took her into the OR, anesthetized her, then started prepping her. Once Nina was out, she shaved the areas that needed suturing and got those spots cleaned up, much easier now that the poodle wasn’t quivering in pain.
“Poor baby,” Emma said, running her gloved hands over the dog. “Some dogs are just mean, aren’t they?”
Emma got Nina sewed up, checked her for any other signs of injury, then gave her a shot to ward off infection.
She went out to the waiting area. “She’s going to be fine, but she’s still anesthetized, and I’ve got her hooked up to fluids. I’d like to keep her here overnight.”
“We’ve warned the neighbors about their dog, but they ignored us,” Zane said. “We called the police, and the dog has been confiscated. At least he’s updated on shots so we don’t have to worry about rabies.”
“That’s good news. And don’t worry about Nina. She’s going to be okay. She’ll sleep all night, and you can come by in the morning to pick her up.”
Ellen took her hands. “Thank you for saving her life.”
“You’re welcome. Now both of you, go home and get some sleep. Your baby will be okay here.”
After Ellen and Zane left, Emma stretched and looked up at the clock over the reception desk.
Ten thirty. She blew out a breath and went to check on Nina. In her cage, she was asleep, her vitals normal. She went into the OR to start cleaning up the mess from the surgery, not wanting to leave it for Leanne to deal with in the morning.
When she heard the bumping noise, she thought maybe it was Nina waking up and fighting the anesthesia, so she went to investigate.
And came face-to-face with her worst nightmare. Someone she’d hoped to never see again.
Vaughn.
Chapter 26
SITTING IN THE dark in a tiny pharmacy for hours was boring as hell. At least Luke wasn’t alone. Evan was on the inside with him, and they had the four guys staked out on the outside in constant communication.
They couldn’t even get up and wander around. The pharmacy was well lit from the outside lights, and they’d cast shadows if anyone was looking inside. They wouldn’t want the suspect to peer inside and see movement, which meant they either had to crouch and move, or crawl around on the floor.
Damned uncomfortable. And they’d been there for two and a half hours already.
“Anything?” he asked.
“Nothing here,” Steve said. “Someone just sped down the highway. Clocked him doing twenty miles over the limit. Too bad we can’t go after him.”
Luke looked over at Evan, who rolled his eyes. “Steve lives for writing tickets.”
“Who the hell likes to write tickets? It’s a pain in the ass.”
“Steve does,” Evan said, unwrapping a candy bar he’d stuffed into his pocket. “Don’t ask me why.”
“We have movement out here.”
“What kind of movement?” Luke shot back.
“He came from behind the housing addition. Skulking up the street. Wearing a backpack, staying in the shadows, hands in his pockets. He’s heading for the back of the shopping center.”
Tensing, Luke was on full alert now. He looked at Evan. “Let’s head to the back of the store.”
Evan gave a short nod and they crouched low, staying out of sight of the windows.
Evan took up position just inside the drug-supply area, while Luke stood right by the counter, ready to surprise the would-be burglar. Boomer was with him, staying right by his side, not making a sound.
“Oh. False alarm. He’s just walking past the store.”
Defeated, Luke’s shoulders slumped. He gave Boomer the stand down command, and Boomer lay down.
“Well, that was a letdown,” Evan said.
“No shit.”
An hour later, they decided to call it a night. The suspect’s typical MO was to hit early, and it was almost eleven.
“Sorry, guys. I thought this one would pan out,” Luke said on his mic.
“We’ll get him at some point,” Steve said.
Luke wrapped everything up, locked up and rearmed the store, then headed to his cruiser. He drove to Emma’s, surprised to see all her lights still on.
Daisy greeted him at the door, and Annie was out of her cage. Boomer greeted the other dogs.
“Where is she, girls?” he said, petting them both and heading to the bedroom.
“Emma?”
No answer. He went into the bathroom, but she wasn’t there.
Huh. She wasn’t in the house, but the dogs were. That was unusual. He took out his phone to call her, but it rang, and she didn’t answer.
She must have gotten an emergency call at the clinic. Still, she would answer if he called.
He shouldn’t worry about her. She was fine.<
br />
Still, it was late. Maybe if she had a call, she’d be tired. And maybe hungry. He was sure hungry.
He let the dogs out, put Annie in her crate for the night, then changed clothes, and headed for the clinic.
He’d talk Emma into going to Tulsa and eating at Denny’s. A late breakfast sounded great to him about now, and if she’d worked late, he knew she’d be hungry, too.
EMMA STARED AT Vaughn for what seemed like hours. He looked . . . older. But still vital. Still as powerful as he always had. Tall and lean, but with sharp dark eyes and salt-and-pepper hair, with a goatee.
She’d once found him so handsome. Now? Now he just represented misery. Fear. Mistakes. Horror.
He took a step forward. She took a step back. He halted.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” she said, hearing the crack in her voice. He’d use that against her.
He held up his hands. “I just want to talk.”
“We have nothing to say to each other. And you need to leave.” Her heart hammered in her chest, that old fear resurfacing. She’d fought so hard to get past it—to get past him—and now it all came rushing back.
Why was he here?
“I just wanted to apologize for . . . for everything.”
His words were empty, devoid of any real emotion. How could she have ever believed anything he said to her? Had she really been that naïve? The man had no heart, no real feelings for anything or anyone other than what made him happy, what suited his purposes.
She kept moving backward, needing the safety of the reception counter, a barrier between the two of them. “Vaughn. You need to leave. Now.”
“Not until you listen to what I have to say.”
There was something in his eyes, something she’d never noticed before. A disconnect, as if he wasn’t really even speaking to her, or even seeing her.
“I thought you had moved out of Oklahoma.”
He looked past her and let out a short laugh. “Yeah, after I lost my job, I did for a while.” Then he lifted his gaze to hers. “Did you know that you cost me my job, Emma?”
He would blame her for that. For what he’d done. He’d always blamed her. And for so long, she’d accepted the blame. Not anymore. She straightened, refusing to cower in front of him.
Never again.
“You didn’t lose your job at the university because of me, Vaughn. You have to take responsibility for what you did.”
He moved suddenly and the reception desk was blocked. She backed toward her office, where her purse was. Where her gun was. She needed to get to her gun. Vaughn wasn’t being reasonable. Had he ever been reasonable? Had she ever been able to stop him when he was determined to have—to take—whatever he wanted?
She wasn’t the person she was back then. She wasn’t under his thumb, under his control, any longer. And she’d never be again.
She took a deep breath, centering herself to find the calm balance she needed to confront him. “Let’s go sit down, have something cold to drink. Then you can tell me whatever it is you want to tell me.”
He tilted his head to the side and studied her, and once again she was struck by that faraway look in his eyes.
“Okay.”
She waited while he caught up to her, and it took everything in her not to run from him. Just being this close to him made her nauseous as the past rushed back to her. She forced it away, staying in the here and now.
“So you work here?”
“Yes.”
“It’s what you always wanted to do.”
“Yes, it is.” She had to fight to keep her voice under control, not to tremble because he was so close to her.
She opened the door to her office. He walked in and looked around. Picked up a few files, then walked to the window before turning around to face her, his hands clasped behind his back. It reminded her so much of him standing at the front of the classroom. He’d been so commanding back when she was a lovestruck freshman. She’d hung on his every word, and he’d hooked her like a starving fish.
“So . . . you have an office. You’ve really come up in the world, Emma. You’re a success.”
“I’m just starting out.”
“Still, you’re on your own. Do you think you can make it without someone to take care of you?” He came around the desk and this time, she refused to cower or step back. “You always needed someone to look after you. You liked it when I did.”
No, she hadn’t, but she had no idea of his current state of mind, so she kept her opinions to herself.
She tilted her head back, met his gaze. “How about we have something to drink?”
“I don’t suppose you have wine in that mini fridge of yours,” he said, taking a seat.
She managed a smile. “No. Soda or water.”
“Maybe we can go back to your place. I stopped there first looking for you, but you weren’t home, so I came here.”
He knew where she lived. She wondered how long he’d been stalking her. “So . . . soda or water?”
“You’re not inviting me back to your home. Is your boyfriend there?”
She shifted past him and reached into the refrigerator for a bottle of water, unscrewed the top and held on to the bottle to keep her hands from shaking. Now she was next to her desk, inches away from the drawer that held her purse. And her gun. “That’s none of your business. Just like my life is none of your business anymore.”
“You’re brave now, Emma. Braver than you used to be. You used to let me control everything.”
She took a seat at her desk, using her knee to nudge the drawer. “That was a long time ago.” She took a sip of water.
“Not so long ago. What changed between us?”
“I think you know what happened.”
“Yes. You betrayed me.”
“I didn’t betray you, Vaughn. I ended our relationship. Now I’d like you to leave.” She nudged the drawer open farther.
He laughed, his tone growing more menacing. She didn’t want to have to take out the gun, but so help her she would if he made one move out of that chair.
“That didn’t work out too well for you before, little girl. You trying to tell me what to do. What makes you think it’ll work out so well for you now?”
“Because I’m here to back her up. Now get the hell up out of that chair before I kick your ass.”
Emma’s gaze shot to the doorway.
Luke.
Chapter 27
LUKE DIDN’T KNOW what the hell was going on, or who this guy was making threats against Emma, but based on the bits of conversation he’d picked up as he walked down the hall, he’d already figured out two things. One, Emma knew the guy, and two, she didn’t like him and wanted him out of her clinic. That was enough information for him to know he had to get this guy out of there in a hurry.
Seemingly unconcerned about Luke’s arrival, the guy stood. He was tall and lean, with a graying goatee. Looked like an academic type to Luke, and he had a sneaking suspicion it might be Vaughn, which sent his radar up to high. He laid his hand on the butt of his gun.
“You must be the boyfriend. I’m Vaughn Castille.” Vaughn extended a hand that Luke ignored.
“I’m pretty sure Emma asked you to leave.”
Vaughn resumed his seat with a smirk. “Emma doesn’t always know what she wants.”
“I know exactly what I want, just like I knew exactly what I wanted six years ago when I took out a restraining order against you to get you out of my life.”
Luke pulled out his gun and pointed it at Vaughn.
Seemingly unconcerned by the gun pointed at him, Vaughn laughed. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
Ignoring him, Luke held the gun on Vaughn, pulled out his phone, and punched a button. “This is McCormack. I’m off duty, and I need a black-and-white at the Hope Small Animal Hospital on the highway. Violation of a restraining order . . . Yeah, I’ve got it under control until you send someone here.”
He hung up and kept the gun
trained on Vaughn, who wouldn’t look at him, his gaze fixed on Emma, who in turn couldn’t seem to tear her gaze away from Vaughn.
“Emma,” Luke said. “Come over here with me.”
She didn’t respond.
“Emma,” he said again. She finally dragged her gaze to his. “Come over here.”
She nodded, grabbed her purse out of the drawer, and went over to Luke.
“See how she obeys you? You haven’t changed much at all in that respect, have you, Emma?”
That seemed to pull her out of whatever trance she’d been in. She narrowed her gaze and made a move toward him. “Screw you, Vaughn.”
Luke grasped her arm and shoved her behind him. “Emma. Stay there.”
He heard the sirens, and Blake Howard came in.
“This your guy?” Blake asked.
“Yeah. Dr. Emma Burnett has a restraining order against him. Vaughn Castille.”
Blake jerked Vaughn toward him, flipped him around and cuffed him, then did a pat down to check for weapons. Once he was secured, Blake looked over at Luke. “I’ll take care of him.”
Luke nodded. “Thanks.”
“I’ll see you again, Emma,” Vaughn said.
Luke leaned toward him. “No, asshole, you won’t.”
Vaughn smirked. “I’ll definitely see you again.”
Emma turned away as Blake took Vaughn outside.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
Emma nodded, and Luke went outside to talk to Blake. “Make sure that bastard stays locked up.”
“No problem. If he’s violated a restraining order, he won’t get out tonight. Or hopefully anytime soon.”
After Blake drove away, Luke went back inside. Emma was still leaning against the hallway wall, clutching her purse against her chest.
“Emma.”
Her gaze shot to his. “Thanks. I’m fine.”
“I know you are. Let’s go home.”
He followed her home, staying on her bumper the entire time. She drove slowly, really slowly, and he knew she was in shock. He should have left her truck and put her in his cruiser, but it wasn’t a long drive to the house, so he figured she could handle it. Plus, doing something routine would make her focus.
