A Twist of Betrayal

by Allie Harrison

  Except for a bit of static now and then coming over the police radio he kept in his truck, the drive to the Albrights’ was silent. It was a quiet night. Too quiet, considering the turmoil inside him that left him nauseated.

  Dan didn’t want to do it this way. He wanted to go tearing off to the place he thought Deke might have taken Justine. But it was not the right time. Steve was watching him. Hell, the entire force was keeping an eye on him. They obviously thought he’d go off half-cocked and do something stupid. Again. If he did go after Deke now, it would raise suspicion or at the least raise questions he could never answer. It could lead to the end of the life he’d built.

  If he didn’t, and Deke chose to hurt Justine, it would also be the end of his life.

  There was a very fine line between being damned on either side.

  He planned to stay only a few minutes at the Albrights.

  Then he would find his wife.

  He reached the Albrights’ street and saw by the clock on the dash it was almost eleven o’clock. It had been nearly four hours since Justine had left for the store. Gee, how time flies when you’re having fun.

  He sat in his truck in front of the Albrights’ house for a long time. He didn’t even know how long he sat there as the world around him tumbled into the black of night. The Albrights had to be in bed, he knew. The house was completely dark.

  Finally, he took a deep breath and climbed out of the truck. With his thumb, he pressed the doorbell and listened as the sound of it echoed through the stillness.

  A moment later the two of them answered the door. Together. Abby and Roger. Both wearing robes tied at their waists. Hers, was soft and feminine with lace around the collar, and his was plaid and looking well worn and comfortable. Both looked at him with apprehension, making them appear years older than the last time he’d seen them. And when had that been? Only two weeks ago. Sunday dinner.

  Roger spoke first, although Dan would have thought it would have been Abby. “What’s the matter, Son, you have a fight with my daughter?”

  His attempt to lighten the sudden tension was unsuccessful. They had to know something was wrong. Especially since in five years of marriage, Dan couldn’t remember ever bringing any of their disagreements to her parents. No, Justine fought her own battles.

  The urge to tell them the truth was strong. Yes, they’d had a fight, a fight unlike any they’d had in the past.

  “No,” he lied. He suddenly didn’t know what to say. He also couldn’t tell them the complete truth—that his past had come back to bite him in the ass and Justine was caught in the middle. Being the messenger of bad news was part of his job, and he suddenly couldn’t do it. Not now. Not to these people. “Can I come in?”

  Abby opened the door wider to let him in. The house always smelled of apples to him, whether Abby was making apple pie or not. And now, Dan tried to let that familiar smell of home calm him and set him in the right direction.

  He couldn’t move. He couldn’t take any steps further into the house beyond the foyer.

  “Justine’s been abducted.”

  Dan wished he could have softened the blow for them, but he didn’t know how. He wondered briefly if he sounded more like the cop he tried to be or the husband he hoped he was. He had the horrible feeling that if he said any more than he just had, he’d fall to his knees and cling to his mother-in-law like a lost child while he begged for forgiveness. And there was so much more he wanted to say but couldn’t. That their grandchild was growing within her. That blow hadn’t hit him until he looked at Justine’s parents. The very idea of it had the ability to burn a hole in his heart like a lit cigarette.

  Or worse, that it was an old ‘friend’ of his that held her hostage. And he didn’t dare go tearing off after them. Not yet. Deke was nothing more than an old stick of live dynamite looking for a spark. Dan couldn’t take the chance until he heard from Deke and knew the score, or things would be worse for Justine.

  As he predicted, Abby stared at him. He saw questions churning through her mind, but she must have known he didn’t have answers so she didn’t ask.

  Somehow, the three of them made their way to the living room. In bits and pieces, Dan told them what he could. He left out the part about getting himself shot, feeling there were just some things better off left unsaid. Besides, the Albrights were already filled with worry over their daughter. He didn’t want them to worry about him, too. He assured them this was a random act and in no way related to his or Justine’s occupations.

  It wasn’t quite a lie, but as he told it, he couldn’t stop the burning in the pit of his stomach.

  “I’ll make some coffee, and we should call the rest of the family,” Abby said.

  “I think we should wait with calling,” Roger said. “It’s the middle of the night. Why should we disrupt everything so that they’d have nothing to do then but wait?” Roger looked at Dan. “What do you think, Son?”

  “I don’t know. Sometimes families gathered together help one another. Then sometimes, it seems like more people only added to the frustration and apprehension. I know I should have told you sooner,” Dan explained, “but I just kept hoping something good would happen, especially when I was so close to getting her back. And then I wouldn’t have had to tell you at all until it was over and she was safe.”

  “It’s all right, Son,” Roger said.

  It dawned on Dan then, that Roger had never called him anything other than ‘son’, just as he did his own. He treated him as a son, too. Dan felt like a sudden failure, as if he hadn’t been a good son, hadn’t been able to protect Roger’s little girl, wasn’t a good protector of the child inside her. For a moment, he thought he might very well get sick on the coffee he’d just forced down.

  Dan didn’t deserve this man’s trust or devotion. Or understanding. And yet, he’d always had it.

  Chapter 14

  Almost Five Years Ago

  The familiar welcoming scent of apples now mixed with pine. A week before, the entire family, Dan included, had gone to find the perfect live Christmas tree.

  “I feel like I’m intruding,” Dan had said when Justine told him he’d be coming along.

  “It’s tradition,” Roger had explained. “All the Albrights go together as a family and get the tree. Then decorate it. Marriage and grandchildren don’t change the tradition except to add to the number of people going along.”

  “But Justine and I aren’t married yet,” Dan said.

  “Being engaged is enough to make you family,” Roger said.

  Now it was Christmas Eve, and Dan showed up unexpectedly.

  Avery opened the door to him. “Hey, you’re a day early,” he joked. “Christmas dinner isn’t until tomorrow at noon.” He stepped out of the way and let Dan in. “Don’t tell me, you came by to give Justine her present early. Want some eggnog?”

  Avery was very happy.

  “Sounds like you’ve already had some.”

  “Just a little, and it’s delicious,” Avery replied.

  And Dan wondered what was in the eggnog. He forced a smile, thinking yes, he had a present, all right, but Justine wasn’t going to like this one. From the foyer, he was hit with the unmistakable sense of Christmas and family and home. It was a closeness that few people ever experience. He knew he couldn’t remember the last time he experienced it.

  He wondered if he’d get a piece of pie. Before Justine kicked him out the front door.

  “Is Justine around?” Dan asked, unzipping his coat so the warmth of home could penetrate the cold left in him from the drive here. He knew she was there, spending the few days before Christmas at the home where she grew up, helping her mother with last minute details before the big holiday bash.

  “No, she’s not a round,” Avery quipped. “She’s not a square, either. She’s kind of curvy, but I bet you already knew that.”

  Dan grinned. “Yeah, I noticed.”

  Justine and her mother came from the direction of the kitchen then. “Hi, what�
�s up?” Justine greeted him, her words rather hesitant as if she already knew what he was there to tell her. It still amazed him how she could read him as easily as she did. He was caught up in the beautiful way she seemed to glow even though she wore an apron and had flour in her hair. From the living room came the sounds of laughter. The rest of the family, or some of them, were watching something on television.

  “Avery,” Abby said, “come help me get these pies into the oven. And stay out of my eggnog.”

  A moment later, they were alone. Well, not quite alone, the presence of family filled the air around them.

  “What is it?”

  That was just like her, straight to the point.

  “Don’t I get a kiss?” he asked.

  She gave him a quick kiss, and pulled away before he could get much of a grip on her.

  “So tell me. Something’s up. It’s written all over your face. And this isn’t like you to come by without calling first. Besides, you’ve still got your uniform on,” she insisted.

  “It’s about tomorrow,” he began.

  Her eyes narrowed, and Dan thought she’d already guessed what was coming. “What about tomorrow?”

  “I have to work.”

  For a long moment, she stared at him. “But you took vacation time to make sure you’d be off for Christmas.”

  “Yes, well it got canceled because McGill is sick, and the chief needs me there.”

  “McGill isn’t sick.” She was instantly riled, and her voice echoed off the walls of the foyer.

  Dan shrugged slightly. “I can’t be the judge of that. All I know is that the chief caught me before the end of my shift today and said he needs me to do a seven A to seven P tomorrow.”

  “Didn’t you tell him you had plans?”

  “Yes, but it did little good.”

  “It’s Christmas,” she said.

  Her eyes sparkled with anger, and Dan stared at her. It was as if the heat of her anger set off his desire. She argued better than anyone he’d ever known, but he didn’t really see her angry too often. There was something about the sparkle that came to her eyes that made him want to grab her and press her entire length up against him with the wall behind her. And kiss her.

  Her father was in the next room, so he didn’t dare touch her. He didn’t move.

  “The town still needs to be patrolled. Crime doesn’t take off for the holidays,” he reminded her. “In fact, the holiday can make it worse, with too much togetherness and more travelers on the highways, all mixed together with something probably more potent than your mom’s eggnog.”

  “I don’t care,” she snapped.

  He really wanted to kiss her. He had to lick his suddenly dry lips.

  “We have it all planned,” she went on. “My mother has a thirty-pound turkey, for crying out loud.”

  “I can’t help it. You’ll just have to save me some.”

  “It won’t be the same. We should be together on Christmas.”

  “It’s my job, I can’t walk away from it.”

  “Not even for one day? For Christmas!”

  “No,” he said evenly.

  She opened her mouth, but then closed it again before she let any words tumble out, and Dan knew exactly what she worked to keep unsaid. She hated his job and the hours that went with it. She hated the fact he was a cop, putting his life in danger, putting that danger before everything else. The only time she’d ever voiced it was that day he’d saved her life. It had never been stated in so many words again, but that didn’t change her feelings. Cops had bad hours. This wasn’t the first time he had to let something go by because he had to work or he couldn’t end his shift because he was caught in something.

  But he could never walk away. Being a cop was who he was. She had no idea what it had taken for him to get where he was. He could no sooner quit as he could quit breathing. He knew he didn’t want to be anything else, except Justine Albright’s husband. He waited, anticipated, but hoping that she didn’t ask him to choose between the two. Because he knew deep in his heart, that if he chose one, he would hate it. And if he chose the other, she would hate it.

  She stared at him, and he knew she was going to ask him to choose. He could see the argument building within her eyes. He could almost see the question coming like the light at the end of the tunnel that would turn out to be a train about to run him down.

  It was Roger, standing in the doorway with a grandchild in his arms, who stopped the argument before it had the chance to begin.

  “Well,” he said, his voice even and deep, “it looks as if we’ll just be celebrating Christmas the day after tomorrow instead of tomorrow.”

  “Dad—” Justine started.

  He held up a hand to stop her. “Why not? The day after tomorrow is Sunday. No one has to work. Your brothers will just get to stay longer. If the kids get too antsy, we’ll let them open a few presents.”

  “But the food?” Justine asked.

  “Can be reheated for Sunday, right Ab?” he asked Abby, who was in the kitchen, but apparently heard the entire conversation

  “Of course,” she assured them. “And since the turkey hasn’t been cooked yet, I’ll just keep in the refrigerator and hold it off another day.”

  Roger looked at his daughter. The child in his arms, Justine’s niece, reached up and touched his nose. The touch didn’t take Roger’s attention from Justine. “Dan’s a police officer,” he said.

  “I know that,” she said.

  “Then work with the idea and not against it,” he advised gently. “And let us not forget just whose birthday it is we celebrate. I doubt if He will care when we celebrate it.” Then, he turned and walked back into the living room.

  They stood still for a moment. Then Justine hesitantly moved into his embrace. Dan held her to him. Her spark of anger was gone, but his want remained. There was nothing that compared to the feeling of completeness Dan got when he held her, especially at the end of his shift. She was like a piece of him that he missed when they were apart. He knew she gave everything she had to everything she did. He’d seen it in the legal cases she represented, and he knew it would be the same for their marriage. He wanted to give himself to her completely, too, but he didn’t know if that was ever going to be possible.

  There were things in his past he couldn’t share with her, parts of him he could never let her see, things that made him choose becoming an officer of the law. Then when his partner died in his arms, he knew he could never be anything else. At the same time he couldn’t let it tear his soul to shreds again. He’d let himself get close to his partners because that was how partners worked. But the first one had nearly ruined his life. Then a second one had torn out his heart. And he’d learned first-hand that no matter how good a cop he was, he couldn’t stop bad things from happening.

  He could, however, stop them from affecting his soul.

  So now, in the foyer, with Christmas and family so close, he held Justine to him. He could love her. He could make love to her. He could hold her. He could be there for her. He could share his life with her.

  He hoped it would be enough for the two of them and their life together.

  Chapter 15

  Dan shoved the warm memory of Christmas aside as Abby’s voice brought him back to the present. He fought down a shiver.

  “Dan, did you hear me?” She stood before him with the coffee pot in her hand.

  “What?” he stammered.

  “I asked if you wanted fresh coffee,” she repeated.

  “Oh, sure, thanks.”

  She refilled his cup, not that there was much gone out of it.

  Roger came back into the room. Dan had been so lost in the past, he hadn’t realized Roger had even left. “Mark will be here as soon as he can,” he informed them. “Jeff’s on his way, too.”

  “What about Avery?” Dan asked.

  “Jeff is going to drop the family off here then drive down and get him. We all know how undependable Avery’s car is. He’d go crazy if
he thought something happened to Justine and he broke down on the side of the highway and couldn’t get here. Hopefully, we’ll have her back before Jeff even gets him here.” He took Abby’s free hand and squeezed it tightly. The love that passed between them was like a bright neon sign that lit up the room.

  It tore at Dan’s heart.

  He was amazed by their calmness, while he, himself, felt so inadequate. It was their love that gave them strength. It was the simple way they stood together and held hands.

  He worked to blink away the tears that suddenly filled his eyes.

  He couldn’t stay any longer. He couldn’t wait around for something to happen. He couldn’t live surrounded by such strong love and not have Justine to share it with. It hurt too much. All this time, he thought he’d been holding a part of himself back from her, but somehow she’d managed to slip inside his soul anyway. She managed to become the person he needed more than anyone else. And he needed her now. Hell, her entire family had somehow wiggled in and made themselves comfortable in his soul. It was what he really longed for. Family. He wanted a family with Justine. Hell, he would even take the baby.

  He suddenly felt as helpless as he had when Adam had died in his arms, or when Deke had left him holding that bag.

  He feared the chances of finding his wife grew slimmer and slimmer with each passing moment, and Dan couldn’t sit around any longer. He couldn’t give Deke anymore time with Justine. He couldn’t wait for Deke to call. He had to go out and find her, had to do something, even if it did get him suspended. It was a chance he had to take. He was about to get up and excuse himself, lie to her parents and tell them he had to get back to station when his cell phone rang.

  It startled them all, and coffee splashed out of Dan’s cup and burned him through the jeans he wore.

  He swore his heart dropped to his stomach when he saw Steve’s number in the ID display.

  He’d told Steve to call if anything at all happened. He could only hope the anything at all wasn’t bad news.