Navy SEAL Rescuer

by McCoy, Shirlee

  “I’m good.” He didn’t take her subtle hint and stay at the table.

  She should be upset, but she liked having him at her side as she walked through the cafeteria. She liked that his presence transformed her from the pariah that Pine Bluff loved to hate into Catherine Miller, the woman who may have hooked up with her very handsome neighbor. Let the town talk about that for a while instead of rehashing the trial, the conviction, the exoneration.

  “You’re smiling,” Darius said as he pushed the elevator button.

  “I’m just thinking that the town gossips will have more to talk about now.”

  “More than someone attempting to murder you?”

  “More than speculation about my innocence or guilt.”

  “Seeing as how a doctor is now in jail for the crimes you were convicted of, I don’t see how anyone could be convinced otherwise.”

  “A jury of my peers was convinced otherwise, Darius. It isn’t surprising that the town still has its doubts.” The fact that she’d shut herself into the old farmhouse and refused interviews and television appearances hadn’t helped. In a town where everyone knew everything about everyone else, Catherine’s refusal to open up to public scrutiny had been viewed as suspicious.

  “It must be tough having that hanging over your head. No wonder you want to escape to the coast.” He walked beside her as she headed to Eileen’s room, his gait only slightly hitched. If he hadn’t told her he was an amputee, she wouldn’t have known. Obviously, he had a life that went beyond rushing to Catherine’s rescue, but that was the only way she’d ever seen him. Running to the rescue, acting competent and steady and trustworthy.

  “What about you, Darius? Did you end up in Pine Bluff because you wanted to escape something?” she asked, because she needed to put him in context, make him into something less than what he appeared to be. Otherwise, the secret place in her heart that still had room for dreams might just open up for him, and then where would she be?

  Right back where she’d been four years ago. Heartbroken.

  “Actually, I was escaping to something. I’ve always wanted to try rural living. My boss offered me the opportunity to transfer to the area, and I took it. Packed up my bags and moved to Pine Bluff.”

  “Did you leave any brothers or sisters or family behind?” she asked.

  “My mother was my only family. After she died, I was in a series of foster homes until I was eighteen and joined the military.” He offered an easy smile, but Catherine knew it hadn’t been easy. Being alone never was.

  She wanted to say that, but he opened Eileen’s door and ushered Catherine into the room.

  Eileen wasn’t alone, and that irritated Darius more than he could say.

  Or maybe it was the guy that was with her that irritated him.

  The too-pretty EMT who’d called Catherine Cat and acted like he’d give his right arm to be near her.

  “Where have you been, girl? I can barely abide this boy, but he said he wasn’t leaving until he spoke to you.” Eileen’s voice sounded weak, and her pale, lined face looked sunken and faded. Somehow, she still managed to look capable of decking the EMT, and Darius had a feeling she was about to do it.

  “Sorry we took so long, Miz Eileen. I thought Catherine needed to get something to eat,” he said, his gaze on Peter or Pete or whatever the heck the EMT’s name was.

  “In that case, I can’t be too upset. How about you put those man muscles of yours to good use and remove this riffraff from my room?” Eileen closed her eyes, apparently done with the conversation.

  “Riffraff?” The guy had the nerve to laugh. Apparently, he didn’t realize how close he was to being tossed out on his backside.

  “Peter, if my grandmother asked you to leave, you could have at least had the decency to do it. She’s ill, and she needs her rest.” Catherine’s voice held no hint of anger, frustration or irritation. Cold and cool, her expression was as icy and aloof as Darius had ever seen it.

  “I came to see how Eileen was doing. When I realized you weren’t around, I didn’t want to leave her unattended.”

  “She’s in the hospital. I don’t think that counts as unattended. Do you need anything, Eileen? Water? Something to eat?” Catherine sat down next to the bed, her muscles taut. The bruise on her jaw seemed darker, the smudges on her neck green and red and blue.

  “I need Darius to kick Peter to the curb. That’s what I need, and I’m not going to be happy until it happens.”

  “You always were a funny old bird, Eileen.” Peter laughed again, and Darius decided he’d had enough.

  “I think it’s time for you to go, buddy,” he said quietly.

  “I just need a minute of Catherine’s time. We can talk out in the hall. Or, if you want, we can get a cup of coffee.”

  “I’ve already had coffee this morning,” she responded without any inflection in her voice.

  Who was this guy?

  An ex?

  If so, the relationship must not have ended on good terms.

  As a matter of fact, from the looks of things, they’d ended on the worst of terms.

  “Then, we can just chat for a couple of minutes. No coffee. Just two old frie—”

  “We aren’t old friends, Peter. We’re not anything to each other anymore.” There was still no inflection in Catherine’s voice, but she’d stilled, her body taut and tense and tight.

  “Of course we—”

  “Like I said, I think it’s time for you to go.” Darius took the guy’s arm and helped him out the door.

  “I don’t like being manhandled,” Peter spit out, and Darius shrugged.

  “Then, start acting like a man. When a woman says she doesn’t want you around, leave.” He shut the door in Peter’s face, turning to the sound of quiet applause.

  “Good show, Darius,” Eileen said.

  Catherine didn’t seem as impressed.

  She walked to the window and stared out into the bright morning, whatever she was feeling well hidden.

  “Who is he?” he asked, and Catherine shrugged.

  “No one.”

  “Her ex-fiancé.”

  “You two were engaged?” Darius wasn’t sure why he was surprised. Maybe because Peter seemed too mundane and ordinary for someone as complicated as Catherine. Then again, maybe she hadn’t been complicated before she’d gone to prison.

  “Yes.”

  “I take it the breakup wasn’t amiable.”

  “It wasn’t anything. It just happened,” she responded.

  Eileen snorted, and Catherine shot her a hard look.

  “It wasn’t anything,” she repeated as if that would make it true.

  “It had to be something. People don’t just break up for no reason.” He stood beside her, looking out into the parking lot, seeing the same bright sunshine, the same landscape, the same people walking and talking and chatting, but he didn’t think Catherine was really looking at those things. He thought she was looking into the past, seeing what had been.

  “It’s a long story, and now isn’t the time to tell it.”

  “It’s as good a time as any.”

  “I—”

  The door opened before she could respond, and a uniformed police officer walked in.

  It was for the best.

  Darius hadn’t intended to push for answers Catherine didn’t want to give. It wasn’t his style. The women he’d been with had pursued him as vigorously as he’d pursued them, and his relation
ships had always been based on mutual attraction and affection. Until Melody, he’d only ever ended things amicably. No fuss. No muss. Just the simple realization that things weren’t going to last.

  With Melody, things had ended before he’d been ready, but there hadn’t been any bitterness or heartbreak. Just disappointment and the hollow empty feeling that he’d failed in the one thing he wanted most.

  If he were honest with himself, he still wanted it. Not with Melody, but with someone.

  He just wasn’t sure that he wanted that someone to be as complicated as Catherine.

  Then again, he wasn’t sure that he didn’t.

  “Ms. Miller? I’m Officer Kenton, Spokane County sheriff’s department.” The officer introduced himself, his mud-brown gaze sliding from Catherine to Eileen and then settling on Darius.

  “We’ve met,” she responded, her tone as tight as it had been with Peter.

  Another guy she didn’t want to talk to, but Darius didn’t think Officer Kenton would be as easy to kick out of the room.

  “Right. Deputy Sheriff Randal asked me to come complete the interview he conducted this morning.”

  “I thought we were finished.”

  “We just have a few more questions for you.”

  “I—”

  “It will only take a few minutes.”

  “I’ve heard that before,” she muttered, but leaned over Eileen, tenderly tucking sparse orange hair behind her ear. “Will you be okay while I’m gone?”

  “I’ll stay with her,” Darius offered, knowing it was what she needed, and Catherine smiled.

  “Thank you.”

  She hurried out the door with Officer Kenton, throwing one last smile over her shoulder as she left.

  He felt it to his soul, that quick curve of her lips, the sweet light in her eyes, and he knew that if he had the choice, he’d take Catherine just the way she was...complications and all.

  NINE

  Spending time being interviewed by the police wasn’t high on Catherine’s list of things she wanted to do. As a matter of fact, she’d spent the past two months doing everything in her power to avoid the law.

  Unfortunately, she had no choice in the matter, and she followed the tall, grim-faced officer out of Eileen’s room and down the hospital corridor.

  “Deputy Sheriff Randal made it clear that I wasn’t to conduct the interview at the station. The hospital has been gracious enough to lend us a conference room. I hope that meets with your approval,” he said as if he really cared.

  She doubted that he did.

  She’d met Officer Kenton five years ago when he’d been by-the-book and dedicated and absolutely convinced that she’d murdered eleven elderly patients.

  Maybe he’d changed his mind now that someone else had been convicted of the crime.

  If so, Catherine doubted he’d mention it.

  “I don’t have a lot of time. I need to be with my grandmother.”

  “This won’t take more than an hour. Besides, your friend said he’d stick around until you got back.”

  “You said it would take a few minutes.”

  “I’ll do my best to be quick.”

  “Officer Kenton, I really don’t have anything to add to what I told Logan earlier.”

  “You might be surprised at what you remember, Catherine. Sometimes, the littlest detail can make a world of difference to an investigation.” He opened a door at the end of the hall and gestured for her to walk in.

  She went reluctantly, every footstep an effort in self-control.

  She’d been here before. Not in the same conference room, but in a conference room, sitting with several officers, answering questions about the patients who’d died. She’d thought she was helping their investigation. All she’d really been doing was sealing her fate.

  “I really don’t think—”

  “Go ahead and have a seat. I’ve got my laptop with me, and I’ll be taking notes as we talk. Is that okay with you?”

  She wanted to say yes, but her throat was too tight and the words wouldn’t come, so she nodded instead.

  “Great. Let’s get started.”

  The first hour crawled by, a clock on the wall ticking away the seconds and minutes. By the second hour, Catherine was sure that Officer Kenton thought that she’d staged the attack, planted the bomb herself, done something that deserved jail time.

  Sweat beaded her brow, the thick hot air refusing to find its way to her lungs. She took a deep gulping breath, her heart jumping when Kenton raised a thick gray brow. “Are you all right, Catherine?”

  “You said the interview would only take an hour.”

  “We need to be thorough. Whoever planted that bomb meant business, and the sooner we find him, the better off you and your grandmother will be.”

  He sounded so reasonable, but he’d been reasonable five years ago, too. Reasonable and kind and undemanding, and Catherine had fallen right into the trap he’d laid.

  “I think I need a lawyer,” she said.

  He looked up from his computer and frowned. “Why would you need a lawyer?”

  “Because the last time you interviewed me, I didn’t have one, and I ended up in jail.”

  “Different circumstances.” His voice was tight and he dropped his gaze to the computer screen again.

  No apology, but she hadn’t expected one.

  The Spokane County sheriff’s department had issued a formal apology along with their offer of monetary compensation for the wrongful conviction. Everything had been handled by their lawyers, and Catherine had been happy to have it that way.

  At the time, she’d thought she’d leave prison and leave town and never have to face any of the men or women who’d accused her. She’d been wrong. She’d been wrong about a lot of things in her life, and that had cost her in time and relationships and peace of mind.

  She didn’t want to go down that path again.

  This time, she’d have no regrets, no second-guessing the way she’d acted or responded.

  “Officer Kenton, I’ve answered your questions. I have nothing more to add. Unless you plan to arrest me—”

  “Why would I do that?” To his credit, he looked surprised. Shocked even.

  “For the same reason you arrested me before. Because there aren’t any other reasonable suspects.”

  “That isn’t why we...” He stopped. Shook his head. “Look, the precinct lawyers said we aren’t supposed to admit personal responsibility for what happened or we’ll open ourselves up for a civil action, but I do feel responsible, okay? I was wrong. I admit it. Sue me if you want, but let me help you this time, Catherine. I know I’m asking a lot of questions and taking a lot of time, but I don’t want to miss anything. You deserve to have some happiness after what happened to you. You don’t deserve to have some creep making your life miserable.”

  She’d stopped trusting herself and her ability to read people’s motives years ago, but the sincerity in his eyes was unmistakable.

  One person from the past regretted what had happened.

  One person believed wholeheartedly in her innocence.

  Knowing that was almost harder than believing that the entire sheriff’s department would have preferred her to still be in jail.

  “I’m not planning to sue anyone,” she reassured him, but she held herself back from offering anything else. As sincere as he seemed, as reasonable as his words, she held a piece of herself back just in case
another trap was being set. It was the way she’d learned to be, and she wasn’t going to give that up easily.

  “Good to know. Now, how about we get back to the interview?”

  “I really do need to be with my grandmother.” She stood, finished with the interview and anxious for some space.

  “Catherine—”

  Someone knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” Officer Kenton called out, and Darius walked in.

  Dark stubble shadowed his chin and his eyes seemed to glow in his deeply tanned face. Officer Kenton was taller, but Darius had a presence that overshadowed him and everything else in the room.

  He met her eyes, smiled, and Catherine’s heart jumped, her pulse racing with the need to walk across the room and accept the comfort his presence always seemed to bring.

  It was a foolish thought, and she shoved it away as quickly as it had come.

  “Is everything okay in here?” he asked, the warm timbre of his voice flowing over her.

  “Fine, but we’ll be a few more minutes,” Officer Kenton responded, but Catherine didn’t plan to spend another second in the conference room.

  “Actually, we’re finished.” She needed to check on Eileen, and then she needed to go home, take a shower, gather her thoughts and pack a few things for Eileen’s stay.

  “Catherine, it would be best if—”

  “Deputy Sheriff Randal has my contact information. If he needs anything else, he can give me a call. Right now, my focus has to be on my grandmother.” She walked out of the room, bypassing Darius and catching a whiff of something spicy and masculine and very, very compelling.

  She didn’t mean to meet his eyes.

  She meant to just keep walking, ignoring the tug on her heart and her mind. Somehow, though, she found herself looking into his eyes and his face, cataloguing little things that she shouldn’t be noticing. A faint scar just above his left eyebrow. Another on his chin. Fine lines radiated from the corners of his eyes and bracketed his mouth. He’d lived a hard life, and it showed, but that only made him more appealing.