“Pretty little girl,” the stranger said, twitchy and peering around the large room.
“Just our kid.” The other man said, his shrug of dismissal in his voice.
“Yeah…real pretty…” he dropped to his heels in front of her, his finger out and stroking down her face. “I know some people who’ll pay you plenty for a chance at this little beauty, Rob. Hell, I’d pay for her right now. She’d make you a fortune on her back…”
He smelled, she thought. Anna didn’t know what they were talking about. Not then. But she knew the feeling that shot through her. She knew she barely breathed even when the man she knew was her father grabbed the other guy up and dragged him from the room. She knew swear words when she heard them. But more of her knew the terror his voice had struck inside her.
He’d touched her.
She could feel the way his eyes went over her and how his hand had touched her.
She knew she had to hide, she knew he wanted to hurt her.
That was the first night she’d spent in the closet, hiding in the clothes on the floor. Aaron had found her there a short time later, listening to her cry and talk before they rearranged things and began sharing a room.
No one questioned it. No one cared.
But she knew the meaning of the words when she aged and it only made the fear all that more potent.
She isn’t sure Aaron knew what she was trying to explain. Not then. But he never asked. He was always there to protect her, he promised.
****
Carter heard Aaron’s warnings as he reached to untangle her. His hands were firm but gentle as he turned her slowly to face him, one arm going beneath her legs and the other to her shoulders. Lifting her was easy, he was now convinced most of her weight was in the boots she wore and the muscles she’d developed through her work. The soft, plaintive whimpers came to an abrupt stop when he laid her on the sofa, his hands immediately going to hold her arms in place. Aaron had warned him about flailing, swinging fingernails.
Dark lashes popped wide at the same time it seemed like her breathing stopped. Her head shook in denial until the voice and profile registered in her child’s mind.
“Anna…Anna…stop…it’s Carter…it’s okay, honey…no one’s going to hurt you…” He wasn’t sure where the words came from but they were there and natural. He saw recognition replace the fear in her eyes, her palms up and rubbing over her face.
“Dreams…a dream…” Came the whispered explanation. She never knew when she went to the closets. She never remembered how she got there when she woke the next morning. Something inside the dream always frightened her, always sent her seeking a place she felt safe. That first night, Aaron had held her in the closet, each and every little noise in the house making her shake. “It’s cold…so cold…”
“I know…” he draped the blanket around her. She was shaking, her hands moving across her body and stroking on opposite arms.
“Why are you here? How…”
“Aaron was worried about you,” he said simply, moving to lift the chocolate from the table and give it a little shake. “He had to go out of town, remember?”
“Las Vegas…wedding for his friend,” she recited, her hand up to automatically take the small glass bottle. She waited while he took the lid off, tipping it up and drinking half of it. It’s what Aaron would have done, she thought with a little frown.
“He gave me the key and the alarm code and asked me to take you home, Anna,” he watched her absently take another drink of the cold chocolate.
“That’s kind of you…but I’m okay,” she nodded quickly, thinking of the empty house. “I’ll probably stay here.”
“He told me you might say that,” he leaned back on his heels and sighed.
“You really should go.”
“He told me why you don’t allow anyone close, Anna. But I’m not sure it’s your choice to make in this case,” he accepted the empty bottle she offered him. “Did you read the file I gave you? It’s pretty basic investigative information. No buried secrets.”
“I read it and shredded it,” she answered, hands clenching the blanket around her. She always woke up cold. Too cold. “There was nothing in there of interest to me. I’m sure they won’t blame you if you made an error.”
“What if there was no error? What if there’s more to the story than you know, Anna?” He dropped the bottle into the trash and sat on the end of the sofa, watching her struggle against the sleeping pills.
“You can leave now,” she told him softly. She didn’t want to know another story. She’d pieced things together over time as they aged. They’d always been mature, some strange genetic and situational thing that just was for them. She knew it was their fault they weren’t found by anyone. They’d had enough minders. They wanted free of them all.
“I promised Aaron I’d watch out for you,” he stood up and looked around. He hooked her pack on his shoulder, dug his keys from his pocket and lifted her against him before she could form a defense.
“I…please put me down,” her feet kicked out even as her head fell to his shoulder. “You have no idea…you don’t listen…”
“Sure I do,” he opened the door to the low riding car and slid her into the cushioned seat. “You don’t like limos so I brought my car,” he met the pursed lips and knit brow with a shake of his head. “Put your head back and relax, Anna.”
“Do you know why I don’t like limos? There is so much…”
“Tell me why, Anna,” he said after making certain the locks had been reset and the alarms armed. He started the car, still debating just where to take her. “Talk to me.”
“Where are we going?”
“Where would you like to go?”
Dark lashes blinked slowly, her eyes wide only because she was fighting the sedative. “I don’t want to go home…I…it’s too empty alone…so many shadows…I didn’t do good when Aaron went in the military,” she said with a sigh, her head rolling against the comfortable headrest. “You met him in the military, didn’t you?”
“We crossed paths,” he admitted easily. “I was with the legal section in San Diego and he was in payroll. We were a couple of the lucky ones.”
“I worried about him…he worried about me more, I think.”
“You were hospitalized a few times and never told him,” Carter said softly as he slowed for the light. One hand went to her face, his thumb catching the stream of tears falling over her cheeks.
“I’d just started the nursery. I would lose myself in work so I didn’t have to think about going home. I’m an adult,” she said with a twinge of an edge that pulled her full lips into a taut pucker. “He wanted me to hold off…move south until his time was up. It was so important to him. The military. I didn’t understand but I wanted him to have it, if that’s what he wanted.”
“You’re stubborn.”
“He read your report, didn’t he?” She didn’t like the fuzzy feeling inside her.
“He did. He suspected you’d hidden some things from him,” Carter told her, pulling the sports car close to the front door of his house. “But he also knows how important your independence is to you, Anna.”
“I hurt him…he thinks he has to protect me all the time…and he can’t. I’m so worried he’ll…he’ll miss a chance to be happy and it’ll be my fault,” she whispered painfully, watching as he opened her seat belt and turned her knees to the outside of the car. “I’m so tired…”
Carter opened the front door of the house, blocking it wide before going back to her, watching the wobbly moves around the front of the sports car.
“That’s a very nice car…” she said drowsily, using the car for support. “You seriously need landscaping…”
“I’m hoping you’ll handle it for me,” he decided to let her talk and wondered how much she’d remember in the morning. He moved quickly when she stumbled, a soft giggle bubbling forth when he caught her against him and lifted her from the ground.
“I’ve never been
carried anywhere before…unless you count the hospital thing….you seem to be carting me around a lot.”
“Is that when you started drinking the protein drinks? Because of the hospital.”
“I can’t make the dreams leave me alone…I…his voice…the words…so I don’t sleep a lot when I’m alone in the house…and I’m not very hungry,” she let her head fall to his shoulder. It was too much work to keep her head up and even more work to keep her eyes open.
Carter tried sitting her up on the side of the bed, laughing when she simply flopped to the surface, her body loose and relaxed.
“Anna…you need to get undressed…” He dropped to his heels and began working her boots free. He barely moved his face when her foot came up in an effort to sit up. One untied boot went flying across the room, bouncing on the hardwood floor and into the wall.
It was getting more and more difficult to keep her eyes focused. She squinted down at him, her hands landing with a thump on his shoulders.
“You are a very likeable guy…” She seemed to consider her words, her lower lip pulled between her teeth. “And sexy…I think it’s the glasses…” She leaned over to peer at herself in the reflection but all things once balanced, weren’t.
Carter watched the dark lashes go almost round, her hands flailing slightly and body rolling forward very gracefully until his had no option but to fall back, cushioning hers as they bounced to the hardwood.
“I’m sorry…something is broken…I’m broken, you know…” She lifted her head from the spot it had landed on his chest and blinked into the curious green eyes watching her. “You spoke to Aaron…you gave me chocolate milk…” She whispered accusingly.
“I don’t think bad dreams makes you broken, Anna. Stubborn, perhaps. Maybe even a little frightened of a relationship. But not broken,” he decided if he lay there much longer with her squirming on top of him, he’d need an hour beneath the cold shower. His hands moved to her waist and lifted her to the floor, her knees folding beneath her as she perched patiently waiting.
“Why do you do it?”
Having Anna talk to him in her present state was definitely going to keep his mind limber. He stood up and helped her move to the edge of the bed. Without waiting for her help, he got the other hiking boot off and considered the sanity of his next action. He went in search of a tee shirt for her while speaking.
“Why do I do what, Anna? We need to get you undressed for bed. I’m not sure how much longer…” He almost choked on his words when the shirt she had been wearing came soaring over his head to land on the bureau before him. His hands tightened on the tee shirt. He closed the drawer slowly and turned, watching the lean, curved female fall back on the bed and wrestle with the snap on her pants. She’d pulled her socks free and dropped them to the floor. He watched her arch her hips and wiggle until she had shoved the pants to her thighs. A simple pair of lemon yellow panties and a pale yellow lacey tank top were what was remaining when her feet kicked the pants from the long legs.
Carter inhaled slowly and shook out the tee shirt.
“Hold still, Anna…” he quickly opened the shirt and tugged it over her head, helping when finding the arm holes seemed a baffling task for her at the moment.
“Why do you find people who don’t want to be found?” She asked, breathing deeply when she was finally laying back on the bed, eyes closed and head spinning. “You drugged me, didn’t you? I hate when Aaron does that to me…”
“It’s for your own good…and when I take a case, I never know if the people want to be found or not,” he said quietly. “And I do it because I was lost at one time and I was grateful when someone had found me.”
“I’m sorry…” She moved to the center of the large bed and looked around her. “This isn’t my room.”
“Maybe nightmares won’t be so bad in a new place,” he commented, taking a pair of cotton sleep pants into the bathroom and closing the door.
“A new place,” she said softly, struggling to make her hands work the blankets lower so she could snuggle into their warmth. She pulled one of the pillows from beneath her head and wrapped her arms around it, watching him stride toward her. “I’m going to be very angry in the morning…I’m probably angry now, but…those stupid pills…”
“Hold that thought…” but he was grinning and shaking his head as he left the bedroom for the kitchen. He returned to set the glass of orange juice on the nightstand beside her. He sat on the edge, his palm out and brushing the dark coils from her forehead. “Anna…”
“I have to go…I should go.” She whispered, blinking up at him. “I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t like talking to you.”
“No, Anna…you’re safe here, I promise you…just go to sleep. I’ll be in the other room if you need anything,” he made a move to leave the room but her fingers gripped his wrist.
“No. No…you can’t. You can’t leave me…”
“Anna, I’m not all that sure this is a good idea…”
“I promise I will behave myself,” she brought one hand up and made and cross over her heart.
Carter lifted the blankets and eased onto the bed. He left the light on low, her fingers slowly relaxed until she was breathing evenly, peacefully.
He lay for a long time watching her sleep. Delicate, even a little fragile unless you’d seen her on the job, wielding a shovel and gently arranging plants in the dirt. Leather gloves, thick soled hiking boots and dark chestnut colored curls dampened by sweat on her forehead.
He’d never given much thought to physical labor. Not since he considered himself past that portion of his life. He’d done his share of construction work, done his share of things he used to consider labor. And here he was attracted to a woman addicted to it. Maybe they were both a little broken, he thought, closing his eyes and letting the warmth surround him.
Chapter Six
A soft sigh broke from between her lips.
No headache, she realized but the taste in her mouth brought back the night before in a slow motion slide show. But she was warm. Really, nicely warm and right now she really didn’t want to complain.
Carter opened his eyes, blinking at the warmth snuggled against his side. Her arms were crossed over her body, a palm on each of her shoulders and her face pressed against his arm. He wasn’t sure how her leg had slipped beneath one of his, their feet lying alongside each other. She was close enough that he could see the smooth, tanned face and thick, very thick lashes flutter like delicate butterflies against her cheeks.
“So what’s going to happen to me when you get very angry this morning?” He asked, more than a hint of humor in his voice. He pushed his hands against the bed and lifted the glass of juice, offering it to the palm closest to him. “Aaron says your chief complaint about the pills is the taste they leave in your throat and mouth.”
Guarded eyes met his even as she took the glass, angled her body up a little and drained most of the glass of juice before handing it back. There was something too intimate about watching him finish off the juice before setting it on the nightstand. She saw him slide his glasses into place, her tongue drawn around her lips as they continued to appraise one another.
“You’re very good at diffusing situations,” she said thoughtfully, sinking her head back to the bed with a sigh. “I’m sure when I feel less warm and less peaceful, I’ll be want to shred you into tiny pieces.”
“No hints so I can prepare my defense?” Carter shifted slightly to his side, leaning on one palm and just indulging in staring. “Would it help if I said I was terribly sorry and even repentant for my actions and behaviors?”
She kept her eyes closed. “You’re too arrogant to be sorry for a choice you made. But you’re also intelligent enough to learn from your errors.”
“I think I was insulted and complimented at the same time,” he said with a chuckle. “So what are you going to be angry about, Anna?”
“Hmm…your invasion into my privacy, but when logic kicked in, I realized it was mere
ly part of the job you’d undertaken on behalf of those people.”
“Pointing out that they’re your grand-parents would probably be walking a thin line, huh?” He gave in to the urge to run his fingers through her hair, watching the slight tensing that eased when he massaged against her scalp. Almost a little purr breaking free, he mused.
“I know who they are. We’ve known for a long time,” she admitted quietly.
“You’ve never tried to contact them,” he saw her eyes tighten a little more. “You’ve never talked about this with anyone but Aaron, have you?”
“What would be the point?” There wasn’t anger today. “Why did you say you were lost? Last night…”
Carter Shipley inhaled slowly, gazing at the curls that clung to his fingers.
“I was six when I was left at a police station with a pack of clothing and all necessary papers. They found my parents several states away in the middle of a gas station robbery,” he met the dark circles without flinching. “My grand-parents were too old to take me in but they had some friends…much younger than they were…one of them was a nurse, that’s how they met. They desperately wanted a child and I got lucky. Professional, articulate, intelligent and loving. Being able to give birth doesn’t make you parental, we’ve both learned that the hard way, Anna. My grand-parents were smart and nothing like my parents. They agreed to temporary custody and it evolved. They did nothing but apologize for the lot I drew until they died, but I never blamed them for how their son turned out.”
“You think I blame them for something.”
“I don’t know, Anna. This is the first peaceful conversation we’ve had,” he trailed one finger along the curve of her eyebrow.
“I kept a journal…Aaron had one, too…but he burned his when we bought the house,” one corner of her mouth lifted just a little. “I think it was his way of purging things. He always jokes that I was the one who took what-if classes in college, while he stuck to logical things. We’ve never been tested…but we knew how to read and write by the time we were two years old. One of the first phrases repeated to us over and over was, mind your manners. So we started calling them our ‘minders’. People put in place to loosely watch over us,” she exhaled and pushed against the bed, tossing the blankets aside. “I don’t blame them for anything and now, thanks to your incessant talking, I’m awake,” she said, her feet touching the floor, eyes darting around the large room. She found her clothes and went into the bathroom, the door closing firmly behind her.
WindSwept Narrows: #16 Anna Carson & Catherine Jenkins Page 4
