Carved in Darkness

by Maegan Beaumont

  She struggled to get his hands off her throat. “Fuck you!” For a split second he thought the pressure point wouldn’t work. Then her eyes fluttered and slammed shut, the applied pressure finally knocking her out.

  He stayed where he was. He had the insane notion that she was faking so he’d let his guard down, but when he eased off her it

  was clear there would be no round two—not anytime soon. He had no idea how long the pressure point would last. He’d seen a person come to within seconds; in a few rare cases, he’d seen it last for as long as a few minutes. Eventually she was going to wake up; if he was smart, he’d be gone before she did.

  Sitting back on his haunches, he rubbed a hand over his face and listened to the roar of silence that surrounded him now that she was still. He half-expected Valerie or the kids to pound up the stairs, but their bedrooms were on the other side of the house. Chances were the hadn’t heard a thing. He stood, fully intending to just walk away, leave her sprawled out on the floor.

  The knuckles on her left hand were cut and swollen. They leaked blood from where they’d tried to break his face, and there was a contusion forming where he’d jammed his fingers into her jaw. Seeing the fresh bruise bloom under the soft skin of her neck, he felt like the biggest asshole that ever lived.

  In the bathroom, he flipped the switch. Nothing. He unscrewed the bulb and gave it a shake. Burnt out. He found a pack of bulbs under the sink and screwed one in. Bright light flooded the small space.

  All this over a light bulb? Fucking figures …

  He wet a washcloth and opened the medicine cabinet. Rifling through it, he found Neosporin, some Q-tips, and a few Band-Aids. He flipped off the light and shut the bathroom door before settling down beside her.

  He applied ointment and bandages to her knuckles, then used the cloth to clean the dried blood from her other hand. Under the blood, he could see the damage. It was a slide bite, where her 9mm cut into her palm.

  He knew the instant she woke. Her hand went stiff, her shoulders rigid. He looked down at her. She was staring up at him with those burning blue eyes, a quiet rage simmering in their depths. He met her gaze and said nothing, just held her hand in his lap and waited.

  “I don’t want you to take care of me,” she said and tried to pull her hand out of his grasp.

  He held on to it. “I know.”

  She pulled harder. “I want you to leave.”

  “When I’m finished.”

  “No—now. Let go.” She pulled again, struggled to sit up. He pushed her back down.

  “I’ll just knock you out again. As many times as it takes, so … just relax, let me finish, and then I’ll leave,” he said, surprised when she stopped struggling.

  She watched silently while he bandaged her hand. Finished, he stood and before she could protest, bent over and scooped her into his arms. He carried her to the bed and dropped her on top of the covers.

  She stared up at him. “Leave.” Her voice was shaking. At first he thought it was from fear, but then he understood. She wasn’t afraid. She was ashamed. Knowing that made him angry for some reason.

  “Just go to sleep, I’ll leave in a minute,” he said, throwing the fleece at the end of the bed over her. Incredibly, she gave up, just rolled away from him and buried herself beneath the blanket. She was asleep within a few minutes.

  He waited a few minutes before palming her gun. He ejected the clip and racked the slide back, popping the bullet out of the chamber. He caught the bullet, shoving it and the clip into his back pocket. He laid the SIG on the nightstand and just stood next to her bed, staring at her.

  He was leaving.

  He was walking away.

  He watched the dark flutter of lashes against pale cheeks, heard the soft, even noises of her breath. He saw himself slip out the door without a backward glance.

  He didn’t need this crazy bitch or her two tons of emotional baggage. He’d find Frankie’s killer on his own.

  He was leaving.

  He clicked the lamp off and circled the bed. Retrieving the ladder-back chair she kept in the corner, he dragged it across the floor and planted it in front of the window. Sitting down, he stared into middle space, watching the darkness, ready to battle the shadows that came for her.

  He wasn’t going anywhere.

  Twenty-five

  “Morning, Sunshine.” The voice on the other end of the phone was alert and awake.

  Lark.

  Michael scowled at the cell’s display screen—four a.m. He’d been sitting bedside for three hours now, trying to make himself leave … Just walk out before she wakes up.

  He poked at his swollen cheek. “Dumb bastard … ”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Nothing. What do you want? ” He was so not in the mood.

  “Man, you called me—”

  The address for Lucy’s sister. “Did you get it?”

  “I’m trying really hard not to be insulted right now,” Lark said. There was nothing Lark couldn’t accomplish with a computer. Finding an address would have taken him all of three seconds.

  He got up to find a piece of paper and something to write with. “Okay, give it to me.” He’d call Tom in a few hours. Hopefully he’d be able to get away from the diner long enough to make the trip to Shreveport. They should know by noon whether Lucy was … he didn’t want to think about it. Lark rattled off the address and Michael scribbled it down, eager to get off the phone.

  “Thanks—I owe you.” He was up, out of the chair—now was the time to walk out. Just keep moving. He was trying to keep his voice down. The last thing he needed was for Sabrina to come up swinging while he was on the phone with Lark. The last eight hours hadn’t really been the definition of minimal contact.

  “Yeah, whatever. Shaw wants to know when you’re coming back,” Lark said matter-of-factly.

  His eyes found Sabrina in the dark. Just leave—walk out, before things get messy … but who was he kidding? The situation had passed messy a few miles back. He felt the unmistakable weight of another brick being tossed on his back.

  “A month off between jobs is company standard.”

  “Your last job was North Korea. Six weeks ago. I don’t know how much longer I can hold him off.”

  Livingston Shaw, his boss at First Security Solutions, was a jealous man. Long-term distractions were frowned upon, and outside interests were discouraged. For him, neither were allowed. Ever. Lark managed to keep his weekend pop-ins on Lucy under wraps, but this was the longest he’d kept off-grid since he signed his life away to FSS.

  “Where does he think I am?” He sat back down.

  “I got you high-rollin’ in Vegas, baby, but if you don’t come in soon, the boss man’s gonna send the Pip squad after you,” Lark said. Pips—the nickname Lark gave Livingston Shaw’s private security team—were the last thing he needed right now.

  “I need a few more weeks,” he said, even though he knew that asking for a few more days was pushing it.

  “So you can play stalker,” Lark said. He hadn’t been happy that Michael had agreed to look after Sabrina, and his tone said he thought the whole thing had gone on long enough.

  The word stalker made him frown. “It’s not like that.” His words were edgy, defensive. He squeezed his eyes shut for a minute. His brain began to throb—talking to Lark was almost always headache inducing.

  “Whatever you say.” Lark cleared his throat. “Look, if you don’t surface soon, they’re gonna figure out I’m pulling a Where’s Waldo with that chip of yours, and if that happens—”

  He didn’t have time for this toeing-the-company-line crap. “If you have a problem—”

  “Man, shut up. All I’m saying is that I can’t hide you from him forever.”

  Lark was right, and he knew it. His free hand pressed into the small of his back. There, nestled dangerously c
lose to his spine was the choke collar and leash used to keep him in check.

  When he’d agreed to come in and play nice, FSS decided it would be wise to keep track of their newly acquired asset. They’d chipped him like a dog and tracked his whereabouts nonstop. They claimed it was for his own safety, but Michael had never bought that. As his handler, it was Lark’s job to monitor him and report his activities to the boss. At the time it had seemed like a small price to pay for the protection and resources FSS would provide. Now, given the unforeseen turns the situation had taken, FSS was proving to be more hindrance than help. Without Lark, he’d probably be dead by now. Without the possibility of finding Frankie’s killer, he wouldn’t care.

  He looked at Sabrina. She turned on her side, facing him. Her face was relaxed, eyes closed, hands curled under her chin. It happened again—that sudden sense of free fall he’d experienced yesterday on the trail. This can’t be happening …

  Where had he been while Frankie was dying? Raped and tortured, waiting for him to rescue her for days and days? He hadn’t been sitting at her bedside, ready to protect her.

  The free fall ended in a bone-splitting splatter against the rock-hard surface of his anger.

  “Find me a job. Something close and quick.”

  “That’s my boy. I’ll call you back.” The relieved tone in Lark’s voice told him just how critical the situation with Shaw was becoming.

  “Thanks, Lark.” He flipped his phone shut and stared out the window. That douche-bag Sanford’s truck was still parked in front of her house. The guy shows up at her house, drunk and looking to put a beating on her, and she calls him a cab and promises to bring his truck to him. He couldn’t even begin to understand her.

  Standing, he retrieved the clip from his back pocket and shoved it into the gun’s grip. He racked a bullet into the chamber and put the gun back on the nightstand.

  He scribbled a quick note and tossed it on top of the gun before he fished the asshole’s keys out of her pants pocket. The bouquet of daisies she’d kicked under the bed peeked out at him. He frowned and gave them another boot. Before he left, he opened the bathroom door and turned on the light.

  Twenty-six

  After leaving Lucy’s, he drove all night, stopping only for gas. Each mile added to his sense of urgency, built his excitement until he could think of nothing except seeing his Melissa again. He relived every second of every moment he’d ever spent with her. Every smile and look she’d given him before he’d made her his, every sob and scream he’d ripped out of her afterward. It was almost too much to believe, too impossible to be true. All he had to do to convince himself that it was real, that she’d come back to him, was think about the picture. The look he’d seen in her eyes was all the proof he needed.

  A sudden storm brought rain in El Paso. The surrounding desert offered little shelter from the torrent of water. The girl sat on a bus bench, huddled beneath her coat, arms wrapped around her middle to ward off the biting wind. The moment he spotted her, he knew she was meant to be his. He brought the car to a stop in front of the bench and rolled down the passenger side window.

  “Hey, are you alright?” He fixed a pleasant smile on his face—the perfect mix of regret and concern with just a dash of exasperation. She looked at him, wary.

  “Yeah, I’m just waiting for my dad.” She glanced in the direction he’d come. He caught it and gave her an apologetic expression.

  “If he’s coming off loop 375, he’s going to be a while. The storm caused a six-car pile-up,” he said. The lie was convincing enough to make her shoulders sag beneath her coat. “Tell you what—hop in, I’ll take you home.” His look now was one of reluctance, like he really didn’t want to give her a ride but decency forced his hand. But now she didn’t look defeated—she looked skeptical and a little scared.

  “No, that’s okay. I’ll wait, but thanks anyway,” she said, the rain practically drowning out her refusal. He shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head, careful to look a little relieved that she said no. This was the delicate part—he couldn’t force it. She had to come to him.

  “All right, suit yourself. You try to stay dry, now,” he said and in a move made casual by years of practice, he flipped his visor down for just a moment and flashed the badge he clipped there. Her eyes caught the reassuring gleam of it, and she stood.

  “Hey,” she said just as he put the car into drive and prepared to pull back into traffic. He suppressed the urge to smile and looked at her but said nothing. “It’s just a few miles from here.” She was still wary but she wanted to trust him.

  “No problem,” he said and reached over to open the door for her. She slid in, shooting him a shy smile, folding her hands in her lap.

  “Thanks a lot. I’m Katy, by the way.” The color of her eyes—a cornflower blue—deepened and darkened until they weren’t her own anymore.

  They were Melissa’s.

  He fixed that pleasant smile on his face again and put the car in drive. “Nice to meet you, Katy. I’m Detective Conway. And don’t worry, it’s my pleasure.”

  Twenty-seven

  Sabrina ignored the knocking. When it didn’t stop, she sandwiched her head between a couple of pillows to muffle the sound. A cold nose nudged her cheek, and she lifted the blankets without looking. The dog dove under the covers and snuggled his furry body into hers. She flipped the covers over him and continued to ignore the pounding until it abruptly stopped. She started to drift off again, relaxed by the sunlight that surrounded her.

  Knocking again. This time closer—on the door that led from her room to the rest of the house. Again, she ignored it. Noodles buried his head under the pillow next to her. The door opened. She ignored that too.

  “I know you’re awake, dumbass.” It was Valerie.

  “No, I’m not.” Her voice echoed inside the pillow cave she’d built for herself and her fugitive.

  “The Harpers want their dog back.” She sounded amused.

  “What dog?” She looked at Noodles and rolled her eyes. He licked her face.

  “Sabrina.” Now she sounded annoyed.

  “Fine.” She tossed the pillow away and pulled the covers back. Noodles tried to burrow himself deeper. She stroked his muzzle a few times before pointing toward the door. “Sorry, Noodlehead. Warden’s here.” He slunk off the bed and out the door. She closed her eyes and listened to him shamble down the stairs like a dead man walking. A moment later, Jessica Harper shouted, “Thanks,” and shut the front door behind her.

  “You know … ”

  “I don’t want a dog.” Sabrina opened her eyes and looked at her friend.

  “Okay,” Valerie said. She leaned against the door frame and looked down at her. “How’d you sleep?”

  Okay. So they were going with the old stand-by—let’s just ignore the fact that we’ve been fighting for days and call an unofficial truce. “Like a baby.” It was true. She hadn’t slept that hard in months. Her eyes wandered to the window and the chair Michael had placed below it. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling. She’d woken up at some point during the night to see him sitting there, staring out the window. He hadn’t left like she’d told him to—like he said he would—and instead of throwing back the covers and kicking his ass out the door, she’d stayed quiet.

  He sat, slouched in the chair, knees parted, hand wrapped around a gun while the other drummed its fingers against his knee. His short, dark hair stuck up in random tufts and spikes like he’d been pulling at it in frustration. His handsome face, tired and grim, as he watched the front yard.

  She’d closed her eyes, but she was pretty sure he knew she was awake. He’d been talking on the phone with someone but she’d been unable to make out much of what he said. Instead of threatened, his presence made her feel something she hadn’t felt in years.

  Safe. She’d felt safe …

  “Whoa. What the hell happened to y
our neck?” Valerie pushed herself away from the doorframe and sat on the bed. She prodded at the spot on her neck her friend was staring at. She sucked in a hissing breath and sat up.

  She remembered Michael sitting on her chest while she tried to blind him. She’d screamed at him, tried desperately to make him hit her. It would have drawn a line, thick and dark, between them—a barrier to keep him out. Instead he took what she threw at him and watched over while she slept.

  “It’s nothing. Matt wanted to know how to do a rear naked choke. He caught on quicker than I thought he would.” She gave Val a sheepish grin.

  “Charming.”

  “Whatever. I think I’m done with him, anyway.”

  “Why? I thought things were going good between you two.” Val was forever trying to force her into what she called normal rela-

  tionships.

  She flexed her grip, felt the pull of bandages across her knuckles. Thought of Michael’s dark head bent over her hand while it lay in his lap. His calm gray eyes looking at her while hers spat fire at him. “Look under the bed.” She pulled her knees up to her chest and looked at the chair under the window again. Valerie leaned over and ducked her head under the bed.

  “Ohhh … ” Val came up with a sad-looking bunch of daisies. “That bastard.” She pulled a flower free and took a whiff.

  “It’s not funny.” Sabrina snatched the bouquet and tossed it in the general direction of the trash can. Valerie arched an eyebrow at her and stood up.

  “I agree. It’s not.”

  “Don’t start—”

  “Start what? I’m not starting anything … but if I was, I’d say that letting someone love you isn’t such a terrible thing,” Valerie said.

  “I let the kids love me.”

  “They don’t count.”

  “I let you love me.”

  “That’s cute.” She cocked her head to the side and smiled. “You say it like you have a choice in the matter.” Valerie reached over and tucked the bloom she’d pulled from the bunch behind her ear. “You know what I’m talking about. I’m talking about a norm—”