Fierce- Drake (Fierce Family Series Book 3)

by Natalie Ann

  “I’m doing well. I’ve managed to survive living with your son for over a week without arguing too much. I’m pretty impressed.”

  Carolyn laughed. “You know, I really like you. And I’ve got to say I haven’t liked a lot of the women my boys have brought home.”

  The cookie stilled going to her mouth. Dang it. That guilt again. She never had parental guilt in her life and now she was being bombarded with it.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Can I confess there are times that I wonder what Drake even sees in me?”

  Carolyn waved her hand. “You don’t think very highly of yourself, do you? I’m shocked to find that out.”

  Kara felt a light flush fill her face. For years she’d thought a lot of herself. She worked hard to at least show that to people. Then all of a sudden she meets a man that is stealing her heart and all her vulnerability came bobbing to the surface like buoys in the bay.

  “I’m not sure what to say to that.”

  “Don’t say anything. Just hear me out. We are all sorry to hear what happened at your apartment, but thrilled you weren’t home. Thinking of that has kept me up at night,” she said giving a little shiver.

  “I’m sorry for that. I don’t want anyone to worry about me. I’m fine.”

  “We are going to be worried regardless. That is what a parent does.”

  She snorted. “Sorry, that was uncalled for. I didn’t have parents like you and Garrett. Or anyone in your family. I guess it takes some getting used to.”

  “Well, get to it, missy. And please, for me, if you could stay with Drake a bit longer. Maybe the police will find something and I don’t want to think of you there by yourself if they came back.”

  “Drake threatened to stay with me if I moved back home now. If he is going to be by my side, we might as well stay at his house where there is more room for me to get away from him when I need a break.”

  “It’s funny for me,” Carolyn said. “Of all my kids, Drake was the least annoying. Always the helpful agreeable one. Noah, on the other hand, had to be the leader. He’s still like that.”

  “Drake doesn’t seem all that agreeable to me,” Kara said.

  “Love can change people. I don’t think it’s for the bad though,” Carolyn said and got up, grabbed the tray of cookies and walked to the door, not even giving Kara the chance to dispute the love comment.

  It probably wouldn’t have done any good anyway.

  ***

  “Do you have anything, Travis?” Drake asked when he noticed who was calling him.

  “I might. Do you have a minute to talk?”

  “Let me shut my door.” He didn’t say another word until he was back at his desk. “What did you find out?”

  “Madeline Winslow was working the night of the break-in. She was clocked into her job at the hospital that day and then at her second job cleaning that night. No way it could be her. She was clocked back into work at six on Sunday morning. Even if someone was lying about her second job, it’s not enough time for her to drive the ten-plus hours here, do that and get back to work on time the next day.”

  “I didn’t think it was her mother. What about her father?”

  “That was a bit harder. He is employed right now. A janitor at a business complex. Though he hasn’t been to work in a few days and they don’t know where he is. He was scheduled to work Friday night and the weekend to clean the floors while the place was somewhat closed down. He didn’t show Friday or the weekend of the break-in.”

  “Has he been back to work since?” Drake asked, not liking this at all.

  “No. As far as they are concerned he is out of a job.”

  “Kara said her father couldn’t hold down a job because he was a drunk. Is it possible he was just passed out in his house?”

  “He’s not there,” Travis said. “I made some calls to someone I know a few hours from there. They stopped by and checked his place out. It didn’t look like anyone has been there in over a week.”

  “Shit,” Drake said. “No one has reported him missing, I’m assuming?”

  “I checked, and the answer to that is no. Of course, would anyone actually report that?”

  “No clue. Okay, so we know he isn’t where he should be. Anything else?”

  “His car has been seen around Durham.”

  “What?” Drake asked, feeling ill.

  “I’ve got his make and model, license plate number. I’ve got contacts and was able to find out he was pulled over for having a headlight out not that far outside of Durham the day before the break-in.”

  “How come you could figure this out and not the police?” Drake asked, running his hand through his hair.

  “Because the police wouldn’t think to look into it as much as I am. They are overworked and have bigger things to worry about. Sorry to say that.”

  “Guess it’s a good thing I know you.”

  “He’s paying cash, not credit cards, so he’s been a bit harder to follow. I’ve got a lead of where he might be.”

  “Tell me,” Drake said.

  Travis laughed on the other line. “I’m not that stupid. I’ve got a few things I need to do, but I can be there by three.”

  “I’ll be waiting for you. Come to the office. No, maybe not. Let’s meet somewhere. I don’t want Kara to know about this.”

  “Is that smart? I guess I assumed she knew you reached out to me.”

  “Smart or not, it’s what I’m going to do. Meet me at my parents’ place at three. I’ll let my mom know you’re coming in case you get there before me. She won’t say anything.”

  “I need you to do one thing for me first, if you can. I’ll see you then,” Travis said and hung up.

  Drake stood up and walked to his father’s office to tell him what was going on. “What are you going to do?” his father asked. “If Travis finds her father.”

  “Have a few words with him.”

  “It better not be any more than that,” his father said. “Let the police do their job. It was a break-in. No one got hurt.”

  “Just Kara’s mental stability,” Drake said back. “That is enough for me.”

  Several hours later, Drake drove to his parents’ house and saw Travis’s SUV already in the driveway. This was an example of Kara being right about them taking separate cars; otherwise he’d never be able to do this without her knowing. He’d even told her he was going to be late tonight. She didn’t blink an eye over it. He was trying not to be hurt over that and told himself to cut the shit.

  They didn’t need to be in each other’s back pocket. They were going to see each other tonight.

  “Thanks for coming,” he said to Travis when he walked in the front door and saw his mother bringing Travis cookies and a coffee.

  “Not a problem.”

  “You let Travis do his job, Drake,” his mother said, pointing a finger. “Don’t you get in the middle of this.”

  “I am in the middle of this,” he argued.

  “We got Kara to agree to stay at your place a bit longer. If you just told her her father was in town, she might stay longer. Or she might try to reach out to him.”

  “I don’t want her to reach out to him.” He pulled the paper out of his pocket. “Here’s the last number that he used to call her. I don’t know how you do what you do. I thought for sure she was going to walk back into her office when I was trying to get his number. Jade came through and kept Kara occupied for me though.”

  “I thought Jolene and Gavin were bad with their kids, but your family is just as bad with the sneaking around and helping each other out. At least you are finding your own women.”

  Drake snorted. “My mother knows better. Right, Mom?”

  “Have I ever gotten involved in your personal life before?” she asked him.

  He held her stare, looked at Travis who was grinning as he drank his coffee. “No, you haven’t. Not without me asking like I have with Kara.”

  “See? I know when to step back. You’ll ask for help if
you need it.”

  He wasn’t sure he liked the look on her face, but pushed it off. There was no way she had anything to do with this other than telling him to give Kara a chance in the beginning. That she might need a friend.

  Nah, his mother had nothing to do with this. She’d never set him up with someone so different than him.

  “I’m ready whenever you are,” Drake said.

  Travis had his laptop open, took the number Drake had given him and dialed. They waited there while the phone rang and a man picked up and said, “Yeah. Who’s this?”

  Travis didn’t say anything, as he was clicking around on his computer. His mother took the phone out of Travis’s hand. “I’m looking for Sally. Is this Bob?”

  “Sorry, you got the wrong number,” Fred said on the other line.

  “Are you sure? Sally gave me this number. I know I’m getting up there in years, but I wrote it down right. She’d be so upset if I didn’t call to make lunch plans. I really clicked with Sally at Silver Shoes Yoga this week.”

  “Lady, I’m not Bob and don’t know who Sally is.”

  There was a beeping on Travis’s computer and he nodded his head to his mother. “Sorry to bother you then. Have a nice day,” his mother said, hung up, and then said, “Asshole. Did you find him, Travis? Wow that was fun.”

  “I’ve got him,” Travis said.

  “Mom, I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  Travis and he left, Travis driving out of town to a run-down motel that Drake hadn’t even known existed. He waited in the car while Travis went to the front desk to see if he could find out what room Fred was in.

  While Drake sat there, he saw a man come out of a room down at the end, go to the ice machine and then go back to his room. His gut told him that was who they were looking for. They weren’t so far away that Drake couldn’t see the resemblance and the age fit.

  He got out and walked down, not waiting for Travis. He knocked on the door, but then stood off to the side so that Fred couldn’t see him if he looked through the peephole.

  When the door was open, Drake moved in front, blocking it from being shut again. “Fred Winslow.”

  “I don’t have the money yet,” Fred said and tried to shut the door. That was answer enough for Drake and he had the guy up by the shirtfront and slammed into the wall.

  Fred tried to throw a punch, but Drake blocked it and sent one of his own flying and landing in Fred’s stomach, doubling him over. “What were you doing in Kara’s apartment?”

  “You’re not from Vinnie’s crew?”

  “Kara,” he said, throwing another punch to the kidney this time. “What do you want with Kara?”

  “Drake,” he heard before Travis pulled him off. There was no use fighting back now; he wouldn’t stand a chance against Travis and knew it. “I told you to wait in the car.”

  “It’s him. I know it’s him.”

  “Yes, it is,” Travis said. “Now shut up.”

  “Who the hell are you two?” Fred said.

  “We are investigating a break-in at your daughter’s apartment,” Travis said, watching the older man as he was bent over gasping for breath.

  “It wasn’t me,” Fred said.

  “Those scratches on your hand might say differently. They look infected on top of it. Is that why you shut her cat in the closet?” Drake asked.

  Fred looked down at his hand. “You can’t prove anything. I’m going to call the police now. I’m going to sue your ass for attacking me. I didn’t do nothing.”

  “Let’s go. Leave Mr. Winslow alone,” Travis said, pulling him out.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Drake said to Travis.

  “Getting Cade down here to cover your ass. I can’t believe you just attacked him like that without waiting for me.”

  “It was him,” Drake argued. “You know he did it.”

  “I do. So do you. But neither one of us has any authority on this. I get it, you were protecting your woman. But now you set yourself up for him to come after you. Is that what you want?”

  “He wouldn’t dare,” Drake said. “He broke the law.”

  “So did you. You just attacked him,” Travis said. “You and I both know he can press charges now. Whether he gets arrested for breaking into Kara’s doesn’t matter. He can still call the police.”

  “He’s bluffing,” Drake said.

  “I’m sure he is. But for now we are going to stay here and I’m going to call the Durham police and see if we can get someone to pick him up based on what we’ve found. In the scheme of things, this isn’t a big crime.”

  Drake’s shoulders dropped. “It is to me.”

  “I understand. I do. I’d do the same thing for Ella. But you and I aren’t the same.”

  “When it comes to our women, we are,” Drake said.

  In His Face

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Kara all but screamed at him when he walked out of the police station that night.

  Travis had managed to get the state police to pick up Fred Winslow and he’d confessed to breaking into Kara’s place.

  But as Travis had said, he was threatening to press charges against Drake for assault.

  “Mr. Winslow,” Cade said with Drake and Travis in the room. “You confessed to breaking into your daughter’s apartment, destroying the place, and taking off with a few thousand dollars worth of electronics, jewelry, and cash. Do you really think your charges are going to stick against Drake? Do you really think a lawyer will take your case to sue? That’s what you want, right? You need money for your gambling debts and think you’ll get it this way?”

  “You don’t know anything about me,” Fred had said.

  “I know you owe a bookie ten thousand dollars. What’s the matter?” Cade asked. “Did they threaten to start breaking some bones on your body? Take a few digits? Maybe burying you in an old abandoned building if you couldn’t come up with the money?”

  Fred looked away and didn’t answer.

  “You’ve got some old bruising on your body,” the officer in the room said. “Looks like someone already beat the shit out of you. Who is to say they didn’t do the same to you earlier today and you are blaming Mr. Fierce?”

  Drake knew enough to keep his mouth shut this time. All his life he’d said he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize his family or the family name and he just lost his cool like he had so long ago. Over a woman again too. Hadn’t he told himself nothing good ever came from physical violence?

  “I’m saying it was him,” Fred said.

  “It’s your word against his. Sure, you can press charges if you want,” Cade said. “I’ll get them dropped. They won’t stick and you know it. I think this is all about money. That is what you need. But even if you sue, the time it will take to get what you need, well, you and I both know Vinnie and his thugs would have taken care of you by then.”

  Fred started to shake in the chair. Drake wouldn’t be surprised if he wet himself too. He reeked of cheap booze and filth. It seemed he’d been on the run from his bookie. The question was why he was still in the area unless he wanted to try to talk to Kara and get her help.

  That wasn’t happening at all. He wasn’t letting Fred anywhere near Kara, even if that meant landing a few more hits on him.

  “If you give me the money then I won’t press charges,” Fred said.

  The officer in the room started to laugh. “Are you blackmailing him in front of an officer?” Cade asked.

  “It’s nothing to him. I’ve seen the car he drives. I know his family owns the place my daughter works at. She hasn’t been back to her place all week, so I bet she’s staying with him.”

  Drake almost launched over the table. “Are you following her?”

  Cade and Travis both sent him a look to sit his ass down. “Here’s the deal, Mr. Winslow. You’ll spend a short period of time in jail for breaking and entering. Nothing major and you know it. But when you get out Vinnie is going to want your money. And I know this becaus
e I’ve had some words with your bookie. It wouldn’t take long for him to figure out where you are, would it?”

  “You wouldn’t do that,” Fred said. “You’re blackmailing me now.”

  The officer snorted this time. “All I heard was the statement of facts. He didn’t ask for anything in return.”

  Eventually they all left the room. Fred was charged with breaking and entering, and destruction of property and thrown back in a cell. He didn’t press charges against Drake; the idea of Vinnie knowing where he was must have been enough.

  Drake would keep an eye on things and when Fred was out, he’d relocate him to another state far away and make sure he stayed away. Kara wouldn’t even need to know about this.

  Except someone must have told her because she was waiting for them in the parking lot and had no problem getting right in his face.

  ***

  Kara had never been more livid in her life. More embarrassed.

  When she’d overheard Garrett and Grant talking in Grant’s office, she’d felt her body start to shake as if the big one was hitting California.

  How dare Drake go behind her back and contact Travis to look into her family? To see if it was her father who did this.

  Deep down, she’d had a feeling it was him and had hoped enough time had passed that he would have crawled back into the hole he came out of.

  But nope, Drake had to go and get involved, reminding her again how much she didn’t belong in his family.

  “Well,” she said. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

  “It’s not what you think,” he said.

  “It looks to me like you went behind my back. Then you went to where he was staying and attacked him.”

  “Were you worried for your father?” he asked, his eyes a nasty shade of mean she’d never seen before.

  “Of course not,” she said. “I was worried about you!”

  “Okay, well, that is our cue to leave,” Cade said, he and Travis going to their cars and pulling out.

  “There goes my ride,” he said. “Guess you need to take me home. Or back to my mother’s to get my car.”