My head canted to the side in confusion. “What?”
“Langford. Why him? The man’s fucked and thrown over more than half the women in this goddamn county. What was it that made you pick him over me?”
“It wasn’t a choice. Despite what you’ve twisted up in your head, I was never interested in you.”
“Yeah, well, it doesn’t matter now.” he said, sending a sick chill down my spine. “Word gets around. I didn’t peg you for the kind of woman who likes it that rough.” His eyes did a sweep of my body in a way that made my skin crawl. A twisted smile curled his lips, making my stomach clench. “If I’d known that from the beginning, I’d have played it very differently.”
He canted his head to the side like he was studying me. “Maybe I still will. Been dying for a taste ever since you waved your ass all around that night at The Tap Room, just begging for attention.” He stood and took a step toward me. I slid back, but there was nowhere to go. “Maybe I’ll find out for myself how rough you like it before I put a bullet through that gorgeous face.”
“Stop,” I cried as he bent down and grabbed hold of my ankle. He yanked until I landed on my back then dragged me across the floor as I kicked and screamed. “Let me go! Don’t touch me!” I fought as hard as I could as he came down to the ground, pinning my body with his weight.
“That’s right, beautiful. Keep fighting.”
I threw my head back and screamed at the top of my lungs as I clawed at him. He grabbed my wrists and pinned them to the ground with one hand so I bucked my hips and kicked my legs, trying to dislodge him, screaming and fighting with every single bit of strength I had as his other hand moved down between us to the waistband of my pants.
“Get off her!” I heard just before the chair Greg had been sitting in came down over his back, breaking into a million pieces.
“You cunt!” I wasn’t sure when Charlie had gotten up, or how she’d found the strength, but as Greg let out a shouted curse and turned on her, I rolled away. I managed to stumble to my feet in time to see him land a powerful backhand across her face, sending her flying across the room and crashing to the floor.
I lurched forward, tripping on my unsteady legs as he reached around to the back of his jeans. I caught a glint of something shiny just before he pulled a gun from his waistband at the small of his back.
I rushed forward, but it was too late. The bang of the gun going off was deafening. “No!” I screamed, throwing myself at Greg’s back.
He lost his balance and went down, losing purchase of the gun as his hands shot out to break his fall. Once we hit the ground, I shoved off of him as fast as I could, Army-crawling toward the weapon.
His fingers clamped around my ankle, pulling me back a foot, and I clawed at the dirty floor, kicking back with all my might. As soon as my foot connected with his face with a sickening crunch, he let out a bellow and released his hold just long enough for me to throw myself the remaining distance. There was no way I was dying here today. Not at the hands of this asshole. And I wasn’t going to let Charlie, either.
My fingers wrapped around the cold, steel handle of the gun at the same time he got hold of me and flipped me to my back. I didn’t hesitate to squeeze the trigger as he lunged. I fired over and over until the deafening boom turned into rapid clicks.
Shock filled his eyes and his body jerked unnaturally before he slowly fell to his knees. I rolled quickly when he started coming down, getting out of the way as he collapsed face first on the floor.
I braced on my hands and knees, sucking in ragged breaths as blood started to pool out from beneath him, slowly crawling across the dingy floor.
I wanted to burst into tears, but that wasn’t an option. Adrenaline carried me back across the room to where Charlie was.
“No, no, no, no, no,” I chanted as I pressed my hands over hers on her belly. She let out an agonizing cry as I increased the pressure. Fear radiated from my chest as blood seeped through our fingers.
“Hey, look at me,” I pleaded. That one good eye came to me, and I offered a wobbly smile. “You’re gonna be okay, all right? I’m gonna get you out of here.”
Her voice was small and thin as she asked, “You’re Hayden, aren’t you?”
“I am. And you’re Charlie. I need you to stay with me, okay?”
She pulled in a breath that rattled unnaturally in her chest. That wasn’t good. “He told me about you,” she said with a small, weak grin. “You and your little girl. Talked about you a lot.”
I let out a watery laugh as tears spilled from my eyes. “He told me about you too, sweetheart. So I know how tough you are. Stop talking and save your strength, okay? I’m gonna get us out of here. But I need you to hold on for me.”
As much as I didn’t want to leave her, I wasn’t going to get us out of there if I didn’t move. Scrambling back to Greg’s body, I felt around in his pockets and hit pay dirt when I heard the jingle of keys.
“I got it!” I cried when I yanked the keyring from the dead man’s pocket. “I have his keys, we’re gonna get you in the car, and I’m gonna drive us out of here. Deal?”
“You know, I really like you for him.” There was more rattling as she laughed, followed by a cough that made blood splatter past her lips. “You’re feisty.”
“That I am. I’m also determined. So what I need you to do is put your arms around my neck and try your best to hold on, okay? I’m getting us the fuck out of here.”
* * *
I was sitting in one of the hard waiting room chairs, curled into a tight, shaky ball. I rocked back and forth as I thought back to that drive. What had only taken ten or so minutes had felt like an eternity, especially when the rattling sound coming from Charlie’s chest had stopped.
Tears welling in my eyes and I gave my head a shake. I couldn’t let myself go there. I couldn’t. I kept repeating over and over that she was going to be okay. But I didn’t know that for sure, and it was killing me. Worry over a girl I didn’t even know, over a girl who’d saved my life, eclipsed everything else. I didn’t even feel the pain in my own body.
I sniffled and batted away the freshest stream of tears when I heard his voice.
“Where is she? Hayden!”
Shooting to my feet, I bolted for the door, slipping on the tile as I ran. I jerked to a stop just outside the waiting room doorway when I saw Micah barreling down the hall. Leo was at his back, as were a few other men I recognized from Sylvia’s cookout. There were also faces I hadn’t seen before.
His name came out as a garbled sob. He started running as soon as he spotted me. “Christ, baby. Jesus Christ,” he rasped as his hands skated all over my body. I couldn’t blame him for the reaction, after all, I was covered in blood. “Fuck, where are you hurt? We need to get a doctor in here.” He turned, prepared to shout the place down, when I finally managed to get the words out.
“It’s not mine,” I told him, my voice raw and thready. “It’s not mine, Micah.”
His eyes returned to me, and I gave him the hardest part, losing hold of my tears as I said, “It’s Charlie’s. She was there. He was—” I squeezed my eyes closed and gave my head a vicious shake. “She saved me. B-but h-he shot her.”
His voice came out in an agonized whisper that tore me apart as he asked, “What?”
“I took his keys and got her to the car and drove her here. S-she’s in surgery.”
“Jesus Christ,” he repeated, yanking me against him and holding so tight it was a struggle to breathe.
“Micah.” My whisper was almost impossible to hear. Burying my nose in his chest I inhaled his scent, letting it soothe me as I admitted, “I killed him.”
Then I broke down.
* * *
Micah
Between Dalton and Hayden both refusing to leave her bedside and demanding answers every time they came in, it was a wonder the whole nursing staff hadn’t quit.
Charlie had pulled through her surgery, but she wasn’t out of the woods. She’d been in ICU
for two days before she started showing enough signs of improvement and they were confident enough to bring her out of the medically induced coma.
She’d been moved to a regular room just yesterday. She’d been in and out of it since then, only coming to for a minute before the medication kicked in and she passed out again.
I stood at the window, looking out at the mountains beyond our little valley, lost in thought when a small gasp, followed by a low groan, pulled my attention back to the figure in the bed.
“Shit,” Charlie hissed in pain.
I moved across the room quickly, careful to walk on quiet feet so I wouldn’t wake Dalton or Hayden, who’d both been going on no sleep for more than forty-eight hours. Exhaustion finally set it, causing both of them to crash only hours ago. Dalton was stretched out on the poor excuse of a loveseat, his head and feet hanging off the ends. Hayden was in a recliner, curled into a ball with her head on her knees.
“About time you woke your lazy ass up,” I said once I reached the side of the bed.
Her lips pulled into a grimace as she attempted to adjust her position. “Remind me to never get shot again. This does not feel good.”
I helped her sit up, then braced my hip on the bedframe, crossing my arms and glaring down at her furiously. “You ever get shot again, I swear to Christ, I’ll kill you myself.”
Her eyes grew glassy and her chin began to wobble. “I’m sorry,” she croaked as one tear broke free and trailed down her battered cheek. “I’m so—”
I placed my hand on hers and gave it a squeeze. “Stop it. I’m just glad you’re okay. That’s the only thing that matters to me.” She closed her eyes for a second and pulled in a breath to get control of herself before looking back at me. “Why’d you do it?” I finally asked, that question had been plaguing me for days. “Why’d you run, Charlie?”
“I didn’t have a choice,” she whispered, her voice small and weak from everything she’d endured. “He called me. He’d found out something from my past and was using it against me.”
My fingers around hers clenched. “What did he have on you?”
“He—he found out about my sister.”
The air expelled from my lungs as my muscles locked up. “You have a sister?”
“I haven’t seen her in years. I don’t even know where she is. But he found out somehow, and he threatened to track her down if I didn’t find a way to meet up with him without Dalton knowing.”
I shook my head, trying to comprehend what I’d just heard. “Charlie, I—”
“You can’t tell anyone,” she insisted. “I don’t want anyone knowing. If they do, they’ll go looking, and I’ve stayed away all this time to keep her safe. She didn’t grow up the way I did. She had a good life. I don’t want to screw that up for her.”
God, that killed. “Darlin’, don’t you think she’d want to know you? You’re her family.”
“I’m no good,” she gritted, that steel and stubbornness returning right before my very eyes.
“Charlie, you aren’t—”
“Just promise me, Micah. Swear you won’t tell anyone.”
I hesitated, my gut twisting painfully. It was a promise I didn’t want to make, but I’d do it anyway. Because it was for her. “All right, sweetheart. This stays right here.”
Relief flitted across her features, and slowly, the Charlie I’d come to know and love reappeared. “I met your girl, by the way.” She smiled as best she could with most of her face still swollen. “Just in case you’re wondering, I totally approve.”
It was my turn to pull in a calming breath. “I know what you did,” I told her on a husky whisper. “She told me you saved her, and for that, I owe you everything.”
“Micah—”
“You’re absolutely incredible, and I’m so thankful I get to know you,” I stressed. The quiver in her chin came back, but I wasn’t done. “For the rest of my life, Charlie. You’ll hold a special place in my heart no one else will ever be able to touch as long as I live. You got me?”
She sniffled and nodded her head.
“You have family here, darlin’. Whether you want us or not. You’re stuck. You’re the best person I know.”
A tear broke free. “The feeling’s mutual.”
Epilogue
Micah
Three weeks later
To say things had been tense since my woman shot and killed that piece of shit Cormack would have been a massive understatement. When word got out it was one of our own that had killed Darrin Callo simply because the man was a good cop, it had shaken the whole department. After that nightmare of a day, things in his operation began to unravel quickly.
After it came to light that the deputy in Hidalgo had been framed for Callo’s murder, a task force was put together, led by me and Leo. Two other Hope Valley officers were arrested for being a part of his drug ring, as well as a handful of cops from Grapevine and Hidalgo. That wasn’t counting the people involved who weren’t in law enforcement.
We were dismantling Cormack’s operation, piece by piece, and we weren’t going to stop until there was nothing left.
“Langford,” I heard Hayes call. Lifting my head from the report I’d been filling out, I looked over and saw him jerk his chin toward the entrance of the bullpen.
When I shifted my focus in that direction, my whole body locked tight. Sidney Callo was climbing the last step and heading in our direction.
“Look alive,” I muttered to Leo just as the young woman reached our desks.
“Detective Langford,” she greeted before tilting her chin to Leo. “Detective Drake.”
“Afternoon, Mrs. Callo,” I returned. “What can we do for you?”
There was still a sadness in her eyes that I feared might never go away, but I guess that was to be expected. However, even with that, she looked a bit better than she had the last time we’d seen her.
She clutched her purse in front of her, her fingers gripping the straps so tight her knuckles were white. “I just . . . I don’t mean to interrupt—”
“No interruption at all, ma’am,” Leo insisted, pointing to the chair beside his desk. “Would you like to have a seat.”
“No, I won’t be here long. I just wanted to come in and tell you . . . well, thank you. Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for pushing until you got to the truth.” She stopped to sniffle as her eyes grew glassy. “It won’t bring him back,” she rasped, “and my girls and I will still miss him, but . . . this helps. You got justice for Darrin, and that really helps. So . . . thank you.”
She moved before either of us could speak, surprising me by leaning down and giving me a quick hug. She did the same to Leo, then stood tall and gave us a watery smile. “I’m grateful for you both. Now, I’ll let you get back to your job.”
With that, she turned and started toward the exit, and as I watched her disappear down the stairs, I felt as if a weight had just been lifted from my chest. Because I knew, with the people of this town at their back, she and her girls were going to be all right.
* * *
Hayden
Four months later
My body no longer experienced the same aches and pains it had when I first started taking pole lessons with McKenna, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t still stiff as I climbed out of my car and started up the front walk.
After weeks of poking and prodding, I’d finally convinced Charlie to come with me today—or more to the point, I threatened to drag her out of her house by her hair if she didn’t agree, and I had to say, it rankled a bit that she turned out to be a complete natural while I was still flopping around like a toddler who was trying to walk and eat an ice cream cone at the same time.
It had been months since she nearly died trying to save me, and with every day that passed, we grew closer. She’d been hesitant at first, attempting to push me away, but I’d been persistent. She was a woman who meant something to Micah, but what was more, she’d become a woman who meant something to me, then to my family
.
Charlie was good to her very core, it didn’t take much to see that, and I wanted to do everything I could to give her as much good as possible, so I gave her me, Micah, Ivy, and Sylvia. Once she accepted that—not that she had much of a choice since my baby girl was as persistent as me, and she’d taken an instant shine to Charlie—I gave her my friends. They’d accepted her with open arms, and she was officially part of our crew.
What I couldn’t give her, no matter how hard I tried—and I’d tried really freaking hard—was Dalton. The man was crazy about her, but the woman had put a wall around herself that rivaled the ones of a maximum security prison, and she wasn’t having any of it. Micah liked to call me stubborn, but I was nothing compared to her.
My man told me over and over to leave it alone, but I’d seen the way she watched him when she didn’t think any of us were looking. There was something there, and for Charlie’s sake, the rest of the girls were determined to see this through.
No matter how much she fought us on it.
“I’m home,” I said as I closed the front door behind me. I hung my purse on the hook by the door and pulled off my coat and scarf, doing the same with them.
“Hello?” I called when I didn’t get any kind of reply.
It was Micah’s day off, which meant he’d kept Ivy home from daycare because he liked having those days, just the two of them. It had become their thing ever since he’d moved in with us three months earlier.
“Where is everybody?” I asked the silence as I moved down the hall. The kitchen was empty, but a glow from outside the window caught my attention, and when I turned to look, I lost my breath.
Moving to the back door, I pulled it open and stepped onto the porch, lifting a hand to my lips as I took in all the beauty around me.
There were fairy lights strung up everywhere, from the garden all the way to Ivy’s treehouse. Glowing paper lanterns hung from all the trees. It looked like something out of a fairy tale, and standing in the middle of it all was Micah, with Ivy to his left and Sylvia at his right.
Love to Hate You: a Hope Valley novel Page 22
