“I wouldn’t be able to get up for two days if I drank that much.” He grinned again. “You’re a real trooper.”
“Thanks,” Caleb remarked sarcastically. “I’ve always wanted to be a real trooper.”
“Oh, I saved the best news for last.”
“News?” Caleb cringed, swallowing hard. “What news?”
“You called some woman. You called her Denise.”
Caleb’s eyes flew open. “I called Denise?”
“Yeah, you did. She was surprised to hear from you too.”
Caleb closed his eyes. “What did I say to her?”
“You told her to come up here right away, that she needed to save Mica from himself.”
Caleb swallowed hard. “I did?”
He nodded. “Yeah, you told her to pretend to be still in love with Mica. You told her that it would make the little lady mad, and she would be yours.”
Caleb rolled his eyes in disgust with himself. Desiree was not going to be the only one mad. He could add Mica and Denise to that list. He gulped, suddenly feeling sick again. “Did I say what she said?”
“You sure did. You said she’d be here in a couple of days.” He turned and walked quickly to the van.
Caleb watched him walk away suspiciously. “Hey, Johnny, you seem to be in a big hurry all of a sudden. Where are you going?”
“You didn’t hear my name right, partner.” He climbed in the van, speaking through the open door. “The name’s Jason. Jason Hargrove.” He laughed hysterically.
Whipping his head around, Caleb was instantly consumed with anger. Charging for the van, he stripped his clothes off as he went, making a leap for the vehicle as a black panther as the van sped from the parking lot. He heard Jason’s laughter echoing in his head as he chased the van for about ten miles before finally giving up. Turning around, he headed back to the bar.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Caleb arrived back at the bar a short while later. Luckily, there were no cars on the road this early in the morning. Picking up his clothes with his teeth, he jumped into the open hatch of the van, morphing back into a human form. Sitting back, he stared dejectedly out at the open road. He pulled his clothes on in jerky movements, oblivious of the February chill. How dumb could he be? The one time he needed to keep his mouth shut, he blabbed everything to the one person they were trying to hide from. He felt foolish, as if he had the word “sucker” stamped across his forehead.
Jason played him and he’d fallen for it. It would not happen again because now he knew what Jason looked like and what he was driving. Hargrove was going to pay for this. He would see to it personally. That was if Mica did not kill him first. He hit the back of the seat with his fist. “Mica’s going to kill me.” He shook his head dismally when a thought struck him. I don’t have to tell him. How will he ever know? He’ll find out I called Denise, but he’ll never have to know I blabbed everything to Hargrove.
He immediately felt better. Crawling out of the back of the van, he slammed the hatch shut. He climbed in behind the wheel and headed back to the cavern.
* * *
Caleb parked the van in the usual spot. Climbing out, he started to walk the short trek around the corner to the cavern. Rounding the corner, he saw Desiree and… “Mica?” he remarked in astonishment. “Am I hallucinating?”
Mica flashed him a huge smile. “No, you’re not hallucinating. It’s me.”
“How—how is it possible?” he stuttered, looking around, blinking a few times. “The sun is up, isn’t it?”
Mica laughed, and Desiree stood back proudly. “She did it, Caleb,” he remarked excitedly. “Her spell worked. I can be outside in the daylight.” He walked right up to Caleb, stopping short. Fanning his hand in front of his face, he backed away. “You smell like you took a bath in a brewery.”
He looked down in guilt. “Yeah—I—uh…tied one on last night, and—uh—slept it off in the back of the van.”
Mica was not going to let his good mood be ruined by Caleb’s strange behavior. He slapped him on the back in good humor. “Well, I’m glad you’re back with the van. We want to go back to the truck stop and take a shower, and from the smell of you, I think you might like to join us.”
He would not meet Mica’s eyes. “Yeah, a shower would be good, and maybe some breakfast too.”
His instincts were suddenly on high alert. Mica stepped back, making a quick assessment of his friend, sensing Caleb was hiding something from him. Mica exchanged a worried look with Desiree. She inclined her head to him in agreement.
She forced a smile for Caleb. “A hot meal and a hot shower, sounds good to me.”
* * *
Desiree stepped under the stream of hot water. She luxuriated in the feel of it kneading her tired muscles. Closing her eyes, smiling to herself, she thought of Mica. He was genuinely pleased with the gift she’d presented to him today. Her heart filled with delight that she could make him happy. She told Mica that she’d cast that spell because Drake commanded her to, but that was not true at all. She’d cast that spell for him.
Wrapping her arms around her waist, she hugged herself, thinking about the ways he made her feel. He made her feel protected. He made her feel hot. He made her feel sexy. He made her feel wanted. He made her feel…loved? Her eyes flew open when her true feelings hit her. She loved him; she was in love with him. How had that happened? She certainly was not looking for it, but now that she found it, she wanted nothing less.
Reaching outside the plastic curtain, she grabbed the scented lavender soap from her bag. She had refrained from using it last time because they were camping in a cave, but now she wanted to feel pretty. She wished they had bought some less practical clothes. These heavy flannel shirts and jeans were good for keeping warm, but did nothing for her vanity. The way she had to dress, she felt like one of the guys. She missed her fashionable outfits that flattered her figure. She sighed wistfully, rinsing off.
She stepped out of the shower a somewhat enlightened woman, anxious to be with Mica again. She towel-dried her hair and dressed.
While blow-drying her hair, she heard a knock at her door. Turning the dryer off, she looked expectantly at the door. “Yes, who is it?” she called out. There was no answer. Instead, a note slipped under the edge. She smiled, thinking that Mica was leaving her notes now. Reaching down, she picked up the folded paper. The smile fell from her face as she read the one sentence and the signature. The note simply read, “I am watching you. Jason.” The paper slipped from her trembling fingers to the floor. Leaning against the wall, she slid down it. Now what was she going to do?
* * *
Desiree had been in that bathroom for two hours. Mica’s thoughts were enough is enough. No one could take that long of a shower. He stopped at her door and listened. He heard her slow heartbeat and shallow breathing, but nothing else. Pounding his fist on the door, he shouted, “Desiree. Desiree, open the door.” He received no response. Trying the doorknob, he found it locked, so he pounded his fist on the door once more “Desiree,” he shouted again urgently. Still no response, so he twisted the knob, breaking the lock. He found her crying silently in the corner.
Rushing into the room, he knelt down beside her. “You’re crying. Are you hurt?” She shrugged, looking away. He reached out and pulled her into his arms, gently. “What’s wrong?”
She put her forehead on his chest. “It’s all so hopeless,” she sobbed.
Caleb walked up to stand in the doorway, watching them both. Mica placed his finger under her chin to raise her sad eyes to his. “What’s so hopeless?”
Desiree reached into her back pocket. She pulled out the note and placed it in Mica’s hand. “This note was shoved under my door when I was blow-drying my hair.”
Mica opened it and read aloud. “I’m watching you. Jason.”
Caleb’s eyes grew wide and he turned white as a sheet. “Hargrove was here?” he remarked in disbelief.
Desiree nodded sadly. Mica lifted her chin with his finger and looked into h
er eyes. “I protect what is mine.” She put her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest. Caleb heard him and his mouth dropped open. “Hargrove won’t get the chance to capture you again. From now on, you don’t leave my sight.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Mica reached down, grabbing Desiree’s bag. “Let’s get you out of here.” He put his free arm around her. “Hargrove would be a fool to confront you directly.”
“That’s the problem. He doesn’t confront you directly. He hides and waits to take you by surprise.”
“Now that he’s left his little calling card, he won’t take you by surprise.”
She smiled sadly. “I hope so.”
Caleb stepped up behind them. “Give me her bag. I’ll put it in the van and meet you in the restaurant.”
Mica handed her bag to Caleb, and he left to take it to the van. Desiree and Mica headed to the restaurant. On the way there, Mica stopped by the counter. He slipped the clerk a fifty dollar bill. “I had to break the lock on the door. This should pay for the damages.”
The clerk gave Mica a frightened look. “Yes, sir.” He fidgeted with his tablet nervously. “Which one was it?”
Desiree cleared her throat. “It was the ladies’ showers.” She looked away to keep from making eye contact.
“I’ll have it fixed right away.” Looking at Desiree in concern, he leaned forward, whispering to her, “This man’s not bothering you, is he?”
Her mouth gaped. “No, he’s not.” Her tone was a little too sharp. “But you did let someone in here who did.” Stepping back over to Mica’s side, she closed her eyes, blowing out a breath. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I know you just think you’re trying to help, but I have no reason to fear him.” She looked up at Mica, smiling. He smiled back and put his arm around her. She looked back at the clerk. “You see, I was kidnapped by a bad man a couple of days ago, and Mica here came to my rescue. My kidnapper just threatened me again and that’s how the lock got broken.” She took the note back out of her back pocket. “He slid this note under my door and I kind of freaked out a little and I wouldn’t open the door. So, Mica had to break the lock.”
The clerk took the note and studied it, then handed it back to her. “Does he want a big ransom or somethin’?”
She looked him in the eyes. “No, he wants me dead.”
His eyes went round with alarm. “I’ll call the police.”
“No!” both Desiree and Mica replied in unison.
“We have this under control,” Mica spoke up. “I’ll protect her.”
Caleb came back inside, handing the keys to Mica. “I locked her bag in the van.” Pinching his eyebrows together, he looked between them. “I thought we were meeting in the restaurant. Why are you still in the hallway?”
Desiree put her hand on Caleb’s arm. He looked down at it and then back up at her. “We were just telling this clerk what happened, and that we would prefer not to have the police involved.”
Caleb’s eyes widened. He turned his head, glancing at the nervous clerk. “Hey, man, the police aren’t necessary. Jason is crafty, but we’ll catch ‘im. We can protect her.”
The clerk looked closely at all three of them and his shoulders slumped. “Okay, I won’t call the police, but we don’t need any trouble here. I need my job, and they’ll fire me if they find out I didn’t call the police and this young woman gets hurt.”
She walked up to the counter, putting both her hands on the clerk’s hand. She leaned forward and whispered softly in his ear so that neither Mica nor Caleb could hear her. “I assure you that both guys are my friends and mean me no harm. They might look a little unorthodox, but they’re a couple of great guys, and I would be in deep trouble without them. No, I’d be dead already without them. I promise you that I won’t be hurt by these two, so your job is safe.”
The clerk looked into her eyes, nodding. “Yes, ma’am,” he remarked, loud enough for Mica and Caleb to hear. “I won’t call the police.”
She smiled. “Thank you.” Squeezing his hand, she turned, walked back over to Mica and Caleb and linked an arm with each of theirs, smiling bravely. “I’m hungry, let’s go eat.”
She walked into the truck stop diner with a guy on each arm. Several truckers stopped eating to stare. The last thing they wanted to do was attract too much attention, so she unlinked her arms, walking ahead to a table as far away from everyone else as she could get, and sat down. Mica sat down next to her, and Caleb sat across from them.
A perky redheaded server followed them to the table. She placed three waters on the table along with three menus. “Hi, my name’s Flo. Could I get y’all some coffee?”
She sighed wistfully. “Coffee sounds wonderful.”
Caleb lounged back in his chair. “I’ll have one.”
Mica nodded. “I guess that’ll be three coffees then.”
Flo smiled, chomping down on her gum enthusiastically. “Great. Y’all can have a look at our menu, and when I come back with the coffee, I’ll take your order.” She scurried off to get the coffee.
Desiree grabbed Mica’s hand under the table and whispered, “Did you get a chance to eat?”
“Yes, two hours ago.” He scanned the room cautiously and then ground his teeth. “Right about the time Hargrove would have been slipping the note under your door.”
“Man, you couldn’t have known Hargrove was around." Caleb whispered. “I’m sure Dez doesn’t blame you. Do you, Dez?”
Her mouth dropped open. “Dez? Did you just call me Dez?” Caleb grinned, nodding. “Where did that come from?”
He laughed. “Oh, I just thought it made a cute nickname.”
“Well, I don’t.” Her tone was sharp. “Cut it out.”
“Whatever you say, Dez,” he teased.
She rolled her eyes. “Punching you in the nose is not beneath me.”
Mica laughed and she smiled. “Just ask Jason. I broke his nose a couple of days ago.”
Caleb looked away. “I wouldn’t know what Jason looks like.”
Mica caught a tone in his voice that was off, and he looked at him closely. Something was definitely up with Caleb, and it was left up to him to figure out what.
Flo brought the three cups of coffee to the table. Taking out her order pad, she poised her pen to write. “Are y’all ready to order?”
“Sure.” Caleb was in a huge hurry to change the subject. “I’ll have the hungry man’s special with sausage and hash browns. I would also like a tall glass of orange juice.” He smiled at Flo. “Thanks.”
Flo wrote furiously on the pad. “One hungry man’s special coming up.” She paused her pen and then directed her full attention to Mica. “And you, sir?”
“This coffee’s plenty for me.”
She looked disappointed. “Just coffee,” she repeated, holding the pen poised. “What can I get for you, ma’am?”
Desiree smiled. “I’ll have two eggs over medium with bacon and hash browns.”
“Two eggs over medium, coming right up.” She smiled enthusiastically. “I’ll be back in a few with the food. If ya need anything else in the meantime, just holler.”
Caleb winked, giving Flo a crooked smile. “I’ll holler if I need ya,” he teased, and Flo smiled, hurrying off to turn in the ticket.
Desiree put cream and sugar in her coffee. Taking a small sip, she closed her eyes, sighing in pleasure. “I have missed my morning coffee.”
Caleb set his coffee cup down and smiled. “If I had known coffee would’ve made you this happy, I would have brought you some sooner.” She cocked an eyebrow at him. His smile grew in fake innocence. “What? Can’t I be nice?”
“Of course you can.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
She sat back in her chair, eyeing him warily. “The problem is that I’m trying to figure out your ulterior motive.”
He tried unsuccessfully to act hurt, and then he rolled his eyes. “I don’t have an ulterior motive. Can’t a guy just be nice?”
He looked away. “Fine, I had a little too much to drink. I got it out of my system.”
Mica lifted an eyebrow at his statement. “Just what did you have to get out of your system?”
He looked at both of them, gritting his teeth, and then he looked away. “The two of you.”
Desiree gasped, elbowing Mica in the ribs. She cleared her throat. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I would have to be blind to not see what’s going on between you two.” His eyes sought hers. “I’m not giving up on us.”
She caught her breath. “There is no us!”
“There could be,” he stressed, and she rolled her eyes.
Mica leaned forward, speaking low. “She’s made her choice.”
Caleb clenched his jaw stubbornly, glaring into his eyes. “We’ll see…”
Leaning forward, she whispered harshly, “There’s nothing to see!” Closing her eyes, she willed herself to calm down. “Flo’s on her way to the table with our food. Just drop it for now. All three of us will take this back up at the cavern.” She nodded with her new resolve. “You can bet on that.”
All three of them looked up when Flo arrived at the table. She flashed a smile, placing Caleb’s plate before him. “Here ya go, sir. A hungry man plate for a hungry man.” She laughed at her own wit. She placed Desiree’s plate before her. “That’s two eggs over medium for the lady.” She could sense the tension at the table and cocked her head to the side. “Will there be anything else?”
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