If the Dark Wins (Finley Creek Book 4)

by Calle J. Brookes

  “I’m sure Chance and Brynna were glad you were there tonight.”

  “I have always planned to be there when she delivered. Brynna has some issues with doctors and hospitals. We decided it was probably best to have someone she was familiar with be there with her and Chance—and Jillian.”

  “And Rafe.”

  “I was glad he was there.” He’d been calm and reassuring and it had been obvious he’d delivered many, many babies in high-stress situations. He’d helped, no doubt about that. “For the afterbirth, at least. While Jillian tended to the baby.”

  He gave her a look of horror. “No more. Don’t tell me. I can’t handle the details. She’s a beautiful kid.”

  “She most definitely is.” Lacy leaned back against the seat and smiled at him tiredly. “But how can she not be? She’s a Beck.”

  “Nah, she’s a Deane. Ok, so she’s a Marshall/Beck baby. Some seriously good genes there.”

  “I think you’re stretching things a bit.”

  “My mother and Uncle Elliot were twins; did you know that?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Yep. She was the evil twin, he was the good one. I miss him. He was a good man.”

  “I never met them, of course. But Jillian is named after Anne. Her father and your uncle were really close.”

  “They were good to us. My mother, she wasn’t always the easiest mother to deal with. Especially for Rafe. She never quite treated him the same as Marc and me.”

  “Because he is adopted?”

  “Yes. It made things tense for us at times. Rafe stayed with Uncle Elliot for a while until our grandfather insisted he go home with his family. Pops put my mother and father squarely in their place for how they were treating him, I think. I was only twelve or so when it happened, but things were better after that.”

  “I’m sorry for your brother. I know what it’s like to be on the outskirts.”

  “You have a family now.”

  She smiled, and it nearly blinded him. “Yes, I do. The Becks...I love them.”

  And they loved her. He’d watched Kevin hug her in just the same way he hugged his daughters. He’d watched the younger Beck sister tease and torment Lacy just like she did the other redheads that had been everywhere.

  And when Lacy spoke, the Becks listened.

  There was more to it than that, but he wondered if she realized just exactly how well she did fit with them. “They love you. It’s obvious in the way they treat you.”

  “I’ve been a part of their lives for more than three years now. Jillian dragged me home to meet them and it feels like I never really left. Ari came to us about a year or so ago. She was so alone and bewildered about everything. She’d been through some serious hell before she even got to us. Now...Jillian and Ari are my world, Travis. I don’t say that lightly.”

  “No, I don’t suppose you do.”

  Travis wanted to be a part of her world, too.

  Just what that meant for him, he didn’t quite know yet. But he was going to find out.

  He pulled into Lacy’s drive and parked behind her little girl-SUV. She’d finally gotten it back from the body shop and it looked all bright and shiny. Well, as bright and shiny as it could look at close to nine at night. “Come on, sleepyhead. I’ll tuck you in and you can use me as a Teddy-Travis doll.”

  He rounded the front of his truck and opened her door. He reached in and helped her out--not because she needed it, of course, but because he wanted to.

  Travis liked putting his hands on her. It really was as simple as that for him.

  80

  Lacy felt the warm male hands around her waist and she wanted to just throw herself against him and... well...snuggle. Tonight had been one of the most intense of her life. She wouldn’t discount that at all. Bringing Brynna’s baby into the world after everything that had happened to the Becks recently, well...

  Nothing signaled new beginnings like Sara Anne, “Annie” Marshall, did it?

  Travis kept her fingers in his and she let him. She was far too tired to protest, or do anything but follow along almost meekly.

  She wasn’t ready for him to go home; she wanted him to stay there next to her and hold her. As long as he could. Until the darkness was gone.

  But there was no way she was going to tell him that. Not yet.

  The way she felt was still too new to her for her to share it with him yet.

  He took her key from her and slipped it in the lock. Lacy stepped into her home and turned back to the man who was starting to mean so much to her that she couldn’t breathe.

  She slipped her arms around his waist. “Kiss me, please?”

  “Honey, you know you never have to ask.” He did more than just kiss her. He lifted her into his arms, like he’d done it a thousand times before.

  Lacy wrapped her legs around his hips, and her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth to his.

  Travis carried her down the hall, straight toward her purple and white bedroom.

  81

  Logan fought to keep his breathing contained so the two couldn’t hear him. She hadn’t just let that bastard Deane paw at her, she’d asked him to. Why would she do that?

  He was going to kill Deane. That was the simplest solution. Something had to be done to break his hold on Lacy, before it was far too late for her.

  Logan waited until they stepped into the hall, until Deane’s back was to him and he jumped, the fireplace poker in his hand.

  He brought it crashing down near the man’s head.

  His blow missed the man’s skull, but slammed into Deane’s shoulder.

  Deane went down, dropping Lacy to the floor as he did so.

  When she screamed and looked straight into his eyes, Logan did the only thing he could. He jumped over Deane and grabbed for her.

  His hands landed on her broken arm and he yanked. She cried out, in pain, and that was all that stopped him. Logan never wanted to hurt her again. He shoved her away from him before he hurt her more. Her head cracked against the baseboard heater nearby. She dropped there, unmoving.

  Had he killed her? He’d never wanted to hurt Lacy.

  Deane bellowed and jumped to his feet like the enraged animal that he was. Logan had to act, to get out of the bull’s way before he was trampled.

  But he wasn’t about to leave there without her.

  He hadn’t counted on Deane coming inside with her. Why hadn’t he expected that? The man was like a dog rutting where she was concerned. He’d probably taken every opportunity to get her clothes off and take from her what he wanted.

  Logan should have expected that.

  Deane knocked him away from her, yelling and cursing and sending his fists flying. Like an enraged animal.

  It turned from a battle to take his woman from that damned Deane to a fight for Logan’s very survival when Deane grabbed his neck and slammed him down to the floor he’d watched Lacy and her friends lay so enthusiastically.

  Logan fought with everything he had.

  The only advantages he had were that it was still dark in Lacy’s house, he was dressed in all black with the ski mask on, and he’d struck Deane hard enough to damage the bastard’s arm.

  They hadn’t closed the door yet. Logan rushed through it and out into the night.

  Deane didn’t follow.

  Logan knew just exactly how lucky he’d gotten as he tore off into the night, the soft rain falling all around him and erasing every sign that he’d even been there.

  Mingled with the tears of defeat and anger that soaked into the rough ski mask he still wore.

  What was he going to do now?

  Grief for her hit him harder than he ever would have expected. Had he killed her?

  Hurt her badly? Lost her?

  She hadn’t been moving. Lacy would have been fighting, if she’d been able.

  Logan ripped the ski mask off his head and tossed it away.

  Deane would take her to the hospital, straight to the ER where Lacy’s friend
s would be.

  Where he would be waiting.

  82

  Lacy wasn’t moving. Travis ignored the burn in his left shoulder and hit the wall switch, illuminating her living room. Lacy lay sprawled just inside the hallway, her eyes closed and blood behind her head. Travis yelled her name, hoping the sound would be enough to have those green eyes opening.

  He dropped to his knees next to her and felt for her a pulse. It was there.

  Thank God, it was there.

  But she was knocked out. He scooped her up in his arms as carefully as he could.

  By the time the ambulances got to them, and then took her back to the hospital, he could have her there in half the time. But Rafe—Rafe would still be there, wouldn’t he? Rafe had an entire damned hospital to help her.

  She opened her eyes once they stepped out into the rain. “Trav? What happened?”

  He put her in the passenger seat and fastened the seatbelt, fighting back the fear again. “Someone was in the house, baby. You hit your head.”

  “I... think...I remember. Damn. What did I hit? I think my head is bleeding.”

  “Baseboard heater, I think.”

  He kept up a running conversation with her until they reached the hospital parking lot. He didn’t want her sliding back into unconsciousness or something. What if she developed a blood clot in her head from where she’d hit that heater?

  Wasn’t each concussion always more dangerous than the last?

  Travis wouldn’t let her walk by herself.

  Instead he guided her head to his shoulder and lifted her. “Hold on to me, honey. I’m never going to drop you. Never again. I’m never going to let you go.”

  Two hands, one encased in purple plaster, wrapped around his neck and Lacy clung to him.

  That terrified him most of all.

  83

  Logan fought to keep his breathing under control. His grief.

  He'd straightened his clothing before coming in, but it was still disheveled.

  The ER was abuzz, once again about that Beck family. Right there in the center of it no longer using crutches was Jillian. Once again wearing shorts that she had no business wearing out in public. Why hadn't her father ever taught her to hide what men wanted, to at least protect her dignity? Or didn't the woman care?

  Logan pushed the rage away as best he could.

  "DR. LANNING, WHY ARE YOU HERE?" Wanda asked, studying his clothing. "Something with a patient?"

  "A bit late doing my rounds tonight, that’s all. So, what’s going on tonight?" To rescue Lacy from those damned Deanes—and Becks—once and for all. That’s why he was there.

  "Jillian’s sister had her baby. Beautiful little girl. Looks very much like her mother, complete with red hair. Almost the entire Beck family is wandering around."

  "Oh, did she?" He didn't give a damn. But Lacy did. Lacy loved the Becks very much. Logan snuck off to his office. With a joint. It calmed him. Helped him prepare.

  Lacy was going to be there any minute. If she was still alive, she’d be here soon. He returned to the ER, just as Jillian and that damned Holden-Deane came off the elevators.

  For once they weren’t arguing. Logan stayed close to the desk while Jillian stopped to talk to her friends. He stared at her, wondering. Had she and Holden-Deane been up in the Chief of Medicine’s office? Had he bent her over the desk? It’s what Lanning would have done if he had had Lacy in his office.

  But no, Lacy was off somewhere with that damned Worthington-Deane; where was she? They shouldn't have been that far behind him.

  Almost if by a miracle, the pneumatic doors opened again. And there she was. Being held by Travis Worthington-Deane. It was all he could do not to attack the man right then.

  Lacy was alive and that was what mattered.

  He’d just take her from Deane the first opportunity he got.

  84

  Rafe saw his brother carrying McGareth in again. He moved, as quickly as possible. What the hell had happened in the ninety minutes since he’d last seen them? He was vaguely aware of Jillian right next to him. But she still favored her injury some, and could not keep up with him. And not just because of her small size. "Travis, what happened to her?"

  "We were attacked in her house. She hit her head. I… Help her, Rafe."

  "Trauma C is open," Wanda said, moving quickly. "Get her in here. Let’s take a look. Dr. Holden-Deane, I take it you're going to see to Lacy personally?"

  "Yes.”

  Jillian was already hooking her friend up to the monitors. "Lacy? Lace? Trying to get all the attention? Open your eyes. Now.”

  McGareth’s green eyes fluttered open. "Where’s Travis?"

  Rafe’s brother leaned over her. "Here I am, honey. It’s okay, honey, you're going to be okay. Jillian’s here. Rafe’s here. I brought you right back to the hospital."

  "The guy who did this? Did he hurt you?"

  "I'm okay, honey. I promise." Travis reached up and brushed his fingers across the woman’s cheek. There was a tenderness in his action that told Rafe so much. It was the look on his brother’s face that made it clear for him. How many times had he seen Marcus look at Carissa just like that?

  "Travis, let us get her looked at. Okay? We are going to take her upstairs. You can go as far as Radiology with us."

  Travis looked up at him, the worry on his face nearly knocking Rafe over. It was too much like the night they'd lost Carissa. McGareth, stubborn as always, tried to sit up. "I'm okay. We’re going to need to speak with the TSP."

  "Lacy, sit still," Jillian said. "You know the drill, we've been here before. What is it they say, doctors make the worst patients? Well, I believe it. I’ve seen you in action. Let us get you up there, take the pretty picture of your super-brains, then you can go home with the pretty man."

  "Jillian, shove it. My brains are throbbing right now." Travis lowered her back to the bed. Rafe unlatched the brake on the wheel on his side of the gurney himself. Screw anyone else in line, McGareth was getting her scan first. Call it his preemptive. The woman had had too many concussions lately. He wasn't taking any chances with her. Rafe wasn't going to sit by another brother and watch him lose the woman he loved.

  Rafe just couldn't do it. "Beck, clock in but stick with McGareth."

  "Was planning to anyway. Now I’ll just get paid for it.” Sarcastic little she-devil, wasn't she? But her hands were gentle as she held out one to her friend. "Just like you, Lacy, always trying to get the attention. Let’s go. I'll drive this time."

  "No offense Jilly… NASCAR drivers are terrified of your driving. I think I'll just close my eyes and hold on tight, okay?”

  "That’s what they all say... Hang on if you have to. Here we go."

  85

  Travis was alone in the waiting room when the man from the TSP arrived. The dark-haired guy a few years older than Travis held out a hand. Travis shook quickly.

  "I'm Daniel McKellen, head of the TSP’s Major Crimes. Lacy and the Becks are friends of mine. Can you tell me what happened tonight?"

  "We just got back to Lacy’s place…” Travis told him the details quickly. “I couldn’t just leave her lying there to chase after him.”

  "No. Of course not. Can I ask you something, Mr. Worthington-Deane? How deeply involved are you and Dr. McGareth?"

  "Pretty damned involved. But it’s a recent thing." More than just involved. At least on Travis' part. All of that had become extremely clear the moment he'd seen her lying there. Hell, it had been clear the moment she ran up to him after that damned bastard was shooting at them. "I think the guy called her by name, said he wanted her. Hell of course he did; why else would he be there? And then there were the roses. She told me it was no big deal, but…" Travis knew he was rambling. But the guy let him talk. Finally, Travis got himself back together again. "A while back, right after the barn at her place burned, someone sent her roses and chocolate; the gifts just showed up at her house. But Lacy didn't know who. She said it wasn't a big deal, that she’s re
ceived gifts before, but I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the person having her address. Then there was the night she broke her arm. I know Elliot thought it was a failed kidnapping attempt, but what if it wasn't? I just don't know why the guy was there. He had to have known she lived alone. And he was waiting inside. I’ve been checking her locks every day that’s she’s been staying with me. And Kevin Beck picked her up at my place this morning. I don’t think she’s been home since the last time I checked those locks. But this guy was waiting for her inside."

  "Tell me about this guy."

  “He was hiding in the hallway. He was dressed in black. We didn't see him. If I had… But I was so focused on her…"

  "I'm going to have our forensics department had out to Lacy’s place. Take a look around, see what we can find. I'll check back in in a few hours, see how she’s doing." McKellen said, his eyes full of compassion.

  Travis thanked the other man, but his attention had already slipped inward. He tried to think of something, some identifying feature, but he couldn't. The guy had on a ski mask, of all things. He'd come there with the end purpose of getting to Lacy. Of raping her? Killing her? Or just taking her?

  Was it possible some rapist had targeted her, met her at the hospital or something?

  Hell, figuring out motives for bad guys wasn't something Travis had ever done much of before. That was for certain and it wasn't something he wanted to do again.

  But he knew one thing, there wasn't a damned thing he wouldn't do to protect that woman.

  He loved her. First opportunity he got he was telling her that.

  She could make what she wanted out of it, but he was going to tell her. He’d learned from watching Marcus that time was too short. A smart man savored every moment he could get with the ones that he loved. Especially the woman he loved.

  Travis stood, and started pacing around the waiting room. That’s where his brother found him.

  "How is she?" Travis asked.

  "Stubborn. Contrary. Beautiful as hell. But you already know that." Rafe put his hand on Travis’ shoulder. Travis appreciated it. Rafe had always been the calm in the storm. Hell, so had Marcus. "No concussion, at least not a significant one—no sign of any bleeding. But she does have one hell of a headache. I still want to keep her here. For one thing, it’s a safer environment in case that man tries again. I want to keep an eye on her. Even with a mild concussion, if she has one, I'd rather just be on the safe side after the one she had recently. She says she’s ready to go home. I figure you might be able to make her stay."