by Marie Harte
Knowing John, he was wallowing in guilt right now.
Shannon shook her head at his stubbornness. He’d done everything he could to protect her. It wasn’t his fault they’d all been taken in.
Restless, she headed to the living room and switched on the news. But nothing was said about her abduction or even the fact that the Denver PD had been dispatched en masse. National news was the same old crap.
She had so many questions floating around in her head right now and she didn’t know which way was up. John being shitty left her floating in insecurity. She looked at the clock on the DVR. Almost eleven o’clock. She was wide awake and didn’t know what to do.
*
EVERYBODY WAS IN good spirits as they walked in the door of the Frog Dog. Shannon had been rescued safely, one of the bad guys was dead, and the other two were in jail. A good day’s work by Lost ’N’ Found Investigative Services. All while rubbing the PD’s nose in their incompetence.
Ember called out a ‘hey guys!’ and motioned to the back wall. Their table was open again. Chad shook his head. They’d been here twice and he already considered this “their” table. The four of them settled into the same chairs they had last week.
Ember arrived within seconds and asked for their beer order. Zeke glanced up at her and smiled, asking for a Frog Dog. He didn’t stutter or hesitate, and she raised an eyebrow at him, then moved on to the other guys. She smiled and disappeared.
The crowd tonight wasn’t nearly as large as last week, but they weren’t as friendly either. There was a group of guys a couple of tables over rumbling about the lack of service. Ember appeared to be the only one serving tonight, and she was hustling. She brought their order then moved on to the aggravated table of men.
Zeke turned to watch her, but she handled them with charm and ease, then moved on. Chad had to admire her finesse.
They had several rounds that night. Ember stopped at one point, dragged a chair from an empty table and plopped down into it, sighing raggedly. “Any of you guys want to wait tables? I’m pooped.”
“Where are the other waitresses?” Chad asked.
She shrugged, rubbing her tired eyes. “Wish I knew. One said she was sick and the other didn’t even bother calling in, she just didn’t show.”
“Can you call…an…anyone else in?”
She shook her head at Zeke’s question. “There’s no sense now. The night’s almost done.”
The rowdy guys a couple tables over were calling for her, so she pushed to her feet, resting her hand on Zeke’s shoulder. “You guys need another round?”
They all shook their heads and watched as she went to the rowdy table. One of the more vocal guys reached out a hand to cup her butt and pull her closer. She swatted at him, but he pulled her in tighter. She began to struggle. “No!”
Zeke was out of his chair and across the room before Chad could even blink. The drunk restraining Ember looked up at the glowering giant with the scarred face and immediately let her go.
“You need to leave before I feed you to the bears outside.”
Within seconds they were shoving to their feet and dropping cash on the table. With a final, nasty look over their shoulders, they were gone.
Ember laughed and wrapped her arms around Zeke’s massive chest. “Thank you! Those guys have been bothering me all night.”
Chad laughed at the deer-in-the-headlights look on Zeke’s face, but made a motion with his hand. Zeke wrapped his arms around Ember and squeezed her back. Even from across the room, Chad could see how stunned his buddy was.
Ember pulled away with a last, lingering smile and went to start bussing the other tables that were leaving. Zeke returned to his chair and dropped down, obviously shocked.
“Dude, you didn’t stutter at all.”
Chad clapped him on the back and Terrell popped him in the shoulder. “You didn’t even give us time to provide backup.”
He grinned and took the last swallow of his beer. “I just didn’t even…think about it.”
Ember waved them off that night as if they were friends, and Zeke seemed just as reluctant to go. Chad wondered what it would take to get the two of them together.
Chapter Eleven
‡
SHANNON WOKE TO a light stroke on her cheek. John sat in front of her. The light from the dying fire highlighted his frowning face. “I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier.”
She yawned hugely and stretched on the couch. “And I’m sorry I handed you your underwear. That was my mistake. It’ll never happen again.”
He glared at her, but she could see his dark eyes dancing with humor. “Smart-ass.”
“Hard-ass.”
He barked out a laugh and grinned at her.
She sat up on the edge of the couch and pushed her hair away from her face. John reached out and tugged at a curl, as if he couldn’t help himself.
“Why did you snap at me like that? It hurt.”
He dropped his hand to his lap and winced. “I feel like I let you down, with everything. I guess I’m feeling defensive. Useless, to be blunt.”
Shannon shook her head, unable to believe the wrongness of that statement. “You have to know how wrong you are. I wouldn’t be sitting here right now if you hadn’t done what you did to prepare me. You stepped in to protect me before I even realized I needed it. Remember now, if you hadn’t seen those spikes in the driveway, they’d have tried to grab me then. They were watching, and knew when they missed.”
John sighed and nodded. “I know. But I think if any of the other guys had been here they’d have taken care of you the same way.”
“But I didn’t want any of the other guys here. I only wanted you.”
He frowned at her and shook his head, as if that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “I don’t know why. I’m a crippled, bitter, grumpy ass who swears too much.”
“I know, but I’ve been half in love with you for months.”
His eyes flared with heat before he looked down at his lap. “No, you’re not.”
Shannon smacked him on the knee. “Don’t tell me I’m not in love with you.”
“Ouch! Why did you hit me?”
Shannon gasped when she realized what she’d done, then squealed with outrage when he started to laugh at her. She reached to pinch him on the chest, but he grabbed her hands and spun her around to pull into his lap. He pressed a kiss to her temple. “You’re getting violent recently. Why is that?”
“Because you frustrate me beyond all reason.” She tugged at her wrists and he let her go. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a kiss to his lips, rubbing the short hair at the nape of his neck.
He melted under her mouth. Cupping the back of her head, he took control, making her shudder with awareness. He pulled away and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. “Only half?”
“Huh?” She blinked at him in a daze, not sure what he’d asked.
“Why are you only half in love with me?”
“Mm, I said I was half in love with you for months. But then you moved in here and I really got to know you. Now I’m completely in love with you.”
He pulled back to stare down into her eyes, and she let him see the truth in her heart.
He looked away.
“I don’t know if I can reciprocate that. I mean, I’m nuts about you. I love having sex with you, obviously. But I don’t know what love is, you know? I don’t know if I’m feeling the same thing you are.”
Shannon tried not to be hurt at his words. She pulled back and dropped one hand down to hold his on her lap. “And that’s fine. I won’t rush you into saying something you don’t feel. But I know in my heart that I love you, wheelchair and all, cussing and all. None of it makes me want to be away from you. You were the family I thought about when I fired that gun.”
His dark eyes rested on hers for a long time, until he leaned forward to kiss her. “Okay, let’s give this some time to digest, okay? You may feel differently when things settle down and you rea
lize you don’t have to depend upon us anymore.”
She shook her head at his stubbornness, but didn’t say anything to contradict him. It really didn’t matter what he said. She’d be waiting when he was ready.
*
THEY WERE RESTLESS that day and decided to go into the office to figure out exactly what had happened the day before. There were so many unanswered questions.
Duncan seemed surprised but happy to see them, clapping John on the back and wrapping Shannon in a huge bear hug. She knew he had to be relieved after pulling off what sounded to have been the biggest single endeavor the service had ever tackled.
“You doing okay?”
She nodded, so appreciative that she’d landed in the job she had, and most especially with the people. “I’m fine, believe it or not. Pretty satisfied with myself, and you guys coming to my rescue. I think everything played out the way it needed to.”
Duncan nodded and moved behind his desk to his chair. He settled gingerly, and she wondered if all the excitement from the day before had hurt him. When the men had run in, he’d been right there with them, and she couldn’t remember him limping at all. He waved a hand when he noticed her concern. “Don’t worry about me, Shannon. Have a seat.”
She did and crossed her legs. “Where is Lisa?”
“She’s in jail a couple of counties over. Because of her affiliation with the local jail they thought it best to house her away. She’s been charged with abduction and the prosecutor’s office will surely file attempted murder charges when they view the recording. I watched it myself a few hours ago and I have to say Shannon, you did everything perfectly. You acted exactly as you should have. The shooting itself was clearly self-defense.”
Tears came to her eyes and she slumped back into the chair, overwhelmed with appreciation at his words. A part of her played it over and over in her mind, convinced there could have been another way out, without all the loss. “Everything happened so fast. It’s a blur in my mind.”
Duncan nodded, his lean face sympathetic. “But your interview with the detective was perfect, too. You gave him all the information he needed, which was corroborated with the recording. I’m sure you’ll probably have to go to court, but it should be a slam-dunk case.”
The thought of going through another trial turned her stomach.
John reached over and grabbed her hand. “Don’t worry about it now, babe. It may never happen. She may plead out and go straight to prison.”
Shannon nodded, though with her luck they would fight to the end.
“Clay is still in Ohio talking to Gerbowski, who is swearing up and down that he didn’t know anything about the whole ordeal. We have evidence to the contrary, though, found at Lisa’s house. He’ll be charged with conspiracy, and shouldn’t be out of prison for a long time. We think that they moved to grab you now because he has a parole hearing coming up in six months.”
Shannon frowned. “No, it should be two years before his first hearing.”
Duncan sighed and leaned back in his chair. “With overcrowding in the prisons, and the fact that he’s been an exemplary inmate, the state moved his date up.”
Her blood chilled at the thought of having no notification, and him being on the streets again, possibly terrorizing another woman. If she could guarantee that wouldn’t happen, she would go through it all again.
“Once we had Wilkins as the primary suspect for letting himself into your house with Lisa’s key, the rest of the things started to fall into place. The can that started it all was a couple years old, but the print could have been collected at any time. They have contact visits at the prison, so once the plan was in place, they could have smuggled in a fingerprint transfer. Much easier to conceal than the can itself. It would have been a piece of cake to transfer the print to the can.” He shrugged. “Wilkins stole the cell phone when he did a transport a couple weeks ago to Canon City. The prints at the tree outside your house matched Wilkin’s uniform boots perfectly, and the carpet fiber we found on the dog looks like it will match up with the carpet in the trunk of his cruiser.”
John tightened his hand on hers as every standing question was answered. “What about Cameron? How did he play into all of this?”
Duncan scrubbed his hands over his gray head and rubbed at his face. “Well, Mr. Jennings is still a bit of a question. Right now we think he didn’t have anything to do with them. He wasn’t there in the warehouse, right?”
Shannon shook her head. “No, not with Lisa and Jimmy. But I think he was on the roof watching us.”
“His cell phone called this office at exactly fifteen thirty-four yesterday.”
John’s hand tightened on hers. “That was the call I took telling me where she was.”
Duncan nodded at his partner. “Exactly.”
“So, he was watching out for me?” Shannon was overwhelmed with all of the information flowing at her. And she felt bad for thinking Cameron had been a creep. He’d taken a bullet meant for her. At the very least, she needed to thank him.
“I was going to go over to the hospital and speak with him if I could. I know he had surgery to repair his shoulder last night. You want to tag along?”
With a glance at John, she nodded. “Definitely.”
As they were walking out of the office, Duncan handed her a large manila envelope. “I don’t think the PD will miss these.”
Shannon glanced inside enough to see the glossy pictures, then fastened it shut again. Gratitude overwhelmed her and she had to wrap her arms around Duncan again. “Thank you.”
He winked at her. “Let’s go see our wild card.”
So, an hour later they were directed to a room in the ICU. The nurse on duty looked at her critically. “Are you Shannon? He’s been asking for you. Hopefully when he sees you he’ll settle down.”
As soon as the nurse swept back the curtain and Cameron’s groggy eyes latched onto Shannon’s, he broke into quiet, rasping sobs. The sound broke her heart, and in spite of her lingering wariness, she stepped forward to take his uninjured hand. John moved in to stop her, but she shook her head at him.
“I thought I’d lost you again. They wouldn’t tell me what had happened and I couldn’t leave.” He looked her up and down. “Are you okay?”
“I’m completely fine, thanks to you. You stopped a bullet for me. But why would you do that?”
He pulled away from her grip and wept into his hand. Shannon handed him several Kleenex and waited until he got control of himself, mopping his face and wiping his red-rimmed eyes. “I signed on for the Navy even when my fiancée warned me she wouldn’t be there when I got home. I didn’t believe her, because we’d been together since junior high. I thought she’d be my home base, you know? We didn’t know she was pregnant when I left. She had a miscarriage. And there was nobody here for her. She committed suicide six months into my deployment.”
Fresh tears wet his face, but he wiped them away. He reached into the bedside table and handed his wallet to Shannon. She flipped it open and gasped.
The girl inside could have been her younger sister. Though her hair was blond, the resemblance was remarkable.
“I walked into the agency that day and thought I’d seen a ghost. And I’ll be honest with you, I think things got kind of confused in my head for a while. I thought you must have been related to her. I wanted to talk to you but couldn’t get my words straight in my head.”
Shannon showed John and Duncan the picture and even they shook their heads at the resemblance.
“There was a cop following you, which I thought was strange. I was worried so I watched him, and later that morning they snatched you. I waited until I knew where we were and I called the agency, but they didn’t get there in time. I knew by how aggravated the woman was becoming that things were moving, so I went down to get ready. But you took the cop out before I could get there. The woman picked up your gun and fired, and I thought for sure she’d gotten you. I didn’t even feel the bullet until somebody rolled me off
her. Then I think I passed out.”
“I knew you’d been hit but I didn’t know how badly. I thought you were with them for a while.”
The younger man winced. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to come off like a stalker. I just didn’t know how to cope with Janelle’s loss.” His eyes started to tear up again, but he took a deep breath and got himself under control. “We had our whole lives planned together, you know? And I let her down by leaving her behind.”
Shannon left the hospital room feeling sorry for the man who had been a creep. Cameron was under psychiatric care for his loss, and he would continue to be for a long time coming.
She felt deflated as she rode back to the office in the crew seat of John’s truck. All of the details had been tied up, for the most part. She looked at the back of John’s close-shaven head in front of her and wondered what he would do if she ran her fingernails down the plain of his neck. It was a very sensitive spot, she’d found.
Something drew her gaze to the rearview mirror. His dark eyes had gone almost black with awareness. He’d known what she’d been thinking.
*
JOHN PULLED UP in front of the office and put the truck in park, but let it idle to stay warm. Duncan was twisted in the seat, blathering on to Shannon about state laws protecting the guilty. John wished he’d just shut the hell up and go.
Looking at Shannon in the mirror as she talked to his buddy, John realized he didn’t have the balls to tell her goodbye. The danger had passed and there was no reason for him to stay in her house anymore, other than because he wanted to.
He’d had wants before, and been denied, but none of them had been as strong as what he felt now. He wanted to watch her smile at him over breakfast, he wanted to watch her stock the fire in that damn see-through nightgown. God, he wanted to see her look at him with that emotion in her eyes that nobody else ever had before.
“Get out, Duncan.”
His buddy looked at him in surprise but didn’t object. With a promise to see them both in the morning, he slid to the pavement, set his cane and walked into the lobby. Shannon looked at him curiously in the mirror, but he didn’t say anything.
