by Beth Rhodes
He lifted a brow, not even a smile cracked his face. “Yes, ma’am.”
“I need to call Janice back.” Grabbing her phone, she left the kitchen, then stopped and turned back. “I need to get back to my shop for some materials.”
“Oh, no, ma’am.”
“Oh, yes sir. I insist.” She was going to make a sign, and it was going to be the most amazing, custom design anyone at the Expo had ever seen. “Nothing, not even some stupid clerical error is going to stop me.”
“I’ll need to call Tancredo.”
She opened her mouth to remind Malcolm, Tan wasn’t lead anymore. “Fine,” she said instead. “Tell him to meet us there, because I don’t have time to wait.”
***
Her feet hurt more badly off than she thought, and she limped to the half-flight of stairs that led to outside. Crouched on the first step, Claire pressed her weight into the doors over her head.
“Oh,” she groaned when they didn’t budge. “Come on.”
She shoved this time, giving it a good hard shove with her shoulder. Pain radiated down her shoulder to her arm and fingers. But the door creaked.
“Omph,” she grunted again and then again as desperation took over and she shoved and shoved. “Come on!”
It wasn’t locked. She hadn’t heard the click, hadn’t heard the keys in the lock. The door gave on the next shove, and she fell up the steps, landing on her knee with a crack. Pain pierced her leg.
The fresh air whooshed through the doorway, making the freedom so much sweeter. Claire peeked over the ledge. A neighborhood, older homes, small but well-kept. She waited, watching. Was Crazy Bitch woman actually gone? Or did she hide in waiting as well? Ready to take her down when she escaped.
With the sun about to set, the shadows stretched across the little yard, giving it an idyllic glow.
Even though she had no idea where she was, she was ready to walk a hundred miles to get back to her family. She wiped at tears. Waited a moment longer…
And the interior door to upstairs opened with a loud crash.
“Oh, shit.” Claire ran.
She didn’t stop, didn’t look back, just kept running—faster, farther, heading east, away from the sun for at least five blocks before she headed south again. Her brain gave her no choice. Getting as far away from that place was her only thought. Go. Go!
Her legs screamed at her, and she heard the trainer from the gym in her head, encouraging her.
The miles disappeared, under her sore feet until she had to slow.
“You go, girl.” A man sat on a bench. A park? The world shifted around her as she sucked in air. Bare trees, the pale of winter grass, and off in the short distance a playground. But no one followed her…she was alone.
She was free.
“Help me, please?” she whispered before the tilting world turned black.
~ 28 ~
His visit with his mom had put him on edge. On edge because he’d really been there to check on An and get some feedback on how she was doing. He worried about his mom, but not like he worried about who his mom was responsible for.
But Sophia couldn’t be bothered tonight. She’d been drinking again. A truth, too hard to take, after hope. He’d almost asked An if she wanted to come to his place. Almost. Then he’d second guessed himself. Would she really be safer with him?
He had a different kind of trouble at his place, one more like a ticking time bomb with too many unknowns. The reason he rarely shared family with business or vice versa. So, instead, he’d left his number again, double-checked to make sure he was on speed dial for An before making sure she was settled for the night.
When he’d left, the purse hanging on the hall table was a sure sign his mom was getting ready to go out. He didn’t think she had work on her mind, though. Not in her tight jeans and purple sequined top.
His thoughts from days earlier came back to mock him.
She was never going to change.
As soon as his job with Whitney was over, he was going to find a better solution to what was going on at home. An needed stability. And she’d been stuck with a couple of the most unstable individuals in the greater Raleigh area.
Because of his job.
A job he loved.
But a sister he loved more.
When he pulled into the alley at Liz’s shop, he didn’t see Malcolm’s truck anywhere. He drove around to the front and parked about ten yards from the door. They should be here.
He called her number, peering through his windshield. “Something is not right,” he whispered, leaning in. The door was propped open.
“Tan, we stopped for shakes. Where are you? Do you want one?”
“No,” he frowned, knowing he probably sounded peeved. “I’m at the shop. Did you leave the door open?”
“What? No.”
“Did you leave the lights on?”
“No,” she answered, annoyed. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to check it out.”
“We’re here. Wait for back up, Tan.”
They pulled around the corner as he was getting out. Malcolm pulled up behind Tan, and Liz got out of his car almost before it had stopped. She hurried over to him then walked right by him, her keys in her hand.
“What the hell,” she said.
Tan reached for her arm, and held her. “Call for back up, Malcolm. And have Josie call in another 10-61.”
He stayed in front of her as she walked toward the building. “You can’t go in, Liz.”
“I have to go in.” Anger tinged with hysteria marked her words.
“Someone could still be in there.”
“Then I will stop them!” She was so indignant, so on fire, and he liked that, too. But he still couldn’t let her in there. “I will not—”
The repercussion of a blast knocked into his chest and sent Liz into his arms. Glass from her front windows shattered, showered down on his head. He tucked her into his embrace, covered her with as much of his body as he could.
She struggled to get free. “Let me go, Tan. Let me go.”
Her eyes were frantic with panic, and he held her shoulders, took her chin in his hands. “Look at me, Liz. Look at me.”
She finally found his gaze and crushed his heart with her look of devastation.
“Someone’s still in there,” Malcolm yelled, running by them. Smoke poured through the windows and doorway. More shattered glass sounded through the rage of the fire.
The heat had risen and Tan pulled Liz farther back from the front of the building. An orange glow had changed the look of the building, and he could make out Malcolm moving through the front of the store.
Sirens could be heard in the distance. Stacy drove up, screeching to a halt across the street. “Is everyone okay?” she asked, crossing the street to them. She put an arm around Liz. “Where’s Malcolm?”
“There,” Tan said. “He’s coming out now.”
A police car, sirens screaming and lights flashing, stopped in the middle of the road.
Malcolm stumbled out of the building and carefully dropped his load to the ground.
“Janice!” Liz tore from his side.
***
“Liz, wait a minute—” She heard him, but couldn’t stop. My God, what if something happened to Janice? What if this monster after her managed to hurt someone else instead of her? She didn’t know if she could take that kind of guilt.
“Damn it,” he said, and she knew he would follow her.
The police had moved forward and surrounded Malcolm and Janice. Janice was already in handcuffs.
Liz approached the group, her eyes dead set on the man she recognized as the detective in charge. “What do you think you’re doing? Let her go.”
“Oh, shut up, Liz.” The bite of contempt in Janice’s voice made Liz take a step back. “Did you come back to save the day? Goody Two-Shoes Liz Whitney, coming in on her white horse to save the day. Well, back off. I don’t need you. Nobody needs you.�
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Malcolm intervened, looking from her to Tan, as if sending Tan a silent message.
“What?” she asked sharply as her heart fell. She didn’t want to hear it, didn’t want to hear about how Janice had betrayed her. “Why?”
“I found her in there, and she was screaming about finally giving Liz exactly what she deserved. She was using a hammer on the glass counters. She didn’t seem to care the building was going down around her.”
Shock, like ice cold water, sent shivers through her and made goosebumps rise on her skin. She couldn’t believe it. “It can’t be. No. She must have been here when someone else happened to come by.”
A young officer stepped in front of Liz, with a look of compassion on his face, but he only made Liz mad. She side-stepped him even as Detective Jensen gave Janice a gentle shove toward the patrol car.
“You hold on a minute,” Liz demanded. A hand gripped her elbow from behind, but she yanked it free as anger built inside her and bubbled over. “Let go of me!”
“Liz,” Tan said sharply.
“No.” She turned on him as hurt overwhelmed her, sunk into every pore of her body. This was worse. So much worse than yesterday. She rounded on Janice. “Why? Why? I thought we were doing this together. We’ve been friends—”
“We were never friends, Ice Bitch.” Janice sneered.
Liz reared back.
“You were supposed to be in that building. You should have gone up with all your stupid, precious, perfect little designs.”
They were friends. Business partners. They were going to build a company that cared about the skaters. She’d thought they were friends.
Like she’d thought Gabe was a friend.
The policeman closed the door between them, and Janice smirked at her through the glass window.
Liz stepped back again. She looked to Tan, who stood there as if waiting for her to crumble, and the officer, who was braced for her reaction. They were worried about her?
She shook her head.
She had to get out of here and be alone. She needed to be alone, away from people, away from life. She stepped back again.
“Liz?”
Shaking her head, she whispered, “I’m sorry.”
She turned and ran, and the world disappeared around her. Her feet led the way over familiar ground, ground she’d run every morning—weather permitting—and she let the ache of betrayal drive her.
God, how could she be so stupid?
She looked both ways and crossed the street against the red stop hand on the post in front of her. A few more yards, and she’d be in the park. She accelerated through the intersection and heard cars honking behind her as she ran through wrought iron gates to the deeply wooded winter wonderland beyond.
Slowly, despair crept up on her and, with it, a dark fatigue.
She took the first bend in the trail and her feet slipped where shade had kept the path iced over through the day. Her arms spiraled, her balance waivered, and the dread of taking the next step filled her the instant before her foot hit the ground.
When it did, she leaned forward, fighting the fall, like wanting to land her double lutz. Hell, she’d never been perfect, and because of every fall, every slip, every mistake, she knew how to take the landing, too. She tucked and rolled as the small slope grabbed her feet out from under her. She tumbled into the snow-covered brush. Her hip took the brunt of the slide through branches and roots, until a small tree wrenched her shoulder and stopped her.
Liz moaned and lay there. She couldn’t move, didn’t want to. A sob escaped.
She didn’t have the will to get up, not even at the sound of footsteps on the path above her.
“Liz.” Tan had followed her, of course. Her heart filled with an unexpected love, goodness even in such a dark moment. “Jesus,” he said.
A moment later, his hands were on her, and he braced her head. When she started to roll over, he stopped her. “Don’t move. Shit. Did you hit your head?
“I’m fine. I can move. I didn’t break anything.” Liz shook her head, wanting to both be in his arms and to run from his arms. Humiliation was a funny feeling sitting heavy on her chest. “Could you just leave me alone?”
“Fine?” He was actually breathing heavy.
She opened her eyes, rolled to a sit, and rested her head on her knees.
Tan stood and ran a hand through his hair. He walked away only to return and stand in front of her with his hands on his hips.
“I’m sorry for making you run,” she said with a nod toward his feet, “in those crappy shoes. You should buy some good shoes.”
He laughed, like she knew he would, and held out a hand.
She wasn’t going to get her alone time. Ignoring his offer, she got her feet under her. Only the snow-packed ground didn’t release her. Her feet slipped again and she landed on her knees.
Tan towered over her, and she found herself lifted from the ground into his arms. He cradled her and found a decent path to the sidewalk above them.
Carefully, as if she were glass, he set her down on the sidewalk and took her hand.
She had a cramp in her leg by the time they reached the main road, and the slight limp in her gait gave her away. Tan slowed their pace.
Liz stuffed her hands into her pockets. “I’ve never had a friend,” she finally admitted.
“What?”
“I’ve never had a friend. I think there’s something wrong with me.” Not even as a little kid. Not really. Her brothers had been her only real friends, and they hadn’t been the kind of friends she wanted. She’d had teammates, and with them, camaraderie filled the hole for a while, but there was always a lack—a distance when it came to connection.
Because of the competition.
“Until Gabriel, and you see how wonderfully that ended for me.” Another tear escaped and she wiped it away. “I’ve been a loner almost my entire life.” She couldn’t find the strength to get angry. Because the anger anymore was gone, replaced with resignation. “Everyone I’ve been friends with has betrayed me.”
“I’m your friend, Liz. Don’t ever doubt it.”
His words made her throat close, and tears filled her eyes. “We’re more than friends.”
“Yes,” he agreed, putting an arm over her shoulders and drawing her close as they walked. “There’s always someone looking to break the strong.”
“Oh, yeah. So, if I were weak, I’d be fine. I’d have a pocketful of friends and life would be dandy.”
He chuckled. “Maybe.”
Bullcocky, she thought as he helped her down the street. She knew he was complimenting her, but it seemed if she were normal, she’d have friends—like normal people did.
Janice was gone from the scene and so were all but one of the patrol cars. The fire department was working on her shop. Her poor shop. Her lovely little shop, but she hadn’t loved enough to shower it with her own brand of design. She’d held back, even here.
Ice Bitch. Because she’d been afraid to think it could last. “I’ve lost everything,” she said as they approached. Her lip trembled and she bit it to keep herself from crying again.
Tan held her face with gentle hands and his eyes studied her, really looked into her eyes for a long moment and made her want to squirm. “I’m sorry about Janice, Liz. That kind of betrayal—” He stopped. “It hurts. I know, and I’m sorry.”
“Tan—”
He cut her off by kissing her, a slow, intimate reminder of what they shared. But she knew reserve when she saw it. And she hadn’t forgotten they were supposed to talk.
“I want to go home. Could you take me home?”
He nodded, took her hand, and waved to Malcolm as he headed to his truck.
~ 29 ~
Her hands shook, thinking about how close they’d come to discovering her.
And then the explosion. She blew out a breath. So loud. So permanent. She’d never heard anything like it before. It made her whole body feel like it was closing in on her, like a
can crushed in her brother’s hand.
She’d barely escaped out the back.
But she’d seen them through the smoke, standing together. And that girl was one of them, one of the ones who would hurt her boys. She’d done it before. She was doing it now.
The way Tancredo held her.
The way he’d looked at her.
He was falling for this girl and everything would be ruined, just like before.
The one called Janice wanted to kill her, too. Maybe she was one of the good guys. The police had taken her, but sometimes the police were wrong. They’d been wrong about Thomas.
Her cell phone rang, but she ignored it. The walk across town, especially at this time of night, had to be done with lots of vigilance. Vigilance. He’d taught her that word after coming home from one of his missions. He was a smart boy.
Smart. Smart like her.
She stumbled down the curb and crossed another street. When she got to the other side, she had to stop and look around. Where was she? Pulling the small flask from her pocket, she drank deeply. “Warm.”
Her mom had given it to her…or had it been her dad. Too long ago to remember.
She looked around again and then brightened. She knew exactly where she was.
***
He’d thought Liz wanted to go to her dad’s, but she’d surprised him.
And something settled inside him when she directed him back to his own place. She’d taken a shower and now slept on the couch. A nap, she’d said, with a sweet smile as she’d laid her head down on the pillow and closed her eyes.
Malcolm and Craig were still with them. And Mr. Whitney wouldn’t be far behind, but he was out of town and returning tomorrow morning.
So Tan sat in front of her, watching her. His world had broadened with her in it, yet at the same time, had narrowed to the finest point with her as the center. She was everything.
He planned to give her everything and ask her to never leave his crazy life.
“Hey.” Her whispered voice drew his attention, and he crossed to her and crouched in front of her on the couch. “You okay?” she asked.
He rubbed his palms down his jeans. “Yeah, I’m just…relieved Janice is in custody.”
