Connecting Strangers (Discovering Emily)

by Rachel Carrington

  I listen to them arguing, but I’m not hearing most of what they say. Numbness has set in. I knew Mark would play his ace, but this move has his father written all over it. Ike Metzger would do anything to help his son get what he wants. And this is the path he’s chosen. There’s no fighting it. At least not for now.

  Lips pursed, Francine backs up. “You just tell that deputy, whenever he decides to saunter in tomorrow morning, that Emily has friends here, and we’re going to stand behind her. And if knows what’s good for him, he’ll make sure she gets back to Broomtown safe and sound. I know how to find people.”

  “I believe I’ll leave the threat out of it when I talk to him.” Adam sighs and closes the car door. Now the conversation is muffled, and from the corner of my eye I see Francine’s hands waving frantically. She’s nowhere near done with what she has to say, but Adam is finished listening.

  She taps the window to draw my attention. I look at her, and she tells me it’s going to be okay. But I know Mark. I expected him to come looking for me, but this, whoever’s behind it, is a whole new level of mean.

  I train my gaze on the trees out the window, watching them swaying in the chilly breeze. I shouldn’t be surprised that Ike is playing dirty. It’s what he does best. And Mark’s always been his puppet.

  The driver’s side door opens, and Adam gets into the front seat. He sits there for a long moment without starting the engine even though our breaths are frosting in the air. “Dammit, Emily. Why couldn’t you just tell me?”

  “I barely know you, Adam, and I don’t make a habit of spilling my guts to people I don’t know.” It’s the first excuse that comes to mind. Telling Adam had been so far down on my list it was barely visible. Because I didn’t know how he would respond. If it would end what we’d found together.

  “But sleeping with them is okay?”

  The bitter words create a knot in the pit of my stomach, and I glare at him in the rearview. “I think I’m going to take Francine’s advice. I wouldn’t want you to have to testify at my trial.”

  “Did you tell Francine anything about this?”

  I refuse to answer, and after another long moment littered with Adam’s curses, he starts the car. The heater blasts out hot air in a matter of seconds, but I still can’t feel my skin. I’m wrapped in a shroud of ice as I face a past I’ll never escape.

  Chapter Ten

  Keys clank when Adam opens the door to a cell that holds a cot with a wool blanket and a calendar hanging on the wall. The last resident had marked red x’s through the dates leading up to yesterday. I wonder if he was pardoned or transferred to prison.

  Adam opens my cuffs and removes them from my wrists. Before I move away from him, he catches me with one arm around my waist. He draws me in slowly, and it’s like a dance, a sad pirouette from a disgraced ballerina.

  When my breasts touch his chest, I bite back the tears. Last night seems so very far away. He holds me, his hands splayed across my back, and I breathe him in, knowing it could be the last time we’re this close.

  He pulls back and lifts my chin with two fingers. We stare into one another’s eyes before the distance between us evaporates. The air morphs into a vacuum, and we need to be close to breathe. His hands capture my face, and his lips take mine in a bruising kiss that’s part anger, part desperation.

  I feed off his emotions, fisting my hands in his hair and arching my body against his. Will this be our last connection? The question resounds in my head as he slams me into the iron bars. I grip them behind me, the contrast of cold welcome against the heat singeing my skin.

  We leave words behind, our bodies becoming our only means of communication. Adam lifts my blouse over my breasts but doesn’t remove it. Anyone could walk in. See us. His career would be destroyed. I try to protest, to remind him, but he’s on fire, igniting me.

  His hands claim every inch of my body, and I’m panting when he lowers the zipper on my jeans. We shouldn’t do this. Common sense is a whisper in the back of my mind, but this all-consuming hunger speaks louder. It demands satisfaction.

  Adam lifts me, his hot hands cupping me as he swings me around to the painted brick wall. I hear the sound of his zipper. And I reach for him, grasping any part of him I can. Just needing the contact of flesh against flesh.

  Our bodies come together in a mad rush of slick heat and punishing strokes. Each thrust fuels his fury, but I welcome it. It’s a feeling. Something I can cling to. He wouldn’t be angry if there wasn’t something uniting us. A reason he wants to save me.

  My release comes too soon. I bite into his shoulder to quell my cries, but he doesn’t hold his in. When his body sags against mine, I cradle his head and kiss the top. It’s the final brief moment before he lowers my feet to the floor.

  In silence, we restore our clothing. He kisses me once more, a sweeter touch of his lips against mine, then walks out of the cell, closing it behind him.

  The heavy clang sounds so final that tears spring to my eyes.

  He turns to face me, swallowing hard before he speaks. “Francine is right. You need a lawyer.”

  I don’t need to tell him I have no money for a lawyer. It doesn’t matter anyway. No amount of legal maneuvering is going to get me out of this. I’m sure Mark staged the scene before calling the police. And what he missed, his daddy fixed. I’d given them plenty of fuel anyway. I’d left the gun behind with my fingerprints, and I ran. Even Adam could testify to that.

  Reading my mind, Adam reaches through the bars and covers my hands with his. “I’ve known plenty of people who’ve walked away from charges like this. Being in here doesn’t mean it’s over.”

  “I’m sorry. I should have told you. You probably would have felt different about getting involved, however briefly, with a criminal.”

  One corner of his lips curls upwards in a half-smile. “I don’t know about that. That bit of information didn’t stop what just happened in that cell.” He squeezes my fingers then quickly drops his hands as the door to his office swings open wide.

  For a moment, my world rocks out of control. Mark looms in the doorway, his face set in a scowl. It used to be a handsome face, but the years of liquor and hard living haven’t been kind. I can see that clearly now.

  His ice blue eyes zero in on my face, and he smirks and saunters toward me. “Emily. It’s about time the police caught up with you.” He adjusts the sling on his arm and winces. I’m sure it’s all for show, and Adam isn’t buying it, either. I see his jaw clench.

  “So you’re the bastard that left a mark on her like you own her.” Adam takes a stealthy step forward. “I should put a bullet between your eyes, but then I’d have to bury you.”

  Mark sneers back. “Is that what she told you? I marked her?” He guffaws and rubs his stomach like he just enjoyed a good meal. “Guess she left out the part where she got drunk and asked me to do it. She wanted everyone to know she was my girl.”

  Adam’s hands clench into fists at his sides. “Yeah, right. That’s exactly why you put it so high up on her thigh. So everyone could see it.”

  “I admit I was a little drunk myself. My aim was off.”

  It only takes a second for Adam to grab a handful of the pea-green polo shirt Mark’s wearing.

  “Adam.” I call out to him not because I don’t want him to hurt Mark. I could care less if he pummels my ex into a bloody heap. But I don’t want Adam to risk his career. “He’s not worth it.”

  “That’s not what you said for eight years, Princess.” Mark winks at me, cocky now that I’m behind bars. He’s pulled the string that put me here and thinks he’s holding all the cards.

  I make sure he can see the disgust on my face and add a liberal dose to my tone when I reply. “I don’t have anything to say to you, Mark, so you wasted a trip.” ”

  “And she doesn’t have to speak to you.” Though Adam has released Mark, he keeps himself in front of me, letting my ex know he’s not getting anywhere near me. Just like he promised.

 
“Maybe she’ll change her mind when she sees I’m here to bail her out.” Mark pulls a wad of cash out of the front pocket of his designer jeans. Even with as much money as he spends on booze, he’s never short on cash. Not as long as Daddy Metzger is alive and well. “This way, she doesn’t have to spend the night in this hole in the wall. She can await trial back at home. Where she belongs.”

  I stare at the money before lifting my gaze to his face. Inside, I’m burning. Not from fear or anxiety. This is a cold burn that’s fueled by rage and determination. That’s been building for a long time.

  As I stand there facing my ex, anxiety slips away. Ice envelops my heart, and I glare back at him, making sure he can see the revulsion in my eyes. “I don’t want your money. In fact, I’d rather rot in this cell or any other cell than take anything from you.”

  His face turns a deep shade of red, but he’s not easily thwarted. He wants me back. Not because he has any intention of pursuing the charges. This is just his way of reining me in, letting me know he holds the leash to my choke collar.

  Shoulders squared, he tries to step around Adam, but his path is blocked. Adam tops him by a good four inches, and I can tell that irks Mark more than where he’s standing. “I’d like to talk to my girlfriend.” The edge to his voice doesn’t move Adam.

  “I’m not your girlfriend,” I remind him in a voice I barely recognize as my own.

  He sears a glance back at me. “Maybe that’s not how you see it, but some things are meant to be, Princess.”

  I’ve always hated the nickname. Usually, I let him know it. Now, I don’t care. He can use whatever tools he has in his arsenal, and he might win. I could go to prison, but he won’t have me.

  Mark tries to step around Adam once again, but there’s no room.

  “Sorry. Since you’re the one who filed charges, you can’t talk to her, not without her lawyer present.” Adam folds his arm, clearly assessing the former linebacker I’d spent over eight years with. “You’ll be notified when Ms…” He stops, and I realize I never told him my real last name. He recovers quickly. “When she’s being transferred back to Broomtown.”

  Mark’s lip curls even more when he rakes his gaze up and down Adam’s long, lean body. I suppose he’s assessing whether or not he could take him. “Well, Em, it looks like you’ve gone and gotten yourself a real, live knight in shining armor. I’ll bet he’ll be real quick to take off that suit once he finds out who you really are.”

  Adam’s muscles tense. I want to reach out to him, to stop whatever violence he might be considering. But he regains control too quickly, though his voice, when he speaks, is razor sharp. “If you’re staying in town, I can show you to the closest hotel.”

  “Damned straight I’m staying in town. I ain’t leaving without her.” He makes another attempt to circumvent Adam without success.

  “Actually, Mr. Metzger, you are. She’ll be turned over to a deputy from Broomtown tomorrow morning. You’ll be able to testify at her trial. Until then, you have no business here, and she has nothing to say to you.”

  “You don’t seem to be understanding, Sheriff. I’m here to bail Emily out. Now you get busy with the paperwork while her and me have ourselves a little chat.”

  “Not going to happen.” Adam drops all pretense of being polite and takes a step toward Mark, a move that put his back directly in front of me.

  Mark puffs out his chest. I’ve seen the posture hundreds of times. It’s his fighting stance. He’s not scared of the badge Adam wears because his father is his lifeline, having bailed him out of more situations than I care to remember. Only Ike Metzger doesn’t have pull here…at least, I know he doesn’t own this sheriff.

  “Why you being so protective of her?” Suspicion creeps into his voice as he leans around Adam to look at me again. His gaze chills. “You been a little busy these last couple of days, Emily? Maybe sharing some of your sweetness with the local folks?”

  “Well, since I left you, I can’t see how that’s any of your business.” I shiver as I watch his gaze shift back and forth between me and Adam. I know this man, his capabilities. I’ve seen the damage he can do and the myriad ways he’s escaped punishment. This is a dangerous game, one Adam shouldn’t be involved in. It isn’t his battle to fight. It’s mine, and I’ve waited too damned long to fight it.

  Mark bares his teeth in a snarl. “You didn’t leave me.” He enunciates each word slowly. Coldly.

  I don’t back down. “Really? Then that wasn’t my car spitting gravel in your face?”. “I guess you didn’t tell the sheriff in Broomtown that you were standing up when I left, that you’d come after me. It’s going to be hard to make an attempted murder charge stick when the bullet didn’t come anywhere near a major organ.”

  “It ain’t my fault you’re a bad shot.”

  My hands turn cold as they grip the bars. “I wanted you dead, Mark. There were nights I prayed for it, but I would never waste my freedom on a piece of garbage like you.” Maybe it’s Adam standing so close, but I’m feeling stronger. Determined even.

  “Get smart all you want to. You’re going back to Broomtown, and then we’ll see who gets quiet real quick.”

  “I’ve had just about enough of you. Now you can leave on your own two feet, or I can toss you out on your ass. Your choice.” Adam shrugs like it makes no difference to him either way.

  “Your job is to uphold the law, Sheriff.” Mark uses the title with as much disdain as he can inject into one word. “Not make it. You don’t get to say who stays and goes.” His attention is back on me. “You know how this is going to end, Em. Make it easy on yourself. People get hurt when they don’t do what they know is right. Remember how I used to tell you that? How many times did I tell your folks they needed to move? Your dad’s vision wasn’t all that good, and I knew it wasn’t good for him to be riding up and down those mountains. If he’d have just listened…” He tsks and shakes his head. “But I know you. You’ll do the right thing.”

  Bringing up my parents is his way of pouring salt into a wound that’s never completely healed. He knows how long it took me to move forward after their deaths and how I still mourn them when a memory touches my heart. “I’m not listening to any more of this.” I catch Adam’s gaze as I turn away. There’s so much fury in his eyes, I’m sure he’s going to explode any minute.

  “You need to leave before this goes really bad for you.” It’s not a suggestion Adam is making, but I know Mark will only go when he’s ready to go. To hell with the consequences.

  “And you need to kiss my ass.” Mark jerks his head toward the door. “Why don’t you wait outside and let me talk to my girlfriend like I told you?”

  Silence descends for several, tense moments. I don’t see Adam’s hands move before they’re clamped around Mark’s wrists. He’s escorting my ex-boyfriend to the door with Mark trying to dig his heels in. In spite of Mark’s bulldog frame, Adam scoots him across the tiled floor without breaking a sweat.

  Cussing all the way, Mark struggles to get free. As Adam gives him one final shove and slams the door, Mark’s temper soars, and his tactics switch to threats. His fists beat against the wood as he yells curses and promises of retribution.

  “He’ll go away. Just ignore him.” The words fall on deaf ears, and I cringe when Adam turns back to the door, opens it slowly.

  “Did you just threaten me?” His voice is low and quiet.

  Mark is now face to face with him. “You got bad hearing?”

  “Nope. Just checking.” In another swift move that catches Mark off guard, Adam sweeps the handcuffs from the leather pouch connected to his belt, and he’s spinning Mark around. “Since I don’t really want you in my jail, I’m going to give you the option to walk away.” He presses Mark into the wooden door frame. “But this is a limited time offer. Say one more thing, even a syllable, and I’ll stuff your ass into a cell, and you’ll be the one needing the bail money. You might think you’re something in your town, but you don’t mean a damned thing t
o anyone here. So don’t make the mistake of thinking you call the shots.”

  I can’t see Mark’s face, but he’s backing down. His voice drops, and I recognize the weasly tone. It’s finally dawned on him he isn’t in his daddy’s territory. I hear boots scuffle on the wooden steps then Adam slams the door shut.

  He doesn’t immediately turn around, just stands there with one hand pressed against the wall. “What in the hell did you ever see in that guy?”

  “It was a football/cheerleader thing.” I sit down on the rickety cot and study my hands. “He’ll be back with his dad who, by the way, is ten times worse.”

  “I’ll make sure to keep the closed sign up.” Adam pivots, and the look in those warm, hazel eyes shakes me. I don’t know what he’s going to say next, but I can already tell it’s not something I want to hear. “Dammit, Emily.” He drags a hand through his hair, looks away for a moment before catching my gaze again. “I don’t want to do this or say it. All I want to do is beat the shit out of Mark and run him out of town. After that, I want to take you back to my house and hold you until you really believe you’re safe.”

  “But you can’t.”

  His teeth grind together. “I have to keep my distance.”

  “I know.” I summon a smile. “You wear a badge, and I’m on my way to prison.”

  “Don’t say that.” He strides back to the cell and calls me over to him, but I shake my head. “This is only the beginning. Nothing is set in stone.” The unspoken ‘yet’ hangs in the air.

  “I left the gun, Adam. It has my fingerprints all over it. You caught me hauling ass out of town. What would any jury think?”

  His jaw clenches so tight I can hear his teeth grind. “He hurt you, Emily. You had every right to protect yourself.”

  Tears are waiting, but I blink them back. “That happened the night before. I was trying to leave when he came home.”

  “Shit. Stop.” He holds up one hand.

  “You wanted the truth.”