To the Moon and Back

by Becca Van

  “Oh,” the nurse said as she began to push her toward the hospital entrance. “We’ll, as long as you have someone coming for you.”

  “I do,” she lied again, glad that the nurse was behind her and couldn’t see her blushing cheeks.

  The nurse placed the wheelchair near the building wall on the pavement out of any foot traffic. “I wish I could stay here and wait with you, but I can’t. I have other patients to see to. Would you mind getting the person picking you up to put the chair inside the front doors?”

  “No worries.”

  The nurse moved to stand in front of her. “You take care, Jodi, and make sure you follow the doc’s instructions to the letter.”

  “I will. Thanks again.”

  She smiled, nodded, and hurried back inside.

  Jodi felt guilty over her fibs, but since she didn’t have anyone but Talia to call, and Talia was probably already at working prepping everything in the shop, she didn’t want to disturb her or be a burden.

  She waited for five minutes, hoping that she’d given the nurse enough time to be out of sight of the front doors. When she thought the coast was clear, she slung her purse over her shoulder, stood, unlocked the wheels and pushed the chair back inside the front doors. Thankfully, the receptionist was busy talking to someone and didn’t notice her.

  Jodi stepped outside and thought about calling a cab, but since she’d never ridden in a taxi or paid for anyone else to drive her anywhere, she had no idea what the cost would be and she didn’t think ten bucks was going to cut it.

  After glancing about and not seeing anyone taking any notice of her, she sighed resignedly and started walking.

  It was going to take her a good hour to get home, and she just hoped she didn’t collapse before she reached her destination.

  * * * *

  Walt frowned when the nurse told him and his brothers that Jodi had already left. With defeated sigh he nodded his thanks then turned and walked down the corridor toward the exit.

  He’d thought he and his brothers getting to the hospital by eight would be early enough to offer Jodi a ride home, but they’d been too fucking late. He was angry, but not at the nurse or Jodi. He was angry at himself. If only he hadn’t slept through his fucking alarm and got up when he’d planned to. Though it hadn’t been busy last night at work, he’d been dog tired by the time his shift had ended.

  When he’d finally opened his eyes and realized what time it was, he’d quickly roused his brothers, had the fastest shower on record, and poured some fresh hot coffee into his and his brothers travel mugs. As soon as his brothers had made an appearance they’d locked up, climbed into his truck, and driven toward town.

  The house they’d bought was in the new estate just outside of the town proper and to the east. It had taken him approximately fifteen minutes to drive through town and to the hospital. Even though Slick Rock wasn’t a busy metropolis, at that time of morning there was more traffic on the roads as people drove to work and took their kids to school and childcare centers. Between seven and nine in the morning was usually the busiest time of day in the small Colorado town, and from around three till six at night. Any other time of the day, there wasn’t much traffic at all.

  “Did the nurse say who came to get her?” Emmet asked.

  “No, but I didn’t bother to ask either,” Walt replied. “She probably called Talia.”

  “No, she didn’t,” Dirk said.

  “What?” Walt had been just about to get into the driver’s seat of his truck but stared at Dirk over the roof of the cab. “How the fuck would you know that she didn’t call Talia?”

  “Because I spotted Talia in the shop on the way through town.”

  “Are you sure?” Emmet frowned.

  “You think I’d make that shit up?” Dirk snapped.

  “Calm down, Dirk.” Walt jerked the door open, sat behind the wheel, and started the car.

  “Maybe she called a cab,” Emmet suggested.

  Walt rubbed at the back of his neck when the skin on his nape prickled and his hair there stood upright. Without saying a word to his brothers, he put the vehicle in gear and drove out of the parking lot. His internal alarm was ringing for whatever reason, but he wasn’t about to dismiss it. His sixth sense had saved his life more than once. He couldn’t fathom if he was on alert because he hadn’t seen Jodi this morning and was worried, or if it was for some other reason, but he wasn’t going to discount it.

  When he got to the crossroad he turned left, perusing the sidewalks as he drove toward Jodi’s place. Minutes later he turned left again. Anger and worry warred inside of him, causing his muscles to tense up, and he clenched his jaw so damn tight he was concerned he was going to snap a tooth.

  About five hundred yards ahead of him was a small figured wearing blue scrubs walking along the side of the road. There was no way he could mistake her for anyone else when he saw her hair fluttering in the breeze.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Dirk snarled.

  “What?” Emmet asked from the back seat. “What’s wrong? Is there an accident?”

  Walt glanced in the rearview mirror just as Emmet leaned forward to peer out the windscreen. “Of all the stupid fucking… Does she have a fucking death wish?”

  Walt was too riled to speak. He was worried that if he opened his mouth a heap of vitriol would spew forth.

  If she was his woman and she was healthy he’d have put her over his knees and spanked her ass.

  He slowed the truck as he got closer, sucked in a few deep breaths trying to get his fury on a leash, and then he parked just off the side of the road. Dirk and Emmet were out of the cab seconds before he was, but he followed his brothers quickly.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” Emmet shouted.

  Walt grasped his brother’s shoulder and squeezed, silently telling him to back off.

  Jodi was as pale as a ghost and looked about ready to keel over. She certainly wasn’t up to dealing with them haranguing her even if she deserved it. Walt stepped closer to her and stared down into her amazing blue eyes for a brief moment. His heart flipped when he saw sadness, guilt, and pain in those beautiful orbs.

  Instead of asking her if she wanted a ride or telling her to get into the truck, he moved fast and scooped her up into his arms. She gasped and when she didn’t protest he knew she had to be feeling pretty bad. As he strode toward the truck he looked down at her. Her eyes were closed and she was resting her cheek on his shoulder. Her lips were pulled tight, and from the way she was squeezing her eyes closed, she had a very bad headache. His first instinct was to take her back to the hospital and have her checked by a doctor, but he changed his mind. It would be better if he took her home with them so they could keep an eye on her. Plus, she’d be safe at their house while he and his brothers were working.

  Just thinking about the bastards who’d scared her made him even angrier. He didn’t want her in the isolated house all by herself. If those assholes came back there was no telling what would happen to her.

  For all he knew they were biding their time by playing their cat and mouse game. If the cats got sick of messing with their prey and made their move, Jodi could be killed.

  There was no fucking way he was letting that happen.

  After lowering her on the back seat, locking her seatbelt in place, he closed the door and climbed back into the truck.

  Jodi didn’t say a word as he drove toward her house, but then neither did he or his brothers. The air in the cab was fraught with tension, and he hoped by the time they got to her home, he and his brothers had calmed down.

  He also wasn’t going to let Jodi out of the vehicle. He was going to order her to hand over the keys so that his brothers could go inside and pack her a bag. Then he was taking her home and tucking her into bed. Walt was also going to call one of the docs and ask them to make a house call.

  He needed to know that she hadn’t just made any of her injuries worse.

  Chapter Five

 
Jodi couldn’t believe that the Kyson brothers had found her. She felt so contrite over what she’d done, but she was also grateful the men had come along when they had. She’d only been walking for about fifteen minutes, and that had been way too long. She was so damn tired and her head was throbbing so much, she was feeling ill.

  Tears welled under her closed eyelids, but she didn’t want the deputies to see her so vulnerable, so she turned her head toward the side window and surreptitiously wiped her cheeks.

  When the truck slowed and she was sure there were no residual traces of her tears, she pried her lids open and sighed with relief when she realized that they were at her house.

  Walt parked outside the small detached garage, but as she unclipped her seatbelt and reached for the door handle, he turned and met her gaze. “Stay where you are.”

  “I don’t need help getting out of the truck,” she said, ignoring his directive as she opened the door and slid to the ground. In the next moment all three of the brothers were standing in front of her, their hands on their hips and scowls on their faces. “Thank you for the ride home. I’ll be fine now.”

  “You have to be the stubbornest woman I’ve ever met,” Emmet said through clenched teeth.

  Jodi shrugged as she shuffled to the side, intent on getting around them, going inside and locking the door. She hadn’t taken more than two sidesteps before she was stopped. Emmet gripped her wrist firmly, but he didn’t hurt her. She tried to tug her wrist from his hold, but he disregarded her efforts.

  “Why didn’t you call us if you didn’t have anyone to bring you home?” Dirk asked.

  Since she was too tired to deal with them, she shrugged again, but when she glanced up at them and saw the determined resolve in their eyes, she knew she didn’t have a choice. “Look, I appreciate what you’ve done for me, but why would I call you? I don’t know you. You don’t know me. We’re strangers. I was taught like any other child to never talk to or accept a ride with someone I not familiar with.”

  “You think we’d fucking hurt you?” Walt asked incredulously. “We’re fucking cops, for Christ’s sake.”

  “So?” Jodi shot back. “You’ve never heard of a crooked cop before?”

  “We’d never hurt you, Jodi,” Dirk stated. “We’d rather rip out our own hearts than hurt you, or any other woman or child. We’ve spent years in the Marines protecting those weaker than we are and fighting to keep our country safe. If you had any concerns all you had to do was call one or both of the sheriffs and ask.”

  “I wasn’t… I didn’t…” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say you were bad men, but surely you understand my cautious reserve?”

  “We do,” Emmet answered. “I’m glad that you’re being careful about your safety, but you still need a keeper. Do you think we can’t tell how fucking exhausted you are, or that you’re in pain?”

  “Do you think we’re monsters?” Dirk asked.

  “No.” She frowned. “Of course not.”

  “Are you scared of us?” Walt asked.

  She glanced away. While she wasn’t scared of them per se, she was frightened of her reaction to them and what they represented. They were a threat to her independence and her heart. She’d vowed when she’d hit her teens that she’d never get involved with a man, but here she was tempted to get involved with three men. When Walt nudged her chin up with a finger, she jerked back, but he clasped her chin gently but firmly, holding her still. He leaned down toward her until his nose was practically touching the tip of hers, making it hard for her to focus, and she blinked. He must have noticed her discomfit to his proximity and her difficulty seeing him, because he backed up slightly.

  “Answer my question, Jodi,” he commanded.

  If he hadn’t been holding her chin she would have lifted it higher, but since he was and she couldn’t do what she wanted, she made sure her answer was full of conviction. “No, you don’t scare me.”

  “Good.” He dropped his hand from her face.

  Is that relief I can see in his eyes?

  “Give me your keys, baby,” Walt ordered.

  Baby? Does he think I’m a fucking child?

  “I don’t need your help getting inside,” she stated defiantly, then shoved her way through them and hurried toward her front door. She was hoping to get inside quickly and shut them out, but she didn’t think they were going to leave her alone anytime soon. And they’d had the nerve to call her stubborn. Pot, kettle.

  Each step she took hurt her sore muscles and made her head ache more, but she attempted to push the pain to the back of her mind. She couldn’t hear the men walking behind her and wasn’t game to look, but she had a feeling they were following her.

  Jodi sighed as she ascended the steps to her small front porch, her hand in her purse as she scrounged for her keys. She raised her head as she stepped onto the last stair and gasped when she saw that her front door was ajar. Without thinking things through, she pushed the door wider, but before she could cross the threshold, someone clutched her shoulder from behind, stopping her, and she nearly screamed with fear.

  “Move to the side,” Walt whispered urgently.

  Jodi shifted sideways on trembling legs and leaned against the side of the house. When she saw the gun in Walt’s hand she gaped at him. Dirk was right behind him, and he was also holding a firearm.

  Emmet moved to stand so close in front of her they were almost touching, and she could feel the heat from his body seeping into hers. When she looked up at him and noticed he was looking all about as if searching for the enemy, she leaned around him and tried to see, too. He must have seen her move from the corner of his eye or felt her body brush against his, because in the next second he’d pressed his large frame against her practically pinning her in place.

  It was all she could do to stop herself from squirming. Her heart began to race and her breathing sped up. Her breasts grew heavy and swollen, her nipples hardened and her pussy grew wet. Her clit started throbbing as it engorged. Liquid heat pooled low in her belly and her panties dampened.

  She was about to put her hands on his chest and shove him off of her, but just before she did, Walt and Dirk exited the house. The muscles in Walt’s face were pulled tight with tension, and when he met her gaze, she saw fury in his brown eyes. She glanced at Dirk and saw that he was just as angry as his brother.

  “What’s going on?” Jodi asked, finally pushing against Emmet’s chest. Thankfully, he took a step back but before she could move, he entwined her fingers with his.

  “Take her back to the truck,” Walt instructed.

  Jodi had had enough of them telling her what to do. She eyed the open doorway to her home, glanced at where Walt and Dirk were standing, and shored up her resolve. Drawing in a deep breath, she moved faster than she should have causing her muscles to hurt and her head to thump, but she tugged her hand from Emmet’s, charged through the gap and rushed inside.

  What she saw as she entered her home, caused her heart to stop beating and her mouth to gape open.

  The place was a mess. It looked as if a cyclone had gone through her house, destroying everything inside. The small two seater sofa was up on its side, the material had been torn open and she could see the metal frame. Stuffing was strewn all over the place and there was nothing left of the cushions.

  She stepped forward on shaky legs to her bedroom and stood in the hallway glancing from one bedroom to the other. She didn’t need to go inside to see the destruction that had been wrought.

  Her clothes had been pulled from the closet and the dresser, tossed carelessly onto the floor. The quilt, which had been on her bed, was nowhere to be seen but when she saw bits of sky blue material amongst her clothes, she moaned. The mattress was hanging off the bed and looked as if it had been slashed open.

  The picture frame that was usually on the one and only bedside table was upside down on the floor. With a moan of grief, she hurried over to it, knelt, and picked it up. Tears welled and rolled down her cheeks. Th
e glass had been shattered, and while most of the photograph appeared to be intact, the edges were bent and curled. This was the one and only picture she had of her deceased mother. A mother she’d never known and couldn’t remember since she’d died a few months after Jodi had been born.

  She startled when a large warm hand clasped her shoulder, which she tried to shrug off, but in the next moment she was being lifted from the floor to her feet. When Walt turned her around and saw the tears, an emotion she couldn’t discern flashed across his face and then she was in his arms.

  “I’m so fucking sorry, baby. I didn’t want you to see this.” He pulled her tighter against him, one arm around her shoulders while he caressed up and down her back with his hand.

  “Why?” she asked. The pain inside was so bad she couldn’t contain it. The tears flowed faster, and she started to sob. “Why would they do this?” She gripped his shirt in her fist. “Who would do this?”

  “I don’t know, baby, but we intend to find out.”

  With a shuddering breath, her tears stopped and she drew back, swiping a hand over her face to remove the moisture from her cheeks.

  “Come on, let’s get you out of here.” Before she could take a step, Walt scooped her up into his arms, turning then striding quickly from her bedroom, through the house, and outside.

  Just as he lowered her to the back seat of his truck, patrol vehicles drove down her driveway. Although she didn’t know them well, she’d seen and met the Sheffield brothers. Deputies Wilder, Cree, and Nash Sheffield looked angry, as the hurried toward her house, but they nodded at her as they passed the vehicle. Brax and Ajay Rhodes joined Walt, Dirk, and Emmet on her front porch.

  When all the men disappeared inside, Jodi closed her eyes, trying to keep her mind blank, but after everything she’d been through, it all became too much. She lowered herself onto the back seat, lying on her side, clutching the photo and broken frame against her chest, pulled her legs up closer to her body and she cried. She had no idea how long she wept for, but when she was done, she was so exhausted she couldn’t keep her eyes open as sleep tugged her down into its warm embrace.