The Embrace Series: Romantic Suspense Box Set

by Dana Mason

  “It will be.” He embraced her again. “I’ll go to the station and find out about your dad while you go talk to your uncle. Just do everything your dad said to do.”

  “Melissa, there’s no point in talking to Mark. You need to find Brian a lawyer,” Ali said.

  Melissa turned her back on Ali and ducked into the house to grab her keys. When she stepped back outside, she laced her fingers with Erin’s. “I’m taking Erin to Mark’s. Are you coming or not?”

  “I know you’re upset, but you don’t have to take this out on me.”

  Melissa closed her eyes. After taking a deep breath, she opened them and met her sister’s eyes. They both knew, they both felt, they both hurt, that was always true . . . but Ali didn’t get it this time. Ali had always, always landed on her feet. Melissa’s life had not been so charmed, and now, she finally had exactly what she wanted within reach, but she couldn’t quite grasp it in her hands. It was her worst nightmare coming true. But as much as she wanted to rage at Ali, it wouldn’t solve anything for either of them. Melissa had to focus on Brian. He was everything.

  “Ali, I have to do what Brian asked. I’ll figure the rest out after that.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Erin didn’t have any fingernails left when they stepped into Summors Security, but she couldn’t stop gnawing at them anyway. Her face hurt from crying, and she was so confused. Why did her daddy want her to tell Uncle Mark everything and not Melissa. And how much of everything? Another tear slipped out, and she rubbed her raw face with her sleeve. God, her head hurt. If she could just close her eyes for a minute and think about what she should do next.

  It wasn’t until they stepped on the plush carpet of the lobby that Erin realized she wasn’t wearing shoes. The concrete outside had dampened her socks, and if it weren’t for that one little truth, she’d think she was having a nightmare. Melissa was still wearing her dad’s too-large sweats, and her face grew a little paler by the minute.

  Maybe this entire thing was a nightmare. If she’d wake up, she could have her mom back. She’d tell her everything, even about Coach. She just wanted her mom and dad home. She wanted them to tell her everything was okay.

  She didn’t hear her Uncle Mark talking to them until Melissa tugged her arm.

  “Johnny called and said you were on your way. What the hell is going on?” he asked Ali.

  “Erin needs to talk to you,” Ali said.

  Mark looked at Melissa and Erin then back at Ali. “Talk to me about what? What the hell happened?”

  “Someone tried to murder Frank Jeffries on Friday night.”

  “I read that in the paper this morning. So . . . what, they think it was Brian?”

  “They found one of Brian’s guns,” Melissa said.

  Erin wanted to scream at them that her daddy didn’t do it, but she had to do what her dad told her to do. If only she understood why she couldn’t tell Auntie Ali. None of this made sense.

  “Son of a bitch.” Mark rubbed his face with his hands and looked over at Erin and Melissa again. “What are you doing here, Lis?”

  “She and Brian are together,” Ali said, not hiding the trepidation in her voice. Erin wanted to hit her. Daddy and Melissa were back together, and that was a good thing. He loves her. He’s happy with her . . . at least he was until I screwed up and dropped Mom’s gun. God, what have I done?

  Mark’s eyes grew wide. “Really?”

  Ali nodded.

  “Okay, well, Erin, let’s talk.” He waved her into his office and into a chair across from his desk. He sat down in his chair. “Erin, I’m not a lawyer, why did your dad tell you to talk to me?”

  Good question. “I don’t know, but he told me to tell you everything, but only you. He said you would help us.” She took a deep breath and started to count, forcing back her tears.

  “Where was your dad on Friday night?” Mark asked.

  Erin squared her shoulders, ready to come clean and help her dad. “He was with Melissa, at her apartment.”

  “At Melissa’s apartment? Are you sure?”

  She nodded. “I’m sure. Even Melissa said so, but Daddy told her not to tell anyone.”

  “Why would he—” he stopped, nodded, and said, “Erin, where were you on Friday night?”

  Erin drew in a deep breath. “Me and Cody stayed the night at Gran and Granpop’s house . . . but I snuck out after dinner and—”

  “You left Gran and Granpop’s?”

  She nodded and her eyes teared up again. She slapped her hands over her face and just kept nodding her head to hold in her sobs

  “Where did you go, sweetheart? When you left your grandparent’s house?”

  She scrubbed at her face and tried to open her eyes. “I went to the school and shot Coach Jeffries.”

  Uncle Mark leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. “You shot Coach Jeffries?”

  She nodded and hiccupped hard when she tried to catch her breath.

  “Were you trying to kill him?”

  She shrugged. “Yes—no! I don’t know. I just wanted him to leave me alone.”

  He leaned farther over, anger flaring in his eyes. He frowned, and that made her flinch, even though she deserved for everyone to be pissed at her. “What did he do to you, Erin?”

  She stood up and turned away from him, her hands latched onto the front of her hoodie to hold it closed. She had to tell him something, but she just couldn’t say that. “He keeps harassing me at school and trying to talk to me.”

  “Why didn’t you tell your dad?”

  “Because I didn’t want him in trouble.”

  “Erin,” Mark said, exasperated. “He’s in bigger trouble now.”

  “But you’re going to help him,” she said and could no longer hold back her tears. “I did it, not him.”

  Mark stood and approached her. “You’re not telling me everything.”

  She closed her eyes for a moment, waiting for her stomach to settle. When Uncle Mark placed his hand under her elbow, she jerked away quickly, sucking in a deep breath. Her body trembled harder. She didn’t know how much longer she could stand without her knees buckling from all the shaking.

  Mark held out his hands, palms up, then he waved one of his hands toward the sofa. “Please sit back down.”

  She jerked out a nod and slid down onto his plush leather sofa.

  “Honey, do you know anything about my wife, Sarah?”

  Erin closed her eyes, thankful for the change in subject. “Yes.” She tried to smile because she liked Sarah and loved playing with their new baby daughter, Katelyn.

  “Do you know that Sarah’s a rape victim . . . and she was also very skittish when men came near her? She was like that for a long time.”

  Erin raised her hand and lifted it to her mouth. “I’m sorry. That’s awful. I didn’t know.”

  “It’s important that you talk to someone, sweetheart. If Coach Jeffries has done something besides harass you, it’s very important for you to tell someone.”

  She shook her head fiercely. “I wasn’t raped, Uncle Mark.”

  “But something happened.”

  She closed her eyes and held her breath for a moment. It was time. Too much had happened. It was time to tell everyone what she’d done. She opened her eyes and met his. The angry expression was gone. Now he looked kind, concerned, and like her, he seemed a little afraid of her answer. She couldn’t say it out loud, so she just nodded.

  He exhaled and closed his eyes, too, for a second before standing to pace in a circle. After two circles, he knelt down directly in front of her. “If I bring Auntie Ali in here, will you talk to her?” He ran his hand through his hair. “Would it be easier to talk to another girl?”

  “My daddy told me not to talk to her.”

  Uncle Mark nodded quickly. “I understand, but . . .” He looked over at the door then back at her. “Erin, your dad asked you to talk to me because he wants me to erase the security footage from Melissa’s apartment. He wants me to eliminate his
alibi so he can confess to shooting Jeffries.”

  She jumped to her feet. “No! He didn’t. I did it! It was me!”

  “He believes he’s protecting you. That’s what I would do, too, and he knows that. He planned for you to tell me the truth about the shooting so I can do whatever is necessary to protect you, but, Erin, he doesn’t have the whole story.”

  She dropped back down onto the sofa. “I don’t want my dad to go to jail.”

  “I don’t either.” He leaned in to get her to look at him. “Honey, this is hard, I get that, but if you shot him to protect yourself, you haven’t done anything wrong . . . and you’re the only person who can stop Coach Jeffries from getting away with whatever it is he’s done.”

  She nodded, knowing for absolute sure she could face jail if she had to because she had done lots of things wrong. She wouldn’t let her dad suffer for her mistakes, and she wouldn’t let Cody lose another parent after already losing their mom. This thought brought tears back to her eyes. God, what she’d give to have her mom here right now. “I’ll talk to Auntie Ali and Melissa.”

  Brian sat in the interrogation room, staring at the two-way mirror, and wanted to laugh. How did he get here? How does one go from number one detective, to suspended detective, to attempted murder suspect in such a short period of time? How could Julie have brought this bastard into their lives to wreak such havoc? We were happy! We were doing everything right! What the hell happened? What the hell happened to Erin to bring her to such lengths? Why would she shoot someone? Why didn’t he see she was in so much trouble? God damn it!

  He investigates for a living, and he didn’t see this right under his nose. Everything was his fault. He’d failed Erin. Melissa had become a distraction, and he’d let getting her back become a priority over protecting his kids. What a dumbass. Now he couldn’t be with Melissa anyway.

  Brian rested his face in his hands and thought about the last several weeks. Erin specifically said Jeffries wasn’t bothering her, so why lie? Did she still worry about Brian going after the guy? Shit, he needed to set a better example for his kids. What the hell had he done? And what was he going to do now? He needed to talk to her. He couldn’t pull this confession off without specific details, and no way were they putting his little girl in jail.

  He looked up when the door open. Bennett entered and took the chair across from Brian. “The room’s empty, partner. Tell me what’s going on,” Johnny said, pointing to the mirror.

  “I told you. I shot Jeffries.”

  “No, you didn’t. Gimme a break, Bri. Who are you protecting?”

  Brian sneered at him. “Why would I confess to something I didn’t do?”

  “You tell me. You could have told me anything more believable, because I’m sure you didn’t shoot Jeffries.”

  “What makes you so sure?”

  “Well, for starters, the gun. Why use some little lady’s gun.”

  Brian looked up at Johnny. “I forgot the gun was registered to me. I didn’t want to use my own gun.”

  “I’d bet every dollar in my bank account this was Julie’s gun. Lemme guess. You bought it and taught her how to shoot it—to protect herself—and I bet you haven’t even looked at that gun in years.”

  “It was my gun, Bennett. You’re barking up the wrong tree.”

  “See, Brian, Ali has a gun, too. Mark bought it for her when they were married for the same reason. He wanted her to be able to protect herself while he worked long shifts. Ali’s a crack shot. How’s Julie?”

  Brian let out a barking laugh. “Julie couldn’t shoot a house if it were two feet in front of her.”

  “So . . . tell me what the deal is.”

  Brian’s smile faded. “I shot Jeffries.”

  “Yeah.” Johnny smirked. “So you want me to believe you shot at Jeffries and missed?”

  “I didn’t miss. He’s got a gunshot wound, doesn’t he?”

  This time Johnny laughed. “Not your best work, partner. Where was it you said you hit him?”

  Damn it! He needed to talk to Erin. “I think I’ll wait for my attorney before I say anything else.”

  Johnny chuckled. “I told you the room’s clear. It’s just us. This is off the record.”

  “Nice try, but no. I’m not stupid. I’ll wait for the lawyer.”

  “Why don’t you tell me who you’re protecting so I can do some real investigative work here, Brian? Right now the only thing you’re guilty of is obstruction of justice. Let’s get on with it, shall we? I have work to do.”

  “I’m not protecting anyone.”

  “What, Bri? Melissa is kinda scary, I get that, but you don’t have to go to such lengths to ditch her.”

  “Fuck you, Bennett!” Brian pounded the table with his fist. “Go to hell.”

  “You’re going to walk away from her? Just give up and let us put you in prison for attempted murder? Could be thirty years—that is, of course, if you can survive the inside. They like cops in prison. Especially cops with your arrest record.”

  “I can’t do anything about Melissa. She has Ali, she’ll be all right.”

  “You’ll be lucky in prison. At least Ali won’t be able to get you.”

  That made Brian smile. “That’s true.”

  Chapter Forty-Three

  When Mark came out of his office, he looked into Ali’s eyes, his expression grim and his skin pale. “Oh God,” Ali said.

  Mark nodded, and Melissa wanted to scream. She hated how they could read each other so well, leaving her in the dark.

  “What?” She slapped her hands to her sides. “What happened?”

  Ali placed a hand over her mouth. “Did Erin shoot Jeffries?”

  Mark pursed his lips and nodded.

  Ali placed a hand on her stomach. “Oh God. What did he do to drive her to such extremes?”

  “I didn’t force her to tell me,” Mark said. “I thought she’d be more comfortable talking to you.”

  It hit Melissa like a ten-ton semi-truck. She didn’t have to be a parent to feel the truth. She didn’t even need to be a woman. The implication alone physically affected her. She sank down onto one of the waiting room chairs.

  “No . . . please tell me I’m misunderstanding. Please tell me that bastard hasn’t . . .”

  “She insisted she wasn’t raped,” Mark said. “I’m absolutely sure Brian sent her over here so she could confess to me. He knew I’d—”

  “Erase the surveillance from Melissa’s apartment,” Ali finished for him. “Of course!”

  “Ali, I live with a rape victim. I know the signs. He’s definitely done something to her.”

  Ali nodded quickly. “I can get her to talk to me.” She barely had the sentence out before walking away from them.

  Melissa was on her heels, following her in.

  When they entered, Erin was sitting on the sofa with her head in her hands. The sight nearly broke Melissa’s heart.

  “Erin, Uncle Mark said you wanted to talk to me now.” Ali stepped closer and said, “Is that true?”

  Erin looked up, and her eyes darted between the two of them. “Yes.”

  “Do you want Melissa to leave?”

  “No,” she said as her eyes filled with tears. “I want Melissa here, too.”

  “Okay.” Ali closed the office door and pulled up a chair as Melissa took a seat on the sofa next to Erin.

  Erin put her hands over her face. “I’m sorry!”

  “Erin, if Mark’s suspicions are true, none of this is your fault. If Jeffries did something to you—no—I know you—I know you would never hurt someone unless you had no choice. Jeffries . . .” Ali’s words came out sounding like a growl. She took a deep breath then tried again. “That scumbag.” She took another breath. “Did he . . . Erin? What did he do?” Ali asked, and her voice turned from hard to tearful.

  Erin looked up quickly, meeting Ali’s eyes. Ali leaned in and took Erin’s hands, holding them tightly.

  “I promise that son of a bitch will pay fo
r whatever he did . . . but I need you to tell me.” Ali’s eyes flickered up to meet Mark’s in the window of the office door.

  Melissa looked over to find him standing erect as marble outside the office.

  “I can’t help your dad or you unless you talk to me. I don’t want to put words in your mouth. It’s up to you to tell me everything.” Ali pulled Erin’s hands closer so Erin would look up at her. “Can you start from the beginning? When did Jeffries start bothering you?”

  “Last year, before school ended,” Erin whispered.

  “I remember you complaining about not wanting to join the water polo team again this year. Your mom was pretty upset about it. Did you tell her why?”

  Erin shook her head with her eyes closed.

  “Listen, sweetheart, you know I love you. You know . . .” She stopped when her voice broke and took a breath. “I loved your mom, and your dad is like a brother to me.”

  Erin nodded.

  “I promise you with everything I have that I will help you through this. Just tell me what we’re dealing with.”

  “I told mom that I didn’t want to take a water sport. I wanted to try softball or soccer instead.”

  “Does Frank Jeffries coach all the water sports?” Ali asked.

  Erin nodded.

  “What was Jeffries doing that was so bothersome last year?”

  “He kept asking me to meet him at the school at night . . . after dinner.”

  “Why, Erin?”

  “He said he wanted to . . .” Erin stopped and pulled her hands away and zipped her jacket up to her chin before crossing them over her chest. Her eyes focused on the ground at Ali’s feet.

  “Erin, honey, Coach Jeffries is an adult, and you are a child. He should never have asked you to meet him after hours or outside of practice or games, especially without your parents,” Ali said.

  Melissa sat in silence between Erin and Ali. She felt sick, unsure of what she was about to hear. She had to fight the urge to shout at Ali to leave Erin alone, but Ali knew what she was doing. Melissa had to trust her sister.

  Melissa had never heard Ali question anyone like this, and now she understood why Ali was such a good attorney. Her method of getting information out of people was detailed and careful.