“No. No, please, I can’t go back there.” She tried to stand, in a panic at the thought. He placed his hands on her legs, holding her to the seat.
“Easy, honey. You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to.”
Right. Right. Her heartbeat started to slow as she took in his words.
“I don’t want to go back there.”
“Then you won’t. Slide around. I’ll shut the door and turn the heat up to keep you warm. Don’t want you catching a cold, do we? Then I’ll take you back to my office while I get someone else out here to deal with the noise complaint.”
“Sorry. I don’t mean to be a hassle.” She bit her lower lip worriedly.
“You couldn’t ever be a hassle, Marisol. Okay? Now put your legs in for me, sweetheart.”
She shuffled around in her seat.
“Want to take your backpack off?”
She shook her head.
“You can hold onto it, but you shouldn’t wear it with your seatbelt. It’s not safe.”
It wasn’t? She frowned but it seemed he wasn’t budging so she shrugged off the backpack and let him fasten her seatbelt. Under normal circumstances, she’d likely have protested him treating her like a child.
But right now, it was nice to give over control to someone else. To not have to think. It would be even nicer if it was Linc who she was giving all her control over to.
He closed her door then walked around to the front of the car.
Maybe you should tell Ed the truth. He seems like a good guy. But he was still a cop. And she had trouble trusting him.
Ed opened the door and climbed into the driver’s side. He grabbed his radio and called for someone to go to her aunt’s place to talk to them about the noise control.
“Don’t let them go alone,” she said suddenly.
“What?” he asked, looking over at her with worry.
“Your deputy shouldn’t go to the house alone. They should take back-up. Maybe. I don’t know. They wouldn’t hurt a cop. They wouldn’t be that stupid, right? No, I’m sure they wouldn’t. Forget I said that.”
“Marisol, look at me please.”
She glanced over in surprise at the firm note in his voice.
“What’s going on over there?” he asked.
She licked her dry lips. “There’s a party.”
“Right. Gathered that from the neighbors’ complaints. Who is there?”
“My aunt’s boyfriend,” she told him quietly.
“And?”
“And his son.”
“That’s all?” he asked.
“No,” she whispered. “You’ve heard of the Devil’s Sinners?”
She felt rather than saw him tense. “Yeah, I have. You saying that members of the Devil’s Sinners are at your aunt’s place?”
She couldn’t let his deputies go in blind. “Yes.”
“How many?”
“Not sure. But if I take into account all the cars and bikes, then I’m guessing maybe thirty? More?”
“Jesus Christ. And you’ve been there tonight? Did you know they were coming?”
“No, I was working late. They were there when I got home. I can’t go back there again.” She was on her own. Oh God, what was she going to do? Why hadn’t she worked harder to get a plan set up?
Because she didn’t want to leave this town. To leave Linc.
“Can we go? I don’t really want to stick around here.” She looked around nervously.
“Yeah, honey. But I think you’re right. In this case, back-up might well be necessary.”
She blocked out what he was saying into the radio unit. She knew she was trembling but she couldn’t seem to stop. When the car started up, she jumped.
“Easy, sweetheart,” he murmured. “Let’s get you back to the department. I have some really bad coffee there. If you’re really good, there might even be some creamer.”
“That sounds . . . so appealing,” she murmured.
“Doesn’t it? Tell you what, if you’re a good girl for me I’ll find Kiesha’s secret stash of hot chocolate and break it out. Of course, I’ll have to swear you to secrecy. Because if she discovers me raiding it, I’m dead.”
“Kiesha?”
“Our dispatcher.”
“Do you always work so late?” she asked as he drove. “I thought the sheriff would finish early.”
“I like to do patrol work. There’s just me and four deputies to cover a large area. It’s all hands on deck. Besides, wouldn’t be much of a boss if I asked other people to do what I wasn’t willing to.”
She gave him a surprised look. She’d never thought about it that way. Then again, she’d never had a decent boss, had she? She’d only ever worked for Rosalind and she preferred to get everyone else to work while she went shopping or lounged around at home.
She hadn’t expected for someone like Ed to feel that way. But then, so far, he hadn’t acted at all like she’d thought he might. He’d been nothing but kind, understanding and even protective. Maybe it was time to stop painting all cops with the same brush. Just because she’d had an experience with one bad cop didn’t make them all bad.
Way to stereotype, Marisol.
“Marisol? You okay?”
“I don’t like cops.”
“Right. Got that. You’ve had a bad experience in the past?”
“Yeah. I was ten. They came to our house with a warrant for my aunt’s arrest. Rosalind always told me these stories about the cops back in Venezuela. How corrupt and terrifying they were. She said an officer killed her uncle for no good reason. So I was already scared of them. And then, this one cop, he . . .”
“Did he hurt you?” Ed asked in a voice that was darker than she’d ever heard from him.
“He didn’t touch me.” She let out a shuddering breath. “He didn’t have to. Not when his words terrified me so much. He kept telling me how I was headed to jail unless I told him everything I knew. That nobody would be around to protect me. That I’d likely be beaten and abused. As he was yelling, his arms were moving around and spittle flew from his mouth. Even though I knew I wouldn’t go to jail, his words scared me enough into believing him. Plus, I have a pretty good imagination.”
“Yes, I remember how you thought you were going to end up in jail and shanked by a piece of soap.”
“Oh yeah, sorry for overreacting.”
“Seems like you had a good reason for reacting the way you did,” he murmured calmly. “What happened?”
“He seemed like this terrifying monster to me. I curled myself into a ball in the corner of our living room. Even if I had known anything, which I didn’t, there was no way I could have told him.”
“Where the fuck were the other cops?”
“I think he was in charge. I don’t know. I only remember him. Until she came in.”
“Who?”
“The child services lady. She . . . she was amazing. She raced in the door, heard him screaming at me and she just ripped into him. She tore him to pieces. Told him all the things she was going to do to him. I can’t really remember now what she said, but I knew that even in my terrified state, she was on my side. Then he stepped towards her. I thought for sure he was going to hit her. I remember this next part. She said, ‘Do it, I’m not a helpless child. Hit me and I’ll have the proof I need to take you down and make you suffer’.”
“Jesus fucking Christ.”
“I don’t know if she was happy or sad that he didn’t hurt her. But he turned and left and she rushed over to me. She didn’t touch me. Just crouched down in front of me and started talking to me. She was my hero.”
“It sounds like she was. What happened after that? Did you go into child protective services?”
“The social worker, her name was Violet, she asked me if I had any family. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I gave her the name of our last housekeeper. Rosalind had fired her a month before. Nobody lasted long working for Rosalind. She usually found some fault with them and fired them or they qui
t. Violet must have known Ana wasn’t family, but somehow I was allowed to live with Ana and her family for a week.”
She rubbed at her forehead. “It was one of the best weeks of my life. Ana had four sons but no daughter. They treated me like I was family. Ana had only been with us for a year. My aunt treated her like trash, yet she took me in and took care of me. I was devastated when I had to leave. I cried the whole way home in the car.”
“What happened with your aunt?”
“I’m not sure. But whatever they’d arrested her for, they obviously couldn’t make it stick. We moved soon after to a new city. My aunt found another rich old man to marry. I never saw Ana again.”
“I’m so sorry, Marisol. Do you happen to remember the name of the cop that scared you?”
“No,” she said quietly.
“Where did this happen?”
“Why?” she asked suspiciously.
“Because I want to make sure this bastard isn’t still out there terrorizing kids,” he said in a cold, grim voice. Ed pulled up around the back of the police department and parked. There were a couple of other police cars back here.
She sucked in a breath. “I never thought of that. Oh no, all this time he could have been hurting other children that had no one to protect them.”
“Hey, listen to me,” he told her insistently. “Look at me.”
She turned her gaze to him. The security lights out here made it possible to see the serious look on his handsome face. She wondered how old he was? He had to be in his early forties. A lot older than her. Not that she was interested in him like that.
An image of Linc’s handsome face danced through her mind. She wished he was here right now.
“That isn’t your worry. Whatever he has done, it’s on him. Not you.”
“If I’d just told . . .”
“No. Still not on you. You were a child. I don’t want you worrying about this anymore. Understand? I’m sure his colleagues knew what he was like. And they were adults. You were a terrified kid. You’re not taking this guilt on, Marisol.”
She wondered if Ed was a Dom or if he was just simply an alpha guy. Either way, she felt his words move through her. She made an effort to let go of the guilt. It wouldn’t be that simple, of course. But he was right. She was just a kid.
“Where were you when this happened, Marisol?”
“In Tucson,” she murmured. “It was nearly thirteen years ago.”
“Good girl,” he praised. “Come on, let’s get you inside. It’s too cold to be sitting out here. I’ll make you that hot chocolate.”
She grabbed her backpack, her hands shaking as she reached for her seatbelt. He was at her door before she’d even noticed him leaving the car. He let her get out herself and she appreciated it. Even though she felt more comfortable with him, she wasn’t prepared for touching him any more than was necessary.
Ed led the way to the back door, inputting a code into the pad and then opened it for her, stepping back.
She waited then followed him down a corridor, past a few doors until they ended up in the open front area. It was quiet. There were some lights on, and a woman was puttering around, watering indoor plants. She had a sucker in her mouth.
“Kiesha,” Ed said with surprise. “What are you still doing here? Where’s Steven?”
She pulled out the sucker. “He popped down to the diner to get some dinner. I said I would stay until he got back.” Kiesha gave her an interested gaze. She was a stunning woman with black, straight hair that she had tied back in a ponytail and brown skin. Curves in all the right places.
Ed sighed. “You were supposed to be gone over an hour ago. If Steven wanted to leave, he should have waited for me. Get going home.”
“Sure thing, boss.” She snapped a salute at him.
Marisol’s eyes widened and she looked up at Ed to see how he was taking the other woman’s sarcasm. He just shook his head, the look on his face stern. Just that look alone would have had Marisol scrambling to obey him.
But then, she wasn’t very brave. Not like this woman. Maybe if she were braver, she would have left her aunt a long time ago.
“Kiesha, can you stay with Marisol a moment while I check on Jace and Ranger?”
“Sure thing, boss man. I live to serve.”
Ed gave the other woman an exasperated look then walked off, disappearing into a room that she figured was his office.
“Hi, I’m Kiesha.” The other woman stepped up to her, holding her hand out.
Marisol shook it. “Marisol. Nice to meet you.”
“Get you a drink or anything?” Kiesha asked. “Got a stash of cookies I keep hidden from the boys. Working with five guys, you learn to hide food quick.”
“You work at that new spa in town, huh?”
“Oh. Yes.” How did she know that?
“Gossip runs rampant in this town,” Kiesha told her. “Not much happens that I don’t know about.”
“You know how I feel about gossip, Kiesha,” Ed told her sternly as he returned.
Kiesha rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, boss man. Heard it all before. Nice to meet you, Marisol. I’ll come get my nails done on my next day off and we can have a proper chat without the boss man listening in.”
Marisol watched her saunter away, confidence in her every step. What it must be like to be so sure of yourself, to not be afraid or measure each word. “Wow, she’s . . .”
“A brat,” Ed told her.
“Um, are you allowed to say that about an employee?”
He snorted. “I’ve known her for years. Our mothers were friends. She’s never forgiven me for spanking her when she was sixteen and I caught her at a party, drinking.”
“You . . . you spanked her?”
“Sure did. She deserved it. She was hanging with the wrong crowd, getting into trouble, worrying her parents. So I stepped in and got her attention. Unfortunately, she’s been pissed at me ever since.”
Marisol took a step back, away from the sheriff. Just when she was starting to let her guard down with him, he went and said something like that.
Ed narrowed his gaze and held up his hands. “Whoa, sweetheart. Don’t give me that look. I’m not about to start accosting you. Or anyone else for that matter. I apologize for scaring you. I’ve known Kiesha a long time and people around here know that the two of us can be like oil and water. I would never hit her or abuse her. This happened a long time ago, remember.”
She swallowed heavily. “So you wouldn’t spank her now?”
“No, I wouldn’t.” He eyed her curiously. “Being with Linc, I didn’t think hearing about a spanking would worry you.”
“What does that mean?” she asked, confused.
He ran his hand over his face. “I’m talking out of turn and you’ve been through enough tonight. Why don’t you come sit down in my office and you can tell me what happened tonight to send you running in the dark and cold?”
She shook her head. “I want to go.”
“And where are you gonna go?”
“I don’t know. To the motel, I guess.”
He glanced over at the clock. “The reception desk closed an hour ago, sweetheart.”
What? Seriously? Damn it.
“I’ll call a friend, get them to come get me,” she lied.
He crossed his arms over his wide chest and gave her a rather formidable look as he leaned back against one of the desks. “Oh yeah? What friend is that?”
“Nobody you know,” she snapped.
“Sweetheart, I know everyone in this town. And you would do well not to lie to me. Until you have somewhere safe to go, I can’t let you leave.” His voice was gentle but firm.
“You can’t just keep me here!” He couldn’t, right?
He gave her a look that wasn’t unsympathetic. “Come into my office. My deputies headed in and had a chat with your aunt. She was co-operative and turned the music down. But I’ve told them to wait on stand-by. I don’t like this situation. However, I’d really like
to know what happened tonight. The full truth.”
She walked behind him in a daze. So many things had happened tonight and she wasn’t certain how much more she could take. Where that point would be where it all became too much. “Your ride should be here soon, anyway.”
“My . . . my ride?” What was he talking about? “You just said you wouldn’t let me leave.” Why was he contradicting himself? And who was her ride?
He pulled out a chair for her and she sat. Her legs were trembling so badly she didn’t think they could hold her up anyway.
“I said you couldn’t leave if you didn’t have anywhere to go,” he explained.
“Why do you care?”
“You live in my town. I look after the people who live here. And you’re in my care right now. I couldn’t let you leave without knowing you were going to be all right.” He sat on the desk. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight from worrying about you.”
“You’re a strange man,” she muttered. “Most men wouldn’t care.”
“Sweetheart, I think that the men you have known aren’t the best examples of how a real man looks after those he cares about.”
Maybe he was right. After all, she hadn’t had the best role models when it came to men. Other than Harry. And she could barely remember him now. All she felt was this warmth in her tummy when she thought of him.
“Who is my ride then?” she asked, although she figured she knew. There could only be one man he would call.
Ed gave her a look. “Linc, of course. Did you really think I wouldn’t call him?”
“I wish you hadn’t. He’s too busy at work to be bothered about this.” She frowned up at Ed.
“I’m never too busy to be bothered by anything to do with you, Mari-girl,” the deep voice came from the doorway.
She turned with a gasp. She hadn’t even heard him enter the building, never mind walk up behind her. She must be more out of it than she’d realized.
Being attacked and having to jump off a balcony and run for your life will do that for you.
He was wearing a plaid shirt and dark blue jeans with a black jacket. There was a slight scruff on his cheeks as though he hadn’t shaved for a day or so. It only added to his appeal. His gaze looked tired as he ran it over her, as though checking her for any harm.
Daddy in Cowboy Boots (Montana Daddies Book 9) Page 11
