“Oh, no,” I nearly whimpered as tried to guide my car over to the side of the road as the engine belched and shuddered one last time. “No, no, no, no!” I cried, slapping my palms against the useless steering wheel while tears collected, burning my eyes.
“What wrong, momma?” Addison asked on a yawn as her brother whined beside her, an oncoming warning that his feeding time was imminent and God help the poor fool that didn’t produce his bottle.
Biting my lip as I dropped my eyes to the gauges, my stomach plummeted as I noticed the low fuel light burning. “Shit,” I hissed as I dropped my head against the steering wheel.
“Ohhhhh. Dat’s a bad word, momma,” Addison chastised, ever-helpful as she leaned forward in her car seat, pointing an accusing finger at me.
“Sorry,” I apologized weakly, lifting my head to look around, hoping against hope that a gas station would magically appear in front of us. “Momma meant to say something else.”
“Dat’s okay. Acci-dents happen,” my daughter replied dutifully. “Why we stop?” she asked, her little head turning to look around curiously.
With a heavy heart, I sighed. “Because your silly momma forgot to get gas, sweets.”
“Ooopsie,” Addie giggled. “You gotta feed the car gas so it’ll go, Momma.”
I couldn’t help smiling slightly at the sound of my daughter’s laughter. “As always, you’re right, Little Miss. It’s a pretty big oopsie on your momma’s part,” I agreed as I began to look around for my cell phone, hoping maybe Betty or Joe might be able to come help me out. Noticing my phone was face down in the floorboard, I unhooked my seatbelt to lean forward, grunting as my fingers skimmed the case. Straining, I reached again, this time latching on to the corner of my phone and pulling it to me.
One look at my cracked screen, though, and I knew I was out of luck. It was almost six and Betty’s weekly Bingo game would be in full swing down at the American Legion. “Damn it,” I muttered, shooting a quick look toward the back seat as I heard Zain’s low, hungry cries begin in earnest.
“Bubby is hungwee, momma,” Addison advised, her dark blue eyes sympathetic as they looked over at her brother.
“I know, Addie. I know.” Turning in the seat to get a look at my youngest child, I reached out to squeeze his sleeper-covered foot supportively. “You’re okay, though, aren’t you, Little Man?” I tried to soothe my son. Zain, however, was having nothing of it. He wanted his food and he wanted it now. When you added his hunger to the fact that his nose was leaking and his face was flushed, I didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that he was getting sick, too. Crap!!
Reaching for the diaper bag in the seat beside me, I quickly searched the front pocket for his pre-made bottle, located it and began to shake it gently. I’d learned quickly to never leave home without at least two of those suckers in tow. “I’ve got you covered, little bean,” I said, keeping my voice low and soothing in spite of my boy’s escalating temper.
Twisting in my seat, I grinned as I watched Zain’s dark sapphire eyes light up as he realized I had his bottle. I adored that eager little look he got every time it was time to eat. For a few brief seconds, I knew exactly how it felt to be a hero. “You want that, huh?” I murmured as I seamlessly popped his bottle between his open lips, chuckling as he immediately began to suckle.
“He happy ‘gin,” Addison reported tiredly, lifting a hand to pull at her right ear.
“He is,” I confirmed with a gentle smile, reaching into the big for Addison’s sippy cup of juice and handing it to her with a wink. “Didn’t think I’d forgotten you, did ya?”
She only shook her head in response as I began to formulate a plan for getting us home. I could probably call my boss for help, but I ran the risk of him expecting me to pay him back in a way I wasn’t comfortable with doing. Or, I could haul my two sick kids out of the car and walk the two or three blocks it would take to reach the local gas station. Double Crap!
Neither option sounded like a solution, but it was getting darker by the minute. The last thing I wanted to do was have my babies out after daylight. As it was, I was already going to be late for my shift tonight. I debated simply calling out for the night. Then I spotted a vehicle with flashing red and blue lights pulling off the road behind us.
“This cannot be happening,” I near whimpered, sinking my teeth into my lower lip.
“What, Momma?” Addie asked, arching her back against her car seat as she strained to look over her shoulder. Instantly alert as she noticed the red and blue flashing lights behind us, Addie’s eyes widened in fear. “Momma, it’s da po-po! We gotta go! We gotta go ‘fore Daddy finds us!” she screeched, her high-pitched voice causing Zain to jerk in his infant carrier and the bottle to come dislodged from his mouth.
Damn. I had really hoped that Addie wouldn’t remember some of the things she had seen in her short life. Wasn’t that what every momma hoped for their babies? Switching into mom-mode, I reached for my panicking daughter’s hand. “Addison Lane Escobar, I will NOT let Daddy get us again.”
“But...”
“No, ma’am,” I declared firmly, shaking her hand in mine. “No buts. I got this, Addie. I promise you nobody, not even your daddy, is ever gonna take you away from me. He isn’t going to hurt us anymore. Okay?” I watched Addie swallow hard as her eyes focused on me. I could tell she wanted to believe me. She just wasn’t quite sure I could. I just hoped God would be on my side instead of Paulo’s for a change.
Chapter Two
Marek
Stopped in traffic at one of the busiest intersections in town certainly wasn’t the way I planned on ending an already too fucking long Friday afternoon. Spending the whole damn day in court was never my idea of a fun time, but as the newest detective on the force, I had to earn my place in the pack, and my partner Cobi Mayson was determined to make me as good at my job as he was. Hence, his decision to throw me to the DA’s minions and make me first on the stand in our latest trial. I learned fast that dealing with our local district attorney, who was one brick short of a full load when it came to understanding the law, was an exercise in futility since the bastard had left us hanging on proving a drug cartel case. I’d spent the last several hours on the stand explaining things to a jury that was on the verge of being comatose. I just wanted to go home and find a beer and a ballgame. Was that too much to ask?
Sighing, I yanked my sunglasses off and craned my neck to see if I could find out which dumbass was holding up progress. My in-car wireless radio chose that moment to crackle to life as dispatch relayed a call for a disabled vehicle. Hell, and wouldn’t you know it was my intersection, too? And wasn’t that just the icing on the shitcake that was my day? Silently acknowledging that my day was about to become a hell of a lot longer, I couldn’t help my groan as dispatch asked my whereabouts.
I’m pretty sure my displeasure was obvious in my voice as I growled a response back to dispatch that I was already on scene. A second later, I flipped on the lights and sirens in my unmarked police cruiser and whipped around the few cars in front of me to pull up behind what appeared to be the world’s oldest Honda. From the looks of the dents and scratches, the driver obviously wasn’t the safest on the road.
Slamming my car in park while leaving the lights flashing, I slipped my keys in my pocket and dismounted my vehicle. A second later, I stood beside the dingy window of the beaten-up starter car. Glancing at the traffic starting to back up even further behind the stranded car, I ground my teeth as I realized this probably wasn’t going to be a quick stop-and-go interaction. For the love of Christ, didn’t I get a reprieve from highway patrol when I took the detective’s exam? Obviously, someone had forgot to inform central command.
I rapped forcefully on the driver’s dirty window, determined to give the SOB behind the wheel a piece of my mind. I could hear the window cranking as it rolled down slowly, and all of the words I had prepared on the tip of my tongue suddenly disappeared as I stared into the most amazing set of oc
ean blue eyes I had ever seen. Damn, even with an obvious frantic look and no makeup on her beautiful face, that woman was the very definition of hot. Strands of dark blonde hair fell from her ponytail, framing her high cheekbones and bee stung lips that looked like they’d been made to suck a man’s dick. Particularly, this man.
Shit, man, you’re losing it, I told myself as I roughly straightened my suit jacket, my gold badge dangling gently from the lanyard around my neck. Act like a cop, asshole, and do your fucking job, I snarled to myself.
“I’m Detective Marek Haws, ma’am,” I introduced myself as I studiously avoided those piercing eyes she leveled on me. “And, I don’t know if you realize it or not, but you’re impeding the flow of traffic. You’re either gonna need to get going or move your vehicle fully off the road,” I warned, my voice deep and steady as I addressed the issue at hand.
The woman opened her mouth, but before any words could come out, another voice answered, wispy, but obviously angry, “You cants talk to Momma wike dat! You not ‘lowwed!”
A baby’s disgruntled cry filled the small car just then to accompany the obviously irate toddler’s tirade. The woman in the front seat suddenly turned away from me, her shoulders twisting as she spoke unintelligible words toward the back seat. A second later, she turned back to me and spoke through barely moving lips, her voice tight and strained. “I’m trying, Officer. I’m trying harder than ever to move. But it takes gas to do that and unfortunately for all of us, I’m fresh out.”
It was when the tears started pooling in the corners of those stunning eyes that she got me. Damn, why the hell was this beauty all alone with what was obviously two kids that I could now see in the backseat? It was clear this babe needed somebody to look after her. They all did.
The sound of honking horns set the baby to crying again as I stooped down to lock eyes with the rapidly paling woman behind the wheel. “Listen, sweetheart, we’ve got to get you moving or half of the town will be on us before long,” I said calmly, lowering my voice as I tried not to frighten the little girl in the back who was trying her best to wiggle out of her car seat and get to what I assumed was her mother. “Are you sure it’s lack of gas? Or do I need to call a tow truck for you?”
“It’s the gas. I’m positive, sir” the driver said through her gritted teeth, her nervous eyes barely meeting my gaze.
As much as I thought this chick was hot as hell, my Spidey senses were telling me something else was definitely off about the situation inside this vehicle. Stepping back slightly, I nodded. “I keep a two-gallon gas can in the trunk of my cruiser. I’ll be happy to get you going, but while we’re doing that, I’ve got to register this call. I’ll need your license, registration, and proof of insurance, ma’am.”
That unnerved look on this beauty’s face was instantly replaced by what could only be described as sheer terror as the gorgeous blonde reached for her purse on the nearby passenger’s seat with a noticeably shaking hand. After a short search, she then handed me the requested documents, but startled me as she asked with a tremor in a voice that I could barely hear over the newest round of horns, “Is there any way you could please not run them? He’s not getting my kids and he can’t know where we are.”
It was the quietest terror I had ever seen in my ten years as a police officer, and I’d definitely seen my share of shit. Usually, women and men would scream like the proverbial banshees, fling themselves around in grief, and curse like fucking sailors when faced with the law, but this woman...this woman...she was more afraid than anyone I had ever met before. Not to mention the unholy horror I saw in her pale little girl’s face as she sat behind her mom in the backseat. And fuck it all, but none of it sat right in my gut... and I trusted my gut. It had gotten me out of more than a few dire situations in my life.
I took the reluctantly proffered documents, only to hear that little voice from the backseat chime in once again. “You go ‘way, po po man! You not gonna hurt my Momma or my Bubby! I stopped my daddy and I’ll stop you, too!”
“Addie, baby, hush!” the woman interrupted abruptly. “Let momma handle this.”
Hell, that kiddo was reminding me more and more of my niece Harley with every passing second. And if I hadn’t recognized the look on the mom’s face before, I did now. My sister Catherine had that same look the last time she had fled from the son of a bitch that had dared to hit her.
Hell, no. This wasn’t going to happen. Not on my watch.
I leaned down again, this time careful to smile. Even though I couldn’t see her body, I was sure that I outsized her and outweighed her by at least 100 pounds. Glancing down at the driver’s license and locating this anxious beauty’s name, I cocked my head. “Well, how about we start with the obvious problem first, Clarity Escobar? I’ll get the gas can out so you can fill your tank. Then we’ll work on the other details.” Glancing at the unhappy kids in the back, I offered them another smile as I tried to sound cheerful. “I think I have a few stuffed animals in the trunk of my unit that are looking for good homes. Would it be okay to share them with your children?”
The scared look receded for a bare second as Clarity nodded, and I stepped back as I heard the door handle click. “Momma! You donts go!” the little girl wailed from the backseat, and Clarity turned to quickly reassure her daughter.
“This policeman is okay, baby girl, and he’s got a new lovie for you and Bubby,” I heard Clarity soothe her daughter, keeping her voice as calm as she could. I watched as she opened the back door and wiped the tears off her cute kid’s face. “Look, I’m gonna roll the window down and you’ll be able to see me the whole time,” I heard her encourage the kids as she cranked the back window down, giving me a view of the interior of the car, and I could see that while the vehicle was old, it was obviously as clean as possible on the inside. A quick glance told me that both children appeared to be extremely well cared for, although the little girl was obviously a world pro at death-ray glances.
Yeah, she was definitely just like my niece.
“I’ll grab the gas for you,” I murmured as she tended to the children.
A few clicks of my key fob opened the trunk of my cruiser. Shifting her driver’s license and documents into my pocket, I grabbed the promised stuffed animals as Clarity approached me. Handing them over, I tried to ignore how good she looked walking toward me. It wouldn’t be a lie to say that her body looked like a fuckin’ wonderland as she strolled toward me wearing an entirely too short pair of frayed cut-off jean shorts and a long gray sweater that did nothing to disguise the firm set of breasts she had. Christ, I’d been too damn long without a woman. The sight of this curvy babe was threatening to bring me to my knees. “You want to give these to your kids? I don’t think your daughter is exactly open to receiving a gift from the po-po right now.”
She nodded slightly as she quickly took the stuffed animals back to the car while I grabbed the gas can and carried it to the rear of her car, quickly filling her tank with what I had.
I could hear her talking to the children as I glanced behind me, relieved to see another cruiser pulling up and parking about 15 feet behind my vehicle. Tapping my foot as I tilted the red can up to get the last of the gas into the tank, I watched as a uniformed officer began to direct traffic around us. Good. That would at least stop the honking horns.
Normally, I would have continued filling the tank for a damsel in distress, especially a damsel this damn beautiful. But the cop inside of me reminded me that I still had to run that license – and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was going to find something I probably would wish I didn’t know. A quick blast of a siren caught my attention, and I glanced up sharply as I saw an unmarked cruiser pull alongside me as the window rolled down.
“Hell, man, you got nothing better to do than spend your free time on traffic duty?”
Only one man could get away with talking that kind of shit to me, and I nodded toward Clarity and gestured for her to take over with the gas can. Waiting until she had a g
rip on things, I quickly grinned as I took a few steps, leaning down to shake hands with Cobi Mayson, my current partner. In a split second, I realized the answer to my problem. Cobi was part of one of the most well-known families in the area, and if anybody knew how to get more information on my present situation, it was him.
Reaching in my pocket, I grabbed the items he’d need and passed them through the window to him. “Hey, man, do me a favor while I finish up with this gas tank. Run that license for me, but do it without leaving a trace. I think my girl’s running, and I don’t want to tip off anyone who doesn’t need to know.”
Another cop would have asked more questions, but Cobi wasn’t just anyone. We’d been friends since high school and partners long enough that he knew with just a look at my face how important this was. So, instead of giving me the third degree that most of my colleagues would have delivered, he just nodded. Murmuring my thanks, I quickly moved back over to Clarity’s car, taking the red gas can from her as she struggled to get the nozzle tilted the right way.
“Thanks,” she muttered, her body stiff as her eyes remained firmly planted on the ground. “And thanks for the stuffed animals. Addie already loves it.”
“No problem,” I said with a grin. Deciding to cut her a small break, I went on. “Listen, why don’t you go take a seat in your car, and I’ll finish things up here. We’ll get you squared away in no time.”
Clarity nodded and moved back to the driver’s side on quick feet, still obviously rattled.
Frowning, I poured the last of the gas into the tank and quickly screwed the cap back on her tank before striding toward the cruiser Cobi had parked at an angle just in front of Clarity. Bending to his window, I quickly asked, “Hey, man. Whatcha got?”
Glancing toward me, Cobi slowly shook his head. “Nothing good, Marek. Do you actually know this chick?”
I shook my head. “Just met her,” I shared. “But...I can’t explain it, man. Something is way off with her. She’s terrified of cops, and she didn’t want me to run her information. Her kids are freaked out by cops, too. I got the distinct feeling she and those babies are running from something real bad, but I got the even stranger feeling that I want them to be running toward me.”
Until Tennessee: Happily Ever Alpha World Page 2
