by Brandi Evans
"Raven!" Over the line, Brock bellowed her name, the sound loud enough one might assume he was in the vehicle with them.
"Does he see her? What's going on?" Carter demanded.
Maddox gripped the phone tighter. "Brock, what's—"
"Oh, no, you don't, you mother-fucker!"
Fear sliced Maddox again, this time through the chest. "Brock, what do you see? Brock! Brock!"
But his fellow Dom didn't answer. There were only the sounds of a scuffle and then a silence that stretched into forever.
Chapter 18
By the time Carter screeched to a stop in front of Restrained Fantasies, five police cruisers—their lights flashing—and two ambulances filled the parking lot. Carter didn't bother to cut the engine. The second he slammed the car into park, he exploded from the vehicle.
Maddox had to force himself to stay seated and turn to Kat. "Stay here while I check on her."
She nodded, but he could tell by the trembling and the self-hugging that she was terrified for her friend. He was terrified, too. He didn't like leaving Kat behind in the vehicle, but she was sandwiched between two cruisers and another that had pulled in behind them. For the time being, she was as protected as he could make her.
Maddox sprinted after his partner. The back end of Raven's truck showed a considerable dent. The collision had forced the nose of the vehicle right, and her passenger's side tire was caught in a culvert. Whoever had been after her had known exactly how and where to hit her.
Maddox followed Carter to where a group of officers stood in a circle, their faces cast down. Maddox forced himself into the ring, and emotion punched through him. Raven was alive and sitting up, Brock kneeling next to her. Maddox noted no obviously fatal injury on either person, no blood-stained clothes, but the way Raven's eyebrows drew together and the way her lips thinned and straightened relayed her pain.
"Genny!" Carter shouldered his way through the bodies and dropped to his lover's side. "Genny, oh god, Genny. Baby, are you okay?"
She nodded, but her expression betrayed her. She was hurting. One of the paramedics had her right arm bent in a "V" shape, parallel to the ground.
Carter turned his anxiety on the paramedic. "What's her status?"
"A few scrapes and abrasions. The worst injury appears to be a dislocated shoulder. I'm gonna need to splint it and get her to the hospital so the docs can set it properly." The man paused and seemed to look directly at Raven. "I'm not gonna lie. It's gonna hurt like a bitch when I splint it."
"Already fucking hurts," she said through clenched teeth.
"I know." His voice was gentle. "But it's gonna be worse when I have to move your arm. Try your best not to fight me. I know it'll be hard, but I also know you can do it."
She nodded but didn't look too convinced.
The paramedic turned to Carter. "I'm gonna have you move to her other side and hold her against you. Do your best to keep her still, okay? It's going to hurt her, and your first instinct will be to punch me. Please don't do this, no matter how tempted you are."
The smallest of smiles played at one corner of Carter's mouth. "I make no promises."
"Fair enough."
Brock pushed to his feet so Carter could take his spot, and the paramedic directed Carter where and how to hold her.
As soon as they were set, Raven turned her face into her lover's neck, but the covering movement wasn't enough to keep her cries and muttered curses from echoing through the parking lot as the paramedic expertly and quickly maneuvered the brace into position and secured it.
Carter's arms remained securely around Raven as he helped her to her feet and followed the paramedic to the ambulance. The paramedic climbed in first and then Raven. Moments before Carter joined them, Maddox took his partner's arm.
"I'll take care of everything here," said Maddox, "and then, Kat and I will meet you at the hospital."
Carter nodded, and two unspoken questions passed between them.
Was this retaliation for digging into the Group?
Or had Harris attacked Raven?
"I can't face her."
Katlyn stopped mere steps from Raven's hospital room and wrapped both arms around her middle. Because Jeff had nearly abducted her friend and gotten away, they'd put Raven in a private room off the Emergency Department.
Because her fucking ex-husband had nearly abducted her friend.
When she and Maddox had left, police were still canvassing the area, but Jeff had slipped away. Again. They'd found his vehicle, though, the front end smashed and billowing smoke, but not him. Maddox had said ditching it had been smart. Easier to hide on foot or boost something else.
"I can't face her," she repeated. "Jeff hurt her because of me." She asked the question she'd been dreading since it had formed in her mind. "Do you think he planned to kill her as punishment for me leaving him?"
Maddox took her hands in his. "Don't do this to yourself, Kat. We may never know why Harris attacked, but we can take peace in the knowledge he didn't get her."
Something she couldn't quite place teased through his voice. A hesitation, an inflection? Something. What theory did he have baking in his cop's brain?
"What is it?" she asked. "What aren't you telling me?"
He let out a long breath and shook his head. "Not here, okay? Too many ears around."
She nodded. "When then?"
"When we get to Raven's room, and I can talk to Carter."
And she was right back where she'd started. "How can I face her after what he did?"
"For starters, you can focus on the fact that he did it, not you."
"But—"
"But nothing." He pressed a reassuring kiss to her brow. "You are not responsible for what someone else did unless you put a gun to their head and forced them to act against their will."
He was right. On some level, she recognized the wisdom in his words, but it did nothing to assuage her guilt.
"What if she hates me?" Katlyn asked.
"You're her friend. She won't hate you. Trust me."
"But if it weren't for me, Jeff never would have attacked her."
"Okay, if you're gonna play that card…" He crossed his arms. "If I hadn't approached you in that restaurant, Raven never would have been on Harris' radar, and he would never have attacked the love of my partner's life."
You can't blame yourself for that. How could you have predicted…
The words jumped automatically to the tip of her tongue, and she backhanded away the tear that followed.
"You don't fight fair, Maddox Westbrook."
"I know." He drew her into his arms and squeezed her close.
The tremble started in her bottom lip, and by the time she'd wrapped her arms around his middle, it had reached her legs. She breathed in his strength, his comfort until she felt something approaching calm.
When she pulled back, she ran a hand over her damp cheeks to dry them. "Okay," she said, "let's go see my friend."
He pressed another kiss to her brow, and together, they stepped into Raven's room where giggles greeted them.
Raven turned to them and threw up her non-injured arm in greeting. "Maddox! Katie! You're here! They're here, Carter. Didn't I tell you they'd come? Didn't I?"
"Yes, my love, you did tell me." From his seat at her bedside, Carter smiled in Katlyn and Maddox's direction. "They gave her the good pain meds when we got here. She's flying pretty high right now."
"I'm not flying." Suddenly serious, Raven turned to Carter and touched his face with a drunk hand. "See, look, I'm right here. In bed. I wish I were flying, though. How fun would that be?"
"Loads of fun. Loads."
"Will you buy me wings? Pleeeeeease?"
"Sure thing, beautiful."
"Promise?"
"Promise." Carter pushed to his feet and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Let me just go over there and talk to Maddox. We'll see what we can find on Amazon, okay?"
"Maddox is here?" Raven turned toward them again
, and like last time, threw up her good hand in greeting.
Katlyn waved at Raven. Well, at least her friend wasn't hurting.
With a shake of his head, Carter motioned Maddox to the door, but Katlyn positioned herself between them and their exit.
"You're not gonna cut me out of this," she said. "My ex-husband did this. I'm in this whether I want to be or not."
To her surprise, Carter pulled her in for a bear hug. "You know you're not to blame for any of this, right?"
She didn't respond. For the time being, they would have to agree to disagree.
Carter put her at arm's length and, with a quick shake of the head, steeled his expression. "Are we sure Harris is responsible?"
Maddox nodded. "Brock positively identified him as the man who attacked him and Raven."
"I figured that when she said something about a redhead in a hoodie, but at the time, she'd been in too much pain to focus. How close was Harris to—" Carter shivered.
Maddox clamped a hand over his partner's shoulder and answered the question Carter couldn't finish. "Brock said he pulled her from Harris' trunk."
What color had been on Carter's face drained away. "Fuck. Fuck." He shook his head, his words sounding as if gravel were trapped in the back of his throat. "She didn't say he got her that far, just that she fought him, which was how she dislocated her shoulder."
"He's dislocated my shoulder before, too. He didn't like my lasagna." Katlyn took Carter's hands and squeezed, telling him without words that she understood.
Carter squeezed back. "We'll get the asshole. For both of you."
"Carter," came Raven's sleepy voice. "I want some ice cream. You said you'd bring me some ice cream. Nana cream with graham cracker crumbs."
The left side of his lips curved up, and he rolled his eyes. He was so smitten that it was adorable, almost adorable enough for Katlyn to forget the event that had led to this moment.
Carter released her hands and went to the woman he loved. "I did get you ice cream, Genny. We already ate it, remember?"
She shook her head. "I'd remember that." Her head lolled in Katlyn and Maddox's direction, and her sleepy eyes lit up. For the third time, she realized they were there.
Kat and Maddox sat on Carter and Raven's back porch and kept Buddy occupied. He hadn't liked the fact his mistress had come home and gone straight to bed, but when Kat sat on the deck and offered her hand, Buddy had promptly rolled onto his back and consented to a belly rub.
Maddox pulled one of the deck chairs beside the pair and added a hand to the belly scratching. Buddy groaned, one of his back paws twitching in ecstasy.
The air had a slight nip, and the waterway lulled by in a gentle shh-shh. Maddox had always liked it here. Carter's house was small, only one bedroom, an office, a kitchenette, small dining area, and a sitting area smaller than Maddox's bedroom, but what the home lacked in space, it made up for in amenities: surround system, doors that opened and lights that turned on and off with a single vocal command.
But the yard elevated the property. He could easily picture raising a family here. He'd need to build a bigger house, of course, but Carter had hit the jackpot when he'd found this spot. He may not have built this place with family in mind, but then again, he hadn't planned on Raven, either. Yet they'd found each other, and sometimes, that was what happened. One day, you're living what you assume is your best life, and then wham! You meet someone who turns your world completely upside down.
He turned to Kat. "You doing okay?"
"Emotionally, no, but I'll make it. Just not sure how yet." She didn't turn to him; her eyes stayed fixed on Buddy.
"Kat?"
"Hmm."
"Look at me."
She hesitated a long moment before turning to him. Shadows played in her eyes, much the way they had in the restaurant the day they'd met. The shadows might not be as dark as they had been, but she was hurting.
"Come here," he murmured.
When she didn't move, he took her hand from Buddy's belly and tugged until she relented and sat on his lap. He cupped a hand at the base of her neck and drew her in until their lips met. He kissed her slowly, deeply, a caress of his tongue along hers, and he didn't stop until she softened and brought her arms around him.
She'd come too far to let this pull her back down. She'd started planning a better future. She'd taken steps toward that future, and he wouldn't let her backslide, even if the direction she'd chosen might lead her away from him.
Butterflies and bridges, he reminded himself. Butterflies and bridges.
The whispered hum of the sliding-glass door had him reluctantly breaking the kiss but not his hold on her.
Carter stepped onto the deck, and Kat went rigid again. Would she ever stop feeling guilty for the role she hadn't played in Raven's near abduction?
"How is she?" Maddox asked.
Carter lowered his frame into a nearby patio chair. "Asleep thankfully. The meds started to wear off, so I gave her the second dose when we got home."
Maddox nodded. Raven's shoulder had had so much swelling that the doctor hadn't been one-hundred percent confident in ruling out all other injuries, so he'd suggested a course of anti-inflammatories, rest, immobilization, and a follow-up scan in a week.
"If you'd rather go over this tomorrow," Maddox began when Carter yawned, but Carter cut him off.
"I'll sleep better when this fuckwad is off the street."
"Fair enough." Maddox tightened his arms around Kat and finally answered the question she'd asked at the hospital. "I think Harris tried to take Raven as leverage to get you back, Kat."
As he'd predicted, Kat went rigid, and he imagined her panic was spiking. He didn't want to tell her any of this, but he didn't feel as if he had a choice anymore. Still, just because she had a right to know some details didn't mean he planned to tell her every aspect, specifically the mess about Detective Valentine's murder.
Maddox wanted to protect her from everything, especially from further threats, like murder. Her nightmares had been getting better, usually little more than some shaking and fidgeting he quickly soothed her through with gentle words and soft touches. Valentine's murder might set her back. In her dreams, Harris kept killing him, and Maddox didn't want her looking headlong into the real-life possibility her dreams were more prophetic than she'd like.
"Leverage… to get me back?" she said, horror making her words clipped.
Maddox chose his next words carefully, arms still tightly closed around her. "Remember the Group we told you about?"
"How could I forget?"
"Well, I think they're the ones who told Harris to take Raven."
"But why?" she asked. "I don't understand."
"Easy," Carter answered. "Because they know who we are and what we are to you. And because Maddox did such a damn good job of keeping you isolated and safe, they thought, if they had Genny, they could use her to force us into turning you over to them."
"God, oh, god." Kat muscled her way from Maddox's arms and stalked across the porch. "Jeff was right. I am toxic to anyone who has ever loved me."
"Goddamn it, Kat, no." Maddox was across the deck and spinning her around before he'd realized he'd moved. "He's the toxic one, not you."
"But Raven only got targeted because I left Jeff. I divorced him and… oh, shit… do you think he knows that? He always said he'd kill me if—"
"No! I'm not gonna let him hurt you again, Kat. Ever. I swear it."
She shouldered away his touch and pointed at the house. "What about Raven? What if he comes after her again?"
"He won't," Maddox told her. "His plan was predicated on taking Raven by surprise, but no one counted on her figuring it out. She sounded the alert, and we were able to get to her in time. Harris and the Group must know we'll go into full protection mode with her now, too. They'll never get this close to her again, and they know it."
"But what if—"
"No what-ifs," Carter said, pushing to his feet, steel in his voice. "Those
fuckers will have to get past both of us now. No one—and I mean no fucking one—touches our women and walks away with their balls intact. After tonight, those mother-fuckers should be scared of us."
It was close to eleven when Katlyn and Maddox finally made it home. Sarge met them with his usual enthusiasm, but she was a zombie. Still, she managed to give his head a quick scratch, which, all things considered, was a gargantuan feat. All she wanted was to go to sleep and wake up in a world where this shitty day hadn't happened.
Even though she was exhausted, she considered taking a Xanax. Under the fatigue, anxiety was simmering, and for a while, she didn't want to feel anything. She just couldn't deal tonight. Okay, she could. She just didn't want to.
The door clicked shut, and she turned back to Maddox. Everything inside her ran cold. Leaning against the door, eyes closed, he sighed like a man slowly succumbing to carrying the weight of the world for far too long.
Guilt replaced fatigue, and she went to him as if pulled by a magnet and placed a hand over his heart. He loved Raven very much. It might not be romantic love, but it was love, nonetheless. And he was hurting. Badly. Shaken, too. From the moment he'd learned Raven was in trouble, he'd had to be strong. For Raven. For Carter. And for her. Now, it was her time to be strong for him.
"Tell me what I can do to help," she whispered.
"Just keep being you, and just keep being here. That's it. That's all I need."
"I'm not going anywhere, Maddox," she whispered. "Ever."
He opened his eyes, and she received an emotional gut punch. The heat in his blue-gray eyes made her heart burn. Love poured off him in waves. His love for her. He didn't say the words, but she didn't need his voice, not when she could feel his love.
Her mouth went dry.
Her knees knocked together.
Her heart flipped, and her stomach flopped.
Maddox Westbrook loved her?
She tried to speak, but she forgot how to form sentences. She kissed him instead.
The kiss was lazy, a kiss for the sake of kissing, a kiss meant to inflame the senses and merge the souls. No hunger drove his actions, only the exploring glide of his tongue along hers. This wasn't the way he'd kissed her the first time, when he'd wanted her. There were no wants tonight, only her burning desire to join with him.
