“Well, we are,” Harrison replied easily. “And you, my friend, are not just a liar, but a very bad liar. Rich, think we should take him in?”
Adams looked at Craig, considering. “Lying to the police is a very grave offense, but I think I’d like to give him enough rope to hang himself with.”
“But in the meantime, he’s free to find his lady and maybe do something we’ll all regret,” Harrison commented, staring at Craig. “That what you gonna do, handsome? Find her and cut her throat, then kill those little kids?”
“No,” Craig answered, sullen.
“I think maybe we’ll give you a little slack,” Harrison said thoughtfully. “Once we get those fingerprints back, and it shows how badly you lied to us, we’ll come back and bust your balls. How’s that sound?”
“You’re an asshole, Harrison.”
Harrison leaned forward, his eyes intent on Craig’s. “Listen, Westerman. You’re in deep trouble. The only reason you aren’t in cuffs right now is that we lack enough probable cause to arrest you. Unlike you, we work by the book. But keep testing me, son, and we will drag you in. Then the next conversation you’ll have is with the bull queen you’re sharing a cell with.”
He grinned nastily. “And you’ll be his bitch.”
Craig shut his teeth, knowing that Harrison hated him enough to do exactly that. Why did this shithole have to answer the call? Christ! Had Cliff answered it, Craig would have sold his fairy tale and been out hunting Taylor by now.
“I got everything,” Adams announced. “Even a pic of his ugly mug.” He grinned. “Wait, maybe I should take some of his swollen balls, show the judge what a pussy he is.”
Harrison stood up. “Yeah, but being a pussy ain’t against the law.”
He took a few steps away from the table and Craig, heading for the front door, then paused. He turned. “And know that I’ll be getting a court order to put you under surveillance. Just thought you’d want to keep that in mind.”
“Later, Westerman,” Adams called, taking his crime scene kit and evidence bags with him as the two of them left the house.
Once the front door closed, Craig poured a knock from the Scotch bottle into the glass. His hands shook badly enough that he spilled whiskey onto the table, and his teeth clattered against the glass.
“Fuckers,” he muttered after he swallowed.
Drinking more Scotch, his crotch still aching, throbbing dully, he wondered where Taylor would go. Not to her mother’s; that would be too obvious. She was smart, she’d know that’s the first place he’d look for her. After she had moved in with him, Craig had systematically cut her off from all her friends.
“I’ll find you, you bitch,” Craig said, his voice low, savage. “I will kill you.”
Chapter Eleven
“Mom, get out of the house. Right now.”
“Taylor, what?”
Driving as fast as she dared, always looking in the mirror for signs that Craig followed, Taylor frantically kept the phone to her ear. “I can’t explain; the girls.”
“I know, tell me what you can.”
“It’s over, I left him. Mom, he’s crazy. Please, pack a bag and go. He will look for me there, Mom, I’m worried.”
“I hear it in your voice. Where are you going?”
“To Kane.”
“Good. If anyone can protect you, he can. I’ll pack right now and go to my sister’s.”
Though relief washed through Taylor, her mother couldn’t get out of the house fast enough to suit her. “Do not waste any time, Mom, please. Get out.”
“I will, hon. I’m packing right now as we talk. I’ll be gone in ten minutes.”
“Will you call me when you get to Jean’s?”
“Sure. Just calm down, you can’t drive safely with the kids in the van.”
“I’m calmer now that I know you’re out of there,” Taylor replied, taking in a deep, shuddering breath. “He was drunk, so he might be slow in getting to your house, but I still don’t want you lingering.”
“I’m not, I promise you. Now let me get off the phone so I can work faster. I’ll call you from the road.”
“I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too.”
Taylor clicked off, feeling as though she had diverted a disaster by mere minutes. With Craig drunk, and then Tasered, it might be at least thirty minutes before he was coherent enough to drive to Jackie’s house. And it was a twenty-minute drive from his house to Jackie’s.
A glance in the rearview mirror showed the twins gazing out the windows in curiosity, not upset, yet not chattering as they usually did either. Still, she was grateful to have escaped with them safely, and now with Jackie on her way to her sister, Jean, who lived an hour south of Portland, Taylor could at last breathe.
And perhaps even feel a little triumph at having turned the tables on Craig.
After parking in the back of the hotel, Taylor, unbuckled the twins, and let them out of the van. Leaving their small luggage for later, she took them each by the hand and led them across the lot to the hotel’s rear doors. However, she couldn’t enter without a key card and was forced to walk all the way around to the front.
Half afraid that Kane might not be there, and unable to use her credit card to get a room for herself and her daughters, Taylor felt pent up and anxious as they crossed the lobby to the elevators. No one tried to stop them, though she felt paranoid enough to think the clerk was dialing the police at that moment.
Kane answered her timid knock wearing only his jeans. Taylor gulped at the sight of all that bare skin and muscle, yet his pleased grin offered her much relief and encouragement.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call first,” she said, trying to take her eyes from his pecs. “We’re in trouble.”
“Then you did the right thing. Come in.”
Kane stood aside to let her guide the twins in first, then he closed the door behind them.
“I wasn’t expecting company,” he admitted, donning his shirt. “Can you tell me what happened?”
Taylor glanced at Megan and Lila, who had jumped on the bed to watch the movie Kane had on the television. A quick glance showed her it was a classic western, perfectly acceptable for small children in her opinion. Once they were completely engaged in horses and cowboys, Taylor beckoned Kane close.
He loomed over her outside the bathroom, his pale eyes warm, kind.
“Craig,” she said, her voice low. “He got suspended from work. Kane, he was going to kill us.”
Those pale eyes grew icy. “What happened?” His mellow voice had grown into a low, throaty growl.
Quickly, with glances at the girls engrossed in the movie, Taylor told him everything. “I knew he’d try something, and he did. I had his police Taser and gave him a good shock. Dammit, he was making a grab for Lila.”
“What does a Taser do?”
“It’s an electrical charge that incapacitates without causing permanent harm.”
“And then what?”
“Well, with him semi-conscious, I got us out of there,” she went on. “I called my mom to warn her, to tell her to leave, because he will go after her.”
Kane smiled, his hand on her shoulder. “You think well under pressure, Taylor. You did damn good.”
He eyed her sidelong. “You really knocked him in his nuts?”
“I did.” Taylor laughed, but it sounded desperate, frightened. “I, er, don’t suppose I might get a hug? I sure need one right now.”
Chuckling, Kane wrapped her within his massive arms, holding her tightly against his chest. Listening to his breathing, his slow regular heartbeat, Taylor finally, at last, felt safe.
“If he wants you,” Kane murmured, “he’ll have to go through me to get you.”
The practical side of her escape nagged at her. Removing herself from his arms, Taylor cleared her throat, gazing up into his handsome face. “I have money, but I can’t access it right now. I don’t dare use a credit card, for Craig will use it to track me.”
“You need a place here and have no money. Don’t worry. I’ll get you a room.”
Her relief nearly had her in tears. “Thank you. I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t say anything,” he replied gently. “Just calm yourself, Taylor. Watch the movie with the kids, and I’ll be right back.”
He winked, caressing his finger down her cheek, and smiled. “You did the right thing to come here.”
“Thank you.”
After he left, Taylor went into the bathroom and ran cold water into the sink. Using a fresh washcloth, she splashed the water onto her face and neck, washing away the sweat of panic and fear. Borrowing his hairbrush, she used it on her red locks, already feeling a little better for tidying herself up.
In the other room, her phone rang. Dashing for it, Taylor feared it was Craig, calling to tell her he was coming for her, that he knew exactly where she was. Maybe he had put a tracking device on her van, or had pinged her cell phone off a tower, and thus followed her to the hotel.
But it was Jackie.
“Mom.”
“I’m safe, hon, and on the highway south.”
“Oh, thank God.” Taylor sagged onto the bed, her weak knees informing her of just how much she feared Craig would get to Jackie first.
“Are you with Kane?”
“Yeah.” Taylor sniffed back tears. “He’s getting us a room right now.”
“What a nice man. I can’t wait to meet him. Are the girls all right?”
“Yeah. Megan and Lila are watching an old western. They can’t take their eyes from it.”
Jackie chuckled. “I used to let you watch those when you were their age.”
“Then it runs in the family.”
“Listen, honey, I better get off the phone. I don’t need a state trooper to pull me over for talking and driving.”
“No, you don’t. Drive safe and call me when you get to Jean’s.”
“I will. Love you.”
Taylor clicked off.
“Was that Grandma?” Megan asked.
“Yeah, baby. You can talk to her next time.”
Taylor tried to focus her attention on the show but could not. In her mind’s eye, she saw Craig and the switchblade and knew that had she been a fraction slower, she’d be dead right now. As would be Megan and Lila. Craig always carried that deadly knife, even though to be caught carrying it meant his job.
Kane returned with a grin and a key card. “The room is in my name, and it’s right next door.”
He pointed to a door Taylor hadn’t noticed. An adjoining room. “No way,” she said, stunned.
“Way. Where is your van? I’ll get your things.”
As Taylor used the key card to open her room, then unlock the entry to Kane’s room, Kane took the van’s remote and departed again. Megan and Lila stared curiously for a couple of minutes, then watched the television with open mouths.
“Hey, you can watch it from in here,” Taylor told them, finding the same show on her television.
Megan and Lila transferred to the other room and continued to gape as whooping Indians chased the cowboys on horses that ran faster than African gazelles. Taylor never could figure out how the movies’ makers made those horses look like they ran at the speed of light. I guess they just speeded up the film.
Kane returned with their luggage and set it on the floor. “When you get hungry, we can go out,” he said. “Or order in.”
Lila picked up on that instantly. “Pizza?”
Taylor laughed. “Maybe.”
“I want pepperoni,” Megan informed her, bouncing on the bed.
“You two just had lunch at Grandma’s. You can’t possibly be hungry.”
“I yam.”
Kane chuckled. “They’re growing. I suppose that it’s expected their appetites would grow as well.”
“I think the pizza can wait for their dinner,” Taylor replied, glancing at her watch. “It’s almost their nap time. I’ll get them a snack from the machine, and that should keep them happy.”
“Cookies!” Lila cried joyously.
“Choco chip,” Megan exclaimed.
Fetching a few dollar bills from her purse, Taylor asked, “Will you keep an eye on them?”
“Sure. We’ll sit and watch the cowboys and Indians, won’t we?”
“Yay.”
Kane pushed pillows up against the wall at the head of the bed, then leaned against them, a twin to either side and nestled under his arms. He grinned. “See?”
“I do.” Taylor smiled at the sight. “Be right back.”
She hadn’t eaten since breakfast, yet the events with Craig were too recent for her nerves to have settled. Pondering the idea of getting something for herself, Taylor knew she couldn’t eat. Not for quite a while.
As she walked down the hallway toward the ice and vending machines, she knew she should report what had happened to the police. Selecting cookies from one machine and juice from another, she knew she would have to.
Lieutenant Johnson was sympathetic and believed me. Maybe I should call him.
Returning to the rooms, Taylor found the scene just as she had left it. Megan and Lila blinked owlishly, a sure sign they needed a nap. The next would be getting fussy and crying. “Babies, come get your snack.”
They left Kane’s side to scramble down off the bed. Taylor, without high chairs for them to sit at the room’s desk, had them sit on the floor. Happily, they munched cookies and drank the juice from plastic hotel cups. They would make a mess on the carpet as well as themselves, but Taylor was too tightly strung to worry about it.
“Come here.”
Kane patted the bed. Sitting where he indicated, Taylor drew a deep, shuddering breath. She held his hand, gripping it tightly as though she was drowning.
“I need to talk to the police about what happened,” she said, her tone low. “Report it.”
“But won’t they go on protecting him?” Kane asked.
“I don’t know. He’s been suspended; he’s under investigation; his buddies may not want anything to do with him anymore.”
“So, does that mean they’ll turn to protecting you now?”
“Yes and no.” Taylor took his hand to hold, squeezing it. “But it may mean he’ll be put in jail.”
“And that is a good thing?”
“For me, yes. At least until he gets out again.”
Kane watched her steadily. “Then you should do it.”
Chapter Twelve
After they had eaten their cookies, leaving crumbs on the carpet, Taylor put them into one of the big beds. Kane absently watched the television, listening to her read them a story. Then she tucked them in, kissed them noisily, and made them giggle.
Half closing the door between the two rooms, Taylor sat down on the edge of Kane’s bed, her expression tight, anxious. “This is going to be hard.”
“No,” he replied. “You have to. If it means being free of him, you must.”
“Shit.”
Taylor picked up her cell with a heavy sigh, blowing out a gust of breath, and clicked numbers. Meeting Kane’s eyes, she sent him a rueful half-smile as she listened for the police to answer on the other end. “May I speak to Lieutenant Johnson?”
Kane watched her as she gave her name, explained what had happened earlier, and how she needed to report it. Her eyes widened slightly as she listened, asked questions, then said, “I see. All right, I am at the Oaks Hotel on South Oaks Street, room number five-thirty-one. I’ll be waiting for them.”
Taylor clicked her phone off, gazing at Kane. “My neighbors reported hearing me screaming and called the cops,” she said. “The two officers who responded are investigating what they call ‘the incident,’ and want to talk to me. They’ll be here soon.”
“Is this a good thing?” he asked.
“I wish I knew.”
Standing, Taylor paced across the room to lean against the wall, her arms folded. She stared out the window, and Kane couldn’t tell
if she would welcome another hug or not. He wanted very much to comfort her yet didn’t understand humans well enough to read them fully. Her body language told him she felt frightened, vulnerable.
Making a decision, Kane stood up and went to her. “I think you need another hug.”
“You’re a mind reader.”
Taylor melted into his arms as though belonging there, her cheek resting against his chest. He liked, very much, how she felt molded against him, her hands on the small of his back. She felt so right, so perfect, as though she had been born to stay within the circle of his arms.
“You’ll get through this,” he murmured. “I’ll help you.”
He thought the sound that erupted from her throat was a sob, yet when she turned her face up to his, her eyes were dry. “I hope so.”
Bending his neck, Kane kissed her. Her lips parted under his, welcoming his tongue, her own exploring his mouth. Her breasts hard against his chest sent heat spreading through his loins. Yet, this was not the time for taking the next step and stripping her naked, and he controlled his need with an effort.
Taylor pulled away from him with evident reluctance, her pupils dilated, a small smile playing around her lips. “That was nice.”
“I liked kissing you.”
Taking him by the hand, she led him back to the bed to sit, not to have sex. “Maybe we can, you know, later.”
Sitting beside her, Kane held her hand, hoping he wasn’t taking advantage of her emotional vulnerability. “If you want. But only if you say so.”
“You are so sweet.” Taylor smiled into his eyes. “Craig seldom gave me a choice.”
“You mean he raped you?” He felt his anger rise, and if Craig showed up at that moment, Kane would have cheerfully strangled him.
“I suppose in a way it was,” Taylor admitted. “It was easier to let him have his way than to say no.”
“That is not right.” Controlling his anger, he dragged in a deep breath. “Sorry. I just find it terrible how badly males treat the females. It makes me furious.”
“I like that about you, Kane,” she said. “By the way, did you stop a man from hitting a pregnant woman at the store the other day?”
Dragon Fever: Limited Edition Holiday Romance Boxset Page 58