Don't Leave Me

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  “You okay?” The light-haired one said, now in front of Claudia. Both were taking her in, but the dark-haired one was blocking him from getting even one step closer to the girl.

  “Chase, I’m fine. Vic, I didn’t know you were in town.”

  So she knew these guys. Vic only glanced her way a second before taking in all of Tony, his gun, his badge, as he worked a piece of gum. The man seriously wasn’t intimidated, and Tony got the distinct impression his badge wouldn’t protect him from whatever wrath these brothers might decide to dish out.

  “Who are you, and what the fuck is going on here?” Vic said. “Just what the fuck do you think you’re doing with my sister? You hurt her?” He topped Tony by about a quarter of an inch, and everything in him screamed warrior, badass. It filled the room and made him seem seven feet tall.

  “No, I didn’t hurt her. I’m trying to keep her from being hurt,” he said, but it didn’t seem to appease the guy in front of him. “Detective Tony Martin, and you are?”

  Vic said nothing, but Chase walked over and set his hand on Vic’s shoulder as if to calm him. It wasn’t lost on Tony that his touch seemed to be the only thing that could make him see reason.

  “Chase McCabe. This is Vic McCabe, and you have our sister.” Neither held out their hand to shake his. “Mind telling us what’s going on? Because I really want to know why a cop has our sister in some shady motel room, and for the better part of the night she’s been unreachable,” Chase said, jabbing his hand to Tony.

  Vic walked over to Claudia, standing in front of her, his hand under her chin, taking in the scrapes to her face.

  “Someone please fill me in,” Chase said.

  Vic was still in front of Claudia, and even she hadn’t said a word. “Who hurt you? Who did this? Him?” he said. The way Vic was talking to his sister, they could have been the only two in the room.

  “Tony didn’t do this,” Claudia said. “He actually really is trying to help.” She shrugged, and her expression in that moment was almost apologetic to him, because he knew she was going to talk.

  “No, I didn’t do this. I’m still trying to piece together what happened, but it seems your sister was in the wrong place at the wrong time and walked into the middle of something I’m trying to figure out.” He took in the open door and stepped around Chase to close it.

  “I just got out of my car on my way to the coffee house to meet Tina when I heard the first shot,” Claudia said. “I didn’t know what it was at first, and then I just ran, dropped everything, my phone, my keys, my purse.”

  He watched her expression as if she’d remembered something.

  “Tina, shit! She’s probably wondering what happened. I never showed. I should call her…”

  “Hey, don’t worry about Tina. She was the one who called and left messages for you at home. I’ll talk to her.” Chase was gesturing to his sister. Both brothers were quite a bit older too, mid thirties, he figured, and didn’t look anything like Claudia. They both seemed to be forming a wall that would stop anyone or anything from getting to their sister.

  “How many were shot?” Chase asked.

  Vic was still staring straight down at Claudia, but he was the one who answered in a low voice, “Three men, but there was a Muslim woman, too. Her throat was slit.” He glanced to Tony with a look that threatened to kill. God help him, he figured, if he ever did do something to Claudia. Best hope they never found out about the way he’d taken her down.

  “Yeah, but that bit isn’t out yet, so how did you know?” Tony said. Maybe he should be asking who these brothers were. One was a lawyer, Chase, but Vic…what the hell did he do? Everything about him screamed that he was important, connected, that he had some reach and got things done.

  Vic turned back to Claudia as if Tony hadn’t asked a thing. So he wasn’t sharing his source. “What happened? Tell me everything that happened and how those marks on your face came about. And your hair, what did you do?”

  Claudia didn’t bother looking his way, and he wasn’t sure what she’d say.

  “I made Claudia change her hair color so she doesn’t stand out,” Tony said.

  “And why would you do that?” Chase asked, his eyes narrowed, considering. He was dangerous too in a different kind of way from his brother.

  Claudia said, “Because I saw a cop plant a gun, and I was threatened, told not to talk to anyone about what I saw or say a word about last night. The cop threatened me and Dad.”

  Both Chase and Vic shared something in a glance to each other that changed the energy in the room. Whatever it was that had passed between them, Tony knew for certain one thing: Whatever secret Llewellyn knew about Claudia’s dad, her brothers knew it too.

  Chapter 14

  No one said a word. The motel room, which was only blocks from home, likely the reason Chase and Vic had arrived so quickly, had become too small, filled with three alphas, two family and the other a cop she’d known only a few hours.

  “I want a word with my sister,” Vic said. He didn’t talk much and had an energy about him that was always so tense, overthinking. She often wondered in these moments whether he was planning his next move. It was something that set him apart from everyone. He turned to Chase, who shrugged. Whatever the exchange was between them, it seemed as if they’d discussed something before stepping into the room. “Detective” was all he said, and Tony was looking to her as if he was going to refuse.

  “A moment, and then we have to go,” Tony said, then went out the door. Chase gripped the frame, and she noticed the sweat under his light T-shirt over faded blue jeans, a very casual look for Chase, who usually wore a high-quality dress shirt and designer pants. He appeared to have just thrown something on.

  “I think you need to start at the beginning and tell us everything,” Vic said, “because right now I’m of a mind to get you out of here, out of town. A cop planted a gun, and you saw it?”

  Chase moved closer, his arms across his chest. There was something in the way he watched her that she didn’t know what to make of.

  “It happened. Everything about last night happened so fast. I didn’t know there were three dead, and the woman… I don’t know what to say about that.” She explained what had happened, beginning with the shots near the Waverly and ending at the part where she’d been cuffed. She held up her wrists, showing the bruising and red welts from how the metal had pinched her.

  Chase touched her wrist, her hands, holding them, and he didn’t look happy. Vic was breathing much like a bull, ready to attack. She could feel his anger and something else. He cared. She was struck by how much her brothers cared about her even though she hardly knew them. She’d thought she’d always be just outside the tight circle of Vic, Aaron, Luc, and Chase. Maybe she was wrong.

  Chase was watching her so intently, saying nothing. Maybe it was shock, disbelief. Vic’s dark eyes showed no emotion other than that he was taking everything she’d said in, and she didn’t have a clue what he would do with it. Chase lifted his hand before she could continue. Confusion and anger were written all over him. “You were arrested?” he said.

  “I thought so, but I wasn’t sure. I figured I was, based on how long they had me stuffed in a room, then questioned.”

  Vic and Chase glanced to each other as if they knew something, or maybe she didn’t have a clue what they were really thinking.

  “Why didn’t you call me, ask for a lawyer?” Chase snapped and sounded really mad. “Did they Mirandize you, read you your rights? Because in those rights you’re clearly advised of your right to a call and to talk to a lawyer, and to keep your fucking mouth shut.” Oh yeah, he was really pissed.

  She sighed. “I tried. I lost count of the number of times I asked to make a call and then asked for a lawyer. I planned to call you, Chase. And no, they never read me my rights. Sorry,” she said, dishing sarcasm right back to him.

  Chase wiped his face, and she could hear the scape of his whiskers. He was never known not to shave. “How long w
ere you in that room? And they kept you cuffed to a table, trampling all over your rights. Fuck!”

  She’d never heard Chase so pissed off. That was Vic who was known for losing it. Not often, but she knew he scared people. She’d never really figured him out, any of her brothers.

  “I don’t know how long I was in there, but it seemed like hours. Two cops came in, and one was the detective I watched put the gun in the shopping cart. I knew it was bad, and the questions they asked me were bizarre. What was I doing at the Waverly, and how did I know Zoe? Then they asked if I owned a gun, and I just kept trying to tell them what happened, knowing well that Llewellyn had put the gun in the cart. Then they asked about Dad, if it was his gun, and saying he knows some pretty bad people. I seriously thought they were going to pin the shooting on me. It was so twisted, and I was scared. Sorry for talking, Chase, but I didn’t know what to do. Later I learned that they pinned it on Zoe. I found out from Tony that she confessed, or so Llewellyn said, which is crazy. That was the gun that apparently killed the three men, but there’s no way Zoe did it. She was hiding, huddled with her kids. What kind of fucked-up place is this that this can happen?”

  She could see the seriousness of the situation on both her brothers’ faces, even Vic, who was a master at hiding everything. Claudia could tell he was rattled when she told him about the glove in the cart with gunpowder residue and then the warnings and threats to her, about Tony driving her home, about Llewellyn outside their parents’ house and how she’d ended up here at this cheap motel with a detective she still didn’t know whether she could trust. She’d also told them about the old man, who might be the only one who could clear Zoe’s name. What was she going to do?

  Vic was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed again. Whatever he was thinking seemed to be shared with Chase, who shrugged to him as if he understood. What she’d give to know her brothers as well as they seemed to know each other. “I’m thinking Claudia needs to go, move her to my place,” Vic said as if she wasn’t even there. “Mom and Dad too, I think, for now. Whatever’s going on, let’s move them out of reach.”

  Chase was shaking his head. “Maybe, but I don’t like any of this. This detective planted something. It could easily be turned on Claudia if they feel threatened. Being another state over won’t matter. Could make it worse.”

  She couldn’t believe they’d think she’d up and leave just like that. “They told me I couldn’t leave town,” she added, and Vic stared at her as if he didn’t care what the cops said, what they asked. It wasn’t even a consideration for him. She’d seen the way both her brothers organized their wives, their families. She’d just never experienced that heavy handedness other than with college, with Vic assigning her courses.

  “Really? Well, you’re hiding now. I don’t like any of this,” Vic added to Chase, not her.

  “You know what? I’m not leaving. Have you two forgotten what I said? They’ve got a woman sitting in jail who they’re pinning the shooting on. I know what this other man looks like who was in the alley, and I’m just beginning to understand that Tony really didn’t know what happened. So no, I can’t leave, I won’t. I don’t know much about Zoe other than that she’s homeless, and I’m pretty sure the kids with her were hers, and the things in the cart were hers, too. Now she’s sitting behind bars, being charged with all of this insanity, but you know what? The one sitting in the cell right now could have been me. Why they pinned it on her, I don’t know, but I’d like to.”

  She hadn’t decided what to do until right this moment. “And Dad, I’ve never asked, but I am now. Why did the cops seem to know stuff about Dad? Who is he, and who are these pretty bad people he knows?”

  Again the exchange between Chase and Vic. She wondered if they’d really tell her, and she crossed her arms and waited just as the door opened and Tony stepped in.

  “We’ve got to go. Just got a message from Llewellyn, asking about you.” He jabbed his hand to Claudia as she took in her brothers, who still hadn’t answered her. “This thing that’s happened, I guarantee you they’re trying to wrap it up quickly, neatly. I still need to go into the precinct and get you situated someplace they don’t know. That guy you saw, pretty sure he’s homeless too. We need to find him, talk to him, find out what he saw.”

  As she took a step to the door, Vic uncrossed his arms and stepped away from the wall, his hand out. “Not so fast.” He was shaking his head to Claudia. “I don’t want my sister involved in this.”

  Chase stood in the center of the room, not looking at anyone as he seemed to be thinking some heavy thoughts. He shook his head. “I don’t want Claudia involved either, but the problem is that she’s in it already, up to her neck and then some. So before anyone does anything, we need to decide on a course of action, a plan that keeps Claudia safe and exposes this cop, why he planted the gun, and why those people were really killed.”

  Chapter 15

  One of the questions Tony was determined to answer was what Llewellyn and the four other cops had been doing at the Waverly. The building was close to the college and housed mostly rowdy kids who partied hard and drank too much. The drugs that flowed went from weed to any cocktail formula, but there had in fact only been one overdose, two stabbings, and numerous noise complaints. Then there were Chase and Vic McCabe, Claudia’s brothers, who he’d never in a million years have considered asking for help. However, they’d turned the tables on him, and he understood they were only allowing him to lead the way.

  Here he was now with Claudia in the passenger side of his car, driving back to the scene of the crime. Chase and Vic followed in a BMW behind him as if they weren’t about to let their sister out of their sight. There was a lot about the brothers he had learned.

  “Surprising…” she said, looking in the side mirror.

  “What is?”

  Her dark hair was pulled back and really did look good. She’d done a good job with the bottle of dye, and it looked anything but artificial. Add in a leather jacket and a dash of makeup and the girl would have every red-blooded male dogging her, which was maybe one of the reasons her brothers were breathing down his neck.

  The vinyl seat rustled as she sat back. Though the T-shirt should have hid her breasts, a fine asset of hers, they were accentuated by the seatbelt crossing between them. She glanced his way. The gold of her eyes really popped now without the heavy makeup that had been smeared everywhere last night.

  “I didn’t realize they cared,” she said. “My brothers.”

  He glanced back to the road. Was she kidding? Vic had pulled him aside after leaving the motel to give him a clear warning, in his exact words: “If you don’t protect Claudia with your life, I’ll break your fucking neck.” Tony got it, but apparently she didn’t.

  “Not sure what the relationship is with you and them, but those two care. Why would you think they didn’t? Vic drove all night to get here from Salem, and Chase from that shit town just across the Nevada border, all because your mom called them about the shooting and said you were nowhere to be found.”

  Chase had told him so after sitting him down to hammer out their to-do list for that morning, which included tracking down the witness, calling in a private investigator on Vic’s payroll, and getting in touch with a friend of Chase’s in the FBI. This could either come together or be a disaster.

  He realized Claudia hadn’t said anything, hadn’t offered any explanation. He wasn’t sure whether she was thinking of what to say or ignoring him.

  “I don’t know them well is the problem,” she finally said. “My brothers, my dad only came into my life a few years ago. I haven’t spent much time with my brothers. Aaron is a fighter, lives in Alabama and is always on the road, Luc and Vic are in Salem, and Chase, although closer, is a few hours away. They all have their own lives, their own families. Me, I’m here with my parents and a father who I don’t really know. Why do the cops know him?”

  He wanted the story. He waited, but she said nothing. “I’d like to hear
it, Claudia, the story about your brothers, your father, and how you found out about them.”

  She kept her gaze averted, straight ahead. “I didn’t even know about my dad or that I had one, or about my brothers, until a few years ago. Suddenly my mom was dating someone, and then one night she sat me down to tell me about a guy named Jerry who she wanted to introduce me to. Surprise, it turned out to be Jerry McCabe, my father. But my mom was upset. I saw it, and I was worried, because she suffers from a terrible depression but kept it together for years with medication. Then, just like that, she said, ‘We have to talk. Sit down, Claudia.’ And then, wham…” Claudia smacked her fist into her palm. “She tells me I have a father who’s this man she’s dating, and four brothers she adopted and raised with this man because she didn’t think they could have children. But here I am, and apparently being pregnant with me triggered this huge depression that had her walking out on him and Luc, Aaron, Vic, and Chase, this instant family I never knew existed. Any idea how it feels to suddenly be a part of a family that’s grown up with lives of their own, wives of their own, kids, secrets, pasts I know nothing of, and then try to figure out how you fit?”

  He glanced her way again, understanding a little more, but at the same time he didn’t. They pulled past the college, and he turned down a different street, away from the Waverly, by an open area and a park where a lot of homeless gathered. He parked, and the BMW pulled in beside him. “You know what, Claudia? Those two there are big brothers to you if I’ve ever seen them, and the fact they’re here now should tell you how much they care. You may not know each other well, but I could see it clearly: You’re their sister. You are one of them.”

  She didn’t say anything as she turned her head to him. He didn’t know what to make of it. She was difficult to read, a young woman who kept everything close. Then she opened the passenger door and froze. “That’s him,” she said, pointing straight ahead to two picnic tables and a group of men, women, a few kids, bags, and two shopping carts.