by Vanessa Vale
What was I going to do? I pulled my phone from my purse, pressed Tommy’s number with shaky fingers. It went right to voicemail. I hung up, shoved the phone away.
Shit. Shit! A woman came down the hall, smiled at me as she made her way to the bathroom. I realized then I’d been gone for a while. Liam! Oh, shit. He was coming from the station to pick me up.
I took a deep breath, then another as I made my way back through the restaurant. Liam was walking toward me, a big grin on his face. I didn’t see the others, so I had to assume they’d already left. God, he looked so good, so handsome in his jeans and heavy coat. He took his hat off when he saw me. I wanted to wrap my arms around him, have him hug me close, kiss the top of my head. I wanted to hear his heartbeat as I pressed my head to his chest, breathed in his clean scent.
But no. I couldn’t let him do that. He was the sheriff! I was going to have to break the law or Tommy would be cut up into little bits. Then there was Porter. It was his job to prosecute criminals, to put them in jail. They were both on the right side of the law. They worked for justice, for keeping the peace. And they were dating a soon-to-be criminal. What was I going to do?
I couldn’t tell them the truth. Not yet. Not now. I had to think this through. If I didn’t do what those men wanted, they’d kill Tommy. If I did, then I could ruin both their careers.
“Hey, baby.” His smile slipped when he got a close look at me. “What’s the matter?”
I had to think of something fast, of some excuse as to why I was all freaked out. Miserable. Scared. I was a horrible actress, and there was no way I could fake being all right after that.
“I, I… um, got my period. I’ve got horrible cramps.”
He frowned, but didn’t bolt like some guys would have at the mention of girl stuff. Fortunately, it seemed he wasn’t knowledgeable enough about an IUD to know I hadn’t had a period in years.
“Okay, let’s get you home and what? Need some aspirin and a heating pad?”
“Can you just take me home? To my house?” I clarified. It was easy to feign miserable cramps when I felt miserable. “I’ve got everything I need there and I’m not very good company right now.”
I wanted to throw the covers of my own bed over my head and think. Hide.
He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and steered me toward the door. “Sure, but I’m staying with you. No way will I leave my girl alone when she’s hurting.”
I almost started crying then because he was so fucking sweet, but willed it back.
An hour later, I was spooned up against a sleeping Liam in my bed. He hadn’t done anything except kiss me sweetly and pull me into his arms. Porter had been called and hoped I felt better, but had said he was glad Liam was with me. Two caring men. They loved me. But they wouldn’t soon enough when I broke the law. As I listened to Liam’s deep breathing, I stared at the dark walls and wondered what I was going to do.
I made it through my shift at the hospital, thankful the number of scheduled surgeries was small. Both Liam and Porter had texted to check in. It had been easy to reply on a break since the messages were short and easy to fake. Over lunch, I went into one of the emergency stairwells and tried calling Tommy again. To my surprise, he answered.
“Hey, sis.”
“Tommy, are you all right?” I asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Where are you?”
“What, you want to sic your boyfriends on me?”
I pulled my cell away from my head and stared at it for a few seconds. “No, I thought maybe two guys, one with a crooked nose might have found you.”
Now he was quiet. “Do what they say, Jilly.”
“Yeah, I figured that out,” I muttered. If I knew what they looked like, then that meant I’d talked with them. Tommy didn’t even ask if I was all right or be mad because they’d approached me. Threatened me.
“They’re going to hurt me if you don’t.”
If there was a possibility of a brain transplant, it was my brother who had gotten one. Who was this guy talking to me? I didn’t hear anything of my little brother in him. “Hurt you? They threatened me, Tommy.”
“You’ve got the sheriff and the prosecutor to protect you from jail. Just get the scripts and everything will be fine.”
I had to wonder if he’d given them the idea of me writing fake prescriptions.
“For how long? You think they’re the kinds of guys who will ever let me stop?”
“Look, sis. I like my fingers attached. What’s a few prescriptions?”
“It’s my nursing license, Tommy,” I snapped. “Not only can I be arrested, but I can lose my career. My livelihood.” I paced back and forth across the concrete landing. “Dr. Metzger hasn’t even said if I should come in tomorrow. I’m probably fired and that means I can’t pay the bills. The mortgage. I could lose the house, Tommy.”
“You’re fucking two guys who can make it all go away. Smart thinking.”
I was stunned and insulted and hurt and pissed.
“You know what? You got yourself into this. Why don’t you get the money? Get a job and earn it. Or leave town. Run. Get away from all the stuff you’re involved in.”
“Look, Jilly, I’ve got to go. Talk soon.”
The line went dead.
I shoved my cell into my scrub top pocket next to my notepad and pen. I made a funny scream sound that echoed off the concrete walls as I tugged at my hair.
How dare Tommy say that? How dare he call what I had with Liam and Porter something so… so tawdry? God, he wanted me to risk my career, my relationship, everything just so he didn’t have to face the consequences of his mistakes?
But they were going to kill him.
And me.
What could I do? Not do what they wanted and just go right on living, watching my back so I wouldn’t be grabbed and chopped up into pieces? Tell the guys to fuck off and then they’d kill Tommy? Maybe me, too?
I sat down on a cold step, put my elbows on my knees. I could tell Liam and Porter what was going on, but the men said they’d kill Tommy, and I believed them. No matter how much I hated him right now, I didn’t want him dead. I couldn’t live with that.
I was screwed. Write fake prescriptions or my brother dies. I die. But a relationship with Liam and Porter was out of the question. I couldn’t drag them into this. Their careers could be ruined. Their actions would be scrutinized. People would believe they’d been helping me, or at least bending the rules for the woman they loved. Liam would be removed from office. Porter could be disbarred. It wasn’t fair to them that they be with me.
Tears filled my eyes and I blinked them back. God, for the first time in my life, I relied on someone else, two someones, put hope in a relationship. In love. And, just like with Mom, it was ruined. Of course, she’d had no choice with cancer.
I had a choice now. I had to leave town. Run away. I couldn’t do what the men wanted. I couldn’t write fake prescriptions, couldn’t imagine where the drugs would end up, who would be hooked or hurt by my actions. I couldn’t stay in Raines and see Liam and Porter, watch them move on with another woman. If I left, they couldn’t hurt me. And if I told Tommy to run, too, then maybe he would listen. Maybe he’d have a chance.
I pulled out my cell, sent a text to him.
* * *
Me: They’ll come after you. Run.
* * *
I stood, took a deep breath, let it out. Tried to push down the heartache, the pain I felt at having everything, then losing it all. After my shift, I’d go to the ATM, get the two hundred I had in savings, go home, pack my car with whatever would fit and leave.
15
PORTER
* * *
By the time I got to the station and sat down across from Tommy Murphy in the interrogation room—it also served as a meeting room since the place was so small—Liam had been grilling him for over an hour.
The resemblance between brother and sister was obvious. Jill and Tommy had the same dark hair, eyes and face shape. But that
was where it ended. Tommy was tall, lean-muscled and wiry, where his sister was petite and had soft curves. Jill smiled with her eyes and had deep concern and affection for everyone. She was a giver, a nurturer. And she’d wasted her time and energy on this fucker.
Tommy sneered, his eyes cold. His arms were across his chest as he slouched in his chair, an overly confident posture for one who’d been arrested for breaking and entering with the intent to commit a felony. His hair was long and unruly, greasy, as if he hadn’t showered in a few days. He had on a University of Montana hoodie sweatshirt two sizes too big, a pair of jeans with a rip in the knee and sneakers. When I rested my forearms on the table and stared him down, he didn’t even flinch.
Liam was equally relaxed, no doubt acting calm when he wanted to throttle the fucker. But, he had procedure to follow. The sheriff couldn’t beat up a suspect, no matter how much he wanted to.
“Let’s recap for the DA, shall we?” Liam said.
Tommy rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
“Porter Duke, District Attorney of Raines County has now joined the interview,” Liam said in a clear voice for the recording. “Tommy says he was in bed sleeping at the time of the robbery.”
Bullshit, especially since Jill had the voicemail with him admitting the crime. “I understand you owe people some money,” I said instead.
Tommy shrugged. “You’ve got a mortgage, right? You owe people some money, too.”
“Ten thousand dollars, your sister says,” I continued.
“It’s all fine. Jilly’s helping me out.”
I sat and stared at him, my eyebrow raised. “By letting you clean out her house? What else are you going to pawn?”
He picked at a hangnail on his thumb. “It’s just meaningless stuff. Electronics, old jewelry. It’s not like Jill needs it. She’s never home.”
Because she works all the time.
“How’s she helping you out?” Liam asked.
Besides paying off the remainder of her mom’s medical bills all by herself.
For the first time, Tommy looked away. “It’s not like she’s going to get in trouble. She’s fucking the two of you. She got off for the break in, free and clear.”
I glanced at Liam.
“She didn’t break into Dr. Metzger’s office,” he said, leaving off the fact that we were her alibi.
Tommy shook his head and said, “Yeah, and even though her alarm code was used, she’s still got a job. Nothing happened to her.”
I hadn’t heard if she got her job back or not. He was too cocky with his sister’s life.
“What are you saying, she gave you the code?” I asked. “That she’s your accomplice?”
Tommy shrugged, scratched his head. “Like I said, she knew you’d help her out. I mean, I am her brother.”
I instantly thought of Sierra, the woman who’d had a “relationship” with me to get out of going to prison. It had worked, her case thrown out because of a technicality, which was me fucking her. And that had gotten me fired and I’d had to return to Raines, tail between my legs. I hadn’t tried to get serious with a woman after that until Jill.
Jill loved her brother, perhaps too much for how he treated her. But he was all she had. With her mom dying of cancer, her dad bolting when she was a little kid, she craved family. She’d do anything for Tommy. I’d seen the way she resigned herself to retrieving her mom’s pin from the pawnbroker, forking over her own cash to get it back. Shit, while I didn’t have any siblings, if one of my cousins pulled that shit, I’d have beat the crap out of him. She hadn’t cut Tommy off, changed the locks on the house. Stopped giving him cash. She was an enabler, but to what extent?
“What else is Jill doing to get money for you?”
Tommy leaned forward, grinned. “It’s pretty tight. I mean, writing fake scripts is a pretty sweet plan, especially getting in with you two with a get-out-of-jail-free card dangling from your dicks.”
Holy fuck.
Writing fake prescriptions? That was a worse offense than breaking and entering. And she was getting away with it. Clearly, Dr. Metzger didn’t know. Hell, we were fucking her and we didn’t know. God, she was good. She switched from dating to fucking just so she could keep herself out of jail. And both of us. The sheriff and the DA.
“Don’t disrespect your sister by talking about her like that,” Liam snarled.
Tommy held up his hands in surrender.
“Whatever, man. Just telling it like I see it. I mean, if I swung the other way, I’d fuck both of you, too.”
Liam’s fists clenched and I was impressed with his restraint. I was too distracted by what Jill had done to me. Was still doing.
“How long’s this been going on?” Liam asked, his voice deep, almost a growl.
Tommy shrugged. “Recent. How long you two been banging her?”
“Where’s the proof?” Liam asked.
He tipped his chin, indicating the plastic container on the table that had the things from his pockets when he was brought in. “She texted me earlier. Told me to watch out for you.”
I handed him the phone and he ran his fingers over it, then dropped it on the table. Liam picked it up, read it, then handed the cell to me.
* * *
Jill: They’ll come after you. Run.
* * *
I glanced at Liam, his jaw clenched, eyes narrowed. Fuck. Jill had warned Tommy the sheriff’s department was closing in? Telling him to flee the cops?
I stood, loomed over Tommy. His dark eyes widened, but he grinned even bigger. I wanted to punch the fucker, but I had to deal with Jill. Liam could get the pleasure of tossing him into a cell.
I’d fallen for it. Again. Jill wasn’t so sweet after all. Oh, her pussy tasted like candy, but that wasn’t all I wanted from her. I’d hoped for her heart, but all I got was the shaft. At least this time I learned the truth early enough. I could recuse myself. Get one of the ADAs to take her case when she was brought before the judge. Because Jill was going down, and it wasn’t to her knees to suck me off.
JILL
* * *
The car was packed. I filled two beat up suitcases with clothes and things I’d need wherever I settled. The cash from the ATM along with my credit cards would have to hold me over until I found a job. I’d head south, no sense staying in cold any longer than I had to. Arizona, maybe. It wouldn’t be snowing outside like it was here. The wind rattled the shutters and I knew we’d have inches overnight. Time to hit the road before it got even worse.
I set the thermostat down and ate whatever random bits of food were left in the fridge for dinner. I was tugging on my coat when the doorbell rang. After the awful men cornered me at Cassidy’s, I was beyond nervous. When I saw it was Porter through the peephole, I was relieved. Well, relieved I wasn’t going to be killed. But I didn’t want to see him. How was I going to say goodbye? How was I going to tell him I loved him too much to be with him? My heart actually hurt as I opened the door.
He stepped in and I closed the door behind him, a few flakes following.
“Hi,” I said lamely.
“When were you going to tell us, Jill?” Porter asked.
I stared at him wide eyed. He knew I was leaving?
“Um, well, I…”
“You weren’t going to, were you?” He sounded angry. He looked angry. There was no tender smile, eyes that held love, heat.
Now, he was tense. Hard. Cold, and not from the growing storm outside.
I shook my head.
“I thought you were The One.” He ran his hand through his damp hair, the snow that had collected on the walk from his SUV having melted. “Fuck, was I wrong. I fell for it. I fell for you.”
Tears filled my eyes at his harsh words. It was better he be mad. It would be easier for him to move on if he hated me. I hadn’t done anything wrong… yet. But that didn’t matter.
“I’m sorry,” I replied meekly.
“No, you’re not. You’re on your own. No, you’ve got Tommy. Don’t c
ome to me when the shit hits the fan, sweetness. Because it will.”
With that he tugged open the door and left. I watched as he stormed down my walk and climbed into his huge SUV and drove away.
I closed the door, leaned against it and slid down to the floor and cried.
Porter hated me. Liam probably did, too. Tommy was never going to turn his life around. I just had to hope he was arrested before the men from Cassidy’s caught up with him. I’d warned him to get out of town. I just had to hope he listened. I couldn’t be responsible anymore. I had to take care of myself, just like I always had. I picked myself up, grabbed my coat, my keys, climbed in my car. I was all alone. As I drove out of town toward Clayton and the interstate, I realized I’d only really been with Liam and Porter for five days, so not much had changed. I was exactly the same, except for one thing.
A broken heart.
16
LIAM
* * *
“Fuck, what a day.” I ran my hand over the back of my neck as I opened Porter’s fridge and pulled out a beer.
I popped the top and tossed it in the trash under the sink. All I wanted to do was settle on the couch with Jill in my lap and watch a movie. When had I turned into an old fart? Oh yeah, when I fell in love.
“A good one though,” I continued. “Tommy’s a small fish. We got him, but he gave us two others for a lighter sentence. That kid’s a little shit, thinking only of himself. Whatever. I’m off duty, so to make us forget it all, I stopped by the adult store and got our girl a little—well, not so little—jeweled plug. I think she’ll look gorgeous with a bright green gem parting her ass cheeks.”
My cock went hard just thinking about her on all fours on Porter’s ottoman, ass up, her ass beautifully plugged. I took a long swig. Fuck, that tasted good.
I turned and finally looked at Porter.