by Vanessa Vale
He was leaning against the counter, staring out the windows that lined one wall of the great room, although it was too dark out to even see the snow coming down.
“You’re too uptight to have been in our girl. Is she in the tub? I want to tell her the latest.”
“She’s not our girl.”
I frowned, looked around. I didn’t see Jill, didn’t smell her shampoo. Hell, it didn’t feel like she was even here. It was a little woo woo to even sense that, but I did.
“Where is she?” I asked him straight.
He looked at me and shrugged. “Her house.”
“Okay,” I said the word slowly, clearly missing something. “Why the fuck is she over there? I can go get her. She shouldn’t be driving in this.”
He looked me in the eye. “She’s at her house because it’s over.”
“Over,” I repeated. Was he drunk? That was the only thing I could think of, even though he didn’t even drink.
“She used us.” I frowned, and he continued. “She admitted she was writing fake scripts, just like her brother said.”
I set my beer on the island with a loud thunk. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I went over there. She had no intention of telling us the truth, that she was using us, fucking us so that she’d stay out of jail.”
That didn’t jive with anything I’d learned today. Tommy was a douche canoe who didn’t give a shit about his big-hearted sister. As soon as I offered him a sweet deal with barely any jail time, he rolled on those who were pretty much extorting money from him.
“She told you she’s been writing fake prescriptions through Dr. Metzger’s office?”
He nodded.
“She said those words. She said, I’ve been writing fake prescriptions.”
“No.”
I sighed, tried to remain calm, but getting answers out of Porter was like trying to get the truth out of Tommy. “What did she actually say?” I slapped my hand on the granite. “Dude, what were her fucking words?”
He clenched his jaw. “I asked her if she were ever going to tell us and she said no.”
I stared at him, trying to work it all out in my head. “We picked up two guys from Clayton, the guys who Tommy owes money. Tommy doesn’t have the cash, as you’re well aware.”
He nodded.
“Tommy couldn’t get the cash, so he got the stupid, and desperate, idea of searching for drugs in Dr. Metzger’s office. When that didn’t pan out, the guys got pissed, put the heat on Tommy. When they learned his sister worked there, they got the idea of the fake prescriptions. A perfect way to get pills. Tommy could sell them and get the cash to pay the guys back.”
“A drug dealer. Jesus, Tommy’s a little fuck,” Porter murmured.
“They threatened Jill,” I said, my words sharp. Cutting. When I heard that, when the guy with the busted nose had said that, I’d had to leave the interrogation. I’d had to have a deputy sit with the asshole while I cooled off.
“What do you mean they threatened her?” Porter’s voice went deep and deadly.
“Told her she had to get the scripts or they’d kill Tommy. They’d kill her.”
“What the fuck?” Porter said, spinning on his heel and pacing.
“From what Tommy said, she refused to do it, and he was pissed. You ready for this?”
He stopped looked my way.
“The text Tommy showed us, she wasn’t telling Tommy the cops were after him. She was talking about the two fuckers who threatened her.”
“She told him to run,” Porter added.
I nodded. “Yeah, because she’d decided she wouldn’t do what they wanted. Why the fuck did you think she would do something like that?”
“Because she’s fucking the sheriff and the DA.”
“Jesus, you believed Tommy?”
He shook his head. “I told you what happened back east. I’d been in a relationship and the woman had only been with me to get her off, and I don’t mean sexually. She’d been up for tax evasion and other stupid shit and she used me, fucked me so that I could keep her out of jail. Turns out, she stayed out of jail and I got fired. Pretty much got kicked out of working in the state.”
“Sienna?” I remembered this story, knew she was why he hadn’t dated much. One night stands, but nothing real, not until Jill.
“Sierra,” he corrected.
“Sierra’s long gone, dude. That was years ago. I never met the woman, but Jill’s nothing like her.”
He sighed. “I know, but between being burned in the past and Tommy’s words, I blew it.”
My cell rang and I pulled it from my pocket.
“Hey, Parker,” I said.
“She’s gone.”
I glanced at Porter. “Who’s gone?”
Porter came around the counter, stood beside me. I lowered my cell, hit the speaker button.
“Jill, you idiot,” Parker yelled. “She’s gone.”
“Where?”
“Gone! She texted and said she was fine but had to leave town.”
“Oh shit,” Porter murmured. He put his hands on the back of his neck, elbows out and exhaled. “That’s what she was talking about earlier. She’d already decided to leave and wasn’t going to tell us.”
“And you thought she was talking about stealing scripts.”
“Who’s stealing prescriptions?” Parker asked. “Jill wouldn’t do that.”
“No, she wouldn’t,” Porter said. “Did she say where she was headed?”
“Arizona. Something about starting over where it was warm. You two need to find her.”
Porter was already heading for the garage. “On it,” I said, then hung up. “I’ve got the sheriff SUV. We’ll take that.”
Porter changed directions and went out the front door. The snow was coming hard and fast but I doubt he even felt it. I was pissed at him for fucking things up with Jill, but I could understand how it had happened. Now he was a man on a mission, because he wasn’t raised to let his woman drive alone on a night like this. Hell, spend the night by herself in a strange hotel. To let her spend one minute more thinking we didn’t love her.
Jill was out there. Alone. We had to find her and we had to make this right.
17
JILL
* * *
I willed myself to sleep, but it wouldn’t come. The sliver of light peeking through the curtain highlighted the square tiles on the ceiling, which I’d counted over and over, like sheep. I was exhausted, having worked all day and then driven fifty miles in a Montana snow storm. By the time I pulled into the parking lot of a chain hotel off the highway, my muscles ached from being so tense. I’d leaned forward like a little old lady as I drove well below the speed limit because of blowing snow. I should’ve stayed home and headed out in the morning when the front was to clear away. I hadn’t been thinking clearly. I hadn’t really been thinking at all. That was better than actually listening to the voice in my head.
It had been relatively easy to do with the radio blasting, but now, in the quiet of the hotel room with only the hum of the heater to distract me, I thought of them.
I had on sweats, thick socks and a hoodie sweatshirt because while the heat worked in the room, the blanket was thin. I missed Porter’s internal furnace. I missed Liam’s arms as he held me close through the night. The bed was empty, cold. Even after Mom died, I hadn’t really felt this alone.
I’d had Tommy to think about, to take care of. He’d been sixteen at the time and needed a ride to school. Needed dinner on the table after. Needed clean clothes.
Now, he didn’t need me. That was obvious. I had to wonder if he even loved me. Did he even know what that meant? To care so desperately for someone you’d do anything for them? To—
There was a knock on the door and I bolted upright. I’d turned the deadbolt, slid that bar thing across. No one was able to get in, even if they had a keycard.
“Jill!”
I jumped from the bed, stared in the darkness at t
he darker door. Only a tiny circle of light showed through the peephole. Porter?
The knock came again. “Jill, it’s Porter and Liam. Open the door.”
I blinked and my heart skipped a beat.
“Please,” he added.
I raced to the door, slid the bar over, turned the handle.
Before I could take in more than two big men, I was picked up in Porter’s arms as he walked into my room. Liam must have flipped on the light as he shut the door. Porter didn’t stop until he was on the bed and I was settled on his lap.
“What are you two—”
“Shh,” Porter murmured. “Just let me hold you, sweetness. I think I aged ten years worrying about you.”
“I’m fine.”
“Shh.” He wrapped his arms around me tighter and the cold from his shirt and pants seeped into me. I shivered and he rubbed my arm, pulled me in even tighter.
Liam dropped to his knees in front of us, brushed my tangled hair back from my face. His jaw was covered in pale whiskers, his hair stuck up in places. While his blue eyes were tender, I couldn’t miss how tense he was. “You okay?”
I nodded against Porter’s chest. I could feel his heart beating a mile a minute. He was truly freaked.
“How did you find me?” I asked after a minute.
Liam’s mouth turned up at the corner. “I am the sheriff.” His uniform shirt backed up the words. “The roads are shit, so I requested a snowplow and we followed right behind. Cleared a path for us. We checked every hotel on the way and the front desk was very cooperative with giving your room number.”
In this remote part of the highway, there weren’t all that many hotels, and only clustered at a few of the exits.
“Why did you leave, baby?”
I couldn’t look at Liam for this. It hurt too much.
He tipped my chin up, made me look at him. “I… I couldn’t hurt you like that.”
Porter groaned. “I hurt you, sweetness. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean anything I said. Not one word.”
Porter loosened his hold and Liam took me from his lap, moved to sit on the bed so I was on his lap instead. Porter took my hands, rubbed my knuckles. His eyes met mine and I saw anguish there. “A long time ago, I was in a relationship with a woman who got in trouble with the law. I worked at the DA’s office and her case came up, but got thrown out because of our relationship.”
What? How dare that woman use Porter like that. “It wasn’t your fault.”
He shrugged. “It was a long, complicated legal mess, but she got away with it, I got fired and pretty much lost all chances of being hired in that town. That’s why I moved back home.” Sighing, he continued. “Like I said, that was years ago. I let that mess cloud my judgment with you. I jumped to conclusions when I shouldn’t have.”
“You thought I was with you because of my brother’s mess.”
He actually blushed and looked away for a moment. “For a little while earlier, yes. It seems you’re not the only one with trust issues, sweetness.”
The ache that had been lodged in my chest like a knife lessened. They were here, they were holding me and it felt… perfect.
“We apprehended two men from Clayton,” Liam said. “One had a hook for a nose.”
I stiffened at the mention of the guys from the bar. “Ah, I guess you know who I’m talking about.”
“I only met them once. Well, I didn’t meet them, they approached me at Cassidy’s. Threatened me.”
Porter’s hand tightened around mine.
“The night I picked you up?” Liam asked.
“Yes.”
“You didn’t have your period, you were upset because of them,” he added, putting it all together. “I’m the sheriff and some guys just threatened to kill you. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Sweetness, why didn’t you tell us?” Porter repeated, much more calmly than Liam. “What’s the point of having two big men like us around if we can’t protect you?”
I gave Porter a small smile. “They said they’d kill Tommy. And me, if I told you.”
I felt a growl rumble through Liam’s chest. “Tommy rolled on them. They talked.”
I gasped. “What do you mean? You caught Tommy?”
Porter looked over my head at Liam, then back at me. “You didn’t know?”
I shook my head.
“Earlier today. He was holed up at a friend’s house. His car was spotted from the road and we arrested him.”
I felt… sad that Tommy was in jail, but it was where he belonged.
“Tommy gave information about the guys who approached you.”
“I wasn’t going to do it!” I gripped the front of Liam’s uniform shirt. “I couldn’t write fake prescriptions. I couldn’t mess with Dr. Metzger like that, and I couldn’t imagine where the drugs would end up, who’d get hurt. Besides, I’d be too nervous and wouldn’t be able to get away with it. I promise. I wouldn’t have done it.”
Liam put a finger over my lips. “Shh. We know and so does Dr. Metzger. I called her earlier with an update about her case. She said she welcomes you back, but said to take this week off, with pay, to have a well-earned break.”
I ducked my head, relieved to still have the job and my relationship with the doctor not in tatters. I knew Liam and Porter didn’t want me to work two jobs, but it wasn’t about working them, but having them. I didn’t want to lose my job because of Tommy, because of this mess, and perhaps Liam didn’t say anything about it since he understood.
“Those assholes, they’re why you left?”
I shrugged, then looked up at Liam. “I didn’t have much choice. If I stayed, I’d have to do what they wanted. I just… couldn’t. Not just for me, but for you.”
“For us?” Liam asked, frowning.
“Your jobs. You’d get fired. Just like what happened to you with that woman,” I said to Porter. “I didn’t want anyone to think less of you because of my mess.”
Liam turned me about so my knees settled on the bed on either side of his hips and I faced him. He cupped my face with his big hands.
“It’s not your mess. It never was, but it definitely isn’t now. You hear?”
I nodded, but couldn’t go far with him holding my head.
“I know you love your brother, but he’s going to jail. He made a deal and is going to testify against bigger fish, but he’s going to do time.”
He was studying me, clearly worried about how I was going to react. They knew how much he meant to me, all the things I’d done for him without a bit of gratitude.
“Good.”
He frowned.
“Good?” Porter asked.
I bit my lip, then said, “I sent him a text, told him those two guys would be after him and that he should run so he didn’t get hurt. I wasn’t telling him to avoid the law, just the opposite. Maybe he’d go somewhere new and get a job and abide by the law.” Liam looked at Porter, who nodded. “I’m glad you caught him though. He… he needs to go to jail for what he did. I tried my best, but it wasn’t good enough. He—”
“Shh,” Liam said, kissing my forehead. “You did a great job with him. Just because he’s a fuck-up doesn’t reflect on you. He was dealt a bad hand with your dad leaving you all and then your mom getting sick, just like you were. You chose to bust your ass for a degree and to work. To care for people. He chose the shortcuts and found out that’s not how it works.”
He dropped his hands, set them on my thighs.
“You’re not alone, sweetness. You have us. Well, you have Liam, and you have me, too, if you’ll forgive me.”
“I love you. Of course I forgive you.”
He grinned and his chest puffed up. I made him like that. Happy, relieved. Loved.
“Will you forgive me?” I asked in return.
“You’ve done nothing wrong.”
I felt like we were getting a second chance. I’d been giving my heart and soul to Tommy when he didn’t want it. He didn’t value it. I should have given it to L
iam and Porter. They’d proven they would cherish both. They’d proven it time and again and I’d mistaken it for smothering. For being overbearing. Boy, was I wrong. “Remember when we argued about you helping me with money? With working too hard?”
Porter picked up my hand, kissed my palm and nodded.
“You’re right. I work too hard. But I also don’t want you to take on my debt. That’s not fair.” I paused and took a moment to feel. There was no doubt. I felt confident in my plan because I had these two men. “I’m going to sell the house. I was saving it because of Tommy; it was the one place that connected us to Mom. To what I longed to get back. That was the past and… and you two are the future. The house sale will pay off all my bills and I’ll have some left over. I’m going to go back to school. Dr. Metzger and I talked about me being a nurse practitioner, well, before all this mess happened, and working with her full-time, but there was no way.” I paused. This was the scary part, where I had to trust. “Now, if I… if I live with you, then I can quit the hospital, continue to work part-time with Dr. Metzger while I go to school.”
Liam leaned forward, kissed me. Fiercely and with lots of tongue.
“That’s a great idea, baby.”
I was grinning and breathing hard and I looked to Porter to see what he thought.
“I love everything about it. And you.”
“And since you’re moving in, I am, too,” Liam added, kissing me again and ending the conversation.
“We’re in a hotel room in a snow storm. Nowhere to go. What should we do with ourselves?” Porter asked. “Talk?”
I could tell by the heated gleam in his eyes that talking was the last thing he wanted to do. I was all talked out. We’d worked through this mess, and it had been a big one, but we were together and better than ever. This was what love was all about. Unconditional, desperate.
It also helped that I was ridiculously attracted to both of them. I’d been shy at first, but no longer. Not when I’d thought I’d lost them. And Porter was right. We were all alone in the hotel, no one to bother us, no distractions and in a room with only a bed.
I tucked my fingers in the bottom of my sweatshirt, lifted it up an inch or two exposing my belly. “So I shouldn’t take this off?”