Saving Rose Red

by Maggie Dallen

  But they had nothing on Andie. “You’ve got me.”

  They all turned to stare at her but she ignored everyone but Spencer. He had an uncanny knack for reading her mind and now was no exception. She saw the resignation on his face even as he gave the obligatory warning. “You shouldn’t get yourself involved in this Andie.”

  She waved him off. “I’m already involved and you know it.”

  To everyone else who wasn’t in her head, she explained. “Anthony wants that picture. The picture I have on my camera. He has no way of knowing that I know anything about anything.”

  Eddie’s frown deepened making him look more like a hardened cop. “We don’t know that. They found Cole and we have no way of knowing when they spotted him.”

  She shook her head. Despite the panic raging beneath the surface, her mind was once again working clearly. “You said the jackhole cop didn’t know anything about Cole being taken, right?”

  Eddie gave a short nod.

  “Then odds are he was found after you guys took him in.”

  Spencer gave her a warning look. “That’s a big assumption to make when your life is on the line.”

  She ignored him, focusing on Eddie—the only one in the room who didn’t have a personal stake in keeping her coddled and safe. The only other person who might care about saving Cole half as much as she did. “Think about it. Cole said Anthony and the Coradas would have people looking for him. What are the odds their eyes on the street found Cole on Park Avenue?”

  Raising her brows, she shot a questioning look to Jenna, Hunter, and Mackenzie. They did not look pleased with where this was going but they didn’t try to argue that point.

  “It is far more likely they found him in my neighborhood,” Spencer said quietly. His gaze met hers. “The Coradas have a presence in the Lower East Side.”

  Yes! Thank you, Spencer. She managed an appreciative grin despite the clawing fear in her gut. “Spence, if I get in contact with Anthony and tell him I want to meet up today, do you think you could track his phone?”

  His smirk was her answer but for the sake of the cop and former cop in the room, he said, “I’ll do my best.”

  “We don’t know Anthony is with him,” Jenna protested.

  Mackenzie, who had been oddly silent as she took this all in, chimed in quietly. “It would make sense that he’s behind this. Making people disappear is a Gallagher family specialty.”

  Andie shoved aside the horrific images that threatened to break her sanity. Not now.

  “If this was solely the Coradas getting their revenge on a narc in their midst…” She glanced at Andie and then looked away. “We’d have found his body by now. They wouldn’t have gone to the trouble, or risked being caught, by taking him.”

  Andie shivered but swallowed down a wave of sobs. This was a good thing. He wasn’t dead. There was still a chance. Never had it been harder to remain positive but if there was ever a time to keep her eye on the optimistic prize, this was it.

  “Great,” she said with far too much cheer than the situation warranted. Only Spencer looked unfazed by her upbeat response, but then…he knew her well. “So we’re decided then. I’ll contact Anthony, and hopefully Spencer can track where he is—“

  “And if he can’t?” Eddie asked.

  She shrugged. “We have a record of all the Gallagher holdings, right? How hard could it be to check them all out?”

  “It would take time,” Jenna said. “And there’s no way I’m going to let you spend that time with a known criminal, who’s probably desperate, especially if he’s learned that his inside source has been outed.”

  “We don’t think he knows that yet,” Eddie said.

  Jenna gave a snort of disbelief. “You don’t think? That’s not good enough. We can’t let Andie walk in there not knowing—”

  Andie cut her off with a sigh. “No offense, sis, but no one’s letting me do anything. This is my decision. I’m offering. And I’ll be meeting up with Anthony whether you guys approve or not. The only question is, are you all on board to do your parts?”

  She looked over to see Mackenzie giving her a thumbs up. “I’m in!”

  Jenna’s brow was still furrowed with concern but she gave a definitive nod.

  Hunter, Spencer, and Eddie seemed to think their participation went without saying and they launched into action, Spencer getting on his laptop, Eddie calling in to the station for backup, and Hunter gathering the list of Gallagher properties so he could help narrow down the search.

  Andie watched it all from where she was perched on the couch, the blood rushing through her veins, making her hands shake in her lap. Not out of fear for herself—she was remarkably blasé about her own part in this. Her fear was for Cole. When she saw him again she was going to kiss him.

  And then she’d murder him for giving her such a scare.

  Chapter Ten

  Cole should have been scared, he was sure of it. And though his cheek and ribs were throbbing from the beating he’d gotten from some of Anthony’s henchmen, he couldn’t quite summon up the proper fear.

  It was just so hard to take this guy seriously. Anthony was pacing in front of him wearing a dark green pullover and chinos. He’d faced more fearsome opponents back in Little League.

  Still, he had a gun. So there was that.

  But his biggest fear had been assuaged hours ago once he’d realized that Anthony knew nothing of Andie’s involvement. The guy hadn’t even found out that the cop in his pocket had been nabbed. If he’d known about Andie’s part or his inside man being taken in for questioning, Cole would have known. Why? Because Anthony Gallagher was a talker.

  Oh man, this guy could talk.

  Cole had to bite his tongue to keep from saying, “Shut up already!” But he couldn’t say that, because the longer this guy waxed poetic on all the ways he was going to hurt Cole, the more time Eddie had to find him and this chatty moron of a criminal.

  He’d learned quickly that Anthony had discovered he was undercover with the Corada gang trying to find the link between them and him. Now he wanted to know what evidence he’d found. His attempts at torture were pathetic and his two frat-boy buddies who were helping him were no better.

  Clearly this was a group of criminals who were not used to getting their hands dirty. They would have been better off handing him over to the Coradas, no doubt, but Anthony seemed to think it was his personal right and privilege to deal with the undercover cop who’d been on his trail.

  Answers, Anthony kept shouting. He wanted answers!

  It was with great effort that Cole resisted the urge to roll his eyes. His admittedly superior smugness vanished a moment later when Anthony’s phone let out a ding from a text. His smarmy, pretty-boy face broke into a grin as he read the text.

  He turned to one of his friends who was taking a break from beating on Cole.

  “Check it out, boys. That chick with the camera just texted.”

  Cole’s heart stopped beating. The pain in his body vanished as adrenaline coursed through him. He found himself straining against the ropes that bound him, the adrenaline giving him renewed energy.

  Andie. He had to be talking about Andie.

  What was she doing?!

  Anthony didn’t seem to notice his prisoner’s sudden burst of energy, thank goodness. He was still talking. “She wants to meet up tonight.” His laugh was filled with arrogance. “I told you boys she’d come runnin’. Ladies can never resist a piece of this.”

  Anthony looked up with a huge, cocky grin that Cole couldn’t wait to smash. The moment his hands were free he’d ruin those perfect, white teeth.

  The guy seemed oblivious to his fate as he bragged to his friends. “See? You guys thought we were screwed, but I told you I got a handle on this. The Coradas are under my thumb, the undercover cop who’s been after me is as good as dead, and the little hottie with that picture of me and Cisco is gonna be mine.”

  Cole managed to keep his face expressionless but his jaw
screamed with pain with the effort it took not to curse out this rat and tell him all the ways he’d make him pay. Andie couldn’t meet with this guy. Not while he was alive and could do anything to prevent it.

  But he was useless. Bound and guarded—by a couple of idiots, but stlll guarded—as Anthony sauntered out of the warehouse a little while later, on his way to meet with Andie and get the picture.

  When he was gone, his lackeys took the opportunity to crack open some beers and seemed to forget all about their prisoner. Which left Cole with time and energy to focus on nothing but his regrets.

  Why had he gotten her involved in this in the first place? He should have handed her over to Eddie for safekeeping, told him to get her out of town while he dealt with the lowlifes in this city. She should have stayed far away from this mess…and far away from him.

  His worst fear was coming to life right before his eyes and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

  Someone he cared about had gotten caught up in the mess that was his life.

  Someone he cared about… Heck, he cared about Stu, the owner of the tattoo shop. He cared about Eddie and his brothers and a handful of other people who’d made their way into his life.

  He didn’t just care about Andie. She was everything. In the course of days she’d somehow managed to become the center of his existence. She was his sun and he was in her orbit.

  Aw man, she’d reduced him to a pile of bad poetry.

  But now he got why people used those stupid metaphors—because there were no other words to describe the feeling. Words in general didn’t do this feeling justice.

  That wasn’t true. There were three words that captured it pretty well. Three words that she’d said to him and he’d been too much of a wuss to say them back.

  Regret slammed through him making him want to puke. He could die here. Worse, she could get hurt out there. No, he couldn’t think about that. It couldn’t be an option or he’d lose his mind.

  But he could very well die—at Anthony’s hands, or more likely at the hands of the Corada gang—and she would never know. He’d tried to tell himself that he was protecting her but the truth had never been more obvious.

  He’d been trying to protect himself.

  Because the worst had happened, she’d been drawn into his world. And what good had his silence been? Had it helped, not saying the words out loud? No. All it had done was cause her pain and make him face death with nothing but regrets that the woman he loved didn’t know how he felt. She didn’t know that she was his life now. That she was in his blood and a part of his world, whether he liked it or not.

  And he liked it. Oh, he might hate the idea of her being anywhere near danger, but his life wouldn’t be worth living if he didn’t have her. He’d been going through the motions these past few years, trying to believe that his work and his assignments were a worthy reason to keep breathing.

  But really, he hadn’t had a life until she came into it.

  He had to live now so he could tell her that. And so he could hurt Anthony for even thinking of dragging her into this. And for hitting on her. And for thinking that he stood a chance with his angel.

  He had so many reasons to beat him up, but first he had to get out of here so he could save Andie and kiss her. Yes, kiss first, followed by telling her how much he loved her. Then he could hurt Anthony.

  Plan made, he just needed to figure out how he was going to get out of there so he could get started.

  His answer came two minutes later when the garage door was thrown open and Eddie burst in followed by several uniformed cops with guns drawn. He barely noticed as the officers arrested the dopes who were caught while drinking beer, no weapons anywhere in sight.

  He was too busy trying to get information out of Eddie, who’d rushed over to cut off his restraints. “Where is she?”

  Eddie knew exactly what he meant. “She’s safe. She had plenty of backup, Hunter included, and the officers took Anthony in the moment he showed his face.”

  Relief was so powerful it temporarily sapped his body of all strength. “I’ve got to see her.”

  Eddie slapped a hand on his shoulder before helping him come to a stand. “I know, buddy. I know.”

  It was all very anticlimactic, in Andie’s humble opinion. No sooner had Anthony arrived at the coffee shop where they’d agreed to meet than the cops rushed in to nab him. Andie barely paid attention as they read him his rights and he shouted about the unfairness of it all. It felt like something that was happening on television.

  In her real life, Cole was still missing and that was all that mattered. She checked her phone for a message from Eddie. She called Spencer. No answer. Jenna and Mackenzie hovered at her side but both knew better than to try and reassure her. Nothing would make her feel better except for word that Cole had been found and that he was all right.

  Word finally came from Spencer. They found him. He’s okay.

  Relief left her weak. The tears she’d been holding back all day finally came out in a gush and she found herself in a sister embrace that made breathing difficult but the comfort was welcome.

  “Come on,” Jenna said, gently leading her by the shoulders toward her car. “Let’s get you home.”

  Jenna wanted to take her back to her place but Andie put her foot down. She needed to be by herself and in her own space for a while. Cole was alive, that was the most important thing, but it didn’t change the way they’d ended things. It didn’t magically fix her broken heart or reassure her that they might still have a chance.

  More than anything she needed sleep. She’d gotten none the night before and after the emotionally taxing day, her eyes were gritty and stinging. She just needed to shut off her brain for a while and lose herself to the much needed, blissful escape of sleep.

  She rudely shut the door in Mack and Jenna’s face when they tried to come inside with her, just to make sure. But Andie was safe. She knew she was safe. She was probably never in any real danger, other than losing her heart.

  “I love you guys, but I’m really just going to bed, I swear,” she said, shutting the door on their protests.

  She didn’t even make it to the bed, collapsing on the couch instead, burying her face in the pillow and sobbing her heart out until sleep finally claimed her.

  When the knocking on the door woke her, she was certain it was still a dream. Disoriented and puffy-eyed, the dark apartment gave her no clue as to what time it was. For a second there she didn’t even know where she was. The knocking turned to pounding.

  Definitely not Kate with her dainty tapping. That was the most lucid thought she could summon up as she shuffled to the door. The pounding grew louder and she threw it open with a surge of annoyance.

  Cole stood framed in her doorway, backlit by the light in the hallway but there was no doubt that it was him. He loomed over her and she blinked up trying to make out his features and soak in every last bit of him.

  For a minute there she forgot how they’d left things. She developed temporary amnesia in the face of her overwhelming happiness at seeing him there, whole and alive. “Oh thank goodness,” she whispered.

  The words were barely out of her mouth before she was crushed against him, any other words lost as his lips claimed hers in a harsh, possessive kiss that branded her more effectively than any tattoo.

  He let out a growl as he leaned down so he could pick her up and crush her to him. Acting on instinct she did everything in her power to get closer to him, to make sure he would never leave her again. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms snaked around his neck, holding him just as tight as he held her.

  His tongue thrust inside her mouth and she moaned, tipping her head back for more. He lifted his head slightly to lavish her face with kisses, his lips moving over her eyes, her nose, her cheeks and jaw.

  “Don’t leave me again.” She froze the moment the words slipped out. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. She didn’t even know where they came from. Well, she knew.
They’d come from her heart. But if her brain had been even remotely involved in the situation, it would never have allowed such a slip.

  He would pull away again and she couldn’t handle that. Not now. Not yet. She needed more time with him, time to convince him that they could be together. Time to convince him how right they were—

  “Andie.” His voice was low and perfect and she tried ineffectively to shut him up with a hand over his mouth. He removed it gently before disentangling himself from her arms and legs.

  The coldness at being separated from him chilled her to the bone. No! He couldn’t show up here and then walk away from her again.

  And that was exactly what he was about to do. He turned his back on her in the doorway and she temporarily lost her mind. That was the only explanation. Or maybe her next actions were what any desperately in love woman would do.

  She jumped on his back.

  He let out an oof sound as she hopped on, her arms nearly strangling him with the intensity of her grip and her legs once again fastened around him, this time from behind.

  “Andie, what are you—”

  “Shush for one second, and listen to me, you big brute.” Okay, so the big brute part might have been harsh, but she’d already resigned herself to the fact that she was in the grip of a crazy desperation and at this point, all that mattered was that he stopped and listened. She had to get through to him because she couldn’t bear the idea of losing him again. She refused to let that happen.

  “You said this was a mistake,” she said.

  He stiffened beneath her but he didn’t try to shake her off, which she took as a good sign.

  Swallowing down the nerves that threatened to choke her, she hurried on before he could stop her. “I know you think I don’t know what I want. That I’m confused or something. But you’re wrong.”

  She felt his exhale. “Andie—”

  “No. Let me finish. You were wrong. I know you think that I don’t know what I want. We’ve talked about how I’ve struggled with where I belong. In finding my purpose. But one thing I’ve never been confused about is who I am. And who I am is the kind of person who knows love when it walks into her life. I’m not afraid to trust my heart unlike some people I know.”