Breaking the Violence (Hard Drive Series Book 3)

by Tricia Andersen

  “What did you put on here?” Mark demanded tiredly. Chloe didn’t answer. She just took the phone back to activate the ring tone. Within moments, the sound of his favorite college football team’s fight song filled the office. She winked. “I know what you like.”

  “Fantastic.”

  Chloe frowned at him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Whatever. Tell me, Mark. Maybe I can help.”

  “Chloe, you can’t help.”

  “Try me.”

  Mark heaved a sigh. “That woman I pulled from the burning car?”

  “The one you fell hard for? Yeah, go on.”

  Mark glanced at her, puzzled. “How’d you know?”

  Chloe laughed. “You had that same hopeless lovesick look on your face that Rico did when Avery told him they couldn’t go out again.”

  “Yeah. But Rico won Avery over. This woman, Lexi, just told me she doesn’t want to go out with me.”

  Chloe cocked her head. “Did she call?”

  “Yes.”

  Chloe reached up and patted him on the shoulder. “Then you need to keep trying. You’ll get her.” With a wink she sashayed out of her office and down the stairs. Mark watched her go, dumbfounded, before following her.

  »»•««

  Lexi pressed her cell phone tight to her chest and slowly closed her eyes. Logan played quietly in the living room. She could hear the metallic clink of the cars banging together as he played.

  It had taken all of her courage to call Mark Jacobsen. The doctor was her hero. Not only that, he was hot. He was also the sweetest man she had met in a long time.

  Lexi had only called to apologize for the way she had acted in the emergency room. Mark had only been doing his job when he had asked her where she had gotten her injuries. He wasn’t the first doctor who asked her that question. They’d been asking for the past seven years.

  Then Mark asked her to go to dinner. As much as she wanted to say yes, she had to tell him no. I just can’t risk it. Besides, he isn’t going to want to date a woman with a child. And when he finds out about the rest of my screwed up, crazy life…

  She startled as her cell phone vibrated. Her blood ran cold as her eyes locked on the name on the smart phone screen, and she stood stone still as it rang. She whispered softly to herself when it stopped. “Just once. Just call once. Please.”

  Her heart fell as the phone vibrated again. She took a breath and answered.

  “Where the hell were you?” A deep voice on the other end demanded.

  Lexi could hear her voice go weak. It always did when he called. “Derek, I don’t have to answer the phone when you call. You’re not my husband anymore. And I shouldn’t. I have a restraining order against you.”

  “You are the mother of my son. Do you want me to take him away from you?”

  Lexi’s eyes shot toward the living room. “No.”

  “Where’d you go last night? What’s the name of the guy you were sleeping with?”

  “I was at the hospital. The neighbor heard you when you dropped Logan off here instead of meeting my parents like you were supposed to. She called the cops.”

  “Right. Do you remember what I told you? Do you?”

  “Yes, Derek. I do.”

  Derek’s voice became a growl. “If I ever catch you with another guy, I’ll kill him. Got it? I would have thought your little trip to the lake would have taught you.”

  Lexi swallowed hard. “I know.”

  “Next time I call, you answer. Understand?”

  “Yes, Derek.”

  The line went dead. Lexi slumped to the floor, tossing her phone down as soon as her rear hit the carpet. She buried her head against her knees as tears slid down her cheeks. Yep. As much as she wanted to go on a date with Mark Jacobsen, it just wasn’t meant to be.

  She felt a pair of small hands gently touch her arms. “Are you okay, Mommy?” Logan asked.

  Lexi quickly wiped her damp cheeks with the back of her hand and then looked up at her son. She gave him a hug. “I’m fine, sweetheart. Really.”

  Lexi jumped at the sound of the front door opening. The sound unsettled her, especially after dealing with Derek. She felt her nerves light on fire and her whole body tremble when she heard a footstep inside. “Lexi, are you home?”

  Lexi blew out a deep breath in relief, but it didn’t relax her. “Yeah, Dad. Right here.”

  An older man with salt and pepper hair stepped inside, his arms full of groceries. A woman with faded blonde hair followed carrying another load of bags. Her father scowled as he glanced at her then at her discarded phone. “He called again, didn’t he?”

  “He who?” Logan questioned. “Who called?”

  Lexi’s mother smiled gently at Logan. She held her free hand out to the little boy. “Come on, Logan. Grandpa and I bought chocolate ice cream. Let’s go have a bowl.”

  Logan’s eyes flew open wide. “Can I have sprinkles?”

  “Of course, sweetheart.”

  “Yay!” Logan pulled free from Lexi’s arms and took his grandma’s hand. She glanced quickly from her husband to Lexi before leading Logan toward the kitchen.

  “Lexi, you have to stop answering the phone when that bastard calls. Its bad enough he rearranges the times he drops off Logan so we’re not home. He needs to go back to prison where he belongs.”

  Lexi shook her head sadly and nodded to the sliver of light piercing the wood of the front door. “The last time I ignored his call, Dad, Derek did that.”

  “And the next time he does it, I’m turning him in. Just like I did last time. Granted, the police just took a statement and did nothing. I’m going to call and call until they do.”

  “If he does it again, he’ll take the door down. It’ll be too late.” Lexi stood up. Defeated, she slowly climbed the staircase to her room. She locked the door and slumped on her bed. She barely hit the mattress before the tears started.

  Chapter Three

  Mark strode down the hall, studying the chart in his hand as he did so. He weaved around gurneys and wheelchairs left randomly in the corridors. He wished he could pay attention to the information recorded on his next patient. Truthfully he couldn’t stop thinking about Lexi. He was still kicking himself for asking her out when she called him just to apologize a week ago. As a doctor it certainly wasn’t professional. No wonder she said no.

  He sighed as he pushed the exam room door open and was greeted by the sound of a barking cough. Huffing, he sanitized his hands so he could examine the elderly man on the table. After promising a chest x-ray to investigate for pneumonia, Mark journeyed his way back to the nurse’s station. He handed the chart to Joan. “Room five needs a chest x-ray. And you might want to give the hospitalist a heads up. I think he’s getting admitted.”

  “Will do.” Joan smiled as she took the folder from him. “Any more calls from the mystery woman?”

  “Nope. Don’t expect to either. I blew it,” Mark admitted.

  Troy shuffled out of the supply room. “You should go to her book signing.”

  “What?” Mark demanded.

  “Lexi Mills is having a book signing at that little bookstore downtown. You should go.”

  “How do you know this?”

  Joan chuckled. “Because Troy is her super fan. He’ll probably be camping outside the shop just to meet her.”

  Troy scowled at her. “No, I won’t. You scheduled me to work.”

  “Whoops. My bad.”

  Mark laughed at their banter. “When is this signing, Troy?”

  “Saturday. Two o’clock. Here.” Troy stomped back into the supply room. A few moments later he came back out with a crumpled piece of paper. He shoved it into Mark’s chest. “There’s all the information.”

  Mark smoothed out the sheet, his eyes scanning the information. Two o’clock. Just when he was supposed to be at Hard Drive preparing for his fight. He cocked a grin. “Thanks, Troy. I think I will go to this.”

  The intern sh
uffled off to do his work, grumbling the entire way. Mark winked at Joan. “I have to go make a phone call.”

  “Sure thing, boss. I’m going to go take Mr. Seibert to x-ray. And I’ll give the hospitalist a jingle, too.”

  Mark gave her a thumbs up and hustled to the ambulance bay. He flipped his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed.

  “Hey, Mark. What’s up?” Max chimed through the phone.

  “Hey, Max. I need to ask a favor.”

  “That being?”

  Mark took a deep breath. “Can we move our workout on Saturday up? Maybe to eight o’clock?”

  “Are you serious? Why?”

  “Lexi is having a book signing. I want to go and talk to her.”

  “So you want to rearrange our practice?”

  “You did it for Rico when he was dating Avery. At least I’m not asking to meet at the crack of dawn.”

  Mark heard Max sigh over the phone. “All right. Call the other two and let them know. We’ll meet at eight. You owe me.”

  Mark grinned. “Sure thing. Talk to you later.” Mark hung up and called Dan and Rico. Dan agreed immediately. Rico muttered something about beauty sleep. Once Mark reminded him about asking the same favor, however, Rico was on board. As he slipped his phone back into his pocket, Mark strolled back into the emergency room whistling to himself. The rest of his shift he felt on cloud nine.

  The week flew by for Mark. From work to Hard Drive to bed, all his thoughts were about Lexi and the book signing. He kept reminding himself it wasn’t a date. He would only be going to apologize for being unprofessional. However, if she found him humble and charming…well, he couldn’t stop her from feeling that way, could he?

  Finally Saturday arrived. Mark rushed from the hospital, jumped into his truck, and raced to the gym. He winced. He wouldn’t get to bed until way later than he normally did. Fortunately he had been able to talk a colleague into switching shifts with him, so he could sleep later.

  Max’s and Dan’s cars were already parked outside Hard Drive when Mark arrived. Mark cringed a little as he walked in. He hated putting his friends out like this. However when he stepped inside the gym he was met with bright, cheery greetings from Max, Chloe, and Dan.

  Rico, however, was an entirely different story. Trudging in only a few steps behind Mark, he was already muttering. He slipped his sunglasses off and glared at Mark with tired blue eyes. Mark cocked a grin at him. “Good morning, sunshine.”

  “Shut up,” Rico grumbled.

  “Where’s your better half?”

  “Still sleeping. Wish I was.”

  “Hey, I did it for you. Remember?”

  “Not willingly. I remember you eating a bag of Doritos in my face while I was trying to cut weight.”

  Mark chuckled. “Oh, yeah. Forgot about that.”

  “This girl better be worth it. I was up late last night.”

  “Doing what?”

  Rico shot Mark a sly grin. “Newlywed stuff. And I don’t mean thank you cards.”

  Mark raised his hand to stop Rico from saying anything further. “TMI, Rico. TMI.”

  Rico busted out laughing. “Let’s consider my TMI the equivalent of your Doritos. Feeling uncomfortable yet?”

  “Very.”

  “Hey! You hens want to stop cackling so we can fight?” Dan suggested.

  Mark playfully punched Rico and left his friend to finish getting ready. Tugging his gloves on, he sat down on the mat to stretch with Max and Dan. It wasn’t long before Rico joined them.

  For the next few hours the four men traded off sparing and rolling with each other. Mark loved doing this more than anything else. Despite the occasional differences, Max, Rico, and Dan were his brothers and he was just as proud of them as he knew they were of him.

  At eleven o’clock, Mark peeled off the pads he was holding for Dan. “Gotta go, man.”

  Dan pushed his wire rim glasses up the bridge of his sweaty nose and patted Mark on the back. “Good luck, dude.” He sauntered over to a punching bag in the corner to continue his combos, stepping carefully around Max pinning Rico to the floor in top mount. Mark offered a brief wave to them before dropping his wraps and gloves in his bag, zipping it shut, and rushing out the door.

  Mark barely let his truck come to a complete stop before dashing into his townhouse. As he shoved the door open he was greeted by his excited chocolate brown pit bull. The dog jumped up to rest his front paws on Mark’s thigh and lick any exposed skin affectionately.

  “Come on, Kinnick. Not now,” Mark chided even though he rustled his pet’s fur lovingly. “I have to go shower. I have a date. Well, not really a date. Maybe a date will come from it?” He gently nudged Kinnick’s paws from his leg and dropped his bag on the couch.

  Kinnick followed him to the bathroom as if ready to hear all about Mark’s plans. Mark smiled. Kinnick had to be one of his best friends too. He’d had the dog since he was a pup, since he lived in Iowa. He got him from a friend at the gym where he first learned mixed martial arts. He named the dog after the football stadium in Iowa City where his favorite football team played. Two things that Mark loved that came from his home state―his dog and his favorite team. Kinnick settled down on the bath mat when Mark flipped the hot water knob and stepped into the warm stream of water. He moaned as he rubbed the soap into his sore, tired muscles. After quickly drying, he rushed to his bedroom and tugged on the jeans and polo shirt he had laid out the night before. Mark pet Kinnick one last time, locked the door, and then raced back to his truck.

  A line had already started to form outside the bookstore when Mark arrived. He parked his truck in the lot across the street and moved to join the fans who were excitedly chattering to each other. Some were wearing T-shirts with the cover art of Lexi’s book on them, and others wore homemade alien costumes. Mark frowned. How famous was Lexi? Would she even want anything to do with some poor, lowly ER doctor? Maybe that was why she wouldn’t go out with him.

  At one o’clock the bookstore door opened. The line hardly moved. The summer sunshine blazed down on the side walk as Mark waited to get inside. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Half an hour. Finally, after forty-five minutes he got his turn to step inside the dim, cool bookstore. The walls were lined with shelves filled with hard cover books and paperback copies. Nearly all were titles he had never heard of before. He tugged a couple out and briefly scanned the contents, noticing several others in line doing the same. Slipping the books back onto the shelf, Mark craned his neck to find Lexi.

  She sat nestled in the corner of the shop behind an antique wooden table. Her blonde curls were tied up in a ponytail. She looked uncomfortable being there. Between each fan’s approach, her eyes darted around the store, and her smiled looked forced every time a person came to the table. Mark tensed protectively. A woman that beautiful shouldn’t be afraid like this.

  Finally he was three people away. He had waited over an hour. It was then that he realized she was signing books for her readers. Mark glanced around the bookstore until he found a pile of her first release stacked on the counter. Politely excusing himself from the line, he quickly purchased a copy and then slipped back into line to find himself next.

  A smile spread across his face as he approached the table. He set the book before her. With her eyes trained on the door, her voice came out weak. “Who should I make this out to?”

  “Doctor Jacobsen would be great. Or Mark. I’m not picky.”

  Lexi’s eyes popped open as she looked up at his towering frame. “Doctor Jacobsen! I didn’t realize you read science fiction.”

  “I really don’t. My intern suggested that I read your book. And on second thought, I really do prefer Mark.”

  Lexi laughed softly as she scribbled a message on the first page. “Well, I hope you enjoy it.”

  “I know I will.”

  The customer behind him loudly cleared his throat, obviously signaling to Mark to move on. Stepping outside into the brilliant sunshine, Mark glanced at his cell phone. Two
minutes. He had waited over an hour to talk to Lexi for two minutes. Cracking open the book, he read the inscription.

  To Mark, a really incredible guy. Love, Lexi Mills

  Mark’s heart leapt into his throat. Incredible? Love? Nope, he wasn’t going home. He was going to talk to Lexi again if it killed him. He studied the front of the bookstore. With a crowd like that, Lexi certainly couldn’t have gone through the front door. He slipped around the street corner until he reached the alley that ran behind the store.

  He grinned as he found what he was looking for, a service door bearing the name of the bookstore. That must be how Lexi got inside, and it would probably be how she left. Mark moved a little further down the alleyway and leaned against the brick wall across from the door. He didn’t want to surprise her the moment she stepped outside. He’d wait for her to get acclimated to her surroundings before he approached her. Slipping his phone from his pocket, Mark found an app to play.

  He was so caught up in his game he never heard the old metal door until it slammed shut. Lexi moved swiftly down the alley, her high heels clicking in cadence on the pavement. Mark shoved his cell in his jeans pocket and jogged after her. “Lexi, wait…”

  Mark heard the hiss of an aerosol canister releasing. He barely caught sight of the mist before the sensation of a thousand burning, piercing knives in his eyes hit him. It felt like his face was on fire. Biting back the curse words that wanted to pop out of his mouth, he gasped instead. He knew what was in the canister. His years of medical training begged him not to touch his skin.

  “Mark!” Lexi nearly screamed. He heard the metallic clink of the canister hitting the ground and felt her arms wrap around him, her fingers sliding up his bicep to his face.

  “Don’t touch,” he warned.

  Her arms slipped away. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’m just trying to help.”

  “It’s not that. You’ll spread the pepper spray and make it worse. Or you’ll spread it to yourself. I certainly don’t want that.”

  “What can I do then?”

  Mark laughed weakly. “Could you take me to hospital?”

  “Of course.”

  Mark felt Lexi’s hands slide around his arm again as she gently nudged him down the street. Their pace was slow. Every once in a while she would tug him in a new direction. Everything was a fuzzy haze. Nothing was clear at all, just blurry objects. All the while Lexi muttered to herself about how stupid she was. Mark stopped dead in his tracks. He heard the skid of tires and a couple of honking horns. “Lexi, stop. You’re not stupid.”