by Reus, Katie
That was too much. He needed to call her. “Who’s with her?”
“Natalie.”
She was one of his best detectives, had been working double duty tonight because they’d gotten so many callouts. “Good. What’s going on with June?”
“Looks like she’s gonna pull through. It’s a miracle, he missed all major arteries. She lost a lot of blood but the doctors are very hopeful. The little girl is still with social services but her aunt is en route from Macon, should be here soon. She seems to be good people and has been trying to get June to leave that piece of crap for ages.”
Lincoln scrubbed a hand over his face, fighting exhaustion. The poor girl had seen a whole lot tonight, and he just hoped that she wouldn’t be scarred for life. He’d never understood how a parent could hurt their own child. The very thought was anathema to him. And tonight just drove home how much he wanted to keep Autumn and their peanut safe. “It must be a full moon tonight,” he muttered.
Hill snorted. “No shit.”
“I’ll be out in a minute,” he said as he pulled out his cell phone. Even though he wanted to call Autumn, he knew that if he heard her voice, he would rush right over there. Right now there was too much going on. But he wanted to text her at least, to know for certain she was okay.
Thankfully she texted him back moments later. We’re okay. Shadow was barking like crazy, ready to defend me. Then she sent some cute emojis with smiley faces and puppies.
All the tension in his shoulders eased as he responded, though he was still concerned. Who the hell had tried to break in? Stay safe… Do you want me to come over? I can be there if you need me. Because screw procedure, he would rush right over there if she needed him.
Her response was just as quick. I promise I’m okay. From what I hear, you guys have had a lot of calls tonight?
Like you wouldn’t believe. Then he sent her some emojis of a wolf howling at a full moon. He wasn’t going to tell her about his injury because it wasn’t even a technical stabbing, and he didn’t want to worry her. He’d only needed a few Steri-Strips. She had enough to deal with. Even if she wasn’t pregnant, he wouldn’t tell her.
Good, stay safe.
You too. Then he tucked his phone away and headed out. He liked texting with Autumn, liked everything about her. He was still coming to terms with everything she’d told him about her life earlier in the evening. It stunned and touched him that she’d been so honest with him—and he knew that she was forbidden from telling him or anyone about her past.
He was surprised by her level of honesty, and he would never break her trust. The fact that she’d been open with him made him think that he had a chance with her. Because he wasn’t giving up on them.
Not by a long shot.
Chapter 21
“You look like you could use a shot of espresso to go with your latte,” Bianca said dryly as she took Autumn’s order. Her long blonde hair was in its usual plaited braid down her back. The sleek, lean owner of Sweet Spot looked as if she’d gotten a full eight hours of sleep and a spa day.
Autumn wished she could relate. She lifted an eyebrow. “Thanks.”
Bianca snorted softly. “Sorry, I’m not insulting you. You just look…”
“Tired? It’s because I am.” After the attempted break-in last night, she’d been too worried to sleep. She had someone coming out later today to fix her window, but it still didn’t make her feel any better. She kept having random thoughts, worried that somehow Rand Coventry had faked his death, then made it all the way to Verona Bay and had tried to break into her house. Never mind how he would have found her. She simply hadn’t been able to shut off her brain last night even though she’d known she was being ridiculous. The only bright spot had been the brief texts she and Lincoln had exchanged. She missed him this morning, wished she’d spent last night curled up in his arms.
“You want anything stronger than decaf?”
Yes, she thought, but shook her head. “I will take one of those double chocolate chip muffins.”
“They’re amazing, if I do say so myself. So what’s going on? Are you worried about Lincoln? He’ll be fine,” she added. “He didn’t even stay at the hospital or anything.”
She blinked at the word hospital, a thread of alarm weaving through her. “What do you mean?”
Her friend stared at her as she set her to-go latte on the countertop. “Um… I just assumed you were worried about him.”
“Why would I be worried?” She narrowed her gaze but Bianca turned away to pack up her muffin. “Bianca, come on.” There were three people behind her in line but she didn’t care if they overheard.
Bianca winced as she turned back around. “Look, I just heard through the grapevine this morning that he got stabbed last night. But it obviously must not have been too bad because he’s at the station now.” Then she quickly read off the total, looking a little guilt stricken.
Stabbed? Wordlessly Autumn set the cash on the countertop and grabbed her stuff, leaving her change as she hurried out.
Panic like she’d never known swelled up inside her, her heart racing as she hurried down the sidewalk. It took everything inside her not to full-on sprint down Main Street, which would’ve been pretty impossible in her sandals anyway. But…stabbed? They’d texted last night and he hadn’t said a thing. It must have happened afterward or he would have told her.
My God, what was he doing at work if he’d been hurt like that? She couldn’t control the wild beat of her heart and she didn’t remember most of her half walk, half jog to the station.
Suddenly she was shoving the front door open into the lobby, the air-conditioning blasting her. She vaguely recognized the new admin assistant, Ellen. “I need to see Lincoln now,” she snapped out, feeling crazy but unable to stop herself.
The woman gave her a startled look and pushed up slightly from her chair. “I just need to know who’s asking for him,” she stammered out.
“Sorry, my name’s Autumn—”
Before she finished, Lincoln stepped out of his office, his eyebrows raised as he took her in. Her hair was probably wild around her face and she was out of breath. “Is everything okay?”
She raked her gaze over him, looking for any sign of injury. “You were stabbed last night?” she demanded much louder than she’d intended, her voice echoing around the room.
Lincoln winced and hurried to open up the little swinging half door that did nothing to separate the lobby from the back offices. “Come back to my office,” he murmured, placing his hand at the small of her back as she stepped through. “Something smells good.”
She simply stared at him in horror as they stepped inside his sparse office. “I don’t want to talk about my muffin!” Trembles wracked her body, so she dropped her drink and pastry bag onto his desk.
“I’m okay, I promise.” Gently, he guided her to one of his ugly brown chairs.
Her knees practically gave out as she sat, the chair making a crinkling sound under her. “So you’re not denying that you were stabbed?” She looked him over again from head to toe in a completely clinical fashion.
“I wasn’t stabbed. Whoever told you that was misinformed. We had a rough call out last night and I was barely nicked.”
Unable to sit still, she shoved up, still not sure if she believed him. “Did you need stitches?”
“Steri-Strips.”
“Those are the same thing.”
“No they’re not. I swear I’m fine.” His voice was all calm and placating and for some reason, it got her even more worked up.
“Did this happen before or after we texted?”
He paused, his gorgeous green eyes narrowing slightly, as if he was debating his answer. “Before. I was actually at the hospital.”
Dammit. “I know we’re not together but I’m still going to have your baby!” Oh God, she knew she needed to get control of herself—she was never like this—but her emotions were wild. Someone had attacked him with a knife last night. And she was not
handling it well. The thought of something happening to him?
She sucked in a breath, ordered herself to remain calm. She was worried simply because she cared for him, not because he was the father of her baby. She…cared for him way too much. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just… I wish you’d told me. I mean, you didn’t even have to. I’m acting crazy, I know that.”
He stepped forward, and in that moment, there was a predatory gleam in his eyes. Not one that scared her, one that made her feel… Things.
“I know how you feel about my job,” he said quietly. “And like you said, you’re pregnant. I didn’t want to worry you needlessly. And I’m trying to say this in the most diplomatic way possible, but we’re not together, so I’m not yours to worry about.” There was no maliciousness in his words, just fact.
To her horror, tears stung her eyes, hot and blinding. Stupid, traitorous tears! She wasn’t a crier, hadn’t been her entire life, but pregnancy was wreaking havoc on her body. She didn’t even feel like her body belonged to her anymore. She bawled the other day over a commercial featuring a mom and daughter cooking oatmeal cookies. It was so ridiculous. But Lincoln meant more to her than he would ever realize, and the thought of him being hurt tore her up inside almost as much as his words—a reminder that he wasn’t hers and never would be.
“Hell. Don’t cry.” He cupped her cheeks gently, swiping away her tears.
“I’m not crying,” she muttered.
“I can see that,” he said, just a hint of amusement glittering in his gaze.
“These tears aren’t for you.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he said.
“You have nothing to be sorry for.” She was the one overreacting, she knew that. It didn’t make her emotions go away, however. They were still a riotous hurricane inside her. And with him so close, the scent of his Irish Spring soap teasing her, she wasn’t thinking clearly. Not at all.
“I’m sorry anyway,” he murmured, his gaze straying to her mouth.
Hers landed on his too, his delicious, wicked mouth she wanted more of.
Autumn didn’t remember moving, just leaned forward at the same time he leaned down, crushing his mouth over hers in a harsh claiming.
There was no softness in him now as he took, his tongue teasing hers, his body pressing her back against his desk.
She automatically spread her thighs and hopped up on the edge, her dress pushing up as he slid in between her legs.
He tasted so familiar, like coffee and something sweet. Chocolate maybe. She moaned into his mouth as she clutched onto his shoulders, her nails digging in. She could have lost him last night. Even thinking that tore her up. She didn’t want to let him go at all.
Suddenly he drew back, breathing hard as he watched her.
“We can’t do this here,” he rasped out. His chest rose and fell erratically as he looked down at her. “And since I’m pretty sure you haven’t changed your mind about us, I don’t think we can do this at all.”
“I…” She wasn’t sure where her head was at, felt far too emotional to make any decision. The fear of fully and completely falling for a man like Lincoln and then losing him to violence—last night being a good example—touched on the raw wound inside her. One that had never healed.
She was scared, she could admit it. Scared over a lot of things. But losing Lincoln? That was something she didn’t know if she’d recover from. It was a constant struggle to hide her feelings from him. And if he knew how much power he had over her, he would easily break down the walls she’d erected between them.
“So what are you doing downtown today?” He expertly changed the subject as he stepped away from her and adjusted himself.
She tried not to notice his erection, tried to ignore the heat between her own legs that simply kissing him had brought on, and struggled to find her voice. “I’m teaching a class this morning. I stopped at the café and Bianca mentioned something about you getting stabbed.” Then she’d run straight over here like a lunatic.
“Small-town gossip,” he muttered.
Her eyes widened. “Oh my God, your employees definitely heard me yell that I was pregnant with your baby.” And people had seen her run down here as if something was on fire. Oh, no. No, no, no.
To her surprise, he grinned. “They definitely did.”
Her cheeks flushed hot and she realized that it would be all over town by the end of the day. Heck, by the end of her class this morning. She’d wanted to wait until she was through the first trimester to tell anyone. “I’m going to pretend that they didn’t, and I’m just going to teach class today.”
“Are you okay, honestly? You had a hell of a day yesterday what with… Everything you learned.” She was glad he stayed vague. “And then with the break-in.”
And that run-in with the jackass parent and the blown tire. She wasn’t even sure if Lincoln knew about that and didn’t want to bring it up now. “Yesterday was like an eternity. I swear Mercury is in retrograde or something. Did you guys find out anything about the break-in?” She had cameras on her front and back porches, but the would-be intruder had managed to avoid them, going for a window on the side of her house.
“No. I doubt they’ll be back but if you want to stay with me—as friends only—you’re more than welcome to. Both you and Shadow.”
She shouldn’t be surprised by his offer, but more tears materialized. Seriously, her body was betraying her. This was worse than morning sickness, she was certain.
“Please don’t cry.” He sounded almost panicked.
“Unfortunately I think all these crazy emotions are here to stay for the next few months.”
He pulled her into a gentle hug, kissing the top of her head. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the cultural center.”
The way he held her so carefully made her wish things were different. He was exactly what she’d choose in her partner—if her life was normal. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.”
Feeling only a little embarrassed as she stepped out into the lobby with him, she noticed his assistant studiously avoided looking at either of them. Oh yeah, the woman had definitely heard Autumn’s outburst.
Sighing at herself, she slipped her hand through Lincoln’s arm. Friends did this, right?
Ugh. Who was she kidding? She wanted to be more than friends with Lincoln, and she always had. And soon the whole town would know their secret.
Chapter 22
Tom Coventry hurried down the sidewalk in downtown Verona Bay, careful to keep his steps even.
He couldn’t believe it. Ana Diaz—or Autumn, as she was calling herself these days—was actually here in the flesh. Looking at the pictures of her had been one thing, but actually seeing her in person, ten years after she’d taken everything, destroyed everything, was something else entirely.
It was clear she was chummy with law enforcement—he’d seen her walking with the sheriff hours ago—something he wasn’t sure how he was going to handle. Yet. Because he’d already come this far. There was no turning back.
Now that he’d confirmed that she was in Verona Bay, he had to start putting his plan into action. He hadn’t thought that far ahead, hadn’t even been certain that she was alive. Tom hadn’t allowed himself to hope that he’d finally be able to get his revenge.
All he knew was that he wanted her to suffer, to pay for what she’d done. She’d taken his whole career away. He’d wanted nothing more than to go into politics since he’d been twelve. His entire life, he’d been working toward his goals, taking one step at a time—leaping over some giant hurdles to get there. He’d married the right woman, provided everything for his son.
If only Rand had called him after that girl had died. He would have been able to dispose of her body. And he wouldn’t have been caught. But his stupid, stupid son had decided to take matters into his own hands—while high on coke. Of course he’d screwed up.
Deep breaths, Tom ordered himself. If he
allowed his mind to travel down that path, he would let his anger show. Right now, he had to be invisible. And for the most part he was. He wasn’t a well-known senator. No, he worked at an exclusive financial firm and made millions a year, but he was still unknown to people in this pathetic, little town.
Even so, as he stepped into the local hardware shop, he automatically tugged his ball cap low. A place like this wouldn’t have tons of security cameras, but he was going to do his due diligence.
Cruising the aisles, he started grabbing things he might need. Rope, tape, maybe a hammer. He already had a pistol and a knife, but simply shooting her would be too easy—way too easy for someone like her. She deserved all the pain and suffering he could mete out. Besides, a knife was quieter, and he wasn’t interested in getting caught. No, he wanted his revenge, then to go back to his life.
“That’s what I heard,” he overheard a petite blonde-haired woman telling a taller man as they picked out doorknobs down the aisle from him.
He sidestepped around them, not caring what they were talking about. The people here were nobodies.
“I’ve always thought they should get together,” the woman said. “It’s about time our sheriff found someone to settle down with. I just know his mom is going to be thrilled.”
At the mention of the word sheriff, Tom paused and pretended to look at light bulbs.
“You don’t even know if it’s true, Betsy,” the man muttered, picking out a deadbolt and tossing it into the cart.
“I know what I heard. And it sounds like Autumn is pregnant too, so I predict wedding bells soon.”
“Even if she is pregnant, it doesn’t mean they’re getting married or anything.”
“Speaking of marriage,” the woman continued, making the man choke on air.
Tom had heard enough, however. Could that one busybody be right? When he’d seen the sheriff walking down the street with her that morning, she’d had her hand on his arm.