by Shayla Black
Lily wanted to heed his words so badly but . . .
“So many people died because of me. Because I was stupid. Because—”
Stone didn’t let her finish that sentence. He captured her mouth with his own and stole inside. It wasn’t a kiss of passion. He filled her with tenderness and comfort. He held her with shaking hands and told her without words that he wouldn’t let her suffer alone anymore.
Confusion and yearning wracked her. Let him soothe and ease her? Or take the self-punishment she deserved? Give this man all the love she could muster in her scarred heart? Or leave him because Canton would find and kill him, too?
She wrenched away from Stone, staring, breathing hard, shaking her head. “I . . . I don’t know—”
“You don’t have to know right now, baby. I’m here. I’ll fix it. I’ll wipe this fucking dirtbag off the face of the earth.”
Lily sent him a rapid shake of her head in denial. “You can’t. You just got out of prison. I’m not worth you risking your freedom.”
“You are to me. I would move mountains to give you happiness and peace.”
“Then don’t go after him. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.” Her fingers bit into his shoulders. Her tears crept ever closer to her lash line. One rolled down her cheek, then nothing more. “I couldn’t live with myself if I lost you. After I left Los Angeles, I spent so many years existing but not being important to anyone. By design. If no one cared, no one would mourn if Canton found me or if I had to leave abruptly. If I didn’t invest my heart in anyone, then I wouldn’t really miss anyone once I was gone.” She hugged him close, trembling against his body. “Then came you.”
“Fuck this.” He held her in his arms and cradled her against his chest as he darted across the hall with her.
Lily didn’t fight him as he laid her on the bed and tumbled down after her, wrapping her in the sheets that smelled like Stone and comfort and the sex they’d shared. She grabbed on tightly, never wanting to let him go.
“Baby, you can’t stay afraid and running forever,” he murmured in her ear.
He spoke the truth, and she didn’t know how to hear it. “I don’t have many choices. He found me in Dallas. Those flowers had to be from him. The car bomb . . . He wants to finally silence me forever. That would give him a clear path to become governor. If you let me leave and I run—”
“You’d be alone, and it will take him anywhere from days to years to find you again. But that kind of guy? He will find you. Why not take a stand? Stay? Fight him finally? I’ll help you.”
She stroked the steely curve of his shoulder. “I would never want you in danger.”
“And I’d never leave you to face it alone. If you don’t want me to kill the son of a bitch, then let’s do this the right way. Let’s contact the authorities. Testify, baby. Put him behind bars. End this for good.”
That sounded so wonderful and noble . . . and so unrealistic. “If I agree to do that, the police can’t protect me.”
“But I can. Jack and Sean and the Edgington brothers, too. They’re the best, baby. Governments hire them to protect and defend. I can track Canton’s movements via his computer or phone. They can give you a fortress until the trial is over. We can make this work. If he goes away, you’re free.” He brushed her hair from her face and thumbed her cheek, making everything inside her melt. “You can have a future with me.”
In some ways, what he said made sense. If Canton was behind bars, he couldn’t simply hop in his car or get on a plane and hunt her down. Yeah, he probably had underlings more than happy to do his bidding, but if she testified, if she lopped the head off that snake, maybe it would die. The others in his organization didn’t have a personal beef with her. It was possible they’d let it go.
Maybe.
And maybe she was fooling herself.
It wasn’t as if she’d never considered testifying before. But she’d always held back. Lily had been tied to a chair while she watched Erin lose the fight for her innocence and existence. She’d been the one to identify her mother’s and brother’s bodies. She’d seen firsthand what Canton could do.
But Stone was right. What sort of life would she have if she didn’t do something to end his reign of terror?
Not long after leaving Los Angeles, she’d roamed around, hitchhiking, looking for someplace that could be home. One dark night in Bakersfield, she’d thought of stepping out in front of a speeding semi. She’d been standing on the side of the freeway at night in the cold, starving and wondering where her next meal would come from. It would have been so easy to end the pain with one impact.
She hadn’t been able to put that driver through the guilt and hell to end her life. Instead, she’d stepped back and marched down the freeway, eventually making her way east through Vegas, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Amarillo, and eventually Dallas, where Thorpe had seen her in a diner. She’d sat down to a plate of eggs and a cup of coffee she couldn’t afford because she hadn’t eaten in three days. The waitress had disappeared into the kitchen, and she’d been looking for the exit when Thorpe had offered to pay her bill if he could have ten minutes of her time. She’d shrugged and figured that nothing terrible could happen to her in public. At the end of their chat, he’d offered her a job and a place to crash. Finally, she’d had a steady roof and people who felt like friends. It was the most normalcy she’d had in years. But she never let anyone so close that she couldn’t bear to leave.
Until Stone.
“A future? I don’t know. I hear you about Canton always hanging over my head if I don’t do something. But—”
“You don’t want to put anyone else in danger. I get it. But you don’t have to be brave alone anymore. Think about it, okay?”
“I will.” She owed him that much. She owed it to any sort of future they might have because she loved him, too. And she didn’t know how she would ever live without him again.
Chapter Twelve
AFTER their eventful morning, Stone watched Lily cook in silence. They ate, then she lost herself by trolling through her favorite pop culture websites and another book she’d found at the cottage before she opted for a nap. He tucked her in with a kiss and told her to rest up. If he felt gutted by everything she’d admitted to him today, she must be fucking exhausted.
Once he knew she’d drifted off, he rang Jack, who picked up almost immediately. “What’s going on there?”
Tons, but nothing Jack needed to know. “Not much. You have something to report?”
“I talked to Thorpe an hour ago. Axel is still sleeping. Sean gave him a little something to help that along so he’d stay out of your hair for a while. Sean told me to say ‘You’re welcome.’”
“I owe him big.”
“He’s going to head over to Lily’s old apartment soon. He has to let the police presence over there die down. And the press are crawling everywhere, speculating about the reason for the car bomb. I’ve heard them say the cause was everything from a vengeful ex-lover to al-Qaeda.”
Stone sighed. “But nothing about Canton?”
“Thankfully, no,” Jack assured.
“Still can’t find the bastard?”
“It’s as if he’s dropped off the face of the earth. I don’t like it.”
Stone didn’t either. Anyone capable of raping a girl or torturing a little boy deserved to be gone from the face of the earth—and not on his own terms. But he squashed his homicidal leanings—for now—and prayed they could figure out how to end this nightmare for Lily. He’d ten times rather meet the guy in a dark alley and dust him without having to involve her at all. But she was right; he’d probably end up doing more hard time. Scuttling his urge for vigilante justice sucked, but going through legal channels was the only way he saw for him to have any sort of future with her. Besides, he couldn’t deny that going back to prison was the last fucking thing he ever wanted to do.
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br /> “Keep looking and tell me how I can help. Please,” Stone said. “Lily has been through even more than you know, man. She needs this nightmare to be over.”
“You’re in love with her.”
Jack didn’t ask, and Stone didn’t bother to deny. “I think I always was. These last couple of days have made that really fucking clear for me. She comes first, period.”
“That’s how it is, you know. You find that perfect woman and bam. You’d do or say anything to make her happy and keep her safe.”
Absolutely. When they got out of this shit, he was going to call his father, make up for the past, then put a ring on Lily’s finger and live a life so wonderful she couldn’t do anything except be happy.
Until then, he had to tie up every single loose end. “Exactly. So why was Canton never arrested in connection with the murders of Lily’s mom and brother?”
“Canton himself had an airtight alibi. The kid didn’t live long enough to ID anyone. The crime scene didn’t produce any physical evidence or witnesses. It happened fast. Based on what I read, I’d bet they took the family by surprise and subdued them within seconds because there didn’t appear to be much of a struggle.”
“But the kid managed to tell the cops that his killer claimed to be one of Erin’s friends who was looking for Lily, right?”
“Sure, but he didn’t know the guy’s name. The police suspected that Lily might know who the assailant was, but they never could find her. She’d already fled.”
Shit. As much as Stone didn’t like the truth, it made sense. “Did you ever track down the rest of Erin Gutierrez’s family? Maybe they could shed some light. The girl had a mom and an older brother who took Lily in when she was a teenager. They must have been devastated by what happened to Erin and wanted justice.”
“I just started looking for them yesterday. Here’s what I know so far: Renee Gutierrez left Los Angeles. She got picked up for DUI in Seattle about four years ago. She skipped bail. I’ve heard rumors she crossed into Canada, but they’re unconfirmed. Corey found himself in and out of juvie for a bit. Someone made an attempt on his life, and they transferred him out. I’m double-checking some facts but I think he wound up enlisting and fought in Afghanistan. He’s currently listed as MIA, but I’m trying to track down the details. I’ll let you know.”
“That would be great. Thanks. I need one more favor.” Stone swallowed, trying to choke down the lump of grief on Lily’s behalf that clogged his throat.
“What’s that?” Jack asked.
Stone hated having to ask anyone for anything but he couldn’t protect Lily if he was focused on too many other things besides keeping her safe. “Can you look for a burial place for Regina Rose Taylor? She would have died as an infant.”
Jack didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Lily didn’t have a baby sister, did she?”
“No.”
“Fuck, man. I’m so sorry for her. As a parent, I can only imagine what that poor girl must have gone through.”
“She’s . . . an amazing fighter. But everything that happened damn near ruined her. I’m determined to give that woman some happiness.” And babies. They would get married and raise children and live happily ever after, damn it. “But the baby died as the child of an indigent single mother. At best, she got a pauper’s burial, most likely courtesy of Los Angeles County. For Lily’s sake, I’d like to give Regina Rose something more.”
“Yeah. I’ll get right on it.”
“I know that’s not your usual thing. You’d rather knock heads together than scan the Internet, but I’ve got a lot going on here, so thanks.”
“You’re welcome. While I’m doing that, you want to know how you can help? We can’t find Canton, so you need to stop tiptoeing around Lily and ask,” Jack insisted. “Point-blank find out what she knows about this guy.”
Stone gripped the phone tight. He’d rather hunt down the violent shit stain without involving Lily. “Whatever information she has about the man and his running buddies or habits is seven years old.”
“But it’s still knowledge we don’t have. It may be helpful. It’s certainly better than nothing.”
The idea of shoving more upset and upheaval on her right now bugged the hell out of Stone. “Damn it . . .”
“I know. I get it. Sometimes, protecting your woman from the bad guys lurking outside her door is much easier than shielding her from what’s hurting her on the inside.”
Stone couldn’t have summed up his concerns any better.
They rang off, and he mulled over Jack’s suggestion. The guy was probably right. Tracking down the enemy would be so much easier with insider information. And as much as he wanted to protect Lily from more emotional pain, he had to prioritize her safety first. Fuck.
Determined to see if he could find Canton first, Stone grabbed her computer. He would have preferred his own. He had it all set up just the way he wanted with software and tools that hers lacked. Her hard shell of a pink case with the matching keyboard overlay certainly didn’t say “badass.” But he found a beautiful irony in using Lily’s computer to try to bring down her tormentor.
Unfortunately, nothing he tried panned out. The guy hadn’t used his credit cards in almost a week. He hadn’t flown on a commercial airline or rented a car. He hadn’t even used an ATM. No hit on his license plate. His phone had been upgraded to a software version that made it virtually impossible to access without the password. Anyone that paranoid would have taken steps to ensure that if someone tried to change his password, he’d receive not just an e-mail but a text, too. Stone didn’t want to tip his hand and send Canton scampering into hiding, so that was a dead end.
He discerned Canton’s cell phone carrier and tried to ping a database of towers but only received back a signal that told him the device was turned off and hadn’t been active in days. More than likely he was using burner phones. No fucking way to trace those.
With a curse, he sighed and tried another tactic. Canton had social media accounts, but they all made him look like a family man and a hometown hero who’d avoided street gangs as a kid and put himself through college. Since graduating and opening his first dry cleaner’s, he’d been using his business for good in their lower-class neighborhood and taking his own profits and time to open teen centers and after-school care for children whose parents had to work long, hard hours to make ends meet. He’d received awards at the community and state level for standing against violence and drugs.
Stone shook his head. This guy sounded like a fucking saint. He’d fooled pretty much everyone around him. Canton was wily and knew how to hire the right people to spin some good PR. He’d especially stepped up his game in the past twelve months, probably about the time he had decided to make a run at the state’s top office.
Stone closed out the open windows on those dead ends and tried police reports next. He made a mental note to let the LAPD know later that they really needed to upgrade their cybersecurity. First, he prowled through their e-mail servers and available incident reports. The police had been called out to Canton’s home and business multiple times, and he’d always managed to spin everything to make himself appear like the victim of unsavory elements in the neighborhood who wanted crime to flourish. Reports from more than five years back appeared to be archived elsewhere, which made Stone curse. But he did manage to collect a list of Canton’s known associates. Unfortunately, running them up didn’t prove to be any more useful. Just a bunch of garbage, none of which Stone believed.
There had to be some avenue or clue he was missing. Resolving that he wouldn’t give up, he made another cup of coffee and combed through all the details again. Still, he came up empty-handed. As much as he hated it, answers probably lingered in some long-forgotten corner of Lily’s head. Like Jack had said, he had to persuade her to dredge them up and give them over—then pick up the pieces if she fell apart.
* * *
THAT night, Lily said almost nothing. She’d withdrawn into herself, and Stone suspected she was still thinking about whether or not she would testify. A part of him wanted to sit her down and make her see that might be her only option if she wanted a future. Another part of him understood she had to come to this decision on her own—no matter how much waiting and gritting his teeth he had to do.
Until then, he had to figure out what she knew about Canton. He hated to add to her mental burden, but they were running out of options.
He pushed his empty plate away and turned to her. “I need to ask you some questions.”
Lily straightened in her chair. He could almost see her gathering her defenses, raising her walls. “About what?”
“Canton. His habits. His associates. Where he might run and who might help him. We’re not having a lot of luck. What do you remember about him?”
“Besides him being a terrible, violent sociopath?” She sighed as she pondered. “I don’t know.”
Stone hated feeling as if he were plowing through her psyche with a screwdriver. “You said Erin was gang-raped. Who was with Canton that day?”
“Um . . . a guy he referred to as Killer Mo. Another he called Reaper or just Reap. The last guy answered to Mafia. I didn’t get real names, so I don’t know if that’s even helpful.”
It was more information than they’d had. Stone jumped up from the table and retrieved her laptop, tapping on the keys and accessing the Internet in seconds.
“Hey, how did you get into my computer?” She frowned. “Oh, yeah. You’re a hacker.”
Slanting her a glance that suggested she get serious, Stone scoffed. “Baby, I can do that in a blink.” He dug around a bit more for the identities of Killer Mo, Reaper, and Mafia. He narrowed his search, adding places, dates, details he knew. He came back with a trio of suspects and pictures. Then he turned the screen around to Lily. “They look anything like these guys?”
Color leached out of her face. She turned the same shade as a slab of cold marble. “That’s them.”