Peek-A-Boo Protector

by Rita Herron

  Tears of relief filled Sally’s eyes, and she slumped against Dwayne.

  “Thanks, Honey.” Dwayne hugged his wife in the crook of his arm and herded her back to the car.

  Honey sashayed up the steps toward Sam, and they hugged again. John shook his head. For the life of him, he’d never understand women.

  Still, he went to open the front door and make sure no other surprises awaited them inside.

  “Thank you so much for keeping her safe, Sam.” Honey turned to John as they stepped into Sam’s cozy, warm house. “And thank you, too, John. I appreciate everything you did to find me and protect Sam and Emmie.”

  John shrugged. “I was just doing my job.” His gaze met Sam’s, the memory of their lovemaking taunting him. Last night had been nothing about the case, but about holding and loving Sam.

  But the case was over, and now they both had to move on. So he said good-night, then headed to his car to go home alone.

  Days Later

  “I’M SO NERVOUS MY KNEES are knocking,” Honey said as John parked the rental car and she, Sam and her lawyer got out of the car. “What if the judge wins and takes Troy and Emmie away from me?”

  “We’re not going to let that happen,” Sam said, as she scooped a sleeping Emmie from the car seat, although she felt nauseated with worry herself.

  “You’ve got a good case and a support group now, Honey,” John said, giving Sam a consoling look over Honey’s shoulder.

  Sam smiled her thanks, although Honey’s lawyer didn’t appear to be as confident. He’d warned them about all the people the judge had in his pocket.

  The four of them walked inside the law office lobby, Sam holding Emmie close to her chest and allowing Honey to enter first.

  “I can’t wait to see little Troy again,” Honey said, her eyes lighting up with anticipation.

  Sam smiled and rubbed Honey’s back, anxious to see the baby boy—her godson—too. She still couldn’t believe her best friend had twins.

  She couldn’t lose them.

  Then Reed Tanner appeared and engulfed Honey in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  Honey nodded at Reed. Pulling back from the hug, she gave him a little smile. “Thank you for taking care of Troy. I knew I could count on you to keep him safe.”

  He gave a self-deprecating shrug as if he hadn’t been so sure himself. “I had help. Someone I want you to meet.”

  He nodded to John and her, then frowned at Honey’s lawyer tagging along behind.

  “Nice to see you, Tanner,” John said. He offered his hand.

  Reed gripped his hand firmly and shook. “I’m glad circumstances are a little better than the last time we met.”

  John shifted a nervous glance at the conference room door. “Let’s hope circumstances keep improving.”

  Sam clenched her teeth, aware John was almost as apprehensive about this meeting as she was. Next to him, Honey fidgeted, twining her fingers together and shifting her feet on the marble floor.

  Sam rubbed her hand over the pink bundle she held to her shoulder.

  Reed grinned despite the tension. “Is this…”

  Honey and Sam beamed in tandem. Honey gestured to the baby. “Reed, meet my daughter Emmie.”

  He stepped around Sam and peered over her shoulder. “Hello, Emmie.”

  Emmie’s little face was delicate and angelic, yet she had a strength about her that Reed obviously recognized and he smiled. Emmie’s mouth stretched into a giant yawn.

  Reed had been hospitalized after being shot in an effort to protect Troy, and they’d talked to him.

  Apparently he’d had quite the ordeal trying to keep Troy safe. No wonder he hadn’t trusted them.

  They still didn’t have the whole story and Sam wanted to know what had happened from the time Honey had left her son in San Francisco to when he’d figured out who was after the baby boy. She couldn’t help but wonder what challenges they’d faced. And what further challenges all of them would have to deal with once they walked through that conference room door.

  “You have Troy?” Honey asked.

  Reed motioned to the conference room. “He’s inside, along with a special person I want you to meet.”

  Reed led Honey, Sam, John and the lawyer into the conference room.

  The judge sat at one side of the huge conference table, his lawyers flanking him. Glaring at Honey, he crossed his arms over his chest.

  Honey looked straight ahead.

  Admiration stirred in Sam’s chest. She was proud of Honey for standing up to the judge to protect her children.

  Reed focused on the far side of the room and Sam saw a woman in a high-backed conference chair. A clean diaper thrown over one shoulder, she held Troy against her heart and patted his back. When she spotted the group coming toward her, she broke into a tense smile.

  Honey made a beeline for her son and the woman, squealing at the sight of Troy and smothering him with kisses.

  Reed introduced them. After much ooing and ahhing over Emmie and Honey’s tears over being reunited with Troy, Reed slipped an arm around Josie. “If you want to thank someone for taking care of Troy and keeping him safe, Honey, this is who you need to talk to. I couldn’t have done it without her—found out who was trying to hurt him or taken care of a baby. Hell, I didn’t even know I had it in me.”

  “Thank you.” Honey gave Josie a hug. “He’s a good guy.”

  “I know.” Josie nodded toward the baby, now lifting his head shakily from her shoulder and looking at all the people in the room with googly eyes. “Do you want to hold him?”

  Honey patted her arm and surprised Sam by saying, “You can for now. I can tell you want to. It’s okay.”

  Either Honey’s legs were really shaking so badly she was afraid to hold her son, afraid she’d collapse, or she realized that Reed and Josie had grown attached to Troy. Another sign of how much the babies had changed Honey.

  Josie mouthed a thank you, tears pooling in her eyes.

  Still, Sam knew the hardest part lay ahead. Fighting Judge Wexler.

  “Tick, tock. Tick, tock,” the judge called out.

  The lawyer who’d apparently accompanied Reed checked his watch and stood. “If everyone will take a seat, we need to get started.”

  They shuffled into seats. Honey placed her baby bag on the chair beside her.

  “As you all know,” the lawyer droned, “we’re here to see if we can reach an agreement about the custody of the children known as Troy James Dawson and Emmie Samantha Dawson. My client has been very patient in this matter, but he is eager to have contact with his twins.”

  A knock sounded on the door. It opened, and Jimmy stepped inside. “Sorry to interrupt, but I…”

  “What are you doing here?” the judge asked in a loud voice.

  “Jimmy!” Honey sprang from her seat and catapulted across the room. Even from this angle, Reed could see tears stream down her cheeks. She hugged Jimmy and gave him a big smack on the lips.

  The judge scoffed. “This is outrageous. We’re in the middle of a meeting here. Sit down.”

  If Honey noticed the judge, she didn’t react. When the kiss ended, she peered into Jimmy’s eyes. “Oh, Jimmy. All those nights when I thought I was a goner, I kept seeing your face. Of all the people I wished I could see one last time before I died, I wanted to see you the most. I have something I need to tell you.”

  Jimmy lifted a hand. He wiped the tears from her cheek with gentle fingers, then cupped her face as if it was the most precious thing in the world. “What, baby?”

  “I love you, Jimmy.”

  He looked at her, as if he was afraid to believe her words.

  “It’s true. I know I always said you were my friend, my buddy. But you’re more than that. I just didn’t see it. I was so stupid.”

  “You love me?”

  “With all my heart. If you’ll have me.”

  “Are you kidding? I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you.”

  “B
lah, blah, blah,” the judge boomed. “All these hearts and flowers are real nice, but you’re wasting my lawyer’s time. Do you have any idea how much they charge? For God’s sake, sit down.”

  Honey wrinkled her nose at the judge. Taking Jimmy’s hand, she led him to the chair next to hers. She removed the baby bag and set it on the floor.

  Jimmy looked over at Reed, and gave him a civil nod.

  Reed returned the gesture.

  “Now where were we?” the lawyer said.

  “We were getting my kids,” the judge snapped.

  Reed leaned back in his chair and pressed two fingers at his temple as if a headache pounded at the back of his neck.

  Sam gripped John’s fingers so tightly she felt him shift but he didn’t pull away.

  Then Reed thrust his chair back from the table and stood.

  The judge made a growling sound low in his chest. “What do you think you’re doing, Tanner?”

  Reed leveled a look on the judge. “The baby needs changing. Do you think you’re up to it, judge?”

  A muscle twitched in the judge’s cheek.

  “Didn’t think so.”

  A smile curved John’s mouth, and Sam decided she liked Reed Tanner.

  Honey stood. “I can—”

  Reed held up a hand. “It’s okay. I’ll get it. One last time?”

  Honey gave him an understanding smile. “Knock yourself out.”

  He held out his hands, and Josie peeled Troy off her shoulder. He gritted his teeth as if still in pain from the bullet he’d taken to his shoulder, then he carried the baby to a small sofa behind Honey and Jimmy. Josie followed with the baby bag.

  Sam was so distracted by the scene that she ignored the droning voice of the judge’s lawyer protesting as if they were stalling the inevitable.

  Reed worked as a team with Josie. She lay down the changing pad, and he placed the baby on top. He took off the dirty diaper while she unfolded a clean one and handed him the package of wipes.

  Sam smiled. Apparently Reed and Josie had taken to parenting just as she and John had.

  A twinge of pain caught in her chest. Only they looked as if they might end up together, and she wasn’t so sure about her and John.

  “Oh, my God.” Jimmy pushed back his chair and sprang to his feet. He stepped over to the sofa where Reed and Josie were changing Troy and knelt down next to the baby.

  Honey followed. “What is it?”

  “For the love of…” The judge exploded. “What’s going on around here? Can’t we get through a simple meeting?”

  Jimmy extended a finger and pointed to a small darkened patch on the baby’s left hip. He looked up at Honey and stuttered, as if he couldn’t find the words he wanted to say.

  Sam and John crowded around them. Sam spoke first, cradling Emmie to her. “It’s a birthmark. Emmie has one like that, too. Right in the same spot.”

  Jimmy looked up at Honey with watery eyes. “And I do, too. Just like my father.”

  For a moment, the air seemed to leave the room. Reed looked as if he was struggling to pull in a breath, then another. He must have thought the twins were his. “Jimmy is the twins’ father.”

  Josie grinned at him and nodded.

  “Sorry, judge,” John said, grinning broadly. “It looks like you’re going to have to find some other babies to win your awards for you.”

  The judge brought a fist down hard on the table. “I want a paternity test.”

  “And you’ll get one,” Honey said, but her smile testified to how little the results worried her now.

  Josie slipped the clean diaper under Troy, and Reed covered him up and fastened the tapes before they had a waterworks show all over the fancy law firm’s conference room.

  Honey gathered her son from the bench and plunked him into Jimmy’s arms, then took Emmie from Sam. The babies cooed in tandem as their mother and father cuddled them close and the four of them became a family.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tension enveloped Sam and John on the flight back from Dallas. John drove her to her house once again, the strained silence between them almost deafening. They hadn’t spent any private time together since they’d found Honey. No dinners or phone calls.

  No kisses or lovemaking.

  Sam clenched her purse strap as he walked her to her door. She was so happy for Honey she wanted to cry. Honey had been searching for love all her life and now she’d found a good man who loved her, a man who’d fathered her twins and wanted to raise them with her.

  Still she missed Honey already, and she missed those babies. She felt empty without them.

  Her house seemed cold and so quiet it hurt as she unlocked the door. It was hard to believe it had only been a week since Honey had left Emmie in her house. But during that week, she’d realized she wanted love, too, a love like her best friend had found with Jimmy. And she wanted babies. Lots of them.

  And she wanted them with John.

  But his silence told her everything. He didn’t want her. Their lovemaking had been a…convenience. They’d been thrust together in a hotel room, in danger, and adrenaline and timing had brought them together. Now that that was over, there was no reason for them to see each other.

  Except that she loved him fiercely.

  So much that she had to let him go so he could pursue his dreams.

  “Sam?” John said gruffly.

  She turned to him, and memorized his face in the waning sunlight. “Yes.”

  “Will you be all right?”

  His concern touched something deep inside her. He was a good man and deserved everything he wanted. So she lifted her chin. “Of course, John. You know me, I’m tough.”

  He studied her for a long moment, then lifted his hand and touched her cheek. A sad smile graced his eyes, then he leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Take care. And if you ever need anything…”

  “I won’t,” she said, her throat thick. She had to go inside, get away from him before she broke down. So she turned and hurried inside, then shut the door between them.

  Tears blurred her eyes as she leaned against the wall. She’d told him she was tough and she always had been.

  So why was she falling apart at the thought of not seeing him again?

  JOHN LET HIMSELF INSIDE his house, his head aching. He should be happy. He’d just solved a big case. Sam, Honey and Honey’s children were safe. He’d finally received recognition for real police work, not rescuing those damned Butterbean dolls.

  His phone trilled, and he checked the number. His father.

  He grabbed the handset. “Hello, Dad.”

  “John, I called to congratulate you. Everyone is talking about you going up against Judge Theodore Wexler. It seems you made a name with that case after all.”

  Perspiration trickled down the side of John’s jaw. “The most important thing is that Honey Dawson and her twins are safe, Dad.”

  “Well, of course. But you were brilliant. I want you to come to Atlanta next week. There’s talk about a bid for the governor’s office and your name came up.”

  John paced through his house, the quiet oppressive. This was his chance to leave town and be somebody. To finally please his father.

  But Sam’s face taunted him. Images of Sam fighting to save innocent children in need around the mountains. Sam standing up to monsters like Leonard Cultrain. Sam defending her friend Honey.

  Of Sam kissing him. Sam making love to him.

  Sam holding those babies.

  His old insecurities rose to the surface, the memory of his high school girlfriend trying to trap him into marriage, then lying to him about her baby. Did Sam simply want a father for her own child?

  Or could she possibly love him?

  The tender way she’d touched him that night taunted him. The way she’d kissed him and given herself to him without asking for anything in return. The way she’d looked at him when they’d stood on her doorstep earlier.

  Kind, caring, wonderful Sam wouldn’t ask for anything
.

  And that made him love her even more.

  Besides, Leonard Cultrain was still loose in town. And Sam would never give up her job. Dammit, she needed someone to take care of her.

  And he wanted to be that somebody.

  “John, I need your answer.” His father’s voice intruded into his thoughts. “I have to set things up right away.”

  John reached for his keys. “Dad, sorry, but I like my job here.”

  “What?”

  “I said I’m staying.”

  “But you can’t—”

  “I can and I am,” he said matter-of-factly. “And not only am I staying, but I’m going to investigate those accusations against Samantha Corley’s father and prove his innocence.”

  “What? Have you gone mad?”

  “Yes,” he said. Madly in love. And he’d start the investigation right after he asked Sam to marry him.

  SAM HAD CHANGED INTO her nightgown, but a noise suddenly startled her. Good heavens, who was out there now? Honey was safe. Teddy had admitted he’d shot at them in Dallas and was in jail. Sally had calmed down.

  Leonard?

  She flipped off the lights, grabbed her shotgun and raced down the stairs, then hid behind the door. A car engine died, and she peered out the side window, but it was so dark, she couldn’t see what kind of vehicle it was. She braced the shotgun against her hip, just as a loud knock sounded on the door.

  “Sam? It’s me, John.”

  Her breath whooshed out, and she hurriedly unlatched the door.

  John took one look at the shotgun and froze. “Sam, don’t shoot.”

  She shivered, then laughed softly. “Sorry, I thought I heard a noise.”

  “You did. It was me.”

  She licked her lips, her chest still heaving, and suddenly realized she was wearing only a thin satin gown. She hadn’t bothered to don a robe. His gaze raked over her, and he arched a brow, then reached up, took the gun and set it aside.

  “What are you doing here?” Sam asked. “Is something wrong?”

  “Yes,” he said gruffly.

  Her breath caught. “What? Is it Honey? The babies? Another child somewhere?”

  He chuckled. “No, it’s me.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t understand.”