Safe From the Dark

by Lily Rede

  “So then what happened?”

  “When Evie was seven, Laura brought her to stay with Fran, and said that she wanted to get into rehab. Phil was cheating on her, and she wanted to make a new life for the two of them. Frannie was so relieved.”

  Jocelyn wiped away a tear, and Colin started forward, but stopped as Jocelyn held up a hand.

  “Laura left Evie with Fran to go take care of some things and the rest – well, it was all in the papers. She caught Phil and his mistress in that crappy motel across the bay and put a couple of bullets in them before turning the gun on herself. Phil survived, that bastard, and came back for Evie. And Frannie never saw her again. She sent money and letters, but who knows if Evie ever got them, or what kind of a life she had after that. Fran even consulted a lawyer, but there was nothing she could do. She never really forgave herself.”

  Colin ignored her sputtering and wrapped the doctor in a hug. She caved and patted him on the back.

  “Your charms don’t work on me, Colin Daniels,” she said, watery, “Save it for the pretty young things.”

  She pulled back, but narrowed her eyes at him.

  “Be nice to Evie Asher, but keep your hands to yourself, got it? She doesn’t need to be added to your list of playthings. That girl deserves more than a quick fuck in the front of your pickup.”

  Colin could feel the heat rising in his cheeks, but nodded. No matter how delicious and lickable Evie looked in or out of her clothes, she clearly was not easygoing or casual, eager and/or grateful for a roll in the sheets. She came with epic amounts of baggage, and it only took one afternoon for him to see that he would be smart to keep far, far away. Evie Asher was trouble.

  CHAPTER THREE

  THE EARLY MORNING SUNLIGHT streaming through the window was a surprise, and Evie squinted at the unfamiliar surroundings for a moment before memory came flooding back – the storm, the doctor, and the too-attractive-for-his-own-good mayor who had lifted her like she weighed nothing and tucked her into bed with strong, warm hands.

  None of that, she reminded herself.

  Evie pushed back the quilt and carefully sat up, taking stock of her injuries. Her shoulder was stiff, but not terrible, and her side throbbed, but the pain wasn’t unmanageable. She found that someone had thoughtfully set a bottle of ibuprofen next to the bed with a glass of water, and gratefully gulped two as she looked around the room – heartlessly bare save for the night stand and the bed, the guest room was still pretty, with blue patterned wallpaper dappled with lovely morning light. Through the windows, a magnificent view of the bay stretched out far below. Evie pulled herself to her feet, clutching the iron bedpost until her balance reasserted herself.

  Her suitcase and laptop sat by the door, along with a pile of towels – another pleasant surprise. Evie felt a twinge of guilt. She hadn’t been at her best yesterday, and while she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, she had to admit that her night would have been worse without Colin’s take-charge attitude. If she was planning to live here, she had to make friends. She shouldn’t let herself become irked by the mayor’s high-handedness or his annoyingly sexy smile.

  I’ll call and thank him. Later. Shower first.

  The thought of hot water pushed Evie to gather clean clothes and towels and make her way into the connecting bathroom. Ten minutes later she was standing half under the hot spray, blissfully rinsing shampoo from her hair while she carefully kept her bandages dry. The water did wonders for her stiff muscles, and while Evie pulled on jeans and a soft cream-colored sweater, she was amazed at how much better she felt after a good night’s sleep. Squeezing the excess water from her hair, she ran a quick brush through it, her mind on breakfast.

  She stepped into the living room and stopped short.

  Colin Daniels was sitting at her kitchen table, drinking tea and reading the newspaper like he belonged there. He was still in the same clothes from yesterday, but he’d obviously showered, his dark hair still damp. Evie tried to ignore the idea of Colin in the upstairs shower, soapy and hot, but a quick, shocking pulse of interest had her clenching her thighs.

  “Hey, you’re up!” He smiled and set the paper down.

  “I thought you’d be gone by now.” Okay, that wasn’t the best thing to blurt out when trying to make a fresh start. Clearly Colin didn’t think so either, as one eyebrow went up and the smile vanished. Evie took a fortifying breath and tried again.

  “Sorry, I’m not quite awake yet. Thank you for getting my things. And for calling the doctor. I didn’t realize that I’d pushed myself so hard. I was in a hurry to get up here.”

  Colin considered her for a long moment, and then smoothly got to his feet, the easy smile returning to his face.

  “Anytime. I polished off the Thai, so there’s nothing left to eat unless you like baking soda or rat poison. I can run into town and pick up a few things.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I just need to get my car – ”

  But Colin was shaking his head.

  “You’re going to need a tow truck to pull it out, and Pete’s not going to be able to make it up until this afternoon.”

  Evie blew out a frustrated breath, and Colin grinned.

  “You’ve been in the city too long. Things up here take time.”

  “It’s going to take a while to get used to that,” Evie admitted.

  “Jocelyn said to take it easy, so why don’t you just hang out – ”

  “Look, I can’t just sit around all day – it’s not me. But you don’t need to babysit. I’ve got a bunch of errands to run. If you wouldn’t mind dropping me in town, I can find my own way back.”

  Colin shook his head, laughing.

  “How about a compromise? Let’s go to Mary’s and get some breakfast, and then you can run your errands and stock up. When you’re ready to go, I’ll give you a ride and make sure you don’t collapse on the way back up the hill. It’s close to home anyway. Deal?”

  Evie only hesitated a moment before shaking his hand, and wondered if he felt the tingle where their skin touched.

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  She started to pull her hand back, but he held on, tugging her a little closer.

  “Evie,” he said softly, “I don’t know what happened to you, but it’s a small community. We look out for each other. I hope that someday you’ll feel at home here.”

  He let her go and started for the door, leaving her to follow, sudden tears pricking behind her eyes.

  I’m a mess, she thought as she grabbed a jacket and hurried after him. She was so used to judgment and condemnation that she had no idea how to react to simple kindness anymore. Everyone had an agenda. Everyone wanted something from her, ready to pounce on the slightest hint of vulnerability or weakness. So she didn’t show any. She didn’t rely on anyone if she could help it, but Colin’s gentle voice and warm hands made her wonder if she could move past her hang-ups, maybe start learning to trust people again. The thought was too scary, so she pushed it aside and followed Colin out to the car.

  The road down to town was muddy, but a million times better than the day before, and Evie drank in the sight of the little town below. Bright’s Ferry was squashed between its own little bay and a generous hill that the townies affectionately called their “mountain.” Many of the newer residents lived in town, but the families that had been here for generations had settled in the hills, the winding roads still mostly unpaved. A hundred years ago, this had been a fishing town, and a few trawlers and small fisheries remained, though, like much of the area, the town relied on B&Bs and passing tourists in search of cute little weekend getaways.

  Evie ignored Colin’s surreptitious glances at her from behind the wheel and permitted herself a tiny moment of self-congratulation. She’d done it. She’d left her old life behind – the scandal and pain, the humiliation and lack of professionalism. And the betrayal. That was the worst. The shimmering bay and the town faded from view as she thought back to New York and the night that changed ev
erything.

  She’d been three weeks away from the detective’s exam. After years of struggle, holding down two jobs to survive long enough to get through school and the academy, never relying on anyone for anything, her goal was in sight. She’d stubbornly cared for her father as his alcoholism progressed – the angry, abusive man who once ground her self-esteem into the dirt now reduced to a feeble addict in hospice care – and finally buried him without a tear. Evie couldn’t celebrate, though Jack had urged her to, insisting that the burden of her childhood was behind her now that the bastard was dead.

  Intelligent and self-assured, protective and flattering, handsome Captain Jack Forrest seemed to offer everything that her shattered family never gave her, and for two months she’d had a heady, secret affair with the soon-to-be-divorced police captain. It was hot. It was intense. It was so incredibly against the rules. Evie didn’t care, reveling in the kind of connection she had denied herself for so long.

  The night she buried her father, Evie felt numb and off-center. Annoyed, Jack reminded her that had snuck away from the Governor’s charity ball to find her before her shift for a quick fuck in her tiny apartment. Evie remembered that last time – he hadn’t bothered to take off his tux, and the light gleamed off his wedding ring as he thrust into her, not bothering to make sure came, like he usually did. When they were done, unsatisfied and uncertain, Evie made the mistake of wondering out loud how the divorce was proceeding – he and his wife did a good job of keeping up appearances in public. For the sake of his career, of course.

  I’ve got it under control, Evie. Quit hounding me.

  Jack won the argument – he always did – reminding her that if she loved him, she’d be patient, and she headed off to work, hoping to put the latest tiff behind them. She loved him. He loved her, despite her family history. Everything would be fine.

  It was in the precinct bullpen, as Evie checked her gear, that her world imploded. In a blue satin gown, Brianne Forrest stormed in, diamonds gleaming at her wrists and throat, and demanded to know why Evie, a lowly patrol cop, was fucking her husband, who was out of her league in more ways than one. Evie, shocked, turned to Jack, in tow like a chastened puppy. Trying to ignore the disapproval of her fellow officers, she waited for Jack to defend her, to step up and tell the truth.

  He looked away.

  And she knew. Blinded by her emotions and longing for the care she’d missed since she was a girl, she’d let herself be used, let herself believe that he really wanted her, wanted a life with her. She’d believed that the marriage was over, that he was a sad man keeping up appearances, and fallen for the whole thing, hook, line, and sinker. The sudden clarity left her breathless, but she managed to pull herself together and make it out to her black and white, the silent condemnation from her partner, Simone Behr, worse than the official punishment that was sure to come – fraternizing with a superior officer was strictly prohibited.

  Heartbroken and shaky, Evie was distracted, and it nearly cost her her life as they chased two scumbag drug dealers through Central Park later that night. She tackled one to the ground, securing his piece, but missed the backup in his ankle holster, and he struggled, freeing one hand, and then –

  Bang! Bang!

  Evie woke in the hospital, in agony. The wounds would heal, but her reputation would not. With his connections, Jack would get a slap on the wrist, but Evie’s career with the NYPD was over. She was suspended, pending an investigation into the allegations. Her coworkers stopped speaking to her, Simone wouldn’t answer the phone. Lying in the hospital bed, she thought back to the last time she’d been truly happy, and remembered Gram – her soft hands, the peace and quiet of the cabin, and the wide ocean stretched out below.

  After Gram’s death, there had been a call from her lawyer that she had never bothered to return. Her father had severed all contact, and as an adult, Evie worried that too much time had passed to reconnect, and then lost her chance when word of Gram’s death reached her. She called the lawyer back. Hope and purpose washed over her the moment she hung up the phone.

  Even gone, Gram was giving her another chance at a home.

  “Everything okay?”

  Evie snapped back to the present and the handsome young mayor pulling into a space in front of the town’s modest Town Hall. For a moment, she wondered what kind of a man he was when he wasn’t rescuing half-drowned damsels who showed up on his doorstep, but then forcefully reminded herself that it didn’t matter. She wanted to be friendly, but her reaction to Colin so far had her worried. Very worried. He could be a prince, a playboy, or a Boy Scout. She wasn’t going to give herself a chance to get close enough to find out.

  “Fine. I’m dying for a cup of coffee.”

  “Why don’t I meet you in the diner in half an hour? Right over there. I’m going to check in at the office and make sure nothing exploded in the eighteen hours I’ve been gone.”

  He rolled his eyes, and flashed a grin as he left her on the sidewalk. Evie steeled herself, letting the peal of church bells in the distance wash over her, and then crossed the square toward the old-fashioned Sheriff’s Department on the corner.

  COLIN BREEZED INTO HIS office, not surprised to find Candace Wilkinson there ahead of him. In her mid-forties, Candace had run the mayor’s office for twenty-five years, and no one knew the ins and outs of Bright’s Ferry like she did. His assistant, Tom Castillo, often complained that between Colin’s need to handle everything himself and Candace’s efficiency, he had nothing left to do, but Candace was indispensable. With impeccable but severe style, Candace was a formidable presence in Town Hall, and Colin was often grateful for her ability to run interference for him.

  “Isn’t it Sunday, and weren’t you and Alan going antiquing this weekend?”

  Candace merely handed over a stack of messages, unruffled.

  “Alan sprained his wrist fixing the door to the barn, so we had to postpone. Besides, I knew you’d be in sooner or later. One call from the Harvest Festival Committee, one complaint from the Harbormaster about college kids drinking on the docks – he wants that ordinance to go through so he can put up signs.”

  “Yeah, I know. It’s got to go to the Council first.”

  “One call from Millicent Grayson.”

  Candace glared at him and Colin felt his cheeks heating. Millicent was sweet, a young mother who had lost her husband in a fishing accident on one of the local trawlers. He’d helped her through her loss, comforted her young son, but so far had managed to resist her not so subtle hints that he could comfort her best in bed. He had a feeling that the guilt involved would far eclipse the pleasure of fucking the pretty young woman – nothing easy or uncomplicated there.

  “I’m not leading her on, Candace, I swear.”

  Candace humphed, but continued.

  “Tom went over to talk to Dreyer Morton.”

  “What’s wrong now?”

  “Apparently the neighbors’ trees are dropping apples on his precious roses.”

  “Does he realize that’s not really an issue for this office?”

  “He’s the richest man in town, and this is Bright’s Ferry. Everything’s an issue for this office. Two calls from Deirdre Small. She says you’re not answering your cell phone.”

  Colin sank into his desk chair.

  “I know. I left it at home last night. Is that it?”

  Candace raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment. Instead, she pulled an envelope from a drawer, addressed to him in crude charcoal strokes.

  “Another one of these.”

  “What does it say this time?”

  “The usual about the wages of sin and corruption. What do you want to do with it?”

  “Put it in the box with the others. Just some nutjob trying to cause trouble.”

  Candace frowned.

  “This is the third this month, and if you don’t mind my saying so, it sounds a little more…emphatic…than the others.”

  “I don’t want to feed this guy’s ego by
catering to his delusions, Candace. Just ignore it. He’ll stop eventually. What else?”

  Candace plopped a stack of paper on his desk.

  “Just a few signatures and you’re out of here. Everything okay? You seem distracted,” she noted, curious.

  Colin thought of Evie’s bright gray eyes and prickly demeanor, and a flare of arousal flickered up his spine. But he only waved, dismissive.

  “I’m fine. Let’s do this.”

  Picking up a pen, he dove in.

  EVIE SIZED UP THE man sitting across from her. Dressed in jeans and an oxford with a badge clipped to his belt, Sheriff Tony Arnetto was tall, broad, with dark Italian looks that probably had more than one woman lingering on the old cliché about a man in uniform. However, the fantasy usually didn’t include a pair of chocolate brown eyes that seemed to brim with perpetual grief. A man that handsome shouldn’t look so sad.

  “Evelyn Asher.”

  “It’s Evie.” God, I’m nervous.

  Tony drummed his fingers on the desk and considered her thoughtfully.

  “They don’t have very nice things to say about you back in New York. Jack Forrest and I came up in the academy together. Word gets around.”

  Evie braced herself for the rejection. It had been lunacy to think she could start over as a small town deputy, but law enforcement was what she knew, what she was good at. Evie’s eyes fell to the desk, absently noting a wedding picture of Tony with a gorgeous redhead.

  It might be time to hone your waitressing skills, Asher.

  “The man was a prick.” Tony’s voice was sharp.

  Startled, Evie’s eyes snapped up to meet Tony’s, which were full of sympathy.

  “Once a prick, always a prick. Still, I gotta say, the last few weeks don’t show the greatest judgment on your part.”

  “I know. I’ve basically been in free fall.” There wasn’t anything to do but admit it.

  “How’s the shoulder?”