by D. D. Ayres
The pair broke apart like conspirators caught in the act. Shay turned an ugly glare on him, as if she had guessed he was spying on her.
The deputy stepped up, as if to once again shield Shay. “All done. Ms. Appleton isn’t pressing charges.”
Half in shadow behind the officer, Shay didn’t respond, yet James could feel the hostility radiating off her.
He wanted to ask a dozen questions about what he’d just overheard. Then common sense nudged him, hard. Do you have time to dick around, waiting for answers that probably won’t come and wouldn’t mean anything to you if they did? No, he did not. Time to go home.
“If we’re done here, I’d like to get on with the formalities, Deputy, so I can head back to Charlotte.”
Shay moved to stand between him and the door and folded her arms, defiance in her cocked hip. “Are you really going to take my dog?”
James had dealt with a lot of suspects, furious that they had just been arrested. Some were riddled with disbelief they had been caught. Others were so whacked-out on drugs they thought they were Batman, Iron Man, and the Hulk all rolled into one. Yet the singular anger in her golden eyes seemed to scorch him right down to his short hairs. It was a real and very personal thing. Nothing like the irrational anger of a strung-out, maddened, or intoxicated suspect. Her gaze was clear and focused and aimed at him.
It hit him like a punch in the gut. What had happened to make such a pretty woman capable of so much hostility?
For an instant he thought she might attack if he moved even a toe toward the door. It was a raw moment. He wasn’t afraid. He just didn’t know how to defuse the situation.
The impact of her defiance changed shape in that moment. Suddenly his discomfort wasn’t about besting the woman before him. It was a purely sexual response.
He noticed how her thick fall of shiny bangs framed the most expressive pair of eyes he’d ever looked into. He saw her full lower lip tremble and wondered if she knew what that kind of thing did to a man’s libido. Her old-fashioned, fresh-scrubbed prettiness might not be popular in a world that demanded long, lean, and edgy. Yet he was intrigued. He wondered what she was like when she didn’t feel under siege.
He saw her eyes flare slightly in awareness of the attraction that must be showing through his stare. Her pupils went supernova, the black eating up the gold until he felt as if he were staring into her soul. It was a hungry, lonely soul, one that overwhelmed his senses.
James stomped on his emotions as he looked away first.
He felt sorry for her, he did. But whatever was wrong was Deputy Ward’s problem. He’d done what he came to do, recover his partner. He wasn’t going to let a pair of golden-brown eyes make him feel guilty and horny and— Shit!
He reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and withdrew all thirty-four dollars. He held it out to her. “For your trouble.”
Her gaze shifted from his hand to his face. He saw her mouth go tight, pinching off its lush natural fullness until all that was left was a white rim of mute rage.
He put the money away, so unnerved that his hand shook a little.
“Bogart. Hier!” The sound of James’s command voice snapped his partner to attention and he trotted over to his handler’s side.
“No, Prince! Heel!” Shay stood with her hand held out, a red rubber ball balanced in her palm. “Let’s play, boy. Come on.” She bounced the ball with a whack against the wooden floor.
Bogart paused, looked back at her and then at James.
Months before, James had worked out a nonverbal secret signal with Bogart after a fleeing suspect—who he later learned had once worked in the K-9 corps—had almost succeeded in calling Bogart off the attack. When he made that hand signal, only he could countermand.
He signed. “Hier.”
The dog sprang to his side.
He felt a surge of triumph to have won his dog’s loyalty back, but when he turned to Shay he saw the sick look of humiliation on her face and felt like a bully. Damn! She was breaking his balls one minute and his heart the next.
He picked up his rifle and his hat and headed for the door. As he reached the threshold, music began issuing inexplicably from his pocket. He reached in and pulled out an unfamiliar cell phone playing Katy Perry’s “Wide Awake” as its ringtone. It was the disposable he’d taken from Shay.
“That’s mine.”
The heat of embarrassment stung his neck as he handed it over.
Shay snatched it and answered. Her face went white and then she whispered into the phone, “Go to hell!”
She punched “end” and turned around to face her audience. She didn’t look at the deputy. She shot James a look hot enough to scorch ground. “Telemarketer.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Shay realized too late that she should have been paying more attention.
She had been holed up in the cabin most of the day, mourning the loss of Prince. Yet the afternoon’s warmth had drawn her out into the sunshine. Needing some exercise, she had walked along the perimeter of the lake to a convenience store/bait stand two miles away where she’d bought fresh-shucked oysters packed in ice to make for dinner. She was nearly to the cabin porch before she saw the truck turning into her drive.
Eric!
The cold fear of the night before swept over her again, leaving her weak and tingly. She reached for her phone only to discover it wasn’t in her pocket. Her heart did a sickly double thump. She’d left it to charge in the cabin.
She nearly ran inside and slammed the door. Yet it was too late to do that without showing him exactly how scared she was of him. Besides, there was no Prince there to protect her. She’d have to depend on the sheriff’s department again … if they would even respond this time.
She grabbed her left elbow with her right hand, hugging her icy package to her body as she stood in the yard, and waited. She was all alone. She’d better get used to that.
He climbed out of a truck so old and beat-up she would not have thought a bank executive like Eric Coates would be seen dead in it. Was that the point? No one would suspect he’d be driving it?
He looked the same, totally put together in jeans and a jacket and loafers. Hard to believe that underneath that polished exterior was an asshole who enjoyed making waitresses cry. That was one of his specialties, finding fault and then humiliating servers he decided weren’t up to his standards. It shamed her now to remember how she’d said nothing.
As long as it’s not aimed at me. That pitiful excuse seemed unthinkable now.
He paused a few yards from her and struck a casual wide-legged pose. No doubt, for her benefit. Then he smiled. “Hey there, Shay. How are you?”
“How did you find me?”
“Your phone’s GPS.”
“What?”
“Come on. You’re supposed to be the techie.” He made quote marks with his fingers for emphasis. “There’s an app for that.”
She frowned. There were several location apps. Except that she always kept her GPS on off. She certainly didn’t need it to come up here. He must have discovered her whereabouts another way, and was trying to hide the truth.
Alarm zinged through her. Not an app. “You put a tracking device on my phone!”
He grinned. “I like to keep up with my favorite people. Lucky, huh, or I wouldn’t be here.”
Shay breathed in slowly. The crazy-making sensation of being watched hadn’t been her imagination. “You’ve been stalking me from the beginning.”
Instead of showing irritation he continued to smile. “I like to think I was looking after you. You’ve always kept secrets from me, Shay. Like why you change phones every six months. I let you think that was okay because I’d know if you were lying. So, yeah, I knew you left Raleigh three days ago. But, with all the responsibilities of my job, I had to wait until the weekend to follow you. Now we can talk uninterrupted.”
Feeling violated gave her courage. “We have nothing to say to one another.”
“That’s
not how I figure it.” He flared his coat to place a hand on each hip, his tone the reassuring one she heard him use when dealing with bank customers. “I just can’t leave you thinking that I am some sort of monster. I never meant for things to get out of hand the way they did the night you walked out on me.”
He made it sound as if his behavior had been no worse than ordering two desserts after a huge meal.
The tension running between them was familiar, if unwelcome. It made her accusation a stammer. “Y-you raped me.”
He shrugged. “So, we got a little kinky. Everybody’s trying things these days. I saw those books you’ve been reading. So don’t try to make this about me because you decided you didn’t like it. I even tried to protect you from your mistake. My apology to the police sounded absolutely believable, didn’t it?” His tone of voice practically begged her to toss him a bone of compromise.
Shay ground her teeth together to keep from giving in to the old impulse to make excuses for his cruelty. He could be a very persuasive man, twisting things just enough to make her doubt herself. Over and over, she’d caved in, only to feel like a fool later after he had gotten his way. But not anymore.
“Just go away, Eric.”
Did she see a hint of annoyance before he looked away?
He took a moment to survey his surroundings, the cabin and then the lake beyond. “Nice place. Have you come here before?”
Her silence seemed to encourage him. He took a few more steps toward her. “You never mentioned that you could afford to rent a cabin. Why didn’t you tell me, Shay? You know how much I like to get away from the city on the weekends.”
He glanced around a second time. “Of course, the cabin’s not much. All a temp’s salary can afford. But I like to rough it once in a while.”
The look he gave her made Shay suck in a breath.
The sound of a snapping twig caused a sharp jerk of his head toward the woods. “Where’s your dog?”
For a split second she thought about lying. But he’d realize soon enough that Prince wasn’t here. “Due back from the groomers.” She made herself hold his stare. “Any minute.”
He hunched his shoulders against her words, a sullen look creeping into his expression. “You got a dog when you know I have allergies. That was thoughtless.”
“I didn’t—” Shay took a deep breath. No more explanations. No more apologies.
But she knew she’d shown her vulnerable side as a smile tugged at his mouth. “It’s cooler out here than in the city. Mind if we step inside?”
Everything in her cried, Don’t let him in. Yet that’s where her phone was, and she needed to get to it.
A nervous tic jerked the edges of her lips. “No. We don’t need to talk. I’ve heard your apology. Let’s part as … friends.” She turned away, not too quickly so as to seem frightened.
She stepped up on the porch, refusing to look back over her shoulder for fear she would give her nervousness away. If she could just get inside, she’d be okay.
The moment her key turned in the lock, he moved behind her much more quickly than she had thought possible, and pushed the door wide.
Shay leaped away from him. Spying her phone on the table by the chair, she lunged across the room and scooped it up in her free hand before facing him. “Get out before I call the sheriff.”
“Okay, okay.” He lifted both hands as if he were under arrest. After a quick glance around he shoved at the door with his foot. It didn’t quite close but he didn’t seem to care. “Did you like my flowers?”
“No.” She decided not to provoke him by saying she threw them away, along with the note signed “Mine forever.” It had sounded to her more like a threat than a lover’s promise. “We’re exes, Eric.”
He gave a little jerk of his head, as if to dismiss her words. “You wanted me to work for it. I got that message. Here I am. Aren’t you glad I didn’t give up? Most men would have, a long time ago.”
The wet chill from the oyster bag she still clutched had seeped into her tee and made her shiver. “Then you should be glad to be rid of me.”
He paused and stared at her. “Yes. But I’m the loyal sort. Why aren’t you the loyal sort, Shay?”
He sounded wounded, as if she really had hurt him. It tugged an old reaction in her, one that made her want to make things right. Then she remembered the tracking device.
Never taking her eyes off him, she made herself remember a week ago, when he’d shown up unexpectedly at a bar and grill where she was having dinner with Angie and Henry, friends from work. He had slid into the booth beside her and put an arm around her as if they were still a couple. Her friends had said nothing. Embarrassed and not wanting to make a scene, she said nothing, either. But when she slipped outside, on the pretext of going to the restroom, she had discovered that two of her car tires were flat.
Before she could call for help, Eric had appeared in the parking lot. He pressed her to let him drive her home, saying how dangerous it was for a woman to be out at night alone. It was the gleam in his eyes that gave away the truth. He had slashed her tires. But she had no proof, and he knew it.
So she’d run back into the restaurant and asked Angie and Henry for help. When they came out, Eric was nowhere to be seen.
A shiver rippled over Shay’s arms. She was isolated, nowhere to run this time, and he knew it.
His gaze shifted to the fireplace where wood had been laid for a fire, and the sheepskin rug before it. “Nice. Cozy. Almost like you were expecting me.”
He looked back at her, his eyes a little sleepy in that way he had when his thoughts had turned to sex. “You hurt me, Shay. I don’t mind admitting it. I keep thinking, what if we had a whole weekend alone to talk about things? I know we could work this out.”
“We’re over.” Her finger slid over the emergency key of her phone in warning.
“Yeah, about that.” He rubbed his forehead. “I’ve got some news you need to hear from me.” When Shay didn’t bother to respond he said, “I’m engaged.”
Shay opened her mouth and shut it. And opened it. “Who?”
“She lives in Atlanta. Daughter of a state senator. We were seeing each other before I met you. But then she started jerking me around, wouldn’t commit. So I told her I needed a breather. It worked. She didn’t last a month before she called, saying she couldn’t live without me.”
Shay absorbed this information without an outward reaction. Eric had been back together with the woman who is now his fiancée for nearly the entire year I had thought I was exclusive with him.
Shay swallowed her resentment and disgust. “Does she know about me?”
He shrugged. “Women. They screw with your mind. Want to call the shots in a relationship. But in the end, what they want is a man who’s in charge. You know the feeling, right?” He glanced at her from beneath his brows, a bad-boy-with-a-please-forgive-me pose.
Shay knew she should just agree with him, in the hope that he would leave. But then he’d have gotten everything his way. As usual. The heavy thumps of her heart weren’t just from fear. Anger spurred that pump, too. She’d just spent a miserable month fighting her own self-doubts and vulnerabilities. That was his fault. She just couldn’t let him get away with thinking he had bested her.
“Why were you seeing me if you had her?”
He looked a little annoyed. “Her daddy’s had me dancing a damn two-step courtship these last ten months. You were my no-strings revenge fuck.”
Shay didn’t even feel insulted by his crude remark. Instinct told her he’d come here to do more than gloat, and that’s where the danger lay.
She dropped the bag of oysters on the table and clutched her phone to her chest where he couldn’t miss noticing it. “You need to leave.”
His head jerked up, annoyance spoiling his good looks. “Now see. I’m asking you to understand my situation. But you won’t even try to understand. You’d rather jerk my chain.” He folded his arms casually across his chest. “Get this straight, Sha
y. I’m not leaving until I get what I came for.”
“You don’t get to make threats anymore.”
“Threats? I’m not threatening you.” His tone of voice ratcheted up to angry before he caught himself. He paused and unfolded his arms, his expression showing the strain of dialing back his temper.
He took another step toward her, his voice dropping in tone. “The truth is, Shay, I just can’t forget how you walked out on me. And called the cops on me. That wasn’t very nice. I need you to apologize.”
A spurt of anger made her brave. “Don’t hold your breath. We’re done.”
His face lost animation. All that was left was an icy glitter in his narrowing gaze as he approached her. “Who the fuck do you think you’re dealing with? You don’t call the shots in this relationship.”
In that moment everything clicked into focus for Shay. He’s going to hurt me. Really hurt me this time.
The thought shocked her so much she immediately shied away from it. Yet there was no avoiding his expression. She’d seen that look once before on a man’s face, and it had ruined her life.
Shay backed up, trying to avoid him as her finger pressed the emergency button. But he grabbed her wrist and wrenched the cell phone out of her hand then tossed it away before she could be certain the call had gone through.
Panicked by memories, she swung at him wildly, her fist connecting to his jaw with a force that snapped his head back.
“Shit!” He pushed her back so hard her body slammed into the cabin wall. Then he seized her shoulders and her head snapped back against the wall with a sickening thud.
“You stupid bitch!” He began shaking her with enough force to cause damage.
Panicked and unable to free herself, Shay gripped his biceps to steady herself and hung on. She had no family to protect her. No one ready to smack down the man hurting her. Eric knew that. No one would come to rescue her.
A whimper escaped her, drawing her deeper into remembered terror.