Gina.
She cowered in the corner, a sleeping baby clutched to her chest.
“Derrick,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
She wasn’t faking her terror. Someone was after her, and she needed him.
Correction. She needs your help, not you.
The thought helped him steel himself for her touch, and he offered his hand. As he’d expected, when she slipped soft fingers into his, it burned all the way to his heart. Their eyes met and held. He suddenly wanted to let go of common sense, of their past, the pain and heartache, and draw her into a comforting hug to erase the misery from her eyes.
She shivered violently, pulling her gaze free, breaking the intensity of the moment and bringing him back to his senses. She wore only a heavy sweater and jeans. Shrugging out of his jacket, he settled it over her shoulders. She burrowed into the fleece lining without a word.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“It’s a long story. Can we get out of here before I explain?”
He opened his mouth to agree, but something rustled behind him and he spun to search the area. Darkness met his gaze—he saw no one. But then heavy footsteps pulled his focus to the distance. They pounded nearer, their cadence laden with caution.
The killer? Of course. Who else would it be on a night like this and after the mall has closed?
“He’s coming. We have to move.” Derrick scanned the alley for an escape route. Nothing presented itself without leaving them exposed. If the footsteps belonged to the man trailing Gina, they were trapped.
Derrick needed a plan and needed one fast. He grabbed Gina’s arm and pulled her from behind the Dumpster, a surefire death trap if the killer caught them back here. He looked around, his mind waffling as he decided what to do.
The footfalls neared, echoing into the night before disappearing.
Derrick had to act. Now! Even if he failed.
He drew Gina down the alley then moved her into an alcove and settled her back against the wall. He stepped in front of her, hiding her from the attacker’s view, his back to the killer. He didn’t like exposing his back, but what else could he do? He had to protect her and the baby from the killer. At any cost. Even his life.
“Lower the baby and put her between us,” he whispered, wondering how Gina was going to take the next part of his makeshift plan.
Her eyes wide and darkening with fear, she complied, hugging her child to her chest without taking her focus from him.
He was tempted to lift his hand and cup her face—to comfort her—but that would lead his emotions in a direction he couldn’t go. Wouldn’t go, especially when he needed to stay focused. He had to keep his mind on the man pursuing her. “I’m going to kiss you and hope this guy thinks we’re having a little fun back here.”
“But—” She tried to ease away.
Footsteps closed in on them, now only a few yards away. Derrick held his gun at the ready while sliding his other hand into the soft silkiness of her hair to stop her from squirming away. Keeping enough distance between them so the baby could breath, he lowered his head. Gina closed her eyes, the long lashes settling on high cheekbones.
At the touch of their lips, years melted away and he was instantly back at Southern Oregon University the night before she’d left in their senior year. Her citrus scent wrapped around him, and it took everything he was made of not to deepen the kiss.
With sheer force of will, he pulled his mind from her and watched out of the corner of his eye. A figure emerged from the fog yet hung back in the building’s shadows. Tall and bulky, he stilled his feet at the sight of them, darkness fully cloaking his face.
Derrick felt the man’s eyes linger on them. He gripped his gun tighter, his finger on the trigger, ready to use. His muscles tensed as he waited for a bullet to fly through the night. But he stayed his course, even when a crash of adrenaline urged him to flee.
Suddenly the man huffed out of the shadows. Six-two, maybe three, he wore an oversize jacket, his hood up. He focused on his feet as he walked and pulled the hood tighter to his face, preventing Derrick from catching any identifying features. He hurried past them and down the alley.
If Derrick was alone he’d go after the man, but he had Gina and a baby to think of. Gina. She was here now. In front of him. Connected to him.
He lifted his head. When her eyes fluttered open, he stared into the warm brown color and wondered what to do next. The danger of a gunshot may have passed, but it had taken only one kiss to expose his heart to a danger he’d barely survived once and wasn’t sure he’d survive again.
TWO
Shaken, Gina let Derrick hurry her through the spitting rain to his SUV.
“Normally I’d wait for the police to arrive,” he said as he opened the passenger door. “But your attacker is still in the area, and it’s better to move you to a safe location.”
She climbed in and settled Sophia on her lap. Her hands trembled as she tightened the Pooh blanket around the sleeping child.
She’d opened her eyes in time to see Lilly’s killer in the alley. He’d come close—too close. The sight of him had frightened her enough to close her eyes again and lean farther into the man shielding her. If not for Derrick...
A shudder claimed her body and she forced the thought away. He had responded and he was here now. That was all that mattered.
She watched him run around the front of his vehicle, the streetlight highlighting his sandy-blond hair. He carried himself with more confidence than she remembered, and when the creep had closed in on them, she’d seen an internal strength Derrick hadn’t possessed in college.
Jaw clamped tight, he slid behind the wheel and jerked his door closed with a resounding thud. He was angry or irritated or both. He didn’t say a word but cranked the engine and shifted into gear. Sophia stirred and Gina stroked her back. How close Gina had come to losing her.
She bowed her head. Thank You for keeping her safe, Father. Please keep watching over her. Over us.
Derrick clicked on the signal, drawing her attention.
She looked around. “Where are we going?”
“We’ll start by driving around to make sure we’ve lost him. Then head to my place to regroup.” He turned onto a major street.
Gina suddenly realized Sophia wasn’t in a car seat. “I’m grateful for your help, Derrick, more grateful than you know, but I don’t want to take Sophia on a highway without a car seat. Can you please stay on side streets?”
“I won’t leave the area,” he said, not bothering to look at her.
He clearly wasn’t glad to see her, but then she’d expected that reaction. She hadn’t expected this terrible remorse for asking for his help when she’d treated him so poorly to well up and bring tears to her eyes. Being a stand-up guy, he had no alternative but to come to her rescue. She knew she’d put him in a difficult position.
Could she let him assist them under those conditions? Could she afford not to, despite the way she felt? Given any other choice, she’d handle this herself as she did everything else in life, but she couldn’t risk Sophia’s life.
Like it or not, she needed him to protect them. Plus he could help find her brother, Jon’s, killer.
She glanced at the set of his jaw, his rigid posture. Still, she wanted him to choose to help them and not feel forced into it by his chivalrous nature. Now that the immediate danger had passed, she needed to give him an easy out.
Praying he wouldn’t actually take her up on her offer, she faced him. “You could drop us off at the nearest MAX station and I can—”
“You’re kidding, right?” He whipped his head around to stare at her. “A man kills your friend then comes after you, and you think I’m going to drop you off at a public train station? Un-be-lievable.”
“Once you’re sure he has
n’t followed us, we should be safe until I can find another investigator.” She tried to imbue her voice with her usual confidence, but she couldn’t manage it.
“Look.” Derrick tightened his fingers around the steering wheel. “I get that you don’t want to be around me, but I’m not letting you out of my sight until I know you’re okay. So sit back and relax while I keep a watch on the streets.” He jerked a hand free and cranked up the heater.
Sit back and relax—right. Like she could unwind when a man had tried to kill her. Twice. Or chill out in any way with Derrick at her side. She’d gotten what she’d wanted, though. He’d willingly agreed to help them, but that meant they’d be thrown together and clearly he still had an effect on her.
Sophia shifted and Gina knew she owed it to the baby to at least try to calm down. If she didn’t, she’d burn out, and Sophia needed her. She concentrated on the heat flowing under the dash. The temperature had dipped a good ten degrees below normal February temperatures from what she could remember of her college days in Oregon. She moved her soaked shoes under the flowing air, then settled deeper into Derrick’s jacket and inhaled his woodsy scent clinging to it.
She drifted back to their college days. To that last day. Breaking up. Saying goodbye. Her heart a mass of pain.
What would her life have been like if she hadn’t broken things off with him? Would Derrick have stood by her when Jon died, leaving Gina to raise Sophia alone, or would he have run like her recent ex-fiancé, Ben?
Waste of time to think about it.
Sure, they’d loved each other in college, but she’d soon learned that he couldn’t commit to a long-term relationship. Why, she wasn’t sure, and it didn’t matter. Men who couldn’t commit and broken promises were the story of her life. Starting with her minister father, whose church was more important than her. Always more important. Then Derrick and Ben.
Three strikes and she was out. She was over trying to find a man who’d be there for her. So over it.
It’s been nine years. Maybe Derrick changed.
Didn’t matter. Not even if she was interested. And after Ben’s recent rejection, she wasn’t interested in any man.
Besides, Derrick had likely gotten over his commitment issues and was married with kids. She glanced at his hand to see if he wore a wedding ring, but he’d dropped it from the wheel and out of view.
Just as well.
She didn’t need to be pondering his marital status anyway. She turned away and watched the lush scenery as they drove around the area. After fifteen minutes, Derrick pulled up to a long row of garages for houseboat owners. He pressed the remote clipped on the visor, sending the end door rumbling up. Once inside, he sat staring ahead, as if unsure how to proceed. The awkward silence grew, and she searched for something to say. But what could she say?
Sorry I bailed on you, on us, but now that I need you, please be there for me.
Hardly.
He drew in a long breath and exhaled as if he needed to fortify himself just to look at her before swiveling to face her. “If I’m going to help you, I need to ask a few questions.”
“Okay,” she said hesitantly. Did he intend to ask about their past?
“Tell me about tonight. About your friend. Give me exact details.”
She rubbed hard calluses on her fingers from playing violin, the feeling familiar and comforting as she recounted the terrifying ordeal on Lilly’s boat as matter-of-factly as possible. “I can’t be positive the woman he shot was Lilly, but she’d never willingly leave Sophia alone.”
“Must’ve been hard to lose her like that.” He lifted a hand, reaching for her as if he planned to touch her then dropped it to his knee.
“I keep hoping she survived.”
He lifted his hand again, and she was surprised at how much she wanted to feel his comforting touch, but he dug out his phone instead. “Kat’s husband, Mitch, is a homicide detective. Dani has already called him about your attack. If you give me Lilly’s address, I’ll have him head over there instead of to the mall.”
“Homicide?” she asked, hating the finality of the word. “But what if I was wrong and Lilly’s alive?”
“Even if she survived, which from the scene you described is not very likely, the investigation will be handled as an attempted murder, which means Mitch will work the case.”
His brutal honesty when she wanted comfort felt like a slap in the face, and she jerked back.
“Look.” His eyes softened. “I’m sorry for being so blunt, but I don’t want you to hold on to unrealistic hope.”
He was right. She had to face this just like she’d faced Jon’s death and the attack in San Diego. Like she’d faced leaving Derrick so long ago. With courage and bravery. Sophia was counting on her. She had to be strong.
She rattled off Lilly’s address and Derrick phoned his brother-in-law. She listened to his conversation and heard the professional lingo of a former cop roll off his tongue. She pictured him as an officer who would be compassionate, caring, yet hard-nosed and one who would fight for justice. For the downtrodden, as he’d chosen to do early in life after the drunk driver who killed his birth parents got off with a slap on the wrist. He’d even majored in criminal justice in college.
Though she hadn’t been in touch with him since college, she’d kept tabs on him through mutual friends. She knew about the years he’d served as a police officer—and the decision he’d made to leave that career behind after his adoptive parents were killed. Along with his twin and his three adopted siblings, he’d formed a private investigation agency, first to find the people responsible for their parents’ deaths, and then to help others in need. And now he was helping her.
“Thanks, Mitch.” He disconnected and stowed the phone. “He’ll check out Lilly’s house. We can wait inside to hear back from him.” Derrick paused and seemed to consider his next words carefully. “I don’t think we were tailed, but we’ll pretend we’re on a date again while we walk in. Just in case.”
She opened her mouth to protest, and he flipped up his hand. “Don’t worry. I won’t kiss you again. But I am going to put my arm around you, and you’ll have to suffer my touch one more time.” He jerked open his door and quickly climbed out as if he needed to get away from her.
She shifted Sophia to her shoulder, and as she stepped down from his SUV, she grabbed his jacket. When she joined him at the door, he took the jacket and covered Sophia then slipped his arm around her back. His warmth seeped into her body and, she hated to admit, the attraction she’d felt since the first day she’d seen him in psychology class seeped into her heart.
He didn’t seem to notice. His eyes alert and watchful, he hurried them through the lot and across the gangway to a floating home much larger than Lilly’s boat. Inside, Gina took a moment to look around. She’d once thought floating homes were cramped like a boat, but in Derrick’s home, floor-to-ceiling windows made the room look large and inviting. The spacious kitchen with full-size appliances and connected to a large family room made it feel like a regular house.
He crossed to a gray sectional and shoved a padded ottoman into the corner. “Your daughter should be fine on the sofa as long as one of us is in the room.”
“About that,” she said, feeling a need to clarify. “Sophia is my niece—Jon’s daughter. His wife died in a car crash when she was seven months pregnant, but they were able to save Sophia. I stepped in to help raise her. When Jon also died a few months ago...” Feeling no need to elaborate, she quit speaking.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” His words carried an understanding that came from losing his parents when he was not even eleven years old.
“Thank you,” she said and quickly moved on before she started getting weepy. “I’m thinking the man who attacked me tonight is the same man who killed Jon. I was hoping you’d help me find him.”
Derrick ran a hand over his damp hair that curled at the edges and seemed to mull it over. She caught sight of his bare ring finger and immediately squelched the joy that knowing he was single brought.
“Since this is going to be a long discussion,” he finally said, “I’m gonna put on a dry shirt and get one for you before we get started.” He didn’t wait for agreement before turning away. As he climbed the stairs, he pulled out his phone and called his sister Dani.
True to course, he phoned his twin whenever he had a big decision to make. Apparently he hadn’t changed after all. After her unexpected reaction to discovering he was single, she’d best watch herself or she’d find herself falling for him all over again.
And she’d be hurt again. After so much pain in her life already.
She pressed a kiss on Sophia’s downy curls. A moment of sadness lingered for all they’d both lost. Her sister-in-law dying, Jon’s murder. Now Lilly.
Tears Gina had kept at bay since last night burned at the back of her eyes, and she hugged Sophia tighter. When she heard Derrick pad down the stairs, she forced down her grief.
If she’d learned anything from her father’s lack of affection and from men who couldn’t put her first in life, it was never to let them see her vulnerability.
After settling Sophia on the sofa, Gina watched as Derrick came into the room wearing a body-hugging T-shirt and a deep scowl. One hand shoved in his pocket, he carried a worn flannel shirt in the other. When he got close enough, he tossed it to her as if he hated to think of touching her again.
“I’ll keep an eye on Sophia while you change. There’s a bathroom down the hall.” He tipped his head at a hallway near the far end of the family room.
She clutched the nubby fabric that smelled just like him and hurried to the bathroom, where she stripped off her shirt. Her eyes drifted to the mirror and fixed on the large purple bruise on her shoulder courtesy of last night’s attack. She quickly slipped into Derrick’s shirt and hugged the comforting fabric close. She didn’t like their past issues adding turmoil to this already difficult situation. Still, she lifted her head and prayed that Derrick would stay close by so the man who’d put this ugly bruise on her shoulder and likely killed Jon and Lilly wouldn’t come anywhere near her or her beloved little Sophia again.
Dark Tide Page 2