Dangerous Abduction (O'Connor Brothers Book 2)

by Rhonda Brewer

  “Hi, Unca Nick.” Danny bolted right to him and jumped into Nick’s arms. He truly loved John’s brothers.

  “Hey there, Dan the man.” Nick tossed him into the air. “Are you here to spend time with Uncle John and Aunt Stephanie before they go on vacation?”

  “Yep, and they gonna bring me back a surprise,” he boasted.

  “Lucky you.” Nick chuckled as he put Danny down and before Marina could catch him Danny ran back into the living room.

  “Danny!” Marina groaned and glanced at Nick.

  “I’m guessing he doesn’t want to go because Mason is here. I saw James’ truck outside.” Nick smiled again. He really was a great-looking guy with the same blue eyes and dimples but he didn’t give her the butterflies in her stomach or make her pulse race. Not that she wanted to have that reaction, but it just forced her to admit that the way James made her feel was not because she’d been celibate for so long.

  “Yeah, and your grandmother.” She sighed and followed Nick into the living room.

  “Let me guess, she walked from home?” Nick rolled his eyes.

  “You know her very well.” Marina chuckled.

  She finally managed to drag Danny out through the front door once he finished hugging everyone for the fourth time and promised Nanny Betty he would come help her make cookies soon. He started to whine as she buckled him into his car seat, proving that her son was up way past bedtime. As she settled herself in the car she glanced up to see Nick and John lugging suitcases out to Nick’s truck.

  She pulled on her seatbelt and then put the key in the ignition. She turned it and nothing happened. She tried again but the car growled a bit and then nothing. She tried once more just to be sure, but still nothing. This is just what I need right now. Marina got out of the car and pulled Danny out of his car seat. Marina walked back into the house as Stephanie was putting on her coat.

  “My car won’t start,” Marina explained when Stephanie stared at her.

  “What’s wrong with it?” Stephanie asked.

  “I just said it won’t start. It thinks about it, but then nothing.” Marina didn’t mean to sound nasty but she was tired and sexually frustrated.

  She followed Stephanie into the living room where James was helping Mason with his coat and talking to John and Nick. All three men glanced in her direction.

  “Rina’s car won’t start,” Stephanie explained.

  “I’ll take a look at it,” John replied. Marina tossed him the keys as he passed her.

  “Let me give you a hand.” James followed him.

  “Yeah, ’cause two cops know how to fix a car.” Nick chuckled as he trailed behind them.

  “Don’t ya worry, ducky. Jimmy will figure it out,” Nanny Betty said as she pulled on her coat.

  A few minutes later, they walked back into the house. Their diagnosis, a problem with the starter. Marina had no idea what that meant, but she did know it meant she had to call a cab for a two-minute drive. There was no way Danny was going to walk home.

  “I’ll call the garage tomorrow to pick it up.” Marina put her phone to her ear. “I need a cab...” Nanny Betty snatched her phone from her hand.

  “Never mind, we don’t need a cab. Thanks anyway.” She handed her back the phone. “Jimmy can drop you and Danny off.” Of course it made sense. They lived on the same street.

  “I can’t ask him to do that.” Marina’s heart thumped in her chest. Stephanie’s house was only two minutes away from hers by car but being in the close confines of his truck was going to drive her hormones into overdrive.

  “It’s not like I’m going out of my way and besides, I’m not arguing with Nan, but you can go ahead and try.” He smiled as he lifted Mason into his arms. The man had to stop smiling or she was going to melt into a puddle on the floor.

  “No thanks,” Marina said and besides Nanny Betty had already told Danny he was going for a ride in James’ truck. Danny would have a fit if she said no and besides she was just too tired to argue with anyone right now. She pulled the car seat out of the back seat and James took it out of her hands.

  For two little boys who seemed to be so tired a few minutes earlier, Mason and Danny were making it difficult to buckle them into their seats. They enjoyed spending time together and got along really well.

  Once Marina was buckled in herself, James pulled out of the driveway with a honk to his brother. Stephanie and Nanny Betty waved from the doorway with huge grins on their faces. Marina rolled her eyes because she knew exactly what was going through both of their minds.

  “I’ve got to drop into the store on the way home. I hope you don’t mind.” James made a left-hand turn off Sunset Street, down Sandcastle Road and on to Beach Street. It was the only road in Hopedale that didn’t have any homes on it. Probably because Hopedale Beach ran the entire length of the street. It was one of the prettiest places she’d ever seen, and during the summer she spent a lot of time there with Danny.

  It wasn’t a sandy beach like those you see in the tropical places she read about because it was covered in beach rocks. Danny enjoyed going there to search through the rocks to find the perfect one to add to his collection. Something he started right after his first trip to the beach and now he kept them in a large box under his bed. It didn’t matter to her if he brought home one rock or a hundred because it was relaxing to sit there and listen to the roar of the ocean, but now that winter was around the corner, the beach wasn’t the best place to go. The breeze that blew in off the water was bitterly cold.

  James pulled onto Harbour Drive where all the main businesses lined the harbour front. There was one small grocery store, a fine dining restaurant that belonged to James’ cousin Isabelle, two night clubs or at least Hopedale’s version of nightclubs, an Irish pub called Jack’s place that was owned by another member of the O’Connor family. The rest of the businesses were an ice cream shop, theater, a coffee shop, drug store and a gas station. There were also a few buildings that were vacant. That was the extent of Hopedale’s business district.

  “I’ll be right back.” James stepped out of the truck. “Did you need anything while I’m inside?” Marina shook her head and James closed the door. Her gaze followed him as he dashed across the parking lot and disappeared into the grocery store. Marina leaned her head back against the seat and watched the people walk down the street, most of them with smiles and looks of contentment on their faces. As if they didn’t have a worry in the world, and it was one of the things she loved about the small community, because although each one of them could be going through some bad times, it didn’t matter, most of the population of Hopedale were friendly and stood by each other. It was probably why the O’Connors were so close, since they were born and raised in the town.

  James walked out of the grocery store and back to the truck. As he settled into his seat, she studied his profile. His full lips seemed to get most of her attention, and she wondered what it would be like to kiss him, just once. Her attention moved to his hands as they gripped the steering wheel. They appeared strong, and she ached so badly to feel him touch her that she had to squeeze her legs together. She really needed to stop before she drove herself crazy, because being with James O’Connor was an impossible fantasy. Her past was still too fresh in her mind, and giving herself freely to anyone seemed impossible. That wouldn’t be fair to him.

  “Marina?” James waved his hand in front of her face.

  “Huh.” She glanced up to see the only traffic light in Hopedale was red.

  “I asked if you want to take the boys for some ice cream before you go home.” The light turned green and James proceeded through the intersection.

  “It’s getting kinda late.” She needed to get home and away from him, because he muddled her brain to the point she was pretty close to completely embarrassing herself.

  “Maybe another time.” He sounded disappointed but she was probably reading more into it.

  The rest of the way home was relatively quiet since the boys had dozed
off. The soft sound of country music floated from the radio through the cab of the truck and she felt her own eyes getting heavy as they turned onto Hart Street.

  “What the hell?” James pulled his truck in behind a police cruiser parked in front of her house.

  “What’s going on?” Marina leaned forward as James pulled his truck across the street.

  “Stay there and let me find out.” James was out of the truck before she could respond. His command kind of took her off guard but to her surprise it didn’t give her that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. The one she got whenever Marc gave her a demand.

  She watched as he ran across the road and was met by one of the officers standing in her driveway as another walked out of the house and stood next to James. He towered over the first one, but the second was about the same height. Marina realized the shorter one was female and when the woman touched James on the arm, Marina’s whole body tensed. Being jealous over a woman touching James was ridiculous. He was single and the burning sensation in her stomach had nothing to do with the thought of someone making a play for James.

  She was worried since police were in front of her house and not because that woman could possibly be interested in James. When Danny spoke Marina forced herself to turn around. Anything so she wouldn’t have to watch the way the female officer was gazing up at James.

  She was entertaining the boys by singing with them when the truck door opened. James stood with Aaron or A.J. as everyone called him. Aaron was also a police officer and another ridiculously gorgeous O’Connor brother. What the hell did their parents have in their genes?

  “Marina, I need you to come out here for a minute.” James’ expression was unreadable and Aaron wasn’t giving anything away either. Talk about having a poker face. She encouraged the boys to keep singing so she could hear them outside when the door was closed. The muffled sounds of the boys singing the alphabet song wasn’t making her feel any better.

  “What’s wrong?” Marina glanced at her house as another cop walked into her home.

  “Someone broke into your house. A.J’s been trying to get in touch with you,” James explained as her knees wobbled and she fell back against the truck. He caught her around the waist and helped to steady her.

  “My phone is dead. Who...who would break into my house?” She could barely get the words out she was shaking so badly.

  “Sandy got home about an hour ago and saw your front door open,” Aaron started to explain. Sandy was her neighbor and one of her sister’s close friends. “She noticed your car wasn’t in the driveway and went to check it out.” Sandy worked for the Newfoundland Police Department, but her main job was with Keith O’Connor’s security firm. Marina didn’t know a lot about his business but she did know the men that worked for Keith were highly trained for security.

  “Sandy called the station and A.J. heard the call go out over the radio. He got here a few minutes ago.” James was still holding her and she was glad because she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to stand on her own.

  “Marina, the house has been cleared, but you need to go inside to see if anything is missing,” Aaron said. It was strange to see him so serious, because any time she’d been in his company, he was usually clowning around and flirting with her. She knew he didn’t mean anything by it because she’d been told a long time ago Aaron, Nick and Mike were habitual flirts.

  “I can’t take Danny in there.” She didn’t know what she had to face and if it was as bad as she was expecting, it would probably scare her son.

  “I’ll stay with the boys, and James can take you through the house.” Aaron opened the door to the truck and had the boys laughing in seconds. James wrapped his arm around her and guided her towards the house. She had a feeling if he wasn’t supporting her, she would be flat on her face.

  Her heart raced as she peered through the front door. The house looked like a tornado had blown through it. Things were thrown everywhere and all she wanted to do was break down in tears. She glanced up at James and he tightened his arm around her.

  “Marina, I know this is hard but you’ve got to see if anything is missing. Just try not to touch anything.”

  She nodded because she couldn’t do anything else.

  In the living room, all her ornaments and trinkets littered the floor with most of them smashed to pieces. Her couch and loveseat were sliced open with the stuffing pulled out and thrown all over the floor. Her television lay on the floor with the screen shattered. Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back before they spilled over. James must have sensed her distress because he wrapped both arms around her and it gave her the strength she needed to continue through the house.

  She stepped over the mess on the way to her bedroom. Her dressers smashed to pieces and her clothes were everywhere. The picture of Danny she had on her nightstand was face down on the floor and her lamp was in pieces. She didn’t know when the tears started to fall, but they were streaming down her cheeks.

  “I... I... d... don’t think anything is missing but everything is destroyed.” She sobbed as she turned into James’ strong embrace and buried her face into his chest. “W...Why would someone do this?”

  “People are cruel, honey.” James soft voice vibrated into her ear. “Are you sure nothing’s missing?”

  “I can’t be sure, but I don’t think so.” She turned out of his arms and picked up the picture frame that held Danny’s picture. The pieces of glass hit the floor when she turned it over but the picture was not in it. She scanned the floor but it was impossible to tell where it was especially with the mess.

  “Marina, grab some of your things.” She nodded. “I’ll bring you back to John’s.” She picked up some of her clothes from the floor and threw them in an overnight bag. She was afraid to touch anything but took another minute to find Danny’s picture.

  “What are you looking for?” James asked.

  “The picture of Danny that was in this frame. It’s gone.” Marina held up the broken frame.

  “Honey, it’s probably under this mess. We’ll find it when we can get back here and clean everything up.” James took the bag from her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

  “I know it was there this morning because I knocked it over when I turned off the alarm.” For some reason it gave her an uneasy feeling that she couldn’t find it. It was just a picture but she couldn’t let it go.

  “We’ll find it, but we just can’t touch too much right now.” James guided her out of the room and the tears formed in her eyes again.

  James led her into Danny’s bedroom to grab some things for him as well. His room was not touched. Everything looked the same as it did when she left that morning. She assumed the person that broke in figured they wouldn’t find anything of value in a child’s room. Although nothing seemed to be missing.

  “Shit!” James groaned and Marina’s head snapped up from where she was putting Danny’s things into a bag.

  “What’s wrong?” She glanced around for what had caused his outburst.

  “I just remembered John and Stephanie are gone to the airport.” James picked up a teddy bear that was laying on Danny’s bed and held it up to her. Marina nodded because they needed to take it since it was Danny’s favorite.

  “That’s okay, I can stay at the motel on Harbor Street until tomorrow. I should be able to get back in here by tomorrow afternoon, right?” She wasn’t comfortable staying at a motel, but what other option did she have? Stephanie and John were probably on the plane by now and her parents were out of the province, not that it mattered because her car wasn’t working, so she wouldn’t be able to get into town anyway.

  “You’re not staying at the Harbour Inn by yourself with Danny. For one Stephanie would kill me for letting you. Second, I’ve seen your dad and I don’t want to piss him off. Third my mother and grandmother would string me up. So for my safety you’re coming to my house tonight. The boys will enjoy it and I’d feel better knowing you’re not alone.”

>   “James, thanks but I can’t impose on you.” Marina closed Danny’s overnight bag and followed James out of the room.

  “You’re not imposing. You’re keeping me from getting my ass kicked, and besides you’re part of my family. That’s the end of it. You’re coming to my house and no arguments.” James gently grasped her hand and led her from the house.

  “I guess you’re not giving me a choice.” Marina sighed as James guided her to his truck.

  “You’ve met Nan, right? She’d kill me. So no, I’m not giving you a choice.” James chuckled.

  “Yes, I’ve met her and since your life would probably be in danger, I won’t argue.” Marina laid her head back against the seat once she climbed into the truck. James closed her door and spoke to Aaron for a few minutes. “I’m too scared to argue,” she whispered to herself.

  James hopped into the truck and glanced at her. She forced a smile but he seemed to sense it wasn’t real and reached for her hand. The odd thing was, it was comforting and unnerving at the same time. She turned her head to look at him. It would be so easy to fall in love with him. That was something she had to shake from her thoughts, because falling in love was the last thing she needed. Besides, James was a friend helping another friend. That was all.

  She glanced back at her house and it suddenly seemed eerie with the red and blue lights from the police cars flashing across the front of it. How could the little house that she loved now strike fear in her heart? Probably because something was telling her that this break in had a whole lot more to it than just someone trying to steal something.

  Chapter 6

  James led Marina into his house as Mason and Danny darted past them and right into the living room. They didn’t seem to be affected by the night’s events but Marina was quiet. He had a feeling she was keeping her composure for Danny’s sake.