The Steve Williams Series Boxed Set

by J. E. Taylor

  Her hands ran up his chest and around his neck and her breath quickened, drawing a sigh. When she pulled away from his lips, it was sexy slow, accompanied by a smile on her lips and a spark of hunger in her eyes, which was the exact opposite reaction from what he expected.

  “Damn fire sign,” she muttered and grinned. “Whoever told you that you can’t kiss is an idiot.”

  He pulled out of her arms and bit his lip against the monsoon of emotions caught in his belly and regions south. Guilt and want ate at his insides and he took a step back, creating a distance that allowed him to draw a breath and gain control over his carnal appetite.

  Raven’s eyes widened at the area surrounding him and when her gaze landed on his, he had to remind himself to breathe.

  “Wha?” he asked, curious as to what she was seeing.

  “Your aura, it’s…”

  “What the hell are you doing kissing this little whore?”

  Tom’s head snapped to his right, his heart clanging in his chest at the manifestation tapping her foot in the hallway. His breath plumed in cold mist and he stammered trying to find an explanation. Without thinking, he took a protective step in front of Raven.

  “Tanya, what are you doing here?” he said to the ghost chilling his soul.

  “You haven’t answered me. What are you doing with that hussy?”

  From behind him, a warm hand landed on his arm and the combination of Raven’s heat and Tanya’s chill caused a disturbance in the air. He glanced over his shoulder, meeting Raven’s wide-eyed gaze.

  He turned back to Tanya. “Go home. Now,” he whispered and her face contorted into a vengeful mask, but she obeyed, fading into the air.

  Tom ran a hand through his hair, shaken that she popped up now and he wondered if her spirit was forever attached to him. He took a breath and focused back on Raven.

  “You think seeing auras is disturbing, try seeing ghosts,” he signed and sat on the nearest windowsill.

  “Auras aren’t disturbing. Well, most of them aren’t but whatever that was, their aura was black like death.”

  “That was Tanya,” Tom signed and inhaled at the sudden arch of her brow and the slight gasp. He exhaled and shrugged. “I don’t know why she’s haunting me, especially since she broke up with me the night before she was killed.”

  Raven’s mouth popped closed and her eyes narrowed. “She was the one,” she said, her tone accusatory and angry.

  Tom dropped his gaze and nodded.

  “Shallow bitch.”

  Chapter 27

  Steve propped his feet up on the coffee table, switching through the channels looking for something to occupy his mind. Jennifer sat on the end of the couch curled up with a stack of scripts in front of her.

  After the third round through the channels, Jennifer asked, “You want to read a couple of these and tell me if you think it’s worth pursuing?” She handed him half the stack.

  Steve glanced at the offering and then met her gaze.

  “You’re driving me crazy,” she said, still holding the stack.

  “I’m sorry,” Steve said and settled on the Fox News station. He dropped the remote on the table and took the stack from her. He figured if the script was good enough, the television wouldn’t pull his attention away.

  “Thank you,” Jennifer said and sent a smirk his way.

  “I can think of a dozen better ways to spend my time,” he muttered and flipped open the first script in the pile.

  “I need to read these,” Jennifer said waving the pile.

  “We could still…” he trailed off at her glare.

  “I have to get through these today. If you’re so hard up, you’re more than welcome to take care of it yourself.” She gave him a challenging purse of her lips and he chuckled.

  “Touché,” he said and focused on the words in front of him, but his mind kept returning to the thought of her sexy mouth doing all the right things. He glanced in her direction with a suggestive grin plastered on his lips.

  Jennifer glanced up from her script and laughed. “Stop looking at me like that.”

  “Like what?” He feigned innocence.

  The ring of the telephone saved her and he leaned forward, muting the television and grabbing the phone, glancing at the caller ID before answering.

  “Hey, Ron,” he said and put the papers in his lap aside.

  “They’re issuing a subpoena for you to appear in front of the grand jury,” Cleary said.

  Steve sucked in air, and Jennifer’s gaze jumped from the script to his. “When?”

  “The end of the week.”

  Steve stared at Jennifer. “That’s pretty fast,” he said. Jennifer mouthed Tom’s name and Steve shook his head, pointing at his chest.

  “I told you they were on a witch hunt,” Cleary said and Steve closed his eyes, thankful for the bitter tone in his boss’s voice.

  “Have you been interviewed, yet?”

  Cleary laughed. “No. They didn’t ask and I didn’t volunteer.”

  Steve opened his eyes. “Okay,” he said. “What’s happening with Sarah?”

  “She told them she asked you about Ty, but you didn’t come clean with her until the day of his funeral. From what I understand, they’re going to give her a formal reprimand for failing to bring this to the attention of her superiors.”

  “What are they charging me with?”

  “Aiding and abetting a known criminal, extortion, and reckless endangerment. They haven’t found anything concrete that could lead to charges related to either his death or Jessica’s so they drummed up reckless endangerment for allowing them access to key case details during an investigation. I just thought you’d like to prepare for this.”

  “Jesus,” Steve whispered and dropped his head against the pillows behind him. “If I’m found guilty, what’s the penalty I’m looking at?”

  “They are going for the maximum they can get for each count, so you’re looking at thirty years before you’re eligible for parole.”

  “Thirty years?”

  “And a five million dollar fine,” Cleary said.

  His mouth turned bitter, like he’d bitten into a bad lemon and he clenched his teeth. “So my record doesn’t count at all.”

  “Not to them.”

  Steve closed his eyes and ran his hand down his face. “Fucking bureaucrats,” he muttered and took a deep breath. “Anything further on the Windwalker?”

  “No, nothing.”

  “Thanks for the heads up. I guess I’ll see you in Washington when the time comes.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  Steve hung up the phone and tossed it onto the table.

  “They could put you away for thirty years?” Jennifer asked.

  He nodded and glanced in her direction. The color in her face drained and she shook her head.

  “No, that can’t happen,” she gasped.

  Steve shrugged.

  “You’d better do whatever you can to not land in jail. Understand?” Jennifer said; her tone and her stare, coupled with the paleness in her cheeks, sent a severe message and he nodded.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “No! Promise me you’ll make this go away,” she said, slamming the stack on the table.

  Steve pressed his lips together for a moment, debating on whether or not to make that promise. He had never utilized his powers to persuade anyone for personal gain and wasn’t sure he could, just on principle alone. It was against everything he stood for.

  Her insistent gaze transitioned to a glare.

  “You’re not going to save yourself, are you?”

  Before he could answer, she stormed out of the living room and up the stairs. The bedroom door slammed, shaking the house from the force.

  Chapter 28

  Steve pulled up to the front of the school and glanced at the clock. He had a couple minutes before the bell rang and he shifted the car into park. The earlier conversation with Cleary kept replaying in his mind and he glanced at the high
school, wondering what would happen to CJ and Tom if he landed in jail.

  “Welcome to my world,” Ty’s voice echoed in Steve’s head.

  “Your attempt at keeping your kids safe is going all to hell,” Steve whispered.

  “Don’t worry. You won’t go to jail.”

  Steve scoffed and the school bell rang. He turned his attention to the front door. Kids flooded out like a bunch of ants, scurrying to the buses and scattering towards the different exits. When Tom appeared, it took Steve a moment to realize the girl walking next to Tom was actually talking to him and she didn’t have that accusatory glare when she looked at him.

  Tom said goodbye and headed toward the car, his expression not quite happy, but at peace and Steve said a silent prayer of thanks.

  * * * *

  Tom opened the door and glanced back toward Raven, his good mood souring.

  “Get in,” Steve barked the order from within the car.

  “Bu…” Tom leaned down, meeting Steve’s glare. He glanced back at Raven and swallowed both his anger and the underlying fear for her safety. Bear and the other defensive linebackers surrounded her, their taunting barely audible over the bus engines.

  “You can’t help her unless you’re willing to spend the next who knows how long locked up in jail.”

  “It’s my fault,” Tom signed.

  “CJ’s on his way, now get in the car,” Steve said.

  Tom sat, against his will, and glared at Steve as his door slammed shut. He couldn’t move and couldn’t speak under Steve’s silent control. Anger flared like a dormant volcano bursting through the surface and Tom did the only thing he could, he voiced his dissatisfaction in a litany of projected curses.

  Steve sent an eye roll in his direction and that burned through the frustration. She is the only one at school that talks to me. I’m sure she’s not going to give me the time of day after this. Thank you very much.

  “Like she’d give you the time of day if you were in jail.”

  You’re a real prick, you know that?

  “Yes, I am.”

  Tom felt the invisible restraints lift as they pulled into the garage, and before Steve stopped the car fully he was out and storming into the house without a glance back. He even slammed the garage door for good measure.

  “How was your day?” Jennifer said from the stairwell.

  “Fine,” Tom signed and marched across the kitchen. Before he hit the archway into the family room, the temperature dropped and his feet flew from under him. Instead of finding himself on his back on the floor, his spine slammed into the wall, along with the back of his head and he stared into Tanya’s furious eyes.

  “You cheated on me today,” she growled.

  Jennifer was halfway across the family room when Tom put his hand out like a traffic guard, stopping her with a shake of his head. He didn’t know what Tanya would do if anyone interceded, especially with the fury radiating from her in frigid waves.

  He glanced in the other direction, meeting Steve’s frozen stare in the doorway, the keys held over the key dish in shocked pause. Tom knew Steve heard Tanya’s voice in his head, along with her accusation and he glanced back at her.

  “Put me down,” he said and he had the luxury of seeing Jennifer’s reaction just before Tanya slammed him into the wall again.

  “You’re mine.”

  He laughed. “You gave up the right to be possessive when you broke up with me,” he said but she still held him in place and her eyes narrowed to slits of fury.

  “You told me you loved me,” she snapped.

  “I did.”

  “You still do,” she screamed.

  “Tanya, you are dead. Dead, as in no more. You’re just a spirit.”

  “You kissed me yesterday,” she repeated, her voice cold and detached and her face a mask of anger.

  “I wanted to see if I could, okay? I was curious, especially since you can hear me.”

  “You were curious?”

  He knew he said the wrong thing and her hand holding a fistful of his shirt tightened along with the one by her side.

  “What about us?” The whispered question sent a cascade of shivers down his spine.

  “There is no more us. There isn’t any chance of us ever again,” he said and tried to break her grip.

  She screamed and stepped back, her hand forming a claw and she aimed it at his chest. “Your heart is mine!”

  Black fury filled the room and when her nails passed through his skin, Tom went rigid. Pain gripped his chest as her ghost squeezed his heart.

  The flurry of white wings filled his vision and Tanya was yanked away from him, her scream making him cover his ears, but he couldn’t block the angel tossing her aside like a rag doll.

  “Get away from my son,” Ty roared, positioning himself between Tom and the ghost, his wings spread enough to block Tom’s view.

  “Take her to heaven, Dad,” Tom whispered and Ty turned his head, meeting his gaze.

  “I can’t. She had a chance but made the choice to stay and that door won’t open again until she lets go or we can find the last piece of her and put her to rest properly.”

  Tanya stood and glared at the angel before her gaze moved over Ty’s shoulder, meeting Tom’s. “This isn’t over.”

  Her form dissolved and the air in the room returned to normal. Ty turned, his wings folding neatly behind him and he offered a nod.

  “Thank you, Dad,” Tom said.

  He smiled and glanced in Steve’s direction.

  Tom glanced at Steve. Steve’s eyes bounced between Ty and where Tanya had stood a moment before. His mouth propped open in a lazy ‘O’. The jolt of surprise stabbed Tom as hard as Tanya’s nails had.

  “Ou aw,” he said and clamped his mouth shut in surprise. His words no longer clear now that Tanya had disappeared and his gaze snapped back to Ty. Ty’s shoulders rose and fell in a pronounced shrug leaving him no explanation for the phenomenon.

  “You got yourself one pissed off ghost,” Ty said. Papers on the kitchen table fluttered in the breeze of his sigh. “I know you didn’t kill her, so what the hell did you do?”

  I kissed another girl at school today.

  “The redhead?” Steve asked.

  “What redhead?” Jennifer asked from the living room.

  “Ye,” Tom said, meeting Steve’s gaze.

  Ty started chuckling. “Boy, where the hell is your common sense? She hasn’t even been dead a week.”

  Tom crossed his arms and glared. I didn’t mean to.

  “What? You tripped and your lips happened to land on hers?” Ty said and continued to laugh.

  “Fu you,” Tom said and stormed up the stairs, leaving Steve and Jennifer staring at each other.

  Chapter 29

  CJ heard Steve’s SOS call and pulled next to the curb, turning off his car and pocketing the keys. He walked toward Bear and the rest of the defensive line he’d rumbled with yesterday. They just didn’t stop and this time their target was that weird girl no one talked to. The reason burned him enough to want to lose control.

  She was being terrorized because she had been nice to Tom.

  “Did you spread your evil legs for him, witch whore?” Bear taunted and grabbed at her. “How long have you been fucking him?”

  She slapped his hand away but another grabbed at her and another and she spun toward each attacker with her book bag long forgotten at her feet.

  “Is that why he killed Tanya? To be with you?”

  “Enough,” CJ said when he got close enough for them to hear. “Leave her alone.”

  The girl spun toward his voice, her eyes wide and terrified, but not of him. Underneath the terror, he saw relief.

  Bear turned in his direction. “This is none of your concern,” he snarled.

  CJ laughed. “You never fucking learn, do you?” He didn’t wait for anymore comments. He let the anger loose, knocking them down with a blast that seemed to come from the girl and he walked into the center of the stunne
d group, picked up her bag and took her hand. “Come with me,” he said and she followed, staring at him with awe.

  He opened his passenger door and dropped her bag on the floor, helping her inside before he closed the door. Before he got into the driver’s side, he pointed his finger at Bear. “I told you not to fuck with me, next time I won’t just knock you on your ass.”

  Bear’s eyes widened.

  CJ smiled. “No. She didn’t do that. I did,” he said and slipped into the car.

  When he pulled out onto Webber Road, she cleared her throat.

  “If you can do that, why did you let them beat the crap out of you?”

  CJ sent a sideways glance at her and smiled. “If you noticed, I did a good deal of damage myself,” he said. “Besides, if I used my gifts, it wouldn’t be a fair fight and I’d be no better than they are.”

  Silence filled the car.

  “Thank you for being nice to Tom today,” he said.

  She nodded. Her hand grasped the medallion around her neck and her lips moved silently. She thought he couldn’t hear her prayers and he would have left it alone, but she was praying to find the strength to forgive Tom for leaving her in the midst of those thugs.

  “Don’t be mad at Tom. If it had been up to him, he would have swooped in and tried to be a hero but my father made him get in the car. Tom didn’t have a choice.” He traded a glance with her. “He wanted to pound those guys to a pulp, but he’s only given so much time to get home. If he doesn’t, they’ll put him back in jail.”

  Her wide eyes made him smile.

  “Yes, I read minds too,” he said and glanced at her. “They called me to make sure you get home safely. But I think we should take a detour so Tom can see for himself.”

  “You’ve never stepped in before,” she said.

  Her words had an impact like Bear’s fist, and he exhaled, blowing a stream of air from his lips. She knew how to work the guilt card and he nodded without turning in her direction. He had stood by while his teammates sent out various catcalls in her direction and what was worse, he knew the damage those words were inflicting.