Not Without Her Family

by Beth Andrews

  Which was just the beginning of a whole mess of problems for him.Unfortunately, he didn’t have a choice. They’d connected last night in a way he hadn’t thought he’d connect with a woman other than Nicole. In a way he hadn’t wanted to connect with another woman. It had started with Kelsey opening up to him about her unrelenting devotion to her brother, and why she felt responsible for Ward being sent to prison.

  Thinking about what could have happened to her—what would have happened—if Ward hadn’t come along when he did, made Jack’s stomach churn. He’d suspected she’d been sexually attacked but he hadn’t really wanted to believe it. Now that he knew for certain, he couldn’t help but be glad her brother had protected her.

  Even though it meant he’d had to take another person’s life.

  Kelsey snuggled closer to Jack and he slid his hand up her arm. She’d been hurting last night, and she’d needed him to help ease that hurt. But it had turned into so much more.

  Maybe he shouldn’t have spent the night. He hadn’t spent the entire night with a woman since Nicole died. Being involved with her could cost him his job and his reputation. If Ward was guilty of Shannon’s murder, Kelsey would have no reason to stay in Serenity Springs. And even less reason to want to be with Jack. Which was probably for the best. After all, Kelsey was sarcastic, often hostile and patently uncomfortable around his daughter.

  She was also funny, smart and loyal. Tough enough to survive her childhood, strong enough to overcome it.

  Her leg slid higher up his thigh and his body hardened. She was what he wanted. He just needed to convince her that she wanted him as well.

  Jack rolled over so that he was on top of her, his weight on his elbows. He kissed her slowly. Even before she fully awoke, she responded to him, returned his kiss, her hips arching up to him.

  “Morning,” he murmured. She was so damn irresistible, all warm and sleepy.

  “Mmm.” She smiled before her eyes opened. “Morning.” She raised her eyebrows. “Someone woke up happy to see me.”

  Jack reached over for another condom. “This seems to be becoming a habit.”

  She linked her hands behind his neck. “You know what they say,” she said with a soft smile. “Third time’s the charm.”

  WRAPPED IN A TOWEL, KELSEY looked into the bathroom mirror and tried to contain her satisfied grin as she combed her wet hair. She failed miserably.

  The third time hadn’t done the trick after all. In an effort to conserve water, she’d joined Jack for a long, steamy shower and a fourth attempt.Even a diehard morning-hater such as herself would be hard-pressed to stay in bed knowing Jack was waiting for her. What that man could do with just his hands and a bar of soap was amazing. Add in some hot water and his tongue? Incredible.

  Humming under her breath, she finger-styled her hair, allowing it to air dry. Sex with Jack was so far beyond anything she’d ever experienced, it might just be worth risking her heart.

  She tipped her head to the side and scrunched up her nose at her reflection. Not that she had any choice about it now.

  Tightening the towel around her, she headed back to the bedroom to find Jack already dressed.

  “I have to stop by the station for a few hours this morning,” he told her. “But other than that, I’m off duty.” He looked around. Seeing his wallet on the floor, he bent to pick it up and stuck it in his back pocket. “I need to pick Emma up at Nina’s at eleven.”

  “Well, you’d better go then,” she said, telling herself it was dumb to feel disappointed. He had a life. A career and a child that needed his attention.

  “I guess I’d better.” Except he didn’t go anywhere. “I’ll see you later?” He made it sound like a question.

  Her heart about stopped. Was he asking if he could see her later? Did he want to see her later?

  She had no clue how to proceed, what to say. “If you want,” she said, leaving the decision up to him.

  He frowned and walked up to her. “You could come over.”

  She blinked. “Huh?”

  “When I’m done with work. You could come to the house and spend the day with me.”

  “What about Emma?”

  “Emma, too. It’s nothing exciting, we were just going to hang out, maybe rent a couple videos.”

  “You…you want me to spend the day with you and your daughter?”

  “I do.”

  She recognized the warm, bright feeling as hope and ramped down on it ruthlessly.

  “You don’t need to worry about me.” Because it hurt to look at him, she turned and began rummaging through her duffel bag for clean clothes. “Just because I told you…what I told you…” She had to stop, clear her throat. “I’m okay. You don’t have to babysit me.”

  “Is that what you think I’m doing?”

  She shuffled to the other side of the sofa bed. “I’m not sure,” she said truthfully.

  He tipped his head back, blew out a breath. “I want to spend time with you.” As if he knew she was powerless against it, he smiled at her. “Come on, it could be fun. Emma would love to see you.”

  “I thought we were going to keep this—” she gestured to the bed “—between us. No kid involved.”

  He scratched his head. “That was the plan, but…”

  “But?”

  “Plans change. And I thought maybe we could see where things go. Between you and me.”

  “You want to see where things go?”

  “Yeah. I do.”

  Her heart lodged in her throat. The idea of spending time with Jack and Emma was too appealing to pass up. “I could stop by for a little while,” she finally said.

  He grinned. “Great. Why don’t you come over for lunch?”

  “I have some things to do here…I’m not sure how long it’s going to take.”

  “Fine.” He settled his mouth on hers for a tender, lingering kiss that curled her toes. “I’ll see you soon.”

  After Jack walked out the door, Kelsey fell back onto the sofa and wondered what in the hell she’d gotten herself into now.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  JACK CLOSED HIS OFFICE DOOR behind Officer Andrew Flick. Dark, hard looks, and a build like the linebacker he’d been both in high school and college made Flick an imposing presence. Yet underneath the physique was a keen mind and good instincts.

  He liked Flick, but more importantly, he trusted him. Which was why he’d assigned Flick the job of staking out the area around the Crandall’s house. People were incredibly predictable in their habits, rarely veering off their daily routine. For the past week, Flick had surveyed Edgewood Lane, but nothing out of the ordinary had come up. Until last night.Jack motioned for the other man to sit in one of the chairs facing his desk. “Tell me about the Douglass kid,” Jack said as he sat behind his desk.

  “He arrived around twelve-fifteen. At first, I thought he was just turning around. But then he backed into a small clearing and shut off his lights.”

  “He didn’t see you?”

  “I’d kept my car hidden.”

  Jack picked up Flick’s report and skimmed it. “You approached Douglass’s car?”

  “I did. He sat there waiting for a good ten minutes before I approached him.” Flick flashed a quick grin. “Scared the crap out of him when I knocked on his window.”

  “I bet.”

  “When I asked him if there was a problem, he started stammering on about how he was having car trouble, that he just dropped his girlfriend off and he stalled out.”

  “You stated in your report he seemed nervous.”

  “Could barely meet my eyes. Kept looking down the road toward the houses.”

  “Think he was staking out the houses to rob?” Last month, a couple of teenagers had been picked up for robberies, but they mostly stuck to the homes of people they knew, robbing them during the day while they were at work.

  “I don’t think so. He was nervous, but cocky, too. When I pointed out that I saw him pull into this spot from the opposite dire
ction he claimed, he changed tactics. Tried telling me that he meant he’d forgotten something at his girlfriend’s house. He was going back to get it but since the lights were off, he changed his mind.”

  “Did he say who the girlfriend is?”

  “Amy Schuman. When I asked him to try the engine, it started right up.”

  “You think he was meeting his girlfriend?”

  “Possible. Although she never showed up.”

  “He could’ve contacted her after he left.”

  “Yep. You think this is usual, them sneaking out together?”

  “Could be. Only way we’re going to find out is to talk to both of them.”

  “I didn’t see them at any other time during the past week.”

  “School nights might play a part in that,” Jack said. “And isn’t Douglass on the football team?”

  “He’s their top running back.”

  “Which means he was out of town Friday night.”

  Flick stood. “You want me to call both kids in?”

  “No. Let’s go to them. Maybe they’ll be more cooperative that way.”

  Flick left and Jack sat back. If Amy Schuman had planned on sneaking out with her boyfriend last night, then it was possible she’d snuck out last Saturday night, too.

  He had to know for sure. Hell, it was a long shot, but one he needed to take. He was running out of time.

  And if Amy had been out last Saturday night—and not sleeping in her bed as she’d claimed when she was questioned after the murder—then she might have seen something. Something that could possibly help Jack with this investigation. Or at least point him in the right direction.

  He just hoped, for Kelsey’s sake, that if Amy did have any new information, it didn’t point to Dillon Ward.

  “WHAT DO YOU WANT NOW?” Dillon asked.

  Kelsey refused to let his hostility affect her. She’d been on her way to Jack’s, nervous and excited about spending a few hours with Jack and Emma when she’d found herself pulled over in front of Dillon’s apartment.“For starters,” she said as she shivered in the cold wind, “I’d like to come in.”

  This time, she waited to be invited inside. Which he did, albeit reluctantly. She walked inside, the aroma of baked goods from below permeating the air.

  “I was on my way over to The Summit,” he said as he sat and pulled on a pair of shiny new work boots. She guessed the police hadn’t returned his other pair after taking them in as possible evidence.

  “This won’t take long.”

  He glanced up at her. “The last time you said that, I got arrested.”

  “You weren’t arrested. You were taken in for questioning.” She shook her head. “But that’s not why I’m here. For the past week you’ve managed to drown me out or ignore me or get rid of me, but not this time.”

  He tied his laces and stood, towering over her. “Looks like your temper hasn’t mellowed any.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about. I’ve been trying to show you, to prove to you that I’ve grown up and changed, but you won’t accept it.”

  “People don’t change.”

  “You have. You’re doing exactly what you always warned me about. You let your hostility and anger control you. God, you used to be someone I could look up to, someone who fought for what they believed in.”

  “I fought, yeah, but I played by the rules,” he argued. “I watched while that bastard hurt you and Leigh. I waited for the right people to take care of it. I trusted in the system and what did it get me? Or you? You were attacked. Glenn would’ve raped you. And then he probably would’ve killed you.”

  “But he didn’t. You saved me.” She wanted to reach out to him, but the look on his face said her touch wouldn’t be welcome. Her tears spilled over. “I’m sorry it took so long for me to realize what you’d been trying to teach me all those years.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The way you used to take care of me, how you wanted me to be a better person, to toe the line.” She forced herself to maintain eye contact. “I was so angry all the time, I thought you wanted me to be good to make your life easier.”

  Dillon stabbed his hand through his hair. “What’s this all about, Kelsey?”

  “I’m done. I’m done chasing you.”

  “Giving up? Doesn’t sound like you’ve changed much after all.”

  “I’m not giving up,” she told him fiercely, wiping away her tears. “I’ll never give up on you. But I am done trying to force you into a relationship you don’t want. If you need me, I’ll be here.”

  “Here? In Serenity Springs?” He narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

  An image of Jack looking up at her as they’d made love last night filled her brain. She sniffed and avoided Dillon’s eyes. “I’ve decided to stick around for a while. Allie needs help at the bar—”

  “You’re not staying to help Allie. You’re staying for Martin.”

  “Does it matter? Either way, I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Because you want to save me? To make things how they used to be between us? Or because you want Jack Martin?”

  She swallowed. “I never said Jack and I—”

  “It’s all over town. Everyone knows the chief’s sleeping with the prime murder suspect’s sister.”

  Her blood froze. “It’s not like that.”

  Dillon cut his hand viciously through the air as if to wipe away her words. “Doesn’t matter what it’s really like. Haven’t you learned that by now? You need to watch yourself.”

  “Maybe I’m tired of keeping to myself,” she burst out. “Tired of pushing people away. Of being alone.”

  “That’s the only way. Yeah, you’ve changed, but so what? It’s not enough. It’ll never be enough. You’ll never fit in with these people. You can’t. Call it genetics, circumstances—” He shook his head in disgust. “Call it whatever the hell you want. People like us, we can’t trust someone enough to love them the way they deserve to be loved.”

  “You’re wrong,” she whispered, but his words shook her to the core.

  “Am I?” he asked with such resignation that Kelsey’s heart broke. For both of them.

  “I know what you gave up for me, what saving me cost you,” she said softly. “I want you to know I’ll never forgive myself for what happened.” He backed away from her, his expression stony.

  That’s when she realized what Jack had been telling her was true. Her brother had changed. The boy she’d looked up to, the young man who’d been her hero was long gone.

  “You always told me all the trouble I caused would come back to bite me in the ass. But it didn’t. It came back and bit you instead, and for that I’m sorry—” She shut her mouth when her voice broke. “So sorry.”

  “I don’t blame you,” Dillon said in exasperation. “I never did.”

  “Then why did you send me away? Why didn’t you want me to visit you in prison?”

  “You think I wanted my little sister seeing me locked up like a goddamn animal?” He stopped, his mouth a grim line. “I didn’t want you to see me that way. I had to change, to become a different man, to survive.”

  “So you sent me away. To protect me?”

  He smiled sadly. “It’s a tough habit to break. But that wasn’t the only reason. I’m not a saint, Kelsey. Even though what happened wasn’t your fault, I was still angry.”

  She nodded. “At me.”

  “You. Glenn. Myself. If I’d had more control that night, if I’d gotten you out of the house before he could—”

  “None of that was your fault.” She remembered Jack telling her the same thing the night before. “Glenn was sick. Evil. And I’m sorry for what happened. For what you had to do.”

  “I regret a lot of things,” he said, “but I’ve never regretted stopping Glenn from hurting you. Never.”

  “Thank you,” she said huskily. “I’d better let you get going.” She didn’t want to push this tenuous truce. Didn’t want to push her luck too far.
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  She crossed to the door. Her hand was on the knob when his voice stopped her. “Are you really staying in Serenity Springs?”

  “Yes,” she said, convinced she’d made the right choice. “I really am. Maybe we could do this again? Talk, I mean?”

  “Maybe,” he conceded. “Just…do me a favor?”

  “Anything.”

  “This thing with you and Jack Martin—”

  “I told you—”

  “Yeah, I know what you told me. Just…promise me you’ll be careful.”

  WITH THE PHONE AT HIS EAR, Jack looked out the window again, but saw no sign of Kelsey’s car. He turned and waited for Seth to pick up the phone. Though he hadn’t talked to his best friend since they met at The Summit last week, he knew he could count on Seth to help him out.

  “Hello?”“Where the hell have you been?” Jack asked, walking into the hallway where the Disney movie Emma was watching couldn’t be heard. “Didn’t you get my messages?”

  “Mom? Is that you?”

  “Funny. Listen, I need your help.”

  “What’s up?”

  “I’ve had a break in the Crandall case.” He paced the floor. “I need you to check some phone records for me.”

  “Why can’t you check them yourself?”

  “I don’t want anyone in the department to know about this.” He crossed to the window again. “I found out the Schumans’ fifteen-year-old daughter has been sneaking out in the middle of the night to meet her boyfriend. She was out last Friday night and saw a car parked at Shannon’s.”

  Seth whistled. “What do you want run?”

  Jack wiped a hand over his face and recited the numbers he wanted traced. “Get back to me as soon as you get the information.”

  “Sure thing.”

  He hung up and put the phone back on the small table in the hallway.

  “Wanna play a game with me, Daddy?” Emma asked when he walked back into the living room.

  “Sure. Why don’t you run upstairs and bring one down?”