“I’m sure he’s still looking for her,” Will tilted his head, his words soft and seductive. “I bet he’d give a nice finder’s fee.”
Her mother grabbed Will’s beer and stared at the mouth of the bottle. “He kept callin’, lookin’ for her. I didn’t know where she was so I couldn’t tell him. He seemed pretty upset I didn’t know.”
“When was the last time he called?”
“Last month.”
Emma gasped, and her mother’s eyes raised and leveled on her.
“If I couldn’t have him, you sure as hell weren’t goin’ to.”
Finally, after all the miserable years she had a better understanding of why her mother hated her.
“Did you love him, Mom?”
Her mother’s eyes softened and grew glassy before she picked up the bottle and took a swig. “What the hell does love have to do with anything. Love is for weak, short-sighted people. Love never got anyone anywhere but a mess of pain and heartache.”
“Why do you think Emma’s father wanted her, Brandy?” Will asked.
Brandy rolled her eyes. “God only knows. Never asked him.”
“He paid you all those years. Do you think he has a lot of money?”
Her face lit up at the suggestion of money. “He was powerful.”
“You mean wealthy?”
“Yeah, that too, but he was different. Like real power just oozed off him. I ain’t never been with a man like him. Sometimes when he touched me it was like electricity shot through me.”
Will shot Emma a knowing glance. They had stumbled upon something.
Her face darkened. “But he wasn’t around long. Long enough to get me knocked up and then leave.”
Covering Brandy’s hand, Will softened his face and lowered his voice. “Brandy, why don’t you let me help you? I can help you get the financial compensation you deserve. All you have to do is give me his name and number.”
Her eyes narrowed as she turned from Will to Emma. “Why the sudden interest in your father, Emmanuella? Does this have anything to do with the men who’ve been comin’ around lookin’ for you?”
Will stiffened. “What men?”
Her mother glared at Emma. “The apple don’t fall far from the tree, ain’t that right, Emma? Like mother, like daughter. You always acted so high and mighty, like you was royalty. Like you was too good for me but look at ya now. You can’t stick with one man, Emmanuella. It’s not in your blood.”
“Brandy, what men?” Will’s voice lowered in menacing tone.
She raised her hands in mock surrender. “Don’t be takin’ it out on the messenger. I can’t help it if Emma’s whorin’ around.”
Will’s face reddened.
Emma worried that Will was going to physically hurt her mother. Not that she didn’t want to herself. “Mom, what men? What did they want?”
“They was lookin’ for you. Wanted to know if I saw you. Asked me to call them if I saw you. Told me you was in some kind of trouble and they wanted to help you out. What kind of trouble did you get yourself into? You get yourself knocked up again?”
Emma felt the color drain from her face.
“You did, didn’t you?” Her mother asked, grinning.
“Brandy, those men want to hurt Emma. Can you give me their number?”
A look of annoyance crossed her face. “I don’t have their number. I threw it away. I never thought I’d see her again.”
“What about her father’s number?”
“I ain’t got it either.”
Will pulled a slip of paper out of his back pocket and set it on the table by her mother’s hand. “If you happen across either of those numbers, I would appreciate it if you’d give me a call.”
Brandy placed her hand over Will’s as she took the note. “You know she won’t stay with you. It ain’t in her blood to stay with one man.”
Will slid his hand away as though Brandy were a snake getting ready to strike. He stood up and pulled Emma out of the seat. “Emma, I think it’s time to go.”
“Don’t be comin’ back again, Emmanuella. You ain’t welcome here.”
Emma felt Will’s indecision and spoke before he could. “Don’t worry, Mom. I won’t be bothering you again." She tugged on Will’s arm and pulled him to the exit.
Will put his arm around her back and walked into the parking lot. “Oh God, Emma. I am so sorry. You said she was bad but I had no idea.” He pulled her into a hug.
She stiffened, feeling defensive after her encounter with her mother. She broke his embrace, moving to the car. “It’s okay. It wasn’t anything I didn’t expect.”
“Why didn’t you warn me?”
She stopped and looked into his face. He was upset. For her. She knew that for whatever reason, whether he really loved her as he claimed or because of the mark on his arm that mystically chained him to her, she knew he would do anything to protect her. While it sounded great in theory, and part of her relished turning over her struggles to someone else, she knew it made him dangerous. He would hide things from her. He would ignore challenges that needed to be faced to save her the pain. “Because we wouldn’t have seen her. You would have changed your mind and we wouldn’t have gotten the information we did.”
“It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t worth it.”
Her anger flared. “I’m not a china doll, Will. I’ve taken care of myself for nearly twenty-seven years. I don’t need you to take care of me.” He reached for her and she shoved off his hands. “It was worth it and you know it. We got information and sure, it’s not much, but it’s more than I’ve ever gotten in all the years I lived with her.”
He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
“This isn’t going to work, Will.”
Hurt then anger washed over his features as he lowered his arm. “What the fuck are you talking about, Emma?”
“Us, this isn’t going to work.”
His eyes narrowed. “What the hell do you propose? We go our separate ways? Like you suggested weeks ago in Kansas? It seems I’ve more than proved my loyalty to you.”
“No. Yes.” She heaved in annoyance. “But I can’t trust you if you try to shield me from things you think will hurt me. I’m not a child and we have to make decisions together.”
“My job is to protect you.”
“How are you protecting me if you don’t pursue leads because you worry they’ll hurt me? You’re thinking with your heart and not with your head. I need you to think with your head.”
Will spun away from her, cursing under his breath as he walked to the car. “Let’s go.”
Emma followed and they sat in the car. He stared out the front window while she tried to sort through her emotions, unsure which one to trust.
Will jammed the key in the ignition. “Do you think she was lying? Do you think she still has the numbers?”
“No, I doubt it. She tends to live in the moment, never thinking about the long term. I’m sure she never thought she’d need them again.”
He started the car. “She was wrong, you know. You’re not like her.”
She turned to him, caught by surprise. Was she? She’d never been with a man long enough to prove her mother right or wrong. Then again, maybe that fact alone was enough.
His voice softened. “You’re nothing like her.” He drove back to the hotel in silence.
Emma wanted to believe him, but her dream played on a looped tape in her head.
Chapter Six
Emma woke with a nightmare again, but refused to tell Will anything about it. Whatever it was left her shaken and her sullenness hung on into the morning.
They had returned to the motel and gone to bed, their disagreement unresolved. In the harsh light of day, Will realized she was right. He was trying to protect her at the risk of not doing a thorough job. The acknowledgment stuck in his craw. It was half-assed and he didn’t do half-ass.
He wanted to ask her about the man who sat at her table, but he worried bringing it up would reinfor
ce her mother’s words. He hated to give them more weight than they already had.
While they had obtained some information about Emma’s father, Will wished they had more to go on besides the fact that he oozed power and electricity shot through her. They didn’t even know his name. One thing he knew, his suspicions that her father might be the source of Emma’s unique traits were confirmed, but they had no idea who her father was. Or what he was. With all the freaky things going on, Will had to let his mind wander past the normal realm of reality, although he wasn’t sure how long of a leash to let it have.
Will cast a glance at Emma, who lay on the motel bed watching the television, curled up with her cheek lying on a pillow. Her silence was suffocating. What she didn’t tell him ate at his imagination, especially after she dropped the bombshell about them not working. Was she thinking about leaving him?
He lay down beside her, pressing his chest to her back, and whispered in her ear, “I’m sorry.”
She turned her head to look at him, her eyes guarded. “I’m sorry, too. This is all new to me. Obviously I’m not very good at it.”
He rolled her on her back and threaded his hands through the hair pooled on the pillow. “Neither am I, so we’ll learn together, okay?”
Indecision clouded her eyes, before a small smile lifted the corner of her lips. “Okay.”
He wished he could ask her what she was thinking, what made her hesitate, but he knew she’d never answer.
“I don’t see any point in staying in Joplin. I want to go to Kansas City, but I don’t want to go to my apartment until tonight, which means we have hours to kill.”
She gave him a wry smile. “You’re an excellent lover, but it won’t take hours.”
He laughed. “That’s not what I was proposing. I’m open to suggestions, although now that you’ve mentioned it, that sounds like a great idea.” He leaned down to kiss her to prove his point. “I think that should be first on the list. Make-up sex.”
He expected her to protest. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. She clung to him, kissing him with an insistence and desperation that bothered him. But now that they had started, he was hungry for her.
He pulled back and caressed her cheek. “We don’t have to do this.”
Indecision flickered again before she said, “Shut up and kiss me, Will.”
He obeyed, although his obedience had little to do with his bind to obey her commands. They made love in a frenzy of passion and desolation. Afterward, they lay sweaty and entwined. Emma stared at the ceiling as Will watched her face, trying to figure out how to give her what she needed.
Jake.
Jake was what she needed and he was doing everything he could to find him. Only it didn’t seem like enough.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked, still studying the ceiling overhead.
“Because I can’t get enough of you.”
She laughed. “You already have me, player. You don’t have to throw me any lines.”
In a quick jerk, he rolled on top of her, playfully pinning her arms over her head. “Do you want me to prove it to you?”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Prove what?”
“How much I love you.”
Her eyes sank closed with a soft shake of her head. “Will…”
“You can deny it all you want, but I love you anyway.” He kissed her as his hand slid slowly down her arm until it found her breast. She inhaled at the contact.
“Please don’t insult my attraction to you,” he murmured against her lips.
He lifted his head and her eyelashes fluttered open. He studied her brown eyes, hoping they would give him insight to her thoughts. Instead, she grinned. “If I say I’m sorry does that mean we’re going to have make-up sex again?”
“No, and although I’m tempted, I’m not your sex toy.” He rolled to his side and pulled her into an embrace. “Let’s get lunch, then do something before we go to my apartment. Got any ideas?”
She was silent for a moment then said, “We can stop and see my grandmother. She lives in Lamar. It’ll be on the way.”
“You have a grandmother?”
She snorted. “Of course, I have a grandmother. Contrary to the evidence in the bar last night, my mother isn’t a fungus spore that spontaneously spawned.”
“Why didn’t you mention it before?”
“Because I rarely saw my grandmother growing up. She and my mother didn’t get along and I suspect it might have had something to do with me or my father. Even though Mom moved to Joplin right after I was born, Grandma might have something to help us. At any rate, we should get a better reception from her.”
“Then let’s get lunch and go see her.”
Emma looked at the clock. “It’s almost eleven o’clock and it’ll take less than an hour to get there. Grandma always loved to cook. I bet she’ll want to fix us lunch.”
Will’s stomach growled at the thought of home-cooked food. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a meal that didn’t come from a restaurant kitchen.
***
They arrived in Lamar less than an hour later. Will drove through an older neighborhood. The canopies of massive trees loomed overhead as Emma studied the houses, trying to remember which one was her grandmother’s. “I haven’t visited her since I left for college and rarely before that,” she apologized.
She was about to give up when she saw the small white house with the pink metal awning covering the porch. “There!” The house was smaller than she remembered, which threw her off, but she recognized the faded white-painted wishing well she’d thrown pennies in as a little girl. The giant snowball bush was still at the corner of the house, only now it was more overgrown and out of control.
Will parked the car at the curb. “Do you think she’s home?”
Emma watched for a moment, looking for movement behind the frilly white curtains. “Probably. She retired my sophomore year of college and I remember she was always a homebody.” Emma reached for the door handle when Will grabbed her arm. She turned back to face him.
He gave her a reassuring smile. “Anytime you want to leave, just say the word.”
“Don’t worry. Grandma is the complete opposite of my mother. You’ll like her.” She got out of the car and watched the house as she waited for Will.
They walked to the front door together, standing side by side on the porch as Emma rang the doorbell. A gray head peered around the curtains in the side window and Emma smiled. The door flew open and a small elderly woman clutched her chest, her eyebrows raised in shock.
“Emma?”
“Grandma!” she choked out as the woman threw her arms around her. To Emma’s horror, her grandmother was crying. “Grandma? Are you okay?”
Her grandmother pulled back and dabbed her tears with a tissue she pulled from the pocket of her housedress. “These are tears of happiness! Come inside.” She stopped and finally seemed to notice Will. “And who’s this young man you’ve brought with you?”
“Grandma, this is—”
Will reached his hand toward her. “Will Davenport, ma’am. I apologize for our intrusion.”
The respect he showed her grandmother caught Emma by surprise, but then again, Will was the master of charm. Except he seemed genuine, and she was suddenly proud that she could present this man to her grandma.
The older woman eyed him carefully as she took his hand, then pulled it free and patted his arm. “This is no intrusion! It’s a cause for celebration!” She turned to Emma and took her hand, pulling her through the door. “Oh, how I’ve missed you, Emmanuella.”
For some reason, her grandmother was the only person Emma felt comfortable using her given name. A wave of guilt surged through her. Emma’s mother and grandmother might not get along, but that wasn’t a reason to not visit. Then again, the last three years of her life had been on the run. Not exactly the right time to drop in on your grandmother for cookies and tea.
The ho
use was exactly how she remembered it. Lace doilies covered the worn armrests of the 1960s sofa and armchair. Faded prints papered the walls. Threadbare lace curtains covered the windows. The ranch house was small, a typical midcentury tract house, but Emma always remembered it neat and clean. And more importantly, inviting. Coming to her grandmother’s was like coming home.
“Have you kids had lunch?” her grandma asked.
“No.”
She clasped her hands together, a broad smile filling her face. “Well then, let me fix you something.”
Emma looked over her shoulder at Will and lifted an eyebrow in an I-told-you-so look.
Will grinned. “We don’t want to put you to too much trouble, Mrs. Thompson.”
She waved her hand with a pft. “It’s no trouble at all. I rarely get to cook for anyone other than myself.”
Emma sat in a vinyl upholstered chair at the Formica-topped kitchen table. Nothing had changed since she was a small child. Will sat beside her, a smile on his face. She knew he’d like her. She shouldn’t care whether he liked her or not, yet she found herself surprised that she did.
Her grandmother opened the refrigerator and began pulling out ingredients. “I hope you like fried chicken, Will. It used to be one of Emma’s favorites when she was a little girl.” She winked at Emma before she turned back to the counter. “I was going to make it for the church picnic tomorrow, but this seems like a better occasion.”
Sitting at her grandmother’s table brought a rush of familiarity and home. How had she forgotten this feeling?
“Emma, where’s your boy? Your momma said you had a little boy a few years back.”
To her dismay, her eyes filled with tears and before she could stop herself, sobs broke loose.
Her grandmother turned in surprise and pulled Emma’s head against her stomach, patting her shoulder. “There, there, child,” she soothed. “There, there.”
***
Emma must have cried a good five minutes. Will watched in helplessness, a feeling that made him uncomfortable. If there was a problem, he acted. But in this case, he suspected Emma needed the older woman more than anything he could offer so he sat and waited.
02 Hunted - The Chosen Page 5