Tracks To Love: An Enemies To Lovers Alpha Hero Romance

by Abbie St. Claire

  I tried to sit up, but my arm hurt. I looked down. My left shoulder and arm were bandaged, and the snaps of the gown were open on that side. “Can you help me sit up?”

  “Let me get a nurse.”

  “Just hit the button on the touch pad.” My nursing days would haunt me forever.

  “What happened?” A confused Marcus looked at me.

  “You’re asking me? I wanna see Tate. Is he here?” I didn’t have many pieces of the puzzle to put it together.

  “As far as I know, Tate is at home, still thinking you’re mad at him. You shot a cop, Willow. The police are outside, wanting to talk to you. The only reason I’m here is because you had me listed as next of kin on your insurance.”

  “Detective Dempsey. He’s a dirty cop. He beat me and locked me in the back of the U-Haul. Is he dead?”

  Marcus leaned in close to my ear. “No, but he’s telling a different story. Don’t say a word. I’m getting you a lawyer.”

  Within an hour, a tall beautiful blonde woman walked in—the one from so many pictures on social media with Marcus. “Hi, Willow. I’m Deena Zion, Marcus’s sister and your attorney. Please talk to no one, except me, okay?”

  I nodded.

  “Slowly and quietly, I want you to tell me step by step everything you did while in New York, starting from making your flight arrangements. Is it okay that I record you?”

  “Yes.”

  Marcus stayed as I explained in detail everything, including buying the gun after I realized that someone was intending on harming me for the skimmers. If they killed Mariah, then they were going to kill me too.

  “Mariah isn’t dead, Willow,” Marcus said.

  “That detective called me and said she was. You can check my phone.”

  Shit. I remembered it came up as an unknown number. Burner phone.

  After Deena finished her questions, she stayed with me for several hours while the police interrogated me. When it ended, I was handcuffed to the bed.

  The next morning, I was trying to adjust to having to lay on my back, unable to move, with the female officer letting me loose only to use the bathroom.

  When the nurse came in to help me bathe, she told me I’d had a minor surgery of my left shoulder due to a gunshot. She told me I might need a little physical therapy after it started healing, but other than that, I was lucky.

  “Your baby is just fine as well, but since the pregnancy is so early, the radiologist couldn’t see the heartbeat yet. He left you pictures. I’ll get them for you.”

  “Baby? What baby?”

  “Didn’t you know you’re pregnant, Ms. Alders?” She handed me copies of the ultrasound. There was a tiny circle with a drawn red arrow pointing to it on one of the copies.

  Speechless. That’s what I was.

  After the nurse left, I wanted to rub my belly, but I couldn’t because of the handcuffs. Tears rolled down my cheeks. Happy, sad, scared shitless, and all the above.

  Just great. I was going to raise a baby from a prison cell. My life was a full on disaster. The bawling commenced when Marcus, Deena, and two police officers entered the room.

  Just fucking great, I’m being hauled off to prison in a backless designer gown.

  “Great news, Willow. No charges are being filed,” Deena announced.

  Tears flooded my face. No greater sound than that of freedom. I breathed a sigh of relief as the female officer removed both sets of handcuffs.

  I rubbed my wrists. “What happened?”

  “Your story checks out,” Marcus chimed in and helped me sit up in bed.

  I cried more, this time with my face in my hands, happy to be set free.

  “Once you told them to look under the hood of your car for the bag containing the skimmers, they were able to gather more information. You’re putting away a dirty cop, one serious bad apple named Lester Moyles and bringing down some serious organized crime.” Deena leaned close to my ear. “You bought that gun illegally, honey. You’re lucky you’re not spending ten years behind bars on that charge alone.” She patted my hand. “But I would’ve done the same thing.”

  “So Les is in jail too?”

  “He’ll do at least twenty years with organized crime, assault on a police officer and assault with a deadly weapon, just to name a few of his newest list of charges. The DA assured me he won’t get a plea.”

  “Thank God. Do I have to stay in New York?”

  Deena laughed. “Well, you’re in New Jersey, but no, you can go home whenever you’re released from the hospital, but as far as the police and this mess, you’re done.”

  “I want to go now.” I swung my legs to the side of the bed.

  Marcus stepped in front of me and put his hand on my good shoulder. “You’re not going anywhere in your current conditions.”

  Conditions. Plural. He knows.

  I looked up and met his eyes. When he winked, my suspicions were confirmed. “I didn’t know. Does Tate know?”

  “Tate knows nothing. I wanted that to be your call to make.”

  16

  At the airport, I took off my sling and eased out of the car. Marcus had argued that leaving the hospital and going straight to the airport was a ridiculous idea, but he hadn’t won. I had to get home as soon as possible.

  My stomach rumbled. I hadn’t been able to eat all morning, not because of morning sickness, which had given me zero problems, but because I feared rejection.

  My flight from Newark to Dallas gave me time to think about what I wanted to say. I knew I loved Tate with all my heart, and I hoped he could at least be excited about the baby, if nothing else.

  When I got to his parents’ house, I slowly walked to the front door, took a deep breath, and rang the bell.

  “Willow, it’s great to see you. Come on in.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Conway. Is Tate here?”

  “It’s Sara, and he sure is. I believe he’s watching a ballgame.”

  As I followed Sara through the hall of pictures, my gut clenched when I came to the twins’ image.

  Would he be as excited and love my baby as much as he had Whitney’s?

  I fought back tears as I came to the den where Tate was spread out in the recliner, watching TV. His body was covered with a blanket, but the crutches were visible on the floor beside him.

  “Come here,” he extended his hand, and I reached for him with my good arm.

  His palm was warm when I gripped it—I prayed his heart was too.

  He pulled me in for a kiss, and I let him. “God, I’ve missed you. I’ve been here, waiting, trying to be patient, giving you space like you asked, trying to understand, but—”

  He pulled me slowly onto his lap. “I made a stupid move. It wasn’t a racing accident. But I was certain you’d freak out if I told you I needed you to drive the car.”

  I took a deep breath. “If I’d known, there were a hundred people I could’ve gotten to drive the car. Hell, Trey would’ve driven the car for the video. At the time, what I was most angry about was that you didn’t trust me enough with the truth, that you tricked me into facing my fears. It was a dirty game, but it worked.”

  His head dropped for a moment. Then he looked up with a grin. “I fell out of a helicopter.”

  “What?” My heart leapt into my throat.

  “Yep, the legend is true. I’m a full-blown klutz. I didn’t get buckled in quickly enough because I was sidetracked talking to Dave. When the pilot lifted the chopper from the ground, a gust of wind caused us to tilt. It wasn’t much but enough for me to lose my balance and fall out. I fell about fifteen feet and rolled. A broken foot is the worst of it, but a concussion knocked me out for a couple of days. So, when you were texting me, you were really texting Dave. He didn’t want to answer anything until I woke up.”

  “Oh my gosh, you’re now the helicopter boy.”

  “Yep, that beats coffee girl.” He laughed for the both of us.

  I couldn’t be mad at him for that. Even as scary as it sounded, I had to hi
de my snickering. “Does this mean you’re not racing at Le Mans?”

  He nodded. “But I’ll be there on the sidelines when Jimmy, our number two driver, takes the win. He’s awesome. I know he can do it.” He paused before saying, “Willow, I love you, and I would never put you in harm’s way. I wanted you to drive the car in the video so you would stare down your demons. I talked it over with Marcus, and he agreed. The crew was in on it because your safety was utmost important.”

  “Well, I’ve got a few things to tell you, too.”

  His eyes grew big like most boyfriends’ did when you said that, but I was saving that particular news for the end.

  Please God, let him be happy about the baby.

  I’d rehearsed my shortest version of the facts, but I knew when I got to the part about buying a gun, he was gonna go ballistic, and he did.

  “You bought a gun from the street?” he asked incredulously.

  Then there was silence between us while I waited for the rest of his explosion.

  “Are. You. Nuts?” His voice thundered in my ears.

  Yep, I was right.

  I shook my head. “No, I just have pregnancy brain.”

  He sat up in the chair so quickly we both almost ended up on the floor.

  “Careful, my arm,” I said through a giggle.

  “A baby? You’re having a baby?”

  Oh, God. He was NOT smiling.

  “No. We are having a baby. It’s barely a few weeks, but it’s real. I didn’t know. Apparently, they ran a test before surgery and did an ultrasound. The nurse told me when I woke up.” I reached into my purse and pulled out the ultrasound photos.

  “This is the best news, since—” He wiped at a tear trickling down his face.

  The twins. He didn’t say it, but I knew.

  “I’m gonna do my best to be the greatest mom in the world.”

  He kissed me softly, then ran his finger down my nose. “I have no doubt you’ll be awesome. I will be there every step of the way.”

  I kissed him again. “I love you, Tate Conway. I’m so grateful I became your coffee girl.” I leaned in close to his ear. “Can we keep this between us for a few weeks?” I searched his eyes.

  He nodded, and I knew he understood the reason I’d asked. Miscarriages were common, and I didn’t want his family all excited before we were further along.

  Later that night, he came to the hotel with me. I wasn’t prepared to go into everything with my mom yet, and I’d reserved another hotel room for peace and privacy. I wanted the special time for reconnecting with Tate, to freely show him how I felt about him and what he meant to me.

  We made love, and even with our handicaps, it was romantic and beautiful. He made my heart beat, filled my lungs with fresh, hopeful air, and helped me fight my demons my own way.

  Tate’s given me my life back, and together, we created a new one.

  It was the middle of the night, but we weren’t sleeping when he whispered in my ear, “Do you still want to go to France with me?” He gripped me tighter.

  I was certain he was taking the racing thing slowly, but the stress was definitely there because I felt his heart begin to pound quickly against my back as he waited on my answer.

  “Absolutely.” I kissed his knuckles.

  “Want to go tomorrow? There is something special I have in mind…”

  Paris special? My heart raced at the thought.

  I woke up the next morning in a panic. Tate wasn’t in bed with me, but the hotel room was familiar.

  “Tate,” I called out.

  Nothing.

  I looked at my shoulder. That part was real, so it wasn’t all dreams and nightmares. I got out of bed and checked the bathroom, but it was empty. I searched for my phone, but in my state of love drunkenness, I’d forgot to plug it into a charger.

  I was rushing to get dressed when I heard the key in the door lock.

  “Hi, sweet pea,” Tate greeted me, entering the room with a crutch under one arm and food containers in his free hand. “I figured you’d need breakfast, so I went downstairs for us.”

  My man was hungry. I was just the excuse.

  “You scared me. For a moment, I thought it was a dream, and you weren’t really here.”

  He set the to-go containers on the table then came over and kissed me. “Too late, you can’t get rid of me now. I’m never letting you go.” He stroked my cheek, and the dreamy look in his eyes told me he was as much in love with us as I was.

  I finally know what it feels like to completely trust someone.

  “I don’t have my passport or a birth certificate,” I answered his question from the wee hours this morning. “I can pick up another birth certificate at the courthouse in a day, but not the passport.”

  He sighed. “That’s a problem. Do you know where it is?”

  I nodded. “In transit with all my stuff.”

  He sat on the edge of the bed and propped his foot over the corner. “When did Marcus say the movers would be here with your things?”

  “They were gonna leave yesterday afternoon. But if they stop or take their time, it could be a few days. I told them I was in no hurry. I forgot about France.”

  He scratched his scruff with his thinking face on. Then he picked up his phone and started searching through his contact list. “I got it. We’ll go to the courthouse and get your birth certificate, and there’s this agency service over in Arlington that can do passports in the same day. Once we have it, we’re off.”

  I giggled. “Sweet. Gives me time to go shopping for new clothes.”

  He laughed. “Any chance you can find me something to go with this boot?”

  We rolled around on the bed and both groaned with the overexertion of our injured limbs, but we were together, and we were happy.

  The next day I happened to be out shopping when I got the call from Marcus that his guys had arrived with my car and belongings. Perfect timing.

  “Where do you want to meet them?” he asked.

  “I’ll text you the address, and Marcus, I can’t thank you enough.”

  He laughed. “Just take care of that niece or nephew you’re giving me, and I’ll be good. Oh, and one more thing?”

  “Yesssss?”

  “When you’re back from France, I want to talk to you and Tate about an opportunity to open a Dallas branch of the agency.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, but I want to hire Tate. I heard he did a really great job on your mock-ups. I’ve put a hiring freeze on women. Seems everyone in the Zion Agency is getting pregnant. From now on, I’m only hiring men.”

  I laughed. “Nice try, but that’s against the law. A location here would be awesome. We say yes.”

  He let out a chuckle. “We’ll talk later.”

  I met the guys at the storage facility, and I had to admit it was weird having what little I owned returned to me. My possessions summed up in a few pieces of furniture and a dozen boxes.

  After they left for the airport, I used my phone to play some music while I sat on the floor of the storage locker and organized my files. I found my passport, but I also ran across some of Mariah’s things I hadn’t seen before—her family photos, yearbook, birth certificate, and a marriage license.

  Holy crap. She had married that creep, Les, just days before everything happened.

  A few hours later that morning and it would’ve been me they beat up.

  With everything I’d been through, I still hadn’t put closure on my situation with her. I’d walked away and rightfully so, but I never checked on her or made any attempt to see how she was.

  Should I care? Probably not after everything she’d done, but I was human and part of me wondered how she got messed up in all that crime in the first place. How did things turn so ugly? I supposed it came down to the caregiver in me, plus, it’s human nature to want closure.

  I called her cell to find it disconnected.

  I phoned the hospital to be told they didn’t have a patient with that
name.

  The police department informed me she was in custody.

  I set up a Google alert with her name.

  As I looked at her old photos, tears streamed my cheeks and spotted my blouse. She was someone’s granddaughter, daughter, sister, and once upon a time—a new friend.

  How did good people go bad? My heart ached for what had gone wrong. Crazy as it sounded, I was desperate to know the answers.

  We met Mom for dinner and filled her in with an agreed upon version of the next chapter in our lives together. She was absolutely thrilled about the baby and with her recovery going so well, I wanted to give her some happy news to focus on. She loved children and was going to be a superb grandmother. I chose not to tell her about New York. It was all in the past now, and she would only worry. The additional news that I was staying in Dallas excited her even more.

  “Are you moving back in with me?” she questioned.

  I hadn’t really thought about where I was going to live. I had enough money to rent an apartment or a house until I got it figured out. When I’d agreed to finish the racing project, Marcus provided me the rest of the month in the hotel as part of normal expenses. There was a conference room with large-scale media that could tie into our work server, so I simply hadn’t been pressed to move elsewhere. But when I thought about it, I realized that the lofty bonus plus my savings, would give me enough for a down payment on a home of my own.

  There was a huge red carpet party in New York for release day that Tate didn’t want to miss. I didn’t blame him. It was his car after all, and he’d receive royalties on the game for as long as it was in production.

  “When I’m back from France, I’ll be at the hotel for work, wrapping things up for the game launch. After that, I’ve got to start looking at houses.”

  Tate gave me a quick eye. “I’ll help you,” he said softly.

  Mom smiled and I caught it. “Well, I, for one, will be happy if I’m close by to babysit my granddaughter. I will turn the guest room into a nursery. That way I’ll be right across the hall.”