Blue Roses (Reunited Series)

by Sharon C. Cooper

  Quinn shook his head. “It’s more than that and you know it. If you don’t want to talk about it, fine. But don’t try to bullshit me.”

  Tyler didn’t respond. Had he really been that consumed with Dallas? He had to get a grip. No way could he fall for her again.

  Minutes later they had arrived and were walking through the airport terminal when Tyler’s cell phone rang. He fished it out of his jacket pocket and was disappointed when he glanced at the screen and it wasn’t Dallas, but he answered anyway.

  “Good afternoon, Tyler Hollister.”

  “The car accident was just a warning. I suggest you tell that wife of yours to stay out of business that doesn’t concern her.” Tyler froze.

  “Who the hell is this?” he growled into the phone.

  “Someone who will make her wish she’d never been born.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Where the hell are they?” Tyler yelled and slammed down the telephone. If anything had happened to them, he’d never forgive himself. As he paced in front of his black walnut desk a stab of guilt lay buried in his chest. Why had he let a stupid disagreement keep him away from home … and from Dallas?

  He picked up the phone to dial again but replaced the receiver when Quinn walked in. For a big man, standing at six-five and over 240 pounds of solid muscle, Quinn’s moves were smooth and confident as he crossed the room.

  “I grabbed your mail out of the box,” Quinn said and dropped it on Tyler’s desk. “How are you holding up?”

  “I don’t know man. I’ve called everyone I can think of and no one has seen them.”

  “Is the detective still here?”

  “He’s here. He went into the guestroom down the hall to take a call. I’m surprised he came instead of Officer Logan.”

  “Yeah, probably because it’s turning into more than just a car accident. So what did he have to say?”

  “For the most part, he stated the same thing you said. I can’t file a missing person report; it doesn’t look like Dallas and Skylar were forced to leave and it could be they stepped out for some fresh air. I’m starting to wonder why I even bothered to call the cops.” He dropped down into his chair.

  Quinn shoved his hands into the front pockets of his blue jeans and studied Tyler. “So, are the car accident and that phone call the reason you’ve been on edge? Or is something else going on?”

  Tyler reared back in his seat and dragged his palms down his face. How could he tell Quinn that not once in the past two days had he thought about Dallas’s accident? He’d been too busy thinking about her, the woman.

  Without responding, he shot out of his chair and turned to the window behind his desk. Why can’t I let her go? He sighed heavily and let his gaze fall on the dogwood trees. They lined the walkway leading to the park-like sitting area fifty yards from the house. Dallas loved the space, especially when the trees were blooming, like they were now.

  It seemed like a lifetime ago when they’d sit out there and talk. Well, actually, he did most of the talking, while she listened. It was during one of those talks he first realized she was everything he didn’t know he wanted. Never one for dating exclusively, he knew early on Dallas was the one for him. If he had one complaint about her, though, it would be she didn’t open up and trust him enough.

  Quinn stepped around the desk and stood next to him. Moments passed as they both stared out at the lush side yard. “I need you to do some checking into all of this for me,” Tyler said. “I’m not sure where you should start, but I want to know what she’s been up to; if she’s been involved with anyone, and whatever else you can find out.”

  Quinn had more contacts and access to information than Milwaukee’s finest could ever dream of. He was ex-special ops for the government. He’d never been forthcoming with what exactly he did back then, but Tyler knew when Quinn walked away from that life and came back home, he was different. Hard and dangerous, he trusted no one. He had battled with sleepless nights littered with traumatic dreams of a life he wanted to forget. It had been years, but this was the first time Tyler dared to ask him to tap into that life again.

  Quinn shook his head. “Ty …”

  “Q, I gotta to know what’s up with her. Maybe she’s being straight with me, but maybe there’s something going on that she doesn’t know about.” Tyler felt Quinn’s eyes on him, but kept his gaze on the dogwood trees.

  “All right,” he said after a long silence. “I know you wouldn’t ask me to do this, unless you thought your gir—”

  “She’s not my—”

  Quinn threw him a lethal look. “You can keep lying to yourself, but spare me.” He shook his head and turned to walk away. “I can’t believe you’re still in love with her.”

  “I didn’t say I—”

  “Save it!” He shot over his shoulder and moved to the mini bar to pull out a beer. “So what are you going to do about it?”

  Tyler knew he still loved Dallas, but no way would he act on it. She’d ripped his heart out once. He wouldn’t let her do it again. “Absolutely nothing,” he said, turning back to his desk. “All I want is to figure out what’s going on with her and make sure she’s safe. Then I’m sending her on her way.”

  Quinn laughed, strode back over and sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. He took a swig of his beer and said, “Apparently, your lack of sleep has affected your mind, my brotha. You’re still in love with this woman and no amount of denying it will make it go away.”

  “Yeah, whatever. For now, all I want is her back here safe.” He picked up the mail that Quinn had laid on his desk. Standing near the waste basket, he tossed several pieces of mail into the trash. I get more junk mail than… His hand stilled on an envelope that read Dallas in big, bold, cut-out letters from a magazine. “Oh my God.”

  Quinn stood slowly. “What is it?”

  Tyler ripped it open and a small sheet of paper slipped out.

  This is just the beginning.

  “What’s going on?” Dallas asked, easing into the room on her crutches with Skylar close behind.

  Tyler’s head jerked toward the door, and there she stood, the person responsible for his sleepless nights and his accelerated heart rate. He stared at her as she looked back at him. It seemed longer than two days since he’d last seen her. Her long dark hair hung loosely over her shoulders with a few strands framing her cinnamon brown face.

  Though she still didn’t look like her old self, he could tell she was getting better. The bruises were barely noticeable, but her face was still thin and her gorgeous brown eyes not as vibrant as usual. His gaze traveled down the rest of her body. She always did look gorgeous in red, and the red fitted blouse didn’t disappoint. Even with a cast on her leg, she exuded sexiness in her straight black skirt which stopped several inches above her knees and revealed legs that went on forever. Damn his body for reacting.

  Growling within, anger replaced desire when he moved across the room. “Where have you been?”

  Dallas frowned and shuffled back. “Tyler, what’s wrong with you?” She looked at Quinn, then back at Tyler. She studied him a bit longer. “I’m not trying to be funny, but you look awful … and you’re sweating. It’s not even hot in here. Are you sick?” She placed her hand against his forehead.

  “Yeah, you are acting kinda weird,” Skylar said, holding several shopping bags.

  He yanked away from Dallas’s gentle touch. “How do you expect me to act? I’ve been trying to reach you for hours. I thought something…” Overcome with emotion, he reached out and pulled Dallas into his arms, a possessive desperation in his voice. “I thought something had happened to you,” he mumbled into her hair, kissing her forehead.

  Dallas wiggled out of his arms and glared at him. “Wait a minute! If you were so worried, why haven’t I heard from you? You couldn’t have been too concerned.”

  Skylar’s eyes narrowed. “Why would you think something had happened? We went to her doctor’s appointment and then to the mall. What’s the
big deal?”

  Tyler, already missing Dallas’s softness and the heat she generated, shot an icy look at his sister. “The big deal is I didn’t know where you were!”

  “We were out.” His sister challenged.

  “I’ve been calling all afternoon. Why didn’t either of you answer your phones? What’s the point of having a cell phone if you’re not going to answer it?” he shouted, his words harsher than he intended. Tyler walked to the mantle, as a war of emotions raged through him.

  “I forgot and left my phone here and Dallas’s battery died,” Skylar said.

  Dallas glared at him. “Are you serious? I haven’t heard from you in days, and now all of a sudden you’re worried? Why do you care now?”

  Yeah, why do I care? He had asked himself that question too many times to count since she’d reappeared in his life. She was the most exasperating woman he’d ever known, but he cared. That was his problem. He cared too much.

  “Are you even listening to me?” Dallas grabbed his arm and forced him to look at her. Apparently, she saw the weariness in his eyes, because her tone immediately softened. “Tyler, what’s really going on here?”

  “Okay, ya’ll, let’s calm down.” Quinn spoke for the first time since Dallas and Skylar’s arrival. “I’m sure the detective will fill you in.”

  “Detective?” Dallas and Skylar said.

  As if on cue, Detective Davenport walked into the office. Placing his note pad in the inside pocket of his sports jacket, he said, “Ms. Marcel, I’m Detective Davenport and I’ll be taking over your case.”

  ****

  Dallas leaned heavily on her crutches and stared at the plump man, who appeared to be in no condition to chase down criminals.

  “Okay, will someone please tell me what’s going on?” She sat on the sofa, while the detective opted for one of the upholstered chairs across from her. Skylar took the chair next to him, and Quinn leaned against Tyler’s desk.

  Dallas stole a glance at Tyler who stood near the fireplace watching her. She’d never seen him so freaked out. Not even the time when his oldest brother, Kenny, physically attacked Simone, and he had to keep Tim from killing him.

  Tyler finally sat next to her, hunched over with his elbows resting on his knees. Tension vibrated off of him like steam from a radiator, and Dallas’s anxiety multiplied the longer he sat without speaking. Minutes crept by while he stared at the floor, his fingers interlocked in front of him. When he finally raised his head and looked at her, the expression in his midnight-black eyes caused an uneasy sensation to slither down her spine.

  “Tyler, you’re scaring me.”

  He reached for her hand and held it within his. “On my way back from Chicago, I received a call, actually a warning.” As he repeated the words of the call tears sprung to Dallas’s eyes and her heart rate tripled. The call she received days ago was bad enough, but a second call scared her to death.

  “I haven’t even showed the detective this,” Tyler said handing her a slip of paper, “but this was with the mail.”

  “This is just the beginning.” Her eyes darted nervously between Tyler, and the detective. “What does this mean?”

  Detective Davenport shifted his bulky body in the chair and reached for the small sheet of paper. “I’m not sure, and unfortunately that’s not all. I just received a call regarding the car that hit you.”

  “And?” Tyler asked. Dallas felt him tense beside her.

  “It was stolen from a Milwaukee couple while they were on vacation. We found it in Detroit along with something that leads us to believe the accident was intentional.”

  “And what’s that?” Quinn asked from across the room.

  “A picture of Dallas balled up between the seats, with the make and model of her car scribbled on the back.”

  “Oh, my God.” Dallas’s hands flew to her chest, shocked by what she was hearing. Tyler put his arm around her shoulder.

  “She received another call a few days ago,” Dallas heard Skylar say. “The threat was similar but Dallas thought it might’ve been some kids playing on the phone.”

  Tyler kissed the top of Dallas’s head. “Aw, baby, you should’ve told me. We could have jumped on this sooner.”

  Unable to respond, Dallas listened as the four of them talked back and forth. Her mind raced and fear rioted within her as the reality of the situation engulfed her. Someone was trying to kill her.

  “Ms. Marcel, we’re going to do everything we can to put the pieces together and find who’s behind this,” Davenport said. “Can you think of anyone who would want to harm you?”

  She did a mental run through of conversations and incidents over the past few weeks and came up with nothing that would cause someone to come after her. “No,” she said swiping at tears she wasn’t use to shedding. “I have no idea.”

  Skylar handed her some Kleenex, sat on the opposite side of her, and rubbed her back.

  “So what happens now?” Tyler asked.

  “We’re going to keep searching for information. In the meantime, Ms. Marcel, I’d recommend you not go anywhere alone.”

  Tyler squeezed her shoulder. “She won’t. I’ll be following her like a shadow.”

  He stood and Dallas immediately felt the loss of his warmth. Her eyes followed his movements as he made his way across the room. He ran a hand over his head and down the back of his neck when he walked over to Quinn. But wait, what was that look between them? Do they know something?

  “We’ll walk you out,” Tyler said to the detective, and he and Quinn followed him out of the room.

  “Are you okay?” Skylar asked.

  Dallas shook her head. “I … this … I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

  “Yeah, it’s like something out of a movie or the Twilight Zone. And you can’t think of anyone who could be behind this?”

  “No, no one. I think that’s the worse part. At least if I had an idea, I’d know who to look out for, but I don’t have a clue.”

  Tyler walked back in the room still rubbing the back of his neck. He looked exhausted. The worry lines across his forehead were more pronounced and his face was clouded with uneasiness.

  “Quinn left?” Skylar asked him. She stood and grabbed the shopping bags that were sitting next to the chair she’d vacated.

  “Yeah, he had to take care of some business.”

  “Oh. Well, if you two need me, I’ll be in the kitchen cooking dinner.”

  Tyler reclaimed his seat next to Dallas. “I’m not even going to ask if you’re okay.”

  “I could’ve been killed by that car and now I find out it was intentional.” A few tears crept down her cheeks.

  Tyler lifted her chin toward him and put his large hands on each side of her face, the pads of his thumbs wiping tears. “As long as there’s breath in my body, I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  He said it with such fierce conviction that Dallas almost burst into a full-blown cry. But then his mouth covered hers, and lips so soft and unbelievably intoxicating sent a flare through her body, causing all thoughts to temporarily flee her mind. God she missed him and wanted nothing more than to stay wrapped in his arms, but she couldn’t. One of them had to be strong and stop this before it went too far. She knew it had to be her when he pulled her closer and her breast pushed against his strong chest, and he deepened the kiss.

  “We can’t,” she whimpered against his mouth and slowly pushed away. “I can’t.”

  He studied her for a second and blew out a breath before nodding. “I know.”

  When he stood and left the room without looking back, Dallas wanted to bang her head against the wall. She wanted him something fierce despite the drama in her life.

  An hour later, she sat across from Skylar at the kitchen table picking at her food. They hadn’t eaten since lunch and now dined on blackened tilapia, grilled vegetables and brown rice. Though she tried, Dallas couldn’t make herself eat.

  “Now can you see how much my brother cares for you?”
Skylar asked.

  Dallas stared down at her plate without responding. She didn’t want Tyler to get the wrong idea. Yes, she felt safe with him and knew he’d do whatever he could to protect her. But it didn’t change the fact that they could never be more than friends. Good friends.

  “He probably won’t admit it, but he’s still in love with you. The man would give his last breath for you.”

  Dallas’s eyebrows knitted together. “I think he cares and is concerned, but that’s it. Besides, I haven’t been the easiest person to get along with these past couple of weeks. What makes you think he still loves me?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Skylar put her fork down. “Did you see the way he looked at you this evening? How worried he was?”

  “I think you’re reading too much into it. I would’ve freaked out too if a note had come in the mail like that directed at him and I didn’t know where he was. That was a natural reaction. He knows we’re just friends.”

  “Mmm, hmm. If you say so.”

  ****

  Tyler walked into his bedroom. Beyond exhausted, he unfastened his belt and slowly pulled the tail of his shirt out of his pants. Removing his shirt he tossed it to a nearby chair and sat on the edge of the bed to take off his shoes.

  Too tired to do much else, he climbed further onto the bed and collapsed against the mound of pillows. A sigh of content slipped through his lips as he felt some of the tension leave his body. He’d been through hell worrying about Dallas, and to find out her life could be in serious danger was something he hadn’t bargained for. How the hell could he keep her safe without losing his heart to her again? The thought lulled him to sleep.

  ****

  Dallas knocked softly on the door and hoped Tyler was still awake. It was after 10 p.m., but he rarely went to bed before midnight. They needed to talk, and she wouldn’t be able to sleep until they had an understanding about their relationship. By nature he was a protector. She wanted to make sure he knew she appreciated him letting her stay there, but they couldn’t go back to what they once had.