“Why?” he asked again, softly, quietly, because he didn’t want to scare her more than she already was, didn’t want to send her running again. She looked deep into his eyes for a split second before turning away, staring out into the bay.
Seconds ticked by, her silence stretching out as gulls cried and muted laughter drifted from the restaurant.
Finally, she spoke, the words so quiet he had to lean close to hear, and even then, he wasn’t sure he had heard correctly. “He’s not mine.”
“Who is not yours?”
“Tyler. He’s not my son. Not legally.” Her voice broke and more tears slid down her cheeks.
“Then whose is he? Legally.” He kept his voice steady, his tone gentle, but his pulse raced with shock. When he’d learned that she had run from Boston and changed her name, he’d assumed she’d been running from Tyler’s father, that she was hiding her identity out of fear for herself and her son. He’d never imagined how deep her secrets ran.
“It’s a long story.”
“I have plenty of time to listen to it.”
“Of course you do,” she said, her hollow laughter drifting out into the bay, her face empty and cold, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Because, when you’re done listening, you’re going back to your home and your family and your life. But when I’m done telling it, my family won’t be mine anymore.”
“Why not? Whose son is he, Merry? If he’s not yours, why are you raising him?” He captured her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye. He wanted to see the truth when she told it, wanted to know there were no more secrets between them.
“His mother was a student of mine. Her name was Nicole Anderson. She was seventeen when we met. Eighteen when Tyler was born.” The tears came more quickly as she spoke, and endless stream of sorrow that made Douglas want to pull her into his arms, hold her until they stopped.
“Where is she now?” he asked instead, because the story had to be told. All of it. No matter how painful.
“She’s dead. Murdered a few weeks after Tyler was born. Before she was killed, she asked me to take care of Tyler until she could come for him. She was never able to come, and I just raised him as my own.” Her voice broke, silent sobs wracking her body.
He tugged her into his arms, giving into what he wanted and what he thought she needed. Holding her felt right, comforting her felt right.
She felt right.
In his arms. In his life.
“I’m so sorry, Douglas. I just didn’t know what to do.” Her head dropped to his chest, her hands clutching his waist, tearstains splotching his leather bomber jacket.
“You didn’t do anything you need to be sorry for. If Nicole asked you to raise Tyler—”
“She did.” She lifted her head, looked straight into his eyes. For the first time since he’d met her, there were no shadows in her gaze.
“Then you didn’t commit a crime, and you have nothing to be afraid of. Not from the law, anyway. You said you were running from Tyler’s father?”
“Yes. His name is Tyrone Rodriguez. He’s a high-ranking member of the Boston Red Bloods, and I’m sure he murdered Nicole. She told me he was capable of it. Told me he wanted his son and would do anything to get him.”
Douglas knew the gang name. Notorious in Boston, they’d infiltrated many of Massachusetts’s small towns and coastal villages, bringing drugs, illegal weapons and crime.
He thought of the mark on Tyler’s arm. The circle with what could have been a letter in the center of it. He’d seen something similar on a gang member’s arm. A new way of displaying the gang colors. A brand rather than a tattoo.
A brand!
“He branded his own son?” The question burst out, filled with every bit of Douglas’s rage, and Merry jumped back, nearly tumbling off the edge of the pier. He grabbed her arm, holding her steady, his pulse racing with anger and fear. A man capable of branding his child was capable of killing without remorse.
“Yes. Two weeks after Tyler was born. Nicole brought him to me the next night. She was bloody and beaten and so scared for Tyler’s life.”
“Did you call the police?”
“She begged me not to. She thought Tyrone had connections in the Boston Police Department, and she was terrified that they’d take Tyler and give him back to his father.”
“Tyrone Rodriguez is not a father. He’s a monster,” Douglas spat out, and Merry nodded, tears falling again, dripping down her face and dropping onto the wooden pier.
“Nicole had everything planned out. We’d both leave town. She’d go in one direction, and I’d go in the other. She’d lose Tyrone’s tail, and I’d find a nice little town for her to settle in with the baby. She was going to call me once she knew it was safe. A week or two. That’s all she asked of me, and I couldn’t say no.” Her voice broke, and she wiped away more tears.
“She never called?”
“I finally called her house. Her aunt told me that she’d been tortured and then murdered. It happened the night I left Boston. The next day, Tyrone visited Nicole’s aunt, asked if she’d seen Nicole…or me.”
“He knew your name?”
“Yes. He must have tortured the information out of Nicole.”
“And then went to the aunt, pretending like he didn’t know Nicole was dead?”
“That’s what I thought when she told me about his visit. It’s what I still think. Tyrone murdered Nicole, and I knew he’d kill me if he found me. Take Tyler. I couldn’t let that happen, so I changed my name and I ran.” Her tears had stopped, their tracks dried on her wind-whipped cheeks. Transparent, vulnerable, she was more beautiful than any woman Douglas had ever seen.
“You did the right thing.” He slid a hand up her arm, let it rest on the back of her neck, the soft silky weight of her upswept hair heavy against his knuckles.
“Did I? I still wonder. I worry about what I’ll tell Tyler when he’s older. How I’ll explain everything that happened, the decisions I made.”
“Love, Merry. That’s how you’ll explain it. Come on. Let’s go get Tyler. I want to bring him to the station while I make a few phone calls. Until we know where Rodriguez is, I want you and Tyler under twenty-four-hour guard.” He walked toward the restaurant, but she grabbed his hand, pulled him to a stop.
“Douglas…” Her eyes glowed deep brown in her pale face, fresh tears shimmering on her long lashes.
“What?”
“Thank you.” Her tears flowed again, down her cheeks, into his heart.
One minute they were apart, cold air and icy spray between them. The next, she was in his arms.
He didn’t know how she’d gotten there.
Didn’t care.
The feel of her, the scent, flowed over him and through him until all he knew was Merry. Her soft sigh, her eager response as his lips touched hers. Once. Then again.
Tentative.
Light.
Then, more and more, until he was lost in the moment. Lost in her.
Lost and hoping he’d never find his way back.
FIFTEEN
So, this was what it was like to be swept off her feet.
The thought flitted through Merry’s mind.
There.
Gone.
Everything gone as heat flooded through her.
She moved closer to the source, wrapping her arms around Douglas’s waist, her hands sliding up the firm, hard muscles of his back.
This was what it was like, and she wanted it to go on and on and on. Never wanted to let go of his strength and warmth.
“Hey! Mister! Why are you kissing my mommy?” Tyler’s voice tugged her back to the cold winter day, the watery sunlight gleaming off the bay.
The terror.
; She pulled back, gasping for breath as she looked into Douglas’s vivid blue eyes.
“It’s going to be okay. I promise,” he said softly as Tyler raced toward them, Vanessa jogging along behind him.
Merry scooped Tyler into her arms, hugged him close. “I thought you were frosting a carrot cake.”
“Already did. Why was he kissing you, Mommy?” Tyler pressed his hand to Merry’s cheek, demanding her attention.
“Now that’s something for older folks to worry about, dear one. Not someone your age. Come on. We’ll go back inside, and I’ll sit with you while you eat your lunch.” Vanessa’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as she reached for Tyler, but Merry wouldn’t release him.
She was too afraid of what might happen in the next days and weeks and months.
“Thanks, Aunt Vanessa, but can you pack it up for take-out? Merry and Tyler are coming back to the station with me. You want to see where I work, right, buddy?” Douglas asked, and Tyler’s face brightened.
“We’re going to jail! Yea!”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone quite so enthusiastic about going to jail.” Douglas laughed, ruffling Tyler’s hair, the warmth in his eyes as he looked at her son filling Merry’s heart.
She hadn’t meant to tell him everything, but she’d wanted to so many times that when the words flowed out, they’d felt right and natural and good.
She’d trusted him with all the secrets she’d held close for four years.
She just hoped she wouldn’t regret it.
Prayed she wouldn’t.
She kissed Tyler’s head, set him down when she wanted to hold him close.
What if Douglas couldn’t help?
What if Family Services got involved and took Tyler away, gave him to Tyrone?
What then?
A piece of Merry would die.
That’s what.
“He’s going to be fine,” Douglas whispered, his lips brushing her ear, the contact shivering through her, reminding her that she wasn’t alone in her struggles anymore.
But even that might not be enough to save her family.
The knowledge settled into her stomach, pounded along with the pain in her head.
“It’s not nice to whisper. Right, Mommy?” Tyler bounced beside her, happy and sweet and loving, and she wanted to hold the moment close, tuck it away in her heart. Just in case.
“That’s right, sweetie.” She helped him into his car seat, her hands shaking as she tried to buckle him in.
“Let me.” Douglas brushed her hands away, secured the straps, closed the door.
“Well, I had no idea you two were an item or I never would have invited you to tea today, Douglas,” Vanessa said, walking over with their lunch in a bag and completely oblivious to Merry’s fear and tension.
“We’re no—”
“We didn’t, either. Until a few minutes ago,” Douglas responded easily, his gaze on Merry, his eyes so blue and filled with compassion they took her breath away.
“Well, I, for one, couldn’t be more pleased. You two are a perfect match. If I’ve said it once to my dear husband, I’ve said it again. ‘Douglas needs a woman like Merry O’Leary to settle him down.’”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, okay, Aunt Vanessa? Merry and I want to take our time and see where things lead. No pressure from you.”
“Pressure? Since when would I ever put pressure on anyone?”
“Since all the time, but I love you anyway.” He kissed her cheek. “We need to head out. Put lunch on my tab, okay?”
“Tab? What tab, you scoundrel? You’re going to wash dishes next time you’re in. Mark my words on that!” Vanessa laughed, Douglas winked and Merry should have felt so much better than she did.
So much stronger knowing she wasn’t going to have to fight alone.
So much freer knowing that the truth had finally been told.
All she felt was sick dread.
Please, God, I can’t lose Tyler.
“Everything really is going to be okay, Merry,” Douglas said as he helped her into the station wagon.
“You can’t know that.”
“What I know is that you have a community of people who care about you. You have me. You have my family. You’re not alone in this. Come on, let’s get out of here. I’ll follow you to the police department. No stopping for anything on the way there.”
“Okay.” She didn’t want to stop. She wanted to drive and keep driving, but that would mean running again, and Douglas was right. It was time to stop. Time to face the past. Time to move on.
Knowing it didn’t keep her hands from shaking as she drove to the police station, didn’t stop them from trembling as she unbuckled Tyler and tried to keep him from darting across the parking lot ahead of her.
“Whoa, pal! Not so fast.” Douglas lifted him onto his shoulders, Tyler squealed in delight and Merry’s hands still shook. Her stomach shook. Her heart shook.
“What happens now?” she asked as they stepped into the police station.
“I’m going to take your statement, and then I’m going to contact the Boston P.D. I want to find out if they keep tabs on Tyrone. They may know if he’s still in Boston.”
“What about…?” She gestured to Tyler.
“We’ll talk about that later.”
“Right.” That was for the best. She didn’t want Tyler to hear the conversation.
“You two can sit in my office. I’m going to make a few phone calls from Owen’s office.”
Merry nodded, but she didn’t want to wait.
Didn’t want to sit in his office, thinking about the consequences of what she’d done. As much as she trusted Douglas, she wasn’t sure she could trust the system. What if Tyler was taken from her? What if he was given to Tyrone?
She swallowed back panic, grabbing her cell phone and dialing Fiona’s number. She had to let her know that she wouldn’t be back in the afternoon, that she might not be back to work for a while.
“Reading Nook. How can I help you?”
“Fiona? It’s Merry.” Her voice was thick with tears and worry, and she cleared her throat.
“Is everything okay? You sound upset.”
“I’m at the police station with Douglas.”
“What’s going on? You’re not in any trouble, are you? If you are, I can close the shop and—”
“I’m not in trouble. I just…some things have come up. I can’t explain everything right now, but I won’t be able to return to work this afternoon.”
“Merry, I’m worried about you. Last night, you were nearly killed. Today, you’re at the police station. You know I’ll help you in any way I can, right?”
“Yes, but I’m okay. I’m just waiting for Douglas to make a phone call, and then I’ll be out of here.”
“You’re sure you don’t want me to come?”
“I’m sure. I’ll see you…” When? Until Tyrone was found, there was no way she could return to work. No way she could put Fiona’s life in danger by leading Tyrone to her bookstore.
“Whenever you can come in will be fine. Call me when you can, okay?”
Merry said goodbye and rubbed her throbbing temples. Tyler sat at her feet, pretending to be a police car, his siren sounds piercing through her aching head.
“Can you quiet down, Ty? Mommy has a headache.” She pulled pins from her hair, releasing the bun and taking some of the weight off the back of her head.
It didn’t help.
The headache still pounded behind her eyes.
Tension and worry and fear pulsing a sickening rhythm through her blood.
Where was Douglas?
What was taking so long?
She glanced at the clock. Twenty minutes. Not so long after all. She tugged at the high collar of her Victorian shirt, wishing she could change into jeans and a T-shirt. Itchy, hot and grumpy, and still no sign of Douglas.
Where was he?
The door flew open, and she jumped up, nearly tripping over Tyler in her haste. But it wasn’t Douglas in the doorway. It was his father. Haggard and windblown, his eyes shadowed and dark, Aiden smiled gently, and for a moment, Merry saw Douglas in his face.
“Everything okay in here?” he asked, and she knew Douglas must have asked him to check.
“I’m a police car,” Tyler answered, zooming across the floor on his knees, his siren sound ringing in Merry’s ears.
“A police car, huh? You like police cars a lot, don’t you?” Aiden crouched down so he was eye to eye with Tyler.
“They’re my favorite.”
“Tell you what. How would you like to go for a ride in mine?”
“No!” Merry nearly shouted, everything she’d feared, everything she’d worried about suddenly coming true.
Aiden was going to take Tyler from her. Drive him to Family Services. Hand him over to a stranger.
“What’s going on in here?” Douglas stepped into the room, looked straight into Merry’s eyes, held her with his gaze.
Everything really will be okay.
She’d wanted so badly to believe him when he’d said that, but how could anything ever be okay again if she lost Tyler?
“You asked me to bring Tyler to my place until you and Merry are finished here, but she doesn’t seem to want me to do it,” Aiden responded.
“To your house? I thought…”
“I told you that you and Tyler were going to be under twenty-four-hour guard. The easiest way to do that is for you to stay at my father’s place. Keira lives there, too. Between her and Dad and a top-notch security system, it will be very difficult for anyone to get to you.”
“I—”
“If you’d rather me just bring the boy into my office for a few hours, I don’t mind doing it, but I have toys for the grandkids at my place. Lots of toy police cars, too,” Aiden offered, and Tyler’s eyes widened.
The Lawman's Legacy (Love Inspired Suspense) Page 14