Escape in Passion

by Shiela Stewart

  “He needed to get away from it all. The memories. Marshall. He was transferred here for no other reason than that. He didn’t have her shot, Julia, and we both know that.”

  “I know it now—well, I mostly knew it before I came to town, but I had to be sure. I knew Marshall was into some illegal dealings before Michelle’s death, but it wasn’t until he approached me with the idea to search for Vic and make him pay that I realized just how dirty he was.”

  Tom folded his arms across his chest, frowning. “What did he want you to do to Vic?”

  “Kill him.” Julia took a deep breath and continued, “Marshall taught me how to fire a gun, and I got quite good at it. But I never intended to use it, on Vic. I wasn’t thinking when I first set out; I just wanted answers. But when I got here, and I started to get to know Vic, I knew the truth. I should have come out with who I really was then, but…” She shrugged, letting it go at that.

  “Give him a few days, Julia, then tell him just what you told me.” Tom laid his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

  She lowered her head, nodding, and wondered if Vic would actually listen in a few days. Or had she lost him for good?

  ***

  Vic didn’t care that it was two in the morning; he was covering up the damn red letters. It only added to his hurt, seeing the word Traitor scrawled across his front entrance. It was suiting, though, not just for Marshall, but also for himself. Julia had betrayed them both. Not that he felt sympathy for the bastard, the guy could rot in hell for all he cared—and he actually wished Marshall would.

  Thank God the house was painted in white. It was easy to pick up a few cans of white spray paint to cover over the ugly graffiti. If it had been some odd color that had to be mixed and blended, he would have been screwed. Hell, he would have just spray painted the whole damn house white and be done with it. To hell with how it looked.

  “It’s terrible how, even in small towns, you have graffiti.”

  Vic’s shoulders hunched up at the sound of Marshall’s voice behind him. His first thought was to turn and spray the bastard in the face with the paint, then kick the living shit out of him. But being an officer of the law, Vic decided that would not be in his best interest.

  Instead, he turned slowly, keeping his face sober. “We also have laws against loitering on private property, which is a punishable offense. I would love to throw your ass in jail, Kent.”

  Lifting the collar of his jacket, Marshall simply shrugged. “I was simply out for a late night stroll when I happened upon the town’s law official and wondered what he was doing out so late.”

  “I could ask you the same thing.”

  Marshall shrugged again. “I couldn’t sleep and thought a walk and some fresh air would help. Looks like you had some vandalism.” He clucked his tongue. “What a shame.”

  “I don’t want you on my property, Kent; I don’t want you in my town. So save us both the agony and fuck the hell off.”

  “What language.”

  “Leave,” Vic demanded. Oh, how he itched to spray the guy in the face then take him down good and hard and cuff him. But to do that meant keeping him in the local jail cell overnight, and Vic was in no mood to have the slimy bastard invading that part of his life right now. He just wanted Marshall gone.

  “So, how is the little woman? Did the two of you kiss and make up?”

  Vic narrowed his eyes at Marshall, his hand gripping the spray can tighter. He refused to respond.

  “Or perhaps you didn’t and that is why you’re out here in the middle of the night, taking your frustrations out on your house.”

  “I’m giving you five seconds to exit my property, Kent, before I get nasty.”

  Turning, Marshall walked calmly to the gate and left Vic’s property. He paused for one last comment. “I know Julia didn’t go home. I called her parents house to see if they’d heard from her. That means she’s still here. She really should go home. If she knows what’s best for her.”

  The threat came out loud and clear and chilled Vic to the bone. Julia was in trouble. Problem was that protecting her meant taking her back. He wasn’t quite ready for that. Yet.

  Chapter 28

  In his office the next day, Vic sat bleary eyed trying to focus on the documents before him without falling asleep. He hadn’t gone to bed after covering up the graffiti; instead, he’d decided to head to the office to get some work done. He really shouldn’t have come in this early, but he hadn’t wanted to crawl into his bed alone. And because he was so damn tired, he’d consumed what felt like a gallon of coffee. His body was overloaded on caffeine, but instead of waking him up, it was making him jittery.

  Vic yawned, wiped his hand across his face, then gave it a good hard slap. Maybe that would wake him up.

  It didn’t, because he yawned again right after.

  “Damn it.” He stood, walked to the window, and opened it as wide as it would go. Maybe a zap of cold air would wake him. When he was hit with a gust of warm air, he huffed. Of course it would have to be warm today, making him even sleepier.

  Vic groaned at the knock on his door, then after a good, long stretch, called out, “Enter.” The last person he expected, or wanted to see, was Julia.

  “Millie said I could just come in.”

  “Millie was mistaken.”

  “Vic, please.” She closed the door at her back. “I need to talk to you.”

  “This isn’t the place to do it.”

  “This is the perfect place to do it. You can’t throw me out without making a scene, and I know you don’t want that. Just let me talk, okay?”

  Vic didn’t want her to talk, because even the sound of her voice made his chest ache. “There’s nothing left to say.” He rounded his desk, instantly picking up the cup of coffee he knew he shouldn’t be drinking. He was jittery enough.

  “There is plenty left to say. I made a mistake, a huge mistake, and for that I’m sorry. I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  The sincerity he heard in her voice nearly crippled him. “Fine. You said your piece, now go.”

  She let out a long breath but didn’t budge. “I love you, Vic—”

  “Don’t,” he warned her with a cold stare. She was breaking his heart and saying those words only managed to snap it right in half.

  “I never intended to fall in love with you, but I did, and I can’t just turn it off. What I did was wrong; I know that, I knew that all along; I was stupid, okay, and I was scared of losing you.”

  “I don’t want to get into this here, Julia.” Vic didn’t want to get into it at all.

  “Marshall came to me while I was grieving, and he led me to believe you were responsible for Michelle’s death. I believed him, or I wanted to believe him. I was distraught after losing Michelle and my mind wasn’t working on all gears. But the more he spoke about it, the more I saw through his lies. I needed to know what had really happened, and I knew the only other person who could tell me that was you. I had to know from your point of view what had really happened.”

  “And you couldn’t have come to me and told me you were Michelle’s sister?”

  She shook her head. “No, I couldn’t.”

  “Why?”

  “Would you have opened up to me as much as you did? I didn’t think you would. So I deceived you, hid from you who I was; which I know was stupid, but… Then I fell in love with you.”

  “Stop it, please.” His heart couldn’t take any more.

  “I wanted to tell you; I did, but I didn’t want to lose you. I thought—I don’t know what I thought—it was all so irrational. I’ve never been in love before.”

  He had, or he’d thought he’d been in love. Now, the way he felt for Julia, he wasn’t so sure. “Why were you there? Why did you go to Marshall in the middle of the night, Julia? I’m thinking this is all a line of bullshit, and you’re still in cahoots with him.”

  “I’m not,” Julia said on a gasp. “I went to him that night to ask him to leave, to ask him to stay aw
ay from you. I wanted him to go away and leave us alone.”

  “So you could continue the lie.”

  “No. That wasn’t the reason. I was scared he would kill you. Damn it, Vic, I know he wants you dead. And he won’t stop until he gets his way.”

  Vic stood, his shoulders square, his back straight. “Well, that isn’t going to happen. Go home, Julia. Be smart and just go home.” Taking her by the arm he felt the delicate skin and his heart leapt into his throat. Damn it, he wanted her so badly he could taste her. Clamping down on his emotions, Vic walked her to the door and, opening it, gave her a nudge. “Just go home.”

  “He wanted me to kill you, Vic. That was what he thought when he sent me to find you. But I never wanted you dead. I only wanted to know the truth.”

  His heart hurt something fierce and he thought it would burst from his chest. “Well, I hope it was worth it, to get those answers.”

  He closed the door and closed his eyes.

  Love was hell. Pure and simple hell.

  ***

  It was ridiculous. All she wanted was to get something from her car. A little something to help protect them all. She didn’t need a damn body guard for that. She’d argued with both Tom and Greg, insisting nothing would happen to her in the forty feet from the house to her car. Still, Greg insisted he follow her out. It was embarrassing. But it got worse.

  “Give me your keys.”

  Her brow furrowed at Greg, and she purposely clamped her hands tighter around the keys. “Why?”

  “I need to check out the vehicle before you get in it.”

  “Oh, come on. You can’t be serious?”

  “Does this look like the face of a joker?”

  Her mouth curved up in a grin. “Oh, Greg, you walked into that one.”

  “Just give me the keys, Julia.” Greg held his hand out, his face determined.

  “You really need to smile more often. Fine, here, have my keys, inspect all you like. You won’t find anything.” Handing over her keys, Julia stood back while he unlocked the door. “See—” She screeched at the snapping sound, her eyes going wide when she saw the long thin knife that stuck into her seat. “What the—”

  “Get inside.” Grabbing her by the arm, scanning the area, Greg rushed her inside the house.

  “What’s going on?” Tom asked the instant they were inside.

  “There was a knife…” Julia took a deep breath, unable to finish the sentence.

  “Her car was booby trapped. Call Vic,” Greg demanded, looking out the window, keeping his eyes on the car.

  Julia sunk down in the chair, staring blankly into the room. If she had gone out to her car alone, and she had opened the door to climb inside, that knife would have hit her square in the chest. Swallowing the thought of that, she rested her head on the table. She vaguely heard the voices around her.

  ***

  Vic showed up only moments later, tires screeching to a halt directly behind Julia’s car. Behind him were two of his officers. Throwing his car door open, he hurried out, shouting out his orders. “Glove up and process the vehicle.” Boots eating up the concrete as he ran, his only thought was Julia.

  He pushed through the front door to Tom and Cassie’s house without an invitation, his eyes scanning the room for her. “Julia?”

  “She’s lying down in the spare room. She’s shook up, Vic,” Tom spoke softly.

  “What happened? I want full details.”

  Greg stepped forward, his back straight while he gave his report. “Julia needed to get something from her vehicle, and I insisted I go with her. She argued, but I held firm. I took her keys, opened the driver’s side door. I should have seen the knife…” He cleared his throat and continued. “Upon opening the driver’s door, a knife shot out from the steering wheel and stuck in the seat. It would have caught her right in the center of her chest.”

  “Damn it! Damn him!” Rubbing a hand over his face, Vic wanted to kill Marshall.

  “I rushed her into the house, checked the perimeter but found nothing out of the ordinary. My guess is he did it during the night.”

  “Yeah, right after leaving my place. Damn it, I should have thought—I should have escorted him to his hotel. Son of a bitch.”

  “It’s not your fault, Vic,” Tom reassured.

  “The hell it isn’t,” Vic retorted. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t been fucking with his woman, he never would have shot her, and if—”

  “You can’t live your life on ifs, Vic. All you can do is work with now. Tell me what you meant when you said he left your place?”

  Vic knew it was his own fault, even if Tom wouldn’t admit it. But his friend was right about one thing. He had to concentrate on now, and he was damn well going to make sure Marshall paid this time, Vic decided. “I was out painting over the graffiti on my house when he showed up. I should have known he was up to something. Fuck.” Vic scrubbed a hand over his face again, heading to the door. “I have to check on my men.”

  “She needs to see you, Vic.”

  He looked back to Tom, letting out a long breath. “I need to do this first.” Because he knew if he went to her now, he wouldn’t be able to let her go. “Wait,” Vic turned back, “how did she get to my office this morning?”

  “I drove her in my car,” Greg stated. “She was going to go on foot; I convinced her otherwise.”

  “Good.” Vic nodded. “What did she need from her car?”

  “She wouldn’t say.”

  Turing back, Vic headed out. He took a pair of latex gloves from one of his officers, before heading to the driver’s side. Seeing the knife stuck in the seat, his chest tightened. She could be dead right now if… “Prints?”

  “We dusted inside and out, picked up a few. We’ll need to get prints from Miss Wilson to compare. We haven’t done the knife yet.”

  “Print everyone in the house to rule them out. I want Marshall Kent brought in for questioning.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Vic stood there a few more minutes just staring at the knife. Julia could have been killed. He raised a hand to his chest to rub the ache that had settled uncomfortably where his heart was beating.

  “Vic.”

  Seeing Tom rush from the house caught Vic’s attention. “What’s up?”

  “Julia’s gone.”

  “What?”

  “Cassie just went to check on her, and she wasn’t in her room. The window is open.”

  “Damn it!” What the hell was she thinking leaving?

  “Sir, Marshall Kent checked out of his hotel early this morning.”

  Vic spun on his heels, his eyes wide as he glared at the officer. “Put out an APB on his vehicle.” Vic looked back to Tom, his heart in his throat. “He has her. Marshall has Julia.”

  Chapter 29

  Vic was frantic, desperate, and every horrible scenario played in his mind. Marshall could be on his way out of town by now. He could have killed Julia, dumped her body, and driven out of town. Or he still has her and planed on torturing her before killing her. Vic’s mind was racing and his heart was in agony.

  He shouldn’t have sent her away this morning. He should have taken her back to his place and stayed with her. He knew Marshall had threatened her the night before, yet he’d shoved her out of his office without any care whatsoever. And maybe if he’d gone to her when Tom had said so, he might have saved her from Marshall. If she was dead, if she was hurt, he was to blame.

  Again.

  “What are you going to do, Vic?”

  “Find her.” Vic looked to his officer as he approached. “APB?”

  “It’s set. He won’t get far.”

  “He damn well better not.”

  “We found this in the glove compartment of Miss Wilson’s car.”

  Vic looked down at the Colt forty-five and realized now why she had been such a crack shot. She knew how to hold a weapon and how to fire it long before he’d shown her. Then he remembered what Marshall had said. I taught her how to shoot
. “Bag it for evidence.” Spinning on his heels, he headed to his car.

  “Where are you going?” Tom asked, rushing behind him.

  “To search Kent’s hotel room.”

  “I’m coming along.”

  “The hell you are. This is my job, Tom, not yours. Protect your family, and if you hear anything, call Millie and she’ll radio me.”

  “I will. Vic, be careful.”

  Nodding, Vic climbed behind the wheel of his police cruiser and pulled away. He was going to find Julia, and he was going to save her. He was not losing another woman he loved.

  ***

  It was cold in the dank, rundown shack Marshall had taken her to, and sitting in the rickety old chair he set her on, Julia shivered. He’d come to the window of the bedroom she’d been staying in at Tom and Cassie’s and had convinced her all he wanted was to talk. She’d believed him and climbed out the open window. She was such fool, believing him, believing all he wanted was to talk, believing he had nothing to do with Michelle’s death. He’d grabbed her at gunpoint and forced her into his car. But her eyes were open now, and she knew just what Marshall had planned, and it terrified her.

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  “Apparently, I do, given the fact that you failed to do what you were supposed to do.”

  “I couldn’t kill an innocent person.” Julia swallowed hard. “Unlike you.”

  “You have that in common with your late sister. You’re as naive as she was. Michelle knew I had some illegal dealings, and she was fine with it. As long as there was money, she was happy.”

  “Yet as happy as you claim she was, Michelle was seeing Vic behind your back.” Was she crazy, antagonizing him while he held a gun on her?

  “He fed her a line; Michelle was a sucker for a pretty face. Looks like you have that in common.”

  “She was going to leave you.”