Troubled Hearts

by Jolie Cain

  LeBlanc agreed. “And I think we’ve all observed the startlin’ resemblance to Dr. Montgomery. Obviously he has fixated on her ’cause of her resemblance to his sister and the similarity in their names.”

  Clay nodded. “Yes, Kathleen … Katherine.”

  Just then another officer walked into the room and handed a note to the detective. He skimmed it quickly and stood up.

  “We have an address,” he told them. “Apparently, William Dunn’s mother owns or rather owned a home just outside of Jackson. She died two weeks ago, so the house hasn’t gone through probate yet. That’s why it didn’t show up as one of his properties when we ran it through the first time.”

  “His mother just died?” Clay repeated.

  Detective LeBlanc nodded. “Yes. Everythin’ musta just combined to send him over the edge.”

  Beau felt a glimmer of hope for the first time. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

  Clay grinned. “Not a damn thing.”

  In minutes the men were in their vehicles and heading out. To Beau, the ride seemed to take forever. Finally the cars pulled off the road into a deserted field. “Why are we stopping?” Beau asked Clay.

  Clay answered, “I’m sure Detective LeBlanc wants to scout out the house and decide how to proceed. We can’t just go barging in, Beau. We don’t know what the situation is. It could place Katherine in even more jeopardy, if she’s even here. Remember, we don’t know that for certain. Just sit tight. I’ll be right back.”

  He exited the car and went to join the police officers who were standing close together. One of them gestured with his arm in a westerly direction, and Detective LeBlanc nodded his head. The policeman who had been pointing moved off through the field and into the nearby woods. The others talked for several more minutes before splitting up and moving back to their vehicles. When Clay got in, Beau immediately demanded to know what was going on.

  “They sent MacRaney in to locate the house and see if there is any sign of occupation. We’re pretty lucky that the house is so isolated. Not many cars coming down this road. Hopefully, if Dunn and Katherine are there, they’ll have no idea we’re even in the area.”

  “So we’re just waiting? But what if Katherine is in danger right now? What if that crazy bastard is hurting her? Why don’t we…”

  Clay held up his hand to halt Beau. “We can’t second guess Detective LeBlanc. The police know what they’re doing. If we’re lucky, that officer might even get a look inside. Maybe see who’s there and what’s going on. That’ll help Detective LeBlanc decide how he wants to handle this.” He looked at Beau with a serious expression on his face. “I want you to remember that we’re here as a courtesy, Beau. We have to stay out of the way and let them do their job.”

  Derek added his agreement from the back seat. “We have to think about Katherine.” he emphasized. “And the best thing for her is to let the cops do their job. They’ll let us know if we can help. But if we go charging up in there with guns blazing, there’s no telling what Dunn might do. So for right now, yeah, we just wait.”

  Beau knew that they were right. But it was damn hard to be this close to possibly finding Katherine and getting her away from that sonofabitch, and not do anything.

  When the officer emerged from the woods a short while later and Detective LeBlanc got out of his car, Beau reached for the handle. Clay stopped him. “Sit tight. I mean it, Beau. I’ll go find out what’s going on.”

  After listening to the officer, Detective LeBlanc spoke to his men, gesturing and pointing in various directions. Clay stood to one side, absorbing everything. Occasionally he would nod in agreement when LeBlanc directed a question his way. Once he shook his head vehemently and spoke for several minutes. Finally he came back to the car. He motioned for Beau to roll down his window.

  “They’re here. Dunn’s car is parked in front of the house. Officer Lawrence got a look in one of the windows, and he saw Dunn in the living room. Then he moved down the hallway and out of sight. No sign of Katherine, though.” Beau cursed. “She’s probably in one of the bedrooms. Detective LeBlanc doesn’t think we’re going to get any better chance than right now. We have the element of surprise on our side. And since we have no idea of Katherine’s condition or how much danger she is in, he believes that we should proceed. So we’re going in—in force. They’ve asked me to come along.” He pierced Beau with a hard stare. “He said you could come too, but you have to stay to the back and out of danger. You cannot go barging in like some crazy fool. I swore to him you would do exactly as you were told. Do you understand, Beau?”

  Beau nodded. His stomach was tight with tension and fear for Katherine. “I will. I’m not an idiot, Clay. I know I’m not trained for this. But I can’t just sit here and wait. God, I’ll go crazy.”

  “All right. Come on.”

  The men spread out and moved stealthily towards the house. Using hand signals, Detective LeBlanc positioned his men. Carefully the men eased forward, weapons drawn. Beau was sent to the edge of the clearing along with Derek. They knelt down behind the trunk of a fallen tree, hidden from view of the house but able to see fairly well. Beau saw the men moving in closer to the house, some slipping around the corner and others plastering their backs against the side of the house. Detective LeBlanc knelt near the back door, Clay beside him.

  As soon as the last officer was in place, Detective LeBlanc signaled one of the others who spoke into his radio. Moments later the men burst into action. Clay drew back and kicked the door in, and he and the detective went dashing inside. Beau saw the other men moving as well. There were shouts and shots fired. Beau tried to stand up, but Derek pulled him back down. “You stay right where you are. Just what the hell good do you think you’ll do Katherine getting yourself shot?”

  Reluctantly Beau sank back down but kept his eyes glued to the house. His brain was working overtime, trying to imagine what was happening. Where Katherine was. Suddenly there was a burst of activity towards the back of the house and a large man in jeans and a t-shirt came rushing towards where he and Derek knelt in concealment. It had to be Dunn. In his hand he clutched a small gun, and he had a look of desperation on his face. Several police officers followed quickly behind him.

  Derek drew his own weapon and stood as Dunn drew level. “Stop, man. Drop the gun.”

  Dunn swung his weapon toward Derek. Without stopping to think, Beau leapt up and rushed Dunn, hitting him broadside and knocking him to the ground. The gun flew from his hand and landed several feet away.

  Dunn struggled against Beau, punching him in the face in an effort to get away. Beau saw red. He rolled over on top of Dunn and began returning his blows. Over and over he pummeled the man who had dared to hurt the woman Beau loved. At first Dunn attempted to return the punches, but soon he was just trying to shield himself. Beau was not thinking at all now. Caught up in his protective instincts, he no longer even thought of the body below him as human. Even after Dunn had stopped struggling and gone limp, he kept punching until finally he was grabbed from behind and pulled off.

  “Beau, man. You got him. You got him. It’s time to stop.” Clay gasped him and shook him. “Think of Katherine. She’s inside the house, Beau. She’s hurt. She needs you. Think of Katherine.”

  As Clay’s words penetrated the haze that had clouded his brain, he stopped struggling. “Katherine?”

  “Yeah, buddy. She’s inside. Go on. She’s asking for you.”

  Katherine lay face down on the bed. When Beau entered the room, all he could do was freeze in dismay when he saw the state of her back. She had been beaten. Whipped. Her back was a mass of stripes, some bleeding. The blows had criss-crossed each other repeatedly, and Beau knew that she had to be in severe pain. “Oh, God, kitten.”

  Katherine’s eyes fluttered open, and she tried to raise her head. He crossed the room and sat gingerly beside her on the bed, pressing her head back onto the mattress. She opened her mouth to speak, but he stopped her. “Shhhh, sweetheart. Don’t try to talk
. I’ll take care of everything. You just lie here.”

  She struggled to speak. Beau bent down and could barely make out her whispered, “Don’t leave me.”

  He stroked his hand across her cheek. “Not a chance, sweetheart. Not a chance in hell.”

  She smiled. “Knew you’d come.” Then she closed her eyes.

  Beau could feel the tears welling in his eyes. At the sound of footsteps, he turned and saw Clay standing in the doorway. “An ambulance is on its way,” he told Beau gruffly.

  Beau nodded, feeling a tear slide down his face unashamedly at the look on Clay’s face. “She’s a fighter. That’s for sure.” He picked up a lock of her hair. “Goddammit, Clay! How could he do this to her? That sorry motherfucking sonofabitch. Why did you stop me? You’d already seen her. You should have let me kill him.”

  “You don’t know how much I wish I could have. Because if anyone deserves killing, Dunn does. But it wouldn’t do Katherine any good for you to be locked up in jail. Now, would it?”

  Beau shook his head in reluctant agreement. “No, no, it wouldn’t.”

  Just then one of the police officers walked in with a medical kit in his hand.

  “I’m a first responder, sir. If you’ll step aside, I’ll see what I can do for her until the paramedics get here.”

  Beau bent to whisper to Katherine, “I’m just moving out of the way, sweetheart. I’ll still be right here.”

  Her eyes fluttered open, and she mustered a small smile for him and nodded her understanding. Beau moved to the door to stand beside Clay as the policeman proceeded to tend to Katherine’s injuries.

  “I hate seeing her in such pain. It’s killing me, Clay.”

  Clay rested his hand on Beau’s shoulder. “I know, Beau. But at least she’s alive. And safe now. We did everything we could and got here just in time. If we’d been any later, there’s no telling what he would have done. Killed her, probably. So let’s be grateful that she’s not any worse, okay? I know it’s hard to think like that right now, but we were incredibly lucky. Things could easily have gone the other way.”

  And Beau knew that Clay was right. Regardless of how much Katherine was suffering right now, at least she was safe. That was really all that mattered.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The next day Katherine lay face down on the hospital bed, her back bandaged and treated. The pain had lessened a lot from the painkillers she had been given and the night’s rest she’d had. She was actually feeling a whole lot better, even though her back was very tender, especially when she turned a certain way. But it was nothing like before. The door opened and Beau walked in, closely followed by Clay and Detective LeBlanc. As soon as she saw Beau’s face, she smiled. “I love you, you know.”

  “I know, baby. I love you, too.” He dropped a sweet kiss on her mouth and then stood back to allow Clay and the police detective room to approach her.

  Clay said. “You look like hell, love.”

  Katherine chuckled softly. “Thanks a lot.”

  “My pleasure, sweetheart.” He winked. “Detective LeBlanc wanted to know if you felt up to answering some questions?”

  Beau shook his head in denial. “Can’t that wait?”

  The detective looked at Beau. “Yes, it can. But the sooner we get Dr. Montgomery’s statement, the better. The details are fresh in her mind right now. The longer we delay, the harder it might be for her to recall everythin’.”

  Katherine spoke up. “Do you have to talk about me like I’m not here? I’m in bed with the back from hell, but I am not deaf. I don’t mind answering some questions now. It’s okay, Beau. Really.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Montgomery.”

  “Oh, please, detective. Call me Katherine.”

  “All right, then, Katherine.” He smiled gently. “Can you tell us everythin’ that happened? RJ filled us in on what he knew, but that wasn’t much. Although it was enough to help us locate you, thank goodness. You really owe him a large debt for that.”

  “Oh, my goodness. How is RJ? I’d almost forgotten. I feel awful that I haven’t asked already.”

  “He’s fine, baby. He’s already been released from the hospital. He just had a mild concussion.” Beau reassured her.

  “Thank God.”

  Detective LeBlanc prodded her, “So, Katherine, can you tell us what happened?”

  As Katherine related all of the events that had occurred since Bill had knocked on her condo door, the detective, as well as Beau and Clay, listened carefully. Especially when she told them about the beating. “After we finished eating, we were clearing the table. All of a sudden, he saw the ring and bracelet that Beau had given me. It made him very angry. He grabbed me and dragged me down the hallway. I tried pleading with him, but he wouldn’t listen. He threw me down and tied my hands. Said he was going to beat the devil out of me, like his Mama had done with him. And then I wouldn’t let those men, like Harper and like Beau, make me do the bad things I always did. He said he was going to save me. He tore my shirt down the back and took off his belt.” She stopped, finding the memories almost too painful to continue. “After the first few lashes, I guess I must have blacked out. The next thing I knew, you had all broken in and stopped him. When he picked up that gun, I thought he was going to shoot me. I was so relieved when he ran out.” She took another deep breath. “God, I’ve never been so glad in my life as I was when I heard someone say that he was down.”

  Detective LeBlanc wrote some final notes in his notebook and then closed it. “You have to thank Beau for that. He’s the one who finally got Dunn.”

  Katherine looked at Beau, who was blushing. “My hero.”

  “Did he say anything about killing Mr. Hunt?”

  Katherine nodded. “He said he went back to the building to get some things he’d left in the basement supply room. Harper apparently saw him and followed him down. They got into an argument. Harper said some ugly things about me. Bill said he couldn’t let anyone talk about his sister like that. When Harper turned to leave, he just grabbed him from behind and slashed his throat with a knife he had.”

  Detective LeBlanc continued to question her about a few more things.

  Clay asked, “What about those pictures at his apartment? All those girls? Do you know anything about them?”

  The detective shook his head. “Nothing. We’ve started going through our missing person’s files, but so far we haven’t found any of them. We’ll keep looking, but it doesn’t look good.”

  A few minutes later everyone had said their goodbyes and left. There were still some questions yet to be answered in the days and weeks to follow, but Katherine couldn’t worry about that now. All she wanted was to spend some time alone with the man she loved and trusted more than life itself.

  He gently sat beside her on the bed and took her hand in his. “I was so scared for you, baby. I should never have left you alone.”

  She just shook her head. “It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anybody’s fault. Even poor Bill. He was so mixed up. It was sad really. He thought I was his sister and he had to rescue me.”

  “Well, I don’t feel sorry for him. He almost cost me the woman who is going to be my wife. And I hope you don’t plan on a long engagement, either, kitten. Because there is no way I’m waiting very long to tie you to me with every law known to mankind. I already know you’re mine. I want the world to know it, as well.”

  At that moment, the door burst open and Abby rushed into the room closely followed by Jack. “Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Katherine, are you all right? We came as soon as Beau called us. Oh, sweetheart, your poor back.”

  Beau knew when he should just get the hell out of the way, which he did immediately, clearing the way for Abby to take his place. He strolled over to where Jack leaned against the wall, grinning in grim amusement. “Sorry, Beau. But … well, you know how she is.”

  “That’s okay, Jack. At least I only have to deal with her occasionally. It’s not like I’m marrying her or anything.”

&
nbsp; Jack laughed and shook his head. “No, you’re just marrying her sister.”

  He grimaced. “Riiight.”

  They listened to the low murmur of the two women as they spoke lovingly to one another, Katherine assuring her sister that she was going to be fine, and Abby, promising to help take care of her. Reconnected again … a real family. And Beau knew that everything really was going to be okay.

  * * * *

  Two weeks later, Katherine walked down the aisle in her bridesmaid’s dress on the beach in Gulf Shores. Her eyes met Beau’s where he stood beside Jack as his best man, and she knew that their secret wouldn’t be secret for much longer. They had been married two days earlier in a civil ceremony by a judge who was a friend of Beau’s. She hadn’t wanted to take anything away from her sister’s big day and had insisted that they not tell anyone until Jack and Abby had left for their honeymoon. She smiled remembering how quickly Beau had agreed to her condition, eager to marry her regardless.

  As she went to stand in her assigned spot, she turned to gaze down the aisle just as her sister began her walk. She still could hardly believe how much had happened in the past month. Her sister’s surprise phone call, rediscovering Beau, all the problems with Bill Dunn, her own wedding and now this. It was almost too much to take in. But she had never been so happy in her life.

  The only fly in her ointment right now was the fact that, ever since the attack, Beau had been treating her as if she were a piece of delicate china. She appreciated this gentle side of her husband, but she was craving the wild, dominant man she knew lurked below the surface. Well, she had plans for him. Plans that included some rope, a riding crop, and a tube of lube. Oh, yes, Beau was going to realize that she had completely recovered from what Bill had done to her—both physically and mentally. And she had a feeling that Beau would be pleasantly surprised to learn that, even though she was a submissive in the bedroom, she didn’t mind being the aggressor upon occasion. She stroked her fingers gently over the heart that dangled from her wrist and grinned. Because the ropes tonight were not for her…