Keeping Her Safe

by Sherry Lewis

  Marissa shook her head again. But this time, she whispered, “I don’t wanna. I don’t like him.”

  Before DJ could frame a response to that, Larry planted both hands on Marissa’s tiny waist and lifted her. He turned her toward him, no doubt trying to get a better hold on her, but she screamed and bucked against his grip and started to topple backward. DJ reached out, aware that Adam did the same.

  But Larry gripped the girl tighter and pulled her to his chest. “Damn it!” he snarled. “I’m not going to hurt you.” When Marissa cried out again, he clamped a hand over her mouth. “Stop it!”

  For one horrible moment, DJ recoiled, held in place by an emotion she couldn’t name as she watched anger flash across Larry’s face and heard steel in his voice. In the next second, she lunged toward them and grabbed Marissa. “Let her go.”

  Larry glared at her for what felt like an eternity, but his grip on Marissa slowly loosened.

  With trembling arms, DJ pulled Marissa close and soothed her. She brushed her hair with one hand and rocked her gently, speaking softly into her ear. Adam stayed at her side, alternately glaring at Larry and looking gently at Marissa. He appeared almost as angry as DJ felt—and almost as shaken.

  DJ met Larry’s gaze and held it. He looked different to her suddenly, and she felt uncomfortable being near him. Nevertheless, she forced herself to speak. “We need to talk.”

  “Fine.” The word fell like a stone into water.

  She refused to let him intimidate her. Glancing at Adam, she nodded down at Marissa. “Would you mind taking Marissa for a few minutes?”

  “Not at all.” He held out his arms and Marissa lunged toward him. He pulled her close and brushed a kiss on the top of her head.

  DJ smiled at the picture they made, then forced herself to turn back to Larry. “Let’s go over by the fence.”

  He stuffed his hands into his pockets and scuffed his feet on the sidewalk as he trailed her. “All right,” he said when they were finally alone. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at her.”

  DJ didn’t think he sounded sorry, but she tried to keep her own tone from sounding accusatory when she responded. “She’s not used to having men around. She’s not used to your gruff voices and your rougher ways. You have to remember, we’ve been on our own for most of her life.”

  Larry used his chin to point at Adam. “She doesn’t have any problem with him.”

  Again, DJ heard more in his tone than she wanted to hear. He sounded like a petulant child, but she refused to soothe him. “I know. I can’t deny it, but I can’t explain it, either.”

  His expression hardened, and a hint of a sneer curled his lip. “I can.”

  DJ didn’t like this side of him, but she tried not to show it. “How?”

  “It’s you.”

  This time, she couldn’t hide her reaction. “What?”

  “She’s reacting to you,” Larry said. “She can tell you like that guy, so she likes him, too. And she can tell you don’t like me, so she won’t even give me a chance.”

  “That’s ridiculous. What makes you think I don’t like you?”

  Larry folded his arms across his chest. “Have you told her who I am?”

  “No,” she admitted slowly. “But—”

  He nodded as if she’d made his point for him. “How in the hell is she supposed to learn to like me if she thinks I’m a stranger? If she can tell you don’t want me around?”

  His assumption seemed to come from nowhere, and she struggled to remember some snippet of conversation, something she’d said or done that might have caused him to feel this way.

  He laughed. “You’re so much like your mother, it’s pathetic. You want to blame me for what happened over there, but it’s not my fault. If you won’t even trust me, how’s she supposed to?”

  DJ took a step back, then forced herself to stand her ground. “It takes time for trust to build—”

  “Time? I haven’t got time. I’ve lost thirty years already, thanks to your mother.”

  “Larry—”

  “Dad!” he snapped. “I’m your father, dammit, not your friend. Why can’t you call me Dad?”

  She started to respond, then stopped herself. Why couldn’t she? She’d wanted a father all her life, and she finally had one. So what kept her from acknowledging him? She shook her head slowly. “I don’t know.”

  “What’s wrong? Don’t you believe me? Don’t you believe I am your father?”

  “Of course I do.” She couldn’t make herself speak above a whisper.

  “Then what’s your problem?” he demanded.

  She couldn’t answer that.

  “You know what it is? You don’t want Marissa to love me, that’s what it is. You don’t want her to have a grandfather because I wasn’t around for you. You’re punishing us both because of my past.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Isn’t it?” He glared at her for several long seconds. “Then what is your problem? You act as if you expect me to earn every little bit of affection you decide to toss my way.”

  Some small part of DJ wanted to deny what he said and tell him how unfair his accusations were, but she couldn’t She couldn’t honestly say what he wanted her to say. Perhaps that was just what he had to do—earn their trust.

  Larry turned away, then wheeled back to shove his finger under her nose. “Just don’t blame me for scaring Marissa. You’re the one who’s making her afraid of me. I’m working my tail off trying to make up for what I’ve done wrong, but you can’t see that, can you? Well, I’ll tell you what. From now on, you tell me what you want from me, and I’ll see if I can manage to give it to you. That way you won’t try to blame me for your mistakes.”

  DJ couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even breathe. His anger and accusations tore through her like a storm and left her weak and shaking. Was it true? “I don’t know what I want,” she admitted at last. “I’ve never had a father.”

  He glared at her for another minute. All at once, his shoulders sagged and his eyes filled with tears. He closed the distance between them in two steps and pulled her close. “That’s all right,” he said. “It’s not your fault, either. We’re both paying for what your mother did. We’re both trying to figure out what to do next. Right?”

  She forced herself to nod.

  “Just don’t ever do that to me again,” Larry whispered. “Don’t make me angry like that.”

  DJ felt like a small child unfairly accused of starting an argument. She tried to pull away so she could see his face. “But I didn’t do anything!”

  He laughed harshly in her ear. “You accused me of things I haven’t done. You tried to blame me for your mother’s mistakes.” He pulled away and looked deep into her eyes. “Just don’t do that again, that’s all I ask. Okay? Can you.do that?”

  Confused, DJ studied his face. Was he serious, or could he possibly be joking? His expression revealed nothing. She couldn’t even remember how they’d reached this point, but she tried desperately to understand. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t react Couldn’t even force herself to nod this time.

  He sighed heavily, as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. “Okay?”

  This time, DJ nodded quickly, almost instinctively—a reflex to the apprehension she felt curling in her stomach.

  Larry smiled, and his expression softened again. “Good. That’s my girl.” He clapped an arm around her shoulders. “Let’s get back to the others, and we’ll forget all about this.”

  As if in a dream, DJ allowed him to lead her back to Adam and Marissa. For Marissa’s sake, she tried to force herself to smile, but her heart felt heavy and her mind swirled in confusion.

  Adam would be able to see the turmoil reflected in her eyes. He would want an explanation, but DJ had no idea what she could say to him. For the first time in her life, she had no answers.

  FROM HIS POSITION under the huge oak tree across the walk, Adam held Marissa and watched DJ and Galloway. He’d been horrifie
d by Galloway’s reaction to Marissa’s obvious fear, and his disgust had quickly given way to heated anger. Now he tried to remain calm for Marissa’s sake. But he’d have given almost anything to hear the conversation across the way and to add a few comments of his own.

  If opening his mouth wouldn’t have put his job on the line, he would have told Galloway exactly what he thought. He wanted to push Galloway up against the fence and show him what it felt like to be bullied by someone large and mean and full of hatred.

  But he couldn’t say a word. Rules and regulations kept him silent. Even though Galloway was coming dangerously close to breaking parole, he didn’t want it—couldn’t let it be—at Marissa and DJ’s expense.

  Marissa leaned against his shoulder and followed the direction of his gaze. “I don’t like him,” she whispered.

  Adam wanted to say he didn’t blame her. He wanted to say that he didn’t like him, either. He wanted to promise he would never let Galloway frighten her again. But he couldn’t say any of those things for her own sake, so he cuddled her closer and tried to look reassuring. “Your mother’s talking to him. She won’t let him act that way again.”

  Marissa sighed, then stiffened slightly as a leftover sob worked its way through her tiny body. “Why does he have to come with us? I don’t want him here.”

  What could he say to that? He couldn’t explain the relationship—DJ didn’t want her to know about it. And he couldn’t bring himself to pass off Galloway as a friend of the family. Shushing her gently, he rocked her in his arms. “I know you don’t, sweetheart.”

  She shuddered again and burrowed her head into his shoulder. Her absolute trust in him made Adam feel even worse. His feelings for DJ grew more intense each day, and with every passing hour, he became more attached to Marissa.

  He hated the lies, no matter what the cause. He detested being forced to stand still and witness episodes like the one he’d just seen. He loathed being expected to keep his mouth shut while DJ fell further under Galloway’s spell and the jerk terrorized Marissa.

  As he watched, Galloway pulled DJ into his arms and held her there. Clutching Marissa against his chest, Adam allowed his anger to grow—not just at Galloway this time, but at DJ, as well. What was she thinking? How could she believe anything that idiot said?

  He took a number of shallow breaths and tried to get himself under control again. She didn’t know about Galloway’s record. She had no idea what a volatile person he really was. Everyone had conspired to keep her in the dark—and Adam was one of the offenders, though not by choice.

  When Marissa shrank against him again, he looked over at DJ and Galloway. They’d started back across the walk, and Adam realized he’d have to spend the rest of the day interacting with him normally.

  When he’d accepted this assignment he hadn’t expected a problem—he’d always been able to separate his business and personal lives before. But not this time.

  He couldn’t let her go on this way. He didn’t care what it did to the assignment, DJ deserved to know the facts. No matter what it took, he had to convince Chuck that keeping DJ in the dark was more dangerous than telling her the truth.

  CHAPTER TEN

  ADAM SAT AT A picnic table in Pioneer Park, waiting for Chuck to arrive. Growing anxious, he readjusted his position on the hard seat and leaned his elbows on the table. The moment he’d stepped inside the house after that episode at the zoo, he’d given DJ an excuse to leave and called Chuck from a pay phone. Chuck had sounded angry when Adam insisted on an emergency meeting, but he’d finally agreed.

  Glancing at his watch for probably the tenth time in as many minutes, Adam felt his stomach churn as his anger grew. He tried to force himself to calm down by rehearsing the points he wanted to make when Chuck arrived. He had to make certain he sounded rational if he wanted Chuck to agree with him.

  Evening shadows stretched across the lawn. Homeless people wandered through the park looking for handouts and digging into trash barrels for their evening meal. Adam could hear the bells for evening Mass in the distance, and the clock on the city-andcounty building chiming the hour. Five o’clock. He’d been waiting nearly fifteen minutes already, and he was growing more and more impatient.

  When a footstep sounded on the sidewalk behind him, he turned back and watched Chuck barrel toward him.

  “What the hell’s going on?” Chuck demanded. Even in the dim light, Adam could see the anger in his eyes.

  “I need to clear something with you about Galloway.”

  “Yeah? Well, it had better be damned important to pull me down here like this.” Chuck’s eyes narrowed to slits in his round face.

  “Galloway’s getting dangerous. He could go off at any moment. DJ needs to know the truth about him. You need to let me tell her what kind of man he is.”

  “You brought me down here to ask me that?”

  “I need you to untie my hands and let me do my job the right way.”

  Chuck propped his fists on his waist, looked down at his feet and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. “What do you want to do, blow it?”

  “I want to tell the woman the truth. Somebody needs to tell her or she’s going to get hurt.”

  Chuck sighed as if Adam had tested his patience to its limits. “That’s not your call.”

  “It should be, dammit! She needs to know about Galloway’s history of abuse. Of the violence. About the time he’s served in prison.”

  “What is this? Have you gone soft on me because your hormones have kicked in over some woman?”

  “I don’t want to see a woman and her child put in harm’s way when there’s no reason for it.” He glanced away, then glared at Chuck again. “Galloway’s getting aggravated. He’s going to lose his temper. Last time he went down, it was for assault with a deadly weapon. The next time, it could be murder. Do you want that on your conscience? Do you want to be responsible for DJ’s or Marissa’s death?”

  “No,” Chuck snapped. “But we can’t take matters into our own hands. We can’t override Christina Prescott’s decisions. We have limits. That isn’t what she hired us to do.”

  “I know how Christina Prescott feels,” Adam shouted. “I’ve talked to her, remember? She doesn’t want her child and grandchild to die or even get hurt—that’s why I’m there in the first place.”

  “If you do your job right, nobody will get hurt.”

  “I can’t do my job right if I’m bound by a bunch of half-witted rules and regulations.”

  Anger tightened Chuck’s face, but Adam didn’t care.

  “I’m the one who’s on the scene,” he snarled. “I’m the only one qualified to assess the situation and make decisions. And I’m telling you, DJ needs to know about Galloway.”

  Chuck’s face grew stony. “No.”

  “Are you crazy? What do you mean, no?”

  Chuck flushed with anger. “I mean, no. You don’t tell her anything, do you understand that?”

  Adam clenched his jaw and gripped his belt to maintain what little control he had left

  “If you tell her, your career’s shot and everything you’ve worked for goes down the tubes,” Chuck shouted. “Is that what you want? Are you willing to risk that for a woman you’ve only known a week?”

  Adam could only glare at him.

  “Don’t be stupid,” Chuck continued. “Think about what you’re doing. If you tell DJ who you are, Galloway will find out If that happens, the whole assignment is over.”

  “I have thought about it. That’s why I’m asking for authorization. That’s why I asked you to meet me here.”

  “If Galloway finds out who you are and Mrs. Prescott pulls you out of there, who’s going to keep DJ and Marissa safe? Galloway will still be free, and they’d be without protection.”

  “But they’d know the truth.”

  “Our client doesn’t want them to know the truth.”

  “I’m not sure what our client wants,” Adam muttered. Chuck’s argument mad
e sense, but he wasn’t ready to abandon his own position yet.

  Chuck shook his head and spoke through clenched teeth. “You’re acting like a fool. No woman’s worth it. You gave up your career once for a woman. Are you going to make the same mistake twice?”

  Adam held back the reply he’d been about to make. Was he doing the same thing all over? Was he putting his career on the line again?

  Yes. He supposed he was, but this situation was nothing like the demands Victoria had put on him. That time, he’d given away his life in exchange for nothing. And he’d been miserable and alone ever since.

  DJ’s situation bore no resemblance to his marriage, but if he put his job in jeopardy, he had no guarantee DJ would even want him to stay around. He could wind up alone again. And DJ would be left alone with Galloway.

  “Well?” Chuck demanded. “Is that what you want? Is it really worth losing everything?”

  Adam shook his head slowly and forced himself to speak. “I don’t know.”

  Chuck paced back to face him. “If you can’t tell me yes without hesitation, then you’re making the wrong choice.”

  Adam growled low in his throat and looked away.

  “Forget it, Adam. Do your job the way you’ve been briefed and quit letting the woman get to you.”

  Frustrated by his position, angry with Chuck for being so blind, and enraged by Galloway’s very existence, Adam whirled around and smashed his fist into the picnic table.

  “Dammit!” Almost immediately, his hand began to throb and he swore again, this time at himself.

  “Well—?”

  Adam shook his hand in a futile effort to relieve the pain. It didn’t work. “This isn’t about me,” he managed through gritted teeth. “And this isn’t about Christina Prescott. This is about protecting DJ and Marissa.”

  “Then protect them. But not by spilling your guts.”

  “You won’t authorize it?”

  “Hell, no, I won’t authorize it.”

  “If Dodge knew—” Adam began.

  “Dodge isn’t going to know you even asked. Not unless you’re willing to walk away from your job right now. Hell, Adam—” Chuck broke off and shook his head. “Will you look at yourself? What’s that woman done to you?”