* * * *
By noon, Cane was bored out of her mind. She had flipped channels for about an hour until she lost interest and noticed a bookshelf in the corner. After picking out a book, she sat in the chair and tried to read. Realizing she had been staring at the same page for about twenty minutes, she lay on the bed and took a quick nap. Now she had nothing to do. If she was at home right now, she would be cleaning and cooking. Listening to her stomach growl, she decided she would go down to the diner and grab lunch. Maybe Ali would be there again. At least she would be able to talk to someone other than herself, which was a weird habit that she suddenly picked up. Slipping on her shoes and grabbing her backpack, she left the room.
Again she suffered through the stares as she walked to the diner. Looking around the town, she noticed that even in the middle of the day there weren’t many people about. As she walked into the diner, it seemed that all conversation stopped and all eyes turned in her direction. Cane saw that the table in the back that she sat at last night was empty, so she quickly walked over and sat facing the door again. She felt as if all the eyes in the room followed her to the table. After what seemed like an eternity, conversation began to pick up and people turned away from her. The diner looked like ones that she had seen on TV. Red booths lined the windows with a few tables in the middle. There was a long counter with stools along the edge. The appliances behind the counter where made of stainless steel and chrome. The floors were black and white tile. There was no sign of Ali anywhere, so Cane just sat patiently waiting on someone to come over and take her order.
Lost in thought, Cane didn’t notice when someone came up to the table and stopped. Glancing up, the first thing she noticed was the standard sheriff’s department uniform. Khaki pants, khaki button-down shirt, and brown tie. The panic and terror that suddenly overcame Cane was too much. She could feel the blood drain from her face and her breath leave her lungs. White spots started to blur her vision until all she saw was darkness.
* * * *
“What the hell happened?” Duncan yelled at Logan.
“I don’t know,” Logan said. “I recognized her from your description when I walked into the diner, so I walked over to introduce myself. She looked like she was miles away and didn’t even notice me walk up. When she finally did, her eyes never even made it to my face. She took one look at my uniform and began to hyperventilate and passed right out.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Duncan said. “Why would she just pass out like that? She didn’t look or act sick last night.”
“The only thing that I can think of is that she is either hiding something or running from something and the sight of my uniform scared her,” Logan said.
Looking at Duncan, he asked, “Did she say anything to Ali last night about what she was doing in town?”
“No, Ali said she did most of the talking and the only thing she knew about Cane was her name and that she was staying at the bed and breakfast for the week. She did act strange though. I shook her hand, and she acted like she was scared to death of me. She started trembling and practically ran from the diner.” Duncan answered. “What do you think, Doc?” Duncan turned to ask Dr. Barnes.
“Well, I can’t find a medical reason for her to just pass out like that. She is a very healthy girl.”
“What do you mean ‘medical reason’?” Logan asked. “Would there be any other reason besides that?”
“I’m not sure, but I think her body shut down to protect herself from an overload of stress and fear.”
“Stress and fear?” It was Duncan who interrupted this time. “But Logan just walked up to her and didn’t even say anything. And last night all I did was walk up to her and shake her hand. Why would she be afraid of that?”
“Well, I won’t know for sure until I see her medical records, but based on my exam of her and all the scars that I saw on her body, I would say that this young lady has had a very hard life. I am willing to bet my license that most of the scars were intentionally inflicted, and I’m guessing by a man. That is probably the reason why she is so scared of the both of you and not Ali,” Dr. Barnes said with a grim look.
Logan began to pace the room. After about the fifth pass, he turned to Duncan and said, “Maybe we should run a check on her and see if anything comes up in the system.” He walked over to the table to where her backpack had been placed and picked it up. When he began to unzip it, Duncan jumped up and grabbed it.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Logan just rolled his eyes and said, “Easy, big guy, I’m just checking to see if she has ID so that I can check her out.”
“She hasn’t done anything wrong, and we are not going through…” Before Duncan could get the rest of the word out, Logan snatched the bag back and unzipped it.
“What the fuck!” he yelled. Too curious, Duncan snatched the bag and looked inside.
* * * *
Cane slowly came to. She could hear voices, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She felt like she was deep in a hole somewhere and was trying to climb out. Slowly opening her eyes and looking around, Cane saw that she was lying on a couch in what looked like an office. She tried to sit up but gave up when it felt like someone was banging drums inside her head. Moaning, she rolled over and tried to look around. She heard footsteps come from behind her and three men came into the room. One of them was Duncan, and he was dressed in the same sheriff’s department uniform she saw earlier. Meeting his eyes, her voice barely a whisper she said, “You’re a cop.”
“I am the sheriff here. This is my deputy and best friend Logan Summers, and this is Dr. Barnes. You are in his office because you passed out at the diner.”
Not knowing what to say and feeling sick to her stomach, Cane just stared at the floor. She saw that her shoes had been removed and bent to put them back on. A hand landed on her shoulder, and she stiffened. She looked up and saw that it was the doctor, and he was looking at her the way all doctors do when they are examining a patient. Feeling anxious to get out of there, Cane shrugged his hand off her shoulder and quickly stood.
The doctor frowned and asked, “Can you tell us why you passed out?”
Giving what she hoped was a smile and trying to act like nothing happened, Cane just shrugged and said, “I guess I just went a little too long between meals.” The looks that all three men gave told her that they didn’t believe a word she was saying. “Really, I’m fine,” she said. “I just need to put a little something in my stomach and I will be good as new.”
Giving them a smile that she knew was all teeth and didn’t reach her eyes, she looked around the room for her bag. She wanted to get as far away from the cops as possible. She spotted her bag sitting on the desk behind Duncan and Logan and walked over to get it. Just as she grabbed the bag, Duncan put his hand over hers. When she looked up at him, she thought she saw concern in his eyes, but it was gone in an instant.
“Are you sure you are all right?” he asked. Cane nodded and stepped back with her bag.
“I will be fine once I get something to eat,” she said.
“Good.” This time it was Logan speaking. “We will take you back to the diner so you can eat, and then we need to talk.” The look he gave her was like he was daring her to say no. Cane couldn’t say anything due to the lump in her throat, so she just nodded and turned toward the door.
Chapter 4
What had she gotten herself into? Cane thought as she walked back to the diner in between Duncan and Logan. What could they possibly want to talk to her about? She thought she gave a good enough excuse on why she passed out, and this was only her second day in town, so what could it be? Could this have something to do with Sam? Could he have issued a missing persons report or something like that already? Surely reports like that weren’t sent nationwide. Cane tried to tell herself that she was just overreacting, but she couldn’t stop her palms from sweating or her mouth from going dry. This day was getting worse and worse. She was starting to think she s
hould have never left the room.
Deep in thought, Cane didn’t even realize that they had made it back to the diner. On autopilot she walked over to the same table that she had been sitting in earlier that day and sat again facing the door. Duncan and Logan both pulled out chairs and sat across from her. She looked everywhere but at them. Finally, the silence was too overwhelming, so she took a deep breath and met their eyes. She glanced at Duncan first and noticed that his face was blank. Showing no expression or emotion, he just sat and stared at her. She looked over at Logan next and saw that he was the complete opposite of Duncan. The expression on his face showed that he was not happy. His mouth was set in a thin line, his eyes had thin frown lines between them, and his arms were crossed over his chest. What could have happened between now and this morning when she first saw him? Obviously something did, and the way he was looking at her made her scared to find out. She knew that look all too well. Usually when she got that look from Sam, it meant that she did something that was not up to his standards, and it was usually followed by a slap across the face or some other form of pain.
Taking a deep breath, she worked up her courage and attempted to place an innocent expression on her face, although she didn’t think it worked, and asked, “Okay, boys, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?” They both looked at each other as if trying to decide where to begin or who should start. Finally, Logan leaned over and placed his hand on the top of hers, and his face softened. She saw compassion and understanding in his eyes and realized that he was absolutely beautiful. She had gotten so worked up when she saw him standing there in his uniform that she didn’t notice. His eyes were amber and so bright that they looked like they had a golden glow behind them. His hair was blond with sun-bleached highlights that showed that he spent a lot of time outdoors. He looked to be about the same height as Duncan but not as muscular. Where Duncan was broad, Logan had the build of a swimmer, long and lean, and his muscles were more compact.
“Good lord, do they breed nothing but gorgeous people in this town?” Slapping a hand over her mouth, Cane couldn’t believe she said that out loud. Both of the guys looked at each other as if they were communicating silently and looked back at her with huge grins.
Again Logan reached for her hand and held it. “Thanks for the compliment, but that’s not why we are here. Is there something we need to talk about? Do you need help? It’s okay to talk us. We can help you if you need it.”
Oh no, she couldn’t talk to them. The last thing she wanted was to see the look of pity directed toward her, and worse, they were cops. What was to stop them from calling Sam and telling him where she was. Isn’t that something cops did? The whole sacred “brotherhood” thing and all. Aware that they were waiting for her answer, Cane tried to come up with something that was close to the truth but without giving away who she was or why she was in this town. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get any words out, she heard a loud squeal come from behind the counter. She looked up to see Ali walking quickly to the table.
“Oh my God, Cane. I heard about what happened earlier. I’m so glad you are okay. You are all right aren’t you? Well, of course you are, look at you. You look great. Are you planning on staying for lunch? You should…”
“Squirt, enough,” Duncan said, holding up his hand to stop her. Cane couldn’t help but to smile. Even though she was ten years older than Ali, she felt like they could be really good friends. She realized that she had never had anyone to worry over her, and she had to fight back the tears that seemed to come from nowhere.
“Are you okay?” Ali asked, concerned.
“I’m fine, it’s just…just, well, thank you for being concerned about me. I have never had anyone care about me like that.” Seeing the look of shock on Ali’s face made Cane realize that she had said too much. She could feel her blood rushing to her face and knew that her cheeks and ears would be bright red. She could feel all three of their eyes on her as she stared down at her hands waiting for someone to ask why and dreading having to answer the question.
Ali cleared her throat and patted Cane on the shoulder. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that now. You have me.” When Cane looked up Ali winked and with a huge smile whispered, “Us girls have to stick together,” and walked away.
Realizing that her mouth was hanging open, Cane quickly closed it and turned to look at the two men at the table. It seemed that she wasn’t the only one shocked about what just happened. Both men were watching Ali with the same opened-mouth expression on their faces.
“What just happened? That is the most I have heard your sister speak since the accident,” Logan said.
Duncan just said, “It’s Cane.”
“What? Me? What did I do?” Cane asked, scared that she did something wrong.
Duncan smiled, “There is something about you that has made her come out of this depression that she has been in since our parents died. Since meeting you last night, she has talked more and smiled more in the one day than she has this whole past year.”
Not knowing what to say, Cane just smiled. What was it about these people that made her feel safe? For the first time in her life she felt like she had been accepted with no strings attached. She felt safe and realized that after only one day this place felt more like a home than any place she had ever been. When she was only six days old, she had been abandoned at a local hospital and grew up in foster care and group homes. It seemed that no one wanted the “weird” girl with the strange eyes and hair. Determined to go to college and knowing the only way was to get a scholarship, Cane studied her ass off in high school and was valedictorian. It wasn’t hard because she never had any friends or went to parties like the rest of the kids. When she got to college she finally felt like she belonged. Everyone was so different and unique that it wasn’t hard to “blend” in. Having never had anything of her own, she decided to major in business hoping one day she would own something that was all hers. That’s how she met Sam. He was a teacher’s assistant for her accounting professor and asked her to stay after class one day. Thinking that she did something wrong, Cane was shocked when he asked her out on a date instead. Never receiving attention from a boy, she quickly agreed, and the rest was history.
“We saw the money in your bag,” Logan said, snapping her out of her thoughts.
“You went through my things?” was all she could think to say.
“We had no choice. We didn’t know what was wrong with you when you passed out, so we had to look to make sure you weren’t on any medications or having an allergic reaction or something like that,” Duncan said quickly trying to calm her. Cane noticed that he was the “good, passive cop” and Logan was the “aggressive, bad cop” in their partnership. She wondered if they were like this outside of work as well, maybe in the bedroom. What the hell? Where did that come from? No way should she be thinking like this. It was bad enough being attracted to the both of them, but they were cops. She swore that she would never date another cop after Sam. Looking at the two of them, she saw nothing that told her she couldn’t trust them. In fact her instincts were screaming for her to tell them what was going on so they could help her. It would be nice to have the police on my side for a change and to have someone else looking over my shoulder for once.
Sighing, she said, “I will tell you everything, but not here and not till I get something to eat.” Both men quickly agreed and they waved Ali back over to take their order. Cane immediately regretted speaking, but she gave her word, so she would go through with this.
* * * *
Duncan couldn’t take his eyes off of Cane. She was so beautiful. After he got home last night, he immediately called Logan to tell him about her. “I think she is the One,” he had said.
Duncan thought Logan had hung up from the silence on the other end, but then his friend said, “How can you be sure? You only spoke to her for about five minutes.”
“I just know I have never felt this way about a girl before. You will see
when you meet her tomorrow.” After hanging up with Logan, Duncan lay in bed picturing Ali in his mind. To him, she was perfect, and he hoped Logan would feel that same way. He and Logan were best friends and had been since kindergarten. They were inseparable from day one. When Logan’s mother died when he was eleven, his father couldn’t take it and began to drink a lot. On the nights that he got a little too drunk, he liked to smack Logan around, so he would sneak out and come to Duncan’s. Eventually his father got worse and Duncan’s parents moved Logan in permanently. From that point on they shared everything, so when they got to college, it was only logical to share women. He really hoped that Cane could accept them both because he wanted her so badly it scared him. He was already possessive of her. When he got the call from Logan this morning saying she passed out at the diner and they were headed to Dr. Barnes’s office, Duncan couldn’t seem to make his legs move fast enough. The whole way there he prayed that she wasn’t truly sick. When he got there and saw her lying on the couch with her face so pale it was almost gray, he had to stop himself from rushing over to hold her. He noticed that Logan had the same look on his face. He could tell by looking at Logan that he felt the same way about her. Now sitting here across the table from her watching her eat, he couldn’t believe how lucky he and Logan were. She was their woman. She just didn’t know it yet. That thought made him smile. Looking over, he caught Logan’s eye and knew that he was thinking the same thing.
* * * *
It was the longest and most uncomfortable lunch she had ever had. She felt the eyes of the two men watching her the whole time. Even worse, it seemed that word had made it around about the strange new woman in town. It seemed the whole town had come to the diner to get a good look at her. Cane kept her head down and ate as quickly as she could. When she finished, she excused herself to the restroom. She walked over to the sink and splashed cold water on her face. Taking a deep breath, she looked in the mirror. Her reflection didn’t make her feel any better. She looked tired and worn-down and felt like she could sleep for days. Hearing the door open, she turned to see Ali come in.
Davis, Keyonna - Nowhere to Hide [Pine Valley] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 3