by Dale Cadeau
“He’s the same kind of man that my husbands are. It’s bred in them to want to do the right thing always and to help and protect. That’s my advice.”
Laura looked up at Janet’s sincere blue eyes looking back at her. She knew that she spoke the truth. Clay would always want to help and protect his unit and now her, too. It wasn’t right to make him choose when she would be perfectly safe with this woman and her husbands. Clay and Brad would not allow her to be with people that she couldn’t trust. And Janet seemed to put her full faith in her husbands being able to protect her.
Looking up past Janet, she saw two large men standing in the doorway. Janet turned around. Seeing them, a big smile came over her face.
“These are my husbands, Jared and Stan. They might look scary, but I’ll let you in on a secret. They’re just big teddy bears.”
When the men looked like they would come into the room and contradict her statement, Janet waved them away, telling them, “Go and help Clay get ready to leave. I have a patient in here and don’t want all the oxygen sucked out of the room by you two.”
Both of them just gave a half laugh and turned around. She had a twinkle in her eyes when she looked back at Laura.
Laura couldn’t help but like her. Her men, while big and tough, had looked at the lady sitting on the bed beside her as if the sun and moon shone on her.
“Well, have you made up your mind? Should I go get Clay so that you can tell him?” Janet asked her as she patted her arm.
“Yes, I think it will be OK. Thanks for the talk. It really straightened out a few things for me. Clay has to go and help Angel. Like you said, if anything happened he would never forgive himself and I don’t want that on my conscience.”
Janet got up and left the room to find Clay. Laura knew and understood what Clay had to do, but she couldn’t stop the tears from gathering in her eyes. She brushed them away and took a deep breath. She didn’t want Clay to find her crying and make him feel worse for leaving her.
She just had to pull up her big girl pants and deal. She was used to dealing with everything on her own, and she could at least last until Clay got back with the help of Janet and her husbands. She couldn’t believe how she had come to depend on him so fast.
Clay walked into the room with a serious expression on his face and sat down before he reached out and hugged her.
“Is Janet right? She just told me that I’m to go and help Angel. Are you sure you’re OK with this? Make sure, because if not, I can stay.”
“Yes, I’ll be fine. I like Janet and her husbands. By the looks of the two of them, I won’t have much to worry about. I really want you to go and help Angel. Just promise me one thing. You have to make sure to look after yourself, and to not take any chances. I want you to come back in one piece. There’s so much I want to tell you, but now is not the time. Just hurry back and give Angel my best.” The tears glossed her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
Clay reached a hand out and gently grasped her chin. Looking deep into her eyes, he could see the tears that she was trying to hide. It touched Clay deeply to know in his heart, that this woman was all that he had ever dreamed of finding. Leaning down, Clay took her lips with a gentle kiss, only allowing himself a small taste. A taste that he could remember and savor while he was gone. He knew he couldn’t allow himself to let go and taste her the way he wanted, because if he did, he would never leave her.
Getting up from the bed, he walked to the door and turned. “I’m going to leave now, but I will be back as soon as I possibly can. If you need me at any time, just get Jared or Stan to call, no matter how insignificant it might be to you. I will keep in touch whenever I can. And I’m returning your words. Look after yourself and heal fast. I have plans for you when I get back.” Clay hurried through the door, not allowing himself to look back.
Clay stopped in the living room, picking the bag he had hastily packed while Janet was meeting Laura. He looked at Jared and Stan. “Look after her, and get her out of here as soon as you can. I’m trusting you with someone so precious to me, that I couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to her.”
Clay knew for a man that usually never showed his feeling, he was probably letting his feelings talk too much for him now. But he wanted to ensure that they knew what she meant to him. Throwing his bag over his shoulder, he picked up his leather coat and made for the door.
“I have to go. I have to make it to the airport before Angel takes off without me. And again, thanks.” With a last glance toward the bedroom that Laura was in, Clay let himself out of the apartment.
Chapter Fourteen
Laura was sitting up in bed, letting the tears rolled down her face. She kept wiping at them with the back of her arm as she couldn’t use her hands.
How had she allowed Clay come to mean so much to her in such a short while? She didn’t think it had anything to do with not having a relationship in a while, as she had had offers over the course of the years, but no one had sparked any interest in her. Clay seemed to be of a different breed of men. Something she only read about in romance books, someone that she would never meet. He just…
She stopped her thoughts as Janet came back into the room. Janet reached for a tissue on the dresser and sat down and wiped her face.
“I know it’s hard letting them leave, but he will be back as soon as he can. That man is determined that nothing is to happen to you while he is gone. In fact, if something does, I tell you right now, I’m running as far away as I can. I don’t want to deal with that man in a rage.” Janet smiled down at her.
Laura knew that Janet was trying to lighten things up while also giving her hope for a future with Clay.
“I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about running. With those two big husbands of yours, I’m sure that they will always have your back.”
“You might be right, but I wouldn’t want to see a contest between them. Anyway, we have to think of getting you out of here. Are you hungry? I could make something before we leave. Or if not, we can get something on the road and get out of here right away. I know Clay wants you safely away from here as soon as possible.”
“No, I’m not hungry right now. What about you? Don’t you have to go and pack if we are to leave?”
Janet picked up Laura’s hands and gave the bandages on them a look to make sure that they didn’t need changing.
“Looks good. Stan left just after Clay and he went to our place to pack a bag for each of us. I think before we leave that you should take one of the pain pills that the doctor prescribed. We will be on the highway for quite a while, but the back roads into the cabin are not the best, and you will probably get jarred around in the truck.” Janet held out a pill and Laura took it with a sip of water.
Stan arrived back at the apartment shortly. Janet helped her put on a trench coat of hers and a blond wig over her hair. Janet explained that she came about having a wig by telling her at one time she had wanted to try being blond. “I soon found out that while the guys didn’t mind it in the bedroom, they liked the natural me too much and didn’t want anything to hide the real me.”
Going out the apartment to the elevator, and through the building, they walked to the black Escalade parked close to the back entrance. Stan kept his arm around her, looking like they were a couple, and Janet and Jared followed closely behind doing the same. They just looked like two couples going out for a date.
After leaving the highway, it still took them hours to reach their destination. Laura was starting to think that they would never get there, and her hands were starting to ache as the pain pill was wearing off.
Finally the truck slowed and turned right into a long, tree-lined driveway leading to a cabin that was surrounded by snow-capped mountains on three sides. The view was magnificent. The cabin, while it was made of logs, couldn’t really described as a cabin. It had a wraparound porch and huge double doors leading inside. It also had a second floor with a balcony.
Laura gasped at the si
ght as Janet helped her from the truck and up to the front door.
* * * *
Two weeks passed fast for Laura. Her hands healed well and she was now without bandages. Her hands still looked scaly and had some redness, but she knew it could have been a lot worse. She would just have to do something nice for Brad. A thank-you just didn’t seem to be enough.
While at the cabin, Laura had been pampered within an inch of her life. When it came to looking after both women, Janet’s men took the task seriously. The men only allowed Janet to do the cooking, as they told her they couldn’t even burn water if they tried. But everything else was done by either Jared or Stan. Each night after dinner, the guys sat them in the living room with cups of tea while they did the cleanup. They always seemed to be two steps ahead of Janet, seeing to her every need. This just made Laura envious and caused her to miss Clay even more. She knew she didn’t know him completely yet, but watching the three together made her long to have the same thing with Clay.
She talked to him on the phone most days and knew that they had protected and saved Cyn, Angel’s woman. The Feds held them up for a time after to interrogate them. She started getting excited about seeing Clay after he told her that he could see the end in sight.
She was disappointed when Clay called at the last minute and told her about Angel’s proposal to Cyn. James came up with the idea to surprise Angel with a wedding on the reserve with his grandmother who had raised him. Clay had told her that he didn’t have to attend, but she knew that they were a unit. They should celebrate each other’s success. He wanted her there, but there was no time to get to the cabin to get her and return before the ceremony. He was also still concerned with her safety with the bomber at large.
It was hard, but she made him go, telling him she was having a great time with Janet and her husbands. He didn’t need to worry as nothing had strayed up the mountains after them.
Now she was waiting for him to arrive. She knew he had taken a commercial flight back to Detroit, not wanting to wait for the rest of the guys.
The plane had landed a while ago, but he still had the long trip out of the city and up to the mountains. She had been trying to read to make the time pass faster, but it was impossible to concentrate. Putting the book down, Laura starting pacing the living room.
She allowed herself to think of what was to come. She knew that the General would not give up, especially if he had found her after all this time. Clay wasn’t the type of man to hide. He would want to take the General down as soon as possible, so he was no threat to her or anyone else. Laura was torn trying to decide if she should just disappear again, which would save Clay from any danger, or trust that he could look after himself and keep her safe also.
She didn’t want to leave. Every time she heard his voice over the phone, she felt even more drawn to him. His deep voice made her shiver. She didn’t want to throw that away.
No, she had to trust in Clay. She couldn’t run for the rest of her life and the General would catch up with her eventually anyway. Laura stopped her pacing and noticed Janet standing in the doorway leading into the kitchen. She could hear the men talking quietly in the background.
Janet asked her as she walked into the living room, “Made any decisions?”
“How could you tell that’s what I was doing?” Laura went back and sat on the sofa, staring out the window, her mind still whirling.
“Well, I could say it was the steam coming out of your ears, but I know if I was in your place, I would have a hard time deciding between letting my men confront the danger, or just leaving and protecting them. In fact, I was in your situation a few years back, and they saved my life over my own stupidly of not wanting to let them in.”
“I can understand that.”
Janet patted her hand. “I know you do, sweetie, that’s why I want to share my story with you. I think it will help you. ” She took a deep breath before continuing.
“I was working in a large hospital in another city. I got close to one of the doctors. He had me do little things for him, like picking up his dry cleaning. I didn’t think anything of it. Isn’t that what people do in a relationship? Well, I was stupid. He always gave me an envelope of money to pay for whatever I was picking up. I thought he was just very organized and this was one of his quirks.
“My guys…well they weren’t my guys yet…at that time were still on the police force, and had received a tip about drugs being distributed around the town. Jared and Stan came to me with their suspicions that it was the doctor I was seeing. Well, of course I didn’t believe them, so I brought the next envelope to them. They could have taken me in, but let me go with a warning and they took the drugs.”
“They just let you leave?”
Janet nodded sadly. “They didn’t want to, but this doctor was an upstanding member of the community. There was nothing they could do until they had proof. ”
“Sometimes even having proof isn’t enough in order to be safe.”
“True. And I soon found out that you never get between a drug supplier and his customers. In my naiveté, I questioned the doctor. Well, to make a long story short, my nice doctor put a hit on me. I knew too much. Thank God Jared and Stan were shadowing me. They saved my life. They were like bulldogs, following my every step. And if they hadn’t been the men they were, I wouldn’t be here now.”
“Yes, thank God for your men.” Laura shuddered. She knew exactly what it was like, living with that fear. Her life had been in danger ten long years now. She had run before and she would run again if she had to. Only this time she would be leaving behind someone she truly cared about.
What if the General used Clay to get at her? Laura shuddered again. She couldn’t allow him to be put in danger because of her.
Janet shook her head slightly as if she could hear Laura’s thoughts. “Laura, I don’t know Clay well, but I’ve heard Brad talk about him and the unit. My money is on them helping you even if you don’t want them to. I think it’s in some men’s DNA. They were born protectors.”
Janet took a seat on the chair near the huge fireplace that was warming the room along with the large picture window letting in the sun. It allowed them to see the mountain range in the background.
Laura turned from looking out the window and at Janet. “I know you’re right, but I don’t want Clay to get hurt. This is my mess to sort out. He shouldn’t have to take on my problems.”
“Your problems are his. You’re just kidding yourself if you think Clay would let you leave. He would just have the extra problem of finding you, because he will, and bring down the General at the same time,” Jared said from the doorway. Holding two coffee cups, he walked into the room and placed them on the table between the couch and chair that Janet was sitting in.
“Didn’t mean to butt in on your conversation, but I couldn’t help overhearing. I was just bringing coffee to the two of you. But now that I’ve already butted in, I want to add something. Late every night, Clay calls and asks about you, even if you two just talked a couple of hours before. He has to know if you are safe, if your hands still hurt, are you taking your medicine…The list goes on and on, and we have to reassure him every night. That’s a man that you think will let you go? That he will back down and let the general win? Well, I think you better take another look at what kind of man you hooked. The man is crazy for you and nothing, not even you, are going to get in the way of him keeping you safe and by his side.” Jared just turned and walked back into the kitchen, leaving them alone.
“See, what did I say? Your problems are his. So it would be better to be completely honest to him with what happened between you and the General years ago, so that Clay will know what he is dealing with.” Janet reached down to the table and picked up her coffee cup with a self-satisfying smile on her face.
“OK, don’t rub it in. It’s just that I’ve never encountered any men like Clay, his unit, and now your men, with such integrity. You learned firsthand and I guess I will, too.” Laura also pick
ed up her cup. She was going to ask about cookies then Stan appeared at the door holding a plate.
Lucky, lucky Janet and maybe herself soon, Laura thought as she took a cookie from the plate that Stan extended to her.
Chapter Fifteen
Clay arrived at the cabin. He got out of his truck and just stood for a moment. He was exhausted from the flight and before that from staying up with Angel’s grandmother drinking wine and listening to her stories late into the night. After such a stressful case, it was nice to unwind and celebrate his friend’s new marriage. He was even now with Angel. Yes, he had taken the case on for him so he could concentrate on Laura, but Angel meeting and falling in love with Cyn had more than made up for any outstanding debt between them.
Clay understood James’s and Angel’s feelings toward their women more than ever now. He had caught an early flight, not waiting to wait a single minute more than he had to. He couldn’t wait to see Laura again.
The rest of the unit had gone their separate ways, each needing some down time after the intense case. Chase and Lance would bring the jet back to Detroit later on today. Grant and Brad had decided to rent a car and see the sights on their way back. Angel and James were both treated to a honeymoon cabin on the reserve, and Clay didn’t expect to hear from them for a while.
Shaking his large body, Clay rolled his neck to get the cricks out from the long drive up to the cabin. He was almost nervous of seeing Laura again. Before he had to leave to help Angel, they hadn’t had time to discuss what he had learned about her prior life. They also hadn’t had a chance to talk over the fight they had before the bombing. She seemed to accept him back in the hospital. Maybe now that she had time to think it over, and was feeling better, she might just give him his walking papers again. He knew she had sounded friendly on the phone, but living with other people might have kept her from saying what she wanted to.