by Stacy Eaton
She screamed as she went back and squirmed out of the dead man’s grip. I pulled her to her feet. “Go, call 9-1-1,” I said as I pushed her behind me and then reached over to turn the lights on.
Maggie looked around my shoulder. “That’s the guy that brought me the box!”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded, and I told her again to call the police. I kept the gun on him as I kicked the knife out of his hand and then bent down to check for a pulse. I had little doubt that he would have one; his brains were all over the wall behind him.
Maggie was talking quickly behind me, and then I heard another voice, and I looked up to find Mrs. Valor standing at the foot of the steps, her hand holding the lapels of her robe to her chest. She was staring at the man on the floor, then lifted her eyes to mine. “Life sure has gotten more interesting since you came back to town, Greg.”
Three hours later, the police were closing the door behind them, and Maggie and her mother were upstairs packing. Det. Highmore was called in. He told us that Len’s body was recovered earlier tonight and that the dead guy in the kitchen could directly tie this whole thing to the cartel. He had been on their radar for a while. It could have also put a higher price on our heads, and now we were being moved.
“I don’t know,” I told Jake. “Or how long.”
“Damn it, this couldn’t have happened at a worse time.”
“I know, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Keep that woman and her momma safe. We’ll cover this. Get back when you can, and if you can keep Alice updated, do that.”
“I will; I might be able to work off-site.”
“If you can, do that. At least maybe cover emails and shit. Be safe, and tell Maggie I said hello.”
“You guys have a safe trip too.”
I hung up and found Maggie coming down the stairs with a suitcase, her mother right behind her. Maggie looked a little shell-shocked, her face almost as pale as the medical gauze around her neck, but her mother didn’t seem any worse for wear as she stared at the mess down the hallway.
“You okay, Sweetheart?” I asked as I approached her.
She tried to nod but then shook her head. “No, I’m not.”
I pulled her into my arms, holding her close to me as I kissed the side of her head. That incident had given me a significant scare. The memory of the knife to her throat was ingrained to the back of my skull. When Maggie had jerked her head to the side, the tip of the blade sliced under her jaw. Luckily, it hadn’t gone deep and missed any major arteries or muscles. The paramedic that had shown up had put a little skin glue on it and a butterfly bandage and said it would heal without stitches.
“I need to get Mom’s medication,” she said as she pulled away. Her eyes were downcast as she made her way down the hall and stepped over the mess that was there. The detective said he’d have a cleaning service come in and take care of the biohazard issue. How long would it take to clean from her mind?
Fifteen minutes later, we stood at the door, and Maggie glanced back at her house and shook her head. I walked her and her mother out to my truck while the police officers watched us.
I called Mike on the way back to my place, and he was waiting when we arrived. “Here, I have a laptop and a disposable phone for you to use. I’m gonna check the truck for tracking devices, and I’ll keep an eye on the ladies while you grab your gear.”
“Will only take me a minute; I already have my go-bag ready.”
“Take your time.” Mike slapped me on the back after handing over a backpack. I hustled into my house and was back out in less than five minutes.
Mike was standing at the passenger side door, talking to Maggie. I tossed my stuff into the back, under the bedcover, and met Mike on the passenger side. Maggie looked whipped, huge circles under her eyes.
“Keys to the place are in the front pocket. Me and the guys are the only ones that know where you’ll be. I’ll reach out to your detective tomorrow and let him know that if he needs you, he should call me.” He held his hand out, palm up. “Your phone.”
I gave him my phone and noticed that he had another one in his other hand. Must have already collected Maggie’s. “Thanks for the help, Mike.”
“You’re welcome. Now get on the road. The truck was free of trackers, and I assume you were watching your six on your way here.”
“I was, it was clear.”
“Well, then get on the road. You have a hike. My number is on the phone, send me a text when you make it to the cabin.”
“I will.” I clapped him on the shoulder. “I appreciate it. I owe you.”
“Yeah, you do. I am missing out on some serious beauty sleep.”
“You need all you can get,” I joked as I went around to the drivers’ side and climbed in. Maggie still had her window down, and she glanced at me and then Mike as he put his hand on the windowsill.
“You guys take care. I’ll talk to you soon.”
We said goodbye and got on the road. The drive was over four hours before we bumped down the dirt road to the small cabin. I was surprised that Maggie had stayed awake the whole time. When we arrived, we carried in our gear and the cooler of food that Mike had stowed in the back for us.
The cabin was sparse and tiny, but clean. We got everything inside, and Maggie got her mother situated into the smaller bedroom while I put supplies away. When she finished, she stared at the other bed for a long time before she came to stand in front of me.
“Please do not let me sleep alone tonight.”
Her eyes looked haunted and exhausted. I cupped her cheek. “I’ll stay with you if you want, Maggie.”
She took my hand from her cheek, kissed my palm, and then led me back to the bedroom. She kicked off her pants, snaked her bra out of her sleeve, and then crawled under the covers. While the cops had taken my one gun, I had others, and I set one on the nightstand, removed my pants and shirt, and climbed under the covers after I turned the light off.
Maggie shifted over the mattress to affix herself to my side, and I held her. Neither of us spoke as we lay there, and slowly we both began to relax as sleep edged in on us.
I tried not to think about how good she felt in my arms and tried to focus on the fact that she had almost been killed tonight instead. I wanted to be angry—on edge, alert. But having her head on my chest, her breath brushing over my skin, calmed me in a way I hadn’t been since I’d joined the Marines. Not long after she fell asleep, I drifted off myself.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Maggie
The entire way to the cabin, I’d replayed the night—over and over again. I’d come down to get a drink of water and had the sudden need to check the windows again myself. Plus, my firearm was in my purse, and my purse was on the kitchen table.
The noise outside scared me but not as much as Greg slapping his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming. I was just getting over that scare when suddenly another arm banded around my chest, and a shiny blade reflected off the ambient light in the room.
For a moment, I wanted to panic, to meltdown, scream, maybe bawl like a baby, but the recent training exercises that I’d gone through began to flash through my mind. What did you do in this scenario? Ah, yes, get the eye of your help. Let them know you were ready. Don’t panic, and then move!
I had felt the blade slice under my chin as he began to fall backward. I didn’t think about my injury again until I was on the phone to 9-1-1. When something hit my arm, I looked down and found blood dripping off my chin. I’d turned and called Greg’s name.
“It’s not as bad as it looks, Maggie. You’re going to be alright.” He had held me close, kissing my head, and then my mother was in the room, and the cops were there, and we were all separated. The paramedic tended to my wound, and I was questioned. Det. Highmore arrived and asked more questions, and then they were moving the body. I couldn’t believe it was the same guy who had brought the dead rat to me. The cops found that he had gained entry through the w
indow in the laundry room.
When Greg finally came to me and told me to go pack, I didn’t question it. My mother was already gathering her things, and I was thankful that she was in rare form tonight and lucid.
With everything together, we’d left the house, gone back to Greg’s, and watched as Mike went around the truck with a device in his hand. He put some things into the back of the truck, and then asked for my phone right before Greg joined us.
When we had gotten to the cabin, I’d been too tired to think, much less give a crap about where we were.
Now the sun was up, and I was still lying over Greg’s chest. His arms wrapped around me tightly, his hand on my hip. Every once in a while, his fingers would twitch. I didn’t want him to wake up and move away. I wanted him to keep sleeping for a while so I could enjoy this. Memorize this moment before he disappeared from my life again.
I realized that as much as I might care about Greg, and want to force the issue, he needed to come to me. When he was ready, he would, but I had to stop pushing it and wait. I didn’t want him to be with me just because I was forcing him.
“Big sigh,” his husky sleep voice said, and I lifted my head.
“Did I sigh? I didn’t even realize it.”
He chuckled, and his hand rubbed up and down my hip for a moment. I rested my head back down, and his hand continued to move. His hands were rough, and the stark difference between his fingers and the soft skin on my hip was stimulating.
I let my fingers trace slowly over his chest; his hand shifted lower, and he brushed his fingers down over the curve of my buttock, coming sensually close to a spot that was suddenly screaming for his attention. I ran one finger around his nipple and watched it peak. Oh, how I wanted to flick my tongue over it, tease it a bit.
I shifted my knee further over his thigh, boldly moving it higher toward his groin, and he made a croaking noise in his throat. His left hand cupped the underside of my thigh and shifted my leg so that it covered his erection. He moved his hips against my leg, his hard erection making my breath come faster. The hand that had curled around my hip slipped lower, dipping under the edge of my panties, and delicately touching my most sensitive flesh.
I gasped, suddenly needing him to touch more. He brushed his finger along my center, then paused to press his thumb to the little nub as my body quivered. I pressed into his hand, and he rubbed more as he slipped a finger into me and groaned as he realized just how wet I was for him.
He rolled me to my back in a sudden move and kissed me once before he gently kissed my chin and the covering over my injury. He slipped a hand down my rib cage to under my shirt and lifted it to expose my breast. He stared at it for a long moment, and I wondered if he was disappointed they weren’t bigger.
A moment later, he murmured, “Fucking perfect,” as he took one into his mouth. I arched my back, holding his head to my chest as he suckled my breast and then moved to the other. He pulled at my panties, and I was right there with him, removing mine, and then tugging on his boxers. I yanked my shirt over my head, and Greg reared back and let his gaze drift down my body. One hand slowly followed his perusal, and then he kissed me intensely before his mouth followed the path of his hand.
Greg moved down my stomach, nipping at my hip bones, running his tongue around my belly button, and then licking right up my center as he spread my legs wide, pushing my knees out, and lifting my ass off the bed so he could cover my sex with his mouth. A finger slipped in and stroked me as he took me higher. A second finger joined the first, and as I was beginning to thrash on the bed as the intensity began to grow, he added a third finger, picking up speed, and I threw my head back as I tried to hold in the scream of ecstasy.
He licked at me, entered me over and over again, and didn’t stop until I started to whimper and push his head away. He chuckled as he removed his mouth and fingers, and then before I knew what he was doing, he flipped me to my stomach.
I was a rag doll as he rubbed himself again me, and then he lifted me to my knees, and without hesitation, he plunged forward. I pushed back against him, meeting him in the middle each time as our bodies slammed into one another. He kissed my spine and reached around to touch my bundle of nerves again. I shoved his hand away and replaced it with mine.
He growled behind me, “Yeah, touch yourself, Maggie. Come with me, baby. Come with me.”
His command made my touch electric, and it didn’t take long for me to stop holding back. In a small part of my brain, I was aware that my mother was under the roof with us, and that if she were awake, she would probably be pretty confused. I didn’t need to add scared by the animalistic sounds after last night.
I buried my face into the mattress to muffle the noises, and right after I came, Greg did too. His fingers gripped my hips so hard I wondered if I would have bruises, but I didn’t care. I would welcome any mark this man left on me, including the injuries I would have on my heart after he left me again. It was worth it.
Greg stopped moving and curled around my body, pulling me with him as he went to his side on the mattress and kissed the back of my neck. “Jesus, woman.”
I laughed. “Is that a good Jesus, or bad?”
He went up on an elbow and leaned over me, pulling my face toward his. “That was an amazing Jesus. You are so gorgeous, Maggie, and your body, damn, I’m barely done, and I’m almost ready to go again.”
I stared at him, wondering if he was saying that because we’d had sex or because he really thought that.
“Yeah, well, your body is pretty fine too for a man who is almost forty.”
He laughed and lay back down. “You know that when I came in here last night, this was not what I intended to happen.”
“I know,” I replied softly.
“You aren’t upset?”
“No, why would I be? Not sure if you noticed it or not, but I happen to enjoy sex.”
“I just didn’t want you to think I was using you.”
I shifted to look at him. “Are you?”
“What?”
“Using me?”
His brows lowered, and his forehead lined. “No, Maggie. I care about you.”
I nodded and then sat up and threw my legs over the side of the bed as I found my t-shirt and pulled it over my head. I needed to put space between us before he started to apologize and say it should never have happened.
“Maggie, I have a question I need to ask you. I probably should have asked you earlier. No, I definitely should have asked you earlier.”
“What?” I threw him a look over my shoulder.
“Are you on birth control? We’ve had sex twice, and both times have kind of been spur of the moment.”
I started to laugh as I collected my underwear off the floor. “Don’t worry, Greg. I’m not going to rope you in with an unwanted pregnancy.”
“So, you’re on birth control?”
I retrieved my jeans and stuffed my foot into one leg, wondering what he was going to say when I finally answered him. Maybe he wouldn’t see me as such a perfect person now. “No.”
“You’re not? Maggie, shit, you should have said something.” He sat up in bed, pulling the sheet over his waist.
“Oh, relax, Greg. I won’t get pregnant. It’s not possible.”
“What do you mean, it’s not possible?”
I turned to stare at him. “To be honest, that’s none of your business. All you need to know is that it’s not possible.”
“Maggie—”
I put my hand up to stop him. “Greg, stop. You’ve already told me that you aren’t interested in a relationship with me, so you don’t have the right to ask me personal questions. We had sex twice. It was awesome, both times, but you’re right. That’s all it is, just sex.”
I turned for the door as my knees began to buckle. I barely made it out the door before I leaned back against it and put my hand over my face.
I don’t think I had ever lied so much in my life. It was so much more than sex. It was like his body,
his mind, knew exactly what to do to mine to please it. Like it was built for mine, and mine alone.
Suddenly, a sound caught my attention, and I lifted my head. The front door was open. I glanced around quickly and found the coffeemaker was not only on, but almost full. I moved toward the front door and heard a squeak. I peered out, seeing my mother sitting on the far end of the porch, rocking on an old porch swing, a blanket over her shoulders and a coffee mug in her hands.
I went to pour myself a cup and then joined her outside. “Good morning. How are you today?”
She grinned at me from behind her mug. That alone was odd because she had stopped drinking coffee a few years ago. Every once in awhile, she’d pour herself a cup, but not often. “I’m probably not as good as you are.”
I felt my cheeks begin to warm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, please, Maggie. The walls in this cabin are not thick in the slightest. Made me rather jealous.”
Maybe I should have kicked Greg out of the bedroom and let him come out here first.
“Yeah, well, don’t be.”
“Why is that?”
“Because we were just working off stress.”
“I think it’s more than that, Maggie. I know that you and Greg never were able to keep your hands off one another.” She pursed her lips. “I’m a bit confused about how and when he came back into your life, and why we are here. Wherever we are.”
I chuckled. “You don’t remember last night?”
“Everything is a muddled mess in my mind, Maggie. Nothing makes sense.” She looked so sad, and I went to sit beside her.
“I know it doesn’t make much sense, Mom. I wish I could fix it, fix you, and make you better.”
“Oh, Maggie, I know, but this is not your problem. Tell me, Maggie, how often am I lucid?” She turned to me. “Truthfully.”
“Not very often, Mom. Sometimes you can go for a week or two without knowing where or who you are, and sometimes you are good for a few hours. It has been a long time since you were with me for a full day.”