by Stark, Cindy
“Do you have everything you need here?”
She grabbed her brush and tossed it in the bag. Threw her toothbrush in after it, and then nodded.
He zipped it shut for her and then handed the bag to her. “Take this out and wait by the front door. Your other things are there, too. I’ll get the suitcases from your room, and we’ll leave.”
“Okay.” She didn’t want to walk past the kitchen again, but she had no choice. This time when she did, some of her backbone returned. She forced herself to face what she’d done, and then shut down the emotion that accompanied it. “You deserved it, you bastard,” she whispered.
She set her bag on the coffee table near the other items that Sam had placed in plastic grocery sacks he must have taken from the pantry. She went to lift her grandmother’s tea kettle when the front door swung open.
Her scream lodged in her throat.
But it wasn’t Paul. It was Brent, the scrawny meth-addict Paul allowed to run errands for him in exchange for drugs.
The seventeen-year-old’s eyes grew wide, making his scabbed cheeks stand out even more. “Janie. What are you doing here?”
“Getting my stuff.” She wasn’t quite sure how he’d react. He’d always been sweet to her in the past, but that was when she was Paul’s girlfriend. Since that status had changed, she wondered if Brent would try to do something heroic to earn points from his dealer. She could only imagine how favored he’d be if he helped Paul get his vengeance.
He shut the door softly behind him. “You shouldn’t be here.”
She was tempted to yell for help, but something kept her quiet.
“I heard what happened.” He eyed the stuff on the table, and then turned his dull eyes back to Janie. “He’s going to kill you, you know?”
She wasn’t sure if that was a threat or a statement of fact that they both knew. “He’s not going to find me.”
Brent gave her a look that suggested he wanted to believe her, but couldn’t. “I hope that’s true.”
“Don’t move.” Sam entered the room from behind, his voice carrying a deadly threat. Janie turned, and the sight of the powerful detective holding a gun sent a shiver racing through her.
Brent threw his hands up in the air, ignoring Sam’s warning. “Hey, man. I don’t want no trouble.”
“What are you doing here?”
The junkie narrowed his eyes. “Are you a cop or something?”
Sam’s voice had commanded authority, and apparently, Brent had been around enough police officers to recognize the tone when he heard it.
“I asked you a question.”
He shrugged, trying to act cool, but Janie could see the nervous shadows hovering in his eyes. She was sure hers reflected the same. “Just stopping by to help out a friend, ya know. Paul wanted some personal items.”
A sword of panic sliced through her. “He’s awake?”
Brent’s features grew more anxious. “Uh…yeah. He’s out of recovery, in his room. They let close family see him. Since he don’t have no family that I know of, I said I was his brother. Might as well be ‘cause we…” He shut his mouth and glanced at Sam.
Janie swallowed, the need to escape bearing down on her. She shifted her gaze to Sam. “I’m ready to leave.”
Sam gave her a quick nod and then shifted his steely gaze to Brent. “I want you to go back in the bedroom and shut the door. When you hear us leave, you can come out. If I see your face again tonight, I’m going to shoot first and ask questions later. Understood?”
Brent nodded rapidly. “Yeah, sure, man. I ain’t got no problem with you, and I don’t want none.” The malnourished kid hurried toward the bedroom and shut the door.
Sam retrieved the two suitcases from the hallway where he must have set them before pulling his gun. “Can you carry the rest of your things?”
“Yes.” She slung her smaller bag on her shoulder and picked up the plastic grocery sacks. She opened the door for them both, allowed Sam to move into the hallway before she closed the door behind her.
That was the last time she’d ever return to this place. Another chapter over and done.
Sam’s muscles bulged as he lifted her stuffed suitcases. “I want you to go first. If that kid kills the few brain cells he has left and decides to come after us, I want to be between you and him.”
She didn’t argue. The man knew what he was doing, and in the short time she’d known him, she was certain she wouldn’t be able to change his mind.
Outside, they stuffed her items into his trunk and backseat, and were on the road once again.
Chapter Six
Sam rolled down the window halfway, letting the cool night air into the car. Lights from the dash illuminated his face, but he kept his eyes on the road, his expression neutral. When he merged into a lane that led to Interstate Five, she allowed herself to relax. She was safe. For the moment.
“Thank you.” Her voice filled the darkened space and then disappeared with a rush of the wind blowing inside the car.
“You’re welcome.” He flicked a glance at her before he returned his gaze to the road.
She searched for something else to say. “What’s going to happen now?”
“I’m going to take you to our safe house. As soon as Paul has recovered enough, he will be charged with assault and battery.” He paused. “And any other charges I can think up. I’m sure he’ll lawyer-up, but his attorney will have to be damn good to get him out of this one.” He glanced at her again. “You have some pretty damning evidence. Once it goes to trial, he’ll be screwed.”
“Are they going to want me to testify? She hadn’t planned on sticking around that long.
“Their case will be pretty weak without your testimony. Unless he pleads guilty, which I doubt, it will go before a jury. They need to see your face, hear your voice to bring home exactly what a sick bastard Paul is.”
“What will happen if I can’t do it?”
“What do you mean? He exited the interstate. “Why wouldn’t you be able to testify?”
“I don’t know. I just…I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I hadn’t planned on staying in town for long.” More than that, she didn’t want her bad choices put on display for a courtroom full of people to hear.
“Look, I know it’s a tough thing to face your attacker. Especially when you don’t ever want to see him again, but you need to so we can put him away for a long time.”
“Can’t you get him on drug charges or something else so I don’t have to be there?”
“I had them send in a drug-sniffing dog while you were at the station. They had a couple of hits, but all they could find were two small joints. Do you have some information you’re willing to impart that could help with that charge?”
She sighed. “No.” This was exactly why Paul would never let her go. He believed she could give away his secrets. She wished now that she’d paid better attention and had gained herself some leverage if she needed it. “I stayed away from anything he did that was illegal. I guess I tried to tell myself if I didn’t listen, it wasn’t happening. Deep down, I knew if he thought I knew too much or if he thought I’d talk, he’d kill me.”
Headlights delved into the shadows between a multitude of trees as Sam drove along a residential street. She could see a few houses here and there, but most were hidden by greenery. He slowed and pulled into the double driveway of an older gray rock house with a steep, pitched roof. Neatly-trimmed shrubs ran along the front of the structure. More bushes and trees grew thick along the sides, protecting the privacy of the backyard.
Sam pushed a button above his rearview mirror and waited for the garage door to rise. Once they were inside and he’d shut off the engine, he turned to her. “There must be something.”
The skeptical look on his face bothered her. “There’s not.”
“I understand that people don’t like to get further embroiled in sticky situations, but if he’s awake, his guys are already looking for you. He’s going to believe you�
��ve told the police everything whether you have or not.”
Her irritation spiked. “I just told you I don’t know anything. I don’t lie.” Except to Paul and that was justifiable.
He let out a sigh heavy with frustration. “Okay. But I hope you’ll at least think about it. See if there’s anything you can remember.”
She opened her car door and got out, shutting it and his words behind her. She didn’t need the doubting detective harassing her. Not this night.
She tried to enter the house through a door in the garage, but a flashing red light warned her that the security system had been activated. She refused to look at him as he walked up behind her, set down her suitcases and entered the code, opening the door for her. “Let me take that for you.” He slipped her carry-on bag from her shoulder before she could argue.
He set her suitcases inside the door before flipping on the lights. They’d entered through a mud room which led to the kitchen. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but it wasn’t this. The well-appointed house had been decorated in rich reds and golds, and had an old English feel to it. The dark wooden table with nicks and scratches looked like it might have come straight out of an English pub.
“This is a safe house? Do the police own it? It was hard to imagine the police chief could get away spending taxpayer dollars on something so…maybe luxurious wasn’t the right word, but it was close.
“No. This doesn’t belong to the PD. Your room is this way.” He started down a hallway, turning on lights as he went. He stopped inside a mid-size room, and then backed out and continued down the hall to the end. “I’ll give you this room, instead.”
“What’s wrong with the other room? The rust-colored comforter had given the space a warm, cozy feel, and she could picture herself there. However, when she entered the next room, any remaining questions evaporated. A massive walnut bed covered with a dark green quilt greeted her, calling to her to come rest a while. “It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah. You’ll enjoy the bathroom more than I will anyway.”
“The bathroom? Her gaze wandered to the adjoining door, and she couldn’t help taking a peek. A wondrous marble tub with two faucets rested in one corner and gorgeous natural stone tiles covered the floor and the shower walls. “Oh…wow.” She’d never had the luxury of soaking in such a tub.
“See? He caught her expression and returned the smile. “You’ll enjoy it much more. The only way I’d use it was if we—if I—never mind. It’s all yours.” He turned and left the room.
She stared after him. His Freudian slip and the hint of a blush on his cheeks caught her off guard.
The confident cop had been thrown off his game as well. She blinked, a little shocked.
By her.
She’d experienced a definite attraction the first moment she’d met him, but wasn’t sure how one-sided it was on her part. Sure, he’d flirted with her, asked her to dance. But she actually affected him enough to make him forget his words?
She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that.
He returned a moment later with her suitcases, and then left again without uttering another word.
The tub was heaven. She melted into the warm, bubbly water like hot fudge on vanilla ice cream. The delicious jets pounded against her tense muscles, stealing away her stress. She was hidden away in an unknown location with an experienced police officer watching her. For the first time in a long time, she didn’t have to worry about her safety.
She’d been well into her soak, thinking about her recent interaction with Sam, when she realized she’d entered the bathroom, turned on the water, and hadn’t had a thought about Paul forcing her to take a scalding shower. She had Sam to thank for that.
She glanced down at her hands, prepared to scrub the blood from beneath her fingernails, but it was gone. Soaking in the warm tub had taken care of that, too.
When she’d warmed and relaxed to her heart’s content, she abandoned her loving tub and sought out her soft, pink tank top and a pair of black yoga pants. She looked longingly at the huge bed, aching to test it out.
But first, she had a few questions for Detective Holden. Never again would she trust and not ask when her life was at stake.
The house was quiet when she exited her bedroom. She retraced her steps back down the hall and followed the trail of lights from there. The kitchen was empty, and so was the entertainment room connected to it. She was about to head back to her room thinking Sam had left lights on in the house and had gone to bed when she spied the open door leading outside.
Sam leaned against a wooden railing that separated the patio from the lawn, staring off into the distance. He looked up as she joined him. He’d changed into a snug dark blue t-shirt and jeans, his dark blond hair looking rumpled, the expression on his face pensive.
“Thought you’d gone to bed,” he said. His voice held a tiredness to it.
“Soon.” She peered out into the forested backyard. A chill owned the air, enhanced by the greenery and lack of sunshine. Lights from the house played with thick tree branches, casting suspicious shadows across the lawn, and she had to remind herself no one knew where she was. Except Nicole and Xander. In the distance, she could hear the rush of the river.
She leaned against the rail, too, leaving a respectable distance between them. “Something isn’t quite right here.”
Sam stiffened, quickly glancing around the surroundings as though searching for the source of danger. “What do you mean?”
“With you.” She studied him, searching for a hint that would help her understand some of the puzzle pieces that weren’t fitting together.
He crooked a brow in question, his intense dark eyes flashing with an interested, searching expression. “Explain.”
“You’re a detective.”
“So?”
“I might not know all the ins and outs of police procedure, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t part of a detective’s job to hide out with people at a safe house. Especially one that doesn’t belong to the police department.”
“It could be. Depending on the case.”
“But it isn’t. Not in this case. Is it?”
He met and held her gaze for several long moments, and she began to wonder if he’d give her an answer. Then he nodded. “You are correct.”
The fact that she wasn’t under official police protection made her shiver. “Then what’s going on here? Who owns this place?”
He hesitated again, and she was certain this was not a discussion he preferred to have. “Technically, I own it, but we’ve used it as a safe house for a while now.”
“We, as in the police bureau?”
“No. We, as in a select group of people dedicated to serving justice.”
“But not cops. Or, at least not working as cops at that moment.”
He sighed and turned toward the trees. “Janie, this isn’t something you need to know. It could endanger my job as well as the lives of my partners.”
She frowned, not liking his answer. “So, I’m supposed to trust you with my life, but you won’t trust me? Was Xander part of this group? Had Nicole agreed to the same terms?
He turned to her, took a step closer, the energy bouncing between them increasing exponentially. Light from the house played over his features, and he seemed every inch the authoritative cop. “You’re safe. That’s all you need to be concerned about.”
“It’s because of Paul, isn’t it?”
Sam hesitated a second too long.
“You don’t trust me because of him.”
“Look. I trust you, okay? But there are certain things that you don’t need to know. It’s better for everyone involved.”
It didn’t feel better to her. In fact, Sam’s words reminded her of Paul when he’d begun the metamorphosis into a monster. “Fine.” It didn’t matter if he trusted her anyway. She wouldn’t be there long. “It’s been a really awful day. I’m going to bed.”
He nodded, an unhappy look on his face. She didn’t
care. He was the one who put the wall between them. So be it.
She’d made it halfway to her bedroom when a knock sounded on the front door.
Janie stopped in her tracks, not certain what she should do. Her safe haven was being intruded upon, and while she didn’t think it was a certain threat, she couldn’t help but wonder.
A second later, Sam passed by the hall, giving her a raised-brow glance, as though hinting she needed to retreat to her bedroom.
Forget that. If she was jumping from one hornet’s nest into another, she’d just as soon know right now. She turned off the hall light so she would be less visible, but she walked back to where it led into the kitchen and waited.
Sam greeted someone named Christian.
“Is she here?” a male voice responded.
“Yeah. She’s been through some serious shit tonight. She went to bed, so you’ll have to—”
They’d moved closer to where she stood, and Sam stop speaking when he spied her. “Or not. Janie, I’d like you to meet Christian. He’s a friend of mine.”
A friend or a friend, she wanted to ask. She stepped forward into the light and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
He shoved the bag of groceries and jug of milk into Sam’s arms before he took her hand in his as an interested smile lit his face, warming his brown eyes. His longer dark hair gave him a laid back look, and she instantly liked him. She was certain she’d seen him at Nicole and Xander’s wedding as well, and she had to wonder who was this group of guys that hung around her best friend’s new husband.
“Hello, Janie.” He didn’t release her hand as he kept talking. “I’m sorry you had such a rotten night. Anything I can do for you? He dropped his gaze in a quick assessment of her, but for whatever reason, his actions didn’t feel creepy. It was the good vibe coming off him or something.
“She’s fine,” Sam interjected. “She just needs some rest, right? He eyed her.
She wanted to argue so she could spend more time with them figuring out their operation, but she could take a hint as well as most people, and it was obvious Sam wanted her to disappear. So she would. “Thanks for asking, Christian.” That would annoy Sam, and he deserved it. “But I do need some sleep.”