Zach paused briefly, the nodded. “If you find any footage of him or the car, make a copy of it. I’m going to turn him in for harassment.”
“I can do that.”
Piper turned as he re-boarded the cabin cruiser. “You okay?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m okay.” She leaned back against the railing.
“I just need to check everything below.”
She nodded.
He quickly scanned the galley, cabin and bathroom. Nothing was disturbed. He locked the door leading belowdecks and pocketed the key.
Piper remained silent while they walked along the dock and crossed the gravel parking area to his SUV. Once inside the car, she leaned back against the passenger door to face him. “He won’t stop. This was just the first volley, so you’ll know how he can get to you.”
“I know.”
“You can’t get involved in this, Zach.”
“You just talked to Detective Sherman. Let’s report this to him and see where it goes.”
“It won’t go anywhere, because he won’t turn on a fellow cop. Trust me, he won’t.”
“I have some contacts in the PD, Piper. I’ll give them a call and talk to them about what happened to you and what’s happening now. Maybe they’ll be able to help. You’re not alone now.” And he wasn’t either. He’d talk to his team and see what they thought.
She ran her fingers through her windblown hair. “You’re too good for your own good, Zach.”
“No, I’m just pissed off this guy is able to use San Diego PD resources to stalk people and get away with it. If his commanding officers knew, they might have a different perspective on things. They may not give a shit that he’s abusing his power, but they will if they know he’s calling in bogus crimes and taking up valuable resources.”
She shook her head. “I believe you might just be more stubborn than he is.”
Zach grinned, making light of the situation, though it was anything but. “Pigheaded, darlin’. That’s what my mom and sister call it.”
“He was parked down the street from my house when we left, Piper.”
A red flush stained her cheeks. “Don’t hold things back from me Zach. I can’t protect myself if I don’t see him coming.”
He grimaced. “It won’t happen again.”
“How can I end this?’ she asked.
“I have some ideas.”
He turned the key in the ignition and started the car. “We’ve talked about show and tell and hide and seek. How do you feel about tag?”
Chapter 29
‡
Cal paced impatiently just outside the baggage claim area while he waited for Kathleen to appear. It seemed like a month since they’d been together. The days passed quickly, since he was working to complete another project for the company, but at night it dragged.
He’d been out with Doug the night before for a beer, and ended up leaving his brother talking up one of the girls who’d bought them a drink. Even sitting at the table with someone else had felt like a betrayal of Kathleen, so he got up and left the moment he finished his beer. Jesus, he had it bad.
He caught a glimpse of dark hair and something red and scanned the crowd. There she was, towing a suitcase behind her, and hitching her purse and her computer bag over her shoulder. As soon as she saw him, she smiled, totally unaware when a guy she passed did a double take and turned to watch her walk away. She was beautiful, and super-sexy, and didn’t even know it.
She still saw herself as the chunky, overweight college freshman she’d told him about. She wasn’t. She was a freakin’ bombshell.
He knew he was grinning like a fool by the time she made it past the security barrier. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on her, to hold her.
“Hi.” She sounded as breathless as he felt.
“I’m so freakin’ glad you’re here!” He tried not to grab too roughly, but he had to kiss her. Despite the baggage, he dragged her close and sealed his lips over hers with a week’s worth of hunger. God, he’d missed her. Her arms went around him, holding him as tightly as he was holding her. She tasted like Kathleen and sweet iced tea.
When he lifted his head, her cheeks were flushed and she nestled into him. “I missed you, too.”
“You have no idea, honey,” he said with feeling. He bent to grip the handle of her suitcase and took the computer bag from her shoulder and slipped it over his own. “Whoever said you can’t go home again knew what they were talking about. Though they probably ought to have said ‘you shouldn’t go home again.’”
“I understand. Even the thought of moving back in with my parents gives me the willies. How’s your father doing?”
“Physically he’s doing good.”
He didn’t want to bring up his father’s behavior right off the bat, but he didn’t want Kathleen to be caught unaware. He changed the subject. “How have you been? Everything okay?”
“Yes. Everything is fine. I have some things to tell you about the guys at work, but we’ll talk about them later.”
“Okay. Tomorrow I’ll show you some of the work we’ve been doing, because I think you’ll be interested.”
“And the house you mentioned?”
“Yeah, I’ve been waiting to show it to you. You’ll probably have some ideas of your own to improve the design, but I thought it turned out pretty nice.”
“You sound excited about the work you’ve been doing.”
“It’s different from business construction. It’s not on such a huge scale. Doing ironwork is just the skeleton of the building. Doing tile work in a bathroom makes you feel a little more creative. I’d forgotten how much easier it is than what I do, too.”
“I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it. You could always switch to residential when you go back to San Diego.”
He shook his head. “I make better money at business construction.”
She hugged his arm against her. The soft brush of her breast against his arm had him wondering if they might find somewhere private on the way home to make up for the week they’d been apart.
“Sometimes it’s not about making more money, it’s about doing what you love. If you enjoy residential construction more, you could move in that direction. I wouldn’t mind having the opportunity to draw residential designs. They’re much less stressful than the industrial plans.”
“It’s about paying the bills and saving some money so we can follow a dream.” He brushed her temple with a kiss and led her through the terminal to the walkway outside. The heat had abated somewhat, but exhaust from the many cars, vans, and shuttles lingered in the air, faint but persistent. “There’s a shuttle we’ll catch to the place where I’ve parked,” he explained, then asked, “How’s the design coming?”
“I finished my part ahead of schedule, and the guys are working on theirs while I’m gone. We had a meeting with the client yesterday, and it went very well. But I had to bring my laptop just in case changes are requested.”
She was a talented architect, and he’d worked on enough designs to know special when he saw it. “You amaze me. You’ll have to show my dad some of your designs. He’ll be interested in them.”
“If he feels up to it.”
It didn’t have a damn thing to do with how he felt. It was all about whether he could control his attitude and his mouth.
A shuttle pulled up and Cal nodded to it. “This is us.” He handed off Kathleen’s suitcase to the driver, and they boarded the small bus.
Once at the car, Cal put the suitcase and computer case in the trunk and broached the subject he’d held back. It wouldn’t be fair to let her walk into the situation with his father without warning. “Dad’s going through some of the same stuff I did after I lost my leg. Depression and anger.”
Kathleen looked up from fastening her seat belt. “He’s angry about being laid up?”
“To put it mildly. The only good thing is I’m not at the house most of the day to set him off. And I think he’s been doing this since long before the sur
gery.”
“There was a kind of balance while I lived here. Doug was the peacemaker, and I drew Dad’s fire and kept him from riding Mom and Doug too much. Because I wasn’t here to act as a buffer, he’s turned on the two of them. It’s become such a habit he rarely has anything pleasant to say to either of them.”
“What about you? Does he take issue with you?”
“No. He doesn’t say much to me.” He’d given some thought to why he wasn’t. “I think it’s because he knows I can walk and will away.”
He scanned Kathleen’s features. “You’re a peacekeeper, too, Kathleen. When I’m at my worst, you talk me down and keep me from being too big an irritable asshole. Until now, I didn’t realize what a burden that can be.”
“It isn’t a burden, Cal. Everyone needs a sympathetic ear now and then. Even I do. It’s part of being a couple. Besides, you’ve never been verbally abusive to me.”
“I might have been, if I hadn’t joined the military, gotten the discipline I needed.” Or hadn’t walked away when he did. “But Dad isn’t verbalizing what’s bothering him. He’s just being an asshole to everyone. I can’t protect you from it when I’m not there. And I won’t be around some of the time. Don’t let him browbeat you.”
She had been rock-steady before the situation with Hillary. But now she’d faced death and discovered her own vulnerability, there were chinks in her armor. Some days they were wider than others. Right now they seemed to have closed a little, and she seemed more relaxed than before he left.
Her expression was earnest when she said, “I won’t let him push me around.”
“Good.”
Cal took the direct route to the house. He’d take Kathleen sightseeing one day before she left, but right now he wanted to see her settled and let her meet his mom.
She’d been cooking when he left, nervous, excited, and eager to meet Kathleen. His dad had been sour and taciturn.
Cal was tired of walking on eggshells around his father, and more and more he was coming to understand and sympathize with the nurses’ actions when he behaved the same way.
He turned into the gated community his family moved into while he was in high school. The houses in the neighborhood ran anywhere between two hundred and fifty to four hundred and fifty thousand. His father built quite a few of them, and now flipped houses in similar neighborhoods when the renovation and building projects allowed.
“I like how they have a combination of brick and stone, one on top, one on the bottom.”
“You may see brick, stone, and stucco combined as well. And Spanish architecture similar to what we have in California.”
“I’ve always loved the openness of the Spanish design. Covered walkways with the arches and open courtyards in the center of buildings. You won’t find anything like that in Boston.”
“But you have the MIT building and other progressive architecture.”
“But a lot of the residential architecture is just the same as it is everywhere else. In some neighborhoods in the city there are block after block of attached homes sandwiched together. It makes me feel claustrophobic to drive down there.”
“So your parents and siblings live in detached houses?”
“Yeah. Mom and Dad have owned theirs forever. Michael and Jeanine bought theirs ten years ago.” She turned from watching the houses go by. “Taylor and Thomas live in a very unusual loft apartment they rent together. The kitchen and living area are one big open room, but the bedrooms are sectioned off with walls, and each has its own bathroom.”
“Makes for a less awkward situation when they have company.”
Kathleen laughed. “I’m sure. They’re twins, and they even roomed together in college. You’d think they’d want a break from each another.”
“They say twins have a bond tighter than other siblings. Maybe it’s true.” Cal pulled into the driveway of the ranch-style house. “There’s a pool around back, and the privacy fence encloses the whole back yard. I hope you brought a swim suit.”
“I did, but I couldn’t transport the sunscreen. Airport regulations.”
“My mom has some.”
He exited the car and went around to get her suitcase and computer from the trunk.
The front door opened before they reached it and his mother stepped out onto the concrete porch. “I couldn’t wait a minute longer,” she commented. “I’m so glad you could come, Kathleen.”
Cal watched the two most important women in his life size each other up.
“You’re so gorgeous,” Sondra said.
Kathleen smiled, and color blossomed in her cheeks. “Thank you. Callahan has your beautiful eyes. He’s told me so much about you. I’m very, very glad to finally meet you.”
They reached for each other and exchanged a heartfelt hug. He drew a relieved breath while he opened the door for them to go in ahead of him.
He stowed Kathleen’s things in the guest room and wandered back to the kitchen, where he could hear voices. Kathleen was helping his mother put dishes on the dining room table after his mother filled them.
“Your father and Doug are in his cave. Would you get them?” Sondra asked.
He wandered back through to call them to the table. His father had actually taken a shower and changed into flannel sleep pants and a San Antonio Spurs T-shirt. He looked weak but alert.
Doug was stretched back in one of the recliners.
“Mom and Kathleen are putting dinner on the table,” he announced to them both. “If you don’t feel like sitting at the table, Dad, I can set you up a tray in here.”
“Afraid I’ll embarrass you in front of your girl?” his dad asked.
“Kathleen won’t hold anything you say against me, Dad. You might want to worry about embarrassing yourself.”
Doug dipped his head to try and hide his grin.
Jameson shot Doug a look. “What are you smirking about?” He lowered the foot of his recliner and wiggled forward to get his feet under him.
Cal stepped forward to grasp his arm. When his Dad didn’t complain, he eyed him closely.
*
Kathleen studied Jameson Crowes’ features. Though he and Doug shared a stronger resemblance, with their dark hair and eyes, Kathleen recognized similarities in the shape of Cal’s jaw and the strength of his build. Though Jameson’s hair was gray, and he had the pallid look of someone who had been ill recently, Cal’s father was a handsome man.
While they ate the dinner of baked chicken and stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls, they talked about the attractions available to see in the San Antonio area. Sea World, the Aquarium, tours available of the city, the tower of the Americas, the park, the Alamo, the river walk, and the malls.
“I came just to visit, not to sightsee, and I’ll be going back ten days from now, on Sunday. I had to take my vacation days or lose them. I’ll be content to hang out by the pool.”
Jameson spoke for the first time. “You’ll have to be careful with your fair Irish skin. Sondra has sunscreen around here somewhere.”
After what she’d heard about him, Kathleen felt a little wary, but smiled. “I’ll need it. I brought a hat as well.”
“Some time while you’re here, I’d like to see the project you’re working on,” he said. “Cal’s been bragging about how talented you are, and I’d like to see some proof.”
Kathleen laughed. “Okay. I have a few things on my computer. A couple of residential projects and few more industrial.”
“Good.”
“Kathleen draws as well, Dad,” Cal broke in.
She bent her head to hide the flush of embarrassed heat. “A little. Mostly just the projects I’m involved in.”
“Don’t be shy about tooting your own horn around here, Kathleen. The boys come in bragging all the time,” Sondra said with a laugh.
“All my brothers are the same way but Zach. He’s so closemouthed you’re lucky to get anything out of him.”
“He’s in the Navy, isn’t he?” Doug asked.
“Yes. I have a brother in the Marine Corps, one in the Army, and my oldest brother and father are police officers. The twins are both I.T. guys. They work for a firm that builds secure websites and systems for corporations. The other two, one’s a lawyer, and the other is an aircraft mechanic.”
“Does your mother work?”
“She babysits for two of my sisters-in-law, taking care of four of the children, ages one year to six. She’s all about family.”
“What did she think about her baby girl leaving the nest?” Sondra asked.
“She wasn’t thrilled about me to being so far away, but they visited and saw that I’m thriving away from home and doing well in my job. And of course they met Callahan and really liked him.” She placed a hand over Cal’s.
“The most you can hope for is for your children to be self-reliant and happy,” Sondra commented.
“That’s similar to what my mom said. But she was crying the whole time she said it while she kissed me good-bye. Most of the boys have scattered like dandelion seeds. Being the only girl, I think she hoped I’d be at home for life.”
“It’s hard to let go, even when you know it’s the best thing to do. Especially when your child’s had some hard knocks along the way.” Sondra said. Her gaze rested on Callahan for a moment.
“Everyone has hard knocks in life, Sondra. And we all have to deal with them the best way we can,” Jameson said. “It’s called living.” He tossed his napkin on the table and pushed himself to his feet by gripping the edge of the table.
Doug and Cal both rose. He waved them back down. “I can make it back to my recliner on my own. Finish your dinner. I’m going to have a nap. We’ll look at those plans together in the morning, Kathleen.”
“Sure.” His hard-edged, no-nonsense tone gave her a glimpse of what Cal meant. Even sick he projected a strong will, and his brusque delivery left no room for argument.
Breaking Out (Military Romantic Suspense) (SEAL Team Heartbreakers Book 6) Page 26