Killer Romances

by Dana Delamar, Talullah Grace, Sandy Loyd, Kristine Mason, Dale Mayer, Nina Pierce Chantel Rhondeau, K. T. Roberts, H. D. Thomson, Susan Vaughan

  Lucy blew out a breath in exasperation as she searched through her purse for her keys. “You never give up, do you?” No one could miss her irritation as she thrust the key into the lock. Her next retort died when the door opened in front of her without turning the key. The door hadn’t been latched.

  “Oh my God.” Her hand went to her mouth and her concerned gaze flew to his.

  Hours earlier, Jack had witnessed Lucy locking the door behind them on their way out. “That’s not a good sign.” Ignoring the chill riding down his spine, he surveyed the room behind her. “Everything looks normal. Still, an unlocked door means someone’s obviously been in there.” He stepped inside. Lucy followed, staying close to him. Nothing appeared out of order, but that only made the situation eerier. “I doubt Frank or Gerald would bother.”

  “Of course you’d absolve your friends from any wrongdoing.” If her eyes had been loaded guns, he’d be a dead man right now given the way she shot those angry brown bullets his way. “Why wouldn’t you when you all belong to Oakmont’s GOB network.”

  “GOB network?” The term stopped him. What the hell was she talking about?

  She snorted. “You know. Good old boy?” She watched his face closely and when he let the confusion show in his eyes, she snorted again and pushed further into the room, placing some distance between them. “I’m sure you’ve heard the term.”

  “Yeah,” he said cautiously. “But what has that got to do with us?”

  “You’re not serious?” That Maddox glare was back as she counted off with her fingers. “One, you’re all in bed together. Two, you all run the county. Don’t even try to deny it,” she added, when he started to do just that. “And three, your number one rule is to stick together.” Lucy broke off when a soft meow sounded from far away. “Sadie?”

  “Please,” Lucy said under her breath. “Don’t let anything be wrong with my cat.”

  The effect of her sad smile as she whispered the prayer landed like a fist to his gut.

  “Sadie’s family,” she said a little louder over her shoulder, starting in the direction where the cry had originated. “Just like Cassie.”

  Jack followed Lucy, who by now was almost shouting. “Stupid maybe, but I think of both Cassie and Sadie as kindred spirits.” The strength of her sentiment, along with her resolute expression, gave him a little more insight into the lady. “Sadie?” Her voice cracked with emotion as she rushed through the house. “Here, girl.”

  Jack remained on her heels as she frantically called the name several times, searching from room to room. Another cry floated from the far end of the hall, as Lucy kept calling.

  She shoved the bathroom door open and hurried to the linen closet, where urgent cries and clawing grew louder. After opening the closet door, she scooped up the cat and kissed her head. “You sweet thing.”

  Relief swept over Jack. Her cat was okay. Thank God he’d dodged that emotional bullet. He glanced around the area and still saw nothing out of the ordinary, which only highlighted the obvious. Somehow she’d lured him in. Deep. Hell, he was already too close to her. Worse, he was beginning to see her cause as sympathetic. He really needed space. He damn well didn’t need to get yanked in any further.

  Sadie just meowed her discontent and Jack slowly trailed Lucy who moved in the direction of her bedroom.

  As he walked, Jack couldn’t seem to stop from being sucked further into the vortex of Lucy Maddox and her chaotic world. He wiped his face, hating the next thoughts that floated up. Damn, this was too reminiscent of his time with Ginny. His emotions used to flip-flop in a similar way. He glimpsed the parallels in hindsight with complete certainty.

  “Oh my God!” Lucy stopped short at her bedroom door, yanking Jack’s thoughts to her horrified voice. “Look what they’ve done.”

  The mess Jack spotted turned his stomach. When he entered the room, glass crunched underneath his feet. Nothing was left untouched, but the computer and monitor bore the brunt of the attack.

  He turned to Lucy, noting her tears as clarity set in. “Get your things. You can’t stay here.”

  “No.” She shook her head, appearing lost and forlorn. “My thoughts are a jumbled mess. I can’t think of what to do right now.” She slowly sank to the edge of her bed. It had been stripped as if someone had searched it thoroughly, but the mattress was still intact, the sheets and comforter in a big heap on the floor.

  “That’s easy, sweetheart,” Jack murmured, plopping down beside her and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her closer to give her a comforting hug, wanting only to soothe her fears and take care of her. “You’re coming home with me.”

  “I have to call the police,” she whispered.

  His grip tightened. “We will.” He kissed the top of her forehead and leaned back before capturing her gaze, his showing total candor. “But you can’t stay here.”

  Misery seeped out of her expression when Lucy glanced up at him. “This is my home.”

  Pillows and cushions from a sofa at one end of the room were strewn about, left wherever someone had cut them open, and pictures and knickknacks that she’d obviously labored countless hours coordinating to match had been broken.

  Lucy wiped the teardrops from the side of her face. “Someone tore my bedroom apart. My sanctuary. A place where I belonged.” She broke off and continued sobbing. “Decorating was more than a hobby.” The whispered admission was spoken so softly, he almost didn’t catch it. “It gave me a chance to feel normal.”

  Jack nodded. A lump built in his throat when Lucy glanced at him and asked in a sob-wracked voice, “Why? It feels like someone’s taken a big hand and wiped away the remnants of my life in one fell swoop. How could they?”

  He released his hold when, still clutching Sadie, Lucy bent to pick up a needlepoint tapestry with the words “Home is where the heart is” stitched in pale colors…blues, greens, and pinks. She brushed off the cracked glass and wooden debris of the broken frame, pressing out the wrinkles, as the meaning of her words registered and he realized that one piece of cloth made more of a statement about what she wanted than anything else in her house.

  “Cardello and Duncan aren’t responsible for this.” His vehement denial came out too fast. He took a deep breath and wiped his face, before running the hand threw his hair and letting it rest on his neck. While rubbing, he expelled the sigh in one long exhale. “Good Old Boy network or not, this isn’t their style.” He refocused on her gaze, his showing total certainty. “They play by the rules.”

  “They play by their own rules,” Lucy said curtly, dismissing his comment with a snort. She wiped more tears away and sniffled. “They always have and always will.”

  Jack shook his head, but remained silent. Lucy wasn’t in the frame of mind to listen to reason, so anything he said would probably go unheard. Whoever had done this had messed with the wrong person, and he, or she, as he suspected, wouldn’t get away with it. Not if he had anything to say about it.

  “Come on. I’ll call the police and then we can clean up this mess.”

  Chapter 18

  Two hours later, Jack surveyed the results, happy with his progress. While Lucy had been busy talking with one of Oakmont’s finest, he’d straightened, salvaged what he could, or tossed in a corner what couldn’t be saved.

  His gaze moved to Lucy. Jack had to hand it to her. She was a real trouper. Even though he knew she was coming apart at the seams, she’d bravely bucked up, dried her tears, and did what needed doing, in this case, reliving the bedroom’s destruction in minute detail as the officer wrote his report.

  An unwanted emotion rose up inside Jack as Lucy signed the document. In less than forty-eight hours, his entire opinion of her had changed. Just as unexpected, an unwilling admiration for her courage led that change.

  Jack walked Officer Grant to the door and shook his hand. “Thanks for your help.”

  “We’ll keep an eye out and drive by several times during the next few days.” Grant nodded. His furt
ive glance flitted to Lucy before reconnecting with Jack’s. “Will she be okay?”

  “Yeah. I’ll make sure of it.” Jack closed the door, then turned to see that Lucy had silently approached and stood behind him. She smiled wanly, appearing fragile, nothing like the hard-core street person he remembered from all those years ago. Had she ever been that person?

  “Where’s Sadie?” Lucy asked, glancing around.

  “The kitchen.”

  “I appreciate your help.” Her eyes filled again, the tears making those round coffee-colored eyes seem huge. “I don’t know what I’d have done if you weren’t here.”

  “You’d have survived. That much I know.” Jack started for the kitchen, saying over his shoulder, “Stay here. I’ll get the cat.”

  Once back in the room, carrying Sadie, he handed her off. “Here she is, safe and sound. I fed her while you were busy with Grant.”

  “Thanks.” Lucy’s nod indicated the date book she’d placed on her coffee table after she’d seen the devastation in the bedroom. “I can’t handle going through anything tonight.”

  The table had ended up being the spot Jack had stuck most of the still usable items. He picked up the book and grabbed the bag he’d also packed while she’d been busy. Her drawers and closets had been tossed around and her computer had been completely trashed, but most of her clothes were relatively salvageable as was the bedroom furniture, except for the sofa cushions.

  “I have an extra cat box and plenty of cat food.” Jack ushered her to the front door and waited until she’d locked it. On the way to his rental car, he added, “Tomorrow will be soon enough to deal with it all.”

  Jack called his mother to cancel dinner. They stopped at a burger joint not far from Lucy’s house and ate quickly without getting out of the car.

  In his townhouse, Jack led Lucy to his guest bedroom. He’d relegated Bogie and Bacall to his bedroom to keep his cats separate from Sadie to avoid confrontation until they got used to each other’s scents. He dropped her bag on the floor and set the date book on the nightstand next to the bed. Jack took a critical look around. The room was kind of bland, more along the lines of Cassie’s decorating than Lucy’s. No color other than brown and black. The hardwood softened the look a bit, but the room still lacked warmth. He was about to open his big mouth and say it wasn’t as nice as her house, but stopped himself in the nick of time. “It’s not pretty to look at, but it’s clean.”

  Lucy nodded and brushed a stray hair from her face. “I know this sounds bad.” She shoved her hands in her pockets and rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet. “But…umm, I, umm…don’t want to be alone tonight.” She nervously glanced up at him, her eyes begging.

  Blood rushed south, but he ignored the sensation. Jack wasn’t into taking advantage when a person was down, and though Lucy had been as low as he’d thought a person could go while living on the streets, right now, he knew this was an all-time low for her. “Sure.” He cleared his throat and grabbed her bag once again. “You can leave Sadie in here. She’ll be safe.” Jack shut the door and pointed down the hall. “You know the way.”

  He silently followed her as she slipped inside his bedroom.

  “So, do you want to start on the date book?” he asked, closing the door to keep the cats from escaping.

  She peered up at him and shook her head. “I don’t think I can focus right now.”

  He nodded and glanced around. The room seemed to shrink all of a sudden. And when his gaze hit his king-sized bed, he couldn’t help but remember what had gone on in that bed last night.

  “Hug me, Jack.” Lucy’s whispered request hit his ears and his heart melted at the sight of renewed tears.

  He opened his arms. “Sure, sweetheart.” When she stepped closer, he wrapped her in a bear hug, holding her tight. He kissed the top of her head.

  “Why?” She peered up at him, her large doe eyes still too sad. She sniffled and wiped at the moisture under her eyes. “Why would someone smash my things? Why is Cassie missing? They have to be related.”

  “I don’t know.” Jack stopped short of saying what he really thought. That type of destruction took emotion to create. Most likely, whoever was responsible was searching for something and didn’t find it. He doubted Frank or Gerald would go to such extremes. They’d use the law or their clout to stop her.

  “Why don’t you lie down?” Jack led her to the bed while his thoughts reverted to Lucy’s valid comment about the GOB network. He’d never thought about it before, but those she considered good old boys had the money and the power, and they’d run the county since the beginning of time. Unfortunately, that wasn’t about to change any time soon, which also swayed his verdict to not guilty. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a connection, mainly to Kim Darlinski. Kim led to Olivia, or maybe even to Kim’s dad. For Jack’s money, all three were in on it and made a hell of a lot more sense. Shit! No wonder Frank didn’t want him looking into his closets.

  “You’ll stay with me, won’t you?” Lucy asked as he fluffed the pillow behind her. “And talk to me? I need a diversion from all this.”

  Jack nodded. “So I’m just a diversion?” That hurt his ego. Big-time.

  Lucy shook her head and gave him a sad smile. “No. You’re much more than a diversion and unfortunately, that doesn’t bode well for either of us.”

  Chapter 19

  Nestled in the crook of Jack’s arm and shoulder, Lucy lay in contented silence, enjoying his soft caress. Considering the way his warm hand stroked, his fingers gliding up and down her arm, she couldn’t help feeling special, a foreign feeling having gone missing from her life for more than a decade. Though an illusion, she reveled in the fantasy because for the second night in a row, she felt as if she belonged here. She felt as if she and Jack were equals. If only the feelings could last forever.

  “Why’d you run away?”

  His whispered words wormed their way into her sluggish subconscious. The question disturbed her illusion much as a jumping fish disturbed a still pond, as ripples of memory brought the ugliness back in a flash of clarity.

  Lucy didn’t want to go back there. Not now, when the present seemed so perfect. And after a most horrendous day, or maybe because of it, she wanted to hold on to her bliss for as long as possible. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

  “It does to me.” His hand stopped its slide up her arm and he shifted so their eyes were level, only she couldn’t keep meeting his gaze. His hand came into view as he lifted her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes that overflowed with sincerity. Those eyes drew her in. She could no more slow the slippery slide into love at that moment than she could discontinue breathing.

  The thought stopped her. No! This wasn’t love. This wasn’t long term. She didn’t love him. She wouldn’t love him. It was only a feeling that came because she was vulnerable right now. To allow him to penetrate the protective walls surrounding her heart would be the biggest mistake of her life.

  “Why?” She couldn’t keep annoyance out of her voice. “It’s in the past and should stay there.”

  “I disagree.” Determination glinted in his eyes.

  “I’d rather not talk about it.” Rehashing the ugliness would serve no purpose. “I only want to stay here, wrapped in our own world.” For as long as possible, she added mentally.

  He smiled and his face lit with pleasure even as the crinkles around his eyes grew deeper. “It is nice, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. It is.” Lucy focused on the heavy walnut furniture. Even with the white walls, this was a masculine room. Her gaze moved lower, to the cat curled on a chair.

  Just like Sadie, his cats were family she determined, after spying the other wrapped in a circle on his window seat overlooking a small L-shaped patio. Jack had drawn the shades over the windows and the louvers over the patio door so you couldn’t see out. But Lucy knew if you stepped outside and onto the patio, it led to another entrance in the dining/living room. His townhouse was well designed and definit
ely out of her price range.

  “You still haven’t answered my question.” Jack’s voice infiltrated her thoughts again. “And this seems as good a time as any to fill me in on your motives.”

  Lucy sighed and risked a glance in his direction. “Is it because I’m your captive?”

  He laughed and kissed the top of her head. Both only added to her sense of contentment. “There is that.” Then Jack shrugged. “Seriously, though, I’ve always wondered where I went wrong.”

  The concern in his voice shouldn’t please her, but it did. It meant he cared. But his caring now wouldn’t change their history, nor would reliving that history in conversation change their future. Lucy averted her gaze. “You didn’t go wrong,” she stated softly.

  “Yes, I did. I failed to save you from yourself.”

  Lucy hid her dismal smile in his shoulder. “I don’t think anyone other than Cassie could’ve saved me back then. Mainly because she understood what I was running from.”

  He took her chin between his forefinger and thumb, and turned her so that she had to look at him. “I want to understand too.”