His dark hair looked as though he’d run his fingers through it time and time again, giving him a just rolled out of bed look. His brown eyes glowed a radiant amber. The faded rock band shirt he wore stretched tight across his chest, and his sweats hung loose around his tapered waist. It was a good thing this was the first chance she’d had to really give him a thorough once over. With the kids hovering around them, then his dad, his mother, his brother and his brother’s girlfriend, she’d focused on them and not him.
“I was thinking that I wanted to get you home as fast as possible,” he huffed out, taking a step toward her. “Listen, Carolline. I don’t want you going back to your place. I want you here.”
She sighed at the idiot. When he’d said ‘home’, her heart skipped a beat. He didn’t call it his place or the house. He said home. To her it meant family, caring, and comfort. Something she’d wanted pretty much forever. He was right too. This giant house filled with his family felt like home. Even with the pictures of Sasha still scattered about. “Devon, I never said I didn’t want to be here, only that you never asked. I need my stuff. My clothes and shoes, the few personal items I’ve had since I was a child.”
“Oh,” he said, sounding surprised. He closed the distance between them, pulling her flush against his strong body. “Will you stay here with us? Move in?”
“All you had to do was ask.”
His lips quickly descended onto hers, stealing her breath as the words left her mouth. He tumbled her onto the piles of clothes, ravishing her as they went down. Before anything more could happen, a knock sounded at the door, followed by a small voice.
“Dad, Pop-Pop wants to know if we’re grilling out today. He said he’d run to the store if we are.”
Devon groaned and placed one more kiss on her lips. He pulled away with reluctance before moving toward the door.
Carolline leaned up on her elbows when he opened it up. Marcus stood on the other side. The rosy hint of embarrassment painted across his cheeks. Carolline smiled and got up to survey the pile of clothes they’d rumpled.
“Tell him yes, but that I’ll go. Carolline needs to pick up more things from her house, and we can go to the store after we’re done there.”
Marcus hesitated a moment, and when she turned around to look at the pair, his gazed skittered to her. “Does that mean she’s moving in?”
Devon nodded. “Is that okay?”
Marcus tilted his head and studied her with narrowed eyes for a moment. When a small smile titled his lips, much like it did Devon’s, he nodded. “Yeah. I’m okay with that. Just,” he paused and blushed furiously. “I’m not calling her Mom.”
Devon opened his mouth. Carolline jumped in before he could say anything. “I’m okay with that. No one can ever replace her, and I would never want to. She will always be your mom.”
Forty minutes later, Carolline was stepping out of the shower, Devon right behind her. Marcus’s interruption might have cooled their ardor, but she still needed a shower. Devon merely decided to conserve water and joined her.
“Don’t even think about trying to talk me out of going to my place,” she said, tucking the towel around her body.
Devon wrapped his arms around her, his semi-hard erection brushing against her rear. Did the man ever need a break? Feathering kisses along her neck, he made his way to his mark. His rough tongue glided over the spot, sending a shiver rolling down her spine. “There isn’t anything we brought that you can wear?”
She snorted and turned her head to capture his lips before breaking away. Strolling into the bedroom, she looked at the clothes still strewn about the bed. “Maybe one acceptable outfit.”
He came up behind her, grinning. “There you go then.”
She sighed at his male logic. “I would have to stop by my place after work then to pick up the rest of my stuff. I don’t have an issue with it though. I think it might take maybe a couple hours to pack everything.”
“No,” he barked.
“You know you’re grouchy as a bear when you don’t like what I say.” She grabbed a pair of jeans and t-shirt off the bed. Walking around to the other side, she snatched a pair of panties and a bra.
“You win. We’ll head over now. I don’t want you there alone.” Devon dug through his dresser and got dressed as well. He pulled dark blue jeans on and went into his closet. The jeans hung low, and she was sad to see him emerge tugging a shirt over his head. Before he could comment on her glazed-over look, she got dressed, then found her socks and shoes.
“I’ll need my car too.”
“I can have Dallas grab it. He needs to run out anyway, if you don’t mind him driving your car.”
As much as Carolline wanted to argue with him, it made sense. “Sounds good.” They left the room and moved downstairs to be with the rest of the family. The tasks for the day ready to be set in motion.
Chapter 28
Ben showed up at Devon’s office in the hospital bright and early Wednesday morning. It was later than he’d wanted the information. He could deal with that though.
Devon had contacted him the day before to arrange a meeting to go over the names and what roles each person had played during Carolline’s care.
These names would be his next wave of interviews in the case. The EMTs who’d been there already being marked off the list. They remembered the case. Remembered Devon’s presence, but weren’t clear on the surrounding circumstances. Their main objective had been getting the injured woman to the hospital and into the hands of the ER doctors. Once that had been accomplished, they moved on to their next call. Not another thought had been given to what happened before they’d arrived.
It helped that their background checks came back clean. No abnormal influx of money. No phone calls traced back to the newspaper. No phone calls to anyone connected with the case.
They had been cleared as far as Ben was concerned.
As he made his way down the hall that would take him to Devon’s office, he passed by a group of nurses. The group of women looked him up and down before moving along in hushed whispers. In their wake, Ben caught a whiff of a familiar tangy bitterness. It clung to the air like an old lover pushing him to remember what had been in the past.
Before he had a chance to figure it out, though, Devon stepped out of his office. “Good to see you, Ben,” he held out his hand. “Thanks for agreeing to meet me here.”
“It isn’t a problem.” They shook hands and went in behind closed doors. “I appreciate you helping me out with this.”
“I’m not sure I would have given you much choice but to accept my help soon. It’s been a couple of weeks, and I don’t feel like we’re any further than from where we started.”
Ben nodded in understanding. He knew it seemed that way, but he had more information than he was letting on. Going into the meeting he acknowledged, at least to himself, that he may need to clue the man in more than he had up to this point.
“Take a seat,” Devon said, motioning to one of the chairs in front of his desk. Devon took a seat behind it. He pushed a neatly written sheet of paper across the desk’s hard surface. “This is everyone that was involved in Carolline’s case in one way or another. As you can see, it isn’t very long. I personally went through the logs and talked to the staff to verify names. I also had security scourge through video of the floor to double check. That doesn’t mean they didn’t tell someone though.”
“That’s where I’ll come in. To make it easier on everyone, and to, hopefully, make them more comfortable, I’d like to conduct interviews here at the hospital. I don’t need a lot of space, but I would like to record everything just like down at the station.”
“That can be arranged. I’ll have my secretary set it up. If I remember correctly, we have an empty office or two up on Carolline’s floor. We can have one set up for you.”
Ben nodded. “I’ll have one of the deputies contact everyone and schedule them. I want to get this done by Friday, if possible.” Ben had a gut feeling
that the newspaper article and the kidnaping were two separate occurrences, even though they were somehow related. The release of information to the paper was bold and out there. A look at this and showing it to the world. The kidnapping attempt may have happened in broad daylight, but the kids had been isolated. No one had been around, and the kidnappers weren’t advertising their act. The two things just didn’t click together.
“And what about the EMTs?” Devon asked, pulling Ben out of his reverie.
“Done and cleared to my satisfaction.”
“Okay. What about the man in custody? Any news on him and who he was working for? I’ve been wanting to sit down and get an update, but things have been…” he trailed off.
“Hectic,” Ben finished for him with a smirk on his face. Claiming your mate while juggling a family had to take up a lot of time. “Anyway,” he cleared his throat. “We haven’t been able to put a name to the face or find his partner. One of the deputies noticed a small mark, like a tattoo, behind his right ear, and I ended up putting in a call to a buddy back East. He’s head of the gang task force and, since none of us recognized the mark, I figured I would give him a shot. I’m waiting to hear back. Should be later today. He had to reach out as well to verify some information and gather background for me. What he’s told me so far was that he believes the pair are part of a rogue shifter gang that does jobs for hire. They don’t care if the client is human or shifter. And they don’t care if the target is human or shifter. As long as you pay, they’ll do what you want. There is no within reason.”
Devon grunted with displeasure. Ben hadn’t been too thrilled to learn that bit of information either. Though, he was not surprised.
Ben pushed up from his chair, forcing Devon to stand as well. “I’m going to head up and check on Carolline while I’m here. See how she’s doing.”
“Sounds good. I would go with you; but,” he glanced at the clock on the wall, “I’m due in the family practice clinic in a couple minutes. Check with Bertie next door, and she can tell you what rooms are empty on that floor. You’ll be able to check them out while you’re up there.”
“Will do.” Ben held out his hand. “Thank you for not butting into my investigation.”
Devon grinned and shook his hand back. “Thanks for keeping me in the loop.”
Chapter 29
Carolline heard the soft shuffle of feet coming down the hall long before Ben popped his head into her office.
“Hey there, Caro.” A warm smile lit up his face. She’d missed the big lug the past few days.
She eased back in her chair and waved him in. “Ben, come in. What brings you to the hospital today?”
“Work,” he smirked. “What else would I be doing?”
“Bringing me tea from Claire’s. Devon wouldn’t hear of stopping there this morning. Or the day before. Or the day before that. I don’t think he understands my need of routine and tea.”
Ben chuckled. With years of friendship under their belts, he knew how she ticked. Routine and familiarity soothed her. “Apparently not. I guess you’ll need to educate your mate in the fine art of keeping you happy.”
Carolline couldn’t help the snort or roll of her eyes at his use of the word mate. They were clicking, that was for sure, but it was still a bit hard to believe. It would take longer than a couple days of being in each other’s pockets and heated encounters for her disbelief to completely vanish. Even with more time, she had a feeling doubt would continue to tug at the back of her mind. Maybe indefinitely.
“How is it going between you two? You settled in at the house and with the family? Things going smoothly?”
She arched a brow at him at his questioning. It wasn’t out of order or anything, but it wasn’t what she expected them to be talking about either. Plus, she didn’t have a good gauge on how things were going. She was mostly comfortable there, but not completely. It was a lot to take in and not only on her part. Her feelings must have played out on her face.
Ben sighed quietly. “I know you, Caro. You aren’t a fan of change, and this is a pretty big one,” he said softly.
“One you were pushing on me, if I remember correctly.”
Ben shrugged. “I only want to see you happy, and I think Devon and his family will do that for you. You deserve the best, and he may have stumbled a lot at first, but I have faith in him being the best for you.”
“A man you barely know.”
Ben’s mouth dropped open, but she charged on.
“A man I barely know.”
“You and I know him better than you’re letting on. One of us a bit more than the other,” he grinned.
Carolline flushed at the innuendo. She would not get into it with him. They were not school girls sharing their first sexual adventures. She took a steadying breath and changed the subject completely. “So, what work are you doing here?”
Ben snorted and held his hands up in surrender. Thankfully, the man knew when to drop it. “Interviewing the staff assigned to you while you were being treated.”
“Because…” she drew out when he didn’t elaborate.
“Just part of the investigation. Narrowing down suspects.”
Carolline nodded. “And how does that bring you up to my floor? I wouldn’t think the staff here had anything to do with the kids and what happened to them.”
The shuffling of feet could be heard again in the quiet hallway. One of Ben’s deputies popped his head in the doorway. “We’re ready, Sheriff. I got the room set up like you asked. We were able to schedule the majority of the people from the list for today and early tomorrow. We only had a few holdouts. Nurses who couldn’t find anyone to cover for them or plain refused; stating they didn’t have time for this nonsense. Figured you could deal with them personally.”
Ben nodded at the man and rose from his seat. “Time to get to work. I’ll check in with you later, Caro. Maybe grab some lunch afterwards?”
Carolline rose and walked around her desk. She embraced Ben, who hugged her back, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“That sounds good. I hope you find the answers we need. It would be nice to know who tried to take the kids.”
Ben looked at her with confusion in his eyes. “And to find out who broke into your office and leaked information to the papers.”
Carolline waved the thought away. “I’m not as concerned about that. The newspaper thing could have been anyone, and I doubt it was malicious. As for the break-in,” she shrugged, “nothing was taken and nothing has happened since. I’m chalking it up to a teenage vandal who got bored. My office just happened to be the one he broke in to. Probably scared himself to death before doing it to anyone else’s office. This corridor is deserted at night.”
“It’s a nice theory, but my gut says you’re wrong. I’m concerned and so is Devon. All of it could be related,” he said with a pause, “or not. We’re running down leads about the men who attacked the kids and you; and, while we wait, I’m going to work on finding out about the break-in and the newspaper leak.”
Carolline sighed. She knew he wouldn’t agree with her idea. He was her friend after all. Had been concerned about her happiness and safety for years. “I think the most important thing is to find the people behind the attempted kidnapping.”
“And we will. Along with figuring out if the other two incidents are related.”
Behind them, the deputy cleared his throat.
“Listen, I’ll keep you posted. It isn’t like Andersen is going to sit back and wait for me to come to him with updates, in the first place. He’s pretty persistent about knowing what’s going on.”
“I’m sure he is. I’ve never known the man to take a backseat to anything. Letting someone else do all of the work and take the lead, well, that wasn’t how he became one of the top doctors here.”
“See ya later.” Ben saluted and walked away.
Carolline heaved a sigh before sitting behind her desk again. It bothered her that they weren’t focusing solely on the atte
mpted kidnapping. It wasn’t her call to make though.
Chapter 30
The knock at the front door came as a surprise. Everyone Devon expected to be at the house…was at his house.
Carolline.
The kids.
His parents.
Jack, who came by for one last meal before heading back East to take care of things there prior to closing shop and moving to Garden.
Unfortunately, Dallas and Kacie had already headed home. They couldn’t be away from work for an extended stretch of time; plus, they had their own personal issues to deal with. There had been no word yet on the pregnancy front, but Devon didn’t think the family would have to wait much longer to hear good news. They’d caught the subtle scent of pregnancy, which would only get stronger the further along she became.
A solid knock came from the door again, pulling him from his thoughts. Pushing up from his office chair, he went to see who was there. The visible police presence around the house was gone. It had been decided that the time had come to pull back and return to their normal, everyday lives and jobs. Carolline was safely in residence in his home. The kids were under the watchful eye of his parents, or people he trusted when he wasn’t around. Things were good. They felt safe.
Then why did he get an uneasy feeling as he leaned into the door? One glance through the peephole and he knew.
He took a surprised step back. His heart ratcheting up a notch. It couldn’t be who he thought he saw.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and leaned into the door again. Hands pressed up against the sturdy wood. His heart jumped in his chest when he took a second look. The sight before him completely unbelievable. Something he never thought to see. Ever.
Sasha’s parents, his in-laws and people he hadn’t seen in years, stood on the front porch. Nicely dressed in what he would consider their Sunday finest. Philip in a dark suit. His hair slicked back with that pompous, holier than thou look on his face. Tracey had her snub nose stuck up in the air. Lips pursed and the disgust on her face clearly visible.
Finding More (Tiger Nip Book 3) Page 18