“He does. I heard him on the phone alerting the airlines and bus stations too. If Tom is smart he already dumped the car he stole. Lucky for us he wasn’t prepared for this. He ran out empty-handed. No cash. No identification. Nothing. As for Martin, a judge has to let him go but his attorney has that in the works. It shouldn’t be long now.”
“That only makes Lovell more dangerous. Fuck, how did I not know, Shane? It seems so clear now. If I’d known earlier–”
“Fucking stop it,” Shane commanded, sitting next to Travis. “Just stop this shit. Hell, the cops didn’t even know so how were you supposed to? You figured it out. Martin’s getting out of jail and the police are looking for Lovell.”
“I was too late.”
Shane put his hand on Travis’s shoulder in a comforting gesture that wasn’t unappreciated, but it didn’t help the ever growing lump of dread that had taken up residence in his stomach. To be honest, he wasn’t sure he was even going to be able to keep down this horrific coffee.
“Aubrey’s going to make it,” Shane stated, certainty in his tone. “You forget that it wasn’t all that long ago that I was lying in a hospital bed with a bullet in my gut. Now here I am dancing around and basically making trouble. I was okay and she’s going to be okay too. Believe it. She has a lot to live for.”
Acid churned in Travis’s stomach and he tossed the half drank cup in a trash can without a backward glance. Food and drink were strictly off limits if he didn’t want to disgrace himself by hanging his head in the nearest toilet bowl.
“What if she isn’t?” Travis asked quietly as if he was trying to keep the secret from himself. If he didn’t say it too loudly he might not hear the words and then it couldn’t possibly happen. “What if she doesn’t make it?”
Shane grabbed Travis by his shirt and dragged him to his feet so they were nose to nose. “Don’t even say that. You two are going to live happily fucking ever after, you got that? Someone has to. It sure as shit won’t ever be me. She’s going to pull through and you’re going to have six kids all named Shane, you asshole.”
Travis knew that Shane had some deep personal crap that he kept well hidden. There was a woman, but who she was and what she meant was a mystery.
“I’m not naming my kids Shane.”
Both men began to smile and then the tears started. Travis let them fall unashamedly and Shane wasn’t too much of a man to join in.
“Sure you are. It’s a great name. Boy or girl.”
If Aubrey made it through this Travis would name their kids after the doctors that saved her life.
In fact, he didn’t need kids, or a house, or a dog, or any of that stuff to be happy.
He just needed Aubrey.
Chapter Thirty-Three
‡
Every bone and muscle in Aubrey’s body ached. She tried to move her arms and legs but they felt weighted down, heavy like lead. Panicking, her lids flew open and she groaned as bright sunlight bore into her corneas, sending shards of pain through her skull.
“Easy, baby. Easy. Everything’s okay. You’re fine.”
Those smooth, hushed tones belonged to Travis and she felt herself relaxing under his warm touch, his hands running up and down her arm while his fingers brushed at her cheek.
“Travis,” she croaked, her throat parched and sore. “Where? What?”
“Let’s set you up a little and get you something to drink. Then we can talk. You’ve had everybody mighty worried.”
Travis pressed a button on the side of the bed and the mattress lifted her up until she could finally look into his warm green eyes. He poured some water from a plastic pitcher into a glass and held the straw up to her lips to let her drink greedily.
“Not too much until the doctor takes a look at you. I don’t want you to be sick.”
She swallowed the cool liquid that tasted like the sweetest ambrosia. A sweeping gaze around the room told her she was in the hospital but her mind didn’t seem to want to work out how or why.
“I feel like a truck hit me.”
Travis grinned and chuckled, pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead before going over to the windows and shutting the blinds. The relief to her pounding skull was immediate and welcome.
“I’m not surprised, considering everything you’ve been through.”
“You look awful. Have you been sick too?”
Now that she could really look at Travis, she was shocked. He looked like he was dead and didn’t have enough sense to lie down. His skin was pasty, his eyes bloodshot and red-rimmed, and his clothes were hanging off his body as if he hadn’t eaten in days.
“I’ve had better weeks, baby. But seeing you with your eyes open makes up for everything. Do you remember why you’re here?”
She was about to shake her head and say no, but then flashes of memory ran through her head and she remembered that afternoon and Tom Lovell.
“Tom shot me.” Tears began to well up and then another memory had her struggling to sit up. “Caroline! Is Caroline okay? Oh God, he said he was going to make it look like a murder-suicide.”
Travis gently pressed her back to the bed, whispering soothing words as he stroked her damp forehead. “Caro’s fine. She left the hospital yesterday after surgery on her hand. You were the one that took the brunt of things. You were the one we were all worried about.”
Gulping in air, Aubrey let her heart rate return to something close to normal, although with all the tubes and machines hooked up to her she wasn’t sure what normal was anymore.
“We rushed him. We knew we only had one chance to get the gun from him.”
From the pained expression on Travis’s face he already knew the story from Caroline.
“You were very brave, baby. I only wish I’d been there to protect you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me.”
She lifted her left hand, unencumbered by an IV, and cupped his handsome face. Several days’ growth of whiskers brushed her palm but she welcomed the roughness against her fingers.
“It wasn’t your fault. We caught Tom trying to plant evidence against Alana. If you had been there he would have tried to kill you too.”
A muscle jerked in Travis’s jaw and she heard him take a few deep breaths. “If I’d been there you wouldn’t have been in front of that gun. I would have taken that bullet. That’s what a man is supposed to do.”
The Anderson men had a code of conduct that didn’t leave much room for error. Travis wasn’t cutting himself any slack even though he had worked hard to clear her and his friend’s names.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I’m kind of hoping actually that I’m done being in dangerous situations where you have to drag me to the hospital. How about we become the world’s most boring couple?”
Travis’s eyes closed for a long moment and when he opened them she could see them bright with unshed tears, but he smiled and looked at her as if she was the most precious thing he’d ever seen.
“That sounds like a damn good idea. I think you and I should retire from sleuthing.”
“That is an excellent idea.”
The booming voice came from behind Travis and he moved aside to reveal West Anderson and Aubrey’s sister Gigi. Gigi squealed, racing forward to hug Aubrey but somehow managing to be gentle with her sister’s tired and sore body.
“Leave them alone, West. They were just trying to help out a friend.” Gigi leaned down and kissed Aubrey’s cheek. “You scared me out of my wits, sis! You’ve been asleep for days.”
Aubrey frowned and clutched her sister’s hand tightly. “Just how long have I been out?”
“Four days,” Gigi replied, cradling Aubrey’s hand next to her cheek as she started to cry. “So many times we didn’t think you were going to pull through. Travis hasn’t left your side since it happened.”
Aubrey gave a warm smile to the blushing man standing next to her bed. That explained why he looked like a walking zombie. Someone had obviously brought him clean clothes but sh
e’d bet a wad of cash he wasn’t eating or sleeping well, if at all.
“When did you get here?”
West leaned against the wall of the room watching his fiancée indulgently. “We took the jet as soon as Shane called us. Jason and Brinley are here too and they went down to get something to eat but they’ll be back in a few minutes. I hate to break up this party and all but has anyone told the doctor you’re awake? They might be interested in this development.”
Travis pressed the call button. “Consider them notified.”
Within a few minutes the nurses and doctor were bustling in and out. Everyone was shooed out of the room while Aubrey was being examined and the doctor seemed pleased with her progress.
“You scared your family, young lady,” the older man scolded but she could tell he was teasing because of his kind smile. “We repaired the internal bleeding but we had to take out your spleen. If everything keeps improving like this you can go home in a few days.”
That sounded like heaven even if “home” was a hotel room with room service. She thanked the doctor, truly grateful she’d been given a second chance. She and Travis had so much more living to do. So many plans and dreams and she intended to live them all.
Travis joined her, propping himself on the edge of the bed. He’d sent everyone back to the hotel, but Gigi was coming back tonight to sit with Aubrey so that Travis could finally get some sleep. Aubrey had insisted on it and he seemed too exhausted to argue.
“Tell me what’s gone on while I’ve been asleep. Is Martin out of jail? What happened to Alana and Tom?”
Travis scraped his hand down his face and sighed deeply before answering. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what he had to say.
“Martin is out of jail but Alana has been arrested for accessory to murder, which isn’t a shock. Tom is on the run but I’ve got a private investigator out looking for him in addition to all the resources of Detective Prather’s office. He doesn’t have the resources to look outside of Florida.”
“You hired someone?”
It didn’t sound like the hands-on Travis she knew so well, but then his hands had been full with her these last several days.
“I did. An old military buddy of West’s named Wyatt Stone. He helped West get Gigi to safety when they were on the run. West said the guy can handle himself and knows a thing or two about covert operations. He seemed like the right man for the job. Jason has been trying to recruit him.”
Aubrey digested the information but it didn’t assuage the hunger to find out more about the time she’d been unconscious. “Do you think you’ll find him?”
Travis leaned down, their gazes locked. She’d never seen him look that intense before, not even when he’d told her he loved her. “Absolutely, and that’s a promise. I will find Tom and I will bring him to justice for what he did.”
“He did it for the money. At least that’s what he told us. He wanted Caroline too, but she wanted nothing to do with him so he said he’d make do with Alana.”
“Ah yes, Alana. She wanted the money as well but couldn’t get it because of her prenup. So she conspired with Tom to frame Martin for Bruce’s murder. She was having an affair with Tom and she wanted him and the life of luxury.”
It was still hard for Aubrey to wrap her mind around. “So they killed Bruce because of the insider trading?”
Travis chuckled and shook his head. “That’s not why. With urging from Tom, Iris encouraged Bruce in the insider trading. She was his mistress but she was also sleeping with Tom. Both women believed Tom loved them. But Tom wanted Bruce out of the way so he could have Caroline.”
“Wait. Iris was sleeping with Tom? Did he kill her too?”
The twists and turns were almost too much for her brain, already addled with painkillers. She had to listen and concentrate carefully to be able to decipher Travis’s words.
“Tom did kill Iris. He put some of Alana’s Ambien in Iris’s champagne and she fell asleep. He carried her out to the pool, dropped her in, and she drowned.”
“And he killed Bruce too? Plus tried to kill Caroline and me?”
So much violence and death for something as shallow as money. Even if it was billions.
“According to Alana, Iris killed Bruce at Tom’s behest and she did it to help Tom get revenge for Bruce’s shady business dealings. At least that’s what she thought she was doing. Once again they used the Ambien and they slipped it in Bruce’s drink. He was woozy when he went out to the tennis courts, but of course Iris could get close to him without suspicion. She stuck the knife in Bruce’s heart and left him to die, tucking the cufflink underneath him to frame Martin.”
Rubbing her aching temple, it all seemed so surreal, like something out of a movie.
“What’s going to happen to Alana?”
Aubrey had never felt comfortable around the woman and now she knew why. But she still did feel sorry for her. She’d been taken in by a handsome sociopath.
“She’s going to do some serious time, but she’s already made a deal with the DA to spill everything she knows for a lighter sentence. Martin has begun divorce proceedings, of course. Once he found out he was the patsy in all this he wasn’t a happy man. The whole insider trading thing was just a ruse so that Martin would have a motive for killing Bruce. The fact that you got caught up in all this was just bad luck and timing.”
“The story of my life,” she murmured, thinking how close she came to being arrested for a crime she didn’t commit. “Thank you for never giving up and not caring about…well…you know.”
Although after all she’d been through the past didn’t look nearly as bad. She’d made some bad choices but she’d been young. She’d learned and moved on, and wasn’t that the important point from all this? Sleeping around didn’t make her a tramp or a floozy but she’d allowed other people to make her feel that way. She didn’t have to answer to anyone about what she’d done. It was none of their business.
“I don’t want you to give it a second thought.” Travis’s words were filled with urgency and love. She could feel it as if it were a warm blanket wrapping around her by a roaring fireplace after a long walk through the snow. It felt comfortable and safe but there was passion as well. “I love you. And when I thought I was going to lose you…”
His voice broke off and a few tears escaped to slide down his cheeks. She pulled his head down to hers and pressed her lips against his and was shocked to feel this big, strong man trembling in her arms.
“I’m okay. It’s all right.”
“It’s not okay. That bullet should have hit me. I love you so damn much and I can’t imagine this world without you. I kept praying and hoping. Shane told me I had to believe. I want you forever. The thought of losing you was more painful than anything I could imagine. Please say you love me and that you’ll let me worship and adore you for the rest of my life.”
His voice was hoarse but the love behind it was clear. She’d never been this loved before, and despite the aches and pains still present in her body happiness fizzed in her veins like bubbly champagne. Everything was going to be fine.
“Well…” Aubrey pretended to think about it but she couldn’t suppress a smile of pure joy. “I guess I could let you. I mean, I don’t have any other plans or anything. But there is one thing though.”
Travis’s lips ghosted over her own – once, twice, three times, making her shiver with pleasure.
“Anything. You name it.”
Aubrey let her fingers slide through his thick dark hair and gazed into the face of her future. “You have to let me love and adore you right back. That’s the only way I’ll agree.”
“Deal.”
There’d been too many tears. It was time to look to the future. Not even Travis could make everything perfect and happy every single day but there would always be love, and that’s all that really mattered anyway.
Chapter Thirty-Four
‡
Travis and Wyatt Stone climbed up the wrought iron
stairs to the second floor of the stucco apartment building. In a quiet suburb outside of Newark, New Jersey the town was the perfect place to raise a family with its tree lined streets and friendly atmosphere. The apartment complex was located near an elementary school and a large mall that was currently bustling with shoppers.
In fact, it was that very mall that had given them their first lead in over a month.
The local police had already raided the home, an end unit that overlooked a park with a running path and playground. Travis and Wyatt had promised to hang back until they received the all clear, but they’d made it plain that they wouldn’t be left out altogether. Wyatt and Travis had done the heavy lifting in this investigation, after all. Travis simply wanted Lovell to know that he would always be there.
At the trial.
At the sentencing.
At any parole hearings in the future.
Travis would be there to make sure the authorities were aware of all the facts. Tom Lovell had killed two people and tried to kill two more. And that’s what they knew about. He could have other victims strewn across the United States that no one was aware of.
Prather and the local lead detective exited the apartment and gave Travis and Wyatt a nod. “We’ve got him. You were right. He was shacked up here with another girlfriend. That guy sure has a way with the ladies.”
When Travis had seen how smoothly Lovell had played both Alana and Iris, he’d postulated that there might be more women out there. Women who might be dazzled enough to give Tom refuge while he was on the run. It was there that Wyatt had started his investigation, and with some questioning of Tom’s friends and neighbors he’d found the identity of a third woman. Surveillance on that female had proven fruitless until she’d stopped into a local retailer and purchased a supply of men’s clothing, all in Lovell’s size.
Armed with that proof, Stone had used his limitless patience to sit outside the apartment building for weeks watching nothing but the comings and goings of the girlfriend. But Wyatt had known that with each passing day Tom would feel a little bit safer and eventually cabin fever and inactivity would force him out of the house. Then they’d know for sure. It had taken weeks but Wyatt had spotted Lovell this morning going on a Starbucks run.
Indecent Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 3) Page 20