by Lori Ryan
And that hate was directed at Jane.
“You thought you could hide my wife from me, bitch,” Turner spat. “No one leaves me. No one hides from me.”
“Let her go, Turner!” Jane yelled, pleading as she tried to pull against Kaeden.
Kaeden put his mouth close to her ear. “Take it easy. We need to get your mom out of there without her getting hurt. And we don’t want him getting his hands on you, too.”
He had a feeling, whether the man realized it yet or not, that Turner now had very little to lose. There would be no denying this time, no covering up exactly what kind of man he was.
Kaeden could see the man’s hand closing on his wife’s neck and her eyes closing as she seemed to sway in his arms.
He heard a car come to a stop and glanced to the side to see the police officer Sam had sent for pulling up to the side of the bulding.
He actually heard the officer say, “holy shit,” before calling in the situation and asking for backup. Wonderful, they got a cop whose response was “holy shit.”
“Turner, you can’t walk out of here with her,” Kaeden said, trying to get the man to realize his best course of action was to let his wife go and surrender while they were all still alive.
The officer walked up then, his hand already reaching for his sidearm. Kaeden didn’t want it to come to that. Not with Jane’s mother in the way.
The officer tried to negotiate next. “Sir, let’s talk about this calmly. Whatever’s happening here, I’m sure we can work it out.”
“My wife is going home with me,” Turner called out. He seemed to look around then, as if finally taking in the reality of the situation. Fuck, this was going to get bad if Turner panicked. “She’s coming home with me,” he said again, this time more firmly as though simply saying it could make this all go away.
Kaeden saw Chad and Jack come around the other side of the building, moving slowly so they didn’t draw attention to themselves. He pushed Jane behind him and shifted closer.
“Sir, we want everyone to walk out of here. I’m sure that’s what you want, too, isn’t it?” the officer called out. Then he did the worst thing possible. He called attention to Jack and Chad by gesturing for them to move back. “I’m going to need you folks to stand back.”
Jane’s stepfather spun, wrenching her mother along with him to face them, before spinning back to face the officer again. Kaeden heard sirens in the distance.
He felt the burning need to get Jane’s mom out of there before this escalated.
“Let her go, Turner,” Jane said. “I’ll go with you if you let her go. You can hold onto me until you get out of here. No one will stop you.”
Kaeden’s gut churned at her words. No way could he let her walk away with Turner. He couldn’t stand back and let that happen.
The officer glanced her way. “Stand down, miss. No one is going anywhere with this man.”
Kaeden couldn’t blame her for trying. If his mom was the one in danger, he’d want to do the same thing.
Time seemed to stretch as they faced what was looking to be an insurmountable problem. They couldn’t get to her mom and Turner was showing no signs of giving up. The only good thing here was that he didn’t seem to have a weapon, but Jane’s mother was so frail looking, Turner wouldn’t need one to do serious damage to her.
As Kaeden watched the man’s face, he seemed as though he was digging in, deciding to fight his way out of there. Digging in and getting ready to make the kind of decision that would lead to a lot of loss for Jane and her mom.
Kaeden caught Chad’s eye behind Turner and knew without being told Chad was about to make a move. The former Army Ranger wasn’t the kind of guy to sit by and let things turn pear-shaped without doing something about it. And when Chad moved, Kaeden was going to be ready to move, too.
Chad shouted at Turner, getting him to spin his way again.
Kaeden moved, going for a punch to the back of the man’s head, hoping like hell they could take him down before he could hurt Jane’s mother.
The officer was shouting at them, but Kaeden didn’t care. He saw Logan race in and grab Jane’s mom giving Kaeden and Chad a clear path to Turner.
Kaeden didn’t hesitate. He hit him, then hit him again until the man went down. Turner fought back, hitting Kaeden in the side of the head with something. From the feel of it and the pain that crackled through his skull, it must have been a rock. So much for the guy not having a weapon.
Kaeden felt the blow and went whoozy with it, but he kept at Turner. With Chad and Kaeden together, Turner didn’t stand a chance. They had him pinned and rolled onto his stomach with his hands at his back in no time.
He was cursing, face red as he told them all they’d be sorry for this. That his lawyers would be suing everyone. God this man had paid his way through life, buying everything he wanted, paying off those he needed to, and punishing anyone who didn’t do what he wanted with lawsuits or threats.
Kaeden shoved back as the officer came in and cuffed Turner.
Jane ran to her mother, but then spun to Kaeden, putting her hand to the side of his head. Kaeden winced at the touch.
“You’re going to need stitches,” she said, then she turned back to her mom, trying to hold her mom and Kaeden at the same time.
Angry bruises were already forming on the older woman’s throat, but she was holding Jane’s face, kissing her cheeks.
Both women were strong. So damned strong. Kaeden couldn’t imagine what it had taken for Jane to stay away from her mom all this time, knowing she might be in danger, but also knowing if she was with her it might be worse.
Chad pulled Debra Carson’s wheelchair around for her and Jane helped lower her mother into it.
There were more police units pulling up on the scene and by now, people had begun to gather in the parking lot to see what was happening.
“We need an ambulance here!” Jack called out. He was kneeling by the man who’d been injured before they arrived and Kaeden could see blood beneath the man’s head on the sidewalk. He had a feeling that man had felt the blow of a rock, too, only he seemed to have gotten it much worse than Kaeden.
He was groaning and seemed to be coming to, but Jack was telling him not to move.
Kaeden went to Jane and pulled her into his arms, just needing to hold her for a minute.
“It’s over,” she said into his chest. She was shaking. “It’s really over.”
“It is.” He spoke the words even though he knew there was still a lot that had to happen. Her mother would need to testify and they’d have to go to trial. Somehow he didn’t see Turner accepting a plea deal even with the fact his attempt to abduct and strangle his wife had been witnessed by a police officer.
The man would likely hire a team of lawyers that would put OJ’s team to shame.
An hour later, her mother was settled into a hospital bed under observation and they’d learned that the man who was injured was the private detective hired by her husband to find her.
“Evan realized Turner had duped him and he came to help. He was trying to get me out of there when Turner snuck up behind us.” Debra’s voice was scratchy and the bruising on her neck wasn’t the only injury she took away from the fight with her estranged husband. She had twisted her ankle and had two cracked ribs.
Several times Kaeden had seen her gasp and lose her breath with the pain. He knew how bad that pain could be.
The nurse was giving them all the stink eye since there were more than the approved number of visitors in the room, but so far they hadn’t kicked them out.
“Mom, we need to let you rest,” Jane said.
Her mother’s hand shot out to clutch Jane’s arm. “Don’t leave. I don’t want you to leave me yet.”
Kaeden rubbed Jane’s shoulder. “The guys and I’ll get a hotel room nearby and I’ll bring you a change of clothes and some dinner back in a bit.”
They had been told they’d need to report to the police station in the morning to pr
ovide statements.
Jane smiled up at him, tears in her eyes, but this time, he hoped the tears were happy ones. She could finally get her life back.
He didn’t know what that meant for them. Would she go back to her life in California now that her mom was safe? Connecticut was a long way from California. He didn’t mind traveling if that’s what it took to make it work, but would she want that? Would she want him in her life? They certainly hadn’t talked about anything long term.
In fact, they’d talked about just the opposite. They had said this would be nothing more than sex. A vacation fling.
“Thank you,” she said, before turning back to her mom. “Do you want more pain medicine, mom? You look pale.”
The nurse moved toward the bed and Kaeden and the other men filed out. They didn’t need to be told they had pushed their luck too far.
“I want to go see that private investigator before we leave,” Kaeden said. “I just want to get an update on how he’s doing.”
“I’ll get the car,” Logan said. “Meet you guys out front when you’re ready.”
Chad, Jack, and Kaeden went down the hall, stopping at the nurses’ station to find out what room the private investigator was in.
The man looked over at them when they walked in. He was a middle-aged, overweight, balding man, but he had a smile on his face as he finished up a phone call he was on.
“I love you, baby. Take good care of mommy.”
He hung up and turned to them with guarded eyes.
Kaeden stuck out his hand. “We wanted to come say thank you. We heard what you did for Jane’s mom.”
The man took his hand and shook it. “Evan Willows. And you’re welcome, but I can’t help but think if I’d been smart enough not to take the job in the first place, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Kaeden shook his head. “Someone else would have taken the job and that person might not have been there to help. You tried, at least, and that’s saying something.”
Kaeden was starting to realize that maybe he needed to see his own life through that lens. He’d tried with Alyssa. He hadn’t been able to help her in the way he wanted, but maybe he was being too hard on himself. And maybe he needed to move past that. Because that was the thing he could really criticize himself for the most: the fact he hadn’t moved on from it.
Jack nodded at Evan’s phone. “You have kids waiting for you?”
Evan’s expression was one of pride and love, but also something else. Sorrow.
“I took the job for her. I need to get home. She and her mom need me there.”
Jack tilted his head in question.
“My daughter’s sick. She hit the genetic lotto but in all the wrong ways and she’s needing more and more care to keep her from hurting. We’ll be moving her into a facility soon and I needed the extra money to pay for it. I ran a check on Carson to see if there was any history of domestic violence and nothing popped so I bought his story that he just wanted to try to get his wife to return some old family heirlooms and serve her with divorce papers.”
Kaeden shook his head. “Jane said he wasn’t physically abusive so there might not have been any calls to the police or anything. But even if there were, it’s possible he got a friendly cop who didn’t file anything. From what I understand, Turner Carson owns that town, literally and figuratively.”
“That’s what it looked like when I was there,” Evan agreed. “People in that town see him as some sort of God. I guess he’s responsible for most of the jobs in town. People don’t see what they don’t want to.”
They talked for a few more minutes before leaving. Kaeden wasn’t surprised when Jack told the man to send his hotel and expenses and things to Jack to pay since Turner Carson probably wasn’t going to do it. Evan had tried to argue but Jack wasn’t hearing it.
Kaeden didn’t know why it had taken him so long to see that the people he worked with were different. That he could count on them.
“Hey Kaeden?”
“Yeah Jack?”
“About that promotion.”
Oh hell, Kaeden had forgotten about that with all that had happened. It’s funny how that didn’t matter at all to him right now. What mattered was Jane and her safety. Her mom. That she’d gotten her life back. That’s what mattered.
“Uh, yeah?” he said, but his mind was half on the question of what he and Jane would do from here. He would guess she’d want to settle in New Jersey here near her mom.
Connecticut wasn’t too far. He could travel to visit her.
“Did you hear me?” Jack was asking as they stepped into the elevator.
“Sorry, no. What did you say?”
Jack was grinning at him. “I said you got the promotion if you want it.”
Kaeden nodded. Did he?
Chapter 34
After giving their statements to the police, Jack and the others went back to Breckenridge to join their families for the final few days of the vacation.
Kaeden stayed with Jane and her mom. The hospital wanted to keep her mom for observation another night.
Evan Willows had come by to see Jane’s mom, who had cried and told him she could never pay him back for all he’d done to try to help her. He was flying home to his daughter that day. Jane’s mom had made him promise to video chat with them sometime so she could meet his wife and daughter.
“Do you think she’ll want to stay at the home she’s in?” Kaeden asked quietly.
He and Jane were sitting in her mother’s hospital room while the other woman slept. They’d gone into the police station that morning to make their statements, but Jane didn’t want to leave her alone long and Kaeden didn’t blame her.
Turner Carson was already out on bail.
Jack had hired a lawyer to seek an emergency protection order for her, but Jane was understandably worried Turner wouldn’t worry about something like the law telling him what he can and can’t do.
“I don’t know. She loved it there, but I think she’s worried about the security now. Evan was able to get onto the grounds several times to talk to her without anyone stopping him. They aren’t really set up to deal with piece of shit husbands who want to hurt their wives.”
Kaeden squeezed her hand. He doubted many care facilities were set up with the security to handle that.
He wanted to tell her to move to Connecticut with her mom. That they could find a home for her mom there and see where this thing between them would go.
But he didn’t want to freak her out. They’d known each other less than two weeks. How do you tell a woman you thought you might be falling in love with her after that short a time?
He brought their joined hands up to his mouth and kissed her hand. And then he simply sat with her as her mom slept and she worried about the future. He just sat with her because that was all he could do for her now. Just be with her.
Chapter 35
Jane circled the airport pickup lane again, watching for Kaeden. She hadn’t believed him when he’d said he would come visit her, but this was the third time he’d come. Every time he came, she was more and more excited to see him.
She would have gone to Connecticut to see him, but they both agreed she needed to be near her mom for now.
It killed her that she hadn’t gone back to see Carl and Evelyn after all that had happened. She had gotten them on a video call and told them the whole story and how sorry she was to have left without saying goodbye.
Of course, they had told her not to worry about that.
Still, she had cried when Evelyn told her they felt blessed to have been able to give her a little respite during that horrible time. They were such good people. When her mom was more settled someplace and Turner was, hopefully, in prison somewhere someday, she hoped to go visit them and say a proper thank you. For now, she had settled on shipping Evelyn some local blueberries. She hadn’t known New Jersey was famous for blueberries until her mom told her.
But now, Jane was just excited to see Kaeden. She was goi
ng to tell him that she was thinking of moving closer to him. She and her mom had started looking for a residential care home near New Haven and there were a few options. The only problem was, Jane didn’t want to leave her mom long enough to go visit them for a tour and taking her mom with her would be complicated.
She spotted him, his overnight bag slung over his shoulder, hands in his pockets as he looked for her. She saw when he found her car and knew her smile matched the one on his face.
She was falling in love with this man. Hell, maybe she was already there.
After seeing what her mom went through with Turner, she didn’t think she’d be ready to date anyone for a long time. Sure, she knew not all men were like her mother’s husband, but still, it had left her uneasy with the idea of giving any kind of control to a man.
But Kaeden had control of her heart. He’d had it for a long time now, but she was realizing he would never abuse the love she gave him. He wasn’t remotely like Turner.
Kaeden opened the door and tossed his bag over the back seat, then leaned over to kiss her thoroughly. She loved this part.
She loved the way he kissed her. She completely understood the expression “toe-curling kiss” now. He did that to her every damned time, but this first kiss when they’d been apart for a while was always the best.
Someone honked behind them and Kaeden shot a glare their way before grinning wickedly at her and settling into his seat.
“Missed you,” he said as she pulled into traffic.
She smiled. “Me too.”
“What do we have planned for the weekend? Anything fun?”
She blushed and he laughed.
“I’m happy to keep you in bed the entire time, Jane Walker.” His words and the deep tone told her what he had planned for those days in bed. A thrill went up her spine.
Hearing her name again felt good. It had been two months since she and her mother had gotten some semblance of their lives back.
At first, Jane hadn’t trusted that Turner Carson wouldn’t keep coming for them. She’d spent days and even nights at her mom’s bedside in the home, even though she technically wasn’t allowed to stay overnight more than two days. Since the home had let a private detective onto the property several times to see her mom without anyone knowing it, they hadn’t said much.