by Leger, Lori
“Don’t you put roaches or grasshoppers in those things?” Red asked, obviously struggling to keep a straight face.
Drake swung around to face Annie. “No—huh?”
Annie giggled. “Of course not. Roaches spread disease, and grasshoppers—well, Lewis refuses to eat them fresh, freeze-dried, or otherwise.”
Drake finally released the breath he’d been holding.
“But he adores crickets,” she added.
Drake groaned and held his belly.
Red laughter finally died off, and he faced his sister. “Do the three of you have any plans for the day? Tiffany wants y’all over for lunch. She misses you two and she’d like to meet Liam.”
Annie sobered immediately. “I’m not going over there. It’ll only put Tiff in danger of becoming J.B.’s next target.”
Red looked from Annie, back to Drake, who sent him a nod. “He’s not above it, Red. He seems to thrive on risking confrontation.”
Red put Lewis back in his cage and placed his hand on Annie’s lower back. “Excuse me guys, but I need a word alone with my little sister.” Without another word, he led her down the hallway into her bedroom.
Annie’s bedroom door shut with a soft click, signaling the all clear to walk with head bowed into Red’s open arms. It may well be a mistake to give in to her frustration and fear, but she couldn’t help but break down in the comfort of her big brother’s embrace.
He let her cry, waiting until her sobs turned to sniffles to speak. “I can totally relate to this, you know. Hell it was barely a month ago that Tiff and I were going through the same thing.”
“It’s all so awful, Red. I can’t even go to church without having someone spy on me and feel me up. I’d love to visit with you and Tiff, but I’m afraid to get anyone else involved in this mess.” She took the Kleenex he handed her from the box on her dresser and wiped her eyes. “And Drake—oh God, I don’t know what the hell to do about Drake.” She frowned, a little annoyed at her brother’s I-know-all-about-it grin.
“Has he been staking his claim?”
She made a face. “How archaic. Gold-rush talk for him coming on to me?”
“Don’t get all touchy with me, you know what I’m talking about. Has he been pushing you to—you know.” He pulled uncomfortably at the collar of his shirt.
Annie gave a hysterical laugh and punched him on the arm. “Jesus, Red. We’re both adults, here, aren’t we? And no, he skipped right past asking to have sex and jumped straight to ‘I want to marry you’, ‘I’m your future and you’re mine’ … that kind of sappy stuff.” She frowned at her brother’s smug look, like he’d been privy to a handful of deep, dark secrets.
“Hon, I know how he feels about you, so I guess I’m not seeing what the problem is. Are you trying to tell me you don’t love him?”
She sucked in her breath. There it was. That word again. She shivered with what her mom called ‘the frissons’ as her brother burst into loud, bawdy laughter.
“I can’t tell, Sis.” He gasped, trying to catch his breath. “Coming from you, that reaction could either mean you’re crazy about him, or you want to wring his neck.”
She groaned, furious at being put in this situation. “What if I let him get too close? What happens when, one day, he realizes he gave up six-foot-tall models for this?” She used her hands to indicate her own body. “I’d be humiliated all over again.”
Red’s countenance turned seriously sober. “Is it the humiliation you’re afraid of, or the heartbreak?”
She didn’t answer, didn’t even want to look at him.
Red stepped closer and put both hands on her shoulders. “Hon, you can’t hide out for the rest of your life. You’re not giving yourself much credit. You’re older, stronger than you were back then. It’s okay to let yourself be happy, Annie.”
“No, it’s not. You don’t know.” She shook her head, feeling more miserable by the second.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.” She squeezed her eyes shut against the memories.
Red used one hand to lift her chin. “Annie, look at me.”
She did, saw by the look in his eyes that he did know. He knew everything. Once it sunk in, she pushed away from him. “Oh hell, what did Mom and Dad do? Call a family conference and tell everyone?”
He shook his head. “No, it wasn’t anything like that. Other than them, I’m the only one who knows. A couple of years ago, I was on their asses to make you move out on your own. I called Mom an enabler and she broke down and ran off in tears.”
“You made Mom cry? Was Dad around?” She struggled to remember if her brother had sported any broken bones around that time.
Red chuckled. “Yep. Not too smart, huh?”
“You’d think the Summa cum Laude graduate would know better,” she snorted.
“The old man got in my face.” He ran one hand through his hair, and grimaced. “Man, I hadn’t seen Dad that pissed since Chad got caught target practicing on mailboxes.”
“Chad …” She shook her head. “Now there’s a dumbass.”
“No shit.” Red shook his head. “Anyway, he ended up blurting out the whole story.”
Annie crooked her brow, still confused. “Yet for the nearly two years after that, you’ve stayed on my butt for still being at home.”
One side of his mouth turned up at the corner in a crooked grin. “I’ve always stayed on your butt. It’s the youngest siblings thing. If I’d started treating you differently, wouldn’t you have suspected something was up?”
Annie thought about it before nodding. “Absolutely.” She shook her head and laughed. “I never thought I’d be saying this, but thanks for being an asshole, Red.”
Red grinned and drew her to him for a hug. “Anytime, shit-head. But seriously, don’t let what happened in the past stop you from being happy now. It’s okay to reach out for it.”
She shook her head sadly. “I don’t know, Red. I don’t think I can right now. Maybe in a few years I’ll feel differently.”
“Maybe in a few years, so will Drake.”
Annie shrugged. “He only met me two months ago. If he can’t wait for me, then he definitely doesn’t deserve me.”
“Now that sounds more like the pain-in-the-ass-Annie I know and love.” He pushed her playfully.
Annie sobered suddenly. “I told Drake everything, you know.”
“You did?”
She nodded. “He’s the one that told me Mom and Dad knew about the letter. Dad mentioned it to him without letting him know what was in it. Sometimes, I think my entire family is conspiring to throw us together.”
Red nodded and gave her the barest hint of a smile. “What did you tell him, Sis?”
Annie’s gaze locked with her brother’s. “Everything. I told him everything. Things that weren’t even in the letter.” She smiled at the look of concern on his face. “I’m okay, Red. As long as I keep my heart protected.”
Red cocked his head to the side and exhaled slowly. “I’ll have to trust your judgment. You’re the one that should know.”
“Thanks for the confidence, and the shoulder.” She reached up on her tiptoes and pulled him down the rest of the way until she could reach his cheek to give him a kiss. “You’re my favorite brother, you know.”
Red grinned then cracked open the door to call out to the other house guests. “Okay guys, we’re coming out.” He looked down at his sister. “I’m everyone’s favorite.”
Annie put all her weight into the shove she gave him. “Ugh, you are so full of yourself.”
“Hey, little sister, don’t start something you have no hope of winning.” He gave her a one-handed shove back and sent her flying helplessly toward the open door. She lost her footing and the last thing she saw was him trying to catch her before she went sprawling backwards.
Annie would have landed with a thud on the hallway floor if Drake hadn’t been there to catch her at the last second. She caught her breath as she looked up into his eyes
, which had darkened with some unknown emotion. “Oh, thank you.”
He leaned in close, as though to kiss her but stopped just short of her lips. “I’ll always be here to save you from a rough landing, Annie. Always. You remember that.” He straightened and righted her so she could stand on her own two feet. He faced his brother-in-law, extending one long finger in Red’s direction. “You do that again and you’ll have to answer to me.”
Red raised both hands. “I hear you.” He headed toward the front door. “Well, I’ll go on home to tell my wife you three aren’t coming for barbeque. I hate having to disappoint her, though.”
“Better she be disappointed and safe than the alternative,” Drake said. “That’s my sister you’re married to, don’t forget.”
Red looked back and nodded. “And don’t you forget I’d give up my life to protect both the woman I love and our child.” He glanced over at his youngest sister then back at Drake. “You’ll see, one day.”
Drake nodded. “I already do.”
“Wait ‘til there’s a baby thrown into the mix.” Red reached out to give Drake a reassuring pat on the back.
Drake turned slowly to face Annie. “From your mouth to God’s ears, brother-in-law.”
Annie’s breath caught at the look of stark longing on Drake’s face. She managed to clear her throat before slipping quietly from the room. She caught up with Nash in the kitchen and pulled him to a stop.
“What’s up, Lil Bit?”
“We have to catch J.B. soon, Nash.” She turned to watch Drake as he closed the front door and swiveled, a sexy smile plastered on that kissable mouth of his. His gaze seared her with its intensity, awakening her body to all kinds of wants and needs. She groaned and turned away from Mr.Sexy Texas transplant, knowing damn well she could only say no for so long.
“Please Nash. We have to.”
Drake spent the next week, sitting for hours with Nash, their heads bent over the club’s floor plans, memorizing every nook and cranny of the building. By the end of the week they had worked out a plan that even Drake believed was fool-proof enough to keep him from spinning off into full-blown-panic-mode.
When Annie’s phone rang on Saturday morning, the label of unknown caller had her nodding at Nash, who immediately began the trace. She picked up the receiver, pushed the speaker button and took a deep breath before speaking, her face a mixture of trepidation and determination.
“Hello asshole.”
“If it ain’t little Annie McAllister.”
“Yep. That’s me,” she replied, drawing out her speech, slowing it down as much as possible. “What happened, J.B.? Did you run out of kittens to drown? Or maybe you couldn’t find a puppy to torture this morning? Or an old person to kick? Or is it that you enjoy having people laugh about your ineffective, redneck threats to a woman less than half your size?”
For once, Drake prayed it was J.B. and not some poor salesman over the phone. Said asshole’s evil chuckle had him tensing.
“Full of piss and vinegar mighty early this morning, aren’t you, bitch? I like that. Like I said, it’ll be way more fun to see the look on your face when you know you’re gonna die.”
At her first cringe, Drake approached her, hoping his presence would ground her, give her strength.
“I’ve been making plans all week long, coming up with new ways to play with my little bitch in heat. I’ve even decided to keep you alive a while longer so we can play some more. How many ways have you been fu—”
“You’re a sick bastard.” Drake’s snarled reply cut off the vile question.
“Well, if it ain’t old lover boy, there to protect the bitch’s virgin ears. I’ll bet that’s the only thing virginal about that little tease.”
“I sure as hell wish you’d come over here and fight like a real man so I can rid the world of you, you son of a bitch. I promise you, if I ever get my hands on you again, I won’t stop until you’re good and dead.”
Nash pointed at his watch and nodded, encouraging him to keep going, to draw him in to the conversation as long as possible.
“You know, I read this study once while I was still in law school, J.B. There are tons of statistics proving that sexual predators, just like you, have usually been molested when they were kids by an older male. Who was it that molested you, J.B.? Was it a preacher? A teacher? A Boy Scout leader, maybe? Or an older kid down the street? Was it an uncle or some other relative? Or did somebody just make you their bitch in one of your prison stays?”
“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about you mother fu—”
“Bingo!” Drake cut him off loudly. “We’ve got a winner! That’s it, isn’t it, Montgomery? I bet some big guy named ‘Bubba’ made you his bitch during a lock-up. I bet you liked it too, didn’t you, J.B.?” J.B.’s furious roar sounded from the speaker. Nash grinned as he gave Drake the thumbs up sign, telling him he’d succeeded in keeping him on the line long enough to trace the call.
“You’re both gonna die now, asshole! As a matter of fact, I’m gonna play with your little bitch girlfriend and kill her real slow-like while I make you watch. And there ain’t gonna be a damn thing you’ll be able to do about it.”
Drake’s voice hardened as he growled into the base of the phone. “Bring it on you ignorant piece of shit. I’m waiting for you. I can’t wait to put the pointed toe of my size thirteen boot right up your ass. Of course, it’ll probably get lost up in there, what with all the action you got from ‘Big Bubba’. Who’s the bitch now, J.B.?”
The air filled with a strangled yell of fury, then a long string of profanities before he stopped cold. The call cut off in the middle of one last angry roar.
Nash jumped up, punching the air in triumph. “Whoo-ee! You did good, Son! The Lake Coburn police are probably swarming the place right this second. With any luck at all, we won’t have to go through with the plan tonight.”
Drake kept his gaze on Annie. “That was the goal.” He approached her, lowering his voice. “You okay?”
She nodded—too pale, too shaky. “God, I hope they pick him up.”
He nodded. “Me too. I’m not looking forward to seeing you in any kind of danger tonight. Especially after I riled him up that way.” Drake reached for her.
Before he could make contact, she lifted her chin and turned to face Nash. “How long before we know?”
An ear-splitting, satisfied grin covered Nash’s face. “We should hear something within the next five or ten minutes.”
Annie walked over to the couch and curled up on one end of it. Martin jumped up and laid protectively across her as she curled her fingers into his thick fur.
Drake was on his way to wearing a path in the carpet with steady pacing. He felt her gaze on him as he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. He looked at his watch, passed a hand through his hair. By the time Nash’s phone rang, he was ready to explode. He faced him, praying for good news.
Nash hit the button on his cell. “Nash here.” He listened for a few seconds, then let loose with a Texas style holler. “They got the bastard!”
Drake rushed to Annie’s side. She covered her face, trying to hide the onslaught of emotional tears. He pulled her close before she had a chance to resist.
“Shh …” He smoothed her hair. “It’s okay now, Annie Girl.” He closed his eyes, his voice husky with emotion and relief. “Thank you, God. I owe you one.”
Nash watched the two people he’d come to respect, and hoped this would be the catalyst to bring them together at long last. Drake was right. Everyone could see they were perfect for each other. Everyone but Annie.
Annie McAllister. The tiny little woman who’d put both he and Drake in their places on more than one occasion. There would be a lot of passionate arguments between those two, no doubt. But, he knew from experience that the making-up would make everything worthwhile.
He smiled sadly as the thought brought to mind a memory he’d pushed to the far corners of his mind. Kimberly. It had b
een too damn long since he’d allowed himself to think about her, much less say her name out loud.
Annie spent the rest of the afternoon making phone calls to her relieved parents and siblings, telling them the danger was over. Drake called his dad and step-mom while Nash talked at length to Captain Woodard of the Lake Coburn police department, as well as the Kenton PD.
Nash ended his call and sent Annie a glorified grin. “Well, hell, little lady. I feel like celebrating. How about I take you both out for a meal at a fancy restaurant tonight?”
Annie had an inkling she’d miss the company of her two roommates. “I’ve got a better idea. How about if I cook one last meal for us then we can all go to Red’s club to celebrate? It’s got the coldest beer in town and the best country band around.”
“Along with the prettiest girls in the south,” Drake added, smiling at Annie.
Nash gave her a one-armed hug. “Sounds good to me, Lil Bit.”
She craned her neck to look up at him. “Can you dance, Nash? Or are both of those huge feet of yours lefties?”
“Oh hell, honey.” Nash gave her a wink and a smile. “Might be I could teach you a thing or two.”
She laughed, feeling lighter, more carefree than she had in months. “I doubt it seriously, but don’t let that stop you from giving it your best shot, Tex.”
By eight p.m. Drake had seated himself with Tiffany, Red, and some friends of theirs in the club filled to capacity. He nursed the same beer he’d started with, sipping as he kept his eyes glued to the doorway for Annie and Nash.
Earlier that afternoon, he’d loaded his truck with all his belongings except for the bed, and returned to his rental in Lake Coburn. As nice as Tiffany’s old place was, he couldn’t help but notice the place felt colder, bleaker, emptier than it ever had before.
No Martin to rub up against his leg, begging him for a scratch behind the ears. No Lewis belting out songs and calling him ‘the man’. No Nash to watch boxing or any other sports with. Worst of all, no Annie. No beautiful blue eyes to sparkle when she was happy, or flash in anger when he’d said something to set her off.
Gone were the acidic comments in her frisky moments; the sweet smiles when she was feeling generous. God almighty, he was going to miss seeing Annie every day. He’d spent nearly every minute since then, praying that their separation would have the same effect on her.