Carl chased after him.
Courtney
An uncomfortable silence engulfed the room. Sighing with the knowledge she was in deep shit with her husband, Courtney silently asked for strength. Yes, she'd laughed with Ryan, but she should have Derrick's reaction coming.
She turned to the two nannies. "I'll show you to your room where you can stay during the week. You can decide if you'd rather stay here or go home at the end of the day."
"Mrs. Murphy," Russ said. “I don't think your husband is pleased with having us as your daughter's caregiver."
"You think?" Jack mumbled loud enough for the entire room to hear.
Courtney wheeled around and shot him a look that said do not piss with her. Jack bowed his head in a silent apology.
"I'll handle Mr. Murphy." She turned to Mary. "Mary, can you please keep an eye on Caitlin while I show Russ and Jarrett to their room?"
"Of course, Mrs. Murphy," Mary replied, setting down her dishrag.
"I'll keep an eye on her as well," Trent happily offered.
"No, Trent. I have something for you to do," Jack snapped. They watched Jack roughly grasp Trent by the back of the neck and haul him away.
Courtney showed Russ and Jarrett the area they'd share, which was the game room renovated into a separate living area. After the tour she left them alone and went upstairs to find Derrick.
"He left, Courtney," Jack said when she walked through the living room.
Her shoulders sagged. "He's pissed."
"To say the least," Jack said.
"I have to go to him."
Jack shook his head. "I think you should let him be. Carl's with him."
"Why aren't you?" she asked.
"He wanted me to stay here with you." Jack raised a censorious brow.
"You know what, I've had enough. This is ridiculous. Tell Derrick when he decides he wants to talk to me, he can look for me," Courtney snapped.
She stormed to the kitchen, snatched Caitlin out of her highchair, and rushed upstairs to pack. In the middle of tossing clothes into luggage, Jack interrupted her. A rarity. Derrick's men were not permitted on the second level of the house.
"Court, don't do this. You're going to piss him off even further," he warned.
"You know what, I don't care. We couldn't agree on who to hire so he left me in charge. Well I decided. Not because they're two very good looking young men, but because they'll protect my daughter." Her vision blurred. "I'm scared to death for her. I lost my husband while I was pregnant with her. The people who killed him are still out there. I have no idea if they're going to come after Derrick, Caitlin, or me but I will not take the chance with her life. Those two men down there are the best thing I could do for her." Tears spilled over. She spun back to the bag. "It's just like having Sean and Ryan as her caregivers."
"You should tell Derrick how you feel," Jack said.
"He should already understand how I feel."
She zipped up the diaper bag, scooped up her daughter, and rushed down the steps with Jack on her heels.
"Court, please don't make me stop you," Jack pleaded.
Whipping around, she pegged him. "Don't you dare, Jack."
She yanked open the front door and stormed towards her SUV. After placing Caitlin in her car seat, she tossed the bags into the back, then climbed into the driver's seat. As soon as she started the car and put it in reverse, Derrick's car flew in behind hers, blocking her exit. In the rearview mirror, she watched him leap out of the vehicle. She locked the doors then leaned her head on the steering wheel and sobbed. She was entirely too stressed.
A soft knock on her window.
"Open the door, Court," Derrick demanded.
She shook her head.
"Courtney," he warned.
"I don't want to fight," she sobbed, not lifting her head. "I can't fight with you, Derrick. I just can't."
"Open the door, honey," his tone softened.
She refused to budge.
A few silent moments later, the car unlocked and the passenger door opened and closed. Derrick's masculine scent wrapped throughout the interior of the SUV.
"Look at me," he commanded.
Swiping at her tears, she did as instructed.
"Why?" he demanded.
She glanced back at her daughter, her pride and joy, who innocently looked at her father with a big grin. She refocused on her husband. She was sure the fear was evident in her eyes.
"Caitlin," she whispered.
"You're afraid for her," he acknowledged.
She nodded. "The people who killed Darren still haven't been found, or at least that's my understanding because you haven't said otherwise. What if they're after you or me, even worse Caitlin? Those two men in there will protect her with their lives, Derrick. They'll protect her above you and me. I need that. She's my gift from Darren. She's all I have left of him. The two of you are my life. I trust Jack and Carl to watch out for you. I know they will, but Caitlin, she's our...everything, and she needs as many eyes on her as possible," Courtney explained, her tears uncontrollable. “None of those young girls could protect her the way those two men will.”
Derrick
Derrick's heart clenched for his wife. He reached up and wiped her endless stream of tears. "If it makes you feel better to know Caitlin is safe, then I'll support it."
Understanding her anxiety, he couldn't deny her. What she didn't realize was that he related more than she could ever know. He felt the same way about both of his girls.
"It has nothing to do with anything else other than her protection, Derrick, I promise you. They know CPR and first aid. They're trained killers who have instincts and reflexes as good as Sean and Ryan," she said.
Derrick leaned over and kissed her. "All right," he said then straightened upright. "But, for this," he motioned back and forth between them and then the SUV, "you're in a world of trouble. Let's get Caitlin back into the house so I can reprimand you for running from me."
"I'm sorry, Derrick," Courtney said, giving her biggest doe-eyed look.
"Accepted, but not in the clear." He smirked. Oh, he knew his wife's trick too well for it to work on him.
He opened the car door and stepped out, but not before he overhead Court curse under her breath. He grabbed his daughter and kissed her on both cheeks. When they entered the house together, Derrick escorted Court upstairs and spent hours alone, talking through their differences. Well, it was more like Derrick lectured his wife. She may have pulled those stunts with Darren but he was certainly not his brother.
At the end of their long conversation, Courtney crawled onto his lap. He'd relaxed against the headboard of their bed, his long, lean legs outstretched. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. She slowly leaned in and kissed him seductively. Taken aback at first, he didn't know how to respond. But then he quickly recovered, rolled, and pinned her underneath him. He dove passionately into her mouth. His hand skimmed over her body, down her thigh and hiked her leg over his hip. Rocking his hips against her core, Courtney moaned into his mouth and grasped his solid biceps. Slowly his hand slid over her breast, caressing and kneading her. A perfect fit in his large hand. His lips left hers, nipping and suckling down her jaw to her neck. Grasping his shirt, she tugged it off his body. Her feather-light touch traveled his solid back then scored him with her short fingernails. His hand slid under her tee shirt, caressing her silky, porcelain skin. He devoured her mouth again. They moved in unison, gyrating their hips in a slow, erotic rhythm. Derrick's desire was evident against her body. He unbuttoned her dark blue jeans and slid his hand between her black, lace panties and her bare mound.
Courtney panicked. She suddenly pushed way, struggling to get out from under him and scrambled to the edge of the bed. "I can't," she croaked. Shamefully she hid her hands in her face and sobbed. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be, Court," Derrick sat up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shaking body. "When you're ready, we'll move forward," he assu
red her. "I can wait."
"I'm so, so, so very sorry," she cried. "I thought I was ready. I don't know when I'll be, Derrick. I'm afraid I might not ever be able to be your wife in every way."
Nothing could be said to ease her. That intimate moment was the farthest they'd gone. He'd take it if that was all she could give. He was convinced eventually she'd come around. His Courtney was worth the wait.
Chapter 30
Trent
Trent broke down and made the phone call he'd originally decided against. He'd briefly hesitated before he hit send on his cell to dial the number.
In the end, he decided the money he'd been promised would be the answer to climbing the ladder in the Murphy organization. Money would help launch him into a position close to Jack and Carl. That was where he desperately wanted to be. He deserved it. Craved it.
"I have her alone at the mall with the baby," Trent murmured into his phone.
"How long will she be there?" Mr. X asked.
"About another half an hour."
"Where are you parked?"
"At the back entrance," he answered.
"Where are the baby's nannies?"
"They have the day off, something about weekend training or something," he answered.
"And Murphy?"
"Harrisburg," he said. "I have to go, she's coming." He ended the call.
Courtney
On a mission to get Derrick a birthday gift, Courtney left early that morning with Trent. A few weeks ago, it'd been severely stressed by Derrick, Jack, and Carl she was always to have more than one man with her at all times when out. A list of names had been handed to her and Derrick emphatically pointed to it and barked, "Use it."
Unfortunately when she called the list no one answered. She was left with no choice but to leave with only Trent.
The designer suit Courtney specially ordered for Derrick would be the most expensive piece of clothing he'd own but worth it. Her husband dressed impeccably and took pride in his wardrobe. When she came up with the gift idea, she'd been overly excited. She knew his philosophy‒if he had to escort his beautiful wife to functions then he must look equally presentable at all times. Courtney had fallen even more in love with him with that confession.
As she left the tailor's store, she caught Trent ending a call.
"Was that Derrick?" Courtney asked.
Trent shook his head. "No. Business."
"I should call him," she said. She pushed Caitlin's stroller and tried to hold the garment bag in her other hand. Wasn't happening. She stopped and draped the suit over the stroller. "I'm surprised he hasn't checked on us yet," she said absently.
"We can call from the car," Trent suggested. "Do you need to go anywhere else before we leave?"
"Let's hit the jeweler. I want to find a new wedding band for Derrick," Courtney said. They hadn't had a chance to pick out new ones since they'd married. His birthday was the perfect opportunity to get a new one on his finger.
Trent smiled. "Okay, I'll watch Caitlin while you look."
"Thank you, Trent," she said appreciatively. "You've been so helpful today. I can't thank you enough."
"No problem, Mrs. Murphy. That's what I'm here for," Trent assured her.
***
Courtney decided on the most expensive wedding band the jewelry had in stock. She knew Derrick would love it. His male idiosyncrasies were his ring and watch. He took off the watch when he crawled into bed every night and it was the first thing he put on in the morning. And the wedding band she constantly caught him toying with, spinning it on his finger. She didn't understand his obsession with both items but never question it. She had her own fixations.
Once Courtney finished shopping, Trent, who patiently entertained Caitlin, helped her to the SUV. She placed Caitlin in her car seat then packed the stroller into the hatch of the SUV. She hung Derrick's suit on a hook in the back. Her body went rigid when something hard as steel jabbed into her ribs.
"Hello, Courtney. Motherhood agrees with you," John Marshall growled into her ear.
Her first instinct was to pull away, but at her slight movement, the gun dug deeper into her side. John squeezed her bicep painfully and yanked her closer.
"Don't even think about it," he warned. "Climb in."
"Trent, go!" Courtney screamed. In one non-fluid move, she pushed back, causing John to stumble, pulling her to the ground with him.
Trent didn't leave. He climbed into the driver's seat and closed the door.
"Trent!"
Out of her peripheral vision, she saw John's arm raise in the air....
Chapter 31
Courtney
Courtney stirred awake. The sound of her daughter's cries catapulted her upright. Heavy eyes and a pounding headache caused her to moan with her sudden movement.
"I'm coming, baby girl," she rasped.
Slowly her eyes came into focus. No lights.
What time was it? Where the hell was she?
Stumbling off a bed, she landed with a hard thud onto the floor. She scrambled onto her haunches and blindly reached out. To her right she found a nightstand and lamp. Thankfully, there was electricity. When her eyes adjusted to the light, over in the corner of an aged bedroom sat an even older crib with her baby standing, crying out hysterically. She jumped to her feet and rushed to grab her baby girl out of the crib. Once securely in her arms, Courtney scanned the room and found the diaper bag on the floor next to the bed she'd been on. She pulled out a luke warm bottle. It would have to do. Her starving daughter devoured the formula.
While Caitlin ate, Courtney took in her surroundings, clueless where she could possible be. Her body began to shake. Certainly Derrick realized she was missing, right? How long had she been out cold? Derrick wasn't due home until later in the evening. Chills ran down her spine. Her shaking grew worse.
The bedroom door flew open and smacked off the wall. Courtney jumped and squeaked. John Marshall sauntered arrogantly into the bedroom, Trent followed behind. She narrowed her eyes.
"You're both dead men," she muttered. She straightened her spine in false confidence.
John chuckled. "We're dead if we're caught, sweetheart. Don't you worry you're pretty little head about that."
Courtney laughed at him but said nothing in retort. She prayed the nervousness didn't come through. Derrick would die trying to find her and his daughter.
"At least take Caitlin back home," she pleaded. Maybe they'd sympathize for her baby girl and concede to Courtney's wishes.
"No," John snapped. "I wanted you to have my child but you had to go and have Darren's. This is my way of getting what I want."
"What about your job?" Courtney asked. Maybe she could reason with him.
"I was fired after we brought you in. Your current husband and dead husband made sure of that," John sneered.
She winced.
"Oh," John said.
She'd never make a great poker player.
"Sorry, forgot Darren might still be a sore spot since you seemed to have moved onto his brother painlessly. Is that what the Murphy men did, pass you back and forth from brother to brother? Maybe I should have waited to kill them both when they were together."
It took a moment for what he said to register.
"What?" she gasped. "You..."
John laughed mirthlessly. "Fool. I've been in love with you for ages and was sick and tired of watching you moon over Darren Murphy. When you lost your first baby, I couldn't have been more thrilled, especially when you left him thinking he cheated on you. I was prepared to replace him but you just had to be sucked back into his web. Then you ended up pregnant, again. I couldn't allow you to be tied to him like that. It was either you or him and since I want you, it had to be him."
"But you almost got me. I was to be in that car," Courtney spat. She looked down at her daughter, who would have died in the car explosion as well.
He shrugged. "My mistake. I had no idea you were there with him. I thought he was surprising you with f
urniture," John said unconcerned. "Sorry," he apologized insincerely.
Angry tears clouded her vision. What the hell was a matter with him? Was he crazy to begin with? Did the FBI make him insane?
"You're mine now," John stated factually.
"No, John," she countered. "I belong to Derrick, and before him, Darren. You'll never have me."
Two quick, determined steps towards her, John violently grabbed her chin. Pain raced up her jaw.
"You belong to me," John growled, inches from her face. He snapped her head back when he pushed away then stormed out of the room.
Trent petulantly followed.
"You're a dead man as well, Trent!" Courtney yelled after he closed the door behind him.
With a full belly, baby Caitlin's heavy eyes closed and she fell asleep, settled in the crook of her mother's arm, oblivious to the danger they were in.
What was Courtney going to do? She had her daughter to try to escape with. To protect. Quietly, she sobbed, "Derrick, please find me."
She pulled her daughter tight into her body. If she had to, she would die before allowing any harm to come to her baby girl.
***
Derrick
A little after eight in the evening, Derrick arrived home with Jack and Carl. When they walked through the door, the house seemed unusually quiet except for Mary, who bustled about in the kitchen.
He loosened his tie.
"Mr. Murphy, are you hungry? I'm finished with dinner but waited for Mrs. Murphy," Mary asked, typically polite.
"I am...wait, what?" Derrick stopped mid air from pulling a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. "What do you mean you're waiting for Courtney? Where is she?"
"Mrs. Murphy went to the mall earlier today, sir. She said she would return hours ago. I'm assuming she got held up," Mary said. She stirred the pot of whatever on the stovetop.
Jack and Carl stepped into the kitchen.
"Who did she go with?" Derrick asked concerned. He glanced down at his watch. It was late in the evening for her to out with Caitlin. His wife kept an excellent time schedule with their daughter. She never ran late. "Did Russ or Jarrett go with her?" he asked.
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