Further To Fall

by Catherine Cowles

  “All right. I’ll try to give her some time.” I’d give her another week. Tops. After that, I was coming for her whether she liked it or not.

  “Just stay away from Lexi in the meantime.” Liam shot me a pointed look over the top of his beer.

  “There are rumors she’s talking about quitting and moving to New York to work in fashion.” I grinned, that had been the best damn news of my week.

  “Praise the good Lord above!” Liam let a little bit of his former Southern twang into his voice. A ringtone trilled out, and he reached into his pocket, pulling out his cell. He shot me a grin as he answered.

  “Hey, Carter, what’s up?” The grin fell from his face almost immediately. “Get out of the house, now.”

  My heart stopped dead in my chest. Liam snapped his fingers in my direction as we both leapt to our feet. “Get the cops to her house now. Someone broke in.”

  My fingers robotically dialed 911 as I heard Liam say, “We’re calling the cops and are on our way. I want you to stay on the phone with me until the police get there. Or we do, okay?”

  I grabbed the keys to my Rover just as I connected with dispatch. I gave the woman Carter’s address and the little information I had. “She’s alone. She’s all alone, and someone broke into her fucking house, again. You need to get someone there NOW,” I growled.

  “Sir, we have a unit three blocks away. They’re en route now.”

  I hung up and gunned it down my driveway. Liam was in the passenger seat and kept asking Carter if she saw anyone, and she clearly kept saying no.

  “Okay, Carter, go talk to the cops. We’re ten minutes away.” He knew I’d be breaking all sorts of traffic laws to get to Carter. Liam tapped the screen of his phone and turned to face me. “She said someone trashed her room. What the fuck is going on?”

  I gripped the wheel so tightly, I thought it might break in two. “I don’t know, but we sure as hell are going to find out.”

  I wove in and out of traffic, causing more than one person to honk at me, but no cops tried to pull me over. The lights on two squad cars flashed as we reached Carter’s house. I threw my car into park behind the cop cars, not caring it was in the middle of the road and launched myself out of the SUV.

  My eyes immediately found Carter surrounded by two cops, her arms were curled tightly around herself, and Blue stood at her side. Her head snapped up at the sound of my door slamming. She said something to one of the cops, handing the woman Blue’s leash as I rounded the squad cars. I recognized that I was running just before Carter’s body collided with mine. I held her tightly to me, cupping the back of her head. She was shaking, and I realized it was with tears. “I’m so sorry.” Her words were muffled by my shirt and her sobs.

  I held her even tighter. “Baby, what do you have to be sorry for?” I was so confused.

  “I was mad at you, and I didn’t talk to you all week. It was so stupid.” She was barely making sense, only getting out one word between every two or three hiccupped sobs.

  I trailed a hand up and down her spine. “Don’t worry about that, everything’s going to be fine.” In that moment, every doubt about whether Carter and I could make this work melted away. Faced with the prospect of a single hair on her head being harmed, I knew I’d move Heaven and Earth to keep her safe, to keep her happy, and to keep her by my side.

  Carter only started crying harder. “Why does this person hate me?”

  One of the officers walked up then. “Should we call the paramedics? We might need to sedate her.”

  I scowled at the guy. “Just give me a few minutes.” He nodded, and I lifted Carter up. She instinctively wrapped her legs around me. Walking a few houses away, I sat down on the curb. “Let it out, Firecracker, just let it out.”

  She continued to weep as I just held her. Looking back toward the scene, I could see that Liam had a hold of Blue now and was giving a statement to the female cop.

  Slowly, Carter’s sobs lessened, and she nuzzled deeper into my neck. “I love you, Austin,” she whispered.

  I closed my eyes, soaking up her words. “I love you, too.”

  “We don’t have the best timing for dropping the L-bomb, do we?” Her lips stretched into a smile against my neck as she said it.

  “Never a bad time to hear those words from your mouth.” She pulled back, and I dropped a kiss to those perfect bow lips, lingering there.

  When I retreated, she looked down at my shirt, one hand covered her mouth, but she was giggling. “Austin, I’m so sorry, I snot-cried all over your shirt.”

  “Got other shirts, Firecracker.”

  “That’s good because this one should probably be burned.”

  I pulled her back into my chest. “You okay?”

  “I am now.”

  “Good. You want to tell me what happened?”

  Before she could answer, the female officer approached. “How are you doing, Miss McCarthy?”

  Carter blushed and tried to get off my lap, but I kept her firmly in place, not quite ready to let her go. “I’m fine now. Sorry about that meltdown.”

  The woman smiled reassuringly at Carter. “Don’t worry about it, it’s completely understandable. Your home was violated in a very personal way.” My arms tightened around Carter at those words. She ran a hand over my buzzed hair as if to reassure me everything was okay, but it damn well wasn’t fine.

  “What the hell happened?” I asked.

  The officer, her name tag read Officer Hollis, fixed her gaze on me. “Miss McCarthy’s bedroom was vandalized, and it was clearly a very personal attack. I was coming over here to let you know that given the other incidents, we’ve called in the Threat Management Unit. They specialize in stalking cases, and I think they will be able to best handle the situation. They have expertise and resources that the rest of the LAPD simply doesn’t have.”

  Carter squeezed my hand. “Thank you. I really appreciate all your help. You’ve been so kind.”

  “No problem. The detective from TMU should be here in about thirty minutes, so just sit tight,” Officer Hollis said and walked off.

  Carter pinched my side, hard. “Ouch! Damn, woman.”

  She scrambled off my lap as soon as my hold on her loosened. “It would have been nice to not talk to an officer of the law while straddling you, Austin.”

  I grinned. “I’m sure she’s seen way more scandalous things than that.”

  Carter huffed. “Come on, I want to go see Liam, and it looks like Blue is losing his mind since I walked away.”

  “Okay, let’s go.” I grabbed her hand, interlocking our fingers. I didn’t want Carter out of my reach for a second. She was just going to have to get used to never being alone until they caught this creep.

  34

  Carter

  I sat on the couch crammed in between two very angry alpha males. Ever since the cops had cleared my room, and Austin and Liam had peeked inside, rage had been coming off them in waves. Now, silence reigned as the detective from the LAPD Threat Management Unit jotted down notes in a very cop-looking notebook. We had just finished telling Detective Massey everything about the events of the past few months. He looked up from his pad. “Have you noticed anyone following you? Have any hang-up phone calls? Received any strange emails? Anything along those lines?”

  Austin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees but turning his face towards me. “You had that weird hang-up when we were at the gym, remember?”

  I grimaced at what I now had to share. “Yeah, and I’ve gotten a few more this week.”

  Austin’s teeth clenched, but it was Liam who spoke. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  I twisted my fingers in my lap. “I didn’t think it was a big deal at the time.”

  Detective Massey interrupted our back and forth. “Was there a number on your screen?”

  “No, it always says UNKNOWN CALLER.”

  “Does the person say anything, or can you hear anything in the background?”

  “I only answered
the first two or three times. I could hear faint noises in the background, but nothing discernable. After that, I would just let any unknown numbers go to voicemail. The person never leaves a message.”

  Detective Massey made a few notes. “Keep letting the calls go to voicemail. You want to minimize any possible contact with the stalker. We’ll pull your phone records and see if we can trace the call.” I nodded.

  “I want you to make a list of anyone who might have a grudge against you. Ex-boyfriends, someone who made abnormally strong advances towards you, anyone in your life you’ve had a falling out with. Anything you can think of. We’re also going to look into the man you have a restraining order against.” I shuddered as I began mentally compiling a list of people who could possibly want to hurt me. How much did someone have to dislike me to qualify for this lineup? “Austin, have you had any issues with overzealous fans or stalkers?”

  Austin was strung tight, I could feel the constant flexing of muscles as we sat side by side. “Overzealous fans? Yes. Stalkers? No. The UFL and my head of security will have a list of anyone who’s been banned from my fights for any reason.”

  “I’ll get in touch with them for a list but, in the meantime, I want you to keep an eye out for any fans who are particularly angry that you’ve gotten a girlfriend. Since this started before any photos of the two of you were published, I’m leaning towards it being someone one or both of you knows. That doesn’t mean they’re someone you’ve been close to. A stalker can literally be anyone. It could be the barista at the coffee shop you go to every day.”

  Panic began to rise up inside me. Austin leaned back into the couch and pulled me against him. “It’ll be okay, we’re going to figure this out.”

  “I know it can be overwhelming, but the more information you can provide, the better. My goal isn’t to scare you, but to make sure you are as cautious as possible while we identify the perpetrator. I’m seeing a clear escalation in behavior. These latest two incidents show that the unsub is turning violent. From now on, I want you to avoid going anywhere alone if possible. Keep your phone with you at all times, even in the bathroom. Can you stay with a friend for the time being?”

  “She’ll be staying with me from now on.” Austin practically growled the words. He tilted his face towards mine as if expecting me to argue. He would get no arguments from me. I wasn’t an idiot, and I was freaked. “I live on gated property and have a state-of-the-art security system. I also have security who works for me on fight weekends and when I do appearances, so I’ll see about having a couple of them patrol the perimeter of the property.”

  I squeezed Austin’s hand. “You don’t have to go to that extreme.” The look he threw me had me going silent again.

  “It’s actually not a bad idea. If you have the resources, you might as well use them. It’s a better-safe-than-sorry kind of scenario,” Detective Massey chimed in.

  I nodded and leaned back into Austin’s side. His muscles were still strung tight, but he ran a gentle hand through my hair. “I’ll have my security contact you, and you can give them anything to be on the lookout for. They work with lots of celebrities, so I’m sure they’re not new to this stalker stuff.”

  Detective Massey rose from his chair and flipped his notepad closed, the gold of his wedding band gleaming against his ebony skin. “Sounds good. Here’s my card. It has my cell on it. Call me at any time if you have any questions or notice anything concerning. Carter, plug that number into your phone so you know it’s me calling and aren’t alarmed.” It was sweet of him to think of that. Detective Massey had a fatherly feel to him. He was kind, thorough, and believed everything I told him, unlike the jerk cop I had dealt with after the first break-in.

  I reached out a hand to shake his. “Thank you so much, I really appreciate your help.”

  “Anytime, Carter.” He headed towards the door, calling out to the two officers who remained.

  Austin squeezed the back of my neck. “Let’s get you and Blue packed up so we can get out of here.” At the sound of his name, Blue lifted his head from my feet where he was sprawled and cocked his head to the side.

  Tears were brimming behind my eyes, and I did my best to fight them back. “All my stuff is destroyed.” I couldn’t bring myself to search through the rubble of my room right now to see if there was anything salvageable.

  Austin cursed and then turned to Liam. “Will you go pack up Blue’s food, dog bed, and anything else he might need?”

  “Sure.” Liam rose from the couch.

  “Everything other than the dog bed is in the cabinet by the back door,” I said.

  Liam ruffled my hair. “Got it.”

  Austin tilted up my face to his and wiped away a stray tear with his thumb. “When we get into the car, I want you to write down all of your clothing sizes and make a list of any girl shit you’ll need for the next few weeks. And not the cheap stuff. I know you spend a fortune on the shit you put on your face. Make a list of everything you could possibly want or need, and I’ll send it to my stylist. She’ll pull everything together for you tomorrow morning.”

  I was distracted from Austin’s ridiculously generous offer by one small fact. “You have a stylist?” I started to laugh, couldn’t help it.

  “Yes, you little troublemaker,” he said, squeezing my side. “Someone has to dress me for events and appearances. I don’t have time for that shit.”

  I couldn’t picture Austin standing still for fittings, but I could imagine him spending hours browsing the racks at Saks even less. “Well, let’s hope she has good taste. And, thank you, I can give you my credit card number so she can charge all the purchases to that.”

  Austin stared at me and then lifted his eyes to the ceiling. “Whatever you say, Firecracker.”

  Why did I have a feeling these charges would never make it to my card?

  I shuffled into Austin’s house like a zombie. About halfway through the drive from my place, I’d hit a wall. I was mentally, physically, and emotionally spent. All I wanted was a hot shower and a comfortable bed. Blue padded along behind me. He hadn’t ventured far from my side since the incident, and I was glad to have him.

  Austin flicked on a few more lights in the living room. “Are you hungry? I can order food.”

  “Honestly, all I really want is a shower.”

  “Of course. Come on.” Austin lifted the dog bed he’d placed on the floor and led me back towards his bedroom, but instead of going inside, he stopped at a room directly across from his. I suddenly felt unsure and a little insecure. Did he not want me sharing his bed? Were we not okay? When I looked up at Austin, his eyes were intently studying my face. He crossed to me and engulfed me in his arms. “Your first time is not going to be after a day like today. I’m going to put you in the guest room for now. I want you to feel comfortable.”

  I bit back the words that were trying to come out about wanting to sleep with him. Maybe it would be better if I stayed in here. I’d probably drool on him or something equally embarrassing. “Okay.” I hated how soft my voice sounded.

  “Baby, you’re killing me. What can I do?” Austin held me tighter to his chest.

  “You’ve already done so much. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “You’ll never have to find out.” He rested his chin on the top of my head, and we just stood there while I soaked up his warmth and strength.

  Finally, I pulled back. “I’m going to shower. Do you have something I can sleep in?”

  “Of course. I’m going to email your list of necessities to my stylist, and then I’ll leave some clothes on your bed.”

  “Thanks, Austin. For everything. You’re pretty amazing, you know that?”

  A small blush rose to his cheeks, making me smile. “Love you, Carter.”

  I would never get tired of hearing that. I rose to my tiptoes, planting a quick kiss on his lips. “Love you, too.” Turning away, I headed into the bathroom, Blue following behind.

  This bathroom wasn’t quite
as ridiculously awesome as Austin’s, but it was close. I looked longingly at the soaking tub but knew if I got in, there was a good chance I’d fall asleep and drown. I shucked my workout clothes and stepped into the rainfall shower. Turning the water to steaming, I let the steady stream soothe my muscles that were tightly wound from stress. Finally, I looked around for some shampoo and conditioner. The shower was stocked with some fancy names and heavenly scents.

  By the time I emerged from the spray, I was starting to feel more human. I bound my hair up in a fluffy towel, wound another around my body, and stepped into the bedroom just as a soft knock sounded at the door. “Come in.”

  Blue immediately put himself between me and the door but relaxed when he saw Austin. “Looks like he’s got a little guard dog in him, after all,” Austin said with a smile. He paused when his gaze moved past Blue to my bare legs. His jaw got hard, and his eyes blazed with heat. I swallowed jerkily and felt a tingling at my core. Oh, boy.

  Austin cleared his throat. “Here are some things you can wear for tonight, I know they’ll be huge on you, but the sweatpants have a drawstring you can tighten.” He set the items on the bed, seeming to avoid getting too close to me.

  I wanted to laugh. Alpha male determined to preserve my virtue. “Thanks for that.”

  He cleared his throat again. “No problem. Well, I’ll let you get some sleep.” Austin made a hasty retreat, and I couldn’t hold in the soft giggle. I walked over the bed to see what he’d left me. A t-shirt that was worn baby soft…yeah, he was never getting that back. A pair of boxers. And sweatpants that looked like I would drown in them.

  I slipped on the boxers and t-shirt, abandoning the sweats, and then went in search of a hairdryer. I found that and a brush in a drawer in the bathroom. I did a quick blow-dry while Blue shot me sorrowful looks. He hated the hairdryer and vacuum cleaner, usually bolting when I turned on either, but tonight, he was determined to stay by my side.