I leave my bags and the stroller, for now, anxious to get Milo inside and to bed for a nap. He’s been a trooper today, but I can tell the crash is coming. With my keys already in hand, as Colton keeps instructing, I head toward the back door, Milo’s car seat in hand. I’m barely inside and have him released from the buckles of his seat when the front doorbell rings.
“Who could that be?” I ask, picking up Milo and positioning him on my hip.
When I glance out the peephole, I don’t see anyone. Did I imagine it?
I turn around just as the doorbell rings a second time. My heartrate escalates as I glance through the peephole again. This time, I see a woman standing there. I don’t recognize her. Against my better judgment, I release the lock and pull open the door. A burst of cold air hits me, and I try to adjust Milo, so he’s shielded from the frigid temperatures.
“Can I help you?” I ask through the glass screen door.
“Actually, yes. Hollis Taylor?” she asks politely, a friendly smile on her face.
“Ummm, yes,” I confirm, my hand on the door. It would only take one second for me to step back and close it quickly.
But I’m unable to move.
I have no time to react.
Behind the woman stands a man.
One I recognize.
A face that’s haunted my dreams for months.
The one from the alley.
The one I’m running from.
He steps completely into view, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he says, “I’ve been looking for you.”
Chapter 15
Colton
With the snow starting to fall, the calls and cancellations begin to roll in. Normally, I would be irritated because that makes the day drag by, but Chase and Harrison have decided to close the gym. For the safety of the employees and the members. We’re all going home. I can’t be mad about that. Hollis and Milo should be home from shopping by now. An early day with my two favorite people sounds like exactly what I need.
“You going to make it home in that?” Chase asks, pointing out the window to Hollis’s car.
“Yeah, I should be fine. It’ll just take me a little longer.”
“You want me to drop you off?” he offers.
“No. I’m good.” It’s going to take me a little longer to get home, but that’s a small price to pay knowing that Hollis and Milo were safer today in my truck. I need to talk to her about maybe getting an SUV. She needs something with four-wheel drive or at least all-wheel drive for these Missouri winters.
“Can’t believe you let her take your truck,” Chase comments.
He’s grinning, so I know he’s giving me shit. “So, you’re telling me that you would let Gabby go out with your baby when you knew the weather was getting bad in that”—I point out the window to Hollis’s car—“instead of your truck.”
“Nope.” His reply is immediate.
“That’s what I thought,” I fire back, and he laughs as my phone rings. Glancing at the screen, I see Hollis’s name, and I smile. “Hey, babe, we were just talking about you.”
“Colt.”
The way she says my name has fear racing down my spine. “What is it? What happened?” My voice is steady and stern, with a hint of fear that my brother picks up on immediately.
“Everything is fine.” She tries to reassure me, but I can hear it in her voice that everything is not fine.
“Hollis,” I warn. I hear her words, but I also hear her voice, and I can’t describe it. Is it fear? Is it pain?
“Are you on your way home?” she asks, her voice soft.
“Yes. Tell me what happened,” I say, pulling her keys out of my pocket and heading for the door. I’m stopped when Chase’s hand lands on my shoulder. He holds up his keys and points to his chest. I get what he’s saying. He’s driving. I nod, and he turns off the lights and locks up before we climb into his truck and head toward my place.
“I’m fine. Milo is fine,” she says, her voice cracking.
“That’s good, baby. I need you to tell me,” I say, glancing over at Chase. He has a worried expression on his face, but he keeps his eyes on the road. Focused on getting us to them. To my entire fucking world.
“It’s a lot to explain. I promise you that we’re both fine.”
“What’s a lot to explain?” I question her. Trying like hell to pull something out of her. Any morsel of information to know what I’m walking into.
“It’s over. It’s finally over,” she says, and now I know she’s crying.
“What’s over, Hollis?”
“I’m safe. We’re safe.”
The tension I was feeling lessens. “Can you tell me what that means?” I ask her.
“I will when you get home. I just… needed you.”
My chest tightens. I never in my life thought hearing a woman tell me that she needed me could cause my heart to swell as it tries to beat out of my chest, but that’s exactly what’s happening right here in the passenger seat of my brother’s truck. “Chase is bringing me home. We’re in his truck so we can get there faster. We’re maybe ten minutes away,” I tell her.
“Okay. I’ll talk to you when you get here.” She pauses. “Colt?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
Damn this woman, and what she does to me. “I love you too. I’ll be there soon.”
“Okay.” The line goes dead, and I drop my phone to my lap.
“Well?” Chase asks.
“I don’t know, man. All she managed to tell me was that she was safe. That we’re safe. I don’t know what that means, but I can only assume the guy has been caught? I hope to hell he’s either dead or rotting in jail. I hate looking over my shoulder, and what’s worse is the worry and fear for Hollis and all of you. My son, you and Gabby, and Mom and Dad. Everyone who is close to us.”
“She’s all right? Milo…” He swallows hard. “He’s all right?”
“Yeah. She assured me they were both fine.”
Chase nods. He loves his nephew, their bond is… special. Chase thought he was Milo’s father for a while, and he fell in love with him only as a father can. Then, he learned that he wasn’t the father, but the uncle. It was hard for him. I think the fact that he and Gabby are so close to the delivery of their own baby helps. I also know it’s a bond that I will never be able to explain, and I don’t want to. It’s special between the two of them. My brother, although younger, he’s the true hero. He stepped up, and even after he found out Milo wasn’t his son but his nephew, he loved and cared for him until I could. I’ll never be able to repay him for that.
“Seems like my little brother is always bailing me out,” I say, trying to lighten the mood. I’m still scared as hell, but I trust Hollis.
“Nah, you would do the same for me.”
“I would. I appreciate you driving me. I’m sure you’d much rather be home with Gabby.”
“She’ll understand. I’ll call her when we get to your place.”
“Thank you, Chase. For stepping up with Milo, for loving him and taking care of him. For being here with me now.”
“That’s what family does.”
“I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”
“Your thanks is enough. I mean, you can throw in some babysitting when my little girl gets here. Give Mommy and Daddy some alone time,” he says, smiling, his eyes still on the road.
“Definitely,” I say, and then his words register with me. “Little girl?” I ask. He’s so blissed out over the thought of his wife and daughter he doesn’t even realize what he just said.
“Fuck,” he mutters under his breath. “Did I say little girl? I mean, when my girl delivers.” He tries to cover up his slip and does a terrible job at it.
“No, that’s not what you said.” I’m grinning from ear to ear. “I’m getting a niece,” I say. “Don’t worry, Uncle Colt and Cousin Milo will help you scare off all the boys.”
“Let’s not talk about my daughter and boys,” he says
, his voice stern.
His grip tightens on the wheel, and I hold in my laughter. That could be any of us, and the thought of a daughter, and all the dicks out there… that shit is scary.
“There!” I point at him. “You admit it.”
“Fuck, don’t tell Gabs. She’d kill me if she knew that I let the gender slip. She has this big reveal planned when we’re all together for Christmas.”
“I won’t say a word,” I assure him as he pulls into my driveway. “You recognize that SUV?” I ask Chase. It’s all black with tinted windows. I know before I ask the question that he’s not going to know who it is.
“No,” he says, putting his truck in Park, but I’m already reaching for the handle and climbing out. “He’s here. He found her, and her call was her way of getting me here. Fuck!” I run into the house, slipping and sliding on the snow and ice. I almost bust my ass, but I get my footing under me and keep running. I don’t stop until I reach the front door, and bust through, not knowing what I’m walking into, but knowing that my entire fucking life is behind these four walls.
Twisting the handle, I push through the door and survey what I see. Hollis is sitting on the loveseat with Milo asleep in her arms. She’s holding him close, but she doesn’t seem to be afraid or in distress.
“Colt.” She smiles as tears shimmer in her eyes.
I rush to her, taking the seat next to her. Leaning over, I kiss her softly on the lips, running my hands down Milo’s back. I then look at the man and woman sitting on the couch. “What’s going on?” I ask, keeping my eyes on them.
“Who are they?” Chase asks, joining us. He walks over to the loveseat and perches on the arm on the other side of Hollis, crossing his arms over his chest.
“This is Nancy Dawson and Tom Lane.”
“LAPD, special task force,” Tom offers.
“Why are you in our home?”
“Tom is the cop, Colt. He’s the one I saw that night,” Hollis tells me.
“Leave,” I say, my voice deadly calm.
“No,” Hollis speaks up. “I’m sorry I’m not doing very well at explaining. I’m just relieved that it’s all over.”
“Okay, baby.” I kiss her temple, resting my hand on her thigh. I then turn my gaze to Tom. “Start talking.”
He nods. “Special Task Force also means undercover. I was undercover the night Hollis ran into us in the alley. We had to stay in part. I wanted to tell her that she was safe, my partner Hannah too, but Hannah couldn’t leave what looked like a drug bust to chase after an innocent bystander.”
“You were dealing?”
He nods. “Yeah. We had been working on this bust for months. I was playing the part of the crooked cop, stealing drugs from the evidence room.”
“It wasn’t real drugs,” Nancy speaks up. “It was manufactured to look that way. That night was the big bust. Hollis just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“The messages?” I ask them. “She’s been getting messages.” I look over at Hollis. “Did you tell them?”
She nods. “I did.”
“I can explain,” Nancy says. “That night, Hollis being in the alley wasn’t all that went wrong. There were supposed to be two men meeting Tom that night. One of them didn’t show up. One was arrested, and Tom got away. Obviously, we let him. However, they knew he was a cop and insisted on a copy of the police report. Hollis was mentioned. Not her name, but a woman. They were insistent that we, the police, knew who she was. We didn’t know that night, but we found her.”
“That’s why I went to the shelter. I had a note.” Tom reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. “I was going to hand you this, but you ran.” He holds out his hand, and I reach for the note. “I was being followed, so I had to sound menacing. When you’re undercover, you never know who is lurking in the shadows. You never know who you can and can’t trust. That note was the only way for us to let you know that you were safe. He didn’t see you that night, Hollis. It was only me,” Tom says reassuringly.
“Here.” I hand Hollis the note, but she shakes her head.
“You read it.” She places a kiss on Milo’s head, making my heart leap out of my chest. I love how she loves my son.
Nodding, I unfold the small piece of paper and begin to read.
Hollis,
My name is Tom Lane. I am an undercover cop. You ran into me and my partner,
Hannah, a few weeks ago. You’re safe. They didn’t see you. If you have any questions,
call this number and ask for my partner, Hannah. She can explain everything.
Tom
“There’s a number for you to call.” I hold it up to show it to Hollis.
“So, this all could have been avoided. I was afraid, so I ran. I’m so sorry,” she says, her voice cracking.
“You did what anyone would do in your situation,” Nancy tells her.
“What about the messages from her website? Nothing you’ve told us this far explains those,” I tell them.
Nancy nods. “We mentioned an unidentified woman in the police report. That wasn’t good enough for them. They wanted to find her. We had to prove we were working on it.”
“A few times I’d been working on my computer, and they would walk in. I was on your website looking for clues as to how to find you, so I flipped over to your contact page and sent the message. Luckily, I scrolled so that the name of your business wasn’t showing, just the contact form. Me sending those messages, they kept him from looking for you himself.”
“So, why didn’t you just send her a message explaining all of this?” Chase asks.
“We couldn’t do anything that might compromise the bust. We were close to getting the other guy, and him running was the last thing we needed,” Nancy explains.
“You put her at risk.” I stare him down. “You were careless. They could have easily got your computer and tracked her down. How do we know she’s safe? How do we know there are not others coming after her?” Hollis makes a sound but quickly disguises it, hiding her face in the top of my son’s head.
“My computer never left my side. We have tracking software on it just in case. We know that my files were not compromised.”
“So, this is what? All over?” Chase asks as his phone rings. “My wife,” he says, leaving and going to the kitchen to talk to Gabby.
“Is it over?” Hollis asks.
“It’s over,” Nancy assures her. “You can come home.”
“She is home.” My voice is stern and leaves no room for discussion, but then it hits me that this wasn’t her home. She’s been hiding out, and now there is nothing that can keep her here. My shoulders sag as I think about the possibility of losing her. I glance over at her, holding my son, and I know that if she goes back and she’s open to it, Milo and I will go with her. I’ll miss my parents and my brother, but fuck if I can lose her.
I can’t. I won’t.
“What did I miss?” Chase asks.
He must not have heard my heart cracking at the thought of losing Hollis. “It’s over. She’s safe. We’re all safe.” The words are thick in my throat.
“You good?” he asks me.
“Yeah. We’re good here. Thanks for the ride. Let me know when you make it home safe. Tell Gabs I’m sorry for holding you up.”
“Not a hold up, brother,” he assures me.
I watch as he gives Hollis’s shoulder a gentle squeeze and waves at Tom and Nancy before leaving.
“We’re sorry for all that you went through,” Nancy tells Hollis. “We have statements here from the LAPD. It ensures your safety. There are numbers there that you can call if you ever need us or feel unsafe in any way.”
I want to tell them she’ll never need them because she’s never going back there, but I can’t do that. I don’t know what she’s going to do.
“Thank you,” Hollis says.
“I can take him,” I tell her, reaching for my son.
“No. He’s fine. He’s sleeping peacefully
.” She glances down at my son in her arms.
“What now?” I ask Tom and Nancy.
“Nothing. Life goes on as normal. Both men will be incarcerated for a very, very long time.”
“And their gang or people or whatever you call them?”
“No gang. There are a few other people we have also brought in on minor charges. They will be in jail for at least ten years. They didn’t know anything about Hollis, or this situation. They were the pushers of the drugs if you will. We can assure you that you are safe. We wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t the case.”
“Just like that?”
“I know it’s hard for you to grasp, especially you, Hollis,” Nancy says. “Rest assured, you are safe, and this is over. You are safe to go home.”
She gives us a kind smile. It does nothing to ease the knot in my stomach. “Hollis?” I look over at her. “Do you have any questions?”
“No,” she says, shaking her head.
Nancy and Tom stand, leaving a manila envelope on the table. “This is your letter and both of our cards. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to call us.”
I stand and see them to the door, making sure to lock it behind them. I have so many conflicting emotions. On the one hand, I’m relieved, so damn relieved that she’s safe. That we are all safe from this nightmare. On the other hand, the fear is still there; it’s just shifted. The very real possibility that she could leave me, leave us is damn near crippling.
On autopilot, my feet carry me back to the loveseat, back to Hollis and my son. “How are you?” I ask once I’m in my seat next to her.
“I’m glad it’s over. It all feels so surreal, the way it all happened.”
“Do you feel safe?”
She nods. “I do. I trust them. We talked for a while before I called you, and it all makes sense the way they described it.”
“It does. I just hate that he didn’t make more of an effort to tell you. You’ve been living in fear this entire time.”
“Yeah,” she agrees.
“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours? Talk to me.”
“It’s over now. Besides, if I hadn’t run, I never would have found you.” She smiles at me, then looks down at Milo. “Or this little man. I never could have imagined that not one, but two handsome men would steal my heart.”
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