“Daddy?”
Zoe sounded terrified. She’d no more as finished calling my name when his voice came on.
“Hello, Tucker McCord.” The hair on my neck and along my arms rose. “Nice place you got here.”
He was in my house. With Zoe. And Myles. And Dani. My stomach fell away. He was in my house. This…this disaster around me was a diversion to get me away from my family.
“If you lay one finger on them, I’ll—”
“Oops. Too late for that. I’ve already laid fingers, and other parts, on your women here. You can’t blame me. They’re hot.”
“Get your stupid hands off me!” Zoe screamed in the background. “Leave us alone!”
My little girl….
“Mr. McCord?”
I’d forgotten the officers were even there. I locked gazes with the senior officer. My stomach was pitching, my heart was racing, and tears stung my eyes.
That bastard is in my house!
“Is it this…” the officer checked his notes, “Thomas James?”
I nodded rapidly and covered the receiver. “He’s in my house. He has my family.”
Reaching for his radio, he stepped out into the hall.
“She’s a feisty one, your daughter. I like feisty.”
“Stop!” Zoe sounded like she was crying. I moved toward my car without even thinking. I wasn’t able to help her when Ben attacked her. I needed to be there for her now.
One of the policemen grabbed my arm, and I almost turned around and slugged him. He must have seen it in my eyes, because he released me and held his hands out. “Come with us.” The policemen were moving fast. I struggled to keep up and hold a conversation.
“I swear, James—” But I couldn’t threaten him. He held all of the cards. “What do you want? I’ll get you whatever you want?”
“Oh, but you see, you can’t.”
“Is it—”
The wife. What was the wife’s name? One of the officers put a hand on top of my head and made sure I got in the back of the cruiser okay. They reversed with the lights going, but sirens off.
“Candy? You want me to help you find Candy? I can hire a detective and—”
He laughed. “All a detective is gonna find of Candy is her body in a ditch. I snapped that bitch’s neck.”
I closed my eyes. He’d killed his wife, and now he had mine. And my kids.
“Your boys. You want to see your boys.” And as soon as I said it, I feared he’d say he killed them, too.
“Nah. I don’t want anything from you, McCord. I just want to make you pay for what you did to me.”
“Don’t touch me!” Zoe shrieked.
The nausea hit me so hard I had to put my head between my legs. “Oh, God.” Then it dawned on me. I hadn’t heard anything from Dani. “Where’s Dani?”
“Dani? Oh, you mean the wife.” A chair scraped on the floor. “She’s here, too. One big happy family. Huh, sugar?”
A moan. Was she gagged?
“Leave her alone!” Zoe again.
“You come on home now, McCord. No cops. We’ll have us a little talk. I’m giving you five minutes to get here. If I see any cops, all bets are off.” The steel cold edge to his voice was sinister.
The line went dead. My heart clenched. When I had him on the phone, I at least knew what he was doing. The officer in the driver’s seat switched off the lights. I looked out my window. We were a few blocks from home.
They were still alive, and I was almost to them.
Zack
I couldn’t sleep. It had become a thing since I broke up with Zoe. I missed her more than I thought was possible. Minus the girl I loved, and my best friend. It sucked. But I had to keep her safe. And maybe I did owe her the freedom to enjoy the rest of her high school days. I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling, my arms folded under my head, sleep hours away.
I’m not your problem anymore, Zack.
The words echoed in my mind.
She never was a problem. She was the solution.
I threw my legs over the side of the bed and sat on the edge, raking my fingers through my hair. She was right about one thing. She wasn’t mine anymore, and it was killing me. I glanced at her window. Why? Hoping she’d be up in the middle of the night like I was? Her light was off, but a glow from the McCord’s front window told me someone was awake. Dani with the baby?
Then this feeling crept over me. Something wasn’t right.
Or maybe I’m paranoid, but I’m not going to get any sleep anyway.
I threw some clothes on. What if it was Ben? I grabbed my flashlight and hustled down the stairs.
I wasn’t at all prepared for what I witnessed when I crept onto her porch and peeked into the windows. This guy had Zoe tied to a chair. And Dani seemed unconscious, bound to another seat.
Luckily, I’d brought my phone and dialed 9-1-1. The operator assured me help was on the way.
“Is the suspect armed?”
I peered inside. A gun sat on the table next to a phone, both within his reach.
“Yes.”
A weapon. I looked at the flashlight in my hand. It was pretty solid. Then I got the idea of reassuring Zoe I knew what was going on. But I had to be careful he didn’t see the signal.
I think she noticed it, because she looked toward the window, but tried to cover it when he came over and crouched in front of her. Minutes later, the bastard rubbed Zoe’s leg and lowered his head and licked the inside of her thigh. I wasn’t waiting for any cops. Zoe pushed off the ground and jostled his nose, which I now noticed was bleeding.
That’s my girl.
But I was scared it might aggravate him and cause him to do something to her. I needed to get inside. But what should my strategy be? Hearing a noise behind me, I turned, afraid the man had an accomplice and I had been spotted. Instead, a police car rolled up, it’s engine killed. Before it even came to a full stop, Mr. McCord jumped out. I took one more look in the window, then I backed away as silently as I could. Once I hit the lawn, I ran toward Zoe’s dad.
“Stop! Police!”
I froze, putting my hands in the air. Police officers stood on either side of their cruiser, behind the shelter of their doors, which were flung open, with guns aimed at me, but I looked at Mr. McCord.
“There’s a man—”
“We know. Are they all right?”
I hesitated a half second. “I think Dani’s unconscious.” I didn’t want to say things may be worse than that.
“Shit.” He wiped a hand across his face.
The police approached. They looked at me, then at Mr. McCord.
“He’s…the boy next door,” he said, waving an arm at me.
They nodded. “We’re going to need you gentlemen to get behind the cover of the car.”
We hesitated for a second, exchanging a look, then walked with them. “What are you going to do?” I asked.
“Nothing until backup arrives.”
“But…he could do something to them.”
“Listen, kid. If we alert him to our presence, the hostages are in graver danger. And we’re not doing anything until a S.W.A.T. team arrives.”
Mr. McCord and I locked gazes.
Another cruiser arrived and the officers went to talk to the new arrivals, presumably to bring them up to speed.
“I’m not sitting around here while he messes around with Zoe,” I said out of the corner of my mouth, still trying to figure out some sort of plan.
“Yes, you are.” Mr. McCord glanced over at the cops, and edged toward the outside of the property. I followed. He pointed at me. “Stay there.”
“No.”
His eyes lit up.
“Sir. I’m going in with you. I can help.”
He glanced at the house and licked his lips. “You can’t do that, son. Your mom needs you to be safe.” He jogged away. I gave him a head start then trailed after him.
Chapter 19
Killian
After I’d hauled some tras
h from the bathroom to the curb, and loaded my tools, I got behind the wheel to drive home. As I was putting the keys in the ignition, I spied the pack of birthday candles I bought sitting on the front seat.
“Damn.” She needed birthday candles.
I scooped them up and headed back inside. I had to be home by 2:15 so I could shower and get to work by three. I opened her front door as quietly as possible and tiptoed so as not to wake her. I didn’t want to be around when she found my gift, in case she thought it was stupid. It would be easier to play off later, at the bar, if she mentioned it and seemed uncomfortable. And she needed to sleep. She looked plain knackered.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I reached the cake without waking her, but a squeak made me whirl around.
“Jaysus, woman!”
I put a hand to my temple to block my sight. Even so, I’d caught her arising from the sudsy water like a pure mermaid ascendin’ from the foam of the sea. Brief a glimpse though it was, she was lovely. She was feverishly trying to gather sparse suds around her like a gown.
I grasped the counter, my heart beating against my ribcage painfully. “You ’bout put my heart crossways in me, ya did! I—” A battle was waging in me and the devil was a strong opponent. I cheated, taking in a glimpse of her in the mirror that remained up. She had sunk lower in the water. Her eyes were wide, hair dripping wet. “I beg your pardon.” I ran from the room, down the hall, and out the front door. I slapped a hand to my forehead.
What must she think of me, intruding on her like that? If I’d had any chance with the girl before, it was sure gone now.
Josie
The water around my submerged head totally blocked the sound of his entrance, but when I lifted and saw him…well, I’d never seen a more horrified look on a man’s face in my entire life. Then he vacated so quickly, I was almost left questioning if he’d been there at all. A hand over my heart, I struggled to bring my breathing under control and wrap my mind around what just happened. My gaze fell on a package of birthday candles he’d left on the sink and my heart zinged.
He got birthday candles for me.
I slid back under the water. He was making not falling in love with him really difficult. I thought about his face again and a laugh escaped, bubbles rising from my mouth to break the surface. I sat, pushing the hair away from my face as my laughter wound down, bouncing off the walls in the nearly empty room. But slowly, I began to sober. He was sweet, and funny, and crazy hot…and he was going to break my heart. And there didn’t seem to be anything I could do about it.
Give me an irate parent, or a budget cut, or power outage, or…anything, I could steel myself against it and stare it down. Being alone as a child had toughened me and made me fearless in some cases. But when it came to being close to someone? Well, I’d done a darn good job of avoiding that thus far. But with Killian, it was different. He made me want to open myself. To be someone I wasn’t…or maybe finally be someone I was. I wasn’t scared around him, like I was with most other men.
In any case, it wasn’t going to matter soon. My time in Killian’s sunshine was coming to an end. It was only a matter of time. I looked at the tiny white box across the room, and the note, in a distinctive handwriting that seemed to suit him.
I eased the plug free with my toes and sloshed to my feet, reaching for the towel I’d left on the mat. I pushed away the thought of…whatever it was we had, ending. I would enjoy it while I could. Take from the friendship as many happy moments as I could garner. And not think about returning home to an empty house, while he went off with some other woman.
Resolutely, I donned my previous outfit and proceeded to the mall. If I was going down in flames tonight, I’d go down looking the best I could.
Killian
I couldn’t keep my mind on my work. Beer suds reminded me of bath bubbles, and bare skin, and her. And how badly I now wanted her. And how badly I’d messed things up by walking in on her while she was in the nip.
It’d been bucketing down when I came in, and it wasn’t lightening at all. The bar was quiet, with only a few of the regulars, and a handful of guys around the pool table. Quinn sensed my moodiness, asked a couple of questions, but, thankfully, backed off. I was cleaning everything in sight. It helped to distract me.
I could feel it when she walked in the door. The water in her hair sparkled when she stepped into the bar’s light, and I flashed back to her image in the tub, my gut tightening. Jo discovered without an umbrella. It seemed out of character. She caught my eye and smiled tentatively.
I froze, from the tips of me hair to the ends of me toes. She was just such a vision of loveliness. Soft, bouncy hair flecked with jewels of moisture, lush lips, dewy skin. All I could do was stare. I believe my odd behavior caught her off guard because her smile wavered and she looked away. The breaking of our connected gazes reanimated me and I moved toward her. I was at a loss for what to say, so I kept my advance slow, hoping I’d become inspired somewhere along my jaunt to her at the other end of the bar. Quinn greeted her, and she said something back.
She had on a black top that bunched along the sides and had some sort of black embellishments on it, and a short black jacket reminiscent of a biker’s jacket, but with more sophistication. The rest of her, of course, was hidden behind the bar, but she had on big, jangly earrings and a matching necklace dripping from her neck.
I’d reached the end of the bar and she’d finished what she was saying to Quinn and turned to me.
“Hi.”
I forced a response from my mouth. “Hi.” What was wrong with me? “What can I get you?”
“Uhh….” Her eyes flitted around. I was making her nervous, which was not my intention, but I couldn’t shake the stiffness from my actions. “A mineral, I guess. I think I had enough alcohol last night,” she added shyly.
For some reason this loosened me up, and I was able to give her a smile. “You’ve got it.”
I could sense Quinn staring at me as I poured the drink. I looked over and raised my eyebrows at him. He frowned, jerking his head in Jo’s direction. I don’t know what the old man was trying to tell me, but I got the feeling I was being chastised for something. I gave him my own scowl back before dropping my gaze to watch the cup fill, trying to sort through my thoughts and emotions.
I set the drink down in front of Jo, staring at it for a second, my hand still around it, before speaking.
“Listen, I’m—”
“Killian, I want—”
We spoke over each other, then we both stopped. I tilted my head with a smile, and she chuckled.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt you. What did you want to say?”
She brushed her fingers over my hand on the bar. “I wanted to apologize.”
I blinked. “Apologize? You?”
She nodded.
“What in heaven’s name for?”
Lowering her head, she seemed to choose her words as she drummed her fingers lightly on the wood in front of her. Her face wrinkled, and she chuckled. “I’m not sure exactly….” She raised her gaze. “For…embarrassing you?”
“What? No.” I took her hand. “I’m the one who should be apologizing to you. Coming charging in your bathroom like a bull in heat.” Suddenly the metaphor seemed a mite too revealing. “I mean…I should have knocked.”
“Well, you had no idea I was taking a bath.”
I sensed a presence, and out of the corner of my eye caught Quinn leaning in so he could hear our conversation better.
“Should we speak louder, Quinn, so you wouldn’t have to strain yourself earwigging?”
“That would be nice,” he said without a hint of contriteness. He leaned in and put a hand to the side of his mouth as if to block his voice from carrying. “You walked in on the lady in…the buff?”
I turned to him fully, amused despite myself. “Yes. Would you like me to draw you a picture?”
“Well, umm…” he blustered, looking at Josie with a smile. “If you’re not too busy….�
�
She burst out laughing.
I slapped his hand on the bar. “Dirty old man.”
“Ouch.” He jerked his hand back and sat straighter, lifting his chin and feigning offense. “That stung.”
“Oh, quit your carryin’ on.”
“It stung,” he insisted. Then he winked. “But nothing a pint of the plain won’t cure.”
“Aha.” I grinned at Josie then poured the codger’s drink.
A bit later, although it was still lashing out somethin’ terrible outside, business picked up and the waitress got overwhelmed. I stepped out from behind the bar and cleared a table for her, while indulging myself with a brief gander at Josie. She had on a short red skirt and these sexy, strappy black heels that nearly had me panting at her feet. She was listening to Quinn blather on about something, but excused herself and went to the restroom. I was going to say something to her as she passed, but a voice rang out.
“Killian.”
I spun. “Well, if it ain’t Jonny McKinney. How are ya, Jonny-lad? I haven’t seen you in donkey’s years.”
“Right as rain. And yourself?”
We exchanged pleasantries, but his eyes zeroed in on Jo as she left the restroom and his jaw dropped. To be fair, it was a match for my own.
“Who is that sweet bird? What a ride!”
The way he said it filled my mouth with a bitter taste. “Who? That one? Oh.” I wasn’t letting Jonny Good-for-Nothin’ anywhere near my Jo. “You don’t want nothin’ to do with that one, Jonny. I mean, honey is sweet, but you don’t lick it off a briar. You know what I mean?”
I turned and was rattled to find her standing behind me, her eyes wide and mouth open. She spun on her heel and sped across the floor.
Oh. But I have a mouth on me.
“Jo, wait.”
She scooped her jacket from her stool in one swipe, not pausing as she barreled toward the door.
“Jo!”
She was nearly there when I caught her arm. She swung around.
“Jo. I didn’t mean it.”
She shook me off. “You don’t owe me an explanation, Killian,” she stammered. The tears in her eyes smote my heart. She tried to turn away, but I took both arms this time.
Satan, Line One Page 18