by Jen Talty
He stood silently, seeming to listen to whoever was on the other end. She stared at his strong, confident profile. Had she not been with him, she would have totally lost it. Probably would have frozen in place, waiting for the bad guy to come get her and do whatever they wanted.
“I’m going to need help getting a safe place for the night,” Josh said.
Strong waves, more fit for the ocean, pounded against the boat, rattling her teeth.
“I appreciate that,” Josh said. “All right. See you soon.” He turned the boat toward the middle of the lake, causing a large wave to hit the side, spraying her. The next wave did the same thing. “Come sit here for a while.” He stood behind the driver’s seat. “Going to get drenched with these waves on that side.”
“It’s too rough to—”
Another splash soaked her hair.
She took his hand, jumping to the middle of the jerking boat, which bucked just enough to send her into his arms. “Sorry,” she muttered, positioning herself in the driver’s seat.
He kept one hand on the steering wheel, putting his lips a little too close to the side of her head. His hot breath tickled her temple. They drove in silence for the next fifteen minutes. The boat pounded against the waves. One large whitecap caused her to grab his arm. His hard bicep twitched and tightened. She should have let go, but she felt safe grasping his firm muscle.
He let go of the steering wheel.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Relax,” he said, tapping his phone. “Hey, Stacey. Did Tristan call you?”
Delaney was grateful when his long, thick fingers gripped the wheel again, taking command of the boat being tossed around like floats in a pool of kids doing cannon balls.
“That’s perfect. See you in five.” He tapped the phone.
“I don’t like you letting go of the steering wheel,” she said.
“It’s not like a car.”
She had to let go of his arm when he pulled back the throttle, slowing down as they approached a narrow channel between an island and a long point, and thankfully, the small area was protected from the wind, making the ride much smoother.
“You can take this off now.” He tugged the cap, lifting it off her head and tossed it in the pocket next to her leg, brushing his soft, sensitive fingers across her skin. “Do you want to drive?”
“No,” she snapped.
He laughed. “All right.”
“I can move back to the other seat now.”
He placed a protective hand on her shoulder. “Might as well stay put. Once we get going again, with the wind direction, that side of the boat is going get doused with water, and in the middle of the lake, it’s going to be even rougher.”
“Won’t it be hard for you to drive like this?”
“Nope.” He turned the steering wheel to the right. “We’ve got to stop at Stacey’s first and pick up some camping equipment.”
“I don’t camp,” she said.
“You will tonight.”
“I can’t keep running forever.” She questioned her sanity and why she so easily did whatever Josh told her to do. What bothered her more was how quickly she believed everything they had said about her brother. She cupped her check, remembering the sound of her attackers’ knuckles slamming into her face. “It seems crazy that we’re taking off instead of waiting for the police and—”
“I need you to trust me.” His arms surrounded her as he slowed the boat to a crawl and maneuvered toward a dock where Stacey stood with a baby on her hip, waving. “The people who are after us will not hesitate to kill us.” Josh continued to steer the boat, turning the steering wheel back and forth, all the while playing with the throttle. Just as they drifted to within feet of the dock, Josh tossed ropes to a man that made even Josh look short.
The tall man shook Josh’s hand, helping him to the dock, then gave him a man-hug, which constituted a slap on the back
“Hi, Delaney. I’m Doug.” He offered her a hand out of the boat.
“I think I’ll stay right here.”
“It’s going to be about a half hour,” Stacey said as her baby thrust himself into Josh’s arms, giggling and talking baby gibberish. “And I’m not giving you a choice, so take my husband’s hand, or I’ll—”
“I get the picture,” Delaney said as she let the tall man drag her out of the boat.
“I’ve got to get the rest of our camping equipment,” Doug said, “and Stacey is going to pack some food up for you while I do that.”
“I really appreciate this,” Josh said.
Delaney stared at Josh as he tossed the little boy up in the air, calling him a ‘little man.’ “He’s grown in the last couple of weeks.” Josh looped his arm around Delaney, with the ‘little man’ on his hip.
She leaned back, looking at him. He shrugged, dropping his hand.
Delaney followed Stacey into a spacious kitchen with gleaming, white granite and bright, whitewashed wood floors. Not bad for a cop’s salary. Then again, Delaney had no idea what Doug did for a living.
“Put Brandon in the playpen,” Stacey said, waving toward the other room. “Can I get either of you something to eat or drink?”
“I think we’re good,” Josh said, setting the boy down, then handing him a couple of books and another toy that seemed to thrill the child. “Are you sure your dad doesn’t mind giving up his campsite for the night?”
Delaney did her best to ignore the conversation between Stacey and Josh as she knelt in front of the playpen and started her own conversation with Brandon, who smiled when she asked if she could read him a book.
Stacey laughed. “His wife hates camping, so she was thrilled, and you know my dad. He’s always happy to help anyone who has my back. He still thinks I should quit.” She put some plastic baggies into a cooler.
Delaney pointed to a fluffy bunny in the book she held out for Brandon to see. “Rabbit.”
He smiled and wiggled his feet and legs.
She continued to flip through the pages, wishing she could be as strong as Stacey.
“What does Tristan have to report?” Stacey asked.
“He’s not going to get much unless he breaks some rules, which I don’t want him to do, so I hired your buddy Luke,” Josh said. “I gotta use the little boys’ room.”
Delaney dropped the book in the playpen and stared out the big sliding glass doors, contemplating running down to the waterfront, jumping in the boat, and taking off. Didn’t matter, she didn’t know the first thing about boats, and she had no idea where’d she go, or who to turn to, other than Josh.
“Are you sure I can’t get you something?” Stacey asked, her tone still accusatory.
Delaney shook her head, pondering why Josh was so willing to come to her rescue. Nothing made sense, and all she wanted was to go back to her quiet little world where she went to work every day, then came home, opened a bottle of wine, and watched television. “Why are you helping me?” Delaney stared at the petite blonde with the fierce eyes.
“This isn’t only about you, but Josh as well.” Stacey slammed the fridge shut. “I’m sorry you got beat up, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure those two men are arrested. And if what you say is true, and you were just a pawn in a game to bring Josh down, then I will do my part to protect you. It’s my job.”
Delaney opened her mouth, but Stacey held up her hand.
“Josh is more than a co-worker to me. He’s family, and when family asks for my help, I give it to them. So, if there is something else he needs to know about Craypo, his men, or your brother, you better start talking. Or tell me. It will make protecting you both that much easier.”
“I understand you don’t like me.”
“I don’t know you well enough to make a decision, one way or the other, but I’m not real fond of what you did to Josh, and if your story doesn’t pan out—”
“It’s the truth.” Delaney held her ground, even though she wanted to curl up in a tiny ball and disappear.
“I feel like a fool.” She clenched her fists, wishing she had the balls to hit the countertop. “Actually, I’m pissed off. I don’t understand why Liam is with these crazy people. I don’t know why they sent me up here to ruin Josh. I can’t even justify what I did with…” Her face heated with rage.
“I’d wager if you talk out the events with Josh that led up to last night, you might know more than you thought. You don’t appear to be stupid. Naïve, maybe, but not stupid.”
Delaney shook out her hands. The last time she’d felt this kind of anger was the day her brother said he was going to continue to work for her ex-boyfriend. “I have no idea what to do. Or who to believe. Or who to trust.”
“You can trust Josh.” Stacey gave a reassuring smile as she closed the cooler, setting it on the floor. “But don’t you dare lie to him again.”
“I don’t understand why he’s willing to help me at all, considering what I did to him.”
“Because he believes you were a pawn, and not the mark. Craypo wants Josh to suffer, or to be dead, or both, and somehow, you and your brother got dragged into it.”
Delaney looked in the direction of the bathroom. “I go back and forth between believing my brother tossed me under the bus, or praying he’s being manipulated somehow and has no choice.”
“Anything is possible with Craypo,” Stacey said.
“What did Josh do to this guy to make him want to hurt Josh so badly?”
“Not my story to tell,” Stacey said. “Just trust Josh. He’s one of the best. He knows what he’s doing.”
The door to the bathroom clicked open, and Josh reappeared in the kitchen. “Can we borrow some soap, an extra toothbrush, a few towels—”
Stacey interrupted. “Already packed with a change of clothing.”
“I’ll swim in Doug’s clothes,” Josh said. “He’s a good four or five inches taller than me, and you’re shorter—”
“Borrowed them from my dad and his wife,” Stacey said with a smile. “I’ve got you covered.”
The sliding glass door glided open as Doug entered the room. “Everything you need is in your boat, including a couple bundles of firewood.”
“My dad’s site is for three nights,” Stacey said. “If you need anything at all, someone can run it up to you.”
“Thanks.” Josh leaned over the playpen then patted the little boy on his head. “See you later, little man.”
The boy looked up, smiled, and waved, babbling something that sounded like bye-bye.
Delaney followed Josh back down the path toward the dock, occasionally looking over her shoulder at the couple standing on the deck. Her chest tightened. In all her life, she’d wanted only one thing, and that was to fit in somewhere. To belong. To have what Josh had with these people in this place.
Josh sat at the picnic table with Tristan and his boss, Jared Blake.
Tristan examined Delaney’s phone while he used a special device to help them decipher if they had manipulated the phone to track Delaney, or if they were just using the technology off the phone itself. “We sent the phone case to the lab.”
Josh swallowed. It was entirely possible he hadn’t deleted all the files. “This could be embarrassing.”
“When I first started dating my wife, she had a stalker, and he hid in the bushes at our home and took pictures. It’s embarrassing, but there are worse things.” Jared had to be the best Trooper that Josh had ever worked under. Jared ran a tight ship and demanded the highest results from everyone in his station, but he also had an enormous heart, and every Trooper under his command was treated like family. “I told the techs to look for a tracking device. If there is a recording, you’ll be the first to see it and decide if it has relevance.”
“Wonderful.” Josh looked over his shoulder. Delaney sat on the dock, back to him, feet dangling in the water, her long, blond hair pulled up in a braid and twisted around in a clip. She’d been quiet most of the evening, only speaking when spoken to. “I’m sorry I put you all in the middle of this mess.”
“We’ve all had our share of messes,” Jared said, “and when you first transferred here, we both knew something like this could happen when Craypo got out.”
“I honestly didn’t expect it to come in the form of a beautiful woman,” Josh said. “Craypo’s plan was almost genius. If she could have somehow proved I beat her, and I was convicted, I wouldn’t last five minutes in jail.”
“It would have been difficult to prove,” Tristan said, “but it didn’t happen, so no point in pondering it anymore.” He set the phone on the table. “Once you power the phone back on, it will only take a few minutes to track your location. I’m off at midnight. We’re going to put a boat at Glen Island for the night, just in case.”
“Good to know.” Josh caught Delaney’s gaze when she glanced over her shoulder. Her bruised cheek glowed under the night sky. Had he not used the bathroom before heading back down with her phone, he would never have seen her attackers dragging her behind the Dumpster. He blinked, forcing the images out of his mind.
“I called your old boss,” Jared said. “He contacted Craypo’s parole officer, and Craypo’s been following all the rules. Model citizen.”
“Knowing Craypo the way I do,” Josh said, “he’s already set in motion another plan. He’s methodical, which is bad, because he worst-cases everything. Also, his plans usually have phases that account for possible failures.”
“How long were you undercover in Craypo’s organization?” Tristan asked.
“One very long year.” Josh ran a hand across his face. “It took me three months to get deep inside, then six months to get any real evidence on him, but not enough to take him down. That was until Nicki, his wife, started feeding me intel, but that was a set-up I didn’t see coming.”
“Don’t start blaming yourself again,” Jared said. “I read all the reports before I agreed to take you in my station. It wasn’t your fault.”
“My mother always said I was a sucker for a damsel in distress.” Josh eyed a boat slowing as it approached the island. Three young children were perched on the bow, so he decided it was a non-threat.
“Not necessarily a bad thing,” Tristan said.
“It is when one pumps a few bullets into your chest, and the other records you in bed and—”
“That does take a pair,” Tristan said. “Might want to sleep with one eye open tonight.”
“Stacey said that Delaney was pretty shaken up this morning and believes, based on her interview, that she knew very little of what was going on, or why. That said, Stacey doesn’t trust Delaney as far as she can spit,” Jared added.
“I don’t think Delaney saw the attack coming, much less knew about it,” Josh admitted, “but Craypo’s plans are always layered, and often one player doesn’t know what the other one is doing, or that they are even being played. Also, remember that he likes to fuck with people until he has them so paranoid or delusional that they beg him to end their suffering.”
“You think she’s still part of whatever plan Craypo has?” Tristan asked.
“After what I went through with Nicki”—Josh rubbed the scars on his shoulder—“I have to be more than suspicious, but it doesn’t mean she knows she’s part of any plan.”
“Best to be suspicious at this point,” Jared said. “So, what do you plan on doing?”
Josh glanced toward Delaney, still on the dock, feet dangling in the water. “I want to use today and tomorrow to break her.”
“It’s supposed to rain all day,” Tristan said.
“Puts us in a two-man tent with plenty of time for me to question her without any distractions. By tomorrow night, I should know if she’s part of Craypo’s organization, or simply collateral damage,” Josh said. “Luke is looking into her life.”
“That’s a smart move,” Jared said. “I’ve got to play this by the book, so feel free to leave anything out that might put me in a compromising situation. Stay safe tonight, and check in with me regularly, you hear?�
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Josh stood, shaking both men’s hands. “I appreciate everything you’re doing for me.” He watched as both men strolled down to the dock. Delaney rose and exchanged words with Jared and Tristan. She shoved her hands deep into her pockets as Jared flicked on the patrol boat lights and eased from the dock.
“They don’t like me,” she said.
“Can you blame them?”
“I guess not.” She stood a few feet to his left, staring at the tent. “What do we do now?”
“We get ready for bed.” He handed her a small bag. “I think you’ll find everything you need in that. I’ve got a bucket of water over there.” He pointed tin container by the fire pit. “Use that to wash your face, then put some in a small cup to brush your teeth.”
She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. “I’m not a small child.”
“But you’ve never been camping before.”
“True,” she said.
“When you’re done, we’ll walk to the outhouse together.”
“Gross,” she muttered.
He watched her as she went through the motions of cleaning up for bed. The anger and rage she’d shown after finding out her brother wasn’t being held hostage made Josh want to believe she had no more secrets. That her only transgression had been to seduce him because she honestly believed her brother’s life had been threatened.
That was certainly forgivable.
They took turns using the outhouse, something she didn’t like much, since she went in plugging her nose and came out with scowl, still holding her nostrils. Well, no one liked an outhouse, but such was life when you went camping.
As they walked back along the short trail from the outhouse to their campsite, he noticed heavy clouds rolling in with the warm breeze. Thick moisture filled the air.
“Are we going to be safe here?” she asked as she climbed into the tent on her hands and knees, giving him a nice view of her tight ass.
He blinked. “There’s a patrol boat parked not too far from here. We should be fine.”
“’Should be’ is the part I’m worried about.”
He paused for a moment, holding the flap of the tent open, shining the light inside. “Did Stacey pack you something to sleep in?”