A Little Harmless Fantasy (27 page)

He pulled her arm up wrenching it behind her back. It hurt so much
tears burned the back of her eyes.

“I think I might like to have a piece of McAllister and
O’Brian’s woman before I kill her. An eye for an eye.”

Fear doubled as he pulled her away from the wall. They were near the
back exit, the kind that led to the alley behind the mall. IF he had
a car out there, he would get her out of there without anyone
knowing. She struggled knowing that if he took her anywhere, it could
be deadly. He slammed her head against the cement wall. Stars formed
in front of her eyes. Warm blood trickled down from her forehead. He
pulled her arm tighter behind her. Maura was surprised he didn’t
break it. She sucked in a deep breath as pain radiated down from her
shoulder. Her fingers were tingling.

“Bitch, you want to live, you might want to start cooperating.”

He was dragging her down the hall and she refused this. She would not
let this bastard take her out of there without a fight. She kicked
back with her legs, connecting with his shin the third time.

“Bloody bitch,” he said, his accent coming through more.
Voices sounded down the hallway and she knew this might be her only
chance for escape. She threw her head back smacking it against his
forehead.

“Fucking hell.”

He loosened his hold on her as a gaggle of teens came down the hall.
Their chatter echoed. She stumbled forward, losing her balance and
landing on her knees and hand. She didn’t give the bastard
another chance. Ignoring the way her stomach roiled and the blurred
vision, she rushed headlong into the group of kids. She didn’t
look behind her and ran to the food court.

Maura ignored the strange looks. She knew she must have looked a
mess. The moment Rory and Zeke saw her, they were out of their chairs
and running through the milling crowd to reach her. She fell into
Zeke’s arms.

“What the fuck happened?” Rory yelled.

“Some guy attacked me when I came out of the bathroom.”

Zeke led her to a chair and gently helped her sit. She raised her
hand to push her hair out of her face and realized it was shaking.
Her stomach quivered.

“Hey, hey,” Zeke said. She looked up at him and realized
her vision was still blurred. Shit, she was crying. In public. She
drew in a deep breath trying to control the tears, but that seemed to
make her cry harder.

He pulled her up out of the seat and into his arms. As his warmth
surrounded her, she was comforted by the familiar scent of his
cologne.

She realized then that the mall cops had appeared and Rory was
talking to them and leading them down the hall.

“Did you recognize him?” Zeke asked.

She shook her head. “No. He was disguising his voice too.”

“Disguising it?”

“He had an accent, like yours and Rory’s. I’m sure
of it. But he was trying to make it American.”

He pulled back from her and stared down at her. “Are you sure?”

She nodded again her stomach turning over as her head started to
pound. “And if he was trying to do that it means only one
thing.”

“He knows you,” Zeke said.

She swallowed, still fighting the bile that almost overtook again.
“And you and Rory. He mentioned you. It means the bastard knows
us all.”

Zeke tied the back of Maura’s hospital gown for her then helped
her sit on the bed. His fingers were shaking from the anger he was
trying to suppress.

“I told you I didn’t need to see a doctor,” Maura
said for the fifth time in as many minutes.

“And apparently, I’m ignoring you.”

She gave him an irritated look and he realized he had snapped at her.
It was the best he could do. He glanced at their lover and as he had
been since they talked to the mall cops, Rory said nothing. He stood
as a guard by the door, stoic as he had been since they got to
Queen’s Medical Center. Zeke knew that he was blaming himself
for what happened. It wasn’t their fault, but he did understand
why Rory felt that way. Maura was a tough woman, but the thought that
someone had attacked her so brazenly in the middle of the day in a
crowded mall was alarming.

The door opened and Rome Carino walked in. Rory went on alert. It was
easy to see why he would be. Rome Carino reeked of deadly force. Even
when he wasn’t on the job as an HPD homicide detective he
looked ready to kill.

“Settle down, Rory. Carino’s the guy I called.”

Rory nodded and stepped back. Carino’s lips twitched. “I
take it you don’t need protection for Maura.”

“Maura can speak for herself, thank you very much,” Maura
said from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to find her
glaring at all of them. She probably would have crossed her arms but
the doctor put her right arm in a sling.

“Of course,” Carino murmured as he stepped forward. “You
want to tell me what happened?”

She gave the detective a narrowed look. Zeke could almost hear her
mind working.

“The HPD sent a highly decorated detective to investigate a
simple assault?”

“I recognized the name.” There was a beat of silence.
“So, tell me what happened.”

Maura told her story again, her voice no longer wavering when she
went over the details. As long as he lived, Zeke knew he wouldn’t
forget the sight of her rushing towards them, her glasses askew and
terror in her eyes. He had never felt so hopeless before in his life.

She told the story in the same calm tone she had been using since
she’d seen the doctor.

When she was finished, Carino studied her. “It seems quite
brutal for someone you don’t know.”

His accusatory tone ruffled Zeke’s feathers and he knew for
sure Carino was pissing Maura off. Of course, she didn’t rise
to the bait.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Rome. The truth is I
don’t know the man. He wasn’t even familiar to me by
scent.”

That brought Carino up short. “Explain.”

Rory shifted his feet and Zeke gave him a warning glance. A Dom like
Rory wasn’t going to take a man questioning Maura that way.

“I have a very good sense of smell. I can sometimes tell who a
person is if I know what cologne he or she wears, and a basic human
scent. It’s freaky, but I have always been that way. This guy,
I did not know, at least not well. He smelled off, like he had been
living on the streets. His breath, well I don’t even want to go
there, if you get my drift.”

“How tall was he?” She opened her mouth but Carino
stopped her. “Think back to when he was behind you. Did he seem
shorter than you as he stood behind you? Taller?”

She nodded, sighed and closed her eyes. “I was wearing
flip-flops so I was practically barefoot. I think he was probably
close to my height, maybe a half an inch taller. So, five ten
possibly. No taller.” She opened her eyes.

“Bastard broke my glasses. It’s a good thing I have
another pair with me.”

“And he said nothing else?”

“No. But his accent was Irish, I am pretty sure of it. More
like Rory’s, who is from Belfast, so it was definitely from
Northern Ireland.”

“You said you didn’t hear it at first.”

She had already been arguing with both Rory and Zeke about it since
they had pulled her out of the mall. Zeke thought maybe she had
confused the accent because she had been traumatized. She was hiding
it, keeping herself together, but he knew it had sent her over the
edge.

“Okay.”

“Any luck on the security cameras at the mall?” Rory
asked. It was the first words he had spoken in more than half an
hour.

Carino turned back to both of them. “The security cameras were
tampered with. Nothing.”

“Fuck,” Rory said.

“Exactly,” Carino said. “It can only mean that he
had been stalking her.”

“Excuse me. ‘Her’ would like to speak right now.”

Carino’s lips twitched again and he turned to face Maura. “What
does that mean?”

“It means there is a good chance he was stalking you.”

“Me?” she shook her head. “I don’t think so.
He mentioned both of you.”

“Is there anyone who would like to cause you harm?”

“No. Other than Susan Vincent from college.”

“What?”

“Susan Vincent from college. She was mean to me so I replaced
her shampoo with Nair.”

For a second there was stunned silence in the hospital room.

“Jesus, Joseph and Mary, I don’t think Susan Vincent is
after you in a mall in Hawaii.”

She shrugged. “She was one mean bitch. She was Miss Georgia and
you know how those types are.”

“This has to do with the Peterson case. Damn, I hate to admit
Conner might be right,” Zeke said.

Rory nodded and Carino asked, “Peterson case?”

“We helped nab someone who was in tight with the Mexican Mafia
and my brother and these two goofballs actually think we are a mark
for them. First, it doesn’t make sense because my name isn’t
in any of the information. And, if so, it would be the company and
Conner or Zeke at risk.”

Carino looked at first Rory then Zeke. He read the answer in his
eyes.

“What?”

The detective sighed. “The truth is you might be collateral
damage right now. They might use you to get to them.”

“I think you are blowing this out of proportion.”

“For fuck’s sake you were attacked. You need to take it
seriously.”

The words burst out of Rory. Zeke knew he had been barely keeping it
together since they had left the mall. His anger wasn’t truly
for Maura. Just like Zeke, Rory felt helpless, and for both of them,
it was beyond what they wanted to handle.

She frowned. “I know the attack is serious. And I might be
collateral damage, but not for that. He specifically mentioned you
two. Not Conner, who I would think he would mention first before Zeke
because he’s my brother.”

“That makes sense. I take it the relationship you are in hasn’t
been a long standing one?” Carino asked.

“What?” Maura asked apparently stunned by Carino’s
blunt question.

“The three of you. You haven’t been together long have
you?”

She shook her head. “Rory and Zeke have been though. They’ve
known each other for years.”

Before Carino could say anything else, the door swung open, hitting
Rory in the back. He turned, ready to pounce on the intruder, but
since it was Conner, he backed down.

Conner rushed to her side. “What the hell happened?”

“Way to show the great bedside manner, Con,” Jillian
said. She wasn’t smiling though. Her face was unusually
serious. “How you doing, kid?”

She sat on the bed next to Maura.

“I would be fine if everyone would listen to me.”

“I knew something with the Peterson case would come back to
bite us in the ass,” Conner said.

“I don’t think it was a good idea to come here. We should
have stayed in Miami,” Zeke said.

Conner shook his head. “I’m not sure it would matter.”

“Will you idiots listen to me? This was not anyone related to a
Mexican drug lord. This was plain and simple an Irishman.”

Conner looked at the two of them. Zeke shrugged and Rory did nothing.
“Explain.”

Even though it was the same word and attitude from earlier from
Carino, Rory didn’t rise to the bait, thank god. They didn’t
need to deal with this and Conner finding out what was going on with
the three of them.

“He had an Irish accent.”

“You said at first it wasn’t. It was American,”
Zeke said.

“Then later it was Irish. After he got hurt.”

“How did that happen?” Conner asked.

“I kicked him in the shins then head butted him.”

“Good girl,” he said and kissed her bandaged forehead.

“Maura, can you be sure? You have a slight concussion according
to the doctor. You might have thought you heard it because you’ve
been spending so much time with us.”

“I know what I heard. He was Irish.” She stuck her lip
out, but it wasn’t a pout. This was stubborn Maura.

“Where are your glasses?”

She blew out an irritated breath. “They were broken in the
attack.”

“Well, Zeke can bring them by the house. You’re staying
with us for the rest of your time here.”

“The hell she is,” Rory said. Zeke rolled his eyes and
knew now there would be no way of avoiding Conner finding out. It
didn’t really matter. They were going to have to face it at
some point.

“What?”

“I said she’s staying with us,” Rory said, his
voice turning dangerously soft.

“You didn’t do a great job watching her before. I think I
would do a better job.”

“Quit talking about me as if I’m an idiot. I can take
care of myself.”

“The hell you can,” both Rory and Conner said at the same
time.

“I might want to remind you that the man was dragging me out of
the mall and I got away. I didn’t need any help.”

“You were attacked. You should have been more aware of the
situation.”

She opened her mouth but Carino stepped in. “Looking at the
scene through pictures, I would say that Maura did everything she
should have done. I doubt any of us would have been aware of what the
guy was up to. He turned off the lights.”

“Yes, it was much darker when I stepped out of the bathroom.”
Maura’s voice turned smug.

“That doesn’t mean that you should not be particularly
careful. If this trial has something to do with it, you need more
protection.”

Conner glanced at Zeke. “I think she should come home with us.”

“No bloody way,” Rory said, grounding out every word.

Conner looked from Rory to Zeke then back to Rory. Zeke knew the
moment Conner realized what was going on. His eyes turned cold,
colder than he had ever seen his friend turn.

“We will talk about this.”

Zeke nodded.

“I need to call a few friends of mine and my wife’s to
see if she knows what’s going on with this Peterson thing,”
the detective said.