A Little Harmless Fantasy (30 page)

“Love, it’s okay. I...deserve it.”

Zee shook his head. “No, no one deserves that.”

“I do a little. I just...I hate seeing her that way.”

Zee studied him for a second, then said, “Love sometimes
hurts.”

“I didn’t say I loved her.”

“Jesus, there is no one here but us. Admit it.”

“I...okay, I sort of love her.”

Zee chuckled. “I guess we can take that for now.”

He settled his head on Rory’s chest and snuggled closer. “So
what do we do?”

“We can’t do anything right now. She’s in pain and
she’s hurt. Yelling at Maura will not work.”

“You yelled at me and it worked.”

“You’re an asshole, she’s not.”

Rory couldn’t argue with that. “So we just wait?”

“She needs some time.”

“How much?”

Zee looked up at him a small smile playing over his lips. “Not
sure, but we have to be there when she figures it out.”

“What if she doesn’t figure it out?”

“Then we yell at her.”

Rory smiled. “That, I can do.”

“You have to understand that Maura was not raised to confront
and that is part of her personality. Well, she does confront, but not
in the way other people do. She thinks things through, then goes for
what she wants. She doesn’t do much without thinking it
through.”

“And so we wait.”

“For a little while.”

The phone rang and Rory saw the number. “Shit, probably
Conner.”

Zee picked it up. “Hey, Conner. Yeah. I was busy, that’s
why I didn’t answer my phone. What? Oh, so...the threat is
over?”

“Okay.”

He hung up.

“Well that was short and I am assuming not so sweet.”

Zee clicked the phone off. “Yeah. Well, apparently Conner found
out that Petersen’s been taken into witness protection.”

“He found that out?”

“Officially, he seems to have been killed in an accident, but
Conner still has a few connections. He’s turned state’s
evidence. They got some little nobody to turn on the big guy. We’re
no longer in danger. So, that’s that.”

“You think he called Maura?”

“Yeah. Probably before us.”

“You should call her still.”

He glanced at Rory. “Why don’t you?”

“She needs you more.”

He frowned. “That’s an asinine thing to say. She needs
both of us. She’s being stubborn, which is nothing new. As
Jillian pointed out, she hates anyone to know that she is weak.”

Rory said nothing to that, just stared up at the ceiling.

“I talked to her before you got home.”

“Maura?”

“No, Jillian. Apparently, Maura’s been seeing a shrink.”

Rory glanced at him, then back up at the ceiling. “She is?”

“Yeah, I didn’t know. She talks to her all the time,
apparently.”

Another beat of silence.

“She hides things from a lot of people, Rory, not just you.”

“She’s not hiding. She’s just not there, Zee. I
don’t know how to deal with that.”

It hurt to say the words—worse than the gunshot wound he took
in the chest a few years earlier.

“You have to give her space, but I guess we should call her.”

Neither of them moved.

“You do it, Rory.”

He glanced at Zee. “Why me?”

“Because, she will expect me to. If you call, it might surprise
her a little.”

He got up out of bed and searched for his jeans. He hit the contact
icon for Maura and waited for her to answer.

“Hey, Rory.”

“I guess you talked to your brother.”

She sighed. “Yes, but then I never thought it was all that
important. Petersen wasn’t involved.”

He wanted to argue but he didn’t. She retreated completely when
he confronted her.

“So, I guess we don’t need the detail anymore,“ she
said.

Something told him he should just do it, to ease her mind, but with
Maura, Zee had told him being up front and truthful went a longer way
than any pretty words.

“Yeah, I guess not. You still have that kick ass security
system.”

She said nothing.

“Maura--”

“Look, I have some work here to do.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Sure,” she said and hung up. He turned off his phone and
looked at Zee. “She’s not happy.”

“You got to see Maura at her best, but I’ve told you,
love, life isn’t about just being happy. You have to make it
through those tough times to appreciate the good times.”

“And when do the good times come back?” Rory asked. The
moment he said the words, he wanted to call them back. Even with Zee
he hated showing his vulnerability—especially when it came to
Maura.

Zee held out his hand and waited for Rory to take it and join him
back in bed. He pulled him close and Rory settled his head against
Zee’s shoulder.

“I’m not sure, love, but I hope not long,” Zee
said.

Rory just prayed Zee’s wishes became reality. He wasn’t
sure just how much he take.

“I love you, Zee.”

“I love you too.”

But now the love seemed incomplete…as if something was
missing. Something was—or he should say someone. They needed
Maura, because Rory wasn’t sure how long Zee and he would last
without her.

Maura
gripped the wheel tighter as she drove home. Maybe the guys were
right. Maybe she was imagining things. But something was wrong.
Really wrong
. Could be that she hadn’t had a good
night’s sleep since the attack. The only time she had slept had
been the few nights Rory and Zeke had stayed over.

She
was not about to admit that though. She thought they might be one
step away from calling her brother to commit her.

She
pulled off the highway and rolled to a stop at the light.

Why
did men always think women were hysterical? They all seemed to have
thought she lost her mind in some way. She hadn’t, she knew
that without a doubt. But, they all seemed to think she did. She
rubbed her temples trying to will away the perpetual headache that
seemed to follow her everywhere these days.

Someone
honked behind her and she took off. Damn, she was tired. She needed a
long night’s sleep, and maybe tonight she would just take some
of the meds they gave her. She had abstained from the heavier pain
relievers because she was afraid to sleep too deeply.

Maura
took a right turn and for once, noticed the car behind her followed
her. She blew out a breath and ordered herself to calm down. So, the
person behind her took the same turn. That happened every day all the
time. It wasn’t something new.

Did
the bastard need to get so close to her? She slowed down a bit,
hoping the guy would pass her. The road was dark and deserted. Why
had she waited until late to go home. Instead of passing her though,
the car slowed down so much he was almost a spec in the distance.

She
was going crazy. Her brother and the guys were right. But before she
could follow that line of thinking, brights flashed in her rearview
mirror. She looked up and the car was coming so fast behind Maura was
sure it would hit her. She couldn’t get out of the way fast
enough. She jolted from the hit, and worked the wheel like her
brother told her, turning into the way the car was spinning to even
it out. He was coming at her again, when she saw another car coming
in the opposite direction. She turned down the street she knew would
lead her to the local police precinct. Her bother had always told her
if she were being followed to go to the closet police station or
military base. She floored it, breaking the speed limit and getting
as much space between the bastard and her as she could. She turned
down the next street and sighed when she saw the police building. She
sped into the parking lot, paying no attention if the car followed
her or not.

* * * *

Zeke
slammed the door of his truck and stalked to the front door of the
police station. Rory wasn’t far behind him.

“You
go in there looking like that and she’s going to be pissed,”
Rory said.

“She’s
already going to be pissed. If Frank hadn’t rung me up, then I
would have never known.”

And
damn her for not calling them...him. He had been her friend all these
years and now she acted like she didn’t want to have anything
to do with either one of them. She was in danger and she went to the
police. She didn’t call them. He knew that she was trying to
keep her distance now that they returned, but Zeke was sure she was
trying to hurt him by not calling him.

He
continued stalking. He couldn’t help it. He was fucking
pissed...and hurt, but he would deal with that later.

He
saw her in the conference room and headed in that direction. Before
he could make it there though, Frank stepped in front of him.

“Hey,
man, calm down. She’s fine.”

He
looked at him. “What kind of damage was done to the car?”

He
sighed. “Not much and seriously, I hate to say this about your
woman, man, but I think she might be delusional. She thinks there’s
someone after her.”

“There
is.”

His
eyebrows shot up. “Oh, well...”

“We
broke the Petersen case.”

“Oh,
she mentioned that, but she thinks it is someone else. Someone who is
after her personally. She said she was attacked in Hawaii.”

“She
was. But, we’re convinced it had something to do with the
government’s case.”

“Ah.
And she had a concussion?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s
not mental if that’s what you’re thinking,” Rory
said.

“Hey,
buddy, I was only saying that sometimes an injury like that takes
some time to recover. Her fender is dented though.”

“Can
we see her?”

“Sure,
she’s not in trouble. She was really shaken up though and I
didn’t want her going home alone. Dillon would never forgive me
and believe me, that is one guy I don’t want on my bad side.”

Zeke
said nothing as he turned and walked to the door. Rory followed after
thanking Frank. Before he could open the door, Rory caught up with
him.

“Now,
babe, keep your voice calm. Maura reacts to your anger in a totally
different way.”

He
glanced at Rory. “Yeah, what way is that?”

“She
sees it as a challenge. Or something like that.”

“Okay,
I will remain calm.”

He
opened the door and his heart melted. She’d laid her head down
on the table and she had her eyes closed. She was so damned tired. It
was easy to see from the dark smudges under her eyes. She was pale
too. In less than a week, she had seemed to lose the tan she had
gained from her beach time in Hawaii. And that pissed him off.

“What
the bloody hell, Maura? You didn’t call us?”

She
jolted awake. She blinked a couple of times, her gaze focused on the
two of them.

“What
are you doing here?”

“Frank
called us,” Zeke said, his voice vibrating with anger. He
couldn’t seem to keep it completely beneath the surface.

She
looked past them with a glare.

“Office
Duggan, I expected better.”

The
fifteen-year veteran flushed. Maura could make most men feel like
naughty boys when she was disappointed in them. “Ms. Dillon, I
couldn’t release you after you said you had a concussion less
than two weeks ago. Especially since you refused to go to the
hospital.”

“I
can fix that,” Zeke said. He stepped forward to grab her arm
but she jerked away from him. It felt like a fucking knife to his
heart.

Before
he could just haul her over his shoulder, Rory stepped between them.

“Hey,
why don’t I take Maura home and you follow.”

Zeke
hesitated. Rory didn’t always offer to do things like this.
Hysterical women were not his thing; although, looking at the woman
who was glaring at him at the moment he probably wouldn’t put
her in the hysterical category.

“Okay.”

She
had her arms crossed over her chest and she wasn’t budging. He
could tell from the stubborn set of her chin and the mutinous look in
her eyes.

“I
can take myself home.”

“You
can. And I can call Conner and talk to him about it. He might just
pull out of active status and put you on…well, I guess you
could call it house arrest.”

He
knew she was smart enough to know it wasn’t a good thing for
her to drive right now. Zeke also knew she needed an excuse to follow
his orders. Threatening her with Conner was the only way to get her
up out of that seat and into the car. Truth was, Zeke would do it in
a heartbeat and he wasn’t too sure he wouldn’t do it now.
Conner would be pissed if he found out what happened from someone
else, so he would probably call his friend—even if he weren’t
really talking to him.

“Fine.”

She
stood up and marched out of the room and through the crowded outer
office. Rory gave him a grim smile and followed her.

“I
hope Ms. Dillon isn’t too mad at me,” Duggan said.

He
shook his head. “No problem. She’ll get over it. She’s
not been herself since the attack in Hawaii. Once they clear all this
Petersen shit up, she’ll settle.”

* * * *

The
car ride back to Maura’s house was silent. Not the comfortable
silence between two lovers, Rory thought. No, this one was heavy on
the tension and it had been that way since they returned from Hawaii.

“I
was not imagining it. There is someone stalking me.”

“I
didn’t say there wasn’t,” he responded calmly.

More
silence. He wasn’t sure there was someone, but wasn’t
about to admit that to her. He knew just how badly the mind could
play tricks on you after something like what happened in Hawaii.

Rory
glanced over at her. She was staring out the window, slumped in the
seat. She had dark circles under her eyes.

“We’re
going to put someone on you. I don’t like the idea of you
riding around out there if this truly is a stalker.”