A Twist of Betrayal (13 page)

“Then let me set you up with somebody,” Steve suggested. “I know this girl named Evie. I know she’d put out for you. Maybe then you could let off a little steam.”

Dan rolled his eyes and bit his tongue to keep from telling Steve exactly what he could do with the idea of setting him up with another woman. He punched enter on the computer, finishing his last report, and he headed for the door.

On his way out, he turned back to Steve. “When did you become my mother, anyway? If I want to spend the next fifty years putting in double shifts, I will, especially if it keeps me out that tiny duplex I call home where the walls are slowly closing in.”

Then, he left.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why did he just say all that when he’d hardly shared anything personal with anyone before? The entire force was bound to be writing him up for a psych evaluation.

The August heat was almost enough to take his breath away, but he ignored it. All he had to do was think of Justine. He climbed into his new truck, but he didn’t start it right away. Instead, he was forced to pause and take a deep breath. How could one small woman turn his whole life upside down and make him feel so incomplete when she left?

His heart actually ached in his chest, he missed her so much. And he hated that she could hold such power over his thoughts and emotions.

At least he hadn’t had to be in court for anything. He was tired, but not tired enough to sleep through the night instead of lying awake thinking of Justine.

He should tell her the truth about the kid issue, but would she accept the truth any better? He didn’t know.

Justine’s little red car was parked in his driveway. His heart raced suddenly.

She stood waiting for him on his front porch.

She looked beautiful, he thought, perfect in a summer suit with a short skirt that showed most of her shapely legs. The pale green color enriched the deep golden color of her tanned skin.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, doing his best to keep any emotions from reaching his eyes and his voice.

He fought the urge to pull her into his arms and sweep her into his home, to hold her tight enough so she could never leave him again. He fought even more to keep from grabbing her and kissing her. Just by seeing her, he was able to taste her again.

“I couldn’t stay away,” she said.

He appreciated that she didn’t use any of her lawyer tactics and twist any words. There was a hint of dark circles under her eyes.

“Not sleeping?” he asked. “You look awful.”

“Thanks,” she replied easily. “So do you. And though it may send your ego into triple digits, no, I haven’t been able sleep. I can’t seem to sleep without dreaming about you.”

Dan was happy hearing she experienced the same driving emotions he did. What he liked even more was her simple, certain honesty.

She was suddenly in his arms without him having to pull her there.

Dan let out a sigh of satisfaction. Nothing ever felt so right as having her close. He took a deep breath and breathed in her sweet, womanly smell as he wrapped his arms around her small form. He had planned to keep his distance from her, to not allow her close to his soul. Somehow, she’d managed to worm her way there without his knowing.

Until now.

For a long time, they stood there on his porch, letting the day end, letting the time of their separation end with this moment of closeness. All around them, the world continued, but it was all lost to them.

“I don’t ever want to be apart from you again, Dan,” she said.

“I don’t want to be apart from you, either,” he replied. “But I won’t have any kids.”

“If you don’t want kids,” she said slowly, “I’ll try to live with that.”

Dan was quiet for a long time as he digested her words. “I don’t want you trying to live with something or in this case, without something. That wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”

“I know, but living without you isn’t fair for either of us, either,” she said.

“But Jus, do you understand that I don’t want children and I’ll do whatever’s necessary to prevent them?” he had to ask.

Pressed against his chest, she nodded. “I understand that. What I don’t understand is why not.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I see so many kids in trouble.” It sounded lame to him.

“I know. Some of them show up in my courtroom.”

“I know how this has to hurt you,” he went on. “And I don’t want to be the one to hurt you this much. You deserve better. If you want children some day, you deserve someone who can give them to you.”

“No,” she said. She pulled away only enough to look up at him. “I don’t want anyone else. Ever. Don’t you understand that?” She didn’t wait for his reply, she simply went on, “Yes, it does hurt. But not as much as staying away from you. I can’t sleep. I can’t think. I can’t concentrate on my work.”

Dan could certainly relate to those problems.

“You said there was no going back, once we said we loved each other and made love, remember?” she asked softly.

“I remember.”

“Well, you were right in more ways than one. There is no going back to just being friends. And there is no going back to not being friends. There is no going back to being without you.”

Dan had to swallow past the lump that was suddenly in his throat. “I know.” He just had been too stubborn to admit it to himself.

“Does the offer of marriage still stand?” she asked.

He pulled her tighter against him once again and wondered if she could hear the wild beat of his heart. “Oh, yes,” he said, his throat raw, the words painful. The joy of having her back was enough to make him want to yell with laughter and cry with renewed happiness at the same time.

“Then, yes, I’ll marry you. But I have to warn you.”

“What?” He lightly kissed the top of her head, already knowing what she was going to say.

“I’ll try and change your mind on the child issue,” she said.

Dan gave her a small, sad smile. With gentle hands, he forced her to look up at him again. His kiss was soft, longing, letting out all the need of the past two lonely, frustrating weeks.

“Will you come inside with me?” Dan asked. “We’ve got a wedding to plan.”

“I’ll go anywhere with you.”

Chapter 13

Having his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans did little to warm them. All it did was remind Dan of the bracelet he had tucked in there.

He looked across the campground at the site where he’d pitched their small tent. In that tent in her arms, he’d found refuge from his own horrid past, a past he was now forced to face.

A past that now held his wife in the crossfires.

Suddenly he couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer. He turned away from the get-away van and caught Steve’s gaze. Try as he might, he knew he couldn’t keep the despair out of his voice or his expression.

“Did you know I asked her to marry me here in this campground?”

“Really?”

“Really. Now I’ve got to go tell her parents,” he said. It wasn’t exactly a lie. He did have to face her parents. There was just so much more he needed to do.

Steve nodded. “I know.”

Dan quickly wrote the Albright’s phone number on a slip of paper. “I’ll stop at home and grab my cell phone. If anything comes up, and I mean anything—”

“I’ll call you,” Steve finished. “Try to get some rest while you’re there.”

“Right,” Dan replied, “and I’ll probably pass a few pigs flying on the way.”

Dan grabbed his jacket and headed for his truck, which was still parked on the side of the highway. His neck and back were stiff and his arm still ached, but it was nothing compared to the worry that ate at his heart and soul. And he was terrified to think it may be nothing compared to what his wife might be experiencing.

He had known Deke in high school, before he was a cop. If things had been different, Dan would have been in prison or at least living a life of crime always looking over his shoulder like his old partner.

Dan was thankful he’d managed to break away. But he still hadn’t been able to break away completely.

Deke was not stupid. He knew if he hurt Justine, Dan would show him what it felt like to be buried alive. Dan couldn’t dwell on it. He’d go crazy if he did and right then he had to keep his thoughts clear as he searched for the right path to end this nightmare without ending up on the wrong side of the FBI interrogation table.

Their house was dark and empty. Dan’s footsteps echoed on the new tile. The thick smell of grout was heavy in the air. He changed clothes, grabbed the phone from the charger and his gun, and wasted no more time leaving. He couldn’t stay there.

Except for a bit of static now and then coming over the police radio he kept in his truck, the drive to the Albrights’ was silent. It was a quiet night. Too quiet, considering the turmoil inside him that left him nauseated.

Dan didn’t want to do it this way. He wanted to go tearing off to the place he thought Deke might have taken Justine. But it was not the right time. Steve was watching him. Hell, the entire force was keeping an eye on him. They obviously thought he’d go off half-cocked and do something stupid. Again. If he did go after Deke now, it would raise suspicion or at the least raise questions he could never answer. It could lead to the end of the life he’d built.

If he didn’t, and Deke chose to hurt Justine, it would also be the end of his life.

There was a very fine line between being damned on either side.

He planned to stay only a few minutes at the Albrights.

Then he would find his wife.

He reached the Albrights’ street and saw by the clock on the dash it was almost eleven o’clock. It had been nearly four hours since Justine had left for the store.
Gee, how time flies when you’re having fun.

He sat in his truck in front of the Albrights’ house for a long time. He didn’t even know how long he sat there as the world around him tumbled into the black of night. The Albrights had to be in bed, he knew. The house was completely dark.

Finally, he took a deep breath and climbed out of the truck. With his thumb, he pressed the doorbell and listened as the sound of it echoed through the stillness.

A moment later the two of them answered the door. Together. Abby and Roger. Both wearing robes tied at their waists. Hers, was soft and feminine with lace around the collar, and his was plaid and looking well worn and comfortable. Both looked at him with apprehension, making them appear years older than the last time he’d seen them. And when had that been? Only two weeks ago. Sunday dinner.

Roger spoke first, although Dan would have thought it would have been Abby. “What’s the matter, Son, you have a fight with my daughter?”

His attempt to lighten the sudden tension was unsuccessful. They had to know something was wrong. Especially since in five years of marriage, Dan couldn’t remember ever bringing any of their disagreements to her parents. No, Justine fought her own battles.

The urge to tell them the truth was strong. Yes, they’d had a fight, a fight unlike any they’d had in the past.

“No,” he lied. He suddenly didn’t know what to say. He also couldn’t tell them the complete truth—that his past had come back to bite him in the ass and Justine was caught in the middle. Being the messenger of bad news was part of his job, and he suddenly couldn’t do it. Not now. Not to these people. “Can I come in?”

Abby opened the door wider to let him in. The house always smelled of apples to him, whether Abby was making apple pie or not. And now, Dan tried to let that familiar smell of home calm him and set him in the right direction.

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t take any steps further into the house beyond the foyer.

“Justine’s been abducted.”

Dan wished he could have softened the blow for them, but he didn’t know how. He wondered briefly if he sounded more like the cop he tried to be or the husband he hoped he was. He had the horrible feeling that if he said any more than he just had, he’d fall to his knees and cling to his mother-in-law like a lost child while he begged for forgiveness. And there was so much more he wanted to say but couldn’t. That their grandchild was growing within her. That blow hadn’t hit him until he looked at Justine’s parents. The very idea of it had the ability to burn a hole in his heart like a lit cigarette.

Or worse, that it was an old ‘friend’ of his that held her hostage. And he didn’t dare go tearing off after them. Not yet. Deke was nothing more than an old stick of live dynamite looking for a spark. Dan couldn’t take the chance until he heard from Deke and knew the score, or things would be worse for Justine.

As he predicted, Abby stared at him. He saw questions churning through her mind, but she must have known he didn’t have answers so she didn’t ask.

Somehow, the three of them made their way to the living room. In bits and pieces, Dan told them what he could. He left out the part about getting himself shot, feeling there were just some things better off left unsaid. Besides, the Albrights were already filled with worry over their daughter. He didn’t want them to worry about him, too. He assured them this was a random act and in no way related to his or Justine’s occupations.

It wasn’t quite a lie, but as he told it, he couldn’t stop the burning in the pit of his stomach.

“I’ll make some coffee, and we should call the rest of the family,” Abby said.

“I think we should wait with calling,” Roger said. “It’s the middle of the night. Why should we disrupt everything so that they’d have nothing to do then but wait?” Roger looked at Dan. “What do you think, Son?”

“I don’t know. Sometimes families gathered together help one another. Then sometimes, it seems like more people only added to the frustration and apprehension. I know I should have told you sooner,” Dan explained, “but I just kept hoping something good would happen, especially when I was so close to getting her back. And then I wouldn’t have had to tell you at all until it was over and she was safe.”

“It’s all right, Son,” Roger said.

It dawned on Dan then, that Roger had never called him anything other than ‘son’, just as he did his own. He treated him as a son, too. Dan felt like a sudden failure, as if he hadn’t been a good son, hadn’t been able to protect Roger’s little girl, wasn’t a good protector of the child inside her. For a moment, he thought he might very well get sick on the coffee he’d just forced down.