Embattled Minds (Military Romance) (Lost And Found Series) (8 page)

“Don’t.”

His harsh face had reddened in parts and paled in others. He blinked and took another step back. Ember crossed her arms beneath her breasts, cold without his warmth. “Call me,” she whispered.

With a single tight nod, he turned and let himself out of the apartment.

Ember shivered and sank down against the wall as the cold air swirled around her.

*****

Arousal rode him hard, and it was all he could do to get to the truck and inside. He cranked the ignition, then just sat there, dragging oxygen into his lungs. Flashes of brutal memory assaulted him and he tightened his hands on the steering wheel, afraid that he would run back to bust right through her door and take her standing up. She’d cradled his face in his hands as if the marks didn’t matter, and that acceptance was heady.

But it was a treacherous road to walk.

He didn’t know if he could trust his own gut because it had been so long since he’d been involved with anybody. She’d seemed genuine in her need, but maybe he was just a body, scratching an itch.

The thought of her breaking down at the restaurant flashed across his mind and he had to rethink that assessment.

Shaking his head, he shifted into gear, glad that he’d taken the night off. It would give him a chance to get her out of his system.

T
he cellphone buzzed on the desk beside him.

Duncan looked at the screen and recognized the number from the other night when they’d all been working out. The caller had not left a message, just a hangup. This was the same number.

Sliding his finger across the touchscreen, he rocked back in his chair.

“Hello.”

Somebody was on the other end of the line, he could sense it, but they weren’t saying anything. “Can I help you?”

The line disconnected.

Duncan rolled his chair until he could look out the window to the street below. Snow-covered, of course, but no worse than normal for Denver three days before Christmas. He followed the line of sidewalk down as far as he could see, but nothing caught his attention.

He hadn’t seen Aiden for several weeks now. Now that he knew who the hunched figure was, he always watched for him. If the other man needed help, Duncan wanted to be there to give it.

Pushing to his feet, he wandered toward Palmer’s office. The other man was behind his cluttered desk, staring off into space. When Duncan walked into the office, he visibly started.

“You okay, there, buddy?”

John swiped a hand over his face and grimaced. “I’m fine. Just thinkin’. What do you need?”

Duncan showed him the cell phone number and John’s fingers flew over his keyboard. “This number has called me a couple of times, but doesn’t say anything. I just want to see if I can figure out who it is.”

John sat back in his chair with a shake of his head. “Nope. The number looks like a drugstore throwaway. Dead end.”

He thought as much, but it was good to have it confirmed.

“Is the holiday covered? The Malone surveillance and…”

John nodded, but he didn’t look happy about it. “Harper volunteered to work the entire weekend, with Claypool pulling day shift. Parks is still on the Vail detail, with Calvert backing him up. We have a secondary contractor taking over for Roger while the plant is shut down so he can fly home for a couple of days. Everything is covered.”

“Did you find something for Shannon?”

John’s face darkened with a scowl.

“Fuck, Duncan, do you know how hard it is to shop for a damn woman? I’ve never had to deal with this before, so I’m seriously struggling. I don’t know what the hell she wants. Besides a damn ring, I mean.”

Smiling, Duncan shifted a pile of manuals from the only chair in the room.

“Have you talked to her at all? There has to be something she wants.”

John sighed. “She wants to get married, I can see it in her eyes, but I don’t know if I’m up for that yet. Hell, I just moved into her house. I’m getting used to the cats. I don’t know if I can do any more than that right now.”

Duncan felt for his buddy. He’d probably be freaked if he were in the same situation.

“Well, why don’t you think about getting away for a while. Take a trip or something. Shannon would probably love to get out of the house for a while after the Gerbowski mess.”

John blinked and cocked his head to the side. “You know, that’s not a bad idea. Even if I have to travel.”

Duncan left his second in command surfing travel sites and planning a trip.

He limped his way down to the rec room and raided the refrigerator, pulling out some easy to eat essentials. Twice before, he’d left a bag of food where Aiden had hung out, and twice before they were gone the next day. That wasn’t to say that somebody else hadn’t taken them, but he didn’t think so. The industrial park where the office building was located did not have any homeless.

Other than Aiden.

As he climbed into his truck a few minutes later, Duncan had little hope that he’d see the other man. But as he pulled out of the parking lot, he kept his eyes peeled.

When he pulled up to the spot where he’d seen Aiden before, he stepped out with the bag in his hand. Planting his cane, he carefully walked to the dumpster where he’d been curled up before.

And stopped dead.

Blood soaked the snow-covered ground in a wide circle, exactly where Aiden had sat that first night. Duncan scanned his surroundings, looking for a body, but he didn’t see any suspicious lumps. And there was no trail of blood leaving the area.

What the fuck?

There was no sign of anything on the ground beneath his feet, so he backtracked to his truck to leave the crime scene pristine. Then he called Denver PD.

The young officer that arrived hadn’t been on the job long, if the way she paled at the sight of the blood pool was any indication. She quickly called for her supervisor, then the supervisor called for a lab tech and the detective on call. Duncan answered the same questions over and over again, but he didn’t have a great deal of information. He gave them Aiden’s name, but hell, he didn’t even know if that was his real name.

The detective that came, Roberts, didn’t seem concerned that a homeless person was missing and presumed injured. Didn’t even seem to care that it was a veteran.

“Even more reason to off himself then,” he shrugged.

Duncan had never been more livid. “Listen, Officer,” he deliberately left off “Detective”, and leaned into his space, “I don’t know what your problem is, but if you need to ask somebody else in that will treat this with the respect it deserves, I’ll wait.” He crossed his arms over his chest as the snow swirled around them and waited as Roberts blustered through a series of threats. Duncan held up a hand. “I have Quillen’s number. Do I need to call him instead?”

Using the Captain’s name had been a gamble, but it shut the man up, and sent him scurrying back to the scene. Duncan waited outside as long as he could, but the cold was making his bones ache. He slid inside the truck to stay warm.

When the lab tech started to pack up his stuff, Duncan stepped out to ask the man a single question, and he didn’t like the answer he received. Yes, from the volume of blood available on scene, it would be enough of a loss to kill an average sized man. The tech couldn’t presume if it had been an attempted suicide or assault, though he did confirm that there were no obvious signs of struggle.

Duncan climbed into his truck and headed for home, heartsick.

*****

Ember tightened her grip on her purse as she walked up the steps Monday afternoon into the courthouse. Her lawyer, Quinn Roberts, stood just inside, and he grimaced when he saw her.

“Thank you for coming down so quickly, Ember. When I told the judge’s secretary you had moved out, she thought your dad would be a good option for early release, especially since you want to remove the PO. Because of the weather and the holiday, the jails are jam-packed right now, and they need the room.”

He paused long enough to look her face up and down.

“I had hoped that the bruising would have faded by now. When the judge sees that he could reverse his decision and leave the protection order in effect.”

Ember winced. “I could try to go cover it up more, but it becomes more obvious that I’m hiding something after a certain point.”

He nodded reluctantly and took her elbow to guide her down a long hallway. At one of the many doors, he paused and let them inside. A woman with a plastic smile greeted them, and ushered them directly into the judge’s office. The balding man behind the desk barely glanced up from the folder of papers in front of him.

“Have a seat, please. I’m just reading over the motion.” He looked up at Quinn. “Your client is aware of the danger of removing the PO, correct?”

“She is, Your Honor.”

Shrewd eyes peered at her over the tops of his glasses and the judge frowned. “Was your jaw broken, Ms. Norton?”

“No, sir.”

“But you did receive a concussion, right?”

She gave a tight nod.

“So, why should I remove this order? Mr. Norton hurt you, and badly, I must say.”

“I know, Your Honor, but I believe he suffers from untreated PTSD. After a week of mourning the loss of his friend, I spooked him in the middle of the night. He lashed out. I just happened to be there. I do not believe it was anything personal.”

The judge tapped his pen on the desktop and stared at her for a long moment. “I’ve talked to your father and I would agree. I am hereby lifting the order, effective immediately. Mr. Norton does have to complete a forty week outpatient PTSD program. Have no further violations for five years. He owns a restaurant with a bar. Has he ever had a drinking problem?”

Ember shook her head. “No, never. He hardly drinks, actually.”

“Make sure he doesn’t. That will be all.”

Quinn hustled her out of the judge’s office and back out to the main foyer. “That went better than I expected.”

Nodding, she stepped against the wall so that other people could get by her. “So, Dad can get out of jail now and get back to his life, right?”

Quinn nodded. “The charge has basically been dropped as long as he completes the counseling. If he falters, he’ll have to go back and face the criminal charges. Just don’t let him falter.”

She shook her head. “I won’t. Thank you.”

She walked down the street to the county jail and left money for her father’s account. She wasn’t sure exactly when he would be released, but at least he’d have money for a cab when he did get out.

Ember walked back to her car and slid behind the wheel, exhausted from worrying about everything. Surely her dad must feel even worse. When he got home there would be no one to meet him, no one to talk to. No little boy hugs.

Her eyes welled with tears and she dashed them away. He would be out within a few hours, and they could go from there.

She glanced at her cell phone, tempted to dial a number she’d only called once before yet had still memorized. It had been almost eighteen hours, and Zeke hadn’t called. Maybe he didn’t feel the same way she did.

Damn. Was she really counting hours now?

*****

Zeke looked down at the cell phone in his hand and debated calling Ember. To see how she’d settled into the apartment. To see how Drew liked his room. To wish her almost Merry Christmas. To see if she still needed him as much as he needed her. He’d had daydreams from hell all night, taunting him with things that would never be.

His phone buzzed, scaring the shit out of him. Ember’s name appeared on the screen.

Dad’s getting out today.

Panic clutched at his gut.
So
, he typed,
is that good?

Yes, I think so. We’ll see.

Fury erupted in his chest and he almost smashed the phone against the dash. The guy that had damn near broken her jaw and left her marked was going to be near her again. And she was going to let him. Adrenaline poured through his system and it was all he could do not to leap out of the truck and find some poor schmuck to pound on in the street.

In the corner of his brain, the tiny, little rational part started to make itself known. He took a deep, rib-expanding breath and battled back the negative emotion. Grabbing the pen and post-it pad from the dash cubby, he scrawled a note to remind himself of the incident next time he spoke with the counselor.

Then the worry for her safety invaded. When he needed to be worrying about his own issues.

Let me know when you meet with him, so that I can check on you afterwards.

Ok. I will.

He kept refreshing the fading screen, hoping another message would pop up. But she must have left to do something else.

Starting the truck, he pulled out of the parking lot. Glancing at the seat beside him, he called himself ten different kinds of fool. When he’d unpacked a few boxes in the living room, he’d discovered Ember’s love for elephants. The little figurine he’d bought wasn’t expensive, but it was cute, with the baby elephant sitting splay-legged, as if he’d been knocked down. He’d also gotten Drew a Spider-Man action figure, but he worried that it would be a little old for him.