Frey (35 page)

Dane knew it was futile, but he drove to
Abbi’s house anyway. Before he got there, Vaughn called him to let
him know Troy was leaving in his truck. Dane instructed him to
follow the man and report back when he stopped somewhere. If Frey
was correct, it wasn’t Troy leaving but George. Dane continued on
to Abbi’s to see if anyone was there.

Coming up empty, he decided to stop in the
coffee shop where Marley worked. He would wait there for Vaughn to
call in. Dane didn’t know Marley’s schedule, didn’t know anything
about her other than she was pretty in a girl next door kind of
way. Dane wanted to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was
his mate. She wasn’t really his type, but if the fates had chosen
her, they must have had a good reason.

As he was walking to the door, he saw Marley
through the window. He paused to watch her work without her knowing
he was there. She had a weary smile on her face, but a smile
nonetheless. She was taking an order from a man who had his back to
Dane. The customer said something to Marley, and she did not look
happy. Dane entered the coffee shop just as the man reached out and
grabbed Marley’s wrist. Dane’s beast was ready to tear the man
apart. There was no doubt she was his mate at that point.

Marley tried to pull out of the man’s grasp,
but he was too strong. “Let go of her,” Dane thundered as he
entered the shop. The man dropped Marley’s arm and stood, turning
around to face Dane.

“
Mind your own fucking
business,” the man seethed as he stood toe to toe with
Dane.

“
Are you okay?” Dane asked
Marley, whose eyes were wide. She didn’t answer, only nodded. Dane
stepped back from the man who clearly had no regard for someone
else’s space. “I think you should leave.”

“
Like I said, mind your
own business.” The man pushed Dane, but Dane didn’t budge. His
shifter strength allowed him to keep his feet firmly
planted.

“
She is my business.” Dane
pushed his Henley out of the way to expose the badge he had
attached to his blue jeans. “Now, we can do this the easy way,
which is you leaving, or we can do it my way, and that ends up with
you downtown. What’s it going to be?”

The man shoved his way past Dane as he chose
the easy way. The other customers clapped and cheered. Dane sat in
the vacated seat and ran his hand down his face. He felt Marley
standing next to him before she said, “Thank you.”

Dane almost said
just doing my job
, but
she was more than a job. He smiled and replied, “You’re welcome.
Are you really okay? Did he hurt you?”

She held out her arm for him to observe. “I
might have a bruise tomorrow, but it’s all right.”

Dane softly gripped her arm, turning it over
to see there was no immediate injury. Her skin was soft under his
fingers, and his body was humming from the contact. He found
himself rubbing her wrist with his thumb. He removed his hand,
placing it in his lap to hide the erection growing in his jeans.
“Did you know him? Has he given you trouble before?” Dane didn’t
want to think of other men putting their hands on her, even if they
weren’t hurting her.

“
No, there are just some
men who won’t take no for an answer. Would you like your
usual?”

“
Yes, please.” When she
turned to put in his order, Dane adjusted himself as discreetly as
possible. His eyes followed Marley all around the little shop as
she waited on other customers. Most were minding their own
business, but some were being sympathetic to the incident. Dane
wanted them all to hush so she would get back to his table. He
wanted to ask her out, take her on a date, and get to know her. The
timing was shit, though. He would be taking over as Police Chief
the next day, and his responsibilities would increase greatly. He
didn’t have time to date now, and he’d have even less in the
future.

His cell phone rang drawing his attention
away from the pretty brunette. “Abbott. Give me the address. Got
it, on my way.” Troy’s truck had been spotted. This just proved his
point. If he didn’t have time for a cup of coffee, how could he
take her out?

“
Marley, I’m going to need
that to go.” She returned with his latte in a to-go cup instead of
the ceramic mug. He held out twenty folded up around his business
card. When she held her hand out, he placed the money in her palm,
holding her hand at the same time. “If you have any more trouble,
call me.” Dane could feel the pull between them. He really didn’t
understand how he could be so in tune with her body, so conscious
of where she was in the café at every moment, so attracted to her
when he normally preferred petite redheads.

Marley whispered, “Okay,” and slid her hand
out of his, putting the twenty in her apron pocket.

“
Okay.” Dane picked up his
latte and left to do his job.

The address Dane was given led him to a row
of rundown houses not far from Troy’s. The house was deeded to
Margaret Cranston, but the odd thing was, she was deceased. It was
possible a relative lived there. Dane was about to find out. He
parked behind Troy’s truck, blocking it in the driveway. He
preferred to have Jasper as back-up, but the Goyle was on his way
to Frey’s. Dane hadn’t worked with Vaughn often, but knew him to be
solid. They approached the house together, and Dane knocked on the
door.

To his surprise, a little girl answered it.
“Hello,” she said as she looked up at him.

“
Are your parents home?”
Dane asked.

“
I don’t have a daddy, but
momma’s here with one of her boyfriends.”

“
Amelia, who’s at the
door?” a woman’s voice yelled from somewhere inside.

“
Who are you?” the little
girl asked.

Dane should arrest the mother on negligence.
He could have taken the girl and been gone. “I’m Detective Abbott,”
he told her.

“
He’s a detective,” Amelia
yelled back to her mother. Cussing came from down the hall. A woman
appeared from somewhere in the back of the small house, buttoning
her shirt as she walked.

“
Amelia, can you go to
your room, please?” Dane asked the child.

“
This is my room,” she
said as she walked over and sat on the floor.

The mother asked, “What do you want?”

“
Ma’am, I’m looking for
Troy Quinn. Is he here?”

“
Nope.”

“
His truck’s in your
driveway. Are you sure he isn’t here?”

“
I’m sure. I haven’t seen
Troy in a long time.”

“
But Momma, he was here
just the other night.”

“
Hush, Amelia. Don’t mind
her. She gets confused.”

“
What’s your name, ma’am?”
Dane asked the woman, thoroughly disgusted that her little girl
slept in the living room and knew the names of the men who came and
went.

“
Debbie.”

“
Well, Debbie, I need you
to tell me who else is in the house with you.”

“
Just a
friend.”

“
I need your friend’s
name. Please don’t cause a bigger scene than this already is.” Dane
nodded toward Amelia who was drinking it all in.

“
I don’t have to tell you
shit, I know my rights.”

Dane lowered his voice and told her, “Look,
Debbie, one call to child services will have you so deep in social
workers, you will not be able to entertain your men friends for a
long time. Or would you like to come down to the station
instead?”

“
George, get out here,”
Debbie yelled toward the back of the house.

A door down the hall opened, and George
Novak came into the living room with his t-shirt inside out.

“
George, where is Troy
Quinn?” Dane asked him.

“
I haven’t seen
him.”

“
But you’re in his truck.
Care to explain that?”

“
He needed to borrow my
car to go see his momma. Didn’t think his truck would make it that
far.”

Dane thumbed at the truck sitting in the
driveway. “His practically new truck wouldn’t make it to New
Valdosta, but your piece of shi… junk car would? Try again.” Dane
wasn’t used to being around kids. If Kaya was going to have a baby,
he’d need to start watching his language.

“
Seriously, I don’t know
where he is. He asked me to come over, said he needed to borrow my
car. He didn’t come back, so I took his truck.”

“
What do you want with
Troy?” Debbie asked.

“
His brother-in-law was
beaten pretty badly. We just wanted to make sure Troy knew about
it. If you see him, can you pass that along?” Dane lied, but he was
looking for a reaction from the two of them. George didn’t flinch.
Debbie, however, did. She glanced down at Amelia then back to
Dane.

Dane didn’t want to be obvious, but he
memorized the features of both mother and daughter. Amelia didn’t
resemble her mother in any way, but had plenty of similarities to
the picture he had of Troy Quinn.

Chapter
Thirty-Two

Abbi cleared the table and washed the dishes
while Matt, Frey, and Jasper played video games. When she was
wiping down the counter, she felt Frey’s presence in the room. She
glanced over her shoulder to find him leaning against the door
frame, watching her. She couldn’t help the smile that formed. The
man was absolutely gorgeous, in an intimidating “I can kill you
with my bare hands” kind of way.

“
Will you teach me
self-defense?” she asked him. She knew she wasn’t strong enough to
best someone like him, or even Troy, but she was willing to learn
enough to possibly keep her alive.

“
Go change and meet me in
the gym,” Frey told her. He had an odd look on his face as he
turned away. Abbi went upstairs and searched through the drawers
for something to put on. She found a pair of yoga pants and a
t-shirt. That should be good enough.

She padded barefoot into the gym. When she
got to the door, she froze in her tracks. Frey was punching a small
bag, his fists like fast windmills. He had changed out of his blue
jeans and was now wearing a pair of black warm-up pants he’d cut
off right above the knee. His legs were massive. His t-shirt was
sleeveless, showing off his arms. With each punch, the muscles
rippled and bunched. The man was pure perfection. Troy worked out
and was fit. Frey was a god. His skin was a golden olive that
hinted of an Italian or Greek heritage. The words he’d spoken into
the security box at the gate had sounded Italian.

He caught the bag and stopped its motion.
When he turned her way, his eyes drank in her clothing. Her t-shirt
wasn’t tight, but it wasn’t loose either. Her pants clung to her
legs. Her immediate reaction was to cover herself, but she needed
to feel his appreciation for the way she looked. She’d spent too
many years hiding her true self behind baggy clothing. Frey cleared
his throat. “Come over here.” He met her in the middle of the mat.
It was cushiony under Abbi’s feet as she walked toward Frey.

“
I won’t pretend that
you’ll be able to defeat someone my size. For the most part, males
are just naturally stronger than females. What you need is the
element of surprise. I’m going to show you a few moves that will
hopefully allow you to get loose when you’re being held certain
ways. Our bodies come equipped with internal weapons. Elbows,
knees, feet, and head are your best bet for disarming
someone.”

Frey stepped in front of Abbi and put his
hands on her shoulders. “In this position, since I’m so much taller
than you, it would be hard for you to effectively strike me in the
face, but your knee is perfect. If a man grabs your shoulders, use
that momentum to raise your knee into his nuts. It might not stop
him, but it’ll incapacitate him momentarily. If he bends over
grabbing his crotch, bring your knee up again, connecting with his
face. When his head pops back, you can strike up with your palm. A
good punch to the throat can drop a man as well.

“
If he’s closer to your
height, catch him with your elbow.” Frey made a sweeping motion
toward Abbi’s face with his arm. Next, he turned her body so she
was facing sideways. “If someone grabs your arm, use their body as
leverage, twisting into them. Here, grab my arm.” Abbi grabbed
Frey’s forearm, and he swung his body into hers, once again
striking toward her throat.

“
There’s an acronym women
are taught in self-defense classes: SING. Solar Plexus, Instep,
Nose, Groin. If your arms are incapacitated, it’s unlikely you’ll
be able to use your elbow to hit ‘em in the stomach. You should,
however, be able to stomp their foot. Head butt someone in the nose
with the back of your head, not the front. You can knock yourself
out if you do it the wrong way. The Groin, we’ve already
covered.

“
Another effective move is
to take out someone’s knee. The whole knee is vulnerable, but if
you get in a good strike to the front, you can really incapacitate
your attacker, possibly even blow the knee out.” Frey went through
the motions of the strikes he described allowing Abbi to practice
them on him.

“
What about flipping
someone?” Abbi asked. “Can you show me how to do that?”

“
I can, but again, if
someone is my size, it will be very hard for you to flip them.
Okay, come at me from behind.” When Abbi ran at Frey he used her
momentum and flipped her over onto the mat. Instead of allowing her
to land hard, he cradled her body. “I want to try,” she told him
after about the sixth time of him flipping her.