Have Gown, Need Groom (18 page)

Chapter Twenty

The next hour flashed by in a buzz of activity. Hannah felt dizzy from watching. The local sheriff arrived along with Jake’s partner and his superior to take statements from her and her father. Reporters and the local news team had arrived on the scene, snapping pictures and dragging out camera equipment, trying to interview everyone in sight. Jake had staunchly ordered them in the background, then advised her dad to wait for his attorney before answering the police’s questions.

Her father had agreed, although he insisted he had nothing to hide. The local sheriff vouched for Wiley, informing them that Wiley had come to him with suspicions. Jake already had a search warrant for DeLito’s home and had discovered a connection between him and an ex-con who’d been swiping the cars in south Georgia and shipping them to the warehouse to be repainted.

Hannah sipped a cup of coffee. She’d seen a different side of Jake, a calm, cool, in-control detective who issued orders he expected others to follow. A man who stood alone and liked it that way, a man who would walk away and never look back. Just like her mother.

In her heart, she knew her dad would be cleared.

But would her heart ever be free of Jake?

All she knew was that it was breaking right now. And with every passing impersonal look from Jake, the tender area cracked a little bit more. Even if Jake really loved her, could she live with a cop when she wanted a safe orderly life? Life with Jake would never be safe….

“If you’re through questioning my daughter, I’d like to take her home,” Wiley said in a curt voice.

“All right. We may have more questions later, so just make yourself available, Dr. Hartwell,” the sheriff said.

Hannah nodded.

Reporters jutted forward, but Wiley pushed them aside. “My daughter is not speaking to the press. I’ll issue a statement shortly.”

“After we’ve finished,” Jake said, glaring at the story-hungry journalists.

Hannah and her father turned to leave, but Jake stepped in front of Hannah, blocking her way. “Hannah…I—I’m sorry.”

Hannah remembered his hands and lips on her body, then the cold reality of learning he had cozied up to her for information. A shudder shook her to the core and her knees went weak again, but she refused to give in to the devastation. She still had to see Mimi.

So she forced her chin up a notch. “I don’t want to hear any more of your lies.”

Jake flinched as she tossed his own words back at him, but Hannah ignored his reaction as her father cleared the way through the throng of cameras and stalked from the room.

Outside, she saw Jake haul a cursing Joey to the police car. She paused, her dad’s hand cupping her arm, as she watched the police car take off in a whir of lights and sirens. Jake climbed in his Jeep, his gaze locking with hers before he closed the door. His expression was unreadable, guarded, cold, as if he’d already distanced himself from her. Maybe he’d never cared at all.

“I’ll drive you home,” her father murmured.

Hannah shook her head and turned to her father, shutting the painful images from her mind. “No, I’m fine, Dad. But I want to stop and see Mimi. I’d rather her hear about this from me than see it on the news. That is, if she hasn’t already seen it.”

He nodded. “I’d like to go—”

Hannah pressed her hand along his jaw. “There’ll be time for that later, Dad. You have to stay here and gather all your records to show the police. Prove to them you’re the good guy your daughters know you to be.”

He nodded, his heart in his eyes. Hannah felt tears pressing against her eyelids again and blinked them away. She might have been awed by Jake’s heroics when he’d burst into the room and saved their lives, but her father had tried to protect her also, had offered to become the hostage so she would be free. Then again, he’d been taking care of her his whole life, only she’d been too emotionally crippled from her mother’s desertion to realize it. It wasn’t her fault or her father’s that her mother had left—her mother simply hadn’t loved them enough to stay. But Wiley had; he’d been the stable one in her life.

He was a real hero. And from now on, she intended to show him her gratitude and love.

J
AKE DROVE TOWARD
the police station, an ache soul-deep pressing in his belly and spreading through his whole body. Hannah hated him.

He didn’t blame her, but his heart was splitting wide open—because he loved her. He hadn’t realized how much until he’d seen Joey DeLito’s hands all over her, until the slime had shoved that gun to her throat.

He followed along behind the police car, trying to forget the hurt he’d seen in her eyes. The betrayal. For the first time in his life, he’d let someone sneak under his skin, into his heart, and he couldn’t pry her out. Now he knew the reason he’d never let himself become involved with anyone before.

Because it was too damn painful. And his job, the very reason that had brought them together in the first place, the only thing he’d ever been committed to in his life, had just torn them apart. And so had his lies.

H
ANNAH KNOCKED
on Mimi’s door, her hands trembling. To her surprise, Seth greeted her and walked her to the living room where Mimi sat on the sofa wearing a hot pink silk robe, her knees hugged to her chest, nursing a drink, something that looked like orange juice. The TV droned softly in the background, a weather report about an impending ice storm. But in her heart, the storm had already hit. And she had ice running in her veins.

Seth crossed the room and sat down beside Mimi, gently patting her knee. Hannah was stunned to see Mimi clasp Seth’s hand and give it a squeeze. Seth really was a wonderful guy.

She had to thank him.

Before she had the chance, Seth approached her. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, Seth. Thanks for being here.”

“No problem. You know your family means a lot to me.” He reached out and gave her a hug. “And so does your friendship, Hannah.”

Hannah’s eyes filled with tears. “You’re so great, Seth. I’m so sorry if I hurt you.”

“Shh.” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “You just take care of yourself, okay?”

When he pulled away, Hannah nodded. He kissed her cheek, said good-night and let himself out. Hannah went to talk to her sisters.

Alison sat cross-legged on the floor in jeans and an FSU sweatshirt, her expression a mixture of bewilderment and shock. “I got your message and came on over.”

Mimi looked up at Hannah through watery eyes. “Have a mimosa with me, sis?”

Hannah ran a hand through her tangled hair and smiled, accepting the drink from her sister. “Sure, it’s been a hell of a day so far.”

“You and Dad were awesome,” Alison exclaimed. “What a scene, the two of you and all those cops and reporters.”

Hannah grimaced, grateful they hadn’t seen Joey with the gun pressed to her throat.

“It was all over the news. Are you all right?”

Hannah smiled, touched by the concern in their eyes. “Yeah. I’m sorry about Joey, Mimi.”

Mimi shrugged, then held out her arms and Hannah gave her a hug. “He’s a jerk. I was about to dump him anyway.”

Hannah laughed, realizing she’d never loved her sisters more. “It looks as if our dad can’t stay out of the limelight.”

“He’s so cool,” Alison said. “I can’t believe he’d already figured out what Joey was up to. And I know Dad didn’t like him but I thought it was because he suspected Joey of two-timing you.”

“Dad told you Joey was two-timing me?” Mimi asked.

“No, I told him I suspected he was. Dad said he’d keep an eye on him.” A smile tipped her lips. “Dad is pretty protective of us, you know.”

Mimi laughed and she and Hannah mumbled agreement. “I had no idea Joey was into that stuff,” Mimi said. “The little sneak. Using Dad’s place to fence stolen merchandise. I must have been blinded by lust not to have noticed.”

“I know the feeling,” Hannah said.

She hadn’t realized she’d spoken aloud until both her sisters’ mouths dropped open.

“You slept with the cop, didn’t you?” Mimi asked.

Hannah winced and sipped her drink. “Afraid so.”

Alison draped a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Well, if it’s any consolation, I thought he was a hottie myself.”

“Was he good in bed?” Mimi asked.

Hannah rolled her eyes. “Mimi!”

“He must not have been,” Alison said. “What a disappointment.”

“No, he was great in bed,” Hannah mumbled. Her face flamed when she realized what she’d admitted.

Mimi and Alison laughed. “I never suspected he was a cop, Hannah,” Alison said. “Did you know?”

Hannah picked at a thread on her sweater. “No, of course not.”

“What kind of gun does he carry?” Mimi asked.

Hannah shook her head. “A big-caliber one, Mimi.”

Mimi’s eyes crinkled as she burst into laughter.

Hannah realized the double entendre and laughed herself, grateful to dispel the tension.

“So, you weren’t in on the sting from the beginning?” Alison asked.

Hannah rolled her eyes. Leave it to her sisters to romanticize the entire disaster. Maybe they had a little of Wiley’s character embedded in their personalities. She actually considered lying so no one would know what a fool she’d been, then again, she was talking to her sisters. And one lie would lead to another.

She stood and poured herself another mimosa, grateful she wasn’t on call. And hoping she still had a job. “He was only using me to find out about Dad.”

“I can’t believe it,” Mimi said.

Alison stood and paced the length of the room. “And I thought he was the perfect guy for you!”

“Did he say he was just using you?” Mimi asked, her voice rising with anger.

Hannah shook her head. “Not exactly. But it’s true. He dated me to investigate Dad. I caught him looking at some of Dad’s files this morning after…” She closed her eyes, realizing she’d given herself away.

“He slept with you last night and arrested Joey this morning!” Alison pounded her hand in her fist. “The slimeball.”

“We’ll kill him,” Mimi said. “Just name the day and time, sis.”

Hannah laughed again, the pain in her chest easing a little at her sisters’ support. “He’s not worth it.”

“Don’t let him get you down, Hannah,” Alison said.

“Yeah, you’re better than him,” Mimi said.

Hannah wagged a finger at Mimi. “And you’re better than Joey.”

“Men are scum,” Mimi muttered.

“Dogs,” Alison added. “Dirty, slimy, mangy dogs.”

“Right and we deserve someone better, someone really hot like Brad Pitt or Matt Damon or…”

“Or Christian Slater,” Alison added.

Mimi’s eyes lit up. “Or Ben Affleck.”

“Or Mel Gibson,” Hannah added with a giggle. Only Jake’s face flashed into her mind, and, as handsome as the actors were, they didn’t melt her heart or make her body yearn the way the lying detective had.

T
HE NEXT DAY
Jake decided he had to see Hannah. He drove toward the hospital, thinking about the past twenty-four hours. The case had tied up nicely. Wiley had been cleared of suspicion, the bookkeeper had been questioned and had admitted to fudging some numbers for DeLito for a hefty payment, and DeLito had confessed. He also claimed Mimi was totally unaware of his actions. DeLito had sung the names of his contacts in the other cities, hoping to cut a deal for a lighter sentence.

Jake felt as if he’d been sentenced himself—as if he’d lost something vital to him, some part of himself that could never be replaced.

He still couldn’t shake the memory of the hurt in Hannah’s eyes. He realized now that he’d reacted so angrily to finding the files in her house because he’d been afraid. Their lovemaking had been so intense and emotional he’d panicked when he’d felt himself falling in love and contemplating becoming a part of a couple—something he knew nothing about.

But he could learn. After all, Muldoon had a family.

What had Grammy Rose said about parenting?
You learn as you go along.
Maybe he and Hannah could learn about this relationship thing as they went along.

He parked his Jeep and walked up the steps to the hospital, barely limping, but desperate to see her before he headed back to the city. She knew about families, not him. Maybe they could talk. Maybe she could help him find a way to make this relationship work. If she could forgive him….

The ER seemed unusually quiet when he entered. He scanned the hallway and nurses’ station but didn’t see Hannah anywhere. Two nurses hovered over the paperwork, a tall gangly doctor conferred with a patient in a wheelchair, then he spotted the big nurse who’d first helped him when he’d been shot. He made his way over to her.

“Well, hello, there, Mr. Tippins. How’s the hip doing?”

“Fine, Tiffany.” He leaned against the nurses’ desk. “I need to have the stitches removed. Is Dr. Hartwell in?”

She arched a brow. “I think so. You sure you want to see her?”

He nodded, grimacing at the wary look the nurse shot him. Apparently she knew about his undercover work—did she know he’d slept with Hannah?

Surely not.

“I’ll see if I can find her.” She ambled off down the hall, her wide hips shaking as she walked. Paramedics rushed through the door and the ER came alive as the tall doctor and a group of nurses rushed toward the incoming patient. This time, instead of seeing the differences between him and Hannah, he saw the similarities. They’d both chosen professions to help people, only Hannah’s had far more of a personal touch. They both were dedicated to their jobs, both dealt with life-and-death situations, both had to drop their personal lives sometimes to meet duty. Wouldn’t that factor help them understand one another? Support each other? He’d heard Muldoon talk about those kinds of things before. Maybe he and Hannah could make a marriage work.

Whoa—
marriage?

“Jake, what do you want?”

He hadn’t heard Hannah approach. But he heard the anger still hard in her voice. Shaken by the thought of marriage, he faced her. “I need to have my stitches removed.”

She folded her arms across her slender waist. “I thought you were going to find another doctor.”