Playing with Fire (18 page)

Everyone froze, and then in the next
second all hell broke loose. Noelle screamed, Lenny charged
forward, and Trent delivered a right hook to the chin, sending
Lenny’s head snapping to the side. He fell to the ground like a ton
of bricks.

Frank lunged toward Trent, but didn’t
get more than two feet when a shotgun sounded behind him, breaking
through the chaos. Delphine appeared at the door with the double
barrels smoking as she aimed the gun at Frank.

“That was a warning shot buddy. I
suggest you and that sorry excuse of a son get off my property
before I decide to pull this trigger again.”

Frank glared at her and then at Trent.
He dropped the gun, cursing at all of them. “You’re all gonna pay
for this, ya hear?”

A moment later, Delphine brought the
butt of her shotgun down hard on his head. Frank collapsed on top
of Lenny. “Well, that’s one way to get him to shut up!”

“Holy shit, Del. Where did you come
from?”

“
I saw them whip into the
parking lot. I grabbed my gun, and I’m damn lucky I wasn’t a few
seconds sooner or I would have been in front of the window when it
shattered.”

Noelle gasped. “Oh my God.”

Trent stared wide eyed at Delphine as
she rushed past him to wrap her arms around Noelle. “I’m fine,
honey. The question is - are you okay?”

Noelle nodded numbly and stared back
at Trent. He knew she would protest, but he needed to get her to a
safe place. “We gotta get out of here Noelle.”

She nodded again and gestured toward
their intruders. “Are … are they dead?”

Trent shook his head. “No, they’ll be
coming to soon, that’s why we gotta run. Del, the cops should be
here any minute. You tell them what you know and I’ll call the
Chief about what happened before you showed up like Annie Oakley.
“

In spite of all the drama that had
just unfolded, Delphine laughed. “You take care of our girl here or
else I have a few more bullets I’ll put to use.”

Trent held up his hand. “No worries
there.”

He bent down and kissed Delphine’s
cheek. “Thank you.”

She waved him off and hugged Noelle
again. “Noelle, remember what I said earlier.”

The two women exchanged a look and
then Noelle looked at him. Her reply was barely above a whisper.
“I’m trying.”

Delphine shooed them out of the room.
“Do better than try. Now get the hell out of here. Call me Noelle,
so I know you guys are somewhere safe.”

As they sped out of the parking lot,
Trent called Marshall and filled him in on what was going on.
Marshall wasn’t pleased.

“Come straight to the station. We’ll
get your statements and then we can make arrangements for
Noelle.”

“No, I’m taking her away. I need to
take a few days off. Until Lenny and his father are taken care of,
I’m not letting her out of my sight.”

Marshall’s tone was stern. “Torres,
you know we are gonna book them and they’ll be behind bars before
the night is over. They aren’t going anywhere any time
soon.”

“Sorry, Chief. I can’t do it. I’ll let
you talk to Noelle to give her statement and I’ll answer any
questions you need, but right now my priority is her
safety.”

“Trent, did you completely forget our
discussion earlier about letting your personal feelings cloud your
rational judgment?”

Trent stopped at the red light and
looked over at Noelle. She was staring blankly out the window. She
looked pale and tired. The only word he could think of to describe
her expression was haunted. Haunted by the past and by what had
just transpired in her room.

Trent knew he was figuratively and
literally at a crossroads. The road straight ahead would lead to
the station and ‘doing things by the book’. The road to the left
would lead to his condo and letting his heart lead him.

“Sorry, chief. But I’m going with my
gut on this one.”

Without another thought, Trent hung up
and went left when the light turned green. Right or wrong, time
would tell, but for now all that mattered was Noelle.

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

Noelle watched the city race past the
window as Trent drove them away from the motel. Her eyes saw the
landscape, but her mind was stuck on replay of everything. Images
from before and snippets of tonight blurred together. Just like
Delphine said, the past and present warred with each
other.

Trent reached out and lightly touched
her hand. She jerked away and had to fight the tears wanting to
fall. Her voice broke as she pleaded, “Please don’t touch me. I
can’t take it right now.”

She saw him nod out of the corner of
her eye. Delphine’s last statement ran through her mind. Noelle
truly was trying to believe that Trent hadn’t intentionally put her
in danger. But all she could think about is what he didn’t do – he
didn’t arrest them, he didn’t have his gun to shoot them back, he
didn’t stop them from finding her.

She closed her eyes and took a deep
breath, because on the other hand, all she saw was him standing
between her and pure evil. He had been ready to take a bullet for
her, even after she’d accused him, even after she’d cursed at him.
He’d been ready to lay his life down to protect her. Noelle
couldn’t wrap her mind around it, it was too much.

The scenery began to look familiar and
Noelle knew he was taking her to his place. “Are you sure this is
safe? What if they found out where you live?”

Trent shook his head. “They’re gonna
spend at least tonight locked up. We’ll know more tomorrow, and we
can go from there. Right now, this is the best place for
us.”

She nodded and silently followed him
into the house. She waited at the door as he turned on the
lights.

Trent reached for her bag but she
tightened her grip. “Come on, Noelle. I’ll take this up to the
room. You look like you need some sleep.”

She shook her head. “I won’t be able
to sleep. Can I lie down in the guest room?”

Trent gave her a questioning look.
“Why don’t you use my room? I’ll sleep down here on the couch if
you want.”

She shook her head and walked upstairs
without another word. Noelle couldn’t tell him what she felt; that
the thought of being in his bed without him made her feel an
emptiness that nearly stole her breath.

She wanted to be safe in his arms more
than anything, but what she needed now was space … space to think,
space to breathe, space to cry.

Sometime later, she heard Trent’s
footsteps in the hallway. She shut her eyes and pretended to be
asleep. He opened the door and she could sense him approaching the
bed.

He pulled the throw blanket up to her
shoulders and bent down to kiss her forehead. There was a
gentleness to his actions. To her dismay, she heard him sniffle as
his fingers caressed her cheek.

His voice, heavy with emotion,
quivered as he whispered, “Good night, mi amor. Te amo.”

Though she didn’t know what he said,
she felt the emotion in it. The words creep into her and nestled
deep in her heart.

A moment later he closed the door, and
she finally allowed the tears to fall. In the course of just a few
hours she had embraced, and then nearly lost, true love.

Trent hummed to himself as he used a
whisk on a bowl of egg yolks. The smell of bacon and coffee filled
the air and he had to admit it was nice. Usually he didn’t take the
time to make breakfast, and when he did it was usually cereal or
toast. But there was something gratifying about making a hearty
meal today; especially knowing he would be sharing it with
Noelle.

A few moments later, she walked down
the stairs. He poured her a cup of coffee and grabbed the creamer
from the fridge. “Did you sleep alright? When I went to check on
you, you were out.”

She nodded and wrapped her hands
around the warm mug. “What time is it?”

Trent looked at the clock on the
stove, “It’s just after eight. Are you hungry?”

Noelle nodded again. Her hair was a
chaotic, fiery halo, and there were red marks on her cheek from
where she’d slept hard. She was breathtaking.

He went back to scrambling the eggs
and then buttered some toast as the bacon cooled. Every few seconds
he would look over at her. That blank stare was back again and this
time she peered into her mug.

Trent made a plate of food and slid it
across the counter to her. “I talked to my boss this morning. Len
…”

Noelle held up her hand and shook her
head. “I don’t want to talk about it right now. I don’t want to
think about it.”

He took a seat next to her at the
counter and nodded. “Okay. Do you feel like visiting Avery and
Damien today? I thought maybe some time with friends would help get
your mind off stuff.”

She shrugged and took a small bite of
toast. He wanted to tell her there was nothing to worry about, that
Lenny and Frank would be in jail for at least a few more days, but
he wasn’t about to make her talk about it.

They ate in silence, both seemingly
lost in their own thoughts. The only sound was that of the few cars
driving by outside and the occasional barking from the neighbor’s
dogs. Noelle ate only a little bit more and pushed her plate
away.

“I thought you were
hungry.”

She shrugged. “I thought I was too,
but all I really want to do is go back to bed and hide under the
covers. I’m not feeling social today.”

Trent took their plates around to the
sink and turned on the water. “That’s alright. Visiting Avery and
Damien was just a suggestion. We can do whatever you want. If you
want to sleep, I’ll leave you alone. Do you want me to call
Delphine for you?”

Noelle shook her head. “No, I already
spoke to her before I came down. I feel bad that she’s gotta clean
all those room on her own, but I just can’t go back there right
now.”

“That’s understandable, I’d offer to
go help, but I’m not sure if I want to go back there either. Why
don’t you go back up, burrow under the covers, and I’ll be down
here if you need me.”

She nodded and started to walk away.
When she reached the bottom step, she paused and looked over her
shoulder at him. “Trent?”

“Yeah?”

Her voice quivered slightly. “Thank
you.”

Trent walked over to her and reached
for her hand. He was pleased when she didn’t try to pull away.
“You’re welcome. I’d do anything for you, I hope you know
that.”

He saw the tears well up in her eyes
and drew her into his arms. He ran his hand up and down her back
reassuringly as her body shook with silent sobs. “Shh. It’s gonna
be alright, Noelle.”

She shook her head against his chest.
“You were right; it won’t be alright until I stop looking over my
shoulder. I thought maybe they would leave me alone, I shoulda
known better.”

Trent hugged her tighter and gently
rocked them back and forth. “We’ll make sure they leave you alone.
I won’t let them get to you again.”

She took several breaths until the
tears subsided. “I can’t ask you to protect me again. You could
have been shot last night. If something happened to you, I don’t
know what I’d do with myself.”

Trent pulled back and cupped her face
in his hands. “You didn’t ask me to protect you; I want to do it,
always. And, yeah, I could have been shot, but I would have done
that too if it meant you would have been spared.”

She shook her head. “I said some
not-nice things to you. I called you a bastard and accused you of
things.”

Trent tilted his head. “You were in an
extremely emotional situation, believe me, I’m not
offended.”

She gave him an exasperated look. “Why
are you doing this?”

His brow furrowed. “Doing
what?”

Noelle placed her hands over his,
“This. Caring and protecting and still having me around. Why didn’t
you take me to the station last night and let them find a safe
place for me?”

“Did you hear my boss on the
phone?”

Noelle nodded. “Yeah, I heard him tell
you to bring me in and he would take care of things.”

Trent shook his head. “I couldn’t let
you out of my sight, even last night it was hard to not want to
check on you every ten minutes. As far as I’m concerned, the safest
place for you is right here with me.”

He rubbed his thumbs across her cheeks
and rested his forehead against hers. “All that matters is that you
are safe.”

He wiped at a tear as it slid down her
bottom eyelashes and then kissed her lightly on the lips. As much
as he wanted to kiss her all morning, he knew it wasn’t the time
for that.

“I’ll check on you in a little bit. Go
rest.”

Noelle nodded and headed up the
stairs. After a few steps, she turned toward him again.
“Trent?”

He smiled and leaned against the
railing. “Yeah?”

She bit her lip and gave him a
tentative look. “Te amo.”