Heart to Heart Boxed Set, page 7
The band started again as Annie returned to the table. Dinner soon arrived, so conversation wasn’t necessary. Lucas dug into his ribs and fries, and tried unsuccessfully to avoid the cole slaw, but Annie kept pointing at it, lips twitching with humor. It was finally easier to just eat the damn stuff. It felt good, though, to have someone who cared about him. He could get used to that.
He pushed his empty plate aside and stood up. “I’m going to the men’s room. I can stop at the bar on the way back if you want another glass of wine.”
She dabbed at her mouth with the paper napkin and smiled. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather leave. It’s been a long day.”
“No problem. I’ll be right back.” He made his way through the mob. He’d thought for a weeknight it wouldn’t be so crowded. He took the time to settle the check then visited the men’s room. Peaceful quiet descended on him as the door swung close.
Maybe I’m getting too old for this kind of place.
As he exited, his gaze moved directly to where he left Annie. The table was empty. He frowned. Maybe she was in the ladies’ room again. As he grew closer, he caught sight of her flowered dress out of the corner of his eye. She was on the dance floor with what seemed to be a drunken cowboy. Blood pounded in his ears when she attempted to push her partner away, but he grabbed her back with such force, her fingers splayed across his chest like she was trying to create distance. Her mouth twisted in distaste as she arched back from his body, turning her head to the side. As he plowed through the crowd, Lucas saw her wince where the jerk’s hand grabbed her upper arm. Fear etched lines along her forehead.
His hand clamped on the man’s shoulder. “I suggest you let the lady go.” He glanced at a pale-faced Annie, as her shoulders slumped with relief.
“Go git yer own gal. This one’s mine.” The words weren’t too clear, but the intent of hanging onto Annie was.
Lucas’ stomach clenched, every protective instinct screamed for release. “I’m saying this one more time, cowboy. Let the lady go.”
The drunk shoved at Lucas’s chest, which was the only incentive he needed. His fist connected with the man’s face. The drunk tried to swing back but stumbled, and he fell face-first to the floor. Lucas turned and took Annie’s arm to leave when someone shouted, “Behind you!”
As the cowboy swiped his sleeve across his bloody nose, he came at Lucas full force, broken bottle in hand. Lucas shoved Annie behind him and brought the side of his hand down hard on the attacker’s wrist in a hard chop. The bottle shattered on the floor, spewing glass in every direction. The crowd circling them jumped back.
Lucas grabbed him by the collar and shoved him up against the wall. Lucas needed several deep breaths to calm himself, all the while maintaining his grip. Never in all his years of dealing with the dregs of society had he lost his temper like this. Seeing the man’s hands on Annie had ripped his gut apart.
A meaty hand landed on Lucas’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’ll take care of him, buddy.” The message was clear. His part was over. The bouncer squeezed again, and Lucas let go. The drunk slid to the floor. Lucas stood breathing deeply, hands on his hips. He brought scraped knuckles to his mouth and sucked on the cut from the contact with the cowboy. Turning slightly, he eyed Annie standing across from him. She was plastered against the wall. White knuckled fingers gripped the collar of her dress. It didn’t take a genius to recognize terror.
Oh shit, what have I done?
7
Lucas put a hand out as he advanced toward her. “Are you all right, honey?”
She tried to push herself further into the wall, shaking her head.
Lucas dropped his hand, approaching her as if she were an injured animal. Softly, so as not to alarm her or bring more attention her way, he spoke in her ear. “It’s okay. Come on, let’s go.”
Her voice shook as slender hands rubbed up and down her arms. “It is not okay.”
A small crowd gathered to watch the aftermath. “We need to leave. It’s over now.” As he reached out, she flinched and curled into herself. Lucas raised both hands palms up and backed away. “I won’t touch you, baby. I’ll go to the Jeep. Can you follow me?”
Annie nodded.
Once at the Jeep, Lucas opened the passenger door and waited for her. Annie avoided his eyes, climbed into the vehicle, then leaned over to clutch at her middle and rock.
What should he do now? He rotated the muscles in his neck before sliding behind the wheel. He sat for a minute, taking deep breaths. “Put your seat belt on.”
She continued to rock back and forth, a keening sound coming from somewhere deep inside.
Lucas deliberately lowered his voice, spoke slowly. “Annie, we can’t leave until you fasten your seat belt. I don’t want to touch you right now, honey, so can you please buckle up?”
Shaky hands pulled the belt down and buckled it. Lucas started the engine and exited the parking lot. Now what? He wasn’t comfortable leaving her alone. Would she freak if he suggested taking her to his house? He could always take her to Mason’s, he supposed, but nixed that idea. Not with all that pre-teenage chaos.
They rode in silence while various plans ran through his head. Since Annie had no idea he was aware of her background, it would be hard for her to accept comfort from him. But she still sat, staring out the front window, expression closed off and hollow. At least she had stopped rocking.
He put his right turn signal on and swung into his driveway, killed the engine, and turned to her. “Annie.” Some of the terror had left her face. Encouraged, he said, “Since I have to drive you to work tomorrow anyway, I thought it would be a good idea for you to stay here tonight.” Not the greatest excuse, but one that might work. When she didn’t object, he came around the Jeep and opened her door, unbuckling her seat belt. So far, so good. No longer cowering, she accepted his hand to help her out.
As they entered the dark house, he flicked on lights as they walked through the downstairs to the kitchen. Lucas pulled out a chair from the table and she sat. While he made tea, he kept glancing at her. If he could get her to talk, it would help. He needed to know what was going on in her head. Was it him using his fists like her ex-husband had? His stomach clenched. He would never put his hands on a woman in anger. Or a child. God knows how many walks he’d taken when the twins were in the rebellious teenage years to keep from slugging one of them.
He put two cups on the table, poured boiling water over the tea bags, and sat across from her. Annie’s hands were clasped together on the table, her knuckles white. He laid his hand over hers and squeezed with light pressure. She seemed to come awake. “Honey, we need to talk about this.”
She ran her fingers over the scratches on his knuckles. “You got hurt.” Her eyes met his, brimming with tears. Her face crumbled. “You got hurt. You were fighting. That man was awful. He grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.” She pushed the chair back, jumped up and walked in circles, wringing her hands.
“He pushed me against the wall, and I slid down. There was blood and screaming. I was so scared. I put my hands over my ears but…but he kept shouting at me, over and over.” She took in great gulps of air. “I crawled away, but he…he grabbed me and threw me against the kitchen door. I went right through it. My shoulder, it hurt so bad. And his fists, they kept hitting and hitting.” Tears streamed down her face, she hugged her middle. “I covered my head with my arms, but he kicked me in the chin.”
All the blood drained from his face. Dear God, she was reliving a beating at the hands of her ex-husband. His heart pounding, he stood and pulled her to his chest.
“No! Let me go. Let me go!” She shoved him back, her eyes wide, her whole body trembling. “He…he dragged me across the floor by my hair, kicked me in the stomach.” She pushed the hair from her forehead with shaky hands. “It hurt so much. I couldn’t get enough air. I was smothering.”
A roar of fury whipped through him. He took deep breaths to calm himself. She didn’t need his anger added to her fear.
“And then…and then….” She licked her lips, covered her eyes with both hands. “He dragged me upstairs and threw me on the bed and raped me. Oh my God, he raped me. And he laughed.”
Lucas caught her in his arms when she began to sag, swept her up and took the stairs two at a time to the bedroom. She sobbed without restraint. Mason hadn’t mentioned the rape, even though in his experience, rape was usually a part of domestic violence. He had pushed that thought to the back of his mind, unable to face the ultimate horror Annie might have gone through. Until now, when she’d laid it at his feet. Undoubtedly, she’d carried that part of it around for years, never telling anyone.
He laid her on his bed and pulled her gently to him. She didn’t resist, but curled herself up against his body in a fetal position. He rubbed her back and rocked her as she sobbed into his shoulder. Never in all his years in law enforcement, with all the horrors he’d witnessed, had he felt this rage, this need to kill someone with his bare hands.
After a while the sobbing stopped, turned into hiccups. He smiled when he heard a soft snore. He took a deep breath and eased out from under her. In the dimness of the room, her swollen eyes were still visible. He circled the room, then sat on the bed, staring at her, his hands dangling between his knees. He wanted to touch her, push the tendrils of hair from her face, offer comfort, but he didn’t dare disturb her. Removing her clothes was not an option, either. He gently took off her shoes, walked to the closet and took out a light blanket, and settled it over her.
Having spent so much effort controlling himself, exhaustion hit him like a ton of bricks. Too restless to sleep, he went downstairs and poured a small drink from the dust-covered bottle of brandy he’d had for a couple years.
No point in telling Mason what he’d learned tonight. The poor guy already felt like hell over what had happened to his sister. He finished the drink and took a long, hot shower. Dressed in only his boxer shorts, he climbed in bed alongside Annie. She whimpered in her sleep and rolled toward him. He settled her head on his shoulder and kissed her forehead. It’d been a hell of a night. For both of them.
* * *
Annie blinked in confusion. Where was she? She rolled to the side and stared at a head of thick, black hair. As her gaze wandered over strong, tanned shoulders and a muscular back, some memories returned. She slept alongside Lucas and since she didn’t recognize the sheets, it must be his bedroom.
At that moment everything flooded back. The horrible drunk who’d grabbed her as she waited at the table for Lucas. How he dragged her onto the dance floor against her objections. She shivered at the memory of his hot breath on her neck, the way her arm hurt when he grabbed her. Suddenly Lucas was there. Thrilled at having him come to her defense, the swiftness of his anger scared her to death. Did all men solve problems with their fists?
Lucas rolled over and smiled as he ran his scratched knuckles over her cheek. “Hi.”
“Hi.”
He propped his head on one elbow and regarded her. “How do you feel?”
“Drained. I think I really dumped on you last night.” A cascade of emotions rolled through her. Embarrassment, guilt, and an unsure feeling of what he must’ve thought unsettled her stomach. She gave him a half smile.
“It sounded like you’ve been carrying around a whole lot of baggage for a long time. Now, I don’t want you to get mad at your brother, but Mason told me what happened. But he didn’t know about the rape, did he?” Lucas’s soft gaze reassured her, and her queasy stomach relaxed.
Neither the police nor the prosecutor ever knew about the rape. For some bizarre reason she’d felt embarrassed to tell them, like somehow it was her fault. The beating, and her broken arm, jaw, and cracked ribs, were enough to get him sent to prison, so she’d buried it. Annie closed her eyes. The shame of it all came back again. “I never told anyone about it. Until you.”
“I’m glad you got it out. I think it’s all a process of your healing.”
* * *
Lucas smoothed her tangled hair and kissed her forehead. After several comforting caresses and seeing her body relax, he sat upright and stretched. He had to get out of this bed, squelch the temptation to make long, slow love to her. Not sure how fragile she was at this point, it made more sense to wait. He glanced back at her, all soft and warm from sleep. With an inner groan, he swung his legs over the edge and stood. “I’m going to hop in the shower, unless you want to go first?”
“You go ahead. I’ll wait till I get home. I can’t stand the thought of dirty clothes over a clean body.”
The water pounded on his head and shoulders, but had no effect on his erection. He turned the hot water off, and soon ice cold water pelted his skin. Goosebumps drove his blood back to his brain.
As his thoughts cleared, he again ran through all the odd things that had happened to Annie recently. Mentally he ticked them off—Annie’s store broken into, her car going dead for no reason, and then the harassment by a drunk in a bar. Coincidences? Maybe. But his training and experience told him coincidences were rare.
A little voice in the back of his head told him he was too personally involved to form an objective opinion. They probably were coincidences. Kids caused mischief, cars broke down, drunken losers annoyed women in bars. He was overreacting.
But that didn’t change his need to find the bastard she’d been married to. With his frame of mind, it was indeed better if the police found him first.
* * *
Short’s Garage stood on Walnut Avenue near Tenth Street. Thriving businesses lined both sides of the street, mostly owned by kids or grandkids of previous owners. Not much had changed in this part of town since Lucas had raced his Chevy truck up and down the street years ago.
He swung his Jeep into the gravel-covered lot in front of the small office. Barely nine o’clock and the sun already hung high in the sky, raising the temperature. Full summer weather would be on them in no time.
Lucas held the door for Annie, and they entered the dimness of the building. Dark wood paneling created a definite contrast between the bright sun outside and the office inside. A fully naked girl, either digitally enhanced or circus material, tipped her cowboy hat and aimed a pistol at them from the calendar on the far wall.
“Can I help you?” The woman behind the counter with an iron-gray helmet hairdo and granny glasses glared at them, as if resenting the intrusion of customers. Or perhaps she simply hated spending another day staring at the calendar, waiting for the year to end so she could rip it off the wall.
“Good morning. We’re here about Ms. Jordan’s car. It was towed last night.”
She flicked her wrist. “See Jonas outside.” Having done her duty, she turned her back on them and returned to her computer screen.
They walked past two bays where a Volkswagen and Honda Accord were up on the lifts, mechanics in oil-covered jumpsuits examining them. The blasting radio could barely be heard above the banging of iron and hiss of air guns.
Jonas was outside, speaking with a teenager who looked forlornly at a twisted piece of metal that was once a car. He slapped the young man on the back, said a few more words, and wandered over to them. A matchstick stuck out between his lips, his loose-limbed slow walk reminiscent of Mayberry, RFD.
“I don’t know what happened, Miz Jordan, but your car is fine.” Jonas shrugged and placed grease-stained hands on his hips.
“You didn’t find anything wrong?” Lucas pushed his sunglasses to his forehead and used a glare on the hapless mechanic, hoping maybe an intimidating look might change his findings.
“Nope. Nothing. It started up fine for me. Tried it a bunch of times. Go ahead. Try it yourself.” He waved toward the car.
Lucas slid behind the wheel. Sure enough, it started right up. Another coincidence? They were slowly mounting.
“How much do I owe you, Jonas?” Annie fumbled with her purse, fishing out her wallet.
“Only for the tow, Miz Jordan. I can’t rightly charge ya for a repair, ’cause there ain’t nothin’ wrong.” The young mechanic smiled, revealing a gap where a central incisor tooth was missing.
She handed over a credit card, and Jonas disappeared into the store. Lucas joined her, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t get it. We both tried to start it.”
“I’m getting tired of all these crazy things happening. My life used to be so peaceful. Boring almost.” Her soft chuckle calmed his tense nerves. Though he loved to hear her laugh, when he studied her closely, her real mood was revealed.
In the light of day, the strain from last night was more apparent. The delicate skin beneath her eyes looked bruised and tight. Lines he hadn’t noticed before framed her mouth, and she seemed to hold her face in a perpetual frown. An overwhelming urge to grab her by the hand, head for his boat, and take off surged through him. Points unknown, new places, no ex-husband, no crazy incidents.
Jonas returned the credit card, and Annie slid it back into her wallet and stuffed the receipt in her purse. They walked to her car. She slid behind the wheel, fastened her belt, and then adjusted the mirror. Lucas leaned on the window frame. “You going to be okay to work today?”
“Frances is coming in. I may let her close. I’m just so tired, I could sleep for a week.”
“Take it slow today, baby, all right? I’ll stop by later.” He leaned in, gave her a kiss, and stepped back to watch her car until it was out of sight.
* * *
Dean Phillips cruised into Duncan.
Another Oklahoma craphole.
A couple of busybodies coming out of Dolly’s Hair Salon watched his car. No one knew him here, though, except his sweet little bride.
He glanced at the directions from MapQuest on his iPhone and swung onto Main Street. Three blocks down he passed Heirlooms of the Heart.
