Lovers & Monsters, page 1
Lovers & Monsters
Lashell Collins
Copyright © 2020 by Lashell Collins
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author. This book contains content that may not be suitable for young readers (under age 18).
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
For my Mom
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Freaks & Family Legacies
Join Lashell’s Facebook Reader Group
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Lashell Collins
1
Everyone has their own monsters.
That’s one thing Detective Isaac Taylor had learned through the years. Some were small and could be hidden well, while others were way too mean and nasty to ever be concealed, closeted, or camouflaged.
Like his own.
The trouble with monsters is that you’re never safe from them, no matter where you go. They’re always there waiting, even when things are good. Even on days when the bad guys have been stopped and a beautiful woman saved. The monsters are still there, lurking.
Waiting to pounce.
Most people seemed to slay their monsters easily and walk away brand new. But that had never been the case for Isaac. His kind of monsters refused to die.
It was a truth he knew all too well. One he had been dealing with his whole life.
At least he had been able to slay one of Sidney’s monsters. Ruthless drug lord, Nacio Rivas-Solis, had tried three times to kill her after she’d witnessed a gangland-style shooting committed on his orders. But now, thanks to Isaac, Rivas-Solis was dead, and Sidney could put that particular nightmare behind her.
Isaac glanced over at her as he drove her home. Sunlight kissed the warm copper undertones of her light brown skin, almost making it shimmer, and he wanted to reach out and touch it. He wanted to touch every inch of her the way he had last night in the motel room they’d been hiding out in. He wanted to touch her and hold her and make love to her all over again, if nothing else than to prove to himself that it had actually happened and hadn’t been a dream.
But the look on her pretty face brought a hint of worry to his mind.
The relieved, light-hearted chatter they had shared during their pancake breakfast had all but evaporated, and now she was deep in thought. He pulled the car into her driveway in the pleasant Rocky River neighborhood wondering what was going through her pretty head.
“My car was blown up.”
She suddenly turned to him with a forlorn expression, and her words were spoken as though that fact was just now hitting home. As if Rivas-Solis’ first attempt on her life was just now beginning to sink in.
It had been a terrifying spectacular explosion. One that had rocked the parking lot of the restaurant where they’d just enjoyed their first real date. Isaac had been thrown through the air while glass and debris rained down like snow, and a good cop had been killed in the fiery blast. That incident had led them to insist on placing Sidney into police protective custody until Rivas-Solis could be dealt with.
“I don’t have a car anymore, Ike. What do I do now? How do I fix this? How am I supposed to explain that my car exploded to the insurance people? They won’t believe me!”
Isaac smiled at her, but he sensed her jumbled emotions were threatening to get the better of her.
“Don’t panic, okay? That’s what a police report is for. I’ll help you if you want. I’ll even help you pick out a new car when the time comes. We’ll go to the car lots together and I’ll help you research all the models you like.”
“You will?”
“Sure, I will. It’ll be fun.”
That idea seemed to reassure her some, and she smiled at him and nodded. They got out of the car and Isaac placed his hand on the small of her back and they headed toward her front door. He glanced around at the yard along the way. It was nicely kept, with an abundance of colorful flowers lining the walk to the porch. Cheerful.
She stopped to grab the small stack of mail that had piled up during her two and a half days of police protective custody, and then they stepped inside.
Isaac was immediately assaulted by the vibe of the room — highly anxious and slightly oppressive, with a heavy weight of fear blanketing everything else.
It was all part of his unwanted psych package. Along with the excruciating pain and flashes of someone else’s memories that sometimes came whenever he touched a person’s skin, he was also sensitive to the impressions he got whenever he stepped into any given place. His brother’s new house, for example, had given him an immediate sense of peace and happiness when he’d recently gone there for the first time. The detective’s section at the police station, by contrast, always held a sense of accomplishment tinged with both hope and dread. His own tiny apartment was like stepping into a box of despair.
He looked around Sidney’s place now, slowly taking it all in. The house was small, but cozy and clean. The blinds on the windows were drawn, shutting out the sunlight, and he somehow understood that keeping the place closed up was something Sidney had done on purpose. Easier to keep oneself hidden if you simply don’t interact with the outside world, not even through a glass window.
The living room and kitchen areas were open concept, separated only by the kitchen counter. It made the space feel larger than it actually was. Despite the vaguely negative vibe, Isaac smiled.
“This is a really nice place, Sid,” he said, examining the intricate crown molding. “You like it here?”
His question was met with silence, and Isaac frowned.
“Sidney?”
Still nothing.
He turned to look at her only to find her face full of alarm.
“Sidney, what is it?” His casual tone was gone, replaced by authoritative apprehension. “What’s wrong?”
She opened her lips as if to speak, but no words came. From his position he could see the paper in her hands begin to tremble. She was shaking.
Isaac marched across the room to where she stood and gently took the paper from her hands. He read the two-word note out loud…
“Found you.”
The words landed in his gut like a bag of bricks.
Monsters. Always lurking.
“It’s him, Ike.”
Sidney’s tortured voice cut through his thoughts. Her tears cut through his heart.
“It’s Damien. He’s been here. The dead cat on my doorstep. The mystery glass of water left on my kitchen counter. That was all Damien, wasn’t it? He’s been inside my house. It wasn’t that drug lord’s men at all!”
“No. I’m afraid it wasn’t.”
He had suspected as much all along. When she’d first told him about her abusive estranged husband and the strange things happening at her house, Isaac knew she needed to report it to the police. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Rivas-Solis’ first attempt to kill her with a car bomb, and the subsequent protective custody situation that ensued, he would have taken her to the cops in Rocky River that very night.
Well, he would damn sure make that happen now.
“Pack a bag, right now. You’re not staying here.” His voice held a steely determination. He would throw her over his shoulder and carry her out if he had to.
“But I just got out of police protective custody!”
“And now you’re going back in. I mean it, Sidney!” They stared at each other for a moment. “Or would you rather I just leave you here alone?”
That blunt question got her moving. Sidney turned and rushed from the living room, and Isaac followed after her. If he could get her away from this place maybe the dark cloud of danger he always felt hovering around her would finally go away.
He watched as she moved around her bedroom and bathroom, hurriedly stuffing clothes, toiletries, and other items into a suitcase and a small duffle bag. Then she grabbed a messenger bag and quickly placed her computer, an eReader, cords, chargers and ear buds inside. She threw the strap of the messenger bag over her shoulder, and Isaac picked up the suitcase and took the overstuffed duffle bag from her hands.
“Let’s go. Our first stop is the Rocky River Police Station to report all the strange occurrences here at your place like we started to do before your car was blown up.”
“And then what? Where do I go, Ike? I’m not safe anywhere with Damien lurking around!”
She sounded terrified, and Isaac caressed her face with his hand. “You’ll stay with me, all right? My place isn’t much to look at, but you’ll be safe.
She nodded, but he could see she was barely holding it together.
“Come on.”
They left her room and he gathered up the note and the envelope it arrived in before they rushed out the front door.
He quickly led her over to the car and helped her in, and then he placed her bags in the back seat. When he was finally behind the wheel he backed out of her driveway and peeled off down the street, tires screeching as they fled from more of her monsters.
2
The building was small and old. The neighborhood not great, but not bad either. Sidney wasn’t sure what she expected to see when they walked through the apartment door, but this definitely was not it.
The air in the place — though tinged with Isaac’s sexy leathery sage and citrus cologne — was stale.
The light coming through the two tiny windows was muted by grime and dirt.
The walls, no doubt once white, were now a dingy shade of gloom, yellowed by time and neglect. It was the kind of place that brought the phrase “slum lord” to mind, and Sidney wondered how in the world Isaac had ended up in a place like this. The furniture — a couch, a coffee table, a small side table, and one chair — though clean, appeared to be as ancient as the apartment building itself. Only the flatscreen TV that sat on the far wall seemed to be from this era. It was an interesting juxtaposition.
“I’m sorry, it’s not much.”
Isaac’s voice was apologetic, on the rocks with a twist of shame, and his gaze hit the floor before he looked at her. A twinge of pity hit Sidney’s stomach at the embarrassment she saw in his eyes.
“I just figured you would be more comfortable and a lot safer here than in yet another hotel.”
Sidney swallowed down her despair and nodded, her gaze flitting around the depressing apartment once more. Two days in a police-protected safe house, followed by a night in a two-star motel hiding from an evil drug kingpin who wanted her dead. Yeah, she’d had more than enough. At least here, she could sort of pretend like her life wasn’t still in danger.
“No, it’s great. Really.”
She tried to smile, but she knew it had fallen as flat as her voice.
His gaze met hers and their eyes locked. His eyebrow kicked up in a yeah-right-who-are-you-kidding gesture. The awkward laughter that followed cracked the strained air between them and shattered the tension.
“Okay, so it’s not great,” she agreed with a sad smile. Then she took a deep breath. “But it is better than being back at my place all alone right now.”
Isaac motioned to the left with a nod of his head. “I’ll put your things in the bedroom. You can take the bed and I’ll sleep out here on the couch.”
“Oh, no Ike, please. I don’t want to put you out of your own bed. I’ll take the couch.”
“Nope, not gonna hear it.” He turned and marched into the bedroom. “You’ll sleep here.”
He set her duffle bag down in a chair near the bed and placed the suitcase on the floor next to it.
Sidney followed him into the room and set her computer bag down on the king-sized bed that dominated the small space. She looked around the room feeling such overwhelming sadness. It was like she was drowning in it, as if she were being pulled under by a giant wave.
“Sid?”
Isaac’s voice was kitten fur soft. She heard him take a few steps closer and then he placed a hand on her shoulder. That was all the prompting it took. She whirled around and practically threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his chest. A strangled sob ripped from her throat and reverberated between them. He wrapped his arms around her tight and held her close as she cried.
She had held it together the whole time they were at the police station in Rocky River. Her voice had trembled and cracked when she explained things to the detectives there — telling them all about her history with her psycho abusive husband, and the strange happenings going on at her rented house, not to mention the note she’d gotten today. But through it all she’d held it together and kept the tears at bay. Now she finally just couldn’t any more. She’d reached the breaking point, and all the tears and frustration simply refused to be contained any longer.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to fall apart on you, Isaac. I just can’t help it.”
“Are you kidding me?” Isaac’s hands ran over her back in soothing circles. “Hell, Sidney. After all you’ve been through in the last few weeks, I think you deserve to fall apart a little bit.”
“Why is this happening, Ike? How did Damien find me? How? After all this time. I’ve been so careful.”
His arms tightened around her, then he lightly ran his hands over her bare arms.
“Look at me, Sid,” he said after a slight pause.
He gently took her by the shoulders, and Sidney lifted her gaze up to his beautiful soft grey eyes.
“Now I promised you that I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt you, and I meant it, okay? Not some ruthless drug kingpin wanna-be, and certainly not your violent, wife-beating ex-husband.”
Sidney wiped the tears from her chin and tried to compose herself.
“Except he’s not my ex,” she mumbled. Every time she thought about that little fact it made her stomach roll almost to the point of vomiting. How could she still be legally married to that monster?
“Well, he will be when I get through with him,” Isaac stated, his tone intense. “He’ll be begging you to divorce him just to get the crazy white boy off his back.”
He grinned and gave her shoulders a gentle shake in an effort to make her smile. Then he wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. This man had such a sweet gentle nature and Sidney knew that he meant every word he was saying. He would keep her safe or die trying.
“You’re a good man, Isaac Taylor.” The whispered words were full of unshed tears.
A soft pink hue tinted Isaac’s cheeks and he looked away.
“I’m just a decent cop, ma’am. Sworn to serve and protect. That’s all.”
She took in the bashful expression he wore and shook her head.
“Nope. Deny it all you want, but I already know the truth. You’re special.”
His bright grey eyes sparkled like the moon and he held her gaze for a moment. Then he looked away and quietly cleared his throat.
“Why don’t you get settled in, okay?” His tone was tender, and he gestured around at the room. “Like I said, I know my place isn’t much to look at, but please make yourself at home here. I still need to go check in at the station and get my paperwork on the Rivas-Solis case out of the way. But I’ll be back just as soon as I can.”
He stared at her for a moment longer, and then bent and timidly placed a light kiss on her forehead before he spun and marched out of the bedroom, like he was getting out before she could protest the action.
Sidney followed after him and watched as he grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter.
“There’s not a whole lot in the fridge, but I’ll pick up a few things on my way home, all right?”
She wrapped her arms around herself and shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t want you to go out of your way for me, Ike. It’s okay.”
The corner of his mouth curled upward. “I don’t think buying things like milk, bread and eggs is going out of the way. I’ll see you in a few hours. Call me if you need anything.”
She smiled at him, and he turned for the door.
“You lock this door behind me now. And don’t open it for anybody but me, you hear?”
That hint of southern twang in his voice felt comforting somehow. It always soothed her.
“I won’t. I promise.”
“All right. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
She nodded, and two seconds later he was gone.
She turned the bolt, locking the door behind him. The click of the latch gave her a reasonable amount of confidence. She was safe here. Certainly safer than back at her place where Damien could be lurking around any corner. The thought made her shiver, and she slid the chain in place too. Then she turned around and leaned back against the door.
