Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
COLE
I wait until Hannah Grace is no longer visible before I pull my phone out, shooting a text off to Sawyer and Sydney with images and video from the car followed by another text.
Call you in a few minutes.
My next call is to the detective I’ve been working with at the Nashville Police Department who agrees to head over.
By the time I hang up with the rental company, I have five minutes before Detective O’Connell should be here, so I pull up Sawyer’s contact and hit call.
“Are you okay?” Sawyer answers.
“I was inside when it happened. Probably in the middle of the night. This is why I wish I had that fucking security system already.”
“How do we know they wouldn’t have circumvented that system again? They destroyed the cameras,” Sydney says.
“Cole, you’re on speaker.”
“Yeah, figured that out, King. Thanks.”
“Where’s Hannah Grace? Has she seen the car?” he asks.
Reaching back, I grip the back of my neck, rubbing at the tension building in my shoulders.
“We were on the way to school when I saw it. So yeah. I sent her to school while I dealt with the car. Her sister is due here this afternoon, and I don’t want to freak her out. Plus this isn’t something I want the neighbors seeing longer than necessary.”
“The cameras were one thing, Cole. This is a completely different ball game. Whoever is doing this is escalating. But hopefully that means he made a mistake when he destroyed the car.”
“That’s what I’m hoping. Maybe this was the break we needed.” I scan the car again looking for a clue.
The police department will process it on a more detailed level, but anything that sticks out, I want to see first.
“Break or not, this is getting out of hand. I’m flying out tomorrow,” Sawyer says, interrupting my search of the car.
“What?” I’m not expecting Sawyer’s announcement and nearly bobble my phone.
“I’ve already booked my flight,” he says matter-of-factly.
“I can handle this.” My defenses are rising and I want to argue.
“It’s not about your ability to handle this, Cole. This is about finding this bastard before something worse happens.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m not coming,” Sydney adds.
“Thank God for small miracles,” I mutter.
“I heard that!”
“If I didn’t want you to hear it, I wouldn’t have said it. Neither of you needs to be here. You’re doing what you can.”
If Sawyer shows up, is he going to find out that I screwed up this case because I was getting closer to Hannah Grace?
Were you?
The question is realized before I can stop it.
No. One hundred percent no. If anything, that closeness meant I was more concerned, more focused on figuring this out.
And Sawyer won’t judge me. It wasn’t that long ago that he was in my same position.
“I’m not coming to second-guess what you’re doing. I’m coming to support you.”
“I—”
A black sedan pulls up across the street.
“PD is here,” I tell Sawyer and Sydney.
“We’ll talk later. If not, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Sawyer says and the phone beeps over the speaker.
Detective Murphy O’Connell was assigned to the case when we first contacted NPD after the rose incident. While they documented it—and I had spoken to Detective O’Connell after that incident and met him after the camera issue when I took in the camera pieces, there hadn’t been much for them to get involved with. And I wasn’t looking for them to be involved before. I just wanted it documented that they had been contacted so once we did catch the bastard, they could prosecute him and limit his ability to get off on a technicality.
As he exits the vehicle, he whistles.
“Damn. When did this happen?”
I shrug and reach out a hand for a handshake when he gets close enough.
“I wish I knew. I got an email from the company I ordered the system from a few days ago apologizing for some ‘unforeseen delays’ that have now extended my delivery window. Security system is at least another week from being installed. The car was fine last night when we came home. When we went to leave this morning—this.”
“You think it’s related to everything else?”
“I think if it wasn’t, this wouldn’t be the only car destroyed, and the others parked on the street or in the driveways seem untouched.”
He nods.
“Nothing between the cameras and this?” he asks, using his own phone to grab images of the car.
“Nope.”
He glances up as he walks around the car.
“Nothing?”
“Not a damn thing. At least not yet. My team in California is going back through the data.”
“Where is Ms. Whittaker?” he asks.
“I sent her ahead to school. I didn’t want her to have to keep seeing this.” I gesture to the car.
He nods.
“Wise choice. Someone really doesn’t like you around.” He points to the car.
“Nope. Too bad I don’t scare easy.”
Hakeem’s face flashes through my brain, and the sharp edge of guilt slices through my stomach painfully. I suck in a breath, and Murphy’s attention shifts back to me.
“Strickland, you okay?”
“Long story.”
“I’m good with those.”
“It’s not related to the case. Nothing NPD or any other police department needs to look into.” I try to keep it vague, but all it does is put Murphy on edge.
“Afraid I need a little more than that,” he says, taking a more protective stance than a moment ago.
“I was Special Forces. Deployed twice.”
Murphy relaxes immediately.
“Thank you for your service.”
I nod.
“Have you already called your insurance company?” He changes the subject.
“It was a rental. I called the company after I called you.”
“Yeah, they’ll need our report for their insurance.”
“I’m not looking forward to being anywhere around Sawyer when he gets the bill for this.” I don’t even want to imagine the cost for something like this.
“I want to have this towed to our lab. See if we can pull any fingerprints or DNA from it.”
“Sawyer and I were just talking that maybe he finally slipped up.”
“Let’s hope so. If you give me the contact info for the rental company, I’ll reach out. Keep them posted about what’s going on.”
“Can do. They didn’t seem like they were in a rush to get this back after I explained what it looked like.”
“I bet. Let me radio this in and request the truck. I also want to get a couple of officers out to canvas the neighbors again.”
“You think it’ll help? They haven’t seen anything before.”
Yet another dead end. How is it that Hannah Grace doesn’t have at least one neighbor spying on the rest of the neighborhood?
“It can’t hurt. From what I read from the previous attempts, most of the neighbors are gone during the day. It’s a quiet neighborhood so they weren’t looking for anything. I would bet most of them have video doorbells too.”
I shrug.
“Maybe.”
“Look, I’m aware this isn’t the answer you want, but be patient. We’ll figure it out.”
“I have little patience when it comes to Hannah Grace’s safety.”
I try to ignore the statistics of the victims of stalkers that something actually happens to. But it’s getting harder to ignore the more this situation drags out.
“Understood. First things first, let me start with getting everyone out here and we’ll go from there.”
“I’ll grab the rental paperwork for the contact info,” I say.
He walks to his car and I open the passenger side carefully since I don’t feel like crawling over the glass scattered over the driver’s seat. I meet Murphy by his car and hand him the contract.
“Here you go.”
“Thanks. Dispatch said it could be a while on the tow truck. Morning rush hour accidents have most of our contracted trucks busy already.”
“Fuck. How long?”
I glance at my phone. It’s already been over an hour since Hannah Grace left for school.
“Earliest estimate is a couple of hours.”
Fuck .
“Do I have to wait here with you and the car? I’d like to get to the school sooner rather than later.”
I haven’t heard from Hannah Grace since she left, and while I hadn’t asked her to text me, I was hoping she would.
“I can request someone from our community services division to wait here.” He reaches back in and grabs his radio, straightening as he calls for a community service officer on his portable radio.
I wait until he’s done to ask my next question.
“You’re sure only a few hours?”
He shrugs. “It should. Why?”
“Not only do I not like it being in front of Hannah Grace’s house like a damn spotlight, but I don’t want to risk any evidence being contaminated.”
“Not gonna happen. I’ll stay here until the CSO gets here. If there’s evidence on the car, we will find it.”
“Thanks, Murphy.”
Pulling up my app, I order the closest Uber to my location.
“You sure you don’t want to wait around? CSO is maybe fifteen minutes out. I can give you a lift to the school.”
My body is on high alert being separated from Hannah Grace.
“Thanks, I appreciate it. But the Uber will be here in about two minutes.”
He nods. “I’d do the same.”
“Keep us posted on the car?”
“Will do.”
“Oh, you need the keys.” I fish the rental car keys out of my pocket and pass them over just as the car I ordered pulls up.
“Thanks.”
“Thank you,” I say, waving and getting into the car.
I’m anxious the whole way to the school, not taking a deep breath until Hannah Grace’s car comes into view parked right next to Zach’s.
She’s here. She’s safe.
But my heart still pounds and will until I can see that for myself.
You can’t rush into the classroom. You’ll scare the kids.
It’s hard, but I manage to move at a brisk pace instead of the all-out run I want to make through the school. Zach has a class in the gym with him when I walk by, but I don’t stop, intent on getting to Hannah Grace.
The room is dark, a movie playing on a portable cart and the kids eating snacks from plates on their desks. Hannah Grace’s face brightens as soon as our eyes connect, and she meets me by the door, stepping into the hallway with me and wrapping her arms around me.
My arms tighten, holding her to me when I know I have to let her go based on where we are and who is watching. But that awareness doesn’t loosen my hold on her.
Now.
Now I can breathe. My heart rate is finally returning to a normal rhythm.
“You’re safe,” she murmurs.
“I told you I would be. I was hoping you would text me when you got to the school.”
“Sorry, I meant to. Zach asked where you were, and by the time I finished the story, the kids were already lining up. What did Detective O’Connell say?”
I shake my head.
“I’ll tell you after the kids leave.”
She squeezes me again, her eyes catching mine. If the kids weren’t here, I’d drop my lips to hers. They’re red, swollen, and I lift a finger to graze the skin there.
“I wish I could kiss you,” she murmurs.
“In my head, I am kissing you,” I tell her, enjoying her quick intake of breath and the pink that travels to her cheeks.
“I will kiss you once we’re alone.” Her words are a promise.
“I’m going to hold you to that, Honey Girl.”
“I hope you do. Now, come on, we need to head back in there.”
She pulls me into the classroom, keeping our fingers threaded until we both sit at her desk.
The half day means that the movie takes most of the day, leaving just enough time for the kids to clean up before it’s time to walk them out.
“What time does your sister get here?” I ask once we’re done with the kids and walking back to Hannah Grace’s classroom.
“Let me text her.”
I follow her into the classroom, and she grabs her cell phone from her bag, her fingers flying over the screen.
“She says she should be here in about thirty minutes. God, she must have left early.”
“Don’t college students generally sleep in?” I ask, making sure her door is locked before moving closer to her.
“Laura Leigh has always been an early riser, plus she gains an hour coming from Knoxville. What are you doing?” she asks.
Reaching out, I yank her into my arms. Her pupils dilate, her breaths becoming shallow as I search her gaze.
“The way I figure it, once Laura Leigh gets here, we won’t really have much alone time.” I circle her waist with my hands, brushing my fingers under the hem of her shirt.
She sucks in a breath.
“P-probably not.”
“And you remember our conversation about making out in a classroom?”
I slide my hands back, filling them with her ass, as I squeeze.
“Mmm. Mm-hmm.” Her eyes close and her lips part as she arches her lower half against me.
Lowering my head, I press a kiss against the side of her throat, nuzzling her hair aside so I can track upward.
“I hated not being with you this morning. My body felt like it was missing something,” I whisper in her ear. “And it was. It was missing my heart.”
Bright blue eyes pop open, twin flames of desire as her eyes clash with mine.
“Kiss me.”
I don’t need to be asked twice, slanting my lips against hers and tangling our tongues together. Her hands climb my chest to tunnel through my hair, and she presses her breasts against me. I curse the layers of fabric between us. Instead of touching her soft skin, my hands itch as they rub back and forth over the rough denim of her jeans. Her hips squirm against mine and my dick punches at my zipper. The need to prove how safe she is, to be as close to her as possible, is overriding my common sense.
She spins us, her hands dropping to my fly and releasing it.
“We don’t have much time,” she murmurs.
“What do you mean?”
She doesn’t answer, at least not with words. Instead she pushes down my jeans and boxers, and my dick bounces into her waiting hand. My knees buckle, and it’s a good thing her chair is behind me and catches my fall. Following me down, she sinks to her knees on the floor.
“Hannah Grace .” Her name ends on a moan as she drags her tongue along my cock, and stars pop behind my vision.
“You locked the door?”
I open my eyes, her blonde hair mussed, lips swollen as she drags her tongue along the bottom one.
“Yes.”
She leans forward again, another drag of her tongue from root to tip before she sucks me into her mouth. My hands find her hair as pleasure builds.
“Fuck.” I try to hold my hips still, but she makes it nearly impossible, lowering herself onto my cock until I bump the back of her throat.
Using her knees, she shifts back and forth, almost releasing me before sliding back down. Her hands grip my thighs as she hollows her cheeks with the suction and runs her tongue along the underside of my dick.
“Honey Girl.”
This isn’t something we’ve done before, and it’s probably a good thing given how quickly the leash I have on my control is snapping. She slides back down again and hums. The vibration is all it takes to sever the last thread. I’m done. With a growl, I yank her off the floor and into my lap, slamming my tongue into her mouth and tasting a combination of her and me and groaning as she sucks at my tongue almost as well as she sucked my dick.
Reaching my hands up her shirt, I unclasp her bra, pushing it and her shirt out of the way and latching on to one of her breasts, nipping at the stiff peak before dragging my tongue.
“ Cole .” She grinds against my dick, and my orgasm settles in my balls.
I’m not some inexperienced teenager, but I’m about to embarrass myself like one.
“I need to be inside you right the fuck now,” I growl against her breast.
She moans, pushing herself against my mouth.
“Yes. Hurry. We don’t have much time.”
My arms grip her waist as I surge from the chair, trying to identify a flat surface while continuing to kiss any skin I can reach with my lips. Her desk is clear enough, and I slide her down my body only long enough to unbutton her jeans and slide them and her panties around her ankles before I boost her back onto the wood surface. Shoving things out of the way, I push her until she’s prone. Her shirt is pushed up, jeans and panties around her ankles, and the image she makes with her bare breasts and pink nipples, her pussy waiting for me, has my dick weeping.
“Cole.” She opens her arms.
I shake my head.
“Not yet, Honey Girl.”
Lifting her legs, I dive under her jeans until I can slide my tongue along her pussy. She cries out, covering her mouth with her hands to stifle the sound as I find her clit, running my tongue around the hard bundle of nerves while my fingers find the tip of her breast, tugging on the nipple while I focus my attention on building her orgasm.
Her hips lift against my mouth, and I use my other hand to keep her still, making it impossible for her to do anything other than feel the pleasure I know is racking her body.
“I’m…going…to… Cole .”
Recognizing how close she is, I untangle us enough to line myself up at her entrance, pressing into her until my hips tap against hers. Her pussy is already spasming, milking my orgasm to the surface.
My hands grip her hips and I piston against her, speeding up as her hands lift to her mouth again, her cries becoming louder as the orgasm builds higher and higher. She lifts against me, meeting thrust for thrust as I increase our rhythm, yanking her against me as my fingers flex into her hips.
“Fuck, Honey Girl, I’m so close,” I grit out, fighting to keep the orgasm at bay until she comes.
“Me…too,” she pants.
One of her hands leaves her mouth and trails to her breast, her fingers plucking at the tight bud, and the image is gasoline to the fire that rages.
“Fuck. I need you to come, baby. I need you to come right the fuck now. Come on my cock.”
Between my cock, her fingers, and my words, she detonates around me, sinking her teeth into her hand as her pussy locks around me. Her vise-like grip on my dick is all it takes and I unleash, losing the rhythm as I piston into her, locking my own shout behind my teeth as I grind my molars together while light explodes behind my eyelids, shattering into a star-filled universe where Hannah Grace is the center.
“Holy shit,” she murmurs, sitting up while we’re still joined together.
Her arms circle my neck and her hard nipples brush against the cotton of my shirt.
“Holy shit indeed,” I say and claim another, more chaste kiss.
“We may need to make some alone time when Laura Leigh is here,” I tell her when we break the kiss.
I step back, tugging up my boxers and jeans, and help Hannah Grace straighten her own clothing.
“I’m trying to convince Zach to go for coffee with her.”
“Isn’t he a little old for her?”
She shrugs. “Seven years isn’t that much of a difference.”
She has to slide her bra out of her shirt to redo it, her breasts swaying beneath her shirt, hard nipples poking through the fabric.
“Not that much of an age difference,” I echo, ready for round two.
“We’ll find time for us,” she says and finishes fixing her bra before closing the distance and lifting on her tiptoes to graze my lips with a kiss.
“I’m holding you to that,” I tell her, locking my arm around her waist.
“Feels like you’re holding me to a lot more than that.”
Her giggle is infectious and I bark out a laugh.
“Always, Honey Girl.”
“I think I just proved I’m good for it,” she teases.
“That you did. And I’m going to keep that memory fresh until round two,” I tell her.
“Promises, promises,” she says and dances away to grab some supplies to clean up after us.
“How much longer until Laura Leigh gets here?” I ask, stepping behind her and caging her against the counter above her supply cabinet.
“Mmm.” She grinds her ass against my cock.
I’m ready to say the hell with it and engage in round two when she speaks again.
“Let me check.”
I release her and she grabs her phone.
“Oh, she texted me ten minutes ago. She’s here. Let me go grab her.”
“I’ll finish cleaning up here if you want to drop your bags off at the car when you grab her,” I offer.
She nods.
“Then we can start our Christmas break too.”
I help her load up her bags and drop a kiss to her lips.
“I love you. In case I don’t have the chance to say it much while Laura Leigh is here.”
“You better say it a bunch when she’s here,” she tells me, poking a finger into my chest. “Love you too. We’ll be back in a minute.”
“I’ll meet you guys up front. This won’t take long.”
She blows me a kiss, and I turn my attention to straightening her desk, the image of her still sprawled on top of it fresh in my head.
Fuck, I love that woman.
“I’m going to marry her.” I say the words out loud, getting used to them again.
All I have to do is ask her.