Chapter Thirty-Eight
T he wash of light through the drapes in Daniel’s bedroom and the need to pee was what woke Keira up. For a moment, she was disoriented, but wasn’t scared because Daniel’s arms were still holding her tight. She realized she hadn’t had another nightmare after the first one. Maybe letting Daniel hold her at night would keep them at bay for a while.
She moved to slip out of his grip without waking him up.
“Where are you going, Baby?”
A shiver coursed down her spine at his gruff morning voice. She looked up to see him staring at her through sleep-narrowed eyes. “I need to use the bathroom.”
Daniel nodded. “Do you need help?”
She shook her head.
“Come right back,” he said.
“I will.”
Keira walked back into the bedroom after using the toilet and brushing her teeth. Daniel was still lying in bed with the sheet down around his waist, showing off his thick chest with just a bit of hair in the middle that ran down to his navel and then beyond.
“Come here, Keira.”
Her eyes jerked to his. She felt a blush run over her face at being caught staring at him. Daniel took her arm, pulling her the rest of the way, and tenderly lifted her over his chest to lie down in the spot she had vacated before.
They both relaxed back into the mattress, enjoying the closeness and the silence of the morning. Keira lifted her head, glanced at the clock, and blinked. “Daniel, is it really eleven in the morning?”
Daniel tilted his head so he could see the clock. “Yup.”
“We slept fourteen hours.”
“Yup.”
Keira rolled her eyes and pushed against his chest. “As much as I would like to stay in bed, I’m stiff from not moving.”
Daniel stretched against her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “Let’s take another shower, get dressed, and find something to eat. I need to check in with Conner. Hopefully, he’s still here.”
Within half an hour, they were walking down the stairs with Daniel’s arm around her for support. They stopped at the bottom to watch Conner in the living room, pacing back and forth in front of the large window and arguing with someone.
Keira cringed at a few words, and the anger came from him. She wouldn’t want to be at the receiving end of his anger.
He must have heard something because he turned. “Captain, I need to go.” He listened for a second. “I’m needed here, sir.” His scowl got darker as he listened and then turned away from them. Conner lowered his voice. “Then fire my ass, sir. Or just let me do this, and I’ll be at the station in the next few days. You know how to get hold of me.” Conner punched the button and took a deep breath before turning back to them.
Daniel raised an eyebrow. “Problems with your captain?”
Conner scowled at Daniel. “Don’t start with me, man.”
“I’ve been hounding you for years to come work with us.”
Conner ran a hand down the back of his neck. “After that call, I’m getting closer to taking that step.” His eyes turned to Keira, and he took the few steps to get to her before he cupped her chin and raised her face. “You look a little more rested this morning. Are you hungry?”
Keira lowered her eyes and nodded.
Conner dropped his hand. He cleared his throat. “Let’s get you guys something to eat.”
Keira turned toward the kitchen, not waiting for the men to follow.
Daniel slapped him on the back. “So, are you coming to work with us finally?”
Conner chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Jesus, man. Give it a break. You know it’s going to happen eventually. I don’t know when. Got it?”
Daniel smiled. “Yeah, I got it. Let’s find something to eat.”
“I’m hungry, too. I ate an apple around six this morning, but I’ve been busy doing paperwork and making calls.”
Both men stopped abruptly in the doorway and watched as Keira pulled things from the fridge.
“Keira, what are you doing?”
She looked up. “What does it look like I’m doing, Daniel?”
Conner snorted, earning a scowl from both.
“How about you sit, and we make something for you?”
“Daniel, I need to move around. You guys can help, but I’m cooking.”
She caught the smile Conner tried to hide.
“Fine, but if I see you’re overdoing it, your ass is back upstairs. Got it?”
Keira bowed. “Absolutely, my Lord Bully.”
Conner couldn’t hold back his laugh then. God, she was adorable.
Daniel wanted to laugh with him, but he remained standing firm and looked stern.
“Then let’s get to work.”
They decided to make breakfast because of the supplies Daniel had in his house.
After the dishes were cleared, the three sat around the kitchen table. Conner set a tablet of paper in front of him and picked up a pen.
He looked up at Keira. “Did you have any other bad dreams last night?”
Keira shook her head. Her body was tense. She knew what was coming. She would have to talk about the attack and stalking. The food in her stomach rolled, threatening to come back up.
Daniel slid his hand over to her and grasped her hands, which were gripped tightly together on top of the table. “At any time you want to stop, just tell us.”
Keira nodded slowly before she turned back to Conner. “Go ahead. I’ll do the best I can.”
Conner looked at her critically for a moment before he started. “When did you notice your things started to go missing?”
Keira tensed, then made herself relax. “They didn’t go missing at the beginning. I first noticed that things I knew I had in a certain area were put somewhere else. Places I know I wouldn’t put them. At first, I thought I was just tired, overly stressed, or getting forgetful.”
“Can you describe some of the things?”
“I found my perfume on the windowsill above my kitchen sink. I knew I just got back from dry-cleaning a shirt, which was found in the hamper. Crackers on my nightstand, and I never eat in the bedroom.”
Conner nodded as he wrote as fast as he could. “Then what happened?”
“My stuff went missing.” She glanced sideways at Daniel as a blush crossed her face. “My favorite bra was gone.”
Conner and Daniel shared a quick smile at Keira’s shyness.
“My coffee can was empty when I had just opened it the day before. The book I was reading the night before which I had set on my nightstand was gone.”
Conner looked up when Keira stopped talking. “What happened next, Keira?”
“I started to feel like I was being watched. A shiver would run up my back at different times of the day. Then ... I received the note.”
Conner’s compassionate gaze flew to hers.
Keira gritted her teeth and looked away from Conner toward Daniel. “It was inside my locked car on the dashboard. One of the worst things I found was evidence that he was m-masturbating with my underwear.”
Daniel and Conner both jerked to attention and glanced at each other. “We didn’t know about that, Keira.”
Her gaze lifted and pinned both in a single glance before she lowered it. “It was embarrassing, and I had it in my head you both didn’t believe me.”
Conner cursed under his breath, and Daniel’s grip tightened on her hands.
“At no time did I not believe you, Sweetheart.” Daniel’s tone was urgent.
Conner bent down to see her face. “I believed you, too, Keira. I know I seemed like an asshole the first time we talked at the station, but I knew when you left you were telling the truth.”
Keira shrugged and kept her tear-filled eyes downcast.
Daniel shook his head at Conner. Keira was glad they were going to get off that topic.
Conner cleared his throat. “What happened after the letter?”
Keira’s gaze flew to Conner’s and then went away. “I came home from work the night before I was a-attacked and all my underwear was cut to shreds, and everything in my bathroom was shattered.”
A look crossed Daniel’s face, which was hard to read. “So, the night I followed you home, you went into your house, found the mess, and then what?”
A tear slid down Keira’s cheek. “You followed me home? Why?”
“You wanted to put space between us, and I was trying to give you that, but I was concerned. I wasn’t going to leave you alone.”
She made a frustrated swipe of her tear-stained face. She had so many questions right then, but decided it wasn’t the time. “I grabbed a few knives and backed myself up into a corner of the living room.”
“So, you’re telling me, you sat terrified and alone all night when I was just outside?”
Keira’s eyes flew to Daniel’s at the tortured sound of his voice. “I didn’t know at the time you were out there.”
His gaze trapped hers. “Can you tell me you would have come out to me if you had known I was there?”
Keira’s eyes widened, and she bit her lip at the turbulent emotions on Daniel’s face. What could she say? They all knew the answer to that. She sucked in a gasp when Daniel stood abruptly and walked out of the kitchen, leaving the other two in silence. Keira turned a dazed look at Conner.
“Try to understand, Keira. This situation is going to take you a long time to get over, but it will take a long time for Daniel, too, because he loves you so much. Daniel and I are born and built to take care of women and children, and we feel we failed miserably with you.”
With a deep breath, Keira pulled her eyes from Conner. Keira’s first instinct was to find Daniel, but what would she say? She couldn’t decipher her own emotions, how was she going to help him? “I’m going to lie down for a bit.”
Conner looked at her critically. “That’s probably a good idea. We’ll finish this later. Is there anything you want from the grocery store? I’m going to get enough food to last us a couple of days.”
Keira stood. “Yes. Get a large pot roast, carrots, onions, and potatoes. I’ll make that tonight, and we can have sandwiches from the leftovers tomorrow.”
“As much as I would love for you to make a home-cooked meal, you really don’t need to do that. You’re still recovering and tired. I can get us some hamburgers and grill them tonight.”
“Conner, it won’t be any trouble to make a roast. Get some chicken breasts for tomorrow night to grill. I’ll marinate them.”
“You’re going to spoil us, Keira.”
Keira shrugged and walked toward the doorway. She set a hand on the doorframe but didn’t turn. “Please wake me when you get back so I can start the roast, okay?”
“Okay. Get some rest.”
Keira nodded and walked off.