Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Hawk pulled into the driveway in front of Lucky’s little cabin.
He loved its simple design with the front porch tucked under the extended roof.
He imagined walking into a living space with a small kitchen and the bedroom and bathroom at the back.
The simple dark wood made it feel like it had sprung up from the forest floor. “How much land do you have here?”
“Just an acre. I wish the cabin was nestled in the trees out back.”
“Is that why you’ve got a couple saplings planted on each side of the cabin?”
“I planted them last year. I can’t wait to see them grow and surround the cabin.”
“It’ll be pretty.” Crushed rock crunched under his boots as he made his way to the porch.
The path was outlined in large river rock.
The scent of lavender from the bushes outside the path reminded him of his mother’s garden.
The miniature pink wild roses growing along the porch added another splash of color.
“Let’s get your stuff, secure your place, and head over to mine. You must be hungry.” They’d left the hospital a couple hours after she’d finished her breakfast and the nurse fitted her with a shoulder brace to keep her arm immobile so her chest could heal.
She grabbed her mail from the box, then met him up at the porch.
She didn’t have her keys. Presumably they were in the house with her purse.
She grabbed the spare she kept hidden beneath the bench in a metal hide-a-key she’d glued to the underside.
She unlocked the door and stepped inside, halting a few steps in as he closed the door.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” It sounded more like a question.
He raised a brow. “You sure?”
“I don’t remember coming home that night.”
“Desiree said you were out of it. Drunk.”
She squished her lips. “That’s just it. I don’t really drink a lot.
Never have. I got drunk once and hated the feeling.
Ever since, I slow down as soon as I’m feeling tipsy.
” Especially after she’d been drugged along with her family and woke up to them…
dead. Yeah, no. She didn’t like being even a little incapacitated.
Hawk’s understanding gaze said she didn’t need to spell it out. “Okay. Well, your car is here, so we know someone drove it.” He glanced around the room. “Your purse is on the counter by the stove.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “That’s not right.
” She turned to the table by the doorway with a bowl filled with change and keys he assumed belonged to her clients, since they each had a tag with a last name on it, including his.
Next to the bowl was a potted plant and a crystal dish filled with Hershey’s Chocolate Nuggets.
In the corner was a coat tree with a heavy coat, one lighter one, a sweater, and a couple of purses hanging from it.
He spotted a phone cable dangling over the table, too. “So you normally come in, drop your keys in the bowl, put your phone on the charger, hang up your coat or sweater and your purse.”
“Exactly. So why is my purse all the way over there?”
“If Desiree brought you home, then she’d have just dumped your stuff on the way to taking you to the bedroom or bathroom at the back.” The bathroom door was just past the dining area that was in the middle of the open space between the back rooms and the front living and kitchen space.
“I guess.” She moved toward the bedroom. “Something still doesn’t feel right.”
He looked around the room, trying to pick out anything that felt or looked off even though this was his first time here. He loved the pictures on the walls. All were bright fields of wildflowers in bloom with the blue sky as the backdrop in some and the forest in others.
He spotted a couple pictures of Lucky when she was young, standing with a little boy. Her brother, he presumed. They had the same eyes, same nose. Lucky’s hair was lighter than her brothers more light brown than blonde.
Lucky stopped at the door to the bedroom. “I never close this all the way.” She put her hand on the knob. “Do you smell that?”
She turned the knob just as he yelled, “Wait!” She pushed the door open and a whooshing sound was the first thing that alerted him to danger, right as a bright fireball erupted, making Lucky stumble backward away from the heat and flames.
Hawk ran forward, wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up, spun around, dropped her feet to the floor, then pushed her away. He spun back and ran into the room to put out the fire with the quilt from her bed.
Lucky braced herself with her hands on either side of the door frame, her eyes wide with fright and concern, even though the fire was out now. “What is that?” She notched her chin toward the glass bottle he pulled from beneath the charred blanket. “What happened?”
“Someone tried to burn down your house.” And maybe kill her, too. He didn’t say that last part out loud.
Lucky followed his stare to the back of the door where a piece of black duct tape held several burned up matchsticks and a partially burned matchbox taped to the floor.
When Lucky pushed the door open, the matchstick had scraped across the box, lighting it.
She’d also knocked over a soda bottle filled with gasoline.
As soon as the fumes hit the flame, it ignited and could have spread rapidly with the smeared gasoline spilling across the floor toward the bed. Everything would have gone up quickly.
He had to believe if he wasn’t here, she’d have gotten out, run the second she saw the flames.
Her hand gripped his forearm. “Put that down. It’s evidence. We need to call Jase.”
He pulled out his phone and made the call. “Hey. It’s Hawk. You need to come out to Lucky’s place, maybe bring the fire department. Someone set a trap to start a fire when Lucky came home.”
“What the…I’ll be there soon. Don’t touch anything. Get out of the house if you haven’t already.”
“We’re headed out now.” Hawk coughed alone with Lucky from the smoke and quickly put his hand to Lucky’s back and ushered her out the door. Hawk pocketed his phone again and pulled Lucky into his chest on the porch. He held her close. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
She buried her face in his chest. “You keep saying that but none of this is your fault.”
He stared off behind her, wishing he could do something to make her feel better, or at least find this asshole and stop him.
“What the hell is that?” He gently set Lucky aside and walked past her toward her car, parked next to his.
The front left tire was completely flat.
Squatting down for a better look, Hawk spotted a long slash in the sidewall—and a knife discarded just beneath the car.
“Are you kidding me?” Lucky leaned back against his Range Rover’s fender and stared up at the sky. “Fuck my life.”
He stood and took her by the shoulders. “Don’t say that. We saved the house and I can change your tire.”
“Yeah? And how long until you’re tired of picking up the pieces of this mess and resent me for bringing all of this fucking baggage to your doorstep?”
He kissed her on the forehead. “We all have baggage. Mine’s been a heavy load, which means I can certainly handle yours if it keeps you in my life so we can get to the good stuff.”
“Not much of that the last few days,” she grumbled.
“I know you’re tired and sore and someone is messing with you, but I need you to hang on a little longer. Once we get to my place, you can rest and relax and let me take care of you.”
She held her hand out wide. “Why would you want to do that?” She let her hand drop to her side and smack her thigh.
He cupped her beautiful face. “Because I care about you. You matter to me. And it pisses me off that someone is doing this to you, so I’m going to do everything I can to help you stop whoever this is, once and for all.” He stared down into her tear-filled eyes. “Do you believe me?”
She put her hand on his chest over his heart. “Yes. I’m trying.” Her gaze dropped to the ground behind him. “That knife was my father’s. He used it—” The words abruptly cut off with her breathing.
“Lucky?”
“On me,” she choked out.
The scars all over her.
She traced a long one down her arm. “I kept it to remind myself that he couldn’t hurt me anymore.”
This was some kind of psychological mind fuck someone was doing to her. “We’ll figure this out.” He held her trembling body close as they waited for Jase and the fire department to arrive.
It didn’t take long for their cars and trucks to line the road and draw attention.
He and Lucky sat on the bench on the porch and answered Jase’s questions, taking him through their arrival and going into the house.
Jase closed his notebook. “The fire inspector and I will collaborate on the arson report and investigation. I’ll take the knife and send it for fingerprints. We can add vandalism to the list of charges stacking up.”
“Did you speak to Neil?” Hawk wanted that guy back behind bars and far away from Lucky.
“I did. He has an alibi for the night Lucky went missing. It’s a weak one. Said he was home with his parents. They corroborated.”
“Doesn’t mean he didn’t sneak out,” Hawk pointed out.
“Any other leads?” Lucky’s solemn face held little hope.
“Not right now. I’m waiting on tests to come back, but they take weeks in some cases.”
Lucky brushed her feet against the worn deck boards. “Can I go inside and pack a bag?”
“Yes. All the evidence has been collected. They should be done.”
The wood floor, area rug, and her quilt were the only casualties of the fire. Her dresser and closet weren’t affected, except for the smoke. It could have been a lot worse.
Lucky got up on unsteady legs and rubbed at her thigh that had the stitches in it and the knee brace. “I’ll just be a few minutes.” She hobbled inside, looking dejected and just plain worn out.
“Take your time. Let me know if you need help.” Hawk called after her.
Despite her injuries, she turned back to him, reached out, and put her hand on his shoulder.
It felt so good to have her soft touch, to know she welcomed his in return. He wanted her to let her guard down with him. This small sign that she was bolstered him. They were getting closer.
He waited for her to go back inside before he spoke to Jase. “The knife.”
“Yeah. That’s personal. I wonder if the person who used it knows its significance.”
“They could have taken a knife from the butcher block in the kitchen. It was right there. Instead, they took it from the drawer beside her bed.” It creeped him out that they were in her room, by her bed, going through her personal things.
“I’ve always believed the person doing this was close to her.”
“She thinks it’s Neil.”
“He’s my lead suspect, even for the stuff that happened to her while he was behind bars, but I’ll be talking to him about this. It had to have been done after Desiree came by to pick up her things to take to the hospital.”
Hawk paused for a second. “So she has a key to get in. Neil doesn’t. You said there’s no forced entry.”
“Whoever knows about the knife probably knows about the key under the bench?” Jase didn’t sound sure, especially since Lucky had said only she and the crew who worked for her knew about the key, since Desiree had her own set.
“What about Desiree?”
Jase pursed his lips. “They’ve been friends forever. I’ve heard the sheriff say they’re more like sisters, since they grew up across the street from each other.
Hawk didn’t want to even entertain that her best friend would hurt her.
Not when the guy who murdered her family was on the loose and probably looking to finish what he started after his jail stint.
“So Desiree, the women who work for her, and anyone who got lucky while searching the porch could have gotten into the house.” Every lead took them to a dead end.
Lucky appeared on the porch again with a rolling duffle bag and two totes stacked on top of it.
Hawk stood and took all the bags from her. “You’re going to exacerbate your injuries.”
“It’s not that heavy with the wheels. Can we go?” Her tired eyes pleaded with him.
“Yeah. Is this all you want to bring?”
She bit her lip. “Um…”
He tilted his head. “What?”
“Can I bring my plant? I don’t want it to die. Not that I’ll be at your place that long. Right? I mean, it’ll be fine. I’ll be back here in a couple days when I’m feeling better.”
Jase smacked him on the back. “I’ll leave the two of you to figure this out.”
Hawk caught the guy’s smirk. “Thanks. Keep us posted.”
“Will do.”
With Jase driving off, Hawk focused on Lucky. “Sweetheart?”
“Yeah.” She bit her bottom lip, her gaze on his black work boots.
“You’re not coming back here until whoever is doing this is behind bars.” Or six feet under. “So grab the plant and anything else you want. We can fill up the back of the Range Rover and your car if that’s what it takes.”
She hesitated again. “I don’t want to impose.”
“I asked you to stay with me. I meant it. So tell me what else you want to take and I’ll pack it up.”
The last of the firefighters filed out of her house. “We’ll be in touch,” one of them said. “We cleaned up the gasoline and aired out the place. Did you know the window in your bedroom has a broken lock?”
Lucky’s eyes went wide. “Uh. No. I’ll have it fixed.”
“I’ll let Corporal Kent know about it. He’ll probably want someone to print it just in case that’s how they got in. The lock looks secure until you rattle the window and it comes loose.”
Hawk frowned. “I’ll make sure Jase takes a look at it before I fix it.”
The firefighter nodded, then headed out with the rest of his crew, leaving them alone on the porch.
Hawk sent Jase a text with the details about the window. “Grab your plant and anything else you want.” He took her bags to his car and loaded them in back.
She came out with her plant, a laptop bag, a blanket from her couch, and a wooden box.
“What’s that?”
She smiled. “All my favorite recipes.”
“Nice.” He took the load from her and put it in his car. “You look tired. How about we come back for your car in a couple days? I’ll change the tire then.”
“Okay.” She climbed into the passenger seat.
He met her in the driver’s seat.
Before he started the car, she put her hand on his thigh. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Everything.” She laid her head on his shoulder, sending a wave of warmth and protectiveness through him.
All he wanted to do was keep her close and safe.
It had been a long time since he’d felt this close to a woman. No that wasn’t true. He’d never felt this close to someone. This possessive and feral about keeping her safe.
He hoped he didn’t scare her.
Because she was quickly becoming too important for him to lose.