Fifteen #2
Backing out, I took a right instead of a left, taking the long way out of our neighborhood. Wilson, too busy ranting, didn’t take any notice.
“I hosed that kid down with water and left him lying in a puddle in one of the cells, and then I searched for that key to get the car moved before the state police found it. Everyone reported that he was shivering all night.” He seemed to find this amusing, then abruptly sobered. “I never thought to check his pockets.”
He also failed to notice how slowly I was driving.
“And then when me and Firmin finally got Mullane’s body taken care of, before I could even wonder if somehow that skinny Irish douchebag drug dealer hid it on the kid, Daniels calls and says Griff’s guardian is there to spring him. The fuck was that?”
“I’m a fixer. That’s what we do.”
“So of course everyone turned on me. I lost my wife, my kid, my job, all my assets are frozen, I’m on the run, and… I’m not doin’ it anymore.”
“Okay.”
“And then I realized, you’re the cause of all my problems, not Griffin Duchesne.”
Sometimes I hated being right all the time, but in this instance, better me than Griff. I would not have had things work out any other way. “Yeah, but you want to be free, don’t you? Why do this? Why come back?”
“I told you—my life is over. Taking you with me helps, at least a little. The two of us will go right off Thompson Bridge up here, and that’ll be the end.”
A murder suicide. And while that would be cause for concern, there was going into water dead and then there was going into water alive. I picked the latter.
When he pressed the muzzle of the gun to the back of my head, I hit the gas, which sent him flying back against the seat, surprising him into firing, putting a bullet in the roof of the vehicle.
I didn’t want him shooting me through the back of the seat, so I took a sharp right, which, instead of us hitting the railing and flying into the lake, put us in a powerful spin.
I was belted in, he was not, and the force sent him crashing into the window, his head taking the brunt of the collision.
When I hit the brakes and came to a bouncing stop, he flew into the back of the passenger seat, striking it hard, knocking him unconscious.
I unclipped quickly, checked on him, then pushed him over. The thud from his fall to the floor of the vehicle was followed by a groan, which I was happy to hear. Alive was better. Alive he could stand trial for James Mullane’s murder. All the rest of it was horrible, but that was the worst.
Retrieving my gun crossed my mind, but it was better to let Newcastle PD take it into evidence, along with Wilson’s Sig, and then keep his for the trial and return mine to me. Adding more charges was always good, and aggravated kidnapping was no joke.
There was rope in the glove compartment, a bad sign unless whoever had it lived on a ranch, but it was useful now, as I had no cuffs or zip ties.
After that, it didn’t take long for someone to stop—since they couldn’t get around me on the two-lane bridge—and call 911 for me.
What was helpful was that someone else had alerted them and they were on their way.
“Aren’t you Griff’s guardian?” the guy asked as we stood together at the front of the Tahoe. “I think we were on the plague field trip together. I’m Ted.”
I smiled and nodded. “How sick was yours?”
“I have never seen my daughter turn that shade of green. I had to bring snacks to the bathroom for two days. And the worst part—or maybe not the worst, given how sick she was—her mother was trying to get home to us for three days, but she had the whole Planes, Trains, and Automobiles experience.”
“Oh, man, I’m sorry.”
Wilson screamed then, and Ted startled, looking worried. “He can’t get out of that knot of yours, can he?”
I shook my head. “He’d need a knife, and I have the only one.”
“That’s good,” he said, his relief palpable.
Five minutes later, two police cruisers showed up, and five minutes after that, Deputy Chief Sampson.
“This is a great start to your new job, Miller,” he teased me.
I flipped him off.
“Oh, we’re gonna get along so well.”
I had no doubt.
Luke showed up moments later, and when he tried to drive down to me and was barred from doing so by the newly arrived State Police, Sampson ordered me into his SUV.
“Very fancy,” I told him.
“Nice knot you tied back there,” he complimented me. “And I need you in Newcastle later today to make a statement.”
“Will do.”
Once we reached the police tape, he stopped the car, and I got out. I waved, he waved back, and the next moment Luke crashed into me, holding me so tight, I could feel his heart beating.
“I will never leave you if it’s within my power,” I vowed, threading my fingers in his hair, my other hand on the small of his back, under his layers of windbreaker and sweater.
“Is all this over now? Is he going to prison?”
“Yes. That’s what you get for kidnapping, which he just did to me, and more importantly, they know he killed James Mullane. He will never be a free man again.”
“Okay,” he said, more to himself than to me, calming, his voice evening out. “Okay.”
“I love you.”
“And I love you. That’s why I was so scared. I couldn’t breathe until I saw your face.”
“Well, breathe now, because I’m right here and I’m all yours.”
“All mine?”
“Always.”
“I want to go home, Nash.”
“I will go anywhere with you, and home works, as I have groceries sitting in the garage. Wink is probably wondering what the hell is taking me so long to come in.”
“The shit you care about,” he rumbled, holding on, not ready to let go.
“Our cat? We care about our cat.”
“I know!” he choked out, clearly upset, the adrenaline pounding through him. “But how about you focus on the man having a nervous breakdown in your arms at the moment.”
“You’re okay,” I soothed him. “You knew I was gonna be all right.”
“I don’t wanna be scared anymore, you hear me?”
“Yes.” I nuzzled into the hollow between his neck and shoulder. “No more scaring you. Cross my heart.”
Luke held my hand in his all the way home, lifting it to kiss, and also glancing at me every few seconds.
“You realize you can’t watch me every second of every day any more than you can watch your kids. There’s some jeopardy involved with living.”
“I know that.” He pulled into the garage, shutting off his truck as the door slowly closed.
“Have faith in me, and I’ll have the same in you.”
He nodded, turned his head, and brushed away tears before facing me again.
“Why don’t you concern yourself with getting plane tickets to Maine,” I told him. “I feel we’re late getting started on that.”
Instant scowl.
“But see, you feel better, don’t you?”
“Just don’t fuckin’ scare me.”
“No, love, never again.”
He climbed over the center console and straddled my hips, hands on my shoulders, staring into my eyes. “Do I have your attention?”
“Always,” I promised him, loving the warmth in his beautiful eyes, holding his granite thighs, and hearing his low moan of contentment. There was no doubt that Luke Duchesne loved me. It was stamped all over him.
“Always?” he asked, sounding almost angry.
“Yes. I swear.”
His eyes narrowed as he studied me, and then he moved back to his seat and was out of the truck in a flash. As I watched, he unlocked the door and went inside.
Strange.
I scrambled out of the car and walked to the Jeep. “I guess I’ll bring in the groceries, then,” I called out to him.
Nothing.
Getting the bags, I went into the house, slammed the mudroom door behind me, and when I turned, Wink was right there to howl at me.
“Why didn’t you yell at the first guy who came through,” I muttered, toeing off the sneakers I’d worn, since for once it wasn’t raining.
He leaped at me, dug his little claws into my right calf while I called him a little fucker, then let go and darted away.
I could hear Luke in our bedroom as I passed by. “Thanks for helping with the groceries,” I called out. He didn’t answer, and as soon as I put the perishables away, I was going to go find out what had crawled up his ass.
I dropped the bags loudly on the island, partly because I was irritated and partly to make noise to get his attention, got the milk in the fridge and was about to do the same with the stupid shredded cheese, when I was shoved up against the island.
“Hey,” I said softly, “what’s?—”
“You scared me,” he husked, and I caught my breath when his hot mouth was suddenly on the side of my neck, kissing, sucking, before I was once more pressed up against the island, harder the second time, his front molded to my back.
“Luke,” I whispered, my voice going out on me as he pushed his face into my hair, inhaling deeply. “Honey, talk to me.”
“You’re not hearing me,” he said gruffly, and I had to move things aside so I could brace my hands on the gray-veined marble as he groped me hard. “So talking isn’t gonna work.”
“What’re you—” Difficult to speak when he was loosening my belt, working open the button and zipper of my jeans, all the while rubbing against my ass. “Luke?”
“You scared me,” he repeated, and squatted behind me, lifting my sweater and kissing the small of my back.
I shivered as he put both hands on my hips and slowly eased my jeans and underwear down my thighs to my knees. “We should go to the— fuck ,” I moaned as his tongue licked over the top of my crease.
“Take the sweater off,” he ordered, his voice guttural and low.
Pulling it up over my head, I put it on the island before he peeled me the rest of the way out of my clothes. I had a moment to think I was naked, but for my socks, and he was not, before he took my thickening cock in hand and stroked me.
“All of you, every part, is so beautiful,” he murmured, and then kissed between my shoulder blades, releasing my length to bend me over the counter. “And I get to touch you whenever I want… have you whenever I want.”
“Please,” I begged him.