Chapter 13
13
ALEC
“ N ow what?” Charlie questioned as he secured zip ties around the man’s wrist and feet. It would be terrible if I had to knock him out again if he woke up and tried to run.
That was a lie. I kind of enjoyed it the first time.
Something wasn’t adding up. I looked between the body and the man from the library.
“If this guy here isn’t the one we’re after, then he knows who is.” I turned at the sound of the bathroom door opening. Rae stormed out, marched to her bedroom, and slammed the door shut. “She’s not taking this very well.”
Charlie laughed as he stood from the floor. “You’re a moron if you thought she would. There’s a dead body on her porch and an unconscious man on her living room floor. What did you expect from her?”
I pursed my lips. The urge to run in there and wrap her in my arms, to protect her from any harm, was overwhelming.
“This place isn’t safe.”
“Was it ever?” Charlie scoffed. “You need to get her out of here. Out of town for a few days until we get this worked out.”
“What about him?” I nudged the now groaning man with my heel. “We need to question him.”
“I’ll stay here, interrogate our little friend, and keep working on the case. At some point, I need to get that evidence out of the cold case files and search for more shit they missed. Don’t worry about me. I’ll stay in a hotel or something.”
The slam of drawers and other sounds coming from Rae’s room drew my attention. I stared at the closed door. The idea of getting her out of here, this town, me included, sounded fantastic. My home had security and was actively monitored, a great place to hide out until we had better leads and knew more about what we were dealing with.
“I’ll go talk to her.” I ran a hand along my scruff-covered jaw. “She won’t like it, but it’s for the best. Can you dig up the number for her boss at the library? I’ll call her and let her know she won’t be coming in until we solve this.”
Charlie grinned. “Oh, this will be fun to watch.”
I slammed my shoulder into his on my way to the bedroom.
The knob turned freely. A good sign, I hoped. But that hope vanished when I took in the state of her room. An open, half-full suitcase lay on the bed. Rae knelt in front of the dresser, tossing clothing over her shoulder from the lower drawer onto her bed.
“What are you doing?” Maybe she heard us and was excited to get out of town.
“I’m leaving,” she said, not looking up from the clothing.
“Yeah, Charlie and I were just discussing that. You and I are?—”
“No.” The dresser rocked with the force used to close the drawer. Wild brown eyes glared at me from her spot on the floor. “I’m going alone. I’m leaving this town and never coming back.” Her bottom lip quivered. “I won’t be responsible for any more death.”
I cringed. Thank goodness the police weren’t here yet or they’d take her statement the wrong way. I knew what she meant, but others… not so much.
“You’re not going anywhere alone,” I stated and crossed both arms over my chest. It was hard to feel commanding when standing in only boxers and an undershirt.
“Yes. I. Am.” Rising, she pulled a sweatshirt over her head, whipping her loose hair from inside the neck to sway along her back. “I’m leaving you. Charlie. Everyone who has ever spoken to me. No one is safe around me. I can do this on my own.”
I sighed. Tugging on my jeans, I left the front hanging open. “Rae, you don’t have a choice in this. You’re coming with me. It’s not safe.”
Her laugh sounded hysterical, maybe even bordering on crazy. “Oh yeah? I’d love to see you try to stop me.”
Slamming the top of the suitcase closed, she zipped up the sides. I shrugged and dug through my duffel. Her back was still to me when I pulled out the steel handcuffs.
“What the—” She gasped, eyes wide, as I gripped her wrist and pulled her to the bed. Her back bounced on the mattress. “Alec, what are you—” She stopped when I slipped one cuff onto her left wrist. She followed the movement as I pulled her arm out wide, securing the other end of the handcuffs to the metal headboard.
I dug through my bag, searching for my spare set, all while she screamed to release her and tugged on the cuffs, the clang of metal thundering through the room.
“This is for your own good.” She moved her hand this way and that to keep me from securing the other wrist. “You’re the one who threw down the challenge, Sunshine, so don’t get pissed that I accepted.”
“You’re crazy,” she said through gritted teeth. If her glare could kill, I would’ve died three times by that point.
Finally I snatched her free hand and cuffed it to the bed. Standing back, I smiled at my work.
The way her chest heaved, from exhaustion or something else, told me she wasn’t hating the idea of being tied up. To test my theory, I circled her bare ankle with a single finger, monitoring her reaction.
“I’m liking this scenario,” I admitted, trailing that finger higher to stroke over her calf. “You’ve been a bad girl, Sunshine, challenging me and expecting me to back down. What should I do with you?” Goose bumps pebbled her skin as I made my way up her inner thigh, but unknown voices entering the living room made me pause. “I have to go deal with the police and coroner. I’ll come check on you in a bit to see if you need anything.”
“I need to leave,” she hissed. She kicked at my chest, but I dodged it with ease.
“Not going to happen. So get comfortable.” That earned me a string of curses. “I’ll come get you when it’s time to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
At the door, I turned with a vicious grin. “Yes, you are. You’re not safe here. We now know for certain the person after you knows where you live. Charlie and I can’t secure every inch of this house at all times. We’re leaving. Now get some sleep.”
I slammed a hand over the light switch, dousing the room in darkness. Her anger-fueled screams filtered through the now closed door as I stomped away.
Didn’t she know I was only doing it for her safety? She was my responsibility until we figured this out. And even if she wasn’t, like I’d let her run off to some strange town with nothing but a suitcase. The bastard tormenting her would probably follow her and start this all over again when she set up a new life away from Sweetcreek.
I fisted both hands at the thought.
Charlie’s brows were nearly at his hairline as he glanced from me to the bedroom. “What did you do to her?”
“Handcuffed her to the bed. She wanted to leave on her own.”
“Kinky.”
I smacked the back of his head. Three officers stood outside, one taping off the crime scene, the other two helping the coroner. A man in a suit stood writing in a small notebook just a few feet away.
“That the new detective covering the case?”
Charlie nodded, his shit-eating grin wide. “Did you have the other guy fired or reassigned?”
“Reassigned,” I grumbled. “They said there wasn’t enough documentation to fire him outright. Fucking red tape. Let’s get this over with so I can get Rae out of here.”
He tilted his head toward the detective. “Think they’ll be okay with you taking their only suspect out of town?”
“I don’t give a fuck if they are. We’re leaving in two hours whether they, or Rae, like it or not.”
“You’re a cocky son of a bitch, you know that?” I nodded as we moved toward the detective. “But that’s what makes you good at what you do. Don’t worry about things here while you’re gone. I’ll keep working and keep you updated. You just keep her safe.”
I tightened my lips and looked toward the bedroom. The calls for help and thrashing had subsided. Why couldn’t Rae see all I wanted to do was protect her, keep her safe? Hopefully she’d have realized that by the time we needed to leave. The last thing I wanted to do was keep her restrained. Well, outside the bedroom. But I’d do whatever it took to get her out of town.
Earlier she said she could never hate me. With any luck, that would stay true after today.
Rae glared out the passenger window, her anger and frustration palpable. The barren West Texas landscape was all around us for as far as we could see, glinting in the red and orange sunrise. Only two more hours until we arrived home.
Home. I leaned against the door and gave a side-eye glance toward the passenger seat. How nice would it be for her to call that place home too?
I rolled my eyes at the thought. I was a fool if I thought that could ever happen.
I was evil, broken. Dangerous. I needed to be alone in this world to keep my anger and rage controlled. I saw what could happen to those people like me claimed they loved. It ended in broken bones, bruises, and lashes.
I refused to be that to anyone, but especially Rae. She deserved so much better than me, than what I could offer her. Her future would be as bleak as my mother’s if I gave in to the urge to claim Rae the way I wanted—the way my body demanded.
“I won’t jump out of the car,” she said, her exasperation clear. “Can you unlock me now?” For emphasis, she rattled the handcuffs that were looped through the handle above her head and secured to her wrists. “Can’t believe you didn’t even let us have coffee.”
It looked slightly uncomfortable.
“I didn’t want to stop every thirty minutes for you to pee. I’m exhausted too.” Neither of us had slept in nearly twenty-four hours at this point. “Plus, I asked you if you wanted the easy way or the hard way.” She huffed and shifted in the seat. “You’re the one who tried to outrun me, Sunshine. So no, I think you’ll stay secured, because I’m not sure you won’t jump out of a moving truck. Your self-preservation skills are lacking, by the way.”
“Screw you, Alec.”
“You sure wanted to last night.” Her roar of rage proved that was the absolute wrong thing to say. Frustration brewed at the entire situation. My grip tightened on the steering wheel. “Sorry, I just…. I need to keep you safe, and you’re making it difficult pushing me away. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, Rae.”
“I know.” She blew out a hard breath, sending a few stray hairs floating away from her face. “I’m just so mad.”
“Understandable.”
“I’ve lived with this for so long, and for a while there last night, I thought… I don’t know, that maybe all this would be over soon. That we would find the information to not only clear me but enough to find the actual person behind all this. And then the dead body and the guy from the library….” Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead to her bicep. “It seems like this will never end, and I’m not okay with that, but I’m also not okay with kidnapping.”
I chuckled against the fist pressed to my lips. “I didn’t kidnap you.”
She rattled the cuffs. “Really?”
“Okay, fine, maybe I did, but I promise you’ll like where we’re going.” She turned, angling her back to me. “Come on, Sunshine, don’t be like that. I have a pool.” I drew out the word to make it sound enticing. It worked, her body shifting an inch away from the door. “And a….” Huh, how would I describe Sherry? “A housekeeper who’s a mean cook and says food is her love language.”
Rae turned to face the windshield. “Housekeeper? Not girlfriend?”
I cringed. “No.”
“Have you ever been married?”
That made me adjust in my seat, suddenly feeling like I sat on the receiving end of an interrogation. “No.”
“Engaged?” she prodded.
“Nope, and before you ask, I’ve never even dated someone long enough to consider that.” Except you. But I left that out. The clang of the cuffs drew my focus from the road. “Listen, if you promise not to jump out of the truck, I’ll uncuff you. Do you promise?”
“Cross my heart.” She mimicked the sign as best she could while restrained.
I flicked the blinker and pulled over to the side of the two-lane highway. Key in hand, I stretched over the center console, reaching for the cuffs. Her dark brown eyes tracked my every move as I crowded her space.
“Alec?” she whispered and licked her lips.
I turned, putting us face-to-face. All it would take for me to close the short distance between our lips was a simple shift forward.
“Yeah, Sunshine?”
“I like these.” Blush brightened along her cheekbones, but she didn’t look away. “A lot. Are you sure about last night being a onetime thing?” No. I wanted to say, “Fuck no,” and seal my lips to hers, to devour her from the inside out. But I wouldn’t. “Why does it matter? Why can’t we have fun until we solve this and you leave?”
A slight begging lifted her voice. Add that with her restrained and obvious desire rolling off her, and I grew hard in my now tight jeans.
I clenched my teeth to leash my desire and maintain control. “You don’t want to know the answer to that, Rae.”
“I do. Fucking hell, I do. This is torture, Alec. Having you, yet not. I don’t care why you left me after making all those plans and promises. I don’t care that you left me with a shattered heart for years. I want you, even if it’s only for right now. Is it because of me?” The vulnerability in her tone cut like a knife to the heart.
I dove my fingers into her hair and tugged, arching her neck back. “Never, for one damn second, think any of my mess is because of you. You’re perfect. Too perfect and good. I would destroy you, Rae. Don’t you see that?”
“No, I don’t, Alec. Why do you think you would do anything to hurt me? Don’t you see what I see?”
I let go of her hair and made quick work of releasing her hands. I massaged the ring of red skin around each wrist, avoiding her stare.
“I’ve always cared too much when it comes to you. You’re my weakness and my strength in one flawless package. I don’t trust myself with you. And I’m afraid….” I stopped myself before I could reveal my dark truth. “We can’t happen, Rae. Just accept it and move on.”
“I don’t think I ever mattered to you at all.” My shoulders bunched at her words, my muscles tense. “Or you would’ve come back for me. Hell, you wouldn’t have ever left me the way you did.” She scoffed and yanked her wrists out of my grasp. “A fucking note.”
“I did what I had to do.” I settled into my seat and slammed the truck back into Drive. The back end fishtailed on the blacktop as I sped down the highway.
A deafening shrill blared through the cab, causing us both to wince at the intrusion into our tense conversation.
“Bronson,” I snapped after hitting the button to answer the call.
“Should answer ‘Dumbass’,” Rae grumbled.
“Ranger Bronson?” the voice on the other end of the line asked tentatively.
“You’ve got him.” I shot Rae a warning when her lips parted, ready to say something derogatory, no doubt. She sealed them shut and rolled her pretty brown eyes. I fought the urge to pull the truck over and spank her fine ass. I tightened the grip on the wheel. “Who is this?” I demanded.
“Maxwell Chisom. The man with the missing wife.”
Rae’s eyes went wide, staring at the display screen.
“Mr. Chisom, right. What can I do for you?”
“My wife is still missing, and I want her back.”
I frowned at the windshield. The undercurrent of anger, something I was familiar with, and the possessive verbiage made me pause. From the way Rae’s eyes narrowed, I assumed she’d picked up on the same thing.
“I have someone looking into it now, as your wife wasn’t the only one who’s gone missing in the past few years.”
“I don’t give a fuck about those women,” the man bellowed so loud, his voice rattled the windows. “I want Shannon back home where she belongs.”
Another red flag waved in my mind.
“Either way, we’re looking into all the cases. When I have additional information, the Sweetcreek police will reach out to you. Until then, there’s nothing I can do.”
A click, and silence filled the cab.
“What an asshole,” Rae muttered.
I couldn’t have agreed more.