16. Eric
ERIC
I noticed the bottom step of the eerily quiet house was cracked, and I stepped over it, not wanting to make noise or have it break under my weight. I prayed the woman who’d called for help had fled to a neighbor and the home was as empty as it seemed.
“Hello? Mrs. Bergeron! Are you in here?”
No response.
“It’s Sheriff Winston, Mrs. Bergeron.”
Still nothing.
I gripped my gun in both hands and stepped inside, using the door to block my right side. There was no one in the living room, but the house was old, and the rooms were smaller than in a modern home. There were still plenty of places someone could be hiding.
I crossed the room and cleared the hall before stepping into the kitchen. No one was visible. I crossed the room to check the pantry.
The back door burst open, and a huge man jumped me before I could aim at him.
He shoved me to the floor, my head bounced against the hardwood, and I lost my grip on my weapon.
I managed to quickly struggle free of the man’s grip, but my head was spinning. The asshole grabbed my gun before I could reach it.
“Get on your feet,” he ordered, pointing the weapon at my head. I did as he said, determined to look steady and capable. I didn’t need him realizing how off-balance I felt.
“We’re going to go for a little walk.” He gestured toward the door where he’d entered. “My boss thinks you need to learn a lesson.”
“Who’s your boss?” I asked, managing to keep my voice even.
“Carlotti, but I’m sure you knew that.” He sneered at me, and I longed to punch him.
I considered pretending I didn’t know who that was, but I didn’t think that would fly. Ambrose had been right, and he was going to enjoy telling me I told you so if I ever saw him again.
Why the fuck hadn’t I stayed home and pretended to be sick. I could have gotten back in bed with Ambrose and had an amazing morning, but I’d been too damn stubborn, too determined to be a part of this and to show Ambrose I could hold my own with men like him.
“Get moving.”
I scowled at the man, then did as he said. I’d go along with him for now and wait for a chance to escape.
Carlotti’s man marched me away from the house and into the swamp beyond. Even if he didn’t kill me, I might be attacked by an alligator or another menace that lived out there. Why hadn’t I called Ambrose?
You want to help heal him, but you don’t want to be vulnerable yourself. You don’t want to admit you need him.
I’m trying to protect him too.
He’d be a hell of a lot better protected if you brought him with you.
He’s not part of law enforcement. He’s not supposed to be here.
You’ve broken that rule plenty with the Theriots.
I pushed all my competing thoughts away. I needed to watch for any chance to escape and strategize how I would get out of this, not wish I’d done things differently. I hadn’t, and I was here now. I was going to have to figure this out for myself.
“This is far enough,” the man growled.
“For what?” I asked, turning to face him.
“So no one will hear you scream.”
Fucking great. “What did you do with Mrs. Bergeron?”
“The Bergerons are out of town. Their place was convenient and easy to get into.”
“You had an accomplice call for help?”
“I did, then I sent her out of here. She doesn’t need to see any of this.”
And I didn’t need another person to worry about.
“So what happens now?” I asked.
“I make you regret sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
I thought he was going to shoot me, but he shoved my gun into the waistband of his pants and swung his huge fist.
I ducked, which angered him.
“You’re not getting out of this.”
I was sure as hell going to try. Going on the offensive, I ran at him and drove my head into his abdomen.
He grunted and stumbled back. While he was off-balance, I turned and fled. I doubted I could outrun him, and I was probably going to end up lost in the swamp, but that was better than getting beaten to death.
I heard his pounding footsteps. He was moving faster than a man of his bulk should be able to. Then a shot rang out, and I heard a thump.
For a moment, I was sure I’d been hit. When I didn’t feel any pain, I started to run again, but Ambrose called my name.
When I turned to look at him, he yelled, “It’s okay. He’s dead.”
The man lay face down in the mud, a hole through his head. The shot had come from Ambrose.
I stared at him, needing to make sure he was real. “How did you… I didn’t think…”
“I told you when it comes to tracking, I’m the best.”
“But how did you know I needed you?”
“All you told me was that you were going out on a call. When you refused to respond, I called the station, and the nice woman there told me where you’d gone.”
“She’s not supposed to?—”
“It’s a small town, and I may have pretended to be an old friend from Baltimore.”
I shook my head. “I guess I can’t be mad at you, not when you had to save me.”
Ambrose made a disgusted sound. “None of it would have been necessary if you’d just stayed home today.
” He paced back and forth between two trees.
“I ought to walk away now and leave you to make your own stupid decisions. I don’t have any business being here.
I should’ve sent you away and dealt with this on my own. ”
“Why didn’t you?” I’d like to think I would have been able to fight Ambrose if he was determined to send me away, but I knew if he’d been determined to take me to a safe house, that’s where I’d be.
“We need to get the hell out of here,” he said, ignoring my question. “There’s no telling who else could be around. Carlotti would have to really trust this guy not to have sent in any backup.”
He turned, and I followed him, sure he knew the way back to the Bergerons’ house.
I saw his bike parked next to my truck. How the hell had he gotten it here?
“Are you okay to drive?” he asked.
I was shaken, but I’d learned how to compartmentalize the scary and horrible parts of my job. I’d had to. “Yes, what about you?”
“I’m fucking fine.”
He was anything but. He rocked from side to side and brushed his hands rhythmically against his thighs. He looked like he might rattle apart.
“Go home,” he ordered.
“Are you following me?”
Instead of answering, he cranked the engine.
With a sigh, I climbed into my truck and started home.
Ambrose did follow me. He entered the house ahead of me, and I felt a chill rolling off him as soon as I closed and locked my door. His barriers were back up, and I almost believed if I tried to get near him, a force field would repel me.
Was he going to walk away and leave me at Carlotti’s mercy? Did I deserve that for being a fucking idiot?
Ambrose paced the length of the house. When Tubby began to follow him, he reached down and scooped him up. I wasn’t even sure he realized what he was doing. He held him in his arms, absently stroking his fur.
I wanted him to be holding me. I wanted to apologize, but I didn’t know how.
Finally, he spoke. “You could have called me.”
“It was a police matter.” Shit. That was the opposite of an apology.
“I told you?—”
“I know. I…” I paused for a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”
Ambrose turned and studied me as if he knew what those words had cost me.
“Tell me you at least believe you’re in danger now?”
“I do.”
“You can’t go anywhere else by yourself.”
That was too much. I couldn’t let Ambrose dictate my every move. “I might have gotten away if?—”
“No.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if I hadn’t tracked you down. I won’t lose you. I…” He turned away abruptly, but I’d already seen the tears shining in his eyes. “Don’t you get it?”
“I’m not sure I do.” I was afraid to believe I was more to him than someone to protect and experiment with. I laid a hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away, and I let it drop.
“I care about you,” he said, his voice so low I barely heard him. “That’s why I’m here, why I didn’t have Lance drag you to a safe house.”
“Lance wasn’t going to do anything to me while I had Tony.”
“You would never hurt that monkey.”
I sighed. “Of course not, but I would take him home with me and spoil him, maybe teach him some tricks he could pull on Lance.”
Ambrose spun around, an evil smile on his face. “You think you could do that?”
“Maybe.”
“Let’s try it after we kill Carlotti.”
“I don’t think we’ll be?—”
“You’re not getting away from me that easily. All I’ve done is run from everyone since the day I left to join the army. But you… I can’t run from you, and that means you’re stuck with me.”
I knew right then if Ambrose changed his mind and tried to run, I was going to go after him. I was going to fight for him. This wasn’t me chasing some impossible fantasy after all. This was real, the realest thing I’d ever felt.
“Put the cat down.” I thought he’d argue, because when did he ever not? But he didn’t
He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and did what I said, giving Tubby a kiss on the top of his head before setting him in his favorite chair.
I thought I’d fully accepted what I felt for him, but that sweet gesture pulled at my heart.
I loved the man, and I was going to make sure he knew it, even if I couldn’t yet say the words.
I cupped his face and tilted his head, looking deep into his eyes. “I’ve been running from a lot of things too. I’m done now. I’m… yours.”
“Fuck, Eric. I don’t know how to do this.”
“Neither do I.”
“Kiss me.”
I did as he asked, pressing my lips to his with enough force to make him groan.
My hands stayed on the sides of his face, holding him there, still scared he might try to run no matter what he’d said.
As hard as this was for me, I knew it was more difficult for him to admit that he felt something, that he wanted contact, that he needed someone other than himself.
His hands clamped around my arms, but he didn’t try to pull me away. He used his grip to anchor himself as he ground against me.