Читать книгу Dangerous Nights: Tall Dark Defender / Undercover Wife - Merline Lovelace - Страница 14

Cold permeated to her bones.

Annie rubbed her arms as she answered the cop’s questions, but her hands did little to displace the chill that sank deep into her marrow. Hardin’s lifeless stare haunted her whenever she closed her eyes. The metallic scent of blood overlaid by remnants of day-old grease lingered in her nose, churning her stomach with every inhaled breath.

“Do you own a gun, Ms. Compton?” the cop asked, jerking her attention back to the seemingly endless questions.

She blinked, stunned by the implication. Did they suspect she had killed her boss? That she had a motive to shoot Hardin?

And did it matter if she hadn’t actually been the one to pull the trigger? Hardin was just as dead, and her careless loss of his money was why he’d been murdered. She knew that much with a horrifying clarity.

The icy numbness burrowed deeper. “N-no. I—I’ve never owned a gun.”

“Do you have access to someone else’s gun?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t do this. I found him already … dead.”

The cop was clearly unmoved by her denial of guilt. He fired a few more questions before finally flipping his notepad closed and eyeing her dispassionately. “All right. That’s it. You can go for now, ma’am. But don’t leave town. We may have more questions for you in the next couple days.”

Annie nodded and wrapped her arms around her stomach, feeling she had to physically hold herself together or she’d shatter.

She glanced down the sidewalk to the spot where Jonah stood patiently waiting for her. Why turning to Jonah in this crisis felt right, she couldn’t say, but when she’d seen him at the window of the police car, her relief had been immediate and immense. She’d held her breath as he fought to get past the officers blocking his path. She’d needed his calming comfort, his reassuring strength, and hadn’t questioned why she’d instinctively known he’d come. As soon as the initial shock of finding Hardin dead had morphed into a bone-chilling fear for her own life, Jonah’s had been the face she’d sought as the police gathered and morbidly curious crowds clogged the sidewalk.

Now he tucked her trembling body under his chin, his arms folded securely around her, and she let the tears she’d been holding at bay throughout the policeman’s questioning wash down her cheeks.

His embrace was firm and reassuring without crushing her. The soothing strokes of his wide hand on her back eased the chaos and terror of the past hours. Nestled close to him again, she allowed her thoughts to drift back to the jolt that had shot through her when he’d surprised her with his kiss. More unexpected than the kiss itself was her body’s electric reaction. If his intention had been to scramble her thoughts and distract her from the situation, he’d succeeded nobly for several breathless seconds. The tender caress of his lips had spun a soothing warmth through her terror-chilled blood.

“When you’re ready, I’ll take you home,” he murmured, his warm breath stirring the hair at her neck.

Home. Her children.

A fresh wave of icy horror flashed through her. She stiffened and jerked back to stare at Jonah in dismay. “My kids! What if the people who did this go after my kids?”

Nausea swamped her gut. If anything happened to Haley or Ben … Jonah’s grip tightened slightly, and he took her chin between his fingers and thumb. “That’s not going to happen.”

Frowning, she pulled her chin from his grip. “You don’t know that. They could be at my apartment now!” She glanced to the cluster of policemen half a block away and lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. “I’m the one who lost that money. If they did this to Hardin, then why wouldn’t I be next on their list?”

“I’m not denying that you could be in danger. But I promise you, I won’t let them hurt you or your kids on my watch.” The rough edge to his voice, the penetrating heat of his dark eyes rippled through her with concentric waves. Another tiny piece of her trust surrendered to his firm persuasion.

Jonah had bulldozed his way into her life and appointed himself her counsel and guardian. She knew so little about him, and what she did know was conflicting and confusing. By all rights, she should be running in the other direction. She’d had enough of bossy, controlling men.

Yet Jonah’s concern for her and her family seemed genuine. That alone was novel in her experience. Walt had been selfish, cared little for what his drinking and cruelty were doing to her and the children.

And Jonah had encouraged her to become self-reliant, empowered, confident. Walt had preyed upon her through fear and intimidation.

He nodded his head toward the parking lot. “My truck is over here.”

She followed him to his pickup and climbed inside. As they drove to her apartment in silence, Annie’s head pounded with questions, terrifying images of death and a numbing fear that she’d once more lost control of her life.

Jonah parked in a visitor’s spot on the far side of the parking lot, and she climbed out of his truck. Relief poured through her when she spotted Rani and her children playing on the grassy quadrant between apartment buildings.

Jonah placed a proprietary hand at the small of Annie’s back as they started across the crumbling asphalt.

Haley noticed her first, and her daughter’s face brightened. “Mommy!”

She ran across the parking lot to intercept her mother, and Annie stooped, catching her little girl in a fierce, protective bear hug. Holding Haley, knowing her kids were safe, melted a layer of the chill in her bones.

“How come you’re home, Mommy?”

“I … just got the day off.” Clinging to her daughter, Annie inhaled the sweet scent of the baby shampoo Haley still used, and a rush of tender emotion washed through her. Her children were everything to her, and if she had to go into hiding again to protect them, so be it.

Haley pushed back from the hug. “Does that mean you can play with us? Can we play with my Barbies?”

Excitement and hope laced Haley’s voice, and joy lit her eyes.

“In a little while. I need to … take care of a few things first.” Annie stroked her daughter’s hair and kissed her forehead. “But later, I promise to play Barbies with you.”

Her daughter grinned her satisfaction, then turned a curious look to Jonah, who’d stayed back as she greeted her daughter.

“Who are you?” Haley asked, wrinkling her nose.

Annie sent Jonah an apologetic glance. “Haley, if you want to meet someone, you introduce yourself politely. Remember?”

“Oh, yeah.” Haley scratched her nose and gave Jonah a measuring look.

Annie watched Haley’s reaction to him closely. Jonah was the first new man she’d brought around the kids since the ordeal with Walt came to a head more than a year ago.

He stepped forward and held his hand out for Haley to shake. “I’m Jonah Devereaux, a friend of your mom’s. Nice to meet you, Haley.”

Jonah’s hand swallowed her daughter’s smaller one, and an uneasy tremor fluttered through Annie, a reminder of how vulnerable her children were.

Rani had reached them with Ben in her arms, and she gave Annie a worried look. “Ms. Annie, is everything all right?”

“Well, yes and no. The diner had to close today unexpectedly. I can watch the kids today.”

Rani gave her a brief update on what the kids had eaten and when Ben had woken up that morning as she passed the toddler over to his mother.

“I’ll call you when I know what’s going to happen tomorrow. My plans are kinda up in the air right now,” Annie said. She sighed as Rani told the kids goodbye and headed toward her apartment.

If fearing for her life and her children’s weren’t enough, Annie hated the uncertainty this turn of events cast over her future. Would she have a job tomorrow? Would the diner close indefinitely? Would she have to leave Lagniappe to protect herself from the person who murdered Mr. Hardin?

As she herded Ben and Haley back toward their apartment, Haley stopped to play with the neighbors’ cat. Eager to get the children inside, out of view of any eyes that could be watching her, stalking her, she opened her mouth to chastise Haley for dawdling.

But Jonah crouched beside Haley and joined her in stroking the cat’s back. Annie paused, watching her daughter give the cat solid thumping pats.

“Gently,” Jonah murmured. “See how he put his ears back? That means he’s unhappy. You don’t want to hurt him, right? Kitties like soft pats.”

Haley gentled her touch and tipped her head. “Like this?”

“Yeah, good.”

The lesson in kindness to animals caught Annie off guard. His concern that Haley not hurt the cat contributed to her confused feelings toward Jonah. She tried to reconcile Jonah’s fighting skills with this protective and loving attitude toward animals.

A shiver raced over her skin remembering how safe she’d felt in his arms when he’d gotten her out of the police cruiser. How could someone who sparred as a hobby, who didn’t hesitate to take on another man in a dark alley in hand-to-hand combat have such a gentle soul? The contradiction flew in the face of everything her personal experience taught her. She was risking a lot bringing Jonah home, exposing her children to him.

She prayed she didn’t regret taking the chance later. But she needed answers from Jonah, and the diner wasn’t safe for this particular discussion.