Cold Day in Hell (31 page)

The good news was the bus station was a full-service one and had a place to eat and real restrooms. She wanted to wash her face and brush her teeth. Then she planned on eating something light; she prayed the diner attached to the station had something like chicken noodle soup and lots of saltines. A kind woman on the bus had offered her a couple of small packages of her now favorite cracker. Those, along with a bottle of water, were all she’d had to eat since Chicago. She’d been too sick in Milwaukee to eat anything and had spent most of the three-hour layover there spewing her guts out in the restroom and trying to keep clear fluids down.

As she entered the bus station, she sensed the pushy man from the bus on her heels.

She headed straight into the women’s restroom and hoped he’d take the hint and leave her alone. She also prayed he wasn’t travelling on to Watersmeet. Having this creep breathe down her neck for most of the journey made her miss Risto all the more. Her marine would’ve scared the persistent bonehead off with just a glare.

Taking her wool hat off, she stuffed it into her tote and pulled out the items she needed to cleanse her face and teeth. She looked pale, but that could be the crappy fluorescent lighting. And if it wasn’t, she had a right to look pale—she was tired and in the early stages of pregnancy. She washed her face with the pre-moistened towelettes she pulled from her tote and then moisturized. After a quick brushing of her teeth, she felt almost human and actually hungry. She put the toiletries she used away and then unbraided her hair and brushed it out. God, that felt good. She’d leave her hair down for now, it might help ease her throbbing head. If that didn’t solve the problem, she’d try some acetaminophen. It wasn’t a coincidence that the throbbing in her head had arisen when the man had begun to bother her after Milwaukee.

Under her breath, she lectured herself, “Okay, Callie, no eye contact. Find a place he can’t sit near you. Ignore him.” She left the restroom and spotted him right away as he’d taken an unavoidable position at the end of the hallway leading to the small diner. “Geez Louise, why me?” she muttered. She took a deep breath and walked purposefully toward the food service area, fully intending to pass by him without a glance.

Of course that would’ve been too easy. He stepped to her side and grabbed her arm, pulling her in the direction he wanted to go—away from where the other passengers were.

She dug in her heels and shot him an angry glare. “No. Stop.” He paused but didn’t let go of her arm. “Listen, I’ve tried to be polite, but you aren’t taking the hint. I
do not
want to socialize with you. I want to sit by myself, eat some soup and work on my computer without you hanging all over me. Leave me alone or I will report you to whoever runs this station. Understand?”

“I like women who play hard to get. No man wants his woman to be an easy mark.” He smiled, an expression two levels above slimy and heading into freaking creepy.
God,
the man is certifiable. His woman? In what universe?
He pulled her against his side, his exceptionally strong arm anchored around her waist. “Come on, Calista. I’m a nice guy.

Really. Get to know me.” His hand slid down to grab her ass and squeeze.

“That does it!” She jabbed his gut with her elbow with as much force as she could muster and attempted to twist from his grasp. But he was too strong. Her heart pounding, she wriggled against his hold as he dragged her toward a side door away from the main area of the station. “Let go!” she shouted.

Why wasn’t anyone helping her? Couldn’t they see him dragging her away?

Obviously, shouting wasn’t enough. She opened her mouth to scream, but he pulled her back against him and covered her mouth with his other hand.

“No, you beautiful bitch. I tried to play this nicely but you wouldn’t let me. So, now we play it my way. The bus is open and empty—it’ll still be warm and a nice private place to get acquainted.”

He lifted her with one arm and carried her and her bags as if she weighed nothing.

She kicked and wriggled and screamed behind his hand. She even tried to bite him. But she couldn’t break free. God, she wished she had her Ruger, she would’ve gladly shot his ass.

When he reached the side door exiting to the bus loading area, he had to stop. It wasn’t automatic, and he’d have to turn a handle to get out.
Thank you, God.
When he let go of her mouth to open the door, she had enough leverage to bang the back of her head against his face.
Ouch, that hurt.
Since he was not much taller than she, she hit his nose.

He let go of her to grab his bloody and, she hoped to God, broken nose. Now free, she ran toward the connecting hallway to the diner, screaming for help.

“Callie!” The roar sounded familiar.

“Risto?” She stopped and looked around, and there he was by the main entrance. She turned to run to him, but her stalker caught her by the waist and swung her around. He had a gun in his hand and waved it wildly.

“She’s going with me.” He backed away, dragging her with him.

“Let my woman go.” Risto’s voice and demeanor should’ve had the guy behind her pissing his pants, but since the idiot was crazy, he didn’t release her. Risto swept her with a searching glance from her head to her toes. “You okay, sweetheart?”

“Been better.” She attempted a smile but knew it had to be pathetic. “You came.

Conn said you would.” Tears poured down her cheeks.

“Of course, I’m here—you’re mine. You need me—I’m here.” He stalked toward them. “And when I take care of the fucker holding you, I’ll be putting a ring on your finger so stupid asswipes know you’re taken.”

“Yes.” Tears ran down her cheeks. “If that was a proposal, the answer is yes.”

“Baby, that was an order.” He turned his gaze to the man behind her. “Let Callie go and I might let you leave here with all body parts attached.”

“Fuck you.” The crazy man aimed at Risto, the gun held along her right side, just within her peripheral vision. She heard the snick of the release of the safety.

“No!” She abruptly raised her right arm, hard, throwing his aim off. The shot went into the ceiling. The lookee-loos dove to the floor, screaming. And then Risto was there, tearing her out of the bastard’s grasp and shoving her to the side, out of harm’s way.

She watched as Risto disarmed the man and proceeded to beat the shit out of him.

Hearing sirens, she got to her feet with the help of the bus driver. “You okay, miss?”

“Yes. I need to stop Risto—I’m the only one who can.” She observed two other men imploring Risto to stop. Her attacker was no longer fighting back and looked unconscious. Risto would kill him. “Marine? I need you. Please … please, Risto … I’m so dizzy.” She wove an unsteady path toward him. He held the limp man up by his jacket and looked over his shoulder.

“Callie?” He tossed the man to the floor as if he were garbage and came to enfold her within his arms. “What’s wrong?” Holding her tightly against his body, he stroked a bloody, but gentle hand over her face, her hair. “Conn said you were sick. Did that bastard hurt you? Did I hurt you when I shoved you away? God, baby, tell me.” His eyes filled with worry, he searched her body frantically for any wounds.

Now that he was here, she wasn’t sure how to tell him that the woman he just proposed to was going to make him a father. She shook her head and buried her face on his chest.

“Fuck it, baby, you’re scaring me.” He picked her up, then carried her to a booth in the small station’s diner.

The bus driver picked up her bags and placed them in the booth, patted her arm. He addressed Risto. “She was pretty sick in Milwaukee, according to one of the female passengers. She slept most of the trip, when that bastard wasn’t bothering her.”

“Callie, do we need an ambulance?” He brushed her sweaty hair off her face and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

“No.” She sighed and kissed him back. “I just need to eat something … something mild.” She ran a finger along Risto’s five o’clock shadow. “You’re really here. I missed you. I…”

“Hush.” He kissed her again, then pulled her tightly against his side, blocking her from the view of the interested onlookers. “While we give statements to the cops, we’ll feed you. Then, if you look better than death warmed over, we’ll hit the road for Osprey’s Point and my island.”

She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes drifting shut, and let him take over. He needed to care for her—and she needed him to do so.

“Callie? Does chicken noodle soup sound good?” She looked up and realized she must’ve dozed off for a few minutes. A waitress stood by the table, smiling at her. A police officer sat in the booth across from them, his face kind and patient.

“Sorry, I must have … I was tired.” She yawned. “Um, yes, I think I could eat the soup. Some saltines. And Seven-Up or Sprite.” The waitress nodded and said, “be right back.”

“Callie, I’ve told the officer my end of it.” Risto rubbed his cheek over her hair. “The bus driver and everyone on the bus from Milwaukee gave statements about the man stalking you. But we need to hear your side.”

“Okay.” She took a deep breath and told the police officer everything that had happened since Milwaukee. The man nodded and made sounds, asking few questions.

He flipped his notebook closed and looked at both of them. “That should do it. We’ll book him for assault, stalking, attempted kidnapping, possession of an illegal firearm—

and for the drugs he had on him. With all the eye witness testimony and the fact he’d purposely changed his ticket from his original destination of Duluth to an open-ended ticket and followed you onto the bus to Escanaba, it’s a pretty cut-and-dry case.”

“He saw me in Milwaukee and changed his plans so he could follow me?” She glanced at the officer who nodded, then looked at Risto whose face was dark and grim. “I

… God, that’s crazy. I ignored him. Told him no—and he…” She shivered and snuggled into Risto’s comforting embrace, his warmth and his scent calming her.

“It’s okay, Callie. I expect the police will find he has a record of stalking and assaulting women.” Risto spoke over her head at the police officer. “My fiancée will be with me. You have my address. Please tell the prosecutor that we’ll be at the trial if it goes that far.”

“Thank you, Mr. Smith. Ms. Meyers, you put this behind you. You did good—and from the witness accounts, you saved your fiancé from being shot. Good work.”

“Thank you.” She looked up from the comfort of Risto’s sheltering arms. Her right arm trapped tightly against Risto’s side, she held out her left hand to shake the officer’s when she saw the ring. A cushion cut emerald surrounded in sparkling white diamonds and set in platinum. The officer shook her hand gently then left.

She held her hand up and let the ceiling lights shine off the exquisite ring. “Oh, Risto. It’s beautiful.” She looked at his smiling face. “When did you get it? When did you know you wanted to marry me?” Suspicion crossed her mind. “What did Conn tell you?” He frowned, puzzled. “What does Conn have to do with anything?”
Thank God, he doesn’t know about the baby. He proposed because he wants me.
She shook her head. “Never mind. Answer the other questions, please.” She stroked his jaw and watched the ring sparkle. It made her insides melt. He wanted her—forever.

“Baby, I knew within twenty-four hours of leaving you I’d made a mistake letting you go, but…” He swore under his breath. “I wanted to give you a chance to recover. To think. Then I wanted to court you properly.”

“Not a word for two months, Risto.” She punched him in his rock-solid abs. He didn’t even have the courtesy to wince. “I was dying, missing you. I worried about you.

No one would tell me where you were or what you were doing or if you were even alive.

I was going to call, but, dammit, I didn’t even know if you’d want me to. I figured you were out with other women.” She started to cry.

“God, Callie. Don’t cry.” He pulled her face into his chest and kissed the top of her head, stroking his hand over the length of her hair. “There’s been no one else. I thought about you every day. I bought the ring in Cartagena from a jeweler friend of Conn’s my last trip there. I would’ve come to Chicago this week and started courting.” He exhaled.

“But when I saw that fucktard take a hold of you, I knew I had to stake my claim immediately—you accepted, so no going back for us. I’ll just have to court you after we get married.”

She laughed, a watery sound. “Well, your timing was impeccable.” She hiccupped then sniffed.

“Here, wipe.” He plucked a napkin from the holder on the table.

She took the napkin and wiped her face, then blew her nose. “Thanks.” She straightened up, but remained within the embrace of his left arm. “How far is it to your island?”

“A little over three hours. You can sleep some more in the Jeep.” She nodded and yawned. “Ren already filled me in about Cruz being in the US. By the way, your brothers made it to Sanctuary.”

“Then they’re safe.” She breathed out a sigh of relief, then stiffened as his other words penetrated the fog in her head. “Cruz is actually in the States?” Risto massaged the top of her shoulder. “I’d hoped he just hired some mercs.”

“You made it too hot for him to remain in Colombia. According to the latest intel I got from Ren, Cruz has been ousted as a para-leader and told by Paco he’d be piranha food if he ever returned.”

“Oh, God, he’ll want to kill me.” She held her stomach and choked back the bile threatening to come up. She reached for the lemon-lime soda the waitress had dropped off and sipped some to calm her stomach. “Crackers. I need saltines.” Risto signaled the waitress. “Can we have some saltines right away, please?” The woman nodded, throwing a concerned glance at Callie.