Fighting for Desire (22 page)

In the hall, Detective Van Huss took off his glasses and
stared at her.

“Is there something I can help you with, Detective?”

“Ms. Bray, are you aware we received an anonymous tip
stating you wanted to hurt Mr. James?”

Her mouth fell open. “What? No! Why would I want to hurt
Dev? I love him!”

Saying the words to someone other than Dev made her realize
how much she really did love him.

“Ms. Bray, I’m going to need you to come to the station with
me for questioning.”

“I…I need to talk to Dev.”

“Ms. Bray, I would recommend contacting an attorney before
you say anything to anyone else. Now please come with me.”

She nodded numbly and followed Detective Van Huss down the
corridor. Everything became a blur as he led her outside to an unmarked police
cruiser. He opened the back door and she balked.

“It’s procedure. I can’t let you ride in the front,” he
explained gently, as if sensing her shock.

She climbed into the backseat. As the door closed, she heard
Dev yelling her name. She watched in horror as he ran toward the car. She
didn’t want Dev to see her, not like this in the back of a police car.

“Detective,” she choked out. “Please go. I don’t want to see
him right now.”

He nodded and climbed into the car. They pulled away before
Dev reached them. She closed her eyes as the car made its way down the crowded
street. Maybe the time had come to stop running. If she told the whole story
and told them about Johnny’s involvement, then this would all be over. And most
importantly, Dev would be safe.

For the first time in longer than she could remember a relieved
breath left her body. This was the right thing to do. She opened her eyes as
they passed the police station.

Detective Van Huss’ eyes met hers in the rearview mirror.
Her skin began to crawl.
Oh fuck
… He never showed them his badge.
Oh
fuck
.

* * * * *

Dev walked down an empty hallway as he looked for Marco. He
needed his friend’s help. Shannon’s haunted eyes were all he could think about.
Why in the hell had the detective taken her? Was she in danger?

John Ice stepped out into the corridor from one of the
dressing rooms, forcing Dev to either stop or plow the man over.

“May I talk to you for a moment?” Ice said.

“I’m kind of busy right now.”

“I only need a second of your time. There’s something you
need to know about Shannon.”

An uneasy feeling settled in his stomach. John held the door
to the dressing room open and Dev stepped inside.

He took in a deep breath and said, “Talk.”

John smiled. “There are some things you need to know about Shannon.
Big things.”

“Such as?”

“First of all, I own
The
Honey Jar
in Miami.”

The bar where he had first seen Shannon? His stomach
knotted. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what this man had to say. Not
one bit.

“And Shannon was working there for me…as one of my high-end
call girls.”

Dev sat down on the nearest chair.

John sat across from him. “I’m afraid it gets much worse.”

Dev pinched the bridge of his nose. “Spit it out, Ice. I
don’t have all night.”

Not when Shannon was gone. And not when he didn’t know how
he was going to feel once this man was finished speaking. He took in a deep
breath and steeled himself for what he was about to hear.

* * * * *

Ten minutes later Dev stormed from the room and ran right
into Marco.

“Where did Shannon go?” Marco asked.

“I don’t know. She left with the detective but I would sure
as hell like to talk to her.”

Marco ran his hand through his hair. “Dev, I’m not so sure
that was a real detective.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Two men came in after you left the locker room. They had
badges and everything.”

Fuck. The detective hadn’t shown any form of identification
and Dev didn’t think to ask to see any. He had been too angry to think of
anything other than finding Utah and fucking him up.

“They were asking about John Ice,” Marco said. “But they
wouldn’t say why.”

Dev’s jaw clenched. “I have an idea. Find Shannon. Now.”

* * * * *

Shannon tried to not freak out. The farther they drove from
the arena, the farther she was from Dev and from help.

Detective Van Huss or whoever he truly was, glanced at her
in the mirror. “I’m sorry to do this to you.”

His voice now held an accent. New York? New Jersey? He
definitely wasn’t from Colorado.

“W-where are you taking me?”

Her heart pounded while she waited for his reply. She prayed
he wasn’t going to hurt her and dump her body in a ditch where she wouldn’t be
found.

“I was told to drive you around until I received a phone
call.”

“Who? Who told you to do this? Are you even a real
detective? Why are you doing this to me?” The questions left her lips in a
rush.

He shook his head. “I don’t know who hired me. I work
through a middleman. I like to keep it that way. It keeps my hands cleaner, if
you catch my drift.”

Oh boy
…did she ever.

She spoke slowly so there couldn’t be any confusion in her
words. “Are you going to hurt me?”

“No. Hurting women isn’t my style. Well most of the time.
There’s always the exception but I’d say you’re safe.”

She let out her breath.

They drove around for what felt like an eternity. Finally a
ringing phone broke the silence. She jumped in the seat.

“Yes?” Van Huss answered. “Yes, sir. We will be there
shortly. Yes I understand.” He met her gaze in the mirror again. “Looks as if
it’s time to drop you off.”

“Are you taking me back to the arena?”

“Nope. I’m taking you to your boyfriend’s house. When we get
there I’ll unlock the door from the inside and you will need to jump out of the
car.”

Her mouth fell open. “You aren’t even going to stop so I can
get out?”

“Hell no. I may be a con but I’m not stupid. Tuck and roll,
baby. Tuck and roll.”

* * * * *

She had never been so glad to see Dev’s house as they pulled
up. She didn’t even question how Van Huss knew the gate code without being
told. As the car slowed she heard the door unlock.

She shoved against the door and rolled out before Van Huss
could change his mind. The pavement bit into her skin as she rolled toward the
curb. The car sped off and she scrambled to her feet.

She ran toward Dev’s front door, looking over her shoulder
to make sure no one else was going to grab her. Before she even reached the
front steps, the door opened and Dev stood there waiting.

“Oh thank god!” she cried as she threw herself into his
arms. “I was so worried. I didn’t know what was going on.”

He held his body stiff and had a hard look in his eyes—a
look she had hoped she would never see again.

“Well,” he drawled. “Look who came back.”

His face blended into the shadows of the night. Before she
could reply his hand wrapped around her upper arm and he led her into the
house.

“Where’s Marco?” she stammered out.

“I told him to stay away until I had the chance to talk to
you alone. Don’t worry though. He’ll be back with the police when we’re
finished.”

“The police?” Her chest tightened with fear and she felt as
if she was going to be sick. “Dev, what’s going on?”

He took her upstairs to the room they shared and closed the
door. She sat weakly on the bed and he stood in front of her with his arms
crossed.

“I had an interesting talk with a friend of yours while you
were gone.”

“Dev, I wasn’t gone. I was tricked into thinking that man
was a detective!”

“I’ll admit that part was shady but when your friend told me
why he had to trick me I understood.”

“He? Who are you talking about?”

Her heart pounded. Johnny had gotten to him.

Dev began to pace back and forth. “What I find so…
humorous
is that you failed to mention you already knew this man. I thought when we were
introduced to him in Vegas we were both meeting him for the first time.”

Shit. The time to stop running had finally come. She needed
to tell him everything. She took in a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

“I can explain…”

He cut her off with a sneer. “As if I would believe you!”

“Dev…” she tried again.

“No! You don’t get to talk right now! Right now you need to
listen.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Fuck, Shannon. What I don’t
understand is how you could do this to me!”

She stood, her body shaking in anger. “Fuck
you
, Dev.
I’m tired of letting you treat me this way. I haven’t done anything to you.
I’ve been trying to save you and your arrogant ass! And every time I tried to
tell you, you cut me off.”

Had Johnny truly told him everything? The anguished look in
Dev’s eyes made her believe so.

“Why did you do it? Why did you lie to me?” He laughed
bitterly. “You know, I didn’t believe the PI report on you at first but then I
talked to Johnny and he backs up everything. You are nothing more than a gold-digging
whore, Shannon, and I can’t believe I played right into your little game!”

She gasped, feeling as if she’d been slapped. “What are you
talking about? What did Johnny say to you?”

She needed to know what that asshole had said because Dev
wasn’t making sense.

His eyes narrowed in on her until she felt like squirming.
“He told me about the drugs, Shannon. He said you stole from him too, to get
money to pay off your drug dealer. I guess that explains your outrageous debt.”

“What? No! That isn’t true at all. I’ve never been on drugs.
Johnny is lying!”

“Don’t deny it,” he yelled. “Shannon, I could have died
tonight! Is that what you wanted? Did you hate me that much?”

“I don’t hate you, I—”

“No. Don’t even say it. You have no right to speak of love
to me. Johnny told me about how you obsessed over me. He said you were damn
near stalking me.”

She blinked up at him in disbelief.

“You are the one who tracked me down remember?” she finally
said. “You are the one who came into my work with your ‘proposition’.”

“And look how easily you accepted. You all but fell into my
bed but I guess that was part of your plan. Tell me, how much money were you
going to get? More than I was paying you? Did you agree to fuck them like you
were fucking me?”

Dev’s words made Shannon’s skin crawl. “I don’t know what
you’re talking about! There are no other men—”

“Bullshit! God, I should have listened to Marco and fucked
you once and then let you go. I knew better than this.” His hard stare burned
through her. “And to find out from Johnny that you were a call girl…I guess
that explains it though. Why you were so willing to climb into my bed after a
price had been named.”

He thought she was one of Johnny’s prostitutes? No! She
shook her head in denial.

“I have to give you props. You played your part well. A
semi-innocent woman who needed help thrust into a world she didn’t understand.
But you understood all along didn’t you?”

He pulled her against his chest. His heart was beating
wildly against hers and she willed herself not to cry.

“If I took you right now, you probably wouldn’t even
complain. You would open your legs and let me fuck you, wouldn’t you?”

She hated how her body reacted to his words. She hated that
even in that moment she wanted him. He lowered his head and she feared he was
going to kiss her.

“No.”

“Liar.”

“Devlin James, you need to calm the fuck down and listen to
me. Johnny is lying. I can explain everything if you will just listen.”

“I don’t want to hear it, Shannon. The police are the ones
you are going to want to speak to, not me.”

“Good. Then I will tell them what I’m trying to tell you. I
saved you tonight remember? I’m not one of Johnny’s call girls either. But he
is
the one who’s been blackmailing me. He’s had a hold on me since I met him and
I’ve tried to get away.”

She needed to tell him everything, to make him understand
what had happened. He needed to know how she had been so broken when she got
mixed up with Johnny Ice.

He took in a ragged breath. “Shannon, I’m done. This is
over.”

Hot tears began to roll down her cheeks and she brushed them
away with her hand.

“That’s right,” she said. “Walk away without hearing my side
of the story like you always do.”

He didn’t reply but went to the door instead.

“I’ll give you a few moments to collect yourself. Then I’ll
let Marco deal with you.”

Deal with her? The door shut and she heard his footsteps
fading away.

She couldn’t just sit there and wait for him or Marco to
come back and hand her to the cops. She hadn’t done anything wrong! Well not in
this case at least.

She grabbed a pen and scribbled a quick note. She set the
sheet of paper on the middle of the bed and then went to the closet.

A black duffle bag lay on the floor and she grabbed it.
Without thinking, she tossed in anything she could fit in the bag. The gown she
wore would only hinder her so she stripped down and threw on some jeans and a
t-shirt. Her time was short before Dev returned.

Her purse sat on the side of the bed and she picked up the
bag. She faltered for a moment. Was running away really going to solve
anything? Right now it seemed as if it was her only choice.

Without thinking, she opened the window and looked down. If
she held onto the shutter, she could lower herself close enough to the ground
that she could just let go.

She held her breath as she climbed through the window and
prayed she didn’t break anything as she fell toward the ground. The soil gave
no mercy as she hit, her ankle twisting in the process. She cried into the
duffle bag so no one would hear her.

With great trouble she stood. Now she just had to climb over
the brick fence and get the hell out of there. No problem, she thought as she
hobbled toward the shadows. She just prayed Mrs. Ingram would look after Alice
until Shannon could send for the little dog.

* * * * *

Several hours later Shannon sat beside a desk at the police
station. The female detective smiled sadly.

“Thank you for your statement, Ms. Bray. I’m sorry you were
dragged into this.”

Shannon shook her head and got to her feet. “No—thank you
for listening to me and for believing me. Dev…” Her voice broke. She cleared
her throat and said, “Dev wouldn’t let me explain.”

The detective nodded. “The officers who spoke to him said
the same thing. Your statement is going to hold up though, so we won’t be
detaining you here overnight.”

Relief filled her body.

She bit her lip. “Will you need anything else from me? I was
planning on going back home as soon as possible.”

The detective flipped through a stack of papers. “We have
your information in case we need anything else. You are free to do whatever you
please.”

“Do you know if they caught the hooded man from the arena?”

“I’m not supposed to comment on this but no, we haven’t. We
will though. And your statement against Mr. Ice hopefully will help us bring
him down. After running his name through the system we discovered he has his
hands in a few questionable ventures.”

The thought of seeing Johnny behind bars helped her aching
heart.

“I’m glad. He has gotten away with too much for too long.”
She picked up her duffle bag. “Thank you again. For everything.”

The detective walked her out of the interview room and
through the station. When they reached the front door Shannon stopped.

“If Dev asks about me, please…”

The woman smiled. “Don’t worry, Ms. Bray. We won’t tell him
where you’re going. The only thing we’ll say is that your statement was very
helpful.”

She nodded. “Thank you, Detective.”

With a deep breath she walked into the cool night air. A cab
sat waiting for her to take her to the airport.

“Where to, ma’am?”

“Home. I’m going home.”