The Trouble With Love (15 page)

"I missed you today, darlin'," he told her then loosened his arms and stepped back.

Feeling the pressure of tears in her eyes,
Sabrina
turned her
gaze
back to the sauce so he wouldn't see them, and stirred more vigorously trying to
pull
herself together.
  "How was your day?" she asked him as if they were an old married couple.  That thought made a single tear track down her cheek, and she sniffed trying to hold the others back.

She felt his hands on her shoulders, and she fought it, but h
e turned her around to face him.  His eyes were dark and intense as he studied her face, then asked, "What's wrong, Sabrina?"

The dam burst and on a sob she threw herself into his arms.  Cole caught her up against him and hugged her tight, "Tell me what's wrong, baby, we'll fix it," he told her, his voice rumbling over her hair where he'd pressed his mouth.

She inhaled his familiar scent on a deep breath and inhaled it, trying to absorb it into her memory
, then released it sl
owly and told him,
"Gabe and I are going back to
Phoenix
tomorrow morning..."

Panic surged through Cole and he hugged her to him tightly then said firmly
, "
No
--ya'll are staying here so I can look out for you."
  He couldn't let her go back.

Sabrina pushed back from him and shook her head
then told him
, "We have to go back, Cole.  I have to be back at work on Monday.
..
.
"
  Her beautiful blue eyes were filled with misery and tears.
  H
e felt the same misery boiling inside of him, so close to the edge he thought he might explode from it.

Cole choked out,
"Fuck your job, Sabrina...you're not safe there."
  And she wasn't.
  T
hose
thugs
would find her there, maybe kill her
...
and
Gabe
too
.  She had to stay here with him,
Bowie
was safe for her and
her brother
.
  And he couldn't stomach the thought of being away from her
, if something happened
.

"It's my career, Cole...I've worked hard to get where I am.
"

Taking a step forward he grabbed her shoulders and pleaded in a choked voice, "Your job isn't worth your life, sweetheart...nothing is.
  Take an emergency leave.
"

"We're short-staffed, they probably wouldn't grant it..."

Cole put his ar
ms around her again and squeezed, desperation rose inside of him and the emotions churning
in his gut
almost closed off his throat, when he told her in a raw whisper, "Y
ou can't leave...I love you, darlin'."

"I love you too, Cole...but we both knew from the get go that your life is here and mine is in
Phoenix
.  These last three weeks with you have been
amazing, but I have to go back
."  Sabrina pulled back from him and swiped at her eyes
,
then gave him a watery smile, "Thanks for everything, Cole.  You're an incredible man."

Cole grabbed her h
ands and said, "Marry me, Bri...s
tay here with me...you and Gabe."

Her eyes jerked back up to his and she studied him for a moment then shook her head, "I've caused you enough trouble, Cole.  I don't want to compound that by agreeing to a spur of the moment proposal.  You'll thank me later, trust me."

"It isn't spur of the moment, Sabrina.  I love you dammit, and want to be with you.
"

She walked over and put her hand on his cheek and
said
,
"That may be, but I have a feeling your proposal has more to do with your knight-in-shining-armor complex, and wanting to keep me safe, than it does about really wanting to spend the rest of your life with me.
  If that ever changes, let me know, sugar,
"
  She leaned up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"
That's
bu
llshit
!  I fucking tell you I
love
you, and ask you to
marry
me, and you think it's because of some over-protective neurosis I have?"

"Tell me you don't
always
want to help anyone that's in trouble, Cole.  If they call, you're there, without question.  It's one of the things I love about you.  But you can't
base a marriage on wanting to protect someone."

Frustration boiled up inside of him like molten lava
,
and he reached for her
then
put his face in hers then growled, "I have
never
asked a woman to marry me before, sugar, for
any
reason.  I wouldn't be asking
you
now
,
if I
didn't
want to spend my life with you
,
"
he told her then ground his mouth against hers pouring out all his love,
and the
frustration and aggravation this beautiful woman had caused him since he'd met her.

After a minute, she moaned and pulled away
,
then pushed
against his chest.  She stood back with her hands on her hips, her chest heaving. "Okay, Cole tell me that you planned to ask me before I said I was leaving."

He hadn't thought to ask her...he just assumed she'd want to say with him, so he didn't answer her.

"That's what I thought...tell me if Gabe wasn't in the picture and I wasn't in danger, you'd be asking me now."

Maybe he wouldn't be asking her right at this minute, but he would've ask
ed her eventually, he loved her
. 
The fact that she was in danger going back to
Phoenix
, just sped up the process a little.  The way she'd asked the question though made it impossible for him to tell her that.

Her lower lip trembled and her voice cracked when she told him,
"See what I mean, Cole?  That is why I'm saying no, and going back home
.
"
  She sniffed a couple of times then walked up and put her arms around his waist
and hugged
him
.  "We'll still talk...maybe things will work out...but we're not going to rush into forever when neither of us is ready for it."
 

If ever there was a platitude, empty words, Cole knew he was listening to it now.  When she left
Bowie
, he knew he'd never see her again.  He
didn't say anything, he just stood there grinding his teeth against the pain that was squeezing his heart
.
  He wanted to scream and rant and tell her she was wrong
to make her stay
, but he couldn't, because she was right.

"Okay...I made spaghetti and garlic bread, and a special chocolate cake for dessert...you'll l-love it," her voice cracked again on the last part of her statement, but she sucked it up and went back to stirring her sauce.

He had to get out of here for a while, or his head was going to explode.  A few beers and a talk with his best friend would help him get his head on right.  Luke owed him a few after the shit he'd gone through
with him
,
while
he and
Cassie were working things out
.  A
nd for the first time in his life, Cole was going to collect
on that favor owed
. 

"Can you just
save
me a plate?" he asked
her, his
own lips not quite steady
,
"I need to go out for a while...I'll be back later."
  He shoved a hand through his hair then said, "I'm sorry," then turned his back on her and went down the hall to change.

Luke picked him up in front of his house and they drove to the bar in
Bowie
in silence.  Although Cole felt
Luke's
eyes on him a couple of times during the drive, his friend
didn't ask
any questions.  When he'd called Luke
earlier
, he'd just told him he needed to go out, and Luke hadn't asked any questions then either
.  His best friend had
just checked with Cassie and then told him he'd be there in an hour.

When Luke pulled up in a spot in front of the station though,
he
turned off the engine,
but
didn't get out. 
Turning in the seat, he looked at
Cole and asked, "What's wrong, Cole...let's get this out so I know what we're celebrating or forgetting, and how much drinking we need to do to get it done."

"I asked Sabrina to marry me," Cole said flatly.

He saw Luke's face split into a big grin and then his friend let out a whoop that hurt Cole's eardrums. "So, we're celebrating then?"

"No, we're not celebrating," he said quietly then ran a hand over his face and looked out the window.

"She turned you down?!?" Luke
asked
incredulously.

"She sure did...and she's going back to
Phoenix
...
tomorrow morning
,
"
Cole told him morosely.

"Holy, shit, buddy...I'm sorry.  Why did she turn you down? I thought you two were getting along pretty damned well..."

"She said that I only asked her, because I was trying to protect her..."

"Is that true?" Luke asked him staring at him intently.

Cole snorted then said, "Hell no man, I'm over the moon for her...but she was right about one thing..." he said and let the sentence trail off.

"What's that?"

"I probably wouldn't have asked her tonight.
 
I wouldn't have worried about her going back to
Phoenix
,
" he told Luke then huffed out a breath,
and admitted,
"
I'm so damned scared something is going to happen to her, Slick
, and
I won't be there to protect her.
  S
he'll be all on her own if those guys come for Gabe
,
or decide that she'd be good leverage against him.
"

"Did you tell her that?"
Luke asked.

"
What? T
ell her she was right?" Cole snorted again,
then told him,
"No way...she'd never marry me then."

Luke grabbed his shoulder and squeezed, "Let's go have some beer
,
man..
.
."

CHAPTER NINE

Four
beers and a lot of noise helped distract Cole from the misery brewing inside of him,
for a little while anyway.  Once
he and Luke left the bar
though,
it came right back tenfold. 
Desperation
and despair
made his gut boil
like it was full of acid
.  He put a hand to his stomach and swallowed trying to settle it down, but he knew nothing would be able to do that. 

He was going to lose Sabrina and there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it.
 

In five hours or so, she would be gone from his life, most likely for good.  Emotion burned behind his eyes and clutched his throat, and Cole was afraid he was going to lose it when he saw her again tonight.

"You okay, buddy," Luke asked with concern glancing over at him.

Cole
clenched his jaw and
shook his head then looked out the window trying to get control over himself.  He had to hold it together at least until he got home.
 
He wasn't going to dump on Luke, again.
 

Luke pulled up in his driveway and he saw the house was dark, and he figured Sabrina and Gabe had already gone to bed, since they had to get up early in the morning.  That thought caused a
wave of panic to crash over him.  They pulled up in front of the house and Luke
shut
off the truck, then turned to him.  "Want me to come in for a little while?"

"Nah, you need to get back to Cassie.  Tell her thank you for loaning you to me for a few hours." He looked over at his f
riend and gave him a half smile, then opened his door to get out. 

The blaring alarm coming from his house was his first clue that somethi
ng bad had happened, the second was the arm
he saw
laying across the threshold of h
is slightly open front door.

A feral wail erupted from Cole, as incredible fear poured through him.  He went to push the truck door wider to get out,
but
Luke grabbed him. 

"Wait," Luke said then reached over and pulled a gun out of the glove compartment, checked it then handed it to him. "Think, buddy," he said then pulled another gun from under his seat then checked it.  "Now, let's go...I've got the back.
  Don't shoot me.
..I'm going low.
"

Cole nodded and sucked in a deep shuddering breath
to corral his fear and panic
, then
he
hopped out of the truck, crouchi
ng as he ran for the front door, with the weapon ready in front of him.  He pressed his back against the wall beside the door, then looked down at the hand sticking out from the door. 
The arm belonged to a
male, so that relieved him a little, but not much.  Taking a breath, he tried to wrestle the adrenaline pumping through him into steely focus and then he crouched low and elbowed the door open
.  He swept
the
dark
room with his eyes and gun
, but didn't see anything
.

Glancing down, he saw it was Gabe
Kelley
laying in the doorway and he saw a gun off to his
left, on his right was a trail of blood
.  It started about halfway down the entry way and
led
past where he was laying,
out the front door and down the steps
.
 
Putting his fingers to Gabe's throat, Cole found a steady pulse and heaved a sigh of relief, then stood and flicked on the entry light, before using the master control on the alarm system to turn on the rest of the lights in the house. 

Cole
s
tepp
ed over Gabe and walked quietly through the house, scanning as he went through each room.  Things were knocked off of tables and shelves,
some lay shattered on the floor.  There were c
hips of wood missing on doorframes where bullets had grazed, and a few holes in the walls
.  Each one he found caused his blood pressure and fear to ratchet up a notch. 
He stopped short when he turned the corner and found a dark-skinned man with a bullet in his forehead
,
staring at the ceiling in the hallway.  Cole stepped over him and searched every room on the ground floor, and found nothing.

Gabe and Sabrina had evidently fought hard against whoever had attacked them, but it was obvious they hadn't come out on top. Gabe was unconscious by the front door and he had no idea where the hell Sabrina was.  Hopefully upstairs hiding. 
He wondered where the hell the FBI
agents were
...they were supposed to be watching the house.

Shaking his head, he pushed everything out of his head except finding Sab
rina...alive
.  He made his way up the stairs with his back against the wall and his gun leading the way
. 
Cole didn't hear Luke, but he knew he was in the house now, and was checking
it from back to front,
just as th
oroughly as he was.  He was damned glad Luke was here with him.

When
Cole
reached the landing,
he
took one room at a time and squatted down to open the door then search them.
  All of them were clear,
but
then his heart raced
a
nd
panic
froze his feet in place
when he saw his
bedroom door was open a crack.

Clenching his jaw,
Cole
forced himself forward then
stooped down and edged it open with his elbow
,  Kneeing
it open all the way
, he
fanned his gun around the room
, but
Sabrina wasn't in there
.  He
huffed out a relieved breath, then his eyes caught on a
pool of
blood on the
other side of the bed.

Slowly, he crept over there with a sense of dread clutching his heart.  He squared around the bed with his gun ready and found another big
ger
dark-skinned
guy with tattoos on his neck
curled up in a fetal position clutching his stoma
ch.  Cole kicked the gun
near the man away
,
t
hen grabbed the
him
by the shirt and pulled him
roughly
to his feet. 

Putting his gun behind
his
ear,
Cole
growled menacingly,
"Where the fuck is she?
Tell me, or I'll blow your fucking brains out."

The guy just shook his head and clutched his stomach.  Cole pressed the gun harder against his neck, "Tell me goddamnit!" he shouted right in the guy
'
s ear.

"
Yo no hablo inglés
..." he said
then
moaned. 
The asshole
might not speak English, but Cole bet the bastard would understand a bullet in his head.
He
jerked
the man
around in front of him and pushed him forw
ard, then took him downstairs.

Luke was standing at the bottom
of the stairs
, shaking his head
when Cole got there
with the thug
.
  "I didn't find anything,"
Luke told him
unhappily
.

Cole pushed
the
man
to
Luke
and said
"Call the feds
,
and the Rangers
...
and if you know Spanish fuck this guy up
,
until he tells you where the
y
took Sabrina.
" Cole
turned
and stalked toward t
he front door
, saying
over his shoulder,
"
These motherfuckers have messed with the wrong man
,
in the wrong state
."

Two hours later, Cole's house was lit up like a Christmas tree and was filled with every law enforcement agency in
Texas
and
just about
every alphabet agency in the
United States
.
  Cole was pacing the floor in front of the sofa where Gabe sat holding an ice bag to the
side
of his head.

Gabe
been grilled by
the ATF
, the FBI, the DEA, the Texas Rangers, and every hour
on the hour
by Cole.
  They still didn't know where Sabrina could be, but they had agents going to the hospital to put the screws to the guy Cole had found in the bedroom
, and b
oth
the Rangers and feds had CSI people here gathering evidence.

The FBI agents that had been staked out at the gate were dead
with
bullets
in
the
ir
head
s
, which
ramped up the effort by all the agencies to find the guys responsible, and find Sabrina. 
Cole believed there was hope the
thugs
wouldn't kill Sabrina
...they needed her right now to keep Gabe from testifying against them.
  They knew
he was still alive when they left the house with Sabrina, he was sure of it.  They also knew
Sabrina's brother
had plenty o
f information to bring them down.

Gabe Kelley had
told everyone
who'd
interviewed him
that
four
men
had
broke
n
in
and were trying to kill both of them. One attacked Sabrina in the bedroom and she shot him, then
she
ran down stairs and shot another one in the hallway
.  He said a third guy
surprised her and
took
her gun
from her
, and when
Gabe
tried to help her
, that guy put a gun to her head
, so he backed off
.
Gabe had wounded the
f
ourth guy in the hit squad
,
but he didn't know how bad.

All he
did
know was
that
after their group had been reduced to one and a half, they
ran
for the door dragging
Sabrina with them and
Gabe had
chased them
.
 
He said he figured since they hadn't shot him on the way out, or tried to, they
must
have been
out of bullets
. 
When he ran after them, he was hoping he could overpower them and rescue Sabrina before they could reload. 
He
told them
Sabrina must have guessed the same thing, because when he attacked them, she did
too
, and they fought hard
,
until one of the guys hit him in the head with a pistol
.

Luke walked up and put his hand on Cole's shoulder
and he stopped pacing to listen
. "She's smart and to
ugh
,
man...she'll give them hell,
"
Luke
told him then forced a laugh, "They'll probably be begging us to take her back in a day or two."

Cole looked over at Luke and smiled for the first time tonight
.
"You're probably right...I sure as hell hope so,"
he said
then
felt emotion well
in his eyes and drew in a deep shuddering breath.  Luke squeezed his shoulder then walked away.