Unlikely Allies (35 page)

“What?”

“When I got the alert, I thought it was a joke.”

His heavy, strained arms dropped to his sides. The realization set in at just how close he had come to dying. “What do you mean?”

Matt shrugged as if his claim hadn’t been a big deal. “You were freakin’ out. After my little pep talk, I thought you were just foolin’ around, pullin’ a prank.”

Rick threw his hands up, scrubbing them through his hair and yanking out his frustration. Unable to stand in place now, he paced to the white picket fence surrounding the yard, which should’ve provided a pleasant picture of hearth and home, but the chronic spasms in his stressed muscles almost had him collapsing against it and destroying the perfect frame.

“I’m sorry, man.”

Maggie climbed down, Cece still in her arms, and Kat jumped from the ledge onto the grass at least five feet below. He jogged past Matt and almost tackled Maggie and Cece, pulling them into his chest in a tight embrace. He kissed Cece and Maggie on top of their heads, murmuring against them, “I love you.”

“We need all of you inside,” an unfamiliar female voice ordered.

Clustered together, Maggie joined at Rick’s hip, Cece safe and sound asleep in her mother’s arms, they shuffled in synchronized formation from the playset toward the kitchen where the officer waited and Matt held the screen door open. Kat trudged along, bringing up the rear.

After they were seated in the living room, and Cece tucked into bed, the officers questioned each of them separately about the incident. From what he could figure, Kat got there sometime between him signing to Cece and discovering she disappeared. Kat had been on assignment, working on a case. When she arrived home and stepped on the porch, she overheard Jake’s shouting and laughter. Since she couldn’t see in the window, she crept into the backyard for a sneak attack. Cece and Maggie had been playing there earlier. Maggie ran inside to get a couple bottles of water. Her cell rang, and when she went to pick it up in the living room, Jake surprised her, capturing her in a chokehold and dragging her to the couch.

Rick stormed in not long after.

And fortunately for all of them, Kat caught sight of Cece by the fridge and coaxed her outside, hiding her in the fort. That was when Kat saw Matt’s SUV pull up next to the curb. They snuck in through the kitchen just as Jake’s twisted Russian roulette almost killed him. Matt’s shot hit Jake in the back. Kat struck his thigh, taking him down. Their keen timing saved Rick and Maggie. The paramedics checked them out and left after they refused further medical treatment.

Hours passed before the police took off. Since Matt and Kat discharged their weapons, they’d have to report to the station tomorrow for additional questioning. Both relinquished their firearms until permits could be verified. Justifiable in their action, neither would face charges for the time being, but the investigation would continue and there would be follow-up. A district attorney had to review the reports and reach a conclusion. The deputy indicated if everything checked out, none of them should have anything to worry about.

Jake had been transported to the hospital, officers accompanying him. If stable, he’d be extradited to Texas. As a convicted criminal on parole, he had a slew of charges pending against him, regardless of his claims of innocence. He couldn’t declare that now, not with a room full of witnesses.

Out front, Matt stood on the porch waiting for Rick as he said good night to Maggie. He cupped her beautiful face and kissed her temple. “I’m so glad you and Cece are safe.” He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his cheek to hers. They both shed a life’s worth of sweat today. He doubted he smelled great. Regardless, he needed to be closer to her. He pulled her tighter and set his nose in the crook of her neck. Her skin reminded him of strawberries and vanilla. He placed his mouth there too and spoke from the heart. “I love you.” As if he were praying, he repeated the affectionate pledge in her ear and at last on her lips.

When he took a step back, he clued in to her vacant green eyes, non-smiling mouth, and stiff arms at her sides. “Maggie?”

Her mouth opened, closed, and opened. Her head shook as she said, “I’m sorry.”

“What?” Without air in his lungs he thought the question would be a whisper, but over the buzzing in his ears, he shouted it.

Her eyes closed, and she inhaled, repeating louder. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”

His body jolted, slamming his shoulder into the doorjamb. “You can’t what?” he growled, anger rather than concern for her mental state fueling him.

“Do this,” she said faintly.

“This?” He grabbed her upper arms, her eyes wide open now. “Did you hear me? I love you. I love Cece. I want us to be a family. Does any of that register?”

She shook her head again.

He swung around and punched his fist into the plaster; stabbing, furious pain shot up his arm, across his chest, and into his throat. His jaw clenched so hard, he could’ve sworn he cracked a few molars. A hesitant, light touch settled in the middle of his back. He cringed and slammed the front door open, running down the steps and sidewalk toward his car.

Now he couldn’t do
this.
Whatever the fuck it was.

When he sprinted across the road and noticed Matt’s silhouette in the passenger seat, it didn’t help his dark mood at all. He sure hoped his best friend prepared for an earful, because if Matt wanted a ride home, he’d get a hell of a lot more than that.

“I thought you drove,” Rick grumbled, throwing the stick shift into gear and taking off.

“I gave Kat the keys. She’ll pick me up on the way to the station tomorrow.”

At least sports cars were good for something, and he pushed it to eighty on the highway. Matt’s silence was deafening. Fine with him. He had other plans when he dropped Matt off at home. For the entire thirty-minute drive, he formulated the ass whooping which would commence on arrival.

And after Matt’s shit advice, the pummeling would be long overdue.

“H
EY, CAN I COME IN?”
Kat poked her head into Maggie’s room.

Hours earlier, Maggie had tucked Cece into her king-sized bed because she didn’t want to sleep without her baby tonight. The two of them were gathered in a cozy bundle in the middle of the mattress. “Sure.”

Lifting the covers, Kat crawled in behind them, threw an arm around Maggie and Cece’s waist, and rested her head on the same pillow. “Mind if I stay with you guys?”

Maggie glanced over her shoulder and at Kat’s watery eyes. “I never thanked you.”

Kat nestled her forehead into the crook of Maggie’s neck, pulling her tighter. Her damp lashes trickled tears that fell underneath Maggie’s nightshirt and down her back. “If we’d been a split-second later.” As if reliving the horrific events all over again, their bodies trembled.

Silent for a long time, Kat said, “Can I ask you something?” The out of the blue question caused Maggie to flinch from a half-awake doze.

While yawning, Maggie mumbled, “Yeah.”

“Don’t get mad, okay?”

Exhaustion wanted to pull Maggie into dreamland. But curiosity got the better of her, and she resisted. She thought they’d hashed everything out already. “Besides Cece, you’re my second favorite person in the world. After everything you’ve done and we’ve been through, nothing you could say would make me angry.”

From behind her, Kat’s fingers brushed through the bangs on Maggie’s forehead over and over, relaxing her. They always shared a room growing up. One of their favorite things to do at night had been to push their twin beds together and chit-chat and gossip for hours. During difficult times, whether friend or boy troubles, Kat would massage Maggie’s temples or drift a hand through her hair until she fell asleep. She couldn’t remember the last time her sister did that, and the fond gesture warmed her from inside out, replacing some of the awful memories she had trouble erasing.

“Why did you treat Rick that way?”

Wide awake now, Maggie tensed from her shoulders to tiptoes.

“More than anyone, you should know that kind of love doesn’t come around every day. I know you’ve been through a lot, and I’m sorry for bringing it up now, but you broke his heart.”

Her lips crushed together. It took all of Maggie’s willpower to resist telling Kat the truth.

“I shouldn’t have eavesdropped, but I couldn’t resist.” Kat’s caresses stopped and were replaced by her fingers weaving through Maggie’s, squeezing them. “What I don’t understand is . . .” Kat’s thumb tossed Maggie’s up and down, wrestled from the top to the bottom like they used to when they were little girls. “He’s nothing like shithead Jake . . .”

A groan gurgled in Maggie’s throat. She opened her mouth to tell Kat to never say his name again, but she didn’t get a chance since her determined sister motored on.

“Even after the asshole’s threats, you didn’t report him. Yet Rick, who’s crazy about you and our little bucket head, you didn’t just push him away, you destroyed him. Why? Make me understand, because I sure the hell don’t. It’s not like you. It doesn’t make any sense. You give everyone a chance to right wrongs, but when it comes to a man who’s perfect for you and head over heels, you tell him to get lost. If I didn’t think you felt the same way, I wouldn’t push, but you’re gonna have tell me you don’t.”

Uncontrollable sniffles and jerky spasms hit Maggie. Yanking a clump of tissues out of the box, she blew her nose, wiping away the tears streaming down her cheeks. After a long while and many deep breathing exercises, which didn’t work, she snuffled and stuttered through an answer. “B-because I 1-love him, I have to 1-let h-him g-go.”

Kat bolted up, her hand crushing the pillow and causing Maggie’s head to roll onto it. Given no choice, she had to face Kat’s frown. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Since they knew each other too well, Maggie had never been able to pull a fast one over Kat. Stressed to the max, her overwrought brain tried to think of a quick excuse.

“I can see the wheels spinning, Mags. Don’t lie to me.”

A doozy of reason came to her, and Maggie hated herself for using it. “Today was horrible, I’m so tired.” And then she added a pout and whined, “Please, sissy.” When she’d been a little girl, her pitiful pleas worked in an instant. Now though, it would be a wait and see game. Kat narrowed her inspector eyes, examining every inch of her face.

“For the record, I’m not fallin’ for your ‘poor little me’ act. I’m pooped too, so I’ll let you off the hook.
Tonight.
” Kat turned the light off on the nightstand and snuggled up to her and Cece again. All of them settled in the darkness, a knocked-down, dust-their-boots-off and get- back-up family unit.

“I love ya, Magoopie.”

She lifted Kat’s arm off her ribs and blew a loud raspberry and smooch on her sister’s hand. “Back at ya, Cholly.”

Kat’s rumbling laughter helped her fall asleep with a smile on her face. And when her eyes closed, no nightmares came.

Instead, the next morning when Maggie got up at the crack of dawn, the person who haunted her dreams—Richard Maxwell Stone, the one man she’d never, ever forget, and would love until she took her final breath.

And beyond.

“You look like shit,” Kat murmured in Maggie’s ear before taking a huge chomp out of a slice of spinach and sausage quiche from a pie pan on top of the stove.

At four a.m. Cece got up wide awake after almost eleven hours of sleep. Still dark out, her daughter acted as if it were midday, and if she didn’t get going, she’d miss out on playtime. Unable to get Cece to stay in bed, and worried she would wake Kat, Maggie threw on a robe and they came downstairs.

Maggie leaned her hip against the counter and sipped her coffee. Cece shoveled a heaping spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth. Mama’s little helper prepared the large bowl, covering it with two boxes of raisins, brown sugar, and a tablespoon of heated milk. Something warm and comforting on a rainy day should be filling her empty tummy too, yet she couldn’t stomach much of anything. From the minute she woke up, it had been flip-flopping. Dreams of Rick wouldn’t stop replaying in her head. The thought of never seeing him again, or worse, not telling him she loved him too, had her so upset, she broke out in a rash all over her neck and the backs of her arms. The last time that happened had been after Cece’s birth, when Jake hadn’t come to the hospital. Thank goodness for family. Her mom and dad and grandparents provided support and were excited for the new arrival. Her sidekick had been there, serving as a coach, and the best big sister in the world.