Dangerous Abduction (O'Connor Brothers Book 2) (7 page)

She was worried since police were in front of her house and not because that woman could possibly be interested in James. When Danny spoke Marina forced herself to turn around. Anything so she wouldn’t have to watch the way the female officer was gazing up at James.

She was entertaining the boys by singing with them when the truck door opened. James stood with Aaron or A.J. as everyone called him. Aaron was also a police officer and another ridiculously gorgeous O’Connor brother. What the hell did their parents have in their genes?

“Marina, I need you to come out here for a minute.” James’ expression was unreadable and Aaron wasn’t giving anything away either. Talk about having a poker face. She encouraged the boys to keep singing so she could hear them outside when the door was closed. The muffled sounds of the boys singing the alphabet song wasn’t making her feel any better.

“What’s wrong?” Marina glanced at her house as another cop walked into her home.

“Someone broke into your house. A.J’s been trying to get in touch with you,” James explained as her knees wobbled and she fell back against the truck. He caught her around the waist and helped to steady her.

“My phone is dead. Who...who would break into my house?” She could barely get the words out she was shaking so badly.

“Sandy got home about an hour ago and saw your front door open,” Aaron started to explain. Sandy was her neighbor and one of her sister’s close friends. “She noticed your car wasn’t in the driveway and went to check it out.” Sandy worked for the Newfoundland Police Department, but her main job was with Keith O’Connor’s security firm. Marina didn’t know a lot about his business but she did know the men that worked for Keith were highly trained for security.

“Sandy called the station and A.J. heard the call go out over the radio. He got here a few minutes ago.” James was still holding her and she was glad because she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to stand on her own.

“Marina, the house has been cleared, but you need to go inside to see if anything is missing,” Aaron said. It was strange to see him so serious, because any time she’d been in his company, he was usually clowning around and flirting with her. She knew he didn’t mean anything by it because she’d been told a long time ago Aaron, Nick and Mike were habitual flirts.

“I can’t take Danny in there.” She didn’t know what she had to face and if it was as bad as she was expecting, it would probably scare her son.

“I’ll stay with the boys, and James can take you through the house.” Aaron opened the door to the truck and had the boys laughing in seconds. James wrapped his arm around her and guided her towards the house. She had a feeling if he wasn’t supporting her, she would be flat on her face.

Her heart raced as she peered through the front door. The house looked like a tornado had blown through it. Things were thrown everywhere and all she wanted to do was break down in tears. She glanced up at James and he tightened his arm around her.

“Marina, I know this is hard but you’ve got to see if anything is missing. Just try not to touch anything.”

She nodded because she couldn’t do anything else.

In the living room, all her ornaments and trinkets littered the floor with most of them smashed to pieces. Her couch and loveseat were sliced open with the stuffing pulled out and thrown all over the floor. Her television lay on the floor with the screen shattered. Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them back before they spilled over. James must have sensed her distress because he wrapped both arms around her and it gave her the strength she needed to continue through the house.

She stepped over the mess on the way to her bedroom. Her dressers smashed to pieces and her clothes were everywhere. The picture of Danny she had on her nightstand was face down on the floor and her lamp was in pieces. She didn’t know when the tears started to fall, but they were streaming down her cheeks.

“I... I... d... don’t think anything is missing but everything is destroyed.” She sobbed as she turned into James’ strong embrace and buried her face into his chest. “W...Why would someone do this?”

“People are cruel, honey.” James soft voice vibrated into her ear. “Are you sure nothing’s missing?”

“I can’t be sure, but I don’t think so.” She turned out of his arms and picked up the picture frame that held Danny’s picture. The pieces of glass hit the floor when she turned it over but the picture was not in it. She scanned the floor but it was impossible to tell where it was especially with the mess.

“Marina, grab some of your things.” She nodded. “I’ll bring you back to John’s.” She picked up some of her clothes from the floor and threw them in an overnight bag. She was afraid to touch anything but took another minute to find Danny’s picture.

“What are you looking for?” James asked.

“The picture of Danny that was in this frame. It’s gone.” Marina held up the broken frame.

“Honey, it’s probably under this mess. We’ll find it when we can get back here and clean everything up.” James took the bag from her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“I know it was there this morning because I knocked it over when I turned off the alarm.” For some reason it gave her an uneasy feeling that she couldn’t find it. It was just a picture but she couldn’t let it go.

“We’ll find it, but we just can’t touch too much right now.” James guided her out of the room and the tears formed in her eyes again.

James led her into Danny’s bedroom to grab some things for him as well. His room was not touched. Everything looked the same as it did when she left that morning. She assumed the person that broke in figured they wouldn’t find anything of value in a child’s room. Although nothing seemed to be missing.

“Shit!” James groaned and Marina’s head snapped up from where she was putting Danny’s things into a bag.

“What’s wrong?” She glanced around for what had caused his outburst.

“I just remembered John and Stephanie are gone to the airport.” James picked up a teddy bear that was laying on Danny’s bed and held it up to her. Marina nodded because they needed to take it since it was Danny’s favorite.

“That’s okay, I can stay at the motel on Harbor Street until tomorrow. I should be able to get back in here by tomorrow afternoon, right?” She wasn’t comfortable staying at a motel, but what other option did she have? Stephanie and John were probably on the plane by now and her parents were out of the province, not that it mattered because her car wasn’t working, so she wouldn’t be able to get into town anyway.

“You’re not staying at the Harbour Inn by yourself with Danny. For one Stephanie would kill me for letting you. Second, I’ve seen your dad and I don’t want to piss him off. Third my mother and grandmother would string me up. So for my safety you’re coming to my house tonight. The boys will enjoy it and I’d feel better knowing you’re not alone.”

“James, thanks but I can’t impose on you.” Marina closed Danny’s overnight bag and followed James out of the room.

“You’re not imposing. You’re keeping me from getting my ass kicked, and besides you’re part of my family. That’s the end of it. You’re coming to my house and no arguments.” James gently grasped her hand and led her from the house.

“I guess you’re not giving me a choice.” Marina sighed as James guided her to his truck.

“You’ve met Nan, right? She’d kill me. So no, I’m not giving you a choice.” James chuckled.

“Yes, I’ve met her and since your life would probably be in danger, I won’t argue.” Marina laid her head back against the seat once she climbed into the truck. James closed her door and spoke to Aaron for a few minutes. “I’m too scared to argue,” she whispered to herself.

James hopped into the truck and glanced at her. She forced a smile but he seemed to sense it wasn’t real and reached for her hand. The odd thing was, it was comforting and unnerving at the same time. She turned her head to look at him. It would be so easy to fall in love with him. That was something she had to shake from her thoughts, because falling in love was the last thing she needed. Besides, James was a friend helping another friend. That was all.

She glanced back at her house and it suddenly seemed eerie with the red and blue lights from the police cars flashing across the front of it. How could the little house that she loved now strike fear in her heart? Probably because something was telling her that this break in had a whole lot more to it than just someone trying to steal something.

J
ames led Marina into his house as Mason and Danny darted past them and right into the living room. They didn’t seem to be affected by the night’s events but Marina was quiet. He had a feeling she was keeping her composure for Danny’s sake.

When he dropped Marina and Danny’s bags at the bottom of the stairs, he motioned for her to follow him into the living room. He was somewhat embarrassed since he hadn’t had a chance to tidy up before he’d left that morning.

“Sorry about the mess.” James hurried around the room picking up Mason’s toys that were scattered around the room. Hopefully, she didn’t think he lived with the mess all the time.

“Toys aren’t a mess.” Marina smiled as she handed him a small Matchbox car and sat down. “My mom says if you walk into a house with kids and it’s neat, the kids aren’t happy.”

“If that’s true, Mason must be damn near delirious.” James chuckled. “I’m just going to bring your things up to the spare room.”

Marina nodded and turned her gaze towards the window. James stood in the doorway for a moment as he studied her. She always sat with her back rigid and her shoulders hunched. Always as if she was expecting something to happen, but at that moment she looked about ready to jump out of her skin.

James made his way up the stairs two at a time with Mason and Danny behind him. He wasn’t surprised in the least that Danny knew exactly where Mason’s bedroom was. John had brought Marina’s son over several times to play with Mason and he’d even slept over a couple of times.

James dropped the bags on the bed in the spare room and then headed to Mason’s room. The boys were head and arms into the toy box. James grabbed a couple of pajamas from Mason’s dresser as they pulled out the huge box of Legos.

“Why don’t you boys get on these PJs and then you can play for a little while before bed.” They quickly stripped down and pulled on the Spiderman pajamas with each of them needing some help getting their arms into the sleeves. The next thing James saw was Lego blocks being tipped onto the floor. He reminded Mason to pick them up when they were finished, but he knew he was going to be stepping on at least one of the damn blocks before the night was over. The damn things hurt like a son of a bitch too.

When he got back downstairs, he entered the living room but Marina wasn’t on the couch. James scanned the room and spotted her next to the mantel staring at the pictures lining the shelf over the fireplace. She turned, smiled at him and his heart felt like it flipped in his chest. The way she affected him was still so unsettling.

“You’ve got a really nice place.” She glanced around the room.

“It’s nothing fancy but thanks.” He flopped down on the couch. “I forgot you’ve never been here.” Marina sat next to him with a sigh but the nervous silence between them was almost deafening. James sat forward with his elbows resting on his knees.

“The boys are playing in Mason’s room.” She nodded. “Would you like a cup of tea or something?” James really needed to break the silence before he went crazy. She nodded again as he stood up.

Marina followed behind him and sat at the kitchen table with her hands folded in front of her. Once he’d flicked on the kettle and pulled two cups from the cupboard, he turned around to see her staring at him. He’d never been so aware of a woman in his life and it was as if her presence enveloped him.

“Are you okay?” Her beautiful face was pale and her eyes glistened with unshed tears he knew she’d been holding back.

“A bit confused and worried, I guess.” She dropped her gaze to her hands. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay, but if he touched her right now he wouldn’t be able to let her go. Touching her earlier had taken every ounce of strength he had not to keep her tight in his arms.

“Marina, you’ll be fine here, and we’ll get to the bottom of all this.” Comforting her from a distance was the only option because touching her again was a no-no.

“I’ve never had anything like that happen to me. I feel violated.” Her eyes filled with tears and his heart thudded in his chest.
Shit, if she cries I’m so screwed.

“That’s understandable.” A change of subject was needed quickly. “Hey, it’s getting late, why don’t we get the boys settled for the night and we can chat a bit afterwards?” The distraction worked because she smiled and followed him upstairs.  The tears stopped, at least for the moment.

Mason and Danny were still excited about having a sleepover and it took quite a while to settle them down. Marina read them a story and then they negotiated a second story from James. Hopefully, Mason was distracted enough to forget their nightly ritual.

Every night before Mason went to sleep James sang to him, a song Mason called ‘the tough boy song.’ James was uncomfortable singing in front of anyone outside his family. His brothers, with the exception of him, Ian and Keith sang in a band they’d formed to help raise money for different charities around the province. James hated the spotlight so he only sang to Mason and his grandmother on her birthday.

James kissed Mason’s forehead and was almost out of the room when Mason sat up in the bed.

“Daddy, you forgot the tough boy’s song.” The word forgot sounded more like
fordot
. James groaned inwardly because the kid wasn’t going to settle down until he heard the song. James glanced at Marina and she was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. His face heated because by the cute grin forming on her face, she had no intention of leaving the room.

“It’s a Gary Allan song,
Tough Little Boys
.” James sat on the bed next to Mason and tried to act as if it was no big deal. “I sing it to him every night.”