Mercy's Angels Box Set (85 page)

Throbbing almost painfully between my thighs, I panted loudly. “Dillon.”

“Right with you, sweetheart,” he murmured from my breast.

With one more pull on my nipple, I exploded. I couldn’t hold back the long groan, my back arching and hips rising towards his with the power of my release. Dillon leaned forward and swallowed the gasp from my mouth, his own body shaking as he surged forward with one final thrust before his own climax forced his movements to short, shallow bursts.

“Fuck,” he panted. “Jesus Christ, you feel so fucking good.”

Finally, he stopped moving, and I seemed to float down from my orgasm and slide back into my body. Lingering twitches reminded me we were still intimately connected as Dillon carefully lowered his weight on top of me.

“Sweetheart, I’m never going to be able to let you go now,” he whispered in my ear. I sighed, his words melting any lingering resistance my heart might have had. All too soon he levered himself off my body. “Let me get rid of this,” he murmured, sliding the condom off and tying it in a knot.

He disappeared out of the room, returning a few moments later. I hadn’t moved, my body too blissed out and content to even slide under the sheets. Dillon slipped in alongside me, leaning over to turn off the nightlight. I didn’t get the chance to consider if he was a post-orgasmic cuddler. Dillon simply gathered me into his arms and pulled me up against his body.

“I don’t know about you, sweetheart, but this is the most right I’ve felt in a long time.”

I snuggled into him, my face pressed into the arch of his neck. “I’m pretty sure I’ve never felt like this before,” I declared.

“Not even with . . .” Dillon didn’t say his name, and I was grateful. There was no room for those bad memories in this bed any longer.

I shook my head. “Not even then. It was different. I was younger, maybe a little infatuated with the idea of love and marriage. This . . . this feels stronger. It just feels more.” Dillon’s fingers ran up and down my back, petting me into a restful state.

“That’s because this is more,” he whispered.

I don’t know if there was any more whispered words, my mind drifted into a satiated sleep, my body warm, and for the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt safe.

***

When I woke, the room was still heavy with shadow, only a sliver of morning light penetrated the curtains. Dillon’s slow steady breathing from beside me brought images of the night before rushing through my mind. We were wound together amongst the sheets so tightly I couldn’t tell where one began and the other ended. I smiled at the delicate throb between my legs. It had been more than a while since I had been loved so thoroughly, and my body ached in a familiar, yet at the same time, foreign way. A desperate twisting in my bladder reminded me of what had drawn me from sleep and I carefully disentangled myself from Dillon. Uncomfortable walking around the apartment naked, even if there was no one else here, I grabbed a pair of threadbare cotton sweats and an old t-shirt. After taking care of business, I washed my hands and smiled at the well-loved and disheveled woman who stared back at me from the mirror. My worry and fear was still there, lingering in the background, but I felt less desperate and calmer. As soon as Dillon woke, I was telling him everything. No matter what the repercussions, I knew Dillon could keep us safe. I couldn’t believe I had hesitated in telling him. Now, with everything in perspective, I knew Dillon had not only the desire to protect me and Eli, but he had the means. I don’t know why I had ever doubted that for even a moment. With a sigh, I tucked my hair behind my ears and tiptoed back out into the hallway. My gaze lingered on the door to my room, my heart urging me to crawl back into the warm bed with Dillon, but I knew I would never fall back to sleep. I was an early bird by nature and rarely slept past sunrise. My tossing and turning would eventually wake Dillon, so I moved down the hall and into the living room, leaving Dillon to rest. Shadows clung to the room and I pushed the curtain wide open, allowing the slow rising light of day to spread through the apartment. I cleaned the somewhat clean living room and tinkered around the kitchen, pulling out the ingredients to bake cupcakes. Gathering the plastic liner in the garbage bin, I tied it off and pulled it free. I slid back the locks on the door and peeked outside, eyeing the length of the quiet hall in both directions before moving out of the safety of my home. The garbage shoot was at the end of the hall, only a short walk, but it felt like miles. There were two lights, one to my left and one to my right, though there was a considerable length of carpet between them. Shaking off my foolish nerves, I pushed my door further open and quickly walked down the hall. I placed the full bag of rubbish in the shoot and turned back for my open door, pausing when I noticed a candy bar wrapper on the floor beside the shoot. I grabbed it, not sure if it had been mine or someone else’s, and shoved it in with the rest of the trash. This time when I went to turn, I was stopped by a large hand on my shoulder. Before I had time to panic, my head was slammed into the wall and tiny dark dots flooded my vision. My body was sluggish as I struggled to push away from the wall, but something large and hard pinned me so tight I could only manage a pathetic squirm.

“You’ve got two days, bitch,” a voice growled in my ear, “then you’re paying, one way . . .” His hips pressed against my buttocks and the rigid length of his manhood propelled me into a place I knew well—panic! “Or another, and keep your mouth shut. We know who your boyfriend is, and if you so much as whisper a word, the deal’s off, and you or your son will pay the price,” he finished just as I found my voice and screamed.

It was one of those screams that left you hoarse and made everyone in the surrounding vicinity sit up and take note. A body crashed into me and my head hit the wall hard, bringing an abrupt end to my scream. I was shoved harder against the wall before the body disappeared and I slid to the ground, my head throbbing and heart pounding painfully hard in my chest. I vaguely noticed a door bang somewhere to my side at the same time I heard the rapid thump of footsteps coming from the opposite direction. I didn’t know friend from foe and when a hand grabbed my arm, I screamed again.

“Annie!” Gentle hands gripped my cheeks. “Annie!” Dillon yelled again, kneeling beside me in the hall. My scream faded away, and I struggled to catch my breath. “Stay,” he commanded, and it was then I noticed he was carrying a gun. He moved past me and headed to the fire escape, which made me scramble to my feet.

“Dillon,” I yelled, not wanting him out of my sight.

“I’m just taking a peek, baby. Stay there.” He pulled the door open and raised his gun, ducking inside for no longer than a few seconds. When he reappeared, he moved towards me fast, his grey eyes intense with worry. He pulled me into his arms, and I barely noticed the wary faces peeking outside their doors. “Annie, we need to get inside, I’m not decent.”

My gaze dropped down the length of his naked body, and somewhere in the back of my mind I felt a pang of embarrassment on his behalf. Dillon, though, didn’t seem as bothered, not even attempting to protect his modesty as he held his head high and walked us back to my apartment.

“Eli,” I said with a rough voice as Dillon pulled the door closed behind us.

“He’s not here, Sunshine. Eli’s safe.”

I shook my head. “Please, check on him. Please.”

He nodded, not really understanding my reason but understanding my need. He disappeared into the bedroom and came back a moment later, his mobile phone held between his shoulder and ear as he hopped one leg at a time into his pants from the night before.

“Charlie, sorry to wake you, buddy, but Annie just wanted to check on Eli.” He paused a moment and with his free arm, he pulled me against his chest. “No, somebody attacked Annie in the hallway in front of her apartment.” I felt him shake his head. “She’s okay. How’s Eli?” Another pause. “Thank you. Once he’s up, maybe you could bring him home. I think she just needs to see him.” He hung up and wrapped both his arms around me. “Eli’s fine, fast asleep in bed. Jax and Ella are there also; they stayed the night. Jax and Charlie fell asleep on the couch playing Xbox. Eli is in bed with Rebecca. I need to call the police, Annie.”

“I’m fine. You don’t have to do that,” I whispered, not ready to let him go. He held me a little tighter and the warmth from his half naked body seeped into my cold skin, freeing me from the fear that had me frozen in place.

“Annie, you are not fine, and even if you were, we would still be calling the police. You were attacked. That’s not something you just brush off.”

Reluctantly, I stepped away from the warmth of his body, and when something wet trickled down my cheek, my fingers automatically wiped it away in confusion.

“Fuck, Annie, you’re bleeding.”

Dillon disappeared down the hall, and I was left alone, confused, and shaken. Sure enough, when I glanced at my fingers, bright, red blood coated the tips. Dillon reappeared, and I winced when he pressed a washcloth to my head.

“Shit, baby, let me take a look. I can’t believe I didn’t notice.” He carefully parted my hair and probed a sensitive spot on my head.

“Ow, that hurts,” I complained, knocking his hand away.

“I don’t think it will need stitches; just hold this to your head to stop the bleeding. Head wounds usually look much worse than they are.” Dillon bent down and looked into my eyes. “Did he hit you?”

My brow furrowed. “No, he pushed me and I hit the wall. How do you know he is a he?”

“I saw him duck into the fire escape. I would have followed him, but I didn’t want to leave you alone.” Pushing me gently into a chair, Dillon dialed a number on his phone.

“Who are you calling?” I asked in a panic.

“The police and Bomber.”

“Dillon—” My sharp protest was cut off as he turned his back and began talking. I held the rag against my head and silently seethed. The short time he was on the phone gave me enough time to realize he was doing the right thing, the thing any sane person not warned off by their attacker would do. In terms of injuries, this was nothing. I had endured far worse at the hands of Phillip, but the attack had left me just as rattled. These men, completely unknown to me, wanted to hurt me for something that quite literally had nothing to do with me. It scared me . . . and pissed me off.

When Dillon turned back to face me, the concern in his eyes was my undoing. A tear slipped free, followed by another and another. Dillon knelt before me and captured my cheeks in his palms.

“Does this have anything to do with Phillip’s financial problems?” he asked.

I couldn’t answer, my attacker’s words ringing over and over in my head. Instead, I looked away, breaking the hold his steel grey eyes had on mine. His forehead rested against the side of mine, and I felt his frustration as if it were my own. Perhaps it was my own. I wanted to tell him so bad, but I was scared to death of the repercussions.

“Please, talk to me, baby. Tell me what’s going on.”

My free hand cupped his stubbled jaw. I couldn’t lie to Dillon—I simply didn’t have it in me—so instead, I said nothing.

“Mom!” Eli called out.

I smiled as he raced through the door and straight into his mother’s arms. The police had left about fifteen minutes earlier and I had finished patching up Annie’s head, which, as I suspected, looked worse than it was. Still, I made her take some ibuprofen, and I watched her closely for signs of a concussion. I had been a field medic in the army, so I was confident treating minor injuries.

“Hey, Bean, I missed you!” Annie whispered, tears filling her eyes. She blinked them away as Eli hugged her close.

Rebecca leaned over Eli and held the both of them. “Are you okay?” she asked Annie who nodded and offered her a small smile.

“Everything taken care of?” Charlie asked.

I assumed the vague questions were because Eli knew nothing about the attack on Annie, which would stay that way. He didn’t need to worry about something he could do nothing about. Nothing had really been taken care of. The police had been and gone after questioning Annie. She said little and gave absolutely no information of use. I knew she was hiding something. When the officer had asked if she knew of any reason why someone might wish to harm her, she glanced away, avoiding the officer’s sharp gaze. She had calmly said she couldn’t think of any reason, but I knew Annie well, and she was a terrible liar. I had questioned her myself after the police had left, to the point where she had quickly snapped at me to give her a break. And she was close to breaking. Her nerves were well and truly frayed, the fear in her eyes so intense I could almost feel it as if it were my own.

“Uniforms just left. They dusted the stairwell for prints and took our statements. Bomber was in and out before them and did a quick check of the stairwell and surrounding buildings. I only got a quick look, but enough for height and clothing. I’m just glad I was here when it happened.” I looked to Annie who was fussing over Eli in the kitchen.

“You stayed the night,” murmured Rebecca with a smile, and I didn’t miss Annie’s blush either. Charlie’s eyes lit up as he caught onto the implication behind that statement. “Oh, my god,” Rebecca continued, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet. “Was it romantic? It was romantic, wasn’t it? He had the flowers, the suit, and he took you to a ball,” she sighed out loud, “just like Cinderella.” Annie let out a nervous chuckle before throwing a towel at her. “That’s so sweet.” Rebecca slapped Charlie on the shoulder. “Not at all like you, who hauled me out of the shower this morning and . . .” Annie cleared her throat and nodded towards Eli. Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry. I’m on my best behavior. Charlie hauled me out of the shower before climbing in. He left me dripping wet on the tiles right outside the shower stall!”

Charlie shrugged unapologetically. “As I recall, I wanted to climb in there with you, but you wouldn’t let me. Anyway, I promised I would make it up to you.” Charlie winked at Rebecca, and I didn’t miss her own blush. “Four big O’s tonight if I recall correctly.”

“What’s a big ‘O’?” Eli asked as he climbed up onto a stool beside me.

“Oranges,” Annie was first to come up with something.

Charlie laughed loudly. “I assume you had oranges last night, Annie?” She glared at him.

“She sure did,” I said with a smirk.

“Men,” Rebecca shook her head in dismay, “they’re as bad as each other.”

“Thank you for watching Eli last night. Did he behave himself?” Annie deftly changed the subject.

Rebecca’s answering smile was genuine. “He was perfect. I want my own.” She glanced wistfully at Eli.

“How about we go have some oranges and practice making one,” Charlie growled, grabbing Rebecca around the waist.

“You can make one of me with oranges?” Eli asked, all wide-eyed innocence and curiosity.

“Sure you can,” said Charlie as he tugged Rebecca towards the front door. “In fact, the oranges are the most important part.”

“Good lord,” Annie murmured.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Rebecca grinned. “You can tell me exactly how good your oranges were.”

“Can I have an orange?” asked Eli.

Rebecca’s hand flew over her mouth as she attempted to stop the laughter, the door closing behind them.

“There are none left. How about an apple?” Annie suggested.

Eli shrugged and jumped down from the kitchen stool. “Can I play Xbox?”

“Just for ten minutes, then you need to get dressed. I’m working today, and Jaxon is picking you up from the coffee shop.” Annie said, using her best motherly voice.

“You’re going to work?” I asked, surprised. After her morning, I just assumed she would stay home.

“I am. It’s too late to call someone else in, and I’m fine. Working will be good for me. It will help me take my mind off things.”

“I don’t want you out of my sight, Annie, you or Eli.”

The need to keep her and Eli safe was all consuming. Remaining still and calm in this moment of frustration was an exercise in patience that was fast giving me a throbbing headache. I was also positive something was going on with Phillip, which had forced Annie to try and make contact. Perhaps the attack this morning and her need to get in touch with her husband were somehow connected. I suddenly had a burning desire to find Phillip and beat the ever-loving shit out of him. Annie glanced over her shoulder as she disappeared down the hallway.

“I’m working. I need to.” There was no argument, her words said with such a gentle ease that it took me a moment to kick into action and follow her.

“Annie, someone attacked you. You have a head injury, and you could have a concussion.” Her shoulders tensed as she pulled a top from a hanger in her closet.

“Dillon, I’m fine. I’ve taken enough beatings in the past to know when I’m not fine. Just because some vagrant decided to randomly stumble into this building and attack me doesn’t mean my life is in mortal danger from now on. It’s just work for goodness sake.” She was spitting mad, her hands shaking as she gathered her clothes.

“This doesn’t feel right. There’s something more to this, Annie. I’ve always trusted my gut, and right now, it’s screaming at me.”

Annie took a deep breath before her tear filled eyes met mine. “I can’t stay here cooped up in this apartment, Dillon; it would drive me mad. Phillip kept us inside, sometimes for days on end. At his worst, I was stuck inside for three weeks. Three weeks where I didn’t feel the sunshine on my skin. Now, I can’t stand feeling trapped inside. I just can’t do it. Sitting in here, worrying about who’s outside my front door, afraid to go to the store for milk . . .” She shook her head. “I won’t do that, not to myself, not to Eli. I know you, I know you need to protect, it’s who you are, but you need to do it from a distance. Let Bomber or someone hang out with me and Eli at the coffee shop.” Her words almost brought me to my knees; as it was, my ass found the side of her bed in dumbstruck silence. Annie shuffled nervously under my scrutiny.

“He wouldn’t let you go out?” I asked.

“As his illness got worse, he became very suspicious of people, and during episodes, he would lock us away in the house. Towards the end, he even put deadbolts on the front and back doors, and only he had a key for them. When he got back on his medication, he realized how ridiculous he had been, and he gave me the key. If he hadn’t done that I would never have escaped the house the night I did, I would have been trapped. I can’t stand the feeling of being trapped, Dillon. I need to know there is an exit available. I need to know I can walk out to my front door, and if I’m too afraid to do that, then I’m really in trouble.”

I nodded, my mind and body shocked into a numb state by her confession.

“I’m not crazy,” she whispered.

That spurred me back into motion, and I stood and reached for her, pulling her rigid body into mine.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I knew you loved going out. You’re always at the park with Eli, but I didn’t realize it was something more than just you loving the outdoors.”

“I do love the outdoors,” she murmured into my chest.

“Okay,” I said as my mind began planning a way to fix this. “Okay,” I said again with more confidence. “I’ll take you and Eli into work. I’ve got things I have to get done at the office, so while I’m doing that, Bomber will stay with you guys. I don’t want either of you leaving the building, though.” I pulled away just a little so I could look her in the eye. “I’m serious, Annie, please, just stay inside with Bomber. If you need to go out, wait until I get there, and I’ll take you myself.” She nodded, her eyes softening, and her body beginning to relax. “Alright, Sunshine, go take a shower and get dressed. I’ll get the little man moving.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead before I let her pull away. “And, Annie?” She glanced over her shoulder. “I would never do something like that to you. There will always be a door open for you, sweetheart, whenever you need it.”

My meaning was more metaphorical than literal. I didn’t want Annie to feel trapped with me like she had been with Phillip. If she needed to walk away, I’d let her. It would possibly break me to let her go, but I’d do it, if that’s what she needed.

***

“Did we get anything off the CCTV footage?” I asked Sam.

The first thing Bomber had noticed on his scout around Annie’s building was that the apartments directly opposite had security cameras.

Sam shook his head. “Nope, the cameras have a nice ol’ view of the sidewalk in front of the building but don’t cover enough area to encompass the apartment across the street.” Sam hadn’t lifted his head up from this computer monitor once. He was typing a thousand miles a minute, an intense look on his face as his gaze flittered from one monitor to another. He had three. I don’t know why he needed all three, and I didn’t ask. Any answer he would have given me would have gone over my head, anyway. I leaned against his door and took in the chaotic office. There were pizza boxes, cans of Coke, coffee mugs, paper, and strangely enough, bobble head dolls, scattered all over the place. Sam was messy, but he was a genius so I let him have his messy, as long as he kept it contained to the back office we had set him up in. “Bet you’re wishing she had set herself up in the apartment with the security footage,” Sam murmured. He wasn’t being sarcastic, nor was he having a dig at me. I knew Sam well enough to know that when he said something, he meant it, no beating around the bush. And, yes, I fucking wish Annie lived in one of the larger, more modern and secure apartments across the road. But the rent was higher, and Annie couldn’t afford it. She also wouldn’t accept a handout from any one of her friends who all offered to help her secure the better home.

“Have you heard from Braiden this morning?” I wondered. Braiden had already left home when I stopped in this morning to shower and change.

“He called about half an hour ago. He’ll be in around ten. He was dropping Emily off at Mercy’s before doing a coffee run. Dr. Beth called again.”

“Beth?” I asked with a raised brow.

“That’s what she told me to call her.” Sam’s mind seemed a million miles away. It almost seemed as if he didn’t even realize how oddly personal it was that the doctor had him to call her by that name. “She wants me, even asked me if I might find myself in Holton Springs any time soon.” Sam grinned, his gaze still focused on one of the computer screens. “She sounds hot. What did she look like?”

I chuckled. “She looks like a psychiatrist. Fancy suit, fancy hair, fancy attitude. What did she want?”

“Did she wear her hair in a bun?” My brow rose without conscious thought. “I have this fantasy about a woman in a nice skirt suit; her hair pulled back in a bun . . . glasses . . .”

“Stop,” I laughed. “That is more information than I know what to do with. What the hell did she call for?” Finally pulling away from the computers, Sam leaned back in his chair, his hands laced behind his head and a carefree smile on his face as he shrugged. “Nothing really, just letting us know she still hasn’t heard from Phillip. I wonder if there’s a picture of her up on her website?”

“Does Jessica know about this little fantasy of yours?” I asked, still laughing.

Sam’s grin fell, and he glanced away. “You know what I was thinking?”

“Something about librarians?”

He grinned. “That, and I wonder if Phillip Lonergan is in some sort of trouble, the kind of trouble that might come looking for his ex-wife.” This is why I had paid damn good money for this kid; he was smart, his brain constantly sifting through information, coming up with ideas and strategies. He might not have been a soldier but his mind was the best strategic combatant I had ever come across.

“What makes you say that?” I had already considered the idea. In fact, I was damn sure the two were connected, but I was curious how Sam had come to the conclusion.

“All of a sudden, out of nowhere, he wants to see his son, and then he asked you if Annie and Eli were safe . . .”

“How the hell did you know that?”

“Sorry, heard you on the phone to Braiden. You need to be quieter if you want to keep your conversations secret, or at least shut the door.” He waved away the dropped jaw look I was giving him. “You yourself said Annie seemed a bit off the last couple of days, now the attack. I don’t know, I’m no crime fighter, and I know computers better than people, but it seems pretty cut and dry to me.”

“Phillip was sick of the leash the prison system had him wearing with those damn weekly doctor’s visits, wants to get away, perhaps even make a permanent exit from life, wants to say goodbye to his son. He was medicated and in control, so he did what any concerned father would do and checked on his son’s wellbeing before pulling a Houdini. Annie’s still out of sorts from Eli’s meeting with his dad. It scared the hell out of her and brought back memories she thought she’d managed to bury. Hungry, homeless man finds an unlocked door to Annie’s apartment, slips in looking for warmth, sees Annie throwing out her garbage, and it’s an opportunity to eat.” My mind ran over another plausible scenario.