The Right To Remain Mine (26 page)

        Disappointment and relief caught her tight her when her brother, Chase, answered. She would've preferred Raith, but at the moment, anyone would do.

        "Chase," Willow gurgled out his name. "Oh God, Chase, help me!"

        She screamed when the knife stabbed through the door again.

        "Willow?" her brother called. "What's wrong?"

        "He's trying to get in!" was all she could think to say. "Oh God, Chase, hurry! He's going to kill me."

        "Willow? What the hell is going on?"

        But Willow was too busy screaming again because a big enough hole had been cut in the door to allow a long menacing arm to reach in and grab a handful of her hair.

~ * ~

        Camped in front of his television, watching sports and guzzling a beer, Raith told himself this was the life. No woman around to nag him about putting pants on. No one to interrupt the game or make him change the channel. And no one to call him a big, conceited pig.

        He took another drink and sighed. And no one to strip naked and feast upon.

        Didn't matter, he told himself. The woman was pregnant with his baby, he'd have to see her again, even if it was just to take her to court to get a little daddy time. And if that's what he had to do to get her attention, then that's what he'd do.

        He'd called her twice, but she hadn't answered the phone either time. He knew she'd been home because he'd been sitting in his truck down the block watching her place. Damn it. He was really starting to lose it. All he knew was DeVane couldn't avoid him forever. They would have their talk and get this resolved if it was the last thing he did.

        His cell phone rang.

        There, he thought. That was probably her right now, telling him she was ready to discuss their situation in a calm, rational manner.

        Not.

        Pigs would fly before DeVane initiated contact.

        "Malloy," he answered after checking the caller ID and seeing Deputy Hinton's name flash across the screen.

        "Man, Malloy, you were right about that lawyer lady," Hinton said, blowing out an unsteady breath.

        Raith sat up, spilling beer in his lap. "Right about what?"

        "Someone just tried to kill her. I mean, really kill her."

        Raith stood so fast he nearly passed out. His vision went black and the world spun around him. Tucking the phone in his ear, he demanded to know what happened even as he jerked on a pair of jeans.

        "She's okay though?" he insisted.

        "Pretty shaken, but she's fine. She locked herself in her bathroom and called her brother. Guy was still there when DeVane arrived."

        "Where's the perp now?" Raith asked as he sprinted out the door and hopped into his truck. "Has he already been brought in or is he still at the scene?"

        "He got away. Jumped out a window. Dispatch put an APB out on him."

        Raith cursed. "I'll be right there," he muttered and hung up.

        He pulled into Willow's drive behind Chase's Bentley within five minutes.

        Merely seeing the two police cruisers with their lights flashing made his stomach turn over. When he stepped from his truck, he leaned against it a moment until his equilibrium returned. Then he blew out a breath and straightened. Someone had tried to kill his woman, and he'd been sitting on his fat ass at home, watching TV. What was worse, this wasn't the first time and still he'd been sitting at home, as if there was no reason to worry.

        For a horrible moment, he thought he might puke. Willow had almost died, and it was his fault. He should've listened to her the first time, searched for her intruder until he found the guy and pulled his tongue out through his asshole.

        Roger Purcell, a deputy Raith had worked with for ten years, stepped onto the front porch and paused when he saw Malloy approaching.

        "What're you doing here?" he asked, crinkling his brow. "I thought you were off tonight."

        "Hinton called me," Raith answered. He motioned toward the house, barely keeping it together. What he really wanted to do was bulldoze his way inside and see Willow. But he still felt a little too unsteady. "What do we have?"

        Purcell blew out a breath and shook his head. "Someone was pretty determined to take out our lovely lawyer lady. I've never seen such madness."

        As Purcell described the hack marks left in Willow's bathroom door and gave a brief review of the details, Raith followed him around to the other side of the house where they could take blood samples from the broken window their subject had jumped through to escape.

        "Pretty small feet," Raith murmured as he knelt down to study the distinct footprint left in the mud. He stuck out his own size twelve and guessed, "Probably a nine, you think?"

        "Eight," Purcell corrected and stretched forth his own leg. "Same as me."

        Raith balled his hand into a fist. When his fingers were slow to comply, he frowned at them before he realized they were too cold to work properly. He wasn't even wearing a coat; he'd left the house too quickly to remember something so trivial.

        "Jesus, Malloy, aren't you freezing?"

        He straightened. "I'm going to go inside and look around," he finally decided, thinking if he was calm enough to notice the weather, he was as calm as he was going to get.

        "Go." Purcell waved him off and returned to his inspection, scanning for more clues. Raith entered through the back door, shuddering when he caught sight of the splintered doorframe the intruder had kicked in. He nudged it open with his toe, scanned the kitchen and started to relax a little when he saw everything in its usual place.

        "He was probably in his late thirties, early forties," Chase was saying as Raith entered the living room. Willow's brother stood in the center of the room, giving his statement to Hinton. "Small for a man, probably only fivefive or five-six."

        Hinton nodded and noted the information on a pad of paper. "Caucasian?"

        "Yeah," Chase answered and lifted his face when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Instantly his cheeks went dark. Glaring at Hinton, he pointed toward Raith. "What the hell is he doing here?"

        Raith swallowed when Hinton looked up in surprise. "Uh..." he stuttered, shocked by the anger in the assistant county attorney's expression.

        "Where is she?" Raith asked calmly.

        Chase growled, "I think you should just leave. Right now. You've done enough to my sister."

        Raith glanced toward Hinton. "Where?"

        The deputy didn't say a word, but his gaze slid toward the hallway that led to her room.

        Raith nodded his thanks. But when he started that way, big brother stepped into his path.

        "You're not going anywhere near her."

        "Get out of my way, DeVane."

        Chase didn't move. "Just turn around and leave. She doesn't want you here."

        Raith's eyes flashed angrily. "Well, you know what? I really don't care. That woman is carrying my child." He motioned jerkily down the hall. "I have a right to see if she's okay."

        Behind him, Hinton gasped out a gurgled sound of shock. Chase's eyes narrowed, probably ticked the rumor was going to spread throughout the entire sheriff's department by eight a.m. tomorrow. But Raith didn't care about that either. He just wanted to see Willow.

        "She called you when she had an intruder in her house a goddamn week ago, Malloy. And you didn't believe her then. So you lost your chance to act all worried and upset."

        Raith took a step back. Chase's comment struck right to the core of the problem. His face drained of color; the guilt hit him square in the chest. His vision grayed. For a dreadful second, he was sure he was going to pass out, but he stayed on his feet.

        "If she'd gotten killed tonight, it'd be your fault."

        Raith lifted his face and in a hoarse voice, rasped, "Don't you think I know that? Don't you think I..." He broke off suddenly before he broke down and started bawling.

        "Just let me see her, God damn it," he whispered. "Soon as I see that she's okay, I'll get out of here. All right?"

        Chase glared at him for moment and then moved an inch. He didn't exactly get out of Raith's way, but it was enough to let Malloy know he wasn't going to argue anymore.

        Raith blew out a relieved breath and hurried past him. At the opened doorway to Willow's room, though, he paused.

        She sat curled on the bed with her back to him, her knees pressed tight together and her feet flat on the floor. Her still-wet hair dripped down her back. She'd changed from the bathrobe Purcell said she'd been wearing and was now huddled inside flannel pants and a sweatshirt. The way she sat made her look lost and afraid and way too frail.

        When he stepped into the room, she turned her head, not enough to actually see who'd come in, but enough to let him know she heard his entry. The icy breeze wafting in through the broken window was warm compared to the chill coming off her.

        Raith walked around in front of her, into her line of vision before she saw him.

        Finally, she rasped out in a hoarse voice, "I locked the back door."

        Her words broke his heart. He swallowed and closed his eyes. When he crouched in front of her and looked up into her face, she merely stared straight ahead at the wall.

        It scared him. This wasn't Willow. Willow was all about heat: animated and brash. This woman was hollowed and numbed. He opened his mouth to apologize, to tell her how sorry he was. But he knew it wouldn't matter. This had still happened to her.

        God, he just wanted to hold her.

        Suddenly, her gaze shifted and she looked down at him. Her lifeless stare pinned him; he felt it in the center of his chest. He had to blink rapidly to hold back tears. Licking his lips, he brought his fist to his mouth. "Why didn't you call me?"

        Willow lifted her brows. "Oh, would you have believed me this time?"

        His eyes filled. "Don't be that way."

        Willow gave a small laugh. "What way? Honest?"

        Raith sucked in a lungful of air. "I already feel like shit."

        "Good."

        "Willow," he said, and reached out slowly to take her hand. When her chilled fingers finally moved to clutch his, he sucked in a breath. "I'm so sorry. You'll never know how—"

        "Where's my daughter!" a shrill voice interrupted, echoing down the hall.

        Willow jerked, tugging her fingers from his and stumbling to her feet. Raith reached out to steady her, but she didn't even acknowledge him. Both her parents filled the doorway.

        "Mom! Dad?" She sobbed and moved forward.

        Raith stepped back as the threesome fell into a group hug. Brenda DeVane wept openly as she pulled Willow snug against her. Judge DeVane wiped at his eyes continuously, and Raith had to look away before he followed suit.

        "You're okay," her mother kept chanting. "You're okay now. We're going to take you home and tuck you into bed, and this is all just going to be a bad dream."

        Raith frowned. Jealous they could be so open and honest with their feelings, able to show their fear and cuddle her close, he merely stood there and quaked on the inside, showing nothing. More than anything, he wanted to strip her naked and make sure there wasn't a single scratch anywhere on her body. He wanted to hold her in his arms and never let go.

        Brenda DeVane moved to a closet, pulled out a suitcase and immediately began to pack Willow's things.

        Judge Walter DeVane glanced darkly toward Raith. "Who's in charge here?"

        "Purcell," Raith answered after licking his dry lips. He motioned with his head. "He's out back, collecting evidence."

        The judge nodded once and turned to his daughter. "Stay with your mother. I'll be right back." He kissed Willow on the forehead and disappeared out the door.

        Raith glanced toward Brenda DeVane, who was bending over and stuffing tops and pants into a single bag. Realizing this was his last chance to have a moment alone with Willow, he took her hand and tugged her out into the hall.

        She resisted. "Wha—"

        "I don't think you should go with your parents."

        Big brown eyes blinked up at him. Then she snorted and glanced away. "I suppose you think I should stick it out here by myself, like a big girl?"

        "No." He shook his head and scowled. "No, I want you to come with me."

        Willow frowned and shook her head vigorously. "I don't think so,

Malloy."

        He gritted his teeth. Gently taking her arms in his hands, he turned her so she could look through the doorway and see the damage done to her bathroom door. There had to be a hundred stab marks in the wooden panel.

        "Look at what he tried to do to you," he hissed in her ear. "Look how bad he wanted to hurt you tonight. This is serious, DeVane. Someone tried to kill you."

~ * ~

        A ripple of fear went through her and she whimpered as she tried to turn away so she couldn't see the door.

        Raith tightened his grip. "If he's that crazy and determined to get to you, then it doesn't matter where you go. He'll follow. Now, tell me honestly. Do you want to lead this sicko right to your parents?"

        Willow froze and lifted her face. "No," she whispered. She didn't want this man anywhere near her family.

        He pulled her close. "Then come with me." His voice was soft and his warmth comforting. He kissed her hair, and she closed her eyes, wanting him to pick her up and carry her to some place far, far away.