Chapter 16
“Em.” Travis’s voice broke through my unconscious state. “You need some water. Come on, baby.” I felt the press of plastic to my lips and immediately opened my mouth, the cool water flowing past my lips offering relief from the thirst that had pained me since I’d woken up in the back of that godforsaken car.
I clutched the bottle, guzzling greedily as I sat in Travis’s lap in the back of his Jeep.
“Christ.” Theo’s angry voice sounded from somewhere to my right.
“She’s all right,” Declan assured him, though I was sure I looked anything but.
Finally, after I’d drained the bottle I pushed it back, collapsing limply against Travis’s chest once again. I had so many questions, but I couldn’t seem to push them past my lips. All I wanted was sleep as my head rolled listlessly to the side.
“Motherfucker.” Travis’s tone was so full of rage it nearly had me opening my eyes. Nearly. “There’s a puncture wound in her neck,” he seethed. I felt his chest rising and falling rapidly underneath me as his fury spiked.
“Fuck. Must be how he took her.” Declan’s voice was a low rumble. “We got to take her in, man, if she was drugged we need to have her screened. And, McAllister, man, I hate to say it, but if she was unconscious they should do a rape kit.”
The tension in the Jeep grew so thick it was suffocating as Travis’s body turned to stone beneath me.
“Get Sid on the phone. You tell him to get that motherfucker to talk. I want to know what he drugged her with, and so help him, if he touched her, I will fucking end him,” Travis snarled.
Sid was with Morales?
“Roger that,” Declan confirmed. “I’ll drive, you stay back there with her.”
The rumble of the engine soon sounded, doors slamming around us. We picked up speed, and Travis pulled me closer, kissing my temple. I lost the last bit of awareness I’d been clutching to, and slipped into a deep sleep.
When I came around again, I was in a hospital bed. Travis sat to my right, his elbows on his knees, head in his hands.
He looked so broken—I’d never seen my big, strong man look so wrecked. I’d do just about anything to ease him.
“Honey,” I croaked.
His head shot up immediately, his eyes bright with worry.
“Can I have some water?” I asked hoarsely, pushing myself up into a sitting position. I felt a bit better, less exhausted.
He picked up the cup at my bedside, putting the straw to my lips. I’d never known ice water could taste so damn good.
“Where are we? What time is it?” I asked when I’d drunk my fill.
“It’s 6:00 a.m. We’re at UCLA Medical. The doctor examined you while you were out of it. We’re waiting on the blood work now, but it doesn’t look like…. He didn’t touch you,” he ground out.
I reached out and took his hand, squeezing reassuringly. “I’m okay,” I murmured.
He pulled back, shoving away from his chair so abruptly that it startled me. He paced the small room, running his hand over his hair. “You’re not fucking okay. You were drugged. You could have been killed.” His furious gaze met mine. “I’ll tell you right now, if that motherfucker wasn’t a detective that the LAPD already had an eye on, I’d kill him. I’d make it slow, painful. I’d bury him where he’d never be found.”
Maybe his words should have scared me, but they didn’t. I knew he had to get these emotions out—he’d lose it otherwise.
A knock sounded at the door, followed by a doctor entering the room. Middle-aged, with brown hair and kind eyes, there was something about him that immediately put me at ease.
“Ms. Greer, it’s good to see you up and around. How are you feeling?”
“Better.” I nodded as Travis took his seat at my bedside, his large hands clasped over my thigh.
“We got your labs back. You were drugged with rohypnol.”
Travis bit back a curse.
The doctor glanced at him before his gaze returned to me. “I’d imagine you’re still feeling a bit foggy, probably thirsty. That may last over the next twenty-four hours. Other than that, everything else came back clean. With some rest, some hydration, and a bit of food, you should be feeling better very soon.”
I nodded gratefully. “Can we go?” I asked hopefully. I longed for home, and realized that it was Travis’s place that came to mind.
“I’ve got your discharge papers here.” He handed them over to Travis. “I’m glad you’re all right. Give us a call if your symptoms don’t dissipate or if you experience anything new.”
“We will. Thank you, doctor,” Travis replied, rising to shake the man’s hand.
I stood up the moment he shut the door, intent on getting changed.
“Let me help you,” Travis complained, grasping my arm gently as he handed me my clothes.
“Trav, I’m not dying. I need some sleep and some food,” I noted, my mouth watering at the very thought. I hadn’t eaten since lunch the previous day. “I’m okay,” I reiterated.
His jaw ticked, and he looked like he wanted to argue, but simply nodded. “What do you want to eat?” he asked as he helped me slide my tattered jeans up my legs.
“A strawberry milkshake sounds so good.” I sighed blissfully. “And a cheeseburger, but I guess it’s early.”
“We can find you something,” he assured me as I slid my shirt over my head. “Will you let me take you to the Jeep in a wheelchair?” he asked hopefully.
I looked at him dubiously.
“I didn’t think so,” he grumbled, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me close to his side. “I’ll settle for this then,” he murmured in my ear, giving me a squeeze.
His reassuring strength bolstered my spirits as we made our way out into the warm glow of dawn.
It had been a terrifying experience, but I’d survived. Hell, I’d proven a lot to myself, and that counted. And now, now I had that chance at forever, the one I’d dreamed of before I even knew Travis McAllister existed.
****
I couldn’t sleep.
After I’d devoured a cheeseburger and a milkshake that tasted like heaven in a cup, Travis had driven us home. I’d taken a long hot shower with Travis—he’d been unwilling to leave me, and I hadn’t wanted him to. He’d helped me put on one of his T-shirts and promptly put me to bed.
He’d held me in his arms after we’d crawled into bed. Now, hours later, I was still staring up at the ceiling.
I looked over at Travis, sleeping peacefully beside me. His arm was wrapped around my waist, holding me close, as he had from the moment he’d found me. Really, from the moment we’d met, when I thought about it.
I looked down at Buster, who was watching me intently from the foot of the bed while Able snored away on his dog bed in the corner.
I pulled the covers back as quietly as I could, trying not to wake Travis as I slipped out of bed.
For the first time, I felt truly comfortable in Travis’s home. Being brought back here, knowing it was one of the safest places I could be, calmed some of my ravaged nerves. I made my way downstairs, my bare feet silent on the staircase. I didn’t know where I was headed until I arrived at the doorway of his command center.
There was something about the security cameras, about being able to see for myself there was no imminent danger, that gave me a small sense of control.
I pulled his massive desk chair in front of the monitors and curled up, my eyes intent on the screens. It was almost hypnotic watching the black-and-white screens displaying various parts of the exterior of the house.
“What are you doing?” Travis’s voice was a soft murmur, but it still sent my heart catapulting out of my chest.
“You scared me,” I gasped, holding a hand over my chest.
“Sorry, I thought you heard me.” He moved to stand beside me, dropping a hand to my head. “What are you doing?” he asked again, his eyes darting from me to the security screens.
I shrugged, feeling mildly embarrassed. It must have seemed so bizarre. “I couldn’t sleep, and my feet just sort of brought me in here. I think— It’s just sort of reassuring to see there’s no one out there,” I admitted.
He dropped to a crouch beside me, his gaze soft and concerned. “Oh, babe.” He sighed. “No one’s getting in here—whether you watch the screens or not. You know that, right?”
I bit my lip nodding.
“But I get it,” he continued gently. “You don’t have to be rational. You don’t have be logical. Just tell me what you need to feel safe, and we’ll make it happen.”
“I don’t know what that is,” I whispered hoarsely.
He nodded, seeming to accept that. He stood up and pulled me into his arms, claiming my seat and pulling me into his lap. “We’ll just watch the screens a little while longer then,” he murmured, dropping a kiss to my ear.
I leaned back into his warm strength, my eyes on the screen. Despite the state I was in, I knew with certainty that if I had a man who’d sit with me, so patiently watching empty screens, if I had a love like that... well, then fear had nothing on me.
****
“I want to try something,” I announced, sitting up from where I’d been lying on top of Travis while we watched TV for much of the morning. We’d both dozed for a little while, and I was feeling a bit more like myself after a hearty breakfast and so much snuggle time with my man.
“Oh?” he prompted as he lazily stroked my hair.
“I want to take a bath. With you,” I added, in case that hadn’t been clear. I looked at his chest, tracing the Navy SEAL emblem on his shirt. “Not feeling safe right now—I feel like I need to take something back that’s just for me.” I tried to explain how I was feeling, but worried that it came across muddled.
“You don’t have to convince me,” he cut in, saving me from further blathering. “Come on, you can help me break it in,” he prompted, standing up and pulling me up with him.
“You’ve never used your tub?” I demanded incredulously. “That’s like… some sort of crime!”
He chuckled as we hit the stairs. “Baby, serious? Can you picture me taking a soak in there by myself?”
“Maybe not alone, no,” I grumbled, wondering why I was voluntarily putting that visual in my brain.
He stopped me, turning to look down at me from the step above mine. “No other woman has been under this roof aside from you, my sister, and our friends,” he said, his eyes glittering with sincerity.
Wow, that was really something to take in.
“Not only are you here,” he continued, “but I want you to stay. I want you to put your mark on it—to help me make it a home. So again, babe, no, I’ve never used the bathtub.”
“Okay,” I replied breathlessly as he turned to continue up the stairs, pulling me with him.
Watching him pull his T-shirt off as I got the water temperature right was one of the sexiest things I’d ever seen. It was still surreal that I got frequent access to such a gorgeous body.
He offered me an easy grin as I unabashedly ogled him. “We taking a bath or getting into bed?” he asked with a lifted brow.
“Um….” I trailed off, not at all sure what my answer was anymore.
He stepped into my space, taking the hem of my T-shirt and lifting it over my head. “Let’s take a bath first,” he murmured, making it clear bed would come later.
I managed a nod as he leisurely slid my leggings down my thighs.
When I followed him into the warm water, leaning my back against his chest, I truly relaxed for the first time in days.
I toyed with his hands, dancing my fingertips along his knuckles and up the length of his fingers. “Even your hands look so strong,” I murmured.
He merely grunted.
We lay in silence for several moments, the only sound the soft lapping of the water around our bodies.
“I felt so helpless,” I lamented finally.
“Em, you took your first chance to escape. You scaled that tree like a goddamned monkey, which was the smartest thing you could have ever done. I’m so proud of you, baby.”
“How did you find me?” I asked, for the first time able to ask the question that had plagued me since I’d woken up in the hospital.
“I took a shot and called Harris in on it. Figured we’d had the wrong guy, and I was right. Harris had had his eye on Morales for a while—the whole department did. They’d gone so far as to put a tracker on his car stating they had enough probable cause.”
“Wow,” I marveled. “I totally had Harris pegged all wrong.”
He squeezed me. “We all did. I mean, the guy didn’t really give off a vibe that put anyone at ease,” he added dryly. “Anyway, they patched the information from the tracker over to headquarters—all that took way longer than I wanted it to.” He growled. “Damn red tape. Harris had to fight to get me access to the information. He really went to bat for us.”
“So, Morales was working with Roy?”
“Looks that way. From what we’ve uncovered Morales was working with Roy back when he was investment banker, helped him cover up some illegal business practices. Covered his tracks pretty well, but he’d gotten sloppy lately, especially since any money Roy had been bringing in dried up. Desperation makes people fuck up.”
“Why would Morales have taken me if he wasn’t getting paid?” I asked, confused.
He shrugged. “We’re not sure. He could have been promised a big pay out. Likely Roy would have just taken him out.”
“Jesus.” I muttered. “What a mess.”
“There is some good news in all of this,” he replied, stroking his fingers over my shoulder. “We got a solid shot at Morales. Brought him to headquarters. We know where he was meeting Roy. Theo and Sid are headed up that way now.”
“That is good news,” I agreed, more than ready for this ordeal to be over with.
“The other good news,” he continued, and I could hear the grin in his voice, “is that I have the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen, warm and wet and pressed against me. I think this whole bath thing has grown on me.”
I grinned from ear to ear.
“But”—his voice was a low rasp— “I’m working toward what happens after the bath.” He pressed himself into my backside, making his intentions clear.
And with that, the bath was over. But our afternoon was just beginning.
****
It was early evening when Travis’s phone rang. We were lounging in bed, too sated to move after hours of nothing but making love. It had been the most perfect day despite the circumstances that had kept us indoors.
“Yeah?” Travis answered as I lay against his chest, his fingers weaving through my curls. He listened intently, his fingers pausing as he tensed slightly. “Well, shit. Can’t say I’m surprised. Let me talk to Em, and I’ll get back with you. Give me five. Yep.” He ended the call with a deep sigh, tipping his chin down toward me. “How much luck have you had over the years reasoning with Mabel?”
I snorted. “Reason and May don’t go together. Why?”
He groaned. “I thought as much. She just arrived back at her place. Sid was there—we’ve had a man posted there every day, since we weren’t sure exactly when she’d be back. She’s refusing to leave. I believe the words she used were, ‘no one can tell me I can’t sleep under my own roof, even a hot as hell muscle head.’”
“Muscle head?” I stifled an incredulous laugh.
“Hot as hell muscle head,” he amended dryly. “She doesn’t know the details, just that her place was broken into. I think we should head over there and talk to her.”
“Okay,” I agreed, sitting up and stretching stiff muscles. “We can do our best, but I’m not guaranteeing anything.”
His hand stroked my naked back reverently. “Damn, I wish we could stay in bed.”
I turned to offer a contented smile. “Me too. It’s been a great day.”
“The very best,” he agreed as we both rose from bed and headed for the shower.
“We should stop and pick up her favorite Chinese on the way,” I suggested with a sigh. “I have a feeling this isn’t going to be easy.”
If I’d known how right I was, I would have made Trav stop for something with a bit more firepower than Chinese.
Like whiskey.