Mine to Hold

“The truth,” he demanded.



Her face fell, and her eyes glossed over. “Yeah. He didn’t sleep through the night for nearly six months, which means I didn’t sleep. He was colicky nearly every evening. I didn’t love the day care I had him in, but it was close to work and all I could afford. He got very sick his first Halloween, and we spent it in the emergency room, me fearing the worst. The sitting and pacing all alone while they ran tests . . .”



Behind her back, Tyler clenched his fists. She’d needed him, and he’d been cock deep in women he hadn’t really given a shit about because he’d been licking his wounds. He didn’t totally regret going to Lafayette. He’d found friends who felt a lot like family, and he knew without hesitation that they’d do anything for him. They were doing it now, safeguarding his son. He’d do anything for them, too. That network of people, even if they didn’t know it, had seen him through some lonely times. Del had had no one.



“I’m so damn sorry, angel. You’ll never have to worry about being alone again.”



“The last few days have been intense. I have to think about everything when Carlson isn’t breathing down our necks. Let’s just see how we feel when this is over.” She pushed him off and rolled away, turning her back to him, then grabbed the TV remote and flipped it on.



Goddamn it, she was afraid. Tyler gritted his teeth, trying to remember that happily ever after hadn’t worked out for her before. That she needed time and patience. But those were two things he didn’t have much of.



Suddenly, Del gasped, turning white as a ghost. She trembled, her eyes wide.



Tyler focused on the screen, showing a sunny afternoon—then a body bag being wheeled out on a stretcher of a little kitschy retro cottage. A reporter filled the picture next. “The body of thirty-one-year-old Lisa Foster was found early this afternoon. According to authorities, this was definitely a homicide, but they’re declining to give further details. At this point, they have no leads and no suspects. Neighbors are shaken.”



An older woman looked into the camera and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. “She was a sweet girl, always had a smile and a wave. She didn’t have any enemies. I can’t imagine who would want to hurt her.”



A cold slither of dread went through Tyler. “Your friend Lisa, from work?”



She nodded sharply. “Oh my God. How . . . Why . . . ?”



Tyler edged closer and wrapped his arms around her, pressing his chest to her back. “Angel, I think she may have been up to her eyeballs with Carlson and his goons.”



“No!” she burst out. “She wouldn’t do—”



“I think she did what they asked for a lot of money. She was over thirty thousand dollars in debt last week. As soon as you told her that you were headed to Eric’s to retrieve your flash drive, someone broke into his house. Now, it’s missing. Around that same time, she magically paid off all her credit cards. And now she’s dead. You got another explanation?”



Del looked over her shoulder at him, mouth gaping open like she wanted to argue. Then resignation crossed her face, and she knew she couldn’t. “She sold me out?”



“I think so. I’m sorry. I know you trusted her.”



She clapped a hand over her mouth, like she was trying to hold in a scream. Then her eyes went wide, and she gasped. “Oh my God. Lisa is the one who helped me track you down in Lafayette. What if she told Carlson that? Seth!”



“Did you tell her where we’ve hidden Seth?”



“No. I—I think I just said that he was staying with friends.” She trembled.



“Shh.” Tyler stroked her back. “Carlson wants you, not Seth. He’ll only step that far out of his jurisdiction if his back is against the wall. His power and his backup is here, and now you’re on his home turf. Besides, even if he knew my address, he’s not going to find Seth at Deke or Luc or Jack’s homes. He’s fine. I’ll text everyone and tell them to be on the lookout, just in case.”



“Thank you.” She nodded, then broke his embrace and hopped to her feet. “Why is it that I always let people in my life who are destined to hurt me? Eric. Lisa. Maybe you. Did I have such a drama-free childhood that I unconsciously seek assholes determined to rape my trust?”



Tyler winced. He could see where she’d think that, but he had to set her straight fast. “No. You’re a kind, trusting person, and sometimes scumbags take advantage. You’re not wrong; they are.”



Defeat slumped her shoulders. “It makes me wonder who else I’ve naïvely trusted that I shouldn’t. I know nothing about your friends.”



“They’re solid, angel. You’ve talked to Alyssa or Kimber every day since we’ve been on the road. Seth is fine. Xander put us up here. We’re safe. Jack and Deke are doing everything they can to help behind the scenes. We’re going to work this out. I swear.” He scrambled to his feet. When he gathered her close and stroked a hand down her hair, her shoulders began to shake. Tyler murmured, “Don’t talk to anyone else from work, not until we can vet them.”



She gave him a shaky nod. “I need to talk to Seth.”



“I saw a laptop in one of the bedrooms. I’ll see if I can get it up and get Skype running. Alyssa has an account. You might be able to video chat and see Seth.”



“Really?” The hope in her eyes was almost painful. No doubt, she missed that little boy. Tyler ached, too. For the chance to comfort her. For the chance to know his own son.



But now wasn’t the time for sentiment. Now that Carlson was leaving a body trail, there was work to be done.



“Sure. Why don’t you put on some clothes and grab yourself a glass of wine while I set the computer up?”



“Thank you. I’m stunned and terrified and probably more numb than I will be tomorrow, but you . . . make everything better for me.” She put her arms around him and drew him close.



Tyler felt a hundred feet tall. Those words, a measure of her growing trust and caring, gave him a whole lot of fucking hope.



“My pleasure.” He kissed her lips softly.



She darted into the bathroom to toss on her clothes. Tyler yanked on his pants, grabbed his phone from his pocket, and made his way to the home office across the hall. He had Jack on the line before he’d even sat down.



“There’s a body.” Tyler explained what he’d heard on the news.



Jack cursed. “Why pay her, then kill her?”



“I have to think that she’d outlived her usefulness somehow.”



“Carlson wouldn’t want to leave her as a loose end indefinitely, but something happened. Maybe the thirty thousand was a down payment for more information,” Jack surmised.



“Or maybe Lisa grew a conscience and threatened to talk.” Tyler raked a hand through his hair. “Anything is possible.”



As long as he and Del stayed here in Xander’s posh cocoon, they were safe. But they couldn’t nail Carlson from behind these secure gates. At some point, they’d have to start making moves. Already, they’d wasted time eluding goons and dealing with Eric.



“Fuck,” he ground out in frustration.



“Sometimes,” Jack offered, “the best defense is a good offense.”



“I was just thinking that. I’ve got to go after this dirtbag where he lives and breathes. Without the flash drive, Del is trying to remember all the pertinent facts so she’ll know where to start, but I’ve got to figure something out fast. They’re going to come after her. Or Seth.”



“Seth is perfectly fine. Put that worry out of your head. He and Caleb are becoming fast friends, except when Chloe is in the room. Then it’s an all-out battle to keep the pretty girl happy.”



Despite the tension, Tyler laughed. Chloe was such a girly-girl, already well versed in batting her eyelashes to get her way. Or like her mother, she toughed things out until she got what she wanted. If this trend continued, his son and Deke’s would spend years bowing and scraping to the princess.



From across the hall, he heard a soft sob, and Del’s murmurings, as if she were giving herself a pep talk. Reality intruded.



“We’ve got to catch this fucker. We’re running out of time. I can feel it.”



“Agreed,” Jack said. “Deke has been talking to some of his contacts at the FBI. Apparently someone over there has got a file on Carlson, but we have no idea what’s in it yet. Xander has a hundred bankers who will bend over backward to get or keep his business. He’s looking into any money trail. Carlson’s wife and brother both seem to deal with large sums of money periodically, but no details yet.”



“Fuck. No one who has that much shit going on around them can possibly smell sweet.”



“As soon as we get anything solid, we’ll call you.”



“Make it fast.” Tyler started the laptop on the desk with a heavy sigh. “Del is reeling from her so-called friend’s murder. But that won’t last long. Soon, she’ll go on a rampage, all furious about what’s happened to her life, Seth’s life, her friend, the community . . . you name it. I’ll have a hard time restraining her then.”



“I recommend nylon cords securing her to your headboard and a swift spanking. It might not stop her for long, but it will get her attention.”



Tyler was beginning to see the wisdom of that. Despite the hours he’d just spent inside Del, his dick stood up at the suggestion.



“Sounds good. I’ll ring you if anything happens.”



He ended the call just before Del entered the room, chin held high, all that mahogany hair swirling around her shoulders. She didn’t wear anything enticing, just a pair of jeans and a gray tank top. But Tyler had the sudden urge to tear all that off, tie her to the bed, spank her ass red, just like Jack suggested. Then get deep inside her—stay inside her—until the danger passed.



God, he should have been sated, but instead, he only felt hungrier. The difference between lusting after a woman and truly loving them, he guessed. Whatever it was, he liked it and refused to let go.



“It’ll take me another few minutes to install Skype.”



Del nodded, then held up her prepaid cell. “I’ve thought about the case. I know a few people I can call to start recreating my evidence. When I talked to them a few weeks ago, several were really interested in taking Carlson down.”



Tyler nodded. “Why don’t you give me all the background on the case before you go jumping in? What do you remember being able to truly verify and what were you still working on?”



“Yeah, I think this conversation is probably overdue.” She sighed. “What I’d been able to piece together was that Carlson had struck a deal with Double T, who runs the 18th Street gang. He’d look the other way when their cases came to trial. Felony possession would only be entered as a misdemeanor, and sentences that should have ensured hard time ended with probation or community service. In one particular case, a street dealer got pissed at a customer who tried to stiff him. He shot and killed both the customer and a four-year-old playing in the yard next door. Community outrage didn’t seem to mean a damn thing. The guy stayed in jail while his case came to trial. He was found guilty, but only given three months. As soon as the verdict was read, he was released for time already served and given a small fine. That’s it! Earlier this year, a similar situation with an MS-13 member netted the assailant a sentence of over three hundred years. In the case of the 18th Street gang, the guy trying to buy the drugs didn’t have a weapon. The kid certainly didn’t, either. What should have been two counts of at least second-degree murder was reduced to involuntary manslaughter and given the lightest sentence I’ve ever seen.”



“Shit.” Tyler didn’t like the way any of that sounded. There’d be danger at every turn, both from authority and in the streets. The gang would protect Carlson and their livelihood using their brand of violence. The scum ADA’s reach was far longer than he liked.



“I’ve also heard that some arrests that should be made aren’t,” she said.



Tyler’s head snapped up. “You think Carlson’s got dirty cops on his side, too?”



“Yeah. I had a source just before the car bomb who was ready to talk to me and name names. Lobato Loco is from the 18th Street gang, second in command. He was trying to convince Double T to break the deal with Carlson. Lobato Loco thought that Carlson wanted too much money for his protection. Double T refused to end the agreement. Lobato Loco was pissed.”



“And willing to talk. Let’s start there. Call this guy. See if he’s still willing to name names.”



Del nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. I’m just not sure I still have his number. I’m afraid it blew up with my notes, or I’d have been on the phone with him days ago.”



Tyler glanced at her and bit back a curse. She looked exhausted, nearly ready to fall down. He hit a few keys on the computer. “Call Seth. Let me find something for us to eat, then we’ll get back to work.”