Page 45 of Babydoll

I turn, placing a kiss on his mouth, my mind finally landing on the thought that’s been hovering in my mind.

“Call me Lulah.”

He looks confused for a second before smiling. “Lulah it is.”

I snuggle into him, deeper. “Lu’s no longer needed and Tallulah was never real.”

Jeff sighs as I sag against him. “You know this isn’t over yet, right?”

“Don’t doubt that Lulah can handle herself, because she can.” I arch my brow. “I can. I just don’t need to push everyone away with menace and sarcasm to do it.”

“Grit and gumption?”

I nod, a small smile curving on my lips. “I like that. Grit and gumption.”

He kisses my nose. “I’d love to lay here like this with you all day, babydoll, but I have to go to town and grab my data. It can’t wait. I’ve got to get all the evidence I have to the police and hope they have some of their own. Enough to arrest Satan’s Ransom. It’s the only way to keep you safe.”

My eyes widen. “No!” I sit up quickly. “You can’t involve the cops. Not until you can get them for your sister’s death.”

He reaches out to touch me. “Babydoll, as much as I wanted that, it’s no longer my priority. It’s not going to bring her back and I know the truth.”

“You don’t understand,” I plead, scrambling off the bed, panic hitting me hard in the sternum, smothering me. “They’re dirty.” I gasp for breath. “They saw Python take me. They let him.” More gasps follow as I chase air once again.

He rises, swiftly cupping my face in his big palms, avoiding my injured cheek but also steadying me. “Breathe. In. Out.” He mimics the instructions with his own breaths. “I won’t be going to River’s End cops. I’m going bigger. RCMP. Drug task force.”

I pause, the struggle for breath gone as quick as it came.

“How?”

“I have connections.” He sits on the bed and takes my hand, pulling me to sit in his lap. “I almost made it into the RCMP. Made it all the way to the last interview.” He looks down. “That was my dream. Not an astronaut, or fireman, or doctor, nope, this guy wanted to be a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer.” He huffs as if it was a silly childish dream. “I was told I’d have gotten the job, except for one thing.”

“What?”

His eyes find mine. “They won’t hire anyone with any connection or association to a criminal organization. Which includes having a sister who’s an Old Lady to a high-ranking member of a one percent biker club.”

“So you lost your dream for something that you had no control over?”

He shrugs. “The rule makes sense. And yeah, it sucked, but I got over it. And lucky for us, before I was rejected, I made some friends. Friends who are now RCMP officers so that’s where I’ll take the evidence.”

“Do you have enough?”

“That, I don’t know.” He sighs and helps me up. “How about you get dressed and relax? I’ll top up the fire.” He kisses me hard one last time. “You’ll be okay?”

I rise, nodding, watching him as he leaves the room. I'm not worried about me, but the man I love. “Be safe.”

There are clothes on a chair in the corner. Not mine, but a pair of jeans and a sweater at least one size too big for me. I slip them on and breathe in the scent of burning wood.

As I’m putting on floppy, clearly not female, wool socks, I notice a baby bassinet tucked into the corner. There are a few stuffed toys, books on birth and child development, as well as framed family photos and albums on top of a plain pine dresser.

“Those were Lisa’s,” Jeff says from the door and I turn to see him leaning against the jamb. “This was her room. Well, my room until she moved in here. She lived here while she was pregnant and for three months after Reece was born. She was hiding from Preacher. It’s the only time she stayed away from Satan’s Ransom for longer than a week.”

He walks to the dresser and picks up a picture of his sister holding his niece. I follow to get a closer look. Lisa’s hair is long and dark, like his, but her eyes are blue.

He smiles down at the photo and when he looks back at me his soft brown eyes warm further. “She loved Reece too much to expose her to her father.”

“I can understand why. He’s unhinged and dangerous. A total sociopath if you ask me.”

His shoulders lower and he gathers a breath.

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