Page 71 of Inviting Trouble
“Now what?” Hailey asked in a high-pitched voice. “What if he comes to?”
“You have any rope?” he asked.
Her brows scrunched together in concentration before she said excitedly, “I used twisty red rope to tie the greenery to the front banister!” She raced to get it.
A few minutes later, Hailey returned with several hanks of rope, all of them too short to tie the guy’s wrists together. He glanced at the guy. Still out cold. “Any leftover rope longer than this?”
She smacked her forehead. “Duh. It’s in the back storage closet.” She headed out the other side of the kitchen and returned with it. He rolled the guy to his stomach and tied his wrists behind him.
Chief O’Hare and his deputy came, slapped some handcuffs on the man, and talked to them while the guy was still unconscious. Hailey promised to follow them to the station for a full report. They hauled him away.
Finally his worst nightmare was over. He walked Mad back to her car in silence. She thanked him, but he couldn’t even speak. Now that the danger had passed and he knew she was okay, the full force of what just happened hit him in a wave of nauseating anguish. He could’ve lost her. Gone forever. Gone, gone, gone. Like his baby sister.
He sat in the driver’s side, silent and still, staring out the front window, not really seeing anything.
She put a hand on his arm and squeezed. “You want me to drive?”
He slowly turned to her, reaching out with one shaking hand to stroke her cheek. She covered his hand and pressed it against her cheek.
“I’m okay,” she said.
His voice came out hoarse. “How can you take chances like that, Mad? You’re a little thing just getting over being sick. Don’t you care what happens to you?”
“I thought Hailey was overreacting. How was I supposed to know? The cops gave the all clear.”
He took a long shaky breath. “How do you expect us to have a future together when you take chances like this?”
Her eyes widened. “A future?”
“Yes!”
“You mean you’re not just taking care of me because I’m that little twerp you always have to look out for?”
“No.” He cupped her face with both hands. “Don’t ever do that to me again. Not alone. I’m your backup. You got that?”
“Yes.”
He gripped her shoulders, the pure anguish in his heart pouring out in a rush of words. “I can’t bear it if anything happened to you.”
“Park, it’s okay. I’m okay.”
He needed to hold her, to feel her safe and sound. He shifted the seat back and hauled her into his lap, tucking her sideways against him. She rested her head against his chest. “I know this sounds crazy, but I’ve always had a tight connection with you. I knew you were in trouble before I saw it. And then…” He swallowed hard. “My baby sister died and there was nothing I could do about it.”
She lifted her head. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”
“Her name was Maya and she didn’t live to see her first birthday.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I guess your dad didn’t want to burden you with my fucked-up home life.”
“What happened?”
He stroked her hair absently, his memories somehow more bearable with her in his arms. “They said it was crib death, but I always suspected it was neglect. You know about my parents, both of them addicts. Different poisons, same crappy results. I was in school by then, kindergarten. I guess I was lucky to have school when my parents got worse. Anyway I came home and the police were there asking questions. And she was justgone.” His hand stilled. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Five years later, I’m living with your dad and there’s this loud sassy little girl. I put everything I had into keeping you alive, like I couldn’t do for my little sister.”
She stroked his cheek, looking up at him. “Is that why you always treated me so nice when all the guys told me to scram?”
He gave her a small smile. “I didn’t want you to feel left out, but, yeah, part of it was I needed to keep a close eye on you to keep you alive.”
