Carter (6 page)

“Yeah, so?” Hannah told Carter he was no different than either of them. “I only said we’d have to talk about her son. And that I was going to protect her. What the hell is wrong with that?”

“No you didn’t, Carter. You assumed, and wrongly so, that you were better equipped to take care of her than she was, as well as her son. You more than likely made her feel like she was inadequate in her keeping him safe, and that now that you were there, things were going to be so much better. The ‘all mighty Lanning, I’m the best’ syndrome.”

Carter said nothing, and Misha had a feeling that he wasn’t getting any of this. He hoped that he would but didn’t know. Misha wondered if a week was going to be enough for Murph to make his brother see that she was stronger than him, and that she didn’t need him as much as he did her.

“Murph said to tell you if you had any rules that she should be following if they come here, she’d like to hear them.” His reply was less than cordial. “It’ll be your loss if you fuck this up. Just so you know. And telling her to fuck off…I doubt very much that’s going to get you any brownie points with either of them.”

Misha got up to go to work, but Carter glared at him. “She’s turning you all against me. Making me be the bad guy. I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t even hit her son, and I’m the prick.”

Misha almost felt sorry for both of them. They were both stubborn and strong willed. He gave it two days before she left again, and Misha had a feeling that none of them would ever see them again.

“What do I tell her? Either way, she’s going to be here on Christmas day in my house.” Carter nodded. “That means nothing to me. Yes or no. Are you going to give her the week?”

“Yes.” He hissed it through his teeth, and Misha changed his mind. Two hours. That would be all it took for her to decide that he wasn’t worth it. He might even have his camera on, ready when his little brother finally got it. And he was sure by then it would be too late.

Misha spoke to Rider on the way in to the office. Rider was laughing about Carter as much as he was. Rider met him at the door when he got to the office. They had a run to go on and he was packing their gear up as he spoke.

“Murph has me in her will.” Misha turned to him. “Yeah, I was notified today about it. She had me sign some papers, and if anything happens to her…if she gets killed or just dies before Max is an adult, he is mine to raise.”

“Did you tell Carter this yet?” Rider said no. “Then I wouldn’t. He’s pissed enough right now. And this isn’t going to go well anyway. I have a feeling she’s going to come here, and he’s going to try and rule her right out of his life. And if he does…well, if he does, he’ll have no one to blame but himself.”

“There’s more.” Misha was afraid to ask. “She’s left me everything. I mean, not just her son, but her money. I had no idea she had so much of it, but…Christ, why me? There are also houses that she wants me to have that I can sell should I need to for Max, but he’s to get them when he turns twenty-one. She’s provided well for him over the years.”

Misha really liked this girl. Not because she was twisting Carter up into a nice bow, but because she was smart and courageous. Not to mention she was willing to meet Carter halfway when he wanted it all. Misha told Rider about her rules.

“Do you think he’ll abide by them?” Misha said it mattered little if he did or not. She wasn’t going to take his shit. “I hope he does. I’m going to keep seeing her even if he fucks this up with her. I missed having her in my life. And I want to be a part of Max’s too. Not to rub it in Carter’s face, but because he’s a great deal like his mom, and I really have missed her.”

Phillip and the rest of them came in just as their rental car pulled in. They were taking the jet this time, going all the way across the United States to find a missing family. Misha was almost afraid for Carter to go with them. He was still having nightmares, according to Linyah. She was going out with them this time, and said she’d keep an eye on him and the rest of them should they need it.

“I’ve invited Murph.” They all looked at Carter when Linyah spoke. “I think that with her expertise she can help us in ways that no one else can. And she will have a better understanding of municipal rules that we won’t. And I like her. She’s very good at her job and takes a great deal of pride in what she can do with it. Does anyone have a problem with this?”

“Where is she?” Misha took a step back when she faded into the room. “What the hell was that?”

“I have the ability to make it so no one can see me. It’s a mind thing.” Misha looked at Carter when she did. “I have to go. I don’t care one way or the other about the rest of the crap that’s going on, but on this, I think I can be a help. I’ll see things that you won’t because I’m trained to.”

Carter said he didn’t care and moved out of the building. Misha asked her if she had gear and Murph pointed to her gun. He told her he’d get her something more when they landed, but for now, that would do. As they boarded the plane, he asked her about Max.

“Your wife and mother have agreed to keep an eye on him. And he promises to watch out for them. He’s trained to make sure that no one takes advantage of them or gets by them.” Misha nodded. The kid would have to be smart to live like he’d been. “Also, he has a gun. And he’s qualified to use it. Not legally, but he can shoot better than most men I know.”

He wasn’t sure how he felt about that and contacted Hannah to let her know he had it.

I know. Max told us as soon as he walked in the door. Said that he’d keep it in the lock box until it was necessary to use it. Even Jackson was impressed at how good he was with it.

Just keep an eye out for his grandda. He’s bad news.
She told him that she would and that she loved him.
And I love you as well. And I can’t wait for this to be done so I can get back to you and hold you
.

Standing when they were airborne, he handed out the files. Linyah and Murph shared hers, but otherwise he was giving out the information when Murph raised her hand. He had to laugh, and she smiled at him.

“This is wrong.” He asked her what was. “This picture. See? It’s not right. Look at the letters on the license plate. They’re bass-ackwards. It looks like it says W8HT, but it’s really TH8W.”

He looked at it and realized she was right. The picture was printed for them backwards. The police were looking for the wrong plate number. He called his contact on the ground and let them know what they were looking at. In minutes they were sending them the right photo.

“He said thank you. You more than likely saved them countless hours of looking for the wrong car.” Misha finished the update on what they were walking in on and decided to put Murph with Carter. It was now or never, he thought.

Chapter 6

Carter watched her move in front of him. They were scanning the area, and she was doing a good job. He supposed she might have done this before, but he had no way of knowing since she wasn’t talking to him. When she stopped suddenly, he bumped into her and held her by the hips when she stiffened as well.

“What do you see?” When she bent at the waist, her ass touched his cock. He nearly moaned, then saw what she was looking at. “Christ.” Moving around her, he looked at what she’d seen. Adjusting his throbbing cock, he tried to wrap his mind around what she’d found.

Blood, and a good deal of it. Moving down to his knees, he asked her if she had a kit. When she handed him one, he looked at it, then her. It wasn’t his.

“It’s mine. I have…I’ve done this before. My kit is police approved. Yours might get thrown out in court.” She was right. It had happened before. “I’ll set you up with them when we get back if you want. And you can always ask the cops you’re working with. They want a solid case too.”

When she came down on her knees with him, he watched as she took pictures with the little camera that was in the kit. There were bags and gloves, tweezers, as well as tape. He watched her as she cleaned up the scene with her kit, leaving nothing behind that might be helpful. Then she put down a long tag stick that would mark the area. Handing him the evidence, she asked him to mark both the flag on the stick as well as the kit with the same numbers. Then they both initialed it.

“This will keep our evidence markers different than your brothers should they use the same system.” She stood up and put everything into her bag. “Ready?”

They moved forward again. This time he saw the blood first. And a shoe…a little girl’s shoe. It took him nearly a minute to catch his breath, and she was standing right there with him when he lost it. He looked up at her when she asked him if he was going to be okay for the fifth time. He wasn’t, but wasn’t sure he could speak until she put her hand on his chin and held his face to look into hers.

“I don’t know if I can do this anymore.” She nodded. “I saw her. The little girl. She called me Daddy before she died, and…I couldn’t save her. She was covered in mud and blood. I see her every time I close my eyes.”

“Look at me, Carter.” He’d closed his eyes but hadn’t realized it, and when he started to look away almost immediately, she pulled him back. He didn’t want to see her looking at him like he was stupid. “Look at me. When you pulled the little girl out of the mud, did you know that she was alive?”

“No, of course not. They’d been buried for nearly three hours. The fact that she wasn’t dead when I pulled her out was a miracle.” Murph nodded. “What are you getting at? That maybe she wasn’t alive and I dreamed it?”

“No. She was more than likely alive like you said. The fact that you found her…I read about it, you know. How you all found all of the children despite the odds of not. Like you said, they’d been under that mudslide for hours. The creek was so cold that two of them had drowned, but had that not killed them, then hypothermia would have.” He’d not been there when Nic had pulled them out of the water; their little bodies were bloated from the water and anything else that might have gotten into their mouths when they fell in. “I have a son. I know you know that, but I want you to think about this. Had that been my child—and I know that you never told them what she said to you, but had you done that—I think it would have been harder on me. Knowing that had someone tried just a little more, moved a little faster, my child would have been alive and not dead. But you gave them peace that you still don’t have.”

“I….” He looked at the shoe. “I close my eyes and see her looking up at me. I hear her voice in every child I see. I can’t…I couldn’t save her.”

“No. And you won’t ever be able to save them all. Believe me, I’ve tried too.” He looked at her, and she looked down at the shoe. “She’s either alive or not. And like you, I’m hoping for the best. But in order to find out, we have to do our jobs the best we can do them, and with as much respect for the families left behind as we can.”

“Who was he?” She looked at him, and he asked her again. “The person that you couldn’t save. There was one, wasn’t there?”

Nodding, she bent to the shoe and marked it before answering him. “Max was four months old and I’d just left him with a person I trusted. Not Connie or Rachel, but someone else. The case we were on was a homicide. Four dead was all I was told. But it was more than that. Two adults and a set of twin little boys, four months old. The person…the person had done things to them that, even as jaded as I can be about this job, were horrific. I was standing in the room with three other detectives when someone came into the room firing their weapon. It was over in seconds. The shooter…he was six. He’d found his dad’s gun and was trying to protect them. He died in my arms while the medics were coming up the stairs.”

“Christ.” He was helping her bag and tag, something she told him that they called what they were doing, when he heard a small whimper. He knew that the family dog was missing too, and turned to find him standing right behind him. The big dog was snarling and snapping at them until Carter backed up. Murph told him to sit down and be still.

“He smells that you’re a cat.” He nodded and did what she’d told him to do. “He’s terrified and covered in blood. Call your brothers. I’m going to see what he knows. Please?”

Carter said that he would, and she knew that he was watching her carefully. As she put her hand out to touch the big beast, he lay down and put his paws on his head. She spoke to the dog, telling him that she wasn’t going to hurt him even as her fingers touched his fur. Murph told Carter that the blood was warm.

“Come on, big boy, let me see if you can tell me where she is.” Running her fingers deeper into his fur, she touched his bare skin. “The girl is alive. So is her mother. The male…he can’t tell. But he knows where they are.”

Murph heard Carter telling someone on the radio, but he was quiet, his voice barely above a whisper. The dog whimpered when she touched his belly, and she had him roll over. They’d need a vet too, and Carter said he was on it.

As the dog lay there panting, Murph tried to see where he’d been. “There’s a large tree about…I don’t know, about half a mile ahead of us. A building that is under the dirt. A sort of garage, it looks like, something that he sees the car come out of sometimes. The male that hurt them is with them, but he’s not moving overly much. There are smells that he’s not familiar with in the building that they’re in.”

“Drugs?” She said she didn’t know because the dog didn’t. “Okay, we need to move. Will he lead us or stay here?”

“I think he’ll need to stay here. He loves the little girl. She’s his….” Murph laughed. “He thinks she’s his pet.”

After leaving the dog where he was, they moved ahead in the direction that the dog had shown her in his mind. Not fast, but they both had their weapons drawn when they found the tree. She looked at Carter when he touched her arm. She thought for sure he was going to argue with her again, and she wasn’t in the mood for it. But he spoke before she could.

“I’m not being the big macho guy here, but I will go in first. And it’s only because I can heal a good deal faster than you that I suggest this. Should I get shot, there’s a better chance of you getting in after me as I can heal quicker in the event you need me for backup.” It was a sound plan, and Murph told him okay. Just before they entered the subbasement of an underground home, he pulled her to him and kissed her. “For luck.”

“Do you do that to your brothers before you enter somewhere that might be dangerous?” He grinned and told her no. “I see.”

“You’re much prettier than them, and I’m positive that any one of them would kill me if I tried that.” He smiled at her again. “Thank you. I really needed to know that someone understood what I was going through. You talked me out of walking away and…I really needed that just then.” Nodding, she stood there and waited for him to decide to go. There was no reason to rush really. They had to go in, yes, but they needed to be smart about it too.

It was like a maze once you got into the front of the thing. Several openings, five as it turned out, seemed to go off in all different directions, and it was hard to think where to go. Someone had been doing some very extensive work down here to make this place hard to find and to get into. Misha and two more of the Lanning men showed up just as she and Carter were thinking of splitting up.

They waited on Phillip and Rider to join them before Misha asked them what to do. Carter looked at her and at her nod, he started to tell them again what they’d been able to find out, and where they had to go to get to the family.

“We know that the mother and daughter are alive. But the husband we haven’t been able to ascertain just yet. The man with them is not moving, and that’s why Gus was able to get out.” Andrew asked who Gus was. “The dog. He’s been here, and Murph was able to figure out this much. So we’re following what Gus knew.”

She waited for them to be smart asses, say something, but none of them did. There was a smile from Andrew, but nothing else. Carter continued to tell them what they needed to do.

“We’ll split up into twos. Go carefully. I guess Gus is kind of confused if there is more than one person holding them. They smell the same to him, which means really nothing right now, I guess.” Misha wondered aloud if they might be related, the two men. “Could be. As you know, Gus has been hurt, so that might be affecting his memory as well.”

As they teamed up, she ended up with Carter again. Not that she really minded. He didn’t become the asshole that he was when they were together, but worked well together getting the job done. Had he been her partner on a scene she might have tolerated him some, but wouldn’t have gone anywhere personal with him after work. She didn’t know if she would even now. At the first bend in the tunnel-like area, he turned to her, pressed her against the wall with his body, and took her mouth.

~~~

Lifting his head from her, Carter looked down at her. So many things were running through his head that he wasn’t sure where to even begin. Pressing his forehead to hers, he just held her to him and tried to gather his emotions together.

“I’m an ass.” She only laughed. “Yeah, I’m thinking you get that. I just wanted to let you know that I’m aware of what I’ve been doing. I can’t…my life has been…since the little girl, I find myself just…angry all the time. That doesn’t mean I should have taken it out on you or anyone else, but you’re the only one who has been kind enough to point it out to me.”

“You’ve been under a lot of pressure.” He told her not to make excuses for him. “All right. You’ve been a prick too. And a bastard. Not to mention, you’ve been really—”

He kissed her again, this time using his body to keep her closer to him. Carter felt his cock stretch, and he moaned when she cupped his ass and brought him harder into her. He wanted her, and he knew that she wanted him as badly. Lifting his head, he made his way to her ear and nipped at her lobe. Christ, he could almost forget where they were and just take her here.

“We have to finish this.” He wasn’t sure if she meant right now or the search. “Carter, those people are waiting on us.”

“I know.” He kissed her again, neither his body nor his cat wanting to quit just yet. But he pulled back, then took two more steps back when he really wanted to take her right now. “Can we talk about this? I mean, I really want you and you…please tell me that you want me.”

“I do. But we can’t go into this with just sex. I can’t do that with
my
son.” He heard the emphasis on the word
my
but nodded. She was right, it was her son. “Carter, I have to think of him before me. He’s all I have.”

“I don’t want you to feel that way about me. I know that I’ve wronged you, but….” Carter looked in the direction they were going. “We need to get them out. Then we’ll talk, all right?”

Murph nodded, and with another quick kiss he started forward. She was right behind him. Carter actually felt better, lighter in his step as he made his way to the den. When he got home, he decided right then, he was going to keep his mouth shut. No matter what, he was going to shut up and pay attention to her and Max.

The smell hit him first…pot and something akin to heroin. He stopped moving forward and took a step to the side just before the entrance. His belly was churning and his mind felt as if it had turned to mush. He was afraid to go in, terrified now at what he might find. When Misha asked him if he was all right, he told him to just give him a minute, but that he thought he’d found them. Carter bent at the waist and lowered his head. Murph lifted his head up.

She needs you.
He nodded.
Then man up, boy, and get your ass in gear. You want me to have to shoot you to get you moving?

You’re a pain in the ass.
She smiled, but he did feel better.
I’m afraid. I don’t want to find her dead.

Then go in there and get her.
He nodded but didn’t move.
You want to be afraid every time one of our children, should we have any, gets hurt? Do you want to be the one in the hall holding a blankie while they’re puking their guts up because of some random flu? They will, you know, be sick. Ill to the point where you’ll think they’re going to die. Now get up, get your act together, and go in there.

Carter knew she was right. His mind knew that, but his heart was having some issues with it. But standing up and moving again made him feel like he might be able to do this. And the thought of having children with Murph made him think he was going to get through this. He had a sudden thought as to whether or not she’d have them call her Mom or Murph.