She swayed on her feet. “My daughter’s okay?”
“Yes. Where do you keep your dishrags?”
She blinked once and collapsed back in the chair. “Drawer…there.” She gestured with her head and he hurried over, careful to step around the dead body.
After grabbing some towels, he brought them to her, pulled her hand from where she clutched her arm, and pressed a couple over the wound. She flinched but he didn’t let up the pressure. “Can you hold this in place while I walk you out?” Travis wanted to get her outside and waiting for the police and he wanted to get to Juanita so he could make sure she was truly safe.
Though she was wobbly and it was clear she was losing energy fast—definitely because of the blood loss—she held the towels in place and he scooped her up. Moving quickly through the house and down a long hallway, he burst outside to find Noel waiting by the edge of the yard, clearly making her way toward the house even though he’d told her to wait.
“The guy is dead. Go find Juanita so she doesn’t stumble onto that scene.” His words came out as an order but this wasn’t the time for politeness. The kid did not need to see that. Even though he’d told her to stay hidden, she was a kid, not a soldier and wouldn’t take his orders seriously if she got worried enough about her mother.
Pale eyes wide as she took in the mother’s blood, Noel nodded and sprinted into action, racing across the yard toward the neighbors.
The sirens were louder now and Travis prepared himself for what was going to happen. Kneeling on the grass, he helped the mother sit. “How are you feeling?” he asked softly.
“It hurts,” she gasped but at least she was still conscious.
“You’re going to be okay.” He was pretty sure the bullet had gone all the way through. When the screaming sirens grew even louder he realized the cops were on the street. Without looking away from her, he said, “Listen carefully. The cops are here and they’re going to cuff me. Don’t freak out.”
“What? Why? You…saved…” Her skin paled even more as she tried to talk.
“I’m not going to be arrested but they have no clue what’s going on and will need to put me in cuffs while they assess the situation. I’ll be fine, promise.” At that, he stood and put his hands on his head as two patrol cars screeched to a halt in front of the house.
Two men in uniform rushed him, weapons drawn, ordering him to get on his knees. He did what they said and as they flipped him and cuffed him the last thing he saw before his face was on the grass was Noel’s horrified expression. But she had a little girl with her so he knew they were both okay. Everything else would work itself out.
As Noel and even Juanita’s mother started shouting to let him go, Travis heard a familiar voice. “Get those fucking cuffs off him.” And a second later, his wrists were free.
Turning over, a man wearing all black tactical gear pulled him to his feet. “Sorry about that, man.” Anthony Carlson and Travis went all the way back to the Marines. Whereas Travis started working for Red Stone when he got out, Carlson had joined the police department.
Travis shrugged, watching out of the corner of his eye as paramedics wheeled the mother to the back of an ambulance. Juanita and Noel weren’t far behind. Flashing blue and red lights lit up the night and the cacophony of noise was damn near overwhelming. “I understand protocol. FYI, there’s a dead guy in that kitchen and I killed him. He drew first, as the witness will attest to. My gun is in my ankle holster.” The uniformed officers hadn’t had a chance to search him before Carlson had told them to let him go.
When he lifted his pant leg, Carlson turned and shouted at someone to come retrieve it. After a uniformed woman took his gun, Travis let his pant leg fall back down.
“You want to call a lawyer before we head down to the station?” Carlson asked and Travis understood why.
The shooting might have been in self-defense but he’d have to go through an official recorded interview, fill out a report, the witness would be questioned at the hospital, and once their stories were corroborated they should let him go. Travis had a feeling that whoever he’d shot had a long history of violence and trouble with the law, which would help his case if this ever got as far as a trial. Though all logic said that shouldn’t happen. “Nah, but I’m calling Harrison Caldwell.” And Harrison would sure as hell bring a lawyer with him.
Carlson just nodded and motioned toward one of the cars. “You’ve gotta ride with me or a uniformed officer. Take your pick.”
In other words, Travis wasn’t driving himself. Not that it mattered. He didn’t have his truck anyway. “I’ll ride with you. Mind if I talk to my friend first?” He motioned toward Noel who was standing with her arm around Juanita as the ambulance pulled away.
His friend sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah, but make it quick.”
When she turned and made eye contact with him, it was a punch to his senses. It still killed him inside that she’d been ready to come over here by herself. His palms got clammy just thinking about what could have happened. As he started to walk toward her, Noel raced toward him, covering half the length of the yard in seconds until they stood practically toe to toe.
Her pale eyes were filled with worry. “Why did they handcuff you? Are you going to be okay?”
He nodded, pleased she was worried about him. “That’s just standard procedure. I’ve gotta head to the station and fill out a report and stuff. Go to the hospital with Juanita. She needs you right now. I’ll be fine, I swear.”
She shook her head and her eyes filled with tears as she glanced down at his blood covered shirt and hands. He’d wiped them on his pants but it hadn’t done much to help his appearance. “I’m so sorry you got dragged into this. You could have been hurt.” Her voice cracked on the last word.
“Better me than you.”
Her head snapped up at his words. “Are you kidding me?”
He shrugged. “I’m better trained. I’m fucking glad I was with you. Even thinking about what could have happened…” He trailed off, rolling his shoulders. God, pictures kept playing in his mind as his imagination went crazy.
Biting her bottom lip, she looked over her shoulder at Juanita who was talking to a uniformed officer, then back at him. “I can’t leave her, but…I don’t want you to be alone. Is there someone I should call for you?”
He shook his head, something in him warming at her concern. “No, but you can give me your phone number. You’re not getting out of our date.”
At that, she let out an unexpected burst of laughter that sounded so out of place for where they were, it made him smile. After giving her number to him, he texted her so she had his. Once she was finally out of earshot, he turned to Carlson, but kept his phone in hand. “I’m ready to leave.” As they strode toward a waiting car, he called Harrison and braced himself for his boss’s response.
* * * * *
Noel rubbed her eyes as she walked across the brightly lit parking lot outside the Miami police department. She was long past tired and pushing into slightly delirious mode, but there was no way she could go home yet. After spending almost five hours at the hospital waiting for Alisa to come out of surgery, she’d only left once she was sure Alisa was going to be okay. There had been a police officer there getting ready to interview her since she was stable and thankfully Juanita’s aunt had taken the girl. Noel knew she would be safe with the older woman until her mom was able to go home. Before she did anything else, she needed to see Travis and she didn’t care how late it was. She just hoped he was still at the station.
So much had happened and she was still trying to wrap her mind around everything, especially the fact that the man she’d been crushing on had killed someone earlier tonight—well, technically yesterday since it was just after midnight. She was worried about how he was doing and kept cursing herself for letting him come with her. Of course if he hadn’t, things probably would have ended up so much worse. Even though she was still horrified at his “better me than you” comment, he was right. He
was
better trained than her—considering she had no training at all.
She opened the glass door into the Miami PD lobby and was surprised by how quiet it was. She’d expected it to be much louder on a Friday night. But then there was a buzzing sound, then another door opened to her right. A cacophony of screaming people and ringing phones greeted her and she realized she was just in the anterior section. Well, she’d never had a reason to be at the police station before.
Before she could head to the information desk, she froze at the sight of who had opened the door and let out all that noise. Travis, another tall dark-haired man wearing a suit, and the police officer she’d seen Travis talking to earlier were deep in conversation. Her shoulders relaxed.
The fact that he wasn’t locked up had to be a good thing. If what he’d done had hurt his career, she’d never forgive herself. Wrapping her arms around herself, she stood by the main doors, wondering what to do. But then he looked at her and everything else funneled out as his dark eyes pierced her. Relief flooded her that he seemed to be okay, but something else much hotter coursed through her. Raw awareness for him. She’d been having vivid fantasies about him for months and the way he was watching her right now forced all those images to the surface of her brain. Thank God he couldn’t read her mind.
She lifted a hand and half-waved. Without saying a word to the men he was with, Travis’s long, muscular legs ate up the distance between them in seconds.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, concern etched in every line of his face.
She nodded, suddenly feeling self-conscious. What if he didn’t want her here? “The doctors say that Alisa will be okay and Juanita is staying with her aunt for now. I…was worried about you and just wanted to make sure you had a ride home.” Okay, she sounded lame, but when his eyes darkened with something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, her entire body warmed.
“You were worried about me?” He sounded almost incredulous.
“Uh, yeah. You shot a guy and were hauled down to the police station.” If something like this didn’t faze him, she wondered what it would actually take. No, actually, she didn’t want to know.
Before he could respond, the dark-haired man wearing an expensive looking suit strode over. He nodded politely at her and held out a hand. “Hi, I’m Harrison.”
Smiling, she shook it briefly. “I’m Noel.” She turned back to Travis. “If you don’t need—”
He surprised her by cutting her off. “I’ll talk to you later, Harrison. I’m getting a ride with Noel,” Travis said, his gaze unwavering as he watched her. Everything about him right now was so intense and overwhelming. Or maybe she seriously needed sleep.
Okay then. She’d come here to offer him a ride and she would definitely give him one. When the image of giving him another kind of ride popped into her mind she felt her face heat up and ducked her head to dig her keys out of her purse. Of course she immediately clasped the box of condoms, which only enflamed thoughts of a naked Travis, letting her ride him. The man was huge, much taller than her—and that didn’t happen often. She could imagine that he was big all over and—gah, what the hell was wrong with her? Letting the condoms go, she found her keys and pulled them out, able to face him again.
The other man murmured a goodbye then was gone. She stood there feeling awkward, but unable to look away from Travis until he held open the glass door for her. “Thanks for coming here. It’s a surprise—a nice one—to see you. I’m just sorry all this happened on your birthday.”
“It’s certainly the craziest one I’ve ever had.” Though she wanted to ask him how he was doing considering he’d killed someone, something told her not to push. Not right now. She knew he had military experience but he didn’t talk much about it. “How would you feel about an omelet, bacon and maybe even some pancakes?” she asked as they reached her car. She leaned her elbows against the top of the driver’s side.
He did the same on the passenger side, showing off all those muscular striations and tattoos on his forearms. Yeah, she was definitely not as tired as she’d been only an hour ago.
“It sounds delicious.”
“If you want we can head to my place and I’ll cook for you.” When his eyebrows rose in clear surprise she realized how that sounded. “I know I carry a box of condoms around in my purse but this is not an offer of sex. I just want to cook you food. I feel like I need to do something for you after all you’ve had to deal with and cooking is pretty much all I’ve got to offer.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s
all
you’ve got to offer.” Even though he was clearly teasing, she didn’t miss the sensual note in his voice.
Noel flushed. She never invited men back to her place, especially not someone who was more or less an acquaintance, but Travis had proved what kind of guy he was. A good one. Not to mention her gut instinct told her she could trust this man and she rarely doubted herself. Laughing at his statement, she shook her head. “Home cooked food. Take it or leave it.”
His eyes lit up, warming her from the inside out. “I’ll take it. Do you mind if we drive by your shop so I can pick up my truck first? I’ve got clean clothes in there.”
She’d noticed that he had on a Miami PD T-shirt that someone must have given him, but his dark pants still had blood spatters and she could only imagine how badly he must want to shower and change. Crap. Maybe he was being polite. “If you want to go home, don’t feel you need to—”