Murphy's Law (18 page)

A faint brush of clothing rustled beside
her bed.

A figure pounced out of the darkness.
She opened her mouth to scream. A hand clamped over her mouth and she realized
the light hadn’t burned out.

It had been turned out.

Chapter
16

Sara flew over the bed and slammed into
the full-length mirror across the room. Her back hit with enough force to
shatter it before she fell to the floor in a limp heap. Pain exploded in her
head as she tried to shield herself from the broken glass, but it did no good.
The giant who had thrown her was already coming for her again. Stephen sat on
the bed watching in the moonlight as the linebacker tossed her around like a
hackie sack.

The guy picked her up by the arms and
held her upright. She tried not to cower, but couldn’t help it.

“Where is Abby?” Stephen asked, not
moving from the bed.

Sara pursed her lips together and
refused to answer. She would die before giving up her daughter’s location.
Thank God she had agreed to let her stay with Justine tonight. If she hadn’t…

“I’ll ask one more time. Where is Abby?”

Again, she didn’t answer and with a curt
nod from Stephen the giant holding her reared back his fist. She braced for the
blow. The man suddenly jerked back and released his grip. She fell to the floor
and pressed against the wall as the linebacker sailed across the room and hit
the wall beside her bed with a deafening crash. She cringed when he hit, and
pulled her knees to her chest.

There, in the shadow of moonlight, stood
Murphy, looking murderous. He stalked over to the linebacker and grabbed him by
the shirt collar. Stephen was nowhere to be found.

Murphy dragged the man to his feet and
with one well-placed punch, knocked the guy out cold. He slumped to the ground
and Murphy let him fall. Then he turned to face her with fury in his eyes. His
expression said he blamed himself for letting Stephen get to her.

She couldn’t stand to see that look in
his eye and turned away. Biting down on her lip to control her emotions, she
tried not to think about what had almost happened here. Who knew how far
Stephen would have gone to get the information out of her? He wasn’t going to
stop until he had Abby, and tonight he had come close. If Abby had been there,
she would have lost her.

A sob escaped her throat before she
could stop it and Murphy lifted her carefully into his arms and wrapped her in
his warmth. She winced as her bruised body protested, but quickly forgot her
aches and pains when Murphy carried her into the bathroom and set her on her
feet.

He cupped her chin and lifted her eyes
to his. The fury was gone, but not the hardness. “Are you hurt?”

Sara shook her head. Shaken and scared,
maybe a little bruised and cut up, but she wasn’t hurt.

“Shut and lock this door behind me,” he
commanded. “Don’t open it for anyone but me or Gabe. Got it?”

She nodded.

“You have some explaining to do when I
get back.”

Again, she nodded.

Murphy stared down at her for a moment
and she struggled not to cry. Then he cursed and kissed her hard on the lips.
When his lips had finished punishing hers, he closed his eyes for a second then
turned and walked out of the bathroom. She shut and locked the door, touched her
bruised lips with the back of her hand. She knew what he was going to do and
she didn’t want any part of it. Not after the guy had thrown her into a mirror.
No, she had seen the look in Murphy’s eyes before he left. He would show no
mercy until he got the answers he wanted. For the bad guy’s sake, she hoped he
gave them to him.

Aching and worried about Abby, Sara sat
on the toilet and folded her shaking hands in her lap. She wished she had a
phone to call Justine, but it was late and they were probably asleep. She would
only worry them if she called and woke them up. Stephen didn’t know where Abby
was, or he would have gone straight for her. For now she was safe. For now.
Until Stephen came again.

Sara lowered her head into her hands,
ignoring the small, bloody scrapes and cried.

* * * *

Murphy circled the brute trussed to a
chair in the center of the brand-new barn floor, in control even though he
wanted to slam the guy’s nose down his throat and feed him his lungs on a
spoon. He had heard Sara hit the wall on his way up the stairs, and experienced
his first heart palpitation. In all his years of service he hadn’t felt that
kind of fear. He never wanted to feel it again.

When he’d walked into the room and seen
the man preparing to hit Sara, he’d seen red. He hadn’t been there for her.
Hadn’t protected her. Had gotten caught up in reliving the past he missed so
much. Leaving her open for Benchley to make his move. The man was smart, he’d
give him that. And Murphy was a fool for letting his guard down, even if only
for a dance with his sister.

The party still raging in the barn would
drown out any sound his captive might make if he decided not to cooperate. No
one would know what was going on right next door, and he planned on keeping it
that way.

He stopped in front of the man.

“Where is your boss?”

The Italian glared at him and remained
silent. Murphy pegged him as a loaner from the mob boss Benchley had gotten off
on a murder charge. Payment on a debt. Murphy was going to make the man very
sorry he had taken this job.

Murphy glanced at Gabe standing sentry
near the door. “I don’t think he’s going to cooperate, do you?”

Gabe shook his head.

“You get paid to hurt women, or do you
like it?” he asked the man.

The Italian grinned. “I like it.”

Murphy nodded. “Hmm. Do you know where
you are?”

The Italian frowned, not following.

“Let me help you. You,” he leaned down
and got in the guy’s face. “Are in North Dakota and we have a saying up here in
the north. ‘Only the best come north,’ but something tells me you’re not the
best. Because if you were, you wouldn’t be tied to a chair in the middle of my
barn.”

Anger flared in the guy’s dark eyes.
Even he knew when he was being insulted. “You and your country hick friends
don’t scare me,” he said, casting a glance in Gabe’s direction.

Murphy raised an eyebrow at Gabe, who
nodded. He leaned in even closer and said softly, “We have another saying here
in the north. Shall I spell it out for you?”

The Italian’s eyes narrowed seconds
before Murphy’s fist broke his nose.

* * * *

Sara dried her eyes on a hand towel and
pushed off the toilet seat. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy and the tip of
her nose was red, but she felt marginally better. She still worried about Abby
and Murphy, but she was calmer, enough that she could get herself cleaned up.

One look in the mirror and she sighed.
There was glass in her hair. She could only imagine what her back looked like.
It felt like being poked with tiny, red-hot needles. No way could she reach her
back, so she opted for leaving the safe haven of the bathroom and going in
search of Murphy.

Slowly, she let herself out of the
bathroom and tiptoed into her room, though she didn’t know why she was being
quiet. The house was empty. She doubted Stephen would try again after seeing
Murphy throw that brute across the room like a football. If Murphy could
overpower a man that size, he’d make mincemeat of Stephen. No, Stephen was
licking his pride somewhere and planning his next attack.

Carefully, she slipped out of her
clothes and the shook glass out. It upset her that Alice’s mirror had been
ruined. As soon as she got back on her feet, she’d buy her a new one.

Sara sighed. When would this stop? First
the barns and now the mirror. What next? She fumbled in the semi-darkness and
found a pair of jeans and long-sleeved shirt to slip into, then a pair of
running shoes, and hurried out of the house. She saw a light on in the office
area of the barns and headed in that direction.

She had almost reached the side door
when Murphy’s SUV came barreling out. She stopped and watched it fly up the
hill and down the drive until the tail lights faded away. Frowning, she opened
the door and slipped inside the empty building. Nothing out of place.

Reaching over, she flipped the lights
off and backed out. Where had Murphy gone? What had he done to the man he’d
saved her from? Too many questions raced through her head. She wouldn’t sleep
until he returned, but she didn’t want to be alone in the house. Just in case.
The light was burned out in her bedroom, so she couldn’t go there. She had
already changed her clothes, so she couldn’t return to the dance.

Now what?

Biting down on her lip, she trudged
toward the house. Only one place would make her feel safe tonight.

* * * *

Murphy rubbed a weary hand over his eyes
and slipped silently into his room. It was well after three AM. He and Gabe had
gotten nothing from that no-good bastard Italian. Gabe was taking him to the
sheriff at that very moment.

He’d catch a few hours of sleep before a
long, serious talk with Sara in the morning. She would to have to trust him if
she wanted to keep her daughter safe. Tonight she had gone against him and it
cost her. If he hadn’t been keeping tabs on her, who knew what the goon would
have done.

The thought made him scowl as he tugged
his shirt off and tossed it aside. His boots and jeans followed, then his
boxers. He pulled back the covers and slipped into bed. And bumped into a warm
body.

What the hell?

He turned, saw the shimmer of golden
curls in the moonlight, and let out a frustrated groan. After seeing Sara in
that sexy dress tonight and then dancing with her, the last thing he could
handle was her in his bed. Cinnamon- and vanilla-scented temptation.

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked
at him through half closed lashes in a sexy, bedroom look that made him break
out in a cold sweat.

Then she smiled.

He scowled.

“I didn’t want to stay alone,” she
whispered. “Is this okay?”

He heard the tremor in her voice and
knew he was done for. He would deny her nothing tonight. Or ever.

“Are you angry with me?”

Murphy sighed. “No.”

“I screwed up.”

Murphy heard the self-deprecation in
that comment and didn’t like it. Sara was already hard on herself; she didn’t need
him making her feel worse for what had happened. He couldn’t tell her that he
was upset with himself and not her, because then he would have to admit that he
had feelings for her. He wasn’t ready to do that.

“I’m sorry, Murphy.”

The hitch in her voice he couldn’t
ignore. With a growl he pulled her into his arms, felt her trembling. She
burrowed in and wrapped herself around him like he was her lifeline. The night
had taken a toll on her. She didn’t cry, but she clung to him as he stroked her
hair and whispered soft nothings in her ear.

His body responded with a more primal
need. A couple more inches and Sara would know just what she did to him. He
stroked his hand up her back and felt her stiffen, remembering too late that
she had been thrown into a mirror. He jackknifed in bed and reached over to
turn on the bedside lamp. Sara stared at him like he’d lost his mind when soft
light illuminated the room.

Her eyes dropped to his chest and then
to his waist where the sheet had slipped down. A blush spread from her neck to
her forehead before she looked up and met his eyes. He went hard when he saw
the desire in her eyes.

“On your stomach,” he ordered roughly.

Sara rolled onto her stomach and he
carefully lifted her tank top so he could see the damage done to her. Tiny, red
welts and small scrapes peppered her back. Some had bled, others were just
angry looking. She would be sore for a couple days until they healed, but none
of them needed stitches. The sight of her like this made his gut clench. He
shouldn’t have let this happen. Never should have let her out of his sight.
He’d have to chain her to his hip in order to keep her safe. Avoiding her for
personal reasons wasn’t working.

“As long as I don’t lie on my back, it
doesn’t hurt,” she said, her voice muffled by his pillow.

That gave him all kinds of scenarios as
to how to keep her off her back. He’d always enjoyed it when the woman was on
top.

Cursing, Murphy lowered her shirt and
forced himself not to touch her.

“What else did the bastard do to you?”

“Nothing. You stopped him before he
could go any further.”

At least he had done that.

“Stephen doesn’t know where Abby is. If
she had been here, he would have taken her. He’s getting closer, Murphy. I
can’t stay here.”

She pulled away as she spoke and Murphy
knew she was serious. She was getting ready to leave. The thought settled
heavily in his chest. He hated to admit it, but he had grown used to her
presence in the house, and looked forward to seeing her first thing in the
morning and at night before he went to bed. He liked having Oreos with Abby in
the morning. Liked seeing Sara happy and comfortable. Since being here she had
smiled more and laughed with his sisters with total abandonment. The fear in
her eyes had faded and she no longer looked over her shoulder. She had begun to
release her hold on Abby, meaning she was beginning to trust again. The first
step in getting on with her life.