Captured Again (6 page)

Their family had been through hell and kept on going years ago, ripped apart until they were finally brought back together, first by the near tragedy of almost losing Gabby and then later Mom and her mind-boggling, life-threatening illness that she’d thankfully recovered from. They’d all worked hard to get from there to where they were in life... Emma getting sober and into college and a good job; Mom and her boyfriend, Nick, had gotten married about five years ago; and Olivia had finished night school while working a full-time retail job during the day to earn her degree in social work.

Her hard work had finally paid off a year ago when she landed her job working for the state, investigating child abuse and neglect. She had known even before leaving Billy, her ex-husband, for the last time that she wanted to work with other victims, starting with children—to make a difference while they were young, to show them their worth before they fell into a cycle of abuse as she and her sisters had. She was finally in the right place in her life and doing what she loved, and she was happy—even if she was sometimes lonely—but now, since the accident, it felt like her own family was once again falling apart.

Olivia would make sure Emma knew this was bad timing on her part with what Gabby was going through—what they all were going through—but especially Gabby. Gabby needed them all to stay strong for her just for a while longer. They couldn’t fall apart now one at a time

Finally, the door she’d been pacing in front of opened and Emma appeared, looking tiny and scared but okay. Olivia forgot all about her anger and grabbed Emma in a hug and gave a huge sigh of relief.

Emma let herself be hugged, lazily resting in the comfort of Olivia’s arms. She normally didn’t like to be touched, but this was Olivia, one of her big sisters, and she would allow herself to enjoy at least that much human contact right now, after what she’d been through.

They broke apart and Emma gazed around, looking for Gabby; she was the one that was supposed to have sprung her. That was the plan. But Gabby was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Gabby?”

“She’s getting ready for work. She didn’t answer her phone last night—again—so I dropped Nick off to get your car and went over there after I came by here. They wouldn’t let me post bail right away,” Olivia answered. “Nick drove your car home.”

“Seriously? Oh,
great.
So Nick knows already... Why wouldn’t Gabby get up to help me? What the—”

“Emma, don’t start. She didn’t answer the phone so she didn’t know you were
here
until I went over there. I was up with her most of the night. She finally talked about the accident. That’s progress, but she didn’t bring up
after
the accident. I guess she’s still in a bad place.”

“Yeah, well, I guess that’s a step in the right direction, but
after
is what she needs to face. If she’s not talking about that, she’s still standing still. Taking steps is easy for her, but standing still is a lot harder on us,” Emma grumbled. “I’m sure she won’t have a problem sticking a grenade up my ass for me drinking tonight and getting arrested. She never has before. So why can’t I stick one up hers and wake her the hell up?”

“No, Emma. It can’t work like that this time. Seriously. And I doubt she’ll say anything to you about your drinking with what she’s got going on. Just don’t let it happen again, or I won’t hesitate to pull the pin myself. I’ll go over and talk to her again when I get off work tomorrow—I mean today.”

“Wait—what time is it?” Emma asked, confused.

“It’s seven in the morning. You were in there all night. They have to hold you overnight when you’ve been charged with driving under the influence. What time did you think it was?”

“Shit! I’ve got class in two hours! I guess I thought it was still yesterday. It seemed like I was only in there a few hours. I really must have fallen asleep for a while... and the cop that arrested me was still on duty—he just let me out. Why would he still be here?”

“
Shh!
Watch your mouth in here.” Olivia looked around to see if anyone had heard. She hated when Emma or Gabby cussed in public. “Yeah, he looked like he had a long night, too. I heard two other officers talking about him, saying he was sticking around, not wanting to leave the
hot chick
behind. I’m assuming that’s you,” Olivia said and smiled, raising one eyebrow. “I think he was off duty hours ago.”

She looked Emma over, wanting to give her an earful for drinking... and especially driving afterward. She carefully examined her from head to toe, trying to look stern.

She noticed Emma’s dress was short but classy and cute at the same time, especially with the boots she’d just recently bought during their last shopping trip with Mom. She pulled off the short dress and boots in a way only a college girl could—stylish, not trampy. Her hair hung loose, shiny and smooth and still holding a few waves, the ends still curling just above her waist.

Emma didn’t wear much makeup—she didn’t need it—but what little she had on her eyes was still neat, as if she hadn’t shed a tear. Her lips looked pouty and moist, even though bare. Emma held herself with pride, seeming much bigger than her small stature should allow. She was a beautiful woman-child at barely twenty years old, smart and full of spunk. Olivia thought back to the days when that spunk was all but gone, and she was glad Emma had found it again.

All she felt when she looked at Emma was pride—pride that she’d overcome her past and remade herself. She hadn’t let her childhood ruin her. Emma hadn’t just survived; she’d thrived.

Olivia didn’t have the heart to lecture her right now; it could wait.

“You do look pretty hot to have spent the night in jail, little sister. I’m jealous. Is that wrong?” Olivia joked.

“No, it’s fine. I just love being the target of envy,” Emma snapped back at her as she rolled her eyes and walked toward the door that would lead her home.

CHAPTER 9

EMMA
rushed into class seconds before the final bell rang. Her head still ached and her body was sore from the concrete floor she’d made her bed on the night before. She’d barely had time to get a shower and gather her things before rushing off to school.

She was a junior in college and having to work her way through, relying upon her part-time job as well as several grants. She was almost through her third year and it would be a waste of her hard-earned money if she screwed it up.

Just as she slid into her seat, she heard someone behind her loudly clear his throat. Emma ignored it. Probably someone just literally clearing their throat. She tried to quietly unzip her backpack and remove her book and notes before the professor noticed her empty desktop and chose her to pick on during class, hoping to trip her up. She didn’t need the extra attention today. She just wanted to blend in and get through the day. She’d called out of work tonight, which was unusual for her, but she was too tired. She planned to go straight home to bed for some much-needed sleep in her own comfy bed, as soon as she finished an errand at Gabby’s house.

She fumbled through the bag, looking for the notes she had worked on yesterday. She’d known there was to be a quiz today, and the professor allowed notes, so she’d spent over an hour outlining pertinent information from the assigned chapters before she’d gone out. She’d done the work, but she couldn’t find it.

“
Shit,
” she whispered to herself. They weren’t in her bag. She stopped looking in the bag for a moment and leaned her head back, blowing out a frustrated breath. She remembered the notes were still on the table. She’d never put them in her bag.
Dammit.

She felt a gentle poke on her shoulder.

“What?” she hissed while turning around to see who was bothering her.

She froze. Officer Rowan was sitting directly behind her, in street clothes—college guy clothes—holding out a sheet of paper.
What is he doing here?
she wondered.
Am I under some sort of freaking surveillance or what?

“It looks like you can’t find your notes. You can use mine. I know the material. I’ve already taken this class once,” he whispered, still holding the paper out to her.

Emma was speechless, trying to understand.

“What are you
doing
here?” she finally whispered back.

“I sit here every day. You’ve just never noticed. I’m retaking this class to bring up my GPA before I graduate this year. I got a C last time. That’s unacceptable.”

“I’ve... never... seen you here
before
,” Emma said, completely baffled.

“I know... Like I said, you’ve never looked,” he answered, smiling. “I’ve seen you. But I swear I didn’t know it was you when I pulled you over last night. I was just doing my job.”

Wow.
Same guy, but in regular clothes and a smile, he looked like just another guy on campus. Well, actually better than most of the guys on campus. His serious demeanor last night hid a set of unbelievably sexy dimples that now pulled her eyes to his mouth, something else she didn’t notice last night... or this morning: full lips and really white teeth. She couldn’t help but notice they weren’t perfect; one front tooth barely overtook the other, pushing all four of his front teeth out of alignment and crowding them just a little, giving him a boyish and mischievous look. His short hair wasn’t neatly combed as it was while he was in uniform, but rather messed up on top, adding a tousled look to his shocking casual appearance.

Emma’s was drawn to the sparkle in his sexy gray eyes—eyes that Emma couldn’t seem to look away from. She’d never seen gray eyes before. She squinted and looked closer, thinking they must be blue.
No, they are gray... smoldering gray with flecks of gold. And omigod, those eyelashes... thick and dark. He’s seriously got the most gorgeous eyes.

“You’re definitely seeing me now. Seen enough yet?” he asked and winked.

She shook herself out of her stupor and quickly snatched the paper, turning around before he could see the burn she felt on her cheeks. She mumbled a thank you from over her shoulder, staring down at the neat writing, outlining the chapters, much the same as hers she’d worked on the night before. The words weren’t registering; they were blurred as she went back through her memory, trying to place him anywhere other than in his uniform the night before. She really hadn’t ever noticed him before. Then again, she never really took notice of any of the guys—or girls. She had no interest in anything except her family, her studies, and her job. She didn’t have time for anything else. Besides, all that other stuff wasn’t for her. She avoided it. She wasn’t the typical college girl. Until she had made something out of herself—or remade—she didn’t want to share her time or her life with anyone new. She was still working on putting the past behind her and working on the new and improved Emma.

As her vision cleared and the words he’d written came into focus, she saw his name on the top of the paper:
Dusty Rowan
. Dusty... she liked that. It fit his non-cop look. Maybe even “Dust.”
That
would be a cool nickname, especially with his sexy gray eyes to match.

Emma slightly shook her head again, too amazed at the coincidence to wrap her brain around it, and tried to get her thoughts off the sexy cop/student behind her and onto concentrating on the notes. This changed nothing. He was still a cop, and she wasn’t interested in him even if he hadn’t been the cop to arrest her. She’d give him his notes back after class and go on about her life. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to face him again until her court date, which would be extremely awkward if they became friends. Best to walk away and pretend he was still just a cop. Her life had too many complications as it was.

CHAPTER 10

Squeak
...

The floor under the legs of the desk protested to Emma’s quick exit. As soon as the class was over, she’d shoved her things into her bag and abruptly stood up, inadvertently shoving her desk into Officer Rowan’s behind her.

“Sorry about that. Here’s your notes. Thank you,” she said as she slid his paper onto his desk and in one quick movement, twirled around and headed toward the door.

“Wait! Emma!” Dusty said loudly—too loudly. Now everyone who hadn’t made it out the door yet was looking from her to Dusty, drawing unwanted attention her way.

She didn’t want him to keep yelling at her to stop once she was out in the hall with so many other people to notice her, so her only choice was to turn around and wait for him. She stopped abruptly, quickly turning around, hoping her posture and attitude gave him a clue she didn’t want to chat about her arrest while at school, or anyplace else for that matter.

“What?” she whispered loudly. “Do you want to conduct a field sobriety test? Make me say the alphabet backward?”

Dusty lumbered and bumbled through the narrow aisle of desks, first bumping his leg, then his backpack against one desk or the other, again and again, as he hurried to talk to her. He didn’t look fazed by her snappish attitude. He was smiling again, flashing those dimples at her, looking like a good-humored, bungling giant in this crowded classroom.

Finally he stood directly in front of her. She had to look up—way up—to see his face. She could smell him, something else she hadn’t noticed last night, and he smelled good. She sniffed, closing her eyes as she breathed in his scent, a strange spicy combination of rosemary and white pepper with a trace of sandalwood. Sometimes Emma’s sensitive nose could be a blessing. This was the best thing she’d smelled in a long time—especially after her ordeal last night in the accommodations he had provided her—and his smell calmed and made her senses tingle all at once.

She opened her eyes and realized he’d been standing there watching her smell him with her eyes closed for far longer than it took to blink.
How embarrassing...
she thought.
What is it with this guy always seeming to capture me in an awkward situation?

“I said what?” Emma snapped, having to force her voice to sound irritated.