Dangerous Times (13 page)

“
Female is alive and coherent. Has identified herself as Tamara Phillips.”

Shawn shot Rhonda a warning look and took off for the house.

“
Son of a bitch, Shawn!” She yelled behind him before he could hear her warning the SWAT team that he was coming into the house.

Thankfully, the SWAT team didn’t attempt to stop him, either. They just pointed toward the basement door. Thundering down the stairs, he pushed through the SWAT team members there.

And there she was, rubbing her wrists, her hair down over her face.

“
Tamara,” he whispered, relief making him lightheaded.

Her head snapped up, and then she winced. He saw the bruising on her face and then he saw red. Someone was going to be in a world of hurt.

Moving to her, he took her hands in his and pulled her to her feet. Gathering her in his arms he wrapped her up close, being very careful not to squeeze her too tight.

She burst into tears as soon as her arms went around his waist.

“
Shh, I have you, love,” he whispered. Cupping her head, he rocked her in his arms gently. “I have you, Tamara. And I’m not fucking letting go, I promise.”

“
Get me out of here, Shawn,” she said, hiccupping through the sentence.

“
Of course,” he whispered. Shifting his hold, he took one of her hands in his and helped her toward the stairs. “Nice and slow,” he said softly.

She was shaking hard in his arms, but her arm and her hand tightly gripped him.

When they made it outside, the EMT’s were right there, but she cringed away from them. “Back off and give her a few minutes,” he snapped. He’d definitely have them check her out, but not yet.

Leading her to his truck, he pulled open the door and boosted her into the passenger seat. Then he followed her inside, shut the door, and got her in his lap. Tucking her head under his chin, he let her curl into a ball and held her.

Letting out a slow breath, he closed his eyes and rested his cheek to her hair.

“
I was terrified when I couldn’t find you.” They’d been sitting in silence for a long time. Her shivers had abated and she’d even relaxed into him more.

“
I was pretty damn terrified you wouldn’t find me,” she said. Her words had a bit of a roughness to them.

Lifting his head, Shawn shifted Tamara a little and tipped her head back. With great care, he brushed her hair from her face. Getting his first really good look at the shiner she had, he felt anger kicking up again. Her entire right side was a massive bruise with major swelling around the eye and over the cheekbone.

“
That son of a bitch hit you hard,” he said quietly.

“
All I remember is leaving the bathroom and deciding to wait on you to finish the countdown and come for me. I heard footsteps and thought it was you. I turned and then—” She flinched.

“
He hit you,” he whispered. Stroking his fingers over her uninjured cheek, he brushed a kiss to her lips. “I’m so sorry, love.”

Tamara shook her head slightly. “Not your fault.”

“
Damn straight it is. We were supposed to be protecting you. This,” he waved a hand to the scene outside the truck. “This is not exactly what I would call protecting you.”

She cupped his cheek and smiled, sort of. “You found me, that’s all that matters. Well, that and knowing who the fuck did this.”

That, he couldn’t answer. Rhonda hadn’t told him, now that he thought about it. He’d been so focused on getting to Tamara that he hadn’t even bothered to ask. “Actually,” he said with a cough. “I, uh, I really don’t know, to be honest.”

“
What do you mean, you don’t know?” she asked looking stunned.

“
Rhonda knows, I think, but I was more worried about getting to you than finding out who I have to kill.” Shawn shrugged and sighed. “Sorry.”

“
Don’t be, we’ll find out, and then I’ll help you kill the fucker. My face is killing me.”

“
Which is the cue to let the EMT’s get a look at you. We’ll get you something for the pain, and then we’re going to the hospital. Yes,” he said when she went to protest. “You need an x-ray at the very least to ensure your cheekbone isn’t broken. With all the swelling, there’s no way to tell what damage is going on under there.”

“
Not in an ambulance,” she said. “And you stay with me the entire time,” she demanded.

“
All the way,” he promised. “I love you, Tamara Phillips, and I’m not leaving your side again for a very, very long time.”

She blinked her one eye at him and sat up to stare at him. “You love me?”

“
Of course, I love you,” he said. “More than anything in this world, Tamara.”

Tamara was blinking faster now, tears gathering. “I love you, too,” she choked out before throwing her arms around his neck.

For a second, Shawn’s entire chest seized right up. But her words had him holding her tight and pressing kisses to her good cheek in relief. “I should have said something before,” he whispered. “I have no idea why I waited to tell you.”

Tamara let out a small laugh as she squeezed his neck tighter. “I should have as well.”

Rubbing her back, he gave her another squeeze. “Come on. Let’s have the EMT’s give you something for the headache and pain. We’ll grab an ice pack and then I’ll take you to the hospital for x-rays. Okay?”

She gave a slow nod and leaned back. “Okay.”

Chapter Seventeen

She was lucky, nothing broken, just some serious bruising. Staring into the mirror, Tamara wasn’t feeling overly lucky. She looked like she’d gone into the ring with Tyson. And lost. Badly.

Poking at her cheek, Tamara winced. “Ugh.”

Grabbing her pills, she downed them with some water and then, picking up her ice pack, headed into the bedroom. Smiling when she saw Shawn on the bed, an arm over his eyes, she moved closer and poked the leg sticking out from under the blankets.

He lifted his arm enough to shoot her a look, and then pushed up to a sitting position. “Hi,” he said softly. “Feeling any better?”

“
Much. I so needed a hot bath,” she said. Passing him her ice pack, Tamara dumped the robe and climbed into bed next to him. She had on one of his t-shirts, mainly because she was still a little chilled, but also because she liked having his sandalwood scent wrapped around her.

Settling on her left side, she took the ice pack from him and set it gently on her face.

As soon as she was in place, his arms wrapped around her and he spooned up to her back. “I talked to Rhonda,” he said softly.

“
And?” she asked, tensing up a little.

“
They are sitting on the house but so far, he hasn’t come home. She also finally broke down and told me his name, since I knew where he lived and could find it out myself. That and the fact that my tech guys had helped the cops clean up the license plate footage.”

“
Okay. Who is it?” she demanded. Putting the ice pack down, she flipped onto her back to look at him. “It wasn’t Damien down there. That much I know. He was a loafer guy and hated hard shoes of any sort. This guy wore the hard, formed, dress type of shoe.”

“
No, it definitely wasn’t Damien. The police found his body down in the basement of the house you were held in. He was in the freezer. It was actually a guy by the name of Patrick Harris.”

Stunned by the news, she didn’t know what to focus on first. “Damien’s dead?” At his nod, she closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her chest. “Is it bad I feel so much relief?” she asked, opening her eyes again.

“
Not at all,” he said, his expression grim.

“
Patrick, shit. I vaguely remember him from the trial. I didn’t know him all that well from when I was… Well, you know,” she said with a sigh. When she was dating Damien, she’d met Patrick but hadn’t seen a lot of him.

“
On the outside, he’s a hard working CPA. He keeps in close touch with his mother, who’s a widow, and yet isn’t in a clingy relationship. He visits his sister’s home twice a month for dinner with her and her husband and their three kids. He plays on the company softball team and volunteers at a local soup kitchen every other Sunday.”

“
Okay.” Tamara shook her head. “So why the hell did he do this?”

“
The cops found a room, up in the attic, where he had a shrine dedicated to you. He’s been stalking you for a while, planning this for a long time, from the looks of things. Best we can figure out, though, was that he waited on Damien’s release to act. That way it would all be blamed on Damien, and had it gone according to plan, the two of you would have vanished without a trace. With Damien being blamed for killing Patrick. We’re thinking Patrick would have used Damien’s body to set it up to look like Damien had gone off on his old friend.” Shawn hugged her closer to him.

Shivering at that thought, Tamara turned to face him. Yes, it put pressure on her sore cheek, but she didn’t care. She needed to hold onto Shawn. He was her rock, and damn it, she was going to use him to anchor herself.

“
So where the hell is Patrick?” she asked. She really hated the idea of him being out there. He’d obviously cracked a wheel or something. Which meant he was dangerous, very dangerous.

“
Don’t know. Rhonda said the cops have bulletins out to all the local and statewide law enforcement agencies. He’s on a no-fly list and the train and bus depots have also been given the heads up. Rental agencies have been warned, too, but, really, if he wants out of town, he’s got a slew of friends to troll from to get what he needs.”

“
So he’s lying low,” she muttered. When she felt him laugh, she shot him a look. “What? Isn’t that the right term?”

Shawn nodded, chuckling. “Yeah, it’s the right term. You obviously are spending way too much time with Rhonda, though.”

“
Maybe a little,” she said, smiling a bit. Too much and her face hurt.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead and she relaxed even more. Snuggling in closer, Tamara rested her wounded cheek on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart. “Shawn?”

“
Yeah, love?”

“
I’ve been wondering something.”

“
Hmm, what would that be?”

“
What are your feelings on modern women?” Her lips twitched as she fought to keep from smiling.

She felt him still and nearly burst out laughing. Which would have been bad. Her face would have hurt so damned much.

“
I’m not quite sure what you’re asking,” he said, his tone very cautious.

Pressing her lips together, she fought down the laughter. When she was in control, she looked up at him and met his suspicious gaze. “Well, I’m thinking that I should exercise my right as a modern woman and just pop the question.”

He frowned at that and pushed up on an arm. “What question?”

Smiling a little, she reached up to touch his cheek. “Shawn Camden,” she said softly. “Would you do me the greatest of honors and become my husband?”

The expression on his face said she’d shocked him. Then he blinked and grinned down at her. “Well, hell, I don’t know,” he said, shaking his head. “This is all so sudden. And there’s no ring, either? What the hell, woman? You drop a question like that, and you don’t even have any bling for me.” He clicked his tongue at her.

Snickering, she smacked his chest before pressing her hand to her cheek. “Quit hedging and just answer the question.”

“
You were serious?” he asked.

Nodding, Tamara bit the inside of her cheek as she watched him.

He stared down at her for a little longer before he nodded. “Yes, Tamara Karen Phillips, I will become your husband.” Leaning in, he kissed her gently.

Throwing her arms around his neck, she held on and kissed him back. Letting him draw back, she rubbed a hand to his cheek. Everything would be fine. She had her man and she always would. Life was going to be amazing.

Epilogue

Five weeks later…

“
During a search and seizure by SFPD’s Vice squad at a known drug house, the police were stunned to find a fugitive they’ve been combing the city and state for. Patrick Harris, the man wanted in relation to the kidnapping of Tamara Karen Phillips and murder of parolee Damien Hofstadter, was hiding out in the drug house. The owner of the house, a known drug dealer, just happened to be an old high school friend of Harris’s. Apparently, the owner allowed Harris to hide out there until the, and we quote, heat died down.”

****

Turning off the TV, Shawn let out a breath. Finally. Finally, the bastard would be put where he belonged. Shaking his head, he went to the mirror and glared at the tie. He fucking hated ties. Always had, always would.

Looking up when the door opened, he grinned at the sight Robyn made. Whistling, he turned to look at her. “Holy shit, I thought Tamara had been kidding when she said she’d convinced you to wear a dress.”

“
Shut up,” his best friend said, blushing no less.

“
No, no, this is big. I fucking owe her a hundred bucks now,” he said, quite seriously.

“
You bet your fiancée?” she asked. When he nodded, she decked him in the arm, like he’d expected anything less. “You are a grade-A jerk.”

Laughing, Shawn rubbed his arm and shrugged. “I honestly thought she wouldn’t have a snowballs chance in hell, Rob. But—” He looked her up and down. “You look good, very lady-like.” Then he jumped back and pointed a finger her way when she lifted her fist again. “No more hitting, that’s not very lady-like, woman!”