Driven By Love (7 page)

She went back into the kitchen and when she opened up the freezer, a smile formed on her face. Fortunately, it looked like her mother stocked her freezer with some of her famous homemade food prior to her arrival.

Mom made everything from scratch which made it incredibly delicious. Even after dining at the most elegant and highest rated restaurants around the world, nothing tasted as good as her mother’s cooking.

Grabbing a container of ravioli, she placed it on the countertop and grabbed a pot to fill it with water. As she set the pot on the stove to boil, she grabbed one plate and then stopped. It was a long time since she made food for someone else. When she was married, her husband John insisted on hiring a cook to make all their meals, especially since Anne rarely had time to cook when she was home.

The click of the door broke her out of her daze as Dean walked in. Automatically, he turned and locked the door behind him.

"How is it out there?"

"Total chaos. Officer Davis said that these guys have been here since the story of the accident broke and they haven't left. They really are just craving this story and want to milk it as much as they can."

He noticed the pot and plates she set out. "That is actually a good idea."

"There's enough for the both of us." She pulled out a wooden spoon from the drawer and stirred the water mindlessly. "I think there's some beer in the fridge. I usually don’t drink it so help yourself."

"Thanks." He opened up the fridge grabbed the bottle and popped the cap off.

"So does the officer know when these people will leave?"

"No, it may be a while though. Usually if there is a hot story they won't leave until something bigger comes around."

Anne opened up the container and dumped the ravioli into the boiling water. "I just want Missy to pull through. I honestly don’t care what kind of story they put together as long as Missy comes out of this accident." As she looked out the kitchen window, she could see the extra lights coming from the other side of her neighbor’s fence. She wondered how much those reporters paid them to camp out in their backyard. The anger inside of her started to boil like the water for the ravioli.

Dean followed her gaze. Then he slid over to the window and pulled the blinds down.

He sat down on one of the chairs by the kitchen table and took a sip of his beer. “Anne, you need to prepare yourself for whatever story they put together about Missy. It’s bound to be pretty ugly."

The water boiled and Anne continued to stir it. “I know, I’ve been down this road before with my ex. I know what kind of lies they fling out there.”

Dean saw his opportunity. “What happened?” She placed the spoon on the spoon rest and stared at the water. Since Dean was in the Middle East most of the time he probably didn’t even hear about her breakup. With him being her shadow for the next couple months he might as well know about her past. “I was traveling a lot while I was filming and one day we ended early so I decided to go back to our home in LA and have some R&R before my next trip. I came home to find him in bed with a seventeen- year-old actress.”

Disgust flowed through Dean as his eyebrows shot up. “Seventeen?”

The raw hurt could be seen in her eyes. “Well, eighteen that day apparently, but I am sure it wasn't the first time they'd been together. He blamed me for the whole thing, of course, saying that I wasn’t attentive enough to his needs and that I didn’t try to make myself more attractive to him by getting a boob job.”

“What a bastard.” He didn’t hide the anger in his voice. Everyone on his team would have given their right arm to be able to date Anne, let alone marry her. When he first broke up with Alexandra he swore off women for the next decade no matter how gorgeous they were. Still, his mind began to change when he came back home and saw families with children around town. He realized that was what he wanted next, to fall in love and start his own family. He wanted to trade the late-night missions and nail-biting situations for late-night feedings and tense Little League games. 

The black slacks Anne wore accentuated her slim figure while the pale yellow blouse brought out the highlights of long chocolate hair that practically dropped down to the middle of her back. Dean wondered what that hair would feel like in his hands. Would it be soft just like imagined her lips would be? And what would her lips taste like? He caught himself before his thoughts made him do irrational things. There was no way that she would date him--he was a nobody in her world.

“You didn’t deserve to be treated like that.”

“At the time I didn’t think so. Plus it didn’t help that the tabloids wrote that my prudish ways deprived him of any sex whatsoever. John’s PR manager spun it to make it look like he was the victim because, as he put it, I never wanted any sex--which was totally false!”

Dean felt his groin tighten at the thought of Anne aroused and wanting him. He gripped the bottle harder and he pushed away the erotic thoughts. “Don’t people have their own lives to worry about instead of butting into yours?”

She grabbed the spoon from the spoon rest and angrily stirred the water, creating a vortex in the pot. “That’s how they make their money. The more shocking the story, the more it sells, especially if it’s about a big star like me.”

“It’s flat-out wrong. He didn’t have any right to do that to you.” The shrill ring of his cell phone caught his attention. Stan’s name popped onto the screen.

"Stan, give me some news," he said as he answered.

"I don't know if it's something you'd want to hear."

"Why?"

"The preliminary findings show that the brake line was loose and popped out, causing a loss of brake fluid which ultimately means brake failure."

He ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to piece together what happened. "So what are you saying, someone rigged it?"

"I don't know. With Evan unconscious, we can't get his side of the story. Does anyone know if he recently was repairing his brakes?"

"I'm not at the hospital, so I'll have to ask them tomorrow."

"Ask what?" Anne coaxed as she placed the spoon back on the spoon rest.

"Hang on, Stan. Do you know if Evan was working on his brakes prior to the crash?"

"No, but Evan’s dad would know. I'll call him now." She dug through her purse and pulled out her cell phone. She frowned as she saw all the new text and voicemail messages. While at the hospital she turned the ringer off so she could concentrate on being with her family and Missy. She cleared the notifications and scrolled through her contacts to find Evan’s father.

"Anne's going to find out from Evan’s dad. What else did you find?"

"That was about it. We have a couple witnesses who said that some guy cut in front of him and that's when he swerved to avoid him and ended up hitting the median instead. The others behind him just tried to stop from hitting him and that's when the pileup happened."

"Unbelievable."

"How's everyone holding up?"

"As best they can. Helen and Kenneth are staying at the hospital tonight. Missy is in stable condition right now, but none of the doctors can give us an answer on her condition."

"That's so frustrating."

"Yeah, I know. It seems like Evan's in better condition, though."

"At least that's some good news. As soon as he's awake, we're going to need to talk to him."

"I have some questions for him myself." He looked over at Anne, who hung up her phone.

"George said that Evan hasn't worked on his brakes since last year. He has no idea what could have happened with them."

"Did you hear that, Stan?"

"Yup." He sighed heavily. "The only way to solve this is to talk to Evan directly. Let me know when he's awake."

"I'll let you know right away."

"All right, get some sleep and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Dean looked over at Anne who started back at him. "So why did he want to know about the brakes?"

"There's evidence of brake failure."

She grabbed a colander and shook her head as she put it in the sink. "Impossible. Evan took care of that car really well. As an EMT he knew what would happen if he didn’t, so he was meticulous on making sure everything was working right." She grabbed the lighthouse potholders and strained the water out of the pot of ravioli.

“Well, apparently something happened with the brakes and that’s what caused him to lose control."

Her shoulders tensed as she placed the pot back on the stove. "It doesn't make sense. Evan was so careful with his car. He wouldn’t let something like brakes go unchecked.”

"I don't know, Anne. This is what Stan thinks just based on the preliminary findings."

"Where's Evan's car?"

Dean frowned at her. "In the police impound, why?"

"I want to go see it."

"I can take you tomorrow."

"No, I want to go now."

"What?" He looked at her as if she’d grown another eye. "It's late and have you forgotten our friends outside?"

"How far is the impound from here?"

The fierce determination in her eyes made him realize she didn’t care about anything else but finding out the truth. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

She walked over to him and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "There's one thing you have to learn about me: I don't quit."

"More like, you're a diva and have to have things your way," he smirked.

Anne leaned down closer to him. "Look, I don’t care what you think about me, Dean. For that matter, I don’t care about what the whole damn world thinks of me right now! My sister’s in critical condition at the hospital and my family is in emotional turmoil. I am not going to just sit here pouting and feeling sorry for myself! I want to go and find out what happened and why! Do you have a problem with that?!"

"If it puts your life on the line, then yes I do." He stood up and faced her. His head hovered above her by about six inches and it was enough to make sure he proved his point. "I know that you want to find out what happened--everyone does--but I have to ax whatever crazy ideas you have in your head that may put your life at risk."

"Going to a police impound is not putting my life in danger."

"Anne, are you blind!? Look outside!” He motioned towards the window. “Every single TV crew is out there just waiting to pounce on you! If we leave this house we have to plan it right."

"Right, so we'll leave out the back and bolt out to the other yards. We can sneak in between the houses and escape so they won’t see us."

"You are nuts!" He took hold of her shoulders and gently shook her. "There are probably reporters waiting back there for you to do just that."

"You need to relax. I'll find out." She went to the back patio door and looked out. She opened the door, and extended her hand palm up as if she was checking to see if it was raining. Instead, she heard a car start behind the house and headlights turn on. They flashed twice and a frown formed on Anne’s face.

"What's wrong?"

"There are a few people with cameras out behind those bushes."

Instantly, he was by her side and pushed her into the house and slammed and locked the patio door.

"What are you doing!?" she yelled at him as he closed the blinds.

"If there are cameras there and people just saw what you just did, then it will be all over the news."

"I honestly don’t care! Let them know what I can do and then maybe they’ll all back off!" Her hair flipped back as she stomped back into the kitchen.

“You don’t know what you’re saying.” Dean’s patience with her was slowly starting to crumble. He just wanted to shake some sense into her. “If the public knew what you could do someone could kidnap you and use you!”

She twisted around and spat fire onto him. “No one would dare to try and do that. I would have a semi run them over multiple times.”

“If you’re conscious. Anne, you are living in some dream world where you think everything is perfect and nobody can touch you, but you’re wrong!” He turned and paced the kitchen. “I’ve seen the horrible things that people can do, and even with your power you wouldn’t be able to stop them.”

“They wouldn’t touch me.”

“What about your family? Your parents, sister, and brother?”

Anne opened her mouth and then closed it. He faced her and could see he touched a nerve. “This is not one of your movies, Anne. You have to keep your gift a secret no matter what. Your family is counting on it.”

Anne walked towards the sink and grabbed the wooden spoon. She piled the ravioli on her plate. Not forgetting her guest, she took another plate and loaded it with some ravioli. She took it to the table as her blood continued boiling.

"What gives them the right to constantly follow me?" she blindly asked.

Dean sat down in front of the plate. "You said it yourself--money."

"It’s not right! I need to take a look at Evan's car. It will tell me what happened. Sitting here won't do me any good."

She stabbed at the ravioli again.

Dean saw the change in Anne’s mood and the inner turmoil that she was dealing with inside. The screaming diva that he was introduced to just melted away, and there sitting in front of him was a country girl who had more incredible powers than any Hollywood star and wanted to use them to help find the truth about what happened to her little sister.

Her sister. He grabbed another ravioli and chewed it as he thought of his own sister, who came to this town lost and emotionally distraught, and yet Helen and Kenneth welcomed her with open
arms and somehow managed to help Jeri piece herself back together again. They were there for Jeri. Now it was his turn to help them and Anne was the key to solving what happened. He knew it was risky but she needed answers. They all needed answers and she was the only one that could get them.

"I have an idea. How well does your car follow your orders?"

As she looked up at him and smiled for the first time since the ordeal started. "He always does what I tell him." She chewed the last piece of her ravioli as she moved her plate away. “He has never let me down.”

Dean smiled. He’d hoped that she would say that. They could use that to help them get through the crowd outside. He finished up the last bit of ravioli and took her plate. He walked over to the dishwasher and placed both plates inside. "I would suggest wearing something dark, maybe even a hoodie if you have it."

"You’re actually going to help me?”

He closed the dishwasher door and leaned against it as he crossed his arms. “Yes, on one condition.”

“How did I know you were going to say that?”

“You have to do exactly as I say. One screw-up and your secret will be all over the Internet and you’ll be putting yourself and your family in extreme danger by doing that.”

Not one to be intimidated, she got up and walked over to him and looked him square in the eye. “Let me make this clear, soldier boy. I don’t take orders from anyone. I’m a big girl and I can handle a bunch of bozos with cameras.”

His gaze turned cold as he walked up to her until he was close enough to smell the soft scent of the shampoo she used earlier in the day. “Either you take orders from me or you stay here.”

Instantly, her voice turned sultry. “What are you going to do if I don’t? Handcuff me?”

A corner of his mouth crept up. “Don’t tempt me.” With that, he walked out of the kitchen and left Anne staring after him.