Guilty as Sin (34 page)

Tommy called himself all kinds of fool as he turned down Kate’s street. After giving Jackson a quick update on their discussion with Mrs. Dorsey, in a move that echoed last night’s actions, instead of turning right at the intersection of Kootenai Road and up the hill toward his house, he’d turned left.

To Kate’s.

Last night he’d been driven by frustrated desire and long-simmering resentment. Right now he was a little afraid to look too closely at what was driving him.

Desire, no doubt. Need like nothing he’d ever felt pounded through him with every pulse. The memory of Kate, under him, over him, gloving him in her tight, slick body was so vivid he swore he could smell her in the air, taste her on his lips.

Lust, desire—that was easy to own up to.

It was the other stuff that had him feeling a little panicky.

But not panicky enough to turn his truck around and take his dumb ass home.

Anticipation sang through him as he parked his truck in front of Kate’s rental. Not just for a repeat of last night’s amazing sex—though he doubted he’d last thirty seconds before he had her laid out on the nearest flat surface. His chest was tight, his breath was short, at just the idea of seeing her.

He raised his hand to knock, his stomach clenching as he realized that right now, he didn’t just want to fuck her, he wanted to
be
with her. He hadn’t felt that way about a woman since…

Since Kate. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, she still had that inexplicable hold on him. Like a siren drawing him in.

Watch it you don’t get smashed on the rocks again this time.

The warning froze his fist midway to the door. If he had a working brain cell left in his head, he’d turn and walk away. He started to turn when a crashing sound came from inside.

“Kate?” He knocked hard on the door. No answer. He tried the knob, his jaw clenching when it turned easily in his hand. He pushed the door open to find the townhouse almost completely dark, the drapes drawn tight against the afternoon sun.

“Kate?” he called again. There was a crashing sound from downstairs and a muffled curse.

Too deep to be Kate’s.
His blood curdled as he hurled himself down the stairs. As he rounded the corner, he saw the open sliding glass door that led outside and a masculine figure wearing a hoodie disappearing through it.

Instinctively Tommy gave chase, but he didn’t make it more than two steps before he froze in his tracks.

That’s when he saw Kate, crumpled on the floor like a rag doll, an angry crimson stain blooming under her head.

Still as death.

He could barely stop from laughing out loud as he darted between houses and through the forest. It had been so long since anyone had come close to catching him, he’d forgotten how exhilarating it could feel to run for his life. For so long, he’d been so careful, so controlled, he’d forgotten how fear could enhance the rush. Only when he made it back to the Zodiac raft he’d hidden behind some rocks in a nearby cove did the reality of what had nearly happened sink in. How unbelievably stupid and reckless he’d been. As he pulled out
into the water, he railed at himself for being so foolish. Was he really willing to risk everything? For Kate?

There had been a time when he had been. But he’d botched that up but good, only to realize later that he should count himself lucky. Because it turned out Kate wasn’t as good and pure as she pretended to be, not if she let white trash like Tommy Ibarra put his hands all over her.

He should have left before she realized someone was there. Yet when she interrupted his search of her townhouse—he’d sorely overestimated how long it would take them to drive from Spokane—instead of sneaking out the back, as he knew he should, he couldn’t stop himself from grabbing her.

From wrapping his hand around her throat, covering her hand with his mouth. Showing her that no matter how many times she rejected him, he could still take her any time he wanted to.

The thought, combined with the futile struggles, aroused him unbearably, startling in its force. In that moment, he knew he had his solution. He would take her, keep her to satisfy his body’s base needs while he waited for Tricia to accept him.

And finally Kate would receive the punishment she deserved for making him act so irrationally, so stupidly all those years ago. For making him act equally carelessly again now.

His hands shook as he grabbed the backpack from the motorized raft and quickly stripped off his hoodie and sweats, leaving him in a T-shirt and shorts. A guy boating with a hood pulled over his head in eighty-degree heat would cause suspicion. In a T-shirt, shorts, sunglasses, and a floppy-brimmed fishing hat, he looked like any other tourist tooling around the lake, soaking up the last of the sun’s rays.

Still, he had to move fast. While Ibarra had unwittingly
saved him from himself—it was sheer stupidity to try to take Kate right then, right there, without making any of his usual preparations—he knew the cops would be at Kate’s house in minutes.

He pushed the raft off the sand and used the oar to row himself out a ways before starting the motor. Within minutes he was buzzing through the water, pushing the thoughts of all the ways he was going to use Kate like the whore she was from his mind.

He was on his way to Tricia, his beloved. He couldn’t bring this ugliness to her.

He would calm himself and make all the necessary preparations. He would save up all the ugliness to give to Kate.

Kate could hear someone calling her name from very far away. But she didn’t want to answer. She wanted to stay in this nice, comfy cocoon and sleep for days.

“Katie, Katie, wake up.” The voice was deep, and there was no mistaking the hint of panic. She tried to tell him that no one called her Katie anymore, but she couldn’t seem to make her mouth work.

There was more talking, but she only took in bits and pieces. “In the house… ran out the back door before I could see him… don’t know how bad… ambulance, right away… lots of bleeding.”

Kate finally recognized the voice as Tommy’s and struggled to open her eyes, let him know she was okay. Her eyes opened, consciousness returned in a great rush. As the first wave of pain hit, she wished she could go back to that dark black cocoon.

Her head felt like someone was hammering a steel spike
into it. “Tommy.” His name came out as a soft whimper that sent another hammer blow echoing through her skull.

She started to push herself up but was knocked back to the floor by a wave of pain so severe she was sure she was going to throw up.

“No, don’t move.” Though pitched low, Tommy’s voice sent another spear of pain through her skull.

“My head hurts.” Her voice came out as little more than a whimper.

“I know, I know.” A gentle hand held her down. “Just try not to move until we can figure out how badly you’re hurt.”

She opened her eyes, unsure of where she was, unable to make out anything more than a large male form looming over her. Panic spiked through her with a sudden rush of memory. “He’s here, in the house,” she gasped, the words tearing at a throat that ached from the force of being crushed. She tried to sit up again but felt like she was anchored to the floor.

“It’s okay. Whoever was in here is gone. I’m here now. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” Tommy took one hand in his and rested his other gently on her forehead. Inexplicably, though the throbbing in her head didn’t abate, she felt a wash of relief course through her. She closed her eyes against the bright sunlight that sent daggers into her eyes.

It all came back in a flash, the man grabbing her from the shadows, his huge hand wrapping around her neck. Getting tackled on the stairs, the hollow echo of his blow connecting to the back of her head. “He was choking me,” she whispered. “I thought he was going to kill me.” Or worse, she thought, her stomach roiling as she remembered the revolting pressure of his erection pressing against her back.

“Shh, it’s okay. I’ve got you now,” Tommy said.

Instinctively she tried to sit up again.

“No,” Tommy said firmly, his hand on her chest. “Wait for the paramedics.”

As though on cue, the sound of sirens echoed in the distance.

Her fingers tightened reflexively around Tommy’s fingers as the full force of what might have happened if he hadn’t shown up hit her.

“Oh God, what if you hadn’t come over?” Kate said, her voice high and thin. “He was going to—”

“Don’t think about it right now,” Tommy said, the gentle brush of his fingers over her cheek belying the undercurrent of rage in his voice. “You’re safe now. That’s all that matters.”

The sound of sirens got louder. “I’m going to go upstairs and open the front door, okay? I want you to promise me you’ll lie still and try not to move.”

“Promise,” Kate said. She winced at the pain of that single word, her eyes squeezed shut again. Immediately her grip on consciousness weakened.

As she drifted out again, she felt him lean closer, his lips right next to her ear as he whispered, “I’ll be right back. Don’t be scared.”

Then there was a gentle touch on her forehead. A kiss? She was out again before she could be sure.

Tommy looked at Kate for a few moments, feeling that a softball-size lump was going to cut off his air supply as he watched her drift back to unconsciousness. Fear like nothing he’d ever felt before screamed through him at the sight of her, so pale and still. He’d nearly lost his mind when he’d
seen her lying there, unconscious on the floor like a broken doll.