Only One (21 page)

Josh looked up as I watched her through the window. “Did you get anything else out of her?”

“No.” I shook my head, unable to tear my eyes from her.

“Dane’s talking to her now. Maybe he’ll get something.”

I nodded, listening to him drum on about this Aaron guy for a few minutes, but I needed to get out of here with her and hold onto her alone.

Dane looked over his shoulder as I came outside. “Belly was just starting to tell me what happened. Have a seat.”

Instead of sitting next to her or next to him, I picked up her hand, pulling her up briefly before I sat in her chair and pulled her down onto my lap. Everything that had happened to her, the way she looked up at me when I got to her, it all made me feel downright possessive, and the need to have her close overpowered me.

Listening to her recount the details of the attack to her daddy was painful for all three of us. With each new bit of information Dane tensed, his jaw clenched, his fists went white as he balled them by his side. Belly spoke softly as I held her in my arms with my chin resting on her shoulder. I wanted to scream, to find that bastard and kick his ass, but remaining calm for Annabelle was what she needed, so that’s what I did.

Aunt Ash came out with a small smile. “Honey, why don’t you come in and eat. I made some French toast.”

I nudged her a little, telling her to go, but she remained firmly on my lap. I kissed her shoulder and whispered, “I need a minute with your daddy. Go on in and I’ll be right behind you, baby.”

She turned and kissed me quickly. “Coming, Mama.”

Dane and I both watched and waited until she closed the door.

“What did you find out?” I asked, impatiently.

“I had someone look into the Arkansas house he was staying at. It’s his sister’s house, but basically a dead end. Anyway, the fucker left his phone on her property to foil anyone. From what we can tell, he’s using cash and probably one of those pre-paid phone cards. He still checks in to his L.A. office. We’re monitoring his credit cards and his bank account. His secretary says she has no clue where he is. That he told her a family emergency came up.”

I dropped my head into my hands, frustrated. “So,” I paused and looked up. “what you’re saying is you have nothing?”

“On him we have nothing. Called the cops in California and they confirmed that they stumbled on a room with pictures of Belly and some other girl. They were trying to locate her, but don’t know where she is. Jason is going out on a flight later today to check out his place. The cops left everything intact as evidence. Jason is going to do some snooping around. So, until then it’s wait-and-see with him. The two men who came here last night, they could be any of those shady fucks that he deals with. A friend of mine did some serious digging and found out that he has a major enemy. I already heard about him months ago when Josh brought Belly home.” He scooted forward, leaning his elbows on his knees and eyeballed me. “One of the men here last night is not a good man, Cole. We’re real lucky he didn’t hurt her if the bastard is who we think it is.”

I swallowed, trying to process it all, waiting for him to continue.

“Cole, this man started out small. He was a bookie for Vegas and he took small bets that led to bigger ones. After the money wasn’t as good as he wanted he decided to get into the drug business. Again, started out small—pot. That soon turned into cocaine, heroine, and crack. You name it, he sold it. Aaron must have something on that disk that Belly mentioned to us that he really wants back.”

“Who is this guy?”

He shook his head. “It’s better you don’t know. I probably told you too much already, but if I were in your shoes, I’d want something to go on, but I can’t put you at risk.”

I jumped up. “I want to take her back with me to school. I’ll keep her safe.”

“No, son,” he said, but I could hear the sadness in his voice at turning my offer down.

“But, Dane…”

“I know you love her and want to protect her, but be serious for one minute. You have too much going on, traveling to games, going to classes and such. She’s coming home with me and I’ll protect her. You don’t have to worry, I’ll have an eye on her twenty-four/seven.”

Looking around him and inside, I spotted Belly sitting on the couch, watching me from inside. I shook my head. “I’m not going back without her.”

“I can’t force you to go back to Alabama, but I can force her to stay behind. She’s my daughter, Cole, she’s staying put.”

“Fuck!” I yelled as I stormed past him and back inside. She smiled briefly as I made my way toward her, but by her frown I could see she knew I was upset. “Let’s go for a walk, Belly.” I took her hand in mine and pulled her outside. Dane was still out there.

My eyes pleaded with him to step aside when he tried to block our path. “It’s just a walk. We won’t go out of sight.”

He moved, but when I turned to see if he was heading in, he leaned over the railing with Josh and Jason flanked on either side, watching the two of us walk down to the sand.

Once we got far enough away, I sat down and pulled her between my legs. I spread my own out as she nestled her back to my front and settled. “What if I didn’t go back for good, Belly? What if I go back and explain to coach and the school what’s going on?”

She flipped around promptly. “No, Cole.” She cupped my face and gave me the sweetest kiss. “I can’t let you do that for me. It’s not that long. You’ll be back for Thanksgiving and Christmas and then break and before you know it forever.”

“But, Annabelle?”

She shook her head. Her fingers splayed over my lips. “I want to watch you play football on Saturdays on television. It’s where you belong. I’ll be fine. I’m a lot tougher than y’all are giving me credit for.”

Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her down on top of me until we were lying in the sand. “I know you’re tough, but I just…fuck, Belly, what if something happens?”

“Cole, I love you so much, but you can’t be there all the time. I promise you right now that I’ll be real careful, and besides, Daddy already hired someone to watch over me.” Her lips brushed over mine, and then she glided her tongue softly until I gave in and opened for her.

Her hair fell on my face. The scent of her enveloped my senses. I pulled her tightly to me, not wanting to break the kiss, but knowing we had eyes on us, I did.

“Promise me, Cole.”

I laughed under my breath and smiled. “All right, I promise.” But this was one promise I wasn’t sure I could keep.

“Thank you,” she said as she placed another small kiss on my mouth. She pushed up and held out her hand for me take. “Daddy’s gonna have a coronary if we don’t get back inside soon.”

Annabelle

Refusing to show anyone the fear that was eating me up inside, I made sure during the following weeks to put on a brave face when anyone was around. Cole stayed true to his promise and went back to school. He phoned more than usual and even showed up unexpectedly last week.

It was real nice visit. We spent the entire weekend either riding Lance and Sergeant during the day or in each other’s arms making the sweetest love at night. Cole told me about his up-and-coming games and how he was missing me but excited that Thanksgiving was only eight weeks away and how he’d be back for another long weekend before then, if he could get away.

Unfortunately, no one had seen or heard from Aaron in over a month. My daddy and uncles were still keeping their ears to the ground, but hadn’t come up with anything new. Everybody was convinced he’d ducked out of the country, since the last time they checked he’d hopped a flight to Costa Rica at the end of August and he hadn’t reentered the country. The two men picked up for breaking in and tying me up had alibis that they were in Las Vegas, so they couldn’t be arrested for anything. Since I didn’t ever see their faces we had nothing on them. No one was happy about the matter, but if nothing else, the fear was lessened, since nothing had happened since the night at the beach house.

~~~

It’d been almost three weeks since I’d seen Cole and I didn’t think I could wait any longer for darn Thanksgiving to come. I was absolutely desperate to see him. Every day when we talked I could hear the pain and disappointment in his voice at not being with me all the time. It hurt me to hear him so sad when this should be the time of his life.

It was early evening on a Thursday and I was helping Mama with dinner. Lily was back at school and AJ would be at lacrosse practice until six. Daddy was in his home office doing work and I was gathering the nerve to ask what Mama thought.

“Honey, can you hand me the knife?” she asked.

“Sure, Mama.”

I began to dice the onions for the meal as she started in on the salad. “I was thinking of surprising Cole and going to his game this weekend. I haven’t been to one yet. I know he’d love it.”

“Oh,” she muttered, momentarily freezing her cutting up the lettuce.

“I’ll just go for a couple of days. I’ll try to come back on Tuesday.”

“I don’t know, honey, do you think it’s a good idea? I mean, he’ll be home in a few weeks.”

I pouted and shrugged at her response. “I know, but I miss him so much, and I promised him that I’d come see him play once.”

“I think you should ask your father.” Once again she’d passed the decision over to him. Ever since that night it was like she couldn’t make any decisions without his guidance. I guess I couldn’t blame her. “Sure, Mama. I will after supper.” The only problem was that I knew he’d say no. Even though the danger was most likely gone, he still cracked the whip about my safety.

I wanted to head down first thing in the morning to Alabama since it was a long drive, so after I helped with the dishes, I packed up my stuff and debated whether I should call Cole or not. Part of me wanted to tell him so he would be prepared, but the other part of me wanted to see his face when he opened the door and saw me.

After he called to say goodnight, I set my alarm for five to get on the highway early, so I could get to him by dinner.

The next morning I stretched and shut off my alarm. I’d moved inside the farmhouse, since my daddy didn’t feel like it was safe out in the barn anymore. As I got myself ready, I was sure to be as quiet as a mouse so no one would hear me getting up and leaving. My folks were going to be real mad at me, but I was tired of hiding and not doing what I wanted to do.

I tossed my bag into the driver’s seat of my truck and climbed behind the wheel. Holding my breath, I pulled out. The sound of the tires on the gravel would likely stir my daddy up and out of bed, but I was real careful to go slower than a turtle to avoid that. Before I’d left, I tossed a note on the kitchen table, letting them know where I was going and that I’d call them from the road.

It was still dark outside when I pulled down Main Street, listening to the radio and making my way to Cole. My phone rang shortly after, but I didn’t answer it, because I flat out refused to talk and drive. But I knew it was Daddy’s ringtone. Time and time again my folks called, but I turned up the radio to avoid hearing their nagging.

Five hours in, I pulled into a gas station to fill up. Before getting back on the road, I pulled into a parking spot and swiped my phone on, grimacing at the thirty calls that I’d missed. Feeling horrible, I hit send to call my daddy.

“Annabelle, I swear to God you better turn around right now,” Daddy fumed into his cell phone.

Rolling my eyes at his intensity, I sighed. “Daddy, I’m fine. I need to see Cole.”

“Where are you?”

“Somewhere in Georgia on Route 20.”

“Uncle Josh and I are already on our way.”

“What?” I screamed, completely taken aback. “Daddy,” I seethed. “Turn around and let me have this weekend with him. He’s playing in a big game and I want to be there for him. He always supports me and I need to do the same.”

“Baby, I don’t think you understand that it’s dangerous still.”

Shaking my head in disbelief, I responded. “If you try and stop me, I’m not going to come back until he comes home with me. Do you want me to live in sin with him on campus, ‘cause I will?”

“Annabelle Woods, I’m not playing this game with you.”

“Daddy, stop worrying and put Uncle Josh on the phone. He understands.”

“No, he’s driving. He can’t talk right now. Besides, I’m your daddy, not him.”

“This is ridiculous, Daddy. I’m hanging up.”

Just as I told him that my passenger door flew open and Aaron pointed a gun to my head, grinning as he got in.

“Oh, god, Daddy it’s Aaron,” I shrieked just as he pulled the phone from my hand and tossed it out the window. But I heard my daddy’s voice screaming out for me, so I knew he at least heard my plea.

“Drive, Anna,” he ordered.

I shook my head, crying. “Please don’t do this, Aaron.”

“Shut up, Anna, and drive before I have to do something I’ll regret.”

“Where I am supposed to go?” I asked, hearing the tremble and terror in my voice.

“South. I have a place in Florida where we’re going to hide until Jorge is off my fucking back.”

I swallowed and tried real hard to focus but was terrified at what he planned to do with me once we got to where he wanted me to go. “What’s in Florida?”

“I have a house. Well, it used to be my parents’ place, but they died a several years back and left it to my sister. I picked up the key when I visited her back in August.” He placed the gun on his lap, and then turned to me. Running a finger down the side of my cheek, he smiled. “Jesus, I’ve missed that face. You have no idea, Anna.”

I gulped back the vomit that was rising in my throat, but knew I needed to keep him talking. “Who’s Jorge?”

He narrowed his eyes for a minute, but answered. “You don’t want to know. I fucked up by getting involved with him years ago. I got something on him that can send him away for a very long time, I just have to get it back from you.”

“What?” I turned quickly to look over to him. “Aaron, I don’t have anything from you. I only took my things when I left.”

I pressed down on the gas a little more, trying to go past the speed limit once we hit the highway, in hopes of being pulled over.