Razors Ice 04 - Hot Ice (22 page)

“Violet.”
His voice was husky.

A smile flashed on her face,
then she leaned down and circled him with her lips over his tip and into the warm wetness of her mouth.

Jace melted into the recliner.

Chapter Fourteen

I Pick You

Patricia squinted at Violet. “Did you buy new shoes?”

Violet looked down at her old, scuffed-up sneakers with a frown. “No. Why do you ask?”

“Oh, it just seems like you have more spring in your step lately. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were in love or something!”

Violet’s old sneakers became heavy cement blocks and she remained rooted to the floor, staring at Patricia.

Patricia’s smile faded when she saw the look on Violet’s face. She grabbed Violet’s hand and pulled her into their private office and shut the door. She put her hands on Violet’s shoulders, eyes swimming with concern. “What have you done?”

Violet shrugged out of her grasp and sunk into a nearby chair. “Why do you make it sound like I’ve committed some heinous crime?”

“So you have.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Have what?” Violet played dumb, unsuccessfully.

“Fallen in love.”

“Yes,” she announced and threw up her hands. “I have fallen in love with Jace McQuaid.” Wow, that felt exhilarating to say out loud.

“What about Phillip?”

“I don’t know, Pats. And to be honest, I don’t really care. You seem to care more about him lately than I do, that’s for sure.”

“I thought you were going to break things off with Jace.”

“No. I couldn’t.” And she hadn’t wanted to either. How was she supposed to put an end to the best thing that had ever happened to her? “Enough about me and my mess of a life. How are things going with you and John?”

“He’s been talking about moving back in with Carter and me.”

“That’s great, Pats. The sooner the better,” Violet said. “It sure would help get Dennie off your back.”

“No, Violet.” Patricia sighed. “When John finally moves back in, it needs to be for the right reasons. Not because I’d like to have a man around the house to keep my weirdo stalker at
bay.”

“I know
, I know. I’m just glad the two of you are working things out. Never in a million years did I think John would come to his senses. Someone must have bopped him upside the head with a plunger.”

Patricia smiled. “I guess it goes to show you that people are capable of changing.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“He has his priorities straight now. It just took him a couple of years to
sow his wild oats. He wasn’t ready to be a dad back then, but now he wants to make things right. He’s got his own place and he has a good job.” Patricia put her hand up to stave off Violet’s comments. “He’s a plumber. I know, I know, it’s not the most glamorous job, but he’s making good money and staying out of trouble. Would you mind doing me a favor? I hate to bother you, but are you available to watch Carter for me?”

“Sure. I don’t have any plans. Carter owes me a Mario Kart rematch from last time anyway. Where are you going?”

“I have a date tonight,” Patricia announced.

“Oooh, who’s the lucky guy?”
Violet asked.

Patricia shot her a look.
“John, of course. We’re going to dinner and a movie. Just the two of us. I think we’ve got the family thing down with Carter, so we’re going to see if there’s anything left between the two of us.”

“Is this an overnight date?” Violet asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“No. I’m not sure I’m quite ready for that yet.”

* * *

After an evening of pizza, video games and an animated move that made Violet laugh more than she thought she would, Carter finally drifted off to sleep.

When he was tucked in his bed, the phone rang.
Violet lunged for the phone and answered on the first ring so as not to wake Carter. She loved the little guy, but he was a handful and when he finally drifted off to Neverland, she didn’t want anything disturbing him. “Hello?”

“Oh, Violet, it’s you,” an eerie voice answered.
“
Violet James
.”

The hair on Violet’s neck prickled at the sound of Dennie’s raspy voice. She’d only heard it one other time at the office, but she’d never forget it.

“What a disappointment,” he hissed. “Where’s Patricia?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she retorted, gripping the phone tight.
The piece of paper saying Dennie wasn’t allowed within fifty feet of Patricia, Carter or her house had given them all a false sense of security.

“She’d better not be out with someone else,” he threatened.

“She has a new boyfriend,” Violet lied. “He’s a cop.”

“You’re lying,” he said tightly.

“No, I’m not. He carries a gun and everything.”

His voice grew impatient.
“She’s there, isn’t she? Let me talk to her.”

“No, Dennie. She’s not here.”

“I’ll just have to find out myself if she’s home or not.”

Violet’s breath hitched in her throat. She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. “You come anywhere near her or her house and I’ll call the cops, Dennie.”

“You’ll be too late,” he spat, then the line went dead.

Violet sucked in a few deep breaths, but it didn’t help. Her hands were shaking and her heart rate had picked up speed.

Brrriiinnnggg!

Violet nearly jumped out of her own skin when her cell phone rang from her purse. She dug out the phone and tried to swallow the cotton in her mouth. “Hello?”

“Hey, Vi.”

“Oh, Jace, thank God it’s you.” She was too shaken to notice the caller ID before answering. Dennie didn’t even have the number to her cell phone so it wouldn’t have been him anyway.

“What’s wrong?” Jace asked. “Are you okay?”

She could hear the concern in his voice and it comforted her somehow.

Little did she know, Jace was actually calling to see if she was interested in having some phone sex later, but he wasn’t about to tell her that now. Now, he needed to play hero and find out what the hell was going on.

“I thought you were
him
,” Violet panted. Nearly dropping the phone, she tucked her elbow in and tightened her grip.

“Him
who
?” Only one name came to mind.

Phillip.

Great. Couldn’t they go at least one night without his name coming up in a conversation?

“Pats’ stalker just called. He sounded like he was going to come over—”

“Where are you?”

“I’m over here at her house babysitting Carter while she’s out with John.”

“Give me the address,” he demanded. The thought of Violet in danger twisted his insides into a carnival-sized pretzel. But Violet wasn’t his to protect, he reminded himself to no avail. It didn’t matter. She needed him and he wouldn’t let her down. No matter who she belonged to.

“
It’s okay, Jace,” Violet reassured him. “You don’t have to drive all the way out here from August Lake.”

“I’m nearby. I was just leaving Seb’s. Now tell me where you are.”

“Stay on the line with me, will you, Jace?”

“Yeah, sure.”

He programmed the address Violet gave him into his GPS. “Why don’t you tell me how to get there,” he told her. “I’m on the corner of Danna Street by Target.” He didn’t need directions, but she sounded so spooked, he figured if he kept her talking it would help ease her panic.

Within minutes, Jace
pulled into Patricia’s driveway. Violet answered the door and flew into his arms, nearly knocking the air out of his lungs. She buried her face in the hard plane of his chest and inhaled his familiar scent.

“Are you okay?” he asked, stroking her hair.

“I am now,” she said into his shirt.

“Is the kid all right?”

“Yeah, he’s asleep in his room.”

“I’m going to walk around the house and check things out, okay?”

“Okay.” She pulled back and looked up at his face.

Her own reaction surprised her. How nice it had been to have a big strong man to run to in a crisis. Besides her brothers and father, Jace was the first man she could say that about. He was dependable and she wouldn’t trust her life in just anyone’s hands.

“Lock the door behind me.”

Violet did as she was told and Jace made a sweep around the house. He didn’t see anyone or anything suspicious. He didn’t quite know what he was looking for, but Violet’s safety was at risk so Jace switched into protector mode nonetheless.

Inside the house, Violet paced the living room and decided against calling Patricia. Pats had been so excited about tonight, she’d gotten all dressed up and everything. John was taking her to a fancy restaurant on the river and Violet couldn’t bring herself to call and ruin their special evening together. Especially now that she was getting things back on track with Carter’s dad. If John had changed like Patricia said he had then things could be great for them. Carter needed his father and Patricia could use a stable man in her life.

Dennie was probably just bluffing anyway.

When Jace finished patrolling the yard, Violet let him inside the house and deadbolted the door behind him. They sat on the couch watching TV with the volume turned down. Jace put his arm around her and she snuggled against him, glad he was there.

“You never told me Patricia had a stalker.”

“Yeah. He bothered her a lot more last year. Things died down after she filed a restraining order, but he’s at it again. The whole situation is strange because Pats is the most peaceful person I know. It’s silly, really,” she downplayed the situation. “He always makes empty threats. It just spooked me tonight, that’s all.”

“It’s understandable.”

Violet heard a small sound and when she looked up, she saw Carter huddled in the doorway, hair disheveled and G.I. Joe action figure in hand. The little boy’s lips trembled and his eyes were as big as hockey pucks.

Violet got up, crossed the room to him and embraced his thin shoulders. “Carter, honey, what’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream?”

He shook his head. “The Bad Man is at my window.”

Terror skidded up
Violet’s spine.

Jace jumped to his feet and Violet’s heart hiccupped into her throat. Silently, Jace wished he had a gun in his hand or at the very least a flashlight. But he didn’t and there wasn’t time to look for one.

“I’ll call the police,” Violet said, reaching for the phone.

Jace turned his attention to the little boy. “Hey, buddy,” he said calmly so as not to frighten him any more than he already was. “Tell me exactly what you saw.”

“Who are you?” Carter asked suspiciously.

It was a reasonable question
and Jace gave him a friendly smile. “My name’s Jace. I’m Violet’s friend.”

“Oh.” The explanation was good enough for the boy. “Well, I heard a scratching noise on the window and I looked out and he was out there. Is he the boogie man?”

Jace ignored the question and went to the door.

Violet panicked. “You’re not going out there alone, are you?” she squeaked.
“The police are on their way.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m just going to see if he’s still out there. I’m not waiting around for the cops to show up.”

“Do you want me to find Carter’s baseball bat for you?”

“I’ll be fine,
Vi,” Jace said again, irritation lining his words. He’d been using his body as a weapon for years and he certainly didn’t need to defend himself with a little kid’s Wiffleball bat.

“Be careful,” she hissed.

“I will.” Jace slipped outside before she could inflate a plastic bubble around him. He crept around the perimeter of the house and immediately noticed a scrawny looking guy crouching next to the back door, fiddling with the lock.

So, this was the little twit that was making all the fuss.

“Can I help you?” Jace’s deep voice boomed into the darkness.

Dennie turned around, eyes wide and
slack jawed. He made a break for it, but Jace moved to cut him off. Dennie whipped around and ran for the front of the house. In a few long strides, Jace caught up to him and grabbed him by the shirt. The movement yanked his sore shoulder and Jace gritted his teeth. Showing weakness was not an option.

Dennie spun around, his arm jabbing towards Jace’s stomach. Jace saw that the man was holding something, but it happened so fast he didn’t see what.

Then he felt it. The piercing pain of something sharp plunging into his skin. “What the…?”

Jace pushed the pain aside, lunged toward Dennie and tackled him to the ground.

“Let me go!” Dennie hollered. “This is my chance!”

Jace made a fist and smacked Dennie square in the jaw. He would have gone for the nose, but he didn’t want the little shit bleeding all over him. A pipsqueak like Dennie was bound to be a bleeder.

“Ow!” Dennie howled. “That really hurt. What are you? A friggin’ boxer?”

“No,” Jace growled. “I’m a hockey player.”

Jace pinned Dennie’s wiry arms behind him and pushed the guy’s face down into the grass. He could have broken him in two like raw spaghetti, but he mercifully showed restraint.