One Lucky Lady (9 page)

“Surely there is someone else who can testify.”

“The doctor on duty that night doesn’t remember much. He referred us to his notes in the chart. Without her chart to back everything up, I don’t know how much the jury will believe. Her husband can look and act the part of a caring person, but deep down he’s a disturbed control freak.”

Mac rubbed a hand down his face. “A jury will need proof.”

Pedro stood and said, “We need to talk to Alex. Until Lucy turns up, there won’t be a trial. And until Lucy’s husband is behind bars, Alex is not going to be safe.”

Pedro pulled the door open with a heavy sigh. Alex was going to be upset. Mac followed him into the house.

They found Alex in the kitchen. She had cooked breakfast. When she saw Pedro’s face, though, she went over to the table and sat down. She knew this was not going to be good.

Pedro explained everything to her. Lucy was missing. Lucy’s husband was missing, but possibly following Pedro. Charts, files and police records were missing. And Alex was stuck here with Mac for an undetermined amount of time. She looked over at Mac.
Well,
a
t least the view is pleasant
.

Pedro told Alex about Tom’s funeral. Nothing and no one unexpected showed up. He also told her about Jarred’s offer. Alex told him Tom would have wanted that and to just let her know what she needed to do.

Pedro stayed for breakfast. Alex and Mac told him about Barney Rubble. Pedro didn’t seem all that concerned over Barney. He knew the guy and liked him. Barney actually kept an eye on the place for Pedro so Mac felt a little better.

Pedro insisted on leaving as quickly as he came. Alex wondered why he didn’t just call. Apparently, he thought she wouldn’t handle the news about Lucy well. He was obviously concerned about her, but he didn’t seem to give his safety any thought.

As soon as Pedro left, Mac cleaned up the kitchen. He kept an eye on Alex the whole time. He knew she was a smart girl. She knew whoever was following Pedro was looking for her. She also knew he was most likely the same person who killed her husband.

“Alex? Would you like some coffee?”

Alex looked up. Mac voice sounded so soft. His eyes were on her. He looked so worried about her. “I’m fine Mac, really.” But she was quite sure she didn’t look fine.

Mac walked over to her, not really sure what to say. He knew her whole world was different, she had lost somebody, and somebody she obviously cared about was missing. Mac reached down and held his hand out for her to take.

Alex looked confused, but took his hand anyway. He pulled her up into his arms and just held her there. “If Lucy is out there Pedro will find her.”

“I don’t think she would have just up and left. Not unless she felt threatened in some way. She’s a smart woman. She just got mixed up with the wrong guy.”

“It happens a lot, but I’m sure you’ve seen it enough to know.” Her head didn’t even come up to his chin. She was so delicate compared to him.

“I’ve got to get out of this house or I’m going to go crazy, Mac.” She looked up into his eyes. She could smell his soap. It was a very masculine scent. His eyes were dark again. For just a second she thought he was going to kiss her.

Mac quickly put her at arm’s length and nodded his head. “Get a jacket with a hood. Pedro said you liked to run.” Mac was pretty sure he was going to regret this, but he needed to get out of the house too before he did something he might regret. Maybe he would just feel a little guilty. Hell, he probably wouldn’t regret it at all, but that’s what would make him feel guilty. He should just stay here and take a long, cold shower but Alex was starting to act a little stir crazy, and he didn’t want her leaving on her own. Besides, the whole neighborhood probably knew who was in the house by now.

They stepped outside. The day was still young. It was late morning and there was a light drizzle falling and a cool breeze was blowing. Ten minutes later they were about a mile away from the house. Neither one of them talked. Mac knew Alex was thinking about Lucy. Her mind was definitely somewhere else. He would look at her every few steps. She wasn’t breathing hard. She had barely broken a sweat. Pedro told him she could run, but it looked like she almost floated. He could barely hear her feet hit the ground. That didn’t surprise him though. She moved like a cat, silent and graceful.

Alex was about a half step ahead of Mac. She was running in no particular direction, all of her thoughts were on Lucy. Surely, Lucy was safe. Alex knew Lucy was a smart woman, but that did not help her uneasy feeling. Lucy told her that her husband was really a nice guy until the day she married him. Before the ink was dry on their marriage license she had two black eyes. Lucy told her Shawn would apologize and seem very attentive for a few days, and then something would set him off. The first time Lucy wound up in the ER with broken ribs, she told them she fell down the stairs. Alex found out the night she met Tom, Lucy didn’t even have stairs. Apparently, Lucy put a roll of toilet paper upside down. She fed the paper under instead of over. Alex knew some people had hang ups about that kind of stuff, but three broken ribs? Still Lucy went back to him.

Alex was grateful to whoever referred Tom to Lucy. Tom convinced Lucy that what her husband was doing was not her fault. Tom told Alex that Shawn had Lucy almost brainwashed, which Alex knew to be a common thread among abused spouses. Yet, somehow Tom got through to her. She knew Tom and Pedro moved Lucy’s sister to Mobile until the divorce was final. She knew they’d had to hunt for Lucy’s family, because Shawn made sure that she severed all ties to anyone but him.

Lucy’s sister was a wonderful woman. She was twelve years older than Lucy and never had kids. Tom told Alex Lucy’s sister raised her. They lived with their mother, but she was drunk more than she was sober. Lucy married Shawn and he moved her to Mobile, never telling her sister.

The more Alex thought about it, the more she felt that Lucy was safe. If Shawn had Lucy, he wouldn’t still be following Pedro. He would be at home making sure Lucy was feeling his disappointment in her.
Probably.
If Lucy would have felt like she was putting her sister in danger, she would have left on her own.
Then why did she not call Pedro?

Mac could see Alex’s mood change. Even from the side he could tell she seemed less burdened. She picked up the pace. He felt like they had run about two miles away from the house and he was ready to turn back. He grabbed her arm and steered her down another street then at the next corner he steered her back toward the house. She didn’t speak, so neither did he.

When they were about a block away from the house, the little hairs on the back of Mac’s neck stood up. He didn’t hesitate even though he didn’t know exactly what caused his response. Those little hairs saved him more times than his bullet-proof vest.

He grabbed Alex and cut up the closest driveway. It ran between two houses that looked similar to Pedro’s. There was a porch behind them as they crouched against the next house. Mac turned to her and put his finger against his lips. Alex just nodded then tried to peek around him and the corner of the house. Mac put his hand flat against her stomach and pressed her back to the wall behind him.

Alex knew something was up and she should be paying attention to whatever had distracted Mac, but right now Mac’s very large, very warm hand was distracting
her
. She put her hand over his to remove it, but Mac looked back at her and she just held her hand there touching his. Mac turned his attention back down the street.

In a whisper he said “Someone is watching the house.”

Alex felt goose bumps pop up on her arms. She had a feeling that it wasn’t because somebody was watching the house. “How do you know?”

Mac pointed to a car sitting by the curb facing away from them. It was two houses down from Pedro’s and across the street. It was an older Ford Escort and Alex could tell there were two men-very large men-sitting in the front seats. Alex leaned around Mac long enough to see and was pushed back again.

“That car was not there before. I know every car on this street, license plate numbers included. That car does
not
belong.”

“What now?” Alex tried to sound calm, but there was a small quiver to her voice.

“Well, I don’t think they saw us leave. I would have noticed them. They must think we are still inside the house. We can’t go back.”

Mac still had his hand on her stomach, but he removed it and turned to stand in front of her. Alex was still against the house. She looked…beautiful. She didn’t look the least bit scared or worried. Her hair was hidden under the hood of the sweat shirt. Her eyes were a deep shade of green. They seemed darker than before. Her cheeks were flushed from their run. And her lips…he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her lips.

Alex watched him, she watched his gray eyes go dark, almost black just before he bent his head and brushed his lips across hers. She instinctively put her hands to his shoulders, grasping his sweat shirt in her small hands. He tried to lean back away from her, but she tightened her grip pulling him down to her again. She tilted her head just a little and kissed him hard.

Mac was shocked. Here he was ready to apologize and berate himself and she was kissing him. Mac pressed her back against the wall. He had her little body caught between his legs and bent at the knees to keep his lips against hers so she didn’t have to stand on tip-toe. He felt her lips open slightly and ran his tongue just over the inside of her top lip. Alex moaned, and Mac came to his senses. They were out in the open and needed to move and he had taken advantage. Mac slowly brought his head up and put his forehead to hers and the corners of his mouth came up in a sheepish, lopsided grin.

“Sorry about that. I just… We need to get going.”

Alex looked a little dazed and he backed up from her and took her hands from his sweatshirt and held them in his. “Honey?”

Alex shook her head and tried to think coherently. She knew there was something she was supposed to be worried about but couldn’t for the life of her remember what it was.

Mac started chuckling. He really should feel guilty, instead he was happy. There were guys down the street who probably wanted to kill him and he was happy.
Damn.
“Alex, we have to get out of here. Can you still run?”

Alex suddenly remembered the car. “I can run as far as I need to. What are we going to do?”

“We need to find a car.” Mac dragged her to the fence that ran at the back of the driveway where they had taken cover. He bent to help her over, but to his surprise, Alex grabbed the top rail and catapulted her small, muscular body over. Mac smiled again and followed suit.

They hurried through the yard and over the back fence, then turned away from Pedro’s house and ran down the alley. Mac wanted to get another few miles away before borrowing a car. If the police were called, he didn’t want the guys watching the house to suspect it was he and Alex that had taken it. He would have worried about all the strain on Alex’s body, but she truly seemed not to even notice how far they had run. She might be small, but she was by far the toughest women he had ever met. She never broke stride, but at least she was starting to breathe harder. That helped his ego, but not much.

He had a feeling Pedro was right. She could beat him by a mile. Of course, he would have a great view.

Alex was running at a pretty quick pace. She was glad to see Mac was keeping up. She felt energized. Like she could run forever. She knew she should feel bad about kissing a man she just met only days after her husband died, but Lord the man could kiss. You just didn’t get to kiss a man like that every day, right? So when the opportunity presents itself you shouldn’t pass it up. That would be wrong, right?

Three miles later they ran upon a Chevy Blazer parked on a side street. It looked a little rough, and was rusted around the wheel wells. Mac pulled Alex to a stop beside the vehicle. He tried the door. It was unlocked.

Alex nodded and walked around to the passenger’s door that was also unlocked, and slid into the seat. Mac had the Blazer running in seconds and they were soon driving. Alex didn’t know where they were going and really didn’t care. She pushed the hood back on her sweat shirt and asked “Now what?”

“We need to get in touch with Pedro. I didn’t bring my phone. Do you have yours?”

“No. All I have on me is pepper spray. Do you know his number?”

“Yes.” He was looking at Alex. She just nodded and stared through the windshield. Mac had to tell her now, but didn’t want to upset her.

“What is it?” Alex asked still looking forward. She could feel him looking at her and could tell he was debating with himself. “I can tell you’re hiding something, wondering whether or not to tell me. Out with it.”

“Do you trust me?” Mac said hearing the worry in his own voice. How did she know he was hiding something?