Suddenly, he hit a spot inside of her and she went off again, screaming out her release. Cait knew that she had taken him with her; his body was slamming hard into her and he was yelling out her name as he spilled his seed. When he finally fell against her bent body, he took them both to the bed and rolled them to his back. His cock was still deep inside of her as she lay over him.
Breathing hard, he moved her to her side and spooned in behind her. She didn’t care if they ever moved again. Sated and relaxed like she had never been, she fell asleep again. She barely remembered him getting up once, then moving her to the center of the bed, but as soon as he snuggled up behind her again, she went back to sleep.
The next time she opened her eyes, Meggie was in the bed with her watching TV. The sound was off so it hadn’t bothered her. When Meggie noticed that Cait was awake, she reached over to the side table and handed Cait a note.
“Meggie woke when I left so I told her to stay with you. I should be finished up around six and I’ll meet you at your aunt’s. I think I left my cell at my mom’s; I’ll call yours with my office number as soon as I figure it out.
S”
After letting Meggie know she was going to take a shower, she got up and found her clothes again. He had put another of his shirts on her. She didn’t have any panties, of course, but after taking another of Spencer’s shirts, she went to the bathroom.
She was a little sore, she noticed, when she bent to pick up her clothes. In the past week, she and Spencer had had sex more than she had had in four years, maybe longer. But it was worth it.
After getting Meggie dressed and making the beds, she gathered up her things and drove to her uncle’s. It was nearly nine-thirty and her aunt and uncle were just finishing breakfast, but Aunt Dee made them something to hold them until lunch. Cait was surprised to see that the equipment from her boss in Chicago had arrived at the house and she got busy setting it up. By lunch, she had what she needed.
“Uncle Paddy, Martinez has been busy. This has gone beyond what we found at Toby’s house. He is into child pornography, it seems, as well as drugs and prostitution. I wonder just how far reaching this really is. What I found today was simple to locate.”
“Do you think he is getting sloppy? Or has he just gotten to the point where he thinks he’s untouchable? You said yourself that he has most of the cops in his pockets. Toby couldn’t have been the only one on the force that worked for him.” Cait had already thought of that and so had Tucker. The problem was, who?
“He goes up for his bond hearing in a few days. I’m not sure what will happen, but I have a pretty good idea. Britain wants me to stay here—the jury is still out on Hunter. I’ve already contacted Captain Tucker and he is offering me his complete support. He also suggested that I be careful with his cops too. He said as far reaching as Martinez is; there is no reason to think that he hasn’t contacted some of his men too.”
“You know I got your back. I think you should stay here at night—just until this is over. During the day all of us are a tad more...focused. At night, well, things could be a little distracting.”
Cait flushed. She knew she was an adult and her uncle had always been very up front with her, but talking about her sex life with him was just a little too much. But she did agree. Before she could say anything, the house phone rang.
“It’s Tucker. Sounds kinda pissed off. Said he’s been trying to reach you all day. Your phone on, Caddy-did?”
Before answering, she pulled her cell out and realized that it had been turned off. She wondered about that, wondered if Spencer had shut it off so she could sleep. But it mattered little right now. When it booted up, she had several texts and voicemail.
“He’s out! Christ, woman, I’ve been trying to tell you all day. I’ve been to that Grant’s house, his office at the university, and there is no one there. I finally had to go to the archives and get your uncle’s address and number to call you here.”
“Who’s out? Martinez? You said it would be days yet. Damn it, when?”
“I didn’t find out until nine this morning. I don’t know what happened, not all of it right now anyway. He was being transferred to the county seat in Chicago when there was an accident just after five this morning. Two of the men in the transport were killed and three others injured. It took them two hours to figure out he wasn’t in the van.”
She looked at the clock. It was just after eleven. It took at least seven hours to drive here from there, which meant she had less than two hours to get ready. She had no doubt that he was coming for her.
“I’m coming in. I don’t want...Tucker? Are you there? Shit! Uncle Paddy, we have to move, now!”
She pulled out her weapons and checked the magazines. She opened the bottom cabinet, moved the hidden wall, and pulled out three vests. She tossed one to her aunt and tugged one over her head as she ran. Running into the living room, she scooped Meggie up into her arms. The vest was too big for her, but Cait had not ever expected anyone as small as Meggie to ever be in the house when something went down. She rushed to the garage behind her uncle and aunt.
When Cait had been a teenager, her uncle had made them practice evacuating the house every week. He was a homicide detective and knew that sometimes—most of the time—people were not happy when you put some of their crew behind bars. The garage was an arsenal and had a great escape vehicle.
The car was an old police car that she and her uncle had modified just after they bought it. The engine had been rebuilt and revved up and the doors and floor boards had been reinforced with two inches of steel. It was bad on gas, but it was as safe as they could make it. They were headed that way now.
The first shot came from the left and Cait fired that way, hitting the first man in the head. He went down quickly. Paddy was just behind her car, firing at someone to the right, and her aunt was firing with him. Tucking Meggie behind her and having the little girl wrap herself around her body, Cait stood and fired twice more at the man across the street. They were not going to make it to the garage.
~Chapter 18~
Cait was trapped behind the door to the garage when she heard her uncle cry out. She couldn’t move to go to him; Meggie was clinging to her leg and there was a person firing at them from just beyond the house. She knew she had to stay focused, but her heart ached with the knowledge that she had brought this here.
The man firing at her finally popped his head up and she fired and got him in the head. When she was sure that she could move, she pushed open the door and slipped her and Meggie inside. Moving to the wall and pressing the code, she opened the safe, took out all the clips, and put them into every pocket and crevice she could find. Pulling another automatic out, she put it in her pants.
Moving to the car, she opened the door and put Meggie in the slot in the back seat.
“I’m so sorry, baby. But you need to stay in here until someone takes you out. I’ll get you to your daddy, I promise. I love you, Meggie. And I’m so sorry.” A hard hug and kiss later, and Meggie was as safe as Cait could make her.
She went back out into yard and was hit. Her arm exploded in pain, but she didn’t stop—she couldn’t. Lifting her other arm, she fired three times into the wood at the corner of the house and a body dropped. Making her way to the car where her aunt and uncle were took eight minutes.
The second man came around the house near the deck and opened fire on her; she was hit once more in the chest, but the vest stopped the bullet from entering her body. She managed to wound him, but he moved out of her vision before she could finish him. Moving faster now that Meggie was safe, Cait ran to the front of the car and dropped next to her uncle.
“Glad you could join us, Caddy-did. Meggie safe?” She handed him four of the clips she had gotten and two to her aunt. A man moved into her sight just before she could answer, and she killed him.
“Yes, in the car. Aunt Dee, can you get to the car? Don’t open the garage door, but drive out through it. Go to the station. I’m hoping Tucker is sending in some back-up, but I’m not sure who we’ll get. Go only to Tucker, understand?
Uncle Paddy, are you all right?”
“I’ll cover you both. You go with them. I’ve got enough ammo now that I can hold them off if they try to follow. Go.”
Cait looked down and saw that he had been hit in the belly. He had been trying to hide it from Aunt Dee, she realized. She was no more leaving him than he would have her and they both knew it.
“I’ll stay. I’m sorry, Uncle Paddy. I never thought…”
“You stop that right now! You are my niece and I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather you be than right here with me. You dinna do nothing but the job you’d been hired to do. Your daddy would be proud of you, standing up for what’s right. Hell, he’s probably crowing to anyone around looking down on us. You keep focused and we’ll get out of this.”
When her aunt was ready to move, Cait stood and drew fire on herself while Dee ran to the garage. Cait managed to kill one other person and that’s when she heard the sirens. When the car started in the garage behind her, Cait felt a little lighter.
The men trying to kill them doubled their efforts and opened fire on the little car she and her uncle were hiding behind. Two men rushed them and she was able to stop one, but not the other, and he was about to fire on her when her uncle moved in front of the bullet.
She felt the impact into her own vest as it went through him. He lifted his weapon and fired twice more and killed the man who had gotten within four feet of them. Paddy moved off her, crawled to the left, and fired once more before Cait could move again.
The bullet had hit her in the chest, this time in the wound from earlier. The pain was crushing and it stole her breath away. She lifted her arm only to have it fall again. She felt paralyzed. Cait looked at the garage door and wondered when her aunt was going to come out when another man moved toward the door.
Moving in a sluggish manner, she fired twice and then had to reload. He went down, but again, it was not a killing blow.
Turning toward her uncle, she could see a trail of blood where he had moved away from her. She started forward when Martinez stepped out of the garage door. His arm was bleeding. Just as she raised her weapon again, she noticed that Meggie was standing in front of him and he had a gun to her head.
“You fire, she’s dead. I’m going to walk away from here, but first, I’m going to kill you. You have been a pain in my ass for too long.” He raised his weapon.
“Police! Halt!” The cavalry had arrived, but too late. His gun went off and everything went black.
~~~
Spencer pulled up as far as he could and leapt out of his car. He was running to the roped off area at full speed when a cop stopped him by grabbing him around the waist, taking him down.
“My daughter, please, my daughter is there at the O’Malley house. Is that where this is? Please, you have to tell me.”
“Doctor Grant? My name is Captain Tucker with the Columbus Police Department. Can you come with me?” Tucker lifted the yellow tape up and Spencer froze. If this man knew his name then it had to be at the O’Malley house.
“Is Meggie all right? And the O’Malleys, are they...Christ!” Spencer stopped and looked at the carnage.
There were seven white sheets lying around the street where he and the captain were walking toward an ambulance. There was blood staining each one.
He didn’t look too closely, but he thought that they were all head wounds. The closer he got to the squad; he saw two more near a car.
“Detective O’Malley has been shot, and we are getting her ready to transport. She has been… Spencer didn’t hear anything else as he rushed to the back of the ambulance.
Cait was sitting on the bed and there was blood all over her. She was crying, but seemed to be all right. As soon as she saw him, she moved out and into his arms. He could feel her crying and kissed her head.
“Where’s Meggie, baby? They haven’t told me anything, but I don’t see her.” He let her go when she pulled back.
“He took her; Martinez took her. I’m not sure—”
“What do you mean he took her? You were supposed to keep her safe. You told me...no, you promised me you’d watch over her. How the hell did he get her?”
“Doctor Grant, they had—”
“They? You mean you and your uncle couldn’t keep one little girl safe?
Christ, and to think that I trusted you.” He grabbed her shoulders and shook her.
“If so much as one hair on her head is harmed, I will take everything you have away from you. Do you understand me? Everything. You and your family.
You’ll get her back for me and you’ll do it right now.” He pushed her away from him and she staggered. Had not the captain been there, she would have fallen.
“All right, Gr...Doctor Grant, I’ll get her.” Cait turned, handed the padding she had in her hand to the man in the ambulance, and moved away.
Spencer watched her walk away and sat down on the step into the ambulance. His head was spinning and he was sick to his stomach. Meggie was kidnapped and not by her mother, but a murderer.
“What the fuck have you just done? Do you have...come with me.” Captain Tucker grabbed Spencer by the arm and pulled him across the street to the car where two sheets were laid out over bodies. He tried to pull away, but he was no match for the very pissed off man.
“Look at him. Look at the man lying here dead.” When Spencer didn’t move, Tucker reached down and tore the sheet off the body. “He took nine bullets.
Nine, you fucking bastard. Paddy O’Malley was a good man and didn’t deserve this.”
Tucker threw the sheet back down and pulled Spencer along toward the garage. He was sure he didn’t want to go any further, but he was too numb to fight now. Tucker didn’t even ask this time, but pulled the sheet back on the other body, this one in the garage near a car.
“This woman couldn’t even hear her assailant. She took three bullets and from what we can tell, she probably hit the man who shot her. Cait told us that they had Meggie in the car and Dee was going to make a run for it. You said you were going to take everything Cait had, including her family. Well, I got news for you, you fucking ass wipe, her family gave everything they had, including their lives, to protect your daughter and you just sent Cait to her grave.” Without another word, Tucker walked away.