Sweet Seduction Shield (14 page)

Pierce blinked
back at me, then shrugged his shoulders.

"You'd already
agreed to make a statement about it, this was just the next step.
You want us to catch him, don't you, Marie?"

God, he was
right. And I was being pig-headed.
Not nice
, as my daughter had already pointed out.

"Of course," I
mumbled, opening my door and slipping outside.

Pierce was
beside me in an instant, just as a uniformed cop approached from a
marked police car I hadn't even noticed off to the side.

"Nothing to
report, Detective. The place is clear and no one has been past it
in the last hour."

"Thanks, Mike.
Just wait in your unit until we're clear. We shouldn't be long,"
Pierce advised. The cop nodded and returned to his vehicle.
"Ready?" he said to me, placing his hand in the small of my
back.

I stared at
him for too long, trying to decide why I felt so off kilter around
him. He was doing everything a police detective should do. He was
making sure I was safe while doing it. Why then did I feel like he
had an agenda?

"Marie?" he
asked softly. "It's a mess in there, I know you're probably upset
about seeing it in this state, but we don't have to stay long. Just
grab what you and Daisy need, and we'll lock it up again and
go."

I nodded a
little dumbly and let him lead me up the path to the front door.
Pierce pulled the tape down, and when I fished my keys out of my
bag, he silently relieved me of them so he could unlock the
door.

Inside was a
complete mess. I'd heard the tattooed freak crashing around in
there. I'd assumed he'd caused chaos. But this? This was
destruction on a level I didn't comprehend.

My hand over
my mouth I took in broken picture frames, smashed vases, the
cracked TV, ripped sofa, stuffing-less cushions, and the scattering
of knick-knacks and what appeared to be cereal or maybe broken
biscuits all over the floor.

"Who does this
sort of thing?" I said under my breath, but Pierce heard me.

"It's a
message," he said, hand still on the base of my spine, heat
reaching me through his touch, even as my extremities were turning
ice cold. "You weren't here, he assumed you'd return to find it."
His thumb stroked softly, again absently, as though he wasn't even
aware he was doing it. "It looked like he was also searching for
something."

That little
bit was tagged on the end quite intentionally, I think.

"Did he find
it?" Pierce asked, and the cop was back in the room.

I ignored his
question and headed towards our bedrooms, intending to pack our
bags and leave this place, possibly for good. Strangely, Pierce
didn't follow. He headed into the kitchen instead.

The bedrooms
were as disorderly as the lounge, perhaps even more so. Not as much
damage, but the goon had clearly been looking for something. I
assumed Pierce had already seen all of this yesterday, when he
stormed off and left us at Ben and Abi's. That's why he hadn't
bothered to follow me in here. But I couldn't help feeling let
down. Surely seeing my most private place violated like this would
bring out the protector in him?

Despite my
turbulent emotional responses to this man, I would have welcomed
his presence right now. Sorting through the strewn clothing in my
room, knowing someone else's hands had touched them, left a vile
taste in my mouth. It was going to be ten times worse in Daisy's
room, I was sure. So, I knuckled down and focused on what I needed
to do. Underwear, outerwear, toiletries, accessories, and hidden
away in my wardrobe, in a shoebox full of paraphernalia, our
passports and birth certificates.

The goon had
sorted through it, but had no need to steal our IDs.

I slipped them
all into a duffel bag and then headed to Daisy's room, sucking up
the horror of seeing my daughter's precious possessions tossed
about without any care. I found everything she'd need to keep her
happy for the next little while, but promised myself I would wash
all our clothes at Abi's first, before letting Daisy anywhere near
them. At least she would have her favourite books and toys on hand
though.

I found Pierce
waiting patiently back in the lounge. As soon as I walked in his
eyes flicked to my overflowing bag and then quickly back to my
face.

"Got
everything?" he asked, reaching forward to offer a hand to carry
the heavy satchel.

I handed it
over without hesitation, it was bloody heavy, and saw another
flicker of surprise cross Pierce's face. I had no idea what it
meant, and the fact that I could pick up these little nuances of
his so easily, left me reeling, so I pushed my concerns away
altogether. Admitting I was getting more and more familiar with the
detective was not particularly constructive.

"Yep, that'll
hold us over. I'm keen to just get out of here now."

"I can
imagine," Pierce agreed, and headed towards the door.

He gave a
quick look around the front yard, before opening the door fully,
and then reached back and clasped my hand, tugging me behind him. I
was about to protest his contact, when he said, "It'd be best if we
just get out of here quickly. It's been over half an hour since we
arrived. Anyone could have warned McLaren's man that you've
returned."

I shut my open
mouth on those ominous words and let him lead me to the passenger
door of his car. I slipped in, as he threw the duffel bag on the
back seat, and then rounded the front of the sedan waving a hand at
the uniformed cop, who was sitting in his vehicle as Pierce had
instructed.

"Right," he
said, as he manoeuvred himself into the driver's seat. "We're outta
here."

He started the
car and glanced up at the marked police unit.

Then
frowned.

He tooted his
horn once, waited for a response and then swore vehemently under
his breath, pulling our car up alongside the uniform's.

"Don't look,"
he said suddenly, accelerating away from the car, while his hand
came out and clasped my chin, making me look at him and not at
whatever he didn't want me to see.

The moment he
passed the vehicle he lifted the handset on his radio and clicked
the button to talk.

Nothing.

"Fuck!" He
glanced in the rear view mirror, swore again and then hit the
button on his bluetooth speaker device and said, "Comms."

The dial tone
sounded and three rings later a voice announced, "North Comms,"
over the speaker. I hadn't breathed once.

"Ten-Ten,"
Pierce said immediately.

"Go ahead,"
came the brusque reply accompanied by rapid key tapping over the
line.

"Detective
Sergeant Pierce, possible fourteen-ten of a uniform at 118
Williamson Ave."

Oh, this was
not good. I glanced over my shoulder back towards where the cop's
car was still sitting, but couldn't make out a thing from this
distance. Pierce had the hammer down.

"Are you still
at the scene?" The guy on the other end asked.

"Negative. I
have a civilian on board and am being followed."

"Your current
location?"

"City bound,
Williamson Ave and Elgin Street."

A slight
pause.

"We have units
responding from Ponsonby Road and Great North Road. Description of
the assailant?"

"Dark blue
late model Ford Territory, unable to get a clean line of sight to
the license plate."

I flicked a
glance over my shoulder and noticed the erratic driving of a Ford
Territory bearing down on us at great speed.

"Eyes forward,
Marie," Pierce said softly.

"I might be
able to see the license plate number," I offered, amazed I could
form a complete sentence, as my heart was in my throat and my chest
was starting to ache from lack of air.

"It's OK,
babe," he replied immediately, placing a hand on my cheek and
gently making me face forward. "Just hold tight."

Sirens could
be heard coming from up ahead, the odd flash of red and blue in
between the morning traffic. The speed with which the lights
alternated; red-blue-red-blue-red-blue, matched my rapid pulse.

"What you
can
do is dial a
number on your phone for me, while I keep Comms on the
line."

My focus
returned to Pierce, away from the mayhem building outside - just as
he'd probably intended - and I nodded. Then fished my cellphone out
with shaking fingers.

"Any updates?"
came the voice over the speaker.

"Negative.
Standby," Pierce replied in clipped tones. Then his voice softened
as he said to me, "Got it, babe?"

The phone was
vibrating in my hand. Not because it was ringing, but because my
trembling had almost gotten uncontrollable. I nodded, keeping my
focus on him, and not the world flashing by outside, as he rattled
off a number for me to dial. I had to press the buttons twice,
because the shaking had escalated even further.

I placed the
phone to my ear, unsure who would answer, but waiting for the call
to connect anyway. My eyes remained locked on Pierce's face, who
alternated between glancing in the rear view mirror, looking
forward, and flicking a quick gaze at me every now and then.

"It'll be all
right. The blue and whites will cut him off and we'll be home
free," he whispered, squeezing my thigh just once and then
returning his hand to the steering wheel.

A cop car
screamed past, lights flashing, siren blaring, and did a movie
style u-turn in the middle of the road, to come at the Territory
from behind. Another marked police car came at us from a side
street, attempting to cut the Territory off, but somehow the SUV
managed to evade it, almost tipping up on two wheels to get around
the sudden block. Helicopter rotor blades could be heard above, as
we made it onto Ponsonby Road, the shadow of the chopper crossing
the street in front of us, as it kept up with the chase.

"Eyes forward,
Tiger," Pierce semi repeated, making me realise I was sitting
sideways in the car, trying to watch the terrifying activity out
the back window.

Just as he
spoke someone answered my cell call; I missed their greeting
completely.

"Sorry, who's
this?" I said into the phone, right when Pierce swore, then the car
swerved and my cell left my hand, tumbling to the footwell. I
reached down, fumbled between my feet, then grasped the device as
Pierce started jammering away to the Comms guy on the speaker phone
about a spike block that had just failed and almost taken us
out.

"You there?" a
man shouted down my phone.

"Y..yes," I
said breathlessly.

"Sounds
exciting, sweetheart," the man replied steadily on the other end of
the phone. "Wanna tell me who you are?"

"Marie Cox," I
managed to say, before I squealed as our car rocketed forward, an
ear splitting crunch sounding out, as the Territory rammed us up
the rear end. "Holy fucking shit," I exclaimed. "I thought they
only did that on TV."

"Marie!" the
voice on my phone said firmly. "Where's Pierce?"

"Beside me, driving the car," I replied, not too surprised
that the person Pierce made me call knew he'd be with me, but
considering the circumstances, I
was
surprised I could reason that out.

"Can I talk to
him?" the guy asked.

"He's talking
to Comms." Whoever Comms is.

"Where's
Ben?"

Shit. I'd
forgotten Ben was tailing us, and all of a sudden my stomach left
me and sweat formed on my brow.

"I'm not
sure," I said, feeling the weight of every word.

"Then tell me
what's happening, Marie," the guy asked, his voice sounding calmer
than it should have been, as though he'd flicked a switch and cut
himself off from his emotions in order to deal with what was
happening right now. "You've left your house?"

"Yeah, we're
on K Road now, being chased by a Ford Territory and half the police
force."

"OK," the guy
said, tapping away on his keyboard and murmuring something to
someone off the line. "Hang tight, sweetheart. And tell Pierce
we've got Jason on the way to check on Ben."

I turned to
Pierce, tears stinging my eyes at the reason why I had to convey
this message.

"The guy says
Jason is going to check on Ben," I said in a trembling voice.

Pierce nodded,
and flashed me a small, understanding smile.

"He'll be
fine," he whispered. But I wasn't sure if he was reassuring me or
himself.

"Have you been
hurt?" the guy on the phone asked.

"No," I said,
as unbidden tears started trickling down my cheeks.

What if Ben
was hurt? Like the uniformed policeman was obviously hurt. I hadn't
see him, Pierce had made sure I didn't look as we passed his car.
But if the cop was injured, and Ben was nowhere to be seen, was he
hurt too?

I'd only just met the big, gruff M
ā
ori man and his woman, but I felt
like they were friends already. Good people, nice people. Fun
people. People I could come to love given time.

And what had Pierce said,
"They'd lay down their
lives, if need be."

Oh, God.
Please let him be OK.

"Marie, you
still with me?" the guy asked. I nodded, then realised he couldn't
see me.

"Yep," I
whispered, looking at a determined Pierce and then the world
flashing by as we passed the motorway on-ramp at Symonds Street. I
wondered why we didn't just get on there, take the chase away from
the streets and innocent bystanders. But Pierce seemed to know what
he was doing, still talking non-stop to Comms, which I gathered was
short for Police Communications, where they'd coordinate their
staff.

"My name's
Eric," the guy on the phone said out of nowhere.