She shook her head.
“I can’t. No, if you look them up, do any snooping they will know it and they’ll come here to find me. There are bad people even in the police department, Cesar. When I told my grandparents that maybe I should go to the hospital and to the police my grandfather shook his head. He said, ‘They won’t arrest Steven and Collin. They’ll make the charges disappear, and then they’ll come for you.’ I asked him who would, and I argued with him about reporting the rape and he insisted that too many people would cover for Steven and Collin and that the only way to be free from this town and the order was to run and hide.”
“My God, Carina. What in the world is going on in that town? Cesar, what does she do?” Amber asked and placed her arm around Carina’s shoulder and hugged her.
“She stays here in Repose and allows all of us, including the Cortland men, to protect her. Darling, you won’t make it on your own. There’s no need to run. You came to the right town, and the right people. We’ll protect you, that I promise you.”
Steven and Collin weren’t in the sheriff’s department more than two seconds before they were summoned to the Chief’s office. Collin gave him that reassuring nod.
“Our time is up. Good thing we discussed our next move while at the shooting range. We can do this. Let them help us find Carina and bring her back home where she belongs. With us.”
Steven nodded. He missed Carina. He couldn’t wait to get her back.
Collin led the way and when they got down the hallway to the sheriff’s office, Anderson was there along with Voight. They nodded at them and immediately Steven and Collin bowed their heads until the two men who were leaders in the order placed their hands on their shoulders.
“Come on in. We have some important things to discuss,” Anderson said and Steven and Collin looked up and nodded. They entered the room to find Bogurt there. Collin’s uncle nodded toward his nephew and then gave Steven a small grin.
“How are you doing, Steven? I mean really?” he asked.
Steven took the seat that was offered him and he and Collin sat down on two chairs that were next to one another.
Steven looked right at Bogurt.
“Frustrated, but hanging in there, sir. Thank you.”
Bogurt nodded and then looked at the sheriff, James Porter.
“Well, the reason we called the two of you in here should be obvious. Carina,” Sheriff Porter stated as he leaned back in his chair with his elbows resting on the arms and his fingers laced together. He was a mean looking son of a bitch. Proved how violent and capable he could be when someone defied the law, hell, his law. He dished out most of the punishments. Steven nodded his head.
“You haven’t had any success in finding her. We figured her to be pretty damn smart from the start, but this isn’t good. She belongs to the two of you and to this community. You need to bring her back here,” the sheriff said.
“We understand that, sheriff. We’re trying but have come up empty without any leads,” Collin told him.
“We know that,” Bogurt said and gave his nephew a wink. Collin cleared his throat and spoke up.
“Steven and I just discussed our next move this morning. We were going to ask for the order’s help in finding her. We’re both at our wit’s end and we just want her back, in our bed where she belongs,” Collin stated firmly. Steven couldn’t help but to see what appeared to be a bit of anger in Anderson and the sheriff’s eyes. Maybe Collin was right and a few of these top leaders wanted Carina as their woman. If he and Collin hadn’t done so already then these men would use their position and power to take her from Steven.
That wasn’t going to happen. She belonged to them, order or not. He’d kill any man other than Collin who tried to have sex with her.
“That’s a smart move. We’ve got a lot of connections and we’ll use them to protect our own,” Bogurt stated.
“We need to make some things clear, Collin and Steven. When we find Carina and get her back here, she’ll need to be made aware of the rules. Depending on where she’s at and whom she may or may not have been talking to, she will be punished. You both understand that?” Voight asked them.
Steven and Collin nodded.
“We plan on issuing our own form of punishment,” Collin said to them and Steven sat forward in his seat.
“We’ll make her understand that she belongs to us and what her position as our wife will be,” Steven told them.
“She won’t be allowed to marry you for a while. There are rules and she must prove herself loyal and obedient to both of you and to the leaders of the order,” Voight stated.
“What do you mean, wait? Wouldn’t it be better for us to marry right away?” Collin asked.
“She ran from the two of you. Escaped from this town, showing complete disrespect to you, to the order and everything we stand for. Sheriff Porter will decide the punishment and inflict it upon her,” Anderson said to them.
“When I’m through with her, she’ll be real obedient to the two of you, don’t you worry,” the sheriff told them and gave a wink.
“Why don’t you tell them what you found out?” Bogurt said to Porter.
The sheriff leaned forward and picked up a piece of paper on his desk and flipped it over.
“Here. Lucy and Charles Benning had an old Mazda they kept in their garage.”
“Mazda? We didn’t see any old car in the garage. We were just there last week,” Collin said and Steven thought about all the surprise visits to Carina’s grandparents’ house. The look her grandfather gave them said the man was wishing for an opportunity to take them out. He was old though, and all that could hurt them would be a bullet.
“It was there a couple of months back, and a few days after Carina disappeared, Lucy renewed the insurance on the car. She had taken it off the road prior to that,” Sheriff Porter said to them.
“So Carina took off in that old Mazda. The same license plates?” Collin asked.
“Sure are, and I got a quick hit the other day about a check on that registration. It was done in Texas, but soon after disappeared.”
“Texas? What the hell is Carina doing in Texas?” Collin asked.
“It’s a lead and I have some men working on it. When, not if, I get the call, you need to decide if you’re up for the grab or if you want some of our professionals to get her. Personally, I think it would be smarter for you two to stay put just in case Carina told anyone about you,” Sheriff Porter suggested, but Steven knew by his tone that he was telling him the way it was going down.
“Whatever you think, Chief. We just want her back. Right, Steven?” Collin said.
“Right. We’ll do whatever you and the order tell us to do. We’re both confident that you’re all looking out for us and for Carina,” Steven added and watched the men in the room nod, but once again Anderson, Voight, and the sheriff didn’t look so convincing at all.
They got up and headed out of the office when Collin looked at him and nodded.
“They’ll find her and bring her back to us. You’ll see.”
Steven couldn’t help but feel unsure. His gut clenched and he didn’t know if it was just that jealous instinct he had over Carina and that fact that she was his woman, or that he was reading into the expressions of Voight, Anderson and the sheriff. He didn’t like them, but he knew they owned this town and controlled everyone and everything. He was fine with that. He participated in plenty of hunts over the years and knew by witnessing other people’s mistakes that mess with the order in Starling Grove.
“Hey, why are you looking so pissed off and grim? They might have found her. That’s a good thing.”
“Hey, Collin, was it me, or did it seem like Anderson, Voight, and Bogurt were pissed and, well, jealous?”
Collin looked away from him to be sure they were alone.
“It wasn’t you. It’s exactly as I feared, that they wanted her as the jewel. My uncle Bogurt is probably the only reason why they aren’t taking Carina for themselves.”
“What if they change their minds and take her once they find her?”
Collin placed his hands on his hips and exhaled.
“I guess it’s a possibility, but I don’t think they will.”
“Well, maybe you and I need to take some extra precautions and have a backup plan of disappearing, just in case.”
Collin seemed to think about it a moment.
“Okay, Steven, we’ll work it out during our shift. I know a place. It’s an hour from here, but very isolated. We can stock it ahead of time as soon as we know Carina is coming home.”
“Coming home. I like the sound of that,” Steven said and Collin smiled.
“She’ll learn fast. You’ll see.”
“We’ll make her. We’re both capable of doing it.”
* * * *
Carina was relieved to have her car back and to just get home, unpack the shopping and lie down. Her head was pounding and as she arrived at the house Jesse and Milton were still there working. She was nervous. Once she had left Cesar’s office and spoke with Amber and Antonia she felt like maybe she could lighten up a little bit with the Cortland men. She admitted to the attraction she had to each of them and how worried she was about getting closer and being intimate. They were older, more experienced, and definitely not like any men she had even known.
As she parked the car she held on to the steering wheel and exhaled. She needed some painkillers and a dark room. When she looked up she saw Jesse and Milton heading toward the car. She popped the trunk and got out.
“What’s wrong?” Jesse asked.
Did she look that bad? “Splitting headache.” She closed the door and turned to head toward the trunk for the groceries.
“We’ll get these if you want to go inside and lay down,” Milton said to her.
“It’s not a lot. I’ll be okay.” She lifted two bags and they took the remainder of them, closed the trunk, and followed her inside.
When she got into the kitchen she noticed the new window, and it was a little bigger than the other one.
“Oh, wow, that looks great.” She placed her bags on the counter and Milton and Jesse began to unpack the other bags and help her put the groceries away.
“We figured to avoid any further problems, and the only solution was a bit larger of a window. The main framing work was rotted out and the culprit was a broken drainage valve from the overhang on the roof,” Jesse explained.
She rubbed her head.
“So no more worries about rain coming in and wet floors?” she asked.
“No,” Jesse replied.
“So it wasn’t my fault?” she asked and closed her eyes.
Jesse stepped closer and cupped her cheeks. She opened her eyes and he pressed closer, trapping her against the counter.
“It was never your fault,” he whispered and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
She exhaled and absorbed the feel of his lips pressing kisses to her forehead, her cheeks and nose then lips. Before she could panic and turn he moved his lips to her chin and then to her cheek again as if he knew she was intimidated. She placed her hands on his waist, felt the hard muscles beneath his T-shirt and every ounce of her felt aroused, but this damn headache was making her feel sick.
She lowered her head to his chest and he caressed her hair and her back.
“My damn head is pounding,” she whispered.
“Let me grab you some ibuprofen,” Milton said and she heard him rummaging through the cabinets.
She couldn’t help but to run her hands along Jesse’s waist and enjoy how he felt. He continued to rub her shoulders and back, soothing her, making her wish she could lie on a bed in his arms and just fall to sleep and feel safe and secure.
“Here,” Milton said and she lifted up, squinting as the pounding continued.
He lifted her hand and placed the two pills into it then held a glass of water for her. She took one pill and then placed her hand over his hand as he held the glass and she took a sip. She held his gaze over the rim of it and couldn’t understand how arousing such a simple offer of help could be. She took the second pill and held her hand over his much larger one and drank, then swallowed the pill.
“Let’s get you to bed. We’ll close the shades, make it nice and dark and you can get under the covers and let the painkillers kick in,” Milton told her and she nodded her head. Jesse held her around her waist and Milton took her hand. They led her down the hallway and she was shocked at how turned on she felt having two men like these two caring for her at the same time.
Milton released her hand and went to the shades to close them up. He then pulled down the covers as Jesse had her sit on the edge of the bed. He lowered to his knee and began to unlace her sneakers.
She reached out. “I can do that, Jesse.”
He shook his head as he held her calf and ankle. He caressed her skin and held her gaze. “I want to take care of you,” he said and she felt emotional over that statement.
“Do you want to change into something else?” Milton asked and stared at her body.
“I can do that. I’m sorry,” she said as Jesse removed her shoes and then helped her to lie down.
Milton placed the covers over her body and then leaned down and kissed her lips softly.