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Liam
The next morning came too soon. I woke up to the annoying sound of my work ringtone.
I hit accept and brought the phone to my ear without even opening my eyes. “Woods.”
“Liam, it’s Chase. We got an issue.”
Nothing in my line of work can wake you up faster than those four little words. I shot up from my bed, the bed I shared with Amelia the night before. I glanced down at her, still sleeping so peacefully. I didn’t want to wake her. I climbed out of bed and went into my office. “What’s going on?”
“Got a cop poking around. My connections say he pulled up your DMV records.”
“Do you know why?”
“Intel says he caught a break with a security cam near the scene of the murder. I don’t know how we missed it.”
“So, he doesn’t have solid evidence then?”
“He has enough to start poking around and making our lives miserable. Not to mention the fact you—”
“Yeah, I know. I’m going to have to do something about Amelia.”
“My sources tell me he’s checking out your place in town this morning. Is there any way he can trace you to the cabin?”
“Only if he has a search warrant to go digging through my things, which based on the evidence you said he has, it shouldn’t be enough. I was driving past a security camera, so what? I couldn’t have been the only car.”
“Well, just in case, I think you need to turn the girl over to the boss and let him deal with detaining her while we get things settled.”
“You know I can’t.”
“Yeah, I know you’re a stubborn ass. Just be careful.”
“I will and thanks for the heads up.”
We hung up and I furiously rubbed my hands over my face. What the hell was I going to do with Amelia if that cop came snooping around here?
If he were checking my place this morning, I’d only have a few hours before he could make it here if he found my files on the cabin.
I went downstairs and fixed Amelia breakfast. I knew what I’d have to do. She wasn’t going to like it.
I knocked on the door to wake up Amelia before entering. It was time I started treating her with more of the respect she deserved instead of like she was just my captive. As my mate, I owed her that.
“Come in?”
The door clicked unlocked and squeaked open. She sat up in bed still rubbing her eyes, clearly struggling to wake from a deep sleep. She squinted in the bright sunlight that streamed through the barred windows.
As I stepped into the room revealing the breakfast tray, Amelia gave me a sleepy smile and I couldn’t help but grin. “Good morning.”
“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” I made my way farther into the room, locking the door behind me as I had every morning.
“Yes. It’s been much better since I haven’t had to use the cuffs.”
My smile slipped. “I’m sorry. I wish I hadn’t had to do that.”
Amelia frowned before forcing a smile. “That smells good.”
“Oh, yeah. Hungry?” I pushed past the uncomfortable mention of the cuffs and placed the overfilled tray on her lap.
“Very.” She licked her lips and fought the urge to dig in. “Have you eaten?”
“No. Not yet.”
“Why don’t you join me?”
“Really?” I raised my brow and studied her for a moment. I took a seat on the edge of the bed and took a piece of bacon from the tray. This was new. Sex from the night before could have been excused as a moment —or two —of weakness. But there was definitely something different about Amelia this morning. Her walls were coming down.
Amelia dug into the French toast and let out a soft moan that made me shift in my place to make sure she couldn’t see the effect she was having on me. I tried to focus on anything else, taking a bite of the French toast I’d made. After about half the food was gone, we slowed down enough to start idle chit-chat.
I looked up at her and noticed a small drop of syrup just at the corner of her plump, soft lips. I remembered how those lips had tasted—how soft they were as I claimed them the night before.
“You have a little...” I reached over and ran my thumb over the corner of her mouth to scoop up the syrup.
“Thanks.” She blushed though I wasn’t sure why. She lifted the glass of orange juice to her lips to hide the reddening of her cheeks.
“So, Chase is supposed to be doing a grocery run for us tomorrow. I’m getting him to pick up more of your chocolate ice cream. But this time you’re going to try it my way.” I grinned.
“With a scoop of peanut butter on top? That’s just so weird.” She laughed and it was one of the best sounds in the world.
“Just trust me. You’ll love it.”
“I’ll give it a try, but that’s all I can promise.”
“That’s enough for me. I thought I might have him pick up a movie and popcorn too. We could make a whole night of it.”
“That sounds really nice.”
“What kind of movies do you like?”
“You aren’t going to like it.” She looked up at me through her lashes.
“Let me guess. Romance?”
She nodded and bit her lip. I’d already expected that and had the perfect movie in mind. I dropped my head back dramatically and let out a loud sigh. “It looks like I’ll have to turn in my man card for the night,” I smirked at her, and we both laughed.
“So, what’s going on today?”
My smile faded and I swore a dark shadow washed over the room. She swallowed hard as the eerie transformation happened right before my eyes. I turned my gaze out the window. This was going to be bad.
“Liam? What’s wrong?”
“I know you’ve been torn about what to think about me. I see you fighting with yourself, not knowing how to feel and I know you want to go home.”
She looked like she might get sick, and my stomach twisted. I didn’t want to undo all the progress we’d made.
“You’re not going to let me go, are you?” Her voice cracked.
“Oh, Amelia. Of course, I am. As soon as I can, I promise I will let you go back home.”
“Then what is it?”
I turned to her and took her hands in mine.
“There’s something I might have to do today and you’re not going to like it.”
She pulled her hands out of mine and studied my solemn expression. “What is it?”
“I may need to hide you for a little while.”
“Hide me? Why?”
“There’s someone who might be coming over who can’t know you are here for obvious reasons. I have a hidden room with a television, couch, and mini fridge so you’ll be comfortable enough.”
“How long will I have to be in there?”
“I’m not sure. I have people watching out, so we’ll have a little notice and once we’re clear I’ll come get you.”
“So, who will I be hiding from?”
I tilted my head and raised my brow. She should know better than to ask.
Amelia let out a sigh but the look on her face told me she was giving in. It was just one day, and she was only trading one room for another.
My phone rang and I answered it on the second ring. “Chase?”
“Hey man, he just passed our checkpoint. You’ve got about forty-five minutes before he’s there.”
“Damn it. How the hell did he get the okay to search my place?”
“I don’t know but you gotta hide her now. Call me as soon as he leaves.”
“I will.”
Amelia waited until I hung up the phone. “I’m guessing it’s time?”
“Yeah. Let me show you the way.”
Amelia started toward the door. She clearly thought we would be leaving the Master bedroom, but instead, I headed for the closet that could barely be called a walk-in. She stood back, puzzled as I stepped into the closet and separated the clothes hanging against the back. It looked like a typical wall until I grabbed hold of an almost invisible ledge and slid it open like a sliding glass door.
The space was barely big enough to fit the small couch, T.V., and mini fridge inside and the idea of being in that tiny space for hours made me anxious. I couldn’t imagine how it must have looked to her.
She stepped back from the door. “I can’t stay in there. It’s tiny.”
“I know it’s small, but it won’t be for long and you can watch TV while you wait. It will be over before you know it.” I urged her to follow me.
“Please, I can’t.” She stepped back as panic took over.
“Amelia.” I used my firm tone. “You have to. We don’t have long, now get inside.” It wasn’t often I had to take on that commanding tone with her anymore but when I did, she knew there was no point arguing. She could either go inside the easy way or the hard way.
I moved aside and she stepped into the small space. I was proud of how she held back her panic though it was still clear in her eyes. I kept my eyes on hers as I slid the hidden door back into place. Don’t think about her right now. I had to focus on dealing with this detective and getting him out of my home as soon as possible. Then I could get her out of that tiny room.
I adjusted the clothes to cover the back of the closet once again. I rearranged my shoe rack so that it blocked a portion of the walkway to look less conspicuous.
I checked the clock. I didn’t have long. I quickly switched out the deadbolt. And removed the window bars leaving the same bolts in place so that I could easily put them back once he was gone.
I had just removed the last window bars from the bathroom when the doorbell rang. I opened the subfloor hiding space under my bed and tossed the deadbolt, bars, and all evidence of a captive inside before rushing downstairs to meet with the detective.
I wasn’t supposed to know he was coming so I plastered on my most convincing puzzled expression as I opened the door.
“Hi, may I help you?”
“Mr. Woods, I presume?
“Yes?”
He flashed me his credentials and badge. “I’m Detective Stevenson. I was wanting to see if I could come in and ask you a few questions.”
“Certainly, please come in.” I stepped out of the doorway and allowed him entrance even though he had yet to show me a search warrant. Innocent men don’t think much about asking for warrants, they just want to be helpful.
“Do you drive a silver Corolla, Mr. Woods?”
“I do. What’s this about?” I motioned for him to sit, and he took a seat in a side chair while I sat on the couch.
“I’m sure you’re familiar with the unsolved murder of Judge Andrews several weeks back.”
“I think I heard something about that on the news. But what does that have to do with me?”
“We have a video showing your car leaving the area surrounding the judge’s murder.”
“Leaving the area around the murder? That sounds vague.”
“Perhaps but we are investigating all possible leads.”
“I see. And you’re sure it was my car? It’s a rather common model. Where was this video taken?”
“Near fifth street only minutes after what we can deduce was the time of death.”
“Well, I can’t recall the specific night, but I can tell you I sometimes drive through there as a cut-through to get home.”
Detective Stevenson paced my living room making me uneasy, but I refused to show it. “Do you mind if I take a look around?”
“What are you looking for? I might be able to help.”
“Anything tying you to the murder.” He was blunt. I’d give him that.
“I’m afraid you’re wasting your time Detective.”
“Well, it is mine to waste.”
“Yes, but mine is not. Without a warrant, I’m afraid you won’t be searching my home today. I know my rights.”
“Lucky for me I have a warrant.”
“Then why bother asking my permission?”
“Trying to be polite.” His expression told me being polite was not on his agenda.
“What possible reason would you have to get a search warrant for my house? Just that I drove by the area of a crime? No judge would sign that.”
“You’re welcome to look over the paperwork, but I have every right to be here. If you will please move out of my way.” Detective Stevenson moved past me and began searching my home.
It didn’t take him long to clear the downstairs and move up to the second floor. No matter how trained you are, your nerves still react when someone is getting close to something you’re hiding. Someone like me isn’t taught to reject those feelings but instead to hide them from even the most discerning eyes.
Detective Stevenson walked into my bedroom and looked around. He even checked my closet but only lingered for a moment before closing the door.
As he eyed the dresser drawers, panic rose up in me. I had been so focused on making sure Amelia was okay in that room I hadn’t even thought about the drawers of her clothes right there in plain sight.
I rushed past the detective in an attempt to distract him.
“Detective, I’m not sure what you’re looking for but as you can see there is nothing here. I’m fairly certain that the warrant was uncalled for and a stretch of the law. I think it’s time for you to leave.”
“I think you’re right, but I want you to come down to the station with me and answer some questions.”
“I’m not going down to the station. I can answer your questions here. I have things to do.”
“You can either come willingly or I can put you in handcuffs and take you down to lock up until we sort this out.”
Fury bubbled inside me, but I had to force it down. I couldn’t risk being held overnight and leaving Amelia in that room the whole time.
“Very well. Let’s go to the station. If I can just make a call to my friend and let him know I won’t be meeting him for lunch.” I pulled out my phone to call Chase.
He snatched the phone from my hands. “You can make a call from the station.”
I climbed into the back of the police car with one last glance up at the master bedroom window. The local police station was only thirty minutes out. I could call Chase and tell him about Amelia within an hour. I was sure she’d be fine for that long.
Thirty minutes came and went. I tensed as we passed the local station. “Where are we going? You said we were going to the police station.” I demanded.
“We Are. We’re going to my station back in the city.”
“What the hell? That’s four hours away,” I roared.
“Yes, it is. I suggest you get comfortable.”
“I need to make that call now.”
“I told you. You can make a call once we get there.”
“This can’t wait.”
“Sit back and shut up or I will cuff you.”
Anger seethed just under the surface and my wolf howled with anger, fighting to break free. I could have easily shifted and leapt from the car or used my heightened strength to overpower the detective but that would open up a whole other investigation. I couldn’t risk the detective having any more reason to look into my life.