Author: Teresa Mummert

We made our way to the kitchen, and I grabbed a carton of eggs from the fridge and a frying pan from one of the cupboards.

“Sit down and relax,” I told Rose who did, pulling her knees up to her chest. I wondered if this was what it was going to be like, if we ever got our happily ever after: making love before bed and doing it again as soon as we woke, taking care of each other, feeding each other. I had to stop my mind from going too far into the future. There were too many what ifs to be able to guess what tomorrow would hold for us. Right now seemed pretty perfect, and I knew all I had to do was pull off this job for Danny. Then I could get Rose somewhere safe. I wouldn’t be satisfied until I took out Craig of course, but I had to focus on one dilemma at a time.

The butter sizzled in the pan, and I dropped in two eggs, watching them fry and crackle.

“There is something so sexy about a half-naked man cooking breakfast,” she teased, and I turned around to wink at her. “I think I could get used to this.”

“You better get used to this, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere.” I used the spatula to flip the eggs. I turned the heat down and grabbed two slices of bread and popped them in the toaster.

“I can make the toast.” She began to get up.

“Don’t you dare. I want to do this for you.” I wanted to take care of her, make her smile. She relaxed in her seat and stared out the window. Her eyes narrowed.

I slid her eggs onto a plate and grabbed the toast, swiping it with butter before slicing it in half and placing it on the plate. I carried it over to her and sat it down on the table as my eyes followed hers.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.” She looked back at me smiling. I hated that she had to worry so much about what would happen to us. I placed a kiss on top of her head.

“Eat. Let me worry about everything else.” I smiled at her before pulling back. “I’m going to go wake Amber so she can eat.”

“Thanks…for everything.”

I left the kitchen thinking how much things had changed over the last couple of days. My focus was now solely on Rose, and I knew that would make things more dangerous for me, but it didn’t matter. I had someone to live for, and it was hard to consider that a bad thing. Still, I would need to keep my tunnel vision in check or I would end up fucking things up worse. I reached the top of the steps, listening to the music for a moment before knocking on my old bedroom door.

“Rise and shine. The kitchen is about to close.” I waited another second before knocking a little harder. Still nothing. I turned the knob and pushed the door open. The bed was empty; my old navy-blue comforter lay on the floor between me and the bed. I ran my hand over my still-dampened hair before leaving the bedroom and hurrying to the bathroom. The door was still open and the light off. My mind raced.

I took the steps two at a time as I thought of how she could have gotten past us. We had watched her go to bed last night. I hadn’t left her alone. Flashes of Rose bent over in the woods, gripping a tree swarmed my thoughts. I had left Amber unprotected so I could run off and fuck someone. I flew down the steps and came face-to-face with a startled Rose.

“Get dressed. Now. We need to get the fuck out of here.”

“What’s happening?” She stood, looking panicked.

“I’ll explain on the way. Find something to wear. I don’t care what, but we need to fucking go. Amber is missing.”

She nodded and hurried past me and up the stairs. I followed, grabbing a T-shirt and my gun that still lay on the dresser.

We were on the road in record time. I had no idea where we were going but I knew I needed to get somewhere were my phone had a signal. As soon as I got a few bars, I began to call Amber’s cell phone but it went right to voice mail.

“Fuck.” I slammed my hands on the steering wheel.

“Please tell me what is happening. You’re scaring me.”

“I don’t know yet.”

I dialed Brock and on the third ring he sleepily answered the phone.

“What is it?” I heard him stifle a yawn.

“Amber is missing and someone ransacked my apartment last night.” I glanced over at Rose who looked confused at the information about my apartment. I didn’t want to cause any more worry for her.

“She disappeared from your apartment?” he asked.

“No. I had her and Rose at my parents’ place outside of the city.”

“Did they get Rose? Who was it?”

“Rose is safe. I didn’t see who. They must have taken her late last night. Her bed was empty when I tried to wake her. It has to be Craig.”

“You sure it isn’t someone else?”

It was an honest question. Brock was very aware of what I did for a living now that I was off the force.

“It doesn’t feel like it. They have no reason to come after me. I hadn’t fucked up as far as they know. They don’t know about Rose. I have a meeting later today that I can’t miss.”

“What does this have to do with her?”

“Brock, I need you to help me take care of this. I have to be there for the shipment and I need to know Craig is not a threat. If something happened to Amber…” I couldn’t even finish my thought. It killed me to think I had failed her.

“I’ll find him. I have off today. I’ll call in some old favors. What about Rose?”

“For now she stays with me. I need to know she is safe. I’ll contact you later.” I hung up the phone and stepped on the gas, heading to the grocery store where Amber worked a few nights a week. It was a long shot that she would have left without saying anything, but I needed to cover all my bases.

“You think Craig took Amber? Why? He is a lot of things but most of his crimes are petty.”

I glanced over at Rose before locking my eyes on the road ahead.

“Craig paid a visit to Shawn yesterday.” I glanced in the rearview mirror out of habit to make sure we weren’t being followed. The road was clear.

“What? Why didn’t you tell me? When did you find this out?” Her words came out like rapid fire, and I knew this was the last thing we needed to be discussing.

“When I left yesterday.”

“Is he…okay?” Her voice broke and she stared down at her hands in her lap. Her eyes squeezed shut as she braced for my answer.

“No.”

Her body began to shake as she sobbed silently, her hand covering her mouth to silence her cries. I hated that she was wasting any tears on that fucking prick. He deserved what he got. Had he listened to Rose he may have been able to protect her, but instead he blamed her. I tried not to upset her. This wasn’t her fault and she was the victim of some fucking psycho asshole. Still, had Craig been a real man he would still be alive and Amber would be safe.

We drove in silence as Rose mourned the loss of her ex and I contemplated how I would fix all of this with no more bloodshed.

We pulled into the old run-down grocery store and I made Rose wait in the car and lock the doors. I hurried inside and went to the first worker I could find. She was running a register.

“Is Amber here today?” I asked, and she ignored me as she continued to scan items for a customer. I rounded the corner and slammed my hand on the conveyer belt. “I asked you a question.” The teenager with pale-blonde hair looked up at me with annoyance in her eyes.

“She doesn’t come in until six today.”

I left, racking my brain for anywhere else she could be. There weren’t many places she frequented, and none of the bars or clubs would be open at this time of morning.

“What do we do now?” Rose asked as I started the car, staring off at the road ahead.”

I had no plan, no idea what I could do now to make this right.

“We’re going to find Craig and I’m going to kill him.” Rage was the only way to describe how I felt. This guy had now fucked with the only two people I had cared about. I didn’t know it until I laid eyes on that empty bed, but I loved Amber. It wasn’t the same as I felt for Rose, but I loved her and I would do anything to make this right.

“We can’t go after him, Cole. Please! He is dangerous.”

I cut my eyes to her, narrowing them. This man was a fucking child molester. I was going to fix this.

“Soon he’ll be dead. I can’t have you living in fear, Rose. I won’t. This needs to end now and before he hurts Amber.” I stared ahead as I felt her eyes on me. She knew I was right, and nothing she said would change the course of events. “Where could he be?” I asked, my gaze going to the mirror and back to the road.

“I don’t know. He’s been in and out of jail for year. He doesn’t have anyone left in his life…but me.” I glanced over at her and took her hand from her lap. I pulled it to my lips and placed a small kiss on the palm of her hand.

“We’re going to your mom’s house in the Manhattan.” I could see the fear in her eyes, but memories were the least of our worries today.

I didn’t need directions. I had driven by this house many times, knowing it was the end of the line in tracking Rose. After her mother passed away, the Rose I knew became someone else, and the trail went cold. The fact that this scumbag piece of shit was able to find her with little effort infuriated me. But he had many more years with her than I did.

She had changed my entire life in only three months. She had inspired me to take the right path and pursue a career in law enforcement. I wanted to dedicate my life to helping women in her situation. But I only became a monster. Still, I never laid a finger on any woman that crossed my path before Rose.

I pulled onto the block of her old town house and double-parked. We watched the house for a few minutes, but there wasn’t anyone coming in or out.

“Stay in the car. I don’t want you to see any of this.” I slid my phone into my pocket.

“Cole…” I knew she wanted to beg me not to go, to run away with her, but it was too late. I wouldn’t leave Amber behind, and I wouldn’t have Rose looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.

I got out of the car, giving her one last look before I jogged across the street and slipped between two of the neighboring houses down an alley way. Dogs barked and I hurried to the back of Rose’s old home. I had never been inside this one. I was running out of time. I needed to make sure I was at the docks in time for the deal, but Craig and I had a very old score to settle. I had wanted this to happen for years. For all the pain he had caused Rose, for taking her from me and now for stealing Amber.

I pulled my gun from the back of my jeans as I hopped the small wrought-iron fence. It rattled beneath my weight but I continued on. I was sneaking into a vacant home, weapon drawn in broad daylight. If I didn’t end up dead, by the end of the day there was a good chance I would be in prison.

I held my weapon pointed toward the ground as I stepped up the window next to the door. It led into the kitchen. All of the cupboard doors and the fridge hung open. If he were here, he didn’t plan on staying. I tried the handle but it was locked. I pulled my T-shirt over my head and wrapped it twice around my gun. I hit it hard against one of the small windows of the door and the glass shattered.

I slipped my hand inside and turned the lock, listening for any movement. The house was silent and I stepped in, pulling my shirt from the gun and tucking it in the back of my jeans as I held my weapon in position.

“Come out, come out, motherfucker. We need to have a little talk.” I walked over the broken shards of glass and into the dining room. It was completely cleared out, and I could see into the empty living room to the front door. I stepped inside the enclosed stairwell and pointed my gun to the top of the steps. Nothing. Each step creaked under my weight as I slowly ascended.

Directly ahead and to my right were doorways. I went straight and cleared the large square room first before backtracking and turning right into the next doorway. Scattered across the floor were piles of pictures. I stepped closer, glancing over the pile. I sank down as I noticed the flaming red hair of a young Rose. I picked it up, shoving my gun into the back of my pants as I recalled the day she wore that little green dress to the dance. I ran my finger over her sad face.