Absolution (Mr. Black Series) (6 page)

“Oh baby, who did this?”

“Catherine,” I whispered.

“That fuckin’ bitch,” she said, wiping the tears from my cheeks.

The cop looked at Stella. “Do you know this Catherine woman?”

“I sure do, and I’ll tell you all about her crazy ass,” Stella said, leaving me to walk with the cop.

I pulled my phone out of my purse, wanting to call the only person I felt safe with.

I listened as the phone rang a few times before Cole answered, “Hello?”

I couldn’t get a full sentence out, except for an intermittent word with a sob in between.

“Catherine…hit…kicked…”

“Where are you, Adeline?”

“On Fifth…by Stella’s.”

“I’m on my way. Don’t move.”

I dropped my phone back into my purse and panned the scene. So many people had crowded around, gawking at me like some animal in the zoo. I was so embarrassed. Stella walked back over, wrapping her arms around me.

“I told the cop everything. Don’t you worry about that bitch. They’re gonna get her.”

“Cole’s coming,” I said.

“Good. He’ll take care of you,” she said, rubbing my arm.

A few minutes later I heard, “Adeline!”

It was Cole, being held back by the same cop. Stella walked over and spoke with the police officer. Cole ran over, kneeling on the asphalt, wrapping his arms around me.

“I was so worried,” he said, backing away, cupping his palms against my cheeks.

Stella walked up. “That bitch, Catherine, did this to her.”

Cole rested his cheek against mine and whispered in my ear, “I got you, baby girl.”

His words alone filled me with an insatiable urge to kiss him, and at that moment, I knew. I knew what I had been denying inside was real. Funny how the strangest things cause feelings to bubble up to the surface.

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t deal with those feelings right now, my head was too clouded with fear. I closed my eyes, which had already begun to fill with tears. I could feel his breath flow down my neck as he spoke so gently to me. I took in the moment as the sounds of the honking cars and the smell of the polluted air that swirled around us seemed to melt away.

He rested his forehead against mine, the tension that hung between our lips blaringly apparent. It was the kind of tension one feels before they experience their first kiss with someone new. I wanted nothing more than to lean in the rest of the way and press my lips to his…to know what it felt like to be in his arms in that way.

God, I want him.

My flesh began to throb, my fear turning to lust as I felt myself losing control of the situation. This was not the flirtatious banter or innocent peck on the cheek I was used to. This was so much more than I was able to comprehend at the moment, so I did my best to push him away, but his strong arms opposed me. He wrapped his strong fingers around the back of my neck and pulled me toward him.

Gently, he kissed me on the forehead, and shifted his face slightly from mine. Looking into my eyes, he asked solemnly, “Can I take you home?”

Stella rested her hand on my shoulder. “You’re in good hands. I’m gonna let Cole take over,” she said, winking at me as she walked away.

I shifted my gaze back down to Cole. “Yes, take me home.”

COLE

The drive home was pretty silent. I didn’t know what to say to her, and I’m sorry wasn’t going to cut it. I pulled up to the house and walked over to her side of the car to pull her door open. I went ahead of her to unlock the door, then led her to the bathroom, where I turned the water on to start her bath.

“Are you going to be okay?” I asked.

She just stared at me, her trembling arms crossed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Do you want me to stay and help?”

She nodded.

I wiped the tears and blood from her face, then I slowly clutched onto the edges of her shirt, pulling it up over her arms. I unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, then slowly pulled them down her legs and over each foot. She turned her back to me, shifting her hair out of the way, revealing the clasp of her bra and the elegant line of her spine.

I hesitated. I wanted her, but I didn’t want her like this. She had just been through a traumatic experience and she was vulnerable. I unclasped her bra, allowing the lace material to fall to the floor. The bruises on her sides and arms were already visible.

I shook my head at the anger I felt toward Catherine, wanting to rip her to shreds. Adeline stood there, waiting. I knew what was left, and I was afraid that if I touched her panties, I wouldn’t stop there.

I hooked my finger under the elastic, sliding the fragile fabric off her slowly. Aside from the bruises, her body was perfect, and I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and make sweet love to her…but I restrained myself. I led her into the warm tub that was already three-fourths filled with water. She laid down in it, and I took a rag and wiped the dirt and blood from her body.

She kept her eyes closed the whole time.

“What’s wrong, darlin’?” I asked.

She didn’t reply. I washed her hair, bathing her bruises as gently as I could, keeping my eyes focused on the blood and nothing else, which was a task in itself. Once the night’s events had been washed away, I held up a towel, and wrapped it around her as she stepped from the tub. I picked her up, cradling her like a baby in my arms, and carried her to her room. Laying her on her bed, I turned toward the door, but stopped when I felt a tug at my wrist.

I looked down to see her staring up at me. “Stay.”

I nodded, taking off my boots as I turned out the lights. I crawled into bed and laid next to her, her body fitting with mine like a perfectly placed puzzle piece. Wrapping my arms around her wet body, I slowed my breathing to calm hers.

We didn’t say anything else the rest of the night. We didn’t need to. She fell quietly asleep in my arms, and I in hers. Our first night together couldn’t have been any more perfect.

ADELINE

I fell asleep in his strong arms. It’s the only place I felt safe. The moment my eyes closed, Ezra came to me for the first time in months. I found myself sitting on the beach, with him sitting next to me, holding my dress for the ball.

All I can think about is you at the ball with him.

“Do you not want me to go with him?” I asked, staring out into the sunset, the tide coming in from the Pacific.

I guess I can’t stop you.

“You could ask.”

It’ll be fine and you’re gonna be stunning. I’m sure of it. You should really model the dress for me so I can give you an honest guy’s opinion.

He tugged on my wrist and handed me the dress.

“Nope, you’re just gonna have to wait like everyone else,” I said, pulling my wrist away from his hand.

It’s not like you love him, right?

I turned away.

Right?

“Why do we have to talk about this? I haven’t seen you in so long. Where have you been?” I asked.

That's not what I asked you
, he said as he stood from the sand and walked away.

I tried to follow but I was stuck. Paralyzed. Unable to move.

I screamed for him, “Ezra!”

I shot up in bed. Gasping for a breath. The night was still young, and Cole was lying asleep next to me. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and nestled myself back into his arms.

“Everything okay?” he whispered.

I smiled. “It is now.”

I fell back to sleep without another run in with Ezra. For some reason, his visits were becoming less welcome as I felt a growing anger coming from him.

It felt like I had only been asleep for a few minutes when I woke up to Cole jostling my shoulder.

“What time is it?” I tried to sit up, but the aches of the bruises had set in.

“Are you okay?”

“As okay as one can be after having the shit beat out of them,” I replied, sliding out of bed, still clutching onto my towel.

“The ball is tonight, and I understand if you don’t want to go.”

“No. I need to go. I’m not letting Catherine or Ezra stop me.”

“Ezra?”

I glanced back over to him as I rifled through my closet. “Nothing.”

“Well, I gotta go to work for a bit, but I’ll be back in time. Lock the doors while I’m gone, and please keep your phone near you. I called the police department this morning and they said they hadn’t found her yet.”

“Okay, I’ll stay home.”

He stood and gave me a slight peck on the cheek before leaving the room. I pressed my hand against that cheek and reveled in the moment.

“I’ll be back by three or so,” he said as he walked out of the door.

HER LAST PLEA

COLE

I walked by the window, where I saw Catherine standing at the bottom of the metal stairs that led up to the office door.

“How in the hell does she keep getting on base?” I asked.

“What, LT?” Elijah asked.

“Here comes that crazy bitch that beat up Adeline,” I replied.

“Are you shittin’ me?”

I looked toward the door, where I could see her approach. She took a deep breath and exhaled as she tapped on the metal door.

“You want me to take care of her, LT?” Elijah asked.

“No. I will. Here, hold this,” I said, handing him the file I had been working on.

I opened the door.

“Hey, baby!” she greeted me. “I’ve missed you.”

She tried to wrap her arms around me, but I backed away. “Are you fuckin’ crazy? You beat up Adeline last night. Why aren’t you in jail? In fact…Black, call the MPs.”

“Are we at the point that we can’t be cordial?” she asked.

“Hello, Catherine,” I said in a low monotone voice. “Is that what you want?”

“No, I want more. Do you happen to have time to chat about a few things?” she asked.

“No, Catherine, I don’t have time for this.”

She looked at me. As understanding finally dawned on her, she looked as though she had been sucker punched. The gravity of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks.

“Black, tell them we’ve got an unauthorized person on government property.”

“Yes, Lieutenant,” Elijah replied, picking up the phone.

“You never wanna take my phone calls anymore, baby. Why are you being so fuckin’ mean to me?” she asked angrily.

“Because you go around trying to hurt people I care about.”

“Care about? Is this because of Adeline? Do you love that bitch?”

“She is not a bitch, and that is none of your business.”

“Do you realize how much time I put on hold for you?”

“You mean every time you threatened to leave during a deployment?” I turned to walk away.

She ran in front of me, putting her hands on my chest, keeping me from walking any further. I looked down at her hands. I grabbed her wrists, pulled them off me, and placed them at her side.

“Stop it, Catherine. I’ve made up my mind.”

“I took you for granted all these years, baby,” she whined.

“Yes, you did,” I said. “But I have to take some part of the blame for this. I could have been more vocal, and made a bigger commitment to you. Sometimes a guy just needs to take a leap of faith. Unfortunately, I never took that leap with you, but that doesn’t matter anymore, and I will certainly not make that mistake again,” I said, walking past her.

“Wait, just answer something for me.”

“What?” I asked, turning to face her.

“Would you love me if Adeline were out of the picture?”

“Oh, shit, LT, did she just threaten Adeline?” Elijah hollered, still on the phone with the MPs.

“What kind of question is that? Seriously! What kind of question is that? Don’t you fuckin’ touch her again,” I said, shaking my head in disgust.

“Well, Cole…” Catherine’s words trailed as she lifted her shoulders level to her jaw.

“What the fuck did you do?” I yelled, pushing past her, and running down the stairs to my car.

I pulled out my phone, and called Adeline.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Oh my God!” I said in relief.

“What?”

“Stay in the house. Catherine was just here. I’m going to make sure she’s arrested before I come home. Lock the doors.”

I turned around and ran back up the stairs, with the MPs running up right behind me. I flew through the door, to see Elijah restraining Catherine, the bloody scratches to his face said it all.

“Arrest her ass,” I hollered.

“Yes, Lieutenant Almen.”

She looked at me. “So, you do love her?”

I looked at her. I didn’t answer, but my omission was answer enough.

“But I’m your best girl, Cole,” she said, trying to move toward me as she started to cry. “Why am I never good enough? Why do I have to sabotage everything good in my life? Why did I have to sabotage us?”

I couldn’t stand seeing her cry…after all, I was with this woman for years.

I walked toward her. “Listen, you deserve to be happy, and so do I. And if in all these years of living with me you didn’t fall in love with me enough to wanna stay through a few deployments, then it just wasn’t meant to happen,” I said as I backed away from her, motioning for the MPs to take her away.

“Oh, and call National City Police Department. They have some charges there for her as well,” I said to one of the MPs.

The door closed behind them. “That was crazy like a mutha’, LT,” Elijah said, shaking his head.

“I gotta get back to the house to make sure Adeline is okay.”

“Are you still coming tonight? I want you to meet my new girlfriend, Heather.”

I smiled. “After seeing all this drama, are you sure you want a girlfriend?”

“She’s a keeper, for sure,” Elijah said, grinning from ear to ear.

“All right, well, I look forward to meeting her,” I said, pushing my way out through the door.