Carter's Treasure (25 page)

James took a breath. “And you can bet all your money, I’d be right behind his ass. That little girl means more to me than anything, Carter. George seems to think an awful lot of you, and that’s high praise. Plus, you’ve won over my wife. That is a feat in itself. She doesn’t let too many people get close to Molly. She’s taken to you, and that’s a compliment you can be proud of.”

Carter wanted to ask some questions he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to ask Molly. They were on the tip of his tongue, but something stopped him. Part of him was afraid of the answers James would give him. Those were the answers that made him sick to his stomach.

“I have to apologize again for Brody, he has been an ass. I’m sorry about that. You’ve handled it with dignity, though, and I appreciate it. We don’t need more drama added to the mix. Karen and I have been really over-protective of him and more so of Molly, but Brody’s made it into an art form. He’s been the one traveling with her the last handful of years. He’s had to step up and keep her safe from the creeps out there. You were there that night with that Martins guy. Molly has to deal with that all the time. Brody’s a little jaded and he’s had a hard time seeing that your intentions are good. He’s been through quite a bit with her.”

Rubbing his hands over his face, James looked down. Carter could tell he wanted to go on, but didn’t know if he should. For the second time, Carter didn’t interrupt. He braced himself for what might be coming.

“When we brought Molly home, it changed Brody. I don’t mean in the typical, become horribly jealous, fight, rebel kind of way. I mean, after she was stable enough to move and we got her home to Pennsylvania, he took her as his own. I think he understood how bad things had been for her. They may have talked about it, I don’t know. She doesn’t talk about it now, and back then, we wanted them to bond, so we didn’t push him to tell us what they discussed. We let them have their secrets. We knew what kind of hell she’d been through from the little she revealed and from what the doctors and psychiatrists told us, plus what she spilled out in the numerous nightmares she’s had over the years.”

James looked back up at him. “Carter, you just have no idea. She was in pieces when we got to her. I’ll never forget walking into that hospital and seeing her lying there so broken. Tubes coming in and out of her, the black and blue marks, all bandaged up. They told us they didn’t know if she’d make it through the night.”

The air left Carter’s lungs. He shut his eyes as one hand went to his stomach the other covered his mouth. There was nothing he could say.

“You have to know this, Carter. If you want to love her, you have to know just how bad it was so you can understand where our love and protection comes from. So you can understand her. Brody’s not trying to single you out, he doesn’t hate you. He just fears if she’s is out of our reach, that she’s in a position to be hurt that badly again. We about lost her, Carter. She was so close. She doesn’t know how close, but it was touch and go for awhile.”

Without opening his eyes, Carter simply answered, “She knows.”

“She told you?”

Carter opened his eyes to see the shock in James’s face. He nodded. “She doesn’t know exact details, but she knows she about didn’t make it. She remembers certain bits of the time in the hospital.”

“Oh my God, Carter, you don’t know what that means.”

He looked back at James. Carter actually had no idea what it meant. After what he’d just heard, he was nervous to find out.

“Carter, the fact that she told you anything means something. The fact that she told you details…means everything.”

Carter tried to push the lump in his throat back down. The silence following James’s words was knee-buckling. He had been standing still for most of their conversation, but the exhaustion hit him like a brick wall. He had no reason to be tired. He had slept like a baby the last two nights, even with the stress of the threats looming in the background. With Molly curled up against his chest, he’d slept peacefully. All he wanted was more of those nights.

Carter’s heart ached for the little girl in the hospital, for George who had saved her life, for the family that had put her back together. Seeing her face in his mind sent fire through his blood. The love and laughter that she offered him now came from a woman healed and ready to move on. After several quiet moments between the two of them, James’s words broke into his scattered thoughts.

“Well, Carter, I’ve said my piece, threatened to kill you like any good father would. Like I said, she doesn’t trust or love easily. She’s given you both. Please take care to never hurt her.”

Carter needed their conversation to be over. He needed to have Molly back in his arms to hold. He hoped like hell he didn’t break one of her ribs, because he planned to hold on tight and he was never going to let go.

“I give you my word, James.”

~

“Mom, Dad.” Carter stood to welcome his parents. “You were supposed to call when you got here. I’d have met you at the bike trailer.”

Molly smiled as she stood next to Carter, nervous to meet his parents and one of his two brothers. She glanced at her own parents, who were just off to the side along with Eli and Jesse, and then up at Carter. She watched Carter embrace his brother in a tight hug.

As Carter let his brother’s hug go, he looked down at her. “Well, let me make the introductions here.”

Molly’s cheeks were pink as she listened to Carter introduce all the parents to each other. She tried to take a deep breath and made a conscious effort to not fidget. His parents seemed like nice people, smiling and making small talk with her parents. His mother, Connie, hugged both Eli and Jesse. They hadn’t all been together in a while, but it appeared they had taken the two men as their own over the years, the result of many years spent trackside together growing up, those memories spanning two decades.

“And Mom, Dad…this is Molly.”

She bit her lip as Carter placed her in front of him though he pulled her close enough that her back was pressed against his chest and his hands on her shoulders.

“Mol, this is my dad, Tom, my mom, Connie, and my brother Mike. You’ll meet Sam another time.”

Molly put her hand out to shake with them, but was dragged from Carter’s hold and into his mother’s arms. She found herself being passed from Connie to Tom and finally ended up in Mike’s big teddy bear hold of an embrace.

Mike looked a lot like Carter. Same sandy blonde hair, same blue eyes, though they were just a hint darker than Carter’s ice blue ones. He had that same warm smile that looked just a little bit sinful. The biggest difference was Mike probably had four inches on Carter’s five foot eleven—added to that a good fifty pounds of rock hard muscle. It was apparent that both men worked out—hard. Where Carter was lean and ripped, Mike looked like a body-builder.

If Sam looked anything like Carter or Mike, the Sterling gene pool was blessed for damned sure. Even their father looked like an older version of them. Molly had always teased Karen and James for being a beautiful couple. Tom and Connie were definitely in that same category. Their clothes were tailored and well put together, and it didn’t appear as if a hair was out of place on either of them.

Molly kept the grin to herself. It wasn’t how she would usually walk around the pits of any track, but to each his own.

Mike squeezed her one more time before letting her go. She looked down at his hip to figure out what pinched her.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, sweetie. I forgot.” Mike adjusted his badge hooked to his belt and glanced back down at Molly. “Did I get ya?”

“No biggie. Just didn’t know what it was, that’s all,” Molly said quietly. She hadn’t ever dealt with a police officer one-on-one before, other than for security. She was a tad nervous to talk to Mike. Something about him being a detective was a little unnerving.

With the introductions and hugs all passed out, everyone sat back down at the plastic table in front of the Noland’s rig. Molly didn’t hesitate to snuggle up against Carter’s side when he pulled her next to him. He looked down at her, his face lighting with that smile when their eyes met.

“Well, I have to say, I can’t believe I’ve got two of you to worry about now.” Connie laughed.

“Mom, I will apologize now.” Carter grinned as he ran his knuckles over Molly’s cheek.

Connie waved him off. “Oh, honey, I’m teasing you both.”

“No.” Carter shook his head. “I never knew what you went through all these years until I had to sit and watch her. It kills me every time I see her sit on the bike.”

“It does?” Molly’s head tilted up so she could look up at Carter’s face.

Sure, she’d worried about him and his friends, but she’d really not thought about it the other way around. Molly was so used to being on a bike, it never fazed her or even crossed her mind the he might be concerned.

“You shouldn’t worry, Carter…this is what I do.” Hugging his bicep, she laid her head against it. It warmed her that he was concerned, but on the other hand, she knew one of the reasons Carter and she had hit it off so quickly was the fact that they understood each other’s profession.

“It’s okay, Gorgeous. I know you love it, but I won’t pretend for a minute that I won’t be thrilled to no end when you retire for good,” he said softly, before kissing her head.

“Oh, thank God. Someone is finally on my side after all these years. Carter, I give you permission to work on that, I’ll help you on my end. Maybe between the two of us, she’ll cave.” Karen laughed.

Molly knew the tone. Her words were said in fun, but they were honest. It was not the first time Karen had made her fears known.

“Well, I hate to be the one to bring down the fun, but sweetie, I really need to ask you some questions now, okay?” Mike’s face was sincere and Molly could tell he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable talking about something they all wished they could forget about. But her safety was the reason he was here.

Molly squeezed Carter’s arm closer to her and nodded. She wanted to pretend the whole situation would go away. Carter moved her off his arm so he could tuck her close to his side. She melted into him and waited for Mike to take out his pen and pad of paper. Apparently James and Karen had been working with the local police and the sheriff’s department back home. So far, they had no leads. At least with Mike involved, it was someone they knew personally. Carter had insisted on contacting his brother when he found out what was going on, knowing she wouldn’t be treated like a number. His brother had been a detective for almost six years, and Carter had mentioned some of his successes to her parents when he suggested asking Mike for help.

Her parents had jumped on board immediately.

With all four letters laid out on the table, Molly was able to read them for the first time. Their words had her shaking and her throat too dry to swallow. Carter must have sensed her fears becoming too much for her to handle. Without asking, he pulled her onto his lap and let her sink against him. Closing her eyes, she listened to the conversation around her, wishing she could just go to sleep and not wake up until it was all over.

“It’s obvious one person constructed all four letters. And, Molly, I think you’re right. I’m leaning toward it being a woman.” Mike pointed his pen at the first line of each letter. “See how these letters are all lined up perfectly?”

“Yeah?” James replied.

“They cut letters out of the same type of magazine. Even though they are different words taped together in each letter, they’re all lined up perfectly.”

“Okay?” Carter moved in closer. Molly sat up so he could see what Mike was pointing out. “What’s that mean?”

“It’s a woman.” Mike winked at Molly. “Just like she suggested.”

“Are you sure, Mike?” James asked, leaning further over the table to get a better look. Molly turned her attention toward James and she saw the panic in his eyes.

“Well, you can never be one hundred percent until you catch the perp, but…yeah. I’m sure. They’re too perfect. It’s unlikely a man would pay that much attention to detail.”

Mike stacked the letters back up, careful not to damage them. “Okay, sweetie, if you don’t mind, I’m going to stick pretty close to you and just observe things. With me right on your heels, I know you’re going to have trouble forgetting why I’m here, but I have my suspicions and I’m hoping to get this resolved quickly for you.”

“Thanks for helping me, Mike. I really appreciate it.”

He reached across the table for her hand. Molly tentatively put her hand in his. “You don’t have to thank me, Molly. I want to be here. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe and get this case solved.”

She lifted her chin to meet Mike’s reassuring smile. Molly swallowed hard and nodded.

~

Carter walked her bike toward the track for her. She glanced up to see him grinning at her. “What’s that goofy look for?”

“I was watching you touch your necklace.”

Molly shook her head, laughing under her breath that he’d caught her subconsciously holding her fingertips to the cross at her neck—again.

She appreciated that he wasn’t using the action to make fun of her. It was a simple gesture that had become habit seemingly overnight. “It’s my piece of you, remember?” She smiled up at him.