Redemption Rains (5 page)

Detective Kane barked out a laugh in
response to her speech. The Captain quickly took control of the
situation by dismissing Elizabeth to a chair outside his office and
closing the door. The walls did little to contain the heated
discussion going on in that office. She could hear the muffled
voice of the captain followed by the detective’s louder
one.

“Captain, there is no way I am going
to give up on this case and go hide out with a woman who doesn’t
even like men!” This statement brought a flush to Elizabeth’s
cheeks. She quickly looked around her to see if anyone else had
heard this comment.

“Now, Kane, I think that you are being
a little harsh. She is a nice woman who is putting herself in
danger to help your case. The least you can do is help protect
her,” the captain’s plea was a bit disdainful.

“You know how long I have been working
on this Captain. I want Servano. I want him to pay for what he did.
I refuse to be stuck off somewhere with that woman, when I could be
here making sure that Servano did not slip through my fingers
again,” Detective Kane’s voice contained a hatred that Elizabeth
had never before experienced.

“You will listen to me Devin Kane. I
know what you have lost because of that man. You do remember that
your father was my best friend and it eats at my guts every day
because I could not stop Servano from destroying him . . .” the
captain’s voice lowered and became muffled to the point that
Elizabeth could not make out the next comment.

Shifting in the chair, tugging on the
too short navy skirt, Elizabeth soaked in this piece of
information. No wonder the detective was so filled with bitterness
and hate. Apparently this Servano mob boss was responsible for
hurting his father. This was not a normal case, it was a vendetta,
and she did not like being stuck in the middle.

The door to the Captain’s office swung
open. Elizabeth looked up to see Captain Dye standing over her. The
look on his face was grim.

“It has been decided Miss Windsor that
Detective Kane will be taking care of your safety.”

Riding beside Detective Kane in the
front seat of his car, Elizabeth was certain that she could cut the
tension with a pair of scissors. It was terrible; she couldn’t go
on like this. There was no way that she could take another two
hours closed in this car with a man who radiated such anger that it
burned her like a fire. The white-knuckle grip on the steering
wheel was evidence of the control that Detective Devin Kane was
showing at this very moment. His jaw clenched in anger, mouth grim
and eyes never wavering from the road led her to believe that she
was leaving one hell for another. She had to do something to break
this tension. Elizabeth felt her nails digging into her palms. She
looked at him again.

“I’m sorry Detective Kane that this
has happened,” her apology was met with silence. The only response
was the ticking of his pulse in his tight jaw.

Elizabeth took an unsteady breath and
continued.

“If there is anything that I need to
do to make this easier, please tell me.” There, that was not so
hard. She was getting better at this talking to men
thing.

“Miss Windsor, the only thing that you
can do is pray that we get an early court date so we can get this
farce over with,” Detective Kane said this not with anger but with
a voice that had no emotion at all. His eyes never left the road.
“I have more important things to do than baby-sit.”

Squeezing her hands tighter, the nails
embedding themselves in the soft flesh of her palms, Elizabeth’s
face flushed. But instead of the feelings of embarrassment or
self-pity she usually had when someone talked to her that way, she
realized that she was experiencing uncontrollable rage. She did not
deserve this kind of treatment from this man. She was the one
risking her neck for his case. Drawing strength from her anger, she
lashed out at him.

"Oh, and I don’t have more important
things to do than be stuffed off somewhere with some sexist, macho
Dirty Harry wanna be? Is that what you’re implying?” Proud that her
voice did not waver, Elizabeth jerked her head back to the window.
“Well, Detective Kane, you are wrong. I have a life and a family
and I am not a man hater. I love men,” directing a glacial look at
him she continued, “What I do hate are self-absorbed, egotistical,
gun toting brutes who are hell bent on settling some kind of
vendetta.”

He swerved off the road and onto the
shoulder, stopping the car and killing the engine. Grabbing
Elizabeth by the shoulders he jerked her forward. He was so close
that she could feel his hot breath on her face. With nostrils
flaring and fiery blue eyes only inches away from her, Elizabeth
felt her anger melt and fear settle in its place. She winced as his
fingers dug into the bare flesh of her arms.

“You go too far, Miss Windsor,” his
lips barely moved as he whispered these words. “If you know what’s
best, you will sheath those claws and settle back into that seat.”
Releasing her as abruptly as he had grabbed her, he leaned back.
“You know nothing of me or my life, so you better watch your tongue
before I bite it out of your mouth.”

Elizabeth reached down and unbuckled
her seat belt. Before he could react, she was out of the car. For
the second time in two days, Elizabeth found herself running down a
deserted road. She heard him chasing her. She heard the rip as he
grabbed her by the back of the blouse to try and stop her. As he
yanked harder, she stopped. He wrapped a steel arm around her,
crushing her back against his rock hard chest. Lifting her off the
ground, he turned her away from the road. The sound of a loud horn
blowing caused her to freeze her frantic struggle. He placed his
body between her and the car and she cringed, steeling her for the
impact that would come. The car swerved, just missing the two
bodies standing on the shoulder of the road.

Silence followed. She released her
breath. So close to him, she could feel his heart beating a hectic
rhythm against her back. He tucked her closer to his body, pressing
his cheek against hers.

“Are you all right?” The question
seemed to be ripped from him.

Unable to speak, she bobbed her head
up and down. Slowly, he disentangled his arms, turning her around
to face him. He grabbed her by chin and tilted her head back to
look into her eyes.

“Don’t you ever do anything like that
again, is that clear?” Warmth enveloped her. His concern wrapped
around her like a cocoon. With wide eyes she gazed at him. He
released her, turning back toward the car.

“I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if
my witness were to get run over by a car,” as he spoke the words,
the cocoon was ripped away from her. Of course, he was only
thinking of her as a commodity. A ways to a means; without her he
could not fulfill his vendetta.

Chapter 5

Elizabeth came awake with a jerk. For
the first few seconds she could not recall where she was. Turning
her head to look at the man to her left, it all came back like a
huge wave beating the shoreline. She remembered him stalking off
and leaving her on the side of the road to stare after him. She
remembered hastily running to the car and climbing in as he started
the engine and resumed their trip. Elizabeth fought the exhaustion
as long as she could, sitting stiff in her seat, hands clenched
together in a huge ball in her lap, never once looking at Detective
Kane. She didn’t remember when she had succumbed to sleep, but she
had.

“Where are we?” the question came out
in a croak.

She looked out the window and noticed
they were driving down a private road lined with palm trees. Up
ahead was a grand white building with wooden shutters thrown open
and a red terracotta roof. The sun was just rising and reflected
off the ocean behind the building. Elizabeth looked at Detective
Kane closely for the first time.

His mouth was pulled down in a frown,
his eyes were lined with fatigue, and his hair was rumpled as if he
had just recently run his hand through it in frustration. His jaw
was shadowed with stubble, giving him the effect of a dark,
dangerous rogue from another time. He steered the car into the
driveway in front of the building and turned the engine off. As he
released his seatbelt, he turned to face her.

“We have arrived,” he raised one
eyebrow slightly. “Before we go in we need to get our story
straight. We are posing as a married couple on their honeymoon.”
With this said, he shifted a little closer to her, watching for
reaction to the information he had just dropped in her
lap.

“You have to be wrong,” she said
breathlessly, there was no way she was going to go in there and
pose as a woman who was married to this man. “How are we supposed
to pull this off Detective Kane when we can’t even stand the sight
of each other?”

She edged closer to the door, reaching
up and patting her hair where the bun had come undone. Feeling very
self-conscious, she tried to retrieve the pins that had fallen, but
he stilled her hands in a strong grip, drawing her attention back
to him.

“It is the most logical situation, if
you think about it,” his mouth lifted in a mocking grin. “If we are
on our honeymoon, we will not be expected to leave the room. We
will not draw attention to ourselves by not participating in dinner
or dancing. This is a resort you know.”

“I know what a resort is, I am not
stupid. I just can’t believe that this is the best the government
could come up with,” looking away from his discerning gaze she took
a steadying breath. “I don’t think I can do this.”

He released her hands and sat back in
his seat. “Come on Miss Windsor, surely you can feign lust for me
for as long as it takes to get to our room. After that, you don’t
even have to speak to me, I promise.”

Elizabeth felt the blush which had
started at her neck, climb into her cheeks. Feigning lust was not
what worried her most, it was the being locked away with this man
for an unknown amount of time and not going insane from the
emotional roller coaster she road whenever he just looked at her.
She wiped her palms on her skirt and went in search of her hairpins
once again, trying to repair the damage to her hair.

“Leave it,” he took the pins from her
hand and removed the remaining ones from her head.

Her hair slid down across her
shoulders in curly waves of disarray. Feeling very uncomfortable,
Elizabeth watched as he combed through the curls with his fingers
and placed a strand behind her ear. She burned where he touched
her. But was it with rage as she would like to believe or something
else? She did not know.

“With it flowing like that, you look
like a woman waiting to be ravished.”

Before his lids lowered over his eyes,
Elizabeth caught a glimpse of the sparkling heat lighting them. Her
breath froze in her lungs as she tried to interpret the look. She
bit down on her lip, unable to grasp the reasoning of why one
minute he could speak with such hate and contempt and then the next
touch her with such tenderness. Her mind was in turmoil as he
climbed out of the car and went to the trunk to lift out their
cases. A bellboy who loaded their things onto a trolley and pushed
them inside the hotel met him. She looked up to see Detective Kane
opening her door and offering her his hand.

“Detective Kane, I do not think this
is a good idea,” she spoke with her haughtiest voice.

“Of course it’s a good idea, and you
had better call me Devin. You don’t want to blow our cover before
we have even checked into our room, do you?” He took her arm and
helped her out of the car. When she went to move away from him, he
stopped her by grabbing her waist and pulling her into his
body.

“We better do something about that
blouse or people will think I am a barbarian, unable to wait to get
my new wife into the comfort of a bed,” his voice rumbled deep in
his chest, his hand touched the tear in the fabric.

Setting her aside, he reached into the
car and grabbed his jacket for her to put on. Shaking her head at
him, certain that it would never fit her, she stepped even further
away. He swiftly grabbed her wrist and turned her around so she
could slide her arm into the sleeve. She was surprised to see that
the jacket not only fit but also swallowed her shoulders and hung
past her hands.

“Not the most elegant thing, but at
least it will cover the damage,” he turned her around and pulled
her hair out from the collar. Placing a hand on her back he
propelled her toward the door. She looked up at his face, suddenly
grateful for his quick thinking.

“Thank you Detective,” she said
softly. He stopped walking.

“Now Elizabeth, you must remember to
call me Devin, or this won’t work.” He reached into his jean pocket
and pulled out an object.

“I almost forgot,” he reached for her
left hand, “you had better wear this.” The plain gold ban he
slipped on her finger fit perfectly. In amazement she looked up to
see him slipping on a matching band and giving it a little
twist.

“Well Mrs. Kane, are you ready for act
one?” He smiled down into her face. She knew he was doing this for
her, making her feel more at ease in this masquerade. She tilted
her chin up to smile at him.