Star Bright (45 page)

Rainie sank back in her chair, utterly exhausted. “So if I can make it through the next two weeks until the divorce is final, I’ll be safe from him.”

“Absolutely safe.” Simpson smiled. “You can put Peter Danning and the past behind you forever, moving forward with your life.”

That sounded so wonderful to Rainie. She squeezed Parker’s hand and smiled at him. “Two weeks, only two weeks, and I’ll be free.”

Parker didn’t return her smile. Instead he turned a burning gaze on Slaughter. “What if your profiler is wrong? Don’t they ever make mistakes?”

Slaughter chuckled. “Rarely. As difficult as it is for people like us to understand the workings of the criminal mind, that’s a profiler’s job, and he lives, breathes, eats, and sleeps inside their heads. This particular profiler specializes in serial killers. Danning fascinated him from the first because he’s so different from most serial killers on the surface, yet so much the same when the layers are peeled away. This man is very good at what he does. If he says Danning will back off and regroup once the divorce is final, I’m willing to go to the bank on it.”

“Rainie’s life hangs in the balance,” Parker reminded him. “You gave me your word that her safety would be your top priority.”

“And it
is
our top priority. We aren’t in the habit of asking people to cooperate with us and then leaving them to suffer the consequences, Mr. Harrigan. According to the profiler, Ms. Hall will be in more danger over the next two weeks than she’s ever been. The clock is ticking. Danning knows that time is running out. If he doesn’t strike soon, the game is over. To ensure Ms. Hall’s safety, we’re bringing in more agents to protect her until the clock strikes midnight.”

Parker at last relaxed on the chair. “So you think he may still make a move?”

Slaughter frowned thoughtfully. “My gut tells me it’s unlikely. It’s very risky business for him at this point, and he’s not in the habit of putting himself at risk in any way. But on the off chance that I’m wrong, it only makes sense to beef up security until the gavel drops. Once that occurs, the danger to Ms. Hall will be over.”

Simpson cradled her mug in her hands. “We aren’t the only ones who need to be extra cautious over the next two weeks,” she said, looking directly at Rainie. “You’ll be safe here on Mr. Harrigan’s ranch and safe while at your home. But when you’re driving to and fro, you’re more vulnerable. We’ll continue to have you tailed by two agents whenever you’re commuting, but to avoid detection, the car will continue to hang back. If you see someone thumbing for a ride, don’t stop. If someone is broken down along the road, call nine-one-one to get them help but don’t pull over. It’s important for you to realize that Danning may be getting desperate at this point and might make a move when you least expect it. Don’t forget that even for a second.”

“I could drive her back and forth,” Parker offered.

Simpson shook her head. “If you do that, Danning will know something’s up. She has to go it alone. If he decides to make a move, he’ll watch her for a while, learn her habits. An escort would send up a red flag.”

Parker sighed, then glanced at Rainie, his expression somber. “Don’t stop for anyone or anything. All right? I don’t care if you hit a deer. Call the cops and keep driving.”

“What if I get a flat tire or my car breaks down?”

“Roll up all the windows, lock the doors, and wait. Your tail won’t be far behind you.” Simpson set aside her coffee, pushed to her feet, and offered Rainie her hand. “We’re going to get through this, Ms. Hall, and in two weeks, it’ll be nothing more than a bad memory.”

Rainie stood to shake the woman’s hand. “I so appreciate all that you’ve done for me. I’ll never forget you.” She turned to Slaughter and expressed the same sentiments. “You’ve both been absolutely awesome.”

Slaughter took his cup over to the sink. Retracing his steps to the table, he said, “As we understand it, you’ve opted not to appear at the divorce hearing?”

Rainie hugged her waist. “I prefer not to see Peter again if I can avoid it. If the judge rules in his favor because I don’t appear, I honestly don’t care. My attorney says I will at least be awarded my inheritance money. That’s all that really matters to me.”

“I don’t blame you for not wanting to see him,” Simpson sympathized. “Let your attorney handle it. Seeing Danning won’t make him lose any sleep at night.”

Rainie laughed humorlessly. “So . . . this is it, then?”

Slaughter rested a hand on her shoulder. “You won’t see us, but we’ll be there. Trust me on that. When the divorce is final, we’ll be in touch, probably to tell you we’re pulling the plug on the case. The only reason we might change our minds about that is if Danning does something suspicious.”

“Such as?” Parker asked as he came to slip an arm around Rainie’s waist.

“We’ve been monitoring his financial transactions. So far, we’ve noted nothing fishy. But if he should withdraw a large sum of cash from the bank or write a check to a suspicious individual, we’ll go on red alert. As I told you at our first meeting, we believe he hired White to kill one of his wives. He may try the same tactic again.”

After that meeting, Rainie was far less upset than she had anticipated. She now felt confident in her abilities to defend herself in a physical confrontation with Peter, and with the finality of the divorce fast approaching, she had to agree with the FBI that Peter had decided to cut his losses. She knew him. If he was going to come after her, he would do it before a judge could grant her a portion of their marital assets.

As the days passed, her complacency grew in some ways, and her anxiety mounted in others. Strings had been pulled to hasten the divorce proceedings, Peter had done very little to impede the progress, and she would soon be a free woman. During those final days, it was never far from her mind that the clock was ticking and that Peter might be gearing up for a last-minute onslaught. Even with Parker there at night to hold her in his arms, she began having trouble falling asleep, and once she did drift into slumber, she slept so fitfully that she got little rest.

One morning after yet another night of her tossing and turning, Parker suggested that she see a doctor for some tranquilizers. At first, Rainie protested, insisting that she didn’t want to become dependent on drugs in order to sleep.

“Sweetheart, this is a stressful time in your life. You don’t have to take the pills if you don’t need them. I just think it might be helpful to have somethin’ on hand when you have trouble restin’.”

Rainie finally acquiesced and made an appointment with a physician who wrote her a script for Ambien, a fast-acting sleep aid. Most nights, she didn’t need to take it, but as Parker had predicted, the medication did come in handy when she felt nervy and got a bad case of the wide-awakes.

As the court date for the divorce drew near, Rainie conferred with Raymond Quinn and once again opted out of being at the hearing. Though she did hope to get the original amount of her inheritance money returned to her and had asked her lawyer to get her personal effects from Peter as part of the divorce settlement, she didn’t care a whit about how the judge ruled on the rest of Peter’s assets.

“I feel as if it’s blood money,” she confided to Parker. “If I appeared in court and fought for it, I’m certain the judge would award me my fair half of everything he has, but I just—” She broke off and searched Parker’s gaze. “Will it bother you if I simply let it go, Parker? I won’t come into our marriage with nearly as much, bottom line, but I’ll feel better about it.”

He hooked an arm around her neck and drew her firmly against him. “Sweetheart, you can come into our marriage in the buff and without a penny to your name. All I want is you, all I care about is you, and I’ll be a happy man whether you’re wealthy or as poor as a church mouse. As for Peter’s money? I honestly don’t want any part of him, and that includes his assets. Trust me when I say we’ll be well set financially without a dime from him.”

Rainie pressed her face against the hollow of his neck and breathed deeply of his scent, which always worked on her senses like an intoxicant. “Oh, Parker, I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, Rainie mine, I love you, too.”

When the day finally arrived that Raymond Quinn called to tell Rainie that the dissolution of her marriage was a fait accompli, she and Parker celebrated with a bottle of champagne and soft, romantic music via a satellite station on her television. As they danced slowly to the lazy lilt of a song, they whispered dreamily of their future together. The first decision they needed to make was in regard to the money Rainie had been awarded by the judge, an even half of everything Peter had. On the one hand, imagining her ex-husband’s rage, Rainie felt a long overdue satisfaction, but the flip side was receiving a great deal of money she didn’t really want.

“Whoever once said that revenge isn’t sweet was never married to a monster like Peter,” she murmured to Parker.

“What’re you gonna do with all the cash?” he asked softly.

Rainie thought about it for a moment. “Would you care if I donated it to a foundation for abused women?”

Parker snorted and then barked with laughter. “That’s
perfect
. I love it! Hell, I’ll make a donation myself. Talk about sweet irony.”

Rainie hugged his neck. “You know one of the things I love most about you?”

He bent his dark head to nibble on her ear. “No, what’s that?”

“You not only respect my right to make my own choices, but you also support me in whatever I decide, even when it’s a little crazy. It’s no small amount of money that I’m thinking about giving away, you know. Will I ever make a decision that you buck me on?”

She felt his mouth tip into a grin. “If you decide to leave me, I’ll chain you to my bedpost. Other than that, probably not. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Why wouldn’t I trust you to make your own choices?”

It was a question that required no answer, so Rainie seduced him instead.

That night a phone call from Special Agent Slaughter marked the end of Rainie’s ’round-the-clock protection. When she and Parker retired, she felt the tension in his body as he gathered her close in his arms.

“Penny for them,” she murmured.

He sighed and rubbed his cheek against her hair. “Promise not to get mad?”

She couldn’t imagine growing angry with him for expressing his thoughts. “Of course I won’t.”

“I’m scared to death for you,” he confessed. “I’m afraid he’ll come after you now, and I know that no matter how diligent I am or how hard I try, I can’t be with you twenty-four hours a day. I think you should come live with me at the ranch. I don’t give a shit how it looks. I want you there, where I know you’re safe.”

Rainie had circled the same thought many times. “It’s over, Parker. I have to move on with my life. I can’t allow Peter to control me anymore or influence my decisions.” She rolled over onto her stomach, propped herself up on her elbows, and searched his dark eyes. “I want to be
me
now. I
need
to be me now. The real Rainie Hall would never live with a man prior to marriage. Call me hopelessly archaic, but that’s a part of who I am. If I allow fear of Peter to change that about me, where does it stop? When I look in a mirror, I have to know who’s looking back at me.”

He reached up to smooth her hair. “What’s so different about you stayin’ nights there from me stayin’ nights here?”

“Appearances. Here, we’re sneaking. There, we’d be shoving everyone’s nose in it. It matters to me what your family thinks of me. Can you tell me that your father approves of people living together prior to marriage?”

“No,” he said stiffly. “But he’d make an exception in this instance because of Peter.”

“And then Peter is still controlling my life!” Rainie rolled away and stood up. Scooping her hands through her hair, she stared down at him with burning eyes. “Try to understand, Parker. I can’t let him control me anymore. I just
can’t
.” She pressed the center of her chest. “He took
everything
from me,
everything.
And I let him. I
crawled
for him. I performed for him like a . . . like a circus poodle. I can’t go back to that. I
won’t
go back to that. I’m finished with dancing to his tune. I’d rather die.”

“Don’t talk that way.”

“It’s
true
. I’d rather let him kill me than allow him to control me.”

“Rainie, honey, calm down.”

“I can’t calm down until I’m convinced you understand,” she pushed out around a sob. “I have to know who I am when I look in the mirror, Parker.”

“I know. I know, sweetheart.” He sat up and stretched out a hand to her. “I’m sorry. Okay? I’m not thinkin’ straight. Of course you need to stay here.”

When she took his hand, he drew her back to lie beside him and wrapped her firmly in his arms. “Just understand this. Okay? I can’t let you stay here alone. If that bugs you, think of it as Peter controllin’ me. I have no problem with knowin’ who’s in the mirror when I look at myself. My nose is unmistakable.”

Rainie burst into tearful giggles and punched him playfully in the ribs. “Idiot. I love your nose.”

He nuzzled her with the appendage under discussion. “I’m considerin’ a nose job.”

“Touch that nose, and I’ll make you pay.”

They fell silent for a moment, and then Rainie steered them back to the original topic. “I’m still working out every day. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be to take him on, if it comes down to that.”

“I know. It’s just—” He broke off and said nothing for several seconds. “I don’t want to shake your confidence. You’ll be able to put up one hell of a fight, and chances are, you’ll kick his sorry ass. I just worry about him catchin’ you off guard or bein’ armed with a deadly weapon. All the self-defense trainin’ in the world doesn’t make a person impervious to a bullet.”

Loving him as she’d never loved anyone, Rainie threaded her fingers through his hair. Though she was as frightened as he was, she pretended otherwise for his sake. “I’m going to be fine. Peter isn’t the type to use a gun. It’ll be okay. You’ll see.”

“Maybe so, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to call in my family for backup.”

“How so?”

“I can be here with you at night, and you’re safe at the ranch durin’ the day, but what about when you’re drivin’ back and forth? You won’t have a tail anymore. I’ll feel better if one of us is always behind you. If everyone in the family helps out, it’ll be a different vehicle every day, so he doesn’t get suspicious, and we can all hang back, like the agents did.” When he felt her stiffen, he said, “Please, Rainie, at least consider it. We won’t have to do it forever, just a couple of months or so. I need to know for sure in my own mind that the crazy bastard has decided to back off.”

Rainie felt a suffocating sensation center itself in her chest, but she pushed it away. Parker had given way to her about allowing her to stay at her house until they could be married. She needed to make a concession, too. “All right,” she agreed. “If your family doesn’t mind doing it, I’m fine with it, too.”

Over the days that followed, Rainie relaxed more and more. Peter didn’t show up. The chilly October temperatures heralded the beginning of her life with Parker. Halloween decorations began to appear in store windows and on her neighbors’ porches. She began to think less and less about Peter and focused instead on the coming holidays and her future with the man she loved.

During that time, the Harrigans joined ranks to tail Rainie back and forth when she traveled to and from work. One day it was Sam and Tucker who acted as her watchdogs. The next, it was Frank and Dee Dee, then Hank, and then Clint and Loni. They weren’t quite as adept at staying completely out of sight as the agents had been, but Rainie felt that they did an awesome job for amateurs. Their dedication was also a reminder of the wonderful family she would soon call her own. Through her marriage to Parker, she was inheriting a devoted mother and father, brothers and sisters, plus a niece and nephew. It was a fabulous feeling to know that all of them would love her and stand behind her as if she were related to them by blood.

Immediately after the dissolution of her marriage, Rainie and Parker started meeting with Father Mike, the parish pastor at Parker’s church, for marriage preparation classes, which Parker insisted had to be rushed in case Rainie was pregnant and also because of the danger to her while living alone. Because both of Rainie’s unions with Peter had been officiated by a JP and not a man of the cloth, getting the marriages dissolved in the eyes of the Church was a simple and fairly quick process. Once that procedure was under way, Parker made their engagement official by taking Rainie to shop for rings. She picked a small but gorgeous diamond solitaire.

Father Mike disapproved of cohabiting and encouraged Rainie and Parker to maintain separate households until their nuptials. Parker didn’t protest, but he was up front with Father Mike about staying every night with Rainie at her residence. The priest listened thoughtfully to the story about Peter, considered the problem, and then finally conceded that it would be best if Parker continued his nightly sojourns to Rainie’s house.

“No more hanky-panky, though,” the priest said, wagging a finger at them. “The two of you can abstain until the marriage takes place. Holy matrimony is a serious undertaking, and you need to do it right.”

After that discussion, Rainie concurred with the priest. “We do need to do this right, Parker. Father Mike is hurrying us through the prep work because of the extenuating circumstances. It’ll only be for a few weeks. We can survive almost anything short-term.”

Rainie was glad of Parker’s company at night, but she was also determined to honor their agreement with Father Mike to abstain from sex until their marriage. Her willpower lasted for almost a week, and then Parker kissed her. Big mistake. She finally learned, firsthand, how physical desire could make two levelheaded, mature individuals temporarily insane. Their encounter began in the kitchen, and the trail of their discarded clothing marked their path to her bedroom door, where Parker lifted her against the wall and made love to her standing up.