To say that giving a statement and having to relive that ordeal is hard is an understatement, and it hits me hard just how strong Ellie must be to have survived her kidnapping and still have turned out a relatively sane person.
I’m rattled and keep jumping at every sound I hear as if just waiting for the intruders to be standing behind me, ready to drag me off.
Officer Gonzalez sits me down at his desk with a cup of coffee and a blanket to ward of the chills still racing through me despite the heat. As I sip the warm liquid, I’m struck by a thought. Those men weren’t there to steal anything. They were there for me.
“Clara!”
I look up from my daze to see a sleep-mussed and very pissed off Miah bearing down on me, along with what turns out to be the entire Lane clan.
I’m so disgustingly glad to see them all that I burst into tears the minute he pulls me up and into his arms.
“Clari, babe, why didn’t you call?” he growls, clutching me closer with arms that feel like vice clamps. “Goddammit, woman, you should have called me.”
“I’m sorry. I just…” I cry a little harder because I know exactly how pathetic I must look clinging to a man I don’t really know like a vine monkey.
“Oh hush you, Jeremiah Lane. Can’t you see the poor girl is still in shock? Come on over here to Mama, Clari dear. That’s it, honey, you go ahead and cry all you want.”
Jude keeps crooning to me after Miah lets me go with a curse. Her arms are so strong and gentle as she cradles me that I eventually find the will to stop bawling like some swooning damsel and pull back to dry my eyes.
“Sorry. I’m okay now.”
“Well of course you’re not okay, silly. You had some animals climbing into your window intent on doing God knows what,” Ellie snarls, looking for all the world as if she could happily strangle those men with her bare hands right now.
The Lane men are all scowling and circling us as if they wouldn’t trust anyone in this place to protect a fly, but I don’t even take the time to think on that as Miah takes my hand again and starts pulling me along behind him, the rest following at a good clip.
“I’m taking you home so you can get some sleep. No, Clari, do not argue right now. I’m pissed enough has it is. Jace, go tell Gonzalez I’ll catch him later. Ma, stop that shit right now, okay? I’m not letting go of her again anytime soon.”
The words are meant for me more than anyone else, I realize this when I look up to see his fierce expression. I think Miah intends to have me ensconced in that monstrosity of a house of theirs and I can honestly say that after the ordeal I just suffered, I’m not about to complain.
Chapter Six
Miah
“What the fuck are you saying, Gonzalez?” I snarl into the phone, my teeth grit so tightly that it feels like they’ll shatter any minute.
“Whoever did this was good, man. We lifted a lot of prints, but the crime scene techs aren’t very confident about it. There weren’t any prints on the window frames, which we know was the point of entry from Miss Elms’s statement.”
“Fine.”
I slam the phone down with a snarl and turn to Roman, Jace, and Jared where they’re still sitting and waiting for me to calm down. Honestly, at this point, I don’t think I could calm down if someone sedated me.
The only thing stopping me from tearing into something right now is the fact that Clari is upstairs in my bed and sleeping after Ma forced a sleeping pill on her and tucked her in for the night.
“Christ, man, you got any idea how lucky you are that she woke up and heard them quick enough to have time to hide? I read that statement, bro, and from what she said, it’s definite that those assholes were there for her.”
Tell me something that isn’t already swimming around in my brain.
“I want them. I want to know why they were there, who hired them, and what the hell they planned to do with her.”
“Miah, man, calm down and take a deep breath, bro. She’s safe, for now, and asleep in your bed just where you wanted her, man. Not bad for one night’s worth of effort, if you ask me,” Jace quips, losing his smirk when all I do is glare at his immature ass.
What he’s saying is true and it doesn’t escape me how good I feel knowing that she’s exactly where I want her to be. But I hate having this happen now.
I wanted to take her out on a date and romance her a little before bringing out the big guns. It would also have been nice to have the chance to see if she would relent and accept the date I had planned or if she’d force me to bring Ma into this.
All the lightheartedness I had anticipated is dead and fucking buried now that this has happened, and I will never know if Clari would have chosen me or if I’ll get her in the end because of her fear.