LITMIR.BIZ

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met Damien’s gaze over Molly’s head. She looked even more frightened than Molly.

      When she spoke, her voice was hushed with horror. “Oh, my God. Jack?”

      “You know he’s abusive, Mama. He hit me. Hard. He threatened to kill me that night and he meant it. The only reason he stopped was because he thought he’d succeeded. It’s a small step from that to this, don’t you think?”

      Damien tensed. Molly had tried to soft-peddle her description of that fight when she’d told him about it. “What about the other episodes, Molly?”

      “There were only three, counting the last one. I fought back. I tried to leave him several times, but he said he would find me and destroy me. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I knew I had to get away from him, no matter what. He caught me packing that night.”

      “And before?” he asked.

      “The first two times weren’t all that bad.” She shrugged. “Just slaps, a few bruises. It wouldn’t have gone that far if I hadn’t stood up to him. He hated it when I defended myself. Both times, he cooled off and apologized, promised it would never happen again. I warned him if it did, I would leave him for good no matter what he said.”

      Damien ground his teeth so hard it hurt. She went on. “Neighbors heard the row the last time. By the time they got there, I was conscious and told them what happened. They called the police who caught Jack and arrested him.

      “My lawyer showed the judge medical records from the other times. Jack pled guilty. He knew if it came to a jury trial, everything would be public.”

      “I still say we should have told Ford everything,” Brenda said.

      “Ford would have killed him. It was all I could do to keep him from it when he thought the fight was partly my fault. I didn’t want my own brother arrested for murder. Jack had counted on that before. He told me so and joked about it. Why do you think he didn’t post bail? Think the Jensens couldn’t afford it? The jerk was scared to get out, afraid Ford would come after him.”

      “He doesn’t seem worried about that now?” Damien asked.

      Molly sighed. “No. That’s why I think Jack’s really lost it.”

      “I certainly understand your brother’s probable reaction,” Damien admitted. He flexed his fists. “I have an urge to kill Jensen myself.”

      “Oh, great!” Molly groaned. “I break my neck trying to keep Ford out of it, and now you want to kill him.”

      She shrugged, a helpless little gesture he’d not seen her make before. Then she settled that teary green gaze on him and blinked. Her voice was softer than he’d heard it yet. “Damien? All I want is for him to leave me alone. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid. I figured you wouldn’t act as rashly as Ford would. That’s why I asked you to help.”

      He sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly. So, Molly did have regard for him, after all, just as she did for her brother. She didn’t want either of them to risk a murder charge because of what her ex had done and might yet do.

      But Molly was depending on his finding some way to stop the madness and make certain she, her daughter and mother were safe from Jensen.

      Damien knew killing Jack Jensen would be a simple matter. He could, and get away with it, too. God knew he wanted to right now. Jensen deserved death probably more than some men Damien had killed in the line of duty. But Damien always tried to work within the law. He hated to turn rogue this late in the game. Not as long as there were other options.

      “I won’t do anything stupid, Molly,” he said with a half smile he had to force. “I promise you that.”

      Molly had faced the shame she felt pretty well, she thought. She lifted her chin and dared both Damien and her mother to feel sorry for her.

      Jack was a bully, or worse, and she’d been his victim for nearly a year. Degrading as that was, she figured she might as well lay it all out and be done with it. She would not be a victim again.

      Damien seemed almost as likely to get himself into trouble over this as Ford was. Molly felt torn between talking him out of it and spurring him on. Something had to be done.

      “Clarkston’s not that far away, but you and the child should be safe there,” Damien told her mother, neatly changing the subject back to their trip.

      Her mom nodded. “After Molly and I talked on the phone, I told Josie she would need to take over the shop for a while. As far as she knows, I’m going on a buying trip up to New England. No point in letting everybody and his brother know where we’re going, right?”

      “Right,” Damien agreed, smiling his approval. “We’ll try to get this straightened out soon so you won’t be away for too long.”

      Molly agreed. “We’ll have to get things rolling right away. Damien can’t afford to hang around here forever.”

      Those azure eyes seemed to ask, Why not? She quickly looked away.

      Her mother smiled. “This is really good of you, Damien. I guess Ford will owe you one, won’t he?”

      “He won’t owe me anything,” Damien said truthfully. “I’m doing this for Molly and Sydney. And now you, of course.”

      Uh-oh, that went over like a helium balloon, Molly thought. Sent all kinds of hopes soaring. Her mother’s glance darted from one to other of them, that calculating gleam in her eye.

      Molly decided she’d better head this off before Mama rented the church and started sewing Syd’s flower girl dress.

      “C’mon, Mama, let’s get your things, so we can go,” she suggested.

      Soon afterward, Damien loaded Brenda’s two suitcases into the trunk of his rental car while Molly strapped the baby into her car seat. Much to his disappointment, Molly climbed into the back and offered her mother the front passenger seat.

      As he drove, Damien executed a number of unnecessary detours and kept a close eye out for anyone following them.

      He only half listened while Brenda Devereaux enumerated Molly’s long list of accomplishments and threw in a few incidental brags about her grandchild.

      He smiled to himself, suspecting there was a bit of matchmaking going on here. While that should have made him nervous as hell, Damien felt flattered by the attempt.

      A moment later he checked the rearview mirror again and his lingering smile died a swift death. “Check your seat belts, ladies,” he warned, “we have company.”

      Chapter 4

      The Lexus careered around the curves of the county road and flew headlong into the darkness. Molly surrounded Sydney with one arm and braced her other hand against the back of the front seat.

      She glanced out the back window and saw the headlights behind them fade into the distance. A few moments later she couldn’t see them at all.

      “For a rental, this thing really…moves,” she gasped. Damien slowed down a little, but her heart was still traveling at least ninety miles an hour.

      She and her mother gave a little scream in unison as Damien cut the lights and bumped off the main road onto one that was unpaved. How he could see where they were going mystified Molly. She closed her eyes and held on, one arm braced across Syd’s car seat.

      Only a few minutes later, he suddenly braked and shut off the motor.

      “Lock the doors and stay where you are,” Damien instructed. Then he exited the car, closed the door and disappeared into the night.

      “Not one to dawdle, is he?” Brenda whispered with a nervous laugh. “Wonder if he’s that quick about everything.”

      “Hush, Mama!”

      “How’s Sydney?”

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