One to Keep

Chapter Fifteen

Alexei sat up from the strangely comfortable cot as the door to the station house came open and a large man with black hair and scars on his face walked in, followed by the woman named Callie. The big man had been the one who’d swept her out of the station earlier.

Alexei was confused. He’d thought the sheriff was her husband, but the other man had kissed her passionately and spoken to her, obviously concerned with her every comfort.

“Damn it, Zane.” The sheriff looked up from his mountain of paperwork and scowled as the couple entered. “I thought you were going to take care of her.”

“Yeah, well, Callie wanted to make sure the Russian prick got fed.” Zane was holding a bag in his hand.

Alexei’s stomach growled as the heavenly scent hit him.

Callie slapped the big guy lightly on his chest. “Be nice.”

“I’m with Nate. He pulled a gun on you.”

“He pulled a gun on Jen,” Callie corrected. “The dead guy pulled a gun on me, and then Alexei here saved me.” She smiled and winked at him. Alexei’s heart softened further. It had been so long since he’d had a moment’s softness. This Callie woman had a soft heart. She practically glowed with forgiveness.

“I am filled with apologies.” Alexei couldn’t say it enough.

“Yeah, well, be glad you’re not filled with lead, buddy.” Zane strode across the room and held the bag out. “If I’d been there, you would be just as dead as your friend.”

“Zane Hollister!”

The sheriff was leaning back in his chair, obviously enjoying the show. “I told you he would have reacted exactly the way I did.” Zane rounded on the pair. “No, I would have shot his ass.” The sheriff’s eyes hooded, and he sat up, straightening his spine.

“I’m actually glad I didn’t, Zane. He’s…different than I would have expected.”

Alexei listened in as the sheriff began to detail a bit of his own past to the other man. He’d spent several hours talking to the sheriff, a tape recorder between them. The sheriff had taken copious notes, and Alexei had been surprised to find that the man’s attitude shifted as he spoke.

He pulled the burger out of the bag. It was juicy and perfectly American. Alexei bit into it and thought it might be the best bit of food he’d ever tasted. When had he stopped enjoying the simple pleasures of life?

“See,” Callie was saying, “he’s not unlike the two of you. If your brother had been horribly murdered, you would have sought revenge.”

“I don’t have a brother,” Zane shot back with a stubborn edge to his voice.

There was a moment of silence. It was filled with meaning as the two men stared at each other as though speaking silently. Alexei watched, fascinated, as Zane shook his head.

“Fine. But I don’t have to like him.” Zane turned on his boots and strode back to the cell, coming within feet of Alexei. “Thank you for saving our wife.”

Alexei felt his eyebrows rise. Maybe his English was worse than he thought. “It was all I could to do. I could not harm the women.

They were innocent. It was not worth the revenge.”

“Well, I thank you for shooting your friend, anyway.” Alexei searched his brain for the proper American words.

Americans always knew how to describe an asshole. “He was not good friend. He was, how you say, a bag of douches.”

The sheriff laughed outright, and Zane’s mouth tugged up. “At least he has the lingo down.”

“He’s hell to understand, man. You should have been here.”

“Don’t make fun of him,” Callie chided. She took her place next to Zane, her arm hooking around his waist. “Your English is very good, Alexei. It’s way better than Nate’s Russian. And you barely have an accent.”

Zane snorted, but Alexei didn’t take it as an insult. He swallowed another heavenly bite of perfectly cooked burger. “I am thanking you for the hospitality. This is good booger. Best booger I ever to eat.” Zane glanced down at Callie. “Yeah, no accent at all, babe. It’s like he came straight out of Iowa.”

The door to the station opened again, and a big, broad man with reddish brown hair pounded in, brushing the snow off his coat and brandishing a file folder like a weapon. He walked straight to the sheriff’s desk and slapped it down. Caleb. Alexei wanted to shrink back. He’d spent an afternoon on the ice with this man. He was a bit gruff, but Alexei had admired how patient he’d been with the boys they had taught. He’d admired much about the man. He rather wished Caleb didn’t have to know what he’d done. Meeting Caleb had been the first time in years and years that he’d come close to making a friend.

Caleb didn’t look back at him. His eyes were firmly trained on the sheriff. “Here you go. Do you know what that is?” The sheriff didn’t appear to take exception to the other man’s outraged tone. “I could give it a good guess, Doc, but I think you’re going to tell me.”

“That’s my autopsy report,” the doctor said, slapping his hand down on the file folder. “My second autopsy of the day. Second.” The sheriff stifled a laugh. “And I appreciate your promptness.

Want to fill me in on this one?”

“You want a cause of death? Single GSW to the brainpan.

Although this guy seriously should have died from Hep C long ago.

He’s covered in tats. Laura was right. Those Russian guys love their tattoos.”

“He get most in prison,” Alexei said, getting up and moving to the bars.

The doctor turned and stared at him. “Are they meaningful?” Alexei didn’t like to think about what they meant. “Yes, they detail his crimes and how many he murders. It is how you know what a man is willing to do. He would have added to them for the killings he do here. He talks about it on the way here.”

“This is a nice town, you know.” The doctor’s face was turning a bit red, and he reminded Alexei of an angry bull waiting for his chance to charge. “You assholes walk in here looking to do god knows what, and you wreck everything. This is a nice place where people give a shit about each other. I should not have to do autopsies.

I should not have to write out the way people died of unnatural causes here.”

“I am very sorry. I could not save other girl. She was dead because I was…” Alexei let his eyes drift down.

Caleb stopped in front of the cell. “She died while you were out with me and the Farley twins?” When Alexei didn’t answer he put a hand on the bars. “What would you have done if you had been there?

Would she still be dead? Would you have helped kill her?” Alexei’s stomach churned at the thought. He’d been through the scenario in his head a million times. It had kept him up all night. He’d played it through, and he still wasn’t sure what he would have done.

“Caleb, stop.” Callie crossed her arms and faced the doctor.

Caleb didn’t look at her, obviously preferring to expend his intimidation on Alexei. Alexei forced himself to face the man he’d briefly thought of as a friend. The doctor wasn’t close to being done with him. “Why? Why should I stop? Why should I think he would have saved that girl? He almost certainly helped get rid of her body.

Am I wrong?”

The burger he’d wolfed down now threatened to come back up.

He could still feel the slight weight of her body in his arms. They had wrapped her in a tarp and taken her to an isolated part of the river. “I help him.”

“Yeah, I thought so. I had to perform an autopsy on a twenty-one-year-old girl today. The sheriff and I had to talk to her mother. We had to inform a mother that the child she carried in her womb is gone.

The child she loved and nurtured. The child who should have buried her is gone from this earth.”

The doctor’s voice shook. His eyes had welled up in righteous anger, and Alexei’s teared up in shame.

“I am sorry.” It was all Alexei could think to say.

“Yeah, I can see that. It won’t bring her back.” The doctor turned.

He pointed at the sheriff. “You get that asshole out of my town, Nate.”

The sheriff spoke quietly, as though trying to placate the other man. “The feds are coming for him. The roads are keeping them out of here tonight, but they should make it by tomorrow night. Until then, he’s going to be here.”

The doctor huffed and stormed out as quickly as he’d rushed in.

Callie’s big brown eyes stared at him sympathetically. “Please forgive Caleb. He lost his wife a few years ago, and his family no longer speaks to him. Once he was a very highly paid surgeon. Well, I won’t tell you that story, but he’s got a lot of anger. Don’t take it personally.”

“He is right.” Self-recrimination tasted bitter on his tongue. He deserved whatever these feds gave him. He deserved whatever hell waited on him.

A soft hand covered his own. He heard Zane curse, but Callie simply tightened her fingers over his hand. “Tell me something, Alexei, do you honestly believe that you would have stood there and allowed this Ivan person to kill that girl?”

He didn’t recognize himself anymore. And he had no idea what the word honest meant in reference to his own life. He’d lived a lie for so long. “I don’t know.”

Her breath came out in a tiny sigh. “I do. I know you’ve been through some bad things, but deep in your heart, you’re good and worthy, and you can fix the things you’ve done wrong. You would have stopped him. You would have saved her.” Tears fell from his eyes. The room seemed oddly still. Only Callie’s voice meant anything in that moment. “You do not know me.

How can you possibly know what I do?”

“Because you saved me.” She leaned down and placed a single chaste kiss on the back of his hand. “Because you saved Jen. And because you saved my baby.”

The men in the room gasped. Their deep, shocked voices were one. “Callie?”

She smiled at Alexei before turning, opening her arms wide. She nodded, her voice choked with emotion. “I just took a test this morning. Three actually. I was going to tell you this evening. We’re finally pregnant.”

The men crowded her, their arms forming walls around her. They squeezed her tight, kissing and nuzzling her.

Alexei watched the scene. He no longer cared that theirs was obviously an odd relationship. They loved, and it filled the room.

They loved, and it filled him with longing. He had absolutely no one who would put their arms around him and shut the world out. He’d given it up for the pursuit of revenge, and suddenly it seemed like a terrible thing to have missed out on.

He let his head rest against the cold metal bars. He would probably see a lot of metal bars in his future. An image of that pretty waitress slid across his mind. Holly. He would never have a chance to date a nice woman like Holly. He would be lucky if he survived at all.

“Hey.” A gruff voice pulled him from his misery.

He looked up, and Zane’s hand was out. It took him a moment to realize what the other man was asking for.

“You are sure?” Alexei had to ask. It felt wrong to simply accept that hand. The man should be sure.

“Yeah.”

Tentatively, Alexei put his hand in Zane’s. He wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been a trick. He wouldn’t have been shocked if Zane had used his hold to pull Alexei through the bars and bash his skull against them. A part of him kind of wished he would do it, but that large hand strongly pumped his own.

“Thank you. I don’t know why you did it, and I don’t care. You saved our wife and our baby. I don’t think I can ever repay you for that.”

Emotion choked Alexei. One good thing. He’d managed one good thing. He would have to settle for that. He wasn’t sure if it would save his soul, but it began to make it feel lighter. “I am glad I do this.”

“I’m calling Logan.” The sheriff hadn’t taken his hands off his wife. “I want to go home, Zane. I want to show our wife how well we’re going to take care of her.” He kissed the top of her head and walked to his desk.

Fifteen minutes later, they left, their arms around one another. The lanky deputy took over.

“You okay in there?” Logan’s face was open and slightly curious.

He was young, so young, to have a badge on his chest.

Was he okay? Perhaps not, but he was more okay than he’d been in years. His future looked bleak, but he had a chance to be something more than he’d become. He could not erase past mistakes, but maybe, just maybe, he could find a way to earn forgiveness.

“Yes. I am good.”

The young man smiled. “All right, then. I’m the night shift. I’ll probably fall asleep at some point in time. Just bang on the bars if you need something.”

“Yes, I will bang the bars.” He wouldn’t need anything. He settled himself on the cot, feeling lighter than he had in years. The oppressive sadness he’d felt was gone, only remnants clinging to remind him of his past mistakes.

“Oh, and your cell phone’s been ringing. I know I’m not supposed to, but did you need to talk to someone?” It must be a mistake. Everyone he knew was either dead or half a world away. It didn’t matter. He lay down on the cot and pulled the covers up around his chest. “No. There is no one to call me. Ignore this.”

Logan tipped his hat, a grin curling his lips up. “Can do. I’m really good at ignoring stuff. Only thing I’m better at is avoiding work.”

The deputy sat down in his chair. He propped his feet on his desk and leaned back. He tipped his hat over his face and was asleep in no more than five minutes.

Alexei stared at the ceiling, the events of the day playing through his mind, and a deep sense of relief spread through his body. Deep in the night Alexei heard the cell phone buzzing from its place in the small locker where the sheriff had placed all his personal items at the time of his booking. He ignored the sound. After a long while, he fell asleep and dreamed about what it would be like to have a best friend and a wife. He dreamed about how it would feel to share a life.

Jen woke and stretched, her limbs deliciously sore from repeated and vigorous sexual encounters with the man she could only think of after last night as her boyfriend. A smile stretched across her face.

He’d said it. He’d said I love you.

Oh, he’d looked a little terrified at the prospect, but he’d said it, and he hadn’t taken it back or tried to pretend like it was a friendly thing. No, he’d said it and held her and let her fall asleep in his arms and then promptly woke her up twice more in the night for some rough sex.

She might need to take up yoga. Nell taught a class at the rec center. Maybe limbering up would help her keep up with her old man.

She chided herself mentally. Never call him that. She couldn’t tease him about their age difference.

A heavenly scent wafted into the room, and Jen opened her eyes to discover she wasn’t alone.

“Whoa!” She pulled the covers up because she was looking at someone she hadn’t expected.

“Good morning, Miss Jennifer.”

Mrs. Truss was a solidly built woman of roughly sixty-five years with a very upper-crust British accent. She smiled down at Jen and placed a mug of what smelled like coffee on the nightstand.

“Good morning.” Jen glanced around the room. It looked like Stef had put up all the toys they had played with last night, but they were still in a dungeon. The woman’s grandmotherly smile and crisp white apron was incongruous in a room that had a whipping chair, a doctor’s table with a TENS unit, and a St. Andrew’s Cross.

“Don’t you feel self-conscious, Miss Jennifer. I’ve been cleaning up after Master Stefan’s parties for years. I received very thorough training on how to take care of all the toys and sterilize them.” Dear god, Stef had hired Mary Poppins to watch after his collection of vibrators. “I am so sorry.” Her laughter trilled through the air. “Not at all, dear. The master is a bit odd when it comes to his sexual proclivities, but he’s a very dear boy. I’ve been with him since he turned sixteen. Miss Stella hired me to take care of the house.”

Jen’s curiosity was on full alert. Carefully keeping the covers around her, she sat up and grabbed the coffee. “Stella hired you?”

“Yes. Stella practically raised the master, you know. After his father left, Stella took over. She didn’t trust the nannies, you see. She was only in her twenties herself, and she’d never had children, but she loved Master Stefan like he was her own.” Stef had been lucky. Stella was a natural mother. It had always been a bit confusing to Jen why someone with as much love to give as Stella had never gotten married. As far as Jen could tell, Stella never even dated. She’d thrown herself into her business and caring for the people around her.

“Why did Stella take over? Max and Rye’s mom was alive then.

So was Callie’s mom. That would have made more sense.” She shrugged. “I have my theories, but nothing concrete. Stella felt a deep connection to the young boy. He felt it, too. I came in to let you know that Master Stefan is having breakfast. I don’t believe he wanted to wake you, but I thought it might be a good idea if you joined him for breakfast. He’s dining with his father, you see.” That could go very poorly, and the last thing she needed was for Stef to screw things up with his dad. It had become very apparent to Jen that part of Stef’s problem was his unresolved conflict with his father. She wanted to be there to referee.

“Thanks, Mrs. Truss. I would very much like to join the Talbot men.”

The older woman nodded her head as though satisfied. She started out the door but turned. “Oh, and you have a call. It’s on hold. I had it transferred out here. Just pick up the phone on the nightstand, and it should come on. I’ll let the cook know to set up another place setting.

I’m very happy you’re here, Miss Jennifer. I think you’ll be perfect for the master.”

The door closed behind her, and Jen picked up the phone, wondering who would call her here. Everyone she knew would call her cell phone.

“Hello?” Jen asked, holding the phone to her ear.

Ten minutes later, soul utterly deflated, Jen got dressed, packed her clothes, and placed another call, this one to Callie Hollister-Wright. After arranging her transportation, she walked out of the guesthouse. She made her way to the main house and the breakfast room, her heart sick. She had to face Stef.

For the last time.