Vow to Protect Page 2

  She felt sick to her stomach.

  “You have to come with me. Kane might be on his way right now. Understand what I’m saying?”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Mel, you have to.”

  “I want you off my property.”

  “You’re not listening.”

  “I’ve heard enough.” She needed Cord gone. Right now.

  “You have to get out of here.”

  She intended to. Just not with him. When Ethan got home, she’d whisk her son off to a safe place and hold him tight to her heart. Whether Ethan thought he was too old for hugs or not.

  “Kane is dangerous.”

  “Don’t you think I know that?” Her stomach balled into a hard knot. She’d struggled so hard. To lift herself out of the violent world she’d grown up in. To give Ethan a real future. And now this. “How dare you bring this stuff back into my life? How dare you bring Dryden Kane down on my head?”

  “I’m sorry, Mel. I’m so sorry. But right now you have to get out of here. You have to come with me.” He reached out, trying to grasp her arm.

  She yanked it away. “If you don’t leave, I’m calling the police.”

  “Call them.”

  “What?”

  “Call the cops. Go with them. I don’t care. You just have to get out of here before Kane shows up.”

  “Okay. I’ll call them. Now go.”

  “I’ll stay until they get here.”

  “Not necessary.” She gave the traffic a quick glance. Something caught her eye beyond the building afternoon glut of panel vans and sports cars. A flash of yellow turning off a side street.

  “He might be watching us right now.”

  “I don’t want your help. You’ll only make things worse.”

  “Listen, I’ve seen what guys like this can do, what they enjoy doing. It ain’t nothing nice.”

  “Leave me alone.”

  “I’m not leaving until I know you’ll be safe.”

  She glanced down the street again. Behind a blue minivan and a white sedan, the bright yellow school bus barreled toward them.

  “What are you looking for?”

  A thick ache lodged in her throat. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” The school bus rumbled up the street, desperation drilling deeper into her bones the closer it came.

  Chapter Three

  Lines dug into Mel’s smooth forehead as the school bus’s brakes squealed to a stop at the bottom of her driveway.

  Cord had expected her to be upset to see him. He’d expected her to be scared. He hadn’t expected her to be more nervous about a damn yellow bus than she was about Dryden Kane.

  The red stop sign swung out from the driver’s side, and the door opened. A skinny boy shouldered a backpack far too big for him and clomped down the bus steps. He hopped onto the pavement and started up the drive’s slope. Looking up at Melanie, he offered her a little smile, a playful light twinkling in his ice-blue eyes.

  Eyes identical to Cord’s.

  Identical to Dryden Kane’s.

  Cord jerked back as if he’d been kicked in the grill. He fought to regain breath, to regain thought. “How old is he?”

  Melanie tensed beside him, but she didn’t answer.

  “How old is he, Mel?”

  “Ten.”

  Ten years old. He didn’t have to ask if the boy was his son. He knew. Down to the marrow of his bones, he knew.

  “I found out the day you killed Snake.”

  And she hadn’t told him. She hadn’t come to see him in jail. She hadn’t come to his trial. She hadn’t even answered his phone calls.

  The boy ambled up the driveway toward them. Lanky and skinny, he moved as if he was growing too fast for his coordination to catch up. Eight more years, and he’d be eighteen. Legally a man. The age Cord was when the kid had been conceived. When Cord had been thrown in prison.

  He tried to speak, to move, to do anything that didn’t involve standing and staring, but he came up empty.

  “I had to get him away from the neighborhood. I didn’t want him to live that life, to spend his Sundays in a prison visiting room like I did. I didn’t want him to follow that path. I—”

  He held up a hand to cut her off. She didn’t have to explain. “You were right not to tell me. You were right to give him a better life.” The life they’d planned together before he was arrested. The life Melanie had dreamed for them both.

  Her gaze burned hot on the side of his face. “Don’t say anything. Please. He doesn’t know you’re his father. I told him his father died.”

  Cord had died in prison. He’d died every day since he’d killed Snake. “He won’t learn it from me.”

  The boy crested the drive and started up the walk. The afternoon sun slanted down on his face and illuminated the dusting of freckles sprinkling the bridge of his nose, almost invisible under the remnants of his summer tan. His sandy-brown hair fell low on his forehead, straight as straw, refusing to cooperate with its new back-to-school cut. And though not large, his ears perked out from the sides of his head as if on alert.

  It was like staring at a photo of himself as a child.

  Numbness gave way to heat swirling in his head and burning down the back of his neck. An empty feeling hollowed out under his rib cage.

  “Hey, Mom.” The kid gave Melanie another small smile, as if the two of them shared a funny secret, a special joke. Then he looked at Cord, focusing on the tattoos ringing Cord’s biceps and stretching down his arms. Barbed wire. A headless snake. The writhing forms of dragons. The lines thick and chunky, more symbols than art.

  What was the kid seeing? Did he notice the resemblance? The eyes they shared? The rectangular chin? Or was he just seeing the ex-con? The criminal? The man with no future?

  “Ethan, this is Cord.”

  Ethan. His son was named Ethan.

  The boy nodded. “Hi.”

  Cord willed his voice to function. “Hi.”

  “Cord was just leaving. And so are we.”

  He managed to tear his eyes away from Ethan and direct them to Mel. The void in his gut seemed to widen. “I’ll follow you to the police station. Make sure you get there safely.”

  She looked away. “Do what you want.”

  “You’re a cop?” Ethan’s eyebrows dipped low over his eyes.

  “No.”

  “He’s someone I knew a long time ago. That’s all.”

  Cord nodded. That was all. He’d killed the rest as surely as he’d killed Snake. As he’d killed his own future.

  Tires screeched, the sound echoing from the street.

  Cord spun around just as a police cruiser whipped into the driveway. Three cars followed. Jolting to angled stops, the cops hunkered down behind the open driver’s doors, guns drawn.

  “Police!” a voice barked, deep and threatening. “Hands up! As high as you can reach! Now!”

  Cord’s mouth went dry. He raised his hands, stretching as high as he could. The familiar mix of adrenaline and humiliation tightened his throat and coated his tongue.

  Movement shifted and rustled from around the house and yard. Cops fanned out from their cars, semiautos and rifles leveled on him, Kevlar vests dark and oppressive in the early-September heat.

  A cop approached Melanie and Ethan. In less than a second, he whisked them away from Cord and out of the line of fire.

  At least they wouldn’t be hurt. Cord could focus on that.

  “Keep your hands above your head and slowly turn around.”

  Hands high, Cord pivoted. He turned slowly, allowing them to see he had no bulges of weapons in the waistband of his jeans, no reason to believe he was dangerous. As much as he wanted to ask why they were doing this, he kept his mouth shut. He knew how cops thought. He was an ex-con. He had nothing coming. Not even an explanation. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to egg them on by demanding one.

  “Keep turning.”

  He turned another 180, until he was facing back toward Melanie.


  She crossed her arms around Ethan’s chest and held him tight, protecting him. The boy watched with wide eyes, as if he’d never seen a scene quite like this. No doubt he never had. It sure as hell wasn’t a scene from his world.

  It was a scene from Cord’s.

  “Put your hands on the top of your head,” the cop ordered.

  Cord did as he was told, lacing his fingers together the way he’d been taught.

  “Down on your knees. Take it slow.”

  Cord lowered himself. One knee and then the other hit the pavement. He didn’t have to wonder how Ethan saw him now. He just hoped it wouldn’t take the kid long to forget him.

  “Down on your belly. Arms away from your body. Palms facing up. Cross your ankles.”

  Cord had done this maneuver enough while in prison to perform it in his sleep. He flattened himself to the ground and crossed his legs. Cheek pressed against the hot driveway, he moved his arms wide, palms up.

  Boots scuffed the concrete around him. A hand grabbed his arm and bent it behind his back. A steel handcuff closed around his wrist. The cop grabbed his other arm, cuffing it to the first. The inflexible bands of steel bit into his wrists, bruising his flesh. Hands patted his sides and legs. Once satisfied he was clean, the cop rolled him to his side.

  “Rise to your knees.”

  Cord struggled into a kneeling position at the cop’s feet.

  “Cross your ankles.”

  Cord did what he was told. Why didn’t they take Melanie and Ethan away? Why didn’t they take them into the house where they didn’t have to watch, where the fact of what he was wasn’t in their faces? “What is this about?”

  “Shut up.”

  He should have known better than to ask. He had nothing coming. The old prison saying was just as true on this side of the razor wire.

  A dark green sedan crept up the drive and stopped behind the cruisers. The door opened and a dark-haired detective climbed out.

  The last time Cord had seen Reed McCaskey, the cop had been marrying Cord’s half sister Diana on the shores of Lake Mendota. Cord hadn’t been invited, not to the wedding and not to the small reception held on a boat afterward, but he’d stood in the shadow of the park shelter anyway and watched, though to this day, he didn’t really understand why.

  McCaskey made his way through the parked cruisers and stopped behind the cop who’d been shouting the orders. “This isn’t Kane.”

  The cop gave him a frown. “You sure?”

  “Yes. But bring him to the downtown district office. We need to have a talk with him anyway.”

  The patrol cop nodded. “Parole violation?”

  “Possibly. And helping his father escape.”

  Melanie didn’t move. In her embrace, Ethan scuffed the rubber sole of his shoe against the pavement. As if sensing Cord’s gaze, the boy raised his eyes.

  Then looked away.

  MELANIE HELD ON to Ethan’s shoulders, a tremor seizing her and questions spinning through her mind. Just an hour ago she’d had her life just the way she’d wanted. A great job at the lab. A secure home for her son. A sane and safe neighborhood in which he could grow up and thrive.

  And then Cord had walked back into her life and brought all her worst nightmares with him.

  She looked down at the top of her son’s head. Ethan had no idea Cord was his father, but that didn’t prevent him from watching Cord’s arrest with wide eyes, soaking in every detail. She had to get him out of here. She’d spent her life making sure he didn’t have to witness this kind of thing, that he didn’t have to grow up in the world she did. She turned to the police officer who had shunted them out of the line of fire.

  “Can I take my son inside?”

  “In just a moment, ma’am. Detective McCaskey will want to talk to you first.” He nodded his head in the direction of a tall, dark-haired man wearing a police department polo shirt.

  The detective wound his way through officers and cars and stopped in front of her. “Do you know this man?”

  “Yes. I mean, I did. A long time ago.”

  “Was he threatening you?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “You can answer honestly. We can keep you safe from him.”

  “No, he wasn’t threatening. He was warning me.”

  “Warning you? About what?”

  She glanced down at Ethan. “Can we talk about this another time?”

  The detective followed her gaze. His eyes narrowed on Ethan. Then, as almost a reflex, he glanced back at Cord. “I think I understand.”

  A tremor lodged in Melanie’s chest. She should have known he’d figure it out. Ethan looked so much like Cord, it was frightening. The resemblance had stolen her breath on more than one occasion. And now, seeing the two of them together, McCaskey would have to be blind not to see that they were father and son.

  And that that fact meant Ethan was Dryden Kane’s grandson.

  The thought squeezed the breath from her lungs. She couldn’t accept that Ethan shared that monster’s blood. She couldn’t even start to wrap her mind around it. She could only pray the detective wouldn’t comment. “We were just leaving when the police arrived.”

  “Why don’t you pack some things and we’ll see what we can do as far as protection is concerned? We can talk more after you’re settled.”

  She nodded. She could do that. She would pack some of their things and take Ethan away.

  She forced her feet to move up the sidewalk and steps to the front door of the house. She couldn’t stop shuddering. Gritting her teeth, she opened the storm door and held it wide for Ethan and the detective, trying not to look back as the officers escorted Cord into the backseat of one of the police cars.

  A sob thickened deep in her throat, but she refused to let it loose. She’d been through bad things in her life, and she’d get through this, too. For Ethan she could get through anything.

  Leaving Reed McCaskey in the great room, she steered Ethan through the hall and into his bedroom. She pulled a duffel bag out of his closet and spread it open on his bed. “Pick out some clothes, games and books and stuff, too. Okay?”

  “How long are we going to be gone?”

  “I don’t know, sweetheart. A few days. It shouldn’t be any more than that.” At least she hoped not. “What do you say we go to a place with a pool? Just you and me? It will be fun. Like a vacation.”

  “What about school?”

  Ethan always pretended he didn’t care about school. But she’d always suspected he enjoyed seeing his friends and working on school projects more than he let on. “Tomorrow is Friday. You’ll only miss a day. You’ll be back in school next week.”

  “And your work?”

  She couldn’t imagine her supervisor at the lab would be thrilled with the short notice, but it couldn’t be helped. “I could use a day off with my favorite guy.” She slipped an arm around him and squeezed him close, bending down to kiss him on the forehead.

  “Mo-om.” He rolled his eyes.

  Her lips relaxed into a smile. That was the Ethan she knew. “Make sure you pack your swimming suit.”

  “Can we stay up in the Dells? At one of the water parks?”

  “Maybe.” At least Ethan was focusing on the bright side. She only wished she could do the same. But dread gathered inside her like clouds of an approaching thunderstorm.

  A storm she couldn’t escape.

  CORD LEANED BACK in the hard chair in the interrogation room and glanced up at the camera positioned in the corner. It stared down at him, its lens an accusing eye waiting to capture his confession. The only problem was he had nothing to confess.

  The only thing drumming through his mind right now was concern for Melanie and thoughts of the son he never knew he had.

  The son he would never know.

  The door to the interrogation room burst open, and a sour-looking cop with jowls that drooped like laundry hung to dry stepped into the room. He closed the door behind him and ran his gaze over the tats on Cord�
��s arms. His upper lip curled in disgust.

  Cord was used to the contempt of cops. Long before he’d gone to prison, he’d been the wrong kind of kid, not a hardcore gang banger but close enough. At least in most cops’ eyes. He returned the cop’s glare with a Murder One stare of his own.

  The cop was the first to break the silence. “Time to talk, dawg.”

  Cord hadn’t been called dawg since he was behind bars. A memory this cop obviously wanted him to relive. “And you are?”

  “Detective Stan Perreth.” He glanced down at his watch. “You have five minutes to come clean, or I’m calling your parole officer. I hear your friends are throwing a par-tay in your cell and everyone’s coming. You understand what I’m saying?”

  This guy was a riot. A regular prison jargon stand-up show, albeit a little cleaner than the language flying around the joint. “How about you call my lawyer first?”

  “Why? You got something to hide?” Perreth plunked into a chair and leaned close. Table shoved to the side of the room, there was nothing between him and the cop. The odor of cigarette smoke emanating from Perreth’s clothing and breath was enough to make Cord crave a rollie of his own, though he’d kicked the habit when he’d been paroled. “It’s in your best interest to talk,” Perreth said.

  Right. “I don’t see how it’s in my best interest to have anything to do with you.”

  “You should want to talk to me, punk. I can see to it that Melanie Frist and her boy are safe. Or should I say, your boy?”

  Cord’s gut clenched. He wasn’t surprised Perreth noticed the resemblance. One look and anyone could guess Ethan was his son. But Cord didn’t like the implication that Mel and Ethan’s safety hinged on him confessing to something he didn’t know about and didn’t do. “Is that some kind of threat?”

  “I’m just saying if you help me, I’ll be more inclined to help you. That’s how the world works.”

  That might be true. But it still didn’t tell Cord what he was supposed to be confessing to in order to earn Perreth’s favors.

  A sharp knock sounded, and the door opened.

  Cord never thought he’d be happy to see his brother-in-law. He sure as hell didn’t have a stash of good feelings for Reed McCaskey, but after chatting with Perreth, McCaskey seemed like a long-lost friend. At least he didn’t think McCaskey would resort to using Mel and Ethan to get what he wanted.